Jacques Delors, former European Commission president, and José Manuel Barroso, the current chief of the EU executive, both regretted the national "resistance" and "lack of spirit of cooperation" amongst the leaders of the 27 EU countries in dealing with the bloc's debt crises. The long-serving Commission president (1985-1994) visited Barroso to mark the 20th anniversary of the Maastricht Treaty, signed on 7 February 1992, which led to the creation of the euro currency. But Delors' visit also coincided with last-hour talks in Athens to secure a second bailout package for Greece, with the risk of a default now openly cited as a possibility by high-ranking EU officials. Neelie Kroes, Digital Agenda commissioner, said in a newspaper interview on Monday (6 February) that the eurozone could survive without Greece, suggesting talks between Athens and the "Troika" of lenders - the Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund - were reaching breaking point.
Jacques Delors, former European Commission president, and José Manuel Barroso, the current chief of the EU executive, both regretted the national "resistance" and "lack of spirit of cooperation" amongst the leaders of the 27 EU countries in dealing with the bloc's debt crises.
The long-serving Commission president (1985-1994) visited Barroso to mark the 20th anniversary of the Maastricht Treaty, signed on 7 February 1992, which led to the creation of the euro currency.
But Delors' visit also coincided with last-hour talks in Athens to secure a second bailout package for Greece, with the risk of a default now openly cited as a possibility by high-ranking EU officials.
Neelie Kroes, Digital Agenda commissioner, said in a newspaper interview on Monday (6 February) that the eurozone could survive without Greece, suggesting talks between Athens and the "Troika" of lenders - the Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund - were reaching breaking point.
European Commission and national officials raided the offices of two electricity exchanges on Tuesday (7 February) following concerns their planned tie-up may thwart competition in the power exchange market. "The Commission has concerns that the companies concerned may have violated European antitrust rules that prohibit cartels and restrictive business practices," the Commission said in a statement. It did not however indicate which bourses were targeted saying only that the companies probed were "active in managing power exchanges in several [EU] member states." Confirmation of the Commission's "unannounced inspections" came later from the parties concerned. "Yes, our office was searched today," said a spokesman for Paris-based electricity exchange EPEX Spot. "We expect the raids were carried out in relation to our cooperation with Nordpool Spot." EPEX Spot and Norway's Nordpool Spot, which offer short-term electricity trading platforms for French, German, Austrian, Swiss and Scandinavian power, in September announced plans to create a joint exchange which would cover more than half of Europe's spot electricity trades.
European Commission and national officials raided the offices of two electricity exchanges on Tuesday (7 February) following concerns their planned tie-up may thwart competition in the power exchange market.
"The Commission has concerns that the companies concerned may have violated European antitrust rules that prohibit cartels and restrictive business practices," the Commission said in a statement.
It did not however indicate which bourses were targeted saying only that the companies probed were "active in managing power exchanges in several [EU] member states."
Confirmation of the Commission's "unannounced inspections" came later from the parties concerned.
"Yes, our office was searched today," said a spokesman for Paris-based electricity exchange EPEX Spot. "We expect the raids were carried out in relation to our cooperation with Nordpool Spot."
EPEX Spot and Norway's Nordpool Spot, which offer short-term electricity trading platforms for French, German, Austrian, Swiss and Scandinavian power, in September announced plans to create a joint exchange which would cover more than half of Europe's spot electricity trades.
The Russian Supreme Court has backed a decision that disqualifies liberal candidate Grigory Yavlinsky from running for the presidency on 4 March. The Central Election Commission said it had found irregularities in a quarter of the signatures collected by Mr Yavlinsky to take part in the campaign. Mr Yavlinsky, 59, had insisted that all the signatures were authentic. He was the only liberal challenger to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who is expected to win the election.
The Russian Supreme Court has backed a decision that disqualifies liberal candidate Grigory Yavlinsky from running for the presidency on 4 March.
The Central Election Commission said it had found irregularities in a quarter of the signatures collected by Mr Yavlinsky to take part in the campaign.
Mr Yavlinsky, 59, had insisted that all the signatures were authentic.
He was the only liberal challenger to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who is expected to win the election.
BRUSSELS - Almost a quarter of the EU's population is at risk of poverty or social exclusion, according to statistics released Wednesday (8 February), with 13 member states recording a rise in the number of their citizens considered vulnerable. The figures for 2010 show that 115 million Europeans, or 23.4 percent of the EU population, live in households with less than the poverty-threshold disposable income, in households where there is severe material deprivation (such as a lack of heating) or where the adults worked less than 20 percent of their total work potential. Bulgaria has the highest percentage of population (42%) falling into one or more of these categories, followed by Romania (41%), Latvia (38%), Lithuania (33%) and Hungary (30%). While 13 of the 25 member states that provided information recorded a rise in the numbers affected when compared with 2009, Spain (23.4% to 25.5%) and Lithuania (29.5% to 33.4%) saw the greatest leap from one year to the next. The lowest rates of poverty and social exclusion were recorded in the Czech Republic (14%), Sweden and the Netherlands (both 17%).
BRUSSELS - Almost a quarter of the EU's population is at risk of poverty or social exclusion, according to statistics released Wednesday (8 February), with 13 member states recording a rise in the number of their citizens considered vulnerable.
The figures for 2010 show that 115 million Europeans, or 23.4 percent of the EU population, live in households with less than the poverty-threshold disposable income, in households where there is severe material deprivation (such as a lack of heating) or where the adults worked less than 20 percent of their total work potential.
Bulgaria has the highest percentage of population (42%) falling into one or more of these categories, followed by Romania (41%), Latvia (38%), Lithuania (33%) and Hungary (30%).
While 13 of the 25 member states that provided information recorded a rise in the numbers affected when compared with 2009, Spain (23.4% to 25.5%) and Lithuania (29.5% to 33.4%) saw the greatest leap from one year to the next.
The lowest rates of poverty and social exclusion were recorded in the Czech Republic (14%), Sweden and the Netherlands (both 17%).
ALDE deputy Niccolo Rinaldi has said that homeless people in the EU arebeing "excluded" from their rights to European citizenship and freedomof movement.Speaking at an ALDE press briefing on EU citizenship, Rinaldi said homelessness and freedom of movement was an "important commitment" to champion the rights of homeless people."Citizenship is a very clear concept and is the basis of the entire EU," he said, adding that homeless people are "denied active participation in society, basic services and freedom of circulation"."The number of homeless is increasing with serious speed and EU democracy has difficulty connecting with this. The homeless do not vote or have constituencies."Children sleeping on the street with their families is a growing phenomenon and we are trying to focus the EU institutions on these difficult and vulnerable sectors," said the Italian MEP.
An independent Scotland would be one of the wealthiest parts of Europe, but it would stay out of the euro, deputy first minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon tells EUobserver during a visit to Brussels this week.
(video)
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives are flying high in a new opinion poll, which shows them garnering their best result since her beleaguered centre-right coalition took power in 2009. The Christian Democrats (CDU) and their Bavarian CSU allies had the support of 38 percent of voters, the weekly Forsa survey for Stern magazine and broadcaster RTL found. The result, up two points from last week, is the highest for the conservatives since forming a coalition with the pro-business Free Democratic Party (FDP) in 2009. But unlike their senior coalition partner, popularity for the FDP continues to wallow at a measly three percent - which is below the five percent threshold to win seats in parliament.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives are flying high in a new opinion poll, which shows them garnering their best result since her beleaguered centre-right coalition took power in 2009.
The Christian Democrats (CDU) and their Bavarian CSU allies had the support of 38 percent of voters, the weekly Forsa survey for Stern magazine and broadcaster RTL found. The result, up two points from last week, is the highest for the conservatives since forming a coalition with the pro-business Free Democratic Party (FDP) in 2009. But unlike their senior coalition partner, popularity for the FDP continues to wallow at a measly three percent - which is below the five percent threshold to win seats in parliament.
