Global Paradigms

Business Times - 25 Sep 2008 By LEON HADAR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT AMERICAN television stations protect themselves against possible action by the US Federal Communications Commission, which has the right to regulate 'indecent' broadcasts. They do that through self-censorship of 'inappropriate' content to make them suitable for 'family' or daytime viewing, including through 'bleeping'. That usually happens when comedians on a television show use the 'F' word or other coarse language. This week, US television viewers experienced quite a lot of bleeping on live TV programmes when this or that man or woman 'on the street' was asked to comment on the proposed US Treasury's US$700 billion financial rescue plan for Wall Street. 'You tell that (BLEEP) Paulson to shove his (BLEEP) plan to help those (BLEEP) in (BLEEP) Wall Street into his (BLEEP) (BLEEP),' was the response from one of the more polite interviewees. It is a typical expr...

Business Times - 24 Sep 2008 By LEON HADAR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT US PRESIDENT George W Bush is standing next to his Cabinet's Alpha Male who has become the crisis manager. Mr Bush declares that America is facing a clear and present danger that is stunning in its proportions and calls on Congress - and by extension, the American people - to give his administration unprecedented broad legal authority to take action against the looming threat to life as we know it. Trust the Man and his wise advisers, President Bush asserts. Give us a blank cheque to pursue a very, very costly policy. Trust us, guys! We know what we're doing. Sounds very much like the scene we saw last Friday when President Bush, standing in front of the White House, was joined by Henry Paulson, the Secretary of the Treasury and former Wall Street banker, and the professorial chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke. Mr Bush warned of the catastrophic consequences of the financial meltdown and requested th...