What Is Quantitative Easing and Why Should We Care?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jodi-beggs/what-is-quantitative-easi_b_774941.html

Warning Graphic Content!: Economists Do It With Models!

Warning Graphic Content!: Economists Do It With Models!


http://www.economistsdoitwithmodels.com/about/




Two thumbs up for you Jodi --- you do it so well :)

About the Author

My name is Jodi Beggs, and I am in charge of this Economists Do It With Models thing. I am, in fact, an economist, and my overall goal is to present economics both in the media and in the classroom in a way that is informative, practical and, to the degree that it can be, fun. In a perfect world I would be some sort of odd hybrid of Steve Levitt (seeFreakonomics), Demetri Martin (seehere) and Jon Stewart (hopefully you don’t need any clarification on that one). Stated another way, I want to trick people into learning stuff and (mildly) entertain them in the process.

My overall aim is to be more of a writer and a teacher than a researcher, since my strength lies not so much in producing research but instead in explaining that research in a manner that makes people actually want to pay attention. (Also, the supply of passionate economic researchers is much larger relative to demand than the supply of passionate economics instructors, so I’m really just responding to market forces.) I am currently a lecturer at Northeastern University, where I teach graduate courses in macroeconomic theory and behavioral economics. In the past, I’ve spent my academic year working for Ec10, which is the introductory undergraduate economics course at Harvard University, and summers teaching midcareer masters degree students at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. I’ve even been known to teach an undergraduate economics tutorial entitled “Sex, Drugs and Rock & Roll”, which those of you who read my site know is something that’s right up my alley.

In addition to classroom teaching, I write about economics for About.com as well as various other publications, and I am a content reviewer for an online learning company. I collaborated with a number of other academics on a book about the economic lessons in The Simpsons, due out later this year, and I am currently working on a book that explains the basic principles necessary for general economic literacy. In my free time (ha!), I do a bit of public speaking, consulting and tutoring. (Also, if the Daily Show calls and wants me to be its Senior Economic Correspondent, I probably wouldn’t turn down the opportunity.)

My primary areas of interest are behavioral economics, incentives and consumer behavior, but I am also very interested in analyzing the impact of public policies and social programs, especially as far as education is concerned. (Studying incentives is really my true calling, as evidenced by this anecdote.) In addition, I am particularly interested in the economics of the music business and how consumer psychology affects the dynamics of the industry.

I am apparently somewhat good at being a student, though unfortunately that is not a marketable skill in and of itself. I am a Ph.D. candidate in Business Economics at Harvard University, where I currently have a masters degree in Economics. (I swear I will finish my Ph.D. eventually, though, as you’ve probably guessed, it’s not a particularly high priority.) As an undergraduate, I studied computer science and mathematics at MIT. I worked as a management consultant after graduation and also finished a masters degree in Computer Science at MIT, where I wrote a super nerdy thesis about the logistics of the container-shipping industry. Despite having minored in economics, I didn’t go full time in that direction until graduate school. Since then, I have truly developed a passion for the subject and really enjoy the opportunity to share that passion with others, especially those people who don’t generally like economics.

On a less boring note, random other things about me: I am obsessed with sports statistics, particularly as far as baseball is concerned. I am the marketing coordinator for a Boston-based band. I like karaoke and play the piano, so it’s only a matter of time until you get songs about economics. (Update: That ship has sailed.) I have a chihuahua named Gizmo that thinks he’s a tiger. I used to be a competitive figure skater. I will kick your ass at poker AND guitar hero. I run marathons. (Slowly.) I wear more hats than the average person. (A student put in an evaluation once that I wore cute hats, so now I feel obligated.) I was a mathlete, and am proud of it. I probably don’t provide much competition toMegan McArdle for the title of “the world’s tallest female econoblogger.” I love fashion and own more pairs of shoes than any reasonable person should.

In the old version of my bio, here is where I had a picture that none of my friends liked. In honor of that picture, I am replacing it with some close second choices for a bio picture:

(More- or less, depending on how you look at it- reasonable pictures can be found on my Facebook Page.)

If you have suggestions for post topics or other interesting reading, I can be reached at econgirl at economistsdoitwithmodels dot com.