German exports fell four times more than economists forecast in December as the sovereign debt crisis damped growth across the euro region. Exports slumped 4.3 percent from November, when they rose 2.6 percent, the Federal Statistics Office in Wiesbaden said today. Economists predicted a decline of 1 percent, according to the median of 17 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey. French business confidence held near its lowest level in more than two years in January on recession concerns, the Bank of France said in another report. While the German economy, Europe's largest, probably shrank 0.25 percent in the final three months of 2011, data this year suggest it may avoid recession, which is commonly defined as two consecutive quarterly contractions. Business sentiment jumped to a five-month high in January and factory orders gained 1.7 percent in December, driven by demand from outside the 17-nation euro area.
German exports fell four times more than economists forecast in December as the sovereign debt crisis damped growth across the euro region.
Exports slumped 4.3 percent from November, when they rose 2.6 percent, the Federal Statistics Office in Wiesbaden said today. Economists predicted a decline of 1 percent, according to the median of 17 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey. French business confidence held near its lowest level in more than two years in January on recession concerns, the Bank of France said in another report.
While the German economy, Europe's largest, probably shrank 0.25 percent in the final three months of 2011, data this year suggest it may avoid recession, which is commonly defined as two consecutive quarterly contractions. Business sentiment jumped to a five-month high in January and factory orders gained 1.7 percent in December, driven by demand from outside the 17-nation euro area.
(Reuters) - Anja has been scrubbing floors and washing dishes for two euros an hour over the past six years. She is bewildered when she sees newspapers hailing Germany's "job miracle." "My company exploited me," says the 50-year-old, sitting in the kitchen of her small flat in the eastern German town of Stralsund. "If I could find something else, I'd be long gone."Stralsund is an attractive seaside town but Anja, who preferred not to use her full name for fear of being fired, cannot afford the quaint cafes.Wage restraint and labor market reforms have pushed the jobless rate down to a 20-year low, and the German model is often cited as an example for European nations seeking to cut unemployment and become more competitive.But critics say the reforms that helped create jobs also broadened and entrenched the low-paid and temporary work sector, boosting wage inequality.
(Reuters) - Anja has been scrubbing floors and washing dishes for two euros an hour over the past six years. She is bewildered when she sees newspapers hailing Germany's "job miracle."
"My company exploited me," says the 50-year-old, sitting in the kitchen of her small flat in the eastern German town of Stralsund. "If I could find something else, I'd be long gone."
Stralsund is an attractive seaside town but Anja, who preferred not to use her full name for fear of being fired, cannot afford the quaint cafes.
Wage restraint and labor market reforms have pushed the jobless rate down to a 20-year low, and the German model is often cited as an example for European nations seeking to cut unemployment and become more competitive.
But critics say the reforms that helped create jobs also broadened and entrenched the low-paid and temporary work sector, boosting wage inequality.
An overwhelming majority of Swedes disagree with Swedish prime minister Fredrik Reinfeldt's suggestion that workers should be ready to stay on the job until they are 75, a new poll shows. In a survey carried out by the Novus polling firm for Sweden's TV4, 73 percent answered no when asked if they thought Sweden's retirement age should be raised to 75. Twenty percent of those polled supported the idea, while 7 percent were uncertain.
An overwhelming majority of Swedes disagree with Swedish prime minister Fredrik Reinfeldt's suggestion that workers should be ready to stay on the job until they are 75, a new poll shows.
In a survey carried out by the Novus polling firm for Sweden's TV4, 73 percent answered no when asked if they thought Sweden's retirement age should be raised to 75. Twenty percent of those polled supported the idea, while 7 percent were uncertain.
getting out and about, mixing with others, having contact with young children in some way would probably prolong people's lives.
one just cannot depend on the free market to take people's frailties into account, because it exploits them, it doesn't work around them.
If there is no income replacement system, then people have to work at regular full time jobs until they keel over. The idea that "we don't do manual labor any more so we can do it until age 75" or "people live longer now so they can work longer" are disconnected from reality. Increasing life expectancy by reducing the neonatal death rate, which is what is happening, has little to do with people working longer.
We as a society have tended to equate any type of effort with economic survival, so we tend to overlook the other aspects of activity which can bring benefits.
She reads up on new techniques, attends courses, and is really, really into anything that is associated with it.
I mean, seriously, if you were going to choose your interactions with others, how you achieved your feeling of accomplishment or choose where and how to move you wouldn't do any of them in the way most jobs demand.
I've avoided having a real job for decades now for exactly that reason. And because I can, just about.
I must admit, I'm really confused on this issue. The government wants its citizens to stay on the job longer, yet older workers continue to get the boot. When jobs do appear, older candidates aren't even considered. What part of this makes sense? Why not hire an energetic young workforce (who desperately need jobs to prepare for their own future) straight out of school with the requisite skills, train them the way you need them to do the job at hand (preferably using your best workers to do the training). The amount saved by hiring young people could be used to provide retirement benefits to the older folks who really don't want to be working at all. Wouldn't this be a fairer, more equitable solution, rather than having us old folk work until we drop?
From a personal standpoint I'm quite enjoying my retirement. I view it as yet another dimension of my life. It provides time for hobbies, reflections, and learning new things. Things I never had time for in the hustle bustle of working since age 15. Maybe these hobby ideas will spawn into a money making idea someday, and maybe they won't. Money isn't everything and once you've got your fill of possessions you get over that too. I'm happy just living on my savings and Social Security and would rather find creative ways to adjust my needs and wants downward if necessary. But then again, that's just me and my opinion FWIW.
BRUSSELS, Feb 8, 2012 (IPS) - European leaders have mapped out a bold agenda ahead of the Rio summit, vowing to transform development aid, help provide renewable electricity to the world's neediest people, and bulk up the United Nations environment body.The European Union's `Agenda for Change' proposal calls for pumping foreign aid into sustainable growth and energy access, while European Union officials have also floated the idea of transforming the U.N. Environmental Programme into an agency with expanded influence and greater power to promote research and development. Janez Potočnik, the EU environment commissioner, on Tuesday reaffirmed the 27-nation block's pledge to provide the equivalent of 0.7 percent of gross national income (GNI) for aid to the world's poorest countries, while urging that there be a focus on sustainable growth. "The potential for investment and gains are massive compared to official development assistance," he said in a speech. "But at the same time the poorest countries need help, to make this promise good.
Green Paper: Restructuring and anticipation of change: what lessons from recent experience? Target group(s) Employers' organisations, trade unions, national, regional and local authorities, academics, NGOs, other stakeholders as well as individual citizens with an interest in restructuring and anticipation of change. Period of consultation from : 17/01/2012 To : 30/03/2012 Objective of the consultation This Green Paper aims to identify successful practices and policies in the field of restructuring and adaptation to change in order to promote employment, growth and competitiveness as part of the Europe 2020 strategy and in particular the industrial policy flagship initiative of October 2010 , the "Agenda for new skills and jobs" adopted in November 2010 . The Green Paper is also intended to contribute to improving synergy between all relevant actors in addressing challenges related to restructuring and adaptation to change and takes into account the important work carried out in recent years by the European Commission, the social partners, Member States, regions and many other stakeholders. The Commission will build upon the outcome of this consultation to consider new ways to better disseminate and effectively implement good practices, including at EU level, for dealing with both immediate concerns related to the economic crisis and long-term competitiveness objectives as identified in the industrial policy flagship initiative. The Commission will feed the results of this Green Paper consultation into the revived flexicurity agenda, also with a view to steering a renewed debate at EU level on a possible approach to and framework for restructuring.
Target group(s)
Employers' organisations, trade unions, national, regional and local authorities, academics, NGOs, other stakeholders as well as individual citizens with an interest in restructuring and anticipation of change.
Period of consultation
from : 17/01/2012 To : 30/03/2012
Objective of the consultation
This Green Paper aims to identify successful practices and policies in the field of restructuring and adaptation to change in order to promote employment, growth and competitiveness as part of the Europe 2020 strategy and in particular the industrial policy flagship initiative of October 2010 , the "Agenda for new skills and jobs" adopted in November 2010 . The Green Paper is also intended to contribute to improving synergy between all relevant actors in addressing challenges related to restructuring and adaptation to change and takes into account the important work carried out in recent years by the European Commission, the social partners, Member States, regions and many other stakeholders.
The Commission will build upon the outcome of this consultation to consider new ways to better disseminate and effectively implement good practices, including at EU level, for dealing with both immediate concerns related to the economic crisis and long-term competitiveness objectives as identified in the industrial policy flagship initiative. The Commission will feed the results of this Green Paper consultation into the revived flexicurity agenda, also with a view to steering a renewed debate at EU level on a possible approach to and framework for restructuring.
Merkel and her government have struggled fiercely to create a fiscally united Europe of balanced budgets and "structural reforms"--a euphemism for lowering the cost of labor, including wages and benefits. It's her prescription for pulling the Eurozone out of the debt crisis. At the moment, her eyes are on the nightmare in Greece where even politicians are preparing for the "afterwards." Read.... Now Even Greek Politicians Are Taking Cover. Sarkozy has been her most powerful ally during the debt crisis. Without him, she couldn't have pushed through her policies, which have been a resounding success, in Germany: in a recent poll, 64% of Germans have a favorable opinion of her, and 90% were satisfied with her crisis management. ... With her intervention in the French election, Merkel has created the impression that preventing Hollande from becoming president has morphed into a government policy, and it doesn't necessarily enhance Germany's image abroad. Already, its reluctance to pay ever more to bail out the Eurozone has made it a global punching bag. Yet the amounts it has committed through a myriad of bailout programs are staggering.
Sarkozy has been her most powerful ally during the debt crisis. Without him, she couldn't have pushed through her policies, which have been a resounding success, in Germany: in a recent poll, 64% of Germans have a favorable opinion of her, and 90% were satisfied with her crisis management.
...
With her intervention in the French election, Merkel has created the impression that preventing Hollande from becoming president has morphed into a government policy, and it doesn't necessarily enhance Germany's image abroad. Already, its reluctance to pay ever more to bail out the Eurozone has made it a global punching bag. Yet the amounts it has committed through a myriad of bailout programs are staggering.
Yet the amounts it has committed through a myriad of bailout programs are staggering.
Greek parties fail to agree on a key aspect of the package - the request for pension reform; troika gives the Greeks 15 days to plug what is now a €300m gap; a eurogroup meeting of finance ministers takes place tonight to discuss the situation; the tussle also threatens to hold up the debt swap talks; insiders says there is still a little bit of wiggle room, but the debt swap still face a number of considerable risks; the Wall Street Journal reports that the ECB would sell its Greek bonds to the EFSF, which would resell them to Greece, a transaction that would yield a gain of €11bn for Greece; other commentators are doubtful that such an agreement has already been reached; Ireland said it would consider an ECB participation in the Greek restructuring as a precedent; Francesco Papadia of the ECB talks about "mission accomplished"; German trade surplus narrows in December, while the pattern of exports shifts towards Brics and central and eastern Europe; Le Monde worries about France's decline as Germany's economic partner; The French court of auditors warns of a debt spiral in France; court also warns about risks building up at the Banque de France; ECB is likely to extend the collateral framework and lower quality requirements for Eurosystem central banks today; Wolfgang Proissl defends Mario Draghi's ,,morphine shot strategy"; Wolfgang Munchau, meanwhile, says there are four ticking time bombs under the eurozone, of which only one - the liquidity crunch - has been defused.
Here I tell CNBC that Sisyphus' optimal strategy is to stop pushing the rock up the hill. And that the assumption that if Greece defaults it must exit the eurozone is a motivated lie
It has taken two years of futile efforts for governments to finally start talking about growth and employment as European aims again. This change in attitude is prompted by shock. The credit-rating downgrades for France, eight other eurozone countries and the European Financial Stability Facility bailout fund at the start of the year all show that the capital markets are predicting a downward spiral. It was particularly insightful to see how Standard & Poor's justified the downgrades: "We believe that a reform process based on a pillar of fiscal austerity alone risks becoming self-defeating, as domestic demand falls in line with consumers' rising concerns about job security and disposable incomes, eroding national tax revenues." We need to set a new course now and implement a far more consistent and precise strategy. First and most importantly: the current situation requires us to create the right conditions to ensure private capital flows into the real economies of crisis countries. For this to happen, there needs to be a guarantee that these crisis countries and their banks can pay their debts - from a robust European Stability Mechanism, which can provide itself with liquidity from the European Central Bank, and a common debt-reduction pact as suggested by the German Council of Economic Experts. Growth needs private investment, and these investments need security! Secondly, we need to remove any obstacles to investing in Europe and give hope for an upturn in the economy in order to bring back hesitant private investors who have lost confidence. Our most important task is therefore to create a comprehensive European investment programme, which will increase the competitiveness of crisis countries, expand Europe's industrial infrastructure - particularly its energy networks - and promote research and development. In order to ensure that the momentum of change is not lost in excessive red tape, the European Investment Bank must play a central role. A crucial aspect of the project is that it will not be financed by new debts, but by a European financial transaction tax, which could bring in up to €50bn if Europe - or at least the eurozone - is united on the issue. For European solidarity has two meanings and it is time to show we are committed to both.
We need to set a new course now and implement a far more consistent and precise strategy. First and most importantly: the current situation requires us to create the right conditions to ensure private capital flows into the real economies of crisis countries. For this to happen, there needs to be a guarantee that these crisis countries and their banks can pay their debts - from a robust European Stability Mechanism, which can provide itself with liquidity from the European Central Bank, and a common debt-reduction pact as suggested by the German Council of Economic Experts. Growth needs private investment, and these investments need security!
Secondly, we need to remove any obstacles to investing in Europe and give hope for an upturn in the economy in order to bring back hesitant private investors who have lost confidence. Our most important task is therefore to create a comprehensive European investment programme, which will increase the competitiveness of crisis countries, expand Europe's industrial infrastructure - particularly its energy networks - and promote research and development. In order to ensure that the momentum of change is not lost in excessive red tape, the European Investment Bank must play a central role. A crucial aspect of the project is that it will not be financed by new debts, but by a European financial transaction tax, which could bring in up to €50bn if Europe - or at least the eurozone - is united on the issue. For European solidarity has two meanings and it is time to show we are committed to both.
You know, the evil versus stupid dilemma is increasingly irrelavent. Fai de bèn a Bertrand, te lou rendra en cagant
And, in Germany they of course also have a reasonable alternative, Die Linke, unfortunately the Germans have a particular theological aversion to the left, suspect that is why Marx was writing about their ideological foibles over 150 years ago... Fai de bèn a Bertrand, te lou rendra en cagant
I don't know, I may be wrong but they appear to be able to count on the support of the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland... tens of millions of people stand to see their lives ruined because the bureaucrats at the ECB don't understand introductory economics -- Dean Baker
The Swedish Left party had the same problem until recently, with lots of old semi-fossilized DDR-, Cuba-, Soviet-, and North Korea-lovers in leading positions. Peak oil is not an energy crisis. It is a liquid fuel crisis.
