CONTRA EL PINGALISMO CASTRISTA/
"Se que no existe el consuelo
que no existe
la anhelada tierrra de mis suenos
ni la desgarrada vision de nuestros heroes.
Pero
te seguimos buscando, patria,..." - Reinaldo Arenas
Los halcones de Israel pueden estar muy cerca de desatar una guerra a gran escala con Irán. El pasado lunes 28 de noviembre, las fuerzas de operaciones especiales israelitas mas como conocidas como la "Mano de Dios", hicieron estallar una parte de la instalación nuclear iraní de Isfahan.
En otro incidente, una explosion en Teheran provoca la muerte de un general irani. De acuerdo con el Times de Londres, Dan Meridor, ministro de inteligencia israeli, implicitament asumio la responsabilidad con los hechos: "Hay países que imponen sanciones económicas y hay países que actúan de otra manera para hacer frente a la amenaza nuclear iraní."
Por su parte el mayor general Giora Eiland, ex director de la seguridad nacional de Israel, declaro a la radio del Ejército de Israel que la explosión Isfahan no fue un accidente: "No hay muchas coincidencias, y cuando hay tantos eventos es probable que haya algún tipo de mano que guía, aunque tal vez es la mano de Dios"
Otro ex funcionario de inteligencia israelí, menciona al menos dos otras explosiones que habrian neutralizado bases de lanzamiento del misil de alcance medio Shahab-3. La respuesta "oficial" de Iran llego en la forma del ataque de los estudiantes extremistas a la embajada del Reino Unido en Teheran. No hay ojo por ojo no por deseos de venganza de los halcones y la jerarquia eclesiastica, sino por imposibilidad de ejecutarla en proporcion a la incursion israeli. No es prudencia o sabidura politica sino impotencia que inflama las llamas de una guerra casi inevitable por parte de los protagonistas principales.
Al margen de las altisonantes declaraciones de los halcones israelies, el pequeno pero poderoso enclave judio en el corazon del medio oriente islamico, no puede actuar a gran escala en solitario.
Ahora mismo los estados mayores politico-militares de un Occidente envuelto en la mayor crisis economica desde la gran recesion [en un escenario optimista] deben estar evaluando cuidadosamente pero con toda celeridad los impactos que sufririan si una guerra de estas caracteristicas llegara a desatarse.
Considerando solo la variante energetica [a lo que habria que anadir la reaccion del mundo arabe y musulman no solo de la region y el rol que China y Rusia adoptarian ante la conflagracion] de unas economias donde precios de $150 dolares el barril de crudo, provocan una recesion inmediata en sus maltrechas economias, la disminucion de la oferta diaria en el mercado mundial petrolero estimada en mas de 10 millones de barriles como resultado del conflicto, lanzaria los precios por encima de la barrera de los $200 dolares.
Enfrentados a movimientos sociales si bien poco organizados pero desestabilizadores como el Occupy Movement en muchas de las principales metropolis, huelgas de mas de dos millones de trabajadores publicos en el Reino Unido, una Zona Euro en crisis estructural cronica que amenaza su desintegracion, mientras su poblacion volcada en las plazas rechaza la aplicacion de los programas de austeridad previstos y una Union Europea que acaba de ser apuntalada por los bancos centrales occidentales para atenuar los negativos impactos en sus respectivos mercados, no es un escenario alentador para apoyar una incursion israeli en gran escala contra Iran.
By CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER, JONATHAN FAHEY, MICHAEL LIEDTKE
NEW YORK — The tremors from Europe's financial upheaval have reached U.S. shores, rattling consumers and companies. The consequences have been limited so far. Yet the United States and Europe are so closely linked that any slowdown across the Atlantic is felt here. U.S. makers of cars, solar panels, drugs, clothes and computer equipment have all reported effects from Europe's turmoil.
Worries that Europe's crisis could worsen and spread are spooking investors and consumers just as the holiday shopping season nears. Some fear U.S. consumers could rein in spending. Europe's sputtering growth is already dragging on some U.S. companies' profits and could further slow the U.S. economy.
The crisis "seems to be coming to a head right at the time the U.S. economy is at its most vulnerable," said Mark Vitner, an economist at Wells Fargo.
It's affecting companies like Marlin Steel Wire Products, a 34-employee business based in Baltimore that's been seeking a $4 million contract from a German manufacturer for an industrial steel wire project.
Marlin's CEO, Drew Greenblatt, says the German firm is in "pause mode" because of Europe's turmoil. The German company had promised the order by early November.
Marlin's overall sales are growing briskly. But sales to Europe have been sinking.
"If they were ordering like they customarily do, we would have hired more guys," Greenblatt said.
The European Union is the No. 1 U.S. trading partner. Nearly $475 billion in goods crossed between the regions in the first nine months of 2011. About 14 percent of revenue for the 500 biggest U.S. companies — roughly $1.3 trillion — comes from Europe.
Paul Krugman/ NYT
A quick note right now, maybe more later.
One question that keeps coming up is, how can I reconcile my scorn for warnings about bond vigilantes with what is happening to Italy? This seems especially pointed because I have in the past used Italy’s ability to carry debt exceeding its GDP as an illustration that debt concerns were overblown.
The answer lies in the concept of original sin. Not the Pope’s kind, but the economics kind — the long-standing notion that developing countries were especially vulnerable to financial crises because they borrowed in foreign currency. (Yes, the linked paper actually raises some distinctions between currency mismatch and original sin; never mind for now).
The key point is that by joining the euro, Italy took a bite of the apple — it converted its advanced-country status, as a nation issuing debt in its own currency, into original sin, with debts in someone else’s currency (Europe’s in principle, Germany’s in practice). That is the root of its new vulnerability.
More on all this later, I hope.
Italy looks like it won't be able to meet the payments on its outstanding government bonds if interest rates on them rise much higher than 7% - and the shakier the government looks, the more people will dump the bonds, and thus the higher the interest rate will go. This is a clear case of a self fulfilling fear/prophecy (i.e., the more paranoid you are, the more afraid you should be that the feared outcome might just happen).
What is excruciating is the knowledge that stopping the run, and saving the Euro zone, would be easy and relatively costless. In fact, the European Central Bank (ECB) could probably make a profit. It may seem too easy, but all the ECB has to do is to say that they stand ready to buy any and all Italian government bonds. Doing this would immediately erase any fear bond holders have of not being paid, and it would stop the run to dump the bonds dead in its tracks because everyone knows the ECB can buy literally infinite amounts of bonds if it wants to.
Paradoxically, simply SAYING they stand ready to buy any and all Italian government bonds means that they likely won't actually have to DO it. If bond holders' fears are calmed then they won't want to sell the bonds and the ECB won't have to buy them .
This is exactly what the Federal Reserve does in the US for our own government bonds. and it is why the Treasury can borrow at extremely low interest rates. People are happy to have our bonds because they know the Fed stands behind them, so the Fed doesn't actually have to hoover them all up to prop up confidence. Why won't the ECB just do the same thing?
The short answer comes in two parts.
First is a misguided fear of inflation. If anybody can find any evidence of any inflation in any data from anywhere please send me a news flash. It just isn't there and won't be so long as we are in a recession. And if inflation ever does get going, we can easily squash it since with interest rates near zero there is plenty of room to raise them. I know, I know, the German bankers have a fear of inflation burned so deeply into their brainstems that they can't help themselves, but really, the 1920's hyperinflation that caused this attitude is almost a century ago by now, and Germany is supposed to be the central core of the Euro zone. So perhaps they can try to adapt just a bit to modern realities.
The second problem is a political one. The German electorate doesn't want to spend a penny to "bail out" what they see as free-spending Italians (or Spaniards or Portuguese for that matter). But their lack of faith is more a CAUSE of the Italians' problems than a reaction to it. If the Germans were WILLING to bail them out, then they wouldn't have to actually do it, as explained above. And if they did go ahead and buy some Italian government bonds to show they meant business, then they would be able to make a profit on them once it became clear that nobody needs to be afraid of a default.
When I visited Europe in 2008 and before, the idea that Europe was not going to emerge as one united political entity was regarded as heresy by many leaders. The European enterprise was seen as a work in progress moving inevitably toward unification — a group of nations committed to a common fate. What was a core vision in 2008 is now gone. What was inconceivable — the primacy of the traditional nation-state — is now commonly discussed, and steps to devolve Europe in part or in whole (such as ejecting Greece from the eurozone) are being contemplated. This is not a trivial event.
