By Numerian, on December 5th, 2014 Global financial crises have a tendency to spring upon the world unsuspected, especially if the foreign exchange markets are involved, since they tie all global markets together (equities, bonds, commodities, derivatives). That’s why it is necessary to keep one eye fixed for the moment on the yen. The yen was trading around Yen 100/$ in October. On Halloween, Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda surprised the financial markets with a massive expansion of the central bank’s Quantitative Easing program. The Japanese central bank is now using QE to buy up every new bond that the Ministry of Finance is issuing. This constitutes 100% monetization of Japanese debt by its own government, a situation which is unprecedented in modern finance among major industrialized countries. The foreign exchange markets reacted poorly to this announcement, on that same day driving the yen down to Yen 110/$. Today it has now crossed the Yen 120/$ threshold, meaning several things. It is cheaper to buy yen – for every dollar spent, you now get 20 more yen than a few months ago. This is great news for Japanese exporters, because their products are now 20% cheaper merely because of an exchange rate change. But the flip side of this is that Japan is exporting its deflation problem (which has persisted for over 20 years now), by forcing its competitors to lower their prices by 20%. This is a real problem for American and European manufacturers, who can’t afford such a hit to their revenue, but it is devastating for the Chinese export machine, since “Made in China” is the mainstay of the Chinese economy. China can quietly or not so quietly protest to the Japanese government, but much more likely, China can allow its currency to devalue in order to restore its competitiveness. This is how currency wars start, and currency wars have been the most frequent source of global financial crises in the past 30 years. Japan will be under terrific pressure to halt the slide in its currency – but here’s the nub of the problem: Japan is out of tools to defend itself financially.
Continue reading Keep an Eye on the Yen
By graham, on December 5th, 2014
By actor212, on December 5th, 2014 
As you may know, one of the responses on social media like Twitter and Facebook to the tragic grand jury decisions in the Michael Brown and Eric Garner cases, as well as to the countless stories of police abuse of power specifically against black men and boys, is for white people to contrast the treatment by cops.
The theme is for a white person to post their worst crime that they got away with, then attach the hashtag #CrimingWhileWhite.
For blacks and Latinos, a similar trope of #AliveWhileBlack calls for a person to post the most dangerous encounter with either the cops or a white person that they survived.
Continue reading #CrimingWhileWhite
By nymole, on December 5th, 2014 
#Eric Garner protesters blocking police vans on 14th Street
(one of Jeff Rae’s excellent series of twitter photos of the Thursday night NYC demonstration
Reuters was one of the MSM sources liveblogging-led by Robert MacMillan
The NYT live coverage(or lack thereof) was a disgrace.
Last tweet read before logging off:
Luke Rudkowski @Lukewearechange
More arrests on 51st and 8th ave as police kettle protestors then move in with riot police #ErciGarner #ICantBreathe
By actor212, on December 3rd, 2014 I love Bernie Sanders. I want to have his babby.
However, I think he needs to step back from this. His agenda is too easily co-opted by moderates and conservatives. It’s a nice counterculture statement of values, to be sure, but in the current environment completely unworkable.
I’ve been thinking about Ferguson and the rioting and protests across the country.
And then I found this quote from MLK, Jr:
I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in his stride towards freedom is not the Ku Klux Klanner but the white moderate, who is more devoted to “order” than justice
When people riot for politics, when people organize for politics, they inevitably have either been subdued (Occupy) or placated (the Rodney King outrage) by some sop tossed towards them to make it a little less painful to be subdued.
And then I remember that the Boston Tea Party was not regarded highly by colonial Americans. Indeed, until we achieved independence, the entire Revolution dangled on a thread in terms of public support. But it succeeded because it was outrageous to think it would.
I love Bernie Sanders. I don’t think he’s right on this, at least with this current nation.
By nymole, on December 1st, 2014 (Reuters) – A lack of funds has forced the United Nations to stop providing food vouchers for 1.7 million Syrian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt, the World Food Programme (WFP) said on Monday.
“Without WFP vouchers, many families will go hungry. For refugees already struggling to survive the harsh winter, the consequences of halting this assistance will be devastating,” said the U.N. agency, which needs $64 million to support the refugees for the rest of December.
Continue reading WFP suspends food aid for 1.7 mln Syrian refugees
By Raja, on December 1st, 2014 Guardian – A Missouri police union has condemned players from the St Louis Rams football team for making “hands-up” gestures on the field in solidarity with Michael Brown, the unarmed 18-year-old shot dead in Ferguson, and has threatened to boycott NFL advertisers in response.
Continue reading Missouri police condemn NFL players’ gesture in support of Michael Brown
By dude, on November 30th, 2014 Let me begin by noting that McClatchy is one of the better news organizations in my opinion. Imperfect perhaps, but I have the sense they try to follow their slogan “Truth to Power”.
