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Imploding Bubble Economies
by Stephen Lendman
Economic meltdown comes in stages. Recognition takes longer. Tout TV pundits stay in denial longest, calling crisis conditions a normal correction.
Reality suggests otherwise with US unemployment approaching 23%, home foreclosures multiplying, and poverty levels double or more official distorted numbers that artificially hold them down.
Israeli West Bank Annexation Bill
by Stephen Lendman
Palestinians petitioned the UN for sovereign recognition and full UN membership.
Four extremist MKs responded, calling for West Bank settlements annexed. A previous article explained, accessed through the following link:
http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2011/09/calls-to-annex-west-bank-settlements.html
MK Deputy Speaker Danny Danon wants more.
Economic hit man of India
Arun Shrivastava CMC
Classical economic hit men [EHM] were trained sociopaths; they destroyed a target country with massive corruption of an installed elite and plunder of its resources and eventually the viability as a sovereign entity. It seems that the post modern home-grown EHMs, like the ‘globally respected’ Indian Prime Minister, are far more dangerous than any of the previous generations that ever strode any country in the past. Global respectability aside, he heads the most corrupt regime India has ever seen and has compromised national security itself.
Ahmad Qatamesh: Israeli Prisoner of Conscience
by Stephen Lendman
On April 21, 2011 at 2:00AM, Israeli soldiers arrested Qatamesh at his brother's Ramallah home.
An hour earlier, his wife (Suha), daughter (Hanin), and two female relatives were held hostage to force his surrender.
At gunpoint, they forced Hanin to call him. When connected, a soldier threatened to hold his family hostage and destroy his house if he didn't surrender.
On May 2, in an Electronic Intifada article, Hanin recounted her ordeal, saying:
After breaking in and occupying their home, "(t)hey pointed their machine guns at us and told us they wanted to search the house."
"After a futile search, the soldiers went to the apartment right above ours whose owners - US citizens - were away. They knocked down the main door and wrecked the place."
Calls to Annex West Bank Settlements
by Stephen Lendman
Since 1967, Israel established 121 settlements, recognized by the Interior Ministry as "communities." Another 100 unauthorized outposts were built.
In addition, 12 annexed Jerusalem neighborhoods are considered settlements under international law. Moreover, settler enclaves exist in Palestinian East Jerusalem areas. They include:
- the Old City's Muslim Quarter;
- Silwan;
- Sheikh Jarrah;
- Mount of Olives;
- Ras al-'Amud;
- Abu Dis; and
- Jabal al-Mukabber.
Putin Bashing
by Stephen Lendman
On September 24, Russia's Vladimir Putin announced he'll run again for president in 2012 after serving eight years as Dmitry Medvedev's Prime Minister.
America's media have better memories than elephants. In November 2007, they recall Putin on National Unity Day telling military cadets and youth groups that while:
"an overwhelming majority of people in the world," are friendly toward Russia, some "keep saying to this day that our nation should be split. Some believe that we are too lucky to possess so much natural wealth, which they say must be divided."
Quartet Anti-Palestinian Statehood Proposal
by Stephen Lendman
Quartet representatives UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, UN Middle East envoy Tony Blair, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy High Representative Catherine Aston explained its elements.
On September 21, an initial statement "expressed its strong support for the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, which can resolve all final status issues within one year."
Putin in 2012
by Stephen Lendman
Currently he's United Russia's Prime Minister, serving with President Dmitry Medvedev.
From May 7, 2000 - May 7, 2008, he was Russia's second President, succeeding Boris Yeltsin, a man known for destructive "shock therapy" that created shocking levels of poverty and social inequality.
After he resigned on the last day of 1999, Putin became acting president, knowing 1990s policies were no longer acceptable. As a candidate, he promised corrective measures, saying:
"I am convinced that the defining feature of the new century will not be a battle of ideologies, but a sharp competition over the quality of life, national wealth and progress."
September then (2008) September now (2011)
By Robert Singer
The year is 2011 and to anyone not in denial, the industrialized nations have entered the greatest calamity the world has ever known:
- 35 Million Americans on Food Stamps: 12 Percent of U.S. Population on Food Stamps, the highest since records kept in 1969, and that’s before the Obama administration announced a planned three-year budget freeze on government discretionary spending. (My Budget 360)
- 18 Million empty houses in the United States and 39 million Americans who are no longer working or looking for work, and that’s before Federal Reserve finishes rewriting the rules of American “capitalism” as US Housing, the Automobile Industry and the American Dream are dismantled. (The 31-Year-Old in Charge of Dismantling G.M., David E. Sanger)
“There are now well over 150 million Americans who feel stress over these things on a consistent basis. Over 60 percent of Americans now live paycheck to paycheck.” (The Economic Elite vs. People of the USA, David DeGraw)
So then, why are Exxon, Rosneft and Shell pouring out billions into potentially huge, risky prospects above the Arctic Circle? Arctic Riches Lure Explorers
An economy in a state of rigor mortis doesn’t need oil to lubricate an engine that blew up on October 29, 2008, and our way of life won’t come back if the oil industry creates a handful of jobs or we reduce our dependence on foreign oil.
