Not sure about the attempts to reclaim the present through the past, but there are some important points here about what this 'sovereign debt' crisis is more likely about. -rg

The U.S. Need Not Fear a Greece-Like Crisis

Why "Sovereign Debt" is an Oxymoron

By ELLEN BROWN

We did not hear much about “sovereign debt” until early this year, when Greece hit the skids. Investment adviser Martin Weiss wrote in a February 24 newsletter:

“On October 8, Greece’s benchmark 10-year bond was stable and rising. Then, suddenly and without warning, global investors dumped their Greek bonds with unprecedented fury, driving its market value into a death spiral.

“Likewise, Portugal’s 10-year government bond reached a peak on December 1, 2009, less than three months ago. It has also started to plunge virtually nonstop.

“The reason: A new contagion of fear about sovereign debt! Indeed, both governments are so deep in debt, investors worry that default is not only possible — it is now likely!”

So said the media, but note that Greece and Portugal were doing remarkably well only 3 months earlier. Then, “suddenly and without warning,” global investors furiously dumped their bonds. Why? Weiss and other commentators blamed a sudden “contagion of fear about sovereign debt.”

But as Bill Murphy, another prolific newsletter writer, reiterates, “Price action makes market commentary.” The pundits look at what just happened in the market and then dream up some plausible theory to explain it. What President Franklin Roosevelt said of politics, however, may also be true of markets: “Nothing happens by accident. If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way.”

What's Next for Oaxaca?

Killer Governor Falls

By JOHN ROSS

Mexico City

As the preliminary election results began to flow this past July 4th, Ulises Ruiz Ortiz (URO), Oaxaca's outgoing governor whose police state tactics have been dissed on every strata of Mexican society from the nation's Supreme Court to the Zapotec market vendors in his state capital, was not a happy camper. Early returns overwhelmingly favored Gabino Cue, the candidate of a bizarre left-right alliance over URO's chosen successor Eviel Perez for governor of this impoverished southern state and Ulises began to drink heavily.

Soon, according to eye-witnesses as reported by Proceso magazine, Ruiz got on his cell phone to trash former aides, accusing them of betraying him and threatening great bodily harm. Indeed, his ex-Secretary of Government Jorge Franco took the threats to heart and reportedly fled Mexico.

As Cue's margin of victory mounted, URO became desperate and tried to shut down the preliminary vote count or PREP, ordering electricity cut off to the state electoral institute where the votes were being registered but the vote counters had back up generators and were prepared to ward off the sabotage.

Although URO's Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) has had a lock on Oaxaca for the past 81 years and controlled the state electoral apparatus, there seemed to be no way that Ruiz could dodge defeat. Even though URO's henchmen had set up duplicate Internet pages to communicate doctored results, URO's candidate was losing on both of them.

Post-conflict aid to Georgia: mission accomplished or fait accompli?

The military conflict of August 2008 between Russia and Georgia brought misery to thousands of people who lost their beloved, their homes, or both. In response, and following swiftly on from ceasefire operations, the international donor community pledged billions in post-conflict aid to Georgia, money which soon after took on another guise: economic crisis support following the aftershocks of the autumn 2008 crash in the west. But where have these billions been flowing, and who has benefitted?

Same Tragedy, Different Scripts

Greece and Wall Street

By WALDEN BELLO

Cafés are full in Athens, and droves of tourists still visit the Parthenon and go island-hopping in the fabled Aegean. But beneath the summery surface, there is confusion, anger, and despair as this country plunges into its worst economic crisis in decades.

The global media has presented Greece, tiny Greece, as the epicenter of the second stage of the global financial crisis, much as it portrayed Wall Street as ground zero of the first stage.

Yet there is an interesting difference in the narratives surrounding these two episodes.

Narratives in Conflict

The unregulated activities of financial institutions, which created ever more complex instruments to magically multiply money, created the Wall Street crash that morphed into the global financial crisis.

With Greece, however, the narrative goes this way: This country piled up an unsustainable debt load to build a welfare state it could not afford, and is now the spendthrift that must tighten its belt. Brussels, Berlin, and the banks are the dour Puritans now exacting penance from the Mediterranean hedonists for living beyond their means and committing the sin of pride by hosting the costly 2004 Olympics.

this just came across email but appears quite serious (apologies if you have already received it - g):

Our friend Lawrence Brose, an important filmmaker, and arts advocate has been accused by Homeland Security of possessing illicit images. The images they cited include one hundred prints from his highly acclaimed film, De Profundis, based on Oscar Wilde’s prison letter. He maintains his innocence and will not plead out the case, for the sake of his own good name and for the good of the larger arts community.

Initial forensic research, commissioned by his attorneys, discovered a backdoor Trojan virus on his computer allowing anyone access. We urge everyone to install and maintain anti-virus software on your computer – this could happen to you! There were many downloads onto his computer when he was traveling and out of the country.

As you can imagine, the cost of his legal defense is going to be quite expensive. His friends, colleagues, and supporters have set up a legal defense fund and are working to raise $30,000 by his August court date and a total of $200,000 for his entire defense. We are reaching out for your help, as I know how strongly you feel about free speech and the importance of art in our society.

Please visit the website at: http://lawrencebroselegaldefensefund.com
to review the testimonials, read the Case for Support and consider donating to the defense fund. This is going to be an extensive process and ordeal but Lawrence’s attorneys feel strongly that they will be able to exonerate him and restore his good name and reputation.

The Lawrence Brose Legal Defense Fund is a Class A Non-Profit corporation registered with the State of New York.

Dear Communities of Support,

The "investigations" by University of California San Diego/University of
California of Office of the President of professor Ricardo Dominguez and
Electronic Disturbance Theater/b.a.n.g lab's performances and projects
continues. The cost of legal support is growing and we would appreciate
your economic support.

To donate to our legal action fund please click here:

http://banglabinexile.pbworks.com/Donate-to-the-Ricardo-Dominguez-Legal-Support-Fund

Joe Public v the volcano
Slavoj Zizek
Published 29 April 2010

We are living in an age when we are both able to change nature and more at its mercy than ever –– as the Icelandic volcano has proved.

Many of those who have a fear of flying are haunted by a particular thought: that is, how many parts of such a complicated machine as a modern plane have to function smoothly in order for it to stay in the air? One small lever breaks somewhere, and the plane may spiral downwards . . . When you start to think how many things could go wrong, you cannot help but panic.

The people of Europe have experienced something similar in the past few weeks. That a cloud from a minor volcanic eruption in Iceland - a small disturbance in the complex mechanism of life on earth - can bring to a standstill the air traffic over almost an entire continent is a reminder of how humankind, for all its power to transform nature, remains just another living species on the planet.

Joint Statement of Mayfirst and plentyfact on METRO vs metr0

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bullying use of copyright law fails to stifle political commentary
Trans-Atlantic collaboration keeps site running

Contact: Alfredo Lopez, alfredo [AT] mayfirst [DOT] org, plentyfact,
collective [AT] plentyfact [DOT] net

The political spoof site http://metr0.co.uk is still up and running.
The site is a spoof of http://metro.co.uk, a tabloid specializing in
celebrity gossip and distributed widely in England by the Associated
Newspapers Ltd company.

The spoof website, which is the online version of a printed spoof
newspaper distributed in London, UK, is hosted on a server maintained
by the plentyfact collective. The newspaper and site are responses to a
call for two days of action against racist press called by the social
action centre.

The website is physically located in the United States on one of May
First/People Link's servers managed by the Tachanka collective, an
MF/PL member.

The Costs of Militarization

Manufacturing a Border Crisis

By KENT PATERSON

Unlike Mexican border states where drug-fueled violence has been on the upswing, violent crime rates in U.S. states bordering Mexico have been decreasing for the last several years. El Paso and San Diego are rated among the safest cities in the United States. Since 9-11, no terrorist has been detected crossing from Mexico. Even detentions of border-crossers are way down, up to 90 percent in the New Mexico corridor alone, according to media reports.

“If you look at the facts, the border is more secure than ever,” headlined a recent op-ed by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. So what would be the Obama administration’s next border initiative? Call out the National Guard and toss another $500 million at “border security.”

To the casual observer, the policy might seem curious to say the least, especially at a time when border states are laying off public workers or slashing their wages, cutting back on social services, closing down parks, and raising college tuitions. But in a key election year, U.S./Mexico border politics are increasingly driven by a toxic combination of whipped-up hysteria, old-fashioned xenophobia and outright political opportunism, according to leading border community activists and analysts.

“There is no crisis here. In fact, it’s quite the opposite,” said Andrea Guerrero of the American Civil Liberties Union’s San Diego office. “There are no increases in crime or immigration flows that would warrant the build up of troops on the border.”

Although rumors had been floating around the immigrant advocacy community for some time that the White House was considering another National Guard deployment, the president’s May 26 announcement that he would send 1,200 troops to the Mexican border came only after the immigration issue returned to the center of U.S. politics and assumed crisis dimensions.

Enjoying a field day after the still unsolved-murder of Arizona rancher Robert Krenz, the anti-immigrant camp and politicians that support it like Arizona Senator John McCain demanded thousands of troops to a border they claim is out of control.

Obama’s decision to dispatch the National Guard constituted a “capitulation to extreme right-wing politics,” said Pedro Rios, director of the American Friends Service Committee, a US-Mexico border program in San Diego. According to Rios, a White House staff member warned immigrant advocates in a recent meeting to be “prepared for a long and hard summer.”