Thursday, September 30, 2010
[capitalismos] IL DUCE BERLUSCONI
The notoriously dysfunctional Italian government has been forced to come to terms with a national debt larger than Italy's entire GDP. Il Duce Berlusconi has proposed more than 30 billion euros in budget cuts over the next two years, including a billion-euro cut to the national health care system, and a crackdown on fraudulent disability payments. Berlusconi also called for a three-year pay freeze for all government workers.
Berlusconi delivered a speech to parliament calling for national unity. He also outlined a five-point plan, which included widespread tax cuts, aimed at drumming up support for his government. Berlusconi asserted that it is absolutely in the interests of Italy not to risk a period of instability in this moment where the crisis is not yet over. In the confidence vote, Berlusconi's center-right government received 342 votes for and 275 against, with three abstentions.
Basil Venitis muses Berlusconi has compared himself to Benito Mussolini, complaining that like the Second World War dictator he does not have enough real power. Berlusconi has often been accused of a dictatorial style of governance by the Opposition and even members of his own Rightist coalition.
Berlusconi won a vote of confidence in Italy's lower house of parliament on Wednesday. His term expires in 2013. Berlusconi has been without a parliamentary majority amid political infighting. But ahead of Wednesday's confidence vote, a group that broke away form Berlusconi's ruling coalition in July said they would support the government. We will not neglect our duty, we want to carry on till the end of the parliamentary term, said Italo Bocchino, parliamentary leader of the breakaway group, which is headed by Burlosconi's former ally Gianfranco Fini.
Venitis points out Il Duce cannot control his penis! Il Duce Berlusconi orders up playmates to his official residence as if they were a plate of oysters, by the dozen and preferably young and fresh. Il Duce is an illusionist. He always seizes upon a valid problem, but he does so purely out of self-interest. His tricks are based on distracting Italians. If he doesn't like something, he immediately tries to amend the constitution. This would be inconceivable in any other country. You can't depend on anything in Italy. Not even the truth and the country's demise. Italy has become increasingly enigmatic, bizarre, incomprehensible, and it continues to be a top vacation destination.
Venitis, twitter.com/Venitis, muses Italy is the global center of dolce vita. Italy has been in a state of political denial for years. Caesars mused that Britons can never be civilized, but now Britons are the most civilized people in the world, calling the Italians guineas! Italians doze in front of the television programs of media czar Il Duce Berlusconi, who himself has made a fulltime job of protecting his guineas in parliament with more and more new laws that will save them from prosecution. Meanwhile, opposition Italokleptocrats are devouring each other over trivialities.
Sicily is a mafia stronghold, but underworld power structures affect people all across the country. Organized crime constitutes 7% of Italy's gross domestic product(GDP). Most Sicilian businesses pay the pizzo, which costs on average 500 to 600 euros per month. It only accounts for around 5% of mafia income, but even so, it is important for mafia to retain it. If shop owners refuse to pay, they may be punished. For example, their buildings may be destroyed or they may receive death threats.
Omerta is a code of silence, common in areas of southern Italy, such as Sicily, Calabria, and Campania, where mafias like Cosa Nostra, Drangheta, and Camorra are strong. Omerta implies the categorical prohibition of cooperation with state authorities or reliance on its services, even when one has been victim of a crime. Even if somebody is convicted for a crime he has not committed, he is supposed to serve the sentence without giving the police any information about the real criminal, even if that criminal has nothing to do with the Mafia himself. Within Mafia culture, breaking omerta is punishable by death.
Secret societies run through the tapestry of Italy's history like a half-hidden thread: from the 19th-century proto-nationalists known as Carbonari to Propaganda Due (P2), a rogue Masonic lodge with a mission to infiltrate the organs of state and a membership that included politicians, soldiers, spooks, and Il Duce Berlusconi.
Prosecutors have cautioned seven people they suspect of belonging to an illegal cabal. Some are close to Berlusconi. Senator Marcello Dell'Utri, who is already fighting a conviction for mafia links, created the party with which Berlusconi entered politics. Denis Verdini is a national organizer of his current political vehicle, the People of Freedom movement (PdL). Nicola Cosentino was a junior economy minister.
Flavio Carboni of P3, is a businessman tried for murder in the still-mysterious death, in 1982, of Roberto Calvi, a prominent banker and P2 initiate. Carboni was jailed in connection with the P3 inquiry. P3 is conspiring to further Berlusconi's interests with a mix of dubious blandishments and dirty tricks. P3 dug into the sex life of an opposition candidate, plotted to influence a politically sensitive corruption inquiry, and tried to get at judges before they ruled on a measure to grant Berlusconi and others immunity from prosecution.
In leaked wiretaps members of P3 cite an authority figure code-named Caesar, Berlusconi himself! By defending the P3 suspects, rather than just letting the prosecutors do their work, Berlusconi leaves himself open to the charge of being mafioso. Il Duce Berlusconi has backed four ministers accused of shady dealings, both of whom subsequently resigned.
The son of a mafia kingpin revealed Berlusconi paid his father many millions of euros. Then at a youth convention of his People of Freedom party, Berlusconi made headlines by suggesting young women should look for wealthy boyfriends. Also his close ally Giorgio Stracquadanio sparked broad criticism for saying it was totally legitimate for women to use their bodies to kick-start their careers.
