Well folks we are entering new terrortory!(deliberate spelling mistake).We need a new economic paradigm.

I highly recommend reading this.

www.richardheinberg.com/museletter/187

With regard to China....

" BEIJING (AFP) - Former prime minister Tony Blair was paid 500,000 dollars for a three-hour trip to a luxury Chinese housing estate, state press reported Thursday and questioned whether he was worth it."

and then this to add the icing on the cake ...

"Blair gave a speech during Tuesday's visit to Dongguan in China's southern province of Guangdong and stopped by a luxury villa compound developed by his trip's sponsor, Guangda Group.

The real estate company also offered him one of the houses worth 38 million yuan (five million dollars), the Guangzhou Daily said.

The newspaper did not say whether he accepted the villa, while noting that the cash payment would have been 330,000 dollars after tax.

The newspaper said Blair's Dongguan stop was just one of his "money-raking" trips in Chinese cities including Beijing and Hong Kong."

I thought this guy had been banished to the deserts of palestine!!

I reckon he just went to take a sneak preview of the Olympic preparations and to see if he could pick up some tips to pass on to his pal Gordon.
On a lighter note ...it's a great pity they did not drop him in the hole that held terra cotta army, and quickly back filled it.

"Based on Brazil`s history, it is believed that the country does not possess any weapons of mass destruction"...

http://tinyurl.com/3ypbmr

"US experts accuse Brazil of WMD programme and nuclear threat"...

http://tinyurl.com/2klghd

Very good website. I liked it very much. Comments from http://www.delhiblossoms.com, http://www.mumbaiflowerplaza.com

All Blairwatchers should read the Stockwell One report about the shooting of de Menezes in July 2005. The report gives a clear narrative of what happened on that day, something that we probably wouldn;t have had without an IPCC investigation, It should be noted that Ian Blair tried to prevent an IPCC investigation (although it is mandatory in all cases where police activity results in loss of life or serious injury). Ian Blair was backed up in this obstruction by the Prime Minister (ie Tony Blair). Another case, perhaps, of Tony believing that the rules didn't appply to him.

FYI the Stockwell One report can be found here.

Both Blairs are Athols

Just as things were getting quiet around here! Brown is vomitting more toxic drivel trying to rope Germany in on his neocon nonsense, funny he did not include Spain who are proposing to try ex-pres Jose Maria Aznar for his role in the invasion. And yet another insight into the mind of this despotic creep comes courtesy of the Indy, seriously disturbing behaviour for a grown man "Just 10 minutes after Wanless began, the Chancellor and Balls began speaking loudly to each other. Wanless halted, stunned by the interruption. Blair was embarrassed, but said nothing ... Wanless resumed, addressing the Prime Minister ... Brown continued his animated discussion with Balls". I call dibs on foreign policy mwar... mummy! gordo did poo poo, for f***s sake.

Has anyone else noticed that the yanks are just depressing lately :(

More probing, just doesn't seem fair is all.

[Health Warning] In Pictures: President Bush Visits Army Medical Center.

tio

Really interesting article by Bruce Anderson on Brown - and especially on the miniscule David Miliband and his feuds with the admirable Mark Mallock Brown.

But I suspect that MMB will stay around - maybe even longer than MiniMan. Why? Gordon bottled the election. Gordon is up against a hostile electorate and has to please them for the next two years. So grandiose gestures of support to Bush - like urging the invasion of Iran - are not going to be uttered, especially if he's going to need the votes of the Left in a very close run election.

A hung parliament would be even better. That would mean several more years of no government daring to support the neo-cons.

"Wall Street playing with more funny money"...

http://tinyurl.com/2uv4nv

"Wall Street's money machine breaks down"...

"The subprime mortgage crisis keeps getting worse-and claiming more victims. A Fortune special report"...

http://tinyurl.com/3bq5cw

"Citi's giant write-downs: What did it know, and when did it know it?"...

http://tinyurl.com/268pwg

"$100 oil: It's not dead yet"...

http://tinyurl.com/3yo2yq

http://tinyurl.com/2fc78d

johnf

Until now, Mr Brown has stressed his support for a diplomatic resolution and, while not ruling out military action, has played down the prospect of war. Sound familiar? God bless the purity and essence of our natural fluids.

tio

Someone should tell the Iranians that Brown doesn`t want to nuke them...

 http://tinyurl.com/3ce79c

“I firmly believe that the sanctions policy that we are pursuing will work, but I’m not one who’s going forward to say that we rule out any particular form of action,” Brown told a news conference, when asked if he would rule out a military strike against Iran"...

http://tinyurl.com/2lrkam

When it comes to it Brown will support Bush all the way.

