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The World Affairs Brief is a weekly news analysis service dedicated to providing an understanding of the hidden agendas behind the actions of world leaders and other powerful individuals who influence government from behind the scenes. Although the World Affairs Brief is provided to subscribers only, you can read samples of Mr. Skousen's unique analysis in the archives section. The following daily news items are provided as a sampling of the crucial issues that Mr. Skousen may analyze in this week's briefing. | |||||||||||||||||
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| Saturday, September 6, 2008 |
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Talks fail, Boeing Machinists to strike Story The Boeing Co. has a strike on its hands for the fourth time in the past 20 years by its biggest union.Some 25,000 Machinists in the Puget Sound area will be on strike starting at 12:01 a.m. Saturday after Boeing and the union could not make a breakthrough on contract talks that had been extended for 48 hours in hopes of averting a strike.The walkout will halt Boeing's jetliner production and likely further delay the 787 Dreamliner, possibly pushing its first flight into next year -James Wallace/Seattle Post-Intelligencer |
| Friday, September 5, 2008 |
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OVER 10,000 RON PAUL SUPPORTERS "RALLY FOR THE REPUBLIC" IN MINNEAPOLIS Story If the Republican leadership thought that marginalizing Rep. Ron Paul and ignoring his message of personal liberty and limited government would shut him up and make him go away, they sure figured wrong.No doubt about it The Texas congressman, who had campaigned for the GOP presidential nomination in defiance of the party's national committee and the roadblocks it set up was back - though in fact, he'd never gone away.And he wasn't alone -Sarah Foster/NewsWithViews |
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TAKE A LOAD OFF FANNIE: BAILOUT OR NATIONALIZATION FOR THE MORTGAGE GIANTS? Story Not long ago, they were the darlings of Wall Street, ranking next to U.S. bonds as among the safest and most conservative investments in the world.Ironically, the recent plunge in Fannie and Freddie shares has been blamed on the bailout plan that was supposed to save them.It sounds pretty grim, but let’s think about that.Would the end of the current financial system really be so bad? -Ellen Brown, J.D. |
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U.S. Mortgage Foreclosures, Delinquencies Reach Highs Story Foreclosures accelerated to the fastest pace in almost three decades during the second quarter as interest rates increased and home values fell, prompting more Americans to walk away from homes they couldn't refinance or sell.New foreclosures increased to 1.19 percent, rising above 1 percent for the first time in the survey's 29 years, the Mortgage Bankers Association said in a report today.The total inventory of homes in foreclosure reached 2.75 percent, almost tripling since the five-year housing boom ended in 2005 -Kathleen M. Howley/Bloomberg |
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Unemployment Rate Rises to 6.1% Story The unemployment rate jumped to 6.1 percent in August, its highest level in five years, as the erosion of the job market accelerated over the summer.Employers cut 84,000 jobs last month, more than economists had expected, and the Labor Department said that more jobs were lost in June and July than previously thought.So far, 605,000 jobs have disappeared since January.The unemployment rate, which rose from 5.7 percent in July, is now at its highest level since September 2003 -Michael M. Grynbaum/NY Times |
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Going on an Imperial Bender Story Here it is, as simply as I can put it: In the course of any year, there must be relatively few countries on this planet on which U.S. soldiers do not set foot, whether with guns blazing, humanitarian aid in hand, or just for a friendly visit.In startling numbers of countries, our soldiers not only arrive, but stay interminably, if not indefinitely.Sometimes they live on military bases built to the tune of billions of dollars that amount to sizeable American towns (with accompanying amenities), sometimes on stripped down forward operating bases that may not even have showers -Tom Englehardt |
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BP's Russian defeat a market victory Story If anyone needed convincing, the paper that BP, formerly known as British Petroleum, signed on Thursday with Mikhail Fridman and his Russian shareholding partners proves that defying the law of gravity is unlikely to succeed for long; even if the world's weakest prime minister, Gordon Brown, and his disloyal foreign minister, David Miliband, have tried to stake their short-term political careers on it -John Helmer/Asia Times |
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Afghanistan's war has a new battlefield Story In anticipation of a new era in Pakistani politics under president-in-waiting Asif Ali Zardari, the first volleys have been fired in a renewed joint Pakistan-North Atlantic Treaty Organization venture to fight against the Taliban and al-Qaeda beyond Afghanistan's borders.With Pakistan's Zardari expected to be chosen as president on Saturday, and with the US presidential election campaign ripe for a dramatic turn in the "war on terror", Pakistan is poised to become an international battlefield -Syed Saleem Shahzad/Asia Times |
