Colleagues,

We are all truly fortunate to be associated with a university that supports our students and alumni the way we do.  Recently, much effort was placed into petitioning the Foundation for Higher Education (FoHE) in Emergency Management and Homeland Security to establish our own Chapter of the Epsilon Pi Phi (EPP) Honor Society.   I want to be sure to note that our Emergency and Disaster Management program received FoHE accreditation in 2008.  EPP is an academic honor society established by the FOHE in 2006.  This specialized honor society is for emergency management, disaster research and science, homeland security and continuity management disciplines. The mission of Epsilon Pi Phi is to strive for the reward, advancement and recognition of emergency/continuity management and homeland security as a discipline and profession and to encourage a high standard of excellence in these related fields of practice and study. The vision is that Epsilon Pi Phi will provide a foundation for excellence in the development of exceptional professional and academic leaders.  Membership requires that a student have a 3.2 overall GPA and 3.5 major GPA.

We are also quite fortunate to have a Chapter of the International Emergency Manager’s Student Association (IEMSA), which is associated with the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM).  Our Chapter was awarded the “Student Chapter of the Year” for 2009. We are the largest student chapter in the IAEM, with a 185 active members. Under the leadership of Student President Dorian Young, our IEMSA Chapter has accomplished a number of notable items.  Our Chapter produces the award-winning chapter newsletter, “The Guardian”, which features students and faculty; contemporary articles on the science of emergency management; and superb student papers.  In addition, our IEMSA Chapter hosts a monthly “Distinguished Speaker’s Series”, which features the movers and shakers in emergency management and homeland security.  In November, FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate addressed our Chapter members via teleconference.  We have several other notable figures who will address our Chapter members in the coming months.  I want to also note that our Emergency and Disaster Management academic program received the IAEM Academic Recognition Award.  This award recognizes an academic leader or institution that has made a significant contribution to the formal education of students pursuing a career in emergency management or through research and development of paradigms or standards that have helped shape the broader field of emergency and disaster management.   So you can see, between our IEMSA Chapter and our program’s general involvement in the IAEM, we are very strong proponent and supporter of our Student Chapter.

Both our IEMSA Chapter and the pending Epsilon Pi Phi Honor Society truly complement one another.   There has been much discussion and debate in our LinkedIn Group regarding the establishment of the EPP Honor Society.   Discussion and debate is healthy and allows all EDM/HS students the chance to voice their views.  The important thing to remember is that both IEMSA and EPP complement one another—they do not compete with one another.   APUS already has a very strong Golden Key Honor Society, with members across all of our academic disciplines.  Many of these members also belong to student associations.  We actually have EDM and HS students who are Golden Key members.  What sets Epsilon Pi Phi apart from Golden Key is EPP is specifically for emergency management and homeland security students.  The vision of Epsilon Pi Phi is to provide a foundation for excellence in the development of exceptional professional and academic leaders for emergency management, homeland security, and disaster research. 

One key difference between IEMSA Chapters and EPP is alumni can continue their membership in EPP.  Once a student member of IEMSA graduates, he or she must relinquish their IEMSA membership status and transition into the IAEM.  Both our IEMSA Chapter and pending EPP Honor Society share the same vision and goals—to better the field of emergency management and homeland security by providing a venue for students to pursue academic excellence, which will benefit the sciences of emergency management and homeland security.

I want to encourage ALL emergency management and homeland security students to invest in YOUR future.  Join our IEMSA chapter and take advantage of opportunities it provides.  We had a stellar showing of our IEMSA Chapter members at the International Association of Emergency Manager’s conference in Orlando this year.  As I noted above, with over 185 members you have an instant network of colleagues.  Likewise, I want to encourage ALL of our students who have the GPA to consider joining EPP.  Membership in both organizations shows your commitment to the study and science of emergency management and homeland security.

Thanks everyone,

Some shots from a free roll of kodak epp 100.

This is it.  All will be decided later today or perhaps tomorrow if the deliberations in the European Council of Ministers about the position of President of the Council and the High Representative for Foreign Affairs continue late into the next day.  We are already hearing stories about participants taking one, two or even three shirts to see them through.  (They are almost all men – hence the shirt question).

Well, will our very own TB make it?  Tony’s chances do seem to have revived during the past two days, but whether he can overcome the “small country” challenge is still not certain.  Some of the tiniest EU states don’t want a large country holding the post as they fear this will smother them.  So we are now seeing an attempt at a classic EU fudge – find the lowest common denominator and go with that regardless of whether or not that is the best and most effective decision for Europe as a whole.

This mindset has led to Belgian Prime Minister Herman van Rompuy emerging as the front-runner.  I hardly think Belgium is a shining example of how to run a country.  A population of about 10 million is split into two linguistic groups with three federal regions, a system which is so unworkable that Belgium was recently without a federal government for nearly two years as the various parties were unable to agree on a coalition.

