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New York: 31 people shot citywide in 48 hr period.
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/bulletfest_in_big_apple_byw44m9cllNj7rhDXYEDXK
In one of the bloodiest weekends in recent city history, 31 people were brutally shot in roughly 48 hours this weekend — including three kids at a house party-turned-shooting gallery in The Bronx.
25 people had been shot as of Sunday night, but by early Monday morning, six more people were shot in three separate incidents in Brooklyn.
Four people were shot at 12:45 a.m. at what appeared to be a barbecue on East 54th Street. One of the victims, 18-year-old Tyrief Gary, has died. The other three are in stable condition
the chest at 4:24 a.m. and 6 a.m., the first at Linden Boulevard and Nostrand Ave and the second at 57 Empire Boulevard. Both victims were taken to Kings County hospital where they’re in critical condition.
Police sources believe the three shootings this morning are connected to the pre-dawn festivities leading up to today’s West Indian Day parade. The traditional celebration, known as J’ouvert, has been the scene of numerous shootings in the past, although cops have had it under control in recent years.
Calling the chilling violence “just unconscionable,” Mayor Bloomberg demanded that the feds step up their efforts to get illegal weapons off the streets.
“We just cannot continue to have these guns in the hands of kids who don’t understand the value of human life,” he said.
Two dozen of the victims were shot in 13 incidents between 6 a.m. Saturday and 6 a.m. yesterday, authorities said.
More than half of those were wounded — one fatally — within a five-hour stretch, from 3 to 8 a.m. yesterday.
The 25th victim was shot at 9 a.m. yesterday.
The one-day crime wave mirrored the city’s drug-fueled epidemic of violence in the 1980s and ’90s, police sources said.
“Last night was unbelievable,” one source said. “I can’t remember a couple of hours like these since the days of crack.”
The violence continued during the day yesterday, with at least five more shootings through midnight, one of them fatal.
A total of eight people alone were shot at 3:40 a.m. at the out-of-control house party on East 221st Street in The Bronx Sunday, authorities said.
The violence erupted after one man crashed the gig and then got into an argument with another male partygoer, sources said. Each opened fire on the other, spraying the panicked crowd with at least 21 bullets.
“I heard three shots, then a bunch more,” said a neighbor who asked that her name be withheld. “Then I heard people going over the fence and women screaming.”
Sabine Walters, 48 — whose daughter threw the “liquor barbecue” bash and whose 11-year-old son, Shaquan, was hit in the right calf by a bullet — said, “I looked around, screaming, ‘Where’s my son? Where’s my son?’ ”
Shaquan, his leg wrapped in white gauze, looked terrified as he whimpered to a reporter from his bed at Jacobi Hospital, “My foot hurts.”
Police said they were searching for 17-year-old Oneil DaSilva, of Mount Vernon, in connection with the shooting. His rap sheet includes nine arrests for attempted murder, third-degree assault and burglary.
The second suspect has not been identified.
The other two wounded kids were a 13-year-old girl hit in the left thigh and a 14-year-old girl shot in the back. Both were in stable condition last night.
Five men were also shot at the party. A 24-year-old victim, shot twice in the chest, was in critical condition.
The most gravely injured victim in the other shootings was a man shot on East 93rd Street in Brooklyn. He later died.
Europe’s ‘Troubled Assets’ Bank Bailout: Germany’s Chancellor Merkel Pushes for a Eurozone ‘Banktatorship’
Tuesday, 06 September 2011 06:56
‘The Bundestag will have one chance to stop Angela Merkel’s plan to provide hundreds of billions of dollars to underwater EU banks that made bad bets on sovereign bonds. If the German parliament fails to block Merkel on September 23, then–under the “expanded powers” of the European Financial Security Facility (EFSF)– insolvent banks will be bailed out and the costs will be passed on to eurozone taxpayers.
Despite her populist bloviating (“We won’t be bullied by the markets”), Merkel is a devout Europhile committed to a fiscal union ruled by bankers and bondholders, a Banktatorship. Presently, she is doing whatever she can to hurry the process along before hostile bond vigilantes roil the markets and bring the EU banking system crashing down.’
Libya: The Greatest Betrayal
Monday, 29 August 2011 12:07
‘First – let’s not labor under any delusions. Obama, Cameron, and Sarkozy are heads of state in name only. It is the depravity and megalomania amongst the banks, corporations, and the institutions they have contrived, that are responsible for the most egregious betrayal in Western history. For 10 years the West’s leadership have stirred up hatred and fear amongst their populations to justify a lengthy and very costly global war that has sent US, British, Canadian, German, French, and many other troops, around the world, into dangerous adversity, and ultimately to their graves to fight “the forces of terror.”
Now, almost as if savoring the irony, the New York Times, on behalf of the corporate-financier oligarchs that presume dominion over the Western world, fully admit that Al Qaeda terrorists,men who literally killed US troops in both Iraq and Afghanistan are now in Libya and are the benefactors of billions of dollars in Western aid, diplomatic recognition, training, weapons, the lending of intelligence assets, the full unwavering support of the West’s “media,” NATO-member air support, and even graced with Western special forces fighting side-by-side with them on the ground.
This timely confession is also in response in part to revelations that the Libyan rebel commander now filling the streets of Tripoli with indescribable horror is a hardcore Al Qaeda leader, reported first in the Telegraph months ago, and again this week on RT and covered in depth by respected geopolitical analyst Dr. Webster Tarpley.’
Iceland’s On-going Revolution
An Italian radio program’s story about Iceland’s on-going revolution is a stunning example of how little our media tells us about the rest of the world. Americans may remember that at the start of the 2008 financial crisis, Iceland literally went bankrupt. The reasons were mentioned only in passing, and since then, this little-known member of the European Union fell back into oblivion.
As one European country after another fails or risks failing, imperiling the Euro, with repercussions for the entire world, the last thing the powers that be want is for Iceland to become an example. Here’s why:
Five years of a pure neo-liberal regime had made Iceland, (population 320 thousand, no army), one of the richest countries in the world. In 2003 all the country’s banks were privatized, and in an effort to attract foreign investors, they offered on-line banking whose minimal costs allowed them to offer relatively high rates of return. The accounts, called IceSave, attracted many English and Dutch small investors. But as investments grew, so did the banks’ foreign debt. In 2003 Iceland’s debt was equal to 200 times its GNP, but in 2007, it was 900 percent. The 2008 world financial crisis was the coup de grace. The three main Icelandic banks, Landbanki, Kapthing and Glitnir, went belly up and were nationalized, while the Kroner lost 85% of its value with respect to the Euro. At the end of the year Iceland declared bankruptcy.
Contrary to what could be expected, the crisis resulted in Icelanders recovering their sovereign rights, through a process of direct participatory democracy that eventually led to a new Constitution. But only after much pain.
Geir Haarde, the Prime Minister of a Social Democratic coalition government, negotiated a two million one hundred thousand dollar loan, to which the Nordic countries added another two and a half million. But the foreign financial community pressured Iceland to impose drastic measures. The FMI and the European Union wanted to take over its debt, claiming this was the only way for the country to pay back Holland and Great Britain, who had promised to reimburse their citizens.
Protests and riots continued, eventually forcing the government to resign. Elections were brought forward to April 2009, resulting in a left-wing coalition which condemned the neoliberal economic system, but immediately gave in to its demands that Iceland pay off a total of three and a half million Euros. This required each Icelandic citizen to pay 100 Euros a month (or about $130) for fifteen years, at 5.5% interest, to pay off a debt incurred by private parties vis a vis other private parties. It was the straw that broke the reindeer’s back.
What happened next was extraordinary. The belief that citizens had to pay for the mistakes of a financial monopoly, that an entire nation must be taxed to pay off private debts was shattered, transforming the relationship between citizens and their political institutions and eventually driving Iceland’s leaders to the side of their constituents. The Head of State, Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, refused to ratify the law that would have made Iceland’s citizens responsible for its bankers’ debts, and accepted calls for a referendum.
Of course the international community only increased the pressure on Iceland. Great Britain and Holland threatened dire reprisals that would isolate the country. As Icelanders went to vote, foreign bankers threatened to block any aid from the IMF. The British government threatened to freeze Icelander savings and checking accounts. As Grimsson said: “We were told that if we refused the international community’s conditions, we would become the Cuba of the North. But if we had accepted, we would have become the Haiti of the North.” (How many times have I written that when Cubans see the dire state of their neighbor, Haiti, they count themselves lucky.)
In the March 2010 referendum, 93% voted against repayment of the debt. The IMF immediately froze its loan. But the revolution (though not televised in the United States), would not be intimidated. With the support of a furious citizenry, the government launched civil and penal investigations into those responsible for the financial crisis. Interpol put out an international arrest warrant for the ex-president of Kaupthing, Sigurdur Einarsson, as the other bankers implicated in the crash fled the country.
But Icelanders didn’t stop there: they decided to draft a new constitution that would free the country from the exaggerated power of international finance and virtual money. (The one in use had been written when Iceland gained its independence from Denmark, in 1918, the only difference with the Danish constitution being that the word ‘president’ replaced the word ‘king’.)
