World-News

This May Day

David Bacon, Truthout: "In a little over a month, hundreds of thousands, perhaps even millions, of people will fill the streets in city after city, town after town, across the US. This year these May Day marches of immigrant workers will make an important demand on the Obama administration: End the draconian enforcement policies of the Bush administration. Establish a new immigration policy based on human rights and recognition of the crucial economic and social contributions of immigrants to US society."

http://www.truthout.org/032709A



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Obama
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Bush+legacy
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=immigra
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=David+Bacon

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/03/27-13



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=John+Nichols

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/03/27-10



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=corruption
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=torture
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=George+Hunsinger

Irish economy in sharp contraction

Ireland, the first eurozone country to fall into an official recession, has released more gloomy financial data, with official statistics revealing that its gross domestic product shrank by 7.5 per cent in the three months to December, compared with the fourth quarter of 2007.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2009/03/200932611544390293.html



UK recession: 'It's even worse than we thought,' says ONS

It is the worst performance since the second quarter of 1980 and confirms Britain is in the middle of a deep downturn following a contraction of 0.7% in the third quarter of last year and zero growth in the second.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/mar/27/recession-gdp-bank-of-england



SC unemployment reaches 11 percent for February

South Carolina's jobless rate surged to 11 percent in February, edging closer to the 14 percent peak a state advisory board expects as the recession throttles the state with the nation's second-highest unemployment rate.

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2009/03/27/ap6223527.html



Jobless Rate Exceeds 10% in Three More U.S. States

The number of U.S. states with a jobless rate exceeding 10 percent almost doubled in February as the worst employment slump in the postwar era spread.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aBTa0e1ODD5k&refer=home



US tent cities highlight new realities as recession wears on

Tent cities reminiscent of the "Hoovervilles" of the Great Depression have been springing up in cities across the United States - from Reno in Nevada to Tampa in Florida - as foreclosures and redundancies force middle-class families from their homes.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/26/tent-city-california-recession-economy


From Information Clearing House

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Thousands Prepare to March for 'Jobs, Justice, and Climate'
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/03/27-6

Number of Chronically Hungry Tops 1 Billion
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/03/27-2



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=recession
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Great+Depression
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http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=foreclosure
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http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Javier+Blas

Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yPmtQDWZ1s&feature=player_embedded


From Information Clearing House



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Obama

From his office in clouded cuckoo land:

Obama aims to shut down al-Qaeda in Pakistan, Afghanistan

We have a clear and focused goal: to disrupt, dismantle and defeat al-Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and to prevent their return to either country in the future,' Obama said.

http://snipurl.com/eow0b



Change.... What change?

Obama Unveils Afghan Plan to Add Troops and Set Goals

In strikingly ominous tones, Mr. Obama warned - just as President George W. Bush did repeatedly over the years - of intelligence estimates that al Qaeda "is actively planning attacks on the U.S. homeland from its safe haven in Pakistan."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/26/washington/28prexy.html?hp



Afghanistan aid program flawed

The multibillion-dollar U.S. aid program in Afghanistan is disjointed, bureaucratic and overly dependent on private Western contractors, according to a report to be released today with implications for President Obama's Central Asia strategy.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2009-03-25-afghanistan_N.htm


From Information Clearing House



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http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=cuckoo
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=what+change

In a second attack in less than 24 hours, a US drone carried out a missile strike against a suspected Taliban hideout in North Waziristan in NWFP on Thursday killing five militants and injuring four others.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blnus/10261620.htm



Suspected US drone attack kills 12 people in Pakistan

Orakzai, which does not share border with Afghanistan, is the stronghold of a senior aide of rebel commander Baitullah Mehsud, who confirmed Wednesday that his fighters stormed a police training school in the eastern city of Lahore March 30, killing seven recruits and one civilian.

