Political Reform in Thailand – Is there Hope After all?
The demands for political reform in Thailand are interesting. They give some hope that real democracy can perhaps work. The National Reform Council panel on political reform yesterday reached a consensus on the direct election of the prime minister and the cabinet, election of MPs from large constituencies and election/selection of senators.
Sombat Thamrongthanyawong, chairman of the panel, said the proposal includes the direct election of all 350 members of the lower house from multi-seat constituencies. In other words, at last the people will elect directly – something that would wipe out the corruption in many governments to start.
Of the 154 members of the upper chamber, 77 will be elected by provincial constituencies and 77 representatives will come from various professional associations. The panel stood firm in its proposal despite signs of disapproval from some.
EU Approves Bank Bailouts
After a long debate in the EU, the ESM may now help ailing banks directly. The euro bailout fund could jump in but only viable large institutions if all other auxiliary facilities are maxed at national or European level.
Here We Go Again – the Effective Repeal of Dodd-Frank As Xmas Gift to Bankers?
The high-flying banks are at it again. There has been lobbying going on to sneak a clause in the continuing resolution to fund the government over the holidays for the December 11th deadline. The provision they are trying to sneak in would allow the banks to trade derivatives through subsidiaries that are federally insured by the FDIC. In other words, they are circumventing the very reforms of the 2007-2009 crash.
This is not yet confirmed. The bill was held up and the final language was being submitted at midnight last night. This is how they operate so everyone is asleep and the real dirty shit is stuffed in bills in the middle of the night. This tactic is outright fraud upon the nation and the world. We seriously need political reform or there will be no future.
This is how the lame-duck Congress always functions – bribe time on steroids. The manipulating banks are trying to sneak this into a bill to keep the government funded for Christmas and they know they will get the votes because nobody will read the fine print on Capitol Hill. They are trying to now effectively repeal the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Pub.L. 111–
When we get the real real final language, we will confirm everyone what they have pulled off this time if it survives.
Government v People – Historical Contest
I just did an interview about the movie with Aljazeera for Europe and the Middle East. One question was am I not scared about the “government” after what I went through. There is no single “minded” government. There are individuals among the unelected under-belly of government that abuse their power all the time. One of the three debut sessions in Amsterdam was an audience of European bankers who came to see the film. There was a question and answer period afterwards and the moderator asked about the allegation of a billion dollars being missing. I simply replied how the American press were quiet frankly stupid for all they do is regurgitate whatever government says without the single sentence of original thought. I turned to the audience of bankers and merely asked – is it possible to get $1 billion out of a bank and nobody knows how or where it went? They all laughed. That is an airplane full of cash. There would have to be a withdrawal slip or something even assuming a bank kept that much cash on hand, which nobody does. The only possible way to move that amount of money would be by bank wire (electronically) in which case it is impossible not to know where that amount of money was sent. The New York Press failed the test of being independent. They just repeat whatever government says without thinking what are they even saying.
Hence, the T-Shirt I made up. Unfortunately, the American Press is owned by big corporations and it is just business. There is no sense of duty to protect the people by keeping some restraint upon government. For those in government confound themselves with the sovereign of the nation, which can only be the people.
No one captured this contest between those in power and the people who are looked upon as stupid idiots. Just give the the people free food and sports and those in government can distract them to do whatever they desire. Government is NOT the country – that is only the people.
