Showing posts with label reuters. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reuters. Show all posts

Friday, December 19, 2014

In an ideal world Europe should do one of two things. Either move toward full political union and effectively ditch the nation state, with a main central EU wide government based in Brussels, major pan european parties that seek a mandate there and from which the ELECTED leaders of the EU are drawn. Just writing it down shows how impossible that is going to be.  Alternatively, Ditch the EU and retain the nation state and national parliaments and abolish the euro. This is enormously difficult and would cause immense short term damage and disruption but has a good chance in the middle term of reaching a situation with autonomous freely trading economies and currencies and one could rely on market mechanisms to restabilise the EU economy. EU states could continue to function as a political semi- entity (shared econ development, shared foreign policy, shared defense) if they wished with the commission coordinating this effort. Hopefully eventually the EU could get back to the dynamic entity that it was prior to the euro.   This view, it seems to me is only somewhat further along the road that the Cameroons want to progress. But the UK will be a be bystander because the tories have been such willful and inconstant EU players. And I don't know why we bother to send anyone from UK.   The reality is that we are going to get some awful Kludge which won't address the underlying issues and will try further to ride roughshod over democracy and inflict yet more austerity onto the unwilling , a road which will lead sooner or later to EU breakup...   It’s funny how history repeats itself. The inconclusive general election in 2010 took place when the economy appeared to be on the mend and against the backdrop of a crisis in the eurozone prompted by Greece. As things stand, we could be in for a repeat performance in May 2015.  Be in no doubt, what’s happening in Europe matters to Britain. The eurozone is perhaps one crisis and one deep recession away from splintering. The more TV pictures of rioting on the streets of Athens or general strikes in Italy between now and the election, the better support for Nigel Farage’s UK Independence party will hold up.  Stronger support for Ukip will encourage the Conservatives to adopt a more Eurosceptic approach, hardening their stance on the concessions required for them to continue supporting Britain’s membership of the EU. Meanwhile, a permanently weak eurozone economy will push Britain’s trade balance into the red. The economic debate in the current parliament has been about sorting out the budget deficit; the debate in the next parliament will also be about sorting out the current account deficit.  Let’s start with Greece, which was where the eurozone crisis began all those years ago. The French statesman Talleyrand once said of the Bourbons that they had learned nothing and forgotten nothing. The same applies to the bunch of incompetents in Brussels, Berlin and Frankfurt responsible for pushing Greece towards economic and political meltdown.

Monday, December 15, 2014

Authorities in France’s second-largest city have come under fire for issuing its homeless with ID cards that detail their health issues.  Human rights groups and government ministers have slammed the “yellow triangle cards”, comparing them to the Nazi-era Star of David that was sewn onto Jewish people’s clothes during the Holocaust.  “This is scandalous, it’s stigmatizing,” Christophe Louis, president of the homeless charity Collectif Morts de la Rue, told The Local.   “Wearing something that shows the whole world what illnesses you have is not only discriminating but it also breaches all medical confidentiality,” he said, adding that the symbolism in the design of the card is outrageous.  “Being identified by either a star or a triangle is horrific,” he said.  French human rights group La Ligue des droits de l’Homme said it was troubled by the resemblance “of this card and the yellow star that the Jews had to wear during World War II.” President François Hollande’s government in Paris has also reacted sharply to the initiative.  “I’m shocked. Forcing homeless people to carry a yellow triangle indicating the illnesses they might have is outrageous. You don’t point the finger at the poorest,” Social Affairs Minister Marisol told French daily Le Parisien in an interview published Thursday.  “You don’t write their illnesses on their clothes. Medical confidentiality, in particular, is a fundamental right. I want this local initiative to be stopped,” she said.  The card, an initiative Marseille's Town Hall and social services, identifies the person with his or her photo, name and date of birth.   It also specifies whether the person has any illnesses or allergies. The front of the card is adorned with a yellow triangle.  In their defence authorities say the purpose is to help health workers quickly come to the aid of a homeless person who has fallen ill or is in need of aid.  Over 100 of the identifications have been distributed already.  On Wednesday, about 100 activists and homeless people protested against the initiative outside the city’s town hall.   For its part Marseille Town Hall has been outraged by the criticism it has endured by issuing “the card that saves lives”.   In a statement given to The Local, one of Marseille’s deputy mayors Xavier Mery said: “I’m appalled by the absurd controversy surrounding this help card distributed by the SAMU (social medical emergency services)   "[The reaction] not only questions the necessity of a scheme for homeless people but also the commitment of the city, the SAMU and volunteers to come to the aid of those who need it the most”.

