EFTA01180237.pdf

From: Gregory Brown To: undisclosed-recipients:; Bcc: jeevacation@gmail.com Subject: Greg Brown's Weekend Reading and Other Things Date: Mon, 13 Aug 2012 02:25:19 +0000 Attachments: Indigestionfor les_Riches'_in_a_Planfor Hi_gher_Taxes_Liz_Alderman_NYT_August_ 7,_2012.pdf; The social and_economic reasons_for_Generation_Squeezed_Robert_Samuelson_TWP_A ugust_5,_2012.pdf; Is_Saudi_Arabia_on_the_edge_Davidignatius_TWP_August_8„2012.pdf; Gaddafi_opponent_elected_Libya_assembly_chief Allazeera_10_Aug_2012.pdf; Romney's_tax_plan_wouldn't_cut_the_defic_=?WINDOWS-1252?Q? it=5FErskine Bowles=5FTWP=5F August_9,2012.pdf?=; Erasing_Wfobert_Reich_RSN_I August_12.pdf; Mr„Ryan's_Cramped_Vision_NYT EDITORIAL_August_ 11,_2012.pdf; 8_Reasons_The_Ryan- Romney_Combo Is Bad For Our Chil drenlu2019s_Future_Judy_Molland_Care2_Augus t_11,2012.pdf; Magarief victory_paves_way_for_emergence_of Abushagur as_PM_George_Grant_Libya Herald August_12,2012.pdf; bown_iiith_Shareholder Value_Joe_Nocera_NYT_August_10,_2012.pdf; Standard Chartered Case Casts_a_Chill_Over_Banks_Jessica_Silver- Greenberg_NYT_August_10,_2012.pdf; Iraq's_oil_output_overtakesiran's_Javier_Bias_TWP_August_10,_2012.docx; Hundred- Year Forecast„Drought_Christopher Schwalm_NYT_August_11„2012.pdf Dear Friends WOW This past seven days has been an interesting week starting out with the 2nd week of THE OLYMPICS' mania and ending with Mitt Romney making a "Game Change" by choosing Rep. Paul Ryan as his Vice Presidential running mate. Lost in the hysteria is that NASA scientist and the rest of American (ifnot the human race) were able to celebrate the successful landing of CURIOSITY (the biggest n9ver ever sent to Mars or any other planet) which was launched on an Atlas 5 Rocket by MSL mission from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., on Nov. 26, 2011. The most amazing thing is that CURIOSITY landed 1.5 miles away from its predicted touchdown zone -- not bad, given that the site was more than 150 million miles away and that the projected landing zone was an ellipse 12 miles wide. Truly THE NEW FRONTIER..... Also lost in the hysteria was the pass that the Obama Admiistration gave Goldman Sacks for any wrong doing that they did Yes, they and many of the other major banks have received fines, but in a world where billions of dollars every minute, a fine of millions or even hundreds of millions is just the cost of doing business Until people are put in jail for more than the out-right thief of money White Collar shenanigans in the financial community and big business will continue.... Not to take away from some of the magical moments at the London Olympics, almost overlooked was the election of Mr. Mohammed Al Magariaf, the first democratically elected President in the history of Libya. As many of you may know, through my dear friend Dr. Fadi Noah, I became an early supporter of Dr. Al Magaraif and the Transitional National Counsel in Libya, when they were considered "The Rebels" with the dream that the people of Libya would finally receive their self determination after 42 years of tyranny at the hands of Muammar Qaddafi. With peaceful elections in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, THE ARAB SPRING of 2011 has EFTA01180237 truly transition into a success, beyond anyone's wildest imagination. But let us not forget that it was sparked by the first protests that occurred in Tunisia on 18 December 2010 in Sidi Bouzid, following Mohamed Bouazizi's self-immolation in protest of police corruption and ill treatment. And with the success of the protests in Tunisia, a wave of unrest sparked by the Tunisian "Burning Man" struck Algeria, Jordan, Egypt, and Yemen, then spread to other countries. The largest, most organized demonstrations have often occurred on a "day of rage", usually Friday afternoon prayers. The protests have also triggered similar unrest outside the region. As of now the governments in four countries have been overthrown. Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia on 14 January 2011 following the Tunisian revolution protests. In Egypt, President Hosni Mubarak resigned on 11 February 2011 after 18 days of massive protests, ending his 30-year presidency. The Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown on 23 August 2011, after the National Transitional Council (NTC) took control of Bab al-Azizia. He was killed on 20 October 2011, in his hometown of Sirte after the NTC took control of the city. Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh signed the GCC power-transfer deal in which a presidential election was held, resulting in his successor Abd al-Rab Mansur al-Hadi formally replacing him as the president of Yemen on 27 February 2012, in exchange for immunity from prosecution. During this period of regional unrest, several other leaders announced their intentions to step down at the end of their current terms. Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir announced that he would not seek re-election in 2015, as did Iraqi Prime Minister Noun al-Maliki, whose term ends in 2014, although there have been increasingly violent demonstrations demanding his immediate resignation. Protests in Jordan have also caused the sacking of two successive governments by King Abdullah. With President Bashar al-Assad of Syria doubling down in an aggressive campaign of violence against his own people it is just a matter of time that he will end up either dead, jailed or living in Iran/Russia/exile with the threat of extradition to The Haig for Crimes Against Humanity/Genocide. WEEKEND READINGS Let's start with the article with Aljazzera's article, `Gaddafi opponent elected Libya assembly chief' about National Assembly choosing Mohammed Magarief, (a moderate) to head 200-member congress. Dr. Magariaf, who was the co-founder and leader of the National Front Party, (and often referred to at The Nelson Mandela of Libya) now heads the 200-member congress, which will name a Prime Minister, pass laws and steer Libya to full parliamentary elections after a new constitution is drafted next year. It appears that Dr. Magariaf's close associate, Mustafa Abushagur (currently Libya's Deputy Prime Minister) will move up to the position of Prime Minister. Both men have worked together in Magarief's National Front for the Salvation of Libya (NFSL) in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Abushagur and the new Congress speaker are known to be close, allowing for a solidification of power in Libya by pro-democracy forces in Libya. See article in the Libya Herald, `Magarief victory paves wayfor emergence ofAbushagur as PM.' For those who think that taxes are high in America, you should read the article, 'Indigestion for les Riches' in a Plan for Higher Taxes' by Liz Alderman in the New York Times. The article says that President Francois Hollande of France is vowing to impose a 75 percent tax on the portion of anyone's income above a million euros ($1.24 million) a year. And because there are relatively few people in France whose income would incur such a tax — an estimated 7,000 to 30,000 in a country of 65 million, President Hollande may get his way even though — the gains will only contribute but a small fraction of the 33 billion euros in new revenue the government wants to raise next year to help balance the budget. AS A LIBERAL DEMOCRAT THIS IS RIDICULOUS..... But if the Top 1% don't deal with the needs and expectations of the other 99%, we will end up with European Socialism — and 1 mean taxes.... Echoing this theme is an article, 'The social and economic reasonsfor Generation Squeezed' in The Washington Post by Robert J. Samuelson. Newsweek calls the young "generation screwed". People forget EFTA01180238 that it was the young people in Tahrir Square and Benghazi and elsewhere in the North African and in the Middle East, that sparked the overthrow of the leadership of their countries. If America doesn't seriously deal with the growing inequality between the Top 1% and the rest, especially when future generations are being squeezed by the greed of today's..... There Will Be And Arab Spring In America and it won't be as non-violent, as The Tea Party Moment and Occupy Wall Street. Please take time to read David Ignatius's op-ed price, `Is Saudi Arabia on the edge?' in The Washington Post, suggesting that by appointing Prince Bandar bin Sultan as its new intelligence chief, Saudi Arabia has installed what looks like a war cabinet at a time of rising tensions with Iran and growing internal dissent from its Shiite minority. This may be the case, but Ignatius goes on to suggest that Bandar (who is close to the Bush Family) "would be a useful intermediary, for example, if Saudi Arabia sought nuclear weapons or ballistic missile technologyfrom China to defend against such threatsfrom Iran." Do we really need another proxy war, whereby we allow and aging minority leadership who will be overthrown in our lifetime.... access to nuclear weapons? Having we learned that giving Stinger Air Missiles to The Mujahideen, led to arming The Taliban and ultimately being used against us in Afghanistan? We don't need another war in the Middle East and we definitely don't need a Nuclear Armed Saudi Arabia? I strongly urge you to please take a read and read between the lines.... Because if the Saudi monarchy is going to collapse it is because they didn't take care of their people and not because of Iranian interference. Joe Nocera's article in the New York Times, `Down With Shareholder Value' is an argument against that Shareholder Value is the all and the be all and that executive