Before 1492, Europe was a backwater of small nationalities struggling over a relatively small piece of cold, rainy land. But one technological change made Europe the center of the international system: deep-water navigation. Read more »
Europe continues to be engulfed by economic crisis. The global focus returns to Athens on June 28 as Greek parliamentarians debate austerity measures imposed on them by eurozone partners. If the Greeks vote down these measures, Athens will not receive its second bailout, which could create an even worse crisis in Europe and the world.
It is important to understand that the crisis is not fundamentally about Greece or even about the indebtedness of the entire currency bloc. After all, Greece represents only 2.5 percent of the eurozone’s gross domestic product (GDP), and the bloc’s fiscal numbers are not that bad when looked at in the aggregate. Its overall deficit and debt figures are in a better shape than those of the United States — the U.S. budget deficit stood at 10.6 percent of GDP in 2010, compared to 6.4 percent for the European Union — yet the focus continues to be on Europe. Read more »
Leaders of the 27-member European Union last Thursday agreed to a second bailout for Greece estimated to be around 120 billion euro.
The move is seen as a desperate attempt by the EU to save Greece from bankruptcy.
Last year, the EU and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) decided to give Greece a financial assistance package of 110 billion euro, but the economic situation in the Mediterranean country continues to deteriorate.
The new financial help depends on the Greek parliament adopting next week a harsher five-year austerity program that is bound to increase discontent and social unrest in the country.
EU leaders argue that without further support, Greece will have to default with all the negative consequences for the country and Europe as a whole.
Analysts, however, say that giving more money to Greece is like prescribing stronger medicine for a severely-ill patient without considering whether the treatment will cure or exacerbate his or her condition.
The media and think-tanks in Europe continue to be pessimistic about the chances of an economic recovery in Greece, while a feeling of helplessness and despondency hovers over the EU capital Brussels.
Brunito Rodriquez en su papelon de Canciller de la Infamia y el Crimen afirma sin recato la disposición de La Habana a proseguir con el proceso de normalización de las relaciones bilaterales, pero pidió claramente que la Unión Europea ponga fin a su "posición común" sobre Cuba.
"Expresé la disposición de Cuba a continuar avanzando hacia un marco de relación bilateral", dice el mal nacido en declaraciones a la prensa tras la reunión..., "para avanzar en la normalización de las relaciones entre la Unión Europea y Cuba han de removerse los obstáculos existentes" por parte de la UE..." ,mientras la Sra. Catherine Ashton, de quien se dice que es la "jefa" de la política exterior de la UE, acepta impasible tales blasfemias y "olvida" antes de expulsar de su despacho a tan despreciable personajillo, expresarle con toda firmeza, precisamente en el dia que se cumple el 1er aniversario del asesinato politico de Orlando Zapata y cuando decenas de cubanos estan siendo encarcelados y reprimidos en las calles de Cuba, la condena irrestricta de la Union Europea a tales hechos.
ENRIQUE SERBETO / BRUSELAS. Empresas belgas, británicas y españolas venden armas a Libia, y Gadafi es accionista de la empresa italiana Finmeccanica, octava exportadora de armas del mundo según un informe del Sipri
Serbia has called on the UN Security Council to launch an investigation into allegations linking Kosovo's Prime Minister to organ trafficking during the war for secession in 1999. A report by Dick Marty from the Council of Europe also linked former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army to abductions, disappearances and executions. RT talks to Marko Gasic from the British Serbian
Europe is on the cusp of change. An EU heads-of-state summit Dec. 16 launched a process aimed to save the common European currency. If successful, this process would be the most significant step toward creating a singular European power since the creation of the European Union itself in 1992 — that is, if it doesn't destroy the euro first.