Monday, December 8, 2014

European stocks tumbled after Mario Draghi, head of the eurozone's central bank, failed to give a concrete sign that it would undertake sovereign quantitative easing following a highly-anticipated policy meeting.  Spain’s IBEX index fell as much as 1.5pc, the FTSE MIB dropped as much as 1.6pc and both Germany’s DAX and London’s FTSE 100 slid 0.4pc after Mr Draghi said the European Central Bank (ECB) would reassess the impact of existing economic stimulus measures “early next year” .  The euro also climbed on signs that Mr Draghi was in no hurry to inject further stimulus. It climbed as high as $1.24, having fleetingly touched a two-year low as the ECB President began to speak.  He said: “Should it become necessary to further address risks of too prolonged a period of low inflation, the Governing Council remains unanimous in its commitment to using additional unconventional instruments within its mandate.”   At the same time, the ECB slashed its forecasts for Eurozone growth. The economy is now expected to grow by 0.8 pc this year, 1pc next year and 1.5pc in 2016.   As expected, the bank did not cut rates, with the main refinancing rate staying at an all-time low of 0.05pc and the deposit rate at -0.2pc. ... In order to drag the Euro Zone out of the economic mire more than 5 billion Euros of QE is required. This is never, never, never going to happen! The most likely outcome for the Euro Zone is a prolonged period of disinflation\deflation. We are going to import Euro Zone deflation, it is already here, visit your local Lidl supermarket and check out the prices.... The press conference ended with Draghi slapping down the idea that a sovereign QE program  would be illegal.  "Not to pursue our mandate would be illegal, he replies."  Hi Ho Hi Ho it's off to court we go!  Further his comments that QE did not even need a majority vote will infuriate AFD and perhaps many more in Germany.  Can't wait for the German court to rule on this after the ECJ return their answer to the German court's question.  Maybe Draghi assumes that QE is ultra vires and is just 'talking the talk' to calm things down until the legal reality come known. After all, his dubious but famous 'do what ever it takes' comment, also awaits the same determination, but no one can deny the fact that his 'talk' saved the EU (or the €) at that time.... Mario has slashed growth predictions to almost to no growth - 0.8% in 2015. The revised down numbers for 2016, 2017 barely matter.   I do not think Mario has any effective measures he can undertake. The till says 'NO SALE'.  TLTRO uptake will be risible in a few days time and in those countries where it is just a giggle, the carry trade will be used to Botox bank balance sheets and not to lend to the private sector, so no consumer demand incentive there.   ABS - is he sure there are any, or enough assets to act as collateral for the balance sheet the ECB has got to have to become a lender of last resort in a non-growth €Z.   Sovereign bonds are almost a joke, especially as, if wrong will accept correction, he has to buy in some form of national proportionality. Germany first, France second, Italy third, Spain (perhaps not too bad) fourth.  More currency. Well he'd better pick the right nations to do it to unless he wants intra-euro capital flows in the shoots of spring.   Mario seems to have no means of exciting any consumer demand left so that export items can be bought or supply chain imports purchased to unblock this incestuous, nigh protectionist, 'single market' trading circle that all 18 highly divergent economies are monolithically, irrespectively and overly locked into because of the misshapen bairn hatched out of Brusstraslux.  I suspect there is an acceptance of a long period of deflation and non-FDI, not that the imperial court in Brusstraslux could care and the only measures we will see are the arraignment of taxpayers savings, pensions and a whole plague of new taxes. 'Cypress' will be the new funding source. Hopefully the last gasp but it will be a very long one.

Sunday, December 7, 2014

Everyone came to realize that efforts to deepen Ukraine's ties with the EU had failed. But no one at the time was fully aware of the consequences the failure would have: that it would lead to one of the world's biggest crises since the end of the Cold War; that it would result in the redrawing of European borders; and that it would bring the Continent to the brink of war. It was the moment Europe lost Russia.  For Ukraine, the failure in Vilnius resulted in disaster. Since its independence in 1991, Ukraine has strived to orient itself towards the EU while at the same time taking pains to ensure that those actions don't damage its relations with Moscow. The choice between West and East, which both Brussels and Moscow have forced Kiev to make, has had devastating consequences for the fragile country.  But the impact of that fateful evening in Vilnius goes far beyond Ukraine's borders. Some 25 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall and almost 70 years after the end of World War II, Europe is once again divided. The estrangement between the Russians and the Europeans is growing with Moscow and the West more inimical toward each other today than during the final phase of the Cold War. It's a reality that many in Europe have long sought to ignore. The story of the run-up to Vilnius is one filled with errors in judgment, misunderstandings, failures and blind spots. It is a chronicle of foreign policy failure foretold -- on all sides. Russia underestimated the will of Ukrainians to steer their country toward the EU and was overly confident in its use of its political power over Kiev as a leverage.  For its part, the EU had negotiated a nearly 1,000-page treaty, but officials in Brussels hadn't paid close enough attention to the realities of those power politics. Even in Berlin, officials for too long didn't take Russian concerns -- about the encroachment of NATO and the EU into Eastern Europe -- seriously enough. The idea that Moscow might be prepared to use force to prevent a further expansion of the Western sphere of influence didn't seem to register with anyone.
With the special role it plays and the special responsibility it has for Europe, the meltdown also represented a failure for Germany. Foreign policy has long been considered one of Chancellor Angela Merkel's greatest strengths, but even she ignored the warning signs. Merkel has proven herself over the years to be a deft mediator who can defuse tensions or work out concrete solutions. But crisis management alone is not enough for good foreign policy. Missing in this crisis was a wider view and the ability to recognize a conflict taking shape on the horizon. Instead, officials in Berlin seemed to believe that because nobody wanted conflict, it wouldn't materialize.
Merkel did say at the summit that, "The EU and Germany have to talk to Russia. The Cold War is over." But the insight came too late.

Sunday, November 23, 2014

According to many analysts, the future of the eurozone was secured after a now famous speech by ECB chief Mario Draghi, in July 2012, in which he promised to do “whatever it takes” to save the euro.  But according to leaked transcripts - obtained by the FT - of interviews for a book by former US treasury secretary Timothy Geithner, the ECB chief’s comments were anything but planned.
According to Geithner, the remarks were “off-the-cuff” and “totally impromptu”. “I went to see Draghi and (...) at that point, he had no plan. He had made this sort of naked statement of this stuff. But they stumbled into it”, a leaked transcript of the interview says.  Improvisation as the origin to one of the most important comments on the eurozone fits with other descriptions of the ECB president.  Simeon Djankov, Bulgarian finance minister from 2009 to 2013, describes the different personalities of Draghi and his predecessor, Jean-Claude Trichet.
In his book “Inside the Euro Crisis”, he writes about the different personalities of successive ECB presidents Jean-Claude Trichet and Draghi.  During meetings with the EU finance ministers, Trichet “would read prepared statements, and after that he would fade into the role of passive observer,” Djankov wrote in his book “Inside the euro crisis”.  Draghi, on the other hand, had a “more instinctive approach” and “scribbled his talking points on bits of paper a few minutes before the meeting began, tossed out comments throughout the discussions, and stayed until the end”...
Eurozone inflation rose to 0.4pc in the year to October, up from 0.3pc in the preceding month. At that level, price growth remained stuck well below the ECB's medium-term target of close to 2pc.
“It is essential to bring back inflation to target and without delay”, Mario Draghi, president of the ECB, said in a speech in Frankfurt on Friday.
The central bank official made reference to the quantitative easing schemes launched by the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan, noting that they had reduced the strength of the country's respective currencies.  Traders sold the euro on Mr Draghi's dovish comments, as the currency fell by more than three-quarters of a percentage point to less than 1.25 against the dollar. Mr Draghi stressed that while there had been improvements in the financial sphere, these had “not transferred fully into the economic sphere”, where the situation “remains difficult”.   The currency bloc has an eye-wateringly high unemployment rate of 11.5pc, while economic growth has ground to a near-halt .   The eurozone managed to dodge a third technical recession since the financial crisis, but it now appears that the euro area economy is unlikely to pick up speed by the end of the year.  The ECB has made a number of interest rate cuts across the year in an attempt to boost the economy, consequently bringing one of its three main rates - the deposit facility rate - into negative territory.   The rate is currently maintained at -0.2pc, meaning that banks that park their money with the ECB overnight have to pay the central bank for the privilege.

 

Monday, November 3, 2014

Opec's oil production is unlikely to change much in 2015 and there is no need to panic at the crude price drop, Opec's secretary general has said, adding to indications the exporter group is in no hurry to cut output.
Abdullah al-Badri said output of higher-cost oil supplies such as shale would be curbed if oil remained at around $85 a barrel, while the organisation enjoys lower costs and will see higher demand for its crude in the longer term.
The drop in the oil price to below $100, the level many Opec members had endorsed, has raised questions over whether Opec will cut supply when it meets in November. Mr Badri said Opec's output was unlikely to change much next year, adding to signs a decision to cut in November is unlikely.
"I don't think 2015 will be far away from 2014 in terms of production," Mr Badri said at the annual Oil & Money conference in London. "There is nothing wrong with the market."
Brent crude has dropped more than a quarter from above $115 per barrel in June as abundant supplies of high-quality oil such as US shale have overwhelmed demand in many markets, filling stocks worldwide.

Thursday, October 2, 2014

"DRAGHI SAYS EU BUDGET RULES ARE THERE TO BE RESPECTED" - Draghi also realises that big countries will ignore them with impugnity - just like they did the first time around. France is already in violation and knows full well that the EU and the ECB are utterly importent in the face of that.  Just as they were when Germany - yes, Germany - lead the way in breaking the rules shortly after the euro came into being. All countries remember this, espescially the ones on the receiving end of imperious Germanic lectures about "doing their homework".  Germany has made the classic mistake of doing well when others around it are doing badly, presuming this state of affairs will persist eternally and feeling it has a free hand to treat it's neighbours as it pleases. The moment German needs demand it, the Fiscal Pact will be out of the window; Anegla Merkel would be out of office within weeks if her government were to attempt the sort of austerity it has, in essence, forced upon Greece. The Netherlands were, if anything, even more hawkish than the Germans regarding "lazy Southerners" and wanted things like automatic fines. Then their own economy began to suffer the same problems and they also breached the rules - you don't hear much from them these days. Our Scottish friends may wish to ponder the huge difference in the treatment meted out to small countries as opposed to large ones in the EU. Of course, none of this should be greeted with any Satisfaction in the UK. A recession in the eurozone is bad for us too. Though thankfuly we have at least managed to dodge the madness of dropping a hand-grenade into the economy via a Scottish separation. Now, a worsening recession means there will be less taxable income for governments to fund ever growing entitlements. Add that to a huge pile of moldering away bad debts. What I see is not a solvable problem the way the world works today.
Neither Draghi or any of the bankers even bother to talk about the real problem of not enough regional income and too much government spending. Draghi’s only solution is some form of money printing. Printing money to pay bills might work over the short term. But long term, it cannot. If money printing works in the real world why not print and give every one a billion dollars, euros or yen?
The most Draghi can do is have the ECB print money to service existing bad debts made by banks and governments. But printing money to pay interest and principle on loans is not debt service. That is called money printing, debasing the currency whatever. Yes, governments want to do whatever possible to avoid bad times for its citizens. But, as someone else once said, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Friday, September 5, 2014

France must reform its labour rules. The Unions must be tamed. The 35 hr week is nonsense. And employers must be allowed to hire and fire - mobility of labour is imperative. The only way economies can be rescued is by relaxing labour rules and by encouraging employers and would be employers to take on more workers - but the regulations must be permanent. If more people are in employment, social security payments will be reduced, income taxes will rise, overall production will rise and the voters will feel more content. Do not allow Unions to dictate nor politicians who buy votes by promising more entitlements. Many people will inevitably vote for freebies but politicians need to be responsible....The 35-hour limit to the working week, regardless of who you are and what you do (except of course M. Hollande, who has much more important things to do and not enough time to do them in...) stems from the stupid left-wing idea that there is a finite amount of work to go around. It was introduced as a way of supposedly reducing unemployment by sharing this work around. This naivety is shared by lefties everywhere, and explains why health, education and other needs of society must be shared out equally. Hence the leftie hostility to buying a better education or private health care. In fact work creates work (ask any successful self-employed person). Being creative, whether it be widgets, services or arty-farty things generates the demand for further widgets, services and art-farty things, and more jobs, for as many hours as people are willing to work. The French have been unbelievably stupid in failing to see this, so it is no surprise that they have shot themselves in the foot and their economy is barely breathing. Mind you, this disease is not limited to the French; the UK has a healthy dose too. The mind boggles at what this nation of ours could achieve if government and the EU was not stifling enterprise with excessive taxes, rules and regulations.

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Thieves covering for thives ...

