Why is it that what our leaders say is completely betrayed by what they do?
Puppet Masters
It's Europe's second unelected Prime Minister in just a few weeks, as Italy's government succumbs to the will of 'the market' and our ECB / IMF overlords. Following our look at the BBC's introduction of Greece's Lucas Papademos, here's a quick look at their profile of Monti.
It's the most glowing profile of a public official / unelected (or for that matter) elected official you're ever likely to see. Here's a quick selection of glowing tributes:
© BBC
It's the most glowing profile of a public official / unelected (or for that matter) elected official you're ever likely to see. Here's a quick selection of glowing tributes:
"Mr Monti is a well-respected economist, well connected to the upper ranks of the EU machine"
"he earned the nickname "Super Mario" for the way he took on vested interests"
"the soft-spoken economist from Lombardy"
"He is a tough negotiator, head of a university with the reputation for producing Italy's finest thinkers.
"He has been seen as rather above politics"
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Lucas Papademos: technocrat"The euro area financial system is robust and well-capable of withstanding shocks...balance sheets of...banks...have continued to strengthen" [Lucas Papademos, ECB Financial Stability Review June 2006]
Papademos has an interesting CV, one that is lovingly glossed over by the BBC:
BBC: "More recently, as an adviser to outgoing Prime Minister George Papandreou, he took part in the negotiations between Athens and the "troika" of international creditors (the IMF, the European Commission and the European Central Bank) bailing out the Greek government."
Lucas Papademos: technocrat
Papademos has an interesting CV, one that is lovingly glossed over by the BBC:
BBC: "As head of the Bank of Greece, he oversaw his country's move from the drachma to the euro in 2002."Alternative: "Papademos was head of Greece's Central Bank when Goldman Sachs was helping 'the Greek government to mask the true extent of its deficit with the help of a derivatives deal that legally circumvented the EU Maastricht deficit rules'."
BBC: "More recently, as an adviser to outgoing Prime Minister George Papandreou, he took part in the negotiations between Athens and the "troika" of international creditors (the IMF, the European Commission and the European Central Bank) bailing out the Greek government."
© southasiarev.wordpress.com
Natural News has exposed that USAID along with Monsanto and the Nepalese government have started a "pilot program" indoctrinating some 20,000 farmers in the use of patented, poisoned, economy-wrecking GMO crops, in particular Monsanto's infamous hybrid maize breeds. The program has also received backing from members of neighboring India's government who have already helped introduce Monsanto's GMO crops throughout their country - beginning the wholesale destruction of India's food security and domestic farming industry.
© Grist
According to The Hill, the moment of truth is upon us: The supercommittee is indeed poised to rewrite the Farm Bill behind closed doors and with no input from reform-minded congresspeople, let alone the public. Many of us have known this was going on, but the Environmental Working Group (EWG) found some new developments that are nothing short of shocking.
© N/A
John F. Kennedy and family.
John F. Kennedy and family.
In the thought provoking book, They Dare to Speak Out by Paul Findley we read on page 114 that during Kennedy's campaign for president in 1960 he had a meeting with some prominent Jews. Kennedy was very insulted when one of the Jews said they knew Kennedy's campaign was in financial difficulty and that he and his Jewish friends would "help and help significantly" John Kennedy's campaign if, as president, Kennedy "would allow them to set the course of Middle East policy over the next four years." It was this meeting that made JFK want to work for a law that would have the U.S. Treasury pay a set and equal amount for all politicians running for president who secured a to be determined percentage of signatures of people supporting their campaign. He saw this as the only way to prevent the nightmare of today, which has not only the President, but the overwhelming majority of people in Congress bought and paid for by the very powerful Israeli lobby. Israel's lobby is so strong that hardly any politician will disobey their orders regarding U.S. Middle East foreign policy. And that includes starting wars, such as the war in Iraq, which benefit Israel and harm America and the rest of the world.
© AFP Photo/Stan Honda
China's state media Tuesday blasted the United States over its "ticking debt bomb" and urged American lawmakers to be more responsible after they failed to agree on deficit-cutting measures.
China's state media Tuesday blasted the United States over its "ticking debt bomb" and urged American lawmakers to be more responsible after they failed to agree on deficit-cutting measures.
China is the world's largest foreign holder of US Treasuries with a portfolio of around $1.15 trillion, prompting Beijing's keen interest in the state of the US economy.
"Washington's political elites... are obligated to muster the courage to defuse the ticking debt bomb and start to show the world they have the wisdom and determination not to further jeopardize the fragile global economic recovery," Xinhua news agency said in a commentary.
A US Congress "supercommittee" Monday failed to reach a deal to rein in the government's galloping deficits due to angry partisan battles over how best to revive the nation's sluggish economy.
Comment: Just for reference: Lets have a look at U.S. Debt.
© floatinglemons/Graphic Leftovers
With time fast running out for the so-called deficit supercommittee, the mammoth amount of government money spent on the military has become a prime target in Washington. But the main focus isn't on big-ticket weapons projects or expensive wars - it's on retirement benefits for the roughly 17 percent of soldiers, Marines, sailors, and airmen who have served 20 years or more in uniform. Currently the total cost of their benefits is about $50 billion a year.
Cuts to military pensions are "the kind of thing you have to consider," Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said in September. When President Obama unveiled his $3 trillion debt reduction plan the same month, it called GIs' benefits "out of line" with private employee retirement plans, saying the system was "designed for a different era of work." When Congress held a hearing on military retirements in October, Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.) promoted a cheaper 401(k)-style plan that would slash existing benefits for many troops. "I see nothing wrong with them being able to choose a different retirement plan," he said.
© AP
"We saw the firm stance the US took against OWS people & the German govt against green protesters to secure the state," an Egyptian state television anchor said yesterday (as translated by the indispensable Sultan Sooud al Qassemi; bold ours).
Comment: Spreading 'democracy' by example, US style.
At least the Egyptians are honest in recognizing the two things as essentially the same.
© The Ecologist
Agrochemical companies are accused of promoting dangerous and unsafe pesticides
Agrochemical companies are accused of promoting dangerous and unsafe pesticides
The world's major agrochemical companies, Monsanto, Dow, Bayer, Syngenta, DuPont and BASF, will face a public tribunal in early December accused of systematic human rights violations.
They are accused of violating more than 20 instruments of international human rights law through promoting reliance on the sale and use of dangerous and unsafe pesticides including endosulfan, paraquat and neonicotinoids.
The Permanent Peoples' Tribunal (PPT), an international opinion tribunal created in 1979, will hear expert testimony from scientists, medical doctors and lawyers to prove the charges. Victims who have been injured by these products - from farmers, farmworkers, mothers and consumers from around the world - will also testify to the causes and nature of their injuries.
Comment: Educate yourselves:
Political Ponerology: The Scientific Study of Evil Adjusted for Political Purposes
Puzzling People: The Labyrinth of the Psychopath
Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us
The Sociopath Next Door