Kieth Tucker at whatnowtoons.com gives us a view of gun control. Frankly, I'd like a set of grenades.
A story that keeps appearing but which seems opaque to everybody is this Cyprus bailout. Why would Putin be angry and complaining? After all, Russia isn't a part of the EU, is it?
People forget. Back when we had a terrific series of bank failures, a mini-depression (all during Ronald Raygun), Russia hardly batted an eye. The reason was that The Soviet Union had an entirely different economic system. Now that they have freedom, motherhood, and apple pie, they are screwed. In effect, the EU is stealing billions of dollars from Russia. Here is how:
Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades. Painful but managable ?
Christof Lehmann (nsnbc).-On Saturday, the European Union (EU) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreed to bail out Cyprus by granting the island nation in the Mediterranean a EUR 10 billion (USD 13 billion) loan. In return, the government of Cyprus had to agree to levy a minimum 6,75 % one-off tax on all deposits at Cypriot banks.
The taxation of the bank deposits constitute a triple theft, on the nations tax payers, on European Union tax payers who have to finance the bailout plus the subsequent debt-enslavement at the IMF, and on foreign investors like Russia, who have invested heavily in Cypriot banks. On Tuesday, the parliament of Cyprus has to vote whether the country will accept the bailout or not.
The news, that bank deposits would be levied with a minimum 6,75 % tax caused many Cypriots to rush to the banks to cash in their deposits. Over the weekend and on Monday many of the cash dispensers were emptied and did not function. Many Cypriots went to their banks today, in an attempt to salvage as much as they could. Protests are not only being heard on Cyprus but internationally.
A spokesperson for the Russian administration, Dmitry Peskov said, that Russia´s President Vladimir Putin had called the imposing a one-off levy on all bank deposits as part of the bailout deal, including the deposits of foreign investors,“unfair, unprofessional and dangerous”. Russian banks and corporations have invested heavily on Cyprus. According to several Russian news agencies and media, Russian banks had approximately USD 12 billion deposited in banks on Cyprus while Russian corporations have another USD 19 billion invested in Cypriot banks.
Also the Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev criticized the so-called bailout as a confiscation of people´s money. At a meeting of the advisory board of Vneshecombank, Medvedev said ” Quite strange and controversial decisions are being made by some EU member states. I mean, Cyprus. Frankly speaking, this looks like the confiscation of people´s money”.
Relations between the European Union and Russia have been tense after the EU and Russia failed to reach an agreement on the European Union´s Third Energy Packet. A lack of convergence between the energy security needs of the USA/Qatar, the European Union, and Russia, are the primary cause for the war in Syria. Russia has criticized the European Union, saying that the European Union´s changes in its laws regarding Russian deliveries of gas to the EU include breeches of already existing contracts and violate international law. A European Union Decision, which so to speak “robs good and well 10 % of Russian banks and corporations investments on Cyprus” is not likely to help defuse tensions between Russia and the EU.
If the bailout will be approved by the Cypriot government on Tuesday, the country will have to impose a levy of 6,75 % on deposits of less than 100,000 Euros and 9,9 % on deposits with greater amounts.
The Cypriot President Nicos Anasasiades, argued, that Cyprus had the choice between a catastrophic and disorderly bankruptcy scenario and a scenario of painful but controlled management of the crisis, and that he had chosen to recommend the latter.
Whether Cypriots will accept the fact that at lest 6,75 % of their hard earned deposits will be taken from them without causing a catastrophic and disorderly situation on the islands streets remains to be seen. Reports about sporadic protests today and about planned protests in front of the islands parliament could indicate, that the government of Cyprus could face some popular resistance.
Christof Lehmann- Dr. Christof Lehmann is the founder and editor of nsnbc. He is a psychologist and independent political consultant on conflict and conflict resolution and a wide range of other political issues. His work with traumatized victims of conflict has led him to also pursue the work as political consultant. He is a lifelong activist for peace and justice, human rights, Palestinians rights to self-determination in Palestine, and he is working on the establishment of international institutions for the prosecution of all war crimes, also those committed by privileged nations. On 28 August 2011 he started his blog nsnbc, appalled by misrepresentations of the aggression against Libya and Syria. In March 2013 he turned nsnbc into a daily, independent, international on-line newspaper.