http://blog.taragana.com/n/suspected-us-drone-strike-in-pakistan-kills-12-24259/



US drone kills 17 in Pakistan

A suspected US missile strike killed 12 Taliban militants on Wednesday in Pakistan's restive tribal region, while suspected terrorists ambushed a police patrol, killing five police personnel in the northwest, officials said.

http://snipurl.com/f3uut


From Information Clearing House



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=US+Drone
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http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Waziristan

By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard

US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner shocked global markets by revealing that Washington is "quite open" to Chinese proposals for the gradual development of a global reserve currency run by the International Monetary Fund.

http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22300.htm



U.S. Vows To Sustain Dollar's Dominance

By Tomoeh Murakami Tse

Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said Wednesday that the United States would do whatever it takes to make sure the dollar would remain the world's dominant reserve currency, clarifying comments he had made earlier in the day that had caused the greenback to fall against major currencies.

http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22304.htm



Worst Case: The Day The Dollar Falls

Video

This is a Dutch (Netherlands) documentary from 2005. It is about a 'Worst Case' scenario where speculation on the currency exchange market plus a substantial sell-off of dollars from a hedge fund cause a chain reaction in the market, the economy and the political system.

http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22305.htm



No End In Sight

By Mike Whitney

China, Russia, Venezuela and Iran have already called for a change in the world's reserve currency. It won't happen overnight, but the momentum is steadily growing.

http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22374.htm



Sleepwalking Our Way Towards a World Currency

By Edmund Conway

Let's assume for a moment that we are in the protean stages of a new world currency; that the G20's moves this time last week are laying the ground for its special drawing rights to replace the dollar as the international reserve currency. On that basis which of these two scenarios would you feel more uncomfortable with?

http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22385.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Geithner
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=reserve+currency
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=IMF
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By Charting Stocks

U.S. stocks will fall and the government will nationalize more banks as the economy contracts through the end of 2009, said Nouriel Roubini, the New York University professor who predicted last year's economic crisis.

http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22302.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=economic+crisis
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=U.S.+stocks
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Nouriel+Roubini

How the Scam Works

By MICHAEL HUDSON

Here's the rip-off as I see it. For an outlay of $750,000, the bank rids its books of a mortgage worth $2 million, for which it receives $4,250,000. It gets twice as much as the junk is worth.

http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22306.htm



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http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Michael+Hudson

In Niedersachsen sorgt eine Anordnung der Stadt Göttingen für Empörung, einem Mann wegen Bettelns die Sozialhilfe zu kürzen. Das Landesozialministerium als Aufsichtsbehörde äußerte am Freitag (27. März) Zweifel an der Rechtmäßigkeit des Bescheids und forderte von der Stadt einen Bericht an. Der Paritätische Wohlfahrtsverband Göttingen nannte die Maßnahme demütigend und will den Fall rechtlich prüfen.

http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php?H=N&Nr=19537



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Hartz+IV
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Sozialhilfe

Weston & Somerset Mercury - eston-super-Mare, England, UK

CONTROVERSIAL plans to put a mobile phone mast in a busy shopping area could still go ahead. Vodafone has launched an appeal against North Somerset ...

http://tinyurl.com/car75h

--------

Fury as work begins on phone mast rejected by councillors

Stoke & Staffordshire - Stoke-on-Trent, England, UK

PHONE giant Vodafone has begun building a mobile phone mast in Cheadle – even though the plans have been thrown out. Vodafone says it has permission to ...

http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/news/Fury-work-begins-phone-mast-rejected-councillors/article-849208-detail/article.html

William Rivers Pitt, Truthout: "Our war in Afghanistan began almost 3,000 days ago, on October 7, 2001. Our war in Afghanistan has lasted longer than World War I, World War II, the Civil War, the Korean War, the first Gulf War in Iraq and the second Gulf War in Iraq. If we are still fighting in Afghanistan a year from now, the war will have lasted longer than the American Revolution. Children who were born on the day the war began are now halfway through grammar school. All the bad economic news and the turmoil in the financial and housing markets have America looking inward these days. We rarely hear anything about Iraq anymore, and even less about Afghanistan. For the record, and to bring everyone up to speed, the following events have taken place in Afghanistan during the last 72 hours."

http://www.truthout.org/032709J



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Afghanistan
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=housing
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=William+Rivers+Pitt

Neokonservative dominieren die Wahl des NATO-Chefs.
http://www.meta-info.de/?site=metainfo&lid=32982



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=neokonservativ

Tremembé-Indianer kämpfen um ihr Landrecht Tremembé-Indianer kämpfen um ihr Landrecht

Im nordostbrasilianischen Bundesstaat Ceará kämpfen die Tremembé-Indianer seit 2002 gegen ein auf ihrem Gebiet geplantes Mega-Tourismusprojekt. Über 200 Indianerfamilien drohen ihr Land und ihre Existenz zu verlieren. Das vom spanischen Unternehmen Afirma geleitete Projekt "Nova Atlântida (Neu Atlantis)" will 27 Luxushotels, 6 Ferienapartmentblocks, 14 Resorts und 7 Golfplätze auf dem Indianerland errichten. Die Tremembé bitten um unverzügliche Demarkierung ihres Stammesgebietes durch die Indianerschutzbehörde FUNAI, um dessen Zerstörung durch "Nova Atlântida" zu verhindern. Der Anerkennungsprozess ist seit 2006 ins Stocken geraten.

(Start: 26.03.2009)

http://www.regenwald.org/protestaktion.php?id=388

Hard times

Slate
by John Dickerson

03/25/09

How does Barack Obama persuade people to be patient about their outrage over the ongoing bailout of Wall Street — while also persuading them to get impatient about long-term fiscal reforms that may not affect them for years? This was the task of the president’s second press conference, and it wasn’t easy. Nothing is, as he reiterated. ‘By the time an issue reaches my desk, it’s a hard issue,’ he said, echoing a sentiment his predecessor often voiced. ‘This is hard,’ Obama said of reducing the deficit, a point he returned to later: ‘I’m not going to lie to you. It’s tough.’ The president’s other job at the press conference was to manage anger, so he continued his role as national therapist.

http://www.slate.com/id/2214510/



The MTV president

Intellectual Conservative
by Lisa Fabrizio

03/26/09

However talented the man might be, Barack Obama as silver-tongued savior, is in reality a creation of the mainstream media. When George W. Bush was inarticulate at times, he was the butt of jokes and worse; a buffoon who got through life on the coattails of his father. Yet, when Obama stutters through rehearsed speeches or maniacally laughs while discussing our ailing economy on 60 Minutes, these gaffes are either ignored or oddly offered as further proof of his oratory genius. But why? Because those who control most major newspapers and TV are immature dreamers still stuck on their vision of a socialist utopia; the stuff of teenaged vows to ‘change the world.’ And their hero epitomizes all they hold dear; a hip, youthful knight who champions activism — whatever that means — and looks good doing it.”

http://tinyurl.com/da62bc


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Obama
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=bailout
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Wall+Street
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=mainstream+media
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=John+Dickerson
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Lisa+Fabrizio

The American Prospect
by Bruce Ackerman

03/26/09

President Barack Obama started strong by announcing the end of torture and the closing of Guantánamo, but he has recently taken a more equivocal attitude toward the Bush constitutional legacy. While rejecting his predecessor’s extreme claims, he continues to assert the presidential power to hold terrorists without trial and to keep state secrets from the courts. And he has already issued his first signing statement denouncing a few provisions of the stimulus package as unconstitutionally limiting his executive prerogatives. … Barack Obama is no George W. Bush — he will indeed cut back substantially on unilateral assertions of power. The big question is whether he will take effective steps to prevent the next president from reversing course yet again and using the precedents of the Bush years as a springboard for even more extreme assertions of executive authority.”

