Obama: "And keep in mind that the deregulation process, it wasn’t just one party"

Deregulation of the financial industry – the reign of anarchy destined to blow up the markets and the global economy — started in 1999 with repeal of the 1933 Glass-Steagall Act. Clinton was president, but Republicans controlled congress. In the Senate, all 53 Republicans voted for repeal along with exactly ONE Democrat. That opened the gates to the orgy of lax supervision and non-supervision of bankers and Wall Street freebooters.

Throughout this feeding frenzy, apostles of deregulation have overwhelmingly come from the hardcore, ideological right wing, egged on by financial industry lobbyists.

And for nearly eight of these nine years, the Bush administration has not only been obliterating federal oversight of the markets but also failing to enforce even the patchy and often toothless regulations still on the books – and firing or demoting any honest civil servant who actually tries to do his job.

Not just one party? Let's not get so reasonable and so ritualistically consensual that we lose track of reality.

Sure we all share some responsibility – for everyone and everything – but real crimes are committed by real criminals, and the more quickly you forget the sooner they'll do it again.

These Republican outrages have cost countless people their jobs and their homes and cost millions of others their peace of mind and the ability to take good care of their families.

Right winger (now rich lobbyist) Phil Gramm, John McCain's “financial guru,” engineered the Enron Loophole when he was in the Senate – exempting energy trading from regulators, leaving Enron free to rape the ratepayers and taxpayers of California – after which his wife Wendy joined Enron's Board.

Gramm was also the principal enabler of the subprime mortgage meltdown.

Mother Jones has dubbed him Foreclosure Phil. He sneaked a measure into the 2000 budget at the last minute — largely written by financial industry lobbyists and unread by most of the Senators voting on the budget – barring the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission from regulating exotic swindles like bundling worthless mortgages.

Meantime Henry Paulson (yes, that guy), then head of Goldman Sachs, was after the SEC to get rid of some silly regulation that prevented investment bankers and hedge funds from using leverage up to 40-1 (You invest 10 million to control 400 million. You can make a fortune, and if later the investment goes bad, you get a bailout and the taxpayers have to cover your losses while you go home to count your accumulated bonuses). At that time the limit was 15-1, or 1,500% — fairly ample, wouldn't you think?

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Japan’s power output drops for 4th month on recession

Japan's electricity generation dropped for a fourth straight month in November, falling 1.8 percent from a year earlier as companies such as Toyota Motor Corp. cut production and the recession deepened.

The country's 10 regional utilities cut production to 77.17 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity last month, the Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan said in a report released in Tokyo today. Chubu Electric Power Co., which relies most heavily on industrial users among the 10 power utilities, saw the biggest decline, of 5.1 percent.

The Cabinet Office said yesterday gross domestic product contracted at an annual rate of 1.8 percent in the three months ended Sept. 30, exceeding the 0.9 percent forecasted by economists. The central bank's Tankan survey next week will probably show sentiment among big manufacturers sank the most in 34 years, economists predict.

“The drops would be much larger if they didn't include sales to households and small businesses such as hotels and shopping centers,” Hirofumi Kawachi, an energy analyst at Mizuho Investors Securities Co. in Tokyo, said by phone. “There is too much bad news around.”

Chubu Electric, which supplies central Japan, sells about 40 percent of its output to manufacturers including Toyota and Sharp Corp., the country's biggest maker of liquid-crystal-display televisions. Sharp today announced plans to close some lines at two plants in Mie and Nara prefectures and cut 380 temporary jobs at three factories.

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The Nine Signs of Hopi Prophecy

The Fourth World shall end soon, and the Fifth World will begin. This the elders everywhere know. The Signs over many years have been fulfilled, and so few are left.

