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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 27-Oct-2011
27-Oct-11 World View -- Financial crisis summit meeting of European leaders reaches 4 am agreement (Updated)

Web Log - October, 2011

27-Oct-11 World View -- Financial crisis summit meeting of European leaders reaches 4 am agreement (Updated)

More evidence that Pakistan's ISI supports Taliban terrorists

This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com.

* Saif al-Islam Gaddafi reportedly will turn himself in to the ICC
* More evidence that Pakistan's ISI supports Taliban terrorists
* Sharia law and 'Islamic Democratic' identity
* Police and 'occupy' protesters clash in Oakland violence
* Financial crisis summit meeting of European leaders fails to agree on anything
* Dutch finance minister blames the 'Anglo-Saxon press'
* Catholics vs Protestants in European fiscal crisis

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi reportedly will turn himself in to the ICC

Saif al-Islam and Muammar Gaddafi file photos (Reuters)

Saif al-Islam and Muammar Gaddafi file photos (Reuters)

Muammar Gaddafi's son, who once gave a speech saying that he would fight to the last bullet and would die in Libya, apparently is scared about how he'll be treated if he remains in Libya. An official of the National Transitional Council said on Wednesday that Saif al-Islam, the only one of Muammar Gaddafi's eight children still on the run, has proposed surrendering to the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC), where he is wanted on war crimes charges. Reuters

More evidence that Pakistan's ISI supports Taliban terrorists

BBC interviews with Taliban commanders provides further evidence that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency is actively supporting Taliban militants killing Americans in Afghanistan. The BBC report also quotes veteran CIA office Bruce Riedel as saying that our own intelligence is "unequivocal" that the ISI is actively supporting the insurgency. According to Reidel, the recent drone attacks in Pakistan's tribal area have become much more effective, ever since the U.S. began withholding intelligence from the Pakistanis. "At the beginning of the drone operations, we gave Pakistan an advance tip-off of where we were going, and every single time the target wasn't there anymore. You didn't have to be Sherlock Holmes to put the dots together." BBC

The trends are getting clearer that China and Pakistan are preparing for war against India and America. For the time being, China and Pakistan want America to remain tied down in Afghanistan, and they want Pakistan to keep receiving American aid, presumably to fight the Taliban.

Sharia law and 'Islamic Democratic' identity

From conservative commentator Max Boot:

"Saying a country’s legal system will be based on sharia law is about as descriptive as saying it will be based on the Ten Commandants or the teachings of Christ. Like Christianity, Judaism or any other religion, Islam is subject to countless interpretations. Sharia law has meant many different things in many different countries across the ages. Even Islamic fundamentalists are not all alike. Wahhabis rule in both Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, yet liquor is readily available in the latter but not the former."

Long-time readers of my web site are well aware of how skeptical I am about Western claims about Islamic Sharia law. Boot seems to have described the situation pretty well. Just to take one example, I'm much more concerned about the ISI support for the Taliban than I am about Sharia law. Commentary

Police and 'occupy' protesters clash in Oakland violence

Violence broke out between police and "Occupy Wall Street" protesters in Oakland, Calif. Protesters threw bottles at police, who used teargas in return. An Iraq war veteran was hit in the head with a projectile, and he is reported to be in critical condition. These left-wing protests in Greece, Spain, America, and other countries continue to exhibit low-level violence, which is expected to grow as the financial crisis grows. PBS

Financial crisis summit meeting of European leaders fails to agree on anything

Sarko and Merkel on Wednesday

Sarko and Merkel on Wednesday

Although negotiations are extending past midnight into Thursday morning, officials at the much-hyped summit meeting of European leaders are saying that they have been unable to reach agreement on any of the major issues that they've repeatedly promised to agree on by now. A major issue is the size of the "haircut" that holders of Greek bonds will "voluntarily" have to take. Bankers, the major bondholders, originally agreed to the 21% haircut announced in July, but they're now balking at the 50%+ haircut that's currently under consideration, preferring instead to force a "credit event" that will allow them to collect on their credit default swap (CDS) insurance after a Greek default. Another issue is the increase to the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), a bailout fund which is supposed to prevent future crises. They want to increase the fund to €2 trillion or more from its current €440 million, but they can't agree on who will provide the funding. Bloomberg

Update: Early Thursday morning, bankers and politicians announced an agreement on a 50% "haircut."

Dutch finance minister blames the 'Anglo-Saxon press'

Holland Finance Minister Jan Kees de Jager blames the Anglo-Saxon press for attaching so much importance to Wednesday's failed summit. "We never talked about this summit as the decisive summit. It has only been portrayed as such by the Anglo-Saxon press," he said. Wall Street Journal (Access)

Catholics vs Protestants in European fiscal crisis

The BBC presented some comedic material on the European fiscal crisis, and one of the comedians was Abie Philbin Bowman. The following is my transcription of what he said, which is supposed to be funny, but which may cause some people to take offense:

My show is called "Pope Benedict - Bond Villain."
For some reason, all of the Catholic countries are the ones in trouble - Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Italy. And all of the countries doing the bailing out are the Protestant nations of Europe, like Germany, the UK, Scandanavia, Holland. The Greeks are neither Catholic nor Protestant -- they're Orthodox, though their system of accounting is not particularly Orthodox.
And essentially what I'm asking: Is this a Vatican plot, to make us really poor, so that we all believe in God again. Headed by the Pope who is the perfect Bond villain.
He has all the elements - the German accent, shadowy Nazi past, a priceless art collection, lives in a huge mansion, drives the Popemobile, and is the head of a secret organzation which is trying to take over the world. And not only that, but like every truly great Bond villain, the public name sounds completely innocent, Pope Benedict XVI, and a real name which is pure evil -- Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger [[said gutterally]]. You can almost hear Sean Connery saying, "You'll never get away with this, Ratzinger". -- Abie Philbin Bowman

(BBC World Service)

(Comments: For reader comments, questions and discussion, see the 27-Oct-11 World View -- Financial crisis summit meeting of European leaders fails to agree on anything thread of the Generational Dynamics forum. Comments may be posted anonymously.) (27-Oct-2011) Permanent Link
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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 27-Oct-2011 27-Oct-11 World View -- Financial crisis summit meeting of European leaders reaches 4 am agreement (Updated)

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi reportedly will turn himself in to the ICC

More evidence that Pakistan's ISI supports Taliban terrorists

Sharia law and 'Islamic Democratic' identity

Police and 'occupy' protesters clash in Oakland violence

Financial crisis summit meeting of European leaders fails to agree on anything

Dutch finance minister blames the 'Anglo-Saxon press'

Catholics vs Protestants in European fiscal crisis

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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 27-Oct-2011
27-Oct-11 World View -- Financial crisis summit meeting of European leaders reaches 4 am agreement (Updated)