Fatboy sez: What. Me Worry?
2012-09-10
2012-08-11
2012-08-08
Burning For Netanyahu
Israelis try to extinguish flames from a protester who set himself on fire during a demonstration in Tel Aviv on July 14, 2012.
An elderly Israeli woman has set herself on fire, becoming the fourth person to self-immolate in the country over the past month.
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Moshe Silman, who died from his wounds a week after, criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a note, saying "the state of Israel robbed me out of everything and left me with nothing."/
Hours before Silmon’s funeral, a 45-year old disabled army veteran died after setting himself on fire in a bus stop in the city of Yehud about 15 kilometers east of Tel Aviv.
Prior to the protest move, Akiva Mafa’i read out a letter and accused the Israeli officials of “taking from the poor and giving to the rich.”
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/08/08/255225/elderly-woman-selfimmolates-in-israel/
Taking from the poor and giving to the rich. Related post:
http://fatboysez.blogspot.com/2011/01/burning-for-bernanke.html
2012-08-07
2012-08-06
What Could Go Wrong?
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"The greed for German taxpayer money is blossoming in undemocratic ways with Mr. Monti," party General Secretary Alexander Dobrindt said. "Mr. Monti apparently needs a clear announcement that we Germans will not be prepared to eliminate democracy in order to finance Italian debts."
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/monti-comments-on-parliaments-in-euro-crisis-anger-german-politicians-a-848455.html
"The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than the democratic state itself. That in its essence is fascism: ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or any controlling private power.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt
2012-08-05
Figures Often Beguile Me...
"Here, courtesy of Zero Hedge, we might be able to provide Dave with a clue as to how the BLS managed that little trick: It added 377,000 jobs for seasonal adjustment. That just happened to be the largest such adjustment in July for the past 10 years.
Moreover, the always interesting but not particularly reliable birth/death model chipped in 52,000 additions. Together, , which even by our rudimentary math dwarfs 163,000.these happy statistical enhancements added up to something like 429,000
http://online.barrons.com/article/SB50001424053111903940904577559010500932368.html?mod=BOL_twm_col#articleTabs_article%3D1
Moreover, the always interesting but not particularly reliable birth/death model chipped in 52,000 additions. Together, , which even by our rudimentary math dwarfs 163,000.these happy statistical enhancements added up to something like 429,000
http://online.barrons.com/article/SB50001424053111903940904577559010500932368.html?mod=BOL_twm_col#articleTabs_article%3D1
2012-08-04
What?
"[T]he correct approach is to reduce taxes and make it easier for businesses to fire workers."
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2012/08/eurozone-new-business-sinks-at-fastest.html
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For those under 25 years of age, the unemployment rate climbed to 53 percent, from 52 percent in the previous quarter.
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Greece's rate was not far behind at 22.5 per cent, though the latest figures available are for April. Many countries that use the euro, including France and Italy, also have double-digit unemployment rates
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2012/08/eurozone-new-business-sinks-at-fastest.html
Thursday, Aug. 2, 2012 | 12:14 a.m.
The number of unemployed keeps rising in Spain, official figures showed Friday, as the International Monetary Fund called on European leaders to quickly fulfill their promises to help the country and the 17-country eurozone.
The recession-hit country's unemployment rate rose to 24.63 percent in the second quarter./
For those under 25 years of age, the unemployment rate climbed to 53 percent, from 52 percent in the previous quarter.
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Greece's rate was not far behind at 22.5 per cent, though the latest figures available are for April. Many countries that use the euro, including France and Italy, also have double-digit unemployment rates
2012-08-03
Democracy My Fat White Ass
Map shows the level of income inequality. As stated, income inequality in the US now surpasses Russia and is comparable with China.
2012-07-27
Everyone Knows the US Central Intelligence Agency is Involved in the Global Drug Trade. Right?
