Archive for the 'Dictatorship' Category
IMF Executive Board Approves Ten Fold Expansion of Fund’s Borrowing Arrangements Related to Financial Crisis Management
April 13th, 2010Can you feel the Recovery? Via: IMF: The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) today approved a ten-fold expansion of the Fund’s New Arrangements to Borrow (NAB) and the transformation of the Fund’s premier standing credit arrangement into a more flexible and effective tool of crisis management. The NAB will be increased by […]
The World’s Biggest Arms-Makers
April 13th, 2010I guessed that the top spot would be held by Lockheed, and by a large margin. Nope. Via: Economist: BAE Systems, a British firm, took the top spot as the world’s largest arms manufacturer in 2008. This is largely because the company has pursued a strategy of expanding the American side of its business in […]
Cable Ties Kissinger to Pinochet Assassinations
April 12th, 2010Via: AP: As secretary of state, Henry Kissinger canceled a U.S. warning against carrying out international political assassinations that was to have gone to Chile and two neighboring nations just days before a former ambassador was killed by Chilean agents on Washington’s Embassy Row in 1976, a newly released State Department cable shows. Whether Kissinger […]
The Cove
April 12th, 2010I just saw The Cove. It’s worth a look on several levels. On the DVD, the “extra features” are really good too—must see for anyone who eats larger, predatory fish. Hint: You’re poisoning yourself.
Occupied Washington DC
April 11th, 2010Via: After Downing Street: As a visitor to our nation’s capital, I cannot tell you how disconcerting it is to step off the metro and find yourself face to face with a F-35 fighter jet. Where you would normally expect to find ads for cell phones or museum exhibitions, Washington’s subway, the second busiest in […]
Bush Regime Knew Guantánamo Prisoners Were Innocent
April 9th, 2010Via: Times: George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld covered up that hundreds of innocent men were sent to the Guantánamo Bay prison camp because they feared that releasing them would harm the push for war in Iraq and the broader War on Terror, according to a new document obtained by The Times. The […]
State Governments Delay Tax Refunds
April 9th, 2010Via: AP / MSNBC: Give people their money. It’s the rallying cry of lawmakers around the country pushing back against states that are delaying tax refunds to shore up their budgets. Holding on to the refunds allows states to use the money for other purposes, earn interest on it or simply wait until there’s enough […]
Kyrgyzstani Government Ousted in Violent Uprising
April 8th, 2010Via: Globe and Mail: Massive, violent protests have toppled the authoritarian regime in Kyrgyzstan, an impoverished Central Asian republic wooed by both Moscow and Washington and the site of a sprawling air base vital to the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan. By nightfall, the opposition claimed President Kurmanbek Bakiyev had fled and a new government headed […]
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke Sounds a Warning on Growing Deficit
April 8th, 2010*chortle* For a translation of the slop below, see: America’s Impending Master Class Dictatorship. Via: Washington Post: Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke warned Wednesday that Americans may have to accept higher taxes or changes in cherished entitlements such as Medicare and Social Security if the nation is to avoid staggering budget deficits that threaten […]
Thai Premier Declares Martial Law to Control Protests
April 8th, 2010Via: Bloomberg / Business Week: Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva declared martial law in the capital after protesters stormed parliament, testing the army’s willingness to break up four weeks of mostly peaceful demonstrations. About 3,000 people entered the gates of Parliament for about two hours and thousands more occupied Bangkok’s commercial district for a fifth […]