However, in the eastern countries, and this really holds for Die Linke, you have to remember that there is a core constituency, in the eastern lander, who genuinely have some level of positive connection to the more recent past. Communism was not Stalinism, not in the 1970's, not in the 1980's, and it is a mistake to say that the system, albeit with some need for more reforms, was the same as it was in the 1950's or the 1930's any moreso than it is a mistake to say that the liberal democracies are the same as they were in the 1950's and 1930's, back in the days of routinely censored press, overt collusion between the monied classes and the government and security apparatuses (violent strike-breaking, massacres of peaceful protestors and example of which we commemorated here in Paris the day before yesterday). The fact is, that communist past is not looked upon with the same amount of shame by core eastern constituents of Die Linke as might be desired by segments of the Western population who nonetheless have no real alternative to Die Linke if they wish to have their interests defended in the public sphere. But I think having Oskar Lafontaine take such a positive initial role went a long ways to bridging that gap, and recall Gregor Gysi being warmly welcomed, while campaigning, in the western parts of the country.
All of this hand-wringing about sympathies for Castro seem to me to be a red herring, and of course we know which press are publicly accentuating that aspect of the party, which is as unfortunate as it is predictable.
As usual, it will take generational change, perhaps many. The ideals of the first French republic were drowned out by counter-revolutionary forces and reaction to its initial excesses for the better part of a half-century, and did not really take hold for another one. The same will be true of the Soviet experiment. Fai de bèn a Bertrand, te lou rendra en cagant
Prominent Social Democrats arguing that the solution to recession is private-sector investment... </facepalm>
well when government expenditure is a. reduced by austerity, b.largely dedicated to stupid megalomanic monuments to folly (including subsidising archaic energy forms), millennium wheels et al, then where else is the investment money going to come from?
he's being disingenuous, as he may be a Prominent Social Democrat, but he's a Captured Prominent Social Democrat, thus In Name Only.
IOW, i broke your game, (oops, the one i was supposed to be rooting for and helping to build), now we have to do it for profit without pesky public services offering free competition, tut tut, isn't that a shame, now we'll have to do it the other way, TINA, and my buddies will be considerably enriched by selling you the very air you breathe.
and if i, a socialist, tell you it's true you can believe me because of my impeccable cred as such.
hollande, blair, milliband, zapatero, prodi, clinton, obama, see any pattern yet?
excellent market-soothing reforms! flexicurity! third way! new labour!
and when the public's ire strays above simmer with one set of betrayers, reach for the trusty alternative lawn-order party till the repulsion builds to breaking point, and the pas de deux flounders, and all the money's siphoned off somewhere safe, just move in the Goldman Sux technocrats! ...who, untroubled by demagogic need to please any voters, (we're w-a-y beyond that now), will patiently, tactfully, calmly, benignly explain to us ignorant lambs why the shearer is going to visit twice as often, and shave us harder, but not to worry, because the sacrifice will be equally shared, and we must be humbly contrite and respectful of the market's omniscient wisdom and how lucky we are to live in such a great system, Hint, look at africa or china before you start whinging too loud, suck it up and go watch a football game.
best idea yet, call it democracy! it doesn't get better than that! privatise=fail, so nationalise=fail, so round and round and round we go.
it's all built to fail, happy people don't consume as much, they don't care about politics like they don't care how their car engine works, they just want it to work FFS, and and then their grim, grimily polluted landscapes slathered with pharaonic grandiosity to boot, easter island all over again. little men and women with big words and noble rhapsodies spun gossamer BS, fast food statesmanship.
i am amazed (and grateful) when anyone under 30 is remotely interested in politics. it's so crushingly depressing and unennobling, spirit-sucking. at least try to have some kind of free life before the weight of teh stupid social yoke is fully felt. the smarter ones do care early...
how can it become exciting again for the young to show they're better than just exchanging likes on FB? maybe only when we see their parents and family enthused by intelligent government by our peers?
well, i guess events have a way of taking their historical course, no one ever promised us a rose garden, or an enlightened species to share life's travails with...
there must be some way out of here. or through... ~"When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside as fate." Karl Jung~
"Did you lose your job to a Pole, a Bulgarian, a Romanian, or any other Central or Eastern European? We would like to hear about it," it says on the website Hotline Central and Eastern Europeans. ... The party, headed by Geert Wilders, hopes to provide an outlet for complaints that otherwise remain unattended, it says. It will then present the results to the country's social affairs minister. "It can go from 'They're sleeping on my doorstep' to 'They're still barbecuing at night'," Ino van den Besselaar, Dutch MP and PVV social affairs spokesman, specified to public broadcaster NOS.
The party, headed by Geert Wilders, hopes to provide an outlet for complaints that otherwise remain unattended, it says. It will then present the results to the country's social affairs minister.
"It can go from 'They're sleeping on my doorstep' to 'They're still barbecuing at night'," Ino van den Besselaar, Dutch MP and PVV social affairs spokesman, specified to public broadcaster NOS.
MBABANE , Feb 8, 2012 (IPS) - Nomsa Tsabedze is one of the many people at the Bunye Betfu, Buhle Betfu Credit and Savings Cooperatives waiting to apply for a loan to pay for her children's school fees."Unlike banks, there is no collateral required before you get a loan from a cooperative," said Tsabedze, adding: "If you're a member of a cooperative, you're guaranteed a loan depending on how much you've saved." For the past five years, ever since she started working as a clerk in the public service, Tsabedze has been saving and obtaining loans from the cooperative. But while Tsabedze and thousands like her have chosen to put their money in cooperatives as opposed to banks, many in this Southern African nation feel that this poses no risk to the banking industry. This is despite concerns by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said that the country's increasingly popular 230 savings and cooperatives pose a threat to commercial banks.
It's interesting how the principles of liberalism (competition is good!) so dear to the IMF are context-sensitive... It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II
concerns by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) [which] said that the country's increasingly popular 230 savings and cooperatives pose a threat to commercial banks
The unemployment rate's unexpected drop to a three-year low has overshadowed a less-positive labor- market development: fewer Americans are looking for work. Last week's Labor Department announcement that the jobless rate fell to 8.3 percent in January sent stocks and bond yields higher. The same report showed the share of working-age people in the labor force had declined to the lowest level in 29 years. The so-called participation rate was cited by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke yesterday to support his assessment that the rate of unemployment obscures vulnerabilities in the job market. Bernanke, speaking to the Senate Budget Committee, confirmed the Fed's stance that interest rates will stay low at least through late 2014, and repeated his view that the job market is a "long way" from returning to normal. "Weakness in the labor force is frustrating to the Fed, which needs to see broadened participation from labor in this recovery," said Eric Green, chief market economist at TD Securities Inc. in New York. "What the Fed wants is the real stuff. They want unemployment falling with the labor force rising."
The unemployment rate's unexpected drop to a three-year low has overshadowed a less-positive labor- market development: fewer Americans are looking for work.
Last week's Labor Department announcement that the jobless rate fell to 8.3 percent in January sent stocks and bond yields higher. The same report showed the share of working-age people in the labor force had declined to the lowest level in 29 years.
The so-called participation rate was cited by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke yesterday to support his assessment that the rate of unemployment obscures vulnerabilities in the job market. Bernanke, speaking to the Senate Budget Committee, confirmed the Fed's stance that interest rates will stay low at least through late 2014, and repeated his view that the job market is a "long way" from returning to normal.
"Weakness in the labor force is frustrating to the Fed, which needs to see broadened participation from labor in this recovery," said Eric Green, chief market economist at TD Securities Inc. in New York. "What the Fed wants is the real stuff. They want unemployment falling with the labor force rising."
