President Obama has lashed out at Wall Street for taking huge bonuses totalling over US$18 billion last year while their firms were being bailed out by taxpayers.
That is the height of irresponsibility. It is shameful, and part of what we are going to need is for the folks on Wall Street who are asking for help to show some restraint and show some discipline and show some sense of responsibility.
That”s right, the state of California – which has one of the biggest economies in the world – has no money left to pay income tax refunds; so now it is planning to refund taxpayers with IOUs.
It is also asking state employees to go on two days unpaid leave every month.
California is now staring at a US$42 billion budget deficit. How did this happen? Oxbury Publishing provides an analysis here.
You gonna be back, Arnie? I think you have just terminated California (as a going concern). Oops.
Who is going to bail out California?
Electronics contract manufacturer Jabil Circuit is set to cut its manufacturing capacity in certain regions and close 10 of its facilities worldwide.
It will reportedly retrench 3,000 of its 85,000 workers; 90 per cent of these retrenchments will take place outside the United States.
It appears that even in the US, things are beginning to change. First there was Jon Stewart taking on the business of self-defence and the one-sidedness of US officialdom especially in relation to the recent invasion of Gaza. Now, it’s the turn of ’60 Minutes’ over CBS…
Is the tide turning?
Says CBS in the synopsis of its documentary:
Photos and report by Rakyat@work
We take off from University Malaya Medical Centre, at about 2.15pm.
1430: Embedded with the ‘Barisan Rakyat’ group, we are to meet at Puchong before proceeding to the burial ground. A convoy of about 10 cars makes it way. Word has it that there are about a thousand people near the Taipan Subang police station but no way of confirming it. A helicopter is hovering above.
1530: We arrive at the main T-junction towards the burial ground, which is about a kilometre away. Many people are gathering there and a couple of policemen are visible. The sense of anticipation mounts. Groups of people gather to talk about the day’s news. It is strangely quiet though. The scorching sun is drenching us with sweat.
Paula (in light blue shirt) with friends at the police station this morning – Photo by Paula’s 10-year-old son.
The emcee at one of the Abolish ISA vigils in Penang, Paula Khoo, found out when she turned up at the Patani Road police station this morning that her police bail was not going to be extended.
The police instead told her they would call her once their investigations are completed.
More bad news.
This time it’s Panasonic, which is reportedly shutting three plants in Asia. Media reports suggest the company is likely to report an annual net loss of some US$1.1 billion on the back of restructuring charges, a slump in demand for consumer electronics and a stronger yen. That would be its first net loss in six years.
The plants targeted for closure include two of the three Panasonic plants in Malaysia.
The Malacca plant, which produces capacitors for mobile phones, reportedly will be shut in March. Some 500 jobs will be lost.
Lawyers address a crowd inside the University Hospital premises
Riot police take up positions as an officer orders the crowd to disperse
This was the scene outside the University Hospital at about 1.20pm today. Police probably outnumbered the crowd as half a dozen riot police trucks waited along Jalan Universiti outside the hospital.
Kugan is expected to make his final journey to Puchong today.
Photo by Glasgow Palestine Human Rights Campaign
About 50 activists occupied the BBC Scotland headquarters in Glasgow on Sunday, 25 January, to protest at the BBC’s failure to broadcast a Disasters Emergency Committee appeal for Gaza.
The DEC is made up of 13 aid agencies, which are leading UK registered humanitarian charities that fulfil certain criteria.
The Committee is traditionally supported by “a network of television and radio broadcasters, the banks, the Post Office, BT, regional and national press and a range of organisations in the corporate sector”. The idea is “to rally the nation’s compassion, and ensure that funds raised go to DEC agencies best placed to deliver effective and timely relief to people most in need”.
Among the activists who occupied the BBC Scotland headquarters was John Hilley, who has written in the past for Aliran Monthly. Here is his account of the “occupation”:
Last night (25 January), saw our inspiring occupation of the BBC in Glasgow in protest at their decision not to air the Disasters Emergency Committee appeal on behalf of Gaza.
Indiscriminate disposal of blue plastic sheets around the Bolton site area – Photos by Chee Seng residents
Steep and uncovered hill-slopes
Residents of Chee Seng Gardens in Tanjung Bunga, Penang, are now worried about an outbreak of dengue fever.
On 11 January, 10 Chee Seng Garden residents visited the area around the construction site and found what they said was “rampant irresponsible disposal of plastic sheets and other recepticles in jungle fringes, ….uncovered hill slopes which should be covered, proximity of land clearing activities to PBA Land, blasting near to Straits Regency, hill gradient at near 90 degrees when terraced…”
They are worried about a possible outbreak of dengue fever and point ot the following to show their fears are not without any basis: