	Generational Dynamics
	Forecasting America's Destiny ... and the World's

\| HOME \| WEB LOG \| COUNTRY WIKI \| COMMENT \| FORUM \| DOWNLOADS \| ABOUT \|

Generational Dynamics Web Log for 9-Dec-2011
9-Dec-11 World View -- Sarkozy: Europe risks a new explosion

Web Log - December, 2011

9-Dec-11 World View -- Sarkozy: Europe risks a new explosion

Oil pipeline in Syria explodes after terrorist attack

This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com.

* Nicolas Sarkozy becomes apocalyptic
* ECB President Mario Draghi dashes hopes of 'big bazooka'
* Oil pipeline in Syria explodes after terrorist attack
* Arab Spring coming to Russia on Friday
* Al-Assad, Corzine and Holder all tell the same story

Nicolas Sarkozy becomes apocalyptic

Nicolas Sarkozy on Thursday

Nicolas Sarkozy on Thursday

The tension over Friday's EU summit meeting in Brussels is enormous, since few people believe that any meaningful deal will be reached. France's president Nicolas Sarkozy, speaking in Marseille prior to heading for the summit, said that a deal must be reached:

"Never has Europe been so necessary and never has it been in so much danger... Never has the risk of Europe's explosion been so great. ...
Never have so many countries wanted to join Europe. Never has the risk of a disintegration of Europe been so great. Europe is facing an extraordinarily dangerous situation.
The diagnosis is that we have a few weeks to decide because time is working against us. If we aren't in agreement on this, I fear that we won't be able to agree on anything. That's the analysis."

The most likely scenario is that something will be announced on Friday with great fanfare, and then it will take the markets a few hours or a couple of days to realize that it doesn't change anything. Europe has almost run out of can-kicking road. BBC and Telegraph

ECB President Mario Draghi dashes hopes of 'big bazooka'

What everyone's waiting to hear on Friday is an announcement by European Central Bank (ECB) president Mario Draghi that the ECB will "print" money and purchase an unlimited number of bonds from Italy, Spain, and any other countries where it might be necessary. The reasoning is that the eurozone leaders will reach some agreement, involving centralized control of individual nations' budgets, to limit future uncontrolled spending, so that Draghi will be convinced that the ECB bond purchase "big bazooka" solution is safe. However, Draghi on Thursday shut the door to bond purchases, and said that the only possible solution is a "fiscal compact" among the eurozone nations. Still, everyone's hoping that Draghi will change his mind on Friday. Meanwhile, European banks received a new shock on Thursday, when they learned that they need to raise €114.7 billion in new cash, much more than previously expected, because of the Greek financial crisis. Bloomberg

Oil pipeline in Syria explodes after terrorist attack

Black smoke rises from oil pipeline attacked by terrorists (EPA)

Black smoke rises from oil pipeline attacked by terrorists (EPA)

An explosion has hit a pipeline carrying oil to a refinery in Syria on Thursday. No casualties were reported, and no one claimed responsibility for the terrorist action. The state-run news service said, "An armed terrorist group committed an act of sabotage." Guardian

Arab Spring coming to Russia on Friday

An unprecedented display of anger against Russia's prime minister Vladimir Putin is building, as 18,000 people have signed up on a Facebook page to attend planned mass demonstrations on Friday, December 10, over election fraud in last Sunday's Duma elections. Wednesday was a third night of protests in Moscow and St. Petersburg, resulting in numerous arrests. However, the persistence of the demonstrations is being seen as remarkable, and a challenge to Putin. RFERL

Al-Assad, Corzine and Holder all tell the same story

In today's culture of fraud and extortion, all the stories sound the same:

On Wednesday, Syria's president Bashar al-Assad said he's completely innocent of his regime's slaughter of thousands of innocent Syrian protesters, saying that the blame goes to unnamed subordinates, as we reported.

On Thursday, Jon Corzine, former chief executive of the now bankrupt MF Global, and formerly a Democratic party Senator, told a Congressional committee that he has no idea where the missing $1.2 billion is, and that he has no idea which of his subordinates is responsible for losing it. "I simply do not know where the money is," he said, adding that he was "stunned" to learn it was missing.

Also on Thursday, Attorney General Eric Holder told a Congressional committee that he bore no responsibility for the "Fast and Furious" operation, where his subordinates sold thousands of guns to Mexican drug dealers, who then turned around and used them to kill hundreds of people on both sides of the border, with the number of deaths still rising. Holder said that he was being treated unfairly by the Republicans on the committee, just as Republicans had unfairly accused people of being Communists in 1954. "As they said in the McCarthy hearings, have you no shame?" he asked.

In this Generation-X culture of fraud and extortion, no one who commits an actual crime is considered a criminal. The only people considered criminals are the accusers. Irish Times and CNN

(Comments: For reader comments, questions and discussion, see the 9-Dec-11 World View -- Sarkozy: Europe risks a new explosion thread of the Generational Dynamics forum. Comments may be posted anonymously.) (9-Dec-2011) Permanent Link
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Donate to Generational Dynamics via PayPal

Web Log Pages

Current Web Log

Generational Dynamics Web Log for 9-Dec-2011 9-Dec-11 World View -- Sarkozy: Europe risks a new explosion

Nicolas Sarkozy becomes apocalyptic

ECB President Mario Draghi dashes hopes of 'big bazooka'

Oil pipeline in Syria explodes after terrorist attack

Arab Spring coming to Russia on Friday

Al-Assad, Corzine and Holder all tell the same story

Web Log Pages

Generational Dynamics Web Log for 9-Dec-2011
9-Dec-11 World View -- Sarkozy: Europe risks a new explosion