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Missiles hit Pakistan, children die Story Missiles fired from unmanned aircraft killed at least five people in tribal Pakistan, officials and residents said, accusing Afghan-based international forces of a third attack in as many days.Three children and two women died in the strike, which follows outraged Pakistani accusations that US-led forces killed 15 people in a border village this week.Friday's strike hit two houses belonging to tribesmen in North Waziristan's Goorweck Baipali village, 30km west of the region's main town of Miranshah, an unnamed security official said |
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US spied on Iraqi leaders, says Bob Woodward Story The United States has spied extensively on Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki and other Iraqi government leaders, the American investigative journalist Bob Woodward has revealed.The Iraqi government reacted furiously today and said it would ask the United States for an explanation, although Mr Maliki and other Iraqi leaders are unlikely to be shocked or surprised that the US has been spying on them.. "If it is true...it reflects that there is no trust," government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said in a statement -Patrick Cockburn/Independent UK |
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Czarist America Story Two key groups collided in St. Paul: police and the RNC Welcoming Committee (RNCWC).To understand the smash-up, we need to understand both sides in the battle.Protesters are not terrorists, but loosely-written statutes, state and federal, are giving the green light to tactics worthy of a police state.The U.S. has become as autocratic as Czarist Russia and is provoking the same kinds of behaviors: youthful revolutionaries and heavy-handed police attempts to suppress them -Michael S. Rozeff/LewRockwell.com |
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Republican ties to murky lobbyist Story While exuberant Republicans celebrated a new-found confidence at their convention in Minnesota, back in Washington DC - away from the limelight - there was another drama unfolding from an altogether murkier chapter of the party's history.In Courtroom 24a of Washington's District Courthouse, a tearful, middle-aged man apologised for the political conspiracies he had worked on with some Republican politicians and officials.Shortly after, Judge Ellen Huvelle sentenced him to four years in prison.The man is Jack Abramoff -Richard Lister/BBC |
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Guantánamo general banned from Khadr case Story A military judge in the case of a Canadian captive at Guantánamo on Thursday again banned a general at the Pentagon from acting as a legal advisor because of a perception that he favors the prosecution.In his ruling, Army Col. Patrick J. Parrish did not stop the Oct. 8 terror trial of Omar Khadr, 22.But the judge said Air Force Brig. Gen. Thomas W. Hartmann appears to have lost his neutrality in his role as the Pentagon's legal advisor to military commissions.Parish becomes the third judge to disqualify Hartmann -Carol Rosenberg/Miami Herald |
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In Newark, Federal Judge Grants Residency to Imam Facing Deportation Story A federal judge ruled on Thursday that a popular imam accused of terrorist connections could stay in the United States indefinitely, ending a months-long deportation trial that drew supporters from around the region.The federal government sought to deport the imam, a Palestinian, on the grounds that when he applied for permanent residency in 1999, he did not disclose a conviction in Israel in 1993 for assisting Hamas.Mr. Qatanani has maintained that he was detained but not arrested in 1993, and that he was unaware of any conviction -Nate Schweber/NY Times |
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Pakistani Tortured, Her Attorney Says Story The attorney for an American-trained behavioral scientist charged with trying to kill U.S. personnel in July said in court Thursday that she believes that her client was imprisoned and tortured for several years before the incident and now could be mentally incompetent.Lawyer Elizabeth Fink told a federal judge in New York that Aafia Siddiqui, who disappeared in Pakistan with her three children in March 2003, needs a full psychological evaluation to determine whether she has post-traumatic stress disorder and is competent to help in her own defense -Washington Post |
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Raid May Herald More Confrontational Policy Story An apparent raid into Pakistani territory by U.S. forces stationed in Afghanistan has prompted angry denunciations from Pakistani officials and renewed questions about the future of the war against the Taliban in the region.If the raid does in fact mark the beginning of a new U.S. policy in the tribal areas, it is expected to considerably complicate U.S. relations with the Pakistani government -Daniel Luban/IPS |