To write the new constitution, the people of Iceland elected twenty-five citizens from among 522 adults not belonging to any political party but recommended by at least thirty citizens. This document was not the work of a handful of politicians, but was written on the internet. The constituent’s meetings are streamed on-line, and citizens can send their comments and suggestions, witnessing the document as it takes shape. The constitution that eventually emerges from this participatory democratic process will be submitted to parliament for approval after the next elections.
Some readers will remember that Iceland’s ninth century agrarian collapse was featured in Jared Diamond’s book by the same name. Today, that country is recovering from its financial collapse in ways just the opposite of those generally considered unavoidable, as confirmed yesterday by the new head of the IMF, Christine Lagarde to Fareed Zakaria. The people of Greece have been told that the privatization of their public sector is the only solution. And those of Italy, Spain and Portugal are facing the same threat.
They should look to Iceland. Refusing to bow to foreign interests, that small country stated loud and clear that the people are sovereign.
That’s why it is not in the news anymore.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/08/01/1001662/-Icelands-On-going-Revolution
The Great Collapse Has Officially Begun
Monday, 22 August 2011 08:39
‘In simple terms, we’ve now entered the Real Crisis, the END GAME, for our current monetary system. Before the dust settles on this mess, the US and its political, economic, monetary structure will look very very different.
However, before we get there, we will see riots, civil unrest, possibly martial law, for certain a Government shutdown, bank holidays, a debt default/ restructuring, the re-instatement of the Gold standard or something like it (possibly a basket of commodities), food shortages, and more.
We will also see trade wars, possibly another World War, a temporary backlash against globalization, a de-consolidation or fragmentation of corporate America, and other items.’
European Markets Plunge on Economic Crisis
Wednesday, 10 August 2011 05:00
‘Markets in Europe plummeted to a two-year low on Tuesday, with London’s FTSE as well as Frankfurt’s DAX indexes diving by more five percent each, while the Paris Bourse declined more than three percent, Reuters reported. Other European indexes witnessed an almost similar plunge.
Investors have voiced widespread skepticism on whether policymakers can stop the downward spiral after the Standard & Poor’s (S&P) credit ratings agency downgraded the US’s rating from AAA to AA+ on Friday.’
Iceland’s Loud No
Monday, 01 August 2011 08:26
The small island of Iceland has lessons for the world. It held a referendum in April to decide, more or less, whether ordinary people should pay for the folly of the bankers (and by extension, could governments control the corporate sector if they depended on it for finance). Sixty per cent of the population rejected an agreement negotiated between Iceland, the Netherlands and the UK to pay back the British and Dutch governments for the money they spent to recompense savers with the failed bank Icesave. That was less resistance than the first referendum last spring, when 93% voted no.’
US is Parasite on World Economy: Putin
Tuesday, 02 August 2011 06:52
‘Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin says the United States is feeding on the world economy like a “parasite” by building up an unsustainable debt that threatens the global financial system.
In an address to a group of pro-Kremlin youths attending a summer camp north of Moscow on Monday, Putin accused the US of acting like a “parasite” by accumulating tremendous debts that have jeopardized global markets, AFP reported.
“The country is living in debt. It is not living within its means, shifting the weight of responsibility on other countries and in a way acting as a parasite,” Putin said.’
Apple Has More Cash than US Government
Saturday, 30 July 2011 07:09
The latest report of the United States Treasury on cash and debt operations put the country’s cash balance at $73.7 billion, but Apple’s reserves are currently $76.4 billion, the state-run BBC reported on Friday.
The United States is currently spending around $200 billion more than it collects in revenue every month.’
General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt, the Head of Obama’s Jobs Council, is Moving Jobs and Economic Infrastructure to China at a Blistering Pace
Saturday, 30 July 2011 08:03
‘Jeffrey Immelt, the head of Barack Obama’s highly touted “Jobs Council”, is moving even more GE infrastructure to China. GE makes more medical-imaging machines than anyone else in the world, and now GE has announced that it “is moving the headquarters of its 115-year-old X-ray business to Beijing”. Apparently, this is all part of a “plan to invest about $2 billion across China” over the next few years. But moving core pieces of its business overseas is nothing new for GE.
Under Immelt, GE has shipped tens of thousands of good jobs out of the United States. Perhaps GE should change its slogan to “Imagination At Work (In China)”. If the very people that have been entrusted with solving the unemployment crisis are shipping jobs out of the country, what hope is there that things are going to turn around any time soon?’
Believe nothing 