First Sign: We were told of the coming of the white-skinned men, like Pahana, but not living like Pahana -- men who took the land that was not theirs and who struck their enemies with thunder. (Guns)

Second Sign: Our lands will see the coming of spinning wheels filled with voices. (Covered wagons)

Third Sign: A strange beast like a buffalo but with great long horns, will overrun the land in large numbers. (Longhorn cattle)

Fourth Sign: The land will be crossed by snakes of iron. (Railroad tracks)

Fifth Sign: The land shall be criss-crossed by a giant spider's web. (Power and telephone lines)

Sixth Sign: The land shall be criss-crossed with rivers of stone that make pictures in the sun. (Concrete roads and their mirage-producing effects.)

Seventh Sign: You will hear of the sea turning black, and many living things dying because of it. (Oil spills)

Eighth Sign: You will see many youth, who wear their hair long like our people, come and join the tribal nations, to learn our ways and wisdom. (Hippies)

Ninth and Last Sign: You will hear of a dwelling-place in the heavens, above the earth, that shall fall with a great crash. It will appear as a blue star. Very soon after this, the ceremonies of the Hopi people will cease.

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...The 'Purifier' is mentioned is the other brother that was sent forth, out to the East, and this was the teaching that he had.....that he was sent of to the East and he would reach the point of origin where the Sun would come out from. When he reached that place, then he would touch his head to the Earth and he would return back to us. When this, you know, time comes that's the end of....the end times....time for a purification time when he will return back. He is the one that has the....in a way, you know....the weapons or the artillery and he is the Big Brother so he would know what to do and how he would help us and how we would go about in having to make us understand. His job is to make us understand and try to get ourselves to behave in the way that we're supposed to and, if we don't, then the one from the West will come and they are the ones that are going to come with much force. He, the 'Purifier', the one that went to the East, is supposed to be big enough to take on the ones that are coming from the West. That is going to become like the Third World War...

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Some skewed reactions to Greece's recent riots

Greece Turns Communist

Greece is important for Putin, being both an EU and NATO member.
If communist, it can therefore become the Trojan horse in the EU, more than it already is.

For sure Greece can postpone NATO's MAP (Membership Action Plan) for Macedonia.

Important politically, religiously and being also engaged in many pipeline projects with Russia, such as South Stream and Burgas-Alexandroupoli , if turning left, Greece is a good gain for Putin.

Burgas-Alexandroupoli oil pipeline is rival with the US - backed - Kosovo - linked AMBO oil pipeline.

~Veronica Bicer

QUOTES:

Officials said they expect more demonstrations and unrest in Athens as students and the Greek Communist Party are expected to hold protests throughout the day. With a 24-hour general strike called for Wednesday, many expressed fears that the demonstrations could last for days.
Karamanlis' government faced a series of protests from labor groups and students in recent months. Reports said that Karamanlis, whose government rules with a slim majority, may be forced to call early elections.

Public unrest has grown with the conservative government's austerity measures, with unions regularly demonstrating against privatizations, pension reforms and the cost of living.

-DEUTSCHE WELLE
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,3858663,00.html
a membership action plan will be extended to Macedonia, as soon as its name dispute with Greece is settled.

http://voanews.com/english/2008-12-03-voa42.cfm
Burgas-Alexandroupoli oil pipeline
The Burgas-Alexandroupoli pipeline is an oil pipeline that will be used to transport Russian and Caspian oil from the Bulgarian Black Sea port of Burgas to the Greek Aegean port of Alexandroupoli. The pipeline will be an alternative route for Russian oil bypassing the Bosporus and the Dardanelles. Its construction will begin in June of 2009, and is estimated to be completed by the beginning of 2011.

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Greek “student intifada:” murderous, violent cry-babies

For the last seven days, childish, bored, and spoiled Greek brats, calling themselves “anarchists,” have gone on a violent, deadly, and expensive rampage, supposedly protesting what they claim to be “economic oppression.” It is sad to have watched Greece, one of the cradles of democratic philosophy, become a third-rate banana republic, populated by scores of politically-correct cry-babies, unable to maintain law and order, and unable to preserve the basic principles of civilized societies. There is a stark contrast between responsible, mature societies and weak, decadent ones: Populations who hold the principles of common decency, compassion, and peacefulness work hard and constructively to overcome hard times; complacent, spoiled, and nihilistic societies go on childish rampages when faced with adversity.

