World-News

Michael Winship, Truthout: "Goldman Sachs is the Blackwater of finance, the latest in a long line of companies you love to hate, like AIG and the Dallas Cowboys. Hit 'refresh' on any financial news Web site and you're likely to get yet another revelation of [Goldman Sachs'] colossal and impressively varied shenanigans."

http://www.truthout.org/goldman-sachs-what-hath-fraud-wrought58854



Goldman Executives: We Made Money Betting Against Mortgage Market

Greg Gordon, McClatchy Newspapers: "In an internal e-mail released Saturday, Goldman Sachs chief executive Lloyd Blankfein wrote in November 2007 that the firm "didn't dodge the mortgage mess," but "made more than we lost" by betting against the US housing market."

http://www.truthout.org/goldman-executives-we-made-money-betting-against-mortgage-market58858



Computerized Front-Running: Another Goldman-Dominated Fraud

Ellen Brown, Truthout: "While the SEC is busy investigating Goldman Sachs, it might want to look into another Goldman-dominated fraud: computerized front-running using high-frequency trading programs."

http://www.truthout.org/computerized-front-running-another-goldman-dominated-fraud58865



Goldman "Shorted" Mortgages Because World Wouldn't Expect It

Chris Adams and Greg Gordon, McClatchy Newspapers: "A key Goldman Sachs trading manager indicated in his personnel performance review that he could use the 'fear' in the market of a coming collapse in the nation's mortgage market to make profits for the Wall Street firm, documents released Tuesday show."

http://www.truthout.org/document-goldman-shorted-mortgages-because-world-wouldnt-expect-it58916

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Inside Goldman Sachs’ “big short”

Mother Jones
by Andy Kroll

04/24/10

A newly released set of internal Goldman Sachs emails offers further evidence of how the investment firm knowingly bet big against the housing market — what one top executive called its ‘big short’ — and even wagered against mortgage-tied products of its own creation. The documents, released this morning by a Senate committee investigating Goldman and other investment firms, will fuel charges that Goldman positioned itself against the interests of its clients and most Americans. And while not as severe as the Securities and Exchange Commission’s ongoing suit against Goldman, the emails are sure to heap more pressure on the under-fire Wall Street titan...

http://tinyurl.com/2bk2ny5



Washington & Wall Street: A “democracy” in denial

Our Future Blog
by Sam Pizzigati

04/24/10

Some Americans get all bent out of shape when they hear someone label the United States a ‘plutocracy.’ But if we have an honest-to-goodness democracy, where the people really rule, then how can we explain Goldman Sachs? The outsized political role of Goldman Sachs, America’s most powerful bank, has been attracting widespread attention — and flack — ever since the U.S. economy went freefall in 2008. But many defenders of our democratic virtue appear convinced that the Goldman Sachs power trip may soon be ancient history. Sure, the argument goes, Goldman had a good run. But democracy has caught up with Wall Street profiteering. … Feel ready to start cheering? Hit your pause button....

http://tinyurl.com/39ooc8g



The Washington-Wall Street kabuki dance

Foundation for Economic Education
by Sheldon Richman

04/23/10

When I watch the public furor over the ruling party’s attempt to ‘toughen’ regulations on the financial industry, I get the same feeling I often have in a theater: Good show but it’s not real. There’s something eerily ritualistic about the current occupant of the White House berating Wall Street for its irresponsibility and proposing new regulations, while his targets send a swarm of lobbyists to Washington to keep the regulatory overhaul from getting out of hand. (History says they’ll be on good terms with the regulators in any case.)...

http://tinyurl.com/24549go


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

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Will Goldman Sachs Prove Greed is God?

By Matt Taibbi

The investment bank's cult of self-interest is on trial against the whole idea of civilization - the collective decision by all of us not to screw each other over even if we can.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article25317.htm



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Zwei Tage vorm Jahrestag der Reaktorkatastrophe von Tschernobyl erlebte die Bundesrepublik einen der größten Anti-AKW-Proteste ihrer Geschichte.

http://www.heise.de/tp/blogs/2/147503

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24. April 2010

Anti-Atom-Protest ist Signal gegen Ausstieg aus dem Ausstieg

Der stellvertretende Vorsitzende der Linken, Klaus Ernst sieht die bevorstehenden Proteste von Atomkraftgegnern in vier Bundesländern als "Signal gegen den Ausstieg aus dem Ausstieg". Ernst wirft den Strom-Konzernen im Zusammenhang mit dem seit zehn Jahren geltenden Atomkonsens einen "Vertragsbruch auf Raten" vor und fordert einen „neuen Anlauf für einen beschleunigten Atomausstieg“. Ernst erklärt:

Fast zehn Jahre nach Unterzeichnung des Atomkonsenses ist es Zeit für eine kritische Bilanz. Die Stromriesen haben unter tätiger Mithilfe von Union und FDP seit dem ersten Tag an der Aushöhlung und Aufkündigung gearbeitet. Das war ein Vertragsbruch auf Raten. Daraus muss man die Konsequenzen ziehen. Der Atomkompromiss ist nicht mehr die politische Verhandlungsgrundlage. Wir müssen die Lage aus heutiger Sicht neu bewerten. Der Atomkompromiss war zu inkonsequent, weil der Ausstieg zeitlich zu lang gestreckt war und zu viele Schlupflöcher offen ließ. Der halbherzige Ausstieg blockiert den Ausbau der erneuerbaren Energien, weil die Stromriesen lieber Milliardengewinne mit abgeschriebenen Kraftwerken verdienen, als in neue Technologien zu investieren. Außerdem hoffen sie mit jeder Wahl auf den Ausstieg aus dem Ausstieg. Um das zu blockieren, ist es wichtig, dass Schwarz-Gelb nach der NRW-Wahl die Mehrheit im Bundesrat verliert. Dafür sind die Proteste ein wichtiges Signal. Wir brauchen einen neuen Anlauf, um den Ausstieg zu beschleunigen und unumkehrbar zu machen. Der Atomkompromiss muss mit diesem Ziel, sobald das möglich ist, neu verhandelt werden. Unsere Verhandlungsposition lautet: Unverzüglicher und umfassender Ausstieg ohne Ausnahmen!

http://www.die-linke.de/nc/presse/presseerklaerungen/detail/artikel/anti-atom-protest-ist-signal-gegen-ausstieg-aus-dem-ausstieg/

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Aktions- und Menschenkette am 24. April
http://www.ausgestrahlt.de/ketten-reaktion/film

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Über 20.000 Menschen demonstrieren in Biblis

GRÖßTE ANTI-ATOM-PROTESTE SEIT ÜBER 20 JAHREN DEMONSTRANTEN NEHMEN AKW BIBLIS IN DIE ZANGE – PANNENREAKTOREN JETZT ENDGüLTIG STILLLEGEN

Am heutigen Samstag haben im südhessischen Biblis über 20.000 Menschen das AKW Biblis umzingelt und für die Stilllegung der Atomkraftwerke demonstriert. Bei den größten Anti-Atom-Protesten seit über 20 Jahren beteiligten sich Menschen aus Baden-Württemberg, Bayern, Hessen, Rheinland-Pfalz und dem Saarland. Unter den Demonstranten waren besonders viele junge Menschen. Im Artikel der Redebeitrag von Dr. Michael Wilk (AKU) bei der Auftaktkundgebung. Link zum Artikel: http://www.aku-wiesbaden.de/artikel_327.htm

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Der Fahrplan zur Sonne

Jetzt erneuerbare Energien voranbringen gegen alte und neue Machtkonzentrationen. Bis 2050 können erneuerbare Energiequellen Europa komplett mit Strom versorgen, sagen auch wirtschaftsnahe Institute. Doch die Bundesregierung will es nicht glauben. Ein Kommentar von Sebastian Pflugbeil

http://sonnenseite.kjm4.de/ref.php?id=d8741688672ms205

 

http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Atompolitik
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Miniaturisierung der Kampfdrohnen
http://www.heise.de/tp/blogs/8/147498

Pentagon setzt auf Weltraumdrohne

Was die neue Drohne im Weltraum machen soll, bleibt Geheimnis.
http://www.heise.de/tp/blogs/8/147505



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Pentagon
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The current national emissions-reduction pledges accompanying the Copenhagen Accord will not limit global warming to two degrees Celsius. In fact, they imply a global mean temperature increase of more than three degrees Celsius this century. This is reported by a team of researchers led by Joeri Rogelj and Malte Meinshausen of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in the current edition of the journal “Nature”.

http://sonnenseite.kjm4.de/ref.php?id=d8741688665ms204



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

A Year of War Would Pay for Local Jobs Bill

Bob Naiman, Truthout: "Sometime between now and Memorial Day, the House is expected to consider $33 billion more for war in Afghanistan. This 'war supplemental' is largely intended to plug the hole in Afghanistan war spending for the current fiscal year caused by the ongoing addition of 30,000 troops in Afghanistan, whose purpose is largely to conduct a military offensive in Kandahar that 94 percent of the people there say they don't want, preferring peace negotiations with the Taliban instead."

http://www.truthout.org/robert-naiman-a-year-war-would-pay-local-jobs-bill58848

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Will a congressional rebellion bring the Afghan War to an end?

CounterPunch
by Mark Weisbrot

04/26/10

And so it is true for the people of Afghanistan, where spending for the army and police is programmed for $11.6 billion (61 percent of projected GDP) in 2011. If that doesn’t fit the definition of ‘unsustainable,’ it’s not clear what would. Not surprisingly, the Afghan people are looking for a way out. They want negotiations to end the conflict. But the United States says no. The U.S. and its NATO allies are preparing for a major military offensive, perhaps the biggest of the war so far, in the southern province of Kandahar. A poll sponsored by the U.S. Army showed that 94 percent of Kandahar residents support negotiating with the Taliban, rather than military confrontation...

http://counterpunch.org/weisbrot04262010.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp

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War Propaganda from Afghanistan
http://act.commondreams.org/go/372?akid=42.124981.x3zvl5&t=2

Progressive Democrats of America (PDA): Vigils in 100 Districts Urge Votes Against War Escalation Funds

http://act.commondreams.org/go/404?akid=44.124981.Ed59L2&t=36

Karazai’s Washington Visit: The War Awaiting Kandahar
http://act.commondreams.org/go/732?akid=65.124981.Nd70Je&t=30

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Still Not Enough Troops For Afghanistan Operations

By Jeff Schogol

Despite the addition of more than 50,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan over the past year, there still aren't enough forces to conduct operations in the majority of key areas, according to a congressionally mandated report released Wednesday on progress in Afghanistan.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article25356.htm



A look at costs of Afghan war to U.S. taxpayers

Obama has asked for $33 billion more to help fund 30,000 extra U.S. soldiers being sent to Afghanistan this year. He wants another $4.5 billion for beefed-up foreign aid and civilian operations in Iraq and Afghanistan this year.

http://snipurl.com/w148q



Confidence in Kandahar campaign wanes

Last winter, Barack Obama, US president, gambled that a surge of 30,000 troops would save the war in Afghanistan. The bet will be decided this summer, in Kandahar, where soldiers are preparing to launch the biggest operation of the nine-year occupation.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8f98ea58-69ef-11df-a978-00144feab49a.html


From Information Clearing House



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Obama
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Guttenberg laviert sich durch den Kundus-Untersuchungsausschuss

Verteidigungsminister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg agiert vor dem Kundus- Untersuchungsausschuss äußerst ungeschickt.

http://www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/32/32503/1.html



Die Bundeswehr rüstet sich für den Krieg

Die neue Bewaffnung der Bundeswehr zeigt, worauf sich die Truppe in den kommenden Monaten einstellt.

http://www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/32/32495/1.html



Karriere mit Zukunft!?

Bundeswehr versucht, Jugendliche mit angeblich glänzenden Ausbildungs- und Studienmöglichkeiten zu ködern.

http://www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/32/32545/1.html



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Afghanistan
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Kundus
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Bundeswehr
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Guttenberg

http://www.lewrockwell.com/celente/celente31.1.html



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NATO to stay in Afghanistan 'for decades'
http://www.ufppc.org/us-a-world-news-mainmenu-35/9552/

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"Imagine": A Simple Plan for World Peace

Eleanor J. Bader, Truthout: "The first time I heard John Lennon's 'Imagine,' I was a high school kid with little sense that the world could be different. The song stopped me in my tracks. Tears streamed down my cheeks as Lennon's visionary prayer for a world without religious or nationalistic swagger set my heart and mind racing."

http://www.truthout.org/imagine-a-simple-plan-world-peace58832

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Peace: A New Way of Thinking about Achieving and Preserving It

By Raymond G. Wilson
Emeritus Associate Professor of Physics, Illinois Wesleyan University

Warning: Some of the graphics and ideas in this document are for mature and thoughtful viewers.

Most people in the world have no conception of the enormity of the effects of nuclear war. Why? It was some 22 to 30 years after 1945 before the United States would allow people to see the truth of the nuclear devastation Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This was a human slaughter and the deadly evidence of it, in photographs of the victims, was confiscated by the American occupation forces, and not revealed until 1967, not by the US Government but mainly through the efforts of citizens.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article25307.htm



http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Afghanistan
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Bill Moyers Journal: "Moyers and economists James Kwak and Simon Johnson wonder whether the financial powers are more profitable, and more resistant to regulation than ever. How did Big Finance grow so powerful that its hijinks nearly brought down the global economy - and what hope is there for real reform with Washington politicians on Wall Street's payroll?"

http://www.truthout.org/bill-moyers-james-kwak-and-simon-johnson-banks-are-oligarchy58824

 

Titan Over Wall Street

Eugene Robinson: "The politics of financial regulatory reform are simple. After the meltdown and the bailout, many Americans - perhaps most Americans - are inclined to see Wall Street as predatory and all-devouring. Striding into the lion's den and calling the beast to heel, as President Obama did Thursday, was a move without a downside."

http://www.truthout.org/eugene-robinson-titan-over-wall-street58826

 

Obama's Warnings About a Looming Financial Crisis Come Back to Haunt Bernanke

Jason Leopold, Truthout: "For those accustomed at looking into the memory hole, President Barack Obama's pitch to Wall Street bankers Thursday on backing a tough financial reform package currently winding its way through Congress shouldn't come as a surprise."

http://www.truthout.org/obamas-warnings-about-a-looming-financial-crisis-come-back-haunt-bernanke58811

 

Senator Specter Takes On Wall Street Bankers

Greg Gordon, McClatchy Newspapers: "Sen. Arlen Specter said Thursday that he'd hold a hearing next month to examine Wall Street firms' potential conflicts of interest when they secretly bet against products similar to those they sold, and into whether investment banks were being penalized too lightly for their roles in wrecking the economy."

http://www.truthout.org/sen-specter-takes-on-wall-street-bankers58818

 

Corporate Reform Is Long Overdue: Am I Missing Something Here?

Jack Lohman, Truthout: "Perhaps I'm biased. I bought $25,000 of stock in a corporation that I thought had a good idea. Little did I know that the CEO also had a second idea: to drain the shareholder value through high salaries and bonuses, and then put the company belly up. My money went down the tubes, as did many others, though the CEO and executives made out very well."

http://www.truthout.org/corporate-reform-is-long-overdue-am-i-missing-something-here58827

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How the Game Is Rigged: Computerized Front Running and Financial Fraud

By Ellen Brown

How a Computer Program Designed to Save the Free Market Turned Into a Monster.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article25303.htm



Mortgage Madness

Let The Fleecing Begin

By Mike Whitney

The market's in a shambles, decimated by years of fraud and perfidy. What was once a booming industry is now a shriveled, abscess-ridden corpse that buyers are avoiding like the plague.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article25305.htm



Six Banks Control 60% of Gross National Product

Is the U.S. at the Mercy of an Unstoppable Oligarchy?

By Bill Moyers

The big banks became stronger as a result of the bailout. That may seem extraordinary, but it's really true. They're turning that increased economic clout into more political power. And they're using that political power to go out and take the same sort of risks that got us into disaster in September 2008.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article25308.htm

 

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