This article by Chris Martenson is at the core of Obama's,and Harper's economic policy. Pretend that the debt that exists on bank balance sheets and in the books of corporate America, doesn't exist.
This is the foundation upon which the present stock market rally, and all the talk about greens shoots exists. If you have investments in the stock market, they are dependent upon everyone continuing to pretend that all is well. What happens when the pretending stops? Recall that insiders have been outselling outsiders 30 to one over the last months. What happens when the rush to the exits starts? When the herd senses danger. The brokers will probably get out. The big players. The insiders. But what about you, and your measley mutual funds stuck in an RRSP. Think you'll get out in time? Pretend. Pretend you have money in your bank account. Pretend. Pretend your credit cards have zero balances. Pretend. Pretend it all isn't about to come crashing down. Feel better? Peacenik doesn't.
by Mish Shedlock
Numerous people have asked me to comment on Chris Martenson's article The Sound of One Hand Clapping - What Deflationists May Be Missing.
Chris Writes:
The hot topic of the day is "Inflation or Deflation?" and the camps are firmly divided into groups of inflationistas and deflationistas. When asked which camp I am in, I reply "Yes." Some would say that puts me in the confusionista camp, but I actually have an explanation for why are living in a world encompassing both.
From a technical perspective, we are absolutely in one of the most powerfully deflationary periods in history, yet, besides housing prices and a few over-produced consumer goods, we find that stocks, bonds, and commodities are all well-bid at the moment.
Read on...
10/13/09
What lies beneath the war in Afghanistan
punditman says...Just to show that punditman doesn't get too hung up on the "ideological purity" of every source he or Peacenik uses on this blog, punditman is posting another Eric Margolis article. Yes, Eric Margolis. Here's how his politics are described by wikipedia:
Margolis identifies his politics as "Eisenhower Republican". Though his domestic political persuasion is moderately conservative (he is a staunch anti-communist and a supporter of capitalism), Margolis' views on the Middle East are sharply at odds with the neoconservatives.
He also happens to have written some of the most insightful pieces on Middle East politics and the so-called "War on Terror" in recent years.
By ERIC MARGOLIS
Margolis identifies his politics as "Eisenhower Republican". Though his domestic political persuasion is moderately conservative (he is a staunch anti-communist and a supporter of capitalism), Margolis' views on the Middle East are sharply at odds with the neoconservatives.
He also happens to have written some of the most insightful pieces on Middle East politics and the so-called "War on Terror" in recent years.
By ERIC MARGOLIS
Truth is war's first casualty. The Afghan war's biggest untruth is, "we've got to fight terrorists over there so we don't have to fight them at home."
Many North Americans still buy this lie because they believe the 9/11 attacks came directly from the Afghanistan-based al-Qaida and Taliban movements.
False. The 9/11 attacks were planned in Germany and Spain, and conducted mainly by U.S.-based Saudis to punish America for supporting Israel.
Taliban, a militant religious, anti-Communist movement of Pashtun tribesmen, was totally surprised by 9/11. Taliban received U.S. aid until May, 2001. The CIA was planning to use Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida to stir up Muslim Uighurs against Chinese rule, and Taliban against Russia's Central Asian allies.
10/12/09
Why the epidemiology of swine flu matters
Peacenik knows Punditman is sick and tired of posting about swine flu and vaccines. But Peacenik isn't. Peacenik doesn't know if the authors of the article Punditman posted are quacks or not. There is lots of bad science available to support any argument. George bush just based 8 years of his presidency on bad science. And unfortunately bad science is so entrenched in today's society that it truly is difficult to make informed decisions about some topics.
Companies obviously have agendas. As do agencies, NGO's, lobbyists, the media and bloggers. Revere at Effect Measure seems to Peacenik to be someone who is trustworthy. Reading the comments to this post by Revere though does get into the question of adjuvants being added to vaccines. This makes Peacenik queasy. And this all may be academic in any case. In Canada the vaccine may not be available in time to make a difference. Peacenik will not be at the front of the line in any case if and when vaccine becomes available. Pregnant women and children first. Bad side effects will probably be known before cowardly Peacenik does or does not line up. Will Peacenik get the shot? Will Snowman? Will Punditamn? Will Taxiguy? Will JohnnyAnon? Will Humphrey the Hippie? Will Puttyman? Will Don Cherry?