The executive board of the International Monetary Fund has expressed confidence in its managing director, Christine Lagarde, after receiving a briefing on a French corruption investigation.
In a brief statement, the 24-member board said it continued to have “confidence in the managing director’s ability to effectively carry out her duties”. Lagarde called the investigation “without basis” after answering questions before magistrates in Paris on Wednesday. She and her former chief of staff are facing questions about their role in an arbitration ruling that handed 400m euros ($531m) to the French businessman Bernard Tapie.
Tapie had sued the French bank Credit Lyonnais for its handling of the sale of his majority stake in the sportswear company Adidas in the mid-1990s. In its statement, the IMF board said, “It would not be appropriate to comment on a case that has been and is currently before the French judiciary.”
In her statement on Wednesday, Lagarde said that after three years of proceedings and dozens of hours of questioning, the court had found no evidence that she had done anything wrong and that the only remaining allegation “is that I was not sufficiently vigilant”.
She said she was returning to Washington and her work at the IMF.
Under French law, the action to put Lagarde under official investigation is equivalent to a preliminary charge, which means there is reason to suspect an infraction. Investigating judges can later decide to drop the case or issue a formal charge and send the matter to trial.

Sunday, August 24, 2014

As much as I admire Germany and its impressive manufacturing industry, the almost total reliance on exports as a way to achieve growth means that Germany cannot be the engine of growth that the Eurozone needs it to be.  The economic policies of China and Germany were just as much responsible for the financial crash as those of the debtor nations who have to exist for the policies of those two countries to work. German and Chinese surpluses were never returned and spent in their domestic markets but were recycled in the debtor states so that they could continue to buy German and Chinese goods to support the export growth that these two countries are so reliant on, of course this Ponzi scheme could not continue indefinitely hence the crash. Much of Europe is still in denial about some of the causes of the financial crash so it is hardly surprising that they cannot find a cure if they misdiagnose the illness. Anglo-saxon style casino banking was a convenient scapegoat which allowed others just as culpable to get away scot free. It explains the constant attacks on the city of London while ignoring their own zombie banks which are loaded up with sovereign debt which may turn out to be worthless. How many stress tests have they conducted on banks which have turned out to be nothing but meaningless shams that convinced no one.
It is worth remembering that at the introduction of the Euro the most vocal critics were British and what they predicted then subsequently happened. There is a lot to admire about Germany but do not have all the answers...
Germany's de facto leadership of the EU has been terrible. Most especially on the economic front. Certainly Germany itself benefitted from the hard currency policy it imposed on the other eurozone countries, as the industries of those countries folded one by one and their markets were taken over by German ones. But it was a disaster for the rest of us, and ultimately even Germany will be hurt as we become more and more unable to buy its goods. The only way soft-currency countries could have continued to compete with hard-currency ones like Germany was if the latter had allowed some domestic wage inflation. But they didn't, instead asking troubled countries to impose wage deflation - which they well knew was impossible, because wages are determined by contract and cannot be lowered easily any more than pensions.
For soft-currency countries, and even medium-hard currency ones like France, the euro has been a trap. You can't leave it without creating devaluation fears which will drive interest rates into the stratosphere, and if you stay in it your industry erodes year by year until you become a third-world vassal of Germany. The teutonic refusal to restore the competitivity of its southern neighbors by increasing its own wages has been selfish and destructive.
The new German assertiveness in foreign policy matters hasn't been much better. Merkel's dominant and belligerent stance during the Crimea crisis did more harm than good and is one reason why Russia and the EU are hardly talking any more, let alone working together to defuse the Ukrainian crisis. In any case if Germany wants to continue to call the foreign policy shots for all of Europe, it might start by doing its share of defense spending instead of relying on the French/British security umbrella.
Power comes with responsibility and Germany under Merkel hasn't shown much of it.

Monday, July 28, 2014

COPENHAGEN, Denmark – The European Parliament gave a tacit nod to Kurdish aspirations of independence on Thursday, when for the first time its motion over the Iraq conflict did not stipulate that the country must stay together. Until now resolutions passed by European Union MPs, gathered in Brussels in the wake of the crisis in Iraq, had stressed: “Iraq’s unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity are essential for stability and economic development in the country and the region.”Dellawar Ajgeiy, ‎‎‎the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) representative in the European Union capital expressed delight over that omission. "Until now, the European Parliament had stressed the importance of the unity of Iraq, but we feel that the reversal means they had to take account of the new realities," he said.  "We think it is very positive, because one cannot dictate to Iraqis and Kurds something that is not in their interest." The joint motion took note of the announcement by the KRG of a planned referendum for independence. The EU “appeals, however, to the parliament and the President of KRG, Massoud Barzani, to uphold an inclusive process in respect of the rights of the non-Kurdish minorities living in the province,” the motion said.
Rudaw
has learnt that the United States, France, Italy, Britain, Turkey, Jordan, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates are among states that have assured KRG officials they would show understanding, should Kurdistan declare independence.
Various politicians in Europe have expressed their views on the issue.
“The Kurds, just like all people, have the right to decide themselves about their future, according to international law,” Annika Lillemets, member of the Swedish parliament for the Green Party, told Rudaw. Earlier this week the British Ambassador to Turkey Richard Moore said the UK's stance on an independent Kurdistan is the “same as Turkey's,” and stressed the importance of Iraq’s territorial integrity. “We think that what we need is a unified Iraq. We are very clear with the KRG that we recognized the need for them to protect their security," Moore said.
British MP Nadhim Zahawi believes that, since the fall of Mosul and about a third of Iraq to jihadi-led insurgents, Kurds now occupy a new world, and “there is no going back.” “To return to greater centralization would be to fundamentally undo the gains that were so hard-won over the past decade, especially in Kurdistan,” he said. But he added that breaking up Iraq would “not deliver stability, either.” He offered a new model of federalism.
“This model would recognize the realities on the ground and better serve the interests of all parties. It’s not a new concept, and has been used to recognize diversity in several other countries. In the UK, for example, we have been debating the greater devolution of powers to Scotland,” Zahawi said.He added that during his rule Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki had only made “a half-hearted attempt at decentralization. It’s now up to Iraq’s politicians to overcome their differences and construct a national platform.”  Ajgeiy, the KRG representative, confirmed that some European countries are skeptical about the prospect of an independent Kurdistan because they fear more instability. He said that fear was baseless. 
"On the contrary, the KRG stands for security and stability in the region, with its good economy and energy resources.  We are close to Europe, historically, culturally and in terms of democratic values."Among his many meetings in Brussels, he has seen much sympathy from politicians who have an understanding of the Kurdish desire for secession. "But there are also many politicians who do not say loud that their countries will accept Kurdish independence, because they themselves have their own problems with breakaway regions," Ajgeiy said.  He believes several European former Soviet republics would accept an independent Kurdistan.

