Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

Tuesday, 25 August 2015

The European Union Times


Posted: 24 Aug 2015 01:55 PM PDT


World stock markets plummeted on Monday as the Shanghai composite closed down 8.5%, marking the biggest slide in Chinese stocks since 2007. The brutal sell-off comes despite Beijing’s measures to arrest the decline.
“This is a real disaster and it seems nothing can stop it,” Chen Gang, Shanghai-based chief investment officer at Heqitongyi Asset Management Co., told Bloomberg. “If we don’t cut holdings ourselves, the fund faces risk of forced closure. Many newly-started private funds suffered that recently. I hope we can survive.”
Asian markets followed China with a broad sell-off.
Japan’s Nikkei closed down 4.6%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was 5.17% in the red, and Mumbai’s Sensex is down nearly 6 percent.
Ripple effects were felt in European markets on Monday as well. The STOXX Europe 600 Index dropped 5.3%, suffering its worst percentage loss since 2008.
London’s market closed with the FTSE 100 Index slumping 4.6% to 5.9 on Monday – its biggest loss since 2009. Germany’s DAX shed 4.7% percent, finishing below 10,000 for the first time since January, according to Market Watch.
Meanwhile, France’s CAC fell 5.4% to 4.4, suffering its worst session since November 2011.
Commodities are down across the board, with Brent crude trading below $44 per barrel, a six-and-a-half-year low.
On Friday, the US WTI crude benchmark dropped below $40 per barrel in an eighth straight weekly decline, the longest falling streak in almost 30 years.
The Russian ruble has fallen to its lowest level since February against major currencies, dragged down by both weak oil and Chinese stocks. The ruble was trading at over 71 rubles against the US dollar and 81.78 rubles against the euro as of 09:25 GMT.
Equity markets in Moscow are in the red with the RTS losing 5.51 percent and the MICEX down over two percent as of 09:25 GMT.
US Dow Jones industrial futures are down by more than 600 points, and S&P futures down nearly 60 before opening bell on Wall Street.
Latin American stock markets mirrored the downtrend, plunging to their lowest in 22 years, according to Bloomberg. The JP Morgan Latin America Currency Index (LACI) reached its lowest level since November 1922 on Monday.
Colombia’s peso suffered its most severe drop since 2009, falling 3.3%, to a record low of 3.2 against the US dollar. It was joined by Mexico’s currency, which decreased by 0.7 percent to 17.1. The Brazilian real weakened by 1.1%, sliding to a 12 year low of 3.5.
The Ibovespa Brasil Sao Paulo Stock Exchange Index (IBOV) continued last week’s decline, sliding 3.9 % on Monday to reach its lowest level since January.
“It is a bloodbath,” Bernd Berg, a London-based strategist at Societe Generale SA told Bloomberg on Monday. “We see panic selling due to global growth fears and uncertainty about the next Fed move.”
Over the last month, the Chinese government has taken drastic measures to stop the stock market’s decline. On Sunday, the Xinhua news agency reported that Beijing would allow its main state pension fund to invest up to 30 percent of its net assets in China-listed shares for the first time.
In mid-August, the People’s Bank of China devalued the yuan over three consecutive days, stopping at a 4.4 percent overall depreciation. The move intended to help faltering exports sowed panic in the world’s equity markets and may have started a new wave of currency wars.
The real Chinese economy has been showing signs of slowing growth. In a report published last Friday by Caixin and Markit, it became clear that manufacturing has been losing momentum. The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), its key indicator, saw a fall to 47.1 from 47.8 in July. This is the lowest level since March 2009 and shows a contraction.
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Posted: 24 Aug 2015 01:33 PM PDT

German expert Prof. Dr. Michael Schneider argues that Europe has to talk to Russia to avert the danger to peace and international stability.
According to the expert, Germany and Russia have a long common history and the majority of Germans citizens do not want the conflict to escalate.
“I think that the US has a strong interest in provoking the European Union and, especially, Germany to a conflict with Russia and, first of all, keeping them dependent on the US’ resources in the energy field,” Schneider said.
Russia’s fear of a new military encirclement is understandable and has historical roots. That’s why the situation could be much simpler if the West would respect Russia’s security interests and enhance mutually fruitful trade relations, the expert argued.
However, the United States is interested in securing its “oil-based dollar-imperialism”. A common economic union between Europe and Eurasia would be a nightmare for Americans as it would threaten their hegemony.
The tragedy of the Ukrainian conflict, Schneider argues, lies in the necessity to choose between the two economic blocks: either the EU or Russia. “And for Russia, it would be, of course, fatal if Ukraine, the most important country on its doorstep, would join the Western camp,” the expert said.
Scheider suggested activating the NATO-Russia Council and inviting Russia back to the G8. Western countries should also put an end to the sanctions against Russia as “they are very bad way to force Russia to its knees,” Schneider claimed.
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Posted: 24 Aug 2015 12:49 PM PDT

The problem of Donbass residents’ legal status is quite serious. While Ukraine does not need these people, simplified procedure to get Russian citizenship will be put into effort. Denis Pushilin, Vice Chairman of the People’s Council of the Donetsk People’s Republic claimed that Abkhazia-, South Ossetia-, and  -like passportization is going to be introduced.
Vladimir Karasyov, an economist and political scientist from Lugansk commented on the issue to Pravda.Ru.
”This initiative was launched long ago, and many proposals have been put forward so far. The President also signed a law in August, allowing those having been born in Russia to receive citizenship at once. Those who studied or graduated in Russia can also use this opportunity.”
1.5 – 2 million refugees are reported to have fled to Russia so far.
As for those staying in the territory of Ukraine, to receive Russian citizenship is even much more simple. ”One of the conditions to gain Russian citizenship is renunciation from another. But Ukraine does not have such a procedure of renunciation from its citizenship. People solve this issue in private in Kiev,” Karasyov said.
Young people who turn 16, the age of obtaining passport in Ukraine, do they get this document now?
”No, Donbass residents can only receive citizenship of Donetsk or Lugansk People’s Republics. But these documents are not valid to enter the Russian Federation.”
So, Kiev abandoned its citizens, didn’t it?
”Yes, the only way for them is to go to the Ukrainian consulate in Rostov and pay great money to receive Ukrainian passport. Not everyone can afford it. Thus, it turns out that young people do not have a possibility to study in Russian colleges, or just leave Donbass.”
”Eight million people living in Donbass are all ours, as President Putin used to say many times. I hope that other Russian top politicians, as well as Foreign Minister Lavrov, who always stands for Donbass residents, will also get involved.”
Do Donbass residents have any possibility to get Ukrainian documents, information, or everything is closed?
”Ukrainian structures closed everything long ago. There is nothing there. And the new Republics are recognized only by some states. That is why any Republican documents even notarized and certified with LPR or DPR seals will not pass in Russia. I believe Ukraine faces collapse and a parade of sovereignties in the near future. Then these new entities will be recognized by other states.
Donetsk and Lugansk regions are historical territories of the Russian Federation. They even used to be part of the Rostov region. So, we’ll have to carry out a referendum once again. Then it will be not only possible to enter Russia, but to adhere to the Rostov region.
Donbass may also enter the Russian Federation as a single entity. It is evident that about 95 per cent will vote for at the referendum, as it was shown in the Crimea. Present Ukraine demonstrated that it can only annihilate people.
Those living in Donbass are very hard-working people, hard labour in metallurgy, coal and chemical industries have been present there for generations. Donbass will boost Russian economy, as it used to be a fount of minerals and ore minerals in the former Soviet Union. Ukraine just did not have money and technologies, as well as any desire to develop Donbass. In Russia it is possible.
From the very beginning people were sure 300 per cent that they would go after the Crimea, but it did not happen, the Americans hindered them. Nevertheless, people still believe that the militants will liberate Donbass from the Nazis, then the referendum will take place, and they will return back home to their Motherland. And their Motherland is Russia, this territory just was passed to Ukraine, and people living there were not asked of their opinion.
At the beginning of the XX century, when there was famine in Russia, Lugansk people called for collecting and sending aid. There are even appropriate posters of those times in the Russian museums. Donbass rescued poor, starving and struggling regions. It was in 1915, just 100 years ago. We have always been a part of Russia and lived for Russia.”
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Posted: 24 Aug 2015 12:35 PM PDT

A new report in the UK points to the practice of using sick children as guinea pigs in NHS experiments with tainted blood.
According to the Sunday Express, sick children were used as guinea pigs as the National Health Service(NHS) said chimps were ‘too expensive’ for such tests.
Hemophiliac children were injected with “extraordinarily hazardous” blood products to see how infectious the products were, despite health authorities knowing for years that they were potentially fatal.
More than 2,000 people have died from contaminated blood products tainted with viruses, including hepatitis C and HIV, in the 1970s and 1980s, the report added. Many more are terminally ill.
It said some clinics urged by officials to inject patients with the blood were overruled when they raised objections, the report added.
The revelation is contained in a dossier of evidence obtained by campaigners fighting for a full and fair settlement for the victims of the worst treatment disaster in NHS history.
The Express said that government health advisers ignored more than a decade of warnings.
Now Anna O’Leary, journalist and political commentator, says the NHS was aware of what it was doing and that they did not really care about their patients.
“There is a complete policy of silence around what goes on …Nurses are not allowed to blow the whistle on the doctors…”
As early as 1975, they were told that the blood from the US would lead to 50 to 90 percent of recipients developing hepatitis, with half of cases proving fatal.
The report points to a letter to a British health official in the 70s, where the authority was warned of the dangers of using US-pooled plasma from high-risk, paid “skid row” donors.
The plasma, referred to as Factor VIII, which was “extraordinarily hazardous,” was thought to be a miracle treatment for hemophilia, in which the blood fails to clot properly.
But demand by far outdid supply and most of it was imported from America, where in contrast to European practice, companies paid donors for their blood, an incentive that attracted drug users, prostitutes and alcoholics.
Despite officials being warned about the potential risk in 1975 and again later in 1976, this was not passed on to its users and more than 7,500 patients were infected.
By the late 1970s, experts had finally accepted the link between Factor VIII and cases of hepatitis.
But government advisers still pushed the treatment.
In total, 64 pupils at the school have since died from diseases that include hepatitis C and Aids.
A public health warning was eventually issued in 1981, but it did not ban use of the US product.
Instead, Factor VIII was heat-treated, in the hope of destroying the viruses.
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Posted: 24 Aug 2015 12:30 PM PDT

Madonna co-owns fitness clubs in Russia. She is also happy to appear in countries where homosexuality is illegal. Her refusal to play concerts in Russia is opportunistic hypocrisy.
I met Madonna once. When I say “met,” I mean “said hello to Madonna once.” It was at Berlin’s Kaffee Burger, on the famous TorStrasse, during the 2008 Berlinale Film Festival. Oddly, Kaffee Burger is famous for its ‘RussenDisko’ (Russian Disco). The Berlin institution, which exclusively plays music by Russian bands, is hosted by Vladimir Kaminer, a celebrated Moscow-born writer.
Now, it seems that Russian Madonna fans won’t be graced by her presence. The eighties’ pop icon has announced that she will never tour the country again. “I won’t appear in Moscow or St. Petersburg anymore, because I don’t want to perform in places where being homosexual is tantamount to a crime,” she told Entertainment Weekly.
Madonna is absolutely entitled to appear wherever she chooses. The 57-year-old veteran, however, has exposed her charlatanism, and in this instance she is definitely being a hypocrite. Madonna is not the selfless defender of gay rights she purports to be. As it happens, she also has lucrative business interests in Moscow and St Petersburg. Furthermore, homosexuality is not actually a crime in Russia, or even close to it.
Let’s deal with the latter point first. Homosexuality is legal in Russia. It has been since 1993. Additionally, transgender people are allowed to change their legal gender following sex reassignment surgery. Incidentally, the American states of Ohio, Tennessee, Idaho, Oklahoma and Kansas do not allow this. The infamous “gay propaganda” law, passed in 2013, makes it a criminal offence to distribute information about homosexuality to minors. This legislation has been wildly misrepresented in the West. That said, I believe it was a mistake to ever introduce it.
However, while Russian law offers protection to LGBT folk, it is fair to say that society is generally more conservative than in most Western countries. Nevertheless, Russia is not alone in this. Almost all of Eastern Europe – as well as the southern and Midwest regions of the US – is a relatively cold house for gays. On the other hand, while life is tough for homosexuals in provincial Russia, Moscow, Sochi and St Petersburg have thriving LGBT scenes. Indeed, Moscow puts the likes of Rome, Chicago and Paris to shame in this regard.
Madonna wants the Western media – especially its entertainment branch – to believe that she is taking a principled stand against what she perceives as the lack of gay rights in Russia. What Madonna doesn’t tell the same journalists is that she is the co-owner of a lucrative fitness business called Hard Candy. The other directors are her manager, Guy Oseary and Mark Mastrov, a sports entrepreneur. Hard Candy operates in 10 cities worldwide. Guess what? Two of them are in Russia.
Hard Candy has franchises in both Moscow and St Petersburg. In fact, the Moscow location was so successful that Madonna couldn’t wait to expand to Russia’s second city. “St Petersburg, Russia was one of the most magical nights on my ‘Sticky & Sweet’ Tour and I’m thrilled that we’ve found the perfect location and ideal environment there for the next Hard Candy Fitness,” Madonna told the club’s website.
This, alone, would qualify as mind-bending hypocrisy. However, Madonna’s ability to masquerade as a saint, while behaving like a Pharisee doesn’t end there. During her 2012 MDNA Tour, the New Yorker played two shows in Abu Dhabi, yielding $8,053,500 in revenue.
In the United Arab Emirates, homosexuality is punishable by death. Yes, you read that correctly – death. Not some kind of low-level harassment, rather the ultimate sanction.
Indeed, the UAE, in partnership with Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, is working on a test that can detect a person’s sexual orientation. If all goes according to plan, these nations will then ban the entry of people whose tests return positive for homosexuality.
Madonna has been completely silent on this front. In fact, not only is she completely uncritical of the UAE, but a Spanish architect claims he designed a home for her in Dubai. Joaquin Torres alleged the house would even boast captive dolphins swimming in the singer’s living room.
Anyway, let’s be clear here. Madonna says she won’t play Russia because of her concerns for gay rights. Yet, the normally outspoken pop star seems unable to elicit so much as a murmur over the far more restrictive regime in the UAE. Also, she is more than happy to profit from very successful fitness centers in Russia.
When Madonna last played Russia in 2012, tickets for her Moscow shows sold for between 1,750 rubles and 200,000 rubles. At that time, these figures equated to $56 for ‘economy’ seats and $6,451 for VIPs. Due to the recent ruble crisis, however, Russia is less financially attractive for everyone. The cheap seats would only garner $25 now and the elite option, $2,898. Of course, Madonna could raise her prices, but I’m not sure that cash-strapped Muscovites would splash out for her shows right now.
Madonna’s behavior suggests that she only cares about LGBT rights when it suits her. The ‘Material Girl’ is a Class-A hypocrite.
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.
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Posted by Roberto Abraham Scaruffi at 11:22