Krassimir Petrov

The oil stock exchange is part of a two-phase project ap-
proved by Iranian cabinet. First phase of Iran oil bourse in-
augurated on Kish island in the Persian Gulf in 2008.

[Originally published in 2006 by Energy Bulletin]

I. Economics of Empires

A nation-state taxes its own citizens, while an empire taxes other nation-states. The history of empires, from Greek and Roman, to Ottoman and British, teaches that the economic foundation of every single empire is the taxation of other nations. The imperial ability to tax has always rested on a better and stronger economy, and as a consequence, a better and stronger military. One part of the subject taxes went to improve the living standards of the empire; the other part went to strengthen the military dominance necessary to enforce the collection of those taxes.

Historically, taxing the subject state has been in various forms—usually gold and silver, where those were considered money, but also slaves, soldiers, crops, cattle, or other agricultural and natural resources, whatever economic goods the empire demanded and the subject-state could deliver. Historically, imperial taxation has always been direct: the subject state handed over the economic goods directly to the empire.

For the first time in history, in the twentieth century, America was able to tax the world indirectly, through inflation. It did not enforce the direct payment of taxes like all of its predecessor empires did, but distributed instead its own fiat currency, the U.S. Dollar, to other nations in exchange for goods with the intended consequence of inflating and devaluing those dollars and paying back later each dollar with less economic goods—the difference capturing the U.S. imperial tax. Here is how this happened.

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Stephen Lendman

Standing tall: Titled "Human Statue of Liberty,"
this image was taken at Camp Dodge in Iowa
and used eighteen thousand men. (Myrtus)

Symbolic speech examples include leafleting, picketing, demonstrating, marching, speaking publicly, flag burning, displaying t-shirts, armbands, banners and placards, sit-ins, as well as camping out in public places.

With some exceptions, all have First Amendment protection. Numerous Supreme Court decisions addressed the issue. Some agreed. Others didn't.

For example, in Hague v. Committee for Industrial Organization (1939), Justice Owen Roberts expressed the Court's plurality opinion, saying:

"Wherever the title of streets and parks may rest, they have immemorially been held in trust for the use of the public and, time out of mind, have been used for purposes of assembly, communicating thoughts between citizens, and discussing public questions."

"Such use of the streets and public places has from ancient times, been a part of the privileges, immunities, rights, and liberties of citizens."

While most Justices didn't concur, subsequent opinions endorsed symbolic speech rights. In Schneider v. State (1939), the Court ruled that city ordinances to keep streets clean and presentable didn't justify prohibiting literature and leaflet distribution to willing recipients.

In Kunz v. New York (1951), the Court held that mandating permits to speak publicly on religious issues was unconstitutional.

In Shuttlesworth v. City of Birmingham (1969), the Court ruled for petitioner Shuttlesworth's right to lead orderly 1963 civil rights marches. Doing so violated a city ordinance requiring permit permission. Calling it unconstitutional, the decision stated it was denied to censor ideas, not obstruct traffic.

Various High Court decisions ruled that speech, including camping out in public places, is subject to time, place and manner regulations such as traffic control. However, protected speech must have alternate ways to communicate without undo restrictions.

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Paul Craig Roberts

The economic mess in which the United States and Europe find themselves and which has been exported to much of the rest of the world is the direct consequence of too much economic freedom. The excess freedom is the direct consequence of financial deregulation.

The definition of free markets is ambiguous. At times it means a market without any regulation. In other cases it means markets in which prices are free to reflect supply and demand. Sometimes it means competitive markets free of monopoly or concentration. “Free market” economists have made a mistake by elevating an economy that is free of regulation or government as the ideal. This ideological position overlooks that regulation can increase economic efficiency and that without regulation external costs can offset the value of production.

Before going further, let’s be clear about what is regulated. Economists reify markets: the market did this, the market did that. But markets don’t do anything. The market is not an actor; it is a social institution. People act, and it is the behavior of people that is regulated. When free market economists describe the ideal as the absence of any regulation of economic behavior, they are asserting that there are no dysfunctional consequences of unregulated economic behavior.

