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Controversial Bestseller Shakes the Foundation of the Israeli State
By Joshua Holland, AlterNet. Posted January 28, 2009.
What if the entire tale of the Jewish Diaspora is historically wrong?
SNIP
What if the entire tale of the Jewish Diaspora — the story recounted at Passover tables by Jews around the world every year detailing the ancient Jews’ exile from Judea, the years spent wandering through the desert, their escape from the Pharaoh’s clutches — is all wrong?
That’s the explosive thesis of When and How Was the Jewish People Invented?, a book by Tel Aviv University scholar Shlomo Zand (or Sand) that sent shockwaves across Israeli society when it was published last year. After 19 weeks on the Israeli best-seller list, the book is being translated into a dozen languages and will be published in the United States this year by Verso.
Its thesis has ramifications that go far beyond some antediluvian academic debate. Few modern conflicts are as attached to ancient history as that decades-long cycle of bloodletting between Israelis and Palestinians. Each group lays claim to the same scrap of land — holy in all three of the world’s major Abrahamic religions — based on long-standing ties to that chunk of earth and national identities formed over long periods of time. There’s probably no other place on Earth where the present is as intimately tied to the ancient.
Central to the ideology of Zionism is the tale — familiar to all Jewish families — of exile, oppression, redemption and return. Booted from their kingdom, the “Jewish people” — sons and daughters of ancient Judea — wandered the earth, rootless, where they faced cruel suppression from all corners — from being forced to toil in slavery under the Egyptians, to the Spanish massacres of the 14th century and Russian pogroms of the 19th, through to the horrors of the Third Reich.
This view of history animates all Zionists, but none more so than the influential but reactionary minority — in the United States as well as Israel — who believe that God bestowed a “Greater Israel” — one that encompasses the modern state as well as the Occupied Territories — on the Jewish people, and who resist any effort to create a Palestinian state on biblical grounds.
Inventing a People?
Zand’s central argument is that the Romans didn’t expel whole nations from their territories. Zand estimates that perhaps 10,000 ancient Judeans were vanquished during the Roman wars, and the remaining inhabitants of ancient Judea remained, converting to Islam and assimilating with their conquerors when Arabs subjugated the area. They became the progenitors of today’s Palestinian Arabs, many of whom now live as refugees who were exiled from their homeland during the 20th century.
Leading Counter-Terrorism Expert and Former High-Level Official Slams War on Terror and Questions 9/11
Terrell (Terry) E. Arnold was the number 2 counter-terrorism official at the U.S. State Department, and is one of the world’s leading experts on terror.
Arnold served as the Deputy Director, Office of Counter-Terrorism and Emergency Planning, at the U.S. State Department. He is also the former Chairman of the Department of International Studies at the National War College.
Arnold has worked as a crisis management consultant for several Federal agencies, including The State Department, the Department of Defense, the U.S. Customs Service and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He is the author of numerous books on terror*. Arnold is a U.S. Navy veteran of World War II and the Korean war.
I spoke with Arnold by phone…
SNIP
GW: Do you think that starting “elective” or “preemptive” wars against states which do not pose an imminent threat to America’s national security decreases or increases the threat of terrorism?
Terry Arnold: It increases the threat because it injures more people. One of the principal causes of terrorism is injuries to people and families.
What we’re watching in the Middle East is Israel committing suicide [Arnold explained that, by killing and injuring so many people in Gaza, Israel is destroying its own security, and creating a huge group of people who wish Israel harm. Through the Gaza war, Israel is sewing the seeds of its own destruction]. You will make enemies you will not even know about until it is too late.
Al Qaeda
GW: While there are certainly some bad guys in the world who are out to kill Americans and hurt our country, I believe that the whole Al Qaeda threat has been blown out of proportion to justify certain ulterior motives. Do you agree or disagree?
Terry Arnold: They overstated the danger … did it from a view that justified the “war on terror”. Mostly terrorists the world over are not interested in doing harm to the United States. [They are only interested in harming the U.S.] to the extent we support people who harm them.
We can defeat Al Qaeda or any other group by depriving them of their cause and by engaging them [rather than solely using a policy of blunt force].
SNIP
9/11
GW: You write:
“Washington leadership [has] brought us no closer than we were on September 12, 2001 to resolving how [9/11] was executed and by what enemy.
Let’s focus on the how question first.
What facts or observations make you doubt that the official government story does not fully explain how 9/11 was carried out?
Terry Arnold: The nature of events in New York. The buildings falling down. I’m not satisfied by the notion that planes hitting buildings would have caused them to collapse. The last building to fall was not even attacked.
GW: Now let’s address the question of who carried out the attacks. You write:
“They tell us repeatedly that it [9/11] was the work of al Qaida, but they have yet to show us the proofs.”
As a counter-terrorism expert, what sort of proofs would you expect the government to show if al Qaeda had carried out the 9/11 attacks – at least without the help of any state?
Terry Arnold: The case has not been fully made. The official story is not too persuasive.
GW: You also say:
“They told us the official version of what happened that day, but their story is laced with contradictions, and the facts visible on the ground at the time belie much of the official account.”
What contradictions do you see with the official version of 9/11? And what facts belie the official account?
Terry Arnold: The sheer mechanics of the event.
GW: Are you familiar with the term “false flag terror”? Do you believe that governments every carry out false flag terror?
Terry Arnold: I know that there is such a thing as false flag terrorism.
GW: How do you know that?
Terry Arnold: From history.
I wonder what will happen if Britain, USA and Canada send back illegal Bajans . Note -uranium was recently discovered in Guyana. Will bajans flock guyana should things turn around in Guyana?
Suprised that the normally ‘newsworthy’ story of Christopher Maurice Brown and his Robyn Fenty (see http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/02/09/report-rihanna-named-as-victim-in-chris-brown-battery-case/) has not yet sparked your interest.
Price protests paralyze Martinique, Guadeloupe
FORT-DE-FRANCE, Martinique – Protests over living costs in the French Caribbean islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe have shuttered businesses and paralyzed roadways, prompting France to send mediators to resolve the dispute.
Roughly 50,000 islanders have participated in Guadeloupe’s three-week strike, while an estimated 11,000 have joined the throngs in Martinique, where the protest entered its seventh day on Wednesday, police said. Union leaders dispute those figures, arguing crowds have been double that size.
Those on strike represent a wide range of departments in the public sector, including transportation, education, and sanitation, services that have been paralyzed on both islands.
SNIP
Islanders have been flocking to small, family-owned grocery stores as large businesses remain closed. Garbage is overflowing and gas stations are serving only health and emergency workers.
“I have been stuck at my house since this weekend,” Martinique university student Youri Bonus said. “I’m getting fed up with this situation.”
Youtube video: ‘Worst economic collapse ever’
Social collapse best practices
by Dmitry Orlov
SNIP
If there is one thing that I would like to claim as my own, it is the comparative theory of superpower collapse. For now, it remains just a theory, although it is currently being quite thoroughly tested. The theory states that the United States and the Soviet Union will have collapsed for the same reasons, namely: a severe and chronic shortfall in the production of crude oil (that magic addictive elixir of industrial economies), a severe and worsening foreign trade deficit, a runaway military budget, and ballooning foreign debt. I call this particular list of ingredients “The Superpower Collapse Soup.” Other factors, such as the inability to provide an acceptable quality of life for its citizens, or a systemically corrupt political system incapable of reform, are certainly not helpful, but they do not automatically lead to collapse, because they do not put the country on a collision course with reality. Please don’t be too concerned, though, because, as I mentioned, this is just a theory. My theory.
I’ve been working on this theory since about 1995, when it occurred to me that the US is retracing the same trajectory as the USSR. As so often is the case, having this realization was largely a matter of being in the right place at the right time. The two most important methods of solving problems are: 1. by knowing the solution ahead of time, and 2. by guessing it correctly. I learned this in engineering school – from a certain professor. I am not that good at guesswork, but I do sometimes know the answer ahead of time.
I was very well positioned to have this realization because I grew up straddling the two worlds – the USSR and the US. I grew up in Russia, and moved to the US when I was twelve, and so I am fluent in Russian, and I understand Russian history and Russian culture the way only a native Russian can. But I went through high school and university in the US .I had careers in several industries here, I traveled widely around the country, and so I also have a very good understanding of the US with all of its quirks and idiosyncrasies. I traveled back to Russia in 1989, when things there still seemed more or less in line with the Soviet norm, and again in 1990, when the economy was at a standstill, and big changes were clearly on the way. I went back there 3 more times in the 1990s, and observed the various stages of Soviet collapse first-hand.
