Circle of 13Circle of 13Dismantling the propaganda matrix - Love, peace, freedom, art, beauty, empowerment Articles
UK lawyers support Pak lawyers? movement
2008-04-22 15:01:00 A group of lawyers from the United Kingdom on Sunday said they could move the British court against the MQM chief Altaf Hussain if concrete evidence was available against his involvement in the April 9 burning of lawyers in Karachi.The group of lawyers led by Barrister Sibghatullah Kadri, chairman UK Lawyers Committee for Human Rights and Justice in Pakistan, addressed a press conference at the Islamabad Press Club.The lawyers said that the British courts worked on solid evidence and required witnesses. They said that the news of burning alive of lawyers had shocked the whole world. It was horrific to note that chemicals were used against the lawyers. ìIt is the worst terrorism. It is unimaginable that such gory incidents can take place in a civilised and democratic country,î said Barrister Kadri.The group is on a visit to Pakistan to show solidarity with the legal fraternity in Pakistan and especially to condole the killing of lawyers on April 9 in Karachi. During their... More About: Support
Across Globe, Empty Bellies Bring Rising Anger
2008-04-22 14:46:00 That anger is palpable across the globe. The food crisis is not only being felt among the poor but is also eroding the gains of the working and middle classes, sowing volatile levels of discontent and putting new pressures on fragile governments. In Cairo, the military is being put to work baking bread as rising food prices threaten to become the spark that ignites wider anger at a repressive government. In Burkina Faso and other parts of sub-Saharan Africa, food riots are breaking out as never before. In reasonably prosperous Malaysia, the ruling coalition was nearly ousted by voters who cited food and fuel price increases as their main concerns. "It's the worst crisis of its kind in more than 30 years," said Jeffrey D. Sachs, the economist and special adviser to the United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon. "It's a big deal and it's obviously threatening a lot of governments. There are a number of governments on the ropes, and I think there's more political fa... More About: Globe , Anger , Empty
The Global Marshall Plan: The Network of Spiritual Progressives' Version Q
2008-04-22 04:32:00 From: Q&A on The NSP version of the Global Marshall Plan 1. What is the NSP Version of the Global Marshall Plan? The NSP is seeking to have the advanced industrial countries of the world use their resources to eliminate once and for all global poverty, homelessness, and hunger; provide quality education and health care for all; and repair the global environment. As an initial commitment, we want the U.S. to donate at least 1-2% of its Gross Domestic Product each year for the next twenty (though the amount may be less if other countries join in the effort, more if they do not). Here are the indispensable parts of the NSP version of the Plan: A. The Global Marshall Plan will not be one more aid plan that uses the concept of "generosity" as a savvy cover for the pursuit of self- and national interest. All elements of the Global Marshall Plan will be administered in ways that not only are consistent with love, kindness, generosity, compassion, ecological sen... More About: Network , Spiritual , Progressives
'Mrs. Vlachos says the coup d?etat of April 21, 1967 was "born of the Penta
2008-04-22 04:01:00 From: Helen Vlachos Doesn't Love You Anymore: Conversations With A Greek In Exile ...On a table in the living room is a short-wave receiver tuned to the Voice of America. "I always listen to their news broadcasts," Mrs. Vlachos explains. "When the Voice of America refers to 'the Greek junta' instead of to 'the government of Greece,' I'll know that American policy has changed, that I will soon be able to return home." Post-Scarcity Totalitarianism The image of contemporary Greece that Mrs. Vlachos conveys is a powerful and tragic one. It is a country, she says, whose democratic institutions are stifled by a brutal elite of cynical opportunists. The list of their abuses is long. The power of the colonels, she asserts, is upheld by secret police, political arrests, widespread surveillance, torture, censorship, rigged trials, martial law, blacklists, academic and clerical purges, faked reports, NATO, the CIA, and the fixers. Her charges are sweeping and well-documented... More About: April , Coup , Etat , Penta