Berlusconi made headlines in 2008 with his crackdown on Gypsies. Around 20,00 Gypsies live in the capital city of Rome in about 100 camps. Gypsies do not steal, are not particularly bothersome, and do not defraud anyone. They scrounge and sell scrap metal, and in doing so they have, in a sense, found their niche, playing a vital environmental role in recycling. They live on the crumbs that fall from the tables of an affluent society. They spend half their days driving through the suburbs, searching for usable waste, and anyone who observes them as they make their rounds quickly realizes that they work hard to make ends meet. They remove the things that people no longer want, the television sets, ironing boards, stoves, and window frames left on the sidewalks. They dig around in garbage cans for electronic scrap or a few pieces of bread, and they go to the street markets at the end of the day to gather crushed vegetables and leftover fruit, and to take meat that is past its sell-by date off the hands of butchers.
[speakoutforum] RASMUSSEN ON RUSSIA AND TERRORIST TURKEY
A strategic partnership with Russia, dealing with terrorist Turkey, territorial missile defence and cyber attacks were among the issues discussed by NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen with MEPs and national MPs from the 27 EU Member States at a meeting on Tuesday. The EU civilian mission in Afghanistan and the question of democratic scrutiny over European security and defence policy were also addressed.
Russia could help create a real security architecture from Vancouver to Vladivostok, Fogh Rasmussen told the MEPs and 55 parliamentarians from the 27 Member States at an interparliamentary meeting to discuss the challenges facing the EU common security and defence policy(CSDP) following the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty.
Rasmussen said NATO's collective defence was rock solid and the alliance was seeking to establish a territorial missile defence system. Basil Venitis, twitter.com/Venitis, muses Medvedev's bear seems now to be a very different animal. The snarling statist bear with a statist head has been replaced by a lovable venitist bear, and while it may not be ready now to roll over and have its belly tickled, Russia will not take a bite out of its rivals. Uncle Sam(US) and Uncle Ken(UK) now like to pet this bear!
In response to Vitautas Landsbergis (EPP, LT) and Werner Schulz (Greens/EFA, DE) on Russia, he said he did not think Russian membership of NATO was realistic. However, NATO should develop a strategic partnership with Moscow in areas where security interests were shared, such as in combating terrorism and piracy.
Fourth Reich(EU) has only one enemy, terrorist Turkey. Rasmussen advocated an overall security agreement on Turkey and added that NATO would respect the EU's autonomy in decision-making on the CSDP. Basil Venitis, twitter.com/Venitis, points out NATO includes Turkey, the #1 terrorist nation on Earth, that indulges in genocides, such as the Armenian genocide, the Greek genocide, the Pontian genocide, and the Cypriot genocide, and pogroms such as the Istanbul pogrom, a state-sponsored and state-orchestrated pogrom that compelled Greeks to leave Istanbul, in violation to the Treaty of Lausanne. NATO should either expel terrorist Turkey or disband.
Turkey is joining forces with Iran and Syria in an antisemitic Islamofascist alliance that seeks to destroy Israel and Islamize Europe as part of a long-term strategy of establishing the Global Caliphate. We live a nightmare of the emergence of Turkey as a Middle Eastern hegemon that is challenging and counterbalancing the Western power and Graecoroman culture. Fourth Reich(EU) has only one enemy, terrorist Turkey.
New leaks prove that Turkey doublecrosses NATO, forwarding secrets to Iran! Even Israel's Defense Minister Ehud Barak has voiced concern that Turkey shares American, European, and Israeli intelligence secrets with Iran. Hakan Fidan, the new head of the Turkish National Intelligence Organization, has been sold to Iran! There are myriad secrets entrusted to Turkey, and they have become now open to Iranians. Appointed in May, Fidan was previously a foreign policy adviser to Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, whose AK Party has roots in terrorist Islam. Fidan has also helped to mediate between the West and Iran over Tehran's disputed nuclear program.
Even though Turkey is a signatory to the Chemical Weapons Convention, its armed forces and its Gray Wolves, the terrorist arm of the Turkish government, use biological and chemical weapons. Experts have confirmed the authenticity of many photographs that show Kurdish freedom fighters killed by chemical weapons. The evidence puts increasing pressure on the Turkish government, which has long been suspected of using chemical and biological weapons against Cypriots and Kurds.
Basil Venitis notes that since terrorist Turkey declared Casus Belli against Fourth Reich(EU) and barbarian Turcoterrorists continue to abuse the Fourthreichian islands near the Turkish border and traffic drugs and illegal immigrants to Greece, Fourth Reich reinforced its border management agency, Frontex, enhancing its operational capacity to support Greece against Turcoterrorism. Member States now put more equipment and more personnel at Frontex's disposal in the Aegean Sea of Greece. Frontex now coleads border patrol operations with Greece.
The chair of the Subcommittee on Security and Defence, Arnaud Danjean (EPP, FR) said the EU could not just give in to Turkey every time and a balanced approach was needed. To his question on civilian capacities, Rasmussen stressed that NATO also should develop a small civilian capacity, following the lesson learnt from Afghanistan and Kosovo but this would not mean any redundant duplication of EU capacities.
Tunne Kelam(EPP, EE) and Pino Arlacchi(ALDE, IT) asked about NATO's approach to cyber attacks. Rasmussen said NATO regarded this as a real threat that posed risks to military capabilities too. Potentially, yes, was his answer to a question by Ana Gomes(S&D, PT), whether NATO's mutual defence clause would be activated in the case of such an attack.