By the mid-1990s I started to see Soviet/American Superpowerdom as a sort of disease that strives for world dominance but in effect eviscerates its host country, eventually leaving behind an empty shell: an impoverished population, an economy in ruins, a legacy of social problems, and a tremendous burden of debt. The symmetries between the two global superpowers were then already too numerous to mention, and they have been growing more obvious ever since.
The Complexity Theory
By Ray Grigg, Special to Courier-Islander
A discernible change is taking place in the forum of environmental awareness. As the subject matures and our insights deepen, specific concerns are now accompanied by a general uneasiness as leading philosophers and scientists begin to examine the structure of our modern civilization and question its viability. One of these new avenues of consideration is Complexity Theory.
Complexity Theory argues that societies become progressively more unstable and vulnerable as the network of interconnections within them increases — not particularly good news for a globalizing system in which increasing complexity is precisely the thrust of economics, finance, manufacturing, technology and almost everything else we do. The sobering implications may explain why many proponents of Complexity Theory preface their comments with an apology. “We don’t want to tell you this,” goes the essence of their message, “but we think you should know.” When the New Scientist published two articles on Complexity Theory (Apr. 5/08), its editor anticipated some reader discomfort. “We are predisposed to pay attention to bad news,” noted the editorial. “There is a good reason for this. We need to be warned of difficulty and danger so we can protect ourselves…. if the warning is too scary or distressing, we attack the messenger as a doom monger.” (emphasis added)
Complexity Theory comes with its hint of doom, ominously reminding us that no civilization has ever survived the stresses of history, with the possible exception of China and Byzantium — in a much reduced state for 450 years following the 15th century Arab invasions. But Sumer, Persia, Egypt, Greece, Maya and even Rome all collapsed, primarily because they succumbed to overwhelming complexities.
Joseph Tainter, writing in The Collapse of Complex Societies, explains why. “For the past 10,000 years, problem solving has produced increasing complexity in human societies” (Ibid.). Food production is a classical example. Each time people find the solution to a food shortage — irrigation, fertilizer or plants with higher yields– the population rises to meet the food supply and the next problem to solve is more complicated and challenging. Every solution adds extra levels of organization, complexity and interdependence, which adds inefficiency and diminishing returns for the total amount of energy expended.
snip
Complexity Theory is an uncomfortable subject, particularly given the unsettling stresses we are measuring in food production, climate change, resource depletion, ecosystem damage, pollution and population growth. But the theory has its saving graces. It does make us more aware of our vulnerabilities. And it does argue for simplification and local self-sufficiency, particularly for essentials such as food supply and energy production. (emphasis added). The incentive to begin thinking and acting with foresight should compensate for the need to be apologetic.
Sorry, forgot to add URL to last post. Here it is:
http://www.canada.com/Complexity+Theory/1286263/story.html
The article below is copied from BFP
Conditions Facing Junior Doctors at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital (Q.E.H.)
The Junior Doctors of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital are amongst the most hardworking and dedicated Civil Servants in the country. However the conditions under which they work are less than ideal and in many cases appalling.
Juniors Doctors make up the majority of doctors working at the Hospital. They are not allowed to have private patients or to charge any individuals fees for their services (either inside or outside the Hospital).
The term Junior Doctor is a very misleading one and must be clearly defined before we progress further. A Junior Doctor simply put is any doctor employed at the Hospital who is not a Consultant. This group encompasses House Officers (Interns) who have recently graduated and Senior Registrars, who hold post-graduate qualifications and are eligible to be appointed as Consultants should a vacancy arise. They are many other doctors who are between these two extremes included in this group. It is important to emphasize that the term Junior Doctor does not mean a young, inexperienced doctor or unskilled doctor.
Consultants are the leaders of the clinical team. They conduct ward rounds and provide invaluable input and guidance into the management of individual cases. Often the consultant’s directives are carried out by the Junior Doctors. These directives can range from simply carrying out various blood tests to performing complex surgical or invasive procedures.
It is therefore obvious that the Junior Doctors are a highly skilled, valuable and integral part of the clinical team and essential to the optimal functioning of the hospital. Currently the Junior Doctors at the Q.E.H. are working under very demanding and trying circumstances yet continue to give of their best.
Many Junior Doctors work seven (7) days a week and some are on call every third day (mainly in the Department of General Surgery). Rarely they can be on call on alternate days. When on call these doctors are responsible for providing care to inpatients as well as dealing with ALL emergency cases for a period of 24 hours. When “on call” finishes, these doctors are then required to work their regular working day. This results in many doctors working (and being in the Hospital) for 36 consecutive hours. Total working time often exceed 120 hours per week.
It is of note that most hospitals (including many in the Caribbean) have moved away from this system recognizing that it is exceedingly burdensome on the doctors.More importantly it may be dangerous to patients’ wellbeing because of the increase in medical errors that occur. Hospitals throughout the world (especially in Europe & U.S.A.) have actually limited the amount of hours a doctor can work to approximately 70 hours per week. Doctors can be (and have been) removed from hospital premises by security if found to be in contravention of this policy.
The working hours are but one of the Junior Doctors many concerns. Appropriate accommodation is another pressing concern of the Junior Doctors. There is not enough space for all of the Junior Doctors required to be on-call and in the hospital in any one night. This has resulted in some doctors having to sleep in chairs and on broken couches in plain view of each other in the Doctors’ Lounge. (Please also note here that the door to the Doctors’ Lounge does not have a functioning lock and thus free access to the area is open to all and sundry at ANYTIME throughout the day or night)
Even more worrying is that even with these makeshift sleeping arrangements, there is not enough room for all the Junior Doctors on-call and some have been forced to resort to sleeping in their cars. Clearly one can see this is an inherently dangerous and undesirable situation. Many cars have been broken into, including those of doctors on the Hospital premises.
To make matters worse the Junior Doctors are not provided with warm water in any part of their lounge and are therefore forced to shower in ice-cold water at all hours of the day and night.
The Junior Doctors Lounge is itself woefully inadequate. There are broken chairs and couches strewn throughout and there is not enough space for the over 150 Junior Doctors employed at the Hospital. Up to last year the doctors were competing for the sparse space in the lounge with an infestation of rats.
Also worrying is the fact that there is no canteen facility available for the doctors (or any of the Hospital staff for that matter). In essence, what this means is that The Junior Doctors are essentially forced to order in fast food or go for prolonged periods without eating. Doctors are consuming the same sugary and fatty foods that they tell their patients to avoid.
It is the norm that in hospitals of this size which by necessity are open 24 hours that there is a canteen catering to staff (and visitors) that is also open 24 hours a day. For example Kingston Public Hospital (in Jamaica) has facilities whereby an on-call doctor is provided with lunch, dinner and then breakfast the next day! The cafeteria at the QEH has been closed for years and all hopes of it being re-opened were dashed when they decided to use the existing space for a new clinic.
These are just a few of the many challenges that the Junior Doctors are facing. The logical question which begs to be asked is “What have the Junior Doctors’ done to improve their situation.” All of the aforementioned issues have been brought to the attention of the Hospital’s Administration. Despite being in constant negotiations with the Hospital Administration, the Junior Doctors have received little more than empty promises of improvement which have up to this time failed to materialize and conditions have continued to deteriorate rapidly.
The Junior Doctors perhaps have the worst physical amenities of any group employed to the Q.E.H. The conditions are certainly not up to the standard that trained professionals in ANY OTHER field (here or abroad) would expect or tolerate.
In terms of remuneration and compensation, the Juniors Doctors at the Q.E.H. are earning the lowest when compared to their counterparts in the Caribbean performing similar roles, our Junior Doctors are however working the longest hours in the worst physical surroundings.
The doctors at the QEH are at their ‘wits end’. They work ridiculous hours and are still expected to function. They have to sleep at the hospital but there is no where adequate to sleep (if they get to sleep at all); they have to eat but there is no food and on top of that, they have to bathe at the hospital but they have to do so in cold water! These doctors give their hearts and souls to their profession. All they are asking for is a salary commensurate with their hard work, improved working conditions and an environment that fosters morale and not discontentment.