Rupert Murdoch Firm Goes on Trial for Alleged Tech Sabotage
2008-04-22 02:33:00 Did a Rupert Murdoch company go too far and hire hackers to sabotage rivals and gain the top spot in the global pay-TV war? This is the question a jury will be facing in a spectacular five-year-old civil lawsuit that is finally being tried this month in California but which has, oddly, received little notice from U.S. media. The case involves a colorful cast of characters that includes former intelligence agents, Canadian TV pirates, Bulgarian and German hackers, stolen e-mails and the mysterious suicide of a Berlin hacker who had been courted by the Murdoch company not long before his death. On the hot spot is NDS Group, a UK-Israeli firm that makes smartcards for pay-TV systems like DirecTV. The company is a majority-owned subsidiary of Murdoch's News Corporation. The charges stem from 1997 when NDS is accused of cracking the encryption of rival NagraStar, which makes access cards and systems for EchoStar's Dish Network and other pay-TV services. Further, it's allege... More About: Tech , Trial , Sabotage
Interesting comments by the Former Australian Crime Intelligence Commander
2008-04-22 02:12:00 "I am not denying the threat posed by Muslim fundamentalists; however, it is incumbent on governments not to lose track of the ideologies that caused the Holocaust and which still persist amongst groups within the extreme Right." From The Emperor's Clothes Newsletter, 21 April 2008 : Croatian Usta?e (clerical-fascists) in Australia?Former Australian Crime Intelligence Commander Responds to TENC I. Comment by Samantha Criscione and Jared IsraelII. Letter from Kerry L. Milte, former Commander of the Central Crime Intelligence Bureau of the Commonwealth, now Australian, Federal Police[Apr. 21, 2008]==================================== =========I. Comment by Emperor's ClothesA while ago we published the main part of a brief we had sent Australian Minister of Immigration Chris Evans, arguing that he should expel Croatian rock star Marko Perkovic 'Thompson,' then on a singing tour for clerical-fascism in Australia. [1]Unfortunately, Evans chos... More About: Interesting , Comments
Food Rationing Confronts Breadbasket of the World
2008-04-21 21:16:00 MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. ? Many parts of America, long considered the breadbasket of the world, are now confronting a once unthinkable phenomenon: food rationing. Major retailers in New York, in areas of New England, and on the West Coast are limiting purchases of flour, rice, and cooking oil as demand outstrips supply. There are also anecdotal reports that some consumers are hoarding grain stocks. ~ read on... ~ More About: Food , World , The World
'Bush himself is pushing his Canadian and Mexican counterparts to adopt US-
2008-04-21 20:12:00 From: José Can You See? Bush 's Trojan Taco by Greg Palast Psst! George Bush has a secret While you Democrats are pounding each other to a pulp in Pennsylvania, the President has snuck back down to New Orleans for a meeting of the NAFTA Three: the Prime Minister of Canada and the President of Mexico. You're not supposed to know that ? for two reasons: First, the summit planned for the N.O. two years back was meant to showcase the rebuilt Big Easy, a monument to can-do Bush-o-nomics. Well, it is a monument to Bush's leadership: The city still looks like Dresden 1946, with over half the original residents living in toxic trailers or wandering lost and broke in America. The second reason Bush has kept this major summit a virtual secret is its real agenda - and the real agenda-makers. The names and faces of the guys who called the meeting must remain as far out of camera range as possible: The North American Competitiveness Council. Never heard of The Council? ... More About: Mexican , Canadian , Adopt
'Analysts have been wooed in hundreds of private briefings with senior mili
