Stuckism show in London turns eyes

Stuckism was founded by Charles Thomson and Billy Childish in 1999 with 12 artists to promote contemporary figurative painting and oppose conceptual art. It has since grown to an international art movement of 233 groups in 52 countries. The name was coined after Childish’s ex-girlfriend, Tracey Emin, said he was “Stuck! Stuck! Stuck!” The concept struck, the Stuckism movement brought forth several Stuckist manifestos in an effort to draw other artists to their cause, including one where the term "Remodernism" was coined.

This month the Bermondsey Project Gallery at 46 Willow Walk, London UK will host a special event titled: "Stuckists: Elizabethan Avant-Garde" and will run from Friday the 5th to Sunday the 21st of October, open 7 days a week, 1 – 6 pm. A press launch will be held on Thursday the 4th at 6:30.


For more info about the event visit www.bermondseyproject.co.uk or phone 020 7036 2416.

The special event will include paintings from over 30 Stuckist artists from the UK and abroad.

For more information on Stuckism we recommend reading "A Stuckist on Stuckism".

If you are looking for more information on other art movements check out the following art history links:


Abstract Expressionism  
American Scene 
Constructivism 
Cubism 
Dada  
Earth Art 
Fantasy Art 
Impressionism  
Neo-Gothic Art  
Neo-Pop Art  
Neue Sachlichkeit 
 Pin Up Art  
Pop Art  
Precisionism  
Prehistoric Art  
Romanticism 
Salon de la Rose Croix 
Social Realism 
Stuckism 
Surrealism 
Video Art 
Visionary Art 
World of Art

Dominique Strauss-Kahn questioned in connection with prostitution ring

By Suzanne MacNevin - February 2012.

POLITICS - Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn is being questioned today by French police in connection with a prostitution ring in the northern French city of Lille.

Strauss-Kahn hasn't officially been arrested yet, but he can be held for up to 48 hours and may then be arrested. The French police are investigating if he was benefitting from misappropriated company funds that were used by French executives under the guise of corporate expense accounts to fund sex parties with prostitutes and drugs.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn was once seen as a strong contender for France’s 2012 presidential election, but his political ambitions came to an abrupt end last May after he was accused of sexually assaulting a New York hotel maid. The charges in 2011 were later withdrawn despite damning DNA evidence and numerous other victimized women who have come forward saying they were sexually assaulted by Dominique Strauss-Kahn. See also: Strauss-Kahn freed despite damning evidence

Strauss-Kahn quit his International Monetary Fund job after the sex assault case, but the new allegations against him have a paper trail of money which connect a prostitution ring with wealthy executive clients of Lille’s luxury Carlton hotel. Police also believe Strauss-Kahn was involved with similar sex parties in Paris and Washington.

8 people, including 2 Lille businessmen directly connected to Strauss-Kahn and a police commissioner, have already been arrested in the case. One company has already fired an executive suspected of using company funds to hire sex workers using the executive account.

Hiring prostitutes is not illegal in France, but Strauss-Kahn and other executives risks being charged with defrauding money from companies if the practice of bribing business associates with sex doesn't fly with the French authorities.

There are LIMITS to what executive accounts can be used for.

Strauss-Kahn’s lawyer Henri Leclerc denies his client knew that the women at the sex parties he attended were prostitutes. (Although seriously, if you're paying to get into these sex parties, aren't you going to assume the women are being paid to be there?)

A separate case wherein Strauss-Kahn is accused of attempting to rape Tristane Banon, the Parisian writer, was thrown out in 2011 due to a shortage of evidence (rape and attempted rape cases are very difficult to prove).

Thoughts? For an old man Dominique Strauss-Kahn sure gets around a lot and must be popping pills at his age. His lack of respect for women is clearly evident by the sheer number of women and police accusing him of sexual misconduct.

Greece's economic bailout a failure

POLITICS - We predicted it a long time ago. The bailout of Greece's economy would only fail because they're not fixing the real problem: Lack of manufacturing.

We're not alone in our predictions.

Many European countries have strong doubts over whether a second massive bailout can actually save Greece. A second bailout which even now politicians in Athens are rushing to meet tough conditions to qualify for the €130 billion ($170 billion) 2nd bailout.

But that 2nd bailout money isn't going to save Greece and we're going to explain why.

Greece's problem isn't an issue of money. Its a problem of work. Not enough Greeks have work and unemployment in the country is sky high.

Even if Greece gets the 2nd batch of bailout money, how is that extra money supposed to help the average Greek? The bailout money will go towards paying for government employees already on the payroll. It isn't going to help the unemployed whatsoever.

For the last 2 years politicians have been wrangling and borrowing money to help Greece save their government from bankruptcy and defaulting on their loans.

Greece got the Eurozone to agree on the first €110 billion rescue for Greece in May 2010. But what did they do with that money? Spent it all on government workers already employed by the government. Teachers, police officers, the military, etc.

Several politicians in Germany, the Netherlands and Finland have grown tired of Greece repeatedly missing budget targets and failing to implement promised cuts, reforms and sales of state assets. Which frankly who can blame them? State assets help the government and selling off state assets to foreign investors is only going to reduce the government's control over their own economy and put that control in the hands of greedy overseas investors.

Such measures would only serve to harm Greece's economy over the longer term for a short term payoff.

Other countries have been forced in the past to do the same thing and their countries are now economic wreaks because of it. Any smart politician who truly loves his country sees what has happened in other countries which have sold off state assets and now know the true price of such backwards thinking.

Meanwhile Greece is in a steep recession, with its economy shrinking 7% in the final quarter of 2011 from a year earlier. Some economists believe it may even be a depression, the problem is that there is no technical definition for a depression and how to define one. The closest approximation is when the situation is so bad that people start selling everything they can at cut rate prices (deflation of commodities).

Other politicians are saying that the Eurozone should just let Greece default on their loans and that the Eurozone is strong enough to take the hit. But that isn't going to solve Greece's problems either. It will just reduce the pressure on paying the interest for its loans.

Since Greece is responsible for only 2% of Europe's economic output its believed the effects of a default would be minor. Some naysayers think it could effect global financial markets and might encourage other countries to also default on their loans.

The problem is how Europe / Greece is trying to solve their problems. Throwing money at the problem isn't going to make it go away.

#1. Greece needs to lower income taxes on manufacturing jobs. Make it more appealing for manufacturers to build things in Greece.

#2. Greece needs to lower corporate taxes on manufacturers and raise taxes on services.

#3. Greece needs to lower taxes (or completely remove taxes) on farmers. Basically anyone who is producing an actual "product" instead of a service needs a break.

#4. Greece needs to cut executive payouts by half until the economy recovers. Politicians and executives working for government owned institutions need to take a huge temporary pay cut. If they don't like it they can quit.

#5. Greece needs to increase income taxes on the rich and decrease the amount the wealthy get back for deductions.

Too much taxes on the poor and manufacturing hampers an economy. Using the above model and other measures to increase manufacturing jobs in Greece the problem of Greece's economy can be solved. The increases on taxes for the wealthy will counterbalance the budget changes.

Once the economy is back on the right footing then incremental changes can be made in an effort to pay off Greece's debts.

The problem therefore in the meantime is Greece's creditors, who want their money back and are insisting on changes that would ultimately bankrupt Greece down the road. Greece's leaders are wise to resist such calls to sell of government assets.

Given time Greece's economic reform will lead to recovery (especially if more drastic steps are taken to encourage manufacturing jobs), but creditors need to be patient.

Eurozone Credit Crunch

POLITICS - The European Union is facing a huge credit crunch and there really is only one solution...

Raise corporate taxes and income tax on the rich.

Instead the 17 finance ministers of the countries that use the Euro met at the EU headquarters today in a desperate bid to protect the value of the Euro and prevent a debt-induced financial tsunami that could sweep Europe.

The problem is that a number of European countries are spending beyond their means and their taxes are too low to support such spending. If they cut jobs it will cause a recession.

And you can't keep raising taxes on the poor and middle class, because that will also spark a recession.

The ONLY solution is to raise corporate taxes and income tax on the rich. Because the rich can afford it.

The problem is that the rich also make political donations and don't like extra corporate taxes. Which puts politicians in a hard place. Do they let their economy crumble (in which case the rich keep getting richer anyway) or do they become fiscally responsible?

The 17 ministers are discussing ideas that would have countries ceding fiscal sovereignty to a central authority; some kind of elite group of Euro nations that would guarantee one another’s loans — but require strong fiscal discipline from anyone wanting membership.

The question then becomes, what counts as fiscal discipline? Because cutting jobs or raising taxes on the poor would count as belt tightening, even if they're mistakes.

The fear is that the crisis — which has already forced bailouts of Greece, Ireland and Portugal — could engulf bigger economies such as Italy, the eurozone’s third-largest. If Italy were to default on its debt of €1.9 trillion ($2.5 trillion), the financial fallout could send shock waves throughout the global economy and spark another global recession.

Italy’s borrowing rates shot up today to above 7%t, an unsustainable level on a par with rates that forced the others to seek bailouts. And those bailouts just mean more debt. Its just paying debt with more debt.

Its like defaulting on your mortgage, selling the house, buying a BIGGER house and getting a bigger mortgage with a worse interest rate.

Worse these 17 finance ministers need to push their reforms through quickly... unlike previous reforms which took years to implement due to referendums.

The 17 ministers are also to discuss jointly issuing so-called Eurobonds — an all-for-one, one-for-all way of having the different countries guarantee one another’s debts. Right now each nation issues its own bonds, meaning that while Italy pays above 7 per cent, Germany pays about 2 per cent.

Having stronger countries like Germany stand behind the general European debt would lower Italy’s borrowing rates — and prevent a debt spiral that leads to a national bankruptcy. But it would raise Germany’s cost of borrowing, hence why Germany has been fiercely opposed to the Eurobond proposal.

If the European Union fails to fix its debt woes, bank lending would freeze, Europe's stock markets would likely crash, and Europe’s economies would crater. Economists believe such a collapse could see Europe’s economic output fall temporarily by as much as 50%, according to UBS forecasters.

Such debt problems would hinder the USA and Asian economies, the same way the US Recession sparked a global recession.

Strauss-Kahn freed despite damning evidence

By Suzanne MacNevin.

FEMINIST - Yesterday Dominique Strauss-Kahn's sexual assault charges have been dismissed by two judges and the charges withdrawn by the prosecutors, claiming they have lost faith in the star witness despite damning DNA evidence and numerous other victimized women who have come forward saying they were sexually assaulted by Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

The former head of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn was onced touted as a possible future president of France, and has no shortage of power or money. Legal activists are crying foul and corruption, saying the dismissal of the charges has nothing to do with the victim's credibility and everything to do with Dominique Strauss-Kahn's power and friends in high places.

The legal ramifications of the violent sexual assault and attempted rape against the hotel housekeeper isn't over yet however. Justice may yet prevail as a civil assault charge remains.

Overseas in France more charges against Dominique Strauss-Kahn are coming forward, but for now he has been set free.

The damning DNA evidence is Dominique Strauss-Kahn's semen on the clothes of the victim. Everyone knows he attacked and sexually assaulted the woman, but bribery can grease unseen wheels.

Strauss-Kahn arrived at court in a six-car motorcade and was greeted by protesters wielding signs carrying such messages as “DSK treats women like property” and “Put the rapist on trial — not the victim.” The shouting could be heard inside the courtroom.

State Supreme Court Justice Michael Obus said he would dismiss the case, but first wanted an appeals court to decide whether a special prosecutor should be appointed. Within hours, the appeals court agreed.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn attacked and sexually assaulted the maid originally from the West African nation of Guinea when she arrived to clean his luxury suite May 14. The 62-year-old grabbed her crotch and forced her to perform oral sex on him. Dominique Strauss-Kahn is claiming the maid had consensual sex with him and denies it was a forced encounter, despite the maid's physical injuries. Strauss-Kahn's lawyers claim the injuries are unrelated.

The 33-year-old maid, Nafissatou Diallo, is also sueing Strauss-Kahn, making it clear she isn't going to let this matter rest on corrupt public prosecutors. Her attorney Kenneth Thompson said outside court that she had been abandoned by the justice system and they will continue the fight in the civil case.

“No man, no matter how much power, money and influence he has, has a right to sexually assault a woman,” says Thompson. “We are disappointed that District Attorney Vance apparently does not believe in equal justice under the law and has denied an innocent woman a day in court.”

Overseas in Guinea the people there are watching and listening to the news and expressing shock that the justice system in the USA is so corrupt.

“Since the beginning of time, the powerful have always won. Nafissatou Diallo didn’t stand a chance against DSK,” says local Pepe Bimou. “The only possible outcome was that she would lose.”

This is hardly the first time men in power have gotten away with sexually assaulting women. It won't be the last, but at least now everyone knows Dominique Strauss-Kahn is a sexual predator.

See Also:
Feminist Truths / Crime

Will Prince William become King Arthur?

POLITICS - It should be noted, for a variety of reasons, Prince Charles of Wales might never become King of England.

#1. Because he might actually die before his unusually long lived mother does. Queen Elizabeth II will be 85 in April, and her mother (the Queen Mum) lived to be 102. She might be on the throne for another 30 years.

#2. Because Prince Charles married a divorced woman. Camilla Parker Bowles divorced her husband in 1995. As the head of the Church of England, a king cannot be married to a divorced woman. This means if his mother died, Prince Charles would have to step aside and the next person in the line of succession would be his son, Prince William of Wales.

And even if Prince Charles does somehow become King (ie. they ignore the Church of England's rules), it will be a brief time period that he is on the throne. (Prince Charles will be 63 next November. Its possible he might live until he is 90 [males typical die sooner than females] and could be on the throne for 2 decades, but that will be a short time period compared to the six decades his mother has been Queen.)

Prince William Arthur Philip Louis (born 21 June 1982), would then have an interesting option before him. When ascending the throne he would get to pick his official royal name.

He could be King William V, King Arthur, King Philip (which sounds too much like the French and Spanish Kings) or King Louis (who again sounds too French).

It is possible he would pick King William V, but oh... wouldn't it be so much more interesting if he picked King Arthur?

Christmas Eve Treason

POLITICS/RELIGION - Almost a hundred years ago, on December 24th 1914, troops on both sides of enemy lines committed treason by having an unofficial truce.

In modern society religion, ideology and nationalistic pride have become the primary sources of clashes between civilizations. But a hundred years ago religion was actually a source of unity.

Thus it was that on December 24th 1914, following the opening of World War I and Christian churches on both sides of enemy lines supporting the national stance of ethnic and/or religious superiority (basically saying 'God is on our side'), that the doomed soldiers who were sent to the front set aside their weapons and ignored orders.

Such an event hasn't happened again since then. The act of treason that occurred then would never happen today. Soldiers who did would be subject to summary execution (ie. shot on the spot for treason).

Thus it was that only 5 months into the conflict (and not knowing how long it would last) the first Christmas of World War I was not a slaughter-fest of artillery, machine gun and poison gas weaponry...

It was Christmas in the Trenches and the morale was low. Rats, disease, filth, the screams of wounded soldiers in the distance, the ominous presence of the enemy. It could have been a potential massacre. To boost morale the German Kaiser Wilhelm ordered 100,000 Christmas trees and millions of candles sent to the front.

It started with German troops on the opposite side of No Man's Land singing "Stille Nacht" (Silent Night). British, French, Scottish and Canadian troops joined in and in various spots along the 600 mile stretch of trenches the unusual event happened: The Christmas Truce of 1914.

It should be noted that MOST of the soldiers did not leave their posts. Instead they stood there dumbfounded, suspecting it was all a trick. But quite a few did leave their posts and surprisingly they were not given any serious punishment for it. (There were punishments later handed out, but none of them were severe.)

Those who did set down their weapons and wandered out on to No Man's Land which was quiet for the evening. They gathered up the corpses of the fallen, and what followed was a celebration of photographs from home, chocolate, cigarettes, beer, wine, schnapps and according to several reports, soccer games.

Fraternization with the enemy / treason is severely punishable, including the possibility of summary execution by a commanding officer. But there were too many troops that did it. An officer who shot his own men on Christmas Eve would have had a revolt on his hands.

A French film, “Joyeux Noel”, later tells the story of how this all happened and is adapted from the stories and letters from the soldiers who lived through the event. Letters from the actual event are actually quite valuable now. A remake of the film in 2005 makes it out to be to the Scottish who started it.



Now more religious people might say that the treasonous Christmas Eve of 1914 was the spirit of Christmas alive in the souls of those men... but religious historians are quick to point out Jesus was actually born in March and the festival of Christmas was moved to December 25th by the Roman Emperor Constantine to coincide with the Roman festival of Saturnalia. Prior to that gift giving was not part of Christmas, but a Saturnalia tradition.

Likewise Yule logs and Christmas trees are also pagan traditions. And Saint Nicholas (aka Santa Claus) was actually a 4th century Greek (270 - 343 AD) who would secretly give gifts to people all year round, usually in the form of coins. Saint Nicholas is the patron saint of sailors, merchants, archers, thieves, children and students.

Since then the story of Saint Nicholas has been warped and twisted so many times that it is now more of a pagan tradition than anything else.

Thus one could argue it was the common humanity that the soldiers in the trenches felt on December 24th 1914. They were tired of war and were really only there because their country had asked them to...

But there is one story about Saint Nicholas which does pertain to war and death. Its depicted in the painting shown here, Saint Nicholas Saves Three Innocents from Death. Saint Nicholas preached the values of compassion for your fellow man and helping out those in need.

Thus humanity and compassion was probably what moved the troops in 1914. Sadly it was short lived.

WikiLeaks under attack by governments

POLITICS - The governments of multiple countries are working together to discredit and shut down WikiLeaks. Today the Swiss postal system stripped WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange of one of his bank accounts. The money inside the account will still be returned to him, but many banks and governments are either refusing to work with WikiLeaks or are shutting down anything related to him in an effort to censor WikiLeaks from releasing sensitive government information.

The Swiss Post / Postfinance accused WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange of lying about living in Geneva, claiming he didn't have any apartments or offices in Geneva.

“That's his money, he will get his money back,” says a Postfinance representative. “We just close the account and that's it.”

WikiLeaks secret spilling website isn't just being attacked by the Swiss either. Iceland, Germany, Sweden and other countries are making life difficult for WikiLeaks and its donation supported element (the donations are usually routed through Iceland and Germany).

And Sweden? Well, Sweden has upped the ante by claiming sexual misconduct against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange when he visited the country in the Summer. The Swedish case has been described by his British lawyer Mark Stephens as a political stunt. A European arrest warrant was issued for Assange last week and it is currently working its way through the British legal system.

The idea is that if a country can convict Assange of some minor crime that his website can be shut down somehow and prevent the release of more sensitive documents in the future.

WikiLeaks has been under intense international scrutiny over its disclosure of millions of classified U.S. diplomatic cables, after previously releasing tens of thousands of classified U.S. military documents on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The disclosures have embarrassed the U.S. and other governments worldwide.

The intensity of the scrutiny has resulted in internet service providers and even online payment providers to refuse to work or cut ties with WikiLeaks.

Today WikiLeaks' Swedish servers came under cyber attack, the latest in a series of attacks by foreign hackers from a variety of countries including the USA. U.S. officials are seeking to charge Julian Assange with something, but are uncertain of what to charge him with because they obviously want him to disappear, but they don't want it to look like a cover up.

Extradition experts say arrest warrants can take weeks or even months to lead to an arrest, which means WikiLeaks can continue to release classified information on schedule.

Assange says his site has another 250,000 documents which will be leaked en masse if he is charged in the USA.

Quite a few politicians are calling for Julian Assange to be charged with treason and even to be killed, but newspapers and news agencies are quietly supportive of Assange because they are eager to get the information that Assange plans to release.

It should be noted that these documents were likely doomed to be leaked eventually anyway, all WikiLeaks does is provide a forum for releasing the information confidentially.

Royal Wedding: Prince William & Kate Middleton

ENTERTAINMENT - Seriously, it doesn't count as politics when you announce Prince William of Britain & Kate Middleton are getting married. Maybe in the centuries past it would be politics, but these days its just celebrity buzz.

Prince William and his bride-to-be Kate Middleton will be getting married between March and September of 2011. They have yet to pick a date.

If they want a sunny wedding the list of dates are limited. Its pretty much guaranteed to be rainy regardless. [Although traditionally that is a good omen for fertility. ;)]

In other news Kate Middleton is 28 years old. That is practically 22 by today's standards. Most 20-somethings are waiting longer to get married.

Oh and there is the price tag... £25 million ($40 million USD) in taxpayer money from a country currently in the worst recession in decades. So will that mean cutting back on their budget?

Oh and British citizens are already betting on when the wedding will be... and how long it will last.

Prince Charles and Princess Diana's marriage lasted from July 29th 1981 until the separation in the early 1990s. The divorce was on August 28th 1996.

40% of marriages in Britain end in divorce, the highest divorce rate in the world.

Phrase of the Day: Currency War

POLITICS - The words "Currency War" is on the lips of both politicians and the mass media today. The Lilith News used the words 6 days ago on November 6th. See "Currency War on the Horizon". But we're hardly the first people to use the term.

Indeed there is currently 1.36 million websites which mention the words "currency war" if you do a refined Google search.

And if you only search for News, there is 2,830 articles which make reference to it.

But what is a currency war you might ask?

Well, a currency war is when nations deliberately devalue their currency in an effort to boost their exports (by making their currency cheaper, their currency therefore becomes more affordable).

Examples

#1. China is currently pegging the Chinese Yuan to the American dollar, instead of letting it just float on the open market. The end result is that the Chinese Yuan is worth about 50% to 66% less than it really should be worth.

#2. In response the United States has begun printing more US currency, in an effort to #1 (pay off its debts to China) and #2 boost America's exports. This however can hurt the US economy over the long run if they flood the market with too much cash, causing hyperinflation (which is what happened to Germany during the 1920s).

#3. Historically countries used to protect their currencies by having tariffs (taxes on imports) which allowed their domestic economy to be quite strong, but resulted in a loss of exports to other nations which had similar tariffs in place. With the advent of Free Trade this is no longer a viable option.

#4. Printing phoney money of the rival country's currency. ie. If someone wanted to collapse the economy of South Whatistan all the rival nation would need to do is print billions of notes South Whatistan's local currency, causing rampant inflation and financial ruin.

#5. Following WWI Germany was forced to pay for the financial cost of the war to its enemies and it did so by printing more money. So much money that the Deutschmark devalued itself by so much during that time period that it became worth less than toilet paper. (Seriously, toilet paper would have been considered hard currency in those days.) Shown here is German children playing with stacks of money, which makes you realize how worthless Deutschmarks were at the time.

#6. Currency problems in Europe were such a hassle that most European countries decided to end their petty currency problems and unite under a single currency, the Euro. This has turned out to be a smart protective measure and boosted their domestic economies.

Now of course we have to remember one important distinction in all of this... money is inherently WORTHLESS. Its just paper. Its not like 100 years ago when many countries still used the gold standard (ie. the British pound used to represent exactly that, one lb of gold).

Yes, the USA still keeps quite a bit of gold in Fort Knox and other gold deposits around the USA, but the fact is that the United States Bullion Depository holds only 4,603 tons (4,176 metric tonnes) of gold bullion (147.4 million troy ounces) of gold.

And indeed gold prices right now are at record heights, recently passing $1,400 USD per ounce. That is quite a bit compared to December 2000 when gold was hovering around $240 USD per ounce.

Now if you're doing math that means the USA only has $206.36 billion USD worth of gold in their system. That is all that is backing up the value of USA's currency, even though there is no direct connection between the US dollar and the amount of gold the USA keeps in reserve.

Now when you compare that number to the US National Debt ($13.73 trillion USD) what you realize is that the USA doesn't have the gold or the strength of their currency to fall back on. The emperor is quite literally naked.

Now before you run out and start burning your money to keep warm, think again.

What this really means is that OBJECTS and REAL ESTATE is more valuable than money. ie. If you own a home (as in literally own it, and you don't have a mortgage or lots of debts) it means that you could be a lot better off than some other people who may run into trouble later as this currency war between the USA and China heats up.

However some might argue that the USA has already lost this currency war, purely on the basis that China has stocked up on so much foreign currency and owns so much of the United States' debt (see the image below) that the USA can't possibly hope to compete because if they even tried China could suddenly dump all of its foreign reserve currency on the market, utterly destroy the US economy and send the USA back into the dark ages...



But hey, who would China sell everything to then? What would be the point of destroying the global economy? The answer is that its pointless. China needs the USA as its trading partner and needs to wise up to the fact its own domestic economy is booming and will soon become the world's central economy.

NOTE: There is a book currently on sale in China called "Currency Wars", published by Song Hongbing in 2007. Its sold over 200,000 copies and is "read by many senior level government and business leaders in China". The book even predicted the banking crisis in the USA in 2008. The book argues that China should change its currency to become a representative currency (ie. off gold for example) instead of a fiat currency which is meaningless and worthless.

There is no doubt that China and India will become global centres in the 21st century global economy, but China needs to change how it conducts business with its currency if it wants to prevent a global economic collapse. (ie. One day we wake up and all our currencies are suddenly worthless because the financial system has fallen apart.)

One solution would be for China to slowly sell off its foreign currency reserves, buy up as much gold as it can using those currencies and then switch to a system wherein the Chinese Yuan is pegged not to the price of the US dollar, but pegged to the value of gold.

(Or alternatively, pegged to a basket of mineral prices, such as 1/4 gold, 1/4 silver, 1/4 platinum, 1/4 palladium, thus creating a system which is more stable than just gold by itself. Which in turns means that countries would have to create depository systems and stockpile these minerals.)

Indeed if every country switched to a gold/mineral standard it would unify our global currencies under one base currency. No phoney electronic credit system that nobody can trust (an idea that banks have been pushing because it would allow them to basically print their own money). A gold standard for everyone.

Pink Panthers strike again

ENTERTAINMENT - Okay technically the Pink Panther was the name of the diamond stolen by The Phantom several times within the film series, but British newspapers have dubbed a team of jewel thieves from Montenegro which have struck in London, Paris, Tokyo, Dubai and have thus far stolen over $250 million USD worth of jewelry.

One of the members, Milan Jovetic, was caught 7 years ago with a diamond worth $1 million USD hidden in his girlfriend's jar of face cream, like Lady Claudine hid the diamond in the film "The Return of the Pink Panther". The British press had fun with that and the name Pink Panthers has stuck ever since.

Milan Jovetic helped rob London's Graff store on New Bond Street of $30 million worth of diamonds.

Since then a pattern of high profile jewelry heists have caused Interpol to set up “Project Pink Panthers” in an effort to catch the jewel thieves. They are investigating 190 incidents in 27 countries across 4 continents.

Jovetic was sentenced to 5 1/2 years in prison of which he served four. He is now back in Montenegro and something of a celebrity. He won't even talk to reporters unless they're paying him.

Supporters of the Pink Panthers compare them to Robin Hood and note that while they do sometimes carry guns, they have never killed or even shot at anyone. They've been on the run since the late 1990s and most of them have managed to avoid getting caught.

Interpol believes there is about 40 members of the Pink Panthers, but only 25 arrests have ever been made in recent years. There's also been about 400 people investigated as being accomplices or lackeys. Most of the members come from Montenegro or Serbia and are affiliated with Balkan crime syndicates.

Their robbery tactics are much simpler than the cat-burglar tactics used by The Phantom in The Return of the Pink Panther".

Typically a well-dressed man distracts the clerk (often by pointing a gun at them) while a team smashes jewelry casings and loots the place before they flee in stolen cars.

In Tokyo in 2004 they wore wigs, pepper-sprayed the clerk and stole a $27 million diamond necklace.

Last December three members, two men and a woman, were convicted for stealing $31.5 million worth of jewels, including an 125-carat necklace. The jewelry however was never found.

Its believed the group is contracted by someone within a large diamond corporation which is able to fence the jewelry without raising suspicion. The diamonds can be recut and reshaped making them easier to sell.

