Month: June 2011

Senators Want To Put People In Jail For Embedding YouTube Videos

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– Senators Want To Put People In Jail For Embedding YouTube Videos (Techdirt, June 1, 2011):

from the not-understanding-the-technology dept

Okay, this is just getting ridiculous. A few weeks back, we noted that Senators Amy Klobuchar, John Cornyn and Christopher Coons had proposed a new bill that was designed to make “streaming” infringing material a felony. At the time, the actual text of the bill wasn’t available, but we assumed, naturally, that it would just extend “public performance” rights to section 506a of the Copyright Act.

Read moreSenators Want To Put People In Jail For Embedding YouTube Videos

WIKILEAKS: US Fought To Lower Minimum Wage In Haiti So Hanes And Levis Would Stay Cheap

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Obama fighting for slave labor in Haiti.

– WIKILEAKS: US Fought To Lower Minimum Wage In Haiti So Hanes And Levis Would Stay Cheap (Business Insider, June 3, 2011):

A Wikileaks post published on The Nation shows that the Obama Administration fought to keep Haitian wages at 31 cents an hour.

(This article was taken down by The Nation due to an embargo, but it was excerpted at Columbia Journalism Review.)

It started when Haiti passed a law two years ago raising its minimum wage to 61 cents an hour. According to an embassy cable:

This infuriated American corporations like Hanes and Levi Strauss that pay Haitians slave wages to sew their clothes. They said they would only fork over a seven-cent-an-hour increase, and they got the State Department involved. The U.S. ambassador put pressure on Haiti’s president, who duly carved out a $3 a day minimum wage for textile companies (the U.S. minimum wage, which itself is very low, works out to $58 a day).

Haiti has about 25,000 garment workers. If you paid each of them $2 a day more, it would cost their employers $50,000 per working day, or about $12.5 million a year … As of last year Hanes had 3,200 Haitians making t-shirts for it. Paying each of them two bucks a day more would cost it about $1.6 million a year. Hanesbrands Incorporated made $211 million on $4.3 billion in sales last year.

Thanks to U.S. intervention, the minimum was raised only to 31 cents.

Japan’s Nuclear Safety Commission Ready to Loosen Already-Loose Radiation Safety Limits for Food

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– #Fukushima I Nuke Accident: Japan’s Nuclear Safety Commission Ready to Loosen Already-Loose Radiation Safety Limit for Foods (EX-SKF, June 3, 2011):

The Nuclear Safety Commission headed by Haruki “Detarame (‘Falsehood’; his cute nickname by the irate Japanese citizens)” Madarame has proposed that the Japanese government loosen the provisional safety limits for foods, as the Fukushima nuclear disaster continues.

(Oh by the way, did you know the provisional safety numbers for radioactive materials in foods, milk and drinking water were decided on the basis of 5 millisieverts per year radiation exposure?)

From Mainichi Shinbun Japanese (6/2/2011; emphasis is mine):

? ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

On June 2, the Nuclear Safety Commission under the Cabinet Office indicated the need for revising the provisional safety limits for the radioactive materials in foods and drinking water. Japan’s Food Safety Law does not have the formal safety standards for radioactive materials. After the Fukushima I Nuke Plant accident, the Japanese government has set provisional safety limits for radioactive materials for each food item so that the total radiation [from food and water?] would be below 5 millisieverts per year. This number is the most strict one among the numbers recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) as the government guidelines to restrict the shipment [of the food items]. However, as the Fukushima accident continues, some experts have voiced concern that [these provisional numbers] do not fit the actual situation [i.e. they are too low]. Commissioner Seiji Shiroya spoke in the ad-hoc meeting of the Commission on June 2 that “It is not desirable to use the provisional numbers as if they were set in stone.”

78 Percent of Pakistani Children With Polio Were Given Polio Vaccines

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Flashback:

– Polio surge in Nigeria caused by mutated vaccine virus (AP):

The vaccine used in the United States and other Western nations is given in shots, which use a killed virus that cannot cause polio.