If this were in fact the case, why should this result be confined to economic behavior? Why shouldn’t all human behavior be unregulated? Why is it that economists recognize that robbery, rape, and murder are socially dysfunctional, but not unlimited debt leverage and misrepresentation of financial instruments? The claim, as expressed by Alan Greenspan along with others, that “markets are self-regulating” is an assertion that unrestrained individuals are self-regulating. How did anyone ever believe that?

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Stephen Lendman

With pressure building on Europe and America, something's got to give. Progressive Radio News Hour regular Bob Chapman says Germany's Angela Merkel and France's Nicolas Sarkozy search for solutions that don't exist.

Nothing's agreed on to be implemented. Austerity weakens failing Eurozone economies. French and other banks are selling bonds. Yields are rising. So isn't economic, financial and political uncertainty.

Europe's in disarray. Germany printed Deutsch Marks just in case. It "has to come to terms with cutting loose six loser countries. That means leaving the euro and perhaps the EU. We see no other choice in this unnatural" union.

"The future of the euro zone is sealed." By fall 2012, "there will be six less participants." Europe's economy will have negative growth, worsening in 2013. Other Eurozone countries will be forced out. In two years or less, "the euro is history." No one knows how bad things will get. They do know today's crisis won't end soon.

New Greek and Italian governments can't resolve intractable issues. Of concern is how much more austerity can people take before exploding.

At the same time, Eurozone and US leaders are whistling past the graveyard. Perhaps they didn't notice bond market contagion affecting highly-rated countries like Austria, the Netherlands and Finland, indicating worsening crisis conditions.

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Craig Murray

This is Matthew Gould, second from right, British Ambassador to Israel, who was pictured speaking at a meeting of the Leeds Zionist Federation that was also the opening of the Leeds Hasbarah Centre. The Leeds Zionist Federation is part of the Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland, motto “Speaking Up for Israel.” A collection was made at the meeting to send packages to members of the Israeli Defence Force.

On 29 May 2011 The Jerusalem Post reported:

“British Ambassador Matthew Gould declared his commitment to Israel and the principles of Zionism on Thursday”.

Remember this background, it is unusual behaviour for a diplomat, and it is important.

The six meetings between British Ambassador to Israel Matthew Gould and Minister of Defence Liam Fox and Adam Werritty together – only two of which were revealed by Cabinet Secretary Gus O’Donnell in his “investigation” into Werritty’s unauthorised role in the Ministry of Defence – raise vital concerns about a secret agenda for war at the core of government, comparable to Blair’s determination to drive through a war on Iraq..

This is a detective story. It begins a few weeks ago, when the Fox-Werritty scandal was first breaking in the media. I had a contact from an old friend from my Foreign Office days. This friend had access to the Gus O’Donnell investigation. He had given a message for me to a trusted third party.

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Adnan Al-Daini

“If the Euro fails, then Europe fails”- so said Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor.  This is what we have been hearing from pundits and experts for weeks now.  Predictions of economic Armageddon if the eurozone breaks up have been aired ad nauseam by politicians and experts.  Commentators and journalists hardly ever ask the two most important questions. Why? How? 

The Euro as the currency of seventeen diverse countries with their different cultures, lifestyles, traditions, tax and spend regimes is dead.  The sooner we realise that, the better it will be for everyone.  Research by the Centre for Economic and Business Research (CEBR) predicts a rosier future after a short sharp shock of eurozone collapse. In an article in the Telegraph, headlined “Collapse of the Euro will help Britain”, the conclusions of the research are presented as:

“Britain will be better off in five years’ time if the eurozone breaks up than if the single currency survives the debt crisis, research suggests today.  The disorderly break-up of the euro would mean a short, sharp economic shock and probably a recession, but would be followed by a quicker return to strong economic growth, according to the Centre for Economics and Business Research.  The economists also predict that break-up would free many eurozone members from the deficit-cutting austerity policies that threaten to subdue their growth for years.”

The article quotes the research thus:

“If it [the eurozone] breaks up the immediate pain is much more intense, but then there is a more stable basis and we would expect that within about 30 months growth will actually be faster than if the eurozone survives in its current form.”

I am no economist, but this analysis makes a lot of sense to me and probably to most people in Europe.  In the absence of cogent explanations to the contrary from politicians who have invested a lot of capital in the Euro, and are influenced by self serving institutions and lobbyists, I'd put my trust in the CEBR conclusions.

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Paul J. Balles

Here’s a story to think about:

A bouncer at a night club doesn’t like the looks of one of the customers. What makes matter worse is that the customer is loud-mouthed and vilifying night club bouncers, saying that they are the ones who should be kicked out of the club.

The bouncer takes a night stick that he has for just such an occasion, walks over to the table where the noisy customer is ranting and raving.

Then, without further warning, the bouncer bashes the noisy customer’s head with the night stick. The customer falls to the floor, dead.

People who see what had happened ask the bouncer why he beat the customer to death.

“Shut up,” shouts the bouncer, “He was armed, and I had to stop him before he destroyed us.”

“Why didn’t you stop him at the door if you thought he was a danger?” asks one of the club’s patrons?

“I did,” argues the bouncer. “When I accused him of having a weapon, he denied it.”

The patron is flummoxed. “Why didn’t you search him?”

The bouncer, becoming impatient with the sceptical crowd, proclaims, “I told him to prove he didn’t have a weapon.”

“Eh?” questions another patron, “You asked him to prove that he didn’t have what he didn’t have?”

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Stephen Lendman

America, key NATO partners, and Israel target both countries.

Israel wants regional rivals removed. Washington and key NATO partners want independent regimes ousted, replaced with subservient ones.

At issue is establishing regional dominance. New targets can then confronted politically, economically, and/or belligerently.

Fabricated IAEA Iranian documents escalated tensions. Rhetorical saber rattling followed. Stiffer sanctions are threatened and perhaps war.

Syria's been targeted for months. Libya's insurgency was replicated. Street battles rage daily. Violence engulfs the country. Assad's government is unfairly blamed. Washington's dirty hands are at fault. So are Israel's and other conspiratorial allies.

The Arab League's decision to suspend Syria makes Western intervention more likely. The League's constitution requires unanimity. Lebanon, Yemen and Syria voted "no." Iraq abstained.

Suspension's thus illegitimate. Syria's Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem condemned it. America was blamed for demanding it. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman attended the League session to assure things went Washington's way.

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Stephen Lendman

In early November, the Gisha Legal Center for Freedom of Movement published a report titled, "Scale of Control: Israel's Continued Responsibility in the Gaza Strip."

It explained little changed after its alleged 2005 "disengagement."

A 2007 Gisha report titled, "Disengaged Occupiers: The Legal Status of Gaza" argued that as an occupying power, Israel's obligations continue.

Its new publication updates it. Despite Israel claiming no further responsibility, it exercises full control of Gaza's airspace, waters, borders, territory, infrastructure, power, and more. It collects customs and value added taxes for imported goods, conducts regular incursions, excludes most exports, and maintains a physical presence.

As a result, "it is impossible to say that (its) occupation of Gaza has ended and therefore, the international law of occupation continues to apply to Israel in the spheres in which it continues to exercise control over the lives of Palestinian residents."

Israel's thus obligated to fulfill its mandated responsibilities, including providing protection for people it controls.

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Gilad Atzmon

Introduction by Gilad Atzmon: The Wandering Who? made it to Israel. Three days ago, Yediot Aharonot, the largest Israeli paper published a three pages article about The Wandering Who? and myself. And as one may imagine, the patriotic Israeli media giant wasn’t very happy about the book, or my views.

But Yediot was at least brave enough to include an interview with me in Hebrew. In the interview I said many things that wouldn’t see daylight on any of our Western Zionised papers. The Zionist paper allowed me to say all those things that our Jewish anti Zionists (AKA AZZ Anti Zionist Zionists) insist to shove under the carpet.

For instance, I compared Israel with Nazi Germany -- I even told Israelis that from some perspectives, Israel is actually worse than Nazi Germany.

I told Israelis that an Israeli attack on Iran would lead to a shift in the vision of Jewish past and the Holocaust in particular. I believe that repeating these ideas in Israel in Hebrew in the current climate is my ethical duty.

I told Israelis that the holocaust must be opened to historical scrutiny.

Would the Guardian or the New York Times allow me to say it? Certainly not, or let us say, not yet.

Ynet, The Israeli patriotic ultra Zionist paper admitted that the book is a best seller and that it is praised by some of the most influential and distinguished academics around. Seemingly, our so called Jewish ‘anti’ Zionists are way behind such reasoned debate. They still pray for the book to evaporate.

Needless to say that the Israeli article provoked some Israelis to share with me their most violent fantasies - but interestingly enough -many more Israelis contacted me to thank me for telling the truth; and some even sent me very interesting documents which I will certainly use in the near future.

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Stephen Lendman

From 'Night Raid on Bil'in'. The IOF have a long
history of harassing and jailing Palestinians.

Endless examples occur daily. Overnight Sunday, Ma'an News said Israeli forces raided homes of seven recently released prisoners as part of the October 18 exchange.

Notices were sent to Akram Mansour, Shadi Zayid and Ibrahim Yasin. They were ordered to report to Israeli intelligence for questioning.

In August 1979, Mansour was imprisoned for life. Before release, he participated in hunger strikes against harsh conditions for relief. Brain cancer's slowly killing him.

Nael and Fakhri Barghouthi's homes were also raided. Interrogation orders followed. Before release, Nael was Israel's longest serving Palestinian prisoner, held since April 1978 for alleged involvement in armed resistance. Israel criminalized his heroism.

Others affected included Adnan Zeid al-Kilani, Sumad Karaja, and Latuifa Abu Thiraa. Latuifa formerly was detained.

Since June 1967, up to 700,000 Palestinians were imprisoned for wanting to live free in their own country on their own land in peace. Israel calls legitimate resistance terrorism. Anyone accused without evidence can be detained indefinitely, including harsh isolation for months or years to break them.

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Kit Kittredge

Why I wanted to Challenge the Israeli Naval Blockade of Gaza

In the overland five trips I have made to Gaza since March, 2009, I have seen the disastrous effect of the brutal Israeli land and sea blockade has had on the Palestinian people.  I have seen the terrible level of destruction that the 2008-2009 Israeli attack wrecked on Gaza, in which 1,400 Palestinians were killed in the 22 day attack, 5,000 were wounded and 50,000 were made homeless.  I was on the Gaza Freedom March in 2009 and I was a passenger on the US Boat to Gaza, the “Audacity of Hope” that was forbidden from sailing June, 2011 by the Greek government on behalf of the Israeli government. 
 
As one of two American citizens on the Gaza “Freedom Waves,” I represented hundreds of thousands of Americans who are challenging Israeli and US policies concerning Palestine.  We are using a variety of methods to let Israeli government officials know that international citizen activists are not going to stop challenging their policies.  Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions programs, international citizens who attempt to protection Palestinians as the farm, fish and go to school, students confronting Israeli officials as they speak around the world and flotillas and waves of boats are part of the international effort. I am very proud to be a part of this movement.

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A book review by Gilad Atzmon

Jewish Identity and Palestinian Rights: The Growth of Diaspora Jewish Opposition to Israel by David Landy

David Landy, an Irish-Jewish academic and a Palestinian solidarity activist has written a book about Jewish Identity and Jewish dissent in the Diaspora. The book, published on 7th July 2011, was largely ignored by most pro-Palestinian outlets and dissident journals. Almost four months later, Landy’s book was re-launched by JFJFP (Jews for Justice for Palestinians), in the hope, presumably, that it might divert attention from my own The Wandering Who?.

Following the JFJFP’s enthusiastic endorsement, I was looking forward to reading Landy’s book, expecting to find, for the first time, some arguments that may counter my own take on Jewish identity politics. But I was disappointed: Landy’s findings only supported my reading of the subject in general, and confirmed my critical take on Jewish anti Zionism in particular.

Like me, Landy, makes a clear distinction between ‘Palestinian solidarity’ and ‘Jewish anti Zionist activism’:

“I do not call them (the Jewish anti Zionists) Palestinian solidarity either” (pg. 6).

He prefers to refer to his ‘Jewish Diaspora dissident voice’ as ‘Israel-Critical Jews’. Landy has grasped that Jewish dissent is actually more about ‘Jewish liberation’ than about liberating others. It is largely about Jewish secular craving for identity as opposed to any attempt to really change the reality in Palestine:

“Few, if any, of my interviewees thought that they were working exclusively for the Palestinians” says Landy and goes on to explain that “This is partly because some participants think they’re protecting the Jewish collectivity from anti Semitism by promoting peace in the Middle East” (pg. 26.)

Such an observation should have alerted Landy to the possibility of something slightly dishonest within the ‘Jewish anti Zionist’ cell. After all, we know that Landy’s ‘Israel-Critical Jews’ completely fail to confront the Jewish Lobby in the UK or the USA. And if that were not enough, they will even join forces with Zionists and hasbara, and are clearly willing to use every possible means to stop others from attempting to expose the lobby and the extent of its political influence.

Despite Landy’s attempt to portray a growing, vibrant Jewish dissent, he is at least honest enough to admit that the Jewish Diaspora is largely supportive of Israel, and that ‘Israel critical Jews’ are still no more than a marginal calling. But this is more or less where the good news ends, for unfortunately, on every other front Landy’s book is totally lacking in substance.

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Stephen Lendman

Eurozone's failed project is doomed. It's just a matter of time.

From inception, Eurozone planning was flawed. Uniting 17 dissimilar countries under rigid rules failed.

Membership required surrendering monetary and fiscal authority to a central power. Debt entrapment and banker occupation followed. Partnered with banking giants, money-controlled Troika power decides everything - the EU and ECB and IMF.

Rules require lowering living standards, sacking public workers, and selling off state assets lock, stock and barrel at fire sale prices.

None of it would happen if troubled sovereigns weren't trapped in the euro straightjacket. It lets bankers make rules, set terms, issue diktats, and pressure, bribe or otherwise force governments to acquiesce. As a result, households are burdened with oppressive austerity through no fault of their own.

Troubled Greece and Italy now make headlines. Troika power sacked their heads of state. One's replaced in Greece. Italy's choice is imminent. Lucas Papademos got Greece's top job. He'll serve unelected as prime minister. His credentials explain why.

A former ECB vice president (2002 - 2010), he earlier served as Governor of the Bank of Greece from 1994 - 2002. In 1980, he was Federal Reserve Bank of Boston senior economist. Afterwards, he became Bank of Greece's chief economist.

Since 1998, he's also been a Rockefeller-controlled Trilateral Commission member.

Troika power is safe in his hands. Democracy's birthplace abandoned it. Without it, personal freedom is gone.

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Peter Schwarz

Less than a year ago the demise of the euro and the breakup of the European Union were generally conceived of as unthinkable. Now, they are the dominant themes in European politics and in the media.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel recently warned parliament, “If the euro fails, Europe fails.” Similar warnings have been made by French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Not only the notoriously euro-skeptical British press, but also such pro-European papers as France’s Le Monde and Germany’s Die Zeit are no longer excluding the failure of the common European currency.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso has described the economic consequences of such a development in the starkest terms. The collapse of the euro zone would cause an economic crash that would instantly wipe out half of the value of Europe's economy, plunging the continent into a depression as deep as the 1930s slump, he has declared.

But the alternative proposed by Merkel, Sarkozy and Barroso to avoid such a catastrophe is not less disastrous. It amounts to setting up a dictatorship of the financial markets over every aspect of social life. Recent events in Greece and Italy confirm this. In each country a government of experts selected by the EU is being formed without any democratic legitimacy. Its task is to decimate the living standards of the people by implementing unprecedented austerity measures.

In fact, “saving” the euro by means of austerity measures and the breakup of Europe are not opposite, but rather parallel political strategies serving the same basic aim. The recent EU summit in Brussels set the course for both. It dictated punitive austerity measures for Greece and Italy and subordinated the Greek budget to the control of the “troika”—the European Union, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank. At the same time, it did not exclude the exit of Greece from the euro zone.

Merkel’s chancellery has already prepared studies on the financial implications of such a step, and if one country leaves the euro zone, it will hardly be possible to avoid the exodus of others.

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