Posts by stephen walker
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it's interesting that more people haven't responded to Rich of Observationz comments re the finance companies. i really recommend following the link he posted and reading his short-but-prescient blog post from 2005 on the subject.
the magic of compound interest is like the magic of perpetually rising property prices or the magic of ever expanding rates of extraction of natural resources. it may be the orthodoxy but that doesn't make it true, and even a small amount of research and thought will reveal that the emperor has no clothes.
BTW, it looks like we have moved beyond Act I of the End of the Age of Financialisation, and into the start of Act II.
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the piano has been drinking...
not me...(hick) -
I spent five minutes reading the McCarten piece.
Pretty much a waste of time.
He seems deluded about the amount of substantial (as opposed to superficial) difference Obama will make, especially considering what a big-business driven, military-industrial complex bolstering, anti-Palestinian, Serbia-bombing, Russian oligarch-installing regime Clinton's was for eight years. And Obama has chosen the SAME team (with some Cheney-esque nasties, like Rahm Emanuel, thrown in for good measure). That's real change for you.The only part I thought McCarten had vaguely right was his assessment of "turbo capitalism as practised by corporate America". A corrupt sham? Yes. But Obama is just the new friendly face sponsored by Wall St. to tell the world that Business as Usual can continue after a slight interruption.
The evidence I've seen suggests that the USA, as a viable entity, is on its last legs and will barely make it through to the end of Obama's first term. Beyond that, all bets are off, as far as I can tell.
McCarten seemed pretty smart and capable back in the early days of New Labour in the late 80s. Sadly, he ends up pumping out these pulp opinion pieces for the Sunday papers. All a bit tired, is my impression.
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and very much on topic...
from the Guardian:
People who fail to tell the authorities of a change of address or amend other key personal details within three months will face civil penalty fines of up to £1,000 a time when the national identity card scheme is up and running, according to draft Home Office regulations published yesterday.
The Home Office made clear that repeated failures to keep an entry on the national identity register up to date could ultimately be enforced by bailiffs being sent round to seize property.
But yesterday’s detailed regulations to implement the national identity card scheme make clear that they intend to avoid the creation of ID card “martyrs”, by levying no penalty on those who refuse to register for the national identity card database in the first place.
The Liberal Democrat peer, Lady Williams, is amongst ID card “refuseniks” who have said they are prepared to go to jail rather than sign up for the scheme.
But the regulations show that the main sanction they are likely to face is being barred from leaving the country when it is time to renew their passport.
The regulations confirm ministers’ intention to make passports a “designated document” which means anyone applying or renewing their passport will be automatically issued with an ID card at the same time. Ministers claim that this does not amount to compulsion but ID card critics disagree.
hat tip: cryptogon
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How long before the US actually bankrupts itself?
are you joking?
the US is long bankrupt.
it's just that the creditors continue to pretend that their worthless US Treasury bonds are actually going to be repaid someday.
it's a Mexican standoff. A game of "chicken".
mutually assured financial destruction, if you will. -
further to what Sacha was saying, twice when i tried to post a comment yesterday the comment disappeared and i was logged out. the third time i was lucky. something is on the blink...maybe it only affects people whose name begins with s...
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the richest nation on the planet
you mean the one that's on the brink of bankruptcy and default?
maybe it's not the end of the world
but might we be nearing the end of the world's largest dysfunctional economy?
(Iceland x 1000, anyone?)
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I thought the whole episode was rather a silly and over the top
You still haven't explained how walking down some steps and getting into a car is silly and over the top. Please be more specific about what you think HC is guilty of on this occasion. She sent NZ soldiers to fight in the Global War On Afghanistan. That would be worth plenty of criticism, IMO. But walking down some steps...ah, whatever.
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a global-sized toroid is what you get when the Fed's electronic prining presses get so hot that they melt through the earth's core and go all the way to China
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i concur with giovanni.
David is being unfair to George.
He is only slightly to blame.
a fairer assessment would be "George Clinton"
but since that name coincides with one of the all-time geniuses of funk music, it shall be struck from the list.George can be blamed for promoting GWOT (global war on terror) but even that was hatched and well on the way to godzillering NYC well before he got near to a teleprompt.
George can be blamed for making GWOD (global war on drugs) and GWORR (global war on reproductive rights) much more lucrative...but once again, these atrocities span the decades.
We could even say that George has given a free pass to the CAP (campaign to annihilate Palestine), but that's 90 years old, so we would even have trouble pinning that one on George's grandaddy.
No, GEM (global economic meltdown), or, as some like to call it, CEPO (capitalist endgame played out; pronounced "seppo") has many more culpible players than poor old George, the coke-addled fratboy with his finger on the button. We have Alan G, Robert R, Larry S and Phil G. Even Gordon B, Ronnie R and Maggie T deserve some credit (yes, pun intended).
No, i think if we wanted to go to the root of the problem, the largest share of blame should go to Colonel Edwin Drake and all his copycats who led the charge in the 150-year DONUT (destruction of nature until terminal).