During a 2007 heist in Dubai two cars drove into a lobby of the Wafi shopping mall and backed into a jewelry store window, grabbing approx. $3.5 million worth of jewels. The incident was caught on a cellphone camera.



Dubai police later arrested 8 suspects, but the Pink Panthers continues to operate under a code of silence making it difficult to get convictions.

UK Taxi driver goes on shooting spree

POLITICS - Yesterday a 52-year-old taxi driver Derrick Bird went on a shooting rampage and killing 12 people and injuring 25 more in the quiet region of Cumbria west of Newcastle. He began by shooting people in one location, driving to another spot and shooting more, repeating this process. Today UK police are cleaning up 18 different crime scenes and trying to determine why these shootings happened.

The first victims were the Derrick Bird's brother and a solicitor, giving rise to theories it may have been related to a legal dispute. The next victims were other taxi drivers, suggesting Derrick Bird may have had issues with his co-workers or competition.

He even went through the trouble of switching cars, traveling from town to town as he left a wake of dead civilians and the injured.

Among the dead are:

David Bird was the first victim, the shooter's twin brother. It is believed Derrick rowed with his brother over his terminally-ill mother's will.

Kevin Commons, 60, was a senior partner at KJ Commons & Co solicitors. He was found dead in the driveway of his house on Frizington Road, Frizington.

Darren Rewcastle, a taxi driver, who was killed as Bird produced a gun and shot fellow taxi drivers in Duke Street, Whitehaven.

Susan Hughes, 57, was shot in the stomach in the Hagget End area of Egremont. She was walking home from a local shop when Bird killed her.

Ken Fishburn, a retired security worker at the Sellafield nuclear power plant, was killed on a bridge in Egremont. He was in his sixties.

Isaac Dixon was gunned down on the Egremont to Haile road near Wilton. The part-time mole catcher was in conversation with a farmer when Bird shot him dead at the edge of a field in Carleton, Cumbria. The farmer was left unharmed.

James "Jimmy" Jackson and Jennifer Jackson, retired husband and wife in their 60s were was gunned down in Wilton.

Garry Purdham, the 30-year-old son of a farmer, was gunned down around 11.30 AM as he fixed a gate on his family's Low Boonwood Farm.

Jane Robinson, a woman in her 70s, was shot dead outside her home she shared with her twin sister in Seascale. She was killed while going door-to-door delivering Betterware catalogues.

Michael Pike was shot dead in Seascale around midday. The 64-year-old was shot to death while riding a bicycle in the village.

James Clark, a 23-year-old real estate agent, was driving through Seascale when Bird opened fire on him. It is unclear whether it was one of Bird's bullets or the resulting crash which killed him.

The gunman Derrick Bird was found in a wooded area east of Beckfoot. He had shot himself.

England is in shock today with even Queen Elizabeth II expressing condolences and a Coronation Street episode being pulled from the lineup because the plot included a shooting rampage.

European Union’s $1 trillion bailout

POLITICS - The European Union's bailout (worth almost $1 trillion USD) was greeted today by a soaring Euro and a stock market rebound. The bailout was a bandage solution to a spreading debt crisis in Europe where multiple countries, especially Greece, are close to bankruptcy.

Greece will receive 110 billion in an effort to get its financial affairs in order, but will have to cut back on social spending and freeze government wages until they can turn their financial woes into gains.

Debt laden countries will also see their interest rates go down, making it easier for companies and people to borrow money.

The source of the problem is a global issue which governments are sadly choosing to ignore rather than trying to solve through firm negotiation: China and its pegging of the yuan to the US dollar.

China keeps its currency pegged to the US dollar and rarely allows it to fluctuate. In reality the yuan is worth a lot more, but China keeps its exchange value much lower so it can compete internationally for exports.

The result however means that corporations in other countries and regions like the United States, Canada and Europe sometimes close factories and move their manufacturing business to China where the workers are cheaper.

Its not just the yuan's value that is the issue either. Its also China's weird version of a minimum wage. Instead of making a minimum wage that is by the hour, China's minimum wage is based on per month (which makes it very difficult to regulate). China's minimum wage also varies from province to province, the highest is a mere 1000 yuan / month... approx. $150 / month.

In comparison Greece has a minimum wage of 25.01 Euros per day or €680.59 a month (no hourly minimum) and is one of the lowest minimum wages in Europe. But compared to China that is $867.13 USD per month.

The solution however is not for European countries to lower their minimum wages. The USA and other countries are all in same boat... between China's pegged yuan and extremely low minimum wage other countries can't compete for cheapness.

But they can compete when it comes to technology, quality and peace of mind. China has developed a horrible reputation for making fake goods that are dangerous, don't work properly and hazardous to the health.

But frankly there is another solution... what gives China the right to peg their own currency to specific currencies? What is to stop the European Union from pegging the Euro to the yuan... but at a more accurate value?

As it stands the only way for the EU to raise the necessary funds is to issue government bonds and to borrow money from other countries, including China.

Which is to say China really has indebted countries (including the United States) by the financial balls in these matters.

So will another $1 trillion in European debt solve their problems? No. Its just a temporary band-aid solution. Solving bankruptcy with debt. Western countries need to cut back on trade with China and exercise more fiscal restraint.

Tough Love with Greece

POLITICS - I recall once listening to a 4 year old boy getting a bath from his mother. The mother was trying to get him to tilt his head back so he wouldn't get shampoo in his eyes. The boy adamantly refused and wailed instead. Due to the boy's lack of action the shampoo, driven by gravity ended up in his eyes. Had he known better and just did what his mother had told him he wouldn't have been in this mess.

What we're seeing in Greece today is a similar problem.

Greek protestors keep stomping their feet, setting fire to cars and buildings (yesterday 3 people were burnt to death in a burning office building)... protesting government changes will no doubt mean higher taxes in the future.

The problem is a series of government bailouts as Greece has been hard hit by the global economic decline... but there is a double whammy involved.

Due to the history of protests in Greece in recent years many foreign investors have pulled out their funding. Arsonists, anarchists, people who just plain hate the government but apparently too stupid to realize their protests aren't making anything better... well that is just it, they're continuing to make things worse.

Yesterday tens of thousands of Greeks marched to parliament, testing the government’s resolve in enacting deep budget cuts in return for billions of euros in EU/IMF aid.

Why does Greece need the aid package? Because without it their high spending ways would result in a government collapse...

Here's essentially what has happened...

1. Greeks love to protest. Its arguably one of their defining traits. It doesn't matter whether they're protesting wars overseas, environmental issues, the economy... they're just good at it. Unfortunately Greece also has an above average share of anarchists and arsonists and these tend to set fire to cars, buildings, etc.

2. Unfortunately foreign investors don't like these kinds of violent fiery protests. Too many protests = money pulled out of Greece.

3. This means more unemployment, more unhappy Greek people, more protests.

4. It also means less government revenues from taxes. Less people working = Less money going into government coffers.

5. Greece's government has tried to maintain its budget and maintain social services, but the sad fact is that their government is now so ridiculously in debt that nobody will loan them money any more.

6. Therefore when they asked the EU and IMF for more money it was a bit like an unruly teenager asking its parents for more money and the parents know full well the teenager is just going to spend it on alcohol and have a party. So instead the EU/IMF has demanded strict budgetary controls which will allow Greece to gets economy working again.

7. This means huge cuts to social programs, the arts, wage freezes for teachers and other government jobs, etc. Government workers aren't happy, unions aren't happy, Greeks are unhappy.

But frankly its that or complete government collapse in the country of Greece because they won't be able to pay their workers. Anarchy and corruption will be the result as people are forced to fend for themselves.

So the Greek protestors have the right to be upset. But frankly what they really need to do is stop protesting for awhile, give the economy a chance to recover and focus on working more / protesting less.

My apologies to any Greeks offended by the analogy to the behaviour of a 4 year old, but there is times when intervening agent (whether it be mother or EU/IMF) has to show some tough love.

When will Iceland's volcano stop erupting?

ENVIRONMENT - Air travel in Europe has practically ground to an halt as ash and chemicals from an erupting volcano in Iceland makes air travel very dangerous. The amount of ash being spewed into the jet stream is such that most of northern Europe and parts of southern Europe have cancelled most of their air flights. Even transatlantic flights from Canada and the USA are being cancelled.

But the volcano in question (Eylafjallajökull) in Iceland just keeps on erupting. According to scientists there's no limit for how long it could keep erupting.

"So far its only been erupting for a bit over a month, but it could be years or decades before it either slows down and quiets completely," says one scientist/tourist in Iceland, there to enjoy the spectacle.

If that were true and the eruptions became a constant fixture it could spell disaster for Europe's aeroplane and tourism industries. It also is a danger for people with respiratory problems, who are currently being told to stay indoors.

When Mount Pintubo erupted in June 1991 the aerosols in the ash resulted in a global drop in temperatures by 0.4 degree C (0.9 degree F) and created a sulfuric haze that circled the globe for a period of a year. The eruptions only lasted 2 weeks but the effects were long lasting.

If Eylafjallajökull keeps erupting it could cause severe havoc to the global economy. Hypothetically an ash cloud that extends across Europe, Russia, Asia and eventually North America as it circles the globe could wreak any number of troubles to local economies that rely on air travel, tourism, warm temperatures, food imports and even military aircraft. Already economists are predicting billions of dollars in daily economic losses due to the disruption the volcanic ash is causing.

Eylafjallajökull is situated on the Mid-Atlantic ridge, a highly unstable volcanic region. Iceland itself has had constant eruptions for thousands of years, but this is the biggest one in recent history.

A similar eruption in 1783 of the Laki volcano in Iceland was recorded by Benjamin Franklin (then the American Ambassador to France) in which he records winter weather that lasted well into 1784, with the "effect of heating the Earth was exceedingly diminished. Hence the surface was early frozen. Hence the first snows remained on it unmelted. Hence the air was more chilled. Hence perhaps the winter of 1783-84 was more severe than any that had happened for many years."

$300,000 Speeding Ticket

CARS - A Swiss multi-millionaire who was speeding in a Ferrari was slapped recently with a fine of 203,181 Euros (approx. $300,321 CDN). The punishment was not based on the actual speed he was going, but rather based on a Swiss law uses fines based on income.

ie. If a person is really poor, the fine might be 100 Euros or less.

Similar laws already exist in Germany, France, Austria and various Scandinavian countries in order to prevent rich people from ignoring traffic laws. In Germany the fine can be as much as $16.6 million compared to only $1 million in Switzerland. (Beware Jeremy Clarkson and any other speed demons, don't go driving in any of those countries...)

In the above case the driver, identified only as "Roland S.", was described as a "Traffic Thug" by Swiss judges for terrorizing city streets in a 50 km zone and endangering the lives of other drivers and pedestrians. His personal wealth is more than $20 million and a fine of $500 would have not sent the right signal.

No news yet on when similar laws might come to North America.

Germany Celebrates Fall of the Wall

POLITICS - 20 years ago the Berlin Wall separating East and West Berlin was opened. Within a year Germany was reunited and has since gone on to become the world's 4th biggest economy behind the United States, Japan and China.

Today Germany celebrated the Fall of the Wall with a variety of celebrations, including 1000 giant dominoes falling across part of the city. The anniversary is practically a national holiday now.

But no where is anybody complaining about the PRICE of reunification, or complaining about how East and West Germany could not trust each other back in the 1980s and were in a state of constant espionage during the Cold War.

