Check Your Credit Balance Today.............before it is tooooooooooooooo Late. No body knows when is his turn to go back.
This is taken from SIFY.COM WITH THANKS
Unfamiliar setting
Bodies are strewn among the knotted skeletons of entire towns.
Military helicopters clatter overhead.
Survivors who lost everything huddle under blankets in schools-turned-shelters as foreign governments dispatch aid and urge their citizens to flee.
After years spent reporting from desperate and war-torn corners of the world, the scenes I've witnessed here are unsettlingly familiar.
It's the setting that's not.
Image: Japanese military helicopter sits among debris at Matsushima air base of the Japan Air Self-Defence Force, northeastern Japan, on Saturday, March 12.
Text: Todd Pitman, Associated Press
AP Images (Any unauthorised reproduction is strictly prohibited)
Cascading disasters
Here, in one of the richest and most advanced nations on earth, I've found one of the most challenging assignments of my career.
Japan's cascading disasters were spawned by one of the planet's strongest quakes in a century.
Next came a tsunami that killed more than 10,000 people and demolished vast swaths of the northeastern coast in minutes.
That triggered a nuclear emergency that has amplified a deepening sense of apocalyptic doom.
The grim sights have been widely compared to the astonishing destruction wrought here during World War II.
But it also reminds me of Lebanon in 2006 - when Israel's Hezbollah-seeking rockets leveled whole villages - or any other conflict zone filled with refugees and military convoys.
Image: In this March 12, 2011 photo provided by the U.S. Navy, an SH-60B helicopter assigned to the Chargers of Helicopter Antisubmarine Squadron (HS) 14 from Naval Air Facility Atsugi flies over the city of Sendai, Japan to deliver more than 1,500 pounds of food to survivors.
Where there is no place for color, class, and caste........everyone is eligible unless declared ......clean , ethical, transparent and accountable.
Change has arrived “New Political Reality in North African Arab World”
Food Riots in North African Arab World
There are riots in many African Countries recently. Especially the riots have significance looking at the strategic importance of these countries to the west,
Now youths are angry and want justice. They are angry because they don’t have work, employment, and growth opportunity. The prices are rocketing high and affording anything is difficult. Under these circumstances they are asking for justice from these corrupt regimes supported by their western allies for their own benefit. There are many dimensions to the crisis and none of them are really in the hands of single country in this Globalised environment”.
The famous columnist of Al Jazeera Television Channel Mr. Marwan Bishara writes “The so-called international community has been traditionally silent about totalitarian practices and abuses within its member states, except in cases where certain Western countries or powers have invoked questions of regime oppression either as a tool of foreign policy or championing the cause of human rights for public consumption.
Arguably, the neoliberal economic opening to Western investments has played no small part in the deterioration of the economic situation in
So that when those regimes, as in
Politics: Algerian President Bouteflika led his country out of the civil war that broke out when Islamists were denied an election victory; since the 1990s.
Economy:
In 1992 a general election won by an Islamist party was annulled, heralding a bloody civil War. However, poverty remains widespread and unemployment high, particularly among
Major protests broke out in January 2011 over food prices and unemployment, with two people being killed in clashes with security forces. The government responded by ordering cuts to the price of basic foodstuffs.
Layachi Ansar, professor of sociology at
'Out of control'
Mohamed Ben Madani, editor of The Maghreb Review, said the situation was "out of control" and that the protests could continue for weeks.
Mohamed Zitout, a former Algerian diplomat, told Al Jazeera: "It is a revolt, and probably a revolution, of an oppressed people who have, for 50 years, been waiting for housing, employment, and a proper and decent life in a very rich country.
"But unfortunately it is ruled by a very rich elite that does not care about what is happening in the country - because they did not give people what they want, even though the government has the means to do so, the people are now revolting."
If we look at the other side of the story why this all is happening. Even though economy is slow, there is enough food for everyone and prices are going UP.
According to World Bank “The world economy is moving from a post-crisis bounce-back phase of the recovery to slower but still solid growth this year and next, with developing countries contributing almost half of global growth, says the World Bank’s latest Global Economic Prospects 2011.”
The World Bank estimates that global GDP[1][1], which expanded by 3.9% in 2010, will slow to 3.3% in 2011, before it reaches 3.6% in 2012. Developing countries are expected to grow 7% in 2010, 6% in 2011 and 6.1% in 2012. They will continue to outstrip growth in high-income countries, which is projected at 2.8% in 2010, 2.4% in 2011 and 2.7% in 2012.
The following are some of the key points from a review of the 2010 performance of equity markets around the world:
Stock markets can rise despite low or poor economic growth. The
It was a very good year 2010 for many markets with amazing returns.
The FAO Food Price Index in December slightly surpassed its peak of early summer 2008. The indices of sugar and oils and fats increased the most.
o In Asia, domestic prices of rice further strengthened in December and are at record levels in several countries.
o Prices of wheat and wheat flour in importing countries of Asia, Latin America and Africa, remained at high levels.
The price of traded food staples such as wheat, corn and rice soared 26 percent from June to November, nearing the peaks reached during the global food crisis of 2008. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, 925 million people worldwide suffered from hunger in 2010, an increase of about 150 million since 1995-97. One third of children in the so-called developing world are malnourished.
The new explosion in commodity prices is being fueled by the cheap credit policies of governments and central banks in Europe,
In the
A major factor in the rise in corn prices is the diversion of a third of
In the
The combined effect of these growing demands is stunning: a doubling in the annual growth in world grain consumption from an average of 21 million tonnes per year in 1990-2005 to 41 million tonnes per year in 2005-2010. Most of this huge jump is attributable to the orgy of investment in ethanol distilleries in the
In the past four months, the Silver has risen 51 percent to a series of 30-year highs, before inflation. It closed last week at $29.31 a troy ounce, as compared to $16.822 at the beginning of 2010―a rise of 74 percent. Wall Street Journal writes “Of the general surge in commodity prices, the Journal wrote: “Prices are rising despite over-supply and a lackluster recovery in industrial demand. Many analysts expected those factors would keep a lid on prices in 2010. What they didn't expect was an overwhelming flow of money into the market from investors eager to ride a commodity rally.”
FOOD PRICES AND INFLATION
If all the food in the world were shared out evenly, there would be enough to go around. That has been true for centuries now - if food was scarce, the problem was that it wasn't in the right place.
The poor, urban multitudes in these countries (including
When food prices soar, these people quickly find that they simply lack the money to go on feeding themselves and their children properly - and food prices now are at an all-time high.
Unfortunately we live in world which does not understand logic and rationales. Only vested interest of Global Powers and Power Brokers and lobbies prevail. No one care how many will die of hunger and poverty.
OH ALLAH MOST BENEFICIENT and MOST MERCIFUL FORGIVE US FOR OUR SIN.
POOR AT RECEIVING END OF DEVELOPMENT
FEED POOR _ HELP THEM YOU WILL BE BETTER
This is unending love story of capitalist economy called “Financial Crisis”. How the Wall Street and biggies of Wall Street loves money, and how much they love it. They have given this name “God own work”. They are doing God’s own work by cheating and defrauding. Making richer more rich and poor …………… poorer. This is called God’s Own Work in their words. But unfortunately this is exactly the definition of Capitalism. The whole concept of free money, free economy, without control and restriction and governance is what Capitalist Want.
If we look at whole financial crisis we can very easily say that the core reason is manipulation, and cheating, which they named structuring. Structuring of financial product, derivatives and swaps in such a way which nobody can understand.
Goldman Sach is being investigated for fraud, but the list is very long. The Greek debt by Goldman Sach should also be considered as cheating and their role in collapse of Lehman Brothers must also be investigated.
When I have gone through whole document of evidence and financial crisis I came to the following conclusion.
Financial Crisis, world has seen the big names of finance and banking no more exists, they are gone and gone for ever. Because of the financial melt down, more people has gone into poverty and more people finding it difficult to meet the both ends. What is problem and who is responsible for, and what is the alternative and long term solution.
What is problem?
The problem lies in the system where making money from money at any cost is sole objective called as capitalism. The specific reason related to the financial crisis is as below.
· The Bank of International Settlements, which seems to be the only institution that tracks the derivatives market, has recently reported that global outstanding derivatives have reached 1.14 quadrillion dollars: $548 Trillion in listed credit derivatives plus $596 trillion in notional/OTC derivatives. And a look at their massive exposure shows that even a small miscalculation or stumble in the capital markets could be a recipe for unprecedented disaster. The majority of the $1.28 quadrillion in derivatives are “owned” on somewhere near 95 percent margin!
“Reason for Financial Crisis in Short”
o Unethical Practices and Moral Hazard
o Securitization and speculation
o Paper Currency
o Derivatives and Structured Products
If we look at the core of the financial crisis, it all started with unethical practices of lenders/banks to lend the money who can not afford it. These bankers are only interested in getting processing fees and placement fees and making money on it. They bundled these entire low quality loan into securities, and sold to the market. Most importantly rating agencies rated these securities wrongly to get good rating. Then market players sold CDS and Interest rates swaps on them based on these rating. Then speculators played on these securities to generate profits.
When it comes to commodities I can say securitization of commodities market and derivatives played by the speculators are the sole reason for the high prices of commodities across the world. Derivatives are the other reason of collapse. Role of paper currency is another very important issue at the center of financial crisis. These papers currencies which do not have any weight themselves has become most important tool of the speculators, derivatives, currencies and their casino’s has played key role in financial crisis. Securitization and securities market has become the 24 hour casinos for the speculators who play on 95% barrowed money. (Commodities, currencies and derivatives)
Why not Auditors and Credit Rating Agencies?
But a crucial question remains that has not had much exposure: where were the auditors? Unqualified audit reports up to the collapse had concluded that the directors’ reports and accounts reasonably reflected reality.
Auditors have contributed to the crisis by accepting directors’ “mark-to-market” valuation of trading assets, when some basic questions would have shown them that those directors (i) hadn’t the remotest clue what was in the mortgage / loan packages they had acquired; (ii) were utterly bemused by the nature of the complex derivatives on which their asset valuation rested; and (iii) knew that there was no market to “mark” to.
Derivatives are central to the demise of Lehman. Its annual accounts mention derivatives contracts with a face value of $738bn and fair value of $36.8bn.
The Role Played by Credit Rating Agencies
Flaws in rating methodologies were the major reason for underestimating the credit default risks of instruments collateralized by subprime mortgages.
The governance of credit rating agencies did not adequately address issues relating to conflicts of interests and analytical independence.
Rating process needs to be optimized
Looking back at market developments and rating activities during the past few months, it becomes clear that a number of factors have adversely affected the quality of the work done by CRAs:
