Writings on the Wall

48 hours on, the siege of Mumbai still continues. The terrorists continue to hold the city on gun point. Grenades, Assault riffles, RDX, Plastic explosives, The Taj, Oberoi, CST. These words are running through my mind like a wild fire in the forests of Florida.

They came, they fired and they shocked. Not a city, not a state, not a country but the world. Ofcourse it was an intelligence failure, a major blunder. But the act itself was dastardly, heinous, barbaric. Indiscriminately firing at innocent civilians without any motive or even any sense of what they himself are doing, these so called fidayeens have actually made a impact. The resilient city is no more ready to take it on, Enough is Enough. What happened in Mumbai is embarrassing, considering that the major damage was done in the premier 5 star hotels of the financial capital of the country.

Imagine this, some terrorists coming in from international waters, straight to monumental landmark, a 5 star hotel, a major tourist attraction which are frequented by westeners. Where can it happen? Only in India, i doubt even Somalia will let anyone take control of there territories like this. No its not a failure on the part of Mumbai Police, not by the NSG, not by MARCOS, not by ATS or by any uniformed defence personnel. Its a failure by the government. There were clear reports conveyed by the Army to the centre of the ship when it left the Pakistani territories. But it wasn't Army's job, which they did unselfishly. What were the famed RAW and IB doing? What's the point of having two separate Intelligence agencies for internal and external affairs and yet failing at both avenues?

The reports of terrorists doing the recee of the targets two month before the attacks published now are all but irrelevant. What were they doing then? What was the government doing? The devil in disguise, Narendra Modi, who unfortunately is the Chief Minister of a Indian State, was the first person to politicise the issue, no wonder. He is the person single handedly responsible for all these acts targeted on India because of his permissible, heinous crimes on a certain community which angered the sentiments of that particular community, almost 1/4 population of this world. Inspite of being advised, not to travel to the financial capital during the continuation of operations, he didn't gave any heed and transcended to make a speech and demanded a briefing from the media. A shame, such a shame, Narendra Modi, a scar on face of India, a scar on face on Gujarat.

But some people need a praise here although not completely. Mr. Advani was the first person to address the media after the attacks broke out and he clearly said, its not time to point fingers, its time to stand united, time to show these cowards that India is one. He made the point that the PM asked him to accompany him to Mumbai together. But the gold digger Mr. Advani is, he, escorted by his utility man, Jaswant Singh, flew to India even when the PM was in transit to show he is the first person to take stock of situation, as described by him, 'to take a feel' of situation. Was it necessary? Unanimous answer- NO. Mr. Sharad Pawar, Mr. Lalu Prasad Yadav and even Ms. Mayawati, the worst of politicians otherwise, choose to keep the politics out of the attacks.

I know Mr. Bush is no angel. But the way he addressed the world after the 9/11 attacks, he showed why the world looks to the US as the 'big daddy'. Each and every word of his speech was so inspiring and motivating that in that hour of crisis, the world believed that the sacrifices of those dead won't be wasted. His speech filled everyone watching with a sense on confidence and self belief that the terrorists will be brought to justice. But the speech given by Mr. Manmohan Singh was so robotic, so numb, devoid of any emotion whatsoever that even the most optimistic of his supporter would have doubted his capacity as the PM of this great nation. That speech even failed to life the gloom of nation, forget instilling confidence.

Moreover, the points he made in his speech could and should have been avoided. When the brave men of police sacrificed there lives in the line of fire, shielding many innocent lives, the PM talked of reforming the Police system. How ironic? The blame should have been put on RAW and IB, to reform the intelligence system. Its not the duty of Police to guard the International waters. The police in India have a clearly defined role by the Indian Constitution and they did all what could have been done in the hour of crisis.

What needs to be done is pretty clear and evident. But when will the steps be taken remains to be seen. It won't be a surprise if we see another attacks sooner rather than later. Its not the time to point fingers. If India needs to develop and negate any such threats, the Congress and BJP need to join hands for atleast 10 years to insure the country remains on the course of development. The other parties don't stand any chance to challenge such an alliance.

As i conclude, there is a bitter sweet news, the NSG has taken control of Nariman House, at the expense of 5 hostages. I salute the elite NSG, MARCOS, Mumbai Police and all other elite forces who sacrificed there lives in the line of fire. I just wish that there sacrifices won't be wasted.

48 hours on, the siege of Mumbai still continues. The terrorists continue to hold the city on gun point. Grenades, Assault riffles, RDX, Plastic explosives, The Taj, Oberoi, CST. These words are running through my mind like a wild fire in the forests of Florida.

They came, they fired and they shocked. Not a city, not a state, not a country but the world. Ofcourse it was an intelligence failure, a major blunder. But the act itself was dastardly, heinous, barbaric. Indiscriminately firing at innocent civilians without any motive or even any sense of what they himself are doing, these so called fidayeens have actually made a impact. The resilient city is no more ready to take it on, Enough is Enough. What happened in Mumbai is embarrassing, considering that the major damage was done in the premier 5 star hotels of the financial capital of the country.

Imagine this, some terrorists coming in from international waters, straight to monumental landmark, a 5 star hotel, a major tourist attraction which are frequented by westeners. Where can it happen? Only in India, i doubt even Somalia will let anyone take control of there territories like this. No its not a failure on the part of Mumbai Police, not by the NSG, not by MARCOS, not by ATS or by any uniformed defence personnel. Its a failure by the government. There were clear reports conveyed by the Army to the centre of the ship when it left the Pakistani territories. But it wasn't Army's job, which they did unselfishly. What were the famed RAW and IB doing? What's the point of having two separate Intelligence agencies for internal and external affairs and yet failing at both avenues?

The reports of terrorists doing the recee of the targets two month before the attacks published now are all but irrelevant. What were they doing then? What was the government doing? The devil in disguise, Narendra Modi, who unfortunately is the Chief Minister of a Indian State, was the first person to politicise the issue, no wonder. He is the person single handedly responsible for all these acts targeted on India because of his permissible, heinous crimes on a certain community which angered the sentiments of that particular community, almost 1/4 population of this world. Inspite of being advised, not to travel to the financial capital during the continuation of operations, he didn't gave any heed and transcended to make a speech and demanded a briefing from the media. A shame, such a shame, Narendra Modi, a scar on face of India, a scar on face on Gujarat.

But some people need a praise here although not completely. Mr. Advani was the first person to address the media after the attacks broke out and he clearly said, its not time to point fingers, its time to stand united, time to show these cowards that India is one. He made the point that the PM asked him to accompany him to Mumbai together. But the gold digger Mr. Advani is, he, escorted by his utility man, Jaswant Singh, flew to India even when the PM was in transit to show he is the first person to take stock of situation, as described by him, 'to take a feel' of situation. Was it necessary? Unanimous answer- NO. Mr. Sharad Pawar, Mr. Lalu Prasad Yadav and even Ms. Mayawati, the worst of politicians otherwise, choose to keep the politics out of the attacks.

I know Mr. Bush is no angel. But the way he addressed the world after the 9/11 attacks, he showed why the world looks to the US as the 'big daddy'. Each and every word of his speech was so inspiring and motivating that in that hour of crisis, the world believed that the sacrifices of those dead won't be wasted. His speech filled everyone watching with a sense on confidence and self belief that the terrorists will be brought to justice. But the speech given by Mr. Manmohan Singh was so robotic, so numb, devoid of any emotion whatsoever that even the most optimistic of his supporter would have doubted his capacity as the PM of this great nation. That speech even failed to life the gloom of nation, forget instilling confidence.

Moreover, the points he made in his speech could and should have been avoided. When the brave men of police sacrificed there lives in the line of fire, shielding many innocent lives, the PM talked of reforming the Police system. How ironic? The blame should have been put on RAW and IB, to reform the intelligence system. Its not the duty of Police to guard the International waters. The police in India have a clearly defined role by the Indian Constitution and they did all what could have been done in the hour of crisis.

What needs to be done is pretty clear and evident. But when will the steps be taken remains to be seen. It won't be a surprise if we see another attacks sooner rather than later. Its not the time to point fingers. If India needs to develop and negate any such threats, the Congress and BJP need to join hands for atleast 10 years to insure the country remains on the course of development. The other parties don't stand any chance to challenge such an alliance.