It reminds me of North Korea and South Korea. I used to live in South Korea and one of the things I noticed while there is that South Koreans tended to fuss about the fact they can't trust the North Koreans and that reunification with the North is going to be expensive.

When you consider Germany's contemporary feelings and celebrations about the Fall of the Wall and reunification then South Korea's concerns just seem silly in comparison. If the DMZ across Korea went down today, twenty years from now concern about the "cost" would be dismissed as ridiculous.

And worries about not being able to trust North Korea? Pfff. Sheer silliness too.

When the Berlin Wall came down East German soldiers were dancing in the streets with the citizens. EVERYONE was happy to see it gone.

There's also pressure to turn the DMZ into a nature preserve, because apparently tiger tracks have been spotted in the region. The Korean tiger was previously thought to be extinct in the wild.

The tiger is a symbolic creature for Koreans, dating back to both Korean mythology about the birth of the Korean race and also Korean royalty and symbolic of Korea as a nation, commonly shown in artwork and maps depicting Korea as a tiger.

Unfortunately reunification seems pretty far away. In the last couple of years North Korea has been testing nuclear weapons and long range missiles capable of reaching Hawaii. North Korea's leader Kim Jong Il also suffered a stroke and its only a matter of time before he either dies and/or is replaced by his 28-year-old son (Kim Jong Eun) as leader. Or a coup takes place, because its difficult to imagine the aged generals listening to a mere pup as leader.

British Citizen? Time to apply to MI6

POLITICS - Are you a British citizen? Have you always wanted to be a secret agent like James Bond?

Well MI6 (aka Britain's Secret Intelligence Service) is looking for new recruits and has even made a test on their website (see www.sis.gov.uk/output/self-selection-tool.html) to see if you have the memory skills to be an agent.

All you have to do is memorize the following cover story:

"You're stationed in Transeuratania. You're a vegetarian and the food isn't especially good in Metropoligrad – unlike the coffee, which costs less than a Shilling for a pot at the best hotel. Your name is Stephanie Johnson. You were born on 14th December 1974 in Skegness. At A Level, you gained an A in Geography, an A in French and a B in Economics. You have two sisters and a brother. You studied Geology at university and now work as a Management Consultant for a company called British Coal Associates."

And then answer 8 multiple choice questions in less than 2 minutes.

Even if you're not a British citizen its still fun to take the test. (I scored 8 out of 8, but unfortunately I am Canadian not British.)

After the test, and assuming you score at least a 7 or 8, you're asked if you'd be interested in applying to become an agent overseas.

If only CSIS or the CIA offered similar tests for people interested in applying.

And even if you can't be a government spy fighting Communists or terrorists there is also corporate spies.

Britain officially in deep recession

POLITICS - The British economy has officially sunk into recession, government statistics showed Friday, with output falling 1.5% in the fourth quarter of last year as the financial credit crisis ravaged banks, retail and manufacturing. Following the 0.6% decline recorded in the third quarter, Britain is now officially in recession – the standard definition of a recession is two quarters of economic shrinkage. A deep recession is any recession that has a combined bi-quarterly loss of 2% or more.

Britain joins the United States, Canada and several other countries now officially in a recession or depression. (A depression is any recession that lasts 2 years or more.)

Britain's economic slump is the biggest economic decline since the early days of Margaret Thatcher's government in 1980 and caused the British pound to slump to a new 23-1/2 year low against the U.S. dollar of $1.3503 and headed back towards parity against the Euro.

For 2008 as a whole, Britain's GDP rose by 0.7%, down on the 3% growth in 2007, and the lowest level of growth since 1992's 0.1%.

A sudden spike in suicide rates in Britain and North Ireland has caused the British government to set up free suicide prevention/stress related hotlines so people can talk about their woes.

In related news... Irish real-estate tycoon Patrick Rocca was found shot dead at his home in a suburb of Dublin in an apparent suicide.

European Union pushes $264B economic stimulus

POLITICS - EU leaders today supported a 200 billion Euro ($264.3 billion) economic stimulus package to ward off recession in the region's 27 nations as new statistics highlighted just how deep a slowdown they are facing. 15 European nations have slid into a recession during the past 9 months and more may follow without an economic stimulus.

The EU had agreed unanimously to spend "1.5% of gross domestic product or around 200 billion Euros" to brake shrinking growth that will shed jobs across the region. The final three months of the year aren't looking any better, according to figures the EU statistics agency Eurostat published Friday. The entire 27-nation EU saw a 5% tumble in industrial production compared to last year due to falling demand.

This adds urgency to the recovery plan that EU governments are backing, which gives each nation some leeway in how to fuel growth. They singled out automakers and home builders as most in need of help as shoppers avoid major purchases such as new cars and homes. Countries would be free to choose how they would help out troubled industries, picking between more public spending, tax or social security cuts, aid for specific industries or financial support for cash-strapped households.

A draft EU statement also set limits on what each country could do, saying massive state subsidies had to be short-term and targeted to limit competition problems that would favor one industry or one part of the 27-nation bloc over rivals elsewhere in Europe. "Measures to support demand must aim to produce immediate effects, be of limited duration and be targeted at the sectors most affected and the most important as regards the structure of the economy, e.g. the automotive industry and the construction sector," the draft text said.

The EU stimulus also aims to make more money available to banks to lend on to companies. The EU government-funded European Investment Bank will release 30 billion Euros ($39.65 billion) in small businesses loans during next year and 2010 and for projects that support renewable energy and cleaner transport, including 4 billion Euros ($5.3 billion) in soft loans for the car industry to help them make more hybrid, hydrogen or electric cars.

This won't be very good for the American car industry, which has a significant lack of eco-friendly cars and will see European cars become even more eco-friendly and competitive.