The United Nations on Wednesday urged rebels from the Lord's Resistance Army to free 90 school children abducted two weeks ago in eastern Congo.
U.N. officials called "for the immediate and unconditional release of all of the abducted children, taken during simultaneous attacks" on three villages in Orientale province Sept. 17.
They blamed the Lord's Resistance Army, which has waged one of Africa's longest and most brutal rebellions, for abducting the children.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/02/2008 00:00 ||
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Mexico's Congress is to vote on a drastic security plan after another week of Iraq-style violence, including the dumping of 12 partially naked bodies, most with their tongues cut out, next to an elementary school.
Analysts blame the staggering violence and lawlessness over recent months in Mexico on the Government's crackdown on drug cartels, which has cut off their income and caused rival organisations to wage war against each other. The problem has been exacerbated by endemic police corruption -- in one notorious case, the police were responsible for kidnapping and killing a 14-year-old boy even after his wealthy businessman father paid the ransom -- and a rapidly deteriorating economy, which is heavily dependent on so-called "remittances", or money wired back from illegal Mexican workers in the United States.
The US media, preoccupied by the Wall Street crisis and the presidential election, has shown little interest in Mexico's troubles, even as the discovery of beheaded corpses becomes a weekly event and the country's kidnapping rate -- three or four a day -- is worse than Iraq's.
Another 24 bodies -- all of them killed in execution-style -- were discovered outside Mexico City a fortnight ago, while last week three decapitated bodies were found in the Pacific coast state of Sinaloa. Headless bodies have even turned up in the touristy Yucatan state.
The violence now also has a political element, aimed at destabilising the government of President Felipe Calderón -- the authority of which is not even recognised by the Mayor of Mexico City after a disputed election two years ago.
During a recent celebration of Mexico's Independence Day, suspected members of the Zetas cartel threw two military grenades into a crowd, killing eight and injuring 100. The attack took place in Mr Calderón's home state of Michoacan.
The Mexican President has sent a sweeping security Bill to Congress, aimed at weeding out police corruption and improving the exchange of information on criminals. President Calderón urged members of Congress to swiftly approve his proposal so that "police can serve the people and not criminals".
The Bill was drawn up several weeks ago with the help of Mexico's 32 governors -- each of whom controls rival police forces. It calls for the creation of a national database on criminal activity and aims to standardise police training and put in place a system of controls to ensure that Mexican officers meet minimal anti-corruption requirements. In addition, President Calderón has promised to crack down on criminals who use police uniforms or badges -- a common tactic for kidnappers, although in many cases the kidnappers are actually real police officers.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/02/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
The US media, preoccupied by the Wall Street crisis and the presidential election, has shown little interest in Mexico's troubles,..
Which mirrors Mexico's disinterest in the effects of dumping 10 million of their unskilled, uneducated, lower caste excess population has had on the finances and fabric of American society.
Who? Putin?
The last czar and his family were victims of political repression, Russia's Supreme Court ruled Wednesday, formally restoring the Romanov name and furthering a Kremlin effort to encourage patriotism by celebrating the country's czarist past.
Nicholas II, his wife and five children were shot to death by a Bolshevik firing squad in 1918, a year after the revolution that led to the creation of the Soviet Union. For years, their descendants have sought rehabilitation in the courts claiming the executions were political repression. The argument was repeatedly denied until Wednesday when the country's highest court issued the final word, siding with the family.
According to critics, earlier rulings reflected Vladimir Putin's reluctance to condemn the Soviet government's crimes, in part to justify his own retreat from democracy. But in recent years, Putin and his successor as president, Dmitry Medvedev, have evoked the majesty of the czarist era in Kremlin ceremonies. And they have given a place of prominence to the Russian Orthodox Church, which has canonized Nicholas II and his family.
At the same time, Putin, now prime minister, and Medvedev also have continued to glorify the Soviet Union's achievements and celebrate the symbols of its power.
Oleg Orlov, a member of the human rights group Memorial, said the aim was to give Russians pride in their country by emphasizing the positive aspects of their history while glossing over the bad. "In Russia, the tendency has been to say ... the czar was a good guy, Lenin was a good guy, Stalin was a good guy, the Bolsheviks weren't that bad," Orlov said. "The authorities are always right," he said. "What they're telling people now is 'we have a great history and therefore we have a great country.'"
Wednesday's decision to "rehabilitate" the slain Romanovs won't change the minds of many Russians today. While Russian Orthodox believers share the church's veneration of the family as saints, die-hard communists see them as criminals and millions of other Russians place them somewhere in between.
But it is a step in the direction of condemnation of the Bolsheviks who killed the family and, by extension, of the entire Soviet era. And it is likely to put the Romanov family in a more positive light for coming generations of Russians.
Nikolai Romanov, a distant relative of the last czar, said the whole rehabilitation process was ridiculous. "It's as if you suddenly thought that it was necessary to rehabilitate St. Peter or St. Paul because the Romans had judged them and sentenced them to death," he said on NTV television.
The ruling is also unlikely to have major legal ramifications, at least in the short to medium term, because there is no significant move to restore Russia's monarchy or compensate the imperial family for its losses. There has been no material compensation for others who have been formally rehabilitated, most of them victims of Stalin-era repressionist.
Some historians had speculated that the Russian government was reluctant to reclassify the czar's killing out of fear that descendants would claim state property, such as the State Hermitage Museum, as compensation. The museum is housed in what used to be the Winter Palace.
Prosecutors, lower courts and even the Supreme Court had rejected all appeals to rehabilitate the family. In its ruling in November, the Supreme Court said they were not eligible for rehabilitation because their execution had been a crime. In reversing that decision Wednesday, the Supreme Court's presidium recognized their "unfounded repression."
Posted by: Fred ||
10/02/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Help! Help! I'm being repressed!!
Posted by: NIck II ||
10/02/2008 7:34 Comments ||
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#2
Is this a translation error? Because I'd call the murder of the Romanovs an act of lese majeste. In order to be repressed, you have to be the member of a subject class, not an overthrown ruler.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
10/02/2008 8:40 Comments ||
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#3
Gee. Thanks. Does me a lotta good...
Posted by: The Ghost of Nicholas II ||
10/02/2008 9:35 Comments ||
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#5
Nicholas II was an inbred moron who probably had more to do with the start of World War I than anybody else. For all the people who died because of his stupidity he probably deserved what he got. For decades Russians tried to get the Romanov family to loosen their grip on that country and introduce democratic reforms. If they had followed the example of England and allowed their country to evolve into a constitutional monarchy they could be sitting pretty with the Windsors today and that whole bloody business with the Bolsheviks could have been avoided. Not to mention World War I, World War II, the Cold War, Afghanistan, etc...A "great history"? Russia has an interesting history. They won important victories against the likes of Napoleon and Hitler. But there was a lot of drunken, squalid, stupid, bloody foolishness. Never count them out though. They have a way of hanging on and holding on through incredible hardships.
President Dmitry Medvedev says Russia will fulfill its promise to withdraw troops from areas of Georgia outside two separatist regions.
Medvedev spoke to reporters after European Union monitors began patrolling Georgian territory Wednesday. Russian troops allowed some of them into a buffer zone around the breakaway region of South Ossetia despite earlier warnings from Moscow they would be blocked.
Russia agreed last month to remove its troops from the areas within 10 days of the EU deployment that began Wednesday. There were no immediate signs of a Russian pullback Wednesday in Georgia. But Medvedev told the visiting Spanish prime minister outside St. Petersburg that Russia will withdraw its troops in accordance with the agreement.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/02/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
See also TOPIX > MEDVEDEV: NO REASON FOR NEW COLD WAR WITH USA, + RUSSIA FEARS NUCLEAR ARMS AT ITS BORDER + RUSSIA ISN'T GOING TO LIKE THIS -ITS FORMER SSRS WANT CLOSER COOPERATION WITH US,NATO.
Yep, and both the Russ + Russo-SSR Babes like their US-Euro fashions too.
#3
Russia's excellent adventure in Georgia is winding down. Russia, it seems, has stepped in a steaming pile of poo. More importantly, RUSSIA is beginning to see it that way also. According to strategypage, the Russians are substituting a carrot in place of a stick towards the Ukraine. Good.