Not surprisingly, nihilists in other Western European nations have thrown tantrums to show “solidarity” with their Greek “compatriots.” Western Europeans were saved from German imperialism not once, but twice, by thousands of brave Americans who fought selflessly to protect democratic nations that the U.S. population saw as kin — our friends and ancestors. After WWII, the U.S. spent billions of dollars rebuilding Europe's infrastructure. America sent thousands of her sons and daughters, both military and civilian, and spent even more billions of dollars, all to protect Western Europe from the grave menace of the Soviet Union. Europe benefited greatly from American beneficence. Unfortunately, many Europeans got too used to letting someone else provide their own nations' security. Western Europe concentrated on building nanny-states, big on government handouts, and low on personal responsibility. The end-result was several generations of Europeans born with silver spoons in their mouths, never having to face the ultimate challenge of fighting for democracy and/or survival. With generous government dolls, many European youths grew up bored and complacent.
Notice that people from countries who endured, survived, and won their independence from “socialism” are not rioting and looting in support of the Greek, anarchist cry-babies. The citizens of, for example, the Baltic States know what reality means; they survived near extermination from “socialism” by persevering — tenaciously holding onto their cultural heritages (treasures). They threw off the yolk of “communist” dictators peacefully, and are now working hard to build civilized, affluent, and democratic societies — all through peaceful means and not by throwing tantrums.

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Unrest spreads across Europe, Greece riots could be trigger

The unrest that has gripped Greece is spilling over into the rest of Europe, raising concerns the clashes could be a trigger for opponents of globalization, disaffected youth and others outraged by the continent's economic turmoil and soaring unemployment.

Protesters in Spain, Denmark and Italy smashed shop windows, pelted police with bottles and attacked banks this week, while in France, cars were set ablaze Thursday outside the Greek consulate in Bordeaux, where protesters scrawled graffiti warning about a looming "insurrection."

At least some of the protests were organized over the Internet, showing how quickly the message of discontent can be spread, particularly among tech-savvy youth. One Web site Greek protesters used to update each other on the locations of clashes asserted there have been sympathy protests in nearly 20 countries.

More demonstrations were set for Friday in Italy, France and Germany.

Still, the clashes have been isolated so far, and nothing like the scope of the chaos in Greece, which was triggered by the police killing of a teenager on Saturday and has ballooned into nightly scenes of burning street barricades, looted stores and overturned cars.

Nevertheless, authorities in Europe worry conditions are ripe for the contagion to spread.

As Europe plunges into recession, unemployment is rising, particularly among the young. Even before the crisis, European youths complained about difficulty finding well-paid jobs _ even with a college degree _ and many said they felt left out as the continent grew in prosperity.

In Greece, demonstrators handed out fliers Thursday listing their demands, which include the reversal of public spending cuts that have brought more layoffs, and said they were hopeful their movement would spread.

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From Anarchists' fury fuels Greek riots

...Anarchist groups frequently set off small bombs throughout the city – on Wednesday alone a bomb damaged the offices of the French news service Agence France Presse and arsonists torched a Bosnian embassy car and a bank cash machine.

Brady Kiesling, a former US diplomat, who is writing a book about the Greek militant group November 17, says Greek police have limited power to use force against these groups because public sentiment will not tolerate it. This has resulted in a delicate balance in Exarchia, with neither pushing the other too far. Many Greeks cite the events of November 17, 1973 – a day that is still commemorated, when the army stormed the Athens Polytechnic University and killed a number of striking students – as a reason why the police must be restricted.

"The police stay out of certain areas, unless there's a major emergency, and the anarchists don't trash things badly unless there's a good reason," Mr. Kiesling says. But "once someone gets killed, the doctrine is massive retaliation."...