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Strategies & Market Trends : 2026 TeoTwawKi ... 2032 Darkest Interregnum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TobagoJack who wrote (69806)	12/20/2010 2:14:47 AM
From: elmatador	Respond to of 217906

"Bolivia recognizes the Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, like Brazil and Argentina," the Palestinian Ma'an news agency reported Bolivian President Evo Morales as saying last Friday during a visit to Brazil.

To: TobagoJack who wrote (69806)	12/20/2010 2:14:47 AM
From: elmatador	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 217906

The report calls on the US and European Union to increase the political and economic pressure on Israel. It takes particular aim at the $2.75bn in US military aid provided to Israel every year, sayingWashington should suspend a share of that “equivalent to the costs of the Israeli government’s spending in support of settlements”. Report accuses Israel of discrimination By Tobias Buck in Jerusalem Published: December 19 2010 17:55 \| Last updated: December 19 2010 17:55 Israel stands accused of “systematic discrimination” against Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank, in a Human Rights Watch report that also urges the US to cut its aid to the Jewish state. The survey, presented in Jerusalem on Sunday, analyses the impact Israel’s 43-year military occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem has had on Palestinian daily life. EDITOR’S CHOICE In depth: Arab-Israel conflict - Nov-23Opinion: Out of the Middle East morass - Dec-09EU urged to act over Israel - Dec-09US forced to rethink Middle East talks - Dec-08Editorial Comment: Time for a US plan - Dec-08Israel to ease Gaza export restrictions - Dec-08It criticises the different treatment accorded by Israel’s authorities to the 490,000 Jewish settlers on the one hand, and the Palestinian population on the other. The analysis concentrates on life in East Jerusalem and in Area C – those parts of the West Bank that are under exclusive Israeli control and where Jewish settlements are concentrated. “No security or other legitimate rationale can explain the many instances of differential treatment of Palestinians, such as permit denials that effectively prohibit Palestinians from building or repairing homes, schools, roads and water tanks,” Human Rights Watch states. “In some instances, Israeli policies have made Palestinian communities virtually uninhabitable and effectively forced residents to leave.” The report cites the example of Jubbet al-Dhib, a village near Bethlehem that is only accessible by foot and that is not linked to the power grid despite repeated requests. About 350 metres away is the Jewish settlement of Sde Bar, whose 50 inhabitants have electricity as well as their own school, and are linked to Jerusalem thanks to a new highway that bypasses surrounding Palestinian villages. Carroll Bogert, associate director of Human Rights Watch, said: "Israel does have legitimate security concerns in the West Bank, but the security argument is not effective here. This is not about security. This is about restricting Palestinian life." The report calls on the US and European Union to increase the political and economic pressure on Israel. It takes particular aim at the $2.75bn in US military aid provided to Israel every year, sayingWashington should suspend a share of that “equivalent to the costs of the Israeli government’s spending in support of settlements”. Bill van Esveld, the main author of the 166-page report, said it was impossible to give a precise figure for the corresponding reduction in US aid, but added: "We are talking about hundreds of millions of dollars, or more." The report drew a harsh response from the Israeli government. “Unfortunately, over the last few years there has been a series of documented cases in which Human Rights Watch has allowed a blatant anti-Israel agenda to pollute its reporting,” a spokesman for Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, said. He added that Israeli policies in the West Bank were guided by the Oslo accords, which were at the time signed by both Israeli and Palestinian leaders. In a separate incident, five Palestinian men were killed in an Israeli air strike on Gaza on Saturday night. The Israeli military said the men were in the process of launching a rocket attack on Israel.

To: TobagoJack who wrote (69806)	12/20/2010 5:50:12 AM
From: elmatador	Respond to of 217906

The state pension fund – the €64bn Fondo de Reserva, known as the ‘hucha de las pensiones’ – is buying Spanish sovereign debt at a vertiginous pace. Confiscation, Mr. TJ!!!! They're raiding the pot down to the bottom!!! Spain uses social security fund to prop up the bond market Spain is putting all its eggs into one basket, and if it carries on like this, we may start to see a lot of Basques and Catalans crowding into one exit. The state pension fund – the €64bn Fondo de Reserva, known as the ‘hucha de las pensiones’ – is buying Spanish sovereign debt at a vertiginous pace. The financial daily Cinco Dias reports that the share of the Fondo’s total portfolio invested in Spanish government bonds rose from below 50pc in 2007 to 76pc in 2009. The Social Security minister Octavio Granado said it will rise to 90pc by the end of this year. It is clear from an analysis of the data that the Fondo is not just investing fresh revenues in Spanish bonds, but also rotating out of Dutch, French, and German bonds into Spanish debt. The Spanish government is also funnelling 90pc of its sickness fund into state bonds.