Mês: julho 2016

O bilhete premiado de Michel Temer

Por | 31 jul, 2016 | , , |

Conrado Mazzoni 31/07/2016   Não podemos deixar passar uma crise impunemente, precisamos aproveitar. No meio do nevoeiro, esse é o recado a Michel Temer de quem torce para o Brasil se acertar. Gustavo Franco conhece o ritual de reformas econômicas e está confiante. Para o economista, que participou da formulação do Plano Real (1994), muita gente ainda não se deu conta do quanto a situação pode mudar para melhor. Ex-presidente do Banco Central (1997-1999) e um dos sócios-fundadores da Rio Bravo Investimentos, Franco vê Temer com um bilhete premiado nas mãos caso saiba tirar proveito do momento para corrigir gargalos estruturais no País. “O Brasil é um país difícil de reformas e mudanças. As coisas acontecem episodicamente, quando certas janelas se abrem. Foi assim com o FHC, em razão do Plano Real, e agora abriu-se uma janela. Ela não fica muito tempo aberta, é preciso aproveitar a oportunidade”, diz ele, que também foi secretário-adjunto de política econômica do Ministério da Fazenda e é autor de 14 livros publicados. Leia, a seguir, os principais trechos da entrevista a O Financista: O Financista: A recessão acabou? Chegou a hora da retomada na economia? Gustavo Franco: Existe uma óbvia vontade generalizada de proclamar o fim desse período nefasto da economia sob a égide da nova matriz econômica, da heterodoxia e da presidente afastada. Todos querem ser felizes e dar por terminado esse episódio. Porém,...

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“Nyet”

Por | 28 jul, 2016 | , |

The Power of “Nyet” (O Poder do “Não”) Dmitry Orlov 26/07/2016 “It is a hopeful sign that people throughout the Washington-dominated world are discovering the power of ‘nyet.’ The establishment may still look spiffy on the outside, but under the shiny new paint there hides a rotten hull, with water coming in though every open seam.” “Lavrov’s face says: ‘I can’t believe I have to sit here and listen to this nonsense again.’ Putin’s face says: ‘Oh the poor idiot, he can’t bring himself to understand that we’re just going to say “nyet” again.’ Kerry flew home with yet another ‘yet.'” – (see photo in body of text)     The way things are supposed to work on this planet is like this: in the United States, the power structures (public and private) decide what they want the rest of the world to do. They communicate their wishes through official and unofficial channels, expecting automatic cooperation. If cooperation is not immediately forthcoming, they apply political, financial and economic pressure. If that still doesn’t produce the intended effect, they attempt regime change through a color revolution or a military coup, or organize and finance an insurgency leading to terrorist attacks and civil war in the recalcitrant nation. If that still doesn’t work, they bomb the country back to the stone age. This is the way it worked in the 1990s and the 2000s,...

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FindFace

Por | 28 jul, 2016 | , |

One Photo Is Enough to Profile You Among a Thousand Faces   Simon North 28/07/2016   Thanks to a Russian company, it will be easier than ever before for computers to identify you by your face. For better or for worse?   Have you ever thought that you could get a person’s full history, not knowing his name and only having a not very high quality photo of him? It’s easy now. The FindFace app developed by a Russian company N-Tech.Lab will find a profile on the largest Russian social network “VKontakte” (analogue of Facebook). Face recognition technology will search a database of 300 million photos in less than a second, and was the best among international competitors in  The MegaFace Benchmark organized by the University of Washington. Will it be a new way to find your soul mate or the final blow to privacy?   See the...

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THE NEW BYZANTINE ALLIANCE

Por | 28 jul, 2016 | , , , |

THE KREMLIN AND THE PORTE REVOLUTIONIZE THE CENTRE OF THE OLD WORLD   John Helmer 26/07/2016   On August 9, in St. Petersburg, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin will meet Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The moment is revolutionary. There has not been a comparable political turning-point in the 67 years since the establishment of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO); not in the century since the Ottoman Empire sided with Germany against Russia in World War I; nor in the two centuries since Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II and the Russian Tsar Alexander I aligned against Napoleon and the British. Russian sources say they are sure the Russian secret services did not warn Erdogan or help his forces prevail in the July 15-16 coup against him. After Erdogan began his counter-coup, and in the fight still continuing between Erdogan’s Islamic forces and the regular Turkish military, the sources add, there has been, and there will be, Russian help. It is more for the future, they explain, than for last week’s outcome that Turkish deputy prime minister Mehmet Şimşek told his counterpart Arkady Dvorkovich in Moscow on Tuesday: “I would like to thank you for support regarding recent events in Turkey, for supporting democracy and the Turkish government.” The Russian sources say it is already agreed the two sides will pay a soon-to-be settled price in two-way trade; gas, nuclear and...

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Week 3 of the Russian Intervention in Syria

Por | 25 jul, 2016 | , , |

The return of diplomacy The Saker Oct. 25, 2015   The end of international law and diplomacy The end of the Cold War was welcomed as a new era of peace and security in which swords would be transformed into plows, former enemies into friends, and the world would witness a new dawn of universal love, peace and happiness. Of course, none of that happened. What happened is that the AngloZionist Empire convinced itself that it had “won the Cold War” and that it now was in charge. Of the entire planet, no less. And why not? It had built anywhere between 700 to 1000 military bases (depending on your definition of “base”) worldwide and it had split up the entire globe into several areas of exclusive responsibility named “commands”. The last time any power had mustered the megalomania needed to distribute various parts of the planet to to different commands was the Papacy in 1494 with its (in)famous “Treaty of Tordesillas”. And to make that point abundantly clear, the Empire decided to make an example and unleashed its power against tiny Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia, a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement was viciously attacked and dismembered, creating an immense wave of refugees, mostly Serbs, which the democratic and civilized world chose to ignore. Furthermore, the Empire unleashed yet another war, this time in Russia, which pitched the semi-comatose Eltsin...

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