"Satyrs at Play" - aediculaantinoi.wordpress.com: HADRIAN and ANTINOUS finally release their embrace, and notice DIONYSOS

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

2:04 PM 3/14/2012–WSJ & Press Review

Mike Nova's starred items

India to Surpass Japan in Car Sales

via WSJ.com: US Business on 3/14/12

India is poised to overtake Japan as Asia's No. 2 vehicle market by 2016, and sales gains in China will remain strong this decade, according to new estimates.

Best of the Web Today: Where's the Afterglow?

via WSJ.com: Today's Most Popular on 3/13/12

Sex doesn't sell Barack Obama.

The executive, Greg Smith, blasted Goldman for betraying its historic culture an...

via The Wall Street Journal's Facebook Wall by The Wall Street Journal on 3/14/12

The executive, Greg Smith, blasted Goldman for betraying its historic culture and putting profits ahead of client interests. He said Goldman executives talk openly about ripping off their clients, who sometimes are referred to internally as “muppets.”

Goldman Rejects Claims Made by Outgoing Executive
blogs.wsj.com
Goldman Sachs is fighting back against an executive who tendered his resignation via the op-ed pages of the New York Times.

Treasury Losses Gain Momentum After Sale

via WSJ.com: Markets on 3/14/12

The U.S. rounded out this week's debt supply with a 30-year bond sale that attracted an average amount of interest and extended losses in the already-battered Treasurys market.

The 23 Rules for Winning March Madness

via WSJ.com: Today's Most Popular on 3/14/12

Before you click on video live-stream program, turn down the volume, and pretend to be doing your actual job, here are some March Madness rules to consider.

Obama, Cameron Hail Strong Ties

via WSJ.com: World News on 3/14/12

President Barack Obama told U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron that the relationship between the U.S. and Britain is unshakable and at its strongest point in the nations' histories.

Romney's Delegate Math Still Adds Up

via WSJ.com: Politics And Policy on 3/14/12

While Santorum may have gained momentum from primary victories in the South, fellow GOP candidate Romney emerged with something that could endure longer: an enhanced lead in delegates.

OPEC Blames Speculators for High Prices

via WSJ.com: World News on 3/14/12

Leaders of some of the world's largest oil-producing nations pinned current high oil prices primarily on market speculators, just as consuming nations warned that the current increased output levels are being more than offset by supply problems.

Beijing Looks to Legalize Underground Lending

via WSJ.com: World News on 3/14/12

China's premier said officials are looking for a way to bring the nation's underground lending system, which has been crucial for small businesses often eschewed by state-owned banks, into the light.

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Obama warns Iran window of diplomacy 'shrinking'

via Russia News Headlines - Yahoo! News on 3/14/12

US President Barack Obama (L) and British Prime Minister David CameronUS President Barack Obama on Wednesday warned Iran that the window for diplomacy to solve a nuclear showdown was "shrinking," stiffening his rhetoric ahead of looming new talks on the issue.

Moscow says ally Assad too slow at reforms

via Russia News Headlines - Yahoo! News on 3/14/12

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov walks at the State Duma, the lower parliament chamber, Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, March 14, 2012. Lavrov says Moscow is providing Syria with weapons to fend off external threats but has no intention to use military force to protect Syrian President Bashar Assad. (AP Photo/Misha Japaridze)Russia's foreign minister on Wednesday showed irritation with Moscow's longtime ally Syria, saying Syrian President Bashar Assad has been slow to implement long-needed reforms and warning that the conflict in the Arab state could spiral out of control.

Russia says Syria's Assad too slow on reforms, warns of spreading conflict - Washington Post

via Russia - Google News on 3/14/12


Fox News

Russia says Syria's Assad too slow on reforms, warns of spreading conflict
Washington Post
MOSCOW — Russia's foreign minister on Wednesday showed irritation with Moscow's longtime ally Syria, saying Syrian President Bashar Assad has been slow to implement long-needed reforms and warning that the conflict in the Arab state could spiral out ...
Russia says it won't intervene militarily in SyriaFox News
Russia urged to back UN Syria moveThe Independent
all 3,754 news articles »

Путин и тигрица. Кого поймал премьер-министр?

via Радио Свобода by Анастасия Кириленко on 3/14/12

Блогеры заподозрили, что мистификации с амфорами предшествовала мистификация с "дикой" тигрицей.