The other two small countries who are realistic contenders aren’t much better.  Peter Balkenende from Holland verges on the Thatcherite.  Luxembourg has, as ever, staked its claim.  Yet can anyone take Jean-Claude Junker seriously when the entire population of Luxembourg is only 488,000.  Yes 488,000 compared to over 60 million in the UK and Germany’s 82.5 million.  I am tempted to use that dreadful Americanism – “give us a break!”

There are two other factors working against our Tony.  Most importantly, the Socialists do not have a majority in the European Council.  The system of qualified majority voting used gives that to the EPP.  Moreover, the Socialist governments do not always all vote the same way.  Just to muddy the waters further, the Socialist and Democrat Group in the European Parliament has waged a strong campaign, which some Socialist governments have bought in to, that the Socialists should let the EPP have the President while the Socialists make a concerted bid for the High Representative.

The small country and/or EPP bid for the President position may well be the way it goes today.  I understand that there is everything to play for, and unusually in the EU the result has not been fixed in advance.  Since the Socialists are going for the High Representative, could this be what Tony ends up with?  I gather he may not be averse to the idea.  The job will, after all, be to act as the face of the EU across the whole globe and the post holder will also control the world-wide network of EU missions (embassies).

Crunch time indeed.

"Mi Coaandante Filisola!"

13 de noviembre: Una parada para escuchar qué onda es ése David Guetta

14 de noviembre: Junto con la Gira Nacional ATAKE en Hugua Ñandú. Invitados especiales: Dani Da Rosa, Ña Meché, Romerito, Herminio Cáceres y Diego Barreto.

15 de noviembre: Fiestas patronales de Kokué Guazú, con SPLENDOR DISCONCERT!

16 de noviembre: Luneró.

22 de noviembre: PAZ con Juan Luis Guerra.

24 de noviembre: Baile del caño con Magna Meza.

28 de noviembre: Rastrillaje, arado y siembra com Paková Ledesma, gobernador.

29 de noviembre: Ñoquis.

1 de diciembre: Retorno a Asunción para cobrar salarios

3 de diciembre: Ataque relámpago a EPP.

4 de diciembre: Torneo de Pikivoley en San Pedro.

8 de diciembre: Virgen de Caacupé. Peregrinación con Casildo López.

12 de diciembre: FOPE Tour con Kchiporros, el Bache, Los Kchorros de la Línea 3, Los Verduleros en el Kono Club de Luque. Anima Rubén Rodríguez!

24 de diciembre: Navidad de flor de coco. Fusilar a cualquiera que escuche “Navidad sin ti”

31 de diciembre: Fin de año.

Nueva Temporada 2010

In the run-up to the 2009 European Parliament elections, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s selections as female candidates for his People of Liberty party caused a significant stir for their lack of political experience.  Now that the European elections are over, I have been looking at fellow women MEPs who are new to the European Parliament. 

Berlusconi’s list included Angela Sozio, a former contestant in the Italian version of Big Brother; Barbara Matera, a former Miss Italy contestant and TV actress; Camilla Ferranti, an Italian soap star; and Eleonora Gaggioli, also a TV actress.  Berlusconi said “I want young faces, new faces, to renew the image of Italy and the PdL in Europe.”  Maybe that’s why he appointed Mara Carfagna, the former topless model who has been Italy’s Minister for Equal Opportunities since May 2008 despite being an avowed anti-feminist and opposing Gay Pride marches. 

One of the former models and actresses on the People of Liberty list, Barbara Matera (27, Il Popolo della Libertà, EPP) won a seat in the European Parliament. She is joined by Licia Ronzulli (34, Il Popolo della Libertà, EPP), another MEP whose previous experience in politics is unclear, but who was named by Barbara Montereale (who has testified as to Berlusiconi’s alleged use of escorts), as having frequented Berlusconi’s infamous Villa Certosa, and Lara Comi (26, Il Popolo della Libertà, EPP) whose political career has also seen a remarkably rapid rise.

It would appear that Mr. Berlusconi is not choosing these female candidates for their knowledge of and commitment to politics.  His selection of women parliamentarians accurately matches his choice of women companions outside his marriage.  Although I am sure these young women are fine, upstanding citizens, by no stretch of the imagination are they suited for high political office. 

There are, of course, many highly qualified, excellent young female MEPs. 

Marietje Schaake 31 is a Dutch Liberal who has substantial experience as an adviser and consultant on issues of diversity, integration and Muslims in the West.  She has written several papers on these topics.  She has completed internships at the US House of Representatives (under the Lantos Fellowship) and the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in the Hague.  She has also been awarded the Barney Karbank Memorial Prize in 2007 for outstanding leadership on human rights.

