Sunday, September 30, 2012
Download the September 30 Ta Yp' Opsin podcast
- First presidential debate expectations
Friday, September 28, 2012
Austerity madness
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Austerity not the best way out
The Guardian has a fascinating analysis by Trevor Greetham, director of Asset Allocation at Fidelity Worldwide Investment, who remains convinced that fiscal austerity is the wrong path to solve Europe’s debt problems.
Comparing Spain to the UK and US, Greetham makes the case that the US has been the clear winner so far with its anti-austerity, loose money path – a path only open to Spain if stronger euro nations are willing to make substantial commitments to preserve the euro.
He says, "I’ve always opposed austerity as the solution to the global debt crisis and the strictures of the common currency make it particularly ill-suited to the euro periphery. Efforts to deflate Spain into competitiveness raise the prospect of many years of wage cuts and property price falls that will necessitate ever larger fiscal transfers from the stronger countries, either directly or via pan-euro institutions like the central bank.Five years into the worst financial crisis in generations we are starting to see how effective various policies have been. Spain, the UK and the US offer three interesting test cases, each dealing with the after effects of a real estate bust in different ways:·
Spain = austerity with tight money (austerity, no devaluation, no quantitative easing, market interest rates too high)
UK = austerity but with loose money (austerity, currency devaluation, quantitative easing)
US = no austerity with loose money (no austerity, stable currency, quantitative easing)
Activity in both the UK and Spain remains well below its pre-crisis level – suggesting the benefits of the UK printing its own currency may not be as great as might be supposed. It appears to be the lack of austerity in the US that is the distinguishing aspect of a successful policy mix.
"In my view the least painful approach to reducing the burden of private sector debt is a period of higher than usual inflation – one underpinned by rising wage levels rather than tax and energy price increases. An effective quantitative monetary policy plays a key role in raising inflation expectations. Back-end loaded fiscal reforms to reduce state spending are important but they can come into place once a sustainable recovery in growth is under way. The so-called ‘fiscal cliff’ is the first serious test of the US desire to maintain what I see as a winning policy. Most likely the political parties will see sense and spread tax rises and spending cuts over a period of years.
"As for Spain, a future in the euro will rely on the willingness for partners to finance budget deficits that should be allowed to remain in place for a period of years and the willingness for core countries to accept higher levels of inflation so Spain can regain competitiveness without nominal wage and price cuts that endanger its ability to repay its debts."
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
"Western glasses for the Islamic world"
The paper launched the campaign as an answer to the obscene cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad published by the French magazine, Charlie Hebdo.
Monday, September 24, 2012
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Download the September 23 Ta Yp' Opsin podcast
-Who are Mitt Romney's 47 percent?
Ta Yp' Opsin news roundup podcast
Listen to the news roundup podcast Ta Yp' Opsin (Consider These) this Sunday, September 23, from 10:00 p.m. to midnight (CST) at http://www.chicagogreekradio.com.
In the First Hour:
-Who are Mitt Romney's 47 percent?
-Charlie Hebdo, a serial offender and proud of it
-Tense exchanges in Greece for the incomplete package of cuts
-Familiar names at the top
Plus, in the Second Hour:
-What if Jesus had a wife?
-“Ecce Homo” a moneymaker as “Ecce Mono”
-A vandal with a spelling problem
-Honoring the ponytail physics
-Absurdist art projects and dental floss lawsuits
If you miss the radio broadcast, look in these pages on Monday for the link to download the entire podcast for your listening pleasure, at any time.
Ta Yp’Opsin (Consider These) weekly podcast (in Greek) with Greek Chicago journalists Elena Spilioti and George Zorbas. Discussion, analysis and great music
Friday, September 21, 2012
Four is the limit
Credit: REUTERS/China Daily
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Monday, September 17, 2012
NHL Locks Out Its Players In Labor Dispute
The Associated Press
The National Hockey League locked out its players at midnight Saturday, becoming the third major sports league to impose a work stoppage in the last 18 months.
The action also marks the fourth shutdown for the NHL since 1992, including a year-long dispute that forced the cancellation of the entire 2004-05 season when the league held out for a salary cap.
The core issue is money — how to split a $3.3 billion pot of revenue. The owners want to decrease the percentage of hockey-related revenue that goes to players, while the union wants a guarantee that players annually get at least the $1.8 billion in salaries paid out last season.
The dispute is latest chapter in labor unrest that has vexed American professional sports. The NFL was locked out for much of the offseason in 2011 while the last NBA season was shortened from 82 games to 66 and began on Christmas.
Baseball successfully reached a labor deal and some have suggested that the fact MLB didn't have a work stoppage has to do with the fact that baseball has no salary cap, allowing for more wiggle room in negotiations.
While the NHL lockout might not wipe out the whole season as the one in 2004-05 did, a sizeable chunk of games could be lost without productive talks soon.
In jeopardy are a couple of key dates on the calendar: the New Year's Day outdoor Winter Classic at 115,000-seat Michigan Stadium between the host Detroit Red Wings and the Toronto Maple Leafs; and the Jan. 27 All-Star game hosted by the Columbus Blue Jackets, one of the league's struggling small-market teams.
Commissioner Gary Bettman has insisted that hockey management is determined to come away with economic gains, even at the cost of another work stoppage. Financial damage is certain to occur almost immediately, and there is no telling how jilted fans and sponsors will react to another shutdown, especially if it lasts through the fall and into the winter.
Players are concerned management hasn't addressed the league's financial problems by re-examining the teams' revenue-sharing formula. Having made several big concessions to reach a deal in 2005, the union doesn't think it should have to make more this time after record financial growth.
Once the lockout was imposed in September 2004, the sides didn't get back together until December. That stalemate was finally resolved in July 2005.
Players absorbed a salary-cap system — the major issue then — and took an immediate 24 percent rollback of existing contracts in exchange for 57 percent of hockey-related revenues. The NHL now says that figure is too high, and wants to reduce players' share to a range between 49 percent and 47 percent.
Its original offer was to cut it to 43 percent.
Τα Υπ’Όψιν podcast της Κυριακής 16 Σεπτεμβρίου
Στα Υπ’Όψιν της Κυριακής 16 Σεπτεμβρίου, μεταξύ άλλων, συζητάμε:
- Οργή στη Μ.Ανατολή: φταίει η θρησκεία ή η πολιτική;
- Το αντι-μουσουλμανικό βίντεο και οι αμερικανικές εκλογές: ποιός πρέπει να ανησυχεί
- Σικάγο: οι δάσκαλοι στο δρόμο, 3500000 μαθητές στα σπίτια τους. Τι βαθμό παίρνει ο
.....Δήμαρχος;
Και στο Β’ μέρος
-ΧΡΟΝΟΛΟΓΙΟ: Επέτειος της συμφωνίας του Καμπ Ντέϊβιντ / ο θάνατος της απαράμιλλης ντίβας
-Υγεία: περισσότερες δουλειές για περισσότερα κιλά
- Η ζάχαρη και η δημοκρατία της θερμίδας
- Σωτηρία ειδών που εξαφανίζονται: «ύβρις» ή αλληλεγγύη ;
Ακούστε Τα Υπ΄’Οψιν στο https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B1KU27prGcwhUN0hZUzdQZGFjTDA/edit
Τα Υπ΄’Οψιν για πληροφόρηση, συζήτηση και πολλή, καλή μουσική !
NHL lockout: In hockey fight, players are right
"Even the biggest daydreamers know that (NHL) players made huge financial concessions during the 2004-05 lockout that resulted in the salary cap, and now they’re being told to do it again by their employers despite playing in a time marked by growth and record-breaking revenues.
It’s those reasons that make it so easy to side with them during the NHL’s third lockout since 1994. If you were employed by a company that was extremely profitable, experiencing unprecedented growth and handing out huge contracts, would you willingly agree to a significant pay cut?
Didn’t think so.
Of course, the lockout is more complicated than that. There are considerable philosophical differences, and rival economists are being employed. Egos and arrogance on both sides also hinder things.
But I don’t think the lockout gets past the most basic level for most players. To them, it’s, “We gave up a lot last time around. We won’t do it again.”
A lot of people and fans can side with that. Not every player is a multimillionaire. Many are three- or four-year grunts who don’t make all that much and whose careers don’t last all that long.
As a result, players are motivated, unified and ready for a fight. The owners’ opening proposal that called for a 24 percent pay cut and new restrictions on contracts, free agency and arbitration only emboldened them..."
- Adam L. Jahns, Chicago Sun-Times
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Download the September 16 Ta Yp' Opsin podcast
Violent protests across the Middle East:
-internet companies address legal restrictions and security concerns.
Saturday, September 15, 2012
"Unfriending" and "unfollowing"
Thursday, September 13, 2012
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Tell us what you think; join the discussion on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/taypopsin) or send us your opinion at taypopsin@gmail.com.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg rejected suggestions that banning the sale of supersized sodas and other sugary drinks constitutes an assault on personal liberty. "Nobody is banning anything," he said, noting that restaurant customers can still buy as much soda as they want, as long as they are willing to carry it in multiple containers.
The regulations, approved easily by the city Board of Health, apply to any establishment with a food-service license, including fast-food places, delis, movie and Broadway theaters, the concession stands at Yankee Stadium and the pizzerias of Little Italy. They will be barred from serving sugary beverages in cups or bottles larger than 16 ounces.(AP)
'Pink Slime" defamation suit
Although several news organizations used the term "pink slime," Dan Webb, BPI's Chicago-based attorney, said ABC was being sued for attacking the company "night after night." The "defendants engaged in a monthlong vicious, concerted disinformation campaign against BPI," the lawsuit claims, citing 11 TV and 14 online reports from March 7 to April 3.
"The lawsuit is without merit," Jeffrey W. Schneider, ABC's senior vice president, said in a brief statement Thursday. "We will contest it vigorously."
The lawsuit filed in a South Dakota state court names several individuals as defendants, including Kit Foshee, a former BPI quality assurance manager who was interviewed by ABC.
The Food Integrity Campaign, a whistleblower advocacy group that has worked with Foshee, said in a statement Thursday that Foshee was fired from BPI because he refused to participate in the company's "misrepresentation of the product's safety to the USDA and to consumers."
"Thanks to ABC News, Kit Foshee and other whistleblowers shared their concerns about BPI," said Amanda Hitt, the group's director and former counsel to Foshee after he was fired. "Doing so took enormous courage for which they should be honored, not attacked. We believe that this product is questionable."
Critics worry about how the meat is processed. Bits of beef are heated and treated with a small amount of ammonia to kill bacteria, a practice that has been used for decades and meets federal food safety standards. Webb said that ABC ignored that information, instead giving the impression "that it's some type of chemical product ... some kind of repulsive, horrible, vile substance that got put into ground beef and hidden from consumers."
The name "pink slime" gained traction after The New York Times quoted Gerald Zirnstein, the USDA microbiologist who named the product "pink slime" in a 2009 article on the safety of meat processing methods. In the following years, celebrity chef Jamie Oliver began railing against it. McDonald's Corp. and other fast food companies stopped using the product, and major supermarket chains vowed to stop selling beef containing the low-cost product. An online petition calling for it to be banned from school menus, attracting hundreds of thousands of supporters.
Source: AP
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Alzheimer's could be the most catastrophic impact of junk food
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Priceless or worthless?
The podcast becomes available for download on Mondays after its broadcast (link posted on these pages).
 |
The pgymy three-toed sloth is native to an island off Panama. Fewer than 500 are thought to be left.