2008-04-21 19:57:00 From: Behind TV Analysts, Pentagon's Hidden Hand To the public, these men are members of a familiar fraternity, presented tens of thousands of times on television and radio as "military analysts" whose long service has equipped them to give authoritative and unfettered judgments about the most pressing issues of the post-Sept. 11 world. Hidden behind that appearance of objectivity, though, is a Pentagon information apparatus that has used those analysts in a campaign to generate favorable news coverage of the administration's wartime performance, an examination by The New York Times has found. The effort, which began with the buildup to the Iraq war and continues to this day, has sought to exploit ideological and military allegiances, and also a powerful financial dynamic: Most of the analysts have ties to military contractors vested in the very war policies they are asked to assess on air. Those business relationships are hardly ever disclosed to the viewers,... More About: Senior , Private
"For Hollywood, it is special effects. For covert operators in the U.S. mil
2008-04-21 19:24:00 From: When Seeing and Hearing Isn't Believing [Via WantToKnow.info] Pentagon planners started to discuss digital morphing after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990. Covert operators kicked around the idea of creating a computer-faked videotape of Saddam Hussein crying or showing other such manly weaknesses, or in some sexually compromising situation. The nascent plan was for the tapes to be flooded into Iraq and the Arab world. The tape war never proceeded, killed, participants say, by bureaucratic fights over jurisdiction, skepticism over the technology, and concerns raised by Arab coalition partners. But the "strategic" PSYOPS scheming didn't die. What if the U.S. projected a holographic image of Allah floating over Baghdad urging the Iraqi people and Army to rise up against Saddam, a senior Air Force officer asked in 1990? According to a military physicist given the task of looking into the hologram idea, the feasibility had been established of projecting... More About: Hollywood , Operators , Special , Effects , Special Effects
Humor: Marine Corps general on the utilitarian imperative
2008-04-16 12:35:00 " ... Be Equipped, but... Marine Corps General Reinwald was interviewed on the radio the other day and you'll love his reply to the lady who interviewed him concerning guns and children.Regardless of how you feel about gun laws you gotta love this!!!! This is one of the best comeback lines of all time. It is a portion of National Public Radio (NPR) interview between a female broadcaster and US Marine Corps General Reinwald who was about to sponsor a Boy Scout Troop visiting his military installation.[Quote]FEMALE INTERVIEWER: So, General Reinwald, what things are you going to teach these young boys when they visit your base?GENERAL REINWALD: We're going to teach them climbing, canoeing, archery, and shooting.FEMALE INTERVIEWER: Shooting! That's a bit irresponsible, isn't it?GENERAL REINWALD: I don't see why, they'll be properly supervised on the rifle range.FEMALE INTERVIEWER: Don't you admit that this is a terribly dangerousactivity to be teaching childre... More About: Humor
Bremer’s 100 orders: The true scale of Iraq’s rape and destruction
2008-04-16 11:38:00 by Whisperwolf ( source ) Bremer's 100 orders destroyed Iraq's economy not just for years but for decades to come. It undid some historical things dating back ten thousand years. I wish that was an exaggeration, but it's not. Iraq is home to the oldest agricultural traditions in the world. Historical, genetic and archaeological evidence, including radiocarbon dating of carbon-containing materials at the site, show that the Fertile Crescent, including modern Iraq, was the center of domestication for a remarkable array of today's primary agricultural crops and livestock animals. Wheat, barley, rye, lentils, sheep, goats, and pigs were all originally brought under human control around 8000 BCE. Iraq is where wild wheat was once originated and many of its cereal varieties have been exported and adapted worldwide. The beginning of agriculture led inexorably to the development of human civilization. Since then, the inhabitants of Mesopotamia have ... More About: Destruction , True , Rape , Orders , Scale
Fact or fiction: Should Bush administration be indicted for war crimes?
