News for today's 2018

ARGENTINA: THE GEOPOLITICS OF INTERNATIONAL MONETARY AND FINANCIAL SYSTEMS

5:59 AM Tukiyooo 0

<br /> <br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8b_jmNUK1PUh_6if9JUGsidcGR_YlMHxuHnE5jpUJJo85WfJkF9KBIQH5D-faGNKduuYUu2xEj7vkpXI2JexRLBEGO8hptwG9kzZ-plkKlw34FYhEmDNUCCWXTqy3L9Gv_J_kJJXHdW20/s1600/ab923df70571056fd3d9988529762275.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8b_jmNUK1PUh_6if9JUGsidcGR_YlMHxuHnE5jpUJJo85WfJkF9KBIQH5D-faGNKduuYUu2xEj7vkpXI2JexRLBEGO8hptwG9kzZ-plkKlw34FYhEmDNUCCWXTqy3L9Gv_J_kJJXHdW20/s320/ab923df70571056fd3d9988529762275.jpg" width="254" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">IIlustration </span>by Jon Krause</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">THE VULTURES VICTORY: </span></b></span></span></div><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">VULTURE FUNDS HAVE RAISED GREED TO A NEW LEVEL</span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">By </span>Joseph E. Stiglitz, a Nobel laureate in economics and University  Professor at Columbia University, was Chairman of President Bill  Clinton’s Council of Economic Advisers and served as Senior Vice  President and Chief Economist of the World Bank. His most recent book is  <i>The Price of Inequality: How Today’s Divided Society Endangers our Future</i>.</span></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A recent decision by a UNITED STATES appeals court threatens to upend global sovereign-debt markets. It may even lead to the US no longer being viewed as a good place to issue sovereign debt. At the very least, it renders non-viable all debt restructurings under the standard debt contracts. In the process, a basic principle of modern capitalism – that when debtors cannot pay back creditors, a fresh start is needed – has been overturned.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The trouble began a dozen years ago, when ARGENTINA had no choice but to devalue its currency and default on its debt. Under the existing regime, the country had been on a rapid downward spiral of the kind that has now become familiar in GREECE and elsewhere in EUROPE. Unemployment was soaring, and austerity, rather than restoring fiscal balance, simply exacerbated the economic downturn.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">DEVALUATION AND DEBT RESTRUCTURING WORKED</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In subsequent years, until the global financial crisis erupted in 2008, ARGENTINA’S annual GDP growth was 8% or higher, one of the fastest rates in the world.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Even former creditors benefited from this rebound. In a highly innovative move, ARGENTINA exchanged old debt for new debt – at about 30 cents on the dollar or a little more – plus a GDP-indexed bond. The more ARGENTINA grew, the more it paid to its former creditors.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">ARGENTINA’S interests and those of its creditors were thus aligned: both wanted growth. It was the equivalent of a “Chapter 11” restructuring of AMERICAN corporate debt, in which debt is swapped for equity, with bondholders becoming new shareholders.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Debt restructurings often entail conflicts among different claimants. That is why, for domestic debt disputes, countries have bankruptcy laws and courts. But there is no such mechanism to adjudicate international debt disputes.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Once upon a time, such contracts were enforced by armed intervention, as MEXICO, VENEZUELA, EGYPT, and a host of other countries learned at great cost in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. After the ARGENTINE crisis, President George W. Bush’s administration vetoed proposals to create a mechanism for sovereign-debt restructuring. As a result, there is not even the pretense of attempting fair and efficient restructurings.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Poor countries are typically at a huge disadvantage in bargaining with big multinational lenders, which are usually backed by powerful home-country governments. Often, debtor countries are squeezed so hard for payment that they are bankrupt again after a few years.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">FINANCIAL FIRMS PUT THEIR OWN INTERESTS AHEAD OF THOSE OF THE COUNTRY – AND THE WORLD. </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYJni2_2WF2iSDIO4gdpX10Gk5YJ0Qd38MlfQyPWcwz1yxDyTDsSd1QrE0W4uudTda1BRTD6YxhYTik5-btQJ1UoofUepgWh0Z9SLIabRlZKpwmX256aLlf4PruyyxOyXQZVyenCy_QSHJ/s1600/maxresdefault.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYJni2_2WF2iSDIO4gdpX10Gk5YJ0Qd38MlfQyPWcwz1yxDyTDsSd1QrE0W4uudTda1BRTD6YxhYTik5-btQJ1UoofUepgWh0Z9SLIabRlZKpwmX256aLlf4PruyyxOyXQZVyenCy_QSHJ/s400/maxresdefault.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Economists applauded ARGENTINA’S attempt to avoid this outcome through a deep restructuring accompanied by the GDP-linked bonds. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">But a few “vulture” funds – most notoriously the hedge fund Elliott Management</b>, headed by the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">billionaire Paul E. Singer</b> – saw ARGENTINA’S travails as an opportunity to make huge profits at the expense of the ARGENTINE people. They bought the old bonds at a fraction of their face value, and then used litigation to try to force ARGENTINA to pay 100 cents on the dollar.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">AMERICANS have seen how financial firms put their own interests ahead of those of the country – and the world. The vulture funds have raised greed to a new level.</span></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Their litigation strategy took advantage of a standard contractual clause (called <i>pari passu</i>) intended to ensure that all claimants are treated equally. Incredibly, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York <a href="http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/USCOURTS-ca2-12-00105" target="_blank">decided</a>that this meant that if ARGENTINA paid in full what it owed those who had accepted debt restructuring, it had to pay in full what it owed to the vultures.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">LENDERS ARE SUPPOSED TO BE EXPERTS ON RISK MANAGEMENT AND ASSESSMENT</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">If this principle prevails, no one would ever accept debt restructuring. There would never be a fresh start – with all of the unpleasant consequences that this implies.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In debt crises, blame tends to fall on the debtors. They borrowed too much. The creditors are equally to blame – they lent too much and imprudently. Indeed, lenders are supposed to be experts on risk management and assessment, and in that sense, the onus should be on them. The risk of default or debt restructuring induces creditors to be more careful in their lending decisions.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">THE REPERCUSSIONS OF THIS MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE MAY BE FELT FOR A LONG TIME</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtnYA3rhAFT9jzbe0EBv4OZpNtker0ld-T7UkDrD_CWOBqJz3mfRCE1K_qdbN8cjeA9gsOPZAByPcwNW5TVEcFQZ1wdY-_UTY_H-divNlhzWyLEFDDCuNsa5G-Y0zr2p_P_UFgtVPZg9U6/s1600/griesa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtnYA3rhAFT9jzbe0EBv4OZpNtker0ld-T7UkDrD_CWOBqJz3mfRCE1K_qdbN8cjeA9gsOPZAByPcwNW5TVEcFQZ1wdY-_UTY_H-divNlhzWyLEFDDCuNsa5G-Y0zr2p_P_UFgtVPZg9U6/s320/griesa.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> <br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;">US Judge Thomas Griesa: Impartial or lackey of Financial Institutions?</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">After all, what developing country with its citizens’ long-term interests in mind will be prepared to issue bonds through the US financial system, when AMERICA’S courts – as so many other parts of its political system – seem to allow financial interests to trump the public interest?