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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on September 2nd, 2008 Gulf ruler buys top club – then reveals his plan to spend, spend, spend… The tiny Gulf state of Abu Dhabi launched an audacious raid on one of Britain’s top football clubs yesterday in a move that will transform the shape of global football. The £210m takeover of Manchester City threatens to dethrone their closest rivals Manchester United and establish City as the biggest team in the world. The club announced that it had signed a memo of understanding with the Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG), a holding company set up by Middle East investors, backed by the country’s royal family. The new regime’s first move was an attempt to gazump United’s £30m signing of Tottenham Hotspur’s star striker Dimitar Berbatov with an offer of £34m. And they quickly followed that by lodging bids for Spain’s highly rated forward David Villa and Stuttgart’s Mario Gomez. ADUG will spend the nextfew weeks examining the club’s books before taking control, and will become the first Middle East investor to be in control of a Premier League team. The Arab group is fronted by Sulaiman Al Fahim, a multi-billionaire nicknamed the “Donald Trump of Abu Dhabi,” who has pledged to invest enough to break up the “Big Four” of Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal by next year. It could herald a whole new era for transfer fees, as the investors’ plans could dwarf even Roman Abramovich’s outlay at Chelsea, estimated at more than £500m. A Dubai group failed in an attempt to buy Liverpool two years ago. Dubai International Capital (DIC), held talks about a £450m takeover but lost to two US investors. It remains interested and, given the turmoil in Liverpool’s boardroom, there is a serious chance they could yet buy into the Merseyside club. Middle Eastern influence in football has grown recently, with Manchester United travelling to Saudi Arabia last year and announcing a £10m marketing deal with Saudi Telecom. Emirates, one of the largest airlines in the regions, has invested heavily in the Premier League, sponsoring Chelsea before switching allegiance to Arsenal, whose new stadium carries the Dubai-based carrier’s name. It is the latest demonstration of the region’s financial muscle. Investors from across the region, particularly state-owned sovereign wealth funds, have grown in strength off the back of the soaring oil prices, which hit record levels just shy of $150 a barrel this summer. It comes at a time when the credit crunch has wreaked havoc across Western economies causing many to look for outside investment. Mr Al Fahim spoke of plans to support the Manchester City manager, Mark Hughes, “by bringing in the best football players in the world” and had fans dreaming of stars including Thierry Henry, David Villa and Ronaldo lining up at Eastlands. The world record transfer fee of £46m which took Zinedine Zidane to Real Madrid in 2001, now looks under severe threat. After the Premiership, the next step will be Europe, Mr Sulaiman said. Yet City fans will be most interested in overhauling United, their bitter rivals, who have claimed the bragging rights in Manchester for the past 30 years. Manchester United claim the most supporters worldwide and, according to accountancy group Deloitte, are second only to Real Madrid in terms of generating cash. This year was the first time that three clubs from one country made the top five of the revenue league table – the other two being Chelsea and Arsenal. Manchester City didn’t even make the top 20. The Arab investors have targeted businesses that would have been off limits five years ago. Sovereign wealth funds have invested hugely in the largest financial institutions in the world, taking significant stakes in banks including Citigroup, Merrill Lynch and UBS. In the UK, Qatar has spent about £1.8bn in becoming the largest investor in Barclays, while Dubai invested £880m in taking a stake in the London Stock Exchange, according to data from Thomson Reuters. No brand is off limits, it seems. Although Qatar failed in a £10bn bid for Sainsbury’s last year, the market hasn’t ruled out a second attempt, and a Middle East-backed group bought the luxury car group Aston Martin for almost £500m last year. Arab investors have also built holdings in the property companies Minerva and British Land during the past few months. Permalink | ### |
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on September 1st, 2008 The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in the European Parliament Declared September 1, 2008, that:
Liberals and Democrats have welcomed the quick initial response of the French Presidency and urged the European Union to speak with one distinctive voice. “The EU should now take three firm measures moving forward: there should be a crisis management and Reconstruction Fund and the rapid deployment of international humanitarian assistance, the Council should designate an EU representative to Georgia who will make both sides listen, and the EU should explore the possibility of sending an ESDP mission with a pro-active role in mediating between the two sides. *** Marco Cappato (IT, Radicale), who is negotiating the text of the resolution on behalf of ALDE added: Lydie Polfer MEP (DP, Luxembourg) was responsible for drafting the European Parliament’s report on the South Caucasus earlier this year in which she warned of the potential for conflict due to the unresolved border disputes in the region:
Link to Polfer report adopted 17 January 2008: Permalink | ### |
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on August 29th, 2008 Lie, Cheat, and Steal Your Way to Success! Friday, September 12, 2008
Bruce Weinstein, Ph.D., is the professional ethicist known as The Ethics Guy®. His interactive talks to businesses, schools, the military, and a wide range of nonprofit organizations across the country show how living an ethical life makes us happier, healthier, and more prosperous—but that the reason to do the right thing is simply because it’s the right thing to do. His clients include the National Football League, The National Guard (South Carolina Division), HDI, Vistakon/Johnson & Johnson, Pri-Med, the National Grocers Association, the Eastern Michigan University College of Business, and 300 other leading groups. He writes the column, “Ask the Ethics Guy,” for BusinessWeek.com, which is also distributed internationally by the McClatchy-Tribune News Service (formerly Knight Ridder). He appears every Friday on CNN’s “American Morning” to discuss the presidential campaign and other issues in the news from an ethical perspective. He has also appeared on numerous other television and radio shows. Dr. Weinstein is the author or editor of five books on ethics, and his writings, quotes, and features have appeared in numerous national periodicals and major media websites. His latest book is Life Principles: Feeling Good by Doing Good (Emmis Books). He received a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy from Swarthmore College, a Ph.D. in Philosophy and Bioethics from Georgetown University, a certificate in Film Production from New York University, and a National Fellowship from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation in Battle Creek, Michigan. In 2009, Roaring Brook Press will publish his next book, Is It Still Cheating If I Don’t Get Caught? Practical Answers to Life’s Sticky Questions from The Ethics Guy®, which will focus on ethical issues for teens. Location: (212) 838-4120 Permalink | ### |
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on August 28th, 2008
We visited him on his boat right here in New York, then later in Tel Aviv. He was one of a kind. His bringing ice cream to the children of Gaza did not end the will to fight - but showed that it is possible to be humane. If not the Palestinians and the Egyptians - there were hundred of thousands of Israelis that understood him. His spirit continues to be present at the Uri Avneri round table - every Friday night at least. A coincidence - his death was announced on the day Barak Obama assumes the leadership of the Democratic Party of the US. We wonder what he would have said and post also the following tidbit:
And the New York Times correspondent from Jerusalem wrote the following version:
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on August 27th, 2008 Tequila sunset: The ethanol boom. Mexico without tequila? It seems a far-fetched notion but the country’s farmers are shunning the famous agave plant because of poor prices and switching to profitable crops. By Guy Adams Wednesday, 27 August 2008
GETTY IMAGES Savour that frozen margarita in your hand, for soon you might not be able to afford it. Mexico’s tequila industry is about to become the latest victim of America’s growing thirst for ethanol. Soaring demand for biofuel has sent global commodity prices through the roof, prompting farmers of blue agave, the cactus-like plant from which the country’s national spirit is made, to move into more lucrative cash crops such as wheat and corn. Picturesque plantations of agave – with its long spiky leaves and a heart like a pineapple – are being replaced with orderly rows of corn, a crop now selling for a record 18 cents per pound, as US consumers from across the border seek respite from the soaring oil prices that have pushed the price of petrol over $4 (£2) a gallon and turn to ethanol. Global food price rises have also seen the cost of another rival crop, beans, rise by 60 per cent in the past six months to 59 cents per pound. By comparison, agave, which in 2002 was worth more than 80 cents a pound, is now retailing for less than two cents. As a result, many farmers of agave – pronounced “a-hav-ay” – are taking the difficult decision to let their over-ripe plants turn brown in the desert sun, claiming it is no longer economically viable for them to bother with the annual harvest. “Corn is