Exclusive: secret Bashar al-Assad emails lift lid on life of leader's inner circle

via World news and comment from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk by Robert Booth, Mona Mahmood, Luke Harding on 3/14/12

• Messages show Bashar al-Assad took advice from Iran
• Leader made light of promised reforms
• Wife spent thousands on jewellery and furniture

Bashar al-Assad took advice from Iran on how to handle the uprising against his rule, according to a cache of what appear to be several thousand emails received and sent by the Syrian leader and his wife.

The Syrian leader was also briefed in detail about the presence of western journalists in the Baba Amr district of Homs and urged to "tighten the security grip" on the opposition-held city in November.

The revelations are contained in more than 3,000 documents that activists say are emails downloaded from private accounts belonging to Assad and his wife Asma.

The messages, which have been obtained by the Guardian, are said to have been intercepted by members of the opposition Supreme Council of the Revolution group between June and early February.

The documents, which emerge on the first anniversary of the rebellion that has seen more than 8,000 Syrians killed, paint a portrait of a first family remarkably insulated from the mounting crisis and continuing to enjoy a luxurious lifestyle.

They appear to show the president's wife spending thousands of dollars over the internet for designer goods while he swaps entertaining internet links on his iPad and downloads music from iTunes.

As the world watched in horror at the brutal suppression of protests across the country and many Syrians faced food shortages and other hardships, Mrs Assad spent more than £10,000 on candlesticks, tables and chandeliers from Paris and instructed an aide to order a fondue set from Amazon.

The Guardian has made extensive efforts to authenticate the emails by checking their contents against established facts and contacting 10 individuals whose correspondence appears in the cache. These checks suggest the messages are genuine, but it has not been possible to verify every one.

The emails also appear to show that:

• Assad established a network of trusted aides who reported directly to him through his "private" email account – bypassing both his powerful clan and the country's security apparatus.

• Assad made light of reforms he had promised in an attempt to defuse the crisis, referring to "rubbish laws of parties, elections, media".

• A daughter of the emir of Qatar, Hamid bin Khalifa al-Thani, this year advised Mr and Mrs Assad to leave Syria and suggested Doha may offer them exile.

• Assad sidestepped extensive US sanctions against him by using a third party with a US address to make purchases of music and apps from Apple's iTunes.

• A Dubai-based company, al-Shahba, with a registered office in London is a key conduit for Syrian government business and private purchases of Mrs Assad.

Activists say they were passed username and password details believed to have been used by the couple by a mole in the president's inner circle. The email addresses used the domain name alshahba.com, a group of companies used by the regime. They say the details allowed uninterrupted access to the two inboxes until the leak was discovered in February.

The emails appear to show how Assad assembled a team of aides to advise him on media strategy and how to position himself in the face of increasing international criticism of his regime's attempts to crush the uprising, which is now thought to have left 10,000 dead.

Activists say they were able to monitor the inboxes of Assad and his wife in real time for several months. In several cases they claim to have used information to warn colleagues in Damascus of imminent regime moves against them.

The access continued until 7 February, when a threatening email arrived in the inbox thought to be used by Assad after the account's existence was revealed when the Anonymous group separately hacked into a number of Syrian government email addresses. Correspondence to and from the two addresses ceased on the same day.

The emails appear to show that Assad received advice from Iran or its proxies on several occasions during the crisis. Before a speech in December his media consultant prepared a long list of themes, reporting that the advice was based on "consultations with a good number of people in addition to the media and political adviser for the Iranian ambassador".

The memo advised the president to use "powerful and violent" language and to show appreciation for support from "friendly states". It also advised that the regime should "leak more information related to our military capability" to convince the public that it could withstand a military challenge.

The president also received advice from Hussein Mortada, an influential Lebanese businessman with strong connections to Iran. In December, Mortada urged Assad to stop blaming al-Qaida for an apparent twin car bombing in Damascus, which took place the day before an Arab League observer mission arrived in the country. He said he had been in contact with Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon who shared his view.

"It is not out of our interest to say that al-Qaida is behind the operation because this claim will [indemnify] the US administration and Syrian opposition," Mortada wrote not long after the blasts. "I have received contacts from Iran and Hezbollah in my role as director of many Iranian-Lebanese channels and they directed me to not mention that al-Qaida is behind the operation. It is a blatant tactical media mistake."

In another email Mortada advised the president that the regime needed to take control of public squares between 3pm and 9pm to deny opposition groups the opportunity to gather there.

Iran and Hezbollah have been accused throughout the year-long uprising of providing on-the-ground support to the regime crackdown, including sending soldiers to fight alongside regime forces and technical experts to help identify activists using the internet. Iran and Hezbollah both deny offering anything more than moral support.

Among those who communicated with the president's account were Khaled al-Ahmed who, it is believed, was given the task of advising about Homs and Idlib. In November Ahmed wrote to Assad urging him to "tighten the security grip to start [the] operation to restore state control in Idlib and Hama countryside".

He also advised Assad that he had been told European reporters had "entered the area by crossing the Lebanese borders illegally". In another mail he warned the president that "a tested source who met with leaders of groups in Baba Amr today said a big shipment of weapons coming from Libya will arrive to the shores of one of the neighbouring states within three days to be smuggled to Syria".

The emails offer a rare window into the mind of the isolated Syrian leader, apparently lurching between self-pity, defiance and flippancy as he swapped links to amusing video footage with his aides and wife. On one occasion he forwards to an aide a link to YouTube footage of a crude re-enactment of the siege of Homs using toys and biscuits.

Throughout 2011, his wife appears to have kept up regular correspondence with the Qatar emir's daughter, Mayassa al-Thani. But relations appear to have chilled early this year when Thani directly suggested that the Syrian leader step down.

"My father regards President Bashar as a friend, despite the current tensions – he always gave him genuine advice," she wrote on 11 December. "The opportunity for real change and development was lost a long time ago. Nevertheless, one opportunity closes, others open up – and I hope its not too late for reflection and coming out of the state of denial."

A second email on 30 January was more forthright and including a tacit offer of exile. "Just been following the latest developments in Syria … in all honesty – looking at the tide of history and the escalation of recent events – we've seen two results – leaders stepping down and getting political asylum or leaders being brutally attacked. I honestly think this is a good opportunity to leave and re-start a normal life. I only pray that you will convince the president to take this an opportunity to exit without having to face charges. The region needs to stabilise, but not more than you need peace of mind. I am sure you have many places to turn to, including Doha."

The direct line of reporting to Assad, independent of the police state's military and intelligence agencies, was a trait of his father, Hafez al-Assad, who ruled Syria for three decades until his death in 2000 ushered the then 36-year-old scion into the presidency. Assad Sr was renowned for establishing multiple reporting lines from security chiefs and trusted aides in the belief that it would deny the opportunity for any one agency to become powerful enough to pose a threat to him. His son has reputedly shown the same instincts through his decade of rule. The year-long uprising against his decade of rule appeared to be faltering this week as forces loyal to Assad retook the key northern city of Idlib.

Much of Assad's media advice comes from two young US-educated Syrian women, Sheherazad Jaafari and Hadeel al-Al. Both regularly stress to Assad, who uses the address sam@alshahba, the importance of social media and the importance of intervening in online discussions. At one point, Jaafari boasts that CNN has fallen for a nom-de-guerre that she set up to post pro-regime remarks. The emails also reveal that the media team has convinced Twitter to close accounts that purport to represent the Syrian regime.

Several weeks after sam@alshahba.com email was compromised in February, a new Syrian state TV channel broadcast two segments denying the email address had been used by Assad. Opposition activists claim that this was a pre-emptive move to discredit any future leaking of the emails.

On Wednesday Assad announced new parliamentary elections to be held across Syria on 7 May. The move appears to be in response to Kofi Annan's demand following his visit to Damascus over the weekend for a ceasefire coupled with elections. Activists have described a referendum last month that paved the way for the poll as a sham.

There was further bloodshed on the ground. Opposition activists said government forces killed dozens of people near a mosque in the city of Idlib, with rebels killing at least 10 troops in the same area. In Homs, residents said the old part of the city came under government bombardment. They also reported a massacre of 53 people in the Karm el-Zeytoun area of south-east Homs.

The US president, Barack Obama, signed an executive order last May imposing sanctions against Assad and other Syrian government officials.

In addition to freezing their US assets, the order prohibited "US persons" from engaging in transactions with them. The EU adopted similar measures against Assad last year. They include an EU-wide travel ban for the Syrian president and an embargo on military exports to Syria.

Robert Booth

Mona Mahmood

Luke Harding

guardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds


Assad emails: 'Rubbish laws of parties, elections, media ...'

via World news and comment from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk by on 3/14/12

From: sam@alshahba.com
Subject: Re: Gone to SHABAB workshop - tried to call, no answer
Date: 6 July 2011 18:21:00 BST
To: ak@alshahba.com

This is the best reform any country can have that u told me where will you be, we are going to adopt it instead of the rubbish laws of parties, elections, media.......

On Jul 6, 2011, at 2:29 PM, AK wrote:

will be finished at 5pm.

love u

guardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds


Assad emails: 'We should be in control of all public spaces' - translation

via World news and comment from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk by on 3/14/12

From: Hadeel
Subject: هامFW:
Date: 26 December 2011 13:19:10 GMT
To: sam@alshahba.com

FROM Hosein Mortada

In my opinion, we should be in control of all public spaces every evening including nights from 1500 to 2100 ...

At the same time, in these public spaces there should be groups of people that belong to us - Abbasid Square, Ummayad Square, Saba'a Bahrat roundabout, outside the Governorate buidling - in order not to leave them to others.

The opposition tends to move with the presence of the Observers' mission, by doing this we block the way for them to get to any of these public spaces …

guardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds


Assad 'shared video mocking Arab League's inability to spot tanks'

via World news and comment from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk by Mustafa Khalili on 3/14/12

YouTube video apparently produced by regime sympathiser uses toy car and biscuits to represent hidden tanks in Homs

On 29 December, in the week Arab League monitors arrived in the country and shortly after activists released film of Syrian army tanks in Homs, Bashar al-Assad appears to have shared a YouTube video with his one of his closest advisers that lampoons the monitors for their inability to spot regime armour.

"Check out this video on YouTube," Assad wrote to his media adviser, Hadeel al-Ali, using the sam@alshahba.com account. "Hahahahahahaha, OMG!!! This is amazing!" she responded. "Everybody was talking about Ghalion and his theory about the tanks."

By Ghalion she meant Burhan Ghalioun, the leader of the opposition Syrian National Council, who had remarked that Arab League observers' movements were being restricted. The regime was reported to have hidden some of its tanks during the Arab League's visit to Homs. In the four-minute video, which appears to have been produced by a regime sympathiser to lampoon both Ghalioun and the Arab League mission, a toy car crudely modified to look like a tank shoots at a pile of biscuits that represents a collapsing Homs tower block. Enter the monitor – represented by a plastic toy man who bears a passing resemblance to the Fat Controller in the Thomas the Tank Engine books. The toy "tank" is then disguised by having its barrel removed.

"Now, as the Arab monitor comes to check whether the Syrian regime has complied with the Arab initiatives or not … He does not know what is going on," the voiceover says, concluding: "This is a short summary about the way to hide a tank and inshallah we will do more videos in the series to explain more tricks by the Syrian regime."

Mustafa Khalili

guardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds


Like dictator, like son: how the Assads maintain a tight grip on power

via World news and comment from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk by on 3/14/12

Hafez al-Assad was careful not to let anyone become powerful enough to challenge him, and his son uses the same tactic

For the 30 years that Bashar al-Assad's father, Hafez, ruled Syria, he kept potential enemies at bay by creating divisions among the people who were in a position to challenge him.

The late dictator was fastidious about never letting any individual or group become powerful enough to challenge his authority. The best way to do that was to set up multiple reporting lines. All of the people who had his ear enjoyed the patronage of the godfather and competed for his attention. Dissenters, meanwhile, had good reason to stay quiet, knowing that the centre of power would soon learn of their subversion.

Syria under Hafez al-Assad became the region's most watertight police state, with a mix of civilian and military agencies and spy headquarters. The mukhabarat, as spy bodies are known in the Arab world, became pervasive and omnipotent. It has continued under the 12-year rule of his son, and has so far played a significant role in safeguarding his regime. Bashar al-Assad's use of a network of selected advisers – among them the inner circle who are party to the hidden email accounts – is a tactic straight from his father's playbook.

There is no doubt that Syria's generals and intelligence chiefs, most of whom hail from the Assads' clan, are front and centre at regular briefings offering battlefield summaries and clandestine assessments. However, Bashar al-Assad appears to understand well the value of a separate line. "It keeps the others guessing," said one regional politician familiar with the thinking behind the use of a private network. "The others in the circle probably knew it existed and all that did is keep them on their guard. It probably had the effect of making them scrupulous about their conduct and their facts."

Notable in the email correspondence is the absence of communications with key old-guard advisers such as Buthaina Shaaban, who has been very close to both presidents, or Jihad Makdiss, who was called back to Damascus from the Syrian embassy in London to run the information section at the ministry of foreign affairs. Both appear to still enjoy the president's confidence but clearly have a different route to his office.