2008-04-16 11:33:00 From: 411 Politics Fact or Fiction 04.14.08: Week 85 4. This week, on Chris Matthew's show, in response to Matthews asking the question, "tell me something I don't know," blogger Andrew Sullivan of Atlantic.com said, "this man, these men [Bush and other high level administration officials] will be indicted for war crimes." Though we're not sure they will, this man, these men OUGHT to be tried for war crimes.Tom Head: FICTION. George W. Bush DESERVES to be indicted for war crimes, but I don't know whether he ought to be. We need to ask ourselves, first, who it is that would be doing the indicting. If it's a future Democratic administration, then it will be seen as a partisan attack writ large and will present no moral victory, even in the event of a conviction. If it's a future Republican administration, then independent counsel--which we do not currently have--would be necessary to ensure that the prosecution has any teeth. If it's an international human ... More About: Bush administration , War Crimes
How far is five miles of coffins?
2008-04-16 11:18:00 The distance from my house in Antietam to Sharpsburg is almost five miles. I never thought much about that distance until I was recently reading an article on the 4,000th death in Iraq, and someone calculated that those 4,000 coffins laid end to end would stretch some five miles. A peculiar method for measuring our country's dead, I thought. [ ... ] This issue of death is a very personal matter to people. One thing for sure, grieving can be a very difficult part of living. Drew Gilpin Faust has written a riveting thesis on death in her book "This Republic of Suffering." It is a book that examines every aspect of death, and I mean "every" aspect of death during the Civil War in which some 620,000 Union and Confederate soldiers died. It seems that this war actually taught us to be concerned about counting our war dead. Faust provides vivid insight and description of war as soldiers marched into battle, looking and preparing themselves for the "Good Death.... More About: Miles
Call for a noborder-Camp in DIKILI close to Izmir, Turkey from August 25 to
2008-04-16 11:13:00 From: Homeless earthlings' camp at the border YURTSUZ DÜNYALILARA SINIRDA UMUT KAMPI - Call for a noborder-Camp in DIKILI close to Izmir, Turkey from August 25 to September 2nd 2008. The holiday and skippers' paradise of the Aegean Sea between Greek islands and the Turkish coast has made a name as a passage since the 1980ies. A lot of people escaped the repression of the Turkish military government during the 1980ies using this passage. As an outer border of the EU - sealing off the fortress Europe against unwanted migration, the area turns into a nightmare for people seeking to enter Europe. There are two main-routes for the people coming from Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan or from Africa, especially from Somalia and Sudan: the route overland crosses the border between Turkey and Greece or Turkey and Bulgaria, the other one is the sea route, the Aegean coast.The distance between the coast nearby Izmir and the Greek islands are only a few sea-miles. Especia... More About: Close
'The PEPFAR reauthorization legislation is a sell-out'
2008-04-16 11:04:00 From: What Kind of Movement Are We? "We have to ask ourselves if we care more about our UN badges or about taking a stand for the needs and rights of people around the world." Those words are a paraphrase of those spoken by a committed South African activist who was encouraging civil society at the 2006 U.N. General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) AIDS meeting to risk our badges by protesting the disgustingly weak consensus document reached by member nations. (She was successful in getting us to take action. You can read a blog about that protest here.) I am reminded of her words as I think about how civil society has responded to the PEPFAR reauthorization bill that has now passed both the House and Senate committees and is headed to the floor of both chambers for a vote. I have been shocked over the last few weeks by the number of organizations and prominent individuals who have responded positively, or even neutrally, to the compromise bill. Some who have... More About: Sell , Legislation
Japanese Food Maker Starts Buying Genetically Modified Corn