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Bush Extends 9/11 National Emergency Yet Again Story Though few Americans realize it, Cheney and Rumsfeld worked through the 1980s and 1990s on emergency nuclear-response plans which allegedly suspended the American constitution and also Congress.And few Americans realize that at least some of these rules, known technically as Continuity of Government or COG rules, were invoked before 10:00 AM on September 11, 2001.As he did in 2007, President Bush has again continued for another year the national emergency -Peter Dale Scott/Global Research CA |
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Plan Would Shift Forces From Iraq to Afghanistan Story The United States would carry out a modest shift of American forces from Iraq to Afghanistan by early next year under a confidential recommendation to President Bush by the Pentagon’s top civilian and military leaders, according to Bush administration officials.The number of American combat brigades in Iraq would shrink to 14 in February from 15, according to the recommendation.All told, the number of American forces in Iraq, currently about 146,000, would drop by nearly 8,000 by March.The reduction is smaller than some officials had earlier suggested might be possible before President Bush leaves office -Michael R. Gordon & Thom Shanker/NY Times |
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Defiant Cheney vows Georgia will join Nato Story The US vice-president, Dick Cheney, yesterday issued a direct challenge to Moscow's sway over Georgia, pledging Washington's support for its eventual membership of Nato, while denouncing Russia's "illegitimate" invasion. "Georgia will be in our alliance," Cheney said after talks with President Mikheil Saakashvili.Cheney used his one-day visit to Georgia to reinforce battle lines in the increasingly direct struggle between Washington and Moscow for the upper hand along Russia's southern border.The US challenge was undermined by the collapse of Ukraine's pro-western coalition on the eve of Cheney's arrival in Kiev -Julian Borger & Luke Harding/Guardian UK |
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Russia Europe USA and Fundamental Geopolitics Story As details of the larger strategic picture emerge over what is at stake in the Georgia and larger Caucasus crisis it is becoming clearer that Moscow is determined to roll back not to the borders of Stalin and the Cold War of 1948.In a certain sense it is not interesting who fired the first shot in South Ossetia in the night of 8 August.Clear is that Russia had prepared well for such a shot (Much interesting detail but Engdahl misses some of the further layers in the ruse of ruses) -F. William Engdahl/Financial Sense Online |
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Dry times for hedge funds Story Making untold gazillions upon gazillions in the hedge fund game is just about the easiest thing one can do in the markets.The problem is that now is not the right time.That it's not the right time says a lot about the condition of the markets now, but it says even more about the condition of the markets just a few years previously.The first six months of the year saw the hedge-fund industry suffer its worst aggregate total return since specific statistics on this sector started to be kept in 1990 -Julian Delasantellis/Asia Times |
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Bank of England Keeps Rate at 5% on Inflation Concern Story The Bank of England kept the benchmark interest rate unchanged as policy makers judged the fastest inflation in more than a decade outweighed the risk that the economy is sinking into a recession.The pound fell to a record low against the euro this week after Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling said Britain faces "arguably the worst'' economic conditions since World War II.The bank has resisted calls for lower interest rates as it tries to tame inflation -Svenja O'Donnell/Bloomberg |
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U.K. August Home Prices Plunge the Most in 25 Years Story U.K. house prices plunged at the fastest annual pace in at least a quarter century in August as banks withheld finance for new homes and consumers lost confidence in the economy, HBOS Plc said.The average cost of a home dropped 12.7 percent to 174,178 pounds ($311,000) from the same month a year earlier, Britain's largest mortgage lender said in a statement today.That's the biggest drop since the series started in 1983.On the month, prices declined 1.8 percent.The housing slump threatens to push the country into its first recession since the early 1990s -Jennifer Ryan/Bloomberg |
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Big Three bailout may be around corner Story Plunging auto sales, high gas prices and election year politics could help convince Congress to approve a $50 billion loan package to embattled U.S. automakers that Detroit's Big Three claim is key to their future success.The Big Three are now in the process of closing truck assembly lines and rushing to catch up with hybrid and other fuel efficient offerings from Toyota Motor and Honda Motor.But with GM and Ford saddled with junk bond debt ratings and privately-held Chrysler with the thinnest capital cushion of the three, Detroit is caught in a credit squeeze that will make such investment difficult if not impossible -Chris Isidore/CNN |
