World-News

http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/8361/


Informant: jensenmk

From ufpj-news



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=recession
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=financial+crisis

Le Monde's editorialist: "Workers on strike on the other side of the Channel demand 'British jobs for British workers'; an American House of Representatives that, under AFL-CIO pressure, tries to reserve its aid to businesses that use American steel; a Russian prime minister who denounces protectionism, but increases customs duty on foreign cars; the French minister of finance, known for his support of free trade, who - before he retracted the comment - deemed 'protectionism may be a necessary evil' ..."

http://www.truthout.org/020409F

Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald - Ardrossan, North Ayrshire, UK

... parents with youngsters at Stanley Primary in Ardrossan have stepped up their campaign opposing the siting of a mobile phone mast near the school. ...

http://www.ardrossanherald.com/articles/1/33664

--------

New phone dish at Danby Motors?

devon.editorial@archant.co.uk

04 February 2009

MOVES to add another mobile phone dish to a mast in Pound Lane has been backed by town planners.

Adam Holmes Associates have applied, on behalf of Orange, to add the extra dish, at the radio base station at Danby Motors.

Read More...
http://tinyurl.com/ar82ba

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Mobile mast plan cut off

Scotsman - United Kingdom

MOBILE phone giant Vodafone has lost its battle to build a controversial mast in a scenic part of the Lothians. The company was initially told in July by ...

http://news.scotsman.com/health/Mobile-mast-plan-cut-off.4944018.jp

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It's battle stations again over 'Nelson love nest' mast bid

Portsmouth News - Portsmouth, England, UK

By Rachel Hine

Campaigners are trying to stop a mobile phone mast from being put up where Nelson and Lady Emma Hamilton are rumoured to have had romantic ...

http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/newshome/It39s-battle-stations-again-over.4943252.jp

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Track your friends with Google

Latitude Mobile Computer - London, England, UK

Once you've signed up, the service gives a rough indication of where you are using nearby mobile phone masts. Your exact position can be pinpointed if your ...

http://www.mobilecomputermag.co.uk/200902041274/track-your-friends-with-google-latitude.html



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=school+mast

4. Februar 2009

„Gegen das um sich greifende Spitzel-Management einiger Unternehmen kann nachhaltig nur ein Arbeitnehmerdatenschutzgesetz helfen. Die Untätigkeit der Bundesregierung, die eine entsprechende Beschlusslage des Bundestages seit Jahren ignoriert, lädt die Unternehmen zu Missbrauch ein”, erklärt das Mitglied des Parteivorstands DIE LINKE, Jan Korte (MdB):

Mit dem Vorgehen der Deutschen Bahn ist eine neue Eskalationsstufe der Arbeitnehmerüberwachung erreicht. Wenn sich bewahrheiten sollte, dass im Jahr 2005 alle 240.000 Beschäftigten der Bahn in einer erneuten Rasterfahndung überprüft wurden und nicht „nur“ die bislang scheibchenweise eingeräumten 173.000 Bahnmitarbeiter und deren Ehepartner, müssen Konsequenzen folgen. Vielen Unternehmen wie der Deutschen Bahn oder der Telekom ist jedes Gespür für die Rechte und die Würde ihrer Mitarbeiter abhanden gekommen. Der gestrige Brief von Mehdorn an die Bahn-Belegschaft, der keinerlei Unrechtsbewusstsein erkennen lässt, ist ein Beleg dafür. Die gespeicherten persönlichen Daten von Beschäftigten und Kunden werden in Gutsherrenart wie das Eigentum der Unternehmen behandelt. Datenschutz und informationelle Selbstbestimmung? Fehlanzeige. Stattdessen grassiert das Spitzel-Management. Die präventive Überwachung der Mitarbeiter durch externe Sicherheitsunternehmen ist längst gängige Praxis und zur quasi betriebsgeheimpolizeilichen Methode in vielen Betrieben erklärt worden. Nach den Datenmissbrauchsfällen bei Lidl und der Telekom muss nun eigentlich allen klargeworden sein, dass es höchste Zeit für ein Arbeitnehmerdatenschutzgesetz ist. Seit mehreren Legislaturperioden wird die Bundesregierung kontinuierlich und unmissverständlich durch entsprechende Beschlussempfehlungen des Bundestages aufgefordert ein Arbeitnehmerdatenschutzgesetz vorzulegen. Die Untätigkeit der Bundesregierungen haben Zustände wie bei der Bahn AG oder der Telekom erst mit ermöglicht. Schön, dass sich jetzt zumindest die SPD zu bewegen scheint. Sie wird ihren Willen zur beschleunigten Einführung eines solchen Gesetzes in Kürze unter Beweis stellen können: DIE LINKE hat einen Antrag für ein modernes Arbeitnehmerdatenschutzgesetz vorgelegt. Man darf zustimmen.

