Ivo Skoric on Fri, 25 Jul 2003 01:15:43 +0200 (CEST) |
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<nettime> ivogram x4: what's next, for sale, who needs them, and interest due? |
"Ivo Skoric" <ivo@reporters.net> What's next? For sale! Who needs them? Interest due. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - From: "Ivo Skoric" <ivo@reporters.net> Date: Fri, 18 Jul 2003 15:55:46 -0400 Subject: What's next? W.'s administration will have catastrophic consequences for the Union - to finance the expensive adventures abroad, federal government impoverished the States pushing all the social services costs on them (only 2 will end up this fiscal year with positive balance, and California, the 6th world's economy, is de facto bankrupt). By the year 2042 the US will be able to pay only 73% of soc sec benefits. The cost of Iraq occupation is $48B a year - DOUBLE the pre-war annual GDP of that country! How can that make sense? Bush is pillaging the States to pay fat-cats that put him in office, who profit from over-priced contracts, and all that is packaged and sold to perpetually frightened populace in form of 'security measures' and 'war on terrorrism' - this is literally lifted from Milosevic's rulebook. 3/4 of the military is tied up in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo, and with an obligation in Liberia. Bemusingly, the US cannot take on North Korea with the available forces, particularly if China helps N.K. defend itself, and N.K. openly and brazenly flauts around that they have the bomb. ANd in Iraq, things are moving nowhere pretty quickly: Saddam's forces are obviously waging an underground guerilla warfare against the US, killing and destroying something somewhere daily (like Tito's partisans did to Germans in the 1942...). US is going more in debt. China is making money of it. So, in the real clash between the two main rival economies of 21st century, who do you think is going to win? Bush is such a disaster, that I refuse to believe that he has any chances to win the next elections, unless he declares a martial law and cancels elections alltogether. ivo - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - From: "Ivo Skoric" <ivo@reporters.net> Date: Fri, 18 Jul 2003 15:55:51 -0400 Subject: For sale! Despite sane advices and running contrary to long-term common sense, Croatian government went forward and sold its oil giant INA to Hungarian oil giant MOL. MOL acquired 25%+1 share for $505M U.S. This is 1/8 of what the U.S. spends monthly just to run its occupation force in Iraq. It places INA-s value at $2B roughly. The sale gave MOL a controlling stake in INA. Tudjman's government presided over the sale of power distribution (Enron), telecommunications (Deutsche Telekom), merchant navy (various buyers), 85% of banking industry (Italian and Austrian banks, mostly). Racan's government sold the rest of the banks, hotels, ships, and now the oil industry. A friend of mine from Zagreb wonders what would the next government sell to fill up its campaign coffers before the elections. NOTHING. Because nothing is left. Hmmm, maybe the railroads, and the Croatian Airlines - but they are not really that good earners for anybody to rush to buy them. Future Croatian governments will obviously have to think of some other way to get funded. ivo - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - From: "Ivo Skoric" <ivo@reporters.net> Date: Fri, 18 Jul 2003 18:39:32 -0400 Subject: Who needs them? I am completely perplexed as to why does the US government need the military tribunals for terrorists?! I mean, if they already decided that anybody declared by the President to be a terrorist is as guilty as sin, denying those poor loosers any rights of due process (no open trial, no trial by jury, no right to chose a lawyer, no right to talk to anybody, no right to know all the evidence held against you, no right to appeal to an independent judiciary), holding them incomunicado at undisclosed places around the planet, preferrably such places that condone torture, WHY there is a need for tribunals at all? Military can just milk the information they need with stress and duress techniques out of the unfortunate suckers that got caught, and disappear them thereafter - who would know? This is simply a hipocrisy to allow for an illusion of justice, while there is really no intention to dispense it. The most fantastic aspect of the proposed tribunals is that even if the suspect is acquitted there is no guarantee that he would walk - he may be held continuously and indefinitely by the US authorities as a security threat. What exactly would then the acquital actually mean? And why on Earth would such a trial be neccessary to anybody but a few Washington's sanctimonious bureaucrats? ivo - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - From: "Ivo Skoric" <ivo@reporters.net> Date: Fri, 18 Jul 2003 21:33:30 -0400 Subject: Interest due. When Roman Emperors needed money for war or "re-election" (not getting stabbed on the stairs of the Senate, in those days) they stripped the State's temples from gold. Croatian (and other Eastern European) presidents sell state-owned industries. And Bush plunders the poor, weak, feeble, those who can't fight back. New York State employers just received an 'important notice' about the interest assessment surcharge. The rate of 0.06% doesn't seem outrageously high, but it is outrageous that it is there. "The Commissioner of Labor is required to levy I.A.S. on unemployment insurance taxable wages at annual rate sufficient to produce revenues needed to pay interest due on loans from the Federal Government" - says the letter. Oh? So, first the Federal Government takes the money from the people in form of taxes, and gives nothing back in form of social services, leaving all of that to the States. Then the States are required to comply with it, but the system is not designed for States to have enough resources to do so. Eventually, they have to BORROW money from the Federal Government, and, now the interest is due! What a sick scheme! So, what does Federal Government do with all this dough? Wages wars. Occupies foreign countries. Spreads disaster and mayhem. For the profit of handful of well-connected individuals that head the corporations always contracted by Pentagon. So, what's the difference between the U.S. and Russia, really? ivo - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - # distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission # <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets # more info: majordomo@bbs.thing.net and "info nettime-l" in the msg body # archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: nettime@bbs.thing.net