I am particularly pleased to see women like my fellow Socialist Eider Gardiazábal Rubial elected.  She is the youngest Spanish MEP and was previously the Secretary of Education, Administration and Finance of the National Executive JSE-EgazRamón Rubial.  She was also Secretary General of Socialist Youth of Bilbao, and has been a Councillor in the City of Bilbao since 2004 with responsibility for budget, economy and finance. In 2002 she was elected Secretary of the Executive Equality PSE-EE office for which she was re-elected in 2005 and continues today.  She studied at high school in France and holds a French and Spanish bachelor’s degree in Economics with a specialisation in management accounting.

The youngest MEP in the Parliament, Emilie Turunen, 25, is from Denmark’s Socialistisk Folkeparti(SF), part of the Greens/EFA.  She was previously head of SF’s youth organisation, was a coordinator for Denmark’s Social Forum, Restart Denmark in 2006, and has campaigned against trafficking of women after working in a child crisis centre in Cambodia with DanChurchAid.

It is quite simply disgraceful for the likes of Berlusconi to put forward women who have neither the experience or qualifications to be successful in politics.  It undermines all women when some, even a very few, female colleagues are not up to the job.  Maybe this is what Berlusconi really has in mind.  I am, however, absolutely certain that Marietje, Eider, Emilie and all the other bright young women who have come into the European Parliament with the right kind of background will win through and make an outstanding contribution.  Good luck to all of you.

I have just come from a meeting of the European Parliament Socialists and Democrats (S & D) Group – the one which used to be called the Party of European Socialists – and I am incandescent with rage.  The rage is again on behalf of Tony Blair and Britain, one of the minority of countries in the European Union to have a government from the same political family as the S & D Group.

 It is, inevitably at present, about the soon to be established post of President of the European Council of Ministers.  The S & D Group as a whole have, it must be said, shown no support for the Blair bid, and more of that later.  My ire is more against the two S & D MEPs who tabled an anti-Blair Written Declaration (similar to an Early Day Motion) in the Parliament.

They know who they are, but for the record I am talking about Robert Goebbels from Luxembourg and German Jo Leinen.  (A Written Declaration needs five signatures – the other three were from other political groups).

 The Written Declaration is particularly damning, asking that the new President be a figure with whom all the people of Europe can identify and whether he/she has displayed the ability to move the EU forward.  It also states the “figure” must come from a country in the Euro and the Schengen Agreement and be from a country which does not refuse to apply the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.

It doesn’t take much to work out that the “figure” is our very own TB.  The attack on Tony continued in the S & D Group meeting when one of the proposers of the Written Declaration made it clear he didn’t think Socialists could support Blair due to Tony’s lack of solidarity with other socialists over the Iraq war as well as his attending the French UMP conference just before the Presidential election in France and Blair’s closeness to Berlusconi.

 Tony Blair was the most successful Labour Prime Minister Britain has ever had, winning three election victories, bringing peace to Northern Ireland and improving health and education beyond all expectations.  It is high time European socialist “colleagues” buried their petty jealousies and did what is best for the S & D Group and best for Europe by not continually carping about one of Europe’s most influential leaders, who also happens to be one of us.

Back to the Blair bid itself as opposed to personal animosity.  The S & D Group together with the heads of government in those countries with socialist governments, wrongly in my view, decided to go for the Socialists holding the new position of High Representative for Foreign Affairs, a post which straddles both Council and Commission with the post holder also being Vice-President of the Commission.  The thinking was that the EPP centre-right, who already have the President of the Commission in the form of Jose-Manuel Barroso, will probably get the Council President as well. Given this, the Socialists should have the next bite of the cherry, namely the High Representative.

 This is how David Miliband came to be approached to be High Representative, rather late in the day. Sadly he declined, all but ending British hopes.  EU horse trading has won the day again, showing the worst side of what happens here.  I am tempted to ask, when will they ever learn?  Deals done behind closed doors do not inspire confidence and cause a lot of harm.  Europe will never get closer to its people as long as EU leaders behave like some out of touch clique considering only their own narrow interests.

Sign up for Daily email and feed at www.etfdesk.com

• ISM Services Index in U.S. Unexpectedly Decreased
• Sahara Sun ‘to help power Europe’
• WSJ: Fears of a New Bubble as Cash Pours In
• Poll: Stimulus Impact On China’s Growth Is Fading
• Jim Rogers v. Nouriel Roubini
• World Need for Oil Expected to Ease
• Forecast of gas glut challenges Russian grip
• The Recession and the ‘Paradox of Thrift’
• Japan, Einhorn and ‘tontine’ fantasies
• Bank of England expands quantitative easing, holds rates steady
• Where Do State and Local Governments Get Their Tax Revenue?
• Report Says Big Buyouts Are Likelier to Default
• Prechter: The 2008 Crash Was Merely A Warmup

ISM Services Index in U.S. Unexpectedly Decreased

Posted: 04 Nov 2009 12:54 AM PST

Nov. 4 (Bloomberg) — Service industries in the U.S. grew in October at a slower pace than anticipated, a sign growing joblessness may restrain consumer spending.

ETFDesk users see this as a potential opportunity to: sell SPDR-Consumer Discretionary; sell SPDR S&P Retail ETF; sell iShares DJ US Consumer Services; sell Claymore/Robb Report Global Luxury Index ETF;

Check out how others are using ETFs to capitalize on this news or add your own opinion

Sahara Sun ‘to help power Europe’

Posted: 04 Nov 2009 01:59 AM PST

A sustainable energy initiative that will start with a huge solar project in the Sahara desert has been announced by a consortium of 12 European businesses.

ETFDesk users see this as a potential opportunity to: buy Market Vectors–Solar Energy ETF; buy Claymore/MAC Global Solar Energy Index ETF;

Check out how others are using ETFs to capitalize on this news or add your own opinion

WSJ: Fears of a New Bubble as Cash Pours In

Posted: 04 Nov 2009 02:13 AM PST

Real-Estate, Stock and Currency Markets, Especially in Asia and Pacific, Are Seen at Risk

ETFDesk users see this as a potential opportunity to: sell iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25; sell iShares MSCI-Pacific ex-Japan Index;sell Claymore/AlphaShares China Real Estate ETF; sell iShares S&P Asia 50 Index Fund; sell iShares MSCI All Country Asia ex Japan Index Fund; sell Asia Tigers Fund; sell Barclays Asian & Gulf Currency Reval ETN; sell Barclays GEMS Asia-8ETN;

Check out how others are using ETFs to capitalize on this news or add your own opinion

Poll: Stimulus Impact On China’s Growth Is Fading

Posted: 04 Nov 2009 04:10 AM PST

The surge in China’s growth will continue to ease over the coming year as the initial impact of the massive government stimulus plan fades, a new poll of economists by The Wall Street Journal shows. The pace of expansion in China’s gross domestic product is expected to moderate to an annual rate of 8%-9% into 2010 from its peak of around 15% in the middle of this year, according to the survey.

Check out how others are using ETFs to capitalize on this news or add your own opinion

Jim Rogers v. Nouriel Roubini

Posted: 04 Nov 2009 05:43 AM PST

Down Goes Frazier!!! Down Goes Frazier!!!

ETFDesk users see this as a potential opportunity to: buy PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bullish Fund; sell streetTRACKS Gold Trust;

Check out how others are using ETFs to capitalize on this news or add your own opinion

World Need for Oil Expected to Ease

Posted: 04 Nov 2009 08:15 AM PST

International Energy Agency Says Conservation Efforts Will Trump Any Global Economic Recovery

ETFDesk users see this as a potential opportunity to: sell PowerShares Dynamic Oil & Gas Services Portfolio; sell United States Oil Fund LP;

Check out how others are using ETFs to capitalize on this news or add your own opinion

Forecast of gas glut challenges Russian grip

Posted: 04 Nov 2009 08:24 AM PST

In the report, the IEA expects overcapacity of gas pipelines and liquefied natural gas terminals to reach at least 250bn cubic metres by 2015, more than four times the spare capacity in 2007. For the US, the gas glut will force companies to scrap plans for new LNG import terminals and mean that much of its existing capacity will be underused.

ETFDesk users see this as a potential opportunity to: sell First Trust ISE-Revere Natural Gas Index Fund; sell United States Natural Gas Fund, LP;

Check out how others are using ETFs to capitalize on this news or add your own opinion

The Recession and the ‘Paradox of Thrift’

Posted: 04 Nov 2009 12:32 PM PST

ne bit of conventional wisdom about this recession is that it was caused, or at least significantly worsened, by a “ paradox of thrift”: Consumers suddenly ceased to be willing or able to spend like they once did. An alternative interpretation puts the labor market at ground zero, and sees the spending decline merely as a reaction to the labor market.

ETFDesk users see this as a potential opportunity to: sell Retail HOLDRS; sell SPDR-Consumer Discretionary; sell SPDR S&P Retail ETF; sell iShares FTSE NAREIT Retail Index Fund; sell Claymore/Robb Report Global Luxury Index ETF;

Check out how others are using ETFs to capitalize on this news or add your own opinion

Japan, Einhorn and ‘tontine’ fantasies

Posted: 04 Nov 2009 11:21 PM PST

Raising the prospect of what he calls a “currency death spiral”, Einhorn told a New York conference on value investing that Japan “may already be past the point of no return”. Never one to pass up an opportunity, however, Greenlight had added new trades to this investment theme, buying long-dated options on much higher interest rates in Japan and other developed regions – effectively giving the firm the chance to make big profits from a jump in rates. The options, bought from maj

ETFDesk users see this as a potential opportunity to: sell iShares MSCI-Japan;

Check out how others are using ETFs to capitalize on this news or add your own opinion

Bank of England expands quantitative easing, holds rates steady

Posted: 04 Nov 2009 11:24 PM PST

Following in the US footsteps- further downside on the pound

ETFDesk users see this as a potential opportunity to: sell Rydex British Pound Sterling Trust;

Check out how others are using ETFs to capitalize on this news or add your own opinion

Where Do State and Local Governments Get Their Tax Revenue?

Posted: 05 Nov 2009 12:35 AM PST

Interesting charts of where states get their funding…

ETFDesk users see this as a potential opportunity to: sell iShares S&P National Municipal Bond Fund;

Check out how others are using ETFs to capitalize on this news or add your own opinion

Report Says Big Buyouts Are Likelier to Default

Posted: 05 Nov 2009 12:38 AM PST

The 10 largest companies bought by private equity companies are performing worse than similar stand-alone companies or smaller private equity deals, according to a new report from Moody’s, the rating agency.

ETFDesk users see this as a potential opportunity to: sell First Trust IPOX-100 Index Fund; sell iShares Dow Jones U.S. Broker-Dealers Index Fund;

Check out how others are using ETFs to capitalize on this news or add your own opinion

Prechter: The 2008 Crash Was Merely A Warmup

Posted: 05 Nov 2009 12:39 AM PST

Elliot Wave analyst Bob Prechter explained to Maria Bartiromo why this market rally is kaput. The internals are ugly, momentum is breaking down, valuations are too high, and everyone’s too bullish. He ominously described the 2008 crash as a warmup, and he likes Treasuries.

ETFDesk users see this as a potential opportunity to: buy iShares Lehman 7-10 Year Treasury Bond Fund; buy UltraShort S&P 500 ProShares; sell S&P 500 SPDR; buy iShares Lehman 10-20 Year Treasury Bond Fund; buy Rydex Inverse 2x S&P 500 ETF; buyPIMCO 15+ Year U.S. TIPS Index Fund; buy PIMCO 7-15 Year U.S. Treasury Index Fund;

Check out how others are using ETFs to capitalize on this news or add your own opinion

Sign up for Daily email and live feed at www.etfdesk.com

Forget Inflation, Deflation Is a Bigger Danger

Posted: 03 Nov 2009 02:37 AM PST

In the past year, the Federal Reserve has increased our monetary base by about 120 percent, more than double the previous highest annual increase over the past 50 years. The Fed has made huge loans to private lenders and bought over $1 trillion of mortgage securities and hundreds of billions of dollars of long-term treasury bonds. It has succeeded in lowering the federal funds rate below 1 percent—even, for most of the time, to less than half that. The goal, of course, is to force

ETFDesk users see this as a potential opportunity to: buy iShares Lehman 20+ Year Treasury Bond Fund; buy iShares Lehman 7-10 Year Treasury Bond Fund; buy iShares Lehman 10-20 Year Treasury Bond Fund;

Check out how others are using ETFs to capitalize on this news or add your own opinion

HOW GOLDMAN SACHS IS TRADING THE COMMODITY MARKETS

Posted: 03 Nov 2009 03:10 AM PST

It’s no secret that Goldman Sachs has an enormously profitable trading operation. In the most recent quarter they reported an astounding $10B in total trading and investments. This represented 81% of the firms total revenues. One of the most profitable arms of this trading operation is the commodity desk. Goldman’s commodity calls are often market moving and always noteworthy.

ETFDesk users see this as a potential opportunity to: buy PowerShares DB Oil Fund; buy United States Oil Fund LP; buy United States Natural Gas Fund, LP; buy United States 12 Month Oil Fund, LP; buy iPath Dow Jones-AIG Natural Gas Total Return Sub-IndexSM ETN; buy ELEMENTS MLCX Grains Index Total Return; buy iPath Dow Jones-AIG Grains Total Return Sub-Index ETN;

Check out how others are using ETFs to capitalize on this news or add your own opinion

We Are Now On Twitter

Posted: 03 Nov 2009 03:26 AM PST

We are now on twitter – follow us for up to the minute cef news at CEFGuru

Check out how others are using ETFs to capitalize on this news or add your own opinion

Entering Crude Oil Long

Posted: 03 Nov 2009 03:31 AM PST

..taking the current bounce in the dollar as a chance to purchase oil as it pulls back into support

ETFDesk users see this as a potential opportunity to: buy PowerShares DB Oil Fund; buy United States Oil Fund LP;

Check out how others are using ETFs to capitalize on this news or add your own opinion

Water rationing for Venezuela’s capital city

Posted: 03 Nov 2009 04:34 AM PST

Residents of the Venezuelan capital face cuts in water service for as much as 48 hours per week, after the government imposed rationing to stem a 25 percent shortfall in the city’s supply, officials said Monday. Officials said cuts in water service were to be staggered throughout Caracas through the duration of the current dry season, which is not expected to end until May 2010. Seems like a global problem

ETFDesk users see this as a potential opportunity to: buy PowerShares Water Resource Portfolio; buy Claymore S&P Global Water Index ETF;

Check out how others are using ETFs to capitalize on this news or add your own opinion

Lloyds and RBS announcements

Posted: 03 Nov 2009 04:50 AM PST

Seems like significantly more regulation from UK on behalf of bailed out banks. Likely a restrictive policy.

ETFDesk users see this as a potential opportunity to: sell iShares MSCI-U.K.; sell Rydex British Pound Sterling Trust;

Check out how others are using ETFs to capitalize on this news or add your own opinion

The Altman Group’s Closed End Fund Conference at the NYSE

Posted: 03 Nov 2009 05:02 AM PST

The Altman Group’s Closed End Fund Conference at the NYSE

Check out how others are using ETFs to capitalize on this news or add your own opinion

Fixed Income Investing Idea From State Street

Posted: 03 Nov 2009 06:54 AM PST

In the midst of a historically low interest rate environment, many fixed income segments continue to enjoy considerable yield advantages, or spreads, relative to US Treasuries. This trend presents investors with opportunities to earn attractive returns at a lower risk than equities.

ETFDesk users see this as a potential opportunity to: buy SPDR Lehman High Yield Bond ETF; buy SPDR Barclays Capital Long Term Credit Bond ETF; buy SPDR Barclays Capital Convertible Bond ETF;

Check out how others are using ETFs to capitalize on this news or add your own opinion

Australia Raises Rates for 2nd Consecutive Month

Posted: 03 Nov 2009 12:27 PM PST

The Australian central bank raised its benchmark interest rate Tuesday for the second month in a row, as widely expected, and suggested a gradual withdrawal of stimulus measures amid mounting evidence that the Australian economy was rapidly picking up speed.

ETFDesk users see this as a potential opportunity to: buy Rydex Australian Dollar Trust;

Check out how others are using ETFs to capitalize on this news or add your own opinion

Interesting Way To Play Buffett’s BNI Buyout

Posted: 03 Nov 2009 11:13 PM PST

…coal eventually finds its way to Asia, namely China. China’s power supply is still coal-fired and demand for coal is expected to increase in the coming years.

ETFDesk users see this as a potential opportunity to: buy Market Vectors Coal ETF ;

Check out how others are using ETFs to capitalize on this news or add your own opinion

World Bank raises east Asia growth forecast

Posted: 03 Nov 2009 11:19 PM PST

In an update to its East Asia and Pacific Outlook, published in April, the World Bank said the economies of developing east Asia had rebounded sharply from the steep drop in activity in early 2009 because of extraordinary fiscal and monetary measures, improved global financial conditions and an upturn in inventory cycles.

ETFDesk users see this as a potential opportunity to: buy iShares MSCI-Pacific ex-Japan Index;

Check out how others are using ETFs to capitalize on this news or add your own opinion

Transocean net income falls by a third

Posted: 04 Nov 2009 12:00 AM PST

Transocean Ltd. said Wednesday its third-quarter net income fell by a third as the oil service firm saw lower activity in its fleet of rigs and drill ships.

ETFDesk users see this as a potential opportunity to: sell PowerShares Dynamic Oil & Gas Services Portfolio;

Check out how others are using ETFs to capitalize on this news or add your own opinion

The 30 Year Looks To Be Screwed Into Year End

Posted: 04 Nov 2009 12:09 AM PST

self explanatory

ETFDesk users see this as a potential opportunity to: sell iShares Lehman 20+ Year Treasury Bond Fund; buy UltraShort Lehman 20+ Year Treasury ProShares;

Check out how others are using ETFs to capitalize on this news or add your own opinion

The time has now arrived for David Cameron to come up with a new Conservative European policy.  Since Czech President Vaclav Klaus has ended all speculation and signed the Lisbon Treaty, the Tories no longer have even the slightest amount of wriggle room.  Cameron’s muddle through and hope for the best approach will no longer wash.  But what decisions will he take, or perhaps more to the point, what decisions will his Party allow him to take?

Many Tory MPs, most of the grassroots and right wing newspapers such as the Daily Telegraph want a hard line on Europe.  It never ceases to amaze me just how much time and energy the Tories are prepared to waste on the European Union.  I am utterly convinced that the Eurosceptics are fighting a lost cause; Britain has been in the EU for over 30 years and over half our exports go to EU countries.  We are in the EU and in Europe.  It would be madness to leave and expose Britain to an extremely uncertain and isolated future.  I believe the British people understand this and if push came to shove would make their views known.

However, Cameron no longer has the luxury of time on his side.  He needs to be credible from today right up to the General Election.  Will he follow his Party or go with the centre-right heads of government in the European Council?  The European leaders whom Cameron may once have viewed as his allies in Europe are almost to a man and woman fed up with the Tories leaving the EPP to set up their own Eurosceptic European Conservatives and Reformists Group.  There is little doubt that they will tell him that the EU works on the basis of compromise and that if the Tories seek to undo the Lisbon Treaty which has been the best part of 10 years in the making, and which grants Britain various opt-outs, British influence in Europe will suffer.