Posted on: October 11, 2009 2:00 PM, by revere
If you are hesitating to be vaccinated for swine flu this year, perhaps this post will help you make up your mind. If it does, I hope it pushes you to get vaccinated, but whatever persuasion we attempt here will only be from a recital of what we know of the epidemiology of this pandemic. Because it is the different epidemiology that is the main feature, not the clinical characteristics or the virulence of the virus. So far this looks pretty much like a standard influenza A virus -- except for the epidemiology. Since I'm an epidemiologist, you might expect me to think this is important, and I do. Epidemiology is the public health science that studies the patterns of illness in populations. One kind of pattern we study is who is getting sick. And it is a change in this pattern that is one of the big differences between a pandemic strain and a seasonal strain.
Read on...
Companies obviously have agendas. As do agencies, NGO's, lobbyists, the media and bloggers. Revere at Effect Measure seems to Peacenik to be someone who is trustworthy. Reading the comments to this post by Revere though does get into the question of adjuvants being added to vaccines. This makes Peacenik queasy. And this all may be academic in any case. In Canada the vaccine may not be available in time to make a difference. Peacenik will not be at the front of the line in any case if and when vaccine becomes available. Pregnant women and children first. Bad side effects will probably be known before cowardly Peacenik does or does not line up. Will Peacenik get the shot? Will Snowman? Will Punditamn? Will Taxiguy? Will JohnnyAnon? Will Humphrey the Hippie? Will Puttyman? Will Don Cherry?
Posted on: October 11, 2009 2:00 PM, by revere
If you are hesitating to be vaccinated for swine flu this year, perhaps this post will help you make up your mind. If it does, I hope it pushes you to get vaccinated, but whatever persuasion we attempt here will only be from a recital of what we know of the epidemiology of this pandemic. Because it is the different epidemiology that is the main feature, not the clinical characteristics or the virulence of the virus. So far this looks pretty much like a standard influenza A virus -- except for the epidemiology. Since I'm an epidemiologist, you might expect me to think this is important, and I do. Epidemiology is the public health science that studies the patterns of illness in populations. One kind of pattern we study is who is getting sick. And it is a change in this pattern that is one of the big differences between a pandemic strain and a seasonal strain.
Read on...
10/11/09
Vaccines’ Dark Inferno
punditman says...Do you always trust politicians? Do you always trust the police? Do you always trust your school board? Do you always trust the military? Do you always trust corporations? Some of the same people whose answer would be a resounding NO to all of the above, for some reason then put great faith in Big Pharma, in public health, the CDC, the FDA, Health Canada, the WHO., etc. Why? These are just institutions made up of human beings just like the others mentioned above. Punditman does not understand why any rational, educated person would put any more trust in these institutions than in any other ones. Are they bloody God just because they are involved in healthcare? Punditman doesn't even trust that his own doctor knows what he is talking about half the time. Not because Punditman doesn't like his doctor but because after the average five-minute appointment, Punditman knows that his doctor has not always been right. Maybe some people just need to believe in something and the healthcare industry is the last bastion of true faith.
If you wonder why punditman is skeptical about the vaccine industrial complex, read the article below. Punditman is amazed that by raising these issues, he stands accused by some of doing a disservice to the public. So if you've already made up your mind in the other direction, then just go get your damn flu shot, swine flu shot and whatever else is in the works shots. Punditman is getting *sick* of this debate.
If you wonder why punditman is skeptical about the vaccine industrial complex, read the article below. Punditman is amazed that by raising these issues, he stands accused by some of doing a disservice to the public. So if you've already made up your mind in the other direction, then just go get your damn flu shot, swine flu shot and whatever else is in the works shots. Punditman is getting *sick* of this debate.
What is not on insert labels?
by Richard Gale and Dr Gary Null
The vast majority of scientists, physicians, nurses and public health educators’ trust that the ingredients in a vaccine have been individually and synergistically proven safe and effective. The public believes these vaccines, aside from their specified virus(es), are sterile solutions, free from undesirable contaminants not listed on the manufacturer’s package inserts. When the pediatrician injects a vaccine into the muscle of a child, the public has unquestioning faith that this is the case. In other words, we want to believe that vaccines have been generated under perfect conditions for the safety of children and ourselves.
Our investigation shows that most people do not know what is actually in a vaccine: the active ingredients listed on product labels, inert ingredients, and, most important, the hidden ingredients. Even more remote is taking the time to actually study the subject matter, review the scientific literature and discover the truth for oneself. To our amazement, that truth was easy to find. But it is a truth that will scare the hell out of you.
Similar to eating veal parmesan, what would happen if a video were placed on your table and used as a living reality recipe instead of the actual meal. This video unfolds before your eyes every step in that little creature’s life, from the veal’s birth to the parmesan on your plate. You witness how this veal was starved of its natural nutrients, kept in a tiny stall, grossly malnourished and deformed, filled with drugs—antibiotics—diseased and suffering complete privations until finally slaughtered, sliced, cooked and served on your plate. Would your appetite be the same? Would you still desire the parmesan? Conveniently we rarely ask the questions, where does our food come from? How and where was it grown? What was sprayed on it prior to our consumption? Therefore, we are going to re-record something that even most top health educators and opinion leaders on vaccines are unaware of. That is, what goes into the making of vaccines and what is hidden from you that should give you a moment’s of pause? Then ask yourself, do you want vaccines in your body?
To give us the most in depth, honest, scholarly and objective examination about the methods by which vaccines and their hidden ingredients are prepared we turn to the award-winning British investigative medical journalist, Janine Roberts, who paints an entirely different picture about the darker inferno in vaccines that do not appear on product labels. This is the same Janine Roberts who brought to the world’s attention blood diamonds, genocide in the Congo and the destruction of aboriginal cultures by the Australian government.
Roberts’ account of conversations between high level members from the World Health Organizatioin (WHO), federal health agencies, and expert vaccine scientists, who determine whether or not a certain vaccine will be approved or not, is horrid. Her investigations are based on official meeting documents and her attendance at emergency vaccine meetings, and confirm that our world’s vaccine and health experts agree there is no solution in sight to resolve the potential and uncertain threats posed by these hidden ingredients.(1)
The story begins with the vaccine industrial complex’s attempt to reduce vaccine manufacturing costs by seeking government approval to use cancerous cell lines in the development of vaccines. Vaccine industry’s rationale is that cancerous cells are “immortal.” Current vaccine methodology relies on animal cells, such as fertilized hen embryos and monkey kidneys, that die quickly in culture. Using cancerous cell lines are also much cheaper than relying on the purchase of animals, especially monkeys, that need to be sacrificed for vaccine substrates.
Keep Reading...
Keep Reading...
10/9/09
A Historian's Account of Democrats and Bush-Era War Crimes
It's Friday before the long weekend and as Peacenik started to scan the news Peacenik was hoping to find something upbeat to post. Or something amusing. Or something entertaining. Maybe even something absurd. But the very first goddamn article Peacenik sees is this one. And it sickens Peacenik. It bums peacenik out. Peacenik will push this item back into Peacenik's memory banks,and Peacenik will enjoy the long weekend. Peacenik hopes you enjoy the long weekend. Obama, and Lieberman and Graham? They can go fuck themselves.
by Glenn Greenwald
The American Propsect's Adam Serwer notes that, yesterday, Sen. Joe Lieberman successfully inserted into the Homeland Security appropriations bill an amendment -- supported by the Obama White House -- to provide an exemption from the Freedom of Information Act's mandates by authorizing the Defense Secretary to suppress long-concealed photographs of detainee abuse. Two courts had ruled -- unanimously -- that the American people have the right to see these photographs under FOIA, a 40-year-old law championed by the Democrats in the LBJ era and long considered a crowning jewel in their legislative achievements. But this Lieberman amendment, which is now likely to pass, undermines all of that and -- as EBay founder Pierre Omidyar put it today -- its central purpose is to "legalize suppression" of evidence of American war crimes.