To a question on the Middle East by Ivo Vajgl(ALDE, SL), Rasmussen said it was premature to discuss what would happen if a peace deal were struck. However, if that happened and if the different parties and the UN so requested, the presence of international forces in the region would be needed.
The EU special representative and head of EU delegation in Afghanistan, Vygaudas Usackas, also addressed the meeting. The most important test of the military strategy comes now, if we leave now we leave a mess behind us, he told the chamber, listing the most important tasks to be addressed. Increased Afghan responsibility and ownership, the diversification of the economy and rolling back drug production, enhancing women's rights, regional cooperation and the reintegration into the society of former combatants were among the most pressing issues.
Pino Arlacchi(ALDE, IT), who is also Parliament's rapporteur on Afghanistan, called this list an extremely weak list of intentions but welcomed the special representative's more realistic vision of the role of the EU police force on the spot, that is to focus on building up local civil police forces. The integration of EU efforts into NATO's training programme was important, he added. Thijs Berman(S&D, NL), chair of Parliament's delegation on Afghanistan, said the civil police training should not take place under a NATO umbrella, as this alliance was a military organisation unlike EU's civilian force EUPOL.
The primary purpose of public diplomacy is to explain, promote, and defend principles to audiences abroad. This objective goes well beyond the public affairs function of presenting and explaining specific policies of various Administrations. Policies and Administrations change; principles do not, so long as a country remains true to itself. By all accounts, Americans have been absent from the battlefield of ideas. They blankout when Venitis asks them why they have not expelled terrorist Turkey from NATO. How can they sit next to terrorist Turks who committed the Cypriot genocide? How did Henry Kissinger finance the Turkish invasion of Cyprus?
Public diplomacy has a particularly vital mission during war, when the peoples of other countries, whether adversaries or allies, need to know why we fight. What are the ideas so dear to us that we would rather kill and die than live without them? And what antithetical ideas do our enemies embrace, about which they feel the same way? After all, it is a conflict of ideas that is behind the shooting wars, and it is that conflict which must be won to achieve any lasting success. The main reasons for failure stem from intellectual confusion regarding what it is we are defending and against whom we are defending it. Venitis asserts the greatest confusion of all is the inclusion of genocidal Turkey in NATO. Terrorist Turkey has committed the Armenian genocide, the Pontian genocide, the Greek genocide, and the Cypriot genocide.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Ξενάγηση-διαμαρτυρία στην Πάρνηθα
«Ξενάγηση» - διαμαρτυρία στον θαυμαστό κόσμο του καζίνο της Πάρνηθας, οργανώνεται, από όσους θεωρούν ότι το ζήτημα της Πάρνηθας τους αφορά, την Κυριακή 3 Οκτωβρίου στις 11πμ, στον χώρο του Καζίνο Πάρνηθας
Ανακοίνωση της κίνησης πολιτών: «ΠΑΡΕΜΒΑΣΗ ΓΙΑ ΤΗΝ ΠΑΡΝΗΘΑ»
ΝΑ ΕΝΑΝΤΙΩΘΟΥΜΕ ΣΕ ΝΕΕΣ ΕΓΚΑΤΑΣΤΑΣΕΙΣ ΣΤΗΝ ΠΑΡΝΗΘΑ
Το καλοκαίρι του 2007 κάηκαν στη Πάρνηθα 56.000 στρέμματα δάσους. Λίγες εβδομάδες αργότερα, με απόφαση του Γ.Γ Περιφέρειας Αττικής εξαιρέθηκαν από την αναδάσωση 62,5 στρ. καμένης γης, Διαβάστε περισσότερα
Πως η παγκοσμιοποίηση σκοτώνει την φύση
Πως η παγκοσμιοποίηση σκοτώνει την φύση στην COSTA RICA και σε όλο τον πλανήτη;
Απλά, αφήνει τον πληθυσμό νηστικό και αυτός αρπάζει ότι μπορεί για να ζήσει!
Δείτε Διαβάστε περισσότερα
Μπορούμε και μόνοι μας
Μπορούμε και μόνοι μας. Δεν είναι ανάγκη να χρυσοπληρώνουμε άλλους για προϊόντα και υπηρεσίες που μπορούμε να παράξουμε και να εξασφαλίσουμε εμείς οι ίδιοι στα σπίτια και στις κοινότητές μας. Αυτό που απαιτείται είναι με συλλογική δουλειά και αλλαγή νοοτροπίας. Αρκεί να θυμηθούμε πως ζούσαν οι παλαιότερες γενιές στην Ελλάδα και στον κόσμο... το πηγάδι στην αυλή, τον ξυλόφουρνο, τον αργαλειό δίπλα στα παραθύρια, τα οικόσιτα ζώα, το μποστάνι. Και αν ξεμάθαμε θαμπωμένοι απο ένα τεχνητό φως ευμάρειας, ήρθε η ώρα να συνέλθουμε. Αλλού βρίσκεται η πραγματική πηγή φωτός. Οι καιροί δίνουν το έναυσμα, και ευτυχώς κάποιοι έχουν ήδη ξεκινήσει.
ΟΧΙ στην παραχώρηση του πρώην αεροδρομίου
ΟΧΙ των 4 δημάρχων στην παραχώρηση του πρώην αεροδρομίου του Ελληνικού
Την σφοδρή αντίθεσή τους στην επιχειρούμενη παραχώρηση του πρώην αεροδρομίου εκφράζουν οι Δήμαρχοι Αλίμου, Αργυρούπολης, Γλυφάδας και Ελληνικού τονίζοντας ότι δεν αφορά μόνο έναν ελεύθερο χώρο αλλά ουσιαστικά τους όρους ζωής των μελλοντικών γενιών.
Οι δήμαρχοι συναντήθηκαν - μία μέρα μετά τα δημοσιεύματα στον Τύπο σχετικά με την παραχώρηση μέρους του πρώην αεροδρομίου στο κρατικό fund του Κατάρ (QIA) - στο Ελληνικό στα πλαίσια προγραμματισμένης συνάντησής τους για την παρουσίαση της μελέτης του ΕΜΠ για το Μητροπολιτικό Πάρκο και αποφάσισαν να ζητήσουν με επιστολή τους
Για περισσότερες πληροφορίες και ολοκληρωμένη ενημέρωση:
Συν ΒΙΟΖΩ και χείρα κίνει!
«ΒΙΟΖΩ» - Πανελλήνια Ένωση Καταναλωτών "ΒΙΟ-ΚΑΤΑΝΑΛΩΤΕΣ ΓΙΑ ΠΟΙΟΤΙΚΗ ΖΩΗ", ΜακΜίλλαν 10, Πατήσια, 11144 Αθήνα. Τηλ/Φαξ: 210-522 23 23, 697-9734591, Ηλ.Ταχ: email@biozo.org Ιστοσελίδες: www.biozo.gr
Στείλτε την γνώμη σας στην ΒΙΟΖΩ
Σύμφωνα με το άρθρο 14 του Νόμου 2672/98 (ΦΕΚ 290 τεύχος Α) η ηλεκτρονική αυτή επιστολή (email), σε καμία περίπτωση δεν μπορεί να θεωρηθεί μη επιτρεπτή (spam), διότι περιέχει τα στοιχεία του αποστολέα και την δυνατότητα διαγραφής από τη λίστα παραληπτών.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
[capitalismos] POLITICAL ANNIHILATIONS
Anthony Samaras, leader of Nea Democratia, the most corrupt political party on Earth, declares he can annihilate deficits! Obviously, Samaras and his Neodemokleptocrats are apprentice magicians who, however, are responsible for the present deficits with their actions. The shitscum of the cradle of democracy cannot annihilate anything, unless of course they consist of antimatter. If Neodemokleptocrats were antigreeks, they could annihilate Greeks!
Basil Venitis muses that singer Anna Vissi, born in 1957, is the most admired person in Greece, whereas the most contemptible ape is Costas Caramanlis. Abolishing kleptocracy in modern Greece will prove even more futile than the famous search by Diogenes for an honest man in Ancient Greece. Greece is George Orwell's Dystopia with the four infamous ministries, Minitrue(Education), Miniluv(Police), Miniplenty(Economy), and Minipax(Defense).
Samaras was my roommate at Amherst College of Massachusetts, and I could have never imagined he would cover up the most corrupt kleptocrat on Earth, Costas Caramanlis. How low could Samaras go! Even George Caratzaferis, leader of the religulous Laos party, does not want to deal with Samaras!
Greeks are fed up with all politicians, especially Neodemokleptocrats. A range of government policies since the end of dictatorship in 1974 have made them feel powerless and betrayed by a centralized kleptocracy that claims to know what is good for them better than they do themselves. The welfare Graecokleptocracy has created not a feeling of security but a culture of dependency on crumbs and sinecures and a loss of responsibility. The all-powerful 300 Graecokleptocrats are willing to say anything to fool Greeks and do anything to get kickbacks.
Venitis muses that I am a Don Quixote who is tilting at the windmills of speculators, Papaconstantinou is a Sancho Panza who helps me attack imaginary kallikantzaroi, and my quixotic adventures lead nowhere, because I am surrounded by Graecokleptocrats who play farces on me! The cruel practical jokes eventually will lead Don Quixote to a great melancholy. Well, this might be true, but I will never come down to the level of Samaras.
Nea Democratia, the most corrupt political party on Earth, is the conservative party of Greece. Founded in 1974 by Nazi spy Constantine Caramanlis, Nea Democratia formed the first cabinet of the Third Greek Republic. The Nea Democratia government was uncontrollably looting Greece with myriad scandals from 2004 to 2009. Nea Democratia is now the main opposition party in the Greek Parliament after its smashing defeat in the 2009 Greek elections in which it recorded its historical lowest percentage of votes 33.5%. A recent venitist poll shows the party is now supported only by 15% of the Greek voters! For all practical purposes Nea Democratia is dead. Good riddance!
Venitis notes that during the Nea Democratia years there was sadly a culture of wild and reckless spending and corruption by government ministries and quangos. If an individual had run up debts so irresponsibly they would face legal consequences. Neodemokleptocrats went on a spending spree with no thought for the cost. No thought for the consequences of their myriad scandals. No thought for the future generations who would have to pick up the bills. Quite frankly, they didn't give a damn. Because after all, it wasn't their money. It was the Greeks' money.
Since coming to power and looking at the books, Pasok ministers have asked each other Why did they behave so badly. Why did Neodemocrats do it? The answer is really simple. Because they could, and because they enjoyed immunity. By running up colossal debts on the nation's credit card, by robbing the Treasury, and receiving myriad kickbacks. Impunity galore!
Venitis asserts what Neodemokleptocrats did to the Greek people is frankly criminal. Do they regret it? Have they apologized? Will they promise not to do it again? Not at all. The fact is that Nea Democratia is in complete denial about its legacy. Costas Caramanlis, the most corrupt politician on Earth, has not said a single word yet! Neodemokleptocrats are scraping around for someone else to blame.
They blame the recession. But they grew the deficit during the good years. They blame the global downturn. They are blaming the bad Pasok. They are blaming everyone and anyone, except themselves. Neodemokleptocrats are simply in denial. They absolutely refuse to face up to the harm they have caused. And surely until they admit their guilt they can never be trusted. The fact is that Nea Democratia is not fit to criticize, until it comes to terms with its role in what went wrong.
I assert the first thing Neodemokleptocrats should do is apologize to the Greek people. Say sorry to the nation for the way they wasted money and the myriad kickbacks they received. Because their incompetence and corruption is going to hit every Greek's pocket. Their imprudence is the reason why some public sector jobs will go. Their irresponsibility is the cause of the spending cuts. Their scandals is the reason of the low national character and the fact that Greece is now considered the most corrupt country on Earth. If and when they apologize, it's only fair those Neodemocrats directly responsible should share some of the pain. At least one hundred Neodemokleptocrats should go to jail and their assets confiscated.
[speakoutforum] SEPTEMBER 28, INTERNATIONAL RIGHT TO KNOW DAY
On 28 September 2002 Freedom of Information organizations from various countries around the globe meeting in Sofia, Bulgaria, created a network of Freedom of Information Advocates(FOIA Network) and agreed to collaborate in promotion of the individual right of access to information and open, transparent governance. The group of FOI Advocates also proposed that 28 September be nominated as International Right to Know Day in order to symbolize the global movement for promotion of the right to information.
The aim of having a Right to Know Day is to raise awareness of the right to information. It is a day on which freedom of information activists from around the world can use further to promote this fundamental human right and to campaign for open, democratic societies in which there is full citizen empowerment and participation in government.
The right of access to information is an important human right, necessary for the enjoyment of other human rights. The right to information is essential for transparent and accountable government. The right of access to information makes possible the public involvement in formulating social policies and in the decision-making processes of governance. The right to information can only be effectively exercised and implemented on the basis of laws, regulating this right in accordance with international standards.
On the occasion of the International Right to Know Day, the European Ombudsman, Nikiforos Diamandouros, has called on the EU administration to be as transparent and citizen-friendly as possible. Speaking in an event he co-organised with Transparency International in Brussels, entitled "Transparency at the EU level and in the Member States", he pointed out that only if European citizens feel that the EU administration is transparent, accessible and accountable, will they develop the necessary trust and willingness actively to participate in the democratic life of the Union.
Basil Venitis muses that Transparency International(TI) kowtows to kleptocrats for consulting fees. TI Chair, Huguette Labelle, La Belle de Jour, TI chairwoman, rubs shoulders with kleptocrats, begging for fees! TI has deteriorated to a spindoctor of kleptocrats! TI itself is not transparent, but translucent, transformed to Translucency International!
More than one third of the Ombudsman's inquiries concern complaints about lack of transparency in the EU administration. Such complaints concern, for example, access to information or documents, the composition of working groups, or the institutions' policy making.
Diamandouros stressed the Lisbon Treaty provides for greater transparency in the activities of the EU administration. It requires the Council to meet in public when it deliberates on draft legislation and contains the citizens' right of access to documents of all EU institutions, bodies, offices and agencies, including, for the first time, the European Council. The Treaty also requires the EU administration to conduct its work as openly as possible, in order to promote good governance and the participation of civil society. Diamandouros is committed to informing citizens about their right to know what the EU administration is doing.
The Ombudsman also receives an increasing number of complaints that raise ethical concerns. They range from the question of what gifts EU officials may accept to the issue of revolving doors whereby former Commissioners or EU officials move to the private sector thereby running the risk of creating conflicts of interest. With a view to identifying best practices with regard to the fundamental ethical principles that should apply to EU officials, the Ombudsman recently launched a consultation with the national ombudsmen in the Member States.
Venitis asserts kleptocrats are absolutely shameless in trying to protect themselves and their colleagues from legitimate inquiry into their activities. Even though parliaments have passed a number of whistle-blower statutes to protect employees from retaliation when reporting the misdeeds of their superiors, the staff of parliaments, precisely the people who are most likely to know about political corruption, enjoy no such protection.
Kleprocrats have repeatedly tried to find constitutional ways of limiting the free speech of real and potential opponents. What is even more remarkable, kleptocrats are not content with just trying to protect themselves, but have gone so far as to try to protect corrupt foreign leaders from those who may wish to expose their wrongdoing.
Kleptocrats depend on elaborate mythologies to keep the people complacent in the face of constant attacks on their liberty, their property, and their lives. Kings used to proclaim that they ruled with divine approval, so disobedience to them was actually disobedience to God. That worked to keep most of the citizenry in line for a very long time. As religion started losing its hold over people, kleptocrats came up with many ideas. The most ridiculous idea was that the state was like a big, sheltering family where everyone had to cooperate for the common good, as directed by kleptocrats.
Basil Venitis, twitter.com/Venitis, points out the Ministry of Truth or Minitrue in Newspeak was how George Orwell described the mechanism used by government to control information in his seminal novel of 1984. Now, governments have been rocked by the power of the internet and are seeking to gain control of it so that they will have a virtual monopoly on information that the public is able to access. But there is no way Minitrue can gag the internet. Even mainstream media, Fourth Estate, have praised bloggers as the Fifth Estate. Clergy is the First Estate, nobility is the Second Estate, and commoners is the Third Estate.
