On Monday, a series of threatening letters filled with an unknown powder started showing up at financial institutions across America, causing a massive response and ensuing multi-agency investigation led by the FBI and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in concert with state and local authorities.
FBI: It's a pending investigation, but here's what we can tell you:
... So far, we've identified more than 50 letters, nearly all of which use threatening language identical to the text shown above. The letters have all been mailed from Texas and postmarked at Amarillo.
... Most of the letters contained some sort of powdery substance. All field tests to date have turned up negative--the powder appears harmless. Additional testing is taking place at regional laboratories.
... The letters have been sent to at least 11 states, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, and Virginia.
... The following three institutions have received letters:
Chase Bank;
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or FDIC, an independent federal agency; and
The U.S. Office of Thrift Supervision, which regulates all federal and many state thrift institutions.
You can help. Please study the images above(at link) and see if you recognize the phrasing of the letter, the envelope label, or any other clue that you think might help investigators. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is offering a reward of up to $100,000 for any information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible. Contact info at link.
Original post at Hot Air, found via Ace of Spades. Please note that it would lose someone less special than The One their ability to process credit card payments.
#1
If true, this is truly shocking and terribly disturbing, but I can't say I'm all that surprised.
To accept that this is simply a clerical oversight on behalf of the Obama campaign would require the willing suspension of disbelief beyond any human capacity.
It's so outrageous that I struggle to believe what these people are actually telling us. One side of my brain is shouting, "they have to be making this up, how can this possibly be?" While the other side of my brain is screaming, "WHAT IS SO WRONG WITH THE OBAMA CAMPAIGN THAT THEY WOULD BE WILLING TO COMPLETELY DESTROY THE FABRIC OF OUR SACRED AND CHERISHED DEMOCRATIC SYSTEM IN AN EFFORT TO GAIN POWER?"
The caretaker government starts the second round of talks with political parties today, aiming to ensure an atmosphere conducive to holding a free, fair and credible national election.
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10/23/2008 00:00 ||
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The Election Commission (EC) yesterday accepted Awami League's (AL) revised constitution and decided to register the party as it omitted the names of Bangladesh Chhatra League and Jatiya Sramik League from the list of associated organisations in its charter.
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10/23/2008 00:00 ||
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Despite having some of the world's largest energy reserves, Venezuela is increasingly struggling to maintain basic electrical service, a growing challenge for leftist President Hugo Chavez.
The OPEC nation has suffered three nationwide blackouts this year, and chronic power shortages have sparked protests from the western Andean highlands to San Felix, a city of mostly poor industrial workers in the sweltering south.
Shoddy electrical service is now one of Venezuelans' top concerns, according to a recent poll, and may be a factor in elections next month for governors and mayors in which Chavez allies are expected to lose key posts, in part on complaints of poor services.
The problem suggests that Chavez, with his ambitious international alliances and promises to end capitalism, risks alienating supporters by failing to focus on basic issues like electricity, trash collection and law enforcement.
"With so much energy in Venezuela, how can we be without power?" asked Fernando Aponte, 49, whose slum neighborhood of Las Delicias in San Felix spent 15 days without electricity -- leading him to block a nearby avenue with burning tires in protest.
Just next door, Carmen Fernandez, 82, who is blind and has a pacemaker, says she has trouble sleeping through sultry nights without even a fan to cool her.
Experts say Venezuela for years has skimped billions of dollars in electrical investments, leaving generation 20 percent below the level necessary for a stable power grid and increasing the risk of national outages. Officially Venezuela has a capacity of 22,500 megawatts for a population of 28 million people, but a sizeable proportion is not working, analysts say.
And while Chavez has won praise for investing in health and education, his government has done little to repair local distribution systems that deliver electricity to end users, from barrio residents to business and industries.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/23/2008 12:49 ||
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#1
And while Chavez has won praise for investing in health and education . .
Only from moonbats. Illiteracy has increased during Chavez's terms in office and there are no statistics showing healthcare has improved.
#4
See also WORLD MILITARY FORUM/WORLD FORUM [China] > seems a number of CHINA Netters were UN-IMPRESSED OR SURPRISED that current GOOGLE-NET MAPS of perceived "developed/modern" Chin coastal regions were only SLIGHTLY/BARELY BETTER OFF THAN WELL_KNOWN PERENNIALLY "DARK MAPS" OF NORTH KOREA OR CUBA, i.e. TOO MANY DARK = UN-LIGHTED AREAS???
SAN FELIX, Venezuela (Reuters) -- Despite having some of the world's largest energy reserves, Venezuela is increasingly struggling to maintain basic electrical service, a growing challenge for leftist President Hugo Chavez.
The OPEC nation has suffered three nationwide blackouts this year, and chronic power shortages have sparked protests from the western Andean highlands to San Felix, a city of mostly poor industrial workers in the sweltering south. Shoddy electrical service is now one of Venezuelans' top concerns, according to a recent poll, and may be a factor in elections next month for governors and mayors in which Chavez allies are expected to lose key posts, in part on complaints of poor services.
Why in the name of God is the US embargo for Cuba's sh**** electrical development? There are dozens of countries that trade with Cuba or could. What? Russia so hard up that they can't deal with electricity?
Russia will cooperate with OPEC in maintaining stable oil prices in the global market, said Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev on Wednesday. $7.50 a barrel would be pretty stable...
He told OPEC Secretary-General Abdalla Salem el-Badri, during their meeting here on Wednesday that interaction with the oil cartel was a "key area of Russia's energy policy aimed at maintaining stable and predictable prices." The OPEC head is on a two-day visit to Moscow to coordinate policy with Russia before an emergency session of oil-exporting countries in Vienna on Friday to discuss measures to halt plummeting prices. Mr. El-Badri said he did not ask Russia to cut oil exports, but welcomed Moscow's plan to set up oil reserves to influence global prices. The ideal oil production reserve was aired by Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin at an international energy forum in Moscow on Wednesday. The price of Russian Urals crude fell below $70 per barrel on Wednesday for a second time this month, raising fears that the 2009 budget would be pushed in the red.
The Russia-OPEC talks came a day after Russia, Iran and Qatar, which account for over 60 per cent of global national gas reserves, at a meeting in Tehran, agreed to form a "big gas troika." Iranian Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari said the three nations reached "a consensus to set up a gas OPEC."
