World View: Latvia Becomes 18th Nation to Adopt
the Euro Currency
by John J. Xenakis 2 Jan 2014,
1:37 AM PDT
In his typically shrill speech to
the North Korean people on New
Year's Day, the child dictator Kim
Jong-un appeared to be responding to numerous national and international
concerns about his government's stability, describing as removing
"factionalist scum" the execution of his uncle and mentor Jang Song-thaek:
"Our party's timely, accurate
decision to purge the anti-party, anti-revolutionary and factionalist elements
helped greatly cement unity of the party and the revolution and strengthened
our solidarity by 100 times. ...
It is necessary to establish
stringent revolutionary discipline and order in all domains of the
revolutionary struggle and construction work."
He pledged a crackdown on
"any sort of alien ideology and decadent lifestyle." By referring to
his uncle as "factionalist elements," he's hoping to reverse the loss
of respect among the North Korean for having killed a family member, in a
culture where family is extremely important. Furthermore, the word
"factionalist" seems to indicate that there was a power struggle, and
he hoped that executing Jang would help "greatly cement unity."
Although most reasons given in the
press for the execution of Jang have referred to corrupt deals involving sales
of coal and other resources to China,
South Korean analysts say that the Kim's fury at Jang was far more personal in
nature:
Jang was supposed to be Kim's
mentor, but Jang did not show respect for Kim, clapping his hands
half-heartedly at Kim's speeches, and even wearing the same kind of suits as
Kim, so as to imply equality.
Jang had a previous relationship
with Ri Sol-ju, Kim's wife, before Kim even met her. Jang had established the
Unhasu Orchestra, in which Ri was a singer. Kim fell for her, but was
uncomfortable with her relationship with Jang.
It's Jang that maintained good
relations between N. Korea and China.
From the Chinese perspective, Kim is too young to be a partner, and Jang
provided a bridge. Some Beijing
officials may actually have been in a panic after Jang's execution. Channel
News Asia and Korea
Times
Palestinian ambassador to Czech Republic
dies in freak explosion
The Palestinian ambassador to the
Czech Republic Jamal Al Jamal, 56, was killed in Wednesday in a freak explosion
when he attempted to open what was evidently a booby-trapped safe. The safe had
been located in the old Palestinian embassy in Prague, and hadn't been opened in at least 20
years. The safe had been moved to the new Palestinian Embassy which wasn't yet
officially open. The ambassador had officially assumed his post on October 11,
2013. It was not known why the safe had been booby-trapped. Prague Post
Latvia becomes 18th nation to adopt the euro currency
Say goodbye to the lat currency
Latvia rung in the new year by becoming the 18th country to join
the eurozone, which uses the euro as
its currency. The Latvian people, with a large ethnic Russian minority, are
mostly opposed to the conversion to the euro currency. This will be the fourth
currency for Latvia
in the last 22 years. During the Soviet era, Latvia's currency was the Russian
ruble. When Latvia
became independent, it first adopted a new Latvian ruble and then, a year
later, adopted the pre-World War II lat currency. Many Latvians are extremely
reluctant to give up their lats for euros, because they're well aware that Greece and
other eurozone countries have gone through major financial and currency crises.
However, the supporters of the euro say that this time it's different.
Bloomberg and BBC
Eurozone
European
Central Bank sets monetary policy for the eurozone.
Note: Mario Draghi is the
president for the European Central Bank,
an honorary trustee at the Brookings
Institution (think tank), and a trustee at the Institute for Advanced Study.
David M.
Rubenstein is a trustee at the Brookings
Institution (think tank), a trustee at the Institute for Advanced Study, and the president of the Economic Club of Washington.
Vernon E. Jordan Jr. was the president
of the Economic Club of Washington, is
an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), Valerie B. Jarrett’s great uncle, a
director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg
conference participant (think tank).
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Brookings Institution (think
tank), the New America Foundation,
and the Aspen Institute (think tank).
George Soros
is the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society, and Jim Yong Kim was a guest at his 2013
wedding.
Eric E. Schmidt is the chairman of the New
America Foundation (think
tank), a trustee at the Institute
for Advanced Study, was a funder
for the New America
Foundation (think tank), and a 2008 Bilderberg conference
participant (think tank).
Valerie B. Jarrett
is Vernon E. Jordan Jr’s great niece, the senior
adviser for the Barack Obama
administration, and a member of the Commercial
Club of Chicago.
Commercial Club of Chicago,
Members Directory A-Z (Past Research)
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Cyrus F.
Freidheim Jr. is a member of the Commercial
Club of Chicago, and an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank).
James S.
Crown is a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), a member of
the Commercial Club of Chicago, and the president for Henry Crown and Company.
Lester Crown
was a lifetime trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), is a member
of the Commercial Club of Chicago,
and the chairman for Henry Crown
and Company.
Henry
Crown and Company is an investor in the Chicago Bulls.
Dennis
Rodman was a player for the Chicago
Bulls, and met with Kim Jong Un
in 2013.
Kim
Jong Un met with Dennis Rodman in
2013, and is the leader for North Korea.
North
Korea is a member country for the World
Health Organization.
Jim
Yong Kim was a director, HIV-AIDS department for the World Health Organization, a guest at George Soros’s 2013 wedding, and is the president of the World Bank.
A.W.
Clausen was the president for the World
Bank, and an honorary trustee at the Brookings
Institution (think tank).
David
Dollar was the country director for China
and Mongolia
for the World Bank, and is a senior
fellow at the Brookings Institution
(think tank).
Robert S. McNamara
was the president for the World Bank,
and an honorary trustee at the Brookings
Institution (think tank).
Ngozi
Okonjo-Iweala was a managing director for the World Bank, and a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank).
James D. Wolfensohn was the president for
the World Bank, an honorary trustee
at the Brookings Institution (think tank), the chairman emeritus for the
Institute for Advanced Study, is a
director at the American Friends of Bilderberg (think tank) and a 2008 Bilderberg
conference participant (think tank).
Mario
Draghi is an honorary trustee at the Brookings
Institution (think tank), a trustee at the Institute for Advanced Study, and the president for the European Central Bank.
European
Central Bank sets monetary policy for the eurozone.
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