http://www.die-linke.de/presse/presseerklaerungen/detail/artikel/untaetigkeit-der-bundesregierung-in-sachen-arbeitnehmerdatenschutz-ist-nicht-mehr-hinnehmbar/

--------

Privatisierungskritische Eisenbahner fragen: Wurden auch wir im „System Mehdorn“ ausgeschnüffelt? Orwell lässt grüßen!

Die aktuelle Schnüffel-Affäre bei der Deutschen Bahn AG (DB) hat auch eine politische Dimension jenseits der Korruptionsbekämpfung. „Wurden auch wir ausgeschnüffelt?“, fragen Mitglieder der Gewerkschaft TRANSNET, die die privatisierungskritische Initiative Bahn von unten unterstützen…“ Ein Artikel von www.bahnvonunten.de vom 2. Februar 2009 http://www.bahnvonunten.de/DB_Datenskandal.html


Daten-Affäre: Mehdorns Spitzel-Bude

„Die zentrale Rolle in den großen Datenskandalen bei Bahn und Telekom spielt eine kleine Firma in Berlin-Charlottenburg: Nur sechs Mitarbeiter hatte Network Deutschland - und bekam von den beiden Konzernen doch riesige Datenmengen anvertraut. Ohne schriftliche Aufträge, ohne klare Beschreibung der Aufgaben…“ Artikel von Matthias Thieme in der Frankfurter Rundschau vom 03.02.2009 http://www.fr-online.de/in_und_ausland/wirtschaft/aktuell/1669210_Mehdorns-Spitzel-Bude.html


Aus: LabourNet, 4. Februar 2009

--------

Bahn-Chef wollte mit Spähaktion Informationslecks finden

„Die Bahn hat das massenhafte Ausspähen ihrer Mitarbeiter nicht nur zur Korruptionsabwehr genutzt. Nach Informationen dieser Zeitung diente die Aktion auch dazu, Informationslecks abzudichten, durch die Nachrichten an Politiker und Journalisten abflossen. Bisher hatte die Bahn ihr Verhalten nur mit der Korruptionsbekämpfung begründet. Ihm liege ein interner Brief von Bahn-Chef Hartmut Mehdorn aus dem Jahr 2002 vor, in dem jedem Mitarbeiter mit fristloser Kündigung gedroht werde, der unabgesprochen Informationen an die Öffentlichkeit bringe, sagt Horst Friedrich, Vorsitzender des Verkehrsausschusses des Deutschen Bundestages. Seinen Informationen nach seien bei der internen Rasterfahndung vor allem die gewählten Telefonnummern der Mitarbeiter mit denen von Politikern und Journalisten abgeglichen worden…“ Artikel von Alexander Dahl in der Hannoverschen Allgemeinen Zeitung vom 04.02.2009 http://www.haz.de/newsroom/wirtschaft/art659,795335


Interview mit Horst Friedrich: "Bahn prüfte Politiker und Journalisten"

Der FDP-Verkehrspolitiker Horst Friedrich erhebt im Gespräch mit FR-online.de vom 05.02.2009 neue Vorwürfe gegen Bahnchef Hartmut Mehdorn. http://www.fr-online.de/top_news/1670692_Bahn-pruefte-Politiker-und-Journalisten.html


Anzeige gegen unbekannt: Spitzel hört mit

„Die Spitzelaffäre bei der Deutschen Bahn weitet sich aus. Kritiker der Privatisierung verdächtigen den Konzern, sie ebenfalls überwacht zu haben. Eine Strafanzeige soll aufklären, ob das Bündnis "Bahn für alle" illegal abgehört wurde. Ihm gehören unter anderen Verdi, IG Metall, Attac und der BUND an…“ Artikel von Thomas Wüpper in der Frankfurter Rundschau vom 05.02.2009 http://www.fr-online.de/in_und_ausland/wirtschaft/aktuell/1670391_Spitzel-hoert-mit.html


Aus: LabourNet, 6. Februar 2009

--------

"Datenschutz hat keine Konjunktur"

„Arbeitgeber haben zu teils kriminellen Methoden gegriffen, um ihre Angestellten auszuforschen. Kommentatoren deutscher Zeitungen kritisieren die Absicht der Regierung, erst in der nächsten Legislaturperiode ein neues Datenschutzgesetz vorzulegen…“ Pressestimmen zum Datenschutzgipfel in der FTD vom 17.02.2009 http://www.ftd.de/meinung/kommentare/:Pressestimmen-zum-Datenschutzgipfel-Datenschutz-hat-keine-Konjunktur/475433.html


Geschockt über das Ausmaß der Schäden durch exzessive Antiterrormaßnahmen. Der Bericht der "International Commission of Jurists" nimmt den siebenjährigen Kampf gegen den Terror in vierzig Ländern genauer unter die Lupe

„Die Angst zu Zeiten der Finanzkrise sieht anders aus als 2002. Mit der neuen Angst entsteht auch Distanz zu jener, die gerade nicht im Vordergrund steht. Der Blick auf die Angst vor Terroranschlägen ist ein anderer als noch vor ein paar Jahren. Doch die Gesetze, die in der Folge der Anschläge des 11.September 2001 weltweit in Kraft gesetzt wurden, sind geblieben…“ Artikel von Thomas Pany in telepolis vom 17.02.2009 http://www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/29/29760/1.html

Siehe dazu den Bericht „Assessing Damage, Urging Action“ (pdf) http://www.icj.org/IMG/EJPReport.pdf


Aus: LabourNet, 18. Februar 2009

--------

Datenschützer Schaar rügt die Bundesregierung

Der Bundesdatenschutzbeauftragte Peter Schaar wirft der Bundesregierung Zögerlichkeit beim Datenschutz vor. Mit Blick auf die Bahnaffäre sagte Schaar der "Stuttgarter Zeitung": "Es bedarf wohl leider solcher Skandale, um die Politik zum Handeln zu bewegen." Im Umgang mit persönlichen Daten herrsche in der Wirtschaft "ein Wildwuchs, den man zurückschneiden muss".

http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php?H=N&Nr=19394



"Vieles im Argen" beim Datenschutz

Schaar kritisiert Missstände und wirft Politik Zögerlichkeit vor

Um die Sicherheit von persönlichen Daten ist es in Deutschland nach Einschätzung des Bundesdatenschutzbeauftragten Peter Schaar schlecht bestellt. "Es liegt vieles im Argen", sagte Schaar am Dienstag (21. April) bei der Vorstellung seines Berichts für die Jahre 2007 und 2008 in Berlin. Einige Sicherheitsgesetze, darunter die Regelung zur Vorratsdatenspeicherung, seien "unverhältnismäßig". Hinzu komme die Vielzahl an Datenskandalen in der Wirtschaft. Diese hätten die Öffentlichkeit in den vergangenen Monaten zwar sensibler für das Thema gemacht. "Getan hat sich aber bisher nicht viel", kritisierte Schaar. Der Politik warf er Zögerlichkeit beim Kampf gegen Datenmissbrauch vor.

http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php?H=N&Nr=19608



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Datenschutz
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Überwachung
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Deutsche+Bahn
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Telekom
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Lidl
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Mehdorn
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Privatisierung
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Finanzkrise
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Vorratsdaten
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Schaar

http://groups.google.com/group/mobilfunk_newsletter/t/eb9ffcf15d340fb1



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Esmog
http://omega.twoday.net/search?q=Esmog

8:10am Wednesday 4th February 2009

By Natasha Agombar »

COUNCILLORS are angry over plans to install another phone mast in Braintree.

District councillors in Braintree east have received letters about Vodafone’s proposal to put a 10metre high radio base station between the junction of Clay Pits and the A131.

The letter from Waldon Telecoms,on behalf of the mobile phone company, said there was a deficiency in 3G coverage across the area that did not meet Vodafone’s statutory obligations.

