Israel and Bankers Gain From Arab Spring, June 22 2011

AANGIRFAN
Who gains from the Arab Spring?
The Arab Spring has weakened and divided Tunisia, Egypt and a number of other Moslem countries.

Israel gains.
The Arab Spring has increased debt in the Arab world.

The Western Bankers gain.


Tunisians by By PilotGirl

On 26 May 2011, the Wall Street Journal updated us on Tunisia n

We learn:
1. Tunisia is now facing sharp drops in tourism and foreign investment.
There is rising crime and unemployment.
2. In Tunis, shop owner Mohamed Guesmi said that things have worsened since the overthrow of former President Ben Ali in January 2011.

Frequent robberies and carjackings on the streets keep customers at home, he said.
Business at his women’s clothing store is down 80%.
3. Tunisia’s economy is expected to stall this year after a long period of healthy growth under Ben Ali.
4. Police have imposed overnight curfews in Tunis to control street violence.
5. Tourists have been scared away.
6. Under Ben Ali, Tunisia opened up its economy to foreign investment and invested heavily in universities, producing a well-educated middle class.
Under Ben Ali, women in Tunisia gained more rights.

Ben Ali – By PilotGirl


Egypt was booming, under Mubarak.

After the CIA coup, Egypt’s economy has slowed to a Crawl (NYTimes.com):
“Khaled Younis, 45, said he had to lay off the eight people he employed…

“‘Many people here believe this revolution was a curse on us poor, simple folks,’ he said.”Egypt’s economy is on the brink of disaster (Global Public Square).

“The tourism sector is waning, factories are paralyzed by strikes and sit-ins, exports have taken a steep plunge, and the construction sector is at a standstill.

“Since February, the country has been losing $40 million (28,5 million euros) each day, and foreign investment is ‘nearing zero’…

“Sky-high inflation (12%) contributes to the tense social climate.”

Soon to be Censored, June 22 2011

eccentricperspective.com
Hello, and welcome to my first “vlog!”


Here are a couple of articles to check out about the bill I’m discussing:
exhibit A: from TechDirt:
Exhibit B: From Infowars:

 
Clicking this sentence will lead you to an activist website that gives you a quick and simple way to take an effective action against this bill:

Here are videos of Al on the subjects of free speech and net neutrality… Really? Are these “embedded” YouTube videos about to become illegal?



Another embed that could get me 5 years of prison?


I was going to make a list of some of my favorite blogs/teaching tools, but since many of them are already sitting there amongst my recent posts, I’ve decided not to bother. I will however single out an older one that I’m very proud of where Jon Stewart, Jesse Ventura, and I gang up on greedy oil tycoon; T. Boone Pickens.

That’s it, my first vlog! To be continued?

Italy Breaks Ranks Over NATO'S Libya Mission, June 22 2011

Ella Ide
AFP
ROME (AFP) – Italy called for a suspension of hostilities in Libya on Wednesday in the latest sign of dissent within NATO as the civilian death toll mounts and Moamer Kadhafi shows no signs of quitting power.

“We have seen the effects of the crisis and therefore also of NATO action not only in eastern and southwestern regions but also in Tripoli,” Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini told a parliamentary committee meeting.

“I believe an immediate humanitarian suspension of hostilities is required in order to create effective humanitarian corridors,” while negotiations should also continue on a more formal ceasefire and peace talks, he said.

“I think this is the most urgent and dramatic point,” Frattini continued.

Full story here.

Obama vs Osama, June 22 2011

Colum LynchForeign Policy
First the good news: U.S. President Barack Obama is more than twice as popular in Egypt as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadenijad.

Now, the bad news: the American president’s standing has never been worse in Egypt, plummeting since 2008, when he received a 25 percent favorability rating, to 12 percent in 2011.  Even Osama Bin Laden, the late al Qaeda leader, was more popular this year, with a 21 percent favorability ranking. The Iranian leader fared worse, dropping from 21 percent favorability rating in 2008 to a miserable 5 percent.

The findings are drawn from a public poll of Egyptian views in the aftermath of the public uprising that brought about the resignation of Egypt’s fallen leader Hosni Mubarak. The poll was commissioned by the International Peace Institute, a New York-based think tank with close ties to the United Nations and Arab governments.

The poll seeks to capture the mood of the country in the lead up to the Egypt’s first post-Mubarak election, and to handicap the presidential campaign. It shows that Egyptians currently fret over issues like the economy, stability, and government corruption more than they  worry about the course of the country’s democratic transition.
Full story here.

"This is Not a Progam to Salvage the Economy", June 22 2011

Washington’s Blog
The best quote on the Greek parliament’s vote of confidence for Prime Minister George Papandreou – and thus his austerity plan:

“This is not a program to salvage the economy, it’s a program for pillage before bankruptcy,” said Alexis Tsipras, head of the small opposition Left Coalition.

It’s not just Greece.

As PhD economist Michael Hudson said in 2009:

• The giant financial institutions have already killed their host – the real American economy

• Since they realize that the American economy is dead, they are trying to suck as much blood out of America as possible while the corpse is still warm

• Because the American economy is dead, their plan is to soon jump to another host. They will ship all of their money overseas

For background, see this, this, this and this.

Greeks Turn Savings to Gold, June 22 2011

Gold Core
Gold is lower in dollars but higher in euros and has reached new record highs in pounds sterling at £958.25/oz. Gold is being supported by strong and increasing demand internationally.

Sterling has fallen after the BoE minutes raised concerns of further quantitative easing and currency debasement. The Bank of England looks increasingly likely to maintain its ultra accommodative monetary policies. Interest rates may continue to remain at multi century lows and the BoE is again considering more printing of money to buy government debt.

FULL STORY

Euro - a 'Collapsing Prison' for Greece & Co.?, June 22 2011

Russia Today


The Greek government has narrowly won a key vote of confidence, allowing the Prime Minister to continue his fight for more cuts. Parliament now has to decide whether to impose austerity measures worth billions of Euro, in order to secure a second EU bailout, a lifeline for the country’s paralysed economy.