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Boeing and Machinists negotiating at Disney resort Story With a Friday night strike deadline looming, The Boeing Co. and its largest union were to meet with a federal mediator at a Disney resort in Orlando, Fla., late Thursday in talks that may have been planned secretly a few days ago.Meanwhile, at plants in Renton and Everett, angry machinists continued to build airplanes.Machinists were already angry at Boeing's final offer, but their anger boiled over Wednesday night at the union's district headquarters near Boeing Field.If a deal is not reached by the end of Friday, the union's leaders have said the strike will be on, starting at midnight Saturday morning -James Wallace/Seattle Post-Intelligencer |
| Thursday, September 4, 2008 |
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Behold a Palin Horse Story If she really were the cultural conservative she's advertised to be, Sarah Palin wouldn't have bought herself this package of trouble.She would have recognized that raising a family of five beautiful children -- soon to be expanded to include a grandchild -- is a worthier accomplishment than making "history" as a stalking horse for the Power Elite that is leading our country into permanent war and incurable ruin -William N. Grigg |
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US mum on Pakistan raid Story The White House refused on Thursday to comment directly on Pakistani anger at a cross-border raid by Afghanistan-based international forces just days before Pakistan's presidential vote.Spokeswoman Dana Perino said US authorities were "working to increase coordination and cooperation and supporting the Pakistanis, as we work to fight against the Taliban in a coordinated way." But Perino met questions about US policy in general regarding cross-border raids inside Pakistan or details of the Wednesday strike with a stone wall |
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Who is Wrecking America? Story Does the liberal-left have a clue? I sometimes think not.Thomas Frank’s new book, “The Wrecking Crew: How Conservatives Rule,” lacks the insight that distinguished his previous book.Why does Frank think that conservatives or liberals rule? Neither rule.America is ruled by organized interest groups with money to elect candidates who serve their interests.Neoconservatives, despite the name, are not conservatives -Paul Craig Roberts/CounterPunch |
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The Real McCain Story He is the senator of the hollow protest.McCain is nothing if not a political stunt man.His chief stunt is the evocation of political piety.From his pulpit in the well of the senate, McCain gestures and fumes about the evils of Pentagon porkbarrel.McCain pontificates, but never obstructs.McCain's escape from the Keating debacle is nothing short of miraculous and it's probably the activity for which he most deserves a medal -Jeffrey St. Clair/CounterPunch |
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Back to business Story LITTLE more than a week after Russia’s government had declared itself ready for a new cold war, one big foreign investor has emerged intact from a nasty dispute with its local partners and the authorities.TNK-BP, an oil company that produces 1.6m barrels a day and which is owned jointly by Britain's BP and Russian private investors, AlfaAccessRenova (AAR), was for months paralysed by war in the boardroom -Economist UK |
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An Orange divorce? Story Ukraine’s government, comprising the allies from the Orange Revolution, is poised to collapse after the prime minister, Yuliya Tymoshenko, allied with the opposition to strip the presidency of its powers.It is not clear whether Ms Tymoshenko has done this to pressure the president to back her policies, to boost her power as an alternative to seeking the presidency herself, or to trigger her departure from government ahead of tough economic times—and with an eye on the 2010 presidential election -Economist UK |
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Fiscal hawk enters Japan’s PM contest Story Veteran fiscal hawk Kaoru Yosano plans to run against frontrunner Taro Aso to become Japan’s next prime minister in a challenge likely to set off a fierce debate about the direction of fiscal policy.The election for the leadership of the ruling Liberal Democratic party, due to take place on September 22, follows the sudden resignation of Yasuo Fukuda as prime minister this week.The leader of the LDP, which controls the upper house, would automatically become prime minister, though many expect the new premier to dissolve parliament and call a general election before the year’s end -David Pilling/Financial Times UK |
