It's No Coincidence That Protests Are Around the World; the Revolution Won't Be Televised But It Will Be 'Streamed'
Violence has broken out in Athens, New York and across Italy as anger caused by economic strife boils over on the streets. - Fury At Sinking Economies Drives Global Demos, Sky News, November 17, 2011
Across the world we are in a global financial meltdown with United Nations Climate Control Treaties designed to transfer trillions of dollars in wealth from the U.S., Great Britain, France, Australia, South America and Asian nations. The current economic crisis appears to be a planned crisis to bring in a globalized World Socialist government, which is what Tony Blair really seems to be promoting. In order to accomplish that goal, there must be massive wealth redistribution and a consolidation of economic controls by some kind of new “International Federal Reserve System” or, as the world leaders are saying (as they are reading from the same script), “a new world financial order.” - Evangelicals and the Coming One World Religion, PaulMcguire.com
April 15, 2009
Watch the Protests Live (UStream)
Greek Protests as France, Spain Face Squeeze
Reuters - Italy's new government has announced far-reaching reforms in response to a European debt crisis that on Thursday pushed borrowing costs for France and Spain sharply higher, and brought tens of thousands of Greeks onto the streets of Athens.
Italy's new technocrat prime minister, Mario Monti, unveiled sweeping reforms to dig the country out of crisis and said Italians were confronting a "serious emergency."
Monti, who enjoys 75 percent support according to opinion polls, comfortably won a vote of confidence in his new government in the Senate on Thursday, by 281 votes to 25. He faces another confidence vote in the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house, on Friday, which he also expected to win comfortably.
"Only if we can avoid being seen as the weak link of Europe can we contribute to European reforms," said Monti, who was sworn in on Wednesday as head of a government of experts after a rushed transition from the discredited Silvio Berlusconi.
In Athens, at least 50,000 Greeks joined a protest rally presenting the first public test for a new national unity government, also headed by an unelected figure, that must impose spending cuts and tax rises if Greece is to escape bankruptcy.
Police fired tear gas at black-clad youths as protest marchers beat drums, waved red flags and shouted: "EU, IMF out!"
The Spanish government was forced to pay the highest borrowing costs since 1997 at a sale of 10-year bonds, with yields a steep 1.5 points above the average paid at similar tenders this year.
MAELSTROM
The euro fell in response. France fared a little better, but again had to pay markedly more to shift nearly 7 billion euros of government paper. Fears that the euro zone's second largest economy is getting sucked into the debt maelstrom have taken the two-year-old crisis to a new level this week.
"The euro zone has got to deliver something which is going to calm markets down, and at the moment markets feel like they are being given no comfort whatsoever," said Marc Ostwald, strategist at Monument Securities.
In Rome, Monti outlined a raft of policies including pension and labor market reform, a crackdown on tax evasion and changes to the tax system in his maiden speech to parliament.
He later spoke to French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who all agreed on the need to accelerate reforms, the three leaders said in a joint statement.
With Italy's borrowing costs now at unsustainable levels, Monti will have to work fast to calm financial markets, given that Italy needs to refinance some 200 billion euros ($273 billion) of bonds by the end of April.
Ireland, which has been bailed out and gained plaudits for its austerity drive, will also have to do more. Dublin will increase its top rate of sales tax by 2 percentage points in next month's budget, documents obtained by Reuters showed.
ECB IN SPOTLIGHT
But no amount of austerity in Greece, Italy, Spain, Ireland and France is likely to convince the markets without some dramatic action in the shorter term, probably involving the European Central Bank.
Many analysts believe the only way to stem the contagion for now is for the ECB to buy up large quantities of bonds, effectively the sort of 'quantitative easing' undertaken by the U.S. and British central banks.
France and Germany have argued over whether the ECB should intervene more forcefully to halt the euro zone's debt crisis after modest bond purchases failed to calm markets.
Facing rising borrowing costs as its 'AAA' credit rating comes under threat, France has urged stronger ECB action. Berlin continues to resist, saying EU rules prohibit such action.
"If politicians think the ECB can solve the euro crisis, then they are mistaken," Merkel said. Even if the ECB assumed a role as lender of last resort, it would not solve the crisis, she said.
Euro zone officials hope that if Merkel and others find themselves staring into the abyss, the unthinkable will rapidly become thinkable.
"The Germans have made some remarkable changes to their position over the past few months, you have to give them credit for that, it just takes rather a long time. It's Chinese torture," one euro zone central banker told Reuters. "They are not drawing lines in the sand as clearly as they were."
BANKS UNDER THE COSH
With turmoil reaching a crescendo, euro zone banks are finding it harder to obtain funding. While the stresses are not yet at the levels during the 2008 financial crisis, they have continued to mount despite ECB moves to provide unlimited liquidity to banks.
Fitch Ratings warned it might lower its "stable" rating outlook for U.S. banks because of contagion from problems in troubled European markets.
Fellow ratings agency Moody's cut the ratings of 12 German public-sector banks, believing they were likely to receive less federal government support if needed.
