World Depression The Silence Surrounding Sri Lanka U-20: Will the Global Economy Resurface? Pentagon war spending hits $685.7 billion: GAO: The spending total equals about 85 percent of the $808 billion that Congress has appropriated for military operations in the global war on terrorism since the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington, the GAO said. $296 Billion in Overruns in U.S. Weapons Programs: Nearly 70 percent of the Pentagon’s 96 largest weapons programs were over budget last year, for a combined total of $296 billion more than the original estimates, a Congressional auditing agency reported Monday. Russia backs return to Gold Standard to solve financial crisis: Russia has become the first major country to call for a partial restoration of the Gold Standard to uphold discipline in the world financial system. UK: Demonstrate at the G20 on 1 April: The leaders of the world’s big powers will meet at the G20 summit in London on 2 April. It is Barack Obama’s first visit to Britain. It is our chance to demand a change from Bush’s war policies. Hundreds of French workers take bosses hostage: Hundreds of French workers, angry about proposed layoffs at a Caterpillar factory, were holding executives of the company hostage Tuesday, a spokesman for the workers said. Home Prices in 20 U.S. Cities Fell by a Record 19%: The S&P/Case-Shiller index’s decrease was more than forecast and compares with an 18.6 percent decrease in December. The gauge has fallen every month since January 2007, and year- over-year records began in 2001. Banks Starting to Walk Away on Foreclosures : Banks are quietly declining to take possession of properties at the end of the foreclosure process, most often because the cost of the ordeal — from legal fees to maintenance — exceeds the diminishing value of the real estate. Government website now offers 'suicide warning signs' for victims of recession: When the government starts warning you not to commit suicide, you know things have gotten bad. Judge Must Release Woman Sentenced to Jail for Being Poor, ACLU Says in Court Papers: The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan asked for an emergency hearing today on behalf of an Escanaba woman sentenced to 30 days in jail because she is too poor to reimburse the court for her son’s stay in a juvenile detention facility.
Regional Wars and the Decline of the US Empire
By James Petras
We are living the end of an entire epoch: Experts everywhere witness the collapse of the US and world financial system, the absence of credit for trade and the lack of financing for investment. A world depression, in which upward of a quarter of the world’s labor force will be unemployed, is looming. Continue
By Arundhati Roy
The horror that is unfolding in Sri Lanka becomes possible because of the silence that surrounds it. There is almost no reporting in the international press - or in the mainstream media in India, where I live - about what is happening. From the little information that is filtering through, it looks as though the Sri Lankan government is using the propaganda of "the war on terror" as a fig leaf to dismantle any semblance of democracy in the country and commit unspeakable crimes against the Tamil people. Continue
By Walden Bello
The Group of 20 (G20) is making a big show of getting together to come to grips with the global economic crisis. But here's the problem with the upcoming summit in London on April 2: It's all show. What the show masks is a very deep worry and fear among the global elite that it really doesn't know the direction in which the world economy is heading and the measures needed to stabilize it. Continue
Wednesday, 1 April 2009
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