3 Jan 2015
Deglobalization & Internet 2.0
“Wonda Why They Call U Bitch”: How Tupac Informs The So-Called “Street Harassment” Debate
Ms Jones sure is needlessly combative, >.< From the very first reply “Thank you for the elaborate email”, I think she was already being snooty for no reason; I think the word ‘elaborate’ was used in a negative sense here, a normal person would say “thanks for the kind email” or “nice email” or smthg like that…And the subsequent emails are worse, of cos.
A bit OT, but it reminded me of the lady in this Judge Judy case–who was actually quite physically nice-looking IMO. But if that’s her attitude in front of a judge and an audience of millions…
—Ms. Alana, lady J4G commenter/reader, “The Inability To Seek Consent”
Look here Miss Thang, hate to salt your game
but yous a money hungry woman and you need to change.
What Macau Just Said About China’s Economy
By Wolf Richter: Few economic phenomena compare to the soaring gambling revenues in Macau since it opened up to foreign casino operators in 2001. In 2002, Macau blew past Las Vegas. It’s the only place in China where the Chinese can go and legally gamble away their money, and it’s one of the key places where they can go to siphon their wealth – however they’d obtained it – out of Mainland China and beyond the reach of the muscular arm of the government. Even during the financial-crisis years 2008 and 2009, Macau gaming revenues grew, despite a horrendous seven-month plunge. 2009 was the worst year on the books, with revenue growth of only 9.6%. The rest of the years, double-digit growth was the norm.
During the first five months of 2014, revenues soared 15.8%. Nothing could stop Macau, or so it seemed. But in June, Macau’s world changed with the first year-over-year revenue decline since the financial crisis. The soccer World Cup was blamed. VIP revenues, which used to account for 66% of total revenues, dropped an estimated 20%, a hole that increased marketing to regular folks couldn’t fill.
In July, the expected post-World Cup bounce failed to materialize. So they blamed the investigation of Zhou Yongkang, former head of state security, the most senior guy yet to be knocked down by the corruption crackdown that would go after “tigers and flies” alike.
How Do We Stop Corporations From Becoming Evil?
Germany, Gold & 'Diplomacy'
By Ned Naylor-Leyland: In 2012 the ‘German Gold’ story started to gather momentum. Early that year, Deutsche Bank purchased (in joint venture with G4S) a large site on the outskirts of London, with the intention of building an LBMA-friendly Gold vaulting operation. Deutsche/G4S embarked on a 2-year construction program at the site to build a state of the art warehousing facility. This job was completed when the site went operational in June of 2014.
Just 5 months after completion, on Christmas Eve 2014, Deutsche Bank said (on a slow news day) that their London vaulting facility is now ‘up for sale’. In light of Deutsche Bank’s departure from the London Gold ‘Fixing’ process, and its departure from ‘all physical Precious Metals business’ in 2014, maybe this mooted vault sale isn’t such a surprise.
Just 5 months after completion, on Christmas Eve 2014, Deutsche Bank said (on a slow news day) that their London vaulting facility is now ‘up for sale’. In light of Deutsche Bank’s departure from the London Gold ‘Fixing’ process, and its departure from ‘all physical Precious Metals business’ in 2014, maybe this mooted vault sale isn’t such a surprise.
There is, however, rich and fascinating context to the story of Deutsche Bank, Germany and Gold Custody.
Let’s rewind a little...
Back in November of 2012 Andreas Dobret, executive board member of the Deutsche Bundesbank, said the following in an open speech to the New York Federal Reserve Chairman Bill Dudley:
Let’s rewind a little...
Back in November of 2012 Andreas Dobret, executive board member of the Deutsche Bundesbank, said the following in an open speech to the New York Federal Reserve Chairman Bill Dudley:
"Please let me also comment on the bizarre public discussion we are currently facing in Germany on the safety of our gold deposits outside Germany – a discussion which is driven by irrational fears.
UK J4MB Calls For The Resignation Of Vera Baird QC, Police And Crime Commissioner For Northumbria
By Mike Buchanan: We’re publicly calling for Vera Baird to resign, and our associated letter in a document which includes the background to the matter, explains why.
About Mike Buchanan. I'm a men's human rights advocate, writer, and publisher. My
primary focus is leading the political party I launched in 2013, Justice for men & boys (and the women who love them).
