Central Perk: 10 sept. 2013

marți, 10 septembrie 2013

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Short Translation of Obama's Speech: "Flip Flop"; Long Translation: "I Don't Have the Votes"
Latest Polls Not Looking Good For Merkel, 12 Days Before election
Obama Supporters Sign "Karl Marx for President" Petition

Short Translation of Obama's Speech: "Flip Flop"; Long Translation: "I Don't Have the Votes"

Posted: 10 Sep 2013 09:11 PM PDT

Readers may be interested in the Full Text of Obama's War-Mongering Speech on Syria.

Fake Diplomacy

I can sum up Obama's speech in two words "Flip Flop".

Obama backed down from his John Wayne McCain guns-a-blazing approach to a fake-diplomatic stance "I have, therefore, asked the leaders of Congress to postpone a vote to authorize the use of force while we pursue this diplomatic path."

Mish Translation "God damn it! I don't have the votes"

No Votes

Failure to attain a majority in Congress was clear earlier today when Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell Said 'No' On Syria Strike.

"Does Assad's use of chemical weapons pose a threat to the national security interests of the United States? And the answer to that question is fairly obvious: Even the president himself says it doesn't," McConnell said.

McConnell stood his ground in contrast to House Speaker John Boehner, Majority Leader Eric Cantor, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid who, like John McCain wanted to proceed with warmongering regardless of costs.

Politico notes "In just the past 24 hours, GOP senators including Roy Blunt of Missouri, Dean Heller of Nevada, Mike Enzi of Wyoming, Johnny Isakson of Georgia and Lamar Alexander of Tennessee have all come out against a strike."

Putin Saves Obama's Ass

Seems to me, Putin saved Obama's ass with a proposal to let Syria destroy its weapons. Obama turned a "God damn it! I don't have the votes" horror story into a diplomatic "Give Peace a Chance" moment.

Putin gained stature and Obama lost stature. Putin's win is Obama's loss even if temporarily allows Obama to save face.

Hitler Card In Play

Nonetheless, I do not buy the "give peace a chance" line, especially since Obama played the "Hitler Card".

"In World War II, the Nazis used gas to inflict the horror of the Holocaust. Because these weapons can kill on a mass scale, with no distinction between soldier and infant, the civilized world has spent a century working to ban them", said Obama.

A few Days Ago the Guardian accurately appraised the situation as "Faced with sparse support for launching cruise missiles into a civil war, John Kerry compared Bashar al-Assad": Adolf Hitler: When in doubt, say 'Hitler'

Assad (assuming he used gas at all, and that is debatable) used it on political enemies in a civil war. Hitler planned to exterminate an entire race of people, simply because of their race and their faith.

Seriously, how lame is that comparison?

What's the Difference Between the US Using Chemical Weapons and Others Doing the Same?

Blatant Hypocrisy

David Stockman nails the heart of US war-mongering hypocrisy with this question:

"After having rained napalm, white phosphorous, bunker busters, drone missiles, and the most violent machinery of conventional warfare ever assembled upon millions of innocent Vietnamese, Cambodians, Serbs, Somalis, Iraqis, Afghans, Pakistanis, Yemeni, Libyans, and countless more, Washington now presupposes to be in the moral-sanctions business?"

For further Stockman discussion, please see End of U.S. Imperium—Finally!? Obama About to Suffer Glorious Defeat in Congress?

The hypocrisy of Obama (like Bush before him) is astounding. The biggest user of chemical weapons in history is the United States of America.

Don't believe it? For details, please see U.S. Going to Kill Syrians to Show Syria that Killing Syrians is Wrong

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Latest Polls Not Looking Good For Merkel, 12 Days Before election

Posted: 10 Sep 2013 12:43 PM PDT

The German election is on September 22. And with 12 days remaining, things do not look good for a Grand Coalition headed by Merkel.

Via translation, the latest INSA poll looks like this:

CDU/CSU - 39%
SPD - 28%
Grüne (Greens) - 11%
Die Linke (Left) - 8%
FDP - 4%
AfD - 3%
Pirate - 3%

I believe AfD will make the 5% cut. I do not know if FDP will make the cut. If neither makes the cut, an unstable "Grand Coalition" is theoretically possible three ways.

Possible Coalitions if Neither AfD Nor FDP Get 5%

SPD + Grüne + Die Linke
CDU/CSU + SPD ("Grand Coalition" with Merkel)
CDU/CSU + SPD ("Grand Coalition" without Merkel)

Possible Coalitions if AfD, not FDP Gets 5%

CDU/CSU + AfD (with Merkel)
CDU/CSU + AfD (without Merkel)

A grand coalition including SPD is theoretically possible.

Possible Coalitions if FDP not AfD Gets 5%

CDU/CSU + FDP (with Merkel)

Again, a grand coalition with SPD is also theoretically possible.

There are numerous combinations if FDP and AfD both get 5%.

One More Merkel Snag

The CDU/CSU-FDP, CDU/CSU-AfD, and CDU/CSU-AfD-FDP possibilities all assume a working majority.

A coalition of CDU/CSU + AfD + FDP would easily have a majority.

A coalition of CDU/CSU + FDP might not have a majority if SDP continues to gain at the expense of CDU/CSU.

Election Not Over

With many sitting the election out and with many undecided voters likely to vote for someone other than CDU/CSU or SPD, this election is hardly over.

Indeed, the mess gets rather complicated if SPD tops 28% and the Greens and Left come close to 10% each. And that outcome is not out of the question.

Merkel should hope that any CDU/CSU slippage goes to FDP and AfD, not anywhere else.

Is CDU/CSU + AfD that bad an option? I think not, but I do not get to vote.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Obama Supporters Sign "Karl Marx for President" Petition

Posted: 10 Sep 2013 08:50 AM PDT

In the following video, Mark Dice, tells passers-by that Obama endorses Karl Marx for president in the 2016 election. People willingly sign a petition to get Karl Marx on the ballot.

Link if video does not play: Communist Karl Marx Endorsed by Obama

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Syria

Good evening --

I just addressed the nation about the use of chemical weapons in Syria.

Over the past two years, what began as a series of peaceful protests against the repressive regime of Bashar al-Assad has turned into a brutal civil war in Syria. Over 100,000 people have been killed.

In that time, we have worked with friends and allies to provide humanitarian support for the Syrian people, to help the moderate opposition within Syria, and to shape a political settlement. But we have resisted calls for military action because we cannot resolve someone else's civil war through force.

The situation profoundly changed in the early hours of August 21, when more than 1,000 Syrians -- including hundreds of children -- were killed by chemical weapons launched by the Assad government.

What happened to those people -- to those children -- is not only a violation of international law -- it's also a danger to our security. Here's why:

If we fail to act, the Assad regime will see no reason to stop using chemical weapons. As the ban against these deadly weapons erodes, other tyrants and authoritarian regimes will have no reason to think twice about acquiring poison gases and using them. Over time, our troops could face the prospect of chemical warfare on the battlefield. It could be easier for terrorist organizations to obtain these weapons and use them to attack civilians. If fighting spills beyond Syria's borders, these weapons could threaten our allies in the region.

So after careful deliberation, I determined that it is in the national security interests of the United States to respond to the Assad regime's use of chemical weapons through a targeted military strike. The purpose of this strike would be to deter Assad from using chemical weapons, to degrade his regime's ability to use them, and make clear to the world that we will not tolerate their use.

Though I possess the authority to order these strikes, in the absence of a direct threat to our security I believe that Congress should consider my decision to act. Our democracy is stronger when the President acts with the support of Congress -- and when Americans stand together as one people.

Over the last few days, as this debate unfolds, we've already begun to see signs that the credible threat of U.S. military action may produce a diplomatic breakthrough. The Russian government has indicated a willingness to join with the international community in pushing Assad to give up his chemical weapons and the Assad regime has now admitted that it has these weapons, and even said they'd join the Chemical Weapons Convention, which prohibits their use.

It's too early to tell whether this offer will succeed, and any agreement must verify that the Assad regime keeps its commitments. But this initiative has the potential to remove the threat of chemical weapons without the use of force.

That's why I've asked the leaders of Congress to postpone a vote to authorize the use of force while we pursue this diplomatic path. I'm sending Secretary of State John Kerry to meet his Russian counterpart on Thursday, and I will continue my own discussions with President Putin. At the same time, we'll work with two of our closest allies -- France and the United Kingdom -- to put forward a resolution at the U.N. Security Council requiring Assad to give up his chemical weapons, and to ultimately destroy them under international control.

Meanwhile, I've ordered our military to maintain their current posture to keep the pressure on Assad, and to be in a position to respond if diplomacy fails. And tonight, I give thanks again to our military and their families for their incredible strength and sacrifices.

As we continue this debate -- in Washington, and across the country -- I need your help to make sure that everyone understands the factors at play.

Please share this message with others to make sure they know where I stand, and how they can stay up to date on this situation. Anyone can find the latest information about the situation in Syria, including video of tonight's address, here:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/foreign-policy/syria

Thank you,

President Barack Obama

This email was sent to e0nstar1.blog@gmail.com.
Unsubscribe | Privacy Policy
Please do not reply to this email. Contact the White House

The White House • 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW • Washington, DC 20500 • 202-456-1111

Damn Cool Pics

Funny Court Quotes
Enjoy Dat
Wrestlers Then and Now
How Do Employers View Online Degrees? [Infographic]
Inventions That Were Originally Intended for Other Uses

Funny Court Quotes

Posted: 10 Sep 2013 12:43 PM PDT

Q: Were you present when your picture was taken?

View Entire List >>

Enjoy Dat

Posted: 10 Sep 2013 09:47 AM PDT

Enjoy Dat pictures.

Wrestlers Then and Now

Posted: 10 Sep 2013 09:19 AM PDT

Photos of famous wrestlers then and now.

Scott Hall

Sting

Ric Flair

Hulk Hogan

Goldberg

Kevin Nash

Diamond Dallas Page

Lex Luger

Booker T.

Scott Steiner

Sid Vicious

Steve Austin

Big Show

Rey Mysterio

Chris Jericho

Billy Kidman

Bret Hart

Jeff Jarrett

"The Rock" Dwayne Johnson

How Do Employers View Online Degrees? [Infographic]

Posted: 10 Sep 2013 08:59 AM PDT

Here is a useful infographic by Drexel University Online that compares online degrees to traditional degrees in the eyes of an employer. The infographic starts off by saying that as long as certain criteria are met online degrees are viewed as equal. The 1st thing is that accreditation must be regional, the 2nd thing is the online university should have a campus and the 3rd thing is that the online university must be an established brand.

Click on Image to Enlarge.