Sunday, July 27, 2014

The Federal Security Services (FSB) is reporting today that Israel’s Ofek 10 spy satellite was “targeted and destroyed” during an over flight of the New South Wales region of Australia earlier today while it was attempting to gather “electronic signal and photographic information” from a suspected Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) aircraft surrounded at the Illawarra Regional Airport (Wollongong Aerodrome) since this past Tuesday by that nations Middle Eastern Organised Crime Squad (MEOCS) after it was discovered carrying a “highly sophisticated nuclear device”.
According to this report, Israel’s Defense Ministry successfully launched their Ofek 10 next-generation satellite on 9 April to provide them with highly-targeted surveillance of specific locations, and which on Tuesday had its orbit changed to target Australia.
Specifically being targeted by the Ofek 10 satellite, this report continues, was the mysterious Swearingen Merlin 3 twin-turbo prop plane that landed there on Tuesday after having originated its mission in long know CIA territory Punta Gorda, Florida, landing at CIA-operated facilities at both Guam and the Philippines before completing its journey to New South Wales after its nearly 16,000 km (10,000 mile) flight.
This FSB report further details that this mysterious plane was under the control of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) throughout its entire journey through its mercenary offshoot identified as Snow Goose International, and which was founded last year by former Australia Air Force officer and SIS operative David Baddams as an “intelligence entity” able to perform “off the book” missions. Curiously, this report further states, SIS operative Baddams admitted to flying this mysterious plane from the US to the Philippines, but now says he has “no idea” how it got to New South Wales. The FSB further notes that according to Snow Goose International’s own records, this mysterious plane was owned by Oregonian Aeroclub LLC, a US-based company that has no record of existing, and prior to leaving the United States landed at Kirkland Air Force Base in Albuquerque New Mexico for fuel where it acquired a “highly troubling radioactive signature” detected by Russian satellites utilizing Measurement and Signature Intelligence (MASINT). This FSB report does note that the surreptitious transferring of nuclear weapons and materials by the US and its allies by means and methods such as was done in this instance is “common” for any number of security reasons, but left unexplained are a number of critical questions, specifically why and how this plane ended up in New South Wales, and why Israel’s Ofek 10 satellite was destroyed while attempting to conduct surveillance it.

Friday, July 18, 2014

The president of Ukraine has accused pro-Russia rebels in the east of the country of shooting down a Malaysia Airlines jet, killing all 280 passengers and 15 crew.
The huge loss of life threatens to have wide-ranging and unpredictable consequences, coming just after the US imposed further sanctions on Russia for continuing to provide weapons to the rebels.
The plane, which was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, came down near the village of Grabovo, part of the area controlled by pro-Russian separatists.
The aircraft was flying just 1,000 feet above restricted airspace when it was shot down, according to the European air traffic control body. Eurocontrol said Ukrainian authorities had barred aircraft up to 32,000 feet but the doomed aircraft was cruising at 33,000 feet, still within range of sophisticated ground-to-air weaponry, when it was hit. All flights in eastern Ukraine have now been barred from the area.

Monday, July 14, 2014

The eurozone recovery is weak, its financial markets too fragmented, and the region risks falling into deflation, the International Monetary Fund has warned. The IMF urged members to shore up the single currency bloc, including repairing bank balance sheets and stepping up reforms to boost employment. It repeated a recommendation that the European Central Bank should be ready for quantitative easing should inflation stay too low. The Washington-based body concluded after its latest visit to the region that the euro area recovery was taking hold and action by national politicians and the ECB had helped boost investor confidence. But the euro-skeptic outcome of the European elections posed risks to the single market and the economic recovery was "neither robust nor sufficiently strong". "The recovery is weak and uneven. Inflation has been too low for too long, financial markets are still fragmented, and structural gaps persist: these hinder rebalancing and substantial reductions in debt and unemployment," said the report. It was completed in June, before troubles at one of Portugal's biggest banks sparked the latest bout of jitters in financial markets. The suspension of shares in Banco Espírito Santo last week prompted panic selling on both sides of the Atlantic amid concerns it would lead to a wider run on the eurozone's debt-ridden banking sector.  While markets have recouped some of their losses following reassurances from policymakers that the problems are contained, analysts said last week's turbulence was a wake-up call over unresolved problems.  The IMF highlighted "lingering damage" from the crisis, such as high unemployment, particularly among young people, and said that activity and investment were yet to return to pre-downturn levels. Growth was unevenly spread across countries and the flow of credit to businesses in stressed economies was contracting. "Weakness in banks' balance sheets and uncertainty about their quality are contributing to fragmentation, constraining the ability and willingness of banks to support credit and investment," the IMF said.  The fund added that inflation was worryingly low and deflation a real risk, prompting a raft of policies from the ECB to avoid the region tipping into it.  "Risks to growth are still tilted to the downside. With limited policy space in the near term, further negative shocks – either domestic or external – could undermine financial market sentiment, halt the recovery, and push the economy into lower inflation and even deflation," the IMF said. It painted a long road to full recovery. Growth was expected to accelerate only a little next year, to 1.5% from 1.1% in 2014 – a slight downgrade from April's prediction of 1.2% growth this year. That outlook compares with the IMF's forecast for the UK economy to grow 2.9% this year and for the US to expand 2%.  Inflation in the eurozone was forecast to remain below the ECB's target of around 2%. The IMF predicts inflation of 0.7% this year and 1.2% in 2015.  It recommended that policymakers focus on three areas to strengthen the recovery: supporting demand, repairing balance sheets and advancing structural reforms.  "Such policies would help mitigate risks to the recovery and reduce spillovers from low growth and low inflation to the rest of the world," it added.  It welcomed actions so far by the ECB and said it was reassuring the central bank had expressed willingness to do more if inflation remains too low. Such action should include asset purchases, known as quantitative easing, in the IMF's view.
"Buying sovereign assets, in proportion to ECB capital key, would reduce government bond yields, induce higher equity and corporate bond values, and ultimately raise demand and inflation expectations across the euro area," Monday's report said.... what misleading drivel….the euro zone is not weak…it is bankrupt insolvent skint…how exactly does a bank repair their balance sheet…apart from making profit…and how can they earn their way to profitability when in the real economy millions upon millions of eu citizens are jobless homeless or up to their eyeballs in debt….and most banks are stuffed up to the gills in toxic bonds from greece italy slovenia spain portugal ireland bulgaria …and most eu states have national debts fast approaching 100% of gdp if not greater than 100%..it is misleading because the article can't be referring to earning their way to better books of account so the article must be referring to other ways of improving balance sheets and that is is where it is misleading…..printing money….quantative easing…creating loans out of fresh air….are all just a dishonest kicking the can down the road...