I still work actively on two campaigns I launched in early 2012, Campaign for Merit in Business and the Anti-Feminism League.
In 2014 I launched The Alternative Sexism Project,
aiming to raise public understanding that the sexism faced by men and
boys has far more grievous consequences than the sexism faced by women
and girls.
Oliver Stone's New Movie: "Ukraine: The CIA Coup" Coming To A Theater Near You
Submitted by Tyler Durden: US filmmaker Oliver Stone is currently engaged in production of a documentary about Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, who fled the country following the February coup last year. As Sputnik reports, Stone's Facebook page notes, "[I] Interviewed Viktor Yanukovych 4 hours in Moscow for new English language documentary produced by Ukrainians. He [Yanukovych] was the legitimate President of Ukraine until he suddenly wasn't on February 22 of this year." The outspoken director then added, "the truth is not being aired in the West... many believe foreign elements were introduced by pro-Western factions with CIA fingerprints on it." From Oliver Stone's Facebook page,
Excuse my absence these past weeks. A combination of overwork, prepping the Snowden movie in Germany & England, a side trip to Moscow, and a devastating head cold have laid me low. Recovering over Christmas in California; winter sun helps.
Amplifying Women (ism) - C.O.C.K.
Peak Irony In No-Exit Union: As Grexit Chaos Resurges, Lithuania Joins
By Don Quijones: On January 1, 2015, the Eurozone quietly welcomed a new member,
Lithuania, to its fold. The former Soviet satellite became the 19th EU
Member State to have joined the increasingly beleaguered currency union.
According to an opinion poll conducted by Berent Research Baltic on
behalf of the Bank of Lithuania, 53% of the Lithuanian population
support euro adoption. And who wouldn’t trust a central bank to conduct
an honest and fair survey of public approval of something as
insignificant as the adoption of a new currency?
One group that clearly didn’t was the eurosceptic Europeans United for Democracy (EUD) party which commissioned a poll of its own via Baltics Survey. The results could not have diverged more from the Bank of Lithuania’s poll, with only 26% of respondents approving of the government’s decision while 49% disapproved of it.
Who’s to say which is right? Or at least righter? In the end the point is moot since, in time-honored EU fashion, no public referendum was held on the matter. Instead the final decision was taken in parliament while the Supreme Administrative Court blocked any attempts to call a referendum. After all, one can never be too careful these days: voters might have voted NO, just as French, Dutch and Irish voters did in their respective referendums on the Nice Accord, to no avail.
According to an opinion poll conducted by Berent Research Baltic on
behalf of the Bank of Lithuania, 53% of the Lithuanian population
support euro adoption. And who wouldn’t trust a central bank to conduct
an honest and fair survey of public approval of something as
insignificant as the adoption of a new currency?One group that clearly didn’t was the eurosceptic Europeans United for Democracy (EUD) party which commissioned a poll of its own via Baltics Survey. The results could not have diverged more from the Bank of Lithuania’s poll, with only 26% of respondents approving of the government’s decision while 49% disapproved of it.
Who’s to say which is right? Or at least righter? In the end the point is moot since, in time-honored EU fashion, no public referendum was held on the matter. Instead the final decision was taken in parliament while the Supreme Administrative Court blocked any attempts to call a referendum. After all, one can never be too careful these days: voters might have voted NO, just as French, Dutch and Irish voters did in their respective referendums on the Nice Accord, to no avail.
JSIL (Israel) Regime Army Suicide Cases Doubled In 2014: Report
Press TV: According to the latest figures released Friday, a total of 15 Israeli soldiers took their own lives last year, more than double the seven suicide cases in 2013.The military said that 105 soldiers lost their lives in 2014, while they were in military service.
It added that 70 of the deaths happened during military activities.
Sixty-three soldiers were killed during the latest Israeli war on Gaza last summer, it added.
Israel’s Haaretz newspaper reported on Thursday that four of the soldiers who committed suicide had participated in the war.
The rise in suicide cases has prompted the Israeli military to check the impact of the Gaza war on the soldiers who took part in it.
“In fact, three soldiers taking their own lives after the operation is significant,” the daily quoted Colonel Keren Ginat, the mental health chief of the Israeli military, as saying.