An amazing documentary I just watched yesterday - when I couldn't fall asleep! It explains what credit card industry really is about. The documentary is high profile, senators, top lobbyists and law academics are interviewed. Extremely well structured storyline illustrates the history and current problems with the industry.
please watch it in your free time, really CHECK IT OUT, it is EYE OPENING and comment and discuss (check out my customised adds as well :-) )
I will probably post more on the industry. Credit Card industry is fascinatingly interesting because it really applies to everyone but is a shady, and I meaaan, veeery shady industry! stay tuned...
Friday, August 28, 2009
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Inglourious Basterds (2009)
I went to see this new movie (Inglourious Basterds (2009)) yesterday and I have to say I was impressed with the storyline. Set in the 2nd world war it follows a group of american nazi fighters and a jewish girl Shosanna on the run from the nazis, it paints a semi-fictional picture and shows what could have been an outcome in the world war.
The movie made me interested into possible war related scenarious and especially the controversial Munich agreement just before the war in 1939 that really triggered germany's power and fascinatingly enough, historians debate that the war (Blitz Krieg) might have had never been so successfull for Hitler.
what follows are experts from wikipedia article:
Czechoslovakia might have prevented the war
On August 4, 1938, a secret Army meeting was held at which Beck read his report. They agreed something had to be done to prevent certain disaster. Beck hoped they would all resign together but no one resigned except Beck. However his replacement, General Franz Halder, sympathised with Beck and together they conspired with several top generals, Admiral Wilhelm Canaris (Chief of German Intelligence), and Graf von Helldorf (Berlin's Police Chief) to arrest Hitler the moment he gave the invasion order. However the plan would only work if both Britain and France made it known to the world that they would fight to preserve Czechoslovakia. This would help to convince the German people that certain defeat awaited Germany. Agents were therefore sent to England to tell Chamberlain that an attack Czechoslovakia was planned and their intentions to overthrow Hitler if this occurred. However the messengers were not taken seriously by the British. In September, Chamberlain and Daladier decided not to threaten a war over Czechoslovakia and so the planned removal of Hitler could not be justified.[153] The Munich Agreement therefore preserved Hitler in power.
Hitler has not enough Commodities for a war
Germany lacked sufficient supplies of oil and other crucial raw materials (the plants that would produce the synthetic oil for the German war effort were not in operation yet), and was highly dependent upon imports from abroad.[175] The Kriegsmarine reported that should war come with Britain, it could not break a British blockade, and since Germany had hardly any oil stocks, Germany would be defeated for no other reason than a shortage of oil.[176] The Economics Ministry told Hitler that Germany had only 2.6 million tons of oil at hand, and should war with Britain and France, would require 7.6 million tons of oil. Starting on 18 September 1938, the British refused to supply metals to Germany, and on 24 September the Admiralty forbade British ships to sail to Germany.
Czechoslovakia was Given away and Hitler got his Commodities and more armament
On 30 September 1938, a one-day conference was held in Munich attended by Hitler, Chamberlain, Daladier and Mussolini that led to the Munich Agreement, which gave to Hitler's ostensible demands by handing over the Sudetenland districts to Germany.[179] Since London and Paris had already agreed to the idea of a transfer of the disputed territory in mid-September, the Munich Conference mostly comprised discussions in one day of talks on technical questions about how the transfer of the Sudetenland would take place, and featured the relatively minor concessions from Hitler that the transfer would take place over a ten day period in October, overseen by an international commission, and Germany would wait until Hungarian andPolish claims were settled.[180] At the end of the conference, Chamberlain had Hitler sign a declaration of Anglo-German friendship, to which Chamberlain attached great importance and Hitler none at all.[181] Though Chamberlain was well-satisfied with the Munich conference, leading to his infamous claim to have secured “peace in our time”, Hitler was privately furious about being “cheated” out of the war he was desperate to have in 1938.[182][183] As a result of the summit, Hitler was TIME magazine's Man of the Year for 1938.
As can be seen, european powers wanted to avoid war at all cost, especially Britain. It is ironic of an opposite effect and commodities and armaments that were hence secured. The invasion of Czechoslovakia without fighting was a disgrace, what was more that Britain and France even found such an arrangement of europe acceptable without a twitch on their eyes.
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