Puppet MastersS


Bad Guys

It's Good To Be The 0.1%

0.1%
© icanhascheezburger.comHow's that trickle down working out for you?

The Top 0.1% Of The Nation Earn Half Of All Capital Gains

Capital gains are the key ingredient of income disparity in the US - and the force behind the winner takes all mantra of our economic system. If you want even out earning power in the U.S, you have to raise the 15% capital gains tax.

Income and wealth disparities become even more absurd if we look at the top 0.1% of the nation's earners - rather than the more common 1%. The top 0.1% - about 315,000 individuals out of 315 million - are making about half of all capital gains on the sale of shares or property after 1 year; and these capital gains make up 60% of the income made by the Forbes 400.

It's crystal clear that the Bush tax reduction on capital gains and dividend income in 2003 was the cutting edge policy that has created the immense increase in net worth of corporate executives, Wall St. professionals and other entrepreneurs.

The reduction in the tax from 20% to 15% continued the step-by-step tradition of cutting this tax to create more wealth. It had first been reduced from 35% in 1978 at a time of stock market and economic stagnation to 28% . Again 1981, at the start of the Reagan era, it was reduced again to 20% - raised back to 28% in 1987, on the eve of the October 19 th - 23% crash in the market. In 1997 Clinton agreed to reduce it back to 20%, which move was an inducement for the explosion of hedge funds and private equity firms - the most "rapidly rising cohort within the top 1 per cent."

Wolf

U.S. Senate votes for Indefinite, Unconstitutional Detention

Image

Well, now they have done it. On Tuesday a bipartisan total of 61 Senators voted for and only 37 voted against provisions in latest Defense Authorization Act that would authorize the President of the United States to arrest and detain indefinitely, without charges or trial, people suspected of being enemies, or linked to enemies of the United States.

Most Democrats voted against the provisions but only two Republicans voted nay - despite the fact that it is the Republicans more than the Democrats who talk about the importance of abiding by the Constitution. The two Republican Senators who have both read and respected the Constitution of the United States and therefore voted against the travesty were Mark Kirk of Illinois and Rand Paul of Kentucky.

The vote is such a blatant thumbing of senatorial noses at the Constitution of the United States that it might even be called revolutionary - or counterrevolutionary, meaning that it is an attempt to at least partially overthrow the revolution against the tyranny of the British crown beginning with the Declaration of Independence in 1776. When former Senator Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) was criticized by some of his Senate colleagues for following a line of reasoning that is "pre-911," the Senator, who cast the lone Senate vote against the controversial Patriot Act, replied that his critics were exhibiting a manner of reasoning that might be called "pre-1776."

Bizarro Earth

Britain to Expel All Iranian Diplomats

Iranian protesters
© ReutersIranian protesters stormed two British Embassy compounds in Tehran on Tuesday
Britain has ordered the immediate closure of Iran's embassy in London and closed its own embassy in Tehran after it was stormed by protesters.

"The Iranian charge [d'affaires] in London is being informed now that we require the immediate closure of the Iranian embassy in London and that all Iranian diplomatic staff must leave the United Kingdom within the next 48 hours," British Foreign Minister William Hague told parliament on Wednesday.

"We have now closed the British embassy in Tehran. We have decided to evacuate all our staff and as of the last few minutes, the last of our UK-based staff have now left Iran."

Hague also announced that Iranian ambassadors had been summoned in countries across Europe to receive strong protests over the storming of the embassy.

The move is a signficant one, Al Jazeera's Andrew Simmons reported from London, that amounts to a "firm warning" to Tehran.

Rocket

A second Iranian nuclear facility has exploded, as diplomatic tensions rise between the West and Tehran

Image
© Associated PressIranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, visits the Natanz Uranium Enrichment Facility south of the capital, Tehran, Iran.
An Iranian nuclear facility has been hit by a huge explosion, the second such blast in a month, prompting speculation that Tehran's military and atomic sites are under attack.

Satellite imagery seen by The Times confirmed that a blast that rocked the city of Isfahan on Monday struck the uranium enrichment facility there, despite denials by Tehran.

The images clearly showed billowing smoke and destruction, negating Iranian claims yesterday that no such explosion had taken place. Israeli intelligence officials told The Times that there was "no doubt" that the blast struck the nuclear facilities at Isfahan and that it was "no accident".

The explosion at Iran's third-largest city came as satellite images emerged of the damage caused by one at a military base outside Tehran two weeks ago that killed about 30 members of the Revolutionary Guard, including General Hassan Moghaddam, the head of the Iranian missile defence program.

Light Saber

Iceland Recognises Palestinian State

Image
© Alexander Nemenov/AFP/Getty ImagesIceland's foreign minister, Ossur Skarphedinsson, said he would discuss the outcome of the vote with other Nordic countries before making a formal declaration on Palestinian statehood.
Icelandic parliament passes resolution making country the first in western Europe to accept Palestine as an independent state

Iceland has become the first western european country to recognise Palestine as an independent state.

The Icelandic parliament said in a statement on its website that it had passed a motion with 38 of 63 votes in favour of a resolution to recognse Palestine "as an independent and sovereign state" based on borders predating the six-day war of 1967.

"Iceland is the first country in western europe to take this step," Ossur Skarphedinsson, the minister for foreign affairs, told RUV, the Icelandic national broadcasting service. He said the vote had given him the authority to make a formal declaration on the government's behalf, but before doing so he would discuss the move with other Nordic countries.

The resolution, which coincided with the UN's annual day of solidarity with the Palestinian people, recognised the Palestine Liberation Organisation as the legal authority for a Palestinian state and urged Israel and Palestine to reach a peace agreement.

USA

US Sending Tons of Tear Gas to Egypt

The US government continues exporting tons of tear gas to Egypt, which is being used by the military junta to crack down on protesters across the North African country.
Image
© Press TVEgyptian forces using tear gas against anti-military rule protestrs in Cairo's Tahrir Square

Egyptian news sites published documents on Tuesday showing that seven and a half tons of tear gas have already arrived in Suez.

The US tear gas exports have created a rift among Egyptian officials, as some port officials have refused to sign and accept the shipments out of concern that the tear gas would be used against peaceful Egyptian protesters.

The new documents show that the cargo, which has arrived in 479 barrels, was to be delivered to the Egyptian Interior Ministry.

Star of David

Israeli forces kidnap 10 Gaza fishermen

Image
© Press TVPalestinian fishermen cast their nets at the Gaza Seaport.
At least 10 Palestinian fishermen have been kidnapped by Israeli naval forces off the coast of the Gaza Strip, Palestinian officials say.

The incident took place near the northern shores of Gaza on Tuesday after Israeli military naval ships blocked two Palestinian fishing boats, DPA reported.

The report added that the Palestinian fishermen were taken to the Israeli seaport of Ashdod.

According to Palestinian sources, Israeli naval forces on Monday arrested two other fishermen while they were in the sea off the coast of al-Shati refugee camp west of Gaza.

Chess

Palestinian state, long overdue: UN

Ban Ki-moon
© unknownUN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has said that the establishment of an independent Palestinian state is "long overdue," stressing the need for a just and lasting solution to the issue of Palestine.

"The establishment of a Palestinian State ... is long overdue," the UN chief said in a message marking the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.

He noted that a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict must end the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian lands that has led to the homelessness of millions of Palestinian refugees.

Attention

Britain Evacuates Diplomats After Tehran Embassy Attack

Image
© Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesProtesters break into the British Embassy and tear down the Union Jack. Some then proceeded to ransack offices
Britain said Wednesday it was evacuating diplomats from Tehran a day after Iranian protesters shouting "Death to England" stormed the British Embassy compound and a diplomatic residence, tearing down the British flag, smashing windows, defacing walls and briefly detaining six staff members in what appeared to be a state-sponsored protest against Britain's tough new economic sanctions against Iran.

The attack was the most serious diplomatic breach since the traumatic assault on the United States Embassy after Iran's Islamic Revolution in 1979. Britain's foreign secretary, William Hague, expressed outrage over the attack, saying Britain held Iran's government responsible and promising "other, further, and serious consequences."

In a statement early on Wednesday, the Foreign Office in London said the British authorities believed "the safety of our staff and their families is our immediate priority. In light of yesterday's events and to ensure their ongoing safety, some staff are leaving Tehran."

The statement did not go into detail or say whether the embassy would remain open.

Dollar

Greece gets $10.7 billion but rescue plan stalls

Image
© The Associated Press/Virginia MayoGreek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos, left, shakes hands with Italian Prime Minister and Finance Minister Mario Monti during a round table meeting of the eurogroup at the EU Council building in Brussels on Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2011. The 17 finance ministers of countries that use the euro converged on EU headquarters Tuesday in a desperate bid to save their currency and to protect Europe, the United States, Asia and the rest of the global economy from a debt-induced financial tsunami.
Eurozone ministers finally handed Greece an euro8 billion ($10.7 billion) rescue loan to fend off its immediate cash crisis yet failed to resolve overall fears about the viability of the euro.

Stock markets had risen hoping that intense bond market pressure would finally force the 17-nation eurozone into quicker and more robust action - but that was not to be.

Even as Italy's borrowing costs skyrocketed to a euro-era record, the finance ministers failed to increase the European bailout fund to match earlier predictions and kicked other major financial issues - like a closer fiscal union - over to their bosses, the EU leaders meeting next week in Brussels.

The ministers did agree to use the fund to offer financial protection of 20 to 30 percent to investors who bought new bonds from troubled eurozone nations.

"We made important progress on a number of fronts," Jean-Claude Juncker, the eurozone chief, insisted late Tuesday. "This shows our complete determination to do whatever it takes to safeguard the financial stability of the euro."