Envisioned by the EU Treaty on Monetary Union, the common currency, the euro, has suffered from two core problems during its decade-long existence: the lack of a parallel political union and the issue of debt. Many in the financial world believe that what is required for a viable currency is a fiscal union that has taxation power — and that is indeed needed. But that misses the larger point of who would be in charge of the fiscal union. Taxation and appropriation — who pays how much to whom — are essentially political acts. One cannot have a centralized fiscal authority without first having a centralized political/military authority capable of imposing and enforcing its will. Greeks are not going to implement a German-designed tax and appropriations system simply because Berlin thinks it’s a good idea. As much as financiers might like to believe, the checkbook is not the ultimate power in the galaxy. The ultimate power comes from the law backed by a gun. Read more »
Sarkozy y Merkel pactan una postura común con vistas al Consejo Europeo que debe fijar los términos del mecanismo de rescate y es que hasta cuando los que trabajan y crean riqueza van a estar sacandole las castanas del fuego a los que empleando politicas populistas, mantienen al 50% de la poblacion viviendo de los cheques del estado.
¨Saturno jugando con sus hijos¨/ Pedro Pablo Oliva
Seguidores
Carta desde la carcel de Fidel Castro Ruz
“…después de todo, para mí la cárcel es un buen descanso, que sólo tiene de malo el que es obligatorio. Leo mucho y estudio mucho. Parece increíble, las horas pasan como si fuesen minutos y yo, que soy de temperamento intranquilo, me paso el día leyendo, apenas sin moverme para nada. La correspondencia llega normalmente…”
“…Como soy cocinero, de vez en cuando me entretengo preparando algún pisto. Hace poco me mandó mi hermana desde Oriente un pequeño jamón y preparé un bisté con jalea de guayaba. También preparo spaghettis de vez en cuando, de distintas formas, inventadas todas por mí; o bien tortilla de queso. ¡Ah! ¡Qué bien me quedan! por supuesto, que el repertorio no se queda ahí. Cuelo también café que me queda muy sabroso”. “…En cuanto a fumar, en estos días pasados he estado rico: una caja de tabacos H. Upman del doctor Miró Cardona, dos cajas muy buenas de mi hermano Ramón….”. “Me voy a cenar: spaghettis con calamares, bombones italianos de postre, café acabadito de colar y después un H. Upman #4. ¿No me envidias?”. “…Me cuidan, me cuidan un poquito entre todos. No le hacen caso a uno, siempre estoy peleando para que no me manden nada. Cuando cojo el sol por la mañana en shorts y siento el aire de mar, me parece que estoy en una playa… ¡Me van a hacer creer que estoy de vacaciones! ¿Qué diría Carlos Marx de semejantes revolucionarios?”.
Quotes
¨La patria es dicha de todos, y dolor de todos, y cielo para todos, y no feudo ni capellanía de nadie¨ - Marti
"No temas ni a la prision, ni a la pobreza, ni a la muerte. Teme al miedo" - Giacomo Leopardi
¨Por eso es muy importante, Vicky, hijo mío, que recuerdes siempre para qué sirve la cabeza: para atravesar paredes¨– Halvar de Flake[El vikingo]
"Como no me he preocupado de nacer, no me preocupo de morir"- Lorca
"Al final, no os preguntarán qué habéis sabido, sino qué habéis hecho" - Jean de Gerson
"Si queremos que todo siga como está, es necesario que todo cambie" - Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa
"Todo hombre paga su grandeza con muchas pequeñeces, su victoria con muchas derrotas, su riqueza con múltiples quiebras" - Giovanni Papini
"Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans" - John Lennon
"Habla bajo, lleva siempre un gran palo y llegarás lejos" - Proverbio Africano
"No hay medicina para el miedo"-Proverbio escoces "El supremo arte de la guerra es doblegar al enemigo sin luchar" -Sun Tzu
"You do not really understand something unless you can explain it to your grandmother" - Albert Einstein
"It is inaccurate to say I hate everything. I am strongly in favor of common sense, common honesty, and common decency. This makes me forever ineligible for public office" - H. L. Menken
"I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented" -Elie Wiesel
"Stay hungry, stay foolish" - Steve Jobs
"If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert , in five years ther'ed be a shortage of sand" - Milton Friedman
"The tragedy of modern man is not that he knows less and less about the meaning of his own life, but that it bothers him less and less" - Vaclav Havel
"No se puede controlar el resultado, pero si lo que uno haga para alcanzarlo" - Vitor Belfort [MMA Fighter]
Liborio
A la puerta de la gloria está San Pedro sentado y ve llegar a su lado a un hombre de cierta historia. No consigue hacer memoria y le pregunta con celo: ¿Quién eras allá en el suelo? Era Liborio mi nombre. Has sufrido mucho, hombre, entra, te has ganado el cielo.