With venitist Yahoo Groups, we're better off now that managers of kleptocratic offices where potential leakers dwell have one more reason to look over their shoulders. At some point, even the most stupid kleptocratic dinosaurs just might recognize that they're living in a new environment, one where kleptocrats are no more able to control the flow of embarrassing information than record companies can control the flow of digital music files. Thanks to the Internet, a new wave of grassroots journalists, and a global network of venitists, it's less risky than ever before to release incriminating information anonymously. The result will be a world where it's easier to expose misbehavior and to deter it.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Sunday, September 26, 2010
[capitalismos] UNIVERSAL NUDNIK
The goals of the United Nations should remain those defined in the original UN Charter:
* to maintain international peace and security;
* to develop friendly relations among nations;
* to achieve international co-operation in solving international problems.
The United Nations should not divert from these principles. It should not search for alternative or substitute projects to those which enhance peace, freedom and democracy. It should remain an intergovernmental platform, based on the plurality of views of its member states, and on our mutual respect towards their sometimes differing positions.
Basil Venitis, twitter.com/Venitis, points out the United Nations(UN), aka Universal Nudnik, is a very corrupt organization, headed by the Secretary General, aka Civil Pope. At an Independent Inquiry into the Universal Nudnik Oil-for-Food Program, 3,000 companies from 70 countries paid bribes totalling about two billion dollars in exchange for contracts for delivery of goods to meet humanitarian needs. There were another 150 companies from 40 countries that reportedly paid illicit surcharges on oil purchases from Iraq. Civil Pope Kofi Anan himself got kickbacks!
Let me briefly touch upon two issues which form part of the current UN agenda.
The first issue is the worldwide economic crisis and the methods to overcome it. I am afraid we are moving in a wrong direction. The anti-crisis measures that have been proposed and already partly implemented follow from the assumption that the crisis was a failure of markets and that the right way out is more regulation of markets. This is a mistaken assumption. It is not possible to prevent any future crisis by implementing substantial, markets damaging macroeconomic and regulatory government interventions as it is the case now. It is only possible to destroy the markets and together with them the chances for economic growth and prosperity in both developed and developing countries.
The solution to this or any other crisis does not lie in rising protectionism and it is positive that most governments have behaved quite rationally in this respect. The solution doesn't lie in more bureaucracy either, in creating new governmental and supranational agencies, or in aiming at global governance of the world economy. On the contrary, this is the time for international organizations, including the Universal Nudnik, to reduce their expenditures, make their administrations thinner and leave the solutions to the governments of the member states which are directly accountable to the citizens of their countries.
Developing countries should not be prevented from economic growth. They need access to foreign markets and they need free trade. I emphasized many times that we must pay attention to the costs and benefits of our decisions. The developing countries must not be forced into agreements about ever more ambitious targets in the fight against climate change, moreover, in a situation when the developed countries themselves are far from meeting those targets.
The Universal Nudnik should not have an all-encompassing agenda. It should not turn away from political topics towards "scientific" ones. The UN is not here to determine what science is but to engage its member states in a rational, reasoned debate about political issues. The most harmful political debate we have been witnessing in the last couple of years is about climate and global warming.
We should not resign on elementary values and principles most of us share and this brings me to the second issue I wish to mention – nuclear non-proliferation. In April this year, my country was hosting an important event during which the President of Russia and the President of the United States signed a treaty on further reduction and limitation of strategic offensive arms. We see this treaty as an important step forward and as a visible signal in the efforts to make our complicated world safer. Let's hope that it will have a further continuation in the foreseeable future.
We do not dispute the right of any country to use atomic energy for peaceful purposes but it must do so in a responsible way. It is not possible for some countries to ignore the agreed and respected international standards, to threaten stability in their regions and to increase the risks of proliferation.
The Universal Nudnik is a unique forum, at which both small and big countries are represented. They are countries with different political, economic and social systems, with different neighbors, with different historical experience and geopolitical position, and more importantly, with different levels of income, wealth and development. This is precisely what makes the UN unique and irreplaceable.
Instead of increasingly becoming a source of funds for various, sometimes very dubious non-governmental organizations which – without any accountability and control – seek to profit from the UN activities, the Universal Nudnik should strive to be an efficient body where states and their people are represented. The Universal Nudnik's role is not to push for global governance and to play the central role in it. The Universal Nudnik exists primarily to enhance friendly relations among its members and to look for solutions to problems which can't be confined to national boundaries.
Venitis notes that Ban Ki-moon, the former South Korean foreign minister, has been a weak Universal Nudnik Civil Pope. At Turtle Bay and elsewhere, the Civil Pope is seen as a disappointment and as the wrong man to assume a prominent role and lead the global community at a time when the world's political axis is shifting from America to Europe. Ban is more secretary than general. Many global organizations suffer from the fact that they are run by uncharismatic bureaucrats. In most cases, this is the fault of the kleptocrats who prefer to elevate weak figures, who won't meddle too much.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
[speakoutforum] FOURTHREICHIAN CROSSROADS
Fourth Reich(EU)is now the largest, wealthiest economy in the world, almost as large as the US and China combined. Until the great recession hit in 2008, Fourth Reich enjoyed higher per capita economic growth than the United States for a decade.
Fourth Reich attracts more than double the foreign direct investment than the US. And Fourth Reich exports are much higher than the US, as a percentage of GDP. Not bad for a continent that is supposed to be dying.
Compared to China's huge surplus and the US's huge deficit, Fourth Reich looks relatively balanced. Of course, there are disparities within the European Union nations, but a more coordinated and dynamic European Union should even this out.
And despite Fourth Reich's generous social welfare system, we still manage to remain comparatively competitive. There are more European countries in the top ten of global competitiveness rankings than all other regions combined.
In fact, I would argue the opposite is true. Europeans actually pay less for social services they receive than Americans, from child care to health care. Far from creating inefficiencies, the European social security system is a springboard for growth and development. So the European experience demonstrates that social justice and economic progress are not mutually exclusive.
One of American Nobel Prizewinners, Paul Krugman, has summed up our strengths neatly, by saying, "Europe is the world leader in figuring out how to harness capitalism so that its prosperity is broadly shared and ecologically sustainable."
Eurosceptics like to portray our continent as an aging relic. Old Europe is in fact quite young. The European Economic Community was founded in 1957. In its current reincarnation, the EU was only officially ratified in 1993.
Basil Venitis considers Fourth Reich(EU) null and void confederation, because Europeans did not vote for any constitutional treaty! Eurokleptocrats pulled off the biggest powergrab in history by imposing a camouflaged constitution, bypassing all nonos. The Nazi dream for Europe was finally fullfilled - ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Fuehrer - one people, one empire, one leader. Venitis muses the Lisbon Treaty is Eurokleptocracy's Pyrrhic victory. It created a confederation, Fourth Reich, without a popular foundation. EU lacks legitimacy among Europeans. Eurokleptocrats created a situation where the citizens of slave States live their lives with a resigned feeling that the EU project is not their own. Since EU is illegal, VAT is also illegal! No vote, no VAT, it's as simple as that! Europeans have the right to refuse paying VAT!
Since then we have established a common market, a common currency, and even common borders. So yes, Fourth Reich is still a work in progress. There is always room for improvement. But as we continue to move towards closer integration, our institutions are becoming more transparent, our governance structure is becoming more coherent, our commitment to make our partnership for peace and prosperity work for all citizens has never been stronger.
Basil Venitis, twitter.com/Venitis, points out Eurokleptocracy, gigaregulation, Antitrust Armageddon, and gigataxation, especially VAT, are the real causes of the European financial meltdown. Democracy in Fourth Reich(EU) has deteriorated to kleptocracy, and Fourthreichians, aka Europeans, are mad as hell. Eurokleptocracy thrives on waste, fraud, abuse,and kickbacks. European Union(EU), aka Fourth Reich, an illegal unvoted confederation, condones the European Commission(EC), aka Eldorado of Corruption, the European Parliament(EP), aka Eldorado of Prostitutes, and Graecokleptocrats, the most corrupt politicians on Earth.
Time and again, Fourth Reich has proved its remarkable capacity for renewal. There are compelling reasons to believe that a dynamic, revitalized Europe will be better situated to deal with future challenges and help not only Fourth Reich itself but help, with the US and many other regional powers, our planet be a better place. So those who predict the decline and fall of Fourth Reich would be wise to think again. There are useful lessons to be learned from Fourth Reich's successes.
Venitis asserts that VAT and kleptocracy are two good reasons to secede from Fourth Reich(EU) now. Vatstruck Fourthreichians are looking for a Moses to liberate them from the yoke of Brussels. They have to do it now, before a new imposed treaty between Eurokleptocrats tie their hands forever. Californians and Texans want to secede from USA, but Uncle Sam does not allow it. The same thing might happen with Britons and Greeks. Infinite infinitesimal amendments to treaties might accumulate over time, leading to huge changes of original intent, enslaving all Fourthreichians to antivenitist Brussels forever!
Zeus, the father of all Greek gods, fell madly in love with Europa, the daughter of a Phoenician king. When Zeus later realized that his beloved was doomed to pursue the path of an ordinary mortal, he named a continent after her and proclaimed Europa immortal, because the continent that has accepted her body shall bear her name for all time. Neverteless, there are reasons to be very worried about Europe, as it is as mortal as a Phoenician princess.
Ode To Joy, An die Freude, anthem of Fourth Reich, is an ode written in 1785 by the German poet, playwright, and historian Friedrich Schiller, celebrating the ideal of unity and brotherhood of all mankind. It is best known for its musical setting by Ludwig van Beethoven in the final movement of his Ninth Symphony, completed in 1824.
ODE TO JOY
Joy, beautiful sparkle of the gods,
Daughter of Elysium!
We enter, fire-drunk,
Heavenly one, your shrine.
Your magic again binds
What custom has firmly parted.
All men become brothers
Where your tender wing lingers.