As he watched Egypt's revolt turn into a financial crisis that devoured 50 percent of the nation's foreign-currency holdings last year, Ahmed El-Rifai started charging some clients in U.S. dollars. The 32-year-old owner of Egyweb, a Web-development company in Cairo, says he may also buy real estate with his Egyptian pound savings, concerned that the loss of reserves will lead to a devaluation. That has already sent the pound down 3.8 percent since the start of last year. Iraq's central bank says its dollars are fueling Syria's black market. In Tripoli, Libya, dozens are queuing every morning at banks to buy the U.S. currency. A year after popular protests from Tunisia to Egypt to Libya toppled rulers, transitions marked by violence have failed to lift economic hardship. Almost two thirds of Egyptians see the economy as the country's biggest challenge, according to a survey by the New York-based International Peace Institute in September. Promised Western aid has yet to arrive, savings in foreign currencies have grown and government borrowing costs have surged.
As he watched Egypt's revolt turn into a financial crisis that devoured 50 percent of the nation's foreign-currency holdings last year, Ahmed El-Rifai started charging some clients in U.S. dollars.
The 32-year-old owner of Egyweb, a Web-development company in Cairo, says he may also buy real estate with his Egyptian pound savings, concerned that the loss of reserves will lead to a devaluation. That has already sent the pound down 3.8 percent since the start of last year. Iraq's central bank says its dollars are fueling Syria's black market. In Tripoli, Libya, dozens are queuing every morning at banks to buy the U.S. currency.
A year after popular protests from Tunisia to Egypt to Libya toppled rulers, transitions marked by violence have failed to lift economic hardship. Almost two thirds of Egyptians see the economy as the country's biggest challenge, according to a survey by the New York-based International Peace Institute in September. Promised Western aid has yet to arrive, savings in foreign currencies have grown and government borrowing costs have surged.
Argentina limited the use of cash in the country's financial markets as President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner ramps up oversight of currency transactions. The government will restrict daily cash transactions to 1,000 pesos ($231) per person, down from 10,000 pesos, according to a statement today in the Official Gazette. The measure affects activity in the stock and bond markets, investment funds and in the futures markets. Operations above the limit will have to be done through Argentine bank accounts that are authorized by the central bank. "They are forcing a higher level of formality in the economy, as cash transactions allow more irregularities," said Felipe Hernandez, an analyst at RBS Securities Inc. in Stamford, Connecticut. "This is in line with other measures to prevent money laundering, for which the government has been under a great deal of pressure."
Argentina limited the use of cash in the country's financial markets as President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner ramps up oversight of currency transactions.
The government will restrict daily cash transactions to 1,000 pesos ($231) per person, down from 10,000 pesos, according to a statement today in the Official Gazette. The measure affects activity in the stock and bond markets, investment funds and in the futures markets. Operations above the limit will have to be done through Argentine bank accounts that are authorized by the central bank.
"They are forcing a higher level of formality in the economy, as cash transactions allow more irregularities," said Felipe Hernandez, an analyst at RBS Securities Inc. in Stamford, Connecticut. "This is in line with other measures to prevent money laundering, for which the government has been under a great deal of pressure."
Jefferson City, Mo. - Attorney General Chris Koster today announced that a Boone County grand jury has handed down 136-count indictments against DOCX, LLC and its founder and former president, Lorraine Brown, for forgery and making a false declaration related to mortgage documents processed by DOCX. "The grand jury indictment alleges that mass-produced fraudulent signatures on notarized real estate documents constitutes forgery," Koster said. "Today's indictment reflects our firm conviction that when you sign your name to a legal document, it matters," Koster said. The forgery and false declaration counts each allege that the person whose name appears on 68 notarized deeds of release on behalf of the lender is not the person who actually signed the paperwork. The documents were then submitted to the Boone County Recorder of Deeds as though they were genuine. Koster's office requested the indictment, and the Attorney General's Office will prosecute the case. The indictments are the result of months of investigation by the Attorney General's Office into the robo-signing scandal that injected thousands of questionable mortgage documents into the market. When the practice began to come to light, several major lenders temporarily suspended foreclosures in 2010. DOCX's role in the robo-signing process came to national attention when 60 Minutes reported that Linda Green, an employee of DOCX, purportedly signed thousands of mortgage-related documents on behalf of several different banks and in multiple handwritings. The 68 documents on which the indictments are based were purportedly signed by Linda Green, but were allegedly signed by someone else. Forgery is a Class C felony and False Declaration is a Class B misdemeanor. If convicted on the most serious count, Brown could face up to seven years in prison for each count. DOCX could be fined up to $10,000 for each forgery conviction and $2,000 for each false declaration conviction. The charges against DOCX and Lorraine Brown are merely accusations and, as in all criminal cases, the defendant is innocent until or unless proved guilty in a court of law.
"The grand jury indictment alleges that mass-produced fraudulent signatures on notarized real estate documents constitutes forgery," Koster said. "Today's indictment reflects our firm conviction that when you sign your name to a legal document, it matters," Koster said.
The forgery and false declaration counts each allege that the person whose name appears on 68 notarized deeds of release on behalf of the lender is not the person who actually signed the paperwork. The documents were then submitted to the Boone County Recorder of Deeds as though they were genuine.
Koster's office requested the indictment, and the Attorney General's Office will prosecute the case.
The indictments are the result of months of investigation by the Attorney General's Office into the robo-signing scandal that injected thousands of questionable mortgage documents into the market. When the practice began to come to light, several major lenders temporarily suspended foreclosures in 2010. DOCX's role in the robo-signing process came to national attention when 60 Minutes reported that Linda Green, an employee of DOCX, purportedly signed thousands of mortgage-related documents on behalf of several different banks and in multiple handwritings. The 68 documents on which the indictments are based were purportedly signed by Linda Green, but were allegedly signed by someone else.
Forgery is a Class C felony and False Declaration is a Class B misdemeanor. If convicted on the most serious count, Brown could face up to seven years in prison for each count. DOCX could be fined up to $10,000 for each forgery conviction and $2,000 for each false declaration conviction.
The charges against DOCX and Lorraine Brown are merely accusations and, as in all criminal cases, the defendant is innocent until or unless proved guilty in a court of law.
$10,000 18645 Sussex St, Detroit MI 3 br / 1 full, 1 partial ba / 1,167 sqft / $9/sqft Single-Family Home $8,000 3288 W Grand St, Detroit MI 4 br / 2 ba / 2,000 sqft / $5/sqft Multi-Family Home $5,000 12085 Minock St, Detroit MI 2 br / 1 ba / 701 sqft / $14/sqft Single-Family Home $4,000 5324 Larchmont St, Detroit MI 3 br / 1 ba / 1,000 sqft / $4/sqft Single-Family Home
$8,000 3288 W Grand St, Detroit MI 4 br / 2 ba / 2,000 sqft / $5/sqft Multi-Family Home
$5,000 12085 Minock St, Detroit MI 2 br / 1 ba / 701 sqft / $14/sqft Single-Family Home
$4,000 5324 Larchmont St, Detroit MI 3 br / 1 ba / 1,000 sqft / $4/sqft Single-Family Home
they look nice and cute and maintained.
so sad.
One of the largest companies that provided home foreclosure services to lenders across the nation, DocX, has been indicted on forgery charges by a Missouri grand jury -- one of the few criminal actions to follow reports of widespread improprieties against homeowners. A grand jury in Boone County, Mo., handed up an indictment Friday accusing DocX of 136 counts of forgery in the preparation of documents used to evict financially strained borrowers from their homes. Lorraine O. Brown, the company's founder and former president, was indicted on the same charges. Employees of DocX, a unit of Lender Processing Services of Jacksonville, Fla., executed and notarized millions of mortgage documents for big banks and loan servicers over the years. Lender Processing closed the company in April 2010, after evidence emerged of apparent forgeries in these documents, a practice now called robo-signing. .... Mr. Koster said his office's investigation was continuing. This suggests he may hope to persuade Ms. Brown to cooperate in his investigation of the parent company. If convicted, Ms. Brown could face up to seven years in prison for each forgery count. DocX could be fined up to $10,000 for each forgery conviction. .... According to the indictment, Ms. Brown acted "knowingly in concert with DocX and its employees" to mislead and defraud the Boone County recorder of deeds. The documents central to the indictments were deeds of release, which eliminate a previous claim on an asset. Such releases are typically issued when a mortgage has been paid off.
A grand jury in Boone County, Mo., handed up an indictment Friday accusing DocX of 136 counts of forgery in the preparation of documents used to evict financially strained borrowers from their homes. Lorraine O. Brown, the company's founder and former president, was indicted on the same charges.
Employees of DocX, a unit of Lender Processing Services of Jacksonville, Fla., executed and notarized millions of mortgage documents for big banks and loan servicers over the years. Lender Processing closed the company in April 2010, after evidence emerged of apparent forgeries in these documents, a practice now called robo-signing.
....
Mr. Koster said his office's investigation was continuing. This suggests he may hope to persuade Ms. Brown to cooperate in his investigation of the parent company. If convicted, Ms. Brown could face up to seven years in prison for each forgery count. DocX could be fined up to $10,000 for each forgery conviction.
According to the indictment, Ms. Brown acted "knowingly in concert with DocX and its employees" to mislead and defraud the Boone County recorder of deeds. The documents central to the indictments were deeds of release, which eliminate a previous claim on an asset. Such releases are typically issued when a mortgage has been paid off.
I will leave it to Chris Cook, our resident expert on the difference between 'systemic' and 'systematic' fraud to suggest which, if either of these words would be most appropriately combined with the word 'fraud' in this case. But I am SO glad to see a state AG bringing criminal charges in this matter. Lorraine Brown, potentially facing over a millennium in jail time, if convicted on all charges and sentenced for them to run consecutively, should hope that Koster offers her witness protection services if she has had any direct dealings with Wall Street firms, especially if she can document such possible dealings.
It may be such suits as these that derail the bruited multi-state AG settlement led by Tom Miller of Iowa. Leaks have suggested that the proposal is to fine the banks involved $25 billion in return for relief from liability in mortgages that total close to $13 trillion in face value. Even if only a third of the mortgages in that $13 trillion are involved in some kind of robo-signing and even if the average loss involved only 30% of the face value that is still $1.3 trillion.
But what the hell! What is another $1.3 trillion to Bernanke and Geithner. Just create the money already and give it to those affected. THAT would actually help the economy, unlike the ongoing QE, which only seems to help the banks. As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
the defendant is innocent until or unless proved guilty in a court of law
For decades , Asia has performed the role of diligent worker bee. Without a history of Adam Smith and free trade they saw how easy it was to game the free trade system. To this day, Koreans do not buy Japanese goods and Japanese do not buy Korean goods. Neither one will buy U.S. goods. The stuff they do want , like Hollywood movies, they just take. The U.S. took the brunt of the free trade economic carnage as over 50,000 factories have closed down in only the last ten years. No one can labor arbitrage and transfer price their taxes away like corporate America. We are still #1 in that game. As the Fed printed money, giant speculative asset pricing bubbles occurred. The U.S. got lazy on their housing bubble and focused on the military industrial complex. Once mighty titans GE and GM became housing lenders with "old world" businesses attached to provide cash-flow for the financing sides of the business. Everyone drank the kool-aid. Now drink this kool-aid, even printing money is no longer an option for the U.S. government. China will print to keep the RMB peg...and combined with the $3.2 trillion in FX reserves they could buy most of the S&P 500 companies. Japan is also printing money like there is no tomorrow. Facing economic carnage in their own country, they are bound to start acquiring Western firms to compete with China. The U.S. now faces defaulting on their debt quickly or becoming a sharecropper to Asia.
For decades , Asia has performed the role of diligent worker bee. Without a history of Adam Smith and free trade they saw how easy it was to game the free trade system. To this day, Koreans do not buy Japanese goods and Japanese do not buy Korean goods. Neither one will buy U.S. goods. The stuff they do want , like Hollywood movies, they just take. The U.S. took the brunt of the free trade economic carnage as over 50,000 factories have closed down in only the last ten years. No one can labor arbitrage and transfer price their taxes away like corporate America. We are still #1 in that game.
As the Fed printed money, giant speculative asset pricing bubbles occurred. The U.S. got lazy on their housing bubble and focused on the military industrial complex. Once mighty titans GE and GM became housing lenders with "old world" businesses attached to provide cash-flow for the financing sides of the business. Everyone drank the kool-aid.
Now drink this kool-aid, even printing money is no longer an option for the U.S. government. China will print to keep the RMB peg...and combined with the $3.2 trillion in FX reserves they could buy most of the S&P 500 companies. Japan is also printing money like there is no tomorrow. Facing economic carnage in their own country, they are bound to start acquiring Western firms to compete with China. The U.S. now faces defaulting on their debt quickly or becoming a sharecropper to Asia.
h/t max keiser ~"When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside as fate." Karl Jung~
KANO, Nigeria, Feb 8, 2012 (IPS) - "I can no longer stay here in Kano as it rains bombs. The gun battles rattle us... Kano is no longer safe," said pregnant Funke Nweke of her decision to flee Nigeria's northern state with her five-year-old daughter.Nweke grimaced as she held her daughter, Nnenna, while they waited at Kano's most popular motor park to board a bus headed to Nigeria's south. She and her daughter are fleeing the state, as they fear being attacked by the Islamist extremists Boko Haram. Kano witnessed the worst series of suicide bombings, bombs blasts and gun battles on Jan. 20. According to the president of the Civil Rights Congress, a human rights organisation based in the northern city of Kaduna, 256 people were killed in the fighting. However, the local police authority puts this figure at 184 dead.
The Syrian military is reportedly moving deeper into residential areas in the city of Homs, a day after the Russian foreign minister said President Bashar al-Assad was "fully committed" to ending the bloodshed. Activists said the army was firing rockets and mortar rounds to subdue opposition districts on Wednesday, as tanks entered the Inshaat neighbourhood and moved closer to Bab Amr. An activist in Bab Amr told Al Jazeera that the neighbourhood had been under fire for several days. The army is "shelling us, using rockets, using mortars, using Russian tanks", he said. "Tanks are trying to break into the neighbourhood of Bab Amr." Activist Hadi al-Abdallah said that at least 43 people were killed overnight in the central city, and other activists reported even higher death tolls. "Some areas are completely [besieged]. There is no internet, no landlines or mobile lines," Al-Abdallah said.
The Syrian military is reportedly moving deeper into residential areas in the city of Homs, a day after the Russian foreign minister said President Bashar al-Assad was "fully committed" to ending the bloodshed.
Activists said the army was firing rockets and mortar rounds to subdue opposition districts on Wednesday, as tanks entered the Inshaat neighbourhood and moved closer to Bab Amr.
An activist in Bab Amr told Al Jazeera that the neighbourhood had been under fire for several days.
The army is "shelling us, using rockets, using mortars, using Russian tanks", he said. "Tanks are trying to break into the neighbourhood of Bab Amr."
Activist Hadi al-Abdallah said that at least 43 people were killed overnight in the central city, and other activists reported even higher death tolls.
"Some areas are completely [besieged]. There is no internet, no landlines or mobile lines," Al-Abdallah said.
Kamal el-Ganzouri, Egypt's military-backed prime minister, has said Egypt will not bow to Western pressure to end its crackdown on foreign-funded non-governmental organisations in the country. Egypt "won't back down or take a different route because of some aid or other", he announced from the cabinet's headquarters in Cairo on Wednesday. The military-backed government's campaign against pro-democracy and rights groups began late last year with security force raids on the offices of the organisations. Ganzouri said Western countries "turned against us" after the crackdown against the NGOs began, and added that his government will not be swayed by US threats to cut off aid to the country. The US has threatened to withhold the annual $1.3bn aid to Egypt over the dispute. Judges referred 19 Americans and 24 others to trial on Sunday on accusations they illegally used foreign funds to foment unrest in the country. The judges say the evidence collected in the case against the Americans includes maps, cash and videos taken of churches and military facilities.