Read More...
http://www.braintreeandwithamtimes.co.uk/news/4098143.Braintree__Worry_over_proposed_phone_mast/

FreedomWorks
by Rossputin

02/03/09

For those of you who haven’t been paying attention to financial markets (which is probably somewhere between 0% and 2% of my readers), I’d like to point out that the Dow Jones was not only down 9% in January, but it’s down 17% since the election of The Chosen One. … Financial markets aren’t taken with the charisma of the Obamessiah. They don’t see hope for profits or any change for the better...

http://tinyurl.com/cz3wjg


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=stock+market
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=financial+market
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Obama
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Rossputin

Reason
by Michael C. Moynihan

03/03/08

The Obama administration wooed anti-war voters and the left flank of the Democratic Party with promises of shutting down Guantanamo Bay, CIA ‘black’ prisons, and prohibiting ‘coercive interrogation’ against Al Qaeda suspects — and has, within his first week in office, fulfilled these promises. But as is often the case with Obama, who disappointed supporters after flip-flopping on granting immunity to telecom companies involved in NSA wiretapping programs, things aren’t exactly how they seem. On Sunday, the Los Angeles Times pointed out that ‘Under executive orders issued by Obama recently, the CIA still has authority to carry out what are known as renditions, secret abductions and transfers of prisoners to countries that cooperate with the United States’...

http://www.reason.com/news/show/131436.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Obama
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Guantanamo
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=interrogation
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=telecom+immunity
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=National+Security+Agency
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=wiretapping
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=renditions
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Michael+C.+Moynihan

Examiner
by Garry Reed

02/03/09

The never-ending bazillion dollar government toilet flushing of our tax money, forcibly transferred from our billfolds to the balance sheets of politically-connected billionaire bankers and business barons, will have to be repaid by the next generation of Americans. It’s time right now for that next generation to stand up and repudiate the debt. Announce that you don’t accept it and won’t repay it. It’s not your debt, after all, it’s the unprincipled politicians’ debt...

http://itshrunk.com/baf087


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

--------

Bank bailouts are an unprecedented fraud
http://www.breakthematrix.com/content/Congressman-Dennis-Kucinch-Bank-bailouts-are-an-unprecedented-fraud


Informant: Dorothee Krien



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=bailout
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Kucinich
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Garry+Reed

The EU has increased its pressure on the US to reconsider the "Buy American" clause in the $800bn (£567bn) economic recovery package now before Congress.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7866900.stm



Bankrolling charitable gifts

Financial firms and other companies receiving billions of dollars in federal bailout money spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay for meetings and charitable gifts on behalf of lawmakers.

http://tinyurl.com/ddraen



The Whole World Is Rioting as the Economic Crisis Worsens -- Why Aren't We?

The Telegraph (UK) warned last month that protests over governments' handling of the crisis "are widespread and gathering pace," and "may spark a new revolution".

http://www.alternet.org/workplace/124836



Ford and GM see big fall in sale

Sales at Ford plunged 42% last month from a year earlier, while those at GM declined even further, slumping 49%.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7868141.stm


From Information Clearing House

--------

Buy American, buy a trade war

Christian Science Monitor
by staff

02/04/09

American tax dollars directed at America’s ailing economy should be spent only on American products. That sounds logical — and compassionate to US workers, who can use all the lovin’ they can get. But the ‘Buy American’ provision of the megastimulus package winding through Congress makes little sense. … Last week, the House passed an $819 billion economic recovery plan with the stipulation that all public projects funded by the bill … use only iron and steel produced in the U.S. of A. The Senate version goes further, to include all manufactured products. The lawmakers’ thinking on this is understandable. … With an economy this bad, better take care of our own, they reason. But the gain in US jobs will not be worth the ultimate cost...

http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0204/p08s01-comv.html

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Protectionism is the embrace of fear, the rejection of hope

Competitive Enterprise Institute
by Eli Lehrer

02/06/09

In the context of America’s $17-trillion economy, $12-trillion national debt and $4-trillion federal budget, a few billion dollars worth of international trade doesn’t sound like much. Yet Americans and foreigners concerned about free trade have every reason to get worked up about the proposed ‘Buy America’ mandate in Washington’s massive stimulus plan. Although modest in its likely economic consequences, a Buy America mandate represents the exact opposite of what the new president promised in his campaign — it’s a triumph of fear over hope...

http://tinyurl.com/d8l2fp


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=bailout
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=economic+crisis
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=stimulus
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=protectionism
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=national+debt
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Obama
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Joshua+Holland

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Tuesday warned Iran it faced consequences if it failed to respect UN resolutions demanding a halt to its uranium enrichment activities.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090203/pl_afp/iranspaceusdiplomacywhouse


From Information Clearing House



http://freepage.twoday.net/topics/Is+Iran+next/
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Hillary

By Stephen C. Webster

California, the eighth largest economy in the world, is broke. "People are going to be hurt starting today," said Hallye Jordan, speaking on behalf of the state Controller. "There's no money."