(Photo credit: Craig Turner / Zoological Society of London)
|
Striking Chicago teachers take on national education reform
Chicago teachers walking picket lines are taking on not just their combative mayor but a powerful education reform movement that is transforming public schools across the United States.
The new vision, championed by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, who used to run Chicago's schools, calls for a laser focus on standardized tests meant to gauge student skills in reading, writing and math. Teachers who fail to raise student scores may be fired. Schools that fail to boost scores may be shut down. The monopoly that the public sector once held on public schools will be broken with a proliferation of charter schools, which are publicly funded but privately run - and typically non-union.
To reformers, both Democrats and Republicans, these changes offer the best hope for improving dismal urban schools. Many teachers, however, see the new policies as a brazen attempt to shift public resources into private hands, to break the power of teachers unions, and to reduce the teaching profession to test preparation.
In Chicago, last-minute contract talks broke down not over pay, but over the reform agenda, both sides said Sunday. The union would not agree to Emanuel's proposal that teacher evaluations be based in large measure on student test scores.
Nor would the union accept his push to give principals more autonomy over hiring, weakening the seniority system that has long protected veteran teachers. Already, the demographics of the teaching profession in Chicago have notably shifted, as the private managers who run charter schools tend to favor rookie teachers who are younger and far less likely to be minorities, studies have shown.
In Chicago, last-minute contract talks broke down not over pay, but over the reform agenda, both sides said Sunday. The union would not agree to Emanuel's proposal that teacher evaluations be based in large measure on student test scores.
Nor would the union accept his push to give principals more autonomy over hiring, weakening the seniority system that has long protected veteran teachers. Already, the demographics of the teaching profession in Chicago have notably shifted, as the private managers who run charter schools tend to favor rookie teachers who are younger and far less likely to be minorities, studies have shown.
In the past three years, at least 20 state legislatures have passed bills setting up new teacher evaluation systems; many require student test scores to be the primary factor. (Teachers are typically rated not on how many students pass the test, but on how much growth students show from one year to the next.)
In some cities, teachers have worked with politicians and administrators to design evaluation systems they feel are fair. AFT President Randi Weingarten has praised that approach, which she calls "solution-driven unionism."
In Chicago, though, negotiations went nowhere.
(Reuters, by Stephanie Simon and James Kelleher; Editing by Ta Yp'opsin)
Monday, September 10, 2012
'Get lost, rich jerk'
France's richest man, Bernard Arnault, head of the LVMH luxury group, is suing the leftwing newspaper Libération for publicly insulting him.Arnault launched a lawsuit on Monday after the paper carried a large photograph of the business tycoon with the headline "Casse-toi riche con!" (Get lost, rich jerk) on its front page.The headline echoed the former president Nicolas Sarkozy's insult to a farmworker who refused to shake his hand at the national agricultural show.Sarkozy told the man: "Casse-toi pauv' con!" (Get lost, poor jerk).
The Libération story referred to Arnault's announcement that he was seeking Belgian nationality just a day before President François Hollande confirmed a 75% tax band for those earning more than €1m a year.Hollande has called for exceptional "solidarity" from the rich to help France overcome its economic woes that include high unemployment, public debt and stuttering growth. Hollande has said there will be "no exceptions" to the new tax and asked business leaders to lead by example by paying up.
-The Guardian
Greek (extreme?) makeover for Angela
Ta Nea's front-page illustration of the German chancellor in national Greek costume with the headline "the big turn in favor of Greece". It reads: "Angela Merkel has finally decided decisively to keep Athens in the common euro currency."
Der Speigel claimed today that Merkel now embraces the theory that a Greek euro exit would be too chaotic.
Hey teachers, hey officials, keep them kids safe and occupied
The teachet walkout in the nation’s third-largest school district leaves officials scrambling to figure out how to keep nearly 400,000 children safe and occupied.