Kamal el-Ganzouri, Egypt's military-backed prime minister, has said Egypt will not bow to Western pressure to end its crackdown on foreign-funded non-governmental organisations in the country.
Egypt "won't back down or take a different route because of some aid or other", he announced from the cabinet's headquarters in Cairo on Wednesday.
The military-backed government's campaign against pro-democracy and rights groups began late last year with security force raids on the offices of the organisations.
Ganzouri said Western countries "turned against us" after the crackdown against the NGOs began, and added that his government will not be swayed by US threats to cut off aid to the country.
The US has threatened to withhold the annual $1.3bn aid to Egypt over the dispute.
Judges referred 19 Americans and 24 others to trial on Sunday on accusations they illegally used foreign funds to foment unrest in the country.
The judges say the evidence collected in the case against the Americans includes maps, cash and videos taken of churches and military facilities.
Dec. 29 when the authorities raided 17 NGO offices. The list includes those used by the Washington-based National Democratic Institute (NDI), International Republican Institute (IRI), Freedom House, and the International Center for Journalists, as well as Germany's Konrad-Adenauer Stiftung. Several Egyptian NGOs, including the Arab Centre for the Independence of the Judiciary and Legal Profession and the Budgetary and Human Rights Rights Observatory, were also raided.
Ganzouri said...that his government will not be swayed by US threats to cut off aid to the country.
Decision will allow EU producers to compete on even-footing with New World winemakers. Wine producers in the EU will be able to label their products as "organic wine" following a decision adopted today (8 February) by the European Commission's committee on organic farming. Previously only grapes could be defined as organic, forcing wine producers to label their wines as "wine made from organic grapes." This put them at a disadvantage, they said, because competitors in the United States, Chile, Australia and South Africa could label their wine as organic. "These rules will boost the development of the market for organic wines," said Uwe Hofman, a member of the IFOAM organic farmers group. "The new rules are a good compromise, even if the level of sulphites reduction will be a challenge for organic wine producers in some EU countries from Central Europe."
Wine producers in the EU will be able to label their products as "organic wine" following a decision adopted today (8 February) by the European Commission's committee on organic farming.
Previously only grapes could be defined as organic, forcing wine producers to label their wines as "wine made from organic grapes." This put them at a disadvantage, they said, because competitors in the United States, Chile, Australia and South Africa could label their wine as organic.
"These rules will boost the development of the market for organic wines," said Uwe Hofman, a member of the IFOAM organic farmers group. "The new rules are a good compromise, even if the level of sulphites reduction will be a challenge for organic wine producers in some EU countries from Central Europe."
As the interest in environmentally responsible business practices grows globally, researchers are interested in how that interest translates into consumer sales. Researchers from the University of Missouri have found that United States consumers are more willing to buy clothing made from sustainably grown U.S. cotton than apparel produced using conventional practices in an unknown location. Jung Ha-Brookshire, an assistant professor in the textile and apparel management department in the College of Human Environmental Sciences at MU, says transparency is the key. "It is important for the apparel industry to remain transparent about its products, especially if they are produced in a sustainable manner," Ha-Brookshire said. "We have shown that consumers want to know where their clothes come from and would rather buy sustainably produced clothes. Many apparel companies use sustainable practices; however, they don't promote them very well."
As the interest in environmentally responsible business practices grows globally, researchers are interested in how that interest translates into consumer sales. Researchers from the University of Missouri have found that United States consumers are more willing to buy clothing made from sustainably grown U.S. cotton than apparel produced using conventional practices in an unknown location.
Jung Ha-Brookshire, an assistant professor in the textile and apparel management department in the College of Human Environmental Sciences at MU, says transparency is the key.
"It is important for the apparel industry to remain transparent about its products, especially if they are produced in a sustainable manner," Ha-Brookshire said.
"We have shown that consumers want to know where their clothes come from and would rather buy sustainably produced clothes. Many apparel companies use sustainable practices; however, they don't promote them very well."
Brazil is on course to dislodge the United States as the world's top producer of biotech crops in the coming years, a leading promoter of farm biotechnology said Tuesday. The US currently holds the lead with 69 million hectares (170 million acres) under biocrop cultivation in 2011, ahead of Brazil with 30.3 million, Argentina with 23.7 million and India with 10.6 million, the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) said. But USAAA, a government-funded international body promoting the use of farm biotechnology, particularly in developing countries, said Brazil was last year the engine of global biocrop growth, with 4.9 more million hectares, up 20 percent from 2010. Speaking in a teleconference from the Philippines, ISAAA President Clive James said that while the United States was currently well ahead, "Brazil is closing the gap very quickly" and bringing in new biocrops like sugar cane. Brazil has eight million hectares of sugar, the largest hectareage in the world, and is expected to increase it by 50 percent in the next five years for both ethanol and sugar production, he noted.
Brazil is on course to dislodge the United States as the world's top producer of biotech crops in the coming years, a leading promoter of farm biotechnology said Tuesday.
The US currently holds the lead with 69 million hectares (170 million acres) under biocrop cultivation in 2011, ahead of Brazil with 30.3 million, Argentina with 23.7 million and India with 10.6 million, the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) said.
But USAAA, a government-funded international body promoting the use of farm biotechnology, particularly in developing countries, said Brazil was last year the engine of global biocrop growth, with 4.9 more million hectares, up 20 percent from 2010.
Speaking in a teleconference from the Philippines, ISAAA President Clive James said that while the United States was currently well ahead, "Brazil is closing the gap very quickly" and bringing in new biocrops like sugar cane.
Brazil has eight million hectares of sugar, the largest hectareage in the world, and is expected to increase it by 50 percent in the next five years for both ethanol and sugar production, he noted.
A cargo ship spilled acid into China's longest river last week, contaminating tap supplies and sparking a run on bottled water in eastern China, the government and state media said. It is the nation's second water pollution scare in a month, after factories in the southern region of Guangxi contaminated water supplies for millions with toxic cadmium and other waste in January. The ship, reportedly South Korean, was docked in Zhenjiang city on the Yangtze river last Thursday when it leaked phenol -- an acid used in detergents -- into the water because of a faulty valve, local authorities reported. Residents started complaining their tap water had a strange smell on Friday, and soon rumours that a capsized ship was polluting the river sparked a run on bottled water in at least two cities in Jiangsu province, the Shanghai Daily said.
A cargo ship spilled acid into China's longest river last week, contaminating tap supplies and sparking a run on bottled water in eastern China, the government and state media said.
It is the nation's second water pollution scare in a month, after factories in the southern region of Guangxi contaminated water supplies for millions with toxic cadmium and other waste in January.
The ship, reportedly South Korean, was docked in Zhenjiang city on the Yangtze river last Thursday when it leaked phenol -- an acid used in detergents -- into the water because of a faulty valve, local authorities reported.
Residents started complaining their tap water had a strange smell on Friday, and soon rumours that a capsized ship was polluting the river sparked a run on bottled water in at least two cities in Jiangsu province, the Shanghai Daily said.