If you’re still curious, here are some links for you:
My CV (read, really long resume)
My public Facebook Page- if you become a fan you can get blog posts and other random entertaining items in your News Feed
My Twitter feed, for those of you who like your economic (and other) musings in chunks of 140 characters or less
My (not very interesting) LinkedIn page, which gives info on my non-academic work experience
My Facebook search listing, if you know me and want to be my friend (be forewarned that you are in for a lot of puppies and bacon, so I recommend theFacebook page if you want econ-specific stuff)

Court orders AELB to explain Lynas TOL details

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/3/20/nation/20120320135655&sec=nation

Published: Tuesday March 20, 2012 MYT 1:44:00 PM

By M. MAGESWARI

 

KUALA LUMPUR: A High Court judge has ordered the Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB) to explain details of the approval given for the Lynas Advanced Material Plant in Gebeng, Pahang.
High Court (Appellate and Special Powers) judge Justice Rohana Yusuf on Tuesday asked AELB to file an affidavit to explain the approval.

She made the order after hearing submissions in chambers from lead counsel Tommy Thomas, acting for a group of 10 local residents who filed an application for leave for a judicial review.

The residents filed the application on Feb 17, challenging AELB's decision to grant a temporary operating licence (TOL) to Lynas Malaysia Sdn Bhd over the proposed construction of a rare earth processing plant.

Co-counsel K. Shamuga, who acted for the residents, told reporters that Justice Rohana has asked AELB to file the affidavit and explain what Lynas could do with approval of the TOL.

Shanmuga said they submitted that the residents did not need to appeal to the relevant minister over the proposed plant as the decision was irrational.

He said they told the judge that Malaysian Medical Association had also called for the Lynas plant to be scrapped unless it was shown to be fail-safe.

"We also submitted that there is a conflict of interest as Lynas has to pay certain percentage of revenue to AELB," he said.

He said that they also submitted that there was no dispute that Lynas had no detailed Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).

"We are saying that the entire approval (of TOL) is illegal. Therefore, you do not need to appeal to the minister and can come for a judicial review where the court can quash the TOL," he added.
The judge set April 4 to hear the Government's reply.

The residents named AELB, the director-general of Environment Quality and Lynas Malaysia Sdn Bhd as respondents. The applicants are asking for leave to quash AELB's decision, made on Jan 30, in granting the TOL.

Related Stories:
AG objects to judicial review over TOL
Lynas has yet to submit permanent disposal facility plan: AELB
Residents challenge TOL given to Lynas
AELB under fire over temporary licence for Lynas plant
AELB: All aspects considered before granting Lynas TOL
AELB grants Lynas Corp conditional TOL
Public feedback sought on Lynas

 

Sexy Israelis Girls In The IDF

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=q6w_nNW-Mr0

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/3/17/nation/10938516&sec=nation

Govt nod for PSC to look into Lynas issue

Saturday March 17, 2012

Govt nod for PSC to look into Lynas issue

By SIRA HABIBU
sira@thestar.com.my

PETALING JAYA: The Cabinet has agreed to set up a parliamentary select committee (PSC) to look into controversies surrounding the Lynas rare earth plant in Pahang.
Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz said the decision was made during the Cabinet meeting yesterday.
“I have to prepare the terms of reference and procedure before announcing the details,” he said.
Nazri said he would call for a press conference in his Padang Rengas constituency in Perak today.
The Lynas issue has been in the news following concerns about the disposal of radioactive waste.
In an immediate reaction, MCA welcomed the establishment of the PSC, saying it showed the Government's willingness to listen to the rakyat.
Party president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek said the move also reflected the Government's concern over the issue.
“The Government is concerned about the welfare and health of the people but efforts to attract foreign investors are also important,” he said.
He also hoped that the Opposition would not use the committee as a platform to further politicise the issue.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said the Cabinet wanted PSC to look at the issue from all perspectives.
“So far, we have been getting assurances from Lynas.”
He said the ministry was also working closely with the Malaysian Medical Association to monitor the health situation in Kuantan.
Liow said the issue warranted scrutiny in view of the health issues pertaining to a rare earth processing plant in Bukit Merah, Perak, that was forced to close down in the early 1990s.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/3/17/nation/20120317123140&sec=nation