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Countries would be well advised not to include <i>pari passu</i> clauses in future debt contracts, at least without specifying more fully what is intended. Such contracts should also include collective-action clauses, which make it impossible for vulture funds to hold up debt restructuring. When a sufficient proportion of creditors agree to a restructuring plan (in the case of ARGENTINA, the holders of more than 90% of the country’s debt did), the others can be forced to go along.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The fact that the International Monetary Fund, the US Department of Justice, and anti-poverty NGOs all joined in opposing the vulture funds is revealing. But so, too, is the court’s decision, which evidently assigned little weight to their arguments.</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For those in developing and emerging-market countries who harbor grievances against the advanced countries, there is now one more reason for discontent with a brand of globalization that has been managed to serve rich countries’ interests (especially their financial sectors’ interests).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In the aftermath of the global financial crisis, the United Nations Commission of Experts on Reforms of the International Monetary and Financial System urged that we design an efficient and fair system for the restructuring of sovereign debt. The US court’s tendentious, economically dangerous ruling shows why we need such a system now.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVXnE7Nhhby5Oa-PEaD-v-9cGzbc6EKZXWwkmclVOu2YR5n2LEcmTPHYuLeOVfi1E80_21jjVlym_7BTWSnDBj6yloOZyBBbwVh2BKc16kPRLQRENCYvxLWvrtLkGfIDKgWy_oODOeUvPO/s1600/e708039e01de95e712f809849cd2cc0b_XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVXnE7Nhhby5Oa-PEaD-v-9cGzbc6EKZXWwkmclVOu2YR5n2LEcmTPHYuLeOVfi1E80_21jjVlym_7BTWSnDBj6yloOZyBBbwVh2BKc16kPRLQRENCYvxLWvrtLkGfIDKgWy_oODOeUvPO/s400/e708039e01de95e712f809849cd2cc0b_XL.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">ARGENTINA ANTICIPATED ADDRESSING ‘VULTURE FUNDS’ ISSUE AT G20 SUMMIT</span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The Argentine leader said Greece is going for its third debt restructuring with ‘shaves’ and yet has been unable to pay, “and to us who have agreed with 93% of bondholders and have been paying regularly since 2005, they want to beat us down”.</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">After arriving in RUSSIA for the two-day G20 summit, ARGENTINE President Cristina Fernández stressed she will be addressing the “vulture funds issue” during the summit despite the US rejected to mention it in the final statement.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The ARGENTINE president said ‘vulture funds take advantage of everyone” </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Vulture funds take advantage of everyone, not only ARGENTINA” she told reporters adding ARGENTINA will discuss “employment creation, production and investment “which are” the elements which will save the global economy amid a context of crisis”.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“I was reading that in GREECE the government has allowed the sale of food with expired dates and over a million government staff despite not having been paid for the last year, still go every day to work fearing the loss of jobs”, added the ARGENTINE president.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">ARGENTINA WILL HOLD BILATERAL TALKS WITH RUSSIAN AND CHINA</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“These are the things we should talk about and deal with the ‘vulture funds’ which take advantage of countries close to defaulting or indebted as us” insisted Cristina Fernandez. “This has happened to the GREEKS and the SPANIARDS and the PORTUGUESE and in SPAIN vulture funds also purchased junk sovereign bonds at rock bottom prices and will be asking for full face payment”.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The Argentine leader said GREECE is going for its third debt restructuring with ‘shaves’ and yet has been unable to pay, “and to us who have agreed with 93% of bondholders and have been paying regularly since 2005, they want to beat us down”.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“The St Petersburg summit is very special since it takes place at a delicate and serious moment of world affairs, not only because of the economic crisis but also because of the complicated global institutional situation such is security in the MIDDLE EAST”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The ARGENTINE head of state is expected to hold bilateral meetings with RUSSIAN leader Vladimir Putin and CHINA’S Xi Jinping.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Secretary General to the presidency Oscar Parrilli also informed Cristina Fernández will be meeting INDIAN and JAPANESE leaders Manmohan Singh and Shinzo Abe respectively as well as SOUTH AFRICAN head of state Jacob Zuma in the margins of the multilateral reunion.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">With her CHINESE counterpart, the ARGENTINE leader will be signing three agreements that aim at strengthening bilateral ties in strategic areas such as economy and food.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: blue;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Background Information: </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">BUSINESS CLIMATE IN LATIN AMERICA REACHES 18-MONTH HIGH</span> </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/03/latin-american-economics.html">http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/03/latin-american-economics.html</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/09/us-and-china-battle-it-out-for-latin.html">http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/09/us-and-china-battle-it-out-for-latin.html</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/03/latin-america-and-europe.html">http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/03/latin-america-and-europe.html</a></span><br /><a href="http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/02/argentinean-politics-under-claw-of.html"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/02/argentinean-politics-under-claw-of.html</span></a></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitMFsY5eimgB7itsouMJdw7D6dhg_0dMiQl8pNagr21ld11HE5mEUiS7ULXtdqDRDj6X2aXNgf5MR877F_ed4URIYPObYqZKWiUMf4zplqJGe-p9Mi5D_nHuQdN9p1aJTlCv0Dum68Z-rA/s1600/Paul_Singer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitMFsY5eimgB7itsouMJdw7D6dhg_0dMiQl8pNagr21ld11HE5mEUiS7ULXtdqDRDj6X2aXNgf5MR877F_ed4URIYPObYqZKWiUMf4zplqJGe-p9Mi5D_nHuQdN9p1aJTlCv0Dum68Z-rA/s320/Paul_Singer.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paul E. Singer</td></tr></tbody></table></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Cristina Fernandez will also receive at a special meeting the new chief of the World Trade Organization, Roberto Azevedo.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">According to government sources, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner will be taking to the G20 table the official decision to reopen the debt swap (which already has half-approval and is supported by the opposition) –facing a 1.3 billion dollar legal dispute against US-based vulture funds-, calls to reform the international financial system, the fight against tax havens, and the creation of employment as a key element both to face and overcome the global crisis hitting the world since 2008.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">RUSSIA occupies this year the rotating chair of G20 and is hosting the St Petersburg summit at the St Constantine Palace. Putin said that the summit agenda will concentrate on uniting efforts to prop global economic growth and promote employment by creating jobs.</span></div>

ARGENTINA: THE GEOPOLITICS OF INTERNATIONAL MONETARY AND FINANCIAL SYSTEMS

IIlustration by Jon Krause THE VULTURES VICTORY: VULTURE FUNDS HAVE RAISED GREED TO A NEW LEVEL By Joseph E. Stiglitz, a Nobel laureate in...

Today's Teamster News 09.05.13

3:52 AM Tukiyooo 0

<a href="http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ual-flight-simulator-techs-vote-for-teamster-representation-2013-09-04" rel="nofollow">UAL Flight Simulator Techs Vote For Teamster Representation</a>  teamster.org   ...flight simulator technicians at United Airlines voted for sole representation by the Teamsters Union. The 98 technicians were previously represented by the Teamsters at United in Denver and the Transport Workers Union at Continental in Houston prior to the 2010 merger...<br /><a href="http://www.teamster.org/teamcare" rel="nofollow">TeamCare Improvements Announced for UPS Teamsters</a>  teamster.org   ...Local union leaders representing UPS Teamsters who currently receive TeamCare health care benefits and those moving into the TeamCare plan met in Chicago today to learn about improvements made since the UPS National Master Agreement was ratified in June...<br /><a href="http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/news/2013/09/04/workers-plan-major-nationwide-protest-against-walmart" rel="nofollow">Workers plan major nationwide protest against Walmart for September 5th</a>  Workday Minnesota   ...Workers in more than a dozen cities, including St. Paul, plan protests Thursday against Walmart’s treatment of its employees. Organizers expect thousands to participate in the demonstrations...<br /><a href="http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/03/paid-vacations-decline/?_r=0" rel="nofollow">Paid Vacation’s Decline</a>  New York Times   ...In 1992-93, 82 percent of American workers reported receiving paid vacation days. Today the share is down to 77 percent...<br /><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/04/who-makes-the-minimum-wage_n_3866290.html" rel="nofollow">Minimum Wage Workers Largely Live In The South, Are Women</a>  Huffington Post   ...Even in Hanson County, South Dakota, America’s cheapest county, a single <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/17/worker-wage_n_3610530.html">full-time worker needs to earn $10.20 per hour</a> -- nearly $3 more than the federal minimum wage -- to afford basic needs...<br /><a href="http://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2013/09/as-austerity-lifts-so-does-europe/" rel="nofollow">As austerity lifts, so does Europe</a>  macrobusiness   ...Another good week for Europe as the latest PMI data shows the tentative recovery is gaining pace...<br /><a href="http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/09/04/2572141/american-families-food-insecurity/" rel="nofollow">One In Seven American Families Faces Food Insecurity</a>  ThinkProgress   ...An average of 11 percent of families were food insecure from 1998 to 2007, but in 2008 the rate spiked above 14 percent...<br /><a href="http://www.epi.org/blog/budget-debates-matter-difference-gop-democratic/" rel="nofollow">Budget Debates Matter: The Difference in GOP and Democratic Levels of Discretionary Spending for 2014 Translates into Nearly 1 Million Jobs</a>  Economic Policy Institute   ...just as the intellectual case for austerity has fallen away, American policy is now set on an extremely austere auto-pilot that will slow growth and employment, all while the economy remains very far from recovered from the Great Recession...<br /><a href="http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/lehman-brothers-and-the-failure-of-free-market-finance-by-adair-turner" rel="nofollow">The Failure of Free-Market Finance</a>  Project Syndicate   ...high debt burdens, relentlessly rising for several decades – in the private sector even more than in the public sector – were a major threat to economic stability...<br /><a href="http://preview.reuters.com/2013/9/3/student-loan-default-rates" rel="nofollow">What we don't know about the $1.2 trillion student loan problem</a>  Reuters   ...$28,000 -- The typical 2012 college graduate’s debt load upon Graduation Day, according to Hamilton Place Strategies...<br /><a href="http://www.economicpopulist.org/content/us-trade-deficit-returns-july-2013-5356" rel="nofollow">The U.S. Trade Deficit Returns in July 2013</a>  Economic Populist   ...The real news is the monthly China trade deficit just hit a new all time high of $30.1 billion...<br /><a href="http://www.housingwire.com/articles/26628-injunction-preventing-hundreds-of-ri-foreclosures-is-lifted" rel="nofollow">Injunction preventing hundreds of RI foreclosures is lifted</a>  HousingWire   ...A Rhode Island federal judge lifted a blanket injunction, which initially blocked foreclosures in 825 different cases...<br /><a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-04/wealthy-new-yorkers-call-de-blasio-s-tax-plan-offensive.html" rel="nofollow">Wealthy New Yorkers Call De Blasio’s Tax Plan Offensive</a>  Bloomberg   ...When New York mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio first proposed taxing the rich so every child in the city could attend all-day preschool, it was October and he had support from fewer than 10 percent of Democrats in polls. Now he leads the pack...<br /><br />

