Greenpeace has produced a video that looks like a cross between the Blair Witch Project and Doomsday Preppers. Only one problem: it is so stupid even CNN is mocking it. Watch:
By jailing four top officers of Iceland’s failed Kaupthing Bank, the country showed the world the right way to deal with the people largely responsible for the 2008 financial crisis, said Charlie McGrath, founder of the news website, Wide Awake News.
The US and other nations must take it as a model for the next time the too-big- to-fail corporations screw things up and ask for a bailout with taxpayers’ money, he added.
Iceland Jails Four ‘Banksters’ in Financial Fraud Case
Four former bank bosses in Iceland have been jailed for financial fraud. They were accused of hiding the fact a Qatari investor bought into the firm, with money lent illegally by the bank itself. It went bust in 2008, helping to cripple Iceland’s economy.
The American Studies Association, which has 5,000 members, cites ‘Israel’s violation of international law and UN resolutions’ among reasons for boycott of Israeli academic institutions. ADL slams the move as shameful and morally bankrupt.
The American Studies Association’s membership has voted decisively in favor of an academic boycott on Israel, the association announced Monday.
The organization said that 1,252 of its approximately 5,000 members had cast electronic ballots over the last several days, a rate of participation it termed an all-time high. Of these, 66 percent supported the boycott motion, which was approved unanimously by the ASA’s national council 10 days ago. The supporters included several Jewish scholars.
The decision made ASA the largest American academic organization thus far to support an anti-Israel boycott.
The Anti-Defamation League condemned the ASA’s decision, calling it a “shameful, morally bankrupt and intellectually dishonest attack on academic freedom.”
As Brussels goes into a renewed push to bring more countries into its fold, the divisions between nations in fact go deeper. The call for European integration rings on Kiev squares – and some fear it will turn into western expansion. Who knows what’s for the best? Today we look at the picture not through the eyes of experts or politicians. We ask a great artist about the changes in the air: Emir Kusturica – filmmaker, actor, writer, and musician is on SophieCo.
Sophie Shevardnadze: Emir Kusturica – filmmaker, actor, writer, musician – you name it, everything. Great to have you on our show today. So, Ukraine has been on the news lately, everyone’s talking about it, you have said that Ukrainians are looking at the Yugoslav scenario – what exact parallels would you draw with Ukraine and Yugoslavia? Do you think civil war is possible there?
Emir Kusturica: I don’t think the civil war will come because the question of the Ukraine is more the question about “who will give more,” because I have a feeling that those people who are awoken from their European colleagues, they are much more agreeable to accept some good bid. So this artificial name of what we call today NATO is in fact spreading…or what they used to say in World War I – “Drang nach Osten.” And now this is very visible that in fact the European Union formally doesn’t mean NATO but in fact it’s very much connected. Why am I saying this? I have an example in which for the strategic reason, Bulgaria and Romania became Europe before even Serbia and Croatia. What is Europe for me? Europe is an old system that gave us Renaissance and that gave us the biggest achievements in the Judeo-Christian civilization and I am behind this. But each time, it comes every once in a while in a century to a crisis, then there is the formal way to go for the goods which are on the other side. My problem, a little bit of problem, of understanding this, is if the present administration with the president is 100 percent decided not to go to Europe as they said, I don’t know if this is a sincere act of Mr. Yanukovych or is in fact negotiating, trying to get more from Europe. But the point is, they will never get money from Europe because Europe cannot give them anything.
A demonstrator kisses a riot police officer.(AFP Photo / Marco Bertorello)
An Italian student protester may end up in court after a photograph of her kissing a riot police officer started making the rounds and became hailed as a symbol of peaceful protest. She may now face sexual assault charges.
The incident happened during a demonstration against the construction of a rail link in the north of Italy.
Nina de Chiffre, a 20-year-old protester, had used the opportune moment to first kiss, then lick a police officer’s helmet visor. The moment was caught on camera, and the photo ended up going viral. It was hailed as an example of sending a message of love and peace and non-violent protest.
But the situation quickly went south for de Chiffre, after the Italian police union – COISP – ruled that the act was in fact sexual assault, and filed a complaint with a court in Turin, Italy’s La Repubblica reported on Sunday.
Omar Dahi tells Paul Jay that there is widespread belief among many Syrians that Geneva II is going to be a way to preserve the Syrian state and create a front for fighting al-Qaeda.
Syria: A Future as Foreign as Its Fighters?
With shifting alliances and infighting, we look at the difficulties the rebels face attempting to oust Bashar al-Assad. David Foster discusses with General Salim Idriss, the chief of staff of the rebel umbrella group, the Free Syrian Army.
John Clarke and Bryan Dawe with a lesson on how the financial system really works.
Bryan Dawe: Thanks for your time.
John Clarke: Very good to be with you Bryan, good evening.
Bryan Dawe: Now, you’re a market economist?
John Clarke: Yes, well, most economists are market economists Bryan, to a degree these days, yes.
Bryan Dawe: How do you think things are going at the moment?
John Clarke: There’s a great deal of international concern, we’re taking a towelling, but things will sort themselves out Bryan. This is what a market does.
Bryan Dawe: Well, can you explain how it works?
John Clarke: How the economy works?
