Dan Rather on the Corruption of the Media

With the media now owned by stockholders, the media has changed. Profits are what drive the media, not the actual delivery of honest news that bring about democracy. Listen to someone who knows about the media, Dan Rather.

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Recent News About The Carlyle Group

Recent News About The Carlyle Group

Carlyle Group And The Middle East

The Carlyle Group has investors all over the world, including the wealthier sectors of the Arab countries of the middle east.  But only in the last few years has the Carlyle Group invested in the Middle East. 

In September, 2007, the Carlyle Group sold a 7.5% stake to an investment group in Abu Dhabi called the Mubadala Development Company, which is owned by the Dubai government.  Mubadala's offices are in Cairo, Dubai and Istanbul, but this new business deal now makes them shareholders in certain American public utilities.  This is part of a current trend the Carlyle Group is pushing to allow foreign investment in public industries in the United States.  At 7.5%, this share of the Carlyle Group is valued at $1.3 billion.

This move also forms in important business partnership between the Carlyle Group and Abu Dhabi.  The Carlyle Group has stepped up its number of Middle East investments in the last few years.  Carlyle's investment is just part of the growing trend of investment companies putting their money into the Middle East.  They are looking to make money developing the region's energy resources (oil) as well as investing in public state-owned industries which always bring great returns at low risk.  The fact that Middle East investment is a politically sensitive issue, especially considering Carlyle is a major investor in the United States defense industry, has not stopped Carlyle from aggressively investing there.

Middle East money has always been invested in private western industries, but now the Carlyle Group is leading the way to opening up the public sector to American investment.  This is not a news story you're likely to see on the nightly news because it makes lots of people uneasy to know that Middle Eastern countries are investing in the United States.

Here Comes The Taxman

There are 2 bills in Congress currently that, if passed, will take a bite out of Carlyle's profits.  Both aim to change the tax payment structure that is currently in place.  The more serious of the two proposes raising the tax rate on investment returns, which is currently at 15%, to a whopping 35%.  The idea behind the bill is that investment companies, who rake in billions in profits every year, pay a lower percentage of their earnings in tax than the average American worker does.  Why should they be paying so much less?

Members of the Carlyle Group have been appearing before Congress to state their cases, saying that investors are owners rather than employees, face great risks with their investments, and manage their business as an asset.  Comparing their multi-billion a year operation to a small private investor, they say that there is no reason to penalize their investments.

The Carlyle Credit Fund Hits Hard Times

By the end of July, things didn't look so good for the Carlyle Group's public credit fund Carlyle Capital.  It dropped 24% during the month of August 2007, adding to the drop from $843.5 to $642.1 million in the previous month.  The fall in prices is due to the skyrocketing number of mortgage defaults, which have made investors wary of investing in securities that aren't the absolutely highest rated.

Carlyle Capital is a publicly traded fund, but it is backed by the Carlyle Group.  Carlyle has been doing everything it can to keep the fund afloat, lending it $200 million and buying assets in the fund totaling $900 million, and it has received some help from other parties as well.  With the fund's sudden drop in value, it's anybody's guess how much longer the Carlyle Group will be willing to keep it alive.

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The Monks Of Myanmar

The Monks Of Myanmar

The situation is tense in Myanmar.  There is a stand-off between the military junta in power, and over 100,000 protesters.  The protests are being led by the devout Buddhist country's monks, and the question remains how far the military government will go to put down the protesters.

The protests began in the last few weeks due to a sudden increase in gas prices carried out by Myanmar's military government.  Initially, the dramatic hike in gas prices meant higher fuel costs for motorists and higher operating costs for the nation's industry.  But, like dominoes falling, the increase in gas prices set off a chain reaction raising the price of everything, including food, everyday necessities and public transportation costs.

The protesters took to the streets over the gas hike, but soon the focus shifted to a much deeper issue - the cause of democracy.  Myanmar has been ruled by a repressive military regime for 45 years.  Following massive pro-democracy demonstrations in 1988 wherein the military killed more than 3,000 of its citizen protesters, general elections were held.  Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won the election, but the military government was not happy with the results.  They imprisoned her and did not allow the party to take power.  Myanmar would have to wait for the democracy it wanted.

Since 1990, protests have flared up from time to time.  The Myanmar government has always dealt sternly with them.  But, what we are seeing now have been the biggest protests in many years, and the most intense police crackdown.

The gas hike protests became pro-democracy protests and the monks of Myanmar became involved.  The reason for their involvement initially was the violent treatment of peaceful protesters by the military, but many of Myanmar's monks support the democracy movement.

On the biggest day of the protests, the monks led a march from the Schwedagon Pagoda in Yangon to the city center.  The Schedagon Pagoda is Myanmar's biggest shrine and a major holy site.  Before leading the protest, the monks led a prayer at the shrine.  This was the biggest gathering of people at the Schwedagon Pagoda in 20 years.

Because Myanmar is a devoutly Buddhist country, the fact that the military government has openly fired on monks is a shocking testament to how far they will go to stop the protests.  After the initial week of protests, some monks were forbidden by their monasteries to go back out, and the tensions have simmered down somewhat.  Still, the Myanmar pro-democracy movement has the full support of the Dalai Lama and Buddhists worldwide.

People on the streets of Myanmar are scared.  The military government has done all it can to tell the people that they will not be allowed to continue the protests, and they will crack down with a full force of arms if necessary.  They have threatened to take legal action against the monks if they continue to involve themselves, but it is pretty clear that they will not spare the holy men's lives if it turns into a bloody battle.  Some military generals have expressed their hesitation about dealing so harshly with the country's monks, but shots have already been fired.

The death count so far is officially 10, but this is a statistic issued by the government, but no one knows the exact count. 

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Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's Speech at the United Nations

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's Speech at the United Nations

On September 26th, Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addressed the United Nations General Assembly.  Ahmadinejad is considered by many to be the dictator of a rogue state, due in part because of Iran's quest for nuclear arms.  He is demonized by the western media in much the same way as Saddam Hussein was.  The United States delegation got up and left when he arrived, leaving only a note-taker to listen. 

Ahmadinejad made no bones about Iran's nuclear program.  He said that they will continue pursuing nuclear power, and that it is a closed issue.  Furthermore, he called the United Nations arrogant, and said that he would ignore any UN resolution that tried to stop him.  Instead, he swore to go about Iran's nuclear program the legal way, with the International Atomic Energy Agency.  Throughout the speech, he insisted that Iran's nuclear program was designed only to supply energy to the country, and not to develop weapons of mass destruction.

His speech was particularly harsh towards the United States and Israel.  He indirectly accused both of human rights violations.  While not mentioning them directly, he said that there were certain nations in the world who were "transgressing human dignity," starting wars and international conflicts, using up the world's resources, and oppressing the world's poor.  He also asked the Assembly how certain nations can be allowed to stockpile massive nuclear weapons when the only purpose of those weapons is to intimidate or destroy others.  His most pointed comment was that many countries, including Iraq, have been occupied by hostile forces that are slaughtering the inhabitants wholesale.  Another example he uses is the occupation of Palestine.  He asked the Assembly how human dignity can possibly prevail in a world where these things are allowed to go on.

Ahmadinejad is allowing inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency to have a look at Iran's nuclear facilities.  He stressed during his speech that these inspectors would be allowed to see whatever they were legally entitled to see.  Recently, however, Tehran has been more restrictive about what it allows inspectors to see.  In the past, inspectors have often been allowed to see suspicious facilities on short notice, but this practice has been stopped. 

On his way to speak at the United Nations, Ahmadinejad made a few stops in the United States to speak, including Columbia University where he was universally hated by everyone.  Protesters lined the streets, and he was raked over the coals by faculty members about his support of terrorism and insistence that the holocaust never happened.  When he made a stop in San Francisco, he was confronted by the wife of an Israeli soldier who is being held captive by Hezbollah.  He refused to talk with her, saying that he had no relation to the incident.  He was flatly refused a visit to Ground Zero, the site of the 9-11 tragedy, by the New York Police Department because of "security concerns."

The reaction to his speech at the United Nations was not so great either.  It is expected that talks among France, the United States, Germany, China and others regarding how to handle Iran will continue.  There has also been some indication that Mr. Ahmadinejad's comments during the speech were not so well-received at home.  There is some disagreement in Tehran among officials who feel that his words were too extreme. 

Regardless of the negative reactions, Ahmadinejad later told one of Iran's lead clerics that a white light surrounded him during his speech.  He claims that he could feel it, and a witness later confirmed it.  According to Ahmadinejad, during his speech this white light held the attention of all the world leaders, who watched and listened to his speech "unblinkingly."  He is absolutely sure of this, although even most leading Iranian religious figures doubt it.

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