Black Monday 8-25-2015

25, August 2015                   Black Monday

Following Monday’s historic market decline which saw stock prices tumble across the globe, a plethora of economists swarmed onto network media outlets to offer their explanations on the causes which precipated the sudden free fall. Perhaps the best  analysis was offered by Michael Hudson, distinguished research professor of economics at the University of Missouri, Kansas City and author of the book, "Killing the Host: How Financial Parasites and Debt Bondage Destroy the Global Economy."

According to Hudson, China’s sudden decline was a direct result of the high volume of small speculative buyers diving into the market within the mistaken belief that there would never be a downtourn. 

Conversely, the US market is still a reflection of the 2008 bubble where all the growth in the economy has been principally in the financial sector, in the monopolies benefitting the 1 percent.

Stocks prices have been inflated by the Fed who poured $4.5 trillion which Wall Street used to generate enromous profits. Pension funds were able to borrow money at 1% and invested in the stock market with average yields of 4%. Private companies went on a buyback frenzy driving up stock prices which triggered huge bonuses to executives. Hudson, stated that there has been a divergence between the real economy and the FIRE sector – finance, insurance and real estate. He was pessimistic on the future of the real economy and was highly critical of Wall Street Banks that have an undue influence on the political process.

Iran’s Nuclear Deal 8-21-2015

21, August 2015                                 Iran’s Nuclear Deal It is gratifying that the longest-serving Jewish member of the House, Sander M. Levin, supports the agreement because it is “the best way to achieve the goal of preventing Iran from advancing toward a nuclear weapon, so making the Middle East and Israel far more secure.” Five Jewish senators have come out in favor. Hardliners in Israel and Iran have much in common. They would prefer never ending tensions and conflict rather than a diplomatic resolution. In a perfect world the US and Britain should be apologizing and paying reparations to Iran for orchestrating the overthrow of a democratically government in Iran. In a declassified document, the CIA acknowledges its role in the 1953 coup which led to the blatant theft of Iran’s oil and decades of terror by the US puppet dictator, the Shah of Iran, which culminated with the Iranian revolution in 1979. If the nuclear deal falters the US and Israel will be the losers. The US will remain isolated; there will be no appetite for further sanctions because most of the Western countries have already begun trading with Iran and establishing embassies. US companies will be excluded from such trading privileges. Iran will likely accelerate its nuclear bomb making capabilities and intensify their disdain and hostility towards Israel. They still recall Israel’s role in assassinating many of their nuclear scientists.  If you're a supporter of the deal, contact your congressional representative before it’s too late.

Donald Trump 8-20-2015

20, August 2015                     Donald Trump According to Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, David Cay Johnston, there are some extremely troubling aspects of Trump’s business activities that are relatively unknown. For example, his most famous building – Trump Tower – was built by A&S Consuction whose owners are the infamous “Fat Tony" Salerno, the head of the Genovese crime family in New York, and Paul Castellano, the head of the Gambino family. He employed illegal Polish workers to tear down Bonwit Teller building to make way for Trump Tower. Trump’s personal helicopter pilot, Joseph Weichselbaum, was a convicted major cocaine and marijuana trafficker. He has often been sued by his contractors for breach of contract. Trump has often been accused of blatant racial discrimination and used creative ways to avoid paying income taxes. He often brags that he is a skilled negotiator but in actual practice he outsources negotiations to underworld ‘God Father’ people like Nicky Scarfo, the head of the Atlantic City crime family. Trump assiduously avoided the draft much like ‘his cousin’, Dick Cheney.  Contrary to his assertion that he is a good manager, Fortune magazine rated Trump’s casino company at the bottom in management competence, worker satisfaction and return on investment. Had the media properly veted Trump he would have faded rapidly; instead they are focusing far too much on the horse race.

Artic Drilling 8-19-2015

19, August 2015                    Artic Drilling

In a stunning reversal of his concern for the impact of climate change, the Obama administration has granted Royal Dutch Shell final approval to resume drilling for oil and gas in the Arctic. This comes as a complete surprise given Shell’s abysmal record of major mishaps and spills.