Exxon Mobil Corp.'s blockbuster $2.2 billion deal to drill for oil in the frigid waters north of Russia with OAO Rosneft makes no cents.
Drill, Drill, Drill hasn’t made economic sense for at least the last 20 years!
Matt Simmons, an investment banker, considered to be a mover and shaker in the oil industry [before he “apparently” drowned in his bathtub] thought he, “spent his career in the wrong kind of barrels.”
“It will take 16 trillion dollars to replace the production we now have on line and add to it by 2030. Oil or another form of energy is an indispensable requisite for life as we know it. But over the past 20 years, oil has been a terrible investment. A 15% return on investment (ROI) is what one expects to get from a building. Oil’s ROI has largely been less than 15%. Scotch returns 50% ROI, wine returns 15%.
Why has oil given such a lousy return?
Because spot energy pricing, where oil is bought and sold like a commodity has destroyed long term value for the oil industry. Spot markets make all contracts short term, so no one is looking out for the future."
[From a presentation by Matt Simmons at the 2004 Offshore Technology Conference [1]]
“The not-so-invisible hand of JP Morgan Chase is guilty of the ongoing intentional, not accidental, great crime of manipulating the spot markets, lower, not higher as you would expect. So you could, prior to 2008, ‘save money and live better’ while at the same time pollute the environment.” (Silver, But No Silver Lining)
Why has Oil been a “terrible investment”?
Inexplicably, the industry picks the most expensive places on the earth to drill for oil.
Chevron spent $2.7 billion over 10 years on just the first phase of a deep-water oil project in the Gulf. Other sub-salt discoveries involve drilling more than 30,000 feet, some of the most expensive wells ever drilled.
On January 7, 2010, the Wall Street Journal published, “Cramped on Land, Big Oil Bets at Sea”
“Big Oil never wanted to be here, in 4,300 feet of water far out in the Gulf of Mexico, drilling through nearly five miles of rock. It is an expensive way to look for oil.”
September 2011, Exxon Mobil announced their latest $2.2 billion blockbuster deal to drill for oil in one of the most dangerous places in the world.
“Another sign that of the energy industry's white-hot interest in exploring above the Arctic Circle despite the challenges. The company hopes to drill their first exploratory well by 2015 and, if everything goes well, could begin production in the region by early next decade. The extreme weather and ice floes during colder months could wreak havoc on oil-industry platforms. Cleaning up an oil spill would be a huge effort. The seas there don't support the microbes that can break down oil droplets.” Russell Gold russell.gold@wsj.com
You really don’t need to know a lot about geology or oil to figure out something is wrong here: people living in homeless shelters don’t need cheap oil to go shopping and if they did, “why not go back to the old days and drill oil wells onshore?” Buy Oil Stocks… No Matter What, by Chris Mayer
Or if oil companies insist on drilling offshore, why not use up the 70 million “offshore acres leases” remaining from the total of 90 million?
U.S.-Canada Perimeter Security and the Consolidation of North America
By Dana Gabriel
The U.S. and Canada are very close to unveiling a North American perimeter security deal that would promote greater integration between both countries. This includes expanding collaboration in areas of law enforcement and intelligence sharing which could dramatically affect sovereignty and privacy rights. While there is a need for more public scrutiny, incrementalism has been used to advance North American integration. In many ways this has kept the agenda under the radar. Much like NAFTA and the Security and Prosperity Partnership, a U.S.-Canada perimeter security agreement would represent another step in the consolidation of North America.
During his speech at a recent meeting of northern border states, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder told participants that the U.S. and Canada are set to launch a pilot project next year which will allow law enforcement officers to operate on both sides of the border. Holder explained that, “the creation of ‘NextGen’ teams of cross-designated officers would allow us to more effectively identify, assess, and interdict persons and organizations involved in transnational crime.” He went on to say, “In conjunction with the other provisions included in the Beyond the Border Initiative, such a move would enhance our cross-border efforts and advance our information-sharing abilities.” The declaration, Beyond the Border: Shared Vision for Perimeter Security and Economic Competitiveness issued by President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Stephen Harper last February, identified joint law enforcement operations and information sharing as a high priority. There are already examples of what we could expect from a security perimeter as some Canadians have been denied entry into the U.S. after their records of mental illness were shared with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
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