where the money is now,” one large-scale farmer, Miguel Ramirez, told USA Today. “I’m going to get out of agave completely.” Martin Sanchez, director of agriculture for Mexico’s Tequila Regulatory Council, added: “We don’t have numbers but we know it is happening: people are abandoning their fields of agave and flipping over to other crops.” Although tequila has been one of the global drinks trade’s biggest success stories of recent years, industry experts are now concerned the move to lucrative rival crops could lead to an agave shortage, limiting the supply of the spirit, and driving up the cost of the shots and cocktails enjoyed by Western consumers. Officials say producers planted between 25 and 35 per cent less of the crop last year, and expect a similar decrease in production for 2008. Because the plant takes more than six years to reach full maturity, it will be impossible to cope with any shortage when the full effects are eventually felt. The tequila industry is prone to cycles of boom and bust. In the late 1990s, disease and a series of cold winters killed off many agave plantations, causing an international shortage that more than doubled the cost of a typical bottle. Since then, demand for the robust drink has soared, thanks for a boom in the market for premium products, which can retail for several hundred dollars a bottle. But the supply end of the chain may be about to give out. “Because of the slow growth rate of agave, it is especially sensitive to the boom-and-bust agricultural cycle, only played out in a slightly longer cycle” said Larry Walker, the US correspondent of Drinks International. A Mexican farm hand Raudel Lopez Sandoval agrees. “You tend an agave for six years, and then the price drops on you or you get hit with a freeze or something. It’s a lot of investment to lose,” he told USA Today. “Beans grow fast.” The highest quality agave is grown at altitudes of between 1,500 and 2,000 metres, in the regions around the town of Tequila, near to Guadalajara. After harvesting, its pulp is fermented with yeast before being double distilled and aged in oak casks. Although tequila is legally required to contain at least 51 per cent agave, even cheap brands have recently moved to 100 per cent levels, thanks to the current glut on the market. Experts say any increase in price is most likely to have an impact on the budget market. “This would principally affect low quality tequila, which will be altered so that it contains a lower percentage of agave,” said Chris Mercer of the drinks industry website www.just-drinks.com. “If people get more money for other crops, they will stop growing agave and the price will rise. It’s basic economics.” Tequila isn’t the only drink being hurt by the ethanol boom. In Germany, brewers recently complained that farmers were moving out of the barley market, making it more costly to produce their traditional premium beers. From the agave plant to the bottle: how tequila is made The raw ingredient Contrary to popular belief, blue agave, the raw plant at the beginning of the tequila-making process, is not a cactus but a lily. The indigenous plant grows in the highlands of central Mexico and has been cultivated in the region for 9,000 years. Budding tequila home-brewers must be willing to travel the distance, as agave is not, to date, something that can be scooped up at the supermarket or even the deli and – by law – it must be harvested only in the Mexican states of Jalisco, Guanajuato, Mlchoacan, Nayarit or Tamaulipas. Preparation Remove the pina, the large pineapple-shaped heart on the agave, which can weigh between 40lb and 70lb. Allow 15lb of pina per litre of 100 per cent tequila. Cook The pina is steam-cooked at high temperatures, in stone ovens heated up to a maximum of 95 degrees Celsius for up to 36 hours. That not only allows the fibres to soften without the agave turning to sugar, but also improves the flavour. Wash The ethic behind the wash is very much “waste not want not” as it is carried out to prevent the unwanted fibres from stealing any of the desired juices by re-absorption. What emerges is a delectably named juice known as honey water. Mill and strain This extracts the juices which are then mixed with water in a big fermentation tank and yeast is thrown in. Ferment The mixture is left to ferment for between one and 12 days in a treated tank. The fermentation process produces a liquid which is then fermented twice more. The second distillation process produces three components: the “head” which is discarded, the “end” which is recycled and the ‘heart’ which becomes the tequila. Age Tequila cannot legally assume its name without aging in an oak barrel when it becomes either blanco, plata, oro, reposado or anejos (white, silver, gold, rested or aged). However, colour does not necessarily reflect quality. Bottle For legal reasons, the labelling is key to the process, with every label having to be printed with either “hecho en Mexico” or NOM (Norma Official Mexicana), the producer’s four-digit registration number and the tequila’s age. Miranda Bryant Permalink | ### |
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on August 27th, 2008 Miliband rallies ‘coalition against Russian aggression’ {starts with talks in the Ukraine.} http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/… David Miliband will make a keynote speech in Ukraine today strongly condemning Russia’s decision to formally recognise two breakaway regions of Georgia. The Foreign Secretary said he was visiting Kiev in a bid to assemble the “widest possible coalition against Russian aggression”. Russia’s president Dmitri Medvedev was yesterday accused of “inflaming” the crisis by insisting that South Ossetia and Abkhazia should be independent. Mr Medvedev told a news agency: “We are not afraid of anything, including the prospect of a new Cold War. “But we don’t want it and in this situation everything depends on the position of our partners.” He said the West would have to “understand the reason behind” the decision to recognise the regions if it wanted to preserve good relations with Russia. *** “It will also not work,” he said in a statement yesterday. “It is contrary to the principles of the peace agreement, which Russia recently agreed, and to recent Russian statements. “It takes no account of the views of the hundreds of thousands of Georgians and others who have been forced to abandon their homes in the two territories.” The Foreign Secretary was backed by Western leaders including US President George Bush and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Mr Bush condemned Mr Medvedev’s decision as “irresponsible” and called the move “inconsistent” with UN Security Council resolutions and the French-brokered ceasefire plan. “Russia’s action only exacerbates tensions and complicates diplomatic negotiations,” Mr Bush said. Ms Merkel condemned Russia’s decision as “absolutely not acceptable,” but said Europe must still keep channels of communication open with Moscow. French Foreign Ministry spokesman Eric Chevallier said the Russian decision was “regrettable, and we reaffirm our attachment to Georgia’s territorial integrity”. France, which currently holds the EU presidency, has called an emergency meeting of EU leaders on Monday to review the relationship between Russia and Europe. *** Yesterday Russia cancelled a visit by Nato’s secretary-general, and it has complained that the alliance is bolstering its military presence in the Black Sea. And in a move that is likely to increase tensions even further, Mr Medvedev later warned that his country may respond to a US missile shield in Europe through military means. Mr Medvedev said the deployment of an anti-missile system close to Russian borders “will, of course, create additional tensions”. He said: “We will have to react somehow, to react, of course, in a military way.” Permalink | ### |
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on August 22nd, 2008 The following was published on Japan Times online and we think it is either very naive or somewhere partisan and misleading. Is it possible that Russia took positions on Kosovo, so they van prepare the base for their positions on South Ossetia and Abkhazia? Then, what kind of Russians are the people of South Ossetia? Do they really want back under a Russian roof, or actually they would prefer to have their own State for the Ossetians - North and South United? We can only pray that the Japanese readers will be better informed then Mr. Thakur and those that gave him the ACUNS 2008 Award for the best recent book on the United Nations system think. You have to admire the chutzpah of the neocons for their castigation of Russia for attacking another country and emulating, in the Caucasus, NATO’s behavior in the Balkans. Who does Vladimir Putin think he is — U.S. President George W. Bush? If U.N. authorization is not a necessary condition for waging war lawfully and legitimately, then we must accept the resulting international anarchy and the law of the jungle in world affairs. We no longer cede the right to any one state to use massive force within its borders free of external scrutiny or criticism. Claims for reversing the progressive restrictions on the right to interstate armed violence will be met with even more skepticism. To argue that NATO alone has the right to determine whether military intervention, by itself or any other coalition, is justified against others outside the coalition, is a claim to unilateralism and exceptionalism that will never be conceded by the “international community.” The claim that NATO should be set up as the final arbiter of military intervention by itself and every other coalition is breathtakingly arrogant. In justification, Russia has pointed to Georgian complicity in killing thousands of South Ossetians, the fact that many of these are Russian citizens, the responsibility of Russia to protect its nationals, and the responsibility of the international community to protect South Ossetians