Monday, June 30, 2014

The Austrian press claims that the Vienna visit of the Russian president was scheduled for May. But the visit was postponed due to the irreconcilable positions of the West and Russia regarding the situation in Ukraine. All the formalities were resolved only after the Russian leader’s trip to Normandy, where he met with many Western leaders for the first time after the beginning of the Ukrainian crisis. According to the Austrian Die Presse, Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council, as well as the leaders of France and Germany Francois Hollande and Angela Merkel approved the visit.  One must admit that the Austrian authorities are a lot more neutral than many of their Western partners. Despite the fact that Fischer along with everybody in the EU denounced Crimea joining Russia, he later stated that a hard choice between Russia and the West was impossible for Kiev. According to the Austrian president, Ukraine has centuries’ long ties to Russia, which are especially clear in the East of the country, while the Western part leans more towards the economic conversion with the EU. The Austrian leader is convinced that no consensus in the Ukrainian society is possible if exclusively one path is chosen.
Earlier, prior to the referendum in Crimea, Fischer warned his European colleagues of the danger of new sanctions against Russia. In his opinion, the correct policy should be based on geography and history; it should put together both economic ties with Russia and Europe. As Austrian political analysts point out, Austria itself is very interested in Russian money. Russia is very important for the Austrian economy: significant amount of Russian capital has been invested in Vienna and the territory around the capital. In general the volume of trade between the two countries last year reached 7.5 billion euro.
Besides his colleague Heinz Fischer the Russian president will meet with Austria’s Federal Chancellor Werner Faymann. Vladimir Putin will discuss with his joint projects. Naturally, the main issue is the destiny of the South Stream pipeline. Gazprom and the Austrian oil company OMV signed a memorandum of understanding regarding the implementation of the South Stream project on Austria’s territory back on April 29. Unlike other participants, Vienna has not taken any steps to review the agreement with Russia in connection with the Third Energy Package. However, naturally, there is pressure put on Austria, not only by the European Commission, but also by Washington. The US plans to force the European Commission to block South Stream and, as it puts it, "decrease the dependency of the European markets on the Russian gas" by increasing the supply of imported shale gas from America.
Speaking of Washington, it considers Vladimir Putin’s invitation to Vienna to be "a wrong signal at the wrong time" – it supposedly indirectly justifies Moscow’s actions in Ukraine. Poland and the Baltic countries are of the same opinion. However, Austria not being a NATO member back in the Cold War years performed the intermediary function between the USSR and the West. Political analysts even called it "bridge builder".
Thus, experts don’t exclude that Vienna once again could be chosen as a broker between Brussels and Moscow. Analysts are convinced that the talks will not be "ourely bilateral" – they will be translated to the other European capitals. There is some hope that the European capitals will understand Austria’s pragmatic position and will finally listen to Moscow’s arguments.


Saturday, January 4, 2014


European Union officials take three times more sick days off work than an average British worker in the private sector, research by The Telegraph suggests.
According to official figures, European Commission officials took an average of 14.6 days off sick last year, with one in seven staff absent for more than 20 days.
By contrast, a survey by the Confederation of British Industry found that British staff working in the private sector took around five sick days a year.
European officials even outstripped Britain's civil servants and public sector staff, who took half as many days off work.
Peter Bone, a prominent Eurosceptic Conservative MP, said the figures were "disgraceful". He said: "I'm appalled at the waste of money. It is unbelievable that they are taking so much time off. However, nobody in truth would notice whether they are there or not. They have no real job, they are just pushing bits of paper around and costing taxpayers billions of pounds." EU officials are well paid, according to British figures, 16 per cent of administrative staff at the commission earn more than 100,000 or £84,000 a year, paid at low "community" tax rates of around 20 per cent.
The high wages comes on top of annual holidays of 24 days as well as seven days off for public holidays, and this year eight "non-working" days out of the office when the Brussels institutions are closed in summer and at Christmas.
Many commission staff are also eligible for a "flexitime" scheme that gives an extra 24 days off work every year for those that put in an extra 45 minutes a day in the office.
The holiday and flexitime allowances meant that in 2010, many EU staff were entitled to 66 days or a quarter of the year off work, without taking time off sick.
A spokesman for the European Commission said: "We don't have high sickness absence rates.
"The standard comparison is percentage of working days lost to sickness. While this varies very slightly from year to year, for the Commission it is generally 3.5 -3.7 per cent." "We find that in fact the commission compares very, even extremely, favourably to national administrations. That is the inconvenient truth."

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

The following information focuses on earthquakes because seismic activity poses a significant risk for Romania. However, Romania is at risk for other natural and manmade hazards. While much of the information below specifically addresses earthquakes, it is applicable to multiple hazards, and we encourage you to think broadly about the possible risks you and your family may face and to be prepared for any kind of emergency that may arise.
Romania is situated in a seismically active region and has a history of devastating and deadly earthquakes. The Bucharest area has experienced a number of tremors of varying intensities, and the probability that a severe and damaging earthquake will occur is high. The consequences of such a disaster will vary greatly depending upon the circumstances surrounding the quake, and no one can predict with any certainty what conditions will exist immediately following an intensive shock.
It is prudent that everyone be prepared to care for themselves in the immediate aftermath of a major earthquake. Every family and company should develop its own emergency plan, stock its own emergency survival kit, and ensure that its personnel and their family members familiarize themselves with emergency procedures and take precautions to protect their personal safety.

