new world order

Detlev Schlichter: It’s a mad mad mad mad world

"Shinzo Abe, Japan’s new prime minister, has some exciting new ideas about how to make Japan’s economy grow. How about the government borrows a lot of money and spends it on building bridges and roads all over the country? If that doesn’t sound so new, it is because it isn’t. It is what Japan has been doing for 20 years, and it is the main reason why Japan is now the most heavily indebted nation on the planet. But never mind. The Keynesians agree that this policy was a roaring success, and that this is why the country needs more of it. Mr. Abe also plans to force the Bank of Japan into printing more money, and this is surely going to be a great success, too." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDetlev Schlichter: It’s a mad mad mad mad world

Emerging China, Brazil and India agree to increased United Nations dues

"China, Brazil, India and other emerging powers agreed to major increases in their United Nations payments as the global body hammered out a new budget deal this week to avoid its own fiscal cliff. The boom countries will pay more as economic crisis allows European nations, such as Britain, Germany and France and Japan to cut their contributions. UN contributions are worked out according to a country’s share of global gross national income (GNI). China will pay an extra 61 percent in UN fees, taking its share of the budget from 3.2 to 5.1 percent. It will overtake Canada and Italy to become the sixth biggest UN contributor." Continue reading →

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2012 in Review: Biometric ID Systems Grew Internationally… And So Did Concerns About Privacy

"Around the world, systems of identification that employ automatic recognition of individuals’ faces, fingerprints, or irises are gaining ground. Biometric ID systems are increasingly being deployed at international border checkpoints, by governments seeking to implement national ID schemes, and by private-sector actors. Yet as biometric data is collected from more and more individuals, privacy concerns about the use of this technology are also attracting attention. Below are several examples of the year’s most prominent debates around biometrics." Continue reading →

Continue Reading2012 in Review: Biometric ID Systems Grew Internationally… And So Did Concerns About Privacy

UN Takes on Al Qaeda in Mali

"War and more war. There are plenty of questions about the legitimacy of what is about to occur. It all begins with the Tuaregs, a blue-daubed fierce tribe of warriors who are part of the larger Berber peoples that were recognized by the UN in the 1990s as legitimate claimants of the northern African Maghreb that spans Tunisia, Libya, Niger and Algeria. After the destabilization of Libya, a Tuareg rebellion took place throughout the African Maghreb and also destabilized parts of Mali. What is evident is that the fighting between secularist Tuaregs and Islamic Tuaregs has now resolved itself in favor the Islamic factions. And this is supposedly the reason for the UN involvement." Continue reading →

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U.S. Treasury to miss deadline on FATCA tax crackdown

"The Treasury Department will miss a year-end deadline to publish final rules for a new global tax enforcement regime targeting the offshore assets of U.S. taxpayers. FATCA was enacted in 2010 after an outcry over a Swiss banking scandal that revealed U.S. taxpayers had hidden millions of dollars in assets overseas from the Internal Revenue Service. The law requires foreign financial institutions to tell the tax-collecting IRS about Americans' offshore accounts worth more than $50,000. International businesses ranging from Western Union Co to BlackRock Inc are waiting anxiously to see the rules so they can figure out how to comply with the law." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU.S. Treasury to miss deadline on FATCA tax crackdown

New York judge’s ruling sparks nationalist surge in Argentina

"A legal tug-of-war with a $20 billion US hedge fund plays out in a New York case that has sent nationalist sentiment soaring in Argentina and raised concerns about the impact on future efforts to help debt-ridden countries recover. NML Capital, part of American billionaire Paul Singer’s Elliott Management, is among a handful of creditors demanding full repayment of bonds that Argentina defaulted on in 2002. In recent months, the government’s inability to settle with a handful of holdouts led by NML has resulted in one of its Navy tall ships being impounded in Ghana and an expensive court case in New York." Continue reading →

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Pentagon considering Air Force support for intervention in Mali

"The Obama administration hasn't ruled out having the Air Force play a lead role in transporting troops and equipment for an African-led intervention to dislodge militant Islamists in Mali, the Pentagon's top Africa official said Wednesday. The United Nations Security Council is weighing whether to approve a West African force of about 3,300 troops to take over the desert expanses of the country's northern half, which broke away following a March coup. Mali and its neighbors oppose any intervention by non-African troops. The United States, however, is involved in advising the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS), which is putting the intervention force together." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPentagon considering Air Force support for intervention in Mali

United Nations tells Israel to let in nuclear inspectors

"The resolution, approved by a vote of 174-6 with 6 abstentions, calls on Israel to join the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty 'without further delay' and open its nuclear facilities to inspection by the International Atomic Energy Agency. Those voting 'no' were Israel, the U.S., Canada, Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau. Israel refuses to confirm or deny it has nuclear bombs though it is widely believed to have a nuclear arsenal. It has refused to join the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, or NPT, along with three nuclear weapon states - India, Pakistan and North Korea." Continue reading →

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Europeans outraged over the US using Patriot Act for worldwide spying

"Researchers from the University of Amsterdam’s Institute for Information Law say that legislation enacted to allegedly protect the security of US citizens has in the process eroded privacy protections on a global scale. As more and more companies and individuals across the world begin relying on cloud computing to store information digitally on remote servers, the Dutch researchers warn that the Patriot Act and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) allow for those files to be fed into the US intelligence community, disregarding privacy safeguards in place for others around the globe." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEuropeans outraged over the US using Patriot Act for worldwide spying