I turned on Meet the Press at 8am Pacific time this morning to see one of the Gang of Six declaring that he would not agree to severe cuts in spending so long as President Obama insisted on raising taxes for the wealthy. I had to shake my head and clear my thoughts as my brain started to focus on what I was hearing. The Guardian leader that has appeared in the UK publication’s Monday morning edition (see graphic) makes clear the fears others in the world have for the consequences for the world economy if the US defaults on
[read more]...I am in Heathrow on my way to Cape Town for the World Cup. Sitting in the lounge I was watching Japan v Cameroon on the TV and, as the game was boring, began to read the Independent newspaper. Then this graphic caught my attention.
[read more]...The news of Barak Obama’s election victory, inevitable as it has seemed for weeks, if not for months, has barely sunk in. Commentators as diverse as George Bush and The Reverend Jessie Jackson are agreed about one thing – Americans (and I am now one) should be proud of themselves for electing an African-American as leader of the USA. It is historical. It is a proud moment for the people of the USA and shows they are looking to the future with optimism, not the past with cynicism. But the significance of Obama’s victory goes far beyond what it means
[read more]...I used the USA Today vote tracker today. Here’s where I came out in my predictions. I hope I’m close 🙂 Having said that Obama is clearly the “lesser of 2 evils”. I don’t agree with a lot of what he says. Particularly his belief that the US should send more troops to Afghanistan and Pakistan. I just prefer him to McCain.
[read more]...You know the old saying – Bulls make money, Bears make money and Pigs get slaughtered. Well, take a look at this graph from the World Bank: It seems like Iceland is Pig number 1. Look at who is number 2! The chart is measuring domestic credit as a % of GDP, or the extent to which the nation as a whole is leveraged. These are 2005 numbers and significantly understate the current numbers, which in the US have been reported as being at 435%. That means for every real $ in circulation there is $4.35 in credit. I’m not
[read more]...Kofi Annan’s comments yesterday have created a fuss. The BBC reports: Authorities in the UK, Australia, Poland, Bulgaria and Japan also rebuffed Mr Annan’s claims. Australian Prime Minister John Howard described the UN as a “paralysed” body and said it was incapable of dealing with international crises. Clearly both Annan and Howard are right, but the UN’s paralysis is a symptom of a new era in US foreign policy – to “go it alone” against targets determined alone. Prediction: This era will be more unstable than that between 1914 and 1945 if it is allowed to develop. new imperialism
[read more]...Iraq war was Illegal and breached UN charter, says Annan. Too little too late I fear. The UN is now irrelevant. This is a bad fact for the US and the UK who now need it to help them in post-war Iraq, but that’s really just too bad. The UN has been revealed as a powerless talking shop. The world we are moving into is far more dangerous, and the UN’s decline is a symptom of that. Not since those dangerous episodes during the 20th century has the human race been subject to so dangerous trends. Nations are not pretending
[read more]...An amazing piece of journalism and a compelling story of the reality of Iraq. The day after US helicopters killed many civilians – purportedly to save a Bradley fighting vehicle from being exposed to “the enemy” an eye witness, a British journalist from The Guardian, tells what happened. It’s amazing to me that the Democratic nominee for President is being so craven in his support for a continued military presence in Iraq and an absolute failure in providing any opposition to the neocons (for that is who runs US Foreign policy today). The truth is that Iraq provides every argument
[read more]...Also from the Times of London Click Here Putin taunts Blair: Is Saddam sitting in a bunker ready to blow the whole place up with WMD? From Rosemary Bennett and Robin Shepherd in Moscow PRESIDENT Putin scuppered Tony Blair’s efforts to repair Anglo-Russian relations after the Iraq war by challenging him and President Bush to uncover weapons of mass destruction to justify the conflict. The Prime Minister suffered a second blow from the anti-war axis when France and Germany backed plans for a European defence force independent of Nato. At a summit in Brussels, France, Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg agreed
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