A coalition of environmental groups have opposed Arctic drilling, citing the dangers of a possible oil spill in the pristine region and the impact new oil extraction would have on the climate. If a spill occurs there are no offshore facilities to clean it up.

This decision is bad for global climate, our ecosystem, marine mammals and fish and finally it’s bad for Alaskan natives who depend on the Arctic Ocean for their way of life and subsistence. In a stunning admission, the Interior Department cited there is a 75 percent chance of one or more large spills from Shell’s drilling operations.

Prominent Jewish leader speaks out 8-18-2015

18, August 2015                     Prominent Jewish leader speaks out In a startling new development, Henry Siegman, the former executive director of the American Jewish Congress, stated recently that Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel is the main impediment to peace. He urged Palestinians to affirm Israel’s legitimacy, provided Israel is prepared to affirm the legitimacy of a Palestinian state along the pre-’67 borders." According to Siegman, Netanyahu’s cabinet appointments expose a troubling overt racism. Consider the following: Justice Minister, Ayelet Shaked, called for the “destruction of the entire Palestinian people, including its elderly women, cities, villages, property and infrastructure." Foreign minister, Hotovely, sent out instructions to all Israeli ambassadors to advise governments that the Bible confirmed that God was in the real estate business and promised all of Palestine to the Jews. Miri Regev, the minister of culture ‘discouraged’ the artistic community from creating art that insults the state of Israel. Deputy Minister of Defense, Dahan and his boss called for separating Palestinians and Jews on separate busses. Silvan Shalom the new chief of peace negotiations has been on record for opposing a two-state solution. Dore Gold, the former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, currently the new director of the Foreign Ministry has a lifelong record of total opposition to a Palestinian state. Siegman stated that the only logical way forward was for Palestinians was to bypass the Netanyahu government and seek redress from the United Nations Security Council utilizing the various resolutions as the foundation of a new peace process.

Jonathan Pollard 8-17-2015

17, August 2015          Jonathan Pollard It is an absolute travesty that Jonathan Pollard has been released from prison after being convicted of supplying vast amounts of data to our ‘ally’ Israel. In the 1990s Pollard became a cause célèbre in Israel who regarded him as a patriot. This case raises troubling questions about the government’s stubborn claim that Israel is our great ally. It definitely appears to be a lopsided relationship. What is Israel offering the US in return for receiving unconditional support of $3 billion a year? According to Karl Poltka, who was deputy director of Intelligence at the time when Pollard was indicted, Pollard's spying severely damaged America’s cyber-security costing the US billions.  Some of the data ended up in the Soviet Union. American intelligence chiefs stated that Pollard was not motivated by a false sense of patriotism but by greed, spending large amounts of money given by Israel on cocaine, alcohol and an expensive life style. The timing of Pollard’s release is also highly suspect, more than likely an attempt to appease Israel’s opposition to the nuclear accord with Iran.

ISIS & US Exceptionalism 8-17-2015

17, August 2015                        ISIS & US Exceptionalism ISIS barbarity and claims that Islam condones rape targeting non-believers still falls far short of American Exceptionalism. No, we don’t decapitate but instead we use highly sophisticated killers in the sky (drones), and napalm to vaporize our victims and a significantly larger number of civilians. We supply Israel with $3 billion in aid to oppress and kill Palestinians. ISIS kill rate is far shorter than ours. Our soldiers went on a killing and raping spree (see ‘Kill Anything That Moves’ by Nick Turse chronicles the war in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia)- 3-6 million fatalities. History might be different had we not overthrown the democratically elected government of Iran in 1953; there would be no existential threat to Israel, no ISIS and Iran might have been a great stabilizing influence in the Middle East. Add insult to injury the US reneged on its promise of $4 billion in reparations to Vietnam. While we express disappoint that Japan has not expressed enough remorse for its barbarity in World War II, we have never expressed remorse for invading Vietnam, Iraq and a host of other nations. See http://callforsocialjustice.blogspot.com/