Nazri announces 9-person parliamentary select committee on Lynas

Published: Saturday March 17, 2012 MYT 12:16:00 PM
Updated: Saturday March 17, 2012 MYT 1:35:56 PM

Nazri announces 9-person parliamentary select committee on Lynas

By EDMUND NGO

Committee has to submit findings and suggestions by June
PADANG RENGAS: The parliamentary select committee to look into the controversial Lynas rare earth plant in Pahang will be headed by Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Khaled Nordin.
Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Mohd Nazri Aziz said Saturday that four members would come from Barisan Nasional, three from the opposition and one independent member.
"I will suggest the list of Barisan MPs to the Speaker while I hope the Opposition leader can give me his list on Monday morning.
"I will also put forth the motion in Parliament on the same day," he said in a press conference here on Saturday.
Nazri also announced the terms of reference for the PSC; to review the feedback on public opinion regarding the project, to get explanations from various groups, including relevant authorities and interested parties and to suggest steps to be taken regarding the issue to the Parliament.
"The PSC will also summarise their findings and suggestions within three months according to the motion," he said.
"At first, we wanted the various interested parties to find their own solution, but unfortunately there is no end in sight, therefore it is time for the parliament to play its role.
"I believe that PSC suggestions will be accepted by the various parties involved and also reassure rakyat," he said.
The Cabinet agreed to set up the PSC after its meeting on Friday.
The Lynas issue has been in the news following concerns about the disposal of radioactive waste.
Related Stories:
Govt nod for PSC to look into Lynas issue
AELB: Lynas to send waste to Australia if no disposal facility found
Explain to affected people not me, Guan Eng tells Lynas
Pahang MB furious over false news reports
Look into other polluting factors from plant, Govt urged
PM: Lynas waste site to be relocated far from plant'
Penang cops seek 29 over assaults at anti-Lynas gathering
Lynas has yet to submit permanent disposal facility plan: AELB
Shut down or there'll be another anti-Lynas rally, Govt told
Anwar to attend rally to lead Lynas protest
Watching over Lynas

Jeffrey Sachs: 'That's not a free market, that's a game'

Jeffrey Sachs: 'That's not a free market, that's a game'

http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/talktojazeera/2011/12/2011121074125944352.html

Talk to Al Jazeera

Jeffrey Sachs: 'That's not a free market, that's a game'

The controversial economist talks about the collapse of the global financial system and how to end the crisis. Talk to Al Jazeera Last Modified: 11 Dec 2011 07:42 inShare111 Email Print Share Feedback

With the financial markets still in turmoil and banks, currencies, even countries struggling to return to normal, the free market is in trouble. Viable options are scarce, sparking global protests against the rich 1%. Jeffrey Sachs, an academic 'superstar' known for his controversial work on shock therapy, a theory that was applied and tested in dramatic fashion with the privatisation of state resources in South America and Russia. How can the global financial crisis be solved? What went wrong, and what are the stakes? One of the most controversial economists of our time talks to Al Jazeera's Sami Zeidan about the debt crisis, what caused it and how to fix it. "The banks have said, leave us deregulated, we know how to run things, don't put government in to meddle. Then with that freedom of maneuver they took huge gambles, and even made illegal actions, and then broke the world system. As soon as that happened then they rushed out to say 'bail us out, bail us out, if you don't bail us out, we're too big to fail, you have to save us'. As soon as that happened, they said 'oh, don't regulate us, we know what to do'. And they almost went back to their old story, and the public is standing there, amazed, because we just bailed you out how can you be paying yourself billions of dollars of bonuses again? And the bankers say, 'well we deserve it, what's your problem'? And the problem that the Occupy Wall Street and other protesters have is: you don't deserve it, you nearly broke the system, you gamed the economy, you're paying mega fines, yet you're still in the White House you're going to the state dinners, you're paying yourself huge bonuses, what kind of system is this? When I talk about this in the United States, I'm often attacked, 'oh, you don't believe in the free market economy', I say, how much free market can there be? You say deregulate, the moment the banks get in trouble, you say bail them out, the moment you bail them out, you say go back to deregulation. That's not a free market, that's a game, and we have to get out of the game. We have to get back to grown-up behaviour." Jeffrey Sachs, Columbia University Talk to Al Jazeera airs each week at the following times GMT: Saturday: 0430; Sunday: 0830 and 1930; Monday: 1430. Click here for more Talk to Al Jazeera.