The Role of the Embassy

The Romanian Government is responsible for assisting foreigners in the event of a disaster, but authorities may be stretched beyond their capacity to respond in the immediate aftermath of a major earthquake. Telephone services will be severely overloaded, if they are functioning at all, and the Romanian Government will likely restrict phone use to priority users. Nonetheless, the Embassy will quickly want to ascertain the welfare and whereabouts of American citizens.
To aid in this process, American citizens should cooperate with Romanian authorities at evacuation sites and clearly identify themselves as Americans. Those connected with larger organizations such as companies, schools, or church groups should try to let these organizations know of their welfare and whereabouts if this is practical. If possible, American citizens should try to contact their American Citizen Services wardens and/or the Embassy.

The Embassy will be in touch with the Romanian Government and with larger umbrella organizations to attempt to identify as many American citizens as possible and determine their welfare. In the likely event that it is impossible to communicate by telephone or use motor vehicles, Embassy consular assistance teams may be deployed to major evacuation sites, international schools, hotels etc. to collect information from and about American citizens.

The Embassy will help provide information about the situation and communicate with Romanian government officials, if necessary, in order to obtain proper food, shelter and medical attention. However, a significant earthquake will likely overwhelm the Romanian government’s resources and individuals should be prepared to provide for their own emergency needs.
We will pass as much information as possible about the welfare of individual U.S. citizens back to the Department of State in Washington, D.C. so that this information may be shared with families, friends and employers.

The Role of the Romanian Government

The Romanian Civil Protection Command is part of the Romanian Defense System and is responsible for protecting the population, assets, national heritage and geographical environment in case of a natural disaster. The command’s activities include disaster intervention, search & rescue, warning and notification, sheltering, evacuation, etc. A central committee for evacuations is set up under authority of the Government if evacuation is required. In the event of a disaster, the location of the centers is determined depending on the area affected and the type of disaster that occurred. The Civil Protection Command coordinates with the local authorities in order to notify the population regarding evacuation or taking shelter.

Evacuations

Evacuations will likely occur after an earthquake. City authorities will issue evacuation advice. Americans, as well as others affected by the disaster, may seek assistance from the Romanian authorities, but you should be prepared to take care of your own emergency needs for the first several days of any disaster.

Earthquake Preparedness/Survival Information

FEMA produces a comprehensive Disaster Preparedness Guide called Are You Ready?, which can be easily downloaded by section or in its entirety. This indepth guide provides a step-by-step approach to citizen preparedness by walking the reader through how to learn more about local emergency plans, how to identify hazards that affect their local area, and how to develop and maintain an emergency communications plan and disaster supplies kit. Other topics covered include evacuation, emergency public shelters, animals in disaster, and information specific to people with disabilities. However, it is designed primarily for residents of the United States, and not all of the information will be relevant to disaster preparedness in Romania. Regardless, it can be a useful resource and a good starting place when preparing for a disaster.

Additional resources are also available online. Please visit the following websites for additional information about preparing for a disaster:

Emergency Supply Kit

Essential Supplies (Store enough for three-five days)
 
  • Water (four liters or one gallon per person per day. Change water every three to five months)
  • Food (canned or pre-cooked, requiring no heat or water. Consider special dietary needs for infants, the elderly, pets, etc.). Can opener.
  • Flashlight with spare batteries and bulbs
  • Radio (battery operated with spare batteries)
  • Large plastic trash bags (for trash, waste, water protection, ground cloth, temporary blanket)
  • Hand soap and/or disinfecting hand cleaner gel that does not require water
  • Feminine hygiene supplies, infant supplies, toilet paper
  • Essential medications as required; glasses if you normally wear contacts
  • Paper plates, cups, plastic utensils, cooking foil and plastic wrap and paper towels
  • First Aid kit with instructions
  • Lei, euros, and/or dollars in small bills (ATMs may not work after a disaster), with coins and phone cards for public phones. Credit cards.
  • Sturdy, closed-toed shoes and work gloves
Place emergency supplies in a sturdy tub where you can quickly and easily access your kit.

Essential Home Preparations Before a Disaster
 
  • Secure water heaters, refrigerators and tall and heavy furniture to the walls to prevent falling.
  • Move heavy items to lower shelves, and install latches or other locking devices on cabinets.
  • Install flexible connections on gas appliances.
  • Remove or isolate flammable materials.
  • Move beds and children's play areas away from heavy objects which may fall in an earthquake.
  • Register at Embassy or Consulate serving your area. You can do so online at https://travelregistration.state.gov/ibrs/ui/ or contact the U.S. Embassy to register.
Essential Planning Before a Disaster
 
  • Draw a floor plan of your home showing the location of exit windows and doors, utility cut off points, emergency supplies, food, tools, etc. Share it with housekeeper, babysitters, neighbors, and guests.
  • Establish family meeting points with alternate sites inside and outside of your home for all members to gather in the event of an evacuation.
  • Establish reunion sites with alternate sites for when the family is not at home, e.g., local shelter, neighbor's house, park, school.
  • Designate a person outside of your immediate area for separated family members to call to report their location and condition if separated.
  • Learn or establish disaster policy/planning at your children's school.
  • Know your neighbors and make them aware of the number of people and pets living in your home.
  • Learn where the nearest designated shelter for your neighborhood is.
  • Photocopy passports and other important documents. Store copies away from home (for example, at work). Scan important information and keep a thumb drive with critical documents in a safe, easy-to-access place or save it in email that you can access from anywhere.
  • Learn how to contact the police, fire and rescue services in Romanian. Be able to provide your address in Romanian.
Essential Steps Immediately After a Disaster
 
  • Check your immediate surroundings for fire, gas leaks, broken glass, and other hazards.
  • Check your home for significant damage. Do not remain in your home if you believe there has been structural damage.
  • Open doors and/or windows to avoid being locked in if there are after-shocks.
  • Contact one friend or relative in the U.S., and ask them to inform other parties of your situation.
  • Monitor local TV and radio for evacuation information. Contact your American Citizen Warden or the Embassy, if possible.