A recent op-ed published in the journal Nature, by several scientists who are experts in their field, has the pundits all aflutter. But the subject is somewhat surprising: Sweeteners. (Nutrition professor Marion Nestle has posted the full PDF of the article here.) Drs. Robert Lustig (a minor YouTube celebrity since his 2009 lecture on fructose), Laura Schmidt, and Claire Brindis argue that added sweeteners of all kinds -- including sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, and all their oddly-named ilk (that means you, maltodextrin!) -- have as many negative health effects as alcohol and should be regulated. Responses have come from all over the food politics spectrum -- from Raj Patel in The Atlantic, who took to dreaming of a world where large corporations aren't in charge of feeding us, to Jennifer LaRue Huget on the Washington Post's Checkup blog, who just wants everyone to get off her lawn leave such issues to personal responsibility. Others have expressed scorn toward the group of scientists for addressing policy at all. This opinion can be summed up by a tweet from reporter Dan Mitchell that read, "Scientists need to set a much higher bar for proposing policy measures."
A recent op-ed published in the journal Nature, by several scientists who are experts in their field, has the pundits all aflutter. But the subject is somewhat surprising: Sweeteners. (Nutrition professor Marion Nestle has posted the full PDF of the article here.)
Drs. Robert Lustig (a minor YouTube celebrity since his 2009 lecture on fructose), Laura Schmidt, and Claire Brindis argue that added sweeteners of all kinds -- including sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, and all their oddly-named ilk (that means you, maltodextrin!) -- have as many negative health effects as alcohol and should be regulated.
Responses have come from all over the food politics spectrum -- from Raj Patel in The Atlantic, who took to dreaming of a world where large corporations aren't in charge of feeding us, to Jennifer LaRue Huget on the Washington Post's Checkup blog, who just wants everyone to get off her lawn leave such issues to personal responsibility.
Others have expressed scorn toward the group of scientists for addressing policy at all. This opinion can be summed up by a tweet from reporter Dan Mitchell that read, "Scientists need to set a much higher bar for proposing policy measures."
"Scientists need to set a much higher bar for proposing policy measures."
With pseudosciences such as economics, there's no point in setting a bar since it's not enforceable. tens of millions of people stand to see their lives ruined because the bureaucrats at the ECB don't understand introductory economics -- Dean Baker
Daily Kos: "Winter Deep Freeze Will Cause Breakdown of German Electric Grid"
Well, at least that is what pro-nuke advocates predicted when Germany shut down its eight oldest nuclear power plants last year and decided to drive towards a renewable energy future. The recent deep freeze in Europe has, however, proven that to be thoroughly untrue. Recently, it is, in fact, nuclear-dominated France that is having problems covering its electricity needs because of the severe cold snap.
Daily Kos: Into the Future with Renewables: Q&A LiveBlog with German Green Party Energy Expert
This Q&A was organized to give members of DK an opportunity to ask questions and learn more about what Germany's energy policy really is about live and from a reliable source. There is a lot of misleading information being tossed around about Germany's energy policy, and criticism of that country for its alleged shortsightedness, even stupidity, in embarking on this challenging path into the future. I hope there will be a lively discussion that will spark ideas of how the United States may adopt some of Germany's policies to develop green energy sources and create thousands of jobs that can't be exported overseas. One size doesn't fit all, of course, but Germany is blazing a new trail in this area, and hopes to be an example to many of how we can put the brakes on climate change and leave the earth a better place for future generations.
Apple has asked for more clarity over how patents deemed crucial to industry standards should be handled. The firm wrote a letter to the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) in November, which has now been reported by the Wall Street Journal. The iPhone maker called for "more consistent and transparent" application of rules designed to ensure that such intellectual properties were licensed. Both Samsung and Motorola Mobility have sued Apple over "essential" patents. The document has since been published in full on the Foss Patents blog.
Apple has asked for more clarity over how patents deemed crucial to industry standards should be handled.
The firm wrote a letter to the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) in November, which has now been reported by the Wall Street Journal.
The iPhone maker called for "more consistent and transparent" application of rules designed to ensure that such intellectual properties were licensed.
Both Samsung and Motorola Mobility have sued Apple over "essential" patents.
The document has since been published in full on the Foss Patents blog.
Russian scientists are reporting success in their quest to drill into Lake Vostok, a huge body of liquid water buried under the Antarctic ice. It is the first time such a breakthrough has been made into one of the more than 300 sub-glacial lakes known to exist on the White Continent. Researchers believe Vostok can give them some fresh insights into the frozen history of Antarctica. They also hope to find microbial lifeforms that are new to science. "This fills my soul with joy," said Valery Lukin, from Russia's Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI) in St Petersburg, which has been overseeing the project, "This will give us the possibility to biologically evaluate the evolution of living organisms... because those organisms spent a long time without contact with the atmosphere, without sunlight," he was quoted as saying in a translation of national media reports by BBC Monitoring.
Russian scientists are reporting success in their quest to drill into Lake Vostok, a huge body of liquid water buried under the Antarctic ice.
It is the first time such a breakthrough has been made into one of the more than 300 sub-glacial lakes known to exist on the White Continent.
Researchers believe Vostok can give them some fresh insights into the frozen history of Antarctica.
They also hope to find microbial lifeforms that are new to science.
"This fills my soul with joy," said Valery Lukin, from Russia's Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI) in St Petersburg, which has been overseeing the project,
"This will give us the possibility to biologically evaluate the evolution of living organisms... because those organisms spent a long time without contact with the atmosphere, without sunlight," he was quoted as saying in a translation of national media reports by BBC Monitoring.
Fabio Capello has resigned as England manager, the Football Association has confirmed. Capello resigned after a meeting with FA chairman David Bernstein and general secretary Alex Horne at Wembley. An FA statement read: "The Football Association can confirm that Fabio Capello has today resigned as England manager." On Monday, the Italian publicly challenged the FA's decision to strip John Terry of the captaincy.
Fabio Capello has resigned as England manager, the Football Association has confirmed.
Capello resigned after a meeting with FA chairman David Bernstein and general secretary Alex Horne at Wembley.
An FA statement read: "The Football Association can confirm that Fabio Capello has today resigned as England manager."
On Monday, the Italian publicly challenged the FA's decision to strip John Terry of the captaincy.
William Hill changed its odds on Redknapp becoming England's next manager from 2/1 to 1/2, while Paddy Power's odds moved from 15/8 to 10/11.
So I'd hate to see another good manager leave an excellent team, especially one he's painstakingly built over 3 years just at the point where they're making a serious challenge in the top 4.
Disclaimer : I am not now, nor have ever been, a Spurs supporter keep to the Fen Causeway
9 percent disapprove, 40 percent unsureMore than half of U.S. voters approve of God's job performance, according to a new poll, making God more popular than all members of Congress.The poll -- which was conducted by the Democratic research firm Public Policy Polling (PPP) -- surveyed 928 people and found that 52 percent of Americans approved of God's overall dealings, while only 9 percent disapproved....The poll also gauged God's handling of specific "issues." When asked to rate God on the creation of the universe, 71 percent of voters approved and only 5 percent disapproved. Respondents were also generally appreciative of God's governance of the "animal kingdom," with 56 percent approving and 11 percent disapproving.Younger respondents were more critical of God's handling of natural disasters, with those ages 18-29 expressing a 26 percent disapproval rating, compared to 12 percent disapproval among those 65 and older.The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.
More than half of U.S. voters approve of God's job performance, according to a new poll, making God more popular than all members of Congress.
The poll -- which was conducted by the Democratic research firm Public Policy Polling (PPP) -- surveyed 928 people and found that 52 percent of Americans approved of God's overall dealings, while only 9 percent disapproved.
The poll also gauged God's handling of specific "issues." When asked to rate God on the creation of the universe, 71 percent of voters approved and only 5 percent disapproved. Respondents were also generally appreciative of God's governance of the "animal kingdom," with 56 percent approving and 11 percent disapproving.
Younger respondents were more critical of God's handling of natural disasters, with those ages 18-29 expressing a 26 percent disapproval rating, compared to 12 percent disapproval among those 65 and older.
The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.