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21898.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Stephen+C.+Webster

Alok Jha, The Guardian UK: "Corn-based bioethanol has higher burden on environment and human health, says US study."

http://www.truthout.org/020309EA



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=biofuel
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Alok+Jha

Gerald Epstein, Truthout: "The irresponsible, and even fraudulent, behavior of bankers and the financial regulators we trusted to monitor them have left the rest of us in deep trouble with no good financial options. Major banks, including Citibank, Bank of America and others, are on the verge of bankruptcy, if not already insolvent, despite the commitment already made on behalf of US taxpayers to spend or guarantee billions of dollars to rescue them. Meanwhile, the economic vortex is dragging the rest of us down."

http://www.truthout.org/020309T



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=bailout
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=bankruptcy
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=taxpayer
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Gerald+Epstein

http://www.lewrockwell.com/north/north682.html

Big Deficits and a Weaker Dollar
http://www.lewrockwell.com/rozeff/rozeff267.html



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Federal+Reserve
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=com/north
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=com/rozeff

http://www.lewrockwell.com/higgs/higgs104.html



The Economic Crisis in Europe and America
http://list.lewrockwell.com/t/1278242/12759198/73410/0/



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=economic+crisis
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=com/higgs
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Guido+Hülsmann

http://www.breakthematrix.com/node/33059



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

Binyamin Appelbaum, The Washington Post: "The federal government has invested almost $200 billion in U.S. banks over the last three months to spark new lending to consumers and businesses. So far, it hasn't worked. Lending has declined, and banks that got government money on average have reduced lending more sharply than banks that didn't."

http://www.truthout.org/020309C



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=bailout
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Binyamin+Appelbaum

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/02/03-1



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=taxpayer
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Chalmers+Johnson

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/02/03



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

http://www.commondreams.org/video/climate-ground-zero-plan-save-coal-river-mountain-and-stop-mountaintop-removal-0



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=mountaintop+removal

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/02/03-3



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Bush+legacy
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Joseph+Williams

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/02/03-1



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=inequalities
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Nastassja+Hoffet

http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/547.html



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Bush+legacy
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=torture
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Karl+Rove
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Olbermann

Golem.de - Germany

Dem US-Hacker und Sicherheitsspezialisten Chris Paget ist es in den USA gelungen, unbemerkt und auf Entfernung RFID-Tags von Ausweisen zu kopieren. ...

http://www.golem.de/0902/65013.html



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

Krone.at - Wien, Austria

Bei der Explosion eines Mobiltelefon-Akkus wurde ein Mann in China
getötet. Die Detonation fügte ihm schwerste Verletzungen an der
Halsschlagader zu. ...

http://www.krone.at/krone/S45/object_id__131809/hxcms/

The Libertarian Enterprise
by L. Neil Smith

02/01/09

Government is doing the exact opposite of what really needs to be done. George Bush and Barack Obama have pumped trillions more in counterfeit currency and credit into an economy already deathly ill from such treatment. If it goes on, we stand to suffer hyperinflation (all inflation consists of, no matter what they told you in Economics 101, is government generation of phony money) followed by another, very possibly terminal depression. Before it’s over, the country — if not the whole world — will be locked down under brutal military rule, and our species likely will never again know freedom, progress, or prosperity...

http://www.ncc-1776.org/tle2009/tle504-20090201-02.html



Top 10 reasons to oppose the stimulus

FreedomWorks
by Matt Kibbe

02/02/09

Our history is replete with examples of ’stimulus’ spending failing to move our economy toward prosperity — Bush just tried it, Ford tried it. Even Christina Romer, Obama’s Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers agrees. Romer wrote in a study, ‘Our estimates suggest that fiscal actions contributed only moderately to recoveries.’ The New Deal didn’t end the Great Depression and Obama’s stimulus package won’t end this recession. In fact, two UCLA economists published a study in 2004 finding FDR’s similar New Deal policies prolonged the Great Depression by seven years...

http://tinyurl.com/brd4wd


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=depression
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=recession
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Obama
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=stimulus
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=military+rule
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=UCLA
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=L.+Neil+Smith
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Matt+Kibbe

Cato Institute
by Ike Brannon and Chris Edwards

01/29/09

Federal policymakers are moving ahead with a huge $800-billion stimulus plan to return the U.S. economy to growth. Will it work? Decades of macroeconomic research suggest that it won’t. Indeed, the revival of old-fashioned Keynesianism to fight the recession seems to stem more from political expediency than modern economic theory or historical experience...