Russia's gas monopoly Gazprom chief, Alexei Miller, said the new body would undertake joint projects in "exploration, refining and selling gas." The three nations also decided to transform the Gas Exporting Countries Forum, a discussion club that also includes Venezuela, Nigeria, Algeria, Egypt, Indonesia and Libya "into a permanent organisation as quickly as possible to serve the goals of stable and reliable energy supplies in the world," said Mr. Miller.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/23/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
< CG -- you're giving yourself away -- the above comment by me, is the first I've ever made to you... so don't be telling me, "I'm a bit tired of you....."
#3
GC -- a little of an American lesson here -- I took all your comments, not including those with name calling, but the ones with your discussion points and ran them through a readability formula.
There are several of those, some we use for kids' reading levels, and some we use for adults' writings.
I used the most accurately accepted one for adults' writing.
Here your scores:
Grade level: 6.1 (that's sixth grade. Newspapers are written to a fifth grade level, so you are at least as good as our esteemed journalists.)
Passive voice: 4% (that's actually quiet good, but this forum lends itself to active voice writing)
Sentence complexity: 18 (100 = very complex)
Vocabulary complexity: 11 (100 = very complex)
But, of course, you were writing for your audience? Well, maybe not. Most of this audience is capable of at least 12th grade readability.
You might want to up your writing standards when stating your arguments, backed up with facts, of course. That helps in getting along with the folks here.
#6
Sherry, have not seen any of your posts . . . . Hmmm.
Lack of opinion or lack of writing ability?
Or too busy programming away at some cubicle the writing analysis programmes for kiddies?
#12
Is there some annoying cyber-marketing company you can call that puts out a bunch of General_Comment type guys to harass people? If there is it would surely be in Russia.
#13
As far as the oil article goes, I would think that even a lower stable price would be better than the wildly fluctuating b.s. we've seen lately. If you could count on $60 bbl. oil all year you could at least tailor your spending. Russia is facing budgetary insolvency over this last bear down.
#14
Sherry, you certainly hit a few nerves there. LOL!
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
10/23/2008 9:57 Comments ||
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#15
Thanks all about our friend General Comment -- obviously, he was beginning to annoy me!
Dr. Steve, I had to look up this word:
de·com·pen·sa·tion (dkm-pn-sshn)
n.
1. Medicine Failure of the heart to maintain adequate blood circulation, marked by labored breathing, engorged blood vessels, and edema.
2. Psychology The inability to maintain defense mechanisms in response to stress, resulting in personality disturbance or psychological imbalance
#19
Decompensation is the current word in the therapy field for a nervous breakdown, Sherry.
General_Comment, Sherry has been an education consultant of some sort at the national level. I'm not certain what she does now, but I'm quite certain she does it with panache. While that implies a non-engineering PhD, she has ever been too modest to state her credentials. She is also a moderator here.
You misjudge your audience, my dear. While there are indeed many engineers and IT types, there are also a great many PhDs and professors, lawyers and intelligence analysts and military types active in the field or retired. Even a few newspaper editors; not all journalists live in the Liberal-Progressive fringe, after all. Quite a few can tick off several boxes, which makes for interesting conversations. There are also many men and women who choose to work with their hands, adding dimensions to the discussion which sites with narrower appeal sadly miss. It is a slap in the face of elitists everywhere that the conversation need not be simplified for them. And then there are little suburban housewives like me, sheltered child of the ivory tower and corporate spouse that I am.
Yes, but for some mysterious reason it does not apply to those posters who choose to disagree with my point of view. They quickly degrade into shouting obscenities. And you protect them, because they shout your side of the story. Civil, Well-Reasoned Discourse. We are very proud of it. Aha.
#23
I'm not arguing your credentials, General_Comment. I rather imagine you have a JD in international law, an international background by virtue of your birth and employment, and clearly a great deal more knowledge than I about military equipment. It's not clear to me whether you served in the military or are an enthusiast, but then I'm not qualified to recognize the difference. It is simply that your starting assumption appears to be that your readers are a bit simple as well as uncomplicated. Granted, Frank G's comments can sometimes lead one to the wrong conclusion, but then he will insist on wearing those Hawaiian shirts and work boots when others might wear their most conservative suit and tie. Possibly it's a California thing.
#27
Ah yes, the Lincoln-Douglas matchups. They don't make political debates like they used to.
Posted by: ed ||
10/23/2008 12:14 Comments ||
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#28
Whatever credentials you've cited I have.
Hey u shud come over and hellp me and Muck4Doo work on the LOlcatbible. We're startin in on the begats shortly, which should be stimulating.
#32
He's a Russian naitve, makes perfect sense and not really a big deal. I notice a vague similarity to a poster from the Zionist Entity, a certain longing for things past, a nostaligia that croaked.
#34
GC - your tiresome comments haven't changed any views here, I only hope your puppet masters don't find out they wasted their money on an inarticulate tool, or is "And by the way I can tell that you are an amateur because you writing is sloppy."
standard fare now in Moscow Propaganda 101? Given the degradation of the Soviet empire, I don't have a preferred guess....
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10/23/2008 22:07 Comments ||
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#35
GC---the new AK
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/23/2008 22:14 Comments ||
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#36
AP - if you look on the access traces... AK reads the burg near every day.
And if ya can't trust KCNA, who can you trust?
SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea's state media said on Thursday that recent news reports about its leader Kim Jong-il's health were false, in their first direct comment on the reclusive ruler's suspected illness. U.S. and South Korean officials said last month Kim may have suffered a stroke in August, raising questions about leadership in Asia's only communist dynasty and who was making decisions about its nuclear arsenal.
"The army and people of the DPRK (North Korea) hold the prestige of their top leader dearer than their lives and will never tolerate any act of defaming it," the North's official KCNA news agency. Wonder if we'll be reading a phrase like that in the Times in the not too distant future?
KCNA called the Japanese newspaper report "a whopping lie." ...by human scum, no doubt.
"What merits serious attention is that the two newspapers had temerity to let loose sheer sophism intended to hurt the dignity of the DPRK while talking about the 'abnormal health condition' of the top leader of the DPRK," KCNA said, calling the publications "reptile papers." Human scum publish reptile papers. Film at eleven...
#1
I wonder if they have already cloned Kimmy boy? Wow here is the preview how our illuminati media will behave in 6 months if Obama get elected. They will viciously attack any doubters...Conservative will probably get jailed or fined for not agreeing with the new movement.
Oct. 23 (Bloomberg) -- North Korea cut rations for farmers in order to stock up on supplies for its military, a South Korean aid group said.
``Central party officials, after receiving this year's harvest reports from the Agricultural Ministry, were told that the lower-than-expected amount of harvest would not allow them to meet the quota for military stockpiles,'' Buddhist aid group Good Friends, which obtains information through contacts within North Korea, said in its newsletter today.
