The Closer
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ROUND-UP Equity markets fell pretty much everywhere today, though Spain in particular stood out as the IBEX decline 2.4 per cent and now close to its crisis era lows. There was...
Kostin on Putin: Ice Hockey and Fresh Faces
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Ask Andrei L. Kostin about Vladimir Putin and you get a nuanced look at Russia’s president from someone who has known him for more than 10 years. As Mr. Kostin sees it, the man who has reveled in the image of Russia’s strongman-in-chief is ready...
Euro crisis: of morality and bankers | Editorial
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It's a sign of how bad things have got in the euro crisis that a not-entirely terrible bond auction counts as good newsIt's a sign of how bad things have got in the euro crisis that a not-entirely terrible bond auction counts as good news. So it was...
Europe between extreme laxity for the few and extreme austerity for the 99%
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Austerity suicide appears to be ever closer for the Eurozone as a vicious circle of investor panic leading to fresh drives to reduce public deficits, leading to cuts in growth are met with more investor panic. Earlier this week, bond yields in Spain...
Pollwatch: Irish Times/Ipsos MRBI 20th April
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In continuation from the poll on the referendum in today’s Irish Times, tomorrows looks at party support. Polling was conducted on Monday and Tuesday by Ipsos MRBI. So this is post the major party conferences, Mahon and Household Charge. The pa...
Tory MP: gay weddings will lead to child marriages and bigamy
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A Conservative MP has responded to a constituent’s letter on gay marriage by comparing the practice to polygamy and underage unions. In the letter, sent to Scrapbook via our tips box, Karl McCartney MP ranted that gay rights campaigners of “upr...
Stocks Pivot Lower On Spanish Bond Auction Yield, As Well As On Job, Home Sales And Manufacturing Reports
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Financial Market Report for April 19, 2012 Today April 19, 2010, was Capitalism’s Waterloo as the charts of Volatility ETF VIXY, TVIX, VIXM, all show a rise today, on a pivot lower in world stocks, VT, and US Stocks, VTI, on jobless claim...
Unions challenge G20 finance ministers to unleash green jobs investment
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“The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has called on G20 Finance ministers to drive investment of at least 2% of GDP in the green economy in the wake of independent economic analysis forecasting the potential for green jobs growth.”...
Cover Up Unveiled
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The final volume of the trilogy In the Name of the State was published on 19 April 2012. Entitled ‘Prikrivanje’, Cover-up, it deals with the abuse of political and legal power of leading Slovene politicians around the time when the country gai...
REACH Compliance Software Gets Gartner's Gloat
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Interestingly, software for REACH compliance has been selected by the powerhouse analyst firm Gartner, Inc. to receive an honor. This honor distinguishing the software as "revolutionary in some way" in the realm of manufacturing operations.We find i...
Election Update – Nordrhein-Westfalen 2012
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Nordrhein-Westfalen (NRW) is Germany’s economic engine. It accounts for 22% of the whole country’s GDP and it’s Germany’s most populous state. This makes the state election, which will take place on 13 May, worth talking abo...
Bern und Brüssel
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Das bereits belastete Klima zwischen Bern und Brüssel wird sich damit (Begrenzung der Einwanderung aus osteuropäischen EU-Ländern) noch einmal verschlechtern. Im schlimmsten Fall rufen die Oststaaten nach Gegenmaßnahmen. In jedem Fall aber nimmt...
The ugly game
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THE stadiums are ready, but plenty of guest rooms aren't. This year's UEFA European Football Championship (Euro 2012), to be held jointly in Ukraine and Poland, kicks off on June 8th, but a sudden scandal over hotel prices is not doing Ukraine's alr...
We need this key commitment to climate action | Nick Clegg and Edward Davey
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It is crucial that Europe implements a 30% cut in carbon by 2020. And it'll make us globally competitive tooThis week ministers from across Europe are meeting to tackle a threat to our shared prosperity: the crashing price of carbon. The EU has the w...
First public summary of a meeting of the Council Working Party on Information
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Sometimes, even the EU Council can surprise me. This time by issuing the first ever public summary (as far as I know) of a meeting of the Working Party on Information, which is the working group of member states’ officials dealing with access...
The torture-worthy
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Guest post from Pink Prosecco:- Shiraz’s own Rosie Bell, when asked (for her normblog profile) ‘What philosophical thesis do you think it most important to disseminate?’ answered ‘That there are incompatible goods – liberty and equali...
The torture-worthy
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Guest post from Pink Prosecco:- Shiraz’s own Rosie Bell, when asked (for her normblog profile) ‘What philosophical thesis do you think it most important to disseminate?’ answered ‘That there are incompatible goods – liberty and equali...
"Gerhard Schroeder on German and European Politics" by Henning Meyer
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At the beginning of the week I attended a Belgian/German conference jointly organised by the Bertelsmann Foundation and the Egmont Institute. The conference included a keynote speech by former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder on his Agenda 2010 an...
IMF and China are new BFFs
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There seems to be something of a love-in going on between China and the IMF, though admittedly you have to wade through a weighty report to glimpse it.Last weekend, finally,...
Why I (allegedly) changed my name “to seem Muslim”
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The following appears in the present issue of Solidarity & Workers Liberty. Until a few years ago I would have had difficulty believing the truth of what the writer claims (or at least suspected him of wild exaggeration), but sadly it rings...
Why I (allegedly) changed my name “to seem Muslim”
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The following appears in the present issue of Solidarity & Workers Liberty. Until a few years ago I would have had difficulty believing the truth of what the writer claims (or at least suspected him of wild exaggeration), but sadly it rings...
Should Merkel be scared of Hollande?
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Looking at some of the most radical notions in some speeches of François Hollande, who is now actively fishing in the basin of the French left, one could have a clear flash of ‘déjà-vu’, as itRead more…...
Breivik in court: The real threat to freedom, democracy and security
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The reality is that Anders Behring Breivik and those who subscribe to his message, claiming to kill to defend nation and civilization, are actually opposed themselves to Western civilization. De realiteit is dat Anders Behring Breivik en degenen di...
Breivik in court: The real threat to freedom, democracy and security
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[caption id="attachment_98" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Wilders: The one who radicalized Breivik?!"][/caption]Bare naked Islamophobia is anti-democratic and anti-freedom. Those that espouse Islamop...
Flies in the Fed’s ointment
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Yep, nearly time to start talking about the next FOMC meeting, a two-day affair that begins this Tuesday.Any big decisions regarding further quantitative easing are more likely to be taken later,...
Ethnic violence in Skopje: Macedonian magic circle
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Attempts to raise inter-ethnic tensions escalated on 16 April when four twentysomething men and an older eyewitness were murdered near the capital, triggering riots. Since the victims are Slavic-speaking Macedonians, the speculation is that the murde...
Rights and wrongs, Deutsche Bank edition
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Choose your story.From the WSJ just after 4pm London time:From Reuters a few minutes later:We actually think both are right. From the perspective of the Reuters story,...
The Balkan Jobs Crisis
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Why is unemployment so high in the western Balkans, and what can be done?
[JPM Whale-Watching Tour] Shamu in the swimming pool
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Hedge funds are not happy.Don’t everyone run to their defence at once now.Echo?Come on, guys, hedge funds are run by people too! And as ProPublica says:… just...
The EESC’s Enlarged Presidency meets
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Today was a tale of two dense but highly productive meetings. In the morning the EESC’s Enlarged Presidency (composed of the President, two Vice-Presidents, three Group Presidents and the SG) met to perform its traditional, if informal, role...