http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=9931

--------

Money for nothing won’t grow the economy

Boston Globe
by Jeff Jacoby

02/01/09

Commenting on my recent column about the bloated ’stimulus’ package making its way through Congress, one reader insisted that what matters most right now is getting money into people’s hands. ‘In the face of rapidly rising unemployment and idle productive capacity, any kind of federal spending will have a stimulus in the short run,’ he wrote. ‘Digging holes and filling them in would help to create jobs and consumer demand because those wielding the shovels would earn a paycheck that they could spend.’ More than 70 years ago, John Maynard Keynes argued much the same thing — that government spending on anything — ‘pyramid-building, earthquakes, even wars’ — would generate a beneficial stimulus...

http://tinyurl.com/aopgyo



The financial meltdown and market failure

The Distributed Republic
by Brandon Berg

02/03/09

Many people who weren’t terribly fond of the free market to begin with have, predictably, been pointing gleefully to the recent meltdown of the financial sector as incontrovertible evidence that free-market economics has failed and that we need much more government regulation. And some more government spending and higher taxes, while we’re at it. This suggests to me a considerable degree of confusion regarding how markets work, when they don’t, and when we can expect government to do better...

http://itshrunk.com/1454a0


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Obama
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=financial+meltdown
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=stimulus
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=recession
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=unemployment
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Keynesian
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Ike+Brannon
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Chris+Edwards
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Jeff+Jacoby
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Brandon+Berg

The American Conservative
by Philip Jenkins

Anyone not alarmed by the state of the U.S. economy is not paying attention. As our Dear Leader begins his term, the theory of very big government has the support of an alarmingly broad political consensus. Despite the obvious dangers — devastating inflation and the ruin of the dollar — the United States seems pledged to a debt-funded spending spree of gargantuan proportions. In opposing this trend, critics face the problem that the perils to which they point sound very theoretical and abstract. Perhaps Zimbabwe prints its currency in multi-trillion units, but that’s a singularly backward African dictatorship: the situation has nothing to do with us. Yet an example closer to home might be more instructive... (for publication 02/09/09)

http://www.amconmag.com/article/2009/feb/09/00006/


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=U.S.+economy
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Philip+Jenkins

Freedom Politics
by Doug Bandow

02/02/09

Without question, President George W. Bush did what he thought was right, but much of it was wrong. He was wrong to take America into an unnecessary war. He was wrong to sacrifice civil liberties for the appearance of security. For these and other errors he deserves to be exiled to the far reaches of the American political system. For none of them does he deserve to be prosecuted, however. No matter how bitter our political disagreements, they should never be treated as crimes. But high office provides no immunity for criminal acts. Although President Barack Obama has indicated his reluctance to investigate his predecessor, he should appoint an independent prosecutor, to avoid charges of partisan retribution, to detail what Bush administration officials did, assess the legality of their conduct, consider any factors mitigating illegal behavior, and bring any appropriate indictments...

http://tinyurl.com/amsoc4



Time for a defense policy that defends America
Campaign For Liberty
by Doug Bandow

02/01/09

The American empire is in shambles. U.S. soldiers and Marines who expected flowers and candies in Iraq were cut down by bombs and bullets instead. Afghanistan is spinning ever further out of Washington’s control. Russia, China, and even Europe increasingly resist U.S. demands. At the same time, America stands on an economic precipice. The national debt is currently $10.6 trillion, almost $35,000 per person. The deficit for 2009 will exceed $1 trillion. Congress is preparing to spend almost another trillion dollars to ’stimulate’ the economy. And America’s long-term unfunded liabilities for Social Security and Medicare exceed $100 trillion. In other words, the U.S. is effectively broke at home and increasingly unable to control events abroad. Yet the new administration looks almost identical to the old one when it comes to foreign policy...

http://www.campaignforliberty.com/article.php?view=7


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Bush+legacy
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=criminal+acts
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Obama
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=empire
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=foreign+policy
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=stimulus
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=civil+liberties
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Doug+Bandow