from genocidal attacks by Georgia. Moscow is wrong to invoke the norm in this case, but no more so than the Americans and British were wrong in Iraq five years ago. Both actions prove the risks of unilateral interpretations and actions and the wisdom of channeling action through the U.N. Otherwise, the only certain end result is vigilante justice, which is no justice at all. The U.N. Charter encapsulates the international moral code and best-practice international behavior. The urge to “humanitarian intervention” by powerful states, coalitions of the willing or regional organizations outside their own area of operations must be bridled by the legitimizing authority of the U.N. as our only available international organization for this purpose. The second problem is the opposite one — of behaving as if geopolitics and realism belong on history’s shelf and have no relevance or applicability anymore. As Henry Kissinger is reported to have said after the Argentine invasion of the Falklands that roused the slumbering British lion into action to retake the islands by force, “a great power does not retreat forever.” The end of the Cold War saw a very rare phenomenon in human history. Russia acknowledged its defeat and the new world order that came out of it. But instead of demonstrating grace in victory and some sensitivity to Russia’s legitimate fears, interests and national dignity, the West has repeatedly rubbed Russian noses in the dirt of their historic Cold War defeat. Kosovo was detached from Russia’s Serbian ally and its declaration of independence readily recognized earlier this year. Instead of being dismantled with victory in the Cold War, NATO, an alliance in search of a role and mission, has progressively expanded its borders and reach steadily closer to Russia, slowly but surely encroaching on some areas that are part and parcel of Russian historical soul and identity. Great powers have core vital interests that they will defend. Repeated warnings from Russia of red lines that must not be crossed were serially dismissed as the angry growls of a Russian bear in deep and permanent hibernation. Russia has been encircled by Western bases, missiles and allies, while alternately taunted, ignored and dismissed. Champion chess players that they are, the Russians bided their time before checkmating the West brutally but brilliantly in South Ossetia and firing a warning shot across the bows of other former parts of the now forgotten Soviet empire. No two situations are exactly alike. Still, much as most Westerners dismiss any analogy between Russia’s actions to pry South Ossetia and Abkhazia away from Georgia and NATO actions to detach Kosovo from Serbia, most others do accept the basic parallel. Those who wish to back rebel movements and internationalize a crisis by intervening militarily had better be prepared for payback time in other places and conflicts. And for the moral hazards to come home to roost. The wreckage of Georgia’s towns and countryside proclaim the ruins of the Bush administration’s foreign policy that has so recklessly squandered the hard won fruits of the Cold War in terms of both moral authority and geopolitical gains. Ramesh Thakur is distinguished fellow at the Center for International Governance Innovation in Waterloo, Canada. His book “The United Nations, Peace and Security” recently won the ACUNS 2008 Award for the best recent book on the United Nations system. Permalink | ### |
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Posted on Sustainabilitank.info on August 22nd, 2008 From: media at avaaz.org The August 23, 2008 - PRESS RELEASE - Will Appear In the International Herald Tribune and China’s Ming Pao, on the Day of The Beijing Olympics’ Closing. It Willl Say - Love China / Love Tibet / Love Burma / Love Darfur - and Will Promote Human Rights For China - a Hanshake to the World. 175,000 STRONG GLOBAL HANDSHAKE TO LAND IN BEIJING AHEAD OF OLYMPIC CLOSING CEREMONY see avaaz.org A virtual global handshake will land in Beijing tomorrow ahead of the Olympic Closing Ceremony. To culminate the campaign, this weekend, Avaaz.org has taken out an advertisement in Saturday’s International Herald Tribune and China’s Ming Pao to deliver the handshake to the world.
*** The global handshake petition reads: “With this handshake, we reach out to one another as citizens round the world in the Olympic spirit of friendship and excellence, committing to hold all our governments to a higher standard of peace, justice and respect for human dignity wherever they fall short – be it in Tibet, Iraq, Burma or beyond. Dialogue is the best way forward, for China, and the world.” *** AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEW Ricken Patel, Executive Director, ricken at avaaz.org, +1 646 229 5416 *** Avaaz is a global web movement with over 3.3 million members worldwide, working to ensure that the views and values of people everywhere inform global decision-making. Avaaz means “voice” in many languages. Permalink | |