In spite of the many challenges and difficulties facing the Junior Doctors they are committed to giving of their best. They love their jobs. All of them accept that some personal sacrifice is necessary by the nature of the practice of Medicine. They however remain hopeful that some improvements can be made to this untenable situation they find themselves in, before they transition from being doctors to patients.
I couldn’t help but notice the list of dormant accounts in the Advocate today. A thought struck me. With FCIB’s new rate structure of $10.00 per month on balances below $1000.00. These dormant accounts will for the most part disappear. The the bank will help itself to most of these accounts $10.00 at a time until they either are gone (or perhaps they will then go overdrawn and they will incur charges)
Most financial analysts will tell you that it makes no sense to hold money in a non interest bearing account. So most smaller people will hold money in their savings (which the bank has to pay you interest for) with this nifty new scheme they will reduce the savings accounts and increase the chequing accounts which they don’t have to pay for.
However you slice it it seems that this $10.00 charge is just another way for the bank to take your money for doing nothing.
Conspiracy Theorists
By Jolly Roger
slicingthroats@yahoo.com
1-8-5
Everyone has heard, and has probably used the term “conspiracy theorist,” and the fact of the term being in common use, also indicates that we generally agree on what it means. I saw a movie by that name, and the title character was a raving lunatic who kept his food in thermoses with combination locks to reduce his chances of being poisoned by imaginary enemies.
Regardless of how the stupid movie turned out, what’s important here is the common perception people have of someone to whom that label is applied, and just as important, is who it is that applies the label. The common perception is that someone who is labeled a “conspiracy theorist” is suffering from some type of psychological disorder, and that label is usually applied to people by our government, and our news media. The next thing to consider, is that the label is applied to anyone who questions our government’s version of events in any matter. Doesn’t it logically follow that the media are teaching us to assume that anyone who questions the government is insane? When that label is applied to a person, doesn’t it become easy to dismiss everything they say without even hearing it? How convenient for them.
SNIP
Conspiracy theories arise from evidence. After the government releases an explanation of a particular event, a conspiracy theory is only born because evidence exists to disprove their explanation, or at least call it into question. There’s nothing insane about it, unless you define sanity as believing whatever the government tells you. In light of the fact that our government lies to us regularly, I would define believing everything they tell you as utter stupidity.
SNIP
The real question is not why people theorize about conspiracies, but why people choose to believe the government’s version of events when it’s obvious that they’re lying. One reason is that most people never see the evidence because our “news” industry hides it, and another reason is that the same news industry will quickly associate anyone who questions the government with the people who see Elvis, Bigfoot, and UFO’s.
But sadly, I think the main reason people choose to believe the government’s version of events despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, is because it’s easier, and safer. If you ignore most of the evidence, and accept as plausible whatever ridiculous explanation the T.V. provides, your life remains simple, and you get to sit on your ass and watch more T.V. If on the other hand, you pluck your head from that same ass and realize you’ve been lied to, as a citizen in a democratic society, you’re instantly burdened with being responsible for doing something about it. Every citizen of the United States has a civic duty to participate in their government, and keep themselves informed of its actions, or government “of the people, by the people, and for the people” isn’t possible. You were warned that “eternal vigilance is the price of freedom, ” but you chose to ignore your government, and believe whatever they told you, and because of this, Americans have lost their freedom. Although presidents and senators are public servants, unlike the dog catcher and mailman, they wield a lot of power over people’s lives, and that’s why they have to be watched, and scrutinized.
SNIP
There are disturbing facts regarding the events of September 11 that every American needs to be aware of , but naturally, none of it will be on T.V. I’ve met a lot of people in the 9-11 truth movement, and I can assure you that none of them are crazy, paranoid, or even “conspiracy theorists.” One generalization I can make about them is that they all seem to be very intelligent. Maybe the smartest thing you could do would be to start listening to them. The Arabs don’t “hate your freedom.” The White House hates your freedom, because it’s the only thing that stands between them, and unlimited power. – Jolly Roger
Slave in Jefferson Davis’ home gave Union key secrets
WASHINGTON (CNN) — William Jackson was a slave in the home of Confederate president Jefferson Davis during the Civil War. It turns out he was also a spy for the Union Army, providing key secrets to the North about the Confederacy.
William Jackson, a slave, listened closely to Jefferson Davis’ conversations and leaked them to the North.
William Jackson, a slave, listened closely to Jefferson Davis’ conversations and leaked them to the North.
Jackson was Davis’ house servant and personal coachman. He learned high-level details about Confederate battle plans and movements because Davis saw him as a “piece of furniture” — not a human, according to Ken Dagler, author of “Black Dispatches,” which explores espionage by America’s slaves.
“Because of his role as a menial servant, he simply was ignored,” Dagler said. “So Jefferson Davis would hold conversations with military and Confederate civilian officials in his presence.”
Dagler has written extensively on the issue for the CIA’s Center for the Study of Intelligence .
In late 1861, Jackson fled across enemy lines and was immediately debriefed by Union soldiers. Dagler said Jackson provided information about supply routes and military strategy.
“In Jackson’s case, what he did was … present some of the current issues that were affecting the Confederacy that you could not read about in the local press that was being passed back and forth across local lines. He actually had some feel for the issues of supply problems,” Dagler said.
Jackson and other slaves’ heroic efforts have been a forgotten legacy of the war — lost amid the nation’s racially charged past and the heaps of information about the war’s historic battles. But historians over the last few decades have been taking an interest in the sacrifice of African-Americans during those war years.
Jackson’s espionage is mentioned in a letter from a general to Secretary of War Edwin Stanton. Maj. Gen. Irvin McDowell refers to “Jeff Davis’ coachman” as the source of information about Confederate deployments.
Dagler said slaves who served as spies were able to collect incredibly detailed information, in large part because of their tradition of oral history. Because Southern laws prevented blacks from learning how to read and write, he said, the slave spies listened intently to minute details and memorized them.
“What the Union officers found very quickly with those who crossed the line … was that if you talked to them, they remembered a great more in the way of details and specifics than the average person … because again they relied totally on their memory as opposed to any written records,” he said.
Jackson wasn’t the only spy. There were hundreds of them. In some cases, the slaves made it to the North, only to return to the South to risk being hanged. One Union general wrote that he counted on black spies in Tennessee because “no white man had the pluck to do it.”
Continued at:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/02/20/spy.slaves/index.html
The Wisdom of Protectionism. The Madness of Free Trade (Part 1)
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By Robin Mathews
Uncontrolled greed exhausts the world’s foodstuffs. Uncontrolled greed exhausts the world’s raw materials and wastes them in destruction of the environment. Uncontrolled greed pollutes the financial system, the economies of the world and legal structures everywhere. And all over the world starvation, deprivation, and war are the only constant facts. The most greedy people form ‘reconstruction’ committees – to invent new disguises for their acts of looting.
Penitent bankers, investment moguls – what have been called “the American Oligarchs”, a small group with too much power and too much money and tireless greed, gather with co-operating politicians around tables to apologize and to make sure no serious change takes place in the way the human community lives and uses and destroys the globe.
In all the places where the world most needs law the greedy make sure no law exists. For fifty years, and more, the greedy of the world have been destroying law. In those years – with a huge campaign of lies and seductive propaganda – the greedy have been unpicking any restraint upon the criminal pursuit of personal wealth. In a hundred ways they have been telling populations they are better off to lose control of the production of food, of sustained manufacturing, and of sound and whole local economies – AND of the financial and credit machinery the country uses.
They have been preaching those things – from the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, corporate headquarters, from economic think-tanks, from universities, and from the political parties the greedy have created and financed.
SNIP
The “people”, so far, don’t see what’s been going on, because the slow ascendancy to power of unrestrained, private, corporate greed has been so smooth and so favourably propagandized that it has seemed almost invisible. Besides, people cannot believe greed can be so intense – that the greedy don’t care if the very planet is destroyed in their lunge for personal wealth. Even the terms people have been given to use have fake meanings – protectionism, free trade, free markets, free enterprise, nationalism – and many more.
Continued at:
http://www.vivelecanada.ca/article/235930548-the-wisdom-of-protectionism–the-madness-of-free-trade
Link to Part 2
http://www.vivelecanada.ca/article/235930554-part-two–the-wisdom-of-protectionism–the-madness-of-free-trade
Wait a minute! Am I the only one who heard the way the rum-sodden short shite Owing See-Through insulted Bajans at Oistins the other night? The man had the unmitigated gall to stand up on a platform and tell Bajans that they are incapable of owing/running Banks!!! He said that since the Trinis owned BNB it is the best bank in Barbados! The Dems should never let him forget speaking those words. He brought Guyanese Immigration officers to Barbados to check on our I.O.’s, he insulted the RBPF, and now he tells us Bajans are incapable of running banks! Another thing – see that move by Mia to table a motion of No Confidence against PM Thompson? Well she will fail, and people, that is when Owen will make his move for a Come Back. Watch and see. I never thought Mia was that stupid.
Were Stanford and his bank CIA assets?
Stanford’s shadowy financial empire
By Wayne Madsen
Online Journal Contributing Writer
SNIP
Representative Dennis Kucinich recently stated that the Stanford case has similarities to the Iran-contra scandal of the Reagan administration. There are reports that Stanford has hired Washington’s Williams and Connolly lawyer Brendan Sullivan as his attorney. Sullivan represented Iran-contra felon Oliver North during the Iran-contra congressional hearings.
Stanford hails from Mexia, Texas, but lived for some time in the Coral Gables, Florida, home once owned by George Wackenhut, Sr., the former FBI agent who left the bureau and set up Wackenhut Corporation to engage in investigative operations that FBI director J. Edgar Hoover was legally barred from being involved with.
Kucinich may be correct about who is actually behind Stanford and why. North’s Iran-contra network used offshore contrivances in the Cayman Islands to launder money. Stanford International Bank primarily used Antigua and Barbuda for the same purpose. Up to 30 percent of the investments in SIB were from wealthy right-wing Venezuelans who were trying to protect their money from Hugo Chavez’s socialist government in Venezuela. In November 2008, Venezuelan military intelligence agents raided SIB’s office in Caracas and seized documents and revealed that four employees of the bank were suspected U.S. intelligence agents.
There is some evidence that the CIA arranged for wealthy Venezuelans to hide their money in SIB’s Antigua account in return for a percentage of the certificates of deposit accounts’ interest going to a CIA slush fund to secretly fund covert operations directed against left-wing governments in Bolivia, Ecuador, and Venezuela. The wealthy Venezuelans were constrained to report their losses from SIB because they would be immediately charged with tax evasion by the Venezuelan government.
It was recently revealed that in addition to contributing money to Republican and Democratic politicians, Stanford was connected to a $50 million hedge fund operated by Paradigm Global, run by Vice President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, and the Vice President’s brother, James Biden.
What us becoming clear that Madoff and Stanford are not sitting in jail presently because of who is sitting in the vice president’s mansion in northwest Washington, DC, and in certain Senate and House seats in Congress.
Marvin Rotrand is the senior member of Montreal City Council having served as the City Councillor for Snowdon district since 1982.
Mr. Rotrand is the Deputy Leader of the Majority, the Vice President of the Speakers Committee and the Vice President of the Montreal Transport Commission (MTC).
The MTC is the agency that operates Montreal’s buses and subway. At the MTC, Mr. Rotrand is the President of the Finance Committee managing a budget of $1.038 billion and the President of the Customer Service Committee which reviews service improvements and assesses client satisfaction. The MTC operates nearly 1600 buses and 750 subway cars.
Councillor Rotrand also presides the Intercultural Commission of the Borough of Cote des Neiges – Notre Dame de Grace. This Borough which includes Snowdon district is one of Montreal’s most multicultural and multiracial. The Commission’s mandate is to promote tolerance and understanding and support the community and fraternal organizations in their efforts to preserve their heritage while building their Canadian identity.
A former high school history teacher, Mr. Rotrand has been associated with progressive causes. His work in the 1980s led to the creation of the Quebec Police Ethics Commissioners Office, a civilian agency created to impartially judge citizens complaints against police officers.
Councillor Rotrand is also noted for his work that led to the City’s initial affirmative action programs for the hiring of minorities and women.
Councillor Rotrand has also been a vocal advocate in favour of sustainable development and the protection of green space. He has succeeded in leading the City to purchase several ecologically valuable forests for their inclusion in the regional park network.
Marvin Rotrand
City Councillor – Snowdon
[…] of Montreal’s most flamboyant City Councilors Mr. Marvin Rotrand will be visiting Barbados 03rd to 08th March […]
Web of Debt: The Shocking Truth About Our Money System and How We Can Break Free
By Ellen Hodgson Brown
Third Millennium Press; Rev Exp edition (December 22, 2008)
ISBN-10: 0979560829
544 pages; $22.50
If there is one book, one newspaper, one blog, one article, that one should read to understand the current economic crisis, to understand the root of the problem, and to understand its solution, it is “The Web of Debt: The Shocking Truth About Our Monetary System and How We Can Break Free,” by Ellen Hodgson Brown. Brown began writing “Web of Debt,” six years ago, and, while some are surprised at the current national and world economic crisis, others, including Brown, had seen it coming.
In “Web of Debt,” Brown explains our current “debt-based” private banking monetary system and its history, and the ominous role the private bankers have played in shaping national and world events for their own benefit, amassing great wealth and power, and the myth of the free market and the current events on Wall Street, all with fascinating, highly referenced, and understandable detail. She explains that much of history has been a struggle between the public interest and private banks, connecting the dots with a tale of intrigue that leaves the reader enlightened with how the world really works.
Brown explains that the current financial crisis is an end of a 300-year Ponzi scheme known as “Fractional Reserve Banking” run by the private banks, including the Federal Reserve. She further states that this is an opportune time to change the system now that it is collapsing — to a system where the people, i.e., Congress, take back the constitutional authority to create money (currently residing unconstitutionally in the hands of private bankers) for the good of the people, with the possibility of funding the government with fees and reasonable profits from public banking in lieu of the income tax.
Since the subject matter of “Web of Debt” is so vitally important and absolutely relevant to the current debate associated with the economic crisis, included below is a brief summary of some of the topics and points that Brown makes in her book.
SNIP
US Government as a perpetual debtor for a constant money supply. When loans are repaid, the principal amount of the money created is zeroed out. As Brown explains: “In order to keep money in the system, some major player has to incur substantial debt that never gets paid back; and this role is played by our federal government.” And Brown further notes: “The U.S. federal debt has not been paid off since the days of Andrew Jackson. Only the interest gets paid, while the principal portion continues to grow.” Calls to eliminate the Federal debt logically would need to be accompanied by a change in how money is created, or, rather, who creates the money.
The Federal Reserve is neither “Federal” nor has “Reserves.” The Federal Reserve is a private corporation, owned by a consortium of private banks, the biggest of which are Citibank and J.P. Morgan Chase, according to Brown. And, while most people think that the U.S. government “prints the money,” the U.S. government is, instead, also a borrower in our debt-based money system, and takes out loans from the Federal Reserve, which, in turn, creates money out of thin air. Brown explains, “The Fed swaps green pieces of paper called Federal Reserve Notes for pink pieces of paper called U.S. bonds (the federal government’s I.O.U.s), in order to provide Congress with the dollars it cannot raise through taxes.” The Federal Reserve and other central banks today use the same device — “trading its own paper notes for paper bonds representing the government’s promise to pay principal and interest back to the Bank” — as that of the Bank of England established in 1694. Brown quotes a circular distributed to attract subscribers to the Bank of England’s initial stock offering: “The Bank hath benefit of interest on all moneys which it, the Bank, creates out of nothing.”
Reserve accounts are “smoke and mirrors.” Furthering the illusion of a banking system more in line with the public’s false expectations, Brown explains that “reserves are a smoke and mirrors accounting trick concealing the fact that banks create the money they lend out of thin air, borrowing any ‘reserves’ they need from other banks or the Fed, which also create the money out of thin air.” Now, adding insult to injury, “the Fed acquired the ability to pay interest to its member banks on the reserves the banks maintain at the Fed,” per a provision of the recently enacted TARP bill, Brown writes in a recent article.
Continued at:
http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_4427.shtml
Peak Oil, Credit and the Collapse of Complex Systems: What Next?
What next? Isn’t that a question, though…
The Peak Oil story was never about running out of oil. It was about the collapse of complex systems in a world economy faced by the prospect of no further oil-fueled growth. It was something of a shock to many that the first complex system to fail would be banking, but the process is obvious: no more growth means no more ability to pay interest on credit… end of story, as Tony Soprano used to say.
There was a popular theory among Peak Oilers the last decade that the world would enter a “bumpy plateau” period when the global economy would get beaten down by peak oil, would then revive as “demand destruction” drove down oil prices, and would be beaten down again as oil prices shot up in response — with serial repetitions of the cycle, each beat-down taking economies lower — the only imaginable outcome being some sort of quiet homeostasis. This scenario did not play out as expected. It was predicated on a mistaken assumption that all systems would retain some kind of operational resilience while ratcheting down. Anyway, the banking system was mortally wounded in the first go-round and the behemoth is dying hard.
The last desperate act of the banking system in the face of Peak Oil’s no-more-growth equation was to engineer species of tradable securities that could produce wealth out of thin air rather than productive activity. This was the alphabet soup of algorithm-derived frauds with vague and confounding names such as credit default swaps (CDSs), collateralized debt obligations (CDOs), structured investment vehicles (SIVs), and, of course, the basic filler, mortgage backed securities. The banking system is now choking to death on these delicacies.
The trouble is that the EMT squad brought in to rescue the banking system — that is, governments — can’t remove these obstructions from the patient’s craw. They don’t want to drown in a mighty upchuck of the alphabet soup.
The collapse of complex systems is actually predicated on the idea that the systems would mutually reinforce each other’s failures. This is now plain to see as the collapse of banking (that is, of both lending and debt service), has led to the collapse of commerce and manufacturing. The next systems to go will probably be farming, transportation, and the oil markets themselves (which constitute the system for allocating and distributing world energy resources). As these things seize up, the final system to go will be governance, at least at the highest levels.
If we’re really lucky, human affairs will eventually reorganize at a lower scale of activity, governance, civility, and economy. Every week, the failure to recognize the nature of our predicament thrusts us further into the uncharted territory of hardship. The task of government right now is not to prop up doomed systems at their current scales of failure, but to prepare the public to rebuild our systems at smaller scales.
Full article by James Howard Kunstler here:
http://www.whiskeyandgunpowder.com/peak-oil-credit-and-the-collapse-of-complex-systems-what-next/
The Nation newspaper today reports on the unceremonious firing of Harry Husbands.
This has serious implications in the world of business, labour and indeed, social politics.
Why was he fired, is it because, as he infers, he refused to bow to pressure to use his position to influence decisions to be made in favour of specific companies?
Also, why have certain companies left this association, one may or may not infer that the association cramped their style of interaction with labour and the resulting decisions.
Labour unions in this country must pay careful attention to this development, as must we all.
BUSH LEAGUE JUSTICE:
Should George W. Bush Be Arrested in Calgary Alberta
To Be Tried For International Crimes?
by
Anthony J. Hall
Professor of Globalization Studies
University of Lethbridge
(For presentation as the annual distinguished lecture sponsored by the Sociology Department of the University of Winnipeg, 6 March, 2009)
George W. Bush and Omar al-Bashir
Serious allegations of criminality are swirling around ex-US President George W. Bush and current Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir. In late February of 2009 it was reported that the Hague-based International Criminal Court was preparing to issue a warrant for al-Bashir alleging his culpability for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. As the documents were being prepared against Sudan’s head of state, ex-President Bush was preparing to initiate a series of high-paying speaking engagements beginning in Calgary Alberta on March 17. Bush’s visit to Alberta’s oil capital tests the consistency and authenticity of the Canadian government’s “unequivocal” position that “Canada is not and will not become a safe haven for persons involved in war crimes, crimes against humanity or other reprehensible acts.”1
The contrast between the treatment afforded Bush and al-Bashir was inadvertently highlighted by Geoffrey York, a colleague with whom I conferred frequently when we were both reporting regularly in The Globe and Mail about two decades ago on the surprising twists that repeatedly made Aboriginal Affairs in Manitoba a major source of national news. York introduced his story on the charges against al-Bashir by writing, “For the first time in history, an international criminal court is set to issue an arrest warrant for the leader of a country, accusing him of orchestrating a campaign of murder, torture and rape.” The reporter anticipated that the ICC’s initiative “will be hailed by many as a sign that nobody is above the law.”2
The striking contrast between the treatment of al-Bashir and Bush serves to clarify the division of the world’s criminals and suspected criminals into two major categories, one inhabited by a small elite that is essentially above the law and the other populated by figures not rich or influential enough to gain exemptions from the law’s coercive force. It is not without a sense of irony that I arrive at this conclusion. On the one hand the ICC’s decision to press charges against al-Bashir, as well as to initiate in January of 2009 a full-fledged trial against Congolese warlord Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, signals a major transformation in the career of the ICC.3 It indicates that the court is no longer a mere vehicle for the empty expression of lofty idealism but rather a site of real engagement aimed at subjugating the rule of murder, mayhem and intimidation to the higher authority of law.
On the other hand by pointing its initial surge of juridical activism at the local criminality of individuals in those afflicted regions of Africa where resource cartels and their client regimes often dominate, the ICC has called attention to the West’s hypocrisy in shielding its own war lords and war profiteers in the military-industrial complex from any legal accountability for the violent acts its operatives, many of them in the so-called private sector, regularly plan, instigate, finance, arm, facilitate, commit and exploit.4 Indeed, the double standard promoted by the ICC in the choice of its targets for prosecution replicates in the international arena much of the duplicity of the criminal justice system in the United States.
As starkly demonstrated by the scandalously high and inequitable proportion of Blacks warehoused in the failing superpower’s privatized jails, law-enforcement officials there obviously shower a disproportionately high amount of their energy on criminalizing poor African-Americans leaving those predominately fair-skinned inhabitants of suburbia and the more rarified enclaves of extreme wealth outside the orbit of their most concerted attention. Will the new global enforcers of international law limit themselves to prosecuting gang leaders in the continental ghetto of Africa while conveniently looking the other way when it comes to more comprehensive global networks of cartelized criminality headquartered in North America, Europe, Israel, and, increasingly, China, India and Russia as well.5
While Omar al-Bashir is far from a household name, George Bush is one of the most well known people in the world. Indeed, throughout the eight years of his disastrous presidency, Bush managed to make himself into one of the most reviled individuals on the planet. He is widely disliked for his policies as well as for the assorted war hawks, corporate privateers, lying propagandists, evangelical zealots, loan sharks, torture freaks, and psycho cops and generals who formed the ex-president’s inner circle. A significant component of global public opinion sees this discredited man as the embodiment of something far worse than terrible leadership. They see the forty-third US head of state as an abusive lawbreaker. Indeed, many rightfully see Bush as a pathological deviant who harboured the delusional fantasy that the power of his office gave him unlimited global power to authorize his national forces, proxy armies and mercenary operatives to commit the most grave onslaughts of mass murder, disappearances and torture on a genocidal scale.
This widespread belief is informed by the large and growing body of legal scholarship using evidence already on the public sphere to make the case that George Bush and his underlings have violated many domestic and international laws, including the Geneva Conventions and UN instruments prohibiting torture. Philippe Sands, Francis Boyle and Osgood Hall Law School Professor Michael Mandel have been prominent among the international jurists who have developed the legal case that George Bush and his war cabinet have transgressed the law of nations on many, many counts.6 Indeed, the line up is long of jurists seeking to bring the ex-US president to justice. With his recent book, The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder, Vincent Bugliosi, the former prosecutor of Charles Manson, adds his voice to a crowded field.7
Continued at:
http://www.911blogger.com/node/19540
Interesting article from a Hawaii newspaper. Perhaps some of the points it raises are relevant to our situation as well.
Give visitors what they want – bring back ‘old Hawaii’
By Franco Mancassola
POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Mar 06, 2009
(Page 1 of 2) | Single Page View
“Hawaii hotel occupancy in ’08 fared worse than U.S. average.”
That is only one of many worrying headlines in the news. With such a gloomy scenario concerning our No. 1 industry, one can only hope that the people responsible for Hawaii’s tourism will take immediate and decisive action to correct this negative trend. The livelihoods of many people depend on it. But what can be done?
I can only put forward some thoughts for all to ponder, wacky as they may seem. In a previous columns, I mentioned that there might be a disconnect between the various entities that are, each in its own way, responsible for stimulating tourism and enticing visitors to come to Hawaii. But now there is little or no point in dwelling on past miscalculations and mistakes. The priority must be to find solutions.
It is clear now that the “high roller” visitors who were envisaged, and for whom the new Hawaii image was created, are not coming. It seems that what we have to offer is not what they are looking for. At the same time, we turned our back on the typical visitor who was our main source of income for many years. We need to get them back.
Our hotels need to readjust to the traditional tourist by offering rates that are more in line with the spending power of those who choose Hawaii for their vacations. People today are more conversant and informed as to what represents value and if we don’t provide it, they will look elsewhere. Would this readjustment be financially painful? It might be, but if corrective actions are not taken, the pain will be far more severe in the future.
The City and County of Honolulu and the state might need to take another look at the “master plan” and realize that this expansion and endless construction is turning Hawaii from a tropical paradise to an urban jungle of cement; it is hardly an environment that will entice visitors. A moratorium on granting permits to build huge skyscrapers and massive hotels might be a good start.
Restaurants also need to realize that charging $70 to $80 or more per person for a dinner is more than the majority of Hawaii visitors are willing to spend every evening. The warning sign? The high number of restaurant closures. Forget the nouvelle cuisine and all the pomp associated with it. We are not Cannes, or Saint Tropez or Monte Carlo.
There is an urgent need to address the homeless situation. It is a serious problem that must to be solved for the sake of the homeless themselves and for our tourism industry. It is heartbreaking to see so many people and families camping on the beaches and roaming the streets of Waikiki. But it is also a deterrent for visitors, who are providing much-needed revenue for the state.
A decline in visitors leads to a loss of revenue and therefore a loss of jobs. Loss of jobs could mean an increase in the homeless population. It is a vicious circle that can no longer be ignored. A solution must be found. Burying our heads in the sand could only aggravate the situation and create a bigger problem down the road.
Hawaii also needs the airlines’ help. I am not sure how much airlines are willing or able to reduce their fares, but maybe they should consider loosening some of those restrictions that are more of an impediment than an asset. In case something goes wrong and they need to change a departure date, existing rules do not allow any change in itinerary unless one pays considerable additional fees and penalties or, worse, loses the money paid for the fare. We all know the reasoning behind these rules, but for visitors who are coming 3,000 miles or more across the Pacific for a relaxing vacation, having the threat of these restrictions hanging over their heads is anything but relaxing. It is a disincentive to many travelers. It must be considered that most visitors are families, so these penalties could increase considerably the cost of the vacation.
In the Internet era, a change in reservations can be done with a click of a button. Therefore, a change in the departure or return date could be allowed for a reasonable administrative fee. That would be a big help.
There is now a new leader at the Hawaii Tourism Authority. He faces enormous challenges and urgent need for changes. The sudden downturn in the economy caught Hawaii’s tourism flat-footed. With no visible alternative strategy in place, a further slide downward seems unavoidable.
During the last few years Hawaii had an unprecedented opportunity to conquer a large share of the visitors market. Hawaii had most of the elements that the average visitor is looking for. With two wars going on and instability around the world, Hawaii was seen by most Americans as “home” – safe, with glorious weather, the same language, and where a dollar was still a dollar. It was beautiful, exotic and affordable.
Foreign tourists are much the same as Americans, ultimately looking for the same things, and the “old” Hawaii was the perfect place.
So what can be done now? We need to return to catering to our traditional market. Hotels, shops and restaurants need to bite the bullet, recognize that Hawaii is not a place for high rollers and big spenders and realign the price structures to be more in step with today’s market realities.
Going back to basics might create a temporary financial loss, but it will be far more achievable and less painful than stubbornly continuing down this high road that leads to nowhere.
Franco Mancassola, a frequent contributor to the Star-Bulletin opinion pages, founded Discovery Air and Debonair Airways. He also was vice president of International Operations for Continental Airlines and World Airways. He lives in Hawaii Kai.
“Hawaii hotel occupancy in ’08 fared worse than U.S. average.”
That is only one of many worrying headlines in the news. With such a gloomy scenario concerning our No. 1 industry, one can only hope that the people responsible for Hawaii’s tourism will take immediate and decisive action to correct this negative trend. The livelihoods of many people depend on it. But what can be done?
I can only put forward some thoughts for all to ponder, wacky as they may seem. In a previous columns, I mentioned that there might be a disconnect between the various entities that are, each in its own way, responsible for stimulating tourism and enticing visitors to come to Hawaii. But now there is little or no point in dwelling on past miscalculations and mistakes. The priority must be to find solutions.
It is clear now that the “high roller” visitors who were envisaged, and for whom the new Hawaii image was created, are not coming. It seems that what we have to offer is not what they are looking for. At the same time, we turned our back on the typical visitor who was our main source of income for many years. We need to get them back.
Our hotels need to readjust to the traditional tourist by offering rates that are more in line with the spending power of those who choose Hawaii for their vacations. People today are more conversant and informed as to what represents value and if we don’t provide it, they will look elsewhere. Would this readjustment be financially painful? It might be, but if corrective actions are not taken, the pain will be far more severe in the future.
The City and County of Honolulu and the state might need to take another look at the “master plan” and realize that this expansion and endless construction is turning Hawaii from a tropical paradise to an urban jungle of cement; it is hardly an environment that will entice visitors. A moratorium on granting permits to build huge skyscrapers and massive hotels might be a good start.
http://www.starbulletin.com/editorials/20090306_gathering_place.html
Easy Calling From
https://www.etopuponline.com/beta/
Top Caribbean News from http://www.caribbeanworldnews.com/
The Dollar’s Days are Numbered
by Bill BonnerGranada, Spain The dollar’s days are numbered. We are beginning to feel sorry for it…as we do all lost causes. Trouble is, we don’t know whether it’s a big number or a little number that marks the dollar’s last days. Last week, a decimal point seemed to move to the left. A UN advisory panel had suggested that maybe it was time to figure it out a better way to run the world’s monetary system. Better, that is, than using the U.S. dollar as the reference currency for the whole world.
As you’ll recall, almost every price on the planet ultimately relates to dollars. You can buy an orange here in Granada for euros. But the global market in oranges is priced in dollars. So when people figure out how much something is worth – in global terms – they typically refer to dollars. And when countries want to make sure they have enough money on hand to settle up their debts with other countries…or enough money to buy Florida oranges…or enough to purchase oil to run their factories – they lay in a supply of dollars.
But while the value of everything is referenced to dollars, what’s the dollar’s value referenced to? At the end of the day, upon what rock does the world financial system rest? Ah…that’s the weakness of it…there ain’t no rock. Look at the foundation of the world’s money system and all you find is mush… And last week, the Chinese poked around with a stick to see how soft it was…. They, too, said it was time for a change – a new money system with the IMF operating as a sort of Super Central Bank – giving nations ‘special drawing rights on gold’.
And this week, the G20 will meet in London. They are to have a ‘rendezvous with destiny,’ say the papers. The world is faced with a huge challenge. People turn their weary eyes to the politicians, hoping they will meet the challenge. Historians will record the event like they did the Council of Trent or the Treaty of Westphalia.
Blah…blah…blah…as near as we can tell. The fact is there isn’t anything our leaders can do about the situation except make it worse. The markets need to clear…and adjust to the new post-bubble reality. The more effective governments are at preventing this from happening – that is, the more successful their bailouts are – the longer and deeper the correction will be. At least on the subject of the dollar, the G20 group could do something worthwhile. They could renounce Nixon’s faith-based currency system…and return to a gold-backed system.
But they’re not going to do that. Not yet. Not until the dollar-based system has blown itself up. When will that happen? We wish we knew. But, one way or another…sooner or later, a new money system is bound to emerge. Most likely, it will have gold at its base. Why? Because in thousands of years of human experience, nothing better has ever been found. Not that we completely discount the possibility of a better system; humans can be clever. But money is the sort of activity where you don’t want cleverness.
You want dumb, honest solidity…you want something that cleverness can’t undermine or circumvent. You want money that smart people can’t fiddle…and that is gold. This is why we believe that the gold price has much, much higher to go…and investors who buy now, when the price is low, will be rewarded in spades.
Right now, central banks are fiddling faster than Nero. The total cost alone for all this fiddling in the United States is something on the order of $14 trillion. Under these circumstances, you’d think inflation was a sure thing…and that the dollar was a goner. Not so fast. Inflation is not that easy to create or control. It could be months – or years –before consumer prices rise.
