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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 11-May-2011
11-May-11 World View -- Independence day versus al-Naqba

Web Log - May, 2011

11-May-11 World View -- Independence day versus al-Naqba

Iran's 'Morality Police' will be working overtime this summer

This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com.

Independence day versus al-Naqba

On May 10, Israel celebrated the 63rd anniversary of the creation of Israel, with parties, fireworks and barbeques. On May 14, the Palestinians will also commemorate the 63rd anniversary of "al-Naqba," the catastrophe, with protest marches. AFP

U.S. says that Israel's decision to withhold Palestinian funds is 'premature'

U.S. State Dept. spokesman Mark Toner criticized Israel's decision, following the signing of the Hamas-Fatah reconciliation deal, to withhold $105 million in tax revenues that Israel collected on behalf of the Palestinians. Toner said that the U.S. government position is that:

"[W]e believe that we need to wait and see. We believe it's premature to make any decisions. What's important now is that the Palestinians ensure implementation in a way that advances the prospects of peace.
We are looking to see what this reconciliation agreement looks like in practical terms, before we make any decisions about future assistance.
We understand [Israel's] concerns, and I would just say, as the new Palestinian government's formed, we'll assess it based on its policies and we'll determine the implications for our assistance"

Haaretz

Hillary Clinton makes unexpectedly harsh criticism of China's human rights

It slipped out during an interview on human rights in Libya, Syria, and other Mideast countries, when U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was asked about human rights in China, and whether the Chinese were frightened by the Arab uprisings:

"They’re worried. They’re trying to stop history, which is a fool’s errand. They cannot do it, but they’re going to hold it off as long as possible."

The Atlantic

EU may approve a new $86 billion bailout of Greece next week

European Central Bank (ECB) officials warned of catastrophic consequences if Greece is allowed to restructure its debt (a form of default), calling it "political suicide which leads many into poverty." It was almost exactly a year ago that Europe created a "gobsmacking" aid fund that was used to bail out Greece. ( "10-May-10 News -- Europeans approve trillion dollar aid package") It was clear from the beginning that it would only postpone, not solve, Greece's debt problems, but only now are politicians admitting it, since Greece will run out of money to pay debts about a year from now. It's now becoming increasingly clear that the EU will be forced to provide another bailout of Greece, so that Greece can continue paying debtors for an extra year. The amount is expected to be €60 billion ($86 billion), and it will probably be voted on next week at a regularly scheduled meeting of EU finance ministers Bloomberg

Blowback grows from EU's political farce this weekend

We've commented several times on the repeated denials by EU officials on Friday, and how every one of them turned out to be a flat lie. Mainstream analysts and journalists are finally beginning to recognize what we've been saying for years -- that in this generational Crisis era, lying and fraud are the norm, not the exception. Here's how EuroIntelligence describes the situation:

"Guy Schuller, spokesman for Jean-Claude Juncker, admitted yesterday to lying about the secret meeting of finance ministers on Friday. The Wall Street Journal Real Time Brussels (link) blog has got it all, including the above quote from Mr Schuller, who was contacted by various media groups to whom he denied that the meeting was taking place. "There was a very good reason to deny that the meeting was taking place," Mr Schuller told the WSJ. "It was self-preservation." Helpfully, the WSJ also dug up an older press conference of Mr Juncker, who said "When it becomes serious, you have to lie." In his column on Monday, Wolfgang Münchau also commented on Mr Schuller's lie, adding that he did not believe the pronouncement that the meeting did not discuss a Greek exit from the eurozone either. Furthermore, he no longer believed any statement by any EU officials in respect of this crisis. We are in the stage of the crisis where officials are lying all the time. Lucas Zeise, in his column in FT Deutschland, says the outbreak of lies is the best metric for the pending break-up of the eurozone. He recalls various currency crises from the 1970s and 1980s, in which officials also lied that nothing would happen, until it happened. Zeise says two necessary conditions to avoid a break-up are the acceptance of a transfer union, financed, for example, by a tax on exporters, and the tolerance of large wage increases in northern European countries."

EuroIntelligence

Finland's 'True Finns' threaten delay of Portugal's bailout

As we reported a few days ago ( "6-May-11 World View"), Portugal has requested a bailout from the EU, and was promised a €78 billion bailout in principle, although Portuguese Prime Minister José Sócrates lied about the details when he announced it. The Portugal bailout has been pushed off the front pages by the growing Greek debt crisis, but now it's time for the bailout in principle turn into a real cash bailout. All eurozone countries unanimously have to approve any bailout package, but Finland's approval depends on a vote by its legislature. The problem is that the nationalistic, euro-skeptic "True Finns" party made a strong showing in Finland's elections two weeks ago, and now they're threatening to hold up the bailout until Portugal goes into default and forces the investors to take a "haircut." Reuters

Iran's 'Morality Police' will be working overtime this summer

An obvious criminal at large on the streets of Tehran (France24)

An obvious criminal at large on the streets of Tehran (France24)

Ever since Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was elected in 2005, he's been sending out morality police to arrest women who aren't dressed modestly enough. (See "Iranian police swoop down on women with loose headscarves.") Now, the head of Tehran's "morality police forces" has announced that 70,000 officers would be deployed to enforce public morality regulations this summer. Radio Zamaneh

In a press conference in Istanbul on Monday, Ahmadinejad said that he doubted that the U.S. killed Osama bin Laden on May 1, that the U.S. is refusing to identify the "real" perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks, and that the West is still hiding the truth about the Holocaust, if it happened at all. He portrayed Iran as a cooperative nation of freedom and love and friendship, forced into a righteous battle against the eternally evil forces of global imperialism, led by the United States and Israel. CS Monitor

(Comments: For reader comments, questions and discussion, see the 11-May-11 News -- Syrian regime shooting at anything that moves thread of the Generational Dynamics forum. Comments may be posted anonymously.) (11-May-2011) Permanent Link
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Current Web Log

Generational Dynamics Web Log for 11-May-2011 11-May-11 World View -- Independence day versus al-Naqba

Independence day versus al-Naqba

U.S. says that Israel's decision to withhold Palestinian funds is 'premature'

Hillary Clinton makes unexpectedly harsh criticism of China's human rights

EU may approve a new $86 billion bailout of Greece next week

Blowback grows from EU's political farce this weekend

Finland's 'True Finns' threaten delay of Portugal's bailout

Iran's 'Morality Police' will be working overtime this summer

Web Log Pages

Generational Dynamics Web Log for 11-May-2011
11-May-11 World View -- Independence day versus al-Naqba