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Showing posts from October, 2014

Growing inequality is disastrous but not inevitable

311014 PUDI report - Regular reports on the growing Poverty, Unemployment, Debt and Inequality of the neo-capitalist world globinfo freexchange Highlights: Many feel that some economic inequality is acceptable as long as those who study and work hard are able to succeed and become richer. This idea is deeply entrenched in popular narratives and reinforced through dozens of Hollywood films, whose rags-to-riches stories continue to feed the myth of the American Dream around the world. Experimental research has shown just how important fairness is to most individuals, contrary to the prevailing assumption that people have an inherent tendency to pursue self-interest.* Many believe that inequality is somehow inevitable, or is a necessary consequence of globalization and technological progress. But the experiences of different countries throughout history have shown that, in fact, deliberate political and economic choices can lead to greater inequality. There ar

Spyware sold by private companies

“ ... there are already methods to bypass encryption, thanks to off-the-shelf digital implants readily available to the smallest national agencies and the largest city police forces — easy-to-use software that takes over and monitors digital devices in real time, according to documents obtained by The Intercept.” “ We’re publishing in full, for the first time, manuals explaining the prominent commercial implant software 'Remote Control System,' manufactured by the Italian company Hacking Team. Despite FBI director James Comey’s dire warnings about the impact of widespread data scrambling — 'criminals and terrorists would like nothing more,' he declared — Hacking Team explicitly promises on its website that its software can 'defeat encryption.'” “ The manuals describe Hacking Team’s software for government technicians and analysts, showing how it can activate cameras, exfiltrate emails, record Skype calls, log typing, and collect passwor

Everyone in the streets of Brussels during the European Council Summit, Friday 19 December 2014!

Our national and European leaders continue to subject the people to the will of shareholders and multinationals while austerity becomes increasingly brutal. Most national austerity programmes are implementing EU recommendations according to the Stability and Growth Pact that our states have already signed-off. The measures are sending us into a recessionary spiral, imposing social regression at magnitude. The secret free trade negotiations also reflect their desire to uphold the interests of multinationals and their profit logic at the expense of a social, ecological and democratic Europe. We call on all organisations and individuals to make December 19, 2014 a day of action and convergence of struggles. Take to the streets to remind our leaders that the public interest is not that of multinationals and lobbyists, and that democracy does not work without us. Only a truly social and democratic Europe will meet the basic social needs of the population and ensure a pr

Ένας μηχανισμός φαύλου κύκλου από την ΕΚΤ

του system failure Η αυξανόμενη δύναμη της Ευρωπαϊκής Κεντρικής Τράπεζας (ΕΚΤ) και η συσσώρευση εξουσιών, αποδείχθηκε άλλη μια φορά. Eννέα Ιταλικές τράπεζες απέτυχαν να περάσουν τα τελευταία stress tests. Από το Bloomberg: " Οι Ιταλικές τράπεζες παρουσίασαν την μεγαλύτερη κεφαλαιακή ανεπάρκεια συνολικά, σύμφωνα με την επιθεώρηση της Ευρωπαϊκής Κεντρικής Τράπεζας για τους δανειστές της περιοχής, καθώς η χώρα παλεύει να βγει από την τρίτη της ύφεση σε έξι χρόνια. [...] Από τις εννέα Ιταλικές τράπεζες που απέτυχαν στα stress tests, τέσσερις παρουσίασαν κενά μετά από μέτρα που πήραν κατά τη φετινή περίοδο, σύμφωνα με την αναφορά της ΕΚΤ. " ( http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-26/italy-banks-emerge-as-biggest-losers-in-ecb-health-check.html ) Η ηγεμονία της ΕΚΤ άρχισε πριν από δύο χρόνια με την απόφαση Ντράγκι για την απεριόριστη αγορά κρατικών ομολόγων στην ευρωζώνη: " Η Ευρωπαϊκή Κεντρική Τράπεζα γίνεται ο απόλυτος κυρίαρχος, με την απεριόριστη αγορά

Οι επαναστάσεις; του μέλλοντος

Γαλλική Επανάσταση: Μια προσφορά για εσάς από την αστική τάξη. Ρωσική Επανάσταση: Μια προσφορά για εσάς από την εργατική τάξη. Αν ποτέ υπάρξει επανάσταση στον 21ο αιώνα σύντομα, αυτή θα γίνει από εκείνους που κατέληξαν να είναι στατιστικά νούμερα καταγραφής της φτώχειας, της ανεργίας, της ανισότητας και του κοινωνικού αποκλεισμού από αυτό το ανελέητο σύστημα. Άνθρωποι χωρίς ελπίδες και όνειρα, χωρίς να αναζητούν ένα καλύτερο μέλλον, χωρίς ταξική συνείδηση. Άνθρωποι που δεν έχουν τίποτα να χάσουν. Θα είναι άσχημο, χαοτικό, ανεξέλεγκτο, απρόβλεπτο και μάλλον αμφίβολο αν θα μπορούσε να το αποκαλέσει κανείς "επανάσταση" ...

Revolutions? of the future

French Revolution: Brought to you by the urban class. Russian Revolution: Brought to you by the working class. If there will be any revolution in the 21st century soon, it will be done by those who became statistical figures of poverty, unemployment, inequality and social exclusion by this brutal system. People with no hopes and dreams, no better future to seek, no class consciousness. People who have nothing to lose. It will be bad, chaotic, unpredictable and rather doubtful that someone could call it "revolution" ...

291014 PUDI report

Regular reports on the growing Poverty, Unemployment, Debt and Inequality of the neo-capitalist world Global: “ The number of children entering into poverty during the recession is 2.6 million higher than the number that have been able to escape from it since 2008 (6.6 million, as against 4 million). Around 76.5 million children live in poverty in the 41 most affluent countries.” “ The United States and Australia have had the largest increases in the NEET [young people not in education, employment or training] rate across non-EU OECD countries.” “ Beyond income and employment levels, the recession has affected a number of other important dimensions of people’s lives. From 2007 to 2013, feelings of insecurity and stress rose in 18 of the 41 countries, according to measurable self-perception indicators (including access to food and satisfaction with life). The recession’s impact on personal experiences and perceptions is not yet over, and many indicators have even w

ECB's vicious cycle mechanism

by system failure The increasingly concentrated power of the European Central Bank is proven one more time. Latest stress tests showed nine Italian banks have failed to pass. From bloomberg: “ Italian banks showed the largest combined capital shortfall in the European Central Bank’s review of the region’s lenders as the country struggles to emerge from its third recession in six years. [...] Of the nine Italian banks that failed a stress test, four still showed holes after measures they took this year, according to the ECB’s report .” http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-26/italy-banks-emerge-as-biggest-losers-in-ecb-health-check.html The ECB dominance started two years ago after Draghi's decision for unlimited purchase of government bonds: " The European Central Bank, ECB, becomes the absolute dominant, through the unlimited purchase of government bonds in eurozone, and the Frankfurt bankers are preparing for their biggest party so far. As

"Stress tests" υπέρ των μεγάλων τραπεζών υπό την αιγίδα της ΕΚΤ!

globinfo freexchange Σύμφωνα με πρόσφατες πληροφορίες, οι Αμερικανικές φορολογικές αρχές προχώρησαν, σε συνεργασία με εκπροσώπους της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης, σε μια μυστική "άσκηση" για το πως θα μπορούσε να κλείσει ταχύτατα μια τράπεζα σε περίπτωση χρεοκοπίας. Υπήρξε μια αυξημένη νευρικότητα πριν από τα stress tests της Ευρωπαϊκής Κεντρικής Τράπεζας (ΕΚΤ) στα κράτη-μέλη. Προφανώς, πολλές τράπεζες δεν θα μπορούσαν να επιβιώσουν σύμφωνα με την ΕΚΤ και θα έπρεπε να "απορροφηθούν" γρήγορα από κάποιον ανταγωνιστή πριν από πιθανά και επικίνδυνα bank runs. Τέτοιες μυστικές "ασκήσεις" έγιναν από εκπροσώπους της ΕΕ σε συνεργασία με την Ομοσπονδιακή Αμερικανική υπηρεσία διασφάλισης καταθέσεων (FDIC). Οι υπηρεσίες των ΗΠΑ έχουν χειριστεί περισσότερες από 500 τράπεζες κατά τη διάρκεια της τελευταίας οικονομικής κρίσης. Από τον Νοέμβριο, η ΕΚΤ θα αναλάβει τα ηνία της τραπεζικής επιτήρησης. Για το σκοπό αυτό έχει ιδρυθεί ένας ενοποιημένος μηχ

Drone slaughter

"Increasingly, this is how the United States chooses to fight its wars. Drones lead the way and dominate the fight against the several non-state actors we now engage — Al Qaeda, the Shabab in Somalia and now ISIS. Drones have their benefits: They enable us to fight ISIS without getting mired on the ground or suffering casualties, making them politically powerful and appealing." “ In an interview in GQ Magazine with former drone pilot, Brandon Bryant, Bryant recalls, 'sitting in a control station on an Air Force base in Nevada. His three victims were walking on a dirt road in Afghanistan. After the Hellfire missile fired from the drone struck the three men, Bryant watched the aftermath on his infrared display. The smoke clears, and there's pieces of the two guys around the crater. And there's this guy over here, and he's missing his right leg above his knee. He's holding it, and he's rolling around, and the blood is squirting out of

A test for the next banking crisis: Eurozone TBTFs to eliminate competitors!

Do it like the USA! globinfo freexchange According to latest information, the US tax authorities have declared in a secret workshop of representatives of the EU, how to close a bank overnight, if it is broke. Before the announcement of the ECB stress tests, nervousness increases in the EU and the Member States: Apparently, several banks from the ECB's perspective will not be able to survive. If they can not be transferred quickly to a competitor, there will be threatening bank runs. Between representatives of the EU and the United States Deposit Insurance Fund, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) are practiced secret bank closures overnight. The United States had handled more than 500 banks during the financial crisis. Close to an ailing bank is almost a 'cloak and dagger operation', because this must be done within a very short time. From November, the ECB will take over the banking supervision. For this purpose, a unified processing mechanism i

October 24, 1929: The start of the disaster

The black celebration of capitalism and the big opportunity for the banksters and speculators to gather wealth and power for the first time in such a degree Bought the most productive industry at that time, eliminated thousands of competitors. Unemployment soared, WWII came soon. “ On October 24 ('Black Thursday'), the market lost 11 percent of its value at the opening bell on very heavy trading. Several leading Wall Street bankers met to find a solution to the panic and chaos on the trading floor. The meeting included Thomas W. Lamont, acting head of Morgan Bank; Albert Wiggin, head of the Chase National Bank; and Charles E. Mitchell, president of the National City Bank of New York. They chose Richard Whitney, vice president of the Exchange, to act on their behalf. With the bankers' financial resources behind him, Whitney placed a bid to purchase a large block of shares in U.S. Steel at a price well above the current market.” http://en.wikipedi

Ukraine Crisis : 430,000 internally displaced, nearly 400,000 seeking for asylum

“ ... the need for humanitarian aid was rising, particularly around the cities of Donetsk, Kharkiv and Kyiv, and in the Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzia regions. Ukraine's internally displaced population is estimated at 430,000 people, some 170,000 more than at the start of September.” “ Some 95 per cent of the displaced are from eastern Ukraine and are concentrated in Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kyiv and other cities. In all of these areas, UNHCR has been distributing aid among the most vulnerable.” “ While the majority of the displaced people are staying in rented accommodation or with family and friends, at least 14,000 are currently living in collective centres.” “ ... in the Russian Federation, more than 207,000 Ukrainians have applied for refugee status or temporary asylum since the beginning of this year, according to the Federal Migration Service. In addition, some 180,000 Ukrainians have applied for other forms of legal stay in Russia, such as temporary

The “weapon of oil” that brings chaos

Used by the Saudi Arabia and the US against Syria,Iran and Russia globinfo freexchange You can ask any Western diplomat who knows the Middle East, what the term "weapon of oil" means, and he will answer that it's an attempt by the oil-production countries of the Gulf to affect the US-Israel relations by interfering on the international oil price - sometimes by blocking the flow of the "black gold", or, by supplying market with large quantities so that to bring prices down. At least this was the case since the big oil crisis of 1973, until a few years ago, when Saudi Arabia showed that is able to use the "weapon of oil", not against the United States, but in cooperation with them. After the official visit of the US President Barack Obama to Riyadh, there were rumors that the two countries were planning to "drown" global market in oil, in order to reduce prices up to 12 dollars per barrel and hit Russia economica

Η Σαουδική Αραβία κήρυξε πετρελαϊκό πόλεμο

του Άρη Χατζηστεφάνου Ρωτήστε οποιονδήποτε δυτικό διπλωμάτη, που ασχολείται με θέματα Μέσης Ανατολής, τι σημαίνει ο όρος «το όπλο του πετρελαίου» και θα σας απαντήσει ότι είναι η προσπάθεια των πετρελαιοπαραγωγών χωρών του Περσικού Κόλπου να επηρεάσουν τις σχέσεις των ΗΠΑ με το Ισραήλ παρεμβαίνοντας στις διεθνείς τιμές του πετρελαίου – άλλοτε, δηλαδή, μπλοκάροντας τη ροή του μαύρου χρυσού και άλλοτε τροφοδοτώντας την αγορά με μεγάλες ποσότητες προκειμένου να ρίξουν κατακόρυφα τις τιμές. Αυτό τουλάχιστον ίσχυε από την μεγάλη πετρελαϊκή κρίση του 1973 μέχρι πριν από μερικά χρόνια, όταν η Σαουδική Αραβία έδειξε ότι μπορεί να χρησιμοποιήσει το «όπλο του πετρελαίου» όχι εναντίον των ΗΠΑ αλλά σε συνεργασία μαζί της. Όπως είχαμε εξηγήσει από τον περασμένο Μάρτιο, μετά την επίσημη επίσκεψη του Αμερικανού προέδρου Μπαράκ Ομπάμα στο Ριάντ, κυκλοφορούσαν έντονες φήμες ότι οι δυο χώρες σχεδίαζαν να «πνίξουν» την διεθνή αγορά ενέργειας στο πετρέλαιο προκειμένου να ρίξουν τ

The Eurozone’s ‘New Austerity Model’

"The Eurozone economy has never really recovered from the 2008-09 financial crash and recession. Austerity policies—that played a major role in preventing a sustained Eurozone economic recovery for the past five years—are now evolving into still newer forms. Events in the recent past in Spain, measures approved in just the past week by the newly formed Renzi government in Italy, and proposals being debated at this very moment by the Holland government in France all point the way to the new forms of austerity now taking shape in the Eurozone.” “ No longer just cuts in government social programs and elimination of subsidies for the working poor, as before, the ‘New Model’ for Austerity emerging in the Eurozone consists of direct attacks on workers’ wages and incomes. The plan is to hold down wages in order to lower business costs and price of exports. Boosting exports in turn, it is hoped, will lead to more investment which has been steadily declining for year