Naomi Klein's "The Shock Doctrine" in the Israeli Context
On Thursday, the 26th of June, 2008, Shir Hever, economist with the
Her most recent work is, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism (September 2007). In this book, she undertakes to show how “disaster capitalism,” which she defines as “orchestrated raids on the public sphere in the wake of catastrophic events, combined with the treatment of disasters as exciting market opportunities,” did not begin in the wake of September 11, 2001. Instead, its origins can be traced back fifty years, to the
Shir spoke with Naomi about
By Moe Bedard on July 4th, 2008
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"Never has there been a time in our history where our freedom has bee over shadowed by our burdens of debt and war, as it is now. The time has come to unite in the streets of America as people, families and communities who must stick together, stand tall and keep fighting for what the fathers of our country did over 200 years ago.''
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McCain adviser in Republican attack | ||
John McCain's top economic adviser has attacked Congressional Republicans, saying they have brought "shame and disgrace" on the party. In a BBC interview, Doug Holtz-Eakin accused them of busting the budget with profligate spending programmes. The comments are part of a strategy by Senator McCain's camp to distance themselves from the Republicans and avoid blame for the economic downturn. Mr McCain will stick to his principles even if it costs him votes, he said. Straight-talking | ||
By Joyce Moullakis
July 3 (Bloomberg) -- Anshu Jain, head of global markets at Deutsche Bank AG, said the contagion triggered by the U.S. subprime mortgage collapse has erased more than a fifth of the banking industry's value and is ``by no means over.''
Jain, at a Euromoney conference in London, said the crisis ``has wiped out $200 billion,'' or about 22 percent of U.S. banks' so-called tangible equity. That impact is similar to the combined effect on the insurance industry of Hurricane Andrew, the Sept. 11 attacks and Hurricane Katrina, he said.
``This banks crisis is really at a point where it equals the three biggest crises faced by the insurance industry,'' said Jain, 45. ``It's by no means over.''
Ron Paul Interview
Markets News Friday: Brent crude price above $146 in London; UBS says it may avoid a loss in Q2; Nikkei 225 in longest losing streak in 54 years
Even Buffett fortunes slump 20pc as bears maul Berkshire
Oil Rises for Second Week as Investors Seek Stocks Alternatives
Deutsche Bank’s Jain: Crisis is Solvency, Not Liquidity
Why the British Economy Will Plunge Into Depression
American Airlines to cut 8% of staff: 7000 jobs
George Soros
Mr. Soros, how does it feel being a speculator, these days?
Soros hesitates, finally laughs. It is not always easy. Yet, when people ask about my profession, I say: Yes, I am a speculator. I am a financial, as well as a philanthropic and philosophic, speculator. And in this wider sense, I am proud of being a speculator.In a recent interview with stern Magazine, German President Horst Koehler referred to the international financial markets, where you, over the past year, made billions of dollars, as a "monster". Are you stung by this criticism?
--MORE--Thu Jul 3, 2008 11:43am EDT
By Burton Frierson
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. service sector shrank unexpectedly in June, according to a report released on Thursday, while inflation pressures soared to a record high for the survey's 11-year history.
ISM's measure of employment in the vital service sector hit a record low, which could fan fears of a return to low growth and high inflation, known as stagflation, that was last seen in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
The data also heightens the dilemma facing the Federal Reserve, which had cut benchmark U.S. interest rates to support the weak economy at the risk of fueling price pressures but which is now expected to keep them on hold while they see if inflation becomes a bigger problem for the U.S. economy.
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Internal World Bank study delivers blow to plant energy drive
Aditya Chakrabortty
* The Guardian,
* Friday July 4, 2008
Corn used for biofuel
Biofuels have forced global food prices up by 75% - far more than previously estimated - according to a confidential World Bank report obtained by the Guardian.
The damning unpublished assessment is based on the most detailed analysis of the crisis so far, carried out by an internationally-respected economist at global financial body.
The figure emphatically contradicts the US government's claims that plant-derived fuels contribute less than 3% to food-price rises. It will add to pressure on governments in Washington and across Europe, which have turned to plant-derived fuels to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and reduce their dependence on imported oil.
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No nuke strike on Tehran this just passed new moon, I see. Next likeliest strike time is August 10, the next Jewish holiday.
w w w . h a a r e t z . c o m
Last update - 02:03 04/07/2008
By Amir Oren
Iran is likely to launch ballistic missiles against Israel and the United States and the NATO alliance should prepare for it, was the warning issued earlier this week by Admiral James Winnefeld, commander of the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean. In recent years, the missile boats of the Sixth Fleet practiced intercepting Shahab-3 missiles from Iran aimed at Israel, along with the Arrow batteries of the air force and U.S. and Israeli batteries of Patriot missiles.