Posted by: Minister of funny walks ||
10/02/2008 8:22 Comments ||
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North Korea has made a sweeping renovation of its old launch pad for intercontinental missiles on its east coast and is preparing to test a new long-range missile, government sources in Seoul said yesterday. Pyongyang is also reportedly restoring a nuclear test site in Punggye-ri, North Hamkyong Province, where the North conducted its first nuclear test two years ago.
The Seoul sources said old launch facilities for Taepodong missiles have been replaced with new ones, and the missile base in Musudan-ri is being upgraded. "North Korea has replaced a tower crane that propped up the launch pad and is improving the stability of missile fitting such as reinforcing missile supporters," one source said. "We found that a facility needed for missile assembly and final inspection are being extended."
"A new facility for automatic supply of missile propellant substances was also set up. But we assume this is to either cover up preparation for a missile launch or shorten preparation time."
Pyongyang is also developing a solid substance-propelled ballistic missile with a range of 10,000 kilometers. To that end, it has replaced the second-stage booster of the newly deployed Taepodong 2 with a new engine, according to Seoul intelligence. In addition, an engine combustion test for a Taepodong 2 missile was found to have been carried out in a new long-range missile base under construction in Tongchang-ri on the west coast.
Given these movements, South Korean intelligence authorities have reportedly concluded that North Korea is preparing to test launch a new long-range ballistic missile that is an improved version of the Taepodong 2.
Another Seoul source said, "Smoke was seen rising from the nuclear test site in Punggye-ri, North Hamkyong Province. So we are looking into whether Pyongyang is working to restore nuclear facilities."
"The smoke probably came from workers burning clothing and equipment. We are analyzing whether this minor activity had something to do with the reactivation of the Yongbyon nuclear plant."
In October 2006, North Korea reportedly dug a tunnel under a hillside in Punggye-ri and tested a nuclear device at the east side of the tunnel.
Last week, North Korea told the International Atomic Energy Agency that it will start reactivating nuclear facilities in Yongbyon within a week. Maybe the US can shed a little light on this. Literally.
There's a bear in the woods ...
The Finnish Air Force is starting the second phase of the renewal programme of its F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets. The aim is to secure the usability of the aircraft introduced in Finland in 1995 past the year 2020 and to equip the planes for their original purpose.
"The Hornet was designed to be a strike fighter jet that would fight its way to the target, deliver the payload, and fight its way back", explains Air Force commander Major-General Jarmo Lindberg.
So far the aircraft have only been used as interceptors against aerial targets, which is the sole role the Finnish Air Force planes have been deployed in since the Second World War. Now the Hornets are to be converted into assault fighters as well, by equipping them with bombs, glide bombs, and air-to-ground missiles.
The purchase comes with a hefty price-tag. The two-step programme's first phase, MLU (Mid-Life Update) 1, costs EUR 325 million. The exact cost of MLU 2 is anybody's guess, as not all equipment acquisitions have been agreed upon yet.
Experts within the Air Force suspect, however, that the second phase with its missiles etc. would come with a price-ticket of around EUR 1.3 billion. Hence the total sum would be in the region of EUR 1,625 million. That would make the upgrade programme the second most expensive military purchase in Finnish peacetime history, right after the original Hornet deal. The 64 planes cost Finland EUR three billion.
The MLU money will buy Finland even more efficient fighter jets with a slightly postponed expiration date.
The renewal work for the last jets to get a makeover is scheduled to be completed by the defence and aerospace equipment supplier Patria in 2015. Five years after that, a sizeable number of the Hornets will already be nearing the end of their service-life, Lindberg explains. Getting spare parts alone would prove quite a challenge after 2025.
The aim of MLU 1 is to improve the Hornets' capabilities in close-range air-to-air combat. The most significant improvements are the pilot's helmet-mounted sight and the new AIM9X Sidewinder air-to-air missile. The helmet-mounted sights are already in use with all three of Finland's Hornet squadrons. New missiles will be received next year. The mid-range AMRAAM missiles will also be renewed. MLU 2 has two aims, Lindberg enlightens. One is the air-to-ground or assault capability and the other is compatibility with the NATO systems.
For the air-to-ground operations, three types of weaponry will be acquired.
One is a missile that could be fired from hundreