Turkey: Economy Depressed - Nearly 14,000 companies close in 4 months says TOBB

A total of 13,926 commercial enterprises closed down between January and April of this year, according to a statement released by the Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB) on Friday.

TOBB also cited a decline in the number of new enterprises founded in April compared to the previous month. The number of firms closing down in April of this year increased 6.43 percent compared to April of last year.

During this period 24,094 firms and cooperatives were founded in Turkey. A total of 1,557 enterprises were founded by foreign nationals, with more than a quarter of these being Syrian citizens.

This week it was reported that major clothing chain Seven Hill was declared officially bankrupt, while the Elgin Group, a prominent citrus exporter, went under after accumulating TL 300 million in debt.

A number of high-profile firms have gone bankrupt this year, particularly those holding debt in foreign currency that has rapidly expanded as the lira weakened during the first four months of the year.

Read more: TOBB: Nearly 14,000 companies close in 4 months

Islam and Liberals: Maher to Ayaan Hirsi Ali: Why Do Liberals ‘Blame the Victim’ When It Comes to Islam?

Bill Maher spoke with Ayaan Hirsi Ali last night about a recurring topic of his, radical Islam, and spent quite a lot talking about liberal reactions to it.

Maher brought up how liberals have targeted Hirsi Ali and may have also had the Muhammad cartoon contest on the brain when he asked why so many liberals, who normally “hate blaming the victim,” do so when it comes to radical Islam.Hirsi Ali said she’s not sure why liberals do that, and Maher argued that liberals also try to justify so much in a culture that’s decidedly illiberal.

Maher alluded to liberals he “used to respect” who keep arguing with him on this issue, rebutting the suggestion that there are other Muslim nations which are basically “bastions of freedom and democracy.”

He told Hirsi Ali that liberals just don’t understand that the position the two of them are taking is the liberal one. Hirsi Ali agreed that what radical Muslims do is an “assault on liberalism.”

Read more and view the TV interview : Maher to Ayaan Hirsi Ali: Why Do Liberals ‘Blame the Victim’ When It Comes to Islam? | Mediaite

Casino Capitalism: Outsourcing: Shaping The Great Digital Transformation- by Marc Saxer

A deep crisis is paralyzing the societies of the West. The outsourcing of low skilled manufacturing to emerging economies has created a ‘precariat’ excluded from economic, social and political life. The middle classes, already under pressure from stagnating real wages, are afraid of suffering the same fate in the digital economy. More and more people are asking if democracy in its current form still gives them any say, or is in fact one of the drivers of disenfranchisement.

Little has been done to rein in casino capitalism. Under the pressure of financial markets, the seminal project of European unification is about to collapse because of an economic policy driven by European institutions that narrowly focuses on austerity measures in already weak economies. They have undermined that European project’s social contract. And, still, the disciples of market radicalism continue to sing the gospel of supply side economics, willfully ignoring the fact that it is the very lack of aggregate demand that lies at the root of the crisis. Our fears and obsessions seem to contradict the rational Homo Oeconomicus of economic textbooks. 

Did we build the pillars of the modern order – the state, the market and democracy – upon unrealistic assumptions about our very nature? The old certainties start to crumble.

Digitalization, robotization, and Artificial Intelligence will change the way we work and live. Genetic engineering and nano technology are changing what it means to be a human being. The revolution of information technologies has shown how quickly disruptive innovations can turn over entire industries. 

The next industrial revolution will once again come from the garage. Digital tools like 3D printers allow us to manufacture everything from a cup of coffee to vital organs with the click of a mouse. The household of tomorrow will be a micro factory and a micro power plant the same way social media turned it into a micro broadcaster. The developers and makers, sellers and buyers are now connected worldwide through the Internet of Things.

Read more: Shaping The Great Digital Transformation

Turkey - elections: Turks Are Wondering if Their President Is Insane

President Erdogan, who is supposed to be above politics, is up to his eyeballs in a campaign to win constitutional changes that give him unprecedented power. 

It’s less than four weeks to go before parliamentary elections in Turkey on June 7, and it looks like President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is panicking. Or worse.

A popular refrain among his political opponents, and on the street, is that Erdogan has lost his marbles and is driven by an insatiable appetite for power. Ever since he moved into a lavish 1,100-room palace in Ankara last year, Erdogan has been accused of succumbing to an out-of-control urge for grandeur.

Kurdish politician Abdullah Zeydan says the president “thinks he is a sultan.” Meral Aksener, a nationalist politician and deputy speaker of parliament, claims Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was telling people behind closed doors that Erdogan “is out of his mind.”

“Obviously, there is panic,” said Yavuz Baydar, a respected journalist.

At a minimum there is frustration for the president of this country with huge strategic importance, which has the second largest army in NATO and borders Iran, Iraq and Syria or, if you will, the Islamic State.

Over the course of 12 years in power, first as prime minister and since last year as president, Erdogan has overseen unprecedented economic stability and growth in Turkey, trimmed the power of the military, with its long history of coups and its reputation as “the deep state,” and entered into an important dialogue with Kurdish politicians and even Kurdish rebels.

But polls say Erdogan, 61, will probably fail to get the majority he wants to push through sweeping constitutional changes to give himself unlimited but as yet unspecified power as president.

The economy has grown sluggish of late, unemployment is on the rise, and the political opposition is resurgent, all of which spells trouble for Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). Some polls suggest the AKP could even lose its majority in parliament.

Read more: Turks Are Wondering if Their President Is Insane - The Daily Beast

EU: Why is the EU acting like a US lap dog? "US says jump and EU says how high ?"

The meeting of the top US and Russian diplomats in the Black Sea resort of Sochi signals a telling shift in global security realpolitik, even from a few days ago.

Moscow’s 70th WWII Victory celebration on May 9th was a show of strength and pride.
 
As key Western leaders skipped going, a gesture against the Kremlin’s behaviour concerning Ukraine over the last 18 months (their ambassadors attended), President Putin said international co-operation has been ignored more and more for decades.

As for defeating Hitler, he thanked “the people of Great Britain, France and the United States for their contribution”.

Two days later, in a corner of Europe where thousands have been killed in an armed conflict between separatist forces and the Ukrainian government, the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic waved its own banner and Russia’s for the first anniversary of its referendum on self-rule.

EU-Digest comment : Yes indeed, Russia has gained credibility in the world.Unfortunately the same can  not be said for the EU, which basically is stil seen as a US Lap Dog. 

Russia denies Western and Ukrainian accusations that it has been arming the separatists.

Read more: Russia’s sense of greatness seems to be growing on US | euronews, world news

Financial Community: International Lawsuits Begin to Build Momentum Against Wall Street Thugs

The Argentinian government has filed a lawsuit against Wall Street firm CitiGroup over debt repayments that Argentine officials say violate national laws, reported The Guardian.

Part of the lawsuit states that the country seeks to file criminal charges against employees of the Argentinian arm of CitiGroup. The bank said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that Argentine officials had “taken certain adverse actions against Citi Argentina, including filing a lawsuit against Citi Argentina and instituting a suspension of certain activities.”

Because of this bad debt deal, the Argentine government wants not only to file charges against CitiGroup employees, but implement sanctions that bar any future operations within the country. This dispute between Argentina and CitiGroup comes during friction between the country and two other financial institutions, NML Capital and Aurelius Capital Management.

The two institutions did not accept a deal to restructure Argentina’s national debt. Argentina apparently owes a “holdout” debt of $1.3 billion to the two hedge funds, and U.S. judge Thomas Griesa ruled that it must pay that amount before receiving a restructuring deal.

Because Argentina senses a banking scam run by CitiGroup and accuses Griesa of being a banking crony, the country has ignored the judge’s ruling and blocked Citi’s capital market operations and suspended the leader of Citi’s Argentine operations, Gabriel Ribisich — who has been accused of misconduct.

The BBC recently reported that CitiGroup may plead guilty to accusations of manipulating exchange rates in foreign currency markets. Wall Street and Griesa’s cronyism have backed Argentina in a tough spot. Unrealistic expectations and international bullying pushed the country into default as Argentina is refusing to pay the hedge funds, NML and Aurelius.

Read more: International Lawsuits Begin to Build Momentum Against Wall Street Thugs

Italy: Catholic Church and Equal Rights - Anti-Gay Pope Francis Meets Sweden's Antje Jackelén Female Head Of Lutheran Church

The Vatican made history Monday when Pope Francis welcomed a woman archbishop to an official audience at the Apostolic Palace for the first time, according to Vatican Radio.

Archbishop Antje Jackelén, the first female head of the Lutheran Church of Sweden, tweeted her gratitude for the meeting to the pope, with a photograph of the two religious leaders chatting.

The pontiff has staunchly opposed ordination for women in the Catholic Church. “The Church has spoken and says no... That door is closed," he said in a July 2013 press conference.

The topic on Monday's agenda was not, however, women's role in the church, but rather the need for Christian unity across denominations and for better care for the poor. Francis addressed the archbishop as "esteemed Mrs. Jackelén, esteemed sister" in his call for charity.

“The call to unity as followers of Our Lord Jesus Christ includes an urgent call for a common effort on the charity front," Francis said, according to Vatican Insider. "The testimony of our brothers and sisters especially, pushes us to grow in fraternal communion."

Note EU-Digest:  in the meantime it was reported that the Pope - who in some eyes is a "wolf in sheep's clothing", has personally met with France’s proposed Gay ambassador to the Vatican – to tell him his appointment will be blocked because he is gay.

Read more: Pope Francis Meets With Female Head Of Church Of Sweden, Archbishop Antje Jackelén