A massive consignment of US munitions was delivered to Israel in recent weeks, according to information revealed by Amnesty International. The organization received information that the Wehr Elbe, a German cargo ship, chartered and controlled by US Military Sealift Command, docked and unloaded its cargo of reportedly over 300 containers at the Israeli port of Ashdod, just 40km north of Gaza by road on 22 March.
The German ship left the USA for Israel on 20 December, one week before the start of Israeli attacks on Gaza. It was carrying 989 containers of munitions, each of them 20 feet long with a total estimated net weight of 14,000 tons.
Asked about the Wehr Elbe, a Pentagon spokesperson confirmed to Amnesty International that "the unloading of the entire US munitions shipment was successfully completed at Ashdod [Israel] on 22 March”. The spokesperson said that the shipment was destined for a US pre-positioned ammunition stockpile in Israel. Under a US-Israel agreement, munitions from this stockpile may be transferred for Israeli use if necessary.
Some of the white phosphorus artillery shells that Israeli forces fired into densely populated residential areas in Gaza last January, killing and injuring scores of Palestinian civilians, were from US-made stockpiles – as clearly indicated by the marking (M825 A1). Other white phosphorus artillery shells were also US-made, as were the overwhelming majority of the other munitions used by Israeli forces to commit grave violations of international law in the recent three-week conflict in Gaza.
Another US official told Amnesty International that the US authorities are reviewing Israel's use of US weapons during the Gaza conflict to see if Israel complied with US law, but no conclusion has yet been reached.
Trading goods and services without the use of money is called bartering. Early civilizations relied on this kind of exchange. Even cultures in modern society rely on it. Think of people in prison who commonly trade cigarettes for protection or extra food. For the most part, they don't have cash. So, like people in pre-currency economies, they work with what they have.
But, since the advent of money-based systems, bartering is an option that most of us dismiss as soon as we get that first paycheck or allowance. Not so for a guy named Kyle MacDonald. He drew a media frenzy when, in a matter of one year and 14 trades, he bartered his way from a paper clip to a house [source: NPR]. Although he had a lot of help from his local government and some people in show business, his story offers dramatic evidence of today's existing market for bartering. MacDonald is one of many people who have taken advantage of the growing phenomenon of bartering over the Internet. This ancient practice is also alive and well in services that facilitate bartering and companies that swap favors.
In the next few pages, we'll take a look at the process of bartering, including whether it can work as a practical protection against inflation, and whether you can use it to avoid taxes.
After spending four years in a wooden hut in a forest outside Moscow, Sterligov has leased out almost an entire floor atop a skyscraper in the Moskva-City business district to launch a global barter system.
Sterligov, who doesn't watch television and rarely uses the Internet because of his Orthodox religious principles, plans to start facilitating the barter of debt and goods with his company, the Anti-Crisis Settlement and Accounting Center, by early March.
While the global economic crisis didn't sweep into Russia until September, Sterligov said he sensed that trouble was looming in August and got to work.
"I decided that barter trade would be the right choice for the world in times of liquidity problems and payment delays," he said in a recent interview.
So from August to November, computer programmers hired by Sterligov created an interactive database allowing the barter of debt and goods worldwide.
Sterligov illustrated a possible barter deal with a real-life example: Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works' estimated debt of 1 billion rubles ($30.4 million) to Mechel for coal supplies.
"Mechel could put information about MMK's nonpayment in our system and then add which products it needs itself," Sterligov said.
MMK, in turn, would put 1 billion rubles of steel into the system, he said. At some point, a company would surface that wanted steel and had a product needed by Mechel, and the deal would be completed.
"For this to work, you have to have thousands of bids in the system," Sterligov said, adding that debt would probably become the most popular item for barter.
SAO PAULO, April 2 (Reuters) - Germany's Bayer AG (BAYG.DE) is accepting coffee, sugar and grains as payment for its agrochemicals and inputs as a way to stave off a slowdown in sales as farmers struggle to obtain bank loans to raise cash.
"It's a good way (of doing business), especially in these times of volatility and uncertainty," said Marc Reichardt, head of Bayer CropScience in Latin America.
Bartering is already a common practice for farmers during the planting season, easing the burden of the many investments they have to make at that time, but it is usually done only with trading houses dealing in the product the farmer grows.
Trading houses which use this system provide farmers with inputs like fertilizer, and farmers repay with physical product later in the season.
Brazilian farmers, particularly those who have some existing debts, have reported problems in accessing credit for planting.
Bayer will offer bartering to soy, corn, cotton and coffee farmers. It will then export the product it receives through a trading house, Reichardt said during a press conference about the company's 2008 earnings.
Venezuela is promoting the “Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas” (in opposition to the neoliberal Free Trade Area of the Americas) as a regional economic pact based on “cooperation and solidarity,” and which encompasses related agreements on energy, finance and media. It’s mostly been limited to technical cooperation, subsidized oil supplies and barter agreements, particularly in healthcare, which have proven effective and popular, but are a long way from creating a regional economy.
EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
Washington may look to Latin America as an outlet for capital expansion, such as with the Plan Puebla Panama, which has been in the works for a decade. Public funds and money from international institutions would be used to create an export-oriented industrial zone from southern Mexico through all of Central America.
These types of projects provide a “spatial fix” for capitalism by reorganizing new spaces that serve as sites where surplus capital (and labor) can be deployed as a way to alleviate crises of overproduction.
More ominously, Washington may seek to renew its imperial project in Latin America. Greg Grandin writes in Empire’s Workshop that the United States used Latin America historically as a “staging ground” for the “early push towards empire,” then as a school to study how to “execute imperial violence through proxies,” and most recently as a site for a resurgent “nationalist militarism” that began with the Central America wars of the Reagan presidency and culminated in the post-Sept. 11 wars.
Thus, given a declining economy and the need for domestic capital to find new markets, the United States may be tempted to use the Pentagon to launch adventurist wars in Latin America as a solution to its economic woes.
Bartering -- the trading of goods or services without using cash -- is making a comeback in a troubled economy. It can be as simple as trading baby-sitting with another family, or as complex as an exchange with strangers facilitated by one of the several Web sites that have sprung up to connect barterers.
Bartering ads on Craigslist have increased about 100 percent since last year, said Susan MacTavish Best, a spokeswoman for the online classified advertising service. Traffic is also up at local organizations like the Midwest Barter Exchange, a Kalamazoo, Mich.-based outfit that acts as a go-between for about 1,000 business clients.
"Before, we were out beating the bushes trying to get people to join, and now they're calling us," said Lance Dorsey, a customer service representative for the exchange.
Boise beautician Heather Wood has traded haircuts and pedicures for years of day care, kids' clothes, a paint job for her car, an oil change, a set of professional portraits for her family and dental cleaning.
"It's fun, and it builds a whole different kind of a relationship," said Wood, who has five children. "They're getting what they want and I'm getting what I want. I would much rather do that than make cash most of the time."
Imagine getting anything and everything you want without spending a a single penny. One North Idaho man does just that, Michael Moore has mastered the lost art of the barter.
We did a few stories about bartering a couple of weeks ago...Its becoming a lot more popular in this economy...And we talked to a few people who dabbled in it...They've made a few trades...
But each of them sent us to one coeur d'alene man who has bartered hundreds maybe thousands of times...
Moore, a Coeur d'Alene man has traded for just about anything you can imagine.
"Basically I'm able to obtain anything I want through bartering," he said.
Reporting: The rules for reporting barter transactions may vary depending on which form of bartering takes place. Generally, you report this type of business income on Form 1040, Schedule C Profit or Loss from Business, or other business returns such as Form 1065 for Partnerships, Form 1120 for Corporations, or Form 1120-S for Small Business Corporations.
An ancient practice has just received a reboot, as many small business owners have turned to bartering with others in the face of a continuing economic crisis. Jeff Glor reports.
Helene Aptekar got clothing rods installed in her closets. Harriet Kazansky got her house painted. Kristine Flones got someone to look after her cats when she went to India, and Gerry Michael got an heirloom sweater mended.
And it didn't cost them a dime. Instead of paying in money, they paid in time.
They're all part of the Woodstock TimeBank, one of a number of such groups that are springing up nationwide.
A local restaurant paid for $50,000 in renovation construction with gift cards. A Kitsilano winemaking business had its floors cleaned and paid with batches of wine.
A North Vancouver dry-cleaning company barters nearly $50,000 in services per year to get staff incentives such as gift certificates and even dining room sets for employees. Small and medium-sized businesses are cashing in at Vancouver's barter exchanges, and business is booming in the barter industry.
Trade Exchange Canada, a bartering consultant firm that pairs businesses wanting to exchange services and charges a monthly fee to join, has doubled membership in the past six months.
"In 14 years [in the industry] I don't know if I've ever been this busy," said Scott Berg, a managing partner at Trade Exchange. "We've become very relevant." Businesses want to reduce spending during the recession, and trading services is one way to do that.
For many companies, such as restaurants bartering with gift certificates, the cost is much less than the cash worth of the trade, according to Berg.
Many businesses are struggling to survive in this economy. One thing that is helping them make it through is an old idea made new again, bartering.
The old bartering was simple. You traded goods or services for something of comparable value. But, modern bartering uses the internet to connect hundreds of businesses.
Sunset Acres is a charming countryside bed and breakfast. But, the stormy economy has hit home.
"It's really hurt us. It really has," said Brenda Ohrem. "I hate to say it. But, I'm glad everyone is in the same boat as me because I was taking it personally thinking what am I doing wrong?"
Empty bedrooms means Brenda Ohrem is relying more and more on the American Exchange Network.
She collects trade credits when people stay with her and spends it at the business network.
"It's definitely helping us make it through these hard times," Ohrem said.
NEW DELHI: Caught between a credit squeeze and demand crunch, realty players want to barter houses to settle pending supplier bills, but contractors say they can’t forego hard cash and settle for flats in a falling property market.
At least three major realty brands operating in the national capital region have offered apartments in their ongoing projects to contractors and suppliers of building material, industry insiders told ET. “There are several real estate companies that are falling behind on payments and asking contractors to settle for apartments instead,” says PR Swarup, director general of Construction Industry Development Council. Swarup refuses to name any company, but ET has learnt the firms taking this route include even listed players.
A Delhi-based realty firm, a prominent name in the sector, is developing a major residential project in the city and has offered apartments to its contractors. “We have made an offer but the contractor is asking for a discount. If we reduce apartment prices, we will also expect the contractor to bring down the bill value for the work he has done on our project,” says a company executive corroborating this.
Reports circling in the Greek media have suggested that the location of this year's secretive Bilderberg meeting will be Athens, Greece. GR Reporter, a Greek based website that gathers information from different print and electronic media in Greece, reports that the Elef[ther]os Tipos newspaper recently announced the location and date of the meeting as Athens between 14th and 16th of May.
A second report in another Greek newspaper, Tovima, has also suggested that the confab will be held in Athens in the same area that hosted the 1993 conference.
According to the reports, invited guests include the Queen of Netherlands Beatrix, the Spanish Queen Sophia, Lawrence Summers, head of the National Economic Council and James Jones, head of the US National Security Council.
Meanwhile, researchers have also picked up on an article by Andrew Rettman in the EU Observer alleging that the meeting would take place in Europe sometime in June. Rettman has not responded to emails requesting additional information.
If the meeting does take place in Athens, it is likely that the group will use the Nafsika Astir Palace (pictured), the resort that was previously used by the heads of global business, banking and politics.
Situated in Vouliagmeni, a few miles south of Athens, the hotel is built along a cliff side and features a private beach at sea level, with a business center and a large conference room.
It must be stressed however, that such reports may be mere conjecture, or even a disinformation campaign by Bilderberg itself, in an attempt to throw researchers and journalists off their scent.
Dr. Michael Grodin discusses his experiences treating Tibetan monks who suffer from post traumatic stress disorder. Many of the monks were imprisoned or tortured because of their resistance to the Chinese presence in Tibet, and now some of them experience "flashbacks" while meditating.
Grodin hypothesizes that meditation may reduce the brain's ability to inhibit unpleasant thoughts and memories. His treatment combines elements of Western and Tibetan medicine and therapy. Grodin wrote about his findings in the March issue of Mental Health, Religion, and Culture.
A professor of health law, bioethics and human rights at Boston University School of Public Health, Grodin is the medical ethicist at Boston Medical Center and the co-director of the Boston Center for Refugee Health and Human Rights.
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"We look forward to the time when the power of love will replace the love of power. Then will our world know the blessings of peace." -- William Gladstone (1809-1898)
Credo
"A paranoid is someone who knows a little of what's going on. A psychotic is a guy who's just found out what's going on." ~ William S. Burroughs (1914-1997)
"A people who would begin by burning fences and let the forest stand!" ~ Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
" I would prefer not to" - Bartleby the Scrivener ~ Herman Melville (1819-1891)
"The imagination is not a state: it is the human existence itself" ~ William Blake (1757-1827)
"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro." ~ Hunter S. Thompson (1937-2005)
"On a planet that increasingly resembles one huge Maximum Security prison, the only intelligent choice is to plan a jail break." ~ Robert Anton Wilson (1932-2007)
"Only after the last tree has been cut down. Only after the last river has been poisoned. Only after the last fish has been caught. Only then will you find money cannot be eaten." ~ Cree Prophecy
"Theology is just a debate over who to frame for creating reality. What we imagine is order is merely the prevailing form of chaos." ~ Kerry Thornley (1938-1998)
"Money can buy everything, it is said. What is not said is what it takes to buy money." ~ A ballad against work - Kamunist Kranti
"What does the money machine eat? It eats youth, spontaneity, life, beauty, and, above all, it eats creativity. It eats quality and sh*ts quantity." ~ William S. Burroughs
"The basic tool for the manipulation of reality is the manipulation of words. If you can control the meaning of words you can control the people who must use the words."
And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy...
...And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?...
Mark 13
And when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be ye not troubled: for such things must needs be; but the end shall not be yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