As we explained last week, people who expect consumer prices to rise immediately could be deeply disappointed. For one thing, the depression is sucking money out of the system even faster than the feds are putting it back in. It’s that old ‘paradox of savings’ issue. When an economy goes into a downswing, people save money. This causes prices to fall…making saving more valuable. Then, people save even more. Instead of circulating, money goes into pockets, vaults, and mattresses; saved for a rainier day…and lower prices. For another thing, “the money multiplier… has collapsed,” as one economist put it in the Financial Times.
Normally, when banks get more money they ‘multiply’ it by lending out even more. That’s how fractional reserve banking is supposed to work. But now, the banks aren’t lending. They’re rebuilding their own coffers…just like ordinary citizens. Besides, they’re afraid to lend – who knows what the collateral will be worth when this depression gets finished with it! The multiplier has forgotten how to do arithmetic. And for still another thing, there’s what Keynesian economists call an “output gap.”
What this means is that the economy is functioning at less than full capacity. In fact, Goldman Sachs estimates this “output gap” at 8% of global GDP.
As long as industry can provide more things – using its surplus capacity – without the need for major additional inputs, it has no pricing power. People can buy…but it won’t cause prices to rise.
We also have the Japanese experience. True, the United States is not Japan. Things are different. And we have a strong hunch that they will turn out differently too. But the Japanese experience is worth keeping in mind.
The Bank of Japan tried to get prices rising for more than 10 years – putting huge amounts of cash into the system. But instead of causing consumer prices to rise in Japan, the money was borrowed and re-invested in the United States and emerging markets. It did nothing to increase consumer prices in Japan.
You are probably wondering what the bottom line is… We’re wondering too. What we take from this soliloquy is that inflation is tougher to conjure up than it generally recognized. Putting an extra dollar of cash into the system doesn’t necessarily make prices rise.
On the other hand, this mush under the world financial system makes the structure inherently unstable. And as more and more brine is pumped in, it becomes even more unstable. It’s not that the additional liquidity raises the consumer price level directly…dollar for dollar. Instead, it is like floodwaters backing up behind an earthen dam.
The risk of a sudden flood increases…one that will swamp the dollar and send investors and savers running for the high ground. Yes, dear reader…there’s the surprise we were looking for. The Fed’s “quantitative easing” won’t cause inflation. At least, not serious consumer price inflation directly linked to the money supply increases. The Fed will inflate the money supply. But consumer price inflation will remain relatively low – as it did in Japan. This will lead investors to believe that they can sit tight…believing that they will be able to move to a higher elevation when consumer prices finally begin to rise.
They will think about buying gold, but they will put it off – waiting for the CPI to rise. Then, very suddenly, investors will see the threat. Maybe the Chinese will be the first to rush. Maybe private investors will make the first move. Maybe it will be a sudden spike in the CPI that sets them off. Maybe it will be an unexpected spike in the price of gold…or oil. Or maybe even a bold move from the Fed that leaves no doubt as to its intentions.
Then, all of a sudden people will realize that what they are holding is just paper – nothing more – and they will try to get out of it as fast as possible. But it will be too late. Once the dike breaks, in a matter of hours, the dollar will sink like Lehman shares.
Evidence of Thermitic material (explosives/pyrtotechnics) in dust from 9/11 WTC wreckage published in a peer reviews scientific journal.
Posted at: http://www.911blogger.com/node/19762 :
Visibility 9-11 Welcomes Kevin Ryan and Dr. Steven E. Jones
These two important episodes of Visibility 9-11 welcomes back to the program, Kevin Ryan and Physicist Dr. Steven E. Jones.
Kevin is a chemist who is formerly of Underwriter Laboratories. Kevin became a 9-11 whistleblower when he was fired for writing his now infamous 2004 letter to Frank Gayle at the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST). Kevin has been very prolific in his research since getting fired by UL and has either authored or co-authored many important papers relating to 9-11 since 2004.
Dr. Jones is a retired physics professor and first emerged in late 2005 with his important paper, Why Indeed Did the World Trade Center Buildings Completely Collapse?, and has continued to do groundbreaking research into the “collapses” of all three high rise buildings on September 11th, 2001.
Kevin and Dr. Jones both sit as co-editors at the Journal of 9-11 Studies and Dr. Jones is the founder of Scholars for 9-11 Truth and Justice. Both have been stalwarts in the scientific and scholarly area of the 9-11 Truth Movement..
Our talks today with Kevin and Dr. Jones features an in-depth discussion on a new paper which has been formally published and peer reviewed by The Open Chemical Physics Journal titled Active Thermitic Material Discovered in Dust from the 9/11 World Trade Center Catastrophe. In this revolutionary new research paper, discoveries made in the World Trade Center dust, particularly the red/gray bi-layered chips, are examined in great detail and include evidence of the thermite fingerprint at every juncture.
The research paper ends with this sentence, which pulls no punches when it comes to what the authors believe these red/gray chips to be:
“Based on these observations, we conclude that the red layer of the red/gray chips we have discovered in the WTC dust is active, unreacted thermitic material, incorporating nanotechnology, and is a highly energetic pyrotechnic or explosive material.”
Kevin Ryan, one of the co-authors of the research paper says,
“My colleagues and I have a new mainstream peer-reviewed paper published today, entitled “Active Thermitic Material Discovered in Dust From the 9/11 World Trade Center Catastrophe”. Basically it shows that high tech explosive/pyrotechnic materials are scattered throughout the WTC dust. How can this be?”
Dr. Steven E. Jones another co-author of the paper writes:
“In short, the paper explodes the official story that “no evidence” exists for explosive/pyrotechnic materials in the WTC buildings.” The red/gray chips are the “loaded gun” of 9-11.
Download these important episodes of Visibility 9-11 and here and here.
( http://media.libsyn.com/media/visibility911/visibility911_kevinryan0309.mp3 and
http://media.libsyn.com/media/visibility911/visibility911_drjones0309.mp3 )Find links to the research paper, these episodes, and watch for other planned interviews on this topic at our Visibility 9-11 Special Report, The Thermite Fingerprint; The Loaded Gun.
Where to begin, oh yeah the latest blackout or was it the one before that. I’ve lost count, what is clear is the usual tired excuse from the Barbados Light and Power “Our protection system did not work and we will endeavour that it will not happen again” until later this year. What the company will not tell the people of Barbados is the number of engineers working at the company at an average salary of $8,000.00 monthly for the new ones I will save the salaries of the senior blood suckers for another submission, let’s see the above salary by 10 is $80,000.00 monthly by say 12 months works to $960,000.00. Now tell me why the hell am I paying one million annually for a sorry lie. I am no eng. and I can tell you the lie for free. The problem is simple the generation aspect has developed and left the distribution side lacking, there were some upgrades but the eng. on both generation and distribution spend their days starting companies and employing contractors to bid over inflated amounts for contracts that don’t go to tender. Hence why they will attempt to fleece you through the people defender the FTC what a joke!!!!! imagine an engineer being paid a salary and then profiting via a company contracting services to the BL&P. Conflict of interest depends on who is spinning it. The company fired two employees with on average 50 years between them for theft of used wire. The usual story of a stinking big guts field slave that would carry way GOD if given a chance get promote, there ain’t nobody like them now. See something and went like a bitch to the masa. You draw your conclusions but examine this, an entire crew sent home for an action that is done by all and sundry and I mean all….the distribution system not the best ie blackouts hmmm where do I pick up the slack I know the same contractors employed by me the eng. with nothing to do but draw free money. One less crew = more free money for me. Stay tuned for more in the series
Cable & Wireless aka LIME sent sending home workers after boosting about $91 million profit. Now under section 10 under their Terms and Conditions now wants to charge interest.
Section 10:13
YOU MUST PAY YOUR BILL BY THE DUE DATE STATED ON THE BILL.IF YOU DONT PAY YOUR BILL BY THE PAYMENT DUE DATE WE CAN DEBAR YOUR USE OF SOME OR ALL OF OUR SERVICES AND CHARGE YOU INTEREST ON WHAT YOU OWE AT 1.5% PER MONTH. WE WILL CHARGE YOU INTERST UNTIL YOU PAY….
SECTION 10:8
YOU WILL NOT BE RELIEVED FROM MAKING PAYMENT TO US BECAUSE YOU HAVE NOT RECEIVED A BILL SHOWING THE AMOUNT OWED ON YOUR ACCOUNT.YOU SHOULD CALL US IMMEDIATELY IF YOU HAVE NOT RECEIVED YOUR MONTHLY BILL TO OBTAIN YOU CURRENT ACCOUNT BALANCE.
