china confidential
Saturday, December 06, 2008
Neo-Nazi Violence Rising in Sweden
Foreign Confidential....
Neo-Nazi violence is on the rise in supposedly liberal Sweden.
Last Saturday, neo-Nazis burned down the autonomous cultural center the Cyclops in Högdalen in the outskirts of Stockholm.
Earlier the same day, passing out leaflets, anti-racist activists were brutally attacked.
The day after, November 30th, the neo-Nazis of Folkfronten rallied through downtown Stockholm.
On December 1, neo-Nazis poured into the apartment of a family with a small child and set on fire. The family escaped the flames by climping down the balcony to the floor underneath.
Sweden has three neo-Nazi organizations: the National Socialist Front (NSF), the Swedish Resistance Movement (SMR) and Info-14. The NSF is the largest of the three groups. It has a mandatory political uniform dress code during marches and demonstrations, which includes a black combat-sweater or shirt, black military-cap, boots, khaki-coloured combat pants and the party's logo on the arms
Neo-Nazi activities occurred in 19 of Sweden's 21 counties in 2007. Only Kronoberg and Jämtland were free of neo-Nazi activities. The most active neo-Nazis can be found in Stockholm, Västra Götaland and Skåne.
Kabul's Last Stand
Foreign Confidential....
Desperately seeking to save Afghanistan from falling to the Taliban, the lame-duck Bush administration has come up with a desperate escalation scheme.
The United States will send 20,000 troops to Afghanistan, and deploy the troops around the capital, Kabul.
No matter. The war is basically lost. Barring destruction of Taliban/Al Qaeda sanctuaries in neighboring Pakistan, nothing can prevent the collapse of the corrupt Karzai government.Commodity Crash Crushes Canadian Crop Prices
Foreign Confidential....
Canadian agriculture is reeling from the commodity crash that's sent oil prices plunging from all-time highs in July to four-year lows Friday.
Earlier this year, prices for corn, wheat and soybeans hit record highs--after more than a decade of depressed prices. But crop prices have plunged along with other commodities. Corn dropped to US$2.93 on the Chicago Board of Trade yesterday, the lowest price in more than two years.
Soybeans that were more than US$16 a bushel in the spring were US$7.83. Wheat was at US$4.57, less than a third of its high this year.
Corn prices now are below the cost of growing the crop, agricultural analysts say.
A silver lining: with their crops mainly priced in U.S. dollars, farmers have been cushioned by the dropping Canadian dollar, which also hit a four-year low of 76.88 cents yesterday against the U.S. dollar.
Where are prices headed next?
On the one hand, prices could continue to plummet with the U.S. recession (or depression). On the other hand, prices might rocket to record highs because of biofuels.
While corn and soybeans have been linked to oil prices because of their use to produce ethanol and biodiesel, respectively, wheat soared in 2008 because of production problems in major exporting countries. In fact, wheat stocks were the lowest they have been in 50 years.Fiat CEO: Recession Will Kill Car Companies
Foreign Confidential....
It has come to this: the once-mighty United States, having been betrayed and hollowed out by Republicans and Democrats alike, is now being told that its auto industry is a relic--by the head of an absurd automaker called Fiat.
Fiat SpA CEO Sergio Marchionne, a dual-Canadian-Italian national, said the global auto market will contract after the economic recession kills demand for cars, Automotive News Europe reports citing an interview.
Only six automakers may survive the financial crisis after a wave of mergers and takeovers, Marchionne told the car industry magazine.
“By the time we finish with this in the next 24 months, as far as mass-producers are concerned, we’re going to end up with one American house, one German of size; one French-Japanese, maybe with an extension in the U.S.; one in Japan; one in China and one other potential European player,” Marchionne told the publication.
Companies can only survive if they produce at least 5.5 million cars a year, he said.
Fiat is Italy’s biggest automaker and the country’s top manufacturer. Like every foreign automaker, Fiat is heavily subsidized and protected by its government.
Marchionne is best known for crashing his Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano on a highway in Switzerland in November of 2007. He tailgated a Renault at 62 miles an hour near the city of Basel and could not stop when the Renault stopped.
Sunday, 7 December 2008
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