As i conclude, there is a bitter sweet news, the NSG has taken control of Nariman House, at the expense of 5 hostages. I salute the elite NSG, MARCOS, Mumbai Police and all other elite forces who sacrificed there lives in the line of fire. I just wish that there sacrifices won't be wasted.

The action was carefully coordinated for maximum effect. First came an early-morning announcement by the British government that it had crafted a $90 billion rescue package for its banks. Then five central banks from around the world, including the two big ones — the U.S. Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank — announced a cut in interest rates. Jean-Claude Trichet, president of the European Central Bank, described the cuts as an "important mark of confidence" that showed an "intimate cooperation" among monetary authorities around the world. Under normal circumstances, such measures would have bucked up moods and stock prices in financial centers across the globe.

Instead, the big concerted action of Oct. 8 passed with barely a shrug from Wall Street. Stock markets worldwide continued to roil, and banks everywhere remained in the firing line. "Confidence has completely crashed, and it will take a while to rebuild it," says Craig Wright, chief economist at the Royal Bank of Canada, who is nonetheless hopeful that these and other measures will eventually start to work. "But it's hard to hear positives in a thunderstorm of gloom."

The mess caused by fast-and-loose mortgage lending in the U.S. has now blown into a perilous global crisis of confidence that has revealed both the scale and the limitations of globalization. Finance is built on trust, and suddenly that trust has been replaced by fear: fear among depositors from Madrid to Macao over the safety of their money; fear among banks worldwide about lending to one another; and now fear among politicians, central bankers and regulators that they don't have adequate tools to fix the problem.

At the root of the troubles are the "toxic assets" — the highly leveraged securities mainly linked to U.S. mortgages — that banks around the world still have on their books. In its latest estimate this month, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) calculated that losses on these now virtually worthless securities could amount to $1.4 trillion. So far, banks have written off less than half that. Concern about who is still holding dud paper has gummed up credit markets, with banks refusing to lend to one another for fear that the borrowers may default or may have themselves lent to other banks that could default. That in turn is causing solvency problems for some financial institutions that rely on short-term borrowing to fund their operations.

The pain will soon come to Main Street — in Beijing and Brussels as much as in Boise. Economists are already outlining the downward spiral that they predict will follow. Banks will cut back on their lending to households and businesses. Mortgages and car loans will become harder to get. That in turn will stifle consumer spending and crimp investment in companies, leading to production cuts and job losses. Judging by previous crises, it can take about 18 months to two years for a financial squeeze to spread to the rest of the economy, which means that 2009 is shaping up to be a bleak year everywhere.

If the global financial meltdown can be traced to an American export — the subprime mess — the U.S. will import the consequences. As the go-go economies of China and India hit the brakes, so too will demand for American goods and services. That will have a knock-on effect on jobs and the earnings of companies that rely heavily on international sales. (One small silver lining: as their economies have slowed down, China and India have decreased their consumption of oil, contributing to a fall in prices, both globally and at the pump.)

In its latest economic outlook, published on Oct. 8, the IMF predicted that the U.S. economy will grow just 0.1% next year, its worst showing in 18 years. Europe is expected to fare no better, and China, India and other emerging economies that have been critical drivers of global economic growth over the past five years are also expected to slow markedly. That means nobody will be able to take over for the U.S. as the locomotive of the world economy, and everyone will drag down everyone else. Overall, the IMF expects world economic growth to slow to 3% in 2009, from 5% in 2007, and it warns, "The world economy is now entering a major downturn in the face of the most dangerous shock in mature financial markets since the 1930s." Wright of the Royal Bank of Canada predicts, "The U.S. will go into a shallow recession, unfortunately followed by a shallow recovery."

Xu Lejiang says it's already happening. He's chairman of Baosteel, one of China's giant steelmakers, and since August, he has had to cut prices twice as demand suddenly cooled off in what had been a booming industry. The era of rapid growth for Chinese steel "will soon be remembered as history," he says. The Chinese stock market has also been hit hard — it's down about 60% this year — but the nation's banking system has for the moment largely been sheltered from the international storm because it's only partly open to the global capital flows that have circulated so many toxic assets. China's economic growth has been a critical factor for the U.S. because working in tandem, the nations have served as the twin motors of world economic growth: American consumers have snapped up everything that the Chinese have manufactured, from toys to apparel, and in return the Chinese have helped to finance America's deficits by accumulating ever larger amounts of U.S. debt. If their economy hits the brakes, Chinese will buy fewer GM cars, Chinese steelmakers will use less U.S. iron ore, and Beijing may want to use its cash reserves for other purposes, including investment at home to stimulate its own economy rather than to bail out the U.S. Treasury.

China's huge currency reserves and its vast holdings of U.S. securities make it a key player in the U.S. financial markets. If the Chinese decided to shift any of their money out of the U.S. or the dollar, it would cause a huge upheaval, potentially sending the dollar skidding and hurting markets even further. For the moment, though, China hasn't given any hint that it's unhappy about owning rapidly depreciating U.S.-dollar assets. (The greenback has actually strengthened in recent days, but some caution that this is temporary.)

Global Problem, Global SolutionIn the event of a severe economic downturn, the U.S. — like other countries — would find it much harder to export its goods and services around the world. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 12 million American jobs depend on trade, including 1 in 5 factory jobs. One in 3 acres of U.S. farmland is planted for export, and many of the nation's biggest corporations, from Coca-Cola to Microsoft and Google, depend on substantial revenues from overseas.

Beyond the immediate economic impact, there are already signs that this meltdown will have longer-term repercussions. One is that policymakers everywhere will have to go back to the drawing board to figure out a more effective system of financial-crisis management. "Governments are making the same mistake over and over again. They're trying to deal with the crisis on a piecemeal basis," says Dennis J. Snower, president of Germany's Kiel Institute for the World Economy. He advocates a far more ambitious solution, including the creation of a new international agency that can act as a lender of last resort to stricken banks. In Washington, Robert B. Zoellick, president of the World Bank, concurs that only a multinational solution can really work. "While American eyes are on the intersection of Wall and Main streets, there is much more to the story," he says. "The response to these crises will have to be larger and global."

Finance has become one of the most international of industries, with major banks spreading their activities across numerous countries and continents, yet regulation still takes place on a national or even more local basis. When banks run into trouble, it's unclear who is supposed to help or how. The favored solution so far — direct government intervention, like the $700 billion rescue package approved by the U.S. Congress or the British plan — isn't an option everywhere. Banks have become so big and so leveraged that their balance sheets can exceed the gross domestic product of the country in which they are based. That's the case in Belgium, the Netherlands and a host of smaller countries, including Iceland, where on Oct. 6 the Prime Minister warned about the possibility of a "national bankruptcy" because several banks with assets larger than the country's entire economy ran into trouble. Uncertainties about crisis-management efforts are contributing significantly to the market instability.

Another possible repercussion: a reexamination of the freewheeling, free-market practices — what the French like to call "Anglo-Saxon capitalism" — that led to this crisis. French President Nicolas Sarkozy kicked off that debate as Wall Street was reeling from the collapse of Lehman Brothers and Congress was first debating the bailout package. In a speech in Toulon on Sept. 25, he said the crisis marked "the end of a world that was built on the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War — a big dream of liberty and prosperity." As for capitalism, he called for a "new balance" between the market and the state and added, "The idea that markets are always right was a mad idea."

Among Equals, No Longer FirstWherever the debate over ideas leads, it's clear that some things will never be the same. Wall Street's primacy as the world's capital of capital won't disappear, but it will face even tougher challenges not just from London but also from regional financial centers, including Dubai and Singapore. And since financial services are such an important part of the U.S. economy, accounting for a massive 15% of New York's alone, any diminishing of its status as a financial center will have big repercussions on jobs. The dollar too may lose its long-held status as the currency of choice for central bankers everywhere. Snower of the Kiel Institute believes that in the future, "this will be seen as a historic period in which the U.S. will give up some of its reserve-currency role." Asian and Middle Eastern nations that currently hold on to dollars will want to diversify into other currencies, including Euros.

The advantage in having the rest of the world use your currency is that you can borrow easily: that's why the U.S. government and U.S. companies have long been able to borrow cheaply and why mortgage rates in the U.S. have historically been low. If the dollar has to share top billing with other currencies, it will be harder for the U.S. to finance a profligate lifestyle and run big deficits, as the nation currently does. Expect mortgage rates to shoot up and your overseas vacation to get a lot more expensive. In the past, Snower says, "the U.S. could live off the fat of the rest of the world. Now it won't be able to."

For the moment, though, the priority remains trying to stabilize a global financial system that has become worryingly volatile. Announcing Britain's plans to recapitalize its major banks and reach out for a broader international solution, Prime Minister Gordon Brown didn't mince words. "This is not a time for conventional thinking or outdated dogma but for the fresh and innovative intervention that gets to the heart of the problem," he said. The big yawn with which global stock markets greeted the move said it all: given the beaten-down state of the financial system and the questions that continue to swirl around it, far more concerted action is needed if confidence is to be restored.

The action was carefully coordinated for maximum effect. First came an early-morning announcement by the British government that it had crafted a $90 billion rescue package for its banks. Then five central banks from around the world, including the two big ones — the U.S. Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank — announced a cut in interest rates. Jean-Claude Trichet, president of the European Central Bank, described the cuts as an "important mark of confidence" that showed an "intimate cooperation" among monetary authorities around the world. Under normal circumstances, such measures would have bucked up moods and stock prices in financial centers across the globe.

Instead, the big concerted action of Oct. 8 passed with barely a shrug from Wall Street. Stock markets worldwide continued to roil, and banks everywhere remained in the firing line. "Confidence has completely crashed, and it will take a while to rebuild it," says Craig Wright, chief economist at the Royal Bank of Canada, who is nonetheless hopeful that these and other measures will eventually start to work. "But it's hard to hear positives in a thunderstorm of gloom."

The mess caused by fast-and-loose mortgage lending in the U.S. has now blown into a perilous global crisis of confidence that has revealed both the scale and the limitations of globalization. Finance is built on trust, and suddenly that trust has been replaced by fear: fear among depositors from Madrid to Macao over the safety of their money; fear among banks worldwide about lending to one another; and now fear among politicians, central bankers and regulators that they don't have adequate tools to fix the problem.

At the root of the troubles are the "toxic assets" — the highly leveraged securities mainly linked to U.S. mortgages — that banks around the world still have on their books. In its latest estimate this month, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) calculated that losses on these now virtually worthless securities could amount to $1.4 trillion. So far, banks have written off less than half that. Concern about who is still holding dud paper has gummed up credit markets, with banks refusing to lend to one another for fear that the borrowers may default or may have themselves lent to other banks that could default. That in turn is causing solvency problems for some financial institutions that rely on short-term borrowing to fund their operations.

The pain will soon come to Main Street — in Beijing and Brussels as much as in Boise. Economists are already outlining the downward spiral that they predict will follow. Banks will cut back on their lending to households and businesses. Mortgages and car loans will become harder to get. That in turn will stifle consumer spending and crimp investment in companies, leading to production cuts and job losses. Judging by previous crises, it can take about 18 months to two years for a financial squeeze to spread to the rest of the economy, which means that 2009 is shaping up to be a bleak year everywhere.

If the global financial meltdown can be traced to an American export — the subprime mess — the U.S. will import the consequences. As the go-go economies of China and India hit the brakes, so too will demand for American goods and services. That will have a knock-on effect on jobs and the earnings of companies that rely heavily on international sales. (One small silver lining: as their economies have slowed down, China and India have decreased their consumption of oil, contributing to a fall in prices, both globally and at the pump.)

In its latest economic outlook, published on Oct. 8, the IMF predicted that the U.S. economy will grow just 0.1% next year, its worst showing in 18 years. Europe is expected to fare no better, and China, India and other emerging economies that have been critical drivers of global economic growth over the past five years are also expected to slow markedly. That means nobody will be able to take over for the U.S. as the locomotive of the world economy, and everyone will drag down everyone else. Overall, the IMF expects world economic growth to slow to 3% in 2009, from 5% in 2007, and it warns, "The world economy is now entering a major downturn in the face of the most dangerous shock in mature financial markets since the 1930s." Wright of the Royal Bank of Canada predicts, "The U.S. will go into a shallow recession, unfortunately followed by a shallow recovery."

Xu Lejiang says it's already happening. He's chairman of Baosteel, one of China's giant steelmakers, and since August, he has had to cut prices twice as demand suddenly cooled off in what had been a booming industry. The era of rapid growth for Chinese steel "will soon be remembered as history," he says. The Chinese stock market has also been hit hard — it's down about 60% this year — but the nation's banking system has for the moment largely been sheltered from the international storm because it's only partly open to the global capital flows that have circulated so many toxic assets. China's economic growth has been a critical factor for the U.S. because working in tandem, the nations have served as the twin motors of world economic growth: American consumers have snapped up everything that the Chinese have manufactured, from toys to apparel, and in return the Chinese have helped to finance America's deficits by accumulating ever larger amounts of U.S. debt. If their economy hits the brakes, Chinese will buy fewer GM cars, Chinese steelmakers will use less U.S. iron ore, and Beijing may want to use its cash reserves for other purposes, including investment at home to stimulate its own economy rather than to bail out the U.S. Treasury.

China's huge currency reserves and its vast holdings of U.S. securities make it a key player in the U.S. financial markets. If the Chinese decided to shift any of their money out of the U.S. or the dollar, it would cause a huge upheaval, potentially sending the dollar skidding and hurting markets even further. For the moment, though, China hasn't given any hint that it's unhappy about owning rapidly depreciating U.S.-dollar assets. (The greenback has actually strengthened in recent days, but some caution that this is temporary.)

Global Problem, Global SolutionIn the event of a severe economic downturn, the U.S. — like other countries — would find it much harder to export its goods and services around the world. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 12 million American jobs depend on trade, including 1 in 5 factory jobs. One in 3 acres of U.S. farmland is planted for export, and many of the nation's biggest corporations, from Coca-Cola to Microsoft and Google, depend on substantial revenues from overseas.

Beyond the immediate economic impact, there are already signs that this meltdown will have longer-term repercussions. One is that policymakers everywhere will have to go back to the drawing board to figure out a more effective system of financial-crisis management. "Governments are making the same mistake over and over again. They're trying to deal with the crisis on a piecemeal basis," says Dennis J. Snower, president of Germany's Kiel Institute for the World Economy. He advocates a far more ambitious solution, including the creation of a new international agency that can act as a lender of last resort to stricken banks. In Washington, Robert B. Zoellick, president of the World Bank, concurs that only a multinational solution can really work. "While American eyes are on the intersection of Wall and Main streets, there is much more to the story," he says. "The response to these crises will have to be larger and global."

Finance has become one of the most international of industries, with major banks spreading their activities across numerous countries and continents, yet regulation still takes place on a national or even more local basis. When banks run into trouble, it's unclear who is supposed to help or how. The favored solution so far — direct government intervention, like the $700 billion rescue package approved by the U.S. Congress or the British plan — isn't an option everywhere. Banks have become so big and so leveraged that their balance sheets can exceed the gross domestic product of the country in which they are based. That's the case in Belgium, the Netherlands and a host of smaller countries, including Iceland, where on Oct. 6 the Prime Minister warned about the possibility of a "national bankruptcy" because several banks with assets larger than the country's entire economy ran into trouble. Uncertainties about crisis-management efforts are contributing significantly to the market instability.

Another possible repercussion: a reexamination of the freewheeling, free-market practices — what the French like to call "Anglo-Saxon capitalism" — that led to this crisis. French President Nicolas Sarkozy kicked off that debate as Wall Street was reeling from the collapse of Lehman Brothers and Congress was first debating the bailout package. In a speech in Toulon on Sept. 25, he said the crisis marked "the end of a world that was built on the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War — a big dream of liberty and prosperity." As for capitalism, he called for a "new balance" between the market and the state and added, "The idea that markets are always right was a mad idea."

Among Equals, No Longer FirstWherever the debate over ideas leads, it's clear that some things will never be the same. Wall Street's primacy as the world's capital of capital won't disappear, but it will face even tougher challenges not just from London but also from regional financial centers, including Dubai and Singapore. And since financial services are such an important part of the U.S. economy, accounting for a massive 15% of New York's alone, any diminishing of its status as a financial center will have big repercussions on jobs. The dollar too may lose its long-held status as the currency of choice for central bankers everywhere. Snower of the Kiel Institute believes that in the future, "this will be seen as a historic period in which the U.S. will give up some of its reserve-currency role." Asian and Middle Eastern nations that currently hold on to dollars will want to diversify into other currencies, including Euros.

The advantage in having the rest of the world use your currency is that you can borrow easily: that's why the U.S. government and U.S. companies have long been able to borrow cheaply and why mortgage rates in the U.S. have historically been low. If the dollar has to share top billing with other currencies, it will be harder for the U.S. to finance a profligate lifestyle and run big deficits, as the nation currently does. Expect mortgage rates to shoot up and your overseas vacation to get a lot more expensive. In the past, Snower says, "the U.S. could live off the fat of the rest of the world. Now it won't be able to."

For the moment, though, the priority remains trying to stabilize a global financial system that has become worryingly volatile. Announcing Britain's plans to recapitalize its major banks and reach out for a broader international solution, Prime Minister Gordon Brown didn't mince words. "This is not a time for conventional thinking or outdated dogma but for the fresh and innovative intervention that gets to the heart of the problem," he said. The big yawn with which global stock markets greeted the move said it all: given the beaten-down state of the financial system and the questions that continue to swirl around it, far more concerted action is needed if confidence is to be restored.

Dushera, Vijay Parv, the day when supposedly Lord Ram won over and killed Ravan. So is Ravan really dead? I differ in opinion, may be like a lot others.

Ravan, a disparaging rather insulting adjective used to describe Dasamukh, a devoted scholar of Vedas, a blessed devotee of Lord Shiv and ruler of three worlds. A cold blooded seizure of Sita, the wife of Ram, led to his end, demolishing a vast and glorious kingdom. Every year on, we celebrate Dushera to mark this event which we commemorate as the Victory of good over evil.

So is the evil, whom apparently historians named- Ravan, really dead? Does Good, generally believed to be- Ram, actually exists? Why was Ravan evil? Because he, as written by historians, kidnapped Sita? Yes, it was a shameful and utterly unethical thing to do. He can be called a kidnapper for that. But evil? That effectively means in modern times, atleast as depicted by Newspapers and News Channels, there are uncountable number of Ravans, the evil. Its nothing new to read or see either a rape, kidnap or murder, everyday. So where is Ram now? Isn't it the responsibility of the GOOD, Ram to defeat the EVIL, Ravan? Last week a lady journalist was shot dead at midnight in Delhi. Well, if kidnapping is called Evil, than murder should be perhaps, cruel or devilish. And where is Ram, the Delhi police has done nothing, absolutely nothing relevant towards solving any aspect of it.

This was just an example, the so called Ravan, the evil exists everywhere. To curb the growing displeasure at home against the September 11 'terrorist attacks', George Bush, the President of USA, ordered war against Afghanistan, no wonder Mr. Bush won the next election and his last term to the Office of president. Than to acquire the enormous oil banks of Iraq, Mr. Bush used and actually popularised the word WMD's (Weapons of Mass Destructions). Well as apparent to everyone else in world, there were no WMD's to be found in Iraq but a lot of black gold.

Going on to international affairs is rather easy, its better to solve problems at home and then criticise. Right, we have got no right to condemn and criticise, US's tough stance against anyone, because atleast they have a view, not like India, who is as confused as a 3 year old kid in a Glass maze. India always urged Pakistan to respect LOC while the latter always claimed the whole of Kashmir. Instead of going with Maharaja Hari Singh's accession, we still don't claim the so called POK. Same with China, who also have occupied a major portion on North-East Kashmir. So where is Ram now? Isn't it evil to occupy a neighbours assets, to kill many and destroy peace in neighbour's home?

These are rather well known issues. But here is a grass root example- to register a police complaint in certain parts of India, you actually have to pay a well deservedly asked bribe. Now this is no unknown criticism. Many can testify to this. We all know where we stand in the list of corrupted countries in world. Even this is evil, where is Ram? May be, only Valmiki knew them personally or may be even the Great Lord Ram is also tired of this nation. Whatever it is, we surely aren't missing Ravan.

Dushera, Vijay Parv, the day when supposedly Lord Ram won over and killed Ravan. So is Ravan really dead? I differ in opinion, may be like a lot others.

Ravan, a disparaging rather insulting adjective used to describe Dasamukh, a devoted scholar of Vedas, a blessed devotee of Lord Shiv and ruler of three worlds. A cold blooded seizure of Sita, the wife of Ram, led to his end, demolishing a vast and glorious kingdom. Every year on, we celebrate Dushera to mark this event which we commemorate as the Victory of good over evil.

So is the evil, whom apparently historians named- Ravan, really dead? Does Good, generally believed to be- Ram, actually exists? Why was Ravan evil? Because he, as written by historians, kidnapped Sita? Yes, it was a shameful and utterly unethical thing to do. He can be called a kidnapper for that. But evil? That effectively means in modern times, atleast as depicted by Newspapers and News Channels, there are uncountable number of Ravans, the evil. Its nothing new to read or see either a rape, kidnap or murder, everyday. So where is Ram now? Isn't it the responsibility of the GOOD, Ram to defeat the EVIL, Ravan? Last week a lady journalist was shot dead at midnight in Delhi. Well, if kidnapping is called Evil, than murder should be perhaps, cruel or devilish. And where is Ram, the Delhi police has done nothing, absolutely nothing relevant towards solving any aspect of it.

This was just an example, the so called Ravan, the evil exists everywhere. To curb the growing displeasure at home against the September 11 'terrorist attacks', George Bush, the President of USA, ordered war against Afghanistan, no wonder Mr. Bush won the next election and his last term to the Office of president. Than to acquire the enormous oil banks of Iraq, Mr. Bush used and actually popularised the word WMD's (Weapons of Mass Destructions). Well as apparent to everyone else in world, there were no WMD's to be found in Iraq but a lot of black gold.

Going on to international affairs is rather easy, its better to solve problems at home and then criticise. Right, we have got no right to condemn and criticise, US's tough stance against anyone, because atleast they have a view, not like India, who is as confused as a 3 year old kid in a Glass maze. India always urged Pakistan to respect LOC while the latter always claimed the whole of Kashmir. Instead of going with Maharaja Hari Singh's accession, we still don't claim the so called POK. Same with China, who also have occupied a major portion on North-East Kashmir. So where is Ram now? Isn't it evil to occupy a neighbours assets, to kill many and destroy peace in neighbour's home?

These are rather well known issues. But here is a grass root example- to register a police complaint in certain parts of India, you actually have to pay a well deservedly asked bribe. Now this is no unknown criticism. Many can testify to this. We all know where we stand in the list of corrupted countries in world. Even this is evil, where is Ram? May be, only Valmiki knew them personally or may be even the Great Lord Ram is also tired of this nation. Whatever it is, we surely aren't missing Ravan.

For years and years now, US Dollar has been the benchmark currency for foreign trade. First supported by gold and then by the oil demand of world, Dollar reached newer heights against other currencies, strenghthening the US Influence all over the world. Dollar has been one of the main stay of US economy's constant upward growth, pulling it out of trouble whenever problems surfaced.

Before the oil problems and dealing started at international level, Gold was the main stay of dollar's strength. US was the biggest supplier of Gold all over world. To buy gold, other countries needed to have US Dollars which eventually came from US. Thus the demand and supply was all in US's hand. And it was controlled very effectively.

The Voice (issue 264) ran an article beginning, 'Iran has really gone and done it now'. No, they haven't sent their first nuclear sub into the Persian Gulf. They launched something much more deadly - Iran Bourse opened to trade oil, not in dollars but in Euros. This apparently insignificant event has consequences far greater for the US people, indeed for us all, than is imaginable.

Currently almost all oil buying and selling is in US-dollars through exchanges in London and New York . It is not accidental they are both US-owned.

The Wall Street crash in 1929 sparked off global depression and World War II. During that war the US supplied provisions and ammunitions to all its allies, refusing currency and demanding gold payments in exchange.

By 1945, 80% of the world's gold was sitting in US vaults. The dollar became the one undisputed global reserve currency, it was treated worldwide as 'safer than gold'. The Bretton Woods agreement was established.

The US took full advantage over the next decades and printed dollars like there was no tomorrow. The US exported many mountains of dollars, paying for ever-increasing amounts of commodities, tax cuts for the rich, many wars abroad, mercenaries, spies and politicians the worldover. You see, this did not affect inflation at home! The US got it all for free! Well, maybe for a forest or two.

Over subsequent decades the world's vaults bulged at the seams and more and more vaults were built, just for US dollars. Each year, the US spends many more dollars abroad than at home. Analysts pretty much agree that outside the US, of the savings, or reserves, of all other countries, in gold and all currencies - that a massive 66% of this total wealth is in US dollars!

In 1971 several countries simultaneously tried to sell a small portion of their dollars to the US for gold. Krassimir Petrov, (Ph. D. in Economics at Ohio University) recently wrote, 'The US Government defaulted on its payment on August 15, 1971. While popular spin told the story of 'severing the link between the dollar and gold', in reality the denial to pay back in gold was an act of bankruptcy by the US Government.' The 1945 Breton Woods agreement was unilaterally smashed.

The dollar and US economy were on a precipice resembling Germany in 1929. The US now had to find a way for the rest of the world to believe and have faith in the paper dollar. The solution was in oil, in the petro-dollar. The US viciously bullied first Saudi Arabia and then OPEC to sell oil for dollars only, it worked, the dollar was saved. Now countries had to keep dollars to buy much needed oil. And the US could buy oil all over the world, free of charge. What a Houdini for the US! Oil replaced gold as the new foundation to stop the paper dollar sinking.

Since 1971, the US printed even more mountains of dollars to spend abroad. The trade deficit grew and grew. The US sucked-in much of the world's products for next to nothing. More vaults were built.

Expert, Nunan, wrote in 2003, 'The dollar is the de'facto world reserve currency: the US currency accounts for approximately two-thirds of all official exchange reserves. More than four-fifths of all foreign exchange transactions and half of all world exports are denominated in dollars. In addition, all IMF loans are denominated in dollars.'

Dr Bulent Gukay of Keele University recently wrote, 'This system of the US dollar acting as global reserve currency in oil trade keeps the demand for the dollar 'artificially' high. This enables the US to carry out printing dollars at the price of next to nothing to fund increased military spending and consumer spending on imports. There is no theoretical limit to the amount of dollars that can be printed. As long as the US has no serious challengers, and the other states have confidence in the US dollar, the system functions.'

Until recently, the US-dollar has been safe. However, since 1990 Western Europe has been busy growing, swallowing up central and Eastern Europe. French and German bosses were jealous of the US ability to buy goods and people the world over for nothing. They wanted a slice of the free-cake too. Further, they now had the power and established the euro in late 1999 against massive US-inspired opposition across Europe, especially from Britain - paid for in dollars of course. But the euro succeeded. Only months after the euro-launch, Saddam's Iraq announced it was switching from selling oil in dollars only, to euros only, breaking the OPEC agreement. Iran, Russia, Venezuela, Libya, all began talking openly of switching too- were the floodgates about to be opened?

Then aero planes flew into the twin-towers in September 2001. Was this another Houdini chance to save the US (petro) dollar and the biggest financial/economic crash in history? War preparations began in the US, But first war-fever had to be created and truth was the first casualty. Other oil producing countries watched-on. In 2000 Iraq began selling oil in euros. In 2002, Iraq changed all their petro-dollars in their vaults into euros. A few months later, the US began their invasion of Iraq. The whole world was watching: very few aware that the US was engaging in the first oil currency, or petro-dollar war. After the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, remember, the US secured oil areas first. Their first sales in August were, of course, in dollars, again. The only government building in Baghdad not bombed was the Oil Ministry! It does not matter how many people are murdered, for the US, the petro-dollar must be saved as the only way to buy and sell oil - otherwise the US economy will crash, and much more besides.

In early 2003, Hugo Chavez, President of Venezuela talked openly of selling half of its oil in euros (the other half is bought by the US). On 12 April 2003, the US-supported business leaders and some generals in Venezuela kidnapped Chavez and attempted a coup. The masses rose against this and the Army followed suit. The coup failed.

This was bad for the US. In November 2000 the euro/dollar was at $0.82 dollars, its lowest ever, and still diving, but when Iraq started selling oil in euros, the euro dive was halted. In April 2002 senior OPEC reps talked about trading in euros and the euro shot up. In June 2003 the US occupiers of Iraq switched trading back to dollars and the euro fell against the dollar again. In August 2003 Iran starts to sell oil in euros to some European countries and the euro rises sharply. In the winter of 2003-04 Russian and OPEC politicians talked seriously of switching oil/gas sales to the euro and the euro rose. In February 2004 OPEC met and made no decision to turn to the euro, and yes, the euro fell against the dollar. In June 2004 Iran announced it would build an oil bourse to rival London and New York, and again, the euro rose. The euro stands at $1.38 and has been climbing of late.

But matters became far, far worse for the US dollar. On 5th May Iran registered its own Oil Bourse, the IOB. Not only are they now selling oil in euros from abroad, they have established an actual Oil Bourse, a global trading centre for all countries to buy and sell their oil!

In Chavez's recent visit to London, he talked openly about supporting the Iranian Oil Bourse, and selling oil in euros. When asked in London about the new arms embargo imposed by the US against Venezuela, Chavez prophetically dismissed the US as 'a paper tiger'.

Currently, almost all the world's oil is sold on either the NYMEX, New York Mercantile Exchange, or the IPE, London's International Petroleum Exchange. Both are owned by US citizens and both sell and buy only in US dollars. The success of the Iran Oil Bourse makes sense to Europe, which buys 70% of Iran 's oil. It makes sense for Russia, which sells 66% of its oil to Europe. But worse for the US , China and India have already stated they are very interested in the new Iranian Oil Bourse.

If there is a tactical-nuclear strike on 'deja-vu' 'weapons of mass destruction' in Iran, who would bet against a certain Oil Exchange and more, being bombed too? And worse for Bush, It makes sense for Europe, China, India and Japan as well as all the other countries mentioned above to buy and sell oil in Euro. They will certainly have to stock-up on euros now, and they will sell dollars to do so. The euro is far more stable than the debt-ridden dollar. The IMF has recently highlighted US economic difficulties and the trade deficit strangling the US, there is no way out.

The problem for so many countries now is how to get rid of their vaults full of dollars, before it crashes? And the US has bullied so many countries for so many decades around the world, that many will see a chance to kick the bully back. The US cannot accept even 5% of the world's dollars, it would crash the US economy dragging much of the world with it, especially Britain .To survive, as the Scottish Socialist Voice article stated, 'the US, needs to generate a trade surplus to get out of this one. Problem is it can't. 'This is spot on. To do that they must force US workers into near slavery, to get paid less than Chinese or Indian workers. We all know that this will not happen. What will happen in the US? Chaos for sure. Maybe a workers revolution, but looking at the situation as it is now, it is more likely to be a re-run of Germany post-1929, and some form of extreme-right mass movement will emerge. Does Europe and China/Asia have the economic independence and strength to stop the whole world's economies collapsing with the US? Their vaults are full to the brim with dollars. The US has to find a way to pay for its dollar-imperialist exploitation of the world since 1945. Somehow, eventually, it has to account for every dollar in every vault in the world.

Bombing Iran could backfire tremendously. It would bring Iran openly into the war in Iraq, behind the Shiite majority. The US cannot cope even now with the much smaller Iraqi insurgency. Perhaps the US will feed into the Sunni v Shiite conflict and turn it into a wider Middle-East civil-war. However, this is so dangerous for global oil supplies. Further, they know that this would be temporary, as some country somewhere else, will establish a euro-oil exchange, perhaps in Brussels.

There is one 'solution' - scrap the dollar and print a whole new currency for the US. This will destroy 66% of the rest of the world's savings/reserves in one swoop. Imagine the implications? Such are the desperate things now swimming around heads in the White House, Wall Street and Pentagon. Another is to do as Germany did, just before invading Poland in 1938. The Nazis filmed a mock Polish Army attack on Germany, to win hearts and minds at home. But again, this is a finger in the dam.

So, how is the US going to escape this time? The only global arena of total superiority left is military. Who knows what horrors lie ahead? A new world war is one tool by which the US could discipline its 'allies' into keeping the dollar in their vaults. The task of socialists today is to explain to as many as possible, especially our class, that the coming crisis belongs purely to capitalism and (dollar) imperialism. Not people of other cultures, not Islam, not the axis of evil or their so-called WMDs. Their system alone is to blame.

The new Iranian Oil Bourse, the IOB, is situated in a new building on the free-trade-zone island of Kish, in the Persian Gulf. The IOB was supposed to be up and running last March, but many pressures forced a postponement. Where the pressure came from is obvious. It was internationally registered on 5th May and supposed to open mid-May, but its opening was put off, some saying the oil-mafia was involved, along with much international pressure.

In 2007 Crude was traded around 60 usd. Everyone knew dollar was getting weaker and weaker day by day. Then US with the help of their two NYMEX & IPE exchange started rising the price of crude by Future trading on crude (called speculation). Today crude is around 100 usd. It means whole world who were paying 60 usd, are now paying 100 usd, which means demand of dollar has gone upto 170% and dollar started rising again.

For years and years now, US Dollar has been the benchmark currency for foreign trade. First supported by gold and then by the oil demand of world, Dollar reached newer heights against other currencies, strenghthening the US Influence all over the world. Dollar has been one of the main stay of US economy's constant upward growth, pulling it out of trouble whenever problems surfaced.

Before the oil problems and dealing started at international level, Gold was the main stay of dollar's strength. US was the biggest supplier of Gold all over world. To buy gold, other countries needed to have US Dollars which eventually came from US. Thus the demand and supply was all in US's hand. And it was controlled very effectively.

The Voice (issue 264) ran an article beginning, 'Iran has really gone and done it now'. No, they haven't sent their first nuclear sub into the Persian Gulf. They launched something much more deadly - Iran Bourse opened to trade oil, not in dollars but in Euros. This apparently insignificant event has consequences far greater for the US people, indeed for us all, than is imaginable.

Currently almost all oil buying and selling is in US-dollars through exchanges in London and New York . It is not accidental they are both US-owned.

The Wall Street crash in 1929 sparked off global depression and World War II. During that war the US supplied provisions and ammunitions to all its allies, refusing currency and demanding gold payments in exchange.

By 1945, 80% of the world's gold was sitting in US vaults. The dollar became the one undisputed global reserve currency, it was treated worldwide as 'safer than gold'. The Bretton Woods agreement was established.

The US took full advantage over the next decades and printed dollars like there was no tomorrow. The US exported many mountains of dollars, paying for ever-increasing amounts of commodities, tax cuts for the rich, many wars abroad, mercenaries, spies and politicians the worldover. You see, this did not affect inflation at home! The US got it all for free! Well, maybe for a forest or two.

Over subsequent decades the world's vaults bulged at the seams and more and more vaults were built, just for US dollars. Each year, the US spends many more dollars abroad than at home. Analysts pretty much agree that outside the US, of the savings, or reserves, of all other countries, in gold and all currencies - that a massive 66% of this total wealth is in US dollars!

In 1971 several countries simultaneously tried to sell a small portion of their dollars to the US for gold. Krassimir Petrov, (Ph. D. in Economics at Ohio University) recently wrote, 'The US Government defaulted on its payment on August 15, 1971. While popular spin told the story of 'severing the link between the dollar and gold', in reality the denial to pay back in gold was an act of bankruptcy by the US Government.' The 1945 Breton Woods agreement was unilaterally smashed.

The dollar and US economy were on a precipice resembling Germany in 1929. The US now had to find a way for the rest of the world to believe and have faith in the paper dollar. The solution was in oil, in the petro-dollar. The US viciously bullied first Saudi Arabia and then OPEC to sell oil for dollars only, it worked, the dollar was saved. Now countries had to keep dollars to buy much needed oil. And the US could buy oil all over the world, free of charge. What a Houdini for the US! Oil replaced gold as the new foundation to stop the paper dollar sinking.

Since 1971, the US printed even more mountains of dollars to spend abroad. The trade deficit grew and grew. The US sucked-in much of the world's products for next to nothing. More vaults were built.

Expert, Nunan, wrote in 2003, 'The dollar is the de'facto world reserve currency: the US currency accounts for approximately two-thirds of all official exchange reserves. More than four-fifths of all foreign exchange transactions and half of all world exports are denominated in dollars. In addition, all IMF loans are denominated in dollars.'

Dr Bulent Gukay of Keele University recently wrote, 'This system of the US dollar acting as global reserve currency in oil trade keeps the demand for the dollar 'artificially' high. This enables the US to carry out printing dollars at the price of next to nothing to fund increased military spending and consumer spending on imports. There is no theoretical limit to the amount of dollars that can be printed. As long as the US has no serious challengers, and the other states have confidence in the US dollar, the system functions.'

Until recently, the US-dollar has been safe. However, since 1990 Western Europe has been busy growing, swallowing up central and Eastern Europe. French and German bosses were jealous of the US ability to buy goods and people the world over for nothing. They wanted a slice of the free-cake too. Further, they now had the power and established the euro in late 1999 against massive US-inspired opposition across Europe, especially from Britain - paid for in dollars of course. But the euro succeeded. Only months after the euro-launch, Saddam's Iraq announced it was switching from selling oil in dollars only, to euros only, breaking the OPEC agreement. Iran, Russia, Venezuela, Libya, all began talking openly of switching too- were the floodgates about to be opened?

Then aero planes flew into the twin-towers in September 2001. Was this another Houdini chance to save the US (petro) dollar and the biggest financial/economic crash in history? War preparations began in the US, But first war-fever had to be created and truth was the first casualty. Other oil producing countries watched-on. In 2000 Iraq began selling oil in euros. In 2002, Iraq changed all their petro-dollars in their vaults into euros. A few months later, the US began their invasion of Iraq. The whole world was watching: very few aware that the US was engaging in the first oil currency, or petro-dollar war. After the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, remember, the US secured oil areas first. Their first sales in August were, of course, in dollars, again. The only government building in Baghdad not bombed was the Oil Ministry! It does not matter how many people are murdered, for the US, the petro-dollar must be saved as the only way to buy and sell oil - otherwise the US economy will crash, and much more besides.

In early 2003, Hugo Chavez, President of Venezuela talked openly of selling half of its oil in euros (the other half is bought by the US). On 12 April 2003, the US-supported business leaders and some generals in Venezuela kidnapped Chavez and attempted a coup. The masses rose against this and the Army followed suit. The coup failed.

This was bad for the US. In November 2000 the euro/dollar was at $0.82 dollars, its lowest ever, and still diving, but when Iraq started selling oil in euros, the euro dive was halted. In April 2002 senior OPEC reps talked about trading in euros and the euro shot up. In June 2003 the US occupiers of Iraq switched trading back to dollars and the euro fell against the dollar again. In August 2003 Iran starts to sell oil in euros to some European countries and the euro rises sharply. In the winter of 2003-04 Russian and OPEC politicians talked seriously of switching oil/gas sales to the euro and the euro rose. In February 2004 OPEC met and made no decision to turn to the euro, and yes, the euro fell against the dollar. In June 2004 Iran announced it would build an oil bourse to rival London and New York, and again, the euro rose. The euro stands at $1.38 and has been climbing of late.

But matters became far, far worse for the US dollar. On 5th May Iran registered its own Oil Bourse, the IOB. Not only are they now selling oil in euros from abroad, they have established an actual Oil Bourse, a global trading centre for all countries to buy and sell their oil!

In Chavez's recent visit to London, he talked openly about supporting the Iranian Oil Bourse, and selling oil in euros. When asked in London about the new arms embargo imposed by the US against Venezuela, Chavez prophetically dismissed the US as 'a paper tiger'.

Currently, almost all the world's oil is sold on either the NYMEX, New York Mercantile Exchange, or the IPE, London's International Petroleum Exchange. Both are owned by US citizens and both sell and buy only in US dollars. The success of the Iran Oil Bourse makes sense to Europe, which buys 70% of Iran 's oil. It makes sense for Russia, which sells 66% of its oil to Europe. But worse for the US , China and India have already stated they are very interested in the new Iranian Oil Bourse.

If there is a tactical-nuclear strike on 'deja-vu' 'weapons of mass destruction' in Iran, who would bet against a certain Oil Exchange and more, being bombed too? And worse for Bush, It makes sense for Europe, China, India and Japan as well as all the other countries mentioned above to buy and sell oil in Euro. They will certainly have to stock-up on euros now, and they will sell dollars to do so. The euro is far more stable than the debt-ridden dollar. The IMF has recently highlighted US economic difficulties and the trade deficit strangling the US, there is no way out.

The problem for so many countries now is how to get rid of their vaults full of dollars, before it crashes? And the US has bullied so many countries for so many decades around the world, that many will see a chance to kick the bully back. The US cannot accept even 5% of the world's dollars, it would crash the US economy dragging much of the world with it, especially Britain .To survive, as the Scottish Socialist Voice article stated, 'the US, needs to generate a trade surplus to get out of this one. Problem is it can't. 'This is spot on. To do that they must force US workers into near slavery, to get paid less than Chinese or Indian workers. We all know that this will not happen. What will happen in the US? Chaos for sure. Maybe a workers revolution, but looking at the situation as it is now, it is more likely to be a re-run of Germany post-1929, and some form of extreme-right mass movement will emerge. Does Europe and China/Asia have the economic independence and strength to stop the whole world's economies collapsing with the US? Their vaults are full to the brim with dollars. The US has to find a way to pay for its dollar-imperialist exploitation of the world since 1945. Somehow, eventually, it has to account for every dollar in every vault in the world.

Bombing Iran could backfire tremendously. It would bring Iran openly into the war in Iraq, behind the Shiite majority. The US cannot cope even now with the much smaller Iraqi insurgency. Perhaps the US will feed into the Sunni v Shiite conflict and turn it into a wider Middle-East civil-war. However, this is so dangerous for global oil supplies. Further, they know that this would be temporary, as some country somewhere else, will establish a euro-oil exchange, perhaps in Brussels.

There is one 'solution' - scrap the dollar and print a whole new currency for the US. This will destroy 66% of the rest of the world's savings/reserves in one swoop. Imagine the implications? Such are the desperate things now swimming around heads in the White House, Wall Street and Pentagon. Another is to do as Germany did, just before invading Poland in 1938. The Nazis filmed a mock Polish Army attack on Germany, to win hearts and minds at home. But again, this is a finger in the dam.

So, how is the US going to escape this time? The only global arena of total superiority left is military. Who knows what horrors lie ahead? A new world war is one tool by which the US could discipline its 'allies' into keeping the dollar in their vaults. The task of socialists today is to explain to as many as possible, especially our class, that the coming crisis belongs purely to capitalism and (dollar) imperialism. Not people of other cultures, not Islam, not the axis of evil or their so-called WMDs. Their system alone is to blame.

The new Iranian Oil Bourse, the IOB, is situated in a new building on the free-trade-zone island of Kish, in the Persian Gulf. The IOB was supposed to be up and running last March, but many pressures forced a postponement. Where the pressure came from is obvious. It was internationally registered on 5th May and supposed to open mid-May, but its opening was put off, some saying the oil-mafia was involved, along with much international pressure.

In 2007 Crude was traded around 60 usd. Everyone knew dollar was getting weaker and weaker day by day. Then US with the help of their two NYMEX & IPE exchange started rising the price of crude by Future trading on crude (called speculation). Today crude is around 100 usd. It means whole world who were paying 60 usd, are now paying 100 usd, which means demand of dollar has gone upto 170% and dollar started rising again.

Mumbai- India's commercial capital, the financial hub of one of the fastest growing countries in world, the base of one of the biggest film industries in world, the home of a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic and multi-lingual 40 million people. There is so much to be proud of, about Mumbai. But unfortunately, some people correction, some pessimists always want to hinder the evolution process.

Raj Thackeray, the outspoken rebel, who employed a very simple tactic, very similar to the one's used by the British Raj, to gain some quick publicity and following. Its been some time since he broke apart from Shiv Sena, but never gained enough importance in the state politics till now. But as any other politician, he has started using cheap regional tactics to gain some supporters and establish his political influence in the state.

Maharasthra Navnirman Sena, thats what Raj named his party. To begin with, its a small regional party, formed in early 2006 as a result of internal clashes and contradictory views of Raj and Bal Thackeray, the supremo of Shiv Sena, of which Raj was the so called crown prince, ahead of Bal Thackeray's son, Uddhav. Though its been more than 2 years now, the party gained impendum only after Raj deployed his forces against the so called Hindi-speaking population of India's biggest Metropolis. The party is still not considered a big force or of any political relevant even in Mumbai.

But Raj is not anyway like his uncle Bal Thackeray. Yes, Bal Thackeray has his own views which are to an extent extreme, but Raj used fairly cheap and old yet effective tactics to establish his newly formed party. Its similar to what the British Raj used to rule over India. To divide and rule. The population of Mumbai is around 40 Million, but out of that, majority are immigrants from other states. They live and earn a decent livelihood in Mumbai, but majority are still not the choosers when it comes to Elections. The voting population still, largely remains the locals or the immigrants who have been living from ages and therefore has accepted it as there motherland. Raj just want to use this age old tactic to attract the local, electoral population, towards his party, make some following and use it as the vote bank for elections. Well, considering the Indian politics and politician, its a fairly wise choice and smart strategic move.

As the burning of English/Hindi hoardings, posters was not enough, Raj started attacking affluent immigrant personalities personally. Mr. Amitabh Bachhan's residence in Mumbai was attacked by MNS party workers. Stones were thrown, effigies and posters were burnt. To the extent that they stopped the premier of one of his film. Mr. Bachhan, as wise, diplomatic and highly respected responsible citizen of Mumbai, Maharashtra and India came out publicly on camera to apologise for Mrs. Jaya Bachhan's comments for which Mrs. Bachhan had already apologised on camera. For what? Just because Raj Thackeray wanted so.

Warnings after warnings, abuses after abuses, breaking laws and continued ultimatums for unethical and insensible things, started coming rather rapidly from Raj. But the state Government just couldn't act. Nothing at all. The followers and party workers of MNS continued rampaging shops and homes, attacking individuals, but the Government never let the Police act. The helplessness and frustration of Police was evident in there statements to media. But our democratic set-up don't let police to act independently. They have to get warrants, orders and many other formalities needs to be completed before they can take any action. But we all know, our politicians would never let anyone act for the betterment of our country.

The Government don't even have any excuse for it. I can be arrested for writing this blog, although my RIGHT TO SPEECH gives me all authority to express my views. But in Jungle Raaj there are no rights, its just the race to survive amongst the beasts. Gob be with us.

Mumbai- India's commercial capital, the financial hub of one of the fastest growing countries in world, the base of one of the biggest film industries in world, the home of a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic and multi-lingual 40 million people. There is so much to be proud of, about Mumbai. But unfortunately, some people correction, some pessimists always want to hinder the evolution process.

Raj Thackeray, the outspoken rebel, who employed a very simple tactic, very similar to the one's used by the British Raj, to gain some quick publicity and following. Its been some time since he broke apart from Shiv Sena, but never gained enough importance in the state politics till now. But as any other politician, he has started using cheap regional tactics to gain some supporters and establish his political influence in the state.

Maharasthra Navnirman Sena, thats what Raj named his party. To begin with, its a small regional party, formed in early 2006 as a result of internal clashes and contradictory views of Raj and Bal Thackeray, the supremo of Shiv Sena, of which Raj was the so called crown prince, ahead of Bal Thackeray's son, Uddhav. Though its been more than 2 years now, the party gained impendum only after Raj deployed his forces against the so called Hindi-speaking population of India's biggest Metropolis. The party is still not considered a big force or of any political relevant even in Mumbai.

But Raj is not anyway like his uncle Bal Thackeray. Yes, Bal Thackeray has his own views which are to an extent extreme, but Raj used fairly cheap and old yet effective tactics to establish his newly formed party. Its similar to what the British Raj used to rule over India. To divide and rule. The population of Mumbai is around 40 Million, but out of that, majority are immigrants from other states. They live and earn a decent livelihood in Mumbai, but majority are still not the choosers when it comes to Elections. The voting population still, largely remains the locals or the immigrants who have been living from ages and therefore has accepted it as there motherland. Raj just want to use this age old tactic to attract the local, electoral population, towards his party, make some following and use it as the vote bank for elections. Well, considering the Indian politics and politician, its a fairly wise choice and smart strategic move.

As the burning of English/Hindi hoardings, posters was not enough, Raj started attacking affluent immigrant personalities personally. Mr. Amitabh Bachhan's residence in Mumbai was attacked by MNS party workers. Stones were thrown, effigies and posters were burnt. To the extent that they stopped the premier of one of his film. Mr. Bachhan, as wise, diplomatic and highly respected responsible citizen of Mumbai, Maharashtra and India came out publicly on camera to apologise for Mrs. Jaya Bachhan's comments for which Mrs. Bachhan had already apologised on camera. For what? Just because Raj Thackeray wanted so.

Warnings after warnings, abuses after abuses, breaking laws and continued ultimatums for unethical and insensible things, started coming rather rapidly from Raj. But the state Government just couldn't act. Nothing at all. The followers and party workers of MNS continued rampaging shops and homes, attacking individuals, but the Government never let the Police act. The helplessness and frustration of Police was evident in there statements to media. But our democratic set-up don't let police to act independently. They have to get warrants, orders and many other formalities needs to be completed before they can take any action. But we all know, our politicians would never let anyone act for the betterment of our country.

The Government don't even have any excuse for it. I can be arrested for writing this blog, although my RIGHT TO SPEECH gives me all authority to express my views. But in Jungle Raaj there are no rights, its just the race to survive amongst the beasts. Gob be with us.

Again, Yet again. It has now become a routine to come home in evening and watch a city burning and the politicians and bureaucrats condemning. And things will start fussing out the next day itself and very soon there will be another explosion reeling away innocent lives. And the politicians and bureaucrats will again condemn.

The Indian Government is admitably the WORST in responding to any terrorist attack on its own territories. Whether it be any political party having the reigns of Parliament, the situation remains the same. They just CANNOT ACT. And there will be the same, lame excuses- We are the land of Gandhi and Nehru, we are a peace loving democracy. The Indian Government just cannot act and moreover they won't let the Armed forces act either. What can be more shameful than terrorist rampaging in a Country's Parliament? How safe are the commoners when the elite of elite are not out of there reach?

Yes, agreed, we are a country of Gandhi and Nehru, but don't forget, we are a country of Foreign Ministers like Jaswant Singh, who personally flew with some terrorists, sent them home and negotiated with hijackers. And we would just defend ourselves saying that was for many innocent lives. If that is so then we should search the history databases for the Israeli rescue mission for there people. But we just CANNOT ACT.

Its now the 5th instance in very recent times when a metropolis was the target of militant infiltration. And what can be worst than the capital of a huge country? Even small nations fight and defend there own boundaries, rather effectively. But we, standing at 3rd position in terms of number of security personnel in world, fail so often, so miserably. The so called RAW, IB and other intelligence agencies exist practically in papers. After any terrorist attack they will come up with there own reports about some fake assassination plans and terrorist confessions. Just to ward off any outclash from the innocent citizens and to give media something to discuss and debate, which they do, rather commercially.

The Armed forces are so bound by the constitution and held up by the politicians that they cannot act without there consent, even for the interest of this country. They are capable enough to eliminate every single trespassing in our territories but the vote banks have to be nurtured, nourished and kept happy. We all know how easily and often the political parties burn-out there agendas as soon as they assume power.

Yes, the lawmakers do catch some suspects but then comes the Indian Judicial System. An average civil case in India is like a 5-year plan. And the different hierarchy levels of courts effectively means that if a 40-year old is under trial for any case and after appeals, convictions, re-appeal, re-convictions, he would have passed his life time out without any decision or imprisonment. The police and intelligence agencies claim they found the mastermind and next week you will face the wrath of another terrorist act. What does that imply? Is the mastermind using telepathy to connect to his followers or colleagues? The logic of some claims by the bureaucrats is beyond an average Indian's understanding.

The question remains the same- Why is the Government so numb? Why after all these continued infiltrations at the cost of innocent lives, we are still so helpless? What is stopping us from acting? Are we not capable enough? The intelligence failure is never a big offence in India, may be thats why the intelligence agencies are not so concerned about there tasks or we just do not have the resources to tackle the very smart terrorists. The so called terrorists often use the cyber space to inform about any attack they are going to carry out and yet we fail to stop them.

Newton's third law of motion stats- Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. If the great scientist was alive today, he would have been forced to eat his words and burn his research after Indian Government's no reaction theory.

In fact its time we remember other famous Scientist- Charles Darwin and his theory of 'Survival of the Fittest'. Its time to act and defend ourselves to stay alive in this country. In this civilised society and constitutional democray we almost forgot that. But now we should know that we are living in a forest and there are no laws, no lawmakers and no protectors here. Everyone for themselves.

Again, Yet again. It has now become a routine to come home in evening and watch a city burning and the politicians and bureaucrats condemning. And things will start fussing out the next day itself and very soon there will be another explosion reeling away innocent lives. And the politicians and bureaucrats will again condemn.

The Indian Government is admitably the WORST in responding to any terrorist attack on its own territories. Whether it be any political party having the reigns of Parliament, the situation remains the same. They just CANNOT ACT. And there will be the same, lame excuses- We are the land of Gandhi and Nehru, we are a peace loving democracy. The Indian Government just cannot act and moreover they won't let the Armed forces act either. What can be more shameful than terrorist rampaging in a Country's Parliament? How safe are the commoners when the elite of elite are not out of there reach?

Yes, agreed, we are a country of Gandhi and Nehru, but don't forget, we are a country of Foreign Ministers like Jaswant Singh, who personally flew with some terrorists, sent them home and negotiated with hijackers. And we would just defend ourselves saying that was for many innocent lives. If that is so then we should search the history databases for the Israeli rescue mission for there people. But we just CANNOT ACT.

Its now the 5th instance in very recent times when a metropolis was the target of militant infiltration. And what can be worst than the capital of a huge country? Even small nations fight and defend there own boundaries, rather effectively. But we, standing at 3rd position in terms of number of security personnel in world, fail so often, so miserably. The so called RAW, IB and other intelligence agencies exist practically in papers. After any terrorist attack they will come up with there own reports about some fake assassination plans and terrorist confessions. Just to ward off any outclash from the innocent citizens and to give media something to discuss and debate, which they do, rather commercially.

The Armed forces are so bound by the constitution and held up by the politicians that they cannot act without there consent, even for the interest of this country. They are capable enough to eliminate every single trespassing in our territories but the vote banks have to be nurtured, nourished and kept happy. We all know how easily and often the political parties burn-out there agendas as soon as they assume power.

Yes, the lawmakers do catch some suspects but then comes the Indian Judicial System. An average civil case in India is like a 5-year plan. And the different hierarchy levels of courts effectively means that if a 40-year old is under trial for any case and after appeals, convictions, re-appeal, re-convictions, he would have passed his life time out without any decision or imprisonment. The police and intelligence agencies claim they found the mastermind and next week you will face the wrath of another terrorist act. What does that imply? Is the mastermind using telepathy to connect to his followers or colleagues? The logic of some claims by the bureaucrats is beyond an average Indian's understanding.

The question remains the same- Why is the Government so numb? Why after all these continued infiltrations at the cost of innocent lives, we are still so helpless? What is stopping us from acting? Are we not capable enough? The intelligence failure is never a big offence in India, may be thats why the intelligence agencies are not so concerned about there tasks or we just do not have the resources to tackle the very smart terrorists. The so called terrorists often use the cyber space to inform about any attack they are going to carry out and yet we fail to stop them.

Newton's third law of motion stats- Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. If the great scientist was alive today, he would have been forced to eat his words and burn his research after Indian Government's no reaction theory.

In fact its time we remember other famous Scientist- Charles Darwin and his theory of 'Survival of the Fittest'. Its time to act and defend ourselves to stay alive in this country. In this civilised society and constitutional democray we almost forgot that. But now we should know that we are living in a forest and there are no laws, no lawmakers and no protectors here. Everyone for themselves.