Why do educated Barbadian and governments foolishly accept this behaviour from monopolies.
Just came from reading some disturbing news:
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/04/26/swine.flu/index.html
Why is this disturbing? Let’s see.
– It’s a killer strain of flu that no one seems to be able to take care of
– It’s being spread like wildfire throughout Mexico and God knows where else
– It’s traveling now with unwitting hosts internationally
– It’s entry to Barbados would be easy
Now, the last 2 are especially disturbing for me. If one reads the article, you can see that New Zealand, Japan, Canada, South Korea and other countries are taking steps to ensure that the entry of this disease into their countries will be limited if they can help it.
What will Barbados do?
We can’t stop drugs from coming through the airport.
We can’t stop certain tourists to check their bags (because they’re that important).
We can’t even stop people from bringing in frozen goods like ham without the appropriate license.
Therefore, how are we going to stop an airborne virus.
Will that Ministry of Health official stationed at the airport have the cojones to stop the American tourist that sounds as if they are coughing up a lung?
Will flight crew on any of the airlines notify someone in authority on the ground if they notice that one of their passengers is particularly ill?
Will the immigration officer at the desk sound an alarm if he notices a seriously unwell person?
Or will this be Barbados once more and we continue to go on and do our thing as if nothing has happened?
We need to wake up and look at what’s going on around us. The world, thanks to modern technology, has become about as small as a village and as such, we need to treat it like one.
Barbados depends on tourism but that does not mean that we should put our tourism workers at risk just to make some money during the recession.
I hope this government realises that and formulates a plan quickly.
This is indeed a serious matter and merits a response from the authorities. Has any steps been taken to confront this challenge? This would be disastrous at this time.
To be honest, I doubt that something has been done already and furthermore, in line with our reactive rather than proactive stance, nothing will be done until its too late.
@TM
We listened with interest to the US cable stations today boasting of the large stockpile of the Theraflu remedy which is believed to be able to combat the virus. Does Barbados have a similar contingency plan?
Barbados?
Stockpile?!?!
…of anything?!?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
David, if only.
But don’t we boast of a health system to be proud?
As a tourist dependent country is it unreasonable to expect that we would have a stockpile of a virus vaccine?
It appears that the government has made me take my words back and eat them.
As I understand it each new virus requires its own specific vaccine to be effective.
That’s not a big problem in forming one the real hitch is the batch production of the millions required, may be six months down the line until then we have to rely on non-specific flu treatments.
Perhaps GP would care to update us.
According to US reports their government appears to feel comfortable
releasing the Theriflu even though the stain seems to be bordering on
Type III.
Just a bit of fun, takinr recent headlines and mixing them up:
– Barbadians Love Affair With Nude Beaches
– The Bible and The Qu’ran Under Threat
– Banks Brewery Tells Calendar Girl 2007, Shall We Dance?
– Bajan Girls Gone Wild, Pandemic a Concern
– Stimulus Money, A Case of the Fatted Calf Being Slaughtered?
– LIME Guilty of Intolerance?
– No Word From PM or AG About Things We Could Do
– Educating The Radio Listeners on Talk Programmes
– LIME Continues Middle-Finger -Of-The-Apocalypse
– Guyanese Welcome, Brothers Kept Apart
– Bajan Girls, The Bible and The Qu’ran
– Is Barbados In Support of The Whole Being?
That’s it for now!
An application for increased electricy rates has been made to the Fair Trading Commission which proposes the highest increase for domestic consumers.
It is proposed that consumers using 50 kilowatts monthly (at the bottom of the scale) would pay an increase of $3.47 and those at the top using 500 kWh would pay an additional $11.04. In between there are proposed rates for citizens using 100 kWh ($3.50), 150 kWh ($8.46), 200 kWh ($8.83), 300 kWh ($9.57) and 400 kWh ($10.30).
The company has contended that businesses have been paying a greater share of the cost of providing electricity and is seeking to adjust this so domestic consumers pay a larger share than they have in the past.
As a result the power company is proposing to increase the Rate of Return it makes from the Domestic side of the market from the current 2.58 per cent to 7.82 per cent, which is the single largest increase of the five categories.
So rather than the current return of 4.1 million dollars it is seeking to earn 12.6 million dollars from its application.
The likelihood of an electricity rate increase by October coincides with pending higher telephone rates of four per cent.
Armed with the above information and our electricity bills it is possible to calculate what our new monthly bills would be if the application was accepted without change. This is particularly useful for persons at the bottom of the income ladder such as pensioners.
Hallam Hope
caritel@hallamhope.com
I read the Sunday Sun today, if some persons haven’t as yet, it is sad. Most of the persons crying out are the poor or if not the poor places who employ the poor are crying out.
Firstly there is Mullins Beach Bar erosion of sand.
Then there is guyanese uneasy, consulate flooded with queries
Right time for shake up about the Guyanese AGAIN!
Unfair to small city businesses
Then to round up, the BLP telling us to BRACE ourselves.
When I check my self more and more conspiracy theories coming to mind!
Good observations JC. Actually there are two big snow/PR jobs being pushed by the Sunday Sun today.
The Nation management is operating true to form with their bashing of the government on its policy to document illegals in Barbados. Sounds strange doesn’t it?
The other snow job is Robert Le Hunte of BNB’s spread. The recent publishing of BNB’s balance sheet which shows that they have taken a dent with CLICO withdrawing 32 millions dollars as well as some increase in bad debt provisioning.
BNB is a significant purchaser of advertising and it probably only required a quick phone call.
David
Look at the prominent place the guyanese born gibbs has given to a public relations release from norman faria – the guyana honorary or unpaid consul.
The 3rd page is really the second page since for years now the 2nd page is taken up with a full page advertisement.
If bajans are in any doubt about the FORCES that are at work among the guyanese community here in barbados and the BLP politicians,they better sit up and take note.
Rawle Eastmond in a moment of frank candour on a call in programme stated that”there were diabolical forces in high places “,namely his party and their agents.
Everyone talking but I want David and the BU Family to study this reallll good who is the DPP?
I hope you all understand where I am coming from PLEASE THINK!
CONSPIRACY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
POOR PEOPLE WAKE UP!!!!1
I am begging you all to wake up!
MAN KNOW THYSELF!
The DPP is charles Leacock who is a guyanese.
He is responsible for bringingcharges against alleged criminals.
We had planned to focus 100% on the budget and financial statement today and tomorrow but the obvious orchestrated attempt against our Prime Minister and by extension our country merits a response. We will endeavoru to respond to the nationalistic fervour which has gripped the BU household and family.
David I could not believe what is in the Nation newspaper today;
David commissong – anti thompson article on the new immigration policy;
Norman Faria – article against new immigration policy;
Ricky Singh – article on how (or so he hopes) there will be a raging battle against thompson at the next caricom heads meeting;
Nation editorial obviously written by either roxanne gibbs or ricky singh -against new immigration policy;
Do we want any more eveidence on the collusion that is going on.
We need to write letters to the newspapers,call in on CBC and VOB,write on the internet,speak to the DLP M.Ps and let them know we support the P.M. and we looking to see action and not only talk.
God Bless the late Errol Barrow and the DLP party.
I echo that last statement “God bless the late Errol Barrow and the DLP party”. Amen to that. As to writing letters to the newspapers, waste of time, they only publish what (or who) they want. I hope Mr. Thompson will simply ignore Gonsalves, Faria and Ricky Singh and do what Bajans want him to do. To hell with that drunken fool Gonsalves and the other two idiots Singh and Faria.
Sometimes I wonder if many of the bloggers on here (but mostly on BFP) are extraterestrial creatures, because when you travel the length and bredth of Barbados, ordinary people – Big Ups, Little Ups, young, middle-aged and elderly say that Thompson and the DLP are doing a good job, but when you read BFP in particular you wonder what kind of morons the bloggers are. Of course there is the possibility that they’re all Bees, and there’s the possibility that there are only a few, writing under several different names. BFP? Well, according to the blogger “Wuh?” it is the Canadian man Allard and when “Wuh” exposed him, BFP banned “Wuh”. It is obvious that, unlike BU, BFP is very much foreign-owned. Enough said. I agree with Mash Up Buy Back, we should let the DLP know we support them and the P.M.
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