MAX KEISER’S “ON THE EDGE” series this week interviews the Post Carbon Institute’s CHRIS MARTENSEN on Japan’s ability to remain the world’s 2nd or 3rd biggest economy. Post Fukushima Japan is shutting down all nuclear reactors which supply 30% of Japan’s electricity.
As a new scientific report confirms Kelp off Southern California was contaminated with short-lived radioisotopes a month after Japan’s Fukushima accident ; http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=radioactive-iodine-from-from-fukushima-found-in-california-kelp
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Jose Maria Aznar puppets Esperanza Aguirre and wife Ana Botella, the “A list” darlings of Madrid, give the impression of destroying whatever glass ceiling exists to the progress of women. Through dynamic decision making, clearing away silly obstacles such as zoning laws and taxes, changing labour laws to allow cheap overseas workers, and generally acting like Aznar fingering his disdain to hard won standards. These two superwomen are getting Spain’s economy going. Not only is a bid for the 2020 Olympics being seranaded, drafted and submitted by the “spice girls”, but their charm and business acumen has prompted a “shopping list” of free land, tax incentives and changes to zoning and environmental law, as a gold carrot affirmative that “WE JUST HAVE TO HAVE EURO VEGAS”
“La Presidenta” Aguirre is putting her Regional Madrid government right behind billionaire Sheldon Adelson and his 16 billion euro development of 6 casinos, 12 hotels, 3 golf courses. The hyper fast tracking of a proposal that only surfaced in November 2011 (election time, nice one Aznar) to a stage where “approval” is now 3 months later a “done deal”, is an absolute disgrace. At a time when Aguirre has reduced government staff pay 15% with further austerity cuts to come, there is something obscene in salivating around the briefs of U.S. billionaires, something very UN Spanish. Aguirre described the proposed development as “a ray of light amid the darkness of the crisis.”
It doesn’t seem to matter to Aguirre, Botella, Edelston or Aznar that there are already over 30 casinos open in Spain, inflicting whatever social distress, broken homes, and poverty, there’s always room for another sucker who wants to throw money away. It doesn’t seem to have occurred to Aguirre, Botella Edelston or Aznar that the reason casinos in Macau and SIngapore are doing very nicely is their economies are growing at 6% per annum. Europe is in recession, no doubt Edelston’s access to billions is real enough but this is really putting Spain back 10 years, (just where Aznar wants it) before the Partido Popular corruption throughout Spain became endemic. Aznar’s stacking of the judiciary when P.M. has ensured new legislation will be adjudicated as “liberally” as possible. Spain is, after all, a ‘developed’ country
investigation into the Gurtel Case which had up to 70 investigations into high ranking officials of the Aznar/Rajoy conservative party. Santiago Menéndez, (who was head of the revenue collection in Aznar’s government), is the new ONIF director. THE NATIONAL OFFICE OF FRAUD INVESTIGATIONS. His first act was to sack was chief investigator Víctor de la Morena, who was in charge of many criminal probes, including the Gürtel case initiated by Garzon, and the ongoing case against royal son-in-law Iñaki Urdangarin. With Garzon found guilty of charges emanating from the Gurtel Case and suspended from the judiciary for 11 years Aznar’s witch hunt of Garzon is complete. His strategic placement of stooges in government positions leaves the way open for Spanish corruption to be borne again with massive building projects under slave labour conditions.
MEANWHILE YET ANOTHER AZNAR STOOGE, Mariano Rajoy, Prime Minister of Spain, blusters his way through the daily demonstrations by students and those protesting austerity cuts, in Valencia and Barcelona, – contrast this with the red carpet treatment given to speculators and shiesters of all kinds. Aznar’s contact from NEWS LIMITED no doubt encouraged the idea of “Europa Vegas”, the €17bn (£14.3bn) massive casino project planned by the US billionaire Sheldon Adelson It is being touted to be built in either Barcelona or Madrid. “We believe we have the necessary package of agreements with the government which we need to provide assurance of success,” Local officials, though, are bending over backwards to accommodate Adelson, who is reportedly demanding tax breaks, gambling law changes, new labour laws and free land as he extends his empire from Las Vegas and Asia into Europe.
No place like home. 