2008-04-16 10:59:00 Nihon Shokuhin Kako Co. Ltd., Japan's largest buyer of corn for use in food, is importing genetically modified supplies for the first time this year as high prices deter gene-pure purchases, a company executive said. The Tokyo-based company plans to process 250,000 metric tons of U.S. GMO corn in 2008, signaling a change in policy on corn procurement, Mikio Shoji, director at Nihon Shokuhin Kako, said in an interview. The company, a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Corp., is the biggest of 11 Japanese corn-starch makers and buys more than 750,000 tons of the grain annually. Food makers in Japan, the world's largest corn importer, pay a premium for non-modified supplies because of consumer concerns that GMO varieties may not be safe. Corn prices have risen 56 percent in the past year and reached a record $6.16 a bushel in Chicago on April 9. ``We have no choice but to use GMO corn, as the grain is becoming increasingly costly and the price differential between GMO and ... More About: Buying , Maker
US policy has reached 'a point where its global hegemony could be opposed b
2008-04-16 10:57:00 From: BOOK REVIEW: When America intervenes by Khaled Ahmed The book by John Quigly puts together the catalogue of America's interventionist adventures and misadventures abroad which has made it hated among the states of the world albeit without lessening its influence.Exercising the US role of 'master of the situation', President Theodore Roosevelt claimed a right to intervene in any Latin country that defaulted on its public debt. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson sent the Marines to occupy the Dominican Republic, arguing that Germany, which was conducting operations in the Atlantic Ocean, might take it over if the US stayed out. In 1846, the US president asked Congress to declare war on Mexico, telling it that Mexico had invaded US territory and 'shed American blood on American soil'.In November 1918, when the armistice ending the war was signed with Germany, the allied troops in Russia thought they would be able to go home. But Wilson left them there to f... More About: Global , Policy , Point , Hegemony
The Democracy Wars
2008-04-16 10:45:00 What is particularly striking about Shavit and what distinguishes him from his colleagues at MR is his worldview - more precisely his take on the Middle East and the West, and on the roots of and solutions to the raging conflict between them. This he spells out in his newly released book - based on his PhD thesis and other writings - The Wars of Democracy ; The West and the Arabs from the Fall of Communism to the War in Iraq (published in Hebrew by TAU's Moshe Dayan Center). - Your book deals with whether the clash of civilizations is inherent or whether it is politically motivated. Is there or is there not a real difference between Arabia and the West? - There is a difference, but is it inherent? No. Do things have to be in the future as they are now? No. What I try to show in the book is that the whole concept of "clash of civilizations" was mirrored from Western thought to Arab thought and back again, each time escalating. So, for example, when [Samuel] Huntington w...
Want to Rule the World? Be Male, Go to Yale, Join 'Superclass'
2008-04-16 10:37:00 If you want to become as influential as Bill Gates or Stephen Schwarzman, follow these tips: Be born a male baby boomer, preferably of European stock. Attend an elite college. And don't forget to be rich and lucky. David Rothkopf offers that facetious yet accurate assessment in ``Superclass,'' a brainy guide to what the subtitle calls ``the global power elite and the world they are making.'' Rothkopf is a Davos diehard. He is fascinated with the people who run governments and corporations, move financial markets, shape opinion through the media and religion, and deploy military forces -- be they NATO soldiers or suicide bombers. No stranger to the high and mighty, he served as deputy undersecretary of commerce for international trade under U.S. President Bill Clinton and later did a stint as a managing director of Kissinger Associates. The superclass, as defined here, consists of men (and far too few women) who have amassed so much wealth and power that they a... More About: World , Join , The World , Male , Rule
Has Kenya joined list of countries contanminated with GM crops?