They are like pest control companies, only control," said Villanueva Guillermo Terrazas, a spokesman for Chihuahua
. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) United States and other international security forces "do not fight against drug traffickers," but "try to manage the drug trade," he told Al Jazeera a government spokesman in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua .
The allegations by activists, academics and former officials about official complicity in the drug business are not new. But they are when they start from an official representative of one of the most violent states in Mexico, U.S. border with Texas.
"They are like pest control companies, only control," said Villanueva Guillermo Terrazas, a spokesman for Chihuahua, in conversation with Al Jazeera last month at his office in Ciudad Juarez. . "If you kill the pests, you lose your job. If you end up with the drug business, they become unemployed. "
A CIA spokesman in Washington declined to comment directly on these accusations, and instead suggested to Jazeera to consult an official website.
Foto: Archivo Photo: Archive
The allegations by activists, academics and former officials about official complicity in the drug business are not new. But they are when they start from an official representative of one of the most violent states in Mexico, U.S. border with Texas.
"They are like pest control companies, only control," said Villanueva Guillermo Terrazas, a spokesman for Chihuahua, in conversation with Al Jazeera last month at his office in Ciudad Juarez. . "If you kill the pests, you lose your job. If you end up with the drug business, they become unemployed. "
A CIA spokesman in Washington declined to comment directly on these accusations, and instead suggested to Jazeera to consult an official website.
2012-07-25
PM Mariano Rajoy; an Incompetent Beggar
Francisco Alvarez Cascos, the region’s president and former secretary-general of Spain’s ruling party, accused premier Mariano Rajoy of humiliating the nation by touring Europe with a “begging bowl”.
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Mr Cascos said the government is “utterly incompetent”, but warned that the deeper crisis is a “perverse” monetary system where capital flight from countries in distress is funding creditor states at zero rates. “This can’t go on for long, or we will have to think about leaving the euro before we are thrown out,”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/9427721/Euro-exit-beats-begging-bowl-says-Spanish-elder-statesman.html
2012-07-23
What a Dickhead
Public anger over the financial crisis is wrong and must not lead Britain to “hang bankers at the end of the street,” Tony Blair says today.
Tony Blair made millions of pounds last year but paid just a fraction of it in tax thanks to the complicated web of companies he has established.
The former prime minister’s secretive business empire declared an income of £12million.
But he was able to reduce his tax bill to just £315,000 after writing off almost £11million as ‘administrative expenses’ – a ‘surprisingly’ high figure, according to one accountant
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[H]e is also a paid adviser to U.S. investment bank JP Morgan and to Zurich International, a Swiss-based insurance company.
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Mr Blair’s earnings include lucrative after-dinner speaking, consultancies with banks and foreign governments, a series of deals with foreign companies, and the pension and other perks he enjoys as a former prime minister – including taxpayer-funded police protection. Critics also point out a large proportion of his income is derived from patrons in the U.S. and Middle East – a clear benefit of his alliance with George Bush for the invasion of Iraq.
NEW YORK, January 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- JPMorgan Chase announced
today that it has appointed former British Prime Minister Tony Blair in a
senior advisory capacity to the firm, effective immediately. Mr. Blair will
also join the company's International Council.
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today that it has appointed former British Prime Minister Tony Blair in a
senior advisory capacity to the firm, effective immediately. Mr. Blair will
also join the company's International Council.
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"We're honored that Tony Blair has chosen to join JPMorgan Chase as a
senior advisor to our executive team and Board," said Jamie Dimon, Chairman
and CEO.
senior advisor to our executive team and Board," said Jamie Dimon, Chairman
and CEO.
A senior executive with the Libyan Investment Authority, the $70 billion fund used to invest the country's oil money abroad, said Mr Blair was one of three prominent western businessmen who regularly dealt with Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of the former leader.
Saif al-Islam and his close aides oversaw the activities of the fund, and often directed its officials on where they should make its investments, he said.
The executive, speaking on condition of anonymity, said officials were told the "ideas" they were ordered to pursue came from Mr Blair as well as one other British businessman and a former American diplomat.
"Tony Blair's visits were purely lobby visits for banking deals with JP Morgan," he said.
He said that unlike some other deals - notably some investments run by the US bank Goldman Sachs - JP Morgan's had never turned "bad".
Mr Lawley-Wakelin claimed that Mr Blair had been ‘bought’ by JP Morgan, and that the US investment bank had profited from the Iraq War.
2012-07-22
Democracy is Hard. Made Even Harder Via an Invasion and Occupation by Hostile Forces Led by a Lying Commander-in-Chief
"Strengthen the (Iraqi) armed forces, relax your hold, and then you will have a coup. Then we will have a dictator, but a fair one. Forget democracy, the Iraqis by their nature are too tough," Mubarak said in the cable
http://www.timeslive.co.za/world/article791399.ece/Mubarak-told-US-to-allow-dictator-in-Iraq
CAIRO (AP) — The first online statement from the new leader of al-Qaida's affiliate in Iraq claims that the militant network is returning to strongholds from which it was driven by U.S. forces and their Sunni allies before the American withdrawal at the end of last year.
http://news.yahoo.com/al-qaida-were-returning-old-iraq-strongholds-131645698.html
Nearly 30 people have been killed and more than 100 others wounded in a series of bomb attacks across Iraq, security officials say.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/07/22/252288/iraq-blasts-kill-20-injure-scores/
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - At least 89 people were killed in bomb and gun attacks in Iraq on Monday after 20 died in blasts the previous day in a coordinated surge of violence against mostly Shi'ite Muslims.
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As well as the dozens of deaths at least 223 people were wounded in bomb attacks in Shi'ite areas of Baghdad, the Shi'ite town of Taji to the north, the mixed northern city of Kirkuk and elsewhere, hospital and police sources said, making it one of Iraq's bloodiest days in weeks
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"Recent attacks are a clear message that al Qaeda in Iraq is determined to spark a bloody sectarian war," the official said, asking not to be named.
http://www.timeslive.co.za/world/article791399.ece/Mubarak-told-US-to-allow-dictator-in-Iraq
CAIRO (AP) — The first online statement from the new leader of al-Qaida's affiliate in Iraq claims that the militant network is returning to strongholds from which it was driven by U.S. forces and their Sunni allies before the American withdrawal at the end of last year.
http://news.yahoo.com/al-qaida-were-returning-old-iraq-strongholds-131645698.html
Nearly 30 people have been killed and more than 100 others wounded in a series of bomb attacks across Iraq, security officials say.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/07/22/252288/iraq-blasts-kill-20-injure-scores/
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - At least 89 people were killed in bomb and gun attacks in Iraq on Monday after 20 died in blasts the previous day in a coordinated surge of violence against mostly Shi'ite Muslims.
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As well as the dozens of deaths at least 223 people were wounded in bomb attacks in Shi'ite areas of Baghdad, the Shi'ite town of Taji to the north, the mixed northern city of Kirkuk and elsewhere, hospital and police sources said, making it one of Iraq's bloodiest days in weeks
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"Recent attacks are a clear message that al Qaeda in Iraq is determined to spark a bloody sectarian war," the official said, asking not to be named.
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(ANSAmed) - New York, July 19 - The United States ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, said the U.S. would continue to work outside the confines of the UN Security Council to put pressure on the Syrian government.
http://www.ansamed.info/ansamed/en/news/sections/politics/2012/07/19/Ambassador-Rice-says-will-pressure-Syria-outside_7211397.html
Yet try as I may, I cannot take Ms Rice and the United States seriously here, because the US sets the world’s gold standard on using vetoes in the Security Council to shield criminal activity — by Israel in particular. I am not sure if Ms Rice and the US government think the world is stupid or merely perpetually servile to American swagger.
http://jordantimes.com/42-reasons-why-susan-rices-anger-is-unconvincing
According to a Sunday report by the Turkish Anadolu Agency, Ankara also deployed troop carriers along the border with Syria.