What made those detainee photographs so important from the start is that they depict brutal abuse well outside of the Abu Ghraib facility and thus reveal to Americans -- and the world -- that America's torture was not, as they've been constantly told, limited to rogue sadists at Abu Ghraib and the waterboarding of three bad guys. Instead, our torture regime was systematic, pervasive, brutal, fatal, and -- becuase it was the by-product of conscious policies set at the highest levels of government -- common across America's "War on Terror" detention regime. These photographs would have documented those vital facts; combated the false denials from torture apologists; fueled the momentum for accountability; and revealed, in graphic and unavoidable terms, what was truly done by America's government. But a Democratic-led Congress, at the urging of a Democratic President, are now taking extraordinary steps -- including an act of Congress which has no purpose other than to suppress evidence of America's war crimes -- to ensure that this evidence never sees the light of day.
Read on...
by Glenn Greenwald
The American Propsect's Adam Serwer notes that, yesterday, Sen. Joe Lieberman successfully inserted into the Homeland Security appropriations bill an amendment -- supported by the Obama White House -- to provide an exemption from the Freedom of Information Act's mandates by authorizing the Defense Secretary to suppress long-concealed photographs of detainee abuse. Two courts had ruled -- unanimously -- that the American people have the right to see these photographs under FOIA, a 40-year-old law championed by the Democrats in the LBJ era and long considered a crowning jewel in their legislative achievements. But this Lieberman amendment, which is now likely to pass, undermines all of that and -- as EBay founder Pierre Omidyar put it today -- its central purpose is to "legalize suppression" of evidence of American war crimes.
What made those detainee photographs so important from the start is that they depict brutal abuse well outside of the Abu Ghraib facility and thus reveal to Americans -- and the world -- that America's torture was not, as they've been constantly told, limited to rogue sadists at Abu Ghraib and the waterboarding of three bad guys. Instead, our torture regime was systematic, pervasive, brutal, fatal, and -- becuase it was the by-product of conscious policies set at the highest levels of government -- common across America's "War on Terror" detention regime. These photographs would have documented those vital facts; combated the false denials from torture apologists; fueled the momentum for accountability; and revealed, in graphic and unavoidable terms, what was truly done by America's government. But a Democratic-led Congress, at the urging of a Democratic President, are now taking extraordinary steps -- including an act of Congress which has no purpose other than to suppress evidence of America's war crimes -- to ensure that this evidence never sees the light of day.
Read on...
10/8/09
A War of Absurdity
Johnnyanon's comment yesterday captured the absurdity of the Afghan/Iraq war. The U.S. and Canada and NATO went to war against sovereign states because why? Because 100 or 1000 or 3000 criminals attacked the United States. Stateless criminals. And now there are apparently less than 100 al qaida operating in Afghanistan but the U.S. and Canada and NATO are still occupying the country.
Eight years is long enough. But not long enough correct a bad decision. Not long enough to justify a mistake. And too long to suffer the consequences of the mistake. Johnnyanon should be Canada's foreign minister. Peacenik says bring the troops home now.
by Robert Scheer
Every once in a while, a statistic just jumps out at you in a way that makes everything else you hear on a subject seem beside the point, if not downright absurd. That was my reaction to the recent statement of the president’s national security adviser, former Marine Gen. James Jones, concerning the size of the terrorist threat from Afghanistan:
“The al-Qaida presence is very diminished. The maximum estimate is less than 100 operating in the country, no bases, no ability to launch attacks on either us or our allies.”
Less than 100! And he is basing his conservative estimate on the best intelligence data available to our government. That means that al-Qaida, for all practical purposes, does not exist in Afghanistan—so why are we having a big debate about sending even more troops to fight an enemy that has relocated elsewhere? Because of the blind belief, in the minds of those like John McCain, determined to “win” in Afghanistan, that if we don’t escalate, al-Qaida will inevitably come back.
Read on...
Eight years is long enough. But not long enough correct a bad decision. Not long enough to justify a mistake. And too long to suffer the consequences of the mistake. Johnnyanon should be Canada's foreign minister. Peacenik says bring the troops home now.
by Robert Scheer
Every once in a while, a statistic just jumps out at you in a way that makes everything else you hear on a subject seem beside the point, if not downright absurd. That was my reaction to the recent statement of the president’s national security adviser, former Marine Gen. James Jones, concerning the size of the terrorist threat from Afghanistan:
“The al-Qaida presence is very diminished. The maximum estimate is less than 100 operating in the country, no bases, no ability to launch attacks on either us or our allies.”
Less than 100! And he is basing his conservative estimate on the best intelligence data available to our government. That means that al-Qaida, for all practical purposes, does not exist in Afghanistan—so why are we having a big debate about sending even more troops to fight an enemy that has relocated elsewhere? Because of the blind belief, in the minds of those like John McCain, determined to “win” in Afghanistan, that if we don’t escalate, al-Qaida will inevitably come back.
Read on...
10/7/09
Is the Sky Really Falling?
punditman says...Not quite. But the drunken Superpower Party is starting to peter out. The shindig is not quite over for the United States, but people are starting to leave the premises, the cops have been called several times and big fines have been levied on the partiers. When will this decades-old party end? Will the world turn away from the US dollar as the reserve currency? Not right away, according to Mike Whitney.
Here's the deal: American consumers are in debt and apparently have turned to saving once again. Unemployment is way up, and wages are going nowhere. This makes for less and less American consumer demand in world markets; that is what will eventually cause foreign governments and central banks to run away from the US dollar.
Then again, Americans are the quintessential consumers. Will they come back and live to party another day? When they do, it will be a different world. US "dollar hegemony" will no longer be used as a bully tactic backed up by military might. It's going to be an interesting future.
Dollar Hysteria
By MIKE WHITNEY
Robert Fisk lit the fuse with his hyperventilating narrative which appears in Tuesday's UK Independent which went viral overnight spreading to every musty corner of the Internet and sending gold skyrocketing to $1,026 per oz. Now every doomsday website in cyber-world has headlined Fisk's "shocker" and the blogs are clogged with the frenzied commentary of bunker-dwelling survivalists and goldbugs who're certain that the world as we know it is about to end.
From Fisk's article:
Reports of the dollar's demise are greatly exaggerated. The dollar may fall, but it won't crash. And, in the short-term, it's bound to strengthen as the equities market reenters the earth's gravitational field after a 6 month-long ride through outer-space. The relationship between falling stocks and a stronger buck is well established and, when the market corrects, the dollar will bounce back once again. Bet on it. So why all this bilge about Middle Eastern men huddled in "secret meetings" stroking their beards while plotting against the empire?
Isn't that the gist of Fisk's article?
Yes, the dollar will fall, (eventually) but not for the reasons that most people think. It's true that the surge in deficit spending has foreign dollar-holders worried. But they're more concerned about the Fed's quantitative easing (QE) program which adds to the money supply by purchasing mortgage-backed securities and US Treasuries. Bernanke is simply printing money and pouring it into the financial system to keep rigor mortis from setting in. Naturally, the Fed has had to quantify exactly how much money it intends to "create from thin air" to placate its creditors. And, it has. (The program is scheduled to end by the beginning of 2010) That said, China and Japan are still buying US Treasuries, which indicates they have not yet "jumped ship".
Keep Reading...
Here's the deal: American consumers are in debt and apparently have turned to saving once again. Unemployment is way up, and wages are going nowhere. This makes for less and less American consumer demand in world markets; that is what will eventually cause foreign governments and central banks to run away from the US dollar.
Then again, Americans are the quintessential consumers. Will they come back and live to party another day? When they do, it will be a different world. US "dollar hegemony" will no longer be used as a bully tactic backed up by military might. It's going to be an interesting future.