Las Vegas Review-Journal

02/02/09

Waste and corruption that marred Iraq’s reconstruction will be repeated in Afghanistan unless the U.S. transforms the unwieldy bureaucracy managing tens of billions of dollars in infrastructure projects, government watchdogs warned Monday. The U.S. has devoted more than $30 billion to rebuilding Afghanistan. Yet despite the hard lessons learned in Iraq, where the U.S. has spent nearly $51 billion on reconstruction, the effort in Afghanistan is headed down the same path, the watchdogs told a new panel investigating wartime contracts...

http://tinyurl.com/b3q26k


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Afghanistan
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=corruption
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=reconstruction

Bloomberg

02/03/09

The U.S. housing market lost $3.3 trillion in value last year and almost one in six owners with mortgages owed more than their homes were worth as the economy went into recession, Zillow.com said. The median estimated home price declined 11.6 percent in 2008 to $192,119 and homeowners lost $1.4 trillion in value in the fourth quarter alone, the Seattle-based real estate data service said in a report today...

http://tinyurl.com/b4pcgw


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=mortgage
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=recession
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=housing
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=property+owner
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=homeowner

Zwar hat der neue Präsident die Schließung von Guantanamo angeordnet und Folter verboten, aber die Praxis der "renditions" will man offenbar beibehalten und irgendwie legalisieren.

http://www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/29/29646/1.html



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

Der wirtschaftliche Einbruch hinterließ beim WEF in Davos seine Spuren, aber auch das Weltsozialforum in Belem sucht nach einer Perspektive.

http://www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/29/29647/1.html

--------

Weltsozialforum 2009

»Zivilisatorischer Großversuch« der Globalisierungskritiker

„Das Weltsozialforum in Belém (Brasilien) ist mit Beschlüssen zu einer »Agenda sozialer Kämpfe« zu Ende gegangen. Zum Abschluss kündigten Vertreter sozialer Bewegungen am Sonntag (Ortszeit) eine »Aktionswoche gegen Kapitalismus und Krieg« vom 28. März bis 4. April an. An dem Treffen nahmen etwa 130 000 Globalisierungskritikern aus rund 140 Ländern teil…“ Artikel von Gerhard Dilger, Belém, im Neues Deutschland vom 03.02.2009 http://www.neues-deutschland.de/artikel/143212.zivilisatorischer-grossversuch-der-globalisierungskritiker.html


Systemfrage gestellt - Bilanz des Weltsozialforums 2009

„Wie ein Geist schwebte über dem Weltsozialforum (WSF) das Treffen in Davos. Auf dem Weltwirtschaftsforum in der Schweiz trug man der Lage angemessen schwarze Anzüge, Abgesang auf eine Wirtschaftsordnung dominierte, die eigene Perspektivlosigkeit konnte kaum verborgen werden. In Belém herrschte dagegen eine Stimmung des Aufbruchs. Spür- und erlebbar war: Die Veränderung des neoliberalen Systems steht auf der Tagesordnung, nur durch eine grundlegende gesellschaftliche Neugestaltung läßt sich die fundamentale Krise überwinden. Hoffung und Engagement prägten diese vor allem von jungen Menschen aus Lateinamerika und Westeuropa, allerdings kaum aus Afrika und Asien, besuchte Manifestation. Die 100000 Teilnehmer repräsentierten die Kräfte des Wandels. Sie setzten die Systemfrage auf die internationale Agenda, werden für den Wandel kämpfen und sich nicht wieder wegdrängen lassen. Sie sind organisiert…“ Kommentar von Reiner Braun in der jungen Welt vom 03.02.2009 http://www.jungewelt.de/2009/02-03/027.php


Aus: LabourNet, 4. Februar 2009



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Davos
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Weltsozialforum
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Globalisierung
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=neoliberal
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Kapitalismus

The Government should allow every distressed bank to go bankrupt and set up a fresh banking system under temporary state control rather than cripple the country by propping up a corrupt edifice, according to Joseph Stiglitz, the Nobel Prize-winning economist.

http://tinyurl.com/c44727



U.S. Economy: Manufacturing Shrinks Further, Spending Falls

Manufacturing in the U.S. shrank again last month and consumer spending recorded an unprecedented sixth monthly decline in December, offering no sign the economy has hit bottom.

http://tinyurl.com/cj3kpl



World stocks fall on poor earnings, banking woes

World markets fall as investors prepare for more bad earnings, deeper economic downturn.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/World-stocks-fall-on-poor-apf-14221756.html


From Information Clearing House

--------

How to Rescue the Bank Bailout

Joseph E. Stiglitz, CNN: "America's recession is moving into its second year, with the situation only worsening. The hope that President Obama will be able to get us out of the mess is tempered by the reality that throwing hundreds of billions of dollars at the banks has failed to restore them to health, or even to resuscitate the flow of lending. Every day brings further evidence that the losses are greater than had been expected and more and more money will be required."

http://www.truthout.org/020409M



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=banking+system
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=bankrupt
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=U.S.+economy
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=recession
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=bailout
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Obama
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Joseph+Stiglitz

Mohamed ElBaradei, director of the IAEA, says there is now a chance for real dialogue between Tehran and the West.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/182525/output/print


From Information Clearing House



http://freepage.twoday.net/topics/Is+Iran+next/
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=ElBaradei
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=IAEA

A lengthy study by Bowen's office, "Hard Lessons: The Iraq Reconstruction Experience," reviews the problems in an effort the Bush administration initially thought would cost $2.4 billion.

http://tinyurl.com/dmjf2t


From Information Clearing House



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Bush+legacy
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=taxpayer

Peace will only come to Afghanistan if Pakistan can sort out the Taliban on its side of the border, where US strikes are not helping, the head of Britain's armed forces told The Sunday Times newspaper.

http://www.pakistanlink.com/Headlines/Feb09/02/09.htm


From Information Clearing House



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Pakistan
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Afghanistan
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=drone+attack

By Paul Craig Roberts

With another swipe at America's failed economic leadership, Putin said it is time to get rid of virtual money, false financial reports, and dubious credit ratings. Putin proposed a new reserve currency system to "replace the obsolete unipolar world concept."

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21885.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=leadership
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Paul+Craig+Roberts

By Marc W. Herold

The New Year's first Afghan civilian killed by U.S/NATO action was a boy named Marjan (tr. Coral), killed on January 2nd. (1)The boy had allegedly wandered into a prohibited area in the Deh-Sabz district of Kabul. Marjan was walking home with friends when "international forces" gunned him down.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21891.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Obama
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Afghanistan
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=civilian+deaths
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Marc+W.+Herold

About 1 Million Killed, 4.5 Million Displaced, 1-2 Million Widows, 5 Million Orphans

By John Tirman

Now that Bush is gone, perhaps the United States can honestly face the damage we have wrought and the responsibilities we must accept from it.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21888.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Bush+legacy
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=John+Tirman

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/02/02-7



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=propaganda
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Diane+Farsetta

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/02/02-0



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Chris+Hedges

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/02/02-1



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=bailout
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Paul+Krugman

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/02/02-3

--------

US military leaders are pressuring Obama to cancel his Iraq withdrawal promise

By Real News

An interview with Gareth Porter, Porter explains his discovery that Gen. David Petraeus, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and other US military leaders have been applying pressure on Obama to change his plan for US withdrawal from Iraq. - According to Porter, the military has already begun its public relations campaign to paint recent events in Iraq in their favor, meanwhile setting Obama up for the fall in the future.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21900.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Obama
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Petraeus
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Robert+Gates
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Iraq+withdraw
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Gareth+Porter

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/02/02



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Bush+legacy
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Julio+Godoy

http://groups.google.de/group/freepage-news/t/3496f15e91a296df?hl=en


Informant: sasha karlik



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=detention+camp
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=police+state

http://www.lewrockwell.com/engelhardt/engelhardt373.html

--------

Economic death spiral at the Pentagon

AntiWar.Com
by Chalmers Johnson

02/03/09

Given our economic crisis, the estimated trillion dollars we spend each year on the military and its weaponry is simply unsustainable. Even if present fiscal constraints no longer existed, we would still have misspent too much of our tax revenues on too few, overly expensive, overly complex weapons systems that leave us ill-prepared to defend the country in a real military emergency. We face a double crisis at the Pentagon: we can no longer afford the pretense of being the Earth’s sole superpower, and we cannot afford to perpetuate a system in which the military-industrial complex makes its fortune off inferior, poorly designed weapons...

http://www.antiwar.com/engelhardt/?articleid=14183


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=national+defense
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=economic+crisis
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=industrial+complex
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=com/engelhardt
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Chalmers+Johnson

http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul503.html



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=stimulus
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Ron+Paul
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=com/paul

http://www.lewrockwell.com/margolis/margolis135.html



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Afghanistan
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Vietnam
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=industrial+complex
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=com/margolis

http://www.lewrockwell.com/decoster/decoster145.html



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

http://rfidwizards.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=350&Itemid=171



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