http://tinyurl.com/cnjznn


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



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Shreveport Times

03/26/09

Confronting an inherited and faltering war, President Barack Obama plans to dispatch thousands more military and civilian trainers to Afghanistan by the fall on top of the 17,000 combat troops he has already ordered, senior administration officials said Thursday. Obama’s war strategy, which he plans to announce Friday, includes no timeline for withdrawal of troops. The war began more than seven years ago.

http://tinyurl.com/dk5bgd


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

--------

President's Afghanistan-Pakistan Strategy Will Lead to Quagmire
http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2009/03/27-13

Peace Group Warns Obama to Reconsider His Plan in Afghanistan
http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2009/03/27-5

Afghans Opposed to Escalation; Robert Greenwald Returns From Kabul With Exclusive Footage
http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2009/03/27-4



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http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Afghanistan
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Christian Science Monitor

03/27/09

There’s an old joke in South Carolina: Confederate President Jefferson Davis may have surrendered at the Burt-Stark mansion in Abbeville, S.C., in 1865, but the people of state Rep. Michael Pitts’s district never did. With revolutionary die-hards behind him, Mr. Pitts has fired a warning shot across the bow of the Washington establishment. As the writer of one of 28 state ’sovereignty bills’ … Pitts is at the forefront of a states’ rights revival, reasserting their say on everything from stem cell research to the Second Amendment. … Just as California under President Bush asserted itself on issues ranging from gun control to medical marijuana, a motley cohort of states … are presenting a foil for President Obama’s national ambitions. And they’re laying the groundwork for a political standoff over the 10th Amendment, which cedes all power not granted to Washington to the people...

http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0327/p02s01-usgn.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

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States Rebellion Pending

By Walter E. Williams

Our constitutional ignorance-perhaps contempt, coupled with the fact that we've become a nation of wimps, sissies and supplicants-has made us easy prey for Washington's tyrannical forces. But that might be changing a bit. There are rumblings of a long overdue re-emergence of Americans' characteristic spirit of rebellion.

http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22303.htm



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http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Walter+E.+Williams

Die Wut wächst

Droht in der Rezession ein "heißer Sommer"? Manager werden als Geiseln genommen oder mit Eiern beworfen, Häuser von Bankern beschädigt.

http://www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/30/30009/1.html



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The Associated Press: "Plastic fishing nets - some bought for poor fishermen with American aid money - are tangling up whales and turtles off one of Africa's most popular beaches."

http://www.truthout.org/032609EA



Pharmaceuticals Found in Fish Across US

The Associated Press: "Fish caught near wastewater treatment plants serving five major US cities had residues of pharmaceuticals in them, including medicines used to treat high cholesterol, allergies, high blood pressure, bipolar disorder and depression, researchers reported Wednesday."

http://www.truthout.org/032609HA

Drug-War Idiocy
http://www.lewrockwell.com/hornberger/hornberger157.html

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Clinton admits it: US antidrug policies have failed

Washington Post

03/26/09

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton traveled to Mexico yesterday with a stark admission, saying that decades of US antinarcotics policies had been a failure and had contributed to the explosion of drug violence south of the border. ‘Clearly what we’ve been doing has not worked,’ Clinton told reporters on her plane at the start of her two-day trip. She said it was unfair for the United States ‘to be creating a situation where people are holding the Mexican government and people responsible. That’s not right.’ Clinton’s comments appeared to be the most sweeping by a top Obama administration official in accepting a US role in the drug violence in Mexico...

http://tinyurl.com/dhobnu


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=drug+war
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=com/hornberger

http://www.lewrockwell.com/murphy/murphy153.html



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=com/murphy

http://www.lewrockwell.com/schmidt/schmidt15.html



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Time to wake up from it.
http://www.lewrockwell.com/kwiatkowski/kwiatkowski226.html



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Iraq+withdraw
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=com/kwiatkowski

http://www.lewrockwell.com/tucker/tucker145.html



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