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Politics : President Barack Obama -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: ChinuSFO who wrote (95526)	6/27/2011 2:02:23 PM
From: Mac Con Ulaidh	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 149317

You're a bit older than me, and when I was young it was very much a slur, hence my question to my mother after some boys beat up another boy at school, yelling that at them. It's reclaimed, I think. I don't care for faggot, that has far broader implications. and dyke I'll toss, but don't care for it. A problem with Gay is that is male, yet used for all of us at times, but it really isn't all of us. When Greenwald or Savage or others get on tv and say "the Gay community thinks this..." they not only are not speaking for all gay men, if you read them much, you realize women don't really exist in their world. Maybe we need a word to define the whole of us. The Homosexuals is just..... so... well, not. I appreciate you consider the usage and bring it up.

To: ChinuSFO who wrote (95526)	6/27/2011 3:55:23 PM
From: tejek	Respond to of 149317

My German friends bristled when I sent them this article. They are so down on the Greeks to the point where I see some ethnic bias......very unusual for them. Euro exit strategy crucial for Greeks The new bailout is about protecting banks, not people. An early default will change all that Costas Lapavitsas The Guardian, Tuesday 21 June 2011 Greek default and exit has always been the most likely outcome of the eurozone crisis. The truth is that economic and monetary union has failed, not least because it has created an unsustainable gap between core and periphery. For peripheral countries, EMU membership is likely to be a source of stagnation and income inequality. For Greece it has already been a failure of historic proportions. The problem faced by the country in 2009-10 had much in common with the rest of the periphery: vast public and private indebtedness, low competitiveness, huge current account deficits, and rapidly ballooning public deficits and debts. The response of the EU was obtuse. A so-called bailout was advanced to Greece, but at rates 3% and 4% above those paid by Germany. Severe austerity was imposed, cutting national income by 4.5% in 2010 and probably 4% this year. Even a first year undergraduate could have worked out that the last thing a bankrupt needs is further punitive loans and a cut in income; inevitably the stabilisation plan has been a disaster, missing just about all its original targets. The numbers are breathtaking. Under current policies, the EU/IMF/ECB (European Central Bank) "troika" expects sovereign debt to rise to 200% of GDP in 2015, up from roughly 150% at present. Servicing the debt will cost 12% of GDP – vastly more than expenditure on health and education – while the government deficit will be 15% of GDP. The country will be unquestionably bankrupt. Fully aware of this, financial markets are refusing to advance a penny in new private loans. And since the troika had planned for Greece to return to the markets in 2011 on the back of the expected success of the stabilisation plan, the crisis has reached fever pitch. The response of the troika reveals systemic failure at the heart of the eurozone. Greece will receive another large loan but must impose further austerity, including wage and pension cuts, perhaps 150,000 lost jobs in the civil service, more taxes, and sweeping privatisation. And what is likely to happen if the country accepts this? By the calculations of the troika, in 2015 sovereign debt will be 160% of GDP, servicing the debt will cost 10% of GDP, and the government deficit will be 8% of GDP. In short, Greece will still be bankrupt. What, then, is the point of the fresh bailout ? The answer is rescuing international bondholders and buying time for banks. Jean-Claude Trichet, the ECB president – an unelected bureaucrat – has imposed his will on Angela Merkel, Europe's most powerful politician. In 2015 Greece will be bankrupt but its debt will be held overwhelmingly by public lenders: the EU, ECB and IMF. When default comes, the banks will be out of it and Europe's taxpayers will bear the burden. Meanwhile, Greece will have gone through the austerity mangle, putting up with official unemployment of about 15%. And when the EU writes Greek debt off, as it must, it will impose extortionate demands, perhaps including open pressure to exit the eurozone. Unfortunately for the troika, this time the Greek people have worked out the nastiness of what is proposed. They are also profoundly angry at their politicians, and at being slandered. After all, they work longer hours than most people in the EU and, as wage earners, can't avoid tax. The Rubicon appears to have been crossed in recent weeks as the country is openly weighing the option of default and exit. Should that take place, it will be a major blow to the economy. But Greeks are prepared to put up with straitened circumstances if they see a path to recovery, something EU policy is denying them. A political force that promised to deliver default and exit in a democratic and sovereign manner while putting people before banks would sweep all before it. As for the EU, it would have to deal with the aftermath for banks and EMU, hopefully finding someone other than Trichet to guide it. guardian.co.uk

To: ChinuSFO who wrote (95526)	6/29/2011 1:46:54 PM
From: tejek	Respond to of 149317

Japan Industrial Output Rises at Fastest Pace Since 1953 on Quake Rebound Japan’s industrial production rose at the fastest pace in more than 50 years, led by carmakers as they restored operations at plants after a record earthquake and tsunami on March 11. Factory output increased 5.7 percent in May from April, the biggest gain since 1953, the Trade Ministry said in Tokyo today. The median estimate of 30 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a 5.5 percent gain. Output in the transportation industry advanced 36 percent from the previous month as automakers including Toyota Motor Corp. and Nissan Motor Co. restarted production lines. Manufacturers said they plan to increase output 5.3 percent this month and 0.5 percent in July, according to a survey of companies included in today’s report. “The report shows that the auto industry is a strong driving force” in boosting production, said Hiroaki Muto, a senior economist at Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management Co. in Tokyo. “The post-quake shock is running its course and production is undergoing a V-shaped recovery.” The output report follows data this week showing that retail sales rose 2.4 percent in May from April, in a sign that consumer demand is rebounding. Auto Output The gain in transport equipment output was the biggest since comparable data became available in 1998. Carmakers are hiring temporary workers, signaling the industry’s recovery from the earthquake. Toyota Motor, the world’s biggest carmaker, said last week it would employ as many as 4,000 workers from mid-July as it prepares to ramp up production in October. Nissan has said it has begun hiring as many as 200 temporary workers to help boost output. “The recovery has been fast,” Nissan’s Chief Executive Officer Carlos Ghosn said on June 22. “Today we are near normal production levels” in Japan, he said. Manufacturing in the U.S. may rebound in similar fashion after an interruption of parts from Japan restrained factory activity, according to the Federal Reserve. Strength in the industry may help rekindle optimism that the expansion in the world’s largest economy will accelerate after a first-half slowdown. Fed policy makers said in a statement after their June 21- 22 meeting that the recent cooling in economy growth was partly due to “factors that are likely to be temporary,” including the “supply chain disruptions association with the tragic events in Japan.” ISM Manufacturing A report in two days may show the slowdown in U.S. manufacturing extended into June. The Institute for Supply Management’s factory index is projected to drop to the lowest level since August 2009, according to a Bloomberg survey of economists. “We are confident that any further weakness in the ISM will be temporary, owing to the earthquake/tsunami related Japanese supply disruptions,” Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. economists led by Joe LaVorgna said in an e-mail to clients. The yen traded at 81.00 per dollar at 11:57 a.m. in Tokyo from 81.06 before the report was published. The Nikkei 225 (NKY) Stock Average gained 1 percent, led by exporters. Shares of carmakers including Toyota and Honda Motor Co. rose. Japan’s government last week raised its assessment of the economy for the first time in four months as production and exports show signs of recovering from a slump caused by the disaster. The Bank of Japan also upgraded its view of the economy this month. Machinery Orders Not all Japanese data show signs of improvement. Machinery orders, an indicator of future capital spending, dropped for the first time in four months in April. Exports fell more than economists projected last month from a year earlier, while on a seasonally adjusted basis the shipments increased 2.5 percent in May from April. “Production by the manufacturing industry will likely return to the pre-quake level by summer, but the risk will be a slowdown in the recovery pace after then,” Hiroshi Shiraishi, an economist at BNP Paribas SA in Tokyo, said before the report. “Power supply problems could continue over several years and uncertainties surrounding the overseas economy are growing.” Analysts expect Japan’s economy to contract around a 3 percent annual pace in the second quarter before returning to growth in the second half of the year, according to the average forecast of 43 economists in a survey by the government- affiliated Economic Planning Association released on June 8. bloomberg.com