All regions were told to set aside only three to five months of rations for the farming community, instead of the whole year, and divert the rest to the military, it said. The agency was among the first aid groups to disclose earlier this year that food shortages in the communist country were worsening.
North Korea, a country of 23 million people, has been plagued by years of famine caused by floods, drought and economic mismanagement. The South Korean government said in August it is considering a United Nations request to help raise $60 million to buy food and other essential supplies for its neighbor.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization forecast North Korea's grain harvest this year would reach 3.5 million tons. The South Korean embassy in Beijing estimates that North Korea has harvested about 4.4 million tons, leaving a shortfall of about 990,000 tons.
North Korea faces a ``potential humanitarian crisis,'' the UN said in April. Aid groups, including Good Friends, have since reported deaths from starvation.
#4
yeah makes since, let the ones growing your food starve. civilians get ready for some more tree bark stew
Posted by: chris ||
10/23/2008 16:09 Comments ||
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#5
Its like we are looking into a crystal ball for our country if we fall asleep at the wheel. Its not hard to imagine the liberal illuminati party forcing us to ration things like energy, food, or our pocket change due to rising prices, no domestic energy, and the removal of small businesses from the country.
#6
That is exactly what Gore is trying to do. Get everyone else to 'cut back' on their lifestyle so he and his elitist friends can enjoy their private-jet-set lifestyle.
As well as meet in exotic locations which doesn't have enough space to park all the private jets.
(AKI) - Fierce clashes broke out in Turkey on Wednesday at the funeral of a protester killed during a rally organised by the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) in eastern Agri province, Dogan News Agency reported. Ahmet Ozkan, 26, was killed on Monday during a rally organised by the DTP after clashes erupted between police and protesters in Dogubeyazit.
Tensions have been high in the region since the DTP claimed that Abdullah Ocalan, the imprisoned leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), had been mistreated in Imrali prison where he is serving a life sentence. The claim sparked mass demonstrations that turned violent in the mainly-Kurdish southeastern region near the Iranian border.
Meanwhile, two suspected Kurdish militants have been killed in a clash with Turkish soldiers in the southeast of the country, according to media reports. Irfan Balkanoglu, the governor of southeastern Bingol province, said the militants died in an incident near the village of Dallitepe on Tuesday.
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10/23/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Ahh! The ol' funeral riot routine. That's always a classy move.
(SomaliNet) French President Nicolas Sarkozy has called on the EU member states to set up state funds to protect European companies from the threat of takeovers by major government funds from China, Singapore or the Middle East.
In a speech to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, Mr. Sarkozy pointed out that the share prices of many big companies are now at a historic low as a result of the global financial crisis. He warned that this makes them easy prey for bargain hunters.
As current holder of the rotating EU presidency, the French president will attend a Euro-Asian summit in Beijing to invite China and India to take part in an international financial conference to be held shortly after the US presidential elections.
Brazil, South Africa and Mexico will also receive an invitation to the talks, which have already been backed by US President George W. Bush.
These countries will join the countries of the G8 to reach agreement on far-reaching reforms to the international financial system.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/23/2008 00:00 ||
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Wasn't Sarkozy supposed to be a free-market type?
#2
The problem in Europe is the banks. Capital has dried up and they need very heavy, deep and wide re-capitalization. Where will it come from and at what price (interest). Bank to bank loans are necessary and a function of interbank trading but there is nothing like a regulated banking system we have including FDIC for example. Until they come up with a recapitalization plan over and above par value of held assets then they can jaw all they want but get nothing in return.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
10/23/2008 9:15 Comments ||
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Lifting a ban on women wearing the Muslim headscarf at university violates Turkey's secular constitution, the country's top court said on Wednesday, defending a decision against the ruling AK Party.
In a legal reasoning that appeared to end any hope for the Islamist-rooted AK Party to revive the sensitive headscarf issue, the Constitutional Court said that while wearing a headscarf was "an individual choice and a freedom", lifting the ban was "openly against the principles of secularism".
The Constitutional Court, a bastion of Turkey's secular founding principles, overturned in June a constitutional amendment sponsored by the AK Party to lift the restriction, but only issued its long-awaited reasoning on Wednesday.
The AK Party, which denies accusations by secularist opponents of harboring an Islamist agenda, said it would respect the constitution. It had first reacted angrily to the ruling, accusing the court of violating the constitution. "We do not have any intention of undermining the republic's essential principles," Justice Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin said.
The headscarf issue is one of the most highly charged in Turkey, a predominantly Sunni Muslim country with a secular constitution, and has long been a source of political instability in the European Union applicant.
The AK Party, which has its roots in political Islam, sees it as a question of religious freedom, while secularists see it as proof the government wants to impose sharia law by stealth. The party repeatedly denies those charges.
The AK Party, which has a huge majority in parliament, passed the amendment earlier this year, angering a secularist establishment of judges and army generals.
Another attempt to lift the headscarf ban would require a constitutional reform and broad social consensus, an unlikely event in a country deeply polarized over the role of Islam. "The amendments in articles 10 and 42 are openly against the principle of secularism because procedurally they mean using religion as a tool in politics, and breach other people's rights and cause public disorder by content," the court said.
The headscarf reform was seen as a catalyst for a separate case, in which the same court narrowly voted in July not to close the AK Party on charges of Islamist activities. The court is expected to issue the reasoning of that case this week.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/23/2008 00:00 ||
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huh. There is hope for them yet. Maybe after women in the western world are forced to don one-eyed niqabs to make sure that they don't offend any of the easily offended, they can still go to Turkey to dress in a more liberal fashion.
Save money on your mortgage! Ask me how!
Sen. Christopher J. Dodd engaged in damage control Wednesday by addressing the mounting criticism of his response to allegations of favorable treatment by a mortgage company. Ooooh. Damage control. Not a good phrase that early in the story...
After a ceremony celebrating his role in passing major mental health legislation, Dodd told reporters that he was waiting for a bipartisan Senate ethics inquiry to conclude before releasing documents related to his two mortgages. And it's "bipartisan" and "ethics" is in there, so you know it's all legit and everything...
"That's probably what I should have explained earlier and didn't, and I apologize to you for not laying this out. 'Why wasn't he willing to turn over documents? What's the reason?' The reason is, of course, there's this ongoing inquiry," Dodd said. ...and I wouldn't wanna screw up this ongoing inquiry, would I?
Dodd had responded cryptically recently, saying only that he would fulfill a promise to release the documents at the "appropriate time." Probably the day after he's dead.