Source: Al Jazeera

Is Wall Street beyond reform?

Is Wall Street beyond reform?

http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/insidestoryamericas/2012/03/20123169350625309.html

nside Story Americas

Is Wall Street beyond reform?

The high-profile exit of an investment banker has raised questions about the state of reform in the US financial sector. Inside Story Americas Last Modified: 16 Mar 2012 11:21 Email Print Share Send Feedback

It is true that Wall Street executives come and go. But it is the manner of the latest high-profile exit that has made many sit up and take notice. In an open resignation letter in the New York Times, Greg Smith, the former Goldman Sachs executive, decried what he called the "toxic and destructive" working environment at the firm. "What is so powerful about what [Smith] said is that it exactly confirms what all these other studies have found, what the 2010 senate hearing had found… and traced out exactly and precisely how Goldman Sachs was ripping off its clients." - Marcus Stanley, an economics professor Smith said that workers at the investment bank were focused on milking clients for all they can, and that staff often talked about "ripping clients off". The damning resignation letter came just a day after so-called bank "stress tests" revealed that financial firms were generally in fine health following their brush with disaster. Smith's comments have made many wonder if Goldman Sachs – and the industry as a whole – has learned any lessons from the 2008 crisis and changed its ways. The investment bank was heavily penalised for selling toxic mortgages to investors leading up to the financial crisis of 2008. It also received money from the US government's subsequent multi-billion dollar bank bailout. In his parting shot to Goldman Sachs in the New York Times, Smith said: "The interests of the client continue to be sidelined in the way the firm operates and thinks about making money. He went on to say: "It makes me ill how callously people talk about ripping their clients off. Over the last 12 months I have seen five different managing directors refer to their own clients as 'muppets', sometimes over internal e-mail." "Goldman Sachs passed the stress test with flying colours just the day before Smith's letter whereas a regional bank like SunTrust is struggling with this… The big guys have more money to comply with the regulations, to find loopholes and other things." - John Berlau, an economist Meanwhile, a number of Goldman Sach's employees have gone on to influence the US monetary policy: Robert Rubin became the treasury secretary under Bill Clinton, the former US president, after spending 26 years at Sachs as a board member and co-chairman. Henry Paulson, a former chief executive at Sachs who started with the company in 1974, was treasury secretary under George W Bush. Mark Patterson, a former Sachs lobbyist, was named the chief of staff for Timothy Geithner, the treasury secretary under Barack Obama. Now the conservative-leaning SuperPAC American Future Fund is running ads against Obama, criticising the president for what the group is calling his hypocritical stance on Wall Street. And as long as the US government is so reliant on the Wall Street firms it means to regulate, can meaningful reform occur? Has Wall Street become too big to reform? Or is there a need instead for a radical reordering of the global financial system? Joining Shihab Rattansi on Inside Story Americas to discuss these questions are guests: John Berlau, an economist from the Competitive Enterprise Institute; Marcus Stanley from Americans for Financial Reform; and Felix Salmon, a financial journalist with Reuters. Jefferson County is an example of Goldman Sachs taking unsophisticated investors, selling them derivatives products that they don't need and are quite harmful, pocketing a lot of money and then letting the investor lose lots of money… the worst it is for the client the more they make. Felix Salmon, a Reuters financial reporter

Source: Al Jazeera

The disappearing virtual library

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/02/2012227143813304790.html

Christopher Kelty Christopher M. Kelty is an Associate Professor of Information Studies and Anthropology at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is the author of Two Bits: The Cultural Significance of Free Software. RSS

The disappearing virtual library

The shutdown of library.nu is creating a virtual showdown between would-be learners and the publishing industry. Last Modified: 01 Mar 2012 10:58 inShare123 Email Print Share Feedback

The shutdown of library.nu doesn't bode well for those who wish to learn, but can't afford to pay for textbooks [GALLO/GETTY]

Los Angeles, CA - Last week a website called "library.nu" disappeared. A coalition of international scholarly publishers accused the site of piracy and convinced a judge in Munich to shut it down. Library.nu (formerly Gigapedia) had offered, if the reports are to be believed, between 400,000 and a million digital books for free. And not just any books - not romance novels or the latest best-sellers - but scholarly books: textbooks, secondary treatises, obscure monographs, biographical analyses, technical manuals, collections of cutting-edge research in engineering, mathematics, biology, social science and humanities. The texts ranged from so-called "orphan works" (out-of-print, but still copyrighted) to recent issues; from poorly scanned to expertly ripped; from English to German to French to Spanish to Russian, with the occasional Japanese or Chinese text. It was a remarkable effort of collective connoisseurship. Even the pornography was scholarly: guidebooks and scholarly books about the pornography industry. For a criminal underground site to be mercifully free of pornography must alone count as a triumph of civilisation. To the publishing industry, this event was a victory in the campaign to bring the unruly internet under some much-needed discipline. To many other people - namely the users of the site - it was met with anger, sadness and fatalism. But who were these sad criminals, these barbarians at the gates ready to bring our information economy to its knees? They are students and scholars, from every corner of the planet. Pirating to learn "The world, it should not come as a surprise, is filled with people who want desperately to learn." The world, it should not come as a surprise, is filled with people who want desperately to learn. This is what our world should be filled with. This is what scholars work hard to create: a world of reading, learning, thinking and scholarship. The users of library.nu were would-be scholars: those in the outer atmosphere of learning who wanted to know, argue, dispute, experiment and write just as those in the universities do. Maybe they were students once, but went on to find jobs and found families. We made them in some cases - we gave them a four-year taste of the life of the mind before sending them on their way with unsupportable loans. In other cases, they made themselves, by hook or by crook. So what does the shutdown of library.nu mean? The publishers think it is a great success in the war on piracy; that it will lead to more revenue and more control over who buys what, if not who reads what. The pirates - the people who create and run such sites - think that shutting down library.nu will only lead to a thousand more sites, stronger and better than before. But both are missing the point: the global demand for learning and scholarship is not being met by the contemporary publishing industry. It cannot be, not with the current business models and the prices. The users of library.nu - these barbarians at the gate of the publishing industry and the university - are legion. They live all over the world, but especially in Latin and South America, in China, in Eastern Europe, in Africa and in India. It's hard to get accurate numbers, but any perusal of the tweets mentioning library.nu or the comments on blog posts about it reveal that the main users of the site are the global middle class. They are not the truly poor, they are not slum-denizens or rural poor - but nonetheless they do not have much money. They are the real 99 per cent (as compared to the Euro-American 1 per cent). They may be scientists or scholars themselves: some work in schools, universities or corporations, others are doubly outside of the elite learned class - jobholders whose desire to learn is and will only ever be an avocation. They are a global market engaged in what we in the elite institutions of the world are otherwise telling them to do all the time: educate yourself; become scholars and thinkers; read and think for yourselves; bring civilisation, development and modernity to your people. Sharing is caring Library.nu was making that learning possible where publishers have not. It made a good show of being a "book review" site - it was called library.nu after all, and not "bookstore.nu". It was not cluttered with advertisements, nor did it "suggest" other books constantly. It gave straight answers to straightforward searches, and provided user reviews of the 400,000 or more books in the database. It was only the fact that library.nu included a link to another site ("sharehosting" sites like ifile.it, megaupload.com, or mediafire.com) containing the complete version of a digital text that brought library.nu into the realm of what passes for crime these days. But the legality of library.nu is also not the issue: trading in scanned, leaked or even properly purchased versions of digital books is thoroughly illegal. This is so much the case that it can't be long before reading a book - making an unauthorised copy in your brain - is also made illegal. But library.nu shared books; it did not sell them. If it made any money, it was not from the texts themselves, but from advertising revenue. As with Napster in 1999, library.nu was facilitating discovery: the ability to search deeper and deeper into the musical or scholarly tastes fellow humans and to discover their connections that no recommendation algorithm will ever be able to make. In their effort to control this market, publishers alongside the movie and music industry have been effectively criminalising sharing, learning and creating - not stealing. Users of library.nu did not have to upload texts to the site in order to use it, but they were rewarded if they did. There were formal rules (and informal ones, to be sure), concerning how one might "level up" in the library.nu community. The site developed as websites do, adding features here and there, and obviously expanding its infrastructure as necessary. The administrators of the site maintained absolute control over who could participate and who could not - no doubt in order to protect the site from skulking FBI agents and enthusiastic newbies alike. Even a casual observer could have seen that the frequent changes to the site were the effects of the cat-and-mouse game underway as law authorities and publishers sought to understand and eventually seek legal action against this community. In the end, it was only by donating to the site that law authorities discovered the real people behind the site - pirates too have PayPal accounts. Shutting down learning The winter of 2012 has seen a series of assaults on file-sharing sites in the wake of the failed SOPA and PIPA legislation. Mega-upload.com (the brainchild of eccentric master pirate Kim Dotcom - he legally changed his name in 2005) was seized by the US Department of Justice; torrent site btjunkie.com voluntarily closed down for fear of litigation. In the last few days before they closed for good, library.nu winked in and out of existence, finally (and ironically), displayed a page saying "this domain has been revoked by .nu domain" (the island nation of Niue). It prominently displays a link to a book (on Amazon!) called Blue Latitudes, about the voyage of Captain Cook. A story about that other kind of pirate branches off here. So what does the shutdown of library.nu mean? One thing it means is that these barbarians - these pirates who are also scholars - are angry. We scholars have long been singing the praises of education, learning, mutual aid and the virtues of getting a good degree. We scholars have been telling the world of desperate learners to do just what they are doing, if not in so many terms. So there are a lot of angry young middle-class learners in the world this month. Some are existentially angry about the injustice of this system, some are pragmatically angry they must now spend $100 - if they even have that much - on a textbook instead of on themselves or their friends. All of them are angry that what looked to everyone like the new horizon of learning - and the promise of the vaunted new digital economy - has just disappeared behind the dark eclipse of a Munich judge's cease and desist order. Writers and scholars in Europe and the US are complicit in the shutdown. The publishing companies are protecting themselves and their profits, but they do so with the assent, if not the active support, of those who still depend on them. They are protecting us - we scholars - or so they say. These barbarians - these desperate learners - are stealing our property and should be made to pay for it. Profiteering In reality, however, the scholarly publishing industry has entered a phase like the one the pharmaceutical industry entered in the 1990s, when life-saving AIDS medicines were deliberately restricted to protect the interests of pharmaceutical companies' patents and profits. The comparison is perhaps inflammatory; after all, scholarly monographs are life-saving in only the most distant and abstract sense, but the situation is - legally speaking - nearly identical. Library.nu is not unlike those clever - and also illegal - local corporations in India and Africa who created generic versions of AIDS medicines. Why doesn't the publishing industry want these consumers? For one thing, the US and European book-buying libraries have been willing pay the prices necessary to keep the industry happy - and not just happy, in many cases obscenely profitable. Rather than provide our work at cheap enough prices that anyone in the world might purchase, they have taken the opposite route - making the prices higher and higher until only very rich institutions can afford them. Scholarly publishers have made the trade-off between offering a very low price to a very large market or a very high price to a very small market. But here is the rub: books and their scholars are the losers in this trade-off - especially cutting edge research from the best institutions in the world. The publishing industry we have today cannot - or will not - deliver our books to this enormous global market of people who desperately want to read them. Instead, they print a handful of copies - less than 100, often - and sell them to libraries for hundreds of dollars each. When they do offer digital versions, they are so wrapped up in restrictions and encumbrances and licencing terms as to make using them supremely frustrating. To make matters worse, our university libraries can no longer afford to buy these books and journals; and our few bookstores are no longer willing to carry them. So the result is that most of our best scholarship is being shot into some publisher's black hole where it will never escape. That is, until library.nu and its successors make it available. What these sites represent most clearly is a viable route towards education and learning for vast numbers of people around the world. The question it raises is: on which side of this battle do European and American scholars want to be? Christopher M Kelty is an Associate Professor of Information Studies and Anthropology at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is the author of Two Bits: The Cultural Significance of Free Software. The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial policy.

Source: Al Jazeera

Unknown Calls - Annoying Calls Malaysia

Unknown Calls - Annoying Calls Malaysia

+603 2036 6555

+603 2036 6888

+603 2055 0700

+603 9207 7400

Call is from UTS Marketing Solutions Sdn Bhd ?

Their website is?  http://unitedteleservice.com/

some info about them?

http://leonlim.blog.friendster.com/tag/uts-farewell/

they are tele-sales?
have contract with bonuslink? EON Bank? CIMB Bank?

source:

http://gallenlow.blogspot.com/2011_04_01_archive.html

Lessons from Iceland

Lessons from Iceland

http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/countingthecost/2011/11/20111112112247893482.html

Counting the Cost
Lessons from Iceland
What can the eurozone learn from Iceland's 2008 meltdown? Counting the Cost Last Modified: 13 Nov 2011 10:55 inShare32 Email Print Share Feedback
It has been three years since the Iceland's banking system collapsed, which may have been the best thing that could have happened for the country. Iceland was the first nation to fall victim to the 2008 credit crunch. It also became the first Western European nation to get a bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in more than three decades. The nation's three largest banks went on a $100bn spending spree, financing international acqusistions and construction projects. The money spent was more than seven times the nations GDP of $14 bn. There was a big overspend which got Iceland into trouble, and as a result the banks were nationalised, while the economy and currency, the krona, essentially collapsed. But rather than bailing out the banks, lawmakers were pursuaded by public revolt not to takeover the debts of the banks. This week on Counting the Cost, Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, Iceland's president, discusses his thoughts on the eurozone crisis, what countries should learn from Iceland, and how austerity measures worked for his country. Also on the show the McLaren MP4-12C, made its Middle East debut at a new showroom in Dubai. It is a project from McLaren Automotive, part of the famous F1 racing team. They are not cheap, starting at around $230,000, but there is already plenty of interest, with over 2,700 pre-orders already in place. Counting the Cost can be seen each week at the following times GMT: Friday: 2230; Saturday: 0930; Sunday: 0330; Monday: 1630. Click here for more on Counting the Cost.
Source: Al Jazeera

Iceland's ex-PM on trial over banks crisis

Iceland's ex-PM on trial over banks crisis


http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2012/03/2012354447311316.html

Europe
Iceland's ex-PM on trial over banks crisis
Geir Haarde denies negligence as he faces special court over collapse of country's banks during 2008 financial crisis. Last Modified: 05 Mar 2012 11:29 inShare13 Email Print Share Feedback
The former prime minister of Iceland has gone on trial in a special court in Reykjavik on charges of negligence over his handling of the country's 2008 financial crisis and the collapse of the country's banking system. Proceedings against Geir Haarde are being held at the Landsdomur court, a special body to try cabinet ministers, which has never before heard a case in its more than 100-year existence. The case will examine how Iceland's three main banks all collapsed within the space of a few days at the height of the global financial crisis in October 2008, at the cost of billions of dollars to foreign customers who had invested in online savings accounts offering high interest rates. Haarde, 60, led the Independence Party government at the time. In a statement to the court, Haarde said: "I reject all accusations, and believe there is no basis for them," The former prime minister has called charges made against him "political persecution" and insisted he would be vindicated during the trial. "I hail the fact that I get to answer questions in the case," he told the court. Blame game In the crisis's immediate aftermath, as unemployment and inflation skyrocketed, many sought to blame the government for the havoc across the 330,000-strong nation , and a wave of public protests forced Haarde out of government in 2009. The failure of the Icesave bank led to a dispute over compensation, which remains unresolved [AFP] Some Icelanders however see the trial of Haarde as scapegoating, while others argue that public accountability is essential following the country's financial collapse. Legal experts say he has a strong chance of beating the charges, because of the strength of his legal team, growing sympathy for a politician alone in shouldering blame, and because the court's structure, laid out in 1905, is flawed because it allows legislators, not lawyers, to press charges. A parliament-commissioned report put much of the blame on Haarde and his government, saying that officials "lacked both the power and the courage to set reasonable limits to the financial system". It was up to legislators whether to indict those officials. After a heated debate, Haarde was referred to the special court, the Icelandic parliament voted 33-30 to pursue charges against Haarde, but not against three other members of his government. The special court will consist of 15 members, five supreme court justices, a district court president, a constitutional law professor and eight people chosen by parliament.

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