So heads (credibility with EU leaders) you lose with the grassroots and tails (popularity with Tory members) you lose with the heads of state.  If I were Mr Cameron (thankfully there’s no chance of that), this is a dilemma I would rather not have to face.  My strong hunch is that Cameron will go with his Party just as he did when he promised to take the Conservatives out of the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) in the European Parliament in order to get himself elected Tory Leader.  The Conservatives have, after all, already decided that, should they form a government, they will introduce a law stating that future change to EU treaties will require ratification by referendum.

Going with Party rather than seeking influence in Europe’s corridors of power would be utter lunacy.  Surely any intelligent and right thinking person can see that Britain needs influence in the EU.  The EU is both our present and our future.  While I, for one, would never argue that the EU as presently constituted is perfect, influence gives Britain the opportunity to make improvements and stand up for our national interests.  Since the Tories have in the past claimed they do not wish to completely withdraw from the European Union, where is the logic in any future policy which may give away British influence?

Existe una gran preocupación de parte de los integrantes  las organizaciones sociales, dirigentes campesinos y la población en general del asentamiento ” Kurusu de Hierro”, del departamento de Concepción, con relación a las acusaciones al sector campesino de estar involucrado en el caso del secuestro del ganadero, Fidel Zavala, según manifestó a la 1300 AM el dirigente Demetrio Alvarenga.

En ese sentido señaló a los medios de comunicación masiva como los culpables directos de la situación. En otro momento, el dirigente campesino no desmiente la existencia del Ejército del Pueblo Paraguayo (EPP).

Escuche Audio:

El ganadero de 45 años Fidel Zavala fue secuestrado el 15 de Octubre de este año, en su estancia de Concepción por el grupo guerrillero EPP que pide 5 millones de dólares para su liberación.

Y volvió a suceder!. Conforme siga la ineptitud del Gobierno, en igual proporción crecerá la confianza y el poder de esta red de guerrilleros denominada “Ejército del Pueblo Paraguayo”.

Para que se entienda, un grupo de casi cien “adoctrinados” vistiendo para para-í tiene la seria posibilidad de cambiar el estilo de vida de 6 millones de habitantes si triunfa la consigna mundialmente pasada de moda “patria o muerte”.
Esta tierra fértil -abonada por el propio Fernando Lugo desde el momento en que no da la orden de desintegrar ese grupo- ha dado un nuevo fruto maldito.

El secuestro del ganadero Fidel Zavala Serrati es el reciente trofeo de guerra del EPP que intentará cambiarlo por monedas de oro para seguir enriqueciéndose criminalmente amparados en una irreal y rídicula “lucha contra los ricos”.
Y cuando la ideología se enseñorea en una suerte de “justicia por mano propia” contra la “riqueza maligna”, la criminalidad adquiere un rostro desconocido por los paraguayos. Porque aquí no existe la cultura leninista ni menos de Marx que con tanto afan pretenden imponer los bolivarianos de moda.

Somos gente que cree en el trabajo diario, en la superación personal y en las oportunidades que cada uno se las crea en la medida que pone empeño en alcanzar sus metas personales.
Esta lluvia de ideas –bastante desordenada- solo pretende aligerar con cada golpecito en las teclas esa sensación de inmovilidad que experimentamos en estos días cualquier paraguayo o paraguaya de bien, luego de ser testigos a través de las noticias de la actitud extorsiva y criminal una vez más de parte de los soldados del EPP.

Pues el sendero hacia lo inevitable encontró un año después a su nuevo objetivo. El señor Luis Libstron, ganadero de profesión y víctima por 42 días de un atroz cautiverio, fue un blanco sustancialmente redituable para sus secuestradores. El rescate pagado fue de 350 mil dólares y la pregunta que todos nos hacemos es si la sideral suma fue o no invertida “en beneficio de los ideales nacionalistas de los del EPP”, o quizá ayudó a la autogestión de algun nuevo asentamiento de campesinos, porque si esto ocurrió, olvidaron dar publicidad.

Repasando este sendero, tortuoso y con lo inevitable en el horizonte, hemos visto que en el mes de abril aparecieron “tímidamente” dos volantes a metros del Palacio de Justicia donde el EPP daba a conocer su protesta contra el Gobierno y los jueces cómplices. Fue horas después de que un artefacto explosivo por primera vez en la historia de nuestro país haya detonado en sede de un poder del Estado. La acción guerrillera si bien no dejó heridos fue lo suficientemente ruidosa para dejar en claro que “no estaban bromeando”.

En dichos panfletos el EPP hablaba de “la ofensiva militar del gobierno social zoquetero y social traidor de Fernando Lugo contra el EPP ha sido un resonante fracaso”, haciendo alusión a la presencia de policías y militares por la zona de Tacuatí y Kurusú de Hierro intentando recuperar terreno perdido luego del ataque a un puesto militar reivindicado por el EPP.

