This morning's key headlines from
GenerationalDynamics.com
- Syria's Bashar al-Assad will make a major speech on Sunday
- U.S. troops pour into Turkey to operate Patriot missile systems
- Israel quietly puts the 'E-1' settlement plan on hold
- South Korea refuses to extradite Yasukuni arsonist to Japan
- Greek communities adopt local currency to enable bartering
Syria's Bashar al-Assad will make a major speech on Sunday
Syrian soldier (EPA)
Syria's state-run news agency, SANA, made a bare-bones announcement
that president Bashar al-Assad will deliver a major nationwide speech
to the nation on Sunday, the first in seven months. The announcement
has raised hopes that al-Assad will announce some sort of plan to
achieve peace, but it's just as likely that he'll announce plans to
conduct more slaughter. The uprising has killed more than 60,000
people since it began in March 2011, and the vast majority of those
killed have been innocent civilians, women and children who were
targeted for extermination by the al-Assad regime's forces. In his
last formal speech, given last June, al-Assad said:
"If we work together. I confirm that the end to this
situation is near."
Global Post and Al-Jazeera
U.S. troops pour into Turkey to operate Patriot missile systems
U.S. troops have stared to arrive in Turkey to man Patriot missile
systems meant to protect the country from potential Syrian missiles,
following Nato's November 30 approval of Turkey's request for the
Patriot systems. Some 400 American troops will be airlifted into
Turkey in the next few days, and additional equipment will reach
Turkey by sea later in January. Germany and the Netherlands are also
deploying their own batteries of U.S.-built Patriot systems. When
fully deployed, there will be more than 1,000 American, German and
Dutch troops based in Turkey.
AP
Israel quietly puts the 'E-1' settlement plan on hold
Days after the Palestinian Authority won the vote in the United
Nations General Assembly to create the State of Palestine, Israel's
prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a series of sanctions in
response to this "attack on Zionism." (See
"3-Dec-12 World View -- Israel withholds tax revenues from the Palestinian Authority")
One of those announcements was plans to build 3,000 new settlement
homes in the West Bank in the "E-1 area." This plan was particularly
condemned because filling that area with settlements would cut off the
West Bank from Arab neighborhoods, and would end the "peace process"
(which is dead anyway).
Now Netanyahu is being criticized by Israel's right-wing because he is
reportedly delaying plans to build the settlements. According
to Uri Ariel:
"Stopping the publication of the building plans for
E-1 proves that his talk about settlement is an illusion. The day
after the elections, we will again discover the real Netanyahu,
the one who freezes building and gives in to
pressure."
However, the prime minister's office denied that the project has been
shelved. Israel National News
South Korea refuses to extradite Yasukuni arsonist to Japan
Japan had sought from South Korea extradition of a Chinese national
who set fire to Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine, which houses veterans
of WW II, including some war criminals. The South Korean
court refused the request, saying:
"[Extraditing Liu to Japan would] "deny the universal
value of most of the civilized countries. ...
The Yasukuni Shrine is the property of a religious group in legal
terms but (the court) deems the shrine holds a political symbol
where the war criminals are enshrined."
So I guess South Korea believes that it's OK for anyone to burn
down any building that symbolizes an ideology that they disagree
with. Perhaps this court decision will motivate some North
Koreans to burn down some Seoul buildings, or perhaps launch
a few missiles at some South Korean homes or warships.
The 38-year-old Chinese national is now back in Shanghai. Japan Times and
The Kankyoreh (Seoul)
Greek communities adopt local currency to enable bartering
A number of communities in Greece, led by the central Greek port city
of Volos, are adopting a new ad-hoc local currency called the Tem
("Alternative Monetary Unit") to make it easier to barter goods and
services in the face of the growing financial crisis. Thousands of
people have joined the bartering network that uses the Tem currency.
According to one mother of five who uses the currency:
"One Tem is the equivalent of one euro. My oil and
soap came to 70 Tem and with that I bought oranges, pies, napkins,
cleaning products and Christmas decorations. I've got 30 Tem left
over. For women, who are worst affected by unemployment, and don't
have kafeneia [coffeehouses] to go to like men, it's like
belonging to a hugely supportive association."
The financial crisis is linked to a deflationary spiral that makes it
hard for many people to obtain any currency (coins or bills), and this
makes it difficult for ordinary people to barter goods and services.
By introducing a new local currency, the "wheels of commerce are
oiled," and bartering becomes a lot easier. This even has the effect
of increasing employment, in the sense that people who work in this
bartering network get paid in the available Tem currency, rather than
in the unavailable euro currency. Guardian and BBC
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail