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The world’s tallest tower should have been built by now. Officials said last year that the great edifice with 220 floors would be erected in three months flat in China’s inland city of Changsha by March, snatching the crown from Dubai’s Burj Khalifa. The deadline has come and gone, yet the wasteland sits untouched. It now looks as if the fin d’époque project – using prefab blocs – may never be [...] China Local Government Debt to Reach 16.3 trillion Yuan in 2013 “As China’s local governments cash in on real estate development, they’re amassing a lot of debt at the same time. Huatai Securities, a major Chinese securities broker says local government debt could reach 16.3 trillion yuan this year. That’s around $2.5 trillion US dollars, and almost 30% of China’s GDP.” “The threat of a banking collapse is very real concern for the [...] British servicemembers stationed in Cyprus have been victims of the hit to local deposits. The British government has promised to reimburse them however. And now it gets even more dramatic. Euros are being airlifted to Cyprus! Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/british-military-jet-takes-off-for-cyprus-with-1-million-euros-on-board-for-servicemembers-2013-3#ixzz2O1YPYlYY H.R. 748 would require all persons in the US 18-25 to perform ‘national service’ These persons in the United States would either serve the country as a member of uniformed services or as civilian service. The civilian service could be served with a Federal, State, or local government program. There has been speculation regarding President Obama’s “citizen army”. In 2008, President Obama made statements regarding a “civilian national security force”. Since that [...] As of 02/21/2013 summary for H.R.748 – To require all persons in the United States between the ages of 18 and 25 to perform national service, either as a member of the uniformed services or as civilian service in a Federal, State, or local government program or with a community-based agency or community-based entity, to authorize the induction of persons in the uniformed services during wartime to meet end-strength requirements [...] Chinese bank calls $1.6 trillion local government debt a timebomb Bridge to nowhere? The Agricultural Bank of China has sounded the alarm about “impulsive” local governments over-investing in the name of urbanization. China’s official government news agency Xinhua on Saturday reported that local government debt – estimated at 10 trillion yuan or roughly $1.6 trillion – “has long been considered a time bomb for [the] Chinese economy”. The bank – one of the four [...] from FT: Foxconn, the contract manufacturer whose biggest customer is Apple, is preparing genuinely representative labour union elections in its factories in China for the first time, a powerful sign of the changes in the workshop of the world demanded by an increasingly restive workforce. This would be the first such exercise at a large company in China, where labour unions have traditionally been controlled by management and local government. Foxconn is the country’s largest [...] By Mike “Mish” Shedlock The Chinese banking system is insolvent. Of course, the entire global banking system is insolvent, but today’s spotlight is on China. Please consider China averts local government defaults. Chinese banks have rolled over at least three-quarters of all loans to local governments that were due to mature by the end of 2012, an indication of the immense challenge facing China in working down its debt load. Local governments borrowed heavily from [...] An Economist At China’s State Council Sees A Crisis Coming Li Zoujun, an economist at the Development Research Centre of the State Council, recently made a report, presumably at an internal meeting, which predicted that China could face an economic crisis in 2013. The full report in Chinese can be read here. We are not going attempt to summarise the whole report as it is quite lengthy, except that for some of his [...] Apple announces it is withdrawing from a rating system used by governments and universities to assess how environmentally-friendly computers are City officials in San Francisco are to ban local government agencies from buying new Apple computers after the tech [...] The Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is calling on the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate a possible “anti-Muslim” hate crime after St. Anthony City Council almost unanimously rejected plans for a new Islamic center due to zoning concerns. On Tuesday, St. Anthony City Council voted 4-1 against providing a conditional use permit for the “Abu-Huraira Islamic Center” after tabling the item for months, the Minneapolis Star [...] From Carpe Diem: 1. In the case of Apple and five major book publishers, the government claims that collusive behavior led to higher e-book prices for consumers, and the participants are being charged with price-fixing. 2. In the case of taxi and limousine companies in Nashville, a federal judge has upheld the collusive, price-fixing practices of the established limo and taxi companies that have conspired with the help of local government officials [...] ELK GROVE (CBS13) – You’ve heard the saying smoke ‘em if you got ‘em. But if you got ‘em and you live in an apartment complex in Elk Grove, the luxury of lighting up may soon go up in smoke. “i think it’s a pretty good idea,” one apartment resident said. He’s talking about the possibility of banning smoking in all apartment complexes in the city. A Sacramento-based trade association that works with [...] If one gets what one pays for, the UK is in for an interesting experiment: Revealed: government plans for police privatisation West Midlands and Surrey police offer £1.5bn contract under which private firms may investigate crime and detain suspects http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/mar/02… Another example of the Commoditisation of Everything, of all human relationships becoming the subject of commercial dealing. Actually, there’s one part of the world which already operates under something like this kind of commercial arrangement: Australia. [...] Gov. Brian Sandoval said today he will propose continuing the 2009 tax increase to avoid further cutting education and other services when he builds his budget for the next biennium. Sandoval’s stance is in sharp contrast to his budget approach two years ago, when he vowed he would allow the 2009 tax increase to expire as planned. Sandoval ultimately included that revenue when a Nevada Supreme Court decision threw into question more [...] http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com…o-innovate/?hp INNOVATION, OBAMA ADMINISTRATION, VOLUNTEERS AND COMMUNITY SERVICE “A good government implies two [...] TAMPA – Following complaints by a gun rights group, and a law passed by the Florida Legislature last year, you can now carry your gun at the Florida State Fair. “We have changed the policy to comply with the state law – it allows a person with a concealed weapon permit to come in with a firearm,” said Charles Pesano, executive director of the State Fair Authority. “We’ve changed some signs to [...] Unidentified plane crashes in China: reports (AFP) – 21 hours ago SHANGHAI — An unidentified plane has crashed to the ground and exploded in eastern China, state media reported on Tuesday, but the accident remains shrouded in mystery and potential casualties remain unknown. The crash happened in Zhejiang province near Lishui city on Monday evening amid heavy fog, the state-run China National Radio said, but local residents told AFP police quickly sealed the [...] Spain downgraded further: As UK Local Government is forced to cut spending to support banksters, it debates whether to continue to fund children’s education or mend pot hole sin crumbling roads: UK government Defence Secretary, Liam Fox, resigns, due to scandal of high profile deals, Prime Minister David Cameron regrets his decision as the scandal carries on Zero Hedge Editor’s note: See Slovenian Government May Collapse Amid European Debt Crisis As expected earlier, the next domino in the European contagion cascade, has just tumbled after the local government has collapsed following loss of parliamentary confidence vote. SLOVENIAN GOVT LOSES PARLIAMENTARY CONFIDENCE VOTE – BBG This means that the pan-European EFSF vote, originally scheduled to be completed by the end of this month, will [...] Bloomberg The percentage of working-age Californians with jobs has fallen to a record low, and employment may not return to pre-recession levels until the second half of the decade, according to a research group. Just 55.4 percent of working-age Californians, defined as those 16 or older, had a job in July, down from 56.2 percent a year earlier and the lowest level since 1976, the Sacramento- based California Budget Project said in [...] In the United States today, we are being taxed into oblivion, yet it is being done so stealthily that most Americans don’t even realize what is happening. Most people are fixated on federal income tax rates, but the federal income tax is only one of the dozens of different taxes that each of us pay each year. The politicians have learned that people get really [...] by ZH From the NFP: “Nonfarm payroll employment was essentially unchanged in June (+18,000), and the unemployment rate was little changed at 9.2 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment in most major private-sector industries changed little over the month. Government employment continued to trend down.” It is time for Joe LaVorgna to retire, with his 175K forecast, or off by a [...] With progress in Greece focus has shifted to Italy. Yield on Italy’s 2-year government bond yield widened moderately and today its services PMI fell to 47.4 below expectations of 49.6 and from previous reading of 50.1, showing contraction. Services PMI missed expectations in Europe. France saw a reading of 56.1 versus expectations of 56.7 and German PMI came in at 56.7 against expectations of 58.3. Moody’s ratings agency said on Tuesday that the scale of problem loans to Chinese local governments was greater than anticipated, following the release of new data by China’s National Audit Office (NAO). Eugene Hoshiko / AP Moody’s also said its credit outlook for the Chinese banking system may turn to negative when considering the apparent absence of a clear master plan to deal with the local government [...] Calling local government debt “staggering,” Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas announced Tuesday that the $108 billion debt tab across various governing bodies in the county translates to $63,525 per Chicago household and nearly $33,000 per suburban household. The data, collected thanks to a beefed up county ordinance on debt disclosure, includes a first-time detailed look at pension liabilities for Cook County municipalities and taxing [...] The average Chicago household now owes a staggering $63,525 to cover local government debt, according to Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas. Suburbanites are deeply in the red, too, with the average household owing $32,901, according to the treasurer. Among the biggest reasons: $25 billion in unfunded pension liability. In comments after an appearance Tuesday before the Civic Federation, a watchdog group that has released somewhat similar numbers in recent [...] SINDANGAN, Philippines – Officials say a Filipino about two feet tall is expected to be named the world’s shortest man when he turns 18 on Sunday. Lolit Homay, municipal health officer in Zamboanga del Norte province’s Sindangan township, says Junrey Balawing was measured at about 24 inches (61 centimeters) from head to foot lying down and slightly above 23 inches (58 centimeters) standing up Saturday. A [...] |
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