Para Raul Castro
Cuba ocupa el penultimo lugar en el mundo en libertad economica solo superada por Corea del Norte.
Cuba ocupa el lugar 147 entre 153 paises evaluados en "Democracia, Mercado y Transparencia 2007"
Cuando vinieron a buscar a los comunistas, Callé: yo no soy comunista. Cuando vinieron a buscar a los sindicalistas, Callé: yo no soy sindicalista. Cuando vinieron a buscar a los judíos, Callé: yo no soy judío. Cuando vinieron a buscar a los católicos, Callé: yo no soy “tan católico”. Cuando vinieron a buscarme a mí, Callé: no había quien me escuchara.
Un sitio donde los hechos y sus huellas nos conmueven o cautivan
CUBA LLORA Y EL MUNDO Y NOSOTROS NO ESCUCHAMOS
Donde esta el Mundo, donde los Democratas, donde los Liberales? El pueblo de Cuba llora y nadie escucha. Donde estan los Green, los Socialdemocratas, los Ricos y los Pobres, los Con Voz y Sin Voz? Cuba llora y nadie escucha. Donde estan el Jet Set, los Reyes y Principes, Patricios y Plebeyos? Cuba desesperada clama por solidaridad. Donde Bob Dylan, donde Martin Luther King, donde Hollywood y sus estrellas? Donde la Middle Class democrata y conservadora, o acaso tambien liberal a ratos? Y Gandhi? Y el Dios de Todos? Donde los Santos y Virgenes; los Dioses de Cristianos, Protestantes, Musulmanes, Budistas, Testigos de Jehova y Adventistas del Septimo Dia. Donde estan Ochun y todas las deidades del Panteon Yoruba que no acuden a nuestro llanto? Donde Juan Pablo II que no exige mas que Cuba se abra al Mundo y que el Mundo se abra a Cuba? Que hacen ahora mismo Alberto de Monaco y el Principe Felipe que no los escuchamos? Donde Madonna, donde Angelina Jolie y sus adoptados around de world; o nos hara falta un Brando erguido en un Oscar por Cuba? Donde Sean Penn? Donde esta la Aristocracia Obrera y los Obreros menos Aristocraticos, donde los Working Class que no estan junto a un pueblo que lanquidece, sufre y llora por la ignominia? Que hacen ahora mismo Zapatero y Rajoy que no los escuchamos, y Harper y Dion, e Hillary y Obama; donde McCain que no los escuchamos? Y los muertos? Y los que estan muriendo? Y los que van a morir? Y los que se lanzan desesperados al mar? Donde estan el minero cantabrico o el pescador de percebes gijonese? Los Canarios donde estan? A los africanos no los oimos, y a los australianos con su acento de hombres duros tampoco. Y aquellos chinos milenarios de Canton que fundaron raices eternas en la Isla? Y que de la Queen Elizabeth y los Lords y Gentlemen? Que hace ahora mismo el combativo Principe Harry que no lo escuchamos? Donde los Rockefellers? Donde los Duponts? Donde Kate Moss? Donde el Presidente de la ONU? Y Solana donde esta? Y los Generales y Doctores? Y los Lam y los Fabelo, y los Sivio y los Fito Paez? Y que de Canseco y Miñoso? Y de los veteranos de Bahia de Cochinos y de los balseros y de los recien llegados? Y Carlos Otero y Susana Perez? Y el Bola, y Pancho Cespedes? Y YO y TU? Y todos nosotros que estamos aqui y alla rumiando frustaciones y resquemores, envidias y sinsabores; autoelogios y nostalgias, en tanto Louis Michel comulga con Perez Roque mientras Biscet y una NACION lanquidecen? Donde Maceo, donde Marti; donde aquel Villena con su carga para matar bribones? Cuba llora y clama y el Mundo NO ESCUCHA!!!