stock options should be align with share values.... In the absence of greed and in a perfect world, this might be a good thing but in a world where Gordon Gekko's 'Greed Is Good' is the culture of business, allowing for short-term unsustainable bubbles, backed by bullshit economic products and liar loans, we have to asked why no one is going to jail on Wall Street and in The City of London even though everyone knows they cooked the books to reap huge compensations. Echoing Nocera's article is JESSICA SILVER-GREENBERG article in the New York Times, `Standard Chartered Case Casts a Chill Over Banks' about money laundering accusations in British bank by New York's top banking regulator. Hey.... Almost every African dictator, Russian oligarch, South American drug baron and Middle East arms dealer has been using London as a safe haven to launder and hold their money. And it is not a secret. But for those who didn't know, I invite you to take a read. The joke is that they are talking about violations, which is just the cost of doing business In Javier Bias's article `Iraq's oil output overtakes Iran's' in The Washington Post, conspiracy theorist might say that the Iraq War was more about getting control of Iraq's crude oil production and raising the price from less than $20 per barrel to more than $110 per barrels, than it was about WMDs or protecting our ally Israel. But this is cynical unless you remember that is was Conservative Republicans in the American oil patch, who pushed hardest for the War in Iraq. But then this is only speculation. If you are worried about Climate Change/Global Warming, please take a read of 'Hundred-Year Forecast: Drought' by CHRISTOPHER R. SCHWALM in the New York Times, because if his climate model projections are even close..... It is scary And the world as we know it will dramatically change.... POLITICS I would like to start out the gate with Romney/Ryan but I urge you to please read Robert Riech's blog, `Erasing W' because if we don't acknowledge and learn from our mistakes how do we not make them again. With the GOP trying to erase the entire eight years of Bush/Cheney , obliterating any trace of the administration that told America there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq to lead us into a devastating war; turned a $5 trillion projected budget surplus into a $6 trillion deficit; gave the largest tax cut in a generation to the richest Americans in history; handed out a mountain of corporate welfare to the oil and gas industry, pharmaceutical companies, and military contractors like Halliburton (uniquely benefiting the vice president); whose officials turned a blind eye to Wall Street shenanigans that led to the worst financial calamity since the Great Crash of 1929 and then persuaded Congress to bail out the Street with the largest taxpayer-funded giveaway of all time. WE WILL EFTA01180239 REPEAT THESE SAME MISTAKES..... and this time is may be a Democratic Administration.... But as my Father use to say, "history is re-written by the winners." And even as losers.... Republican revisionists are rewriting GOP/Bush/Cheney history.... Again... IF WE DON'T ACKNOWLEDGE OUR MISTAKES, WE WILL MAKE THEM AGAIN.... Included are the articles about Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney's doubling down in an endeavor to solidify the Republican base. '8 Reasons The Ryan-Romney Combo Is Bad For Our Children's Future' by Judy Molland, The New York Times EDITORIAL, 'Mr. Ryan's Cramped Vision' and Erskine Bowles' piece in The Washington Post, 'Romney's tax plan wouldn't cut the deficit' The titles speak for themselves In 2000, George W. Bush ran on a platform of COMPASSIONATE CONSERVATISM Today's Republican Conservatives are such ideologues, believing that All Government Is Bad and Business can fix or run anything is beyond naive, dishonest and dead wrong.... Business in American is about making profits, not solving problems. And the greatest thing about America was that parents sacrifice for their children.... not soaking the last dime out of the economy for their own personal wealth.... As an a life-long entrepreneur, I believe in Free Enterprise.... I believe that if you create something you should "get paid." But I don't think that saddling young people with One Trillion Dollars of Education Debt is not a tax. Nor do I believe that banks who issued 'Liar Loans" should be bailed out by taxpayers and that using up the country's natural resource today to enrich the Top 1%, is the worse tax/deficit that we can can leave future generations of Americas. So if you are a Conservative Democrat or Republican be compassionate in actions and not just in words.... And remember that in the 1950s, when America led the way to adding more people into the Middle Class, taxes was twice what they are