2008-04-16 10:32:00 A Genetically Modified contamination register report by both the Greenpeace International and Green-watch details 39 new cases of GM crop contamination in 23 countries over the past one year. Most of this contamination involved such stable crops as maize and rice, and included cotton, bananas and papaya. According to the report, since 2005 the GM register has recorded 216 contaminated events in 57 countries since GE crops were first grown commercially in large scale in 1996. This year's annual report on the register comes against the background of a controversy surround Genetically Engineered seed varieties. Kenya n environmentalists and farmers in the country confronted the government and the seed giant Pioneer Company for importing and selling genetically modified maize seed variety from South Africa. This followed revelation by the Kenya Biodiversity Coalition (KBioC) that maize seed variety imported and sold to Kenyan farmers by Far... More About: List , Countries , Crops
French GMO bill passes lower house of parliament - Toughens penalties for d
2008-04-16 10:31:00 The lower house of the French parliament approved a new law on genetically modified crops on Wednesday after fierce opposition criticism and internal wrangling in the ranks of the centre-right government. After a vote of 249 in favour of and 228 against the proposed law, intended to bring French legislation into line with European Union directives, the bill will now go to the Senate for a second reading on April 16. The law is aimed at fixing the conditions under which genetically modified (GMO) crops may be cultivated in France, where many regard them with deep suspicion. Europe has demanded that member states formulate domestic laws on GMO use since 2001 but France has dragged its feet over an issue that is fiercely disputed by supporters including the main farmers union and environmentalist opponents. The bill that passed the lower house would toughen penalties for deliberately damaging GMO crops, a favourite tactic of protestors such as veteran environmentalist Jose B... More About: House , Lower , Bill , Parliament
The Morgellons, GM Link
2008-04-16 10:28:00 From: Morgellons Disease May Be Link ed to Genetically Modified Food According to the CDC statement, the etiology of Morgellons is unknown, and the medical community has insufficient information to determine whether persons who identify themselves as having the disease have a common cause for their symptoms. In April, 2006, the CDC recommended an epidemiologic investigation. It was not until January 16, 2008 that the care grant to Kaiser Permanente was announced.In the meantime, a research team from Oklahoma State University lead by Dr. Randy Wymore, studied some of the fibers sent to them by Morgellons patients. They discovered that fibers from different people looked remarkably similar to each other and yet seemed to match no common environmental fibers.Ahmed Kilani, a specialist in infectious disease detection, claimed to have broken down two fiber samples and extracted their DNA. He found that they belonged to a fungus.In an even more provocative finding, Vita...
Genetically engineered sugar - Soon at an outlet near you
2008-04-16 10:24:00 "Franken-sugar" -- or genetically engineered sugar -- will make its way to stores this year, alerts Citizens for Health. So much for claims made in 2001 by Hershey's, M&M Mars, and American Crystal Sugar that they wouldn't use genetically engineered sugar. "But now that sugar beets are close to being planted commercially, they have made no such assurances," the citizens group bemoans. Isn't it bad enough that Americans are over-dosing on regular sugar? Now companies want to get genetically engineered sugar into the marketplace, too? This is cause for alarm, Citizens for Health warns. "Unlike traditional breeding, genetic engineering creates new life forms that would never occur in nature, creating new and unpredictable health and environmental risks. Genes from bacteria, viruses, plants, animals - even humans - have already been inserted into common food crops, like corn, soy, and canola, to create `Frankencrops.' Now companies like Monsanto have ... More About: Outlet
Danes Investigate Iraq Phone Threats
2008-04-16 10:09:00 Denmark's military intelligence agency is investigating whether Iraq i insurgents have used mobile phone records to track down and threaten relatives of Danish soldiers deployed in Iraq, officials said Thursday. Family members of several soldiers have told Danish media that they received threatening phone calls from unidentified callers in Iraq. The Iraqi callers may have tracked down the numbers by monitoring private phone calls made by the soldiers to their relatives in Denmark, according to the Danish Defense Intelligence Service. "Right now, we're mapping the extent (of the threats), after which we will consider whether our guidelines to our staff and their families regarding the use of cell phones and e-mails should be revised," agency spokeswoman Mette Noehr said. "To our knowledge, we're talking about a limited number of cases." Noehr said the agency was not sure whether insurgents were behind the calls. "It could also be hoodlums but one thing is sure, we're ... More About: Phone , Threats
9/11 general strike