A train convoy transporting several missile batteries arrived in the southeastern province of Mardin on Sunday.
The report comes at a time when relations between Ankara and Damascus have deteriorated
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/07/22/252241/turkey-deploys-missiles-on-syria-border/
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Western powers on Friday not to take unilateral action against the Syrian government outside the UN Security Council.
http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArchiveDetails.aspx?ID=421165
Never Let A Good Crisis Go To Waste
Former Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel
MIAMI (CBSMiami/AP) – President Barack Obama cut his two day campaign swing to Florida short so he could fly back to Washington before a trip to Colorado to comfort the families of those gunned down in a minute and a half of real-life horror at a midnight movie showing
http://miami.cbslocal.com/2012/07/22/obama-cuts-florida-stops-short-flies-to-colorado/
2012-07-18
Unit 131
July 18 2012 SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) - Israel vowed to strike back at Iran for a brazen daylight
bombing Wednesday that killed at least seven people on a bus full of Israeli
tourists in Bulgaria.
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"All signs point to Iran," Netanyahu said. The Israeli leader gave no evidence to back his charges.
The Lavon Affair refers to a failed Israeli covert operation, code named Operation Susannah, conducted in Egypt in the Summer of 1954. As part of the false flag operation, a group of Egyptian Jews were recruited by Israeli military intelligence for plans to plant bombs inside Egyptian, American and British-owned targets. The attacks were to be blamed on the Muslim Brotherhood, Egyptian Communists, "unspecified malcontents" or "local nationalists" with the aim of creating a climate of sufficient violence and instability to induce the British government to retain its occupying troops in Egypt's Suez Canal zone.
Here Mr. Ostrovsky describes in detail how in mid February 1986 the Mossad planted a radio relay device – the “Trojan” – in a rented apartment in Tripoli, the capital of Libya. However interesting, we cut to the consequences.
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Ultimately, the Americans fell for the Mossad ploy head over heels[,] dragging the British and the Germans somewhat reluctantly in with them. Operation Trojan was one of the Mossad’s greatest successes. It brought about the air strike on Libya that President Reagan had promised – a strike that had three important consequences. First, it derailed a deal for the release of the American hostages in Lebanon, thus preserving the Hizballah (Party of God) as the number one enemy in the eyes of the West. Second, it sent a message to the entire Arab world, telling them exactly where the United States stood regarding the Arab-Israeli conflict. Third, it boosted the Mossad’s image of itself, since it was they who, by ingenious sleight of hand, had prodded the United States to do what was right. [More than a hint of sarcasm there.] It was only the French who didn’t buy into the Mossad trick and were determined not to ally themselves with the aggressive American act. The French refused to allow the American bombers to fly over their territory on their way to attack Libya.
NEW YORK – On the
fourth day of the 1967 Arab Israeli War, the intelligence ship 'USS Liberty' was
steaming slowly in international waters, 14 miles off the Sinai Peninsula.
Israeli armored forces were racing deep into Sinai in hot pursuit of the
retreating Egyptian army.
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At 0800
hrs, 8 June, 1967, eight Israeli recon flights flew over 'Liberty,' which was
flying a large American flag. At 1400 hrs, waves of low-flying Israeli Mystere
and Mirage-III fighter-bombers repeatedly attacked the American vessel with
rockets, napalm, and cannon. The air attacks lasted 20 minutes, concentrating on
the ship's electronic antennas and dishes. The 'Liberty' was left afire, listing
sharply. Eight of her crew lay dead, a hundred seriously wounded, including the
captain, Commander William McGonagle.
At 1424
hrs, three Israeli torpedo boats attacked, raking the burning 'Liberty' with
20mm and 40mm shells. At 1431hrs an Israeli torpedo hit the 'Liberty' midship,
precisely where the signals intelligence systems were located. Twenty-five more
Americans died.