Al tiempo de tildar de “payaso exhibicionista y charlatán de feria” al ministro del Interior Rafael Filizola, dirigentes de “las milicias lopistas” del EPP lanzaron un claro y serio reto “nadie es invulnerable para nosotros, oportunamente la justicia revolucionaria les caerá con su fuerza”, afirmaban en aquel entonces.

Un mes antes, mediados de marzo Carmen Villalba, recluída en el Buen Pastor y condenada a 18 años de cárcel por el secuestro de María Edith había advertido en una entrevista periodística que “seguirán las incursiones armadas” de parte de integrantes del EPP.

Presumo, por ello que, el croquis que los propios guerrilleros se encargaron de trazar, fue lamentablemente ignorado por el Gobierno nivelándose el sendero hacia lo inevitable.

Comunicado a la opinión pública

El Espacio Unitario-Congreso Popular (EU-CP), ante el plagio del ciudadano Fidel Zavala y las especulaciones colocadas hasta la fecha, se dirige a la opinión pública para expresar cuanto sigue:

Su total repudio a toda forma de terrorismo, en este caso del secuestro del ganadero Fidel  Zavala, como método de resolución de cualquier tipo de conflicto, sea este económico, político, militar, de tinte personal o grupal.  La  práctica del  secuestro, por lo menos en las últimas cinco décadas de la historia de nuestro país, fue utilizada como  método terrorista por la derecha paraguaya para  mantener su dominio sobre amplios sectores de compatriotas que han dado su vida en la lucha contra la dictadura y  por la  conquista de las plenas libertades democráticas.

El  carácter miserable que tiene el oportunismo de sectores políticos de la  ANR, UNACE, PPQ y del PLRA, que aprovechándose de este repudiable hecho, levantan una repugnante campaña que pretende asociar a la izquierda política con este tipo de actividades.

Estas organizaciones resguardan en sus cúpulas a varios cómplices de los tiempos  tenebrosos de la dictadura. Basta con recordar los cargos que ocupó Martín Chiola y sus labores médicas para con los presos de la dictadura, así como Mario “baby” Soto Estigarribia, ligado a oscuros crímenes durante el régimen dictatorial.

No olvidamos a los aportantes para la lucha “anticomunista” como Miguel Carrizosa (cuya empresa figura como financista del XII Congreso de la Liga Mundial Anticomunista, realizado el 8 de marzo de 1979, durante plena dictadura en Paraguay); los “amigos” de la familia Stroeesner como Alfredo Jaeggli; o acaso podemos cerrar los ojos ante las acusaciones de un peligroso fascista como Lino Oviedo. Mencionamos a algunos (la lista es larga) para identificar a quienes ayer nos perseguían y hoy nos acusan mimetizados de demócratas.

Pero también sabemos lo que hay detrás de esta campaña: pretende desestabilizar a Fernando Lugo y criminalizar a la izquierda política. La trayectoria de la izquierda paraguaya está cargada de mártires que regaron el suelo patrio con su sangre en la lucha contra la camarilla de delincuentes encabezada por el tirano Stroessner. No figuran en nuestro historial ni los secuestros, ni las torturas, ni el exilio, ni las persecuciones, y si ahora aparecen grupos con las mismas prácticas que criticamos de la  derecha, sencillamente no forman parte de nuestros ideales de liberación, ideales que fundamos en la doctrina y el pensamiento socialista.

La violencia se ha enseñoreado en el Paraguay bajo los gobiernos colorados. No olvidemos el rol activo de la mafia que en los últimos años ha operado impunemente con asesinatos y desapariciones como el caso del Gral. Rosa Rodríguez, Luis María Argaña, las víctimas del marzo paraguayo y  decenas de campesinos asesinados y/o desaparecidos por reclamar su derecho a la tierra y al mejoramiento de su calidad de vida. Como sabemos, ninguno de estos casos fueron resueltos por la justicia, que en realidad funciona como tentáculo de estos sectores mafiosos y oligárquicos  Expresamos nuestro absoluto desacuerdo con el método de lucha del EPP.

Igualmente, denunciamos que sus acciones son  totalmente funcionales a la derecha intolerante y golpista. La izquierda política y social agrupada en el EU-CP, considera que debemos  reordenar la nación sobre la base de un  profundo sentido democrático, escenario en el cual lucharemos por el socialismo, apelando a las movilizaciones de masas, a la lucha  política y la participación electoral.

Por último, el EU-CP, suma su voz al pedido de justicia, exige la aparición con vida de Fidel Zavala, el esclarecimiento de este crimen. Igualmente, ratificamos nuestro compromiso por la profundización democrática con justicia social, única vía para la instalación de una paz verdadera, tan merecida, para todos los habitantes de nuestro país.

Asunción, 23 de octubre de 2009

Espacio Unitario-Congreso Popular