So when WHO officials discovered a polio outbreak in Nigeria was sparked by the polio vaccine itself, they assumed it would be easier to stop than a natural “wild” virus.

They were wrong.

The Bill Gates connection:

“I love vaccines,” Gates stated at a TED conference in February, 2010, while lecturing on ways to reduce global populations to stem environmental pollution.
Source


Bill Gates administers an oral polio vaccine (LIFE VIRUS!) in New Delhi in 2000. As he turns his full focus to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, he plans to visit China, India and Africa in the coming year.

– 78 percent of Pakistani children with polio were given polio vaccines (Natural News, June 02, 2011):

(NaturalNews) In the last year, as Pakistan has lost favor with the US and UNICEF, polio virus has paralyzed increasing numbers of Pakistani youth, casting doubt on the good intentions of those who fight polio. To make matters worse, most of the new cases have occurred in children already vaccinated. Is the US attempting to fight Pakistan by tainting inoculation doses?

The medical data suggests that the vaccine has changed in its efficacy against the disease. Last year, there were 136 cases of infected youth, and 107 of these had been administered multiple polio vaccinations. These figures are the largest the Polio Global Eradication Initiative has seen since 2006, despite heavy treatment in the most affected areas, South Punjab and the Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA).

Read more78 Percent of Pakistani Children With Polio Were Given Polio Vaccines

Belgian Catholic Church Child-Sex Abuse Victims Sue Holy See

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See also:

– Vatican Warned Irish Bishops Not to Report Child Abuse (AP)

– Belgian abuse victims sue Holy See (Sydney Morning Herald/AFP, June 3, 2011):

DOZENS of victims of a child-sex scandal in the Belgian Catholic Church are launching legal action against the Holy See, the first such suit in Europe.

Lawyers and victims said on Wednesday at a news conference that a summons was on its way to Rome, as well as to Belgian bishops, to appear before a civil court for failing to stop sexual abuse by priests and church workers. Lawyers said the group of some 80 plaintiffs was growing by the day.

”The Pope is the head of the Holy See,” said lawyer Walter Van Steenbrugge.

”He neglected to intervene himself and to give instructions, which meant that abuse was liable to continue and the damage was able to increase.”

Read moreBelgian Catholic Church Child-Sex Abuse Victims Sue Holy See

Good Luck Trading! You Will Need It: EURUSD Chart Confims ‘Insane YoYo’ Formation

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The EURUSD has officially confirmed the much dreaded “Insane YoYo” formation.

As a reminder the last time we had a dreaded chart spotting (The Hindenburg Omen from August 12, 2010), the Fed was forced to launch QE2 two weeks later.

On a more serious note, the imminent announcement of a favorable Troica report on Greece will likely send the pair up 100 pips.

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 06/03/2011 09:16 -0400

Source: ZeroHedge

Recovery! US Has To Create Only 250K Jobs A Month For 66 Months To Return To December 2007 Unemployment By End Of Obama’s Second Term

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It was difficult rerunning this chart with a straight face, make that near impossible, but here are the results.

Following the most recent NFP disappointment, the simple math indicates that for the US to return to its December 2007 unemployment, when factoring in the natural growth of the labor force of 90k people a month, the economy will need to add 250k jobs a month for the next 66 months or until the end of Obama’s now very implausible second term.

Then again, considering what the alternatives are, we can guarantee that the 2012-2016 period in terms of job creation will definitely not look like what is presented on the chart below.

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 06/03/2011 09:57 -0400

Source: ZeroHedge

Magnesium Offers Strong Radiation Protection

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(NaturalNews) One would not normally think that magnesium deficiency can increase the risk of cancer yet we will find that just as severe dehydration or asphyxiation can cause death, magnesium deficiency can lead directly to cancer. It is known that carcinogenesis induces magnesium distribution disturbances, causing magnesium mobilization through blood cells and magnesium depletion in non-neoplastic tissues. Magnesium deficiency is carcinogenic, and in the case of solid tumors, a high level of supplemented magnesium inhibits carcinogenesis.

Researchers from Japan’s National Cancer Center in Tokyo have found that an increased intake of magnesium reduces a man’s risk of colon cancer by over 50 percent. Several studies have shown an increased cancer rate in regions with low magnesium levels in soil and drinking water. In Egypt the cancer rate was only about 10 percent of that in Europe and America. In the rural fellah it was practically non-existent. The main difference was an extremely high magnesium intake of 2.5-3g in these cancer-free populations, ten times more than in most western countries.

Read moreMagnesium Offers Strong Radiation Protection

Chinese Teenager Sells His Kidney To Buy iPad2 And iPhone

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Destroying his invaluable body for e-waste!

– Chinese teenager sells his kidney so he can buy an iPad2 (Daily Mail, June 2,  2011):

A teenager in China has caused an outcry after selling his kidney to buy an iPad2.

Xiao Zheng, 17, could not afford one of the new tablet-style computers that are seen as symbols of wealth in China.

But he answered an advert offering cash to healthy people willing to have one of their kidneys removed in a gruelling operation.

His action horrified his mother and has caused outrage in China.

The teenager told Shenzhen TV in the southern province of Guangdong: ‘I wanted to buy an iPad2, but I didn’t have the money.

‘When I surfed the internet I found an advert posted online by an agent saying they were able to buy a kidney.’

Xiao travelled to the city of Chenzhou in Hunan Province where the kidney was removed at a local hospital.

Private surgeons had hired out a room at the facility to perform the risky procedure on April 28.

He was discharged after three days and given 20,000 yuan, or £1,884, for the organ.

He bought an iPad2 and an iPhone but when he returned home his suspicious mother wanted to know where the goods had come from.

Read moreChinese Teenager Sells His Kidney To Buy iPad2 And iPhone

A Trader, An F.B.I. Witness, And Then A ‘Suicide’ You Can Believe In!

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– A Trader, an F.B.I. Witness, and Then a Suicide (New York Times, June 2, 2011):

In a Manhattan courtroom last week, federal prosecutors played for a jury a secretly recorded telephone conversation between two Wall Street traders exchanging stock tips.

Two days later, one of those traders, Ephraim G. Karpel, hanged himself in his Fifth Avenue office, according to a law enforcement official.

Mr. Karpel was never charged with any wrongdoing, and until last week his name had not emerged in connection with the government’s vast investigation of insider trading.

Yet while working for a New York commodities firm, he had agreed in 2008 to cooperate with federal authorities, and for about a year he taped conversations with fellow traders, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter who insisted on anonymity to discuss it.

Read moreA Trader, An F.B.I. Witness, And Then A ‘Suicide’ You Can Believe In!

Lord Jacob Rothschild Suggests You Panic

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Warren Buffett, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jacob Rothschild

– Lord Jacob Rothschild Suggests You Panic (ZeroHedge, June 03, 2011):

When The Lord tells you to panic… You panic. And beg for QE 3, 4, 5, etc. Just think of the poor bankers.

From RIT Capital Partners PLC Annual Report:

Let me look now at the time ahead. I reminded shareholders in my Chairman’s Statement last year that our aim of preserving shareholders’ capital takes precedence over short-term capital growth if we feel that there remains above-average risk of capital loss. There is, I believe, a growing awareness of the dangerous position which confronts many countries, particularly those in the developed world. In spite of these concerns, we continue to take advantage of areas that we believe are attractive, but we will remain cautious in terms of the quantum of capital that we allocate. For instance, your Company has benefited from the rise in commodity prices. Yet a noted US strategist has pointed out that commodity returns relative to equity returns are at a 200-year high on a rolling 10-year basis. We are not alone in having noted the attractive level of valuation of many quality companies, eclipsed till now by commodity and cyclical companies. After a decade of commodity leadership, a shift to a new regime is a  possibility; identifying a new trend, if indeed it comes to pass, will be a major factor in future investment performance.