Thousands of teachers walked off the job Monday in Chicago’s first schools strike in 25 years, after union leaders announced negotiations had failed to resolve a contract dispute with school district officials by a midnight deadline.
The walkout posed a tricky challenge for the city and Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who said he would push to end the strike quickly.
City officials acknowledged that children left unsupervised — especially in neighborhoods with a history of gang violence — might be at risk, but vowed to protect the students’ safety.
“We will make sure our kids are safe, we will see our way through these issues and our kids will be back in the classroom where they belong,” Emanuel said.
The school district asked community organizations to provide additional programs for students, and a number of churches, libraries and other groups plan to offer day camps and other activities.
Police Chief Garry McCarthy said he would take officers off desk duty and deploy them to deal with any teachers’ protests as well as the thousands of students who could be roaming the streets.
Emanuel and the union officials have much at stake. Unions and collective bargaining by public employees have recently come under criticism in many parts of the country, and all sides are closely monitoring who might emerge with the upper hand in the Chicago dispute.
The timing also may be inopportune for Emanuel, whose city administration is wrestling with a spike in murders and shootings in some city neighborhoods and who just agreed to take a larger role in fundraising for Obama’s re-election campaign.
Source: AP
Angela Merkel's change of heart on Greece
An excerpt from the article:
"Attentive observers already noticed the chancellor's apparent change of heart two weeks ago. Merkel, whose father was a pastor in communist Eastern Germany, has suddenly discovered a deep affection for the downtrodden people of Greece. She compassionately expressed empathy for "what many in Greece have to suffer," and said that "it does make one's heart bleed." Up until this point in time, Merkel and her finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, were seen as supporters of the "chain theory." According to this theory, the monetary union is a chain in which each individual country forms a link. Since Greece is the weakest link, if it leaves, as the theory has it, the chain will become stronger overall. But since this summer, the majority of Merkel's advisers have now become supporters of the "domino theory," which postulates that the monetary union would not become stronger if Greece exits. On the contrary: If Greece falls, one country after the other could then be in danger of toppling. Domino theorists argue that the impact on the economy, growth and employment would be catastrophic and incalculable. But one thing remains clear: If Greece falls, Germany will have to pay -- and the bill will come to almost exactly €62 billion ($79 billion). This is the colossal sum that the Greeks and their central bank owe the Germans. The entire amount would all have to be written off."
So, potentially an important change of policy in Berlin. If true, it could support the "muddle through" theory of how the euro crisis will play out (namely that Europe could bumble along with a new rescue plan here, some tighter political union here, as much austerity as can be tolerated, and avoid the system melting down). The word last month was that the White House was terrified of the eurocrisis flaring up before the presidential elections in November, and had begged euro leaders to prevent an early Grexit. Now it's the German elections that could affect Greece's fate. If important elections kept looming on the horizon, perhaps there'll never be a right time for a Grexit....
- The Guardian
A crucial and optimistic Euro week
German judges, Dutch voters, IMF inspectors and Brussels regulators could all spring surprises this week that make it harder to resolve a sovereign debt crisis and prevent a breakup of the single currency.
Germany's constitutional court rules on Wednesday on the legality of the euro zone's permanent financial rescue fund, the European Commission unveils the same day detailed plans for a euro zone banking union, and the Netherlands holds a cliff hanger general election.
Then European finance ministers meet in Cyprus from Friday to try to thrash out differences over banking supervision and possible extra aid for Spain, the zone's fourth biggest economy, and Greece.
Decisions on Spain and Greece are not likely until October, but the talks may point to whether Madrid will apply for European assistance, at the risk of unpalatable conditions and supervision, and whether EU and IMF inspectors are leaning towards allowing a vital aid installment to keep Athens afloat.
(Reuters)
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Download the September 9 Ta Yp' Opsin podcast
Conventions in the political rearview mirror, swing states ahead
Friday, September 7, 2012
Fall asleep and wait for a kiss
Any unmarried museum-goer can kiss the woman in the hope of making Beauty fall in love and awaken.
Taras Polataiko, a Ukrainian-born artist now based in Canada, says the goal of his exhibit is to recreate the famous fairy tale and witness the birth of love.
But it also has political undertones, symbolizing the patience of the Ukrainian people trapped by what he calls the oppressive government of President Viktor Yanukovych, and hopes that the nation will one day awaken to true freedom.
-AP
Loukanikos in Washington, DC
Before visiting the White House[:)], Loukanikos stopped by Wagtime Pet Spa & Boutique in Washington, DC. Although he was impressed by the cage-free doggie daycare, he prefers roaming the streets, smelling tear gas and marching alongside protesters.Loukanikos (Sausage in English), also known as Kanellos (Cinnamon), is the Greek riot dog that brought a bit of cheer back to the streets, tagging alongside protesters during demonstrations in Athens in 2011.
Photo: Linda Davidson/The Washington Post
Loukanikos in South Africa
A Loukanikos look-alike and friends march alongside striking mineworkers outside Lonmin's Marikana mine in South Africa as they await the arrival of freed colleagues, September 6 2012. Loukanikos (Sausage in English), also known as Kanellos (Cinnamon), is the Greek riot dog that brought a bit of cheer back to the streets, tagging alongside protesters in the city during demonstrations in Athens in 2011.
Photo: REUTERS/Mike Hutchings
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Staged suicides, real despair
About 4,000 Greek police, coastguards and firemen protested in Athens on Septembet 6, 2012, staging fake suicides on gallows they placed outside the finance ministry and parliament to symbolize the pain of budget cuts.
"The troika is sucking our blood," they shouted, referring to the European Union, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank, the international creditors bankrolling Greece on condition it cuts public spending and raises taxes.
Athens plans to slash police pay in a new round of cuts worth nearly 12 billion euros ($15.16 billion)over the next two years, a plan likely to provoke new protests in the coming weeks.
The staged hangings were meant as a reminder to politicians that suicide rates have soared in Greece since the austerity measures took hold.
Earlier on Thursday, protesting officers blocked the entrance to the riot police headquarters, preventing buses carrying forces from leaving for the site of major demonstrations planned this weekend in Thessaloniki.
Scuffles broke out as riot police tried to clear the entrance of several dozen police union members - many in uniform - chanting anti-austerity slogans and holding banners.
Some riot police appeared reluctant to tackle uniformed officers. "They make us fight against our own brothers," said one riot policeman who declined to be named.
-(Reuters)
Photo:EPA
Evidence of a wider use of waterboarding
Human Rights Watch said it has uncovered evidence of a wider use of waterboarding in American interrogations of detainees than has been acknowledged by the United States, in a report Thursday that details further brutal treatment at secret CIA-run prisons under the Bush administration-era U.S. program of detention and rendition of terror suspects.
The report also paints a more complete picture of Washington's close cooperation with the regime of Libya's former dictator Moammar Gadhafi in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.
AP News : Rights Watch: Evidence of wider US waterboarding
Sunday, September 2, 2012
Download the September 2 Ta Yp' Opsin podcast
RNC speakers stray from reality and comprehension
Πρώτο Μέρος
= Παραληρήματα και ασυναρτησίες στο συνέδριο των Ρεπουμπλικάνων: τελικά τί έμεινε;
-Ελλάδα: η δόση της δόσης... και το τελευταίο(;) πακέτο
=Συρία: η επόμενη μέρα που αργεί και το θολό παρόν της γειτονιάς της
Και στο Δεύτερο Μέρος,
-Οι αμερικανικές εκλογές και το (αβέβαιο) μέλλον της τεχνητής γονιμοποίησης
-Το τιμόνι στην σύνταξη, η κάνναβη στην εφηβεία: όταν το μυαλό γίνεται ...λίγο
Κατεβάστε Τα Υπ’ Οψιν εδώ: