China UN-Blocking Porn Et Al ??? Why – and Why Now ???


Facebook gets blocked, and you can’t open a broadsheet without tripping over an in-depth report.

But China seems to be in the middle of series of dramatic unblockings, and no one is saying a word!

In the past week, a large number of foreign pornography sites, as well as some Chinese ones, have become accessible from China without a VPN.

And according to Michael Anti, it’s not just porn sites anymore.

India Booming – GDP, Income (and Inflation) Growing


02 June 2010.

India’s economy grew at its fastest pace in six months in the quarter through March 2010, fuelled mainly by government and consumer spending,

Published
Categorized as Markets

China Bust MAY Have Started, As Property Bonds Hit the Skids


31 May 2010.

Dollar bonds sold by China real estate companies this year are the worst performers among Asian non-financial corporate debt denominated in the U.S. currency amid concern the nation’s property market is overheating.

Published
Categorized as Markets

“Naked Truth” on Default Swaps on Wall Street and Germany


Should people be able to bet on your death? How about your financial failure?

In the United States Senate, Wall Street won one when the Senate voted down a proposal to bar the so-called naked buying of credit-default swaps.

If that were the law, you could not use swaps to bet a company would fail.

The exception would be if you already had a stake in the company succeeding, such as owning a bond issued by the company.

Turkish Gaza Aid Flotilla Attacked By Israeli Navy


Two of the most reliable news sources in the Middle East, Haaretz and Al Jazeera, are both reporting this morning that Israeli forces have attacked a Turkish aid flotilla headed for Gaza. At least 10 activists have been killed and scores wounded, although reports are currently varying on the exact number.

Attack Reaction Reveals South Korea’s Complex Ambivalence to North


Like many South Koreans, Choi Byung-wook said he felt outrage over the North Korean attack that sank the warship Cheonan and killed 46 sailors.

But he also said that he did not expect the hostilities to get any worse and that his nation must continue to engage the North.

“Inside, we are furious,” said Mr. Choi, 46, a government employee who shopped on a recent afternoon at a mall in this city just a few miles from the South’s heavily fortified border with North Korea.

Canada Strongly Promotes Tight Regulation Instead of Global Bank Tax


Cabinet ministers from Canada’s Conservative government fanned out across the world recently to lobby against proposals for a global tax to cover the cost of bank bailouts.

Since 2008, the Conservative government in Canada has championed tight regulation, a position it had not previously embraced.

As a result, Canada’s banks were largely unaffected by the banking crisis of 2008, 

and the Canadian government argues that any tax would unfairly penalize them.

House Republicans Criticize SEC – Yes, Republicans


It’s kind of hard to believe, but apparently the Republican wing of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform doesn’t too much like what the Securities and Exchange Commission [SEC] is – or isn’t – doing.

It’s hard to believe because RPBs seem to like ANY Federal agency – oh say, the Minerals Management Service

that ISN’T doing a very good job overseeing whatever private sector activity they’re supposed to be watching.

Indian Wireless Spectrum Bids Total Unexpectedly High $11 Billion


Further ratcheting up the stakes in the fast-growing and intensely competitive Indian wireless market,

telecom companies bid nearly $11 billion for spectrum designated for high-speed data services.

The final tally of a frenzied monthlong auction concluded at nearly twice the amount that the government had expected,

a sum that many analysts had previously said might itself be too ambitious.

“Speed” Traders Emerging As “Suspects” in May 6 Stock Collapse


It’s been nearly three weeks since the shocking dive of equity markets on May 6,

and no one in the US is even pretending to know what actually happened, let alone why.

This may hardly be surprising in a country where the most likely largest environmental disaster in US history took the President two weeks to say much of anything,