Egyptian Activists See Hypocrisy In BART Shutdown, London Riots

Huffington Post

The Egyptian activists are calling it "muBARTak."

When authorities from Bay Area Rapid Transit decided, last week, to cut off cell phone service in their stations in order to prevent a protest against transportation police abuses, it drew the notice of more than just San Francisco radicals and Anonymous.

In the Middle East, where a handful of burgeoning democracies are struggling to cast off decades of autocratic rule, the cell phone blockage seemed to be part of a disturbing trend -- and eerily reminiscent of local protest experiences.

To read article GO HERE

Here is part of the demonstrators' response to the ban on cell phones

Sarkozy and Merkel call for 'true economic government' to save eurozone

Plan for European economic government with single leader, drawn up after mini-summit, cautiously welcomed by UK

Guardian

Tuesday 16 August 2011 20.55 BST

France and Germany have set out plans to create the first "true European economic government" headed by a single appointed leader, as part of major moves to synchronise tax and spending to save the failing eurozone.

The French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, and German chancellor, Angela Merkel, announced the dramatic proposals after a two-hour mini-summit. They also called for the imposition of tighter restrictions on member country's deficits and announced a synchronising of the tax policies of their own two countries. Sarkozy has also secured the support of Merkel for a Tobin tax – a financial tax on all international transactions – to raise funds to ease the crisis engulfing the European economy.

The establishment of an economic government for the eurozone will be regarded by eurosceptics as a political power grab for Europe.

To read article GO HERE

Putin Sets Sights on Eurasian Economic Union

Financial Times

Tuesday, 16 Aug 2011 | 8:20 PM ET

Twenty years after the Soviet Union collapsed, Vladimir Putin, the Russian prime minister, may not, as is sometimes alleged, be trying to recreate it. But he is pursuing a different project – to build a “quasi-European Union” out of former Soviet states.

A customs union he launched a year ago between Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan has already removed tariffs and customs controls along the three states’ internal borders.

Come January this is due to expand into a “common economic space”, ensuring free movement of goods, services and capital across a single market of 165m people – 60 per cent of the former Soviet population.

At a Moscow summit this month, prime ministers of the three states set an even more ambitious target – turning the grouping into a “Eurasian economic union” by 2013. There is even talk, down the line, of a common currency.

To read article GO HERE

Venezuela Makes A Huge Transfer Of Gold From Switzerland To Banks In China, Russia, And Brazil

Business Insider

Aug. 17, 2011, 7:06 AM

Just days after returning home from another round of chemotherapy in Cuba, Hugo Chavez has ordered billions of dollars in cash and hundreds of tons of gold to be relocated.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Venezuela will move the cash from Swiss and English banks to Russia, China, and Brazil while moving hundred of tons of bullion from abroad into its own central bank vaults.

To read article GO HERE

Mercedes Targeted as Luxury Cars Burned in German Globalization Protests

BLOOMBERG

Aug 17, 2011 11:41 PM GMT+1200

Berlin resident Renate Langanke woke up shortly after midnight to a loud explosion. When the pensioner peeked out her window, she saw flames billowing from two Mercedes-Benz brand cars parked across the street.

“Fire and smoke were everywhere, you could smell burned rubber, it was awful,” said Langanke, who lives in a sleepy area with tree-lined alleys in white-collar western Berlin. “I’ve always felt safe here, now I’m scared.”

Arsonists have set fire to 26 cars in the German capital in the last two days, mainly from Daimler AG (DAI)’s Mercedes, Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW) and Volkswagen AG (VOW)’s Audi, police said today. That brings the total number torched this year in Berlin to at least 138, more than double the figure for all of 2010.

The rise in Berlin car burnings coincides with widespread lawlessness that erupted last week across England. More than 1,500 people were arrested as rioters looted shops, attacked bystanders and burnt autos. In Berlin, far-left extremists are specifically targeting German luxury cars, symbols of the country’s wealth and export prowess, police said.

“The arsonists want to hit what they say are ‘Fat Cats,’” Berlin police spokesman Michael Gassen said. A special unit is investigating the fires as political crimes after the police received letters claiming responsibility that derided globalization, gentrification and rising rents, he said.

For article GO HERE

Thousands of Chinese Protest Against Power Outages

Article translated by Rice Farmer (Collapse Net)

"5,000 People Block Roads, Protest Against Repeated Power Outages

The Hong Kong daily Oriental Daily News reported on August 15 that on the night of August 14 in the Chinese city of Chengdu, Sichuan Province, about 5,000 local people protested repeated power outages and blocked roads.  This area has many poor people, who suspect that authorities are discriminating against them [by cutting their power in favor of other areas]. Recently temperatures have been running near 40°C, and reportedly public water supplies were also off."

Of course, water pumps won't run without electricity. Duh!  I suspect we are hearing about only a few of many outages and protests. -- Rice Farmer

Japan: Excessive levels of radioactive cesium found 100 km from plant

Mainichi Daily News

August 17, 2011

Excessive levels of radioactive cesium were found in sludge in a ditch at a district court branch in Fukushima Prefecture, about 100 kilometers west of the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, the court said Tuesday.

The isotope in the sludge, sampled from a ditch at the Fukushima District Court's Aizuwakamatsu branch, measured about 186,000 becquerels per kilogram, the court said, adding it plans to remove the sludge after consulting with local governments.

Under government standards, sludge can be used in a landfill as long as the radioactive cesium contained in it measures 8,000 becquerels per kilogram or lower.

The court has barred entry within 1 meter of the area where the sludge was sampled and another where radiation levels were higher than other locations on the premises, but that has not disrupted court business, it said.

The nuclear power plant, operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co., spewed massive amounts of radioactive materials into the air and ocean after a series of explosions that followed the March earthquake and tsunami.

For article GO HERE

Japan's trade surplus down 90.8% vs a year ago

SYDNEY (MarketWatch) -- Japan's trade surplus reached 72.5 billion yen ($947.9 million) in July, a drop of 90.8% compared to a year ago. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had expected a surplus of 70.1 billion yen. Exports declined 3.3% to 5.78 trillion yen in July, data from the Ministry of Finance released Thursday showed, while imports rose 9.9% to 5.71 trillion yen. Japan swung to a 70.737 billion yen trade surplus in June.

For article GO HERE

Drought so far cost Texas farms record $5.2 billion

MSNBC

The blistering drought in Texas has caused an estimated $5.2 billion in crop and livestock losses so far this agricultural season, a record figure likely to rise further, state officials said Wednesday.

Field surveys from November 2010 to Aug. 1 this year indicate livestock losses of $2.1 billion and crop losses of $3.1 billion in Texas.

For article GO HERE

Singapore Posts Surprising Export Decline

Wall Street Journal

August 17, 2011

Singapore's exports unexpectedly fell in July, dragged by lower electronics shipments and a stronger local currency, fueling concerns that the island nation's economy may slip into recession.

Exports of non-oil goods made in Singapore fell 2.8% from a year earlier, after rising a downwardly revised 1% in June, trade promotion agency International Enterprise Singapore said Wednesday. That's in stark contrast to the 4.7% growth predicted by a Dow Jones poll of 10 economists, none of whom had predicted a decline.

For article GO HERE