The risks ahead are glaring and global. The US recovery is fragile, with millions unable to find work. The Dollar has diminished in value and the government deficit has ballooned. In Europe, the fate of the Monetary Union is in doubt and growth is likely to slow as the European Union seeks to rein in government deficits and spending in a number of their member countries. Japan’s challenge following the earthquake and tsunami is monumental. The Middle East uprisings have led to a surge in oil prices. Inflation is threatening in emerging markets. African and other poor nations are suffering from grain prices which have risen by about 70%. It is likely that the withdrawal of the fiscal and monetary stimuli which will surely come soon will have an impact on global growth: indeed there is already evidence of some slowing down since your Company’s year-end of 31 March. Stock market performance does not necessarily go hand in hand with economies. Timing is crucial, at least in the short term, for investment performance. In these uncertain times it means retaining a good quota of liquidity and being eclectic in our investments, picking our stocks and situations well as we long have done.

Chinese And German Researchers Identify Sequence Of Deadly E. Coli

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See also:

– First Act Of Bioterrorism In Germany: Ehec Identified As Biological Terrorist Attack, HUSEC 41 Confirms Bioterrorism-Thesis

– Chinese, German researchers identify sequence of deadly E. coli (Xinhua, June 3, 2011):

BERLIN, June 2 (Xinhua) — The recent outbreak of deadly E. coli in Europe was caused by an entirely new super-toxic strain, Chinese and German researchers said Thursday, after finishing sequencing its genome.

By now, 17 Germans and one Swede have been killed after the outbreak, while more than 2,000 people across Europe were sickened. The number of people suffering from serious hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS) due to the infection has reached 470 in Germany.

In its latest report, the Beijing Genomics Institute in Shenzhen (BGI-Shenzhen), China’s flagship genome center, said it “has just completed the sequence and carried out a preliminary analysis that shows the current infection is caused by an entirely new super-toxic E. coli strain.”

BGI-Shenzhen was collaborating closely with the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf in Germany by using their genomic technology.

The Chinese laboratory said it had finished sequencing the genome of the bacterium upon receiving the bacterial DNA samples, with the help of the third-generation sequencing platform — Ion Torrent.

“Bioinformatics analysis revealed that this E. coli is a new strain of bacteria that is highly infectious and toxic,” BGI-Shenzhen said in the report, adding that the bacterium is an EHEC serotype O104 E. coli strain, which has never been involved in any E. coli outbreaks before.

Read moreChinese And German Researchers Identify Sequence Of Deadly E. Coli

Sony Hacked Again, Personal Information Of More Than 1 Million Customers Compromised – Hacking Group: ‘From A Single Injection, We Accessed EVERYTHING’

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– Hackers attack another Sony network, post data (Reuters, Jun 2, 2011):

(Reuters) – A hacker group has engineered yet another attack on the computer networks of Sony Corp, a setback to the Japanese company’s efforts to move past a security crisis that erupted in April.

The group, which calls itself LulzSec, said on Thursday that it broke into servers that run Sony Pictures Entertainment websites, and then compromised the personal information of more than 1 million Sony customers.

Sony officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

It posted some of the data it accessed on the Web — including the names, home and email addresses, and passwords of some customers. But said it did not have the resources to extract and publish all of what it collected.

“From a single injection, we accessed EVERYTHING,” the hacking group said in the statement. “Why do you put such faith in a company that allows itself to become open to these simple attacks?”

Read moreSony Hacked Again, Personal Information Of More Than 1 Million Customers Compromised – Hacking Group: ‘From A Single Injection, We Accessed EVERYTHING’

Japan: Magnitude 6.3 Earthquake Hits Near Fukushima

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– 6.3-magnitude quake hits off the east coast of Honshu, Japan — USGS (Xinhua, June 03, 2011):

TOKYO, June 3 (Xinhua) — An earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale jolted off the east coast of Honshu, Japan at 09:05: 03 a.m. local time (00:05:03 GMT) on Friday, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

The epicenter, with a depth of 31.00 km, was initially determined to be at 37.2935 degrees north latitude and 143.9118 degrees east longitude.

NutriSmart System Would Put RFIDs Into Your Food

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– The NutriSmart system would put RFIDs into your food for enhanced information (PhysOrg.com, May 31, 2011)

RFID, short for Radio Frequency ID, tags have found their way into a wide variety of applications. These pellets, which are often roughly the same size as a grain of rice, can help us to be reunited with our lost pets, keep towels inside the hotel, and keep big box stores shipping the right boxes to the right places at the right time.

In time you may even find them inside your own stomach. At least they will be there if Hannes Harms has anything to say about it. Mr. Harms, who is currently a design engineering student at the Royal College of Art in London, has designed the NutriSmart system. The system is based on edible RFID tags that will tell you more about your food then you ever wanted to know.

Read moreNutriSmart System Would Put RFIDs Into Your Food

Moody’s Downgrades Greek Credit Rating AGAIN, Credit Default Swaps Jump

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Don’t miss:

– Postcards From Greece!

The cost of insuring Greek debt rose on Thursday morning after the debt-laden country suffered another credit-rating downgrade.


The three-notch-downgrade takes Greece from B1 to Caa1, giving the country a worse credit rating that Montenegro.

On Wednesday night Moody’s dealt another blow to Greece with a further downgrade that pushed its bonds deeper into junk territory. The downgrade places Greece at the very bottom of Moody’s league table of credit-worthy European countries.

Five-year credit default swaps (CDS) on Greek government debt rose 40 basis points to 1,470 basis points, according to data monitor Markit. This means it costs €1.47m euros to protect €10m of exposure to Greek debt.

The cost of insuring Portuguese debt against default rose by 15 basis points to 700 basis points.

The three-notch-downgrade takes Greece from B1 to Caa1, giving the country a worse credit rating than Montenegro.

Read moreMoody’s Downgrades Greek Credit Rating AGAIN, Credit Default Swaps Jump

Belarus Applies For $8 Billion Emergency IMF Loan

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See also:

– Belarus Devalues Its Currency By 56% Overnight, Against Every Currency Out There

– Belarus Central Bank Halts Sales Of Gold For Roubles

Belarus has applied to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for an emergency loan of up to $8bn (£5bn), which could help to rescue the ex-Soviet republic from its fiscal crisis.


Belarus has been hit by massive state spending ahead of presidential elections last year Photo: AP

The move comes just a day after the country’s government announced it was raising its main interest rate from 14pc to 16pc, and that it was freezing prices on a number of staple foods until July 1.

The IMF’s chief representative in Minsk met with government officials on Wednesday, the fund’s spokeswoman, Yulia Lyskova, said.

Prime Minister Mikhail Myasnikovich said the IMF programme could last for three to five years.

Belarus has been hit by a dire cash shortage that was sparked by a jump in the price Russia charges for energy as well as massive state spending ahead of presidential elections last year.

Read moreBelarus Applies For $8 Billion Emergency IMF Loan

Europe E.coli is toxic new strain – Russia bans EU vegetables over deadly E.coli outbreak

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Don’t miss:

– First Act Of Bioterrorism In Germany: Ehec Identified As Biological Terrorist Attack, HUSEC 41 Confirms Bioterrorism-Thesis

– E. coli in Europe outbreak a new strain, says WHO (CTV NEWS, Jun. 2, 2011)

– Europe E.coli is toxic new strain, trade row grows (Reuters, Jun. 2, 2011):

(Reuters) – A highly infectious new strain of E.coli bacteria is causing a deadly outbreak of food poisoning in Germany, scientists said on Thursday, with cases in Europe and the United States raising the alarm worldwide.

Experts in China, part of a global network of laboratories racing to understand the sickness which killed a 17th victim overnight, said they had found the bug carried genes that made it resistant to several classes of antibiotics.

The United Nations said the strain had not infected people before but some consumers, especially in Germany, said they were nervous about eating raw vegetables.

With around 1,500 people in Germany already ill in one of the worst recorded outbreaks of E.coli, Russia prompted international recriminations by banning imports of fresh vegetables from Europe and accusing Brussels of sowing chaos by failing to give enough information about the outbreak.