McClatchy reports the following:
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2014/11/28/248440_former-al-qaida-hostage-recounts.html?rh=1
There are folks who will say this is evidence of the failure of “government” and a further reason to drown it all in a bathtub. There are those who will blame Eric Holder and President Obama.
I think this is evidence of electing people who insist that “government should act like a business” regardless of position or party. One advantage of siloed business in that it can be effectively bureacratized into profit centers and accounting units. This confers a further advantage: assigning responsibility (expense) to somebody else’s silo when there is a problem. The leadership who believe in concept of “government is a business” routinely follow this pattern as they have done here. FBI says “our mission is security, not victim’s aid. Go down the hall. See somebody else.” State Department says “Call our 800-number or go the FAQ page on our website for further information.” Better yet, make an appeal to your local charity and get some free help. That is what they are there for. We are mere stewards of the taxpayers’ money. We have the fiduciary responsibility toward our agency’s sole, narrowly defined mission.
If this sounds like the last time you tried to make a claim with your insurance company or seek or have your credit rating explained, then I suggest you are seeing Government as a Business in action.
Government is not a business. You are not a customer.
By nymole, on November 30th, 2014 Not world headline material, but a a positive, informative piece I read this weekend
…
One of the largest risks for women, one of the leading causes of pregnancy-related mortality, has always been—and unfortunately still is—postpartum hemorrhage.
A few years ago, I delivered a beautiful baby at 3:06 a.m. after an uncomplicated labor. I put the baby on Mom’s chest, and everything went fine until 3:10 a.m., when the placenta delivered. Then, as sometimes happens, the uterus failed to contract. It was relaxed and floppy; it didn’t start to grow smaller as it should almost immediately after delivery. And as happens, the uterine bleeding started and wouldn’t stop. I tried medications and uterine massage. As less often happens, those did not work…[]
We took the patient to the operating room. We put her to sleep. We opened her belly. We started to remove her uterus. Everything bled; places where we put stitches bled; places we touched with our cautery bled. Nothing stopped the bleeding. By 4:30 a.m. I had the terrible, nauseating, sinking feeling that I’ve only had a few times in my career: I was pretty sure this woman, this new mother, was going to die.
more at the link
By nymole, on November 29th, 2014 A two day wintry pause to sleep off or sleep on, before the holiday music assault begins in the global political swamp.
Anything you’d like to post, if awake?
Two below I heard on the radio this weekend: sad stories but great music- signs winter is upon us.:
Winter Time Blues (Big Maceo, 1945)
The Ballad of the Shape of Things – sung here by Blossom Dearie.
and just for the hell of it:
Beirut:Nantes
By Raja, on November 29th, 2014 Washington Post, By Griff Witte, November 26
Calais, France — Ibrahim’s odyssey has taken him over the hot sands of the Sahara and across the vast Mediterranean in a death-defying, thousands-of-miles-long quest.
Now the 21-year-old from the Sudanese region of Darfur is so close to his destination that he can see it shimmering on the horizon — his dream, his salvation, his England. It beckons to him, and it taunts him.
Continue reading In heart of Europe, migrants offer a one-stop tour of worldwide misery
By Synoia, on November 28th, 2014 
They want to know: What have you done with big bird?
By actor212, on November 27th, 2014  I know, I’ve been one poor correspondent, and I’ve been too too hard to find, but that doesn’t mean you ain’t been on my mind…
2014 was a tough year for everyone. I feel grateful and fortunate that I skated past a lot of crap but what I did endure was enough for two years.
Continue reading Thanks
By Bruce A Jacobs, on November 27th, 2014 I believe in being grateful for the universe. It is one of the few entities with a shelf life beyond that of what can be bought, sold, or stolen. Moreover, our obscene privilege as Westerners is lethally obvious. But to hell with the manufactured gratitude of Thanksgiving™, wherein kindly advertising voice-overs urge us to count our table of blessings (and hopefully shop for some more). This excerpt from a missive by Guardian columnist Jessica Valenti rightly gives that sales pitch the finger:
Face it: Thanksgiving is depressing this year, and you don’t have to give thanks
We shouldn’t ask grieving people to plaster on a smile to make the rest of us feel better. Even if it’s the holidays.
This Thanksgiving, it’s difficult not to think about loss.
For a lot of people, this time of year brings more sadness than cheer – thinking about the kinds of relationships you wish you could have with family or friend, thinking about loved ones that aren’t there. And as injustice prevails in Ferguson, as another young man of color is killed with seeming impunity, as sexual predators are given standing ovations and sexual violence across the US continues to be unearthed, it’s hard to remember how to be thankful. It’s easier to ask what we are supposed to be thankful for at all.
Continue reading You don’t have to give thanks.
By stuart noble, on November 27th, 2014
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