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

A leading member of Germany's leftwing Die Linke party has warned that a grand coalition between Angela Merkel's CDU and the Social Democrats would leave the country with a weak opposition unable to stand up to a powerful government.
Gregor Gysi, writing in the Guardian, says: "Europe will be watching how serious Germany is about democratic principles."
A powerful coalition is looking the most likely outcome of negotiations between the parties, particularly after the SPD's leadership announced on Friday that they would start exploratory discussions with the CDU next week.
Gysi says such a coalition would have 503 out of 630 seats in the Bundestag, leaving only 127 seats for Die Linke and the Greens. This would mean that they could not effectively interrogate or block legislation passed by parliament.
A former member of the East German Communist party, Gysi was a key figure in Die Linke's election campaign. The party gained 8.6% of the vote in last Sunday's general elections, making it the third largest force in the next parliament.
However, the party suffered a 3.3% decline in its share of the vote from the last election, losing 360,000 voters to the newly formed anti-euro Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), particularly in the east where Die Linke has traditionally been most successful.
In an interview on Friday, Die Linke's party leader, Katja Kipping, has suggested a joint member's vote among all left-of-centre parties on the country's political future. "The cleanest solution would be if all parties left of the centre would ask their base if they preferred red-red-green or a coalition with Merkel," she said.
A coalition between the SPD, the Greens and Die Linke would achieve an overall majority over Merkel's party and its Bavarian sister-party, the CSU, but any coalition with Die Linke is still considered a taboo because of some of its politicians' links to the old communist GDR regime. Both the Social Democrats and the Greens have ruled out such a union for now.
Either way, it is looking increasingly unlikely that the next German government will be formed any time soon. According to a report in Süddeutsche Zeitung, the SPD is also considering a member's vote on the possibility of a grand coalition.
Such a vote would most likely be held before the party's conference in mid-November. Many party members are said to be against a grand coalition since the party suffered from such an arrangement in 2005 – 2009.
In spite of Merkel's triumphant win on Sunday, the onus is on her to coax a reluctant SPD into coalition talks. Tax rises, dual citizenship and the introduction of a minimum wage have been mooted as areas in which the conservatives may make concessions in order to lure the Social Democrats to the negotiation table.
According to a survey by state broadcaster ARD, a grand coalition would be the solution most favoured by German citizens. Forty-eight per cent of those asked would most like to see a coalition between the CDU and the SPD, while only 16% would prefer a red-red-green accord.

Friday, September 27, 2013

As long as we don't worship the Keynesian Dogma we are going to read things like this one.

Mr Rajoy said the eurozone's fourth largest economy was "out of recession but not out of the crisis", and faced a long period of more austerity before the country could sustain the recovery.
"The task now is to achieve a vigorous recovery that allows us to create jobs," he told the Wall Street Journal.
Spain's unemployment rate, at 25pc, is among the highest in the eurozone. The bloc's official unemployment rate of 12.1pc also masks huge disparities. While Austria boasts an unemployment rate of just 4.8pc, the jobless rate in bailed-out Greece is 27.6pc.
The recovery in Germany, Europe's largest economy, has also been fragile. Data on Tuesday showed business sentiment rose for a fifth consecutive month in September. The Ifo Institute's business climate index, which is based on a survey of 7,000 firms, rose to 107.7 in September, from 107.6 in August. However, the reading fell short of the 108.2 expected by economists.
European Central Bank rate-setter Ewald Nowotny said on Tuesday that the bank had "flexible" tools at its disposal if it needs to take additional measures, including providing banks with additional central bank money. ECB President Mario Draghi said on Monday that the ECB stood ready to deliver a fresh injection of cash into Europe's banks. Asked about the possibility of the central bank giving banks another chance for those loans, known as Long Term Refinancing Operations (LTRO), Mr Nowotny said: "It is certainly important to show all that we have in the way of instruments, which are flexible...Pier Carlo Padoan, the OECD's chief economist, said he expected growth in the 17-nation bloc to be negative this year, despite several countries showing signs of recovery. Mr Padoan said the single currency area, which emerged from its longest recession in more than 40 years in the second quarter, remained "a considerable source of risk" to the global recovery, though he added that the systemic risk from the eurozone's debt crisis had subsided. He added that while countries should continue to implement austerity policies, automatic stabilisers such as unemployment benefits should be allowed to kick-in if economies stalled. Mr Padoan also urged policymakers to tackle high jobless rates. "There is no doubt that policy priority number one in the euro area is fighting unemployment. Let's not fool ourselves and expect unemployment to come down in a stable fashion," he said.
Economists expect growth in the eurozone to pick up in the second half of the year. On Monday, Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy said the country would exit recession - defined as two or more consecutive quarters of negative output - in the third quarter, following two years of contraction. 

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Dezaster ??...or onother theory??


The plot with Comet ISON thickens! We have been speculating for a few weeks now about the whereabouts and path of the incoming interstellar object. We know that both the United States and Russia have been preparing for an October 1 disaster preparedness deadline. We also know that the comet in question will pass by Mars on that date and then begin to make its pass by earth before making its way around the sun and slingshotting itself out of our solar system. Will it even make it all the way through our solar system, though? What if it were to strike Mars, Earth, Venus or Mercury? How big is it? This too will affect how it makes its pass and the effect it has on these planets. According to the video seen here, Comet ISON is much larger than NASA would have you believe. In fact, the data seems to indicate that it may be as big as half the size of Jupiter! What does this mean? Well, for one, it dwarfs earth in terms of its actual size, making it about 650 times larger than earth in terms of its volume! If this is true, it could be catastrophic for life on earth. We will soon know the full impact of ISON’s arrival. Will you be ready?