Tuesday, 11 January 2011 08:45
'Economist Dambisa Moyo predicts in her new book that the West’s economic dominance will collapse unless some very difficult choices are made. Dambisa Moyo is that rare type of person – an economist who makes waves. Her first book, Dead Aid, angered many in the charity sector by arguing that foreign aid has harmed Africa and should be phased out.
Her second, which is published in London on Thursday, accuses America and other Western powers of squandering their world economic dominance through a sustained catalogue of fundamentally flawed policies.'
Tuesday, 11 January 2011 08:40
Tuesday, 11 January 2011 08:33
'David Cameron plans to get Britain back to work by making it easier to sack staff in the first two years of their employment.
The Prime Minister's proposed 'employers’ charter' will allow companies to get rid of workers without the threat of being taken to an employment tribunal for unfair dismissal.Under current legislation, an employee can bring an unfair dismissal claim against an employer after only a year, so the Coalition wants to double the leeway given to firms. And as a deterrent to sacked workers seeking 'vexatious claims' a charge to take companies to an employment tribunal will also be introduced.
Cameron, believes that by relaxing the laws on employment, companies will be encouraged to take on thousands more staff. As part of the shake-up of employment law, there is also expected to be a reduction in the length of time that firms have to pay workers statutory sick pay - currently at least £79.15 for up to 28 weeks - while some small companies could be released from some shackling employment laws altogether.'
Read more: 'Making it Easier to Sack Bad Staff Will
Tuesday, 11 January 2011 07:35
'Freedom of speech organizations are condemning a decision by the Saudi Arabian government to force all online newspapers and bloggers to register with the Ministry of Culture and Information.
Under the new rules, to be introduced next month, all online writers - and this appears to include forums and even short messaging - will need a licence, valid for up to three years. The Saudi government says the move is simply designed to protect society - and points out that it was already censoring content anyway. Saudi Arabia has one of the highest numbers of bloggers in the Arabic world.
Applicants for a licence need to be Saudi, at least 20 years old and to have graduated from high school. They will also need 'documents testifying to their good behaviour'. Editors of online newspapers will need to be approved by the Ministry of Information and Culture. Anyone caught blogging without a licence will be subject to a fine of up to 100,000 Riyal ($26,665), and/or a ban - possibly forever.'
Read more: Saudi Arabia Bans Blogging Without a Licence
Tuesday, 11 January 2011 07:22
'A coalition of seven major public pension systems called on the boards of directors of Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), Citigroup (NYSE: C), JP Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), and Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) to immediately undertake independent examinations of the banks’ mortgage and foreclosure practices.
Led by New York City Comptroller John C. Liu on behalf of the five NYC Pension Funds, the coalition also includes the Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds, the Illinois State Board of Investment, the Illinois State Universities Retirement System, the New York State Common Retirement Fund, the North Carolina Retirement Systems, and the Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund. The coalition of pension funds called for the banks’ Audit Committees to launch independent examinations of their loan modification, foreclosure, and securitization policies and procedures.'
Tuesday, 11 January 2011 07:19
Tuesday, 11 January 2011 07:02
'But all of the sudden, the importance of title insurance is becoming crystal-clear. In recent weeks, big lenders like GMAC Mortgage, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America have halted many or all of their foreclosure proceedings in the wake of allegations of sloppiness, shortcuts or worse. And a potential nightmare situation has emerged that has spooked not only homeowners but lawyers, title insurance companies and their investors.
What would happen if scores of people who had lost their homes to foreclosure somehow persuaded a judge to overturn the proceedings? Could they somehow win back the rights to their homes, free and clear of any mortgage? But they may not be able to simply move back into their home at that point. Banks, after all, have turned around and sold some of those foreclosed homes to nice young families reaching out for a bit of the American dream. Would they simply be put out on the street? And then what?'
Read more: The Title Insurance Nightmare Scenario
'Britain's fuel tanker drivers have announced plans to stage a national strike that could cripple the UK and endanger the country's economic recovery, says the head of the union Unite Len McCluskey.
As many as 3,000 drivers will walk out their jobs as part of strike plans, triggering fresh misery for 36 million motorists already hit by fuel price and Value Added Tax (VAT) rises across Britain.'
Read more: British Tanker Drivers to Go on Strike
Monday, 10 January 2011 09:19
'Wheeler was the assistant to the Secretary of the Air Force in the George W. Bush Administration. It was the Secretary of the Air Force who discovered that Richard Cheney had set up an alternative chain of command to the nuclear weapons wing of the AF. In the process, six minutemen missiles armed with nuclear warheads were secretly transported from Minot AFB to Barksdale AFB.
The latter is the chief staging base for the Middle East war. The alarm system for the weapons was deactivated for the transport, something that not even the base commander could authorize. The orders had to have come from above. Many point to Cheney. Before the warheads could be flown via B-52 to the Iraq/Iran theater, the Secretary of the Air Force ordered the stand-down of all B-52 flights. When he discovered the alternative chain of command to Cheney, he fired all military personnel who were involved.
Cheney was said to have been livid. The Secretary ordered an investigation of what the AF press release called an oversight, and 70 enlisted men and 5 officers were removed from the Minot nuclear system.
At the same time, people involved began to die mysteriously. Wheeler is only the latest casualty.'
Monday, 10 January 2011 08:49
'We witnessed a massive withdrawal of silver unprecedented in the history of the comex. First there was a smallish 6507 oz of silver deposited to two customers, one being 497 oz and the other 6010 oz). But just look at the huge withdrawals:
Four customers (not dealers) withdrew a total of 1,019,310 oz from the comex vaults. This is real silver leaving from 4 registered vaults. The individual withdrawals are: 579,081, 30,380, 399,994 and 9855 oz.'
Read more: Massive Silver Withdrawals From The Comex
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