today, we created the GI Bill and other programs that raised the standard of living for almost all Americans and we shot for the moon without asking the cost. Using the words of Bush 41 and Newt Gingrich, Paul Ryan's Budget Proposal is Voodoo Economics and the worse form of Social Engineering by either the Left or die Right is wrong although after reading Newt Gingrich suggesting on CBS' Face the Nation program this morning that "Romney/Ryan Lack Of Foreign Policy Experience An 'Advantage." I am at a loss of words.... OUR PRESIDENT As most of you know, I am a fervent support of President Obama. And not because he is black, because I don't like Alan West or Alan Keys and would definitely not vote for Louis Farrakhan of Jessie Jackson for President. So whether or not you like President Obama, (and like almost everyone else, I wish that he had done somethings differently), I invite you to look at President Obama's Re-Election Video Outlining his accomplishments: which was recently releaed. It is a 16 minutes video narrated by Tom Hanks thattrumpets Obama's achievements since taking office three years ago, highlights the challenges still ahead—and never once mentions America's longest war, the conflict in Afghanistan, by name. The movie, directed by Oscar-winner Davis Guggenheim, defends Obama's handling of the economic collapse of 2007-2008, highlights the auto industry bailout, puts the May 2011 raid in Pakistan to kill Osama bin Laden at the center of his argument for another four years in the White House, lays out the immediate benefits of his landmark health care overhaul, and notes he fulfilled his promise to withdraw from Iraq. But Obama's controversial decision to "surge" troops into Afghanistan, and his plan to withdraw American forces by the end of 2014, never appear in the film, which was released in full just days after an American soldier allegedly slaughtered 16 Afghan civilians and plunged already frayed relations into a new crisis. The only Republican critic cited by name is Mitt Romney, whose November 2008 op-ed entitled "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt" appears at 5 minutes and 13 seconds into the film. EFTA01180240 Former president Bill Clinton—who appears several times—defends the bailout, while former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel sticks the shiv a little further into Romney, describing his approach as a callous "let it (the auto industry) go ... can't be saved ..." And it notes that the U.S. auto industry has recovered. The final words are from Hanks, who urges voters to "lookfor wani to the work still to be done." ENJOY And I invite comments either way OTHER THINGS Congressman Blumenauer speaking on the need to reform our financial regulatory system and hold those who have violated the law accountable: Simplify, Regulate, and Prosecute to Prevent Repeat Financial Collapse. http://youtu.be/9jIL9yWhAwo and http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=9jIL9yWhAwo&utm source=DCS+Congressional+E- mail+Marketing+System&utm medium=Email&utm term=http%3a%2W02fwww.youtube.com%2fwatch%3fy %3d9jIL9yWhAwo&utm campaign=Reinstate+Glass-Steagall ON ANOTHER NOTE: Click on the Breathtaking link below....and enjoy! http://www.youtube.com/watch popup?v=cWthXzZT8dE&vq=large WEEKEND'S MUSIC This week I am feeling Richie Havens and Judy Collins Obviously, I am feeling the 1960s.... I hope that you enjoy Richie Havens - I Can't Make It Any More - http://youtu.berfpfpFKzA4h8 and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpfpFICzA4h8 Richie Havens - Handsome Johnny - http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=kwdyr9Ceh6Q&feature=BFa&list=AL94UKMTqg-9B95 I glA?gCAW15u_AdLwRaR and http://youtu.be/kwdyr9Ceh6Q Richie Havens - San Francisco Bay Blues - http://youtu.be/9yXVwv6MTRU and http://www.youtube.cotn/watch?v=9yXVwv6MTRU&feature=BFa&list=AL94UKMTqg- 9B95 I gNLQgCAWI5u AdLwRaR Richie Havens - Just Like A Woman - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9pgx3zSrDQ&feature=related and http://) pgz3zSrDQ Judy Collins - My Father - http://www.youtube.corn/watch?v=CdqJZRHJcu4 and http://youtu.be/CdqJZRHJcu4 Judy Collins - Who Knows Where The Time Goes - http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=rclmf7ricK3E&feature=BFa&list=AL94UKMTqg-9DYjsNqF14A.IrMEpaLQncM- and http://youtu.be/rdmf7ricK3E Judy Collins - Suzanne - http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=5a55Hv4WCnw&feature=BFa&list=AL94UKMTqg-9DYjsN FI4All-MEpaLQncM- and http://youtu.be/5a55Hv4WCnw QUOTE OF THE WEEK EFTA01180241 "One of the penaltiesfor refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferior!" --- Plato I hope that you enjoyed this weekend's offerings and wish you a wonderful week Sincerely, Greg Brown Gregory Brown Chairman & CEO EFTA01180242