[epohigroup] H «Εποχή» της Κυριακής- συνεχίζεται η γιορτή της “Εποχής” στο Θησείο [1 Attachment]
Η εποxη
Διαβάστε (και αν συμφωνείτε) διαδώστε:
Στην «Εποχή» της Κυριακής:
Κεντρικός τίτλος: Η Ευρώπη στους δρόμους
ΠΟΛΙΤΙΚΗ
Α. Π. Θάνος: "Κατάρ, ο τέταρτος δρόμος για τον σοσιαλισμό"
«Ρεπορτάζ από την Αριστερά": Γράφουν Π. Λάμπρου, Ιωάννα Δρόσου
ΣΥΡΙΖΑ: μιλούν στην «Εποχή»:
Νίκος Γαλάνης: «Διχαστήκαμε, αλλά συγκυριακά»
Πάνος Σκουρλέτης: «Η υπόθεση της ενότητας δεν είναι ουδέτερη έννοια»
Οικολόγοι – Πράσινοι: Έντονες διαφωνίες για την Αθήνα
Δημοκρατική Αριστερά: Ποικιλία επιλογών, αλλά με κορμό τη συνεργασία του ΠΑΣΟΚ
ΟΙΚΟΝΟΜΙΑ – ΕΡΓΑΣΙΑ – ΑΛΛΗΛΕΓΓΥΗ
«Στο πεδίο των αξιών η αναγκαία παρέμβαση της Αριστεράς», του Νικόλα Σεβαστάκη
«Το νέο τοπίο της εργασίας και της συλλογικής δράσης», του Πέτρου Λινάρδου – Ρυλμόν
«Ο ηγέτης του στρατού της σωτηρίας...», της Τζίνας Πολίτη
«Το δημόσιο χρέος είναι και ζήτημα φορολογίας», του Άγγελου Κούρου
«Ευθύνες και στην εργοδοσία για την τραγωδία της Marfin», του Χ. Γεωργούλα
"29 Σεπτέμβρη: Κινητοποιήσεις παντού στην Ευρώπη" του Γιάννη Αλμπάνη
ΚΟΙΝΩΝΙΑ
Πέτρος Λινάρδος-Ρυλμόν: «Κέντρο της Αθήνας: οι επικίνδυνες παραλήψεις του Συνηγόρου του Πολίτη»
Ελένης Καρασαβίδου: «Όταν ο ρατσισμός ντύνεται στα καλά του»
Ρόζα Κοβάνη: «Διαδηλωτές τρομοκράτες θέλει η κυβέρνηση»
ΔΙΕΘΝΗ
Σαμπίνε Γιλ: Η ευρωβουλευτής του Die Linke μιλά στον Δημ. Γκιβίση
Κούβα: "Ανοίγματα, μεγάλες προσδοκίες και κίνδυνοι" του Μπ. Κοβάνη
Βραζιλία: «Χρηματιστήριο και φαβέλες ψηφίζουν Λούλα», του Γκέιζα Μαρία Ρότσα
Γάζα: Καταπέλτης το πόρισμα του ΟΗΕ για την αιματηρή επίθεση των Ισραηλινών στο στόλο της ειρήνης, της Μαρίας Σιδηροπούλου
Σουηδία: "Η ιστορική η κρίση της σοσιαλδημοκρατίας"του Ν. Σερβετά
ΠΑΙΔΕΙΑ
Κωστής Χατζημιχάλης: «Πως η υπεράσπιση του δημόσιου συμφέροντος μετατρέπεται σε αδίκημα»
ΠΕΡΙΒΑΛΛΟΝ
«Το Ελληνικό εμιράτο του Χασανίου», του Παύλου Καλαμακιώτη
«Ελληνικό, όπως Ντουμπάϊ», του Νίκου Μπελαβίλα
«Ο Δήμος Ηλιούπολης απειλή για τον Υμηττό»
«Οι δυο πληγές της Ανάφης», του Χρ. Πουλάκη
«Τα καπρίτσια του καιρού: Υπάρχει ελπίδα», του Αργύρη Αργυρίου
Μεσσαπία: «Αποτίμηση της επίσκεψης της υπουργού» του Κώστα Χαϊνά.
ΠΟΛΙΤΙΣΜΟΣ
Έλενα Πατρικίου: Σε συνέντευξη της ρωτά «Μας ενδιαφέρει αν τρέμει το γεφύρι;»
«Το πολιτικό τραγούδι σήμερα» της Ελιάνας Περηφάνου
«Κίνηση Μαβίλη»: μια αυθόρμητη συνάντηση καλλιτεχνών
«Ο ισπανικός εμφύλιος στην τέχνη»
"Επίδαυρος: Να γιουχάρω ή να μη γιουχάρω; Ιδού το ερώτημα!»,
της Ελ. Περηφάνου
ΤΟΠΙΚΗ ΑΥΤΟΔΙΟΙΚΗΣΗ
Οι Περιφερειακές και Δημοτικές κινήσεις σε δράση.
Ρεπορτάζ, δηλώσεις, σχόλια απ' όλη την Ελλάδα.
ΟΙ ΜΟΝΙΜΕΣ ΣΤΗΛΕΣ:
«Ό,τι συμβεί στα πέριξ» της Γωγώς Παυλοπούλου
«Ξούθου και Μενάνδρου γωνία» του Κ. Κρεμύδα
«Αφρόδιχτα της Αριστερής όχθης» του Γεράσιμου του Aλιέα
«Στα δίκτυα του κόσμου» του Δημήτρη Γκιβίση
Η σελίδα της Θεσσαλονίκης,
Δελτίο ανεργατικής θυέλλης
Μουσικές Προτάσεις. Επιμέλεια Λιάνας Μαλανδρενιώτη
Κινηματογράφος: Παρουσίαση από τον Στράτο Κερσανίδη
EX LIBRIS: Βιβλιοκριτική από τη Μ. Θεοδοσοπούλου
Η Εποχή της Κυριακής, μέσα στα κινήματα, στην Αριστερά
Κόντρα στον καιρό συνεχίζεται η γιορτή της "Εποχής" στο Θησείο
Attachment(s) from gerasimos balaouras
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