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To: goldsnow who wrote (17065)	9/19/2000 8:54:30 AM
From: GUSTAVE JAEGER	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 17770

Actually, some observers have hastily counted their chickens.... Europe's oil crisis ain't over yet. What happened in the last couple of weeks was just the first oil-shock wave. Further after-shocks are likely to occur in the coming weeks as winter looms large. The '97 Asian crisis will look like a picnic compared to Europe's belly-landing.... Right now, the local economy looks like a pristine piece of porcelain that got hit by an ultrasonic wave: at first sight, nothing happened... then, little by little, a first crack pops up, and then a second one, and yet another.... until the whole porcelain crumbles.

To: goldsnow who wrote (17065)	10/3/2000 4:27:48 AM
From: GUSTAVE JAEGER	Respond to of 17770

Re: But the protests have uncovered some interesting quirks of character. Supposedly hot-headed southern Europeans have been noticeably slower to swing into action than their supposedly more reticent northern cousins.... Dear Goldsnow, Don't believe what the mainstream media don't tell you.... Spain's fuel tax protests met with brutal repression By Vicky Short 3 October 2000 Rubber bullets, teargas and fire cranes were used last weekend, as the Spanish government mobilised large contingents of police against groups protesting at increased fuel costs. Scores of demonstrators were injured and several arrests were made. Protests in Spain have continued unabated since they first began following similar actions throughout Europe. Road hauliers, farmers, fishermen and taxi drivers blockaded fuel depots at the weekend in several cities. The biggest demonstrations took place in the Catalan cities of Barcelona, Tarragona and Gerona. Pickets were also mounted in Seville, Cádiz and Málaga in Southern Spain, Castille and León in central Spain and Alicante, Valencia and Castellón on the southeast coast. Trouble also flared up in the Basque Country, where three union leaders were arrested in Vizcaya. In Lérida, 3,000 farmers kept the access to the fuel distributor, Compañía Logística de Hidrocarburos, blocked with 1,000 tractors. In El Puerto de Santa María (Cádiz) fishermen cut the traffic by lighting fires on the road. Fishermen in Málaga prevented the unloading of fish and its distribution to markets and restaurants, many of which were forced to close down. Ports in Cartagena and Escombreras were being blocked and fishermen from Granada spent the night in the harbours to prevent oil tanker ships unloading their cargo. A fisherman in Barcelona said that a year ago the price of diesel oil was between 20 and 24 pesetas per litre. Now it is 60. The income from his boat “Mar Vella”, which uses 1,000 litres a day, has gone down by 25 percent. The Peoples Party government of José María Aznar initially took a hard line position similar to that of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and declared that no reduction of fuel tax would be implemented, in accordance with European Union directives. However, in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent further actions it decided to negotiate concessions with sections of the protesters. Three Ministries were involved in the negotiations: Finance, Public Works, and Agriculture & Fisheries, and involved some reductions in income tax contributions along with increases in sales tax on agricultural products. In addition, the government promised the creation of so-called “professional” diesel oil—sold at cut-price rates. The offer also includes low interest credits, plus reductions in the social security contributions until December. [snip] Excerpted from: wsws.org Actually, even here in Belgium --the heart of Europe-- the local press/media didn't utter a single squeak about what's going on in Spain. The Bilderberg profiteers are doing a superb oil-crisis blackout indeed.... Following their emergency rescue of the euro (the Fed together with BOJ and ECB have agreed on a "euro damage control") and their alleviating of the current oil shock (US's greenlight for the release of its strategic stocks), they seem to have devised a kind of "don't ask, don't tell" strategy as regards media coverage of the oil crisis --LOL! Think about it, Goldsnow: they're scrambling to prop up European consumers' mood... Hence step one is: don't tell Joe Blow about the bad news... let him/her forget about that damn oil crisis! Hey, how about a good soccer match on channel one?? Fancy a coupla heating-oil-stamps?? Here you are! PS: I think Romano Prodi should replace the European anthem (Beethoven's Symphony #9) by Barry White's hit, Let the Music Play....