Bryan Dawe: Well, yeah. What’s the problem at the moment, for instance?
John Clarke: Well, what we’ve got at the moment is an international credit crisis.
Bryan Dawe: Yes, how does that happen?
John Clarke: Well, I’m a bank Bryan, and I borrow money and lend it out. And I charge more to the people I’m lending it to than I pay the people from whom I borrowing?
Bryan Dawe: Well, who do you borrow money from?
John Clarke: Well, you know, from depositor’s Bryan. Have you got a dollar?
Bryan Dawe: Well, yeah, sure.
John Clarke: I borrow your dollar, and i give you, you know, there’s your bank balance.
Bryan Dawe: $1?
John Clarke: $1.
Bryan Dawe: Right, OK. And you pay interest to me on that?
John Clarke: I do, but I also charge you fees.
Bryan Dawe: Well, why do you charge me fees?
John Clarke: Well, because Bryan, I’m looking after your money. Your money is secure with me, I’m a bank. I mean, this is a very important amount of money; this is probably your nest egg, it’s safe with us.
Bryan Dawe: How much interest do you pay me?
John Clarke: Approximately the same as I’m charging you in fees.
Bryan Dawe: Oh, good deal for me.
John Clarke: Well, your money’s secure with us Bryan. And I then lend that money to businesses, and those businesses generate income. And this is how we build the economy.
Bryan Dawe: And they put the income into the bank?
John Clarke: They do, of course Bryan. That builds the savings pool, and we can invest more money.
Bryan Dawe: Well, who do you lend that to?
John Clarke: Well, to people who need credit Bryan. You see, money creates more money, so if we can create more money we’re broadening the economy, we’re expanding it all the time.
Bryan Dawe: But shouldn’t people just buy the things they can afford?
John Clarke: You don’t need to afford the things you’re buying Bryan; you need to afford the interest on the money you need to borrow in order to buy them.
Bryan Dawe: And you’re charging high rates for all this?
John Clarke: We do hop into them a bit on the credit rate Bryan; we stick the hydraulics under that because it’s a slightly higher risk strategy.
Bryan Dawe: Do people need to be buying these things they can’t afford?
John Clarke: Well, obviously they think so Bryan. I mean, these things are advertised to people as very necessary, very important, and deeply, deeply attractive.
Bryan Dawe: Well, who’s advertising things we people don’t need?
John Clarke: The companies we’re lending the money to.
Bryan Dawe: So OK, then you bought into the US sub-prime house market…
John Clarke: Well Bryan, so concerned are we to build a better Australia…
Bryan Dawe: You help build a worse America?
John Clarke: Yeah well, that was an accident Bryan. What we were doing was investing in the international investment market.
Bryan Dawe: That’s been a disaster.
John Clarke: Frankly, famously, it hasn’t been a huge success hitherto.
Bryan Dawe: Well so, what are you going to do?
John Clarke: Well, now you give me conclude $US 700 billion immediately.
Bryan Dawe: Why?
John Clarke: Well, because we need it Bryan. I mean the system needs money. Imagine the economy as a body, it needs blood pumping round it Bryan.
Bryan Dawe: But you haven’t got any?
John Clarke: We haven’t got any money, no.
Bryan Dawe: Well, why not?
John Clarke: Well, we lost ours; I’ve just been explaining that.
Bryan Dawe: Well, you’re not having mine.
John Clarke: Mum, Bryan won’t let me play with his stuff.
Artist’s impression shows the surroundings of the supermassive black hole at the heart of the active galaxy NGC 3783 in the southern constellation of Centaurus (The Centaur) (AFP Photo)
Scientists have found the “clearest evidence yet” that the universe we inhabit is a giant hologram, paving the way towards reconciling one of physics’ most pressing issues: the relationship between Einstein’s theory of relativity and quantum physics.
In other words, we could be living inside a giant 3D projection of what is actually a two-dimensional space, similar to an IMAX movie theater screen or a painting. Or one could simply imagine the experience of looking at a three-dimensional object from various angles and seeing it change shape according to the point of observation.
The new experimental simulations proposed by Japanese scientist, Yoshifumi Hyakutake, and his team at the Ibaraki University of Japan tackle the varying energies of black holes discovered in parallel universes. But it also goes a long way towards marrying Einstein’s theory of general relativity and the theory of quantum mechanics as the two main theories describing our universe.
The findings were published in the journal, Nature, on December 10.
The UN has named 2014 as the ‘Year of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.’ The resolution was adopted by the majority of member-states with 110 voting in favor, 7 opposed and 54 abstaining.
The year-long observance will entail organizing special events in cooperation with “governments, relevant organizations of the United Nations system, intergovernmental organizations and civil society.”
Palestinians have made significant strides towards self-determination recently. In November of last year the UN General Assembly granted the Palestinians observer status at the international organization, thus implicitly recognizing a Palestinian state. The Palestinian bid has been upheld with 138 votes in favor, 9 against and 41 abstentions.
The new status could give the Palestinians more weight in peace talks with Israel and gives them a greater chance of joining UN agencies and the International Criminal Court (ICC). Joining the ICC would also grant the Palestinian delegation a greater legal basis for pursuing possible war-crimes prosecutions against the Israeli military.
Against the Grain 