In an article entitled "Maritime Strategy in an Age of Blood and Belief" in the U.S. Naval Institute's monthly Proceedings, Admiral Winnefeld describes the possibility of an offensive barrage of ballistic missiles fired from Iran against Israel as being "by far the most likely employment of ballistic missiles in the world today, and it demands our immediate attention in the event of a need for a U.S. or NATO response."
He says Iran is an "unpredictable adversary," which could be provoked into action "by an isolated, and perhaps seemingly unimportant, event."
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Frenchman killed in London 'was stabbed 196 times'
Philippe Naughton, Adam Fresco and Fran Yeoman
One of the two French research students found dead in a burnt-out London flat had been stabbed 196 times, the detective leading the murder investigation said today. His friend had 47 separate injuries.
The deaths of Laurent Bonomo and Gabriel Ferez, both aged 23, came as a massive shock to their families and fellow students at the Polytech in Clermont-Ferrand, central France, where both studied bio-engineering and where Mr Bonomo had recently been student president.
The horrific nature of the attack against them shocked even experienced detectives. "I have never seen injuries inflicted to bodies like this before," Detective Chief Inspector Mick Duthie told a press conference at Scotland Yard.
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Wed Jul 2, 2008 11:31am EDT
By Christopher Doering
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Americans buying food for their Fourth of July cookout will be paying more, the nation's largest farm group said on Wednesday, with prices up 8.5 percent from this time last year.
An informal survey conducted by the American Farm Bureau Federation in May showed much of the increase occurred during the second quarter, when the cost of 16 grocery items -- including apples, pork chops and oat cereal -- was $46.67, up about 3.5 percent, or $1.64, from the first quarter.
"Prices of many food items continue to creep upward," Jim Sartwelle, a Farm Bureau economist, said.
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Oil prices near $146 a barrel for 1st time ever
ECB raises benchmark rate to 4.25 pct
Employers cut jobs for sixth straight month
By JEANNINE AVERSA, AP Economics Writer 6 minutes ago
Employers cut payrolls by 62,000 in June, the sixth straight month of nationwide job losses, underscoring the economy's fragile state. The unemployment rate held steady at 5.5 percent.
The latest snapshot of business conditions, released by the Labor Department on Thursday, showed continued caution on the part of employers who are chafing under high energy prices and are uncertain about how long the economy will be stuck in a sluggish mode, reflecting fallout from housing, credit and financial troubles.
Heavy job losses in construction, manufacturing and financial services, along with cutbacks in retailing, eclipsed job gains in education and health services, leisure and hospitality, and government.
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By Burton Frierson and Steven C. Johnson
NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. private employers slashed 79,000 jobs in June while planned layoffs at U.S. firms rose nearly 50 percent above year-ago levels, according to data that may spell bad news for a government payrolls report this week.
Wednesday's data brought some brighter news as well, however, with a boost in demand for aircraft lifting new orders at U.S. factories by an unexpectedly large 0.6 percent in May.
Also, U.S. mortgage applications rose last week with help from lower home loan rates, though the bounce follows a 6-1/2-year low the prior week.
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Dr. Paul on FOX Business tonight
Something Big is Going On
The following statement is written by Congressman Paul about the pending financial disaster. He will introduce this statement as a special order and insert it into the Congressional Record next week. Fortunately, we have the opportunity to debut it first on the Campaign for Liberty blog. It reads as follows:
I have, for the past 35 years, expressed my grave concern for the future of America. The course we have taken over the past century has threatened our liberties, security and prosperity. In spite of these long-held concerns, I have days—growing more frequent all the time—when I’m convinced the time is now upon us that some Big Events are about to occur. These fast-approaching events will not go unnoticed. They will affect all of us. They will not be limited to just some areas of our country. The world economy and political system will share in the chaos about to be unleashed.
Though the world has long suffered from the senselessness of wars that should have been avoided, my greatest fear is that the course on which we find ourselves will bring even greater conflict and economic suffering to the innocent people of the world—unless we quickly change our ways.
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Report: Iran willing to suspend nuclear program for at least six weeks
w w w . h a a r e t z . c o m
Last update - 10:50 02/07/2008
By Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz Correspondent
The belief that Israel will attack Iran before the year is out, and the major military drill over the Mediterranean last month, may indicate Israel's determination - even if it has to act alone - to defend against the strategic threat Iran has laid at its doorstep.
However this message, along with the threats Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz has made against Iran, must also be analyzed in light of Iran's abilities to respond to such an attack with a preemptive strike against Israel.
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Israel, which had to extricate itself from accusations that it dragged the U.S. into war in Iraq, will find it difficult to withstand pressure that it, and not Iran, is responsible for another rise in oil prices, perhaps the most dramatic to date, and the subsequent damage to global economy.
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By JORDAN ROBERTSON, AP Technology WriterTue Jul 1, 4:39 PM ET
Hackers broke into Citibank's network of ATMs inside 7-Eleven stores and stole customers' PIN codes, according to recent court filings that revealed a disturbing security hole in the most sensitive part of a banking record.
The scam netted the alleged identity thieves millions of dollars. But more importantly for consumers, it indicates criminals were able to access PINs — the numeric passwords that theoretically are among the most closely guarded elements of banking transactions — by attacking the back-end computers responsible for approving the cash withdrawals.
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Hackers are targeting the ATM system's infrastructure, which is increasingly built on Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating system and allows machines to be remotely diagnosed and repaired over the Internet. And despite industry standards that call for protecting PINs with strong encryption — which means encoding them to cloak them to outsiders — some ATM operators apparently aren't properly doing that. The PINs seem to be leaking while in transit between the automated teller machines and the computers that process the transactions.
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The New Economy: Food as a Political Weapon
Genocide!
In his book, The Impact Of Science On Society, written in 1952, Bertrand Russell wrote, “At present the population of the world is increasing at about 58,000 per diem. War, so far, has had no very great effect on this increase, which continued throughout each of the world wars … War … has hitherto been disappointing in this respect … but perhaps bacteriological war may prove more effective. If a Black Death could spread throughout the world once in every generation, survivors could procreate freely without making the world too full … The state of affairs might be somewhat unpleasant, but what of it?”
Russell is expressing a view, long held by many who might be considered “oligarchs”, and who, for many generations, have held themselves to be superior to the vast majority of the population of this planet.
The simple fact is that the world is not “too full.” It might feel like it is, sometimes, as our basic economic infrastructure crumbles round our ears, and as poverty forces the people of large parts of the planet into having large families.
Today’s hikes in oil and food prices are not the result of population fuelled demand, unavailability, or as a lack of capability to produce. They are purely artificial, as the result of Policy.
And what is that Policy?
In a word: GENOCIDE.
25 Reasons To Remain Cautious
Wednesday July 2, 11:10 am ET
By Bennet Sedacca
Editor's note: Minyanville Professor Rob Roy contributed to this article.
1. Stocks are firmly in a downtrend.
The S&P 500 is down roughly 20% from the market peak on October 11, 2007.
2. Corporate spreads are rapidly widening.
Investment grade bonds yielded as little as 0.30% more than U.S. Treasuries did back in 2003 - but are now as much as 2.30% above U.S. Treasury rates.
3. Everyone I know is saying "All is well, buy America."
The crowd is usually wrong at extremes.
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McCain Denies He Said He Doesn't Understand Economy
Carly Fiorina, a top McCain adviser, acknowledged that McCain has said he knows little about the economy, noting that “he did say it one time, no question, maybe twice.”
Wed Jul 2, 7:55 AM ET
To: LIFESTYLES EDITORS
Contact: Kirk Mishkin of AIMRCo, +1-646-552-4754, kirk@aimrco.com
NEW YORK, July 2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- An unforeseen and surprising beneficiary of the Economic Stimulus Plan, a plan that George Bush contends will "boost our economy and encourage job creation," has surfaced this week. An independent market-research firm, AIMRCo (Adult Internet Market Research Company), has discovered that many websites focused on adult or erotic material have experienced an upswing in sales in the recent weeks since checks have appeared in millions of Americans' mailboxes across the country.
According to Kirk Mishkin, Head Research Consultant for AIMRCo, "Many of the sites we surveyed have reported 20-30% growth in membership rates since mid-May when the checks were first sent out, and typically the summer is a slow period for this market."
Jillian Fox, spokeswoman for LSGmodels.com, one of the sites reporting figures to AIMRCo, added, "In a June 15, 2008 survey to our members, thirty two percent of respondents referenced the recent stimulus package as part of their decision to either become a new member, or renew an existing membership."
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mparent7777_1- CRIMES AND CORRUPTIONS OF THE NEW WORLD ORDER NEWS
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