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Thursday the debt crisis was beginning to hit the real economy and urged vigilance to prevent it infecting banks and insurance firms.
European officials are in the meantime looking at leveraging to boost the firepower of the euro zone bailout fund, the 440 billion euro European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), which can offer bailouts to euro zone sovereigns in trouble.
A senior euro zone official with knowledge of market consultations said a majority of investors would be ready to invest in euro zone debt through one or other of the leveraging options, but needed an improvement in market confidence to commit big money.
Authorities Foil NY Protest Bid to Shut Wall Street
Reuters - New York police prevented protesters from shutting down Wall Street on Thursday, arresting more than 200 people in repeated clashes with an unexpectedly small but spirited Occupy Wall Street rally.
Protesters took to the streets in rainy New York and cities across the United States for a day of action seen as a test of the momentum of the two-month-old grass-roots movement against economic inequality.
Organizers and city officials had expected tens of thousands to turn out for a demonstration following the New York police raid that broke up the protesters' encampment in a park near Wall Street on Tuesday.
A crowd that disappointed organizers throughout the day grew to several thousand after the standard workday ended and labor union activists joined a march across the Brooklyn Bridge, where last month more than 700 people were arrested during a similar march.
"We certainly want to see more people mobilize and show up," said Occupy Wall Street spokesman Jeff Smith, who nevertheless said there was "a fantastic turnout."
After tempers among police and protesters flared throughout the day, crowds grew larger and more festive after dark.
"This is a great night for a revolution. I've never seen anything like this in my entire life," said Daniel Reynolds, 34, a financial analyst at a venture capital firm, who joined the protests for the first time on Thursday.
Many protesters complained of police brutality, pointing to one media image of man whose face was bloodied during his arrest and another of a woman who was dragged across the sidewalk by an officer.
Police reported seven officers were injured, including one whose hand was cut by a flying piece of glass and five who were hit in the face by a liquid believed to be vinegar.
Police barricaded the narrow streets around Wall Street, home to the New York Stock Exchange, and used batons to push protesters onto the sidewalk as they marched through the area to try to prevent financial workers getting to their desks.
Workers were allowed past barricades with identification and the New York Stock Exchange opened on time and operated normally.
Protesters banged drums and yelled, "We are the 99 percent," referring to their contention that the U.S. political system benefits only the richest 1 percent.
At the Union Square subway stop, one of the busiest in the city, protesters tried to crowd the entrance but police repeatedly moved them against the walls to make way for subway riders.
PROTESTS ACROSS U.S.
Demonstrators targeted bridges they considered in disrepair in cities such as Miami, Detroit and Boston to highlight what they said was the need for government spending on infrastructure projects to create jobs.
In St. Louis, more than 1,000 protesters marched through downtown in support of the Occupy St. Louis movement that was evicted last week from its campsite near the Gateway Arch. The Thursday march was by far the largest since Occupy St. Louis began in support of the New York demonstrators.
In Los Angeles, hundreds of anti-Wall Street demonstrators marched through the financial district, blocking a downtown street to snarl morning rush-hour traffic, and briefly pitched tents outside a Bank of America office tower. Nearly 80 protesters were arrested in the city.
At least 300 people gathered at Chicago's Thompson Center, giving speeches in English and Spanish. The protest was focused on jobs with signs reading: "We need jobs, not cuts" and "Jobs, schools, equality: end the wars."
The Washington, D.C., gathering was smaller than hoped for by organizers. One protester in McPherson Square said he expected about 1,000 people, while perhaps 200 showed up, with many leaving within the hour.
About 100 marched through downtown Denver, chanting slogans and calling for the recall of Mayor Michael Hancock for his decision to have police remove illegally pitched tents and other items from the Occupy Denver campsite last weekend.
In Dallas, more than a dozen people were arrested when police shut down their six-week-old camp near City Hall.
Hundreds of Occupy demonstrators in Portland, Oregon, gathered on a major bridge and later massed in front of a Chase bank branch downtown. Police arrested at least 30 people.
About 600 protesters in Seattle converged in an early evening "Jobs Not Cuts" rally on a bridge spanning near the University of Washington, causing a 2-mile (3-km) traffic backup during the city's raining rush hour.
Police in Las Vegas arrested 21 protesters who sat down in the street outside a federal courthouse after they ignored warnings to leave.
Before dawn on Thursday, police cleared away a protest camp from a plaza at the University of California, Berkeley, where 5,000 people had gathered on Tuesday night.
Protesters say they are upset that billions of dollars in bailouts given to banks during the recession allowed a return to huge profits while average Americans have had no relief from high unemployment and a struggling economy.
They also say the richest 1 percent of Americans do not pay their fair share of taxes.
During peacefully Occupy Movement, police came in to tear down tents and proceeded to arrest students who stood in their way. Once students peacefully demanded the release of the arrested, a police officer unnecessarily pepper sprays the students to open a path for the rest of the officers.
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