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U.S. Policy Likely to Bring Blowback Story U.S. counter-terrorism policies and support for the Ethiopian-backed Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in Somalia have helped create an increasingly desperate humanitarian and security situation in the East African nation, whose population has become increasingly radicalised and anti-U.S., according to a new report by a major U.S. human rights group.Washington has not been alone in supporting the hard-liners, however -Jim Lobe/IPS |
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Lawmaker's Disclosure May Torpedo Nuke Deal Story Chances of the United States-India nuclear deal being completed have greatly receded with the release by a key U.S. lawmaker of a so-far-secret Bush administration document which says Washington will not sell sensitive nuclear technologies to India and will terminate nuclear commerce with it if India conducts a test.The disclosures by Congressman Howard L. Berman, who is a Democrat from California and chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC), have rattled the Indian government and precipitated a major domestic political crisis -Praful Bidwai/IPS |
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US Says North Korea Moving Equipment, Not Rebuilding Reactor Story The State Department, which has observers on the ground at the Yongbyon site, is dismissing reports that North Korea has begun restoring the reactor, which has been off-line for many months.But the United States is concerned about the situation.It is dispatching its chief delegate to the six-party talks, Christopher Hill, and a key deputy to Beijing to discuss the matter with China, the chair of the nuclear negotiations -David Gollust/VOA |
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Condoleeza Rice in historic Libya visit for Muammar Gaddafi talks Story Condoleezza Rice will this week become the first US Secretary of State to visit Libya for more than half a century, in a move that appears to complete the former pariah state's transformation in its relations with the West.The White House announced that Dr Rice would hold a meeting with Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader, in Tripoli on Friday at the start of a four-day tour of North Africa.Confirmation of the visit comes after a surge of business interest involving US companies, with a particular focus on Libya's energy sector -David Byers/London Times UK |
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Syria Says Israeli Peace Talks Postponed Story President Bashar al-Assad of Syria said Thursday that his country had made specific proposals for peace with Israel to Turkish mediators, but that the latest round of indirect negotiations between the two states had been postponed because of internal Israeli politics, and that the outcome would depend on who becomes Israel’s next prime minister in upcoming elections there.The Syrian president spoke during a news conference in Damascus alongside President Nicolas Sarkozy of France -Robert F.Worth/NY Times |
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Sarkozy in Damascus backs away from US-led condemnation of Iran’s nuclear program Story French president Nicolas Sarkozy said in Damascus Wednesday, Sept 3: “Obviously there is a lack of confidence between Iran and the nations involved in this issue.We [the French] will continue our efforts for dialogue." In a clear departure from Washington’s position and in breach of his promises to Israel not to accept a nuclear Iran, Sarkozy omitted to refer to sanctions or any other penalties and clearly avoided recriminations against the Islamic Republic -Debka IL |
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Russian nationalist advocates Eurasian alliance against the U.S. Story Writer, political activist and father figure for contemporary Russian nationalism, Aleksandr Dugin is the founder of Russia's International Eurasian Movement and a popular theorist among Russia's hard-line elite.He envisions a strategic bloc comprising the former Soviet Union and the Middle East to rival the U.S.-dominated Atlantic alliance.The Times interviewed Dugin this week at his Moscow office -LA Times |
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Cheney slams Russia for war against Georgia Story Demonstrating Washington's support for war-ravaged Georgia, U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney condemned Russia for what he called an "illegitimate, unilateral attempt" to redraw this U.S. ally's borders by force.A day earlier, Cheney visited Azerbaijan, where a million-barrel-a-day pipeline runs from the Caspian Sea shores into Georgia and on into Turkey.Cheney was to spend only a few hours in Georgia before flying to Ukraine |
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Ukraine Government Near Collapse Story The Western-leaning governing coalition in Ukraine, which took power during the Orange Revolution in 2004 but has endured repeated tumult ever since, appeared once again near collapse on Wednesday.The president of Ukraine, Viktor A. Yushchenko, asserted that he was the victim of a “political and constitutional coup” carried out by his ally, Prime Minister Yulia V. Tymoshenko, and threatened to call for early parliamentary elections.The instability erupted on the eve of a visit to Ukraine by Vice President Dick Cheney -Clifford J. Levy/NY Times |