Read moreEurope E.coli is toxic new strain – Russia bans EU vegetables over deadly E.coli outbreak

S&P Cuts TEPCO’s Credit Rating To Junk (Likelihood Of A Default Increased To 53 Percent)

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– Tepco debt swaps facing 53% chance of defaulting (Japan Times, Bloomberg, June 2, 2011):

The cost of protecting Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s debt shows the likelihood of a default increased to 53 percent after the utility’s credit rating was cut to junk status by Standard & Poor’s.

The contracts to insure ¥6.85 trillion in bonds and loans of Tepco for five years jumped to as much as 913.5 basis points Tuesday, or ¥91.35 million per year to protect ¥1 billion of the debt, according to data provider CMA. That’s pricing in a 53 percent chance of default by 2016, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Read moreS&P Cuts TEPCO’s Credit Rating To Junk (Likelihood Of A Default Increased To 53 Percent)

Japan: Two Drugs To Help Expel Plutonium From The Body To Be Approved In July

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– #Radiation in Japan: 2 Drugs to Help Expel Plutonium from Body to Be Approved in July:

It seems like an oblique way for the Japanese government to admit plutonium (and other transuranium elements such as americium and curium) has been released from Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant and dispersed in wide enough areas to warrant a very quick approval of drugs that expel them from the body.

Transuranium elements are the chemical elements with atomic numbers greater than 92, the atomic number of uranium. They are all highly radioactive.

From Asahi Shinbun (12:09AM JST 6/2/2011):

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Two drugs that expel radioactive materials from the body are set to be approved in July, as the experts agreed at a meeting on June 1 of the Committee on Medicine and Food Safety of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

Read moreJapan: Two Drugs To Help Expel Plutonium From The Body To Be Approved In July

Dr. Michio Kaku: We ‘Came Close’ To Losing Northern Japan (CNN – Video)

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Famed physicist Michio Kaku says northern Japan was almost lost to a “100% core melt” in the Fukushima nuclear accident.


Added On May 31, 2011

See also:

– Dr. Michio Kaku: ‘The situation at Fukushima is relatively stable now… in the same way that you are stable if you hang by your fingernails off a cliff, and your fingernails begin to break one by one.’

Postcards From Greece!

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‘Dont worry, they bought cds protection. Cranium decapitation swaps…’
– Commentary at ZeroHedge

Related info:

– Want to Buy a Piece of a Greek Island? Greece’s Government Prepares to Sell Up to $42.9 Billion of Public Property to Reduce Its Mountain of Debt

– Former Assistant Secretary of the US Treasury Dr. Paul Craig Roberts: Revolution is the Only Answer (For Greece, Ireland etc.)

– Accusations Of Treason In The Greek Parliament Against Bilderberg PM Papandreou

These seem to be becoming quite popular lately: This particular one was titled: “Let them buy bonds.” We are waiting to see how it will be revised following today’s wonderful “Bailout #2” news. Expect Greek exchanges to hike rope margins asap.

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 06/02/2011 13:15 -0400

Source: ZeroHedge

Japan’s PM Naoto Kan Survives No-Confidence Vote After Saying He Will Resign Over Fukushima

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– Japanese PM Says He Will Resign Over Fukushima (TIME, June 2, 2011):

– Kan Survives Japan No-Confidence Vote After Post-Crisis Resignation Signal (Bloomberg, Jun 2, 2011):

Japan’s Prime Minister Naoto Kan survived a no-confidence vote after appealing to ruling party dissidents by offering to resign once the country’s worst crisis since World War II is under control.

The Diet’s lower house voted 293-152 against the motion, as opposition lawmakers failed to attract enough support from Kan’s Democratic Party of Japan. Former DPJ premier Yukio Hatoyama called for party unity in rejecting the bill after Kan said he would step down once the disaster is contained.

Read moreJapan’s PM Naoto Kan Survives No-Confidence Vote After Saying He Will Resign Over Fukushima