Dollar Hysteria
By MIKE WHITNEY
Robert Fisk lit the fuse with his hyperventilating narrative which appears in Tuesday's UK Independent which went viral overnight spreading to every musty corner of the Internet and sending gold skyrocketing to $1,026 per oz. Now every doomsday website in cyber-world has headlined Fisk's "shocker" and the blogs are clogged with the frenzied commentary of bunker-dwelling survivalists and goldbugs who're certain that the world as we know it is about to end.
From Fisk's article:
"In the most profound financial change in recent Middle East history, Gulf Arabs are planning – along with China, Russia, Japan and France – to end dollar dealings for oil, moving instead to a basket of currencies including the Japanese yen and Chinese yuan, the euro, gold and a new, unified currency planned for nations in the Gulf Co-operation Council, including Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and Qatar."International cabal"? C'mon, Fisk, you're better than that.
"Secret meetings have already been held by finance ministers and central bank governors in Russia, China, Japan and Brazil to work on the scheme, which will mean that oil will no longer be priced in dollars.
“The Americans, who are aware the meetings have taken place – although they have not discovered the details – are sure to fight this international cabal which will include hitherto loyal allies Japan and the Gulf Arabs. Against the background to these currency meetings, Sun Bigan, China's former special envoy to the Middle East, has warned there is a risk of deepening divisions between China and the US over influence and oil in the Middle East. ‘Bilateral quarrels and clashes are unavoidable,’ he told the Asia and Africa Review. ‘We cannot lower vigilance against hostility in the Middle East over energy interests and security.’”
Reports of the dollar's demise are greatly exaggerated. The dollar may fall, but it won't crash. And, in the short-term, it's bound to strengthen as the equities market reenters the earth's gravitational field after a 6 month-long ride through outer-space. The relationship between falling stocks and a stronger buck is well established and, when the market corrects, the dollar will bounce back once again. Bet on it. So why all this bilge about Middle Eastern men huddled in "secret meetings" stroking their beards while plotting against the empire?
Isn't that the gist of Fisk's article?
Yes, the dollar will fall, (eventually) but not for the reasons that most people think. It's true that the surge in deficit spending has foreign dollar-holders worried. But they're more concerned about the Fed's quantitative easing (QE) program which adds to the money supply by purchasing mortgage-backed securities and US Treasuries. Bernanke is simply printing money and pouring it into the financial system to keep rigor mortis from setting in. Naturally, the Fed has had to quantify exactly how much money it intends to "create from thin air" to placate its creditors. And, it has. (The program is scheduled to end by the beginning of 2010) That said, China and Japan are still buying US Treasuries, which indicates they have not yet "jumped ship".
Keep Reading...
The Human Cost of War: The Images the Corporate Media Doesn't Want You to See
You can follow the link in this article and watch Greenwald's, Rethinking Afghanistan documentary. Peacenik didn't follow the link. Peacenik doesn't like seeing images of dead people. The neo cons don't like Peacenik seeing images of dead people either. The neo cons don't want anyone seeing the consequences of war.
Ironically Obama isn't getting out of Afghanistan. Isn't withdrawing troops. He is trapped. And Canada better start thinking about what Canada's role in Afghanistan will be if Harper gets a majority government. That promise to end offensive military operations. Peacenik doesn't believe it.
Posted by Liliana Segura, AlterNet at 2:30 PM on October 5, 2009.
Robert Greenwald's Rethink Afghanistan brings you jarring images of civilian suffering. Not surprisingly, the NY Times isn't on board.
This past weekend, AlterNet had the privilege of hosting a screening of Robert Greenwald's important new documentary, Rethink Afghanistan, in New York City. It was just one of several screenings to kick off an impressive nationwide campaign by Brave New Films to spread a crucial message about the war in Afghanistan: This is not the "good war" as we have been told by so many for so long. This is a losing battle, and it is costing us dearly: in billions of dollars, in thousands of lives, and in the eyes of the rest of the world.
And of course, it is costing the people of Afghanistan more than anyone. Perhaps one of the most jolting things about watching the film is seeing image after terrible image of civilian suffering: desperate families mired in refugee camps, pain-stricken schoolgirls attacked with acid by the resurgent Taliban, countless injured men, women and children who are the "collateral damage" from errant U.S. bomb strikes. It is a punch-to-the-gut reminder of just how sanitized this war -- which Obama has always called the "right front" of the so-called war on terror -- has been.
Read on...
Ironically Obama isn't getting out of Afghanistan. Isn't withdrawing troops. He is trapped. And Canada better start thinking about what Canada's role in Afghanistan will be if Harper gets a majority government. That promise to end offensive military operations. Peacenik doesn't believe it.
Posted by Liliana Segura, AlterNet at 2:30 PM on October 5, 2009.
Robert Greenwald's Rethink Afghanistan brings you jarring images of civilian suffering. Not surprisingly, the NY Times isn't on board.
This past weekend, AlterNet had the privilege of hosting a screening of Robert Greenwald's important new documentary, Rethink Afghanistan, in New York City. It was just one of several screenings to kick off an impressive nationwide campaign by Brave New Films to spread a crucial message about the war in Afghanistan: This is not the "good war" as we have been told by so many for so long. This is a losing battle, and it is costing us dearly: in billions of dollars, in thousands of lives, and in the eyes of the rest of the world.
And of course, it is costing the people of Afghanistan more than anyone. Perhaps one of the most jolting things about watching the film is seeing image after terrible image of civilian suffering: desperate families mired in refugee camps, pain-stricken schoolgirls attacked with acid by the resurgent Taliban, countless injured men, women and children who are the "collateral damage" from errant U.S. bomb strikes. It is a punch-to-the-gut reminder of just how sanitized this war -- which Obama has always called the "right front" of the so-called war on terror -- has been.
Read on...
10/6/09
CanWest files for court protection, Aspers set to lose bulk of stake
It wasn't long ago that the way of doing business was to take over companies, and take on a ton of debt to do so. No one was afraid of debt.
Now one of the biggest companies in Canadian media, Canwest, can't even pay the interest on its debt. Does anyone think that Canwest is the only huge company that can't pay the interest on its debt. Peacenik doesn't. Now all that debt is toxic and lethal. It can't be paid off. It can't be ignored. It can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity. It is a black hole. And it is sucking the whole economy into it.
Grant Robertson, Tavia Grant and Andrew Willis
CanWest Global Communications Corp. (CGS.A-T0.19----%) filed for bankruptcy protection
Tuesday after Canada's biggest media company told a judge in Toronto it was now insolvent.
The Winnipeg-based company, which owns the Global Television network, more than a dozen daily newspapers across the country and several specialty TV channels, expects the court ordered restructuring of its debt will take four to six months.
The decision to file for protection under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act comes after a year of negotiations with creditors that saw CanWest no longer able to make interest payments on much of its $4-billion debt. The decision to file was made after a board meeting held late Monday.
The Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted…
punditman says...When you look for evidence of creeping fascism, sometimes you have to take a closer look at our brave new world. Here's an interesting article that ends up equating P2P file sharing with activists who monitored police scanners at the recent G-20 summit and told other demonstrators about police movements via Twitter—and got themselves arrested. Some might say they should have been arrested. But what if the police were acting illegally? What if the governments of the G-20 were acting like criminals? Who are the real crooks here. What if punditman forgot a question mark or three. Is that a crime.
New technologies, old battles. What will happen to the Pittsburgh Two? From Iran to the US, apparently the Revolution will not be tweeted...
… at least not if “law enforcers” get their way.
During the G-20 summit in the Pittsburgh area last week, police arrested two activists. These particular activists weren’t breaking windows. They weren’t setting cars on fire. They weren’t even parading around brandishing giant puppets and chanting anti-capitalist slogans.
In fact, they were in a hotel room in Kennedy, Pennsylvania, miles away from “unsanctioned” protests in Lawrenceville … listening to the radio and availing themselves of the hotel’s Wi-Fi connection. Now they stand accused of “hindering apprehension, criminal use of a communication facility and possessing instruments of crime.”
The radio they were listening to was (allegedly) a police scanner. They were (allegedly) using their Internet access to broadcast bulletins about police movements in Lawrenceville to activists at the protests, using Twitter.
Is that a crime? Should it be a crime?
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