2008-04-16 10:03:00 by chris rice http://www.opednews.com If the thought of McCain, Obama, or Clinton being our next president is making you suicidal... "Remember democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide."John Adams, letter to John Taylor, April 15, 1814 Every four years we have two options. 1. We can line up like sheep at the voting booth & give our consent to four more years of corruption, mismanagement, pork & high taxes or 2. Stay home & complain that our vote doesn't count. What I am proposing is a third option. Because the rules have changed & our vote has been hijacked by privilege & special interest. What I am proposing is that we don't act like sheep on election night & we don't sit at home & complain. What I propose is that we stand up like men & say enough is enough! It would seem that the founding fathers understood the d... More About: General , Strike
Larkin: the apostle of labour solidarity
2008-04-16 09:57:00 In Dublin, 61 years ago, March 1947, an immense crowd of people, 200,000 of them, many of the men bare-headed in freakishly Arctic weather, marched behind the coffin of Jim Larkin. Larkin was the founder of the modern Irish labour movement. He is the greatest figure in Irish labour history. James Connolly, Larkin's partner between 1910 and 1914, was far more clever and far better educated, but it was Larkin who touched the workers of the slums with the holy fire of righteous indignation, and ignited them in revolt. Larkin was a union organiser in Liverpool, Belfast, Dublin and in the USA — where he was jailed in the aftermath of World War One. He was a founder of the US Communist Party and a — none too competent — leader of an Irish communist party in the '20s. A man of contradictions, he was both a practising Catholic and a member of the Executive of the Communist International! He never abandoned revolutionary socialism. Dublin's workers elected him to the Dail... More About: Labour , Apostle
Haitians protest against rising prices
2008-04-16 09:52:00 From: Workers Struggles: The Americas Five people have been killed by security forces and another nine have been wounded as Haitians continued protests last week against rising food prices. More than 80 percent of Haitians live on US$2.00 (1.26 euros) a day or less. Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets demanding an end to high prices, corruption, government ineptitude and the presence of foreign troops. On April 8, protesters attempting to reach the Presidential Palace in Port Au Prince clashed with UN troops. In Port Au Prince, on April 9, police and UN troops were unable to control rioting as people broke into stores and warehouses. Demonstrators have denounced the government of Rene Preval for destroying the nation's agriculture with liberal free market policies and for standing by while the vast majority of the nation's inhabitants depend on imports from the Dominican Republic. On Saturday, Preval announced that the government would reduce the ... More About: Protest , Prices
General strike in Burkina Faso
2008-04-16 09:50:00 Workers from the public and private sectors throughout Burkina Faso launched a two-day strike April 8 to protest high food costs and demand salary increases. Ouagadougou, the capital, was almost completely shut down. In Bobo-Dioulasso, the second largest city in the west of the country, the central market was closed. Police were out in force in front of banks and government offices. The unions are pressing the government to increase salaries by 25% in the public sector, and to reduce taxes on fuel and food stuffs. The government has dropped taxes on food imports. But in a joint statement the unions accused the government of "leniency and complicity" with the businessmen. More than 46% of Burkina Faso's 14 million people live below the poverty line. The prime minister (Tertius Zongo) speaking before parliament March 27 dismissed the protests as futile. "The people can march and march but nothing will change." The unions responded in the joint declaration, "We will march,... More About: General , Strike
Ron Paul slams Federal Reserve as US money printing de-stabilize world
More articles from this author:2008-04-16 09:43:00 Texas Congressman Ron Paul has slammed the Federal Reserve for printing money to manipulate interest rates and undermining the salaries of workers and savings of older people. Paper money from pure fiat central banking, backed by nothing other than government debt - a process that was born after the gold standard was lifted by the United States which has led to rampant inflation since then - is a mystery to most ordinary people. Secretive System "Few Americans give much thought to the Federal Reserve System or monetary policy in general," Ron Paul wrote in his column this week. "But even as they strive to earn a living, and hopefully save or invest for the future, Congress and the Federal Reserve Bank are working insidiously against them. Day by day, every dollar you have is being devalued. "The greatest threat facing America today is not terrorism, or foreign economic competition, or illegal immigration. "The greatest threat facing America today is the disastrous fiscal po... More About: World , Money 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 |