Today's Teamster News 09.05.13

UAL Flight Simulator Techs Vote For Teamster Representation teamster.org ...flight simulator technicians at United Airlines voted for so...

Tips On Marketing Your Weight Loss Center

3:06 AM Tukiyooo 0

<div style='font-style:italic;' class='uawbyline'>By Billy Mason</div><br /><br />  <div class='uawarticle'>Do you know how to take the next step in your weight loss treatment and consulting services business venture? Are you sure what the next step is? Do you have a stable business that is not growing? You can find exactly what you need to know in this article. It is all mapped out for you and will give your business the title of being the most prodigious weight loss clinic around while it stays above water.<br />  <br />  Without great advertising, your weight loss treatment and consulting services business will never get off the ground. Marketing tells customers why they should give your business and your products a chance. Investing into marketing will be sure to increase your sales, making the investment worth every penny. Make sure that you start marketing immediately.<br />  <br />  Don't focus too much on obtaining trademarks and patents. These things are important, of course, but they are also time consuming and expensive and can hold you back from actually producing your product. Protect your intellectual property, but do so without getting in your own way.<br />  <br />  Make an email account that is just for your clinic. This is excellent when you do e-mail marketing or send out monthly newsletters to clients. Choose a simple name for your account, and not anything too wild.<br />  <br />  "Sharing" online is a great way to popularize your weight loss clinic. Add "Share to Facebook" and "Share to Twitter" buttons to your website, and it will be easy for people to spread the word about you.<br />  <br />  If you want your weight loss treatment and consulting services business to have a website, make sure it is quality. Make it vibrant but professional to attract customers. If it looks like it was made on MS Paint, you could end up driving people away.<br />  <br />  Money will be very tight when you start your weight loss treatment and consulting services business. Weight Loss Treatment Businesses need a little while to settle in before they start making actual money. While the money in your budget is still low, you should be careful to avoid unnecessary expenses. If it does not need to be bought right now, do not buy it.<br />  <br />  Never lose hope in your weight loss treatment and consulting services business, no matter how bad it might seem. The one sure way to lose your business to bankruptcy is to believe that you are beyond hope. If it seems like your business is on the brink, continue to work hard and keep up your passion. You can turn it around.<br />  <br />  A customer should be lured into giving you weight loss treatment and consulting services business not through promises you don't intend to fulfill but by keeping their faith and developing a long standing relationship. Customers should never be allowed to feel cheated by the numerous terms and conditions that you put down in your small print. Be a like gardener who tends rather than hunter who seeks- out aggressively<br />  <br />  </div><br />  <div class='uawresource'><br />  	<div style='font-style:italic;' class='uawabout'><br />  		About the Author:<br />  	</div><br />  	<div class='uawlinks'>Simply go to any popular search engine and enter <a href='http://www.urgentcarelahabra.net'>weight loss center in la habra</a> if you need help with coming up with more ideas about <a href='http://www.urgentcarelahabra.net/hcg-diet.html'>hcg weight loss</a>.</div><br />  </div><br />

Tips On Marketing Your Weight Loss Center

By Billy Mason Do you know how to take the next step in your weight loss treatment and consulting services business venture? Are you sur...

Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 09/05/2013

2:30 AM Tukiyooo 0

<ul class="diigo-linkroll">      <li>      <p class="diigo-link">                <a href="http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/start-a-new-habit-with-chains-cc/52001">Start a New Habit with Chains.cc</a>      </p>      <p class="diigo-description">Building habits takes time. There are apps like "Don't break the chain" and "lift" but this new one mentioned by ProfHacker called "chains" is worth a look just because it is so visual - you could use this to build habits in your classroom as well. </p>              <p class="diigo-tags">          <span>tags:</span>                      <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/habits">habits</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/productivity">productivity</a></p>                                        </li>      <li>      <p class="diigo-link">                <a href="http://www.edutopia.org/blog/common-core-math-high-school-matt-davis">Common Core Math: Best Resources for High School Educators</a>      </p>      <p class="diigo-description">Common Core high school math resources from Edutopia.</p>              <p class="diigo-tags">          <span>tags:</span>                      <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/common core">common core</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/math">math</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a></p>                                        </li>      <li>      <p class="diigo-link">                <a href="http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2013/09/try-azendoo-to-organize-group-projects.html">Try Azendoo to Organize Group Projects</a>      </p>      <p class="diigo-description">Richard Byrne recommends using Azendoo to organize group projects. While I use Trello, I do recommend finding something to help you manage #geniushour if you're going to take that approach in your classroom - Azendoo may just work.</p>              <p class="diigo-tags">          <span>tags:</span>                      <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/geniushour">geniushour</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/pbl">pbl</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/apps">apps</a></p>                                        </li>      <li>      <p class="diigo-link">                <a href="http://www.edutopia.org/blog/ccss-middle-school-math-tech-monica-burns">Common Core in Action: Math in the Middle School Classroom</a>      </p>      <p class="diigo-description">Looks like some great resources for Common Core middle school math teachers on the Edutopia website.</p>              <p class="diigo-tags">          <span>tags:</span>                      <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/math">math</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/edutopia">edutopia</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/common core">common core</a></p>                                        </li>      <li>      <p class="diigo-link">                <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/04/skype-for-windows-phone-8-now-supports-video-messaging/?ncid=rss_semi">Skype for Windows Phone 8 now supports video messaging</a>      </p>      <p class="diigo-description">If Mystery Skypes are too hard to set up - TRY THIS! The new skype lets you leave Video MESSAGES. So you can Mystery Skype in a whole new way. This is GREAT news and takes much of the complexity out of setting up a mystery skype. While synchronous skyping is always great, if it isn't possible, this works.</p>              <p class="diigo-tags">          <span>tags:</span>                      <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/skype">skype</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/mystery skype">mystery skype</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/tumblr">tumblr</a></p>                                        </li>      <li>      <p class="diigo-link">                <a href="http://www.google.com/enterprise/apps/education/resources/lesson-plans.html">Resources: Lesson plans – Google Apps for Education</a>      </p>      <p class="diigo-description">Lots of free lesson plans by some reputable teachers using Google products. These are on the Google website and looks like many fellow Google Certified Teachers have prepared the plans. Awesome! Pass it along.</p>              <p class="diigo-tags">          <span>tags:</span>                      <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/lesson plans">lesson plans</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/google">google</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/tumblr">tumblr</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a></p>                                        </li>      <li>      <p class="diigo-link">                <a href="http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/slashdot/eqWf/~3/gwSlpF1jnWA/story01.htm">MyOpenID To Shut Down In February</a>      </p>      <p class="diigo-description">If you use the MyOpenId service on your website or for anything, they've announced that they will stop the service on February 1, 2014. So many are starting to use Google sign in or Facebook that myOpenId may not be the problem it would have been several years back, but it is worth a mention.</p>              <p class="diigo-tags">          <span>tags:</span>                      <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a></p>                                        </li>      <li>      <p class="diigo-link">                <a href="http://langwitches.org/blog/">Langwitches Blog | The Magic of Learning</a>      </p>      <p class="diigo-description">Will you help Silvia Tolisano's students by letting them know what screencasts you want them to record?  Thank you for taking a moment. This is a great project she's doing for these 6th graders. She does such a wonderful job of helping students develop an authentic audience.</p>              <p class="diigo-tags">          <span>tags:</span>                      <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/authentic">authentic</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/audience">audience</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/flatclass">flatclass</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/edtech">edtech</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/pbl">pbl</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/digital">digital</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/storytelling">storytelling</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/bestpractices">bestpractices</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/all_teachers">all_teachers</a></p>                                        </li>      <li>      <p class="diigo-link">                <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/offices/education/programs/national/dln/webcast/webcast.html">DLN - Webcast | NASA</a>      </p>      <p class="diigo-description">If you want to take the NASA Challenge - they are scheduling a webcast that will explain more about the challenge and how to do the radiation activity on October 18th, 2013 starting at 3:00 pm CT. This is the channel where it can be seen, so mark your calendars now and plan to see it.</p>              <p class="diigo-tags">          <span>tags:</span>                      <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/science">science</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/nasa">nasa</a></p>                                        </li>      <li>      <p class="diigo-link">                <a href="http://app.emaze.com/40664/central-nervous-system">Central Nervous System-emaze-amazing presentations in minutes</a>      </p>      <p class="diigo-description">Here's a sample presentation from eMaze. If you look at it, you'll see elements of Prezi and Haiku deck. These simple presentation makers add variety. I prefer to have multiple types of presentation programs to keep our work fresh and interesting. </p>              <p class="diigo-tags">          <span>tags:</span>                      <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a></p>                                        </li>      <li>      <p class="diigo-link">                <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/education/edc/">Exploration Design Challenge | NASA</a>      </p>      <p class="diigo-description">All students and educators participating in the challeng will have their name flown on the Exploration Flight Test-I mission as a member of the virtual crew. This mission will be unmanned and will launch in late 2014. So, kids can be a "virtual explorer."  There are 4 challenges, age appropriate, to help design protective radiation protection for astronauts. We need to get students interest in space travel for a variety of reasons. This is a lovely real world project for students to join or could be a project for one of your #geniushour teams.  "The goal of the Exploration Design Challenge is for students to research and design ways to protect astronauts from space radiation. NASA and Lockheed Martin are developing the Orion spacecraft that will carry astronauts beyond low Earth orbit and on to an asteroid or Mars. Protecting astronauts from radiation on these distant travels is an important -- and very real -- problem that needs solving. NASA would like your help!"</p>              <p class="diigo-tags">          <span>tags:</span>                      <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/tumblr">tumblr</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/science">science</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/techintegrator">techintegrator</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/projects">projects</a></p>                                        </li>      <li>      <p class="diigo-link">                <a href="https://education.skype.com/users/23215-coolcatteacher">coolcatteacher - Skype in the classroom</a>      </p>      <p class="diigo-description">If you have older kids and want to Mystery Skype - I'd like to start setting some up - tweet me through this Skype profile or via Twitter. I have students at a variety of times -- 5 classes. ;-) Join in and find others!!!! This is for you. Set a goal of how many mystery skype's you'd like to do in your classes. I'd like to do once a month eventually but for now, if I can just get for each class, I'm going to take it from there.</p>              <p class="diigo-tags">          <span>tags:</span>                      <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/Skype">Skype</a></p>                                        </li>      <li>      <p class="diigo-link">                <a href="https://education.skype.com/mysteryskype">#MysterySkype - Skype in the classroom</a>      </p>      <p class="diigo-description">You can now plan a Mystery Skype by registering on Skype. They've got information on how to do it and a system to help you pair with classes your age. I'm all in this!</p>              <p class="diigo-tags">          <span>tags:</span>                      <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/flatclass">flatclass</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/skype">skype</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/mysteryskype">mysteryskype</a></p>                                        </li>      <li>      <p class="diigo-link">                <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%7BsearchTerms%7D">Mystery Skype hasthtag on Twitter</a>      </p>      <p class="diigo-description">If you want to Mystery Skype, the hashtag on Twitter is #mysteryskype. There's also a new place on Skype for this as well.</p>              <p class="diigo-tags">          <span>tags:</span>                      <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/education">education</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/news">news</a>            <a href="https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher/flatclass">flatclass</a></p>                                        </li>  </ul><p class="diigo-ps">Posted from <a href='https://www.diigo.com'>Diigo</a>. The rest of my favorite links are <a href='https://www.diigo.com/user/coolcatteacher'>here</a>.</p>

Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 09/05/2013

Start a New Habit with Chains.cc Building habits takes time. There are apps like "Don't bre...

Siskiyou County California Votes To Secede, Form New State

1:56 AM Tukiyooo 0

<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_%28proposed_Pacific_state%29">There has been talk of this for many years</a>, both in Southern Oregon and Northern California but the Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors finally  voted 4 to 1 to form a new state called "Jefferson".<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/09/04/california-gold-rush-hotbed-siskiyou-county-votes-to-secede-and-form-state-of-jefferson/"><b>California Gold Rush hotbed Siskiyou County votes to secede and form state of ‘Jefferson’</b></a><br /><blockquote>By Arturo Garcia<br /><br />Leaders of a rural Northern California county are inviting communities in both California and Oregon to join them after voting on Tuesday to pursue seceding from the state.<br /><br />The Redding Record Searchlight reported that the Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors approved a plan to form their own state, “Jefferson,” in a 4-1 vote, citing a lack of representation at the state level and complaints about a $150 fire prevention fee for homeowners in smaller counties like Siskiyou.<br /><br />More than 100 residents reportedly packed the meeting, most of them supporting the decision. Only Board Chair Ed Valenzuela voted against the move, arguing that he was elected to uphold the current California state constitution.<br /><br />“I signed on to work within the system I know,” the Los Angeles Times quoted Valenzuela as saying. “I don’t like it, I don’t agree with it all the time, but I did sign up for that and I will continue to do so.”<br /><br />The Times also reported that officials in at least one neighboring county, Humboldt County, is considering a similar plan.<br /><br />“I was one of the people who thinks the state of Jefferson wasn’t a bad idea,” Humboldt County Supervisor Rex Bohn told the Record Searchlight. “There has been a total lack of respect of our water rights and the fire fee. Those things may not be important to the rest of the state, but it’s important to us.”<br /><br />Staff members for Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-CA), who represents the area in Congress, were also reportedly at the meeting to support the board’s decision, but said whether he also backed the plan.<br /><br />Supporters of the plan to secede argued that the proposed state would include not only Siskiyou County — which became a hotbed of activity during the California Gold Rush era after a gold strike in 1851 — but counties in both northern California and southern Oregon.</blockquote><br />Click on the link in the first sentence to go to the Wikipedia page, it has some interesting background on the history of this movement.<br /><br />

Siskiyou County California Votes To Secede, Form New State

There has been talk of this for many years , both in Southern Oregon and Northern California but the Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors fi...

20.7MP Camera, HD Display and Waterproof: SONY Xperia Z1 Launched

10:44 PM Tukiyooo 0

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: justify;">IFA’s platform of 2013 at Berlin is now witness of unveil another smartphone. On 4th September Sony launched Xperia Z1 with new features and specifications. New Xperia comes with 20.7 megapixel camera and you can also strap <a href="http://pc-gadgetworld.blogspot.in/2013/08/attachable-external-lens-for-iphone-and.html" target="_blank">Sony Lens</a> on to smartphone. The smart lens called QX100 and RX100.  Smart device is looking same as other SONY Xperia phones, except for camera features.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-M3ziXgpcPu4/UigYWPn35ZI/AAAAAAAAATE/c2VxQgUH0HQ/s1600/Sony-Xperia-Z1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-M3ziXgpcPu4/UigYWPn35ZI/AAAAAAAAATE/c2VxQgUH0HQ/s1600/Sony-Xperia-Z1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Some new features of camera which is added to Xperia Z1 are as below:</h3><div style="text-align: justify;">Social live: You can broadcast your video live from Xperia Z1 to Facebook.  </div><div style="text-align: justify;">Timeshift brust:  Xperia Z1 can click 61 images in just 2 seconds and you can choose the best image.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Info-eye: Provide you information about the Landmarks which are clicked by you.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">AR effect: You can create customisable animations.<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The smartphone have 5-inch full HD display with 1080 pixel. The device is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quad-core chip clocked at 2.2Ghz and running on Android 4.2 OS with a Sony skin. User will get power from a battery of 3000mAh. If you are looking for space you can expand it up to 64GB from 8GB with help of Micro SD card and 2GB RAM is also available in Xperia Z1.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uPtiiEpsuTw/UigX465kB4I/AAAAAAAAAS8/9FgJ3Ckf4OE/s1600/Sony+Xperia+Z1+Phone+Blue+Colo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uPtiiEpsuTw/UigX465kB4I/AAAAAAAAAS8/9FgJ3Ckf4OE/s1600/Sony+Xperia+Z1+Phone+Blue+Colo.jpg" title="sony xperia Z1" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: justify;">Androidadvices.com</span></td></tr></tbody></table><h3 style="text-align: left;">Technical specifications:</h3><div style="text-align: justify;">Processor: 2.2 GHz Qualcomm MSM8974 Quad Core with Sony Mobile BRAVIA® Engine 2</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Cameras: </div><div style="text-align: justify;">               Back camera: 20.7 megapixels with Sony G Lens with LED Flash</div><div style="text-align: justify;">               Facing camera: 2 megapixel</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Storage: 2GB RAM and 16GB in-built memory, expandable up to 64GB</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Connectivity: Wi-FI, NFC, Bluetooth, LTE and 4G</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Resolution: 1920-by-1080 pixel</div><div style="text-align: justify;">OS: Android 4.2 Jelly Bean</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Weight: 169 gm</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Dimensions: 144.4 x 73.9 x 8.5 mm</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Xperia Z1 will available in market from the month of September, neither the exact date nor the price confirmed from SONY.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://plus.google.com/100638775997274345522" rel="author">Anil Swami</a></div></div>

android jelly bean animation HD processor 20.7MP Camera, HD Display and Waterproof: SONY Xperia Z1 Launched

IFA’s platform of 2013 at Berlin is now witness of unveil another smartphone. On 4th September Sony launched Xperia Z1 with new features and...

Hey Israel? Syria Is YOUR Neighbor and Has a Broken Washing Machine...Why Does America Have to Wash Their Dirty Laundry?

9:00 PM Tukiyooo 0

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Cheeeeeeeers Chuckleheads and Happy Thursday to you all!!<br /><br />I have a couple of really concretely solid topics to touch upon, but those are best left to be mediaized on this Sunday’s next, sure to be #1 IWS Radio show, so?<br /><br />I am going to down a 211 and just let my thoughts flow on here today.  Mmmmm’kay?<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Dateline…Matt-Man’s head…<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpuqIjpjiGIeGQEFQpnV9mEQg_PMD_aaU0wXrAxQaRlDjzLfo9wg7Dd4nlnOG5Go_P_PffUiuFHjshdfC-fvmnmaHE5avFJvHD4m-WtHaggBgxkumHJExpnSSbBaOrJbpK0_Xqt5ysLmW_/s1600/bashar-al-Assad+Asshole.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpuqIjpjiGIeGQEFQpnV9mEQg_PMD_aaU0wXrAxQaRlDjzLfo9wg7Dd4nlnOG5Go_P_PffUiuFHjshdfC-fvmnmaHE5avFJvHD4m-WtHaggBgxkumHJExpnSSbBaOrJbpK0_Xqt5ysLmW_/s400/bashar-al-Assad+Asshole.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />You know what would we be cool…If instead of degrading Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s chemical weapons with missiles, we instead, gassed the entire country of Syria, but instead of using serin or mustard gas, we used laughing gas!!<br /><br />That would be fucking hilarious.  A bunch of punch drunk extremists with guns walking around feeding each other falafels all the while tea is pouring out the side of their mouths like they’re doped up on Novocain. Ha!!<br /><br />And what’s up with Israel?  Everyone is worried about what will happen to Israel over this crisis.  The only ones <i>not</i> worried about the Syrian Civil War are the Israelis and their 2 Billion Dollars a year from the U.S. <br /><br />Listen Israel…We give you 2 Bil a year to help arm yourselves and Syria is on your border, so could we see a little action out of you?  I know you are busy building tin shack “settlements”, but really?<br /><br />If Moses were alive today, he with his Rod of God in hand, would walk straight over to Damascus turn their rivers and their streets red with blood, and then return to Tel Aviv and rain toads down upon you, the Israelites, for being such pussies.<br /><br />Seriously…Netanyahu and all of you serve who in the Israeli legislative body of the Knish?  You need to ask yourselves, What Would Moses Do?<br /><br />In fact, and now I am getting a little steamed…it’s as if the State of Israel expects us, the United States of America to protect her.  It’s as if  we Americans are the savior of the State of Israel.  Hmmmmmmm?<br /><br />The last time there was a savior walking around in the land of Israel, the Jews preferred some dude named Barabbas, and helped to kill the Holy Baby Jesus.<br /><br />So boys and goils…enjoy your Rosh Hashanah, and delight in the fact that you will surely nail your America savior and benefactor to the cross in the near future.<br /><br />I hurt my knee today.  I knocked it into a twelve pack of Dr. Pepper…Did Israel care?  Hell No!!  They didn’t even send me any chicken soup with matzo balls.  It’s such a one way relationship.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYzHu3q9o5uhneViBUbikjsqHqFeVkBONSjFBQaPM2m8tDNaoDThN8Cb4xRlISBirriS7O0wiZSOAJr91NV3YxyGgGn72Q_JbOX0PP7V5O0UPccKRfpx9q4iKPdFRCKAOAIFuhhrs7vAYC/s1600/netanyahu+Jerk+Asshole.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYzHu3q9o5uhneViBUbikjsqHqFeVkBONSjFBQaPM2m8tDNaoDThN8Cb4xRlISBirriS7O0wiZSOAJr91NV3YxyGgGn72Q_JbOX0PP7V5O0UPccKRfpx9q4iKPdFRCKAOAIFuhhrs7vAYC/s320/netanyahu+Jerk+Asshole.jpg" width="320" /></a>Ha…you know what?<br /><br />My Stream of Consciousness thing actually turned out to be focused, and really?  Here’s the thing…<br /><br />I am not pro-war…I am very anti-war, but y’know?<br /><br />I get tired of hearing about how a solution and pathway to peace may be possible in the Middle East.<br /><br />It never will.  There are far too many zealots with far too many strident and monocular ideologies involved.<br /><br />Perhaps if we attack Syria, which I agree with, that may trigger an expansion of the conflict that sets the region on fire.  I feel bad about that, but then I think…<br /><br />Eh…so what, because as much as I hate death and destruction, it is an inevitability, because the unholy trinity of radical acolytes of Muslims, Jews, and Christians want it.<br /><br />To people like that, it’s just a matter of how and when.<br /><br />And sadly, upstairs in the supernatural open bar of heaven, God, Allah, Buddha, or whatever one prefers to refer to Him as, are sipping on a bottle of Jack and saying…<br /><br /><i>“Maybe there is another planet we could try this life thing on, ‘cause it ain't working here.”</i><br /><br /><i>Cheers!!</i><br /><br />Matt-Man<br /><br /><a href="mailto:mattmaniws@ymail.com">mattmaniws@ymail.com</a><br /><a href="https://twitter.com/MattMan_IWS" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">@mattman_iws</span></a><br /><a href="https://www.facebook.com/mattmaniws" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">My Facebook Page</span></a></div>

Hey Israel? Syria Is YOUR Neighbor and Has a Broken Washing Machine...Why Does America Have to Wash Their Dirty Laundry?

Cheeeeeeeers Chuckleheads and Happy Thursday to you all!! I have a couple of really concretely solid topics to touch upon, but those are bes...

The Trick to a Sustainable Economy

7:29 PM Tukiyooo 0

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPYTnmGZcjoPXff4STzd8eQQ8ND06XpSFOF69ScTzkcYYgHuMdpPLk44KwcnCYmkEA-u1oNyY8Yrae-iynPurCwmnU4_Cl2Sono2eKQ1aVna_JlL89Ci1SDT4LmHY801kJbLgwpWPYDNU/s1600/The+Trick+to+a+Sustainable+Economy.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPYTnmGZcjoPXff4STzd8eQQ8ND06XpSFOF69ScTzkcYYgHuMdpPLk44KwcnCYmkEA-u1oNyY8Yrae-iynPurCwmnU4_Cl2Sono2eKQ1aVna_JlL89Ci1SDT4LmHY801kJbLgwpWPYDNU/s320/The+Trick+to+a+Sustainable+Economy.jpg" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">Click to enlarge.</span><br /><br />Here's the theory. We need to add drinking jobs at least as fast as we lose manufacturing jobs (per capita, so job growth can keep up with population growth). 0% is therefore the goal. Achieve that and the world is our oyster! We've been doing great since November of 2010. That's nearly 3 years of solid performance. Let's hope we can sustain it permanently this time!<br /><br />Hey, I never said it would be easy over the long-term. As seen in the following chart, there may be a chance though.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIjSgeSbh95phc02kyDUAg_nWKpOufpkcp4gCq07jq4uWOibJb_G5GS1iBpxf-XttlLSfxJVy09oMvSSSHXWZOZbkfbO8qhWNnxy_0Qc8xZIoB-bodPCwkCcz0ZRZbAhQvlnyZb718uQs/s1600/Heavy+Drinking.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIjSgeSbh95phc02kyDUAg_nWKpOufpkcp4gCq07jq4uWOibJb_G5GS1iBpxf-XttlLSfxJVy09oMvSSSHXWZOZbkfbO8qhWNnxy_0Qc8xZIoB-bodPCwkCcz0ZRZbAhQvlnyZb718uQs/s320/Heavy+Drinking.jpg" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">Click to enlarge.</span><br /><br /><div style="color: #666666;"><i>Heavy drinking data from 1993–2000 represent all respondents aged 18 years and older who report an average of 2 or more drinks per day (i.e., 60 or more alcoholic drinks a month). Data from 2001–2009 </i><span style="color: red;">[2001-2012]</span><i> represent all male respondents aged 18 years and older who report an average of more than 2 drinks per day and female respondents aged 18 years and older who report an average of more than 1 drink per day.</i></div><br />Thanks to the increased frequency of hangovers brought on by exponentially increasing heavy drinking, the future's <a href="http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/hangovers/DS00649/DSECTION=symptoms">too bright</a>. I gotta wear shades. Sigh.<br /><br /><b>See Also:</b><br /><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2010/06/sarcasm-disclaimer.html">Sarcasm Disclaimer</a><br /><br /><b>Source Data:</b><br /><a href="http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=m4C">St. Louis Fed: Custom Chart</a><br /><a href="http://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/data-stats.htm">CDC: Alcohol Usage Trends</a>

The Trick to a Sustainable Economy

Click to enlarge. Here's the theory. We need to add drinking jobs at least as fast as we lose manufacturing jobs (per capita, so job gro...