This is very telling.

"Israel: no more diplomacy for Iran"

 "Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz threatens that the opportunity for a negotiated solution to Iran's nuclear program has diminished"...

http://tinyurl.com/34wc8u

Blair is Getting £400,000 a Year in Expenses

Hi George,

thought you'd like this "The last, best hope for averting a war with Iran lies with the United States military."

Thank`s tio I had already seen that it is one of the web sites I visit. Doesn`t look good for Iran or us.

Came across this.

"Peers help themselves to £300 a day tax-free"...

http://tinyurl.com/2xfu55

Found the above on this site.

"following the arrest of two officers from the counter-terrorism squad last week in connection with the allegations Scotland Yard admitted its professional standards watchdog had launched a review of spending by all staff issued with American Express cards"...

http://tinyurl.com/22pjkl

And below is from a tory web site.

"The poor are getting poorer"

http://tinyurl.com/248ceh

You couldn`t make it all up could you.

"Oil and military bases dominate Caspian Sea summit"

"The summit-meeting of the five Caspian Sea countries in Iran on October 17, and the suspension of the European Union’s sanctions on Uzbekistan have focused attention on how the US, Russia, the EU and China are vying with each other for the rich energy resources of the Central Asian states in the region"...

http://tinyurl.com/2wxz9s

"Congressional report puts cost of US wars at $1.6 trillion"...

http://tinyurl.com/yvln58

Bush Administration War Plans directed against Iran

So that's the new year then.

http://tinyurl.com/2rdk7k

"Thought the subprime mess was bad? Wait till the accountants get involved"...

http://tinyurl.com/2npnc4

"Credit Card Debt a $915 Billion Disaster-in-Waiting for Banks"...

http://tinyurl.com/33yzam

"Deutsche Bank Foreclosures Tossed Out of Ohio Federal Court - "They Own Nothing!"...

http://tinyurl.com/22pdye

"Police worry about abandoned homes"...

http://tinyurl.com/3yukmd

"Recession fears grow as inventories swell"...

"Unsold goods are piling up in warehouses as the housing meltdown and soaring oil prices strain consumers, raising fears that already glum fourth-quarter growth prospects may tip toward recession.
"If you don't go out and buy a bunch of Christmas presents on credit, the terrorists will have won!" -- Official White Horse Souse - M. R."...

http://tinyurl.com/2au3dv

Shock Therapy: Perfect Storm Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 & Part 5.

"Countrywide, Washington Mutual Play Shell Games"...

http://tinyurl.com/yw8862

 "Europe January-August Trade Gap With China Soars 25% (Update3)"...

 http://tinyurl.com/2htsnm

"Bankruptcy Law Backfires as Foreclosures Offset Gains (Update1)"...

 http://tinyurl.com/22ce4n

"Greenspan `Mess' Risks U.S. Recession, Stiglitz Says (Update4)"

"Nov. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel-prize winning economist, said the U.S. economy risks tumbling into recession because of the ``mess'' left by former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan"

``I'm very pessimistic,'' Stiglitz said in an interview in London today. ``Alan Greenspan really made a mess of all this. He pushed out too much liquidity at the wrong time. He supported the tax cut in 2001, which is the beginning of these problems. He encouraged people to take out variable-rate mortgages.'' ...

http://tinyurl.com/2brprt

I should have added this to the above post...

"Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel-prize winning economist"

"Alan Greenspan really made a mess of all this. He pushed out too much liquidity at the wrong time. He supported the tax cut in 2001, which is the beginning of these problems"

Stiglitz is WRONG the "beginning of these problems" can be summed up in one word...Thatcher.

"Warning over rate rise by 'devious' lenders"...

"Experts warned last night that lenders were expected to put up rates on mortgage deals over the next couple of months, in an attempt to preserve their profit margins by creaming more money from borrowers ahead of any interest rate cut by the Bank"

"Banks have always been entitled to move their variable rates independently of the Bank of England, but have very rarely done so and even then only for new customers. This is the first time a major lender has hit its existing customers with higher bills."

"The series of moves by High Street banks - cutting savings rates and increasing borrowing rates, despite the official Bank of England rate staying stable - renews fears that the global credit crunch will land millions of consumers with a major financial headache over the coming months."

"On a fixed-rate deal of 4.95 per cent taken out two years ago, the monthly repayment was £1,031 a month on a £250,000 interest-only mortgage. These payments will shoot up to £1,583 when the deal ends".

"The increases come at the same time as soaring food bills, increased council tax and record petrol prices."

"Ruth Lea, a leading economist, said: "Most people's pay is only going to go up by two per cent or three per cent, but these mortgage rises are a 50 per cent increase."...

http://tinyurl.com/25xtlw

.

"NEW YORK, USA (Bloomberg): A Bear Stearns Cos. unit failed to oversee trades it made on its own account with the firm's two bankrupt Cayman Islands hedge funds, breaching its own conflict guidelines, a Massachusetts official said in a regulatory complaint on Wednesday"...

http://tinyurl.com/34swac 

"Last week David Cameron proudly pronounced that the Tories were winning the battle of ideas. He could not be more wrong. The credit crunch is testimony to the exhaustion of a conservative free-market world-view. To get through this crisis, the American and British governments are going to have to think what hitherto has been unthinkable. Already the Americans are cutting interest rates careless of the inflationary consequences. Britain may have to follow suit. Both governments will have to devise new forms of regulation and control. Banks may have to be taken into public ownership"

"For 30 years we have been suckered into thinking that public authority has no business intervening in the wealth-generating, free-market financial system. This is the year when reality resurfaced with a vengeance"...

http://tinyurl.com/276dw9

Is the bailout of Northern Rock going up by £10bn a week?...It was £20bn then £30bn now £40bn

"Getting into his stride, Osborne refers to reports that Northern Rock's free assets have shrunk to around £40bn, and that the government's liability is actually nearly as great"

http://tinyurl.com/268g8t

And New Labour can`t find any money for welfare or the NHS

A Nanny state for the rich....

And it gets worse. The EU are likely to censure Darling for his  welfare payout to Northern Rock. Direct state aid to private investors is illegal under EU rules. Can you imagine the fury in the City....? How dare these foreign upstarts try to impose capitalism  on Britain's investing classes!

What a whirl of contradictions -a party of phony socialists hands out unlimited welfare to the rich while imposing stringent controls on public spending (tough choices, fiscal prudence) and letting pensioners freeze to death. Meanwhile, the EU will be branded as Stalinist for asking the financial sector to play by its own rules and not go screaming to the nanny state when deregulation backfires and big money takes a hit.

The media 'debate' yesterday regarding Northern Rock was focused on why the UK government should not nationalise NR, despite the UK taxpayer now being the main creditor. The bankers response? 'The markets would object to such government interference'. Quite.

The Last Laugh

"November 20, 2007"

"Britain Institutes Death Penalty"

"For the first time, Britain will tomorrow deport a failed asylum seeker back to Uzbekistan. Jahongir Sidikov, a member of the banned main opposition party Erk, is currently held in Harmondswoth Detention Centre. His ticket has already been purchased for deportation tomorrow."

"Previously, as a matter of policy, this country did not deport political activists to Uzbekistan because they will face severe torture and probable death. The totalitarian Uzbek government has since become even more repressive, with widespread imprisonment, torture and extra-judicial killing of dissidents. The immigration officers who escort Jahongir onto that plane are in effect implementing capital punishment. This is a deeply, deeply shameful action by New Labour."...

http://tinyurl.com/36o2dl

"A Generalized Meltdown of Financial Institutions"

http://tinyurl.com/2g5ho5

"U.S. Stocks Fall on Credit Concern; Citigroup, Lehman Retreat"...

"Nov. 26 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks fell, led by banks and brokerages, after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said HSBC Holdings Plc faces $12 billion in additional writedowns for subprime defaults"

http://tinyurl.com/yog8e6

Impending Destruction Of
The US Economy...

http://tinyurl.com/2r677k