Portfolio magazine reported in June that Dodd had been extended preferential treatment by Countrywide Financial in 2003, when he was a senior Democrat on the Senate banking committee. He is now its chairman. Ah. Fifth paragraph. But we already knew...
The rates that Dodd received were available on the open market, but Portfolio reported that some fees and costs were waived, a possible violation of Senate rules on gifts. The mortgages totaled nearly $780,000. "These transactions were standard transactions at standard rates," Dodd said Wednesday. "I never sought any special treatment. I never was offered any special treatment." Some things are just...understood.
Portfolio reported that Dodd was included in a VIP program established by Angelo Mozilo, the chief executive officer of Countrywide, once the nation's largest mortgage lender."I never dealt with Angelo Mozilo, or whatever his name is, or any senior executive at Countrywide at all," Dodd said. Angelo? Who? Angelo who?
Under its rules, the Senate ethics committee cannot acknowledge that a preliminary inquiry is underway, even though the complaint was filed publicly and Dodd acknowledges its existence. So what is it? Like the Star Chamber? Are there robes and secret handshakes?
"I welcome that inquiry. I've been fully cooperative with anything they've requested or need from me or my family regarding this matter," Dodd said. I welcome it, I tells ya!
Only seven of the 95 complaints to the committee in 2007 resulted in a preliminary inquiry, according to the panel's annual report. No sanctions resulted. Ah, yes, the Senate Protective Society. Just another benny of being a United States Senator...
I've missed it so... Welcome home ...
MINNEAPOLIS -- Stepping back into the campaign spotlight, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) came to Minnesota tonight to urge the election of comedian-commentator-candidate Al Franken to the Senate."Al Franken was taking on the vast right-wing conspiracy before other people even admitted it existed," she told a crowd of 2,000 supporters on the University of Minnesota campus, urging them to give her rival, Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, a filibuster-proof margin in the Senate. "Al Franken, with your help, can be our 60th vote." Besides you, and your minions, who might those "other people" be?
Clinton, after stumping in Florida yesterday and Omaha earlier today on behalf of Obama, demonstrated she is still one of the prime draws among Democrats, even in a state where she was trounced by Obama in the Feb. 5 caucuses. More than 1,500 supporters crammed into the campus's McNamara Alumni Center, with another 600 in an overflow room and outside, where a massive big-screen television simulcast the rally. Franken aides said the only rally of theirs that compared in size was former vice president Al Gore's appearance earlier this month, which 1,500 people appeared. I wonder if it snowed?
In late September Clinton -- for the first time this year -- opened up the checkbook of her political action committee, issuing $75,000 to House and Senate candidates, according to reports filed with the Federal Election Commission yesterday. Since resuming fundraising for Hill PAC in July, Clinton has raised more than $1.1 million. Earlier this decade she used Hill PAC as her vehicle for making contributions to key candidates in politically important states, plotting her course toward this year's national campaign. Her giving money away? Oooooooh, the price they'll pay for that. Should've took the deal with Satan instead, folks. Less risky.
In backing Franken tonight, Clinton gave a full-throated endorsement of someone who earlier this year was facing allegations that a 2000 guest column he penned for Playboy Magazine was demeaning toward women. Franken said the piece -- with a headline of "Porn-O-Rama" -- was meant as satire. But she's still married to the guy who"did not have sex with that wimmen", so...what the hell.
Clinton has known Franken since the early 1990s and made fun of his comedic past but said it was the first-time candidate's way of telling "truth through jokes. Sure, he's been a comedian, and occasionally he's even been funny," she joked. Of all the blatant lies I've heard this campaign season, that could be the worst...
#3
I think we all know that Clinton is voting for McCain this year. I would love to get a picture of that vote and cash that in for a cool million dollars, but then I guess I would have worry about being killed in a park at the middle of the night. Lets face it, anyone who wants to keep their own money is evil and anyone who has an ivy-league illuminati socialist outlook is on the side of the God of your choosing. Bah!
Two veteran warriors battling to represent the 12th Congressional District appear locked in the closest race in the district in years.
Democratic Rep. John Murtha leads retired Army Lt. Col. William Russell by a little more than 4 percentage points, within the Susquehanna Poll's 4.9-point margin of error. The poll of 400 likely voters was conducted for the Tribune-Review on Tuesday, amid uproar over Murtha's statement that some of his constituents are racist.
Stanley Shemanski, 67, a retired meat cutter who lives in Apollo, said he's undecided about the congressional race. He doesn't know much about Russell, but he's upset with Murtha's comment that racism in the district could hurt Democrat Barack Obama's chances. "I didn't like that at all. He shouldn't have said it," Shemanski said.
Most of all, the national economy concerns him. "I'm retired, but my daughter, she works for the bank, and I'm worried about that."
Yet, poll participant Melissa Stoltz, 38, of Johnstown said she is backing Murtha because she likes his political views. "He has the experience, and he is a former Marine. I was a Marine," said Stoltz, a caseworker. "Murtha's done a good job. I think he's really stuck up for your basic, every-run-of-the-day, normal person."
Murtha, 76, a decorated Vietnam combat veteran, apologized for the racism remark, saying he meant to say that skin color is a factor in the battle for the presidency between Obama and Republican John McCain. Trying to add context to his remarks, Murtha later said many in Western Pennsylvania were "rednecks" several years ago.
Russell, 46, a Republican who served in the Iraq war, jumped on the remarks. McCain, in a campaign stop Tuesday in Moon, said he "could not disagree with those critics more," without mentioning Murtha by name.
About 54 percent of voters among those polled say it's time for someone else to represent them in Congress. About 35 percent say Murtha deserves to be re-elected. "The most important variable here is that a decisive majority say it's time for a new person," said Jim Lee, president of Susquehanna Polling and Research. He attributed some of the unhappiness with Murtha to the congressman's recent comments.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/23/2008 12:57 ||
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Russell moved to Johnstown within the past year. He said he decided to run after Murtha's 2006 statement that a Pentagon investigation into the deaths of Iraqi civilians in Haditha would show that Marines "killed innocent civilians in cold blood."
Russell repeatedly has criticized Murtha for not apologizing for the remark after seven of the eight Marines charged in the killings were cleared of wrongdoing.
Officials, including a two-star general, conducting the investigation and the Naval Criminal Investigation Service "came up with the same conclusion I did," Murtha said.
Yeah, that's probably why they didn't prosecute.
Congrats, John. You've become one of the guys you probably bitched about at the O Club bar in Danang...
With all the hullabaloo surrounding the RNC's expenditures on Sarah Palin's clothes, I thought it would be interesting to find out how much money was spent on Obama's Greek-columned stage at Invesco Field. You remember the Barackopolis--those "styrofoam Greek columns"--don't you? More
#4
It's actually better that the Obama campaign so spends misbegotten funds, rather than on actively trying to buy the election with that money. I approve.
#5
I'm believe the whole stage (not just columns) could cost that much, it was big, fitting in the stadium and used by many people.
However Sarah spent 150k, that's 42k more money on clothes than her annual salary of 108k!
Who spends 75k in 1 visit? That's what you get when you shop with Cindy "Marcos" McCain. She could have spent 20k total and looked great for weeks. What a waste! Who's the elite?
$75,062 spent at Neiman Marcus in Minneapolis and $41,850 in St. Louis in early September. The committee also reported spending $4,100 for makeup and hair consulting.
#11
Everyone is extremely worked up about Sarah Palin's $150,000-per-month quest for the most elite finery in the land. Republican donors, for example, are upset their money is being spent so ostentatiously. (Just wait until they find out how much of the money is going to gay fashion moguls!) Lawyers and accountants are talking tax liability. But how much are "Hollywood" Barack Obama and wife Michelle spending on their radical chic? Well, you can start with a $1,500 suit for Barack, which contains an opulent 3 percent cashmere and comes from "the largest suitmaker in the United States," And as conservative blog Town Hall reveals, via Wonkette, Michelle may have spent tens of dollars more (or less, depending on whether she accessorizes properly):
The colorful Thakoon wrap dresses (here) Mrs. Obama has worn, and was applauded for wearing to her husband's convention speech, are priced around $1250 each. Mrs. Obama's favorite Chicago designer Maria Pinto, who crafted Michelle's convention speech dress (here) [[and pictured above]], charges anywhere from $900-$5,000 for her dresses. Other Pinto pieces, like shirts and accessories, start at $300 each.
Way to undercut American retailers in a recession, Obamas.
#14
So wouldn't you think buying a $5000 dress just to wear once might be a bit...wasteful? How about a $140,000 stryofoam temple? Whaddya think happened to that? Did they give it to some daycare center for the kids to play on? Or is it clooging up some Colorado landfill?
#15
$ 700,000,000,000. borrowed by Uncle Sam and congressional elites while their constituents screamed NO, NO, NO, and someone is worried about $ 150,000 wardrobe for a candidate?
Lightoller, forget the watch. Make certain the deck chairs are arranged properly and have the band play "Nearer My God to Thee" one last time will you?
#16
I'm trying to figure out how you get up to $150k without buying diamonds.
Obviously you've never accompanied your wife to the clothing store ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/23/2008 13:35 Comments ||
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#17
Don't let's forget the cost of alterations... Neiman Marcus is a department store. Governor Palin's wardrobe was suitable for running an informal state like Alaska, not for Washington, DC. She probably invested in at least two pairs of stockings for each day of the campaign, and a gown for the inauguration, just for a start, and clothing appropriate for the various climates she might encounter on the campaign trail. As Neville Cheting6365 so helpfully notes, the governor does not have a private income capable of supporting the purchase of, effectively, several work wardrobes all at once, unlike the Obamas or Mrs. McCain. And it certainly would be inappropriate for Mrs. McCain to pay for the Vice Presidential candidate's wardrobe.
Three percent cashmere? Not much for that price point I'd think, although I haven't shopped much in Chicago. Neville Cheting6365 dear, I'm sure the $1500 only includes the suit, not shirt, tie, cufflinks, collar stays, shoes, socks, underwear, or whatever et ceteras a snappy dresser like Barack Obama might feel necessary to be properly dressed. Do remember that the gentleman has been on the campaign trail for going on two years thus far, so likely thirty outfits was only a fraction of his wardrobe expenditure.
#1
Ridiculous. And no RoE either that is worth anything. An Obama presidency will have negative NPV to begin with and deteriorate after that. We are on the cusp of a national and international disaster. Has anyone else entered the WSJ Opinion Journal contest on which generated crisis Biden was talking about? I picked Taiwan since it is so damn low on the radar.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
10/23/2008 9:19 Comments ||
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Scientists have better maps of distant Mars than the moon where astronauts have walked. But India hopes to change that with its first lunar mission.
Chandrayaan-1 _ which means "Moon Craft" in ancient Sanskrit _ launched from the Sriharikota space center in southern India early Wednesday morning in a two-year mission aimed at laying the groundwork for further Indian space expeditions.
Scientists, clapping and cheering, tracked the ascent on computer screens as they lost sight of the rocket in heavy clouds.
"This is a historic moment for India," Indian Space Research Organization chairman G. Madhavan Nair said.
"We have started our journey to the moon and the first leg has gone perfectly well," he said, adding that they hoped to "unravel the mystery of the moon."
Chief among the mission's goals is mapping not only the surface of the moon, but what lies beneath. India joined what's shaping up as a 21st century space race with Chinese and Japanese crafts already in orbit around the moon.
The United States, which won the 1960s race to send men to the moon, won't jump in this race with its new lunar probe until next spring, but it is providing key mapping equipment for India's mission.
As India's economy has boomed in recent years, it has sought to convert its new found wealth _ built on its high-tech sector _ into political and military clout and stake a claim as a world leader. It is hoping that a moon mission _ coming just months after it finalized a deal with the United States that recognizes India as a nuclear power _ will further enhance that status.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/23/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
So we're going to have a 7-11 on the moon?
At least you'll be able to take a taxi in stead of walking.
#4
only 47 percent of children receive childhood immunisations by the age of 24 months
Of course, since vaccines are an attempt to thwart Allan's will, immunisations are haram.
/If God had wanted your kid to be healthy, he wouldn't have given him polio.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
10/23/2008 11:21 Comments ||
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#5
If God had wanted your kid to be healthy, he wouldn't have given him polio.
You know, that actually makes a lot of sense. Let's stop vaccination programs in pakistain, it displeases allan, the natives are restless, and let's use the money for useful purposes, like doing all of those IGnobel experiments stuff.
(APP): President Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday stressed the need for innovative and out of box solutions to increase oil and gas production in the country for meeting the growing energy needs. During a briefing in the Presidency on the petroleum issues he called for stepping up oil and gas exploration.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/23/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
"We will harness the goats of glorious Pakiland!"
Thailand's Supreme Court on Tuesday found former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra guilty in absentia of abuse of office and sentenced him to two years in prison.
Thaksin fled to Britain in August and has said he will not return to answer charges that he calls politically motivated. "I have been informed of the result," he told the Reuters news agency Tuesday. "I had long anticipated that it would turn out this way."
Prosecutors said they would ask Britain to extradite him.
Thaksin's wife, Pojaman, who shares his exile and was accused along with him in the case, was acquitted.
The verdict relates to a case that began in 2003, shortly after Thaksin became prime minister. Pojaman bought a prime plot of land in central Bangkok from the central bank's Financial Institutions Development Fund for 772 million baht, now about $23 million, outbidding two real estate developers in a process that political observers generally say was clean.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/23/2008 00:00 ||
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House Democrats Contemplate Abolishing 401(k) Tax Breaks
Powerful House Democrats are eyeing proposals to overhaul the nation's $3 trillion 401(k) system, including the elimination of most of the $80 billion in annual tax breaks that 401(k) investors receive.
House Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller, D-California, and Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Washington, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee's Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support, are looking at redirecting those tax breaks to a new system of guaranteed retirement accounts to which all workers would be obliged to contribute.
Don't we already have one of those?
A plan by Teresa Ghilarducci, professor of economic-policy analysis at the New School for Social Research in New York, contains elements that are being considered. She testified last week before Miller's Education and Labor Committee on her proposal.
At that hearing, the director of the Congressional Budget Office, Peter Orszag, testified that some $2 trillion in retirement savings has been lost over the past 15 months.
Thanks, Barney and Chris ...
Under Ghilarducci's plan, all workers would receive a $600 annual inflation-adjusted subsidy from the U.S. government but would be required to invest 5 percent of their pay into a guaranteed retirement account administered by the Social Security Administration. The money in turn would be invested in special government bonds that would pay 3 percent a year, adjusted for inflation.
Just like the current SS system, all the money goes into the bonds the government has to issue to cover deficit spending. Which means the government would have more money available to spend. Sounds like the Democrats alright ...
The current system of providing tax breaks on 401(k) contributions and earnings would be eliminated. "I want to stop the federal subsidy of 401(k)s," Ghilarducci said in an interview. "401(k)s can continue to exist, but they won't have the benefit of the subsidy of the tax break."
And I want Ghilarducci run out of town on a rail ...
Under the current 401(k) system, investors are charged relatively high retail fees, Ghilarducci said. "I want to spend our nation's dollar for retirement security better. Everybody would now be covered" if the plan were adopted, Ghilarducci said.
Who the hell cares what she wants? She's one citizen. I like the 401K plans precisely because government can't get its hands on them.
She has been in contact with Miller and McDermott about her plan, and they are interested in pursuing it, she said. "This [plan] certainly is intriguing," said Mike DeCesare, press secretary for McDermott. "That is part of the discussion," he said.
While Miller stopped short of calling for Ghilarducci's plan at the hearing last week, he was clearly against continuing tax breaks as they currently exist. "The savings rate isn't going up for the investment of $80 billion," he said. "We have to start to think about ... whether or not we want to continue to invest that $80 billion for a policy that's not generating what we now say it should."
Of course it's generating what it should. It's making people less dependent on government for their retirement. Once you understand that, you understand why the Democrats want to get rid of it.
"From where I sit that's just crazy," said John Belluardo, president of Stewardship Financial Services Inc. in Tarrytown, New York. "A lot of people contribute to their 401(k)s because of the match of the employer," he said. Belluardo's firm does not manage assets directly.
Higher-income employers provide matching funds to employee plans so that they can qualify for tax benefits for their own defined-contribution plans, he said. "If the tax deferral goes away, the employers have no reason to do the matches, which primarily help people in the lower income brackets," Belluardo said.
"This is a battle between liberalism and conservatism," said Christopher Van Slyke, a partner in the La Jolla, California, advisory firm Trovena, which manages $400 million. "People are afraid because their accounts are seeing some volatility, so Democrats will seize on the opportunity to attack a program where investors control their own destiny," he said.
The Profit Sharing/401(k) Council of America in Chicago, which represents employers that sponsor defined-contribution plans, is "staunchly committed to keeping the employee benefit system in America voluntary," said Ed Ferrigno, vice president in the Washington office. "Some of the tenor [of the hearing last week] that the entire system should be based on the activities of the markets in the last 90 days is not the way to judge the system," he said.
No legislative proposals have been introduced and Congress is out of session until next year. However, most political observers believe that Democrats are poised to gain seats in both the House and the Senate, so comments made by the mostly Democratic members who attended the hearing could be a harbinger of things to come.
"I see the train a-coming, it's comin' down the track ..."
In addition to tax breaks for 401(k)s, the issue of allowing investment advisors to provide advice for 401(k) plans was also addressed at the hearing. Rep. Robert Andrews, D-New Jersey, was critical of Department of Labor proposals made in August that would allow advisors to give individual advice if the advice was generated using a computer model. Andrews characterized the proposals as "loopholes" and said that investment advice should not be given by advisors who have a direct interest in the sale of financial products.
The Pension Protection Act of 2006 contains provisions making it easier for investment advisors to give individualized counseling to 401(k) holders. "In retrospect that doesn't seem like such a good idea to me," Andrews said. "This is an issue I think we have to revisit. I frankly think that the compromise we struck in 2006 is not terribly workable or wise," he said.
On Thursday, October 9, the Department of Labor hastily scheduled a public hearing on the issue in Washington for Tuesday, October 21. The agency does not frequently hold public hearings on its proposals.
#1
Wait till they follow Argentina's lead and just nationalize the private pension funds [got to cover all those union plans with the Big Three in Detroit folding].
#2
Many years ago when the IRA was first introduced I asked my then aging, depression era father what he thought of starting one. His reply was simply, "saving money is a good idea, but once in, mind the government's rules changing."
#6
So instead of "privatizing Social Security" they want to "nationalize your 401K"?
Also so nice to see Baghdad Jimmmy has his fingerprints all over this one.
#7
"Nationalize" the 401K system? Sounds like they want to turn it into a "National Pension Fund" similar to the 'remarkably well run' union pension funds that are so deep into debt now. The Public Employee Pension Funds, when they run low on cash, simply trigger a tax hike by the respective city or state. See that coming here, too.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
10/23/2008 15:11 Comments ||
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#8
All those baby boomers that are counting on their 401k are gonna get screwed.
Ghilarducci outlined her plan last year in a paper for the left-liberal Economic Policy Institute, in which she acknowledges that her plan would amount to a tax increase on workers making more than $75,000--considerably less than the $250,000 Barack Obama has said would be his tax-hike cutoff. In addition, workers would be able to pass on only half of their account balances to their heirs; presumably the government would seize the remaining half. (Under current law, 401(k) balances are fully heritable, although they are subject to the income tax.)
Sounds pretty unappealing, doesn't it? But in her congressional testimony, Ghilarducci offered a sweetener:
"Short-term I propose . . . that the Congress allow workers to swap out their 401(k) assets, perhaps at August levels, for a guaranteed retirement account--just a one-time swap. . . .
How would this work? You go back to your districts and meet up with a 55-year-old who had had $50,000 in his account last month and now has $40,000 in the account. He can swap out that $50,000, valued in August, for that guarantee of what would become, if he retires at 62, a $500 a month addition to Social Security."
A 55-year-old who lost 20% of his 401(k) because of the recent stock market decline was investing more aggressively than he should have, given his age. Ghilarducci proposes to reward this imprudence in exchange for dramatically limiting everyone's ability to take risks (and enjoy the corresponding rewards) and for greatly increasing government control of Americans' retirement funds.
It is by no means a certainty that Congress or a President Obama would embrace such a proposal, but this is a direction in which things may move if the Democrats make big gains next month.
#10
Under the current 401(k) system, investors are charged relatively high retail fees, Ghilarducci said.
Abslout fucking bullshit lie. Fidelity doesn't charge me jack shit as long as the account balance is over $10,000. These fucking parasites make my blood boil...
#12
Wait till they follow Argentina's lead and just nationalize the private pension funds [got to cover all those union plans with the Big Three in Detroit folding].
Actually they should start by nationalizing all of the public employee pension funds and putting the lot of them on Social Security. If they did that we'd see action on shoring up the system.
#15
What Hellfish said -- I believe this is the red line PTAH was alluding to a couple weeks back. This would push me to being hung for instigating an insurrection.
#19
With all of their special plans, we will beankrupt within a week, maybe two. But then the US bond rating drops and all of those govmint checks stop coming. The banks wont lend because the shotgun is pointed at their investors. This reign of holy inequity will bankrupt us. It is far from Just. Pelosi et-al just get on planes and go visit their local tax havens to escape the madness. They have nothing to lose - just get on a plane as Joe scrapps for food on the edges of every cornfield.
This is the most reckless takeover I have ever seen. It is unwise and ill thought at best. It is ruinous in the decades.
Take heed and get rid of it please. We have other problems right now and cannot hold collapsing structures up with bankrupt collegiate ideology.
You had your fun, but there is business to attend to and you are in no way close to "fixing" anything right now.
The New York Times Co posted a quarterly loss from continuing operations on Thursday, hurt by charges for job cuts and said it is looking for ways to reduce its debt.
The company, which reported a 16 percent drop in advertising revenue at its news media group, also said it might write down as much as $150 million at its New England operations, underscoring the dismal state of newspaper advertising. "We plan to continue to explore opportunities to reduce our debt levels," said Chief Executive Janet Robinson in a statement.
Benchmark Co analyst Edward Atorino interpreted her remarks as a sign that the Times would consider selling properties.
Benchmark Co analyst Edward Atorino interpreted her remarks as a sign that the Times would consider selling properties. "The word 'opportunities' you could put in quote marks," he said. "There's been this longstanding Wall Street comment that, 'Why don't you do something with your building? Sell it, hock it'... I'm not sure they can sell The Boston Globe anymore."
Why would anyone want to pay a premium for a dead-tree newspaper?
Times spokeswoman Catherine Mathis declined to comment on what the company could sell, saying the company always evaluates its assets to make sure they meet their targets and remain are a good fit. The Times said it expects to manage its debt obligations.
Some analysts have been waiting to see what the Times would say about its debt levels after publishers such as McClatchy Co and Gannett Co Inc were put on watch or downgraded by credit rating agencies. Some U.S. newspaper publishers have cut dividends to free up cash to pay off debt.
The Times wants to cut more expenses, and its board plans to review its dividend policy before the end of the year. The company, which owns the namesake newspaper as well as The Boston Globe and other U.S. papers, said it has "little visibility" on how ad revenue will be in the fourth quarter, but said October's declines are similar to those in September.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/23/2008 12:54 ||
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#1
...and said it is looking for ways to reduce its debt.
Going out of business usually addresses the debt issue.
Concerns about a growing recession and skidding oil prices overshadow markets, with the Dow industrials plunging 5.17% in the late sell off. On Wednesday, Panic selling gripped the market after crude oil prices dropped more than five dollars a barrel in New York and London.
I'm hoping to see crude bottom out somewhere between $7 and $9 a barrel, but that's probably too much to ask.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 457.26 points to 8,576.40 around 1920 GMT and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite slid 81.70 points to 1,314.98. The broad Standard & Poor's 500 index tumbled 55.06 points (5.77 percent) to 899.99.
Crude oil prices careened lower Wednesday on news of surging US energy reserves that highlighted falling demand in a cooling global economy.
I'm still not driving a foot more than I have to. For one thing, who knows whether we'll have pay checks next month?
A sharp rise in the dollar also put pressure on the dollar-priced commodity, making it more expensive for buyers who used relatively weaker currencies. Brent crude oil plunged five percent, to a 16-month low below 65 dollars a barrel.
That works out to gas at $2.12 a gallon ($65 a barrel / 40 gallons= $1.62 a gallon of crude, plus 50 cents a gallon processing and transportation). I saw $2.64 at the pump today, so we're still being overcharged about 50 cents a gallon as the overpriced stock is being used up. I notice we pay immediately when the price goes up, and keep paying for a long time after it goes down, which is why if I could I'd burn my car.
It'll take about $3.25 to do that at today's prices ...
In London, Brent North Sea crude for December delivery fell to 64.59 dollars, its lowest level since May 9, 2007. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for December, slid to 66.73 dollars a barrel, a low last seen on June 14, 2007.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/23/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
That works out to gas at $2.12 a gallon ($65 a barrel / 40 gallons= $1.62 a gallon of crude, plus 50 cents a gallon processing and transportation). I saw $2.64 at the pump today, so we're still being overcharged about 50 cents a gallon as the overpriced stock is being used up.
A lot of refiners and wholesale crude purchasers entered into requirements contracts on the rising side of the bubble. I wouldn't want to hazard a guess as to the length of the impact or the portion of the total market but around here a number of producers locked in multi-year deals in the high 90s to low 100s on the way up. A couple of wholesale buyers here have already gone under as a result. Expect to see at least minor disconnects in the gasoline market caused by these sorts of problems between the wellhead and the pump for a while.
#2
Don't forget to add two-bits or so for federal and state taxes, and another dime for regulations requiring local blends or additives that restrict supply or production.
#3
Just got back from Oakland CA and they are paying $3.49 a gallon.
And they have a refinery in Modesto that is 20 miles away. So I think AzCat may be on to something.
They are using FILO Accounting methods or something.
#5
2.57 at the cheapest pump in town just south of Boston. Down a buck since the price bump over Ike, which was about a six weeks ago. Ranges between 2.57 to 2.69.
#7
Fred, I can think of only three ways to get to $8 crude:
1) Massive new discoveries - highly unlikely.
2) Alternative energy development - likely eventually, but probably not before most of the oil is gone.
3) Total economic collapse - the only truly plausible way to get prices down that low, and I don't think we want to go there.
I'm still not driving a foot more than I have to. For one thing, who knows whether we'll have pay checks next month?
Always a good plan. I'm in the oil business and spent 1982-98 following it as something like 75% of my colleagues lost their jobs. I still drive as few feet as possible - good habit.
You indicate $2.64 is a 50 cent 'overcharge' (and I think your cost approximations are decent estimates): that works out to about a 20% margin - what margin would not be an overcharge? For once, a big part of the margin is going to the end marketers, who have been struggling to stay solvent for years. If they make 40 cents per gallon margin for the rest of the year they will likely actually make a profit for the year.
#8
DOE's breakdown doesn't differentiate between refining costs and profits (which it says is 17% of the retail cost). It also gives a distribution cost plus marketing and retail profits fraction of 10%.
(I suspect they don't really want you to know how little margin refiners have. I doubt anyone's getting rich at refineries; the corner gas station typically makes its profit margins off of soda pop).
#9
Let's also not ignore that senior management's cut is figured in the operating costs and every transaction in the process from exploration, extraction, transportation, refining, transportation [part II] and distribution, not just general administration. That gets hidden in the 'overhead'. You think the senior management of the corporations pay is tied to market vagaries? Move that little accounting line from costs write off to the profit column and then see the change.
#11
Let's also not ignore that senior management's cut ....
Don't fall for the class warfare rhetoric, particularly with respect to oil. "Senior management" for about 85% of the world's production is really foreign governments. For the small slice of private oil that remains I doubt they had a tenth of a cent per gallon to your cost. Actually I'd be stunned if it was actually that much.
#12
Passed a sign this afternoon for $2.39 just outside Richmond, VA. Sam's is probably lower, but I won't be by there to tank up until later in the weekend.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/23/2008 20:57 Comments ||
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#13
..for about 85% of the world's production is really foreign governments.
Just another form of 'senior management' or mismanagement. It doesn't cost that much more to crack oil in Houston than it does in Europe. The price difference is the direct government take. Throw in the 85% of the worlds government corruption exploiting that resource [like the Mexican model] and the senior management cut is very impressive.
Global stocks fell sharply on Wednesday as fear of a worldwide recession elbowed its way into Asian and European markets.
With signs that the worst of the credit crisis is easing, weak corporate earnings, rising inventories and falling demand are now in focus from Wall Street to Tokyo. Stocks in Japan declined nearly 7 percent, while an index of equity shares across Asia fell more than 5 percent -- at one point hitting a four-year low.
South Korean shares hit a three-year low, and the country's troubled currency, the won, fell again against the dollar. A $130 billion plan by the Seoul government to strengthen the won, stabilize stocks and restore bank liquidity was announced last weekend, but it has failed, so far, to overcome concern that a global recession will drag down South Korea's export-dependent economy.
European indexes opened low and headed down further through the day. By closing, major exchanges in the U.K., France and Germany were down in excess of 4 percent. Bank of England head Mervyn King had warned in a Tuesday speech about a possible "sharp and prolonged slowdown," and signaled possible future interest rate reductions.
The likelihood of continent-wide interest rate cuts has helped push the euro and the pound down sharply against the dollar, with the euro dipping below $1.30. Crude oil continued its decline, falling below $70 a barrel.
Wall Street stocks fell sharply at opening, and the Dow Jones industrial average was down 403 points, or 4.5 percent, by 2:42 p.m. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index and tech-heavy Nasdaq were also down. In a sign of an evolving economic slowdown, exporters in Asia are seeing an alarming rise in inventories as demand from the United States and Europe declines, analysts said.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/23/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
ION YAHOO > UNO: UP TO 2.7MILYUHN NORTH KOREASN TO RUN OUT OF FOOD BY OCTOBER 31st. IIRC, the NOKORS had already dipped into their MILITARY FOOD STOCKPILES THE LAST TIME, AND WEREN'T SURE OF ABILITY TO RELPENISH SAME.
See also STRATEGYPAGE for VARIOUS ARTICS ON CHINA; + FREEREPUBLIC [paraph] > REPORT: IRAN CONSIDERING PREEMPTIVE STRIKE AGZ ISRAEL TO PROTECT ITS NUCLEAR PROGRAMS!?
IOW, unless I've missed something, NOKOR running out of vital foodstuffies, new and national reserve, for both its ARMED FORCES as well as its CIVILIANS [ AGAIN, and by extens also for PARTY BIGWIGS/POLITICOS]???
President Bush will host a summit meeting on the global financial crisis on Nov. 15 in Washington, bringing together world leaders for the first in a series of conferences aimed at reforming the international financial system, the White House announced today.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/23/2008 00:00 ||
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Great, as if things weren't bad enough. I like some of the things Bush has done, but economics dont seem to be his forte.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Brazil's stock market, the biggest in Latin America, has been automatically suspended after the main index plunged more than 10 percent.
Lifting a ban on women wearing the Muslim headscarf at university violates Turkey's secular constitution, the country's top court said on Wednesday, defending a decision against the ruling AK Party. 
Two veteran warriors battling to represent the 12th Congressional District appear locked in the closest race in the district in years.
Hallelujah, folks in Penn's 12 district are coming to their senses.
Scientists have better maps of distant Mars than the moon where astronauts have walked. But India hopes to change that with its first lunar mission. 
Pakistan has asked for financial assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) after the US refused a bailout plan for the country.
Thailand's Supreme Court on Tuesday found former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra guilty in absentia of abuse of office and sentenced him to two years in prison. 
Concerns about a growing recession and skidding oil prices overshadow markets, with the Dow industrials plunging 5.17% in the late sell off. On Wednesday, Panic selling gripped the market after crude oil prices dropped more than five dollars a barrel in New York and London. 
Global stocks fell sharply on Wednesday as fear of a worldwide recession elbowed its way into Asian and European markets. 
