Links October 29th to October 30th
Links from my del.icio.us account for October 29th through October 30th:
- In Mauritania, a TV talk show with consequences | Menassat - Mauritanian politician and TV presenter arrested and charged after criticizing junta.
- El Khabar | La Constitution Algérienne sera bel et bien révisée - Algeria's Bouteflika decides to "allow the people to enjoy their right to choose their president and to renew their trust in him" - i.e. change the constitution to allow him a third term. Remind you of anyone's reasons for not imposing term limits?
- Forensic economists examine the effects of CIA-led coups on the stock market. - By Ray Fisman - Slate Magazine - Insider trading and coups - great reading.
- allAfrica.com: Egypt: Ruling Party in Free Fall - The headline is rather misleading, but this piece has an overview of the recent scandals that have hit senior NDP members and of public skepticism about its upcoming conference.
- Six Questions for Kent Moors on Saudi Economic Problems, American Foreign Policy and the Future of Oil—By Ken Silverstein (Harper's Magazine) - "About 18 months ago, the Saudis started moving their dollar denominated investments out of U.S. sovereign bonds and into Collateralized Debt Obligations, Collateralized Mortgage Obligations, and Structured Investment Vehicles. They did that to increase their return on investment because of their budget squeeze, but they invested themselves right into the credit crunch. They own a lot of paper based on mortgages and other sorts of credit bridges, the values of which have plummeted."
- Through the Glasses Darkly -- In These Times - Slavoj Zizek references my favorite John Carpenter movie, "They Live," to examine the Republicans' strategy.
- EGYPT: New book captures a nation's angst - On hit book “Egypt Is Not My Mother, She's My Father's Wife”, latest in Zaat/Yacoubian/Taxi mold
- Death and Taxes 2009: A Visual Guide to Where Your Federal Tax Dollars Go - WallStats - Amazing inforgraphic on how US military budget is spent