So, do you remember Obama’s first act as President?He shut down Gitmo.It seems to still be there, however.(See interview, below.)
I do remember he is a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate.I once said that there is no such thing as irony, but if there was, his having a hit list of who to assassinate next is a good approximation of what Irony is.
Whoever can prove what Gitmo is still doing there, other than continuing torture, wins a free entry in the Publisher’s Clearing House Sweepstakes.Could be worth millions, but won’t be.Still, you have a better chance of winning that than living to see Gitmo closed.
Another prize could be a free cruise to the Pope’s home town in Argentina on Carnival Cruises.If you like, you could also buy at a discount the new Notre Dame basketball uniforms.
Sorry, no openings as a commentator on the Jodi Arias murder trial as it is carried on several stations and also a cable network.Watching it, however, has replaced the death penalty in several states.
I am giving myself an award for being mellow. Today, at the store, some little old lady grabbed my arm and said "They finally got Whole Wheat Bread!" Last century I might have stuck my fingers up her nose and ripped it off her face. Today I just said "I am so happy for you". How's that??!!
On one single day, last week (I haven’t looked since) these were the stats for the ABSURD TIMES:
EntryPageviews
China
117
United States
80
Germany
54
Russia
53
France
18
Sweden
17
Ukraine
13
Israel
11
Turkey
10
Poland
8
Any idea why 117 Chinamen decided to visit?The last time something that weird happened as when about 200 Mauritanians decided to visit.
I can't get this text any larger, sorry:
Over 100 Guantánamo Prisoners on Hunger Strike, Citing Threat of Return to "Darkest Days Under Bush"
More than 100 detainees held in the U.S. military prison at Guantánamo Bay are reportedly entering their fifth week of a hunger strike sparked by deteriorating conditions. News of the hunger strike first emerged last week, but it appears the action involves far more prisoners than previously thought. In a letter to his attorney, one detainee wrote: "We are in danger. One of the soldiers fired on one of the brothers a month ago. Before that, they send the emergency forces with M-16 weapons into one of the brothers’ cell blocks. ... Now they want to return us to the darkest days under [George W.] Bush. They said this to us. Please do something." We’re joined by Pardiss Kebriaei, senior staff attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights and counsel for one of the hunger strikers. [includes rush transcript]
TRANSCRIPT
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
NERMEENSHAIKH:More than a hundred detainees held in the U.S. military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, are reportedly entering their fifth week of a hunger strike against deteriorating conditions. News of the unrest comes as U.S. military officials have confirmed a guard fired rubber bullets at detainees in January for the first time in the prison’s history. The incident took place on a soccer field for cooperative captives when, authorities say, a detainee sought the attention of a guard in a watchtower who controlled a gate leading to a pathway back to the prison. The detainee allegedly tried to scale the fence.
Meanwhile, more information about the ongoing hunger strike has begun to trickle out in letters from detainees. Some say Arabic interpreters have searched their Qur’ans in ways that constitute desecration according to their religious beliefs. Others report guards have been taking away detainee possessions.
AMYGOODMAN:Yemini detainee Bashir al-Marwalah wrote in a letter to his lawyer, quote, "We are in danger. One of the soldiers fired on one of the brothers a month ago. Before that, they send the emergency forces with M-16 weapons into one of the brothers’ cell blocks. ... Now they want to return us to the darkest days under Bush. They said this to us. Please do something," he wrote. Lawyers for the detainees say some prisoners who have refused to eat for weeks in protest are now "coughing up blood" and "losing consciousness."
For more, we’re joined by Pardiss Kebriaei, senior staff attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights. She spoke last Thursday with her client Ghaleb Al-Bihani, who is one of the hunger strikers. Welcome toDemocracy Now!
PARDISSKEBRIAEI:Thank you.
AMYGOODMAN:Can you tell us what he said? We now hear that well over a hundred of the 166 prisoners are on this hunger strike.
PARDISSKEBRIAEI:He said what we’ve heard from every other detainee who has communicated with his lawyer since February, which is that there is a large-scale hunger strike in Camp 6, which is the largest of the facilities at Guantánamo. That prison holds about 130 men. He said that almost everyone, except for a few who are sick and elderly, are on strike.
He himself had lost over 20 pounds. He is a diabetic. His blood glucose levels are fluctuating wildly. He told me that medical staff at Guantánamo have told him his life is in danger. And he and others want us to get the word out about this.
We, last week,CCRand group of otherhabeascounsel, wrote a letter to the authorities at Guantánamo and to the Department of Justice reporting what we have heard and asking for a response. And to date, almost two weeks later, we have not heard anything, other than denials of the strike.
NERMEENSHAIKH:How is it that a Guantánamo spokesperson is saying that there are only five or six people on hunger strike?
PARDISSKEBRIAEI:That’s right. They have downplayed the scale of the strikes and have said that there are only a handful on strike and only a handful being tube-fed. It may be a matter of semantics: The way that Guantánamo authorities define people on hunger strike is largely discretionary.
But what we have heard from everyhabeascounsel who has been down to the base or communicated with their clients since February is the same, which is that there is a large-scale strike, men are refusing food. We’ve heard reports of people losing over 20, 30, 40 pounds. And we’re now today in day 36 or so of the strike. By day 42, 45, you start seeing things like loss of vision, loss of hearing, and eventually death. So this is—it’s an emergency situation. We view it as an emergency situation. And denials by the authorities, at this point, of the strike are dangerous and irresponsible.
AMYGOODMAN:Pardiss, can you tell us about your client, who told you about this hunger strike?
PARDISSKEBRIAEI:He is a young man from Yemen. He’s one of 89 Yemenis. They make up the largest group of men at Guantánamo. There are 166 people who remain. He and—like everyone else from Yemen, even if he were cleared to leave Guantánamo, which most of the men at Guantánamo now are cleared by the Obama administration to leave, he would be stuck there. He would remain in prison because of a continuing moratorium on all transfers to Yemen. So, he’s one of many men who has, at this point, lost a great deal of hope about when his detention at Guantánamo will ever end. He’s never been charged. He’s been held now for over 11 years.
AMYGOODMAN:For over 11 years without charge.
PARDISSKEBRIAEI:Over 11 years without charge.
AMYGOODMAN:How many men are in a similar circumstance? A hundred sixty-six are there. More than half have been cleared for release, just aren’t being released.
PARDISSKEBRIAEI:There are 166 men; 86 of them have been cleared by the Obama administration to leave. That means that every government agency with a stake in Guantánamo has unanimously declared that those people do not need to continue to be held. Most of the men who are cleared are Yemeni. There are 56 Yemenis who are cleared. There’s a handful of other men who could leave but need resettlement in third countries. So that is who we’re talking about at Guantánamo. There’s a small number of people, about 34, whom the government has said it ever plans to charge. The rest are not people that the government plans to ever charge, and most, as we’ve said, have been cleared to leave.
NERMEENSHAIKH:So can you explain, though, Pardiss, why—after so many years, why are conditions now deteriorating to such an extent that these men have decided to go on hunger strike? What’s prompted that?
PARDISSKEBRIAEI:Well, the literal trigger that we’ve heard about is searches of the men’s Qur’ans, which they view as religious desecration.
NERMEENSHAIKH:But why now? What was happening in the last few years?
PARDISSKEBRIAEI:The motivation is unclear to us. There’s been a change in personnel at Guantánamo. That may have triggered it. This is against a broader background, we’ve heard, of regressive practices more recently. But I think what it can’t be divorced from is the fact of 11 years, 11-plus years of detention, and a sense of extreme desperation, extreme hope, men who have seen their fellow prisoners die over the past few years, men who were told by President Obama in 2009 that the prison would close within a year. So that is the context we’re talking about. And a provocation like searches of the Qur’ans is severe enough, but I think it can’t be—it’s not disconnected from the broader context at Guantánamo.
AMYGOODMAN:We’re going to go to a break and then come back to this discussion. Our guest is Pardiss Kebriaei, and she is with the Center for Constitutional Rights, represents one of the prisoners at Guantánamo. We have word that perhaps more than a hundred of them are on a hunger strike, for some of them, at this point, life-threatening. When we come back, we’re also going to talk about the case that’s before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and speak with the lawyer who represented attorneys—represented detainees at Guantánamo and testified at that hearing. Stay with us.
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