The distinct lines of reporting are not the only trait that Bashar al-Assad appears to have learned from his father. Another is the art of negotiation without compromise. Every delegation that has visited Damascus since the uprising began a year ago has been officially received and politely sent away. The United Nations special representative for Syria, Kofi Annan, left on Sunday after two days of talks that failed to broker a ceasefire or moves towards one.

A former president of Lebanon who spent nearly five years dealing with Hafez al-Assad said he had little success in winning concessions. "I had 18 meetings with Hafez al-Assad when I was president and never won a single concession from him," he said. "He would talk, stall, never commit and never deliver."

Asked when he had come to the conclusion that the way of doing business had not changed when Bashar al-Assad became leader, the former president said: "From the beginning. He surrounded himself with the same people. He does business the same way."

guardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds


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Goldman battles ‘toxic’ culture criticism

via Financial Times - US homepage on 3/14/12

Departing London-based executive attacks culture as ‘toxic and destructive’ in PR blow to investment bank

Goldman Sachs' Greg Smith wrote in the New York Times about why he had resigned...

via Financial Times's Facebook Wall by Financial Times on 3/14/12

Goldman Sachs' Greg Smith wrote in the New York Times about why he had resigned as executive director of the investment bank. Read Andrew Hill's blog post on why the op-ed is so interesting and – for Goldman – so potentially damaging:
Culture questions for Goldman’s Blankfein
blogs.ft.com
Lloyd Blankfein, Goldman’s chief executive, and his brand new head of communications, cannot simply shrug this off. A strong culture – like a strong reputation – takes years to build, but can disintegrate rapidly. The company’s initial statement makes clear it thinks there is no problem.

Obama hails ‘indispensable’ tie with UK

via Financial Times - US homepage on 3/14/12

Official visit and state dinner mark what both leaders claim is a high point in the transatlantic relationship

Russia’s regions are next battleground

via Financial Times - World on 3/14/12

The country’s political reawakening will shift from the demonstrations in the capital towards change in its powerful administrative centres

Obama says time running out on Iran

via Financial Times on 3/14/12

The US president has urged Tehran to seize the opportunity of talks with world leaders to avert “even worse consequences”

2:04 PM 3/14/2012–WSJ

via Mike Nova by Mike Nova on 3/14/12

Mike Nova's starred items

India to Surpass Japan in Car Sales

via WSJ.com: US Business on 3/14/12

India is poised to overtake Japan as Asia's No. 2 vehicle market by 2016, and sales gains in China will remain strong this decade, according to new estimates.

Best of the Web Today: Where's the Afterglow?

via WSJ.com: Today's Most Popular on 3/13/12

Sex doesn't sell Barack Obama.

The executive, Greg Smith, blasted Goldman for betraying its historic culture an...

via The Wall Street Journal's Facebook Wall by The Wall Street Journal on 3/14/12

The executive, Greg Smith, blasted Goldman for betraying its historic culture and putting profits ahead of client interests. He said Goldman executives talk openly about ripping off their clients, who sometimes are referred to internally as “muppets.”

Goldman Rejects Claims Made by Outgoing Executive
blogs.wsj.com
Goldman Sachs is fighting back against an executive who tendered his resignation via the op-ed pages of the New York Times.

Treasury Losses Gain Momentum After Sale

via WSJ.com: Markets on 3/14/12

The U.S. rounded out this week's debt supply with a 30-year bond sale that attracted an average amount of interest and extended losses in the already-battered Treasurys market.

The 23 Rules for Winning March Madness

via WSJ.com: Today's Most Popular on 3/14/12

Before you click on video live-stream program, turn down the volume, and pretend to be doing your actual job, here are some March Madness rules to consider.

Obama, Cameron Hail Strong Ties

via WSJ.com: World News on 3/14/12

President Barack Obama told U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron that the relationship between the U.S. and Britain is unshakable and at its strongest point in the nations' histories.

Romney's Delegate Math Still Adds Up

via WSJ.com: Politics And Policy on 3/14/12

While Santorum may have gained momentum from primary victories in the South, fellow GOP candidate Romney emerged with something that could endure longer: an enhanced lead in delegates.

OPEC Blames Speculators for High Prices

via WSJ.com: World News on 3/14/12

Leaders of some of the world's largest oil-producing nations pinned current high oil prices primarily on market speculators, just as consuming nations warned that the current increased output levels are being more than offset by supply problems.

Beijing Looks to Legalize Underground Lending

via WSJ.com: World News on 3/14/12

China's premier said officials are looking for a way to bring the nation's underground lending system, which has been crucial for small businesses often eschewed by state-owned banks, into the light.

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India to Overtake Japan in Car Sales

via WSJ.com: US Business on 3/14/12

India is poised to overtake Japan as Asia's No. 2 vehicle market by 2016, and sales gains in China will remain strong this decade, according to new estimates.

Best of the Web Today: Where's the Afterglow?

via WSJ.com: Today's Most Popular on 3/13/12

Sex doesn't sell Barack Obama.

The executive, Greg Smith, blasted Goldman for betraying its historic culture an...

via The Wall Street Journal's Facebook Wall by The Wall Street Journal on 3/14/12

The executive, Greg Smith, blasted Goldman for betraying its historic culture and putting profits ahead of client interests. He said Goldman executives talk openly about ripping off their clients, who sometimes are referred to internally as “muppets.”

Goldman Rejects Claims Made by Outgoing Executive
blogs.wsj.com
Goldman Sachs is fighting back against an executive who tendered his resignation via the op-ed pages of the New York Times.

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Treasury Yields Climb as Investors Reassess

via WSJ.com: Markets on 3/14/12

Investors are storming out of Treasurys, driving yields to the highest level since October, amid a view that the economy is picking up enough steam to keep the Federal Reserve from a new round of bond buying.

The 23 Rules for Winning March Madness

via WSJ.com: Today's Most Popular on 3/14/12

Before you click on video live-stream program, turn down the volume, and pretend to be doing your actual job, here are some March Madness rules to consider.

U.S. Affirms Afghan War Shift

via WSJ.com: World News on 3/14/12

Obama, under pressure over a series of setbacks in Afghanistan, for the first time affirmed U.S. plans to shift the military to a support role next year.

Romney's Delegate Math Still Adds Up

via WSJ.com: Politics And Policy on 3/14/12

While Santorum may have gained momentum from primary victories in the South, fellow GOP candidate Romney emerged with something that could endure longer: an enhanced lead in delegates.

OPEC Blames Speculators for High Prices

via WSJ.com: World News on 3/14/12

Leaders of some of the world's largest oil-producing nations pinned current high oil prices primarily on market speculators, just as consuming nations warned that the current increased output levels are being more than offset by supply problems.

China Mulls Legalizing Informal Lending

via WSJ.com: World News on 3/14/12

China's premier said officials are looking for a way to bring the nation's underground lending system, which has been crucial for small businesses often eschewed by state-owned banks, into the light.

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The Izalco prison in El Salvador.

Many inmates have typically never gone on trial.

Members of the Mara 18 gang filled the prison yard.

A tattoo marked an inmate from the Mara 18 gang in El Salvador.

Gang violence has slowed the reformation process.

A crowded cell at the Ilopango women’s prison in San Salvador.

In Latin America, Prisons in Crisis
Mike Nova shared a link.

In Latin America, Prisons Condemned to Crisis

www.nytimes.com

A Honduran fire and a Mexican massacre have drawn new attention to dangerous conditions in Latin American prisons, which have outlasted scrutiny before.

By RANDAL C. ARCHIBOLD

A fire in Honduras and a massacre in Mexico have drawn new attention to dangerous conditions in Latin American prisons, which have outlasted scrutiny before.

*

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Capitalism, Version 2012

www.nytimes.com

Now this is what the upcoming elections should really be about: the future of capitalism and whether it will be shaped in America or somewhere else.

 

March 13, 2012

Capitalism, Version 2012

By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

David Rothkopf, the chief executive and editor-at-large of Foreign Policy magazine, has a smart new book out, entitled “Power, Inc.,” about the epic rivalry between big business and government that captures, in many ways, what the 2012 election should be about — and it’s not “contraception,” although the word does begin with a “C.” It’s the future of “capitalism” and whether it will be shaped in America or somewhere else.

Rothkopf argues that while for much of the 20th century the great struggle on the world stage was between capitalism and communism, which capitalism won, the great struggle in the 21st century will be about which version of capitalism will win, which one will prove the most effective at generating growth and become the most emulated.

“Will it be Beijing’s capitalism with Chinese characteristics?” asks Rothkopf. “Will it be the democratic development capitalism of India and Brazil? Will it be entrepreneurial small-state capitalism of Singapore and Israel? Will it be European safety-net capitalism? Or will it be American capitalism?” It is an intriguing question, which raises another: What is American capitalism today, and what will enable it to thrive in the 21st century?

Rothkopf’s view, which I share, is that the thing others have most admired and tried to emulate about American capitalism is precisely what we’ve been ignoring: America’s success for over 200 years was largely due to its healthy, balanced public-private partnership — where government provided the institutions, rules, safety nets, education, research and infrastructure to empower the private sector to innovate, invest and take the risks that promote growth and jobs.

When the private sector overwhelms the public, you get the 2008 subprime crisis. When the public overwhelms the private, you get choking regulations. You need a balance, which is why we have to get past this cartoonish “argument that the choice is either all government or all the market,” argues Rothkopf. The lesson of history, he adds, is that capitalism thrives best when you have this balance, and “when you lose the balance, you get in trouble.”

For that reason, the ideal 2012 election would be one that offered the public competing conservative and liberal versions of the key grand bargains, the key balances, that America needs to forge to adapt its capitalism to this century.

The first is a grand bargain to fix our long-term structural deficit by phasing in $1 in tax increases, via tax reform, for every $3 to $4 in cuts to entitlements and defense over the next decade. If the Republican Party continues to take the view that there must be no tax increases, we’re stuck. Capitalism can’t work without safety nets or fiscal prudence, and we need both in a sustainable balance.

As part of this, we will need an intergenerational grand bargain so we don’t end up in an intergenerational civil war. We need a proper balance between government spending on nursing homes and nursery schools — on the last six months of life and the first six months of life.

Another grand bargain we need is between the environmental community and the oil and gas industry over how to do two things at once: safely exploit America’s newfound riches in natural gas, while simultaneously building a bridge to a low-carbon energy economy, with greater emphasis on energy efficiency.

Another grand bargain we need is on infrastructure. We have more than a $2 trillion deficit in bridges, roads, airports, ports and bandwidth, and the government doesn’t have the money to make it up. We need a bargain that enables the government to both enlist and partner with the private sector to unleash private investments in infrastructure that will serve the public and offer investors appropriate returns.

Within both education and health care, we need grand bargains that better allocate resources between remediation and prevention. In both health and education, we spend more than anyone else in the world — without better outcomes. We waste too much money treating people for preventable diseases and reteaching students in college what they should have learned in high school. Modern capitalism requires skilled workers and workers with portable health care that allows them to move for any job.

We also need a grand bargain between employers, employees and government — à la Germany — where government provides the incentives for employers to hire, train and retrain labor.

We can’t have any of these bargains, though, without a more informed public debate. The “big thing that’s missing” in U.S. politics today, Bill Gates said to me in a recent interview, “is this technocratic understanding of the facts and where things are working and where they’re not working,” so the debate can be driven by data, not ideology.

Capitalism and political systems — like companies — must constantly evolve to stay vital. People are watching how we evolve and whether our version of democratic capitalism can continue to thrive. A lot is at stake here. But if “we continue to treat politics as a reality show played for cheap theatrics,” argues Rothkopf, “we increase the likelihood that the next chapter in the ongoing story of capitalism is going to be written somewhere else.”

*

Mike Nova's starred items

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Romney’s Challenge: Showing That Winning Doesn’t Always Matter

via NYT > U.S. by By MICHAEL D. SHEAR on 3/14/12

The Romney campaign argues that outcomes are the end all, be all and that Mr. Romney can — and will — win even while losing.

Mike Nova shared a link: Mike Nova - 3: 11:21 AM 3/14/2012 – Gay News – Puerto Rico

via Mike Nova by Mike Nova on 3/14/12

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Mike Nova - 3: 11:21 AM 3/14/2012 – Gay News – Puerto Rico

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As he prepares to bring sizzling Latin authenticity to his role in the Broadway revival of Evita, megastar Ricky Martin reveals the other passions in his life.

Mike Nova shared a link: Mike Nova - 3: 11:21 AM 3/14/2012 – Gay News – Puerto Rico

Mike Nova shared a link.

Mike Nova - 3: 11:21 AM 3/14/2012 – Gay News – Puerto Rico

mn-3.blogspot.com

As he prepares to bring sizzling Latin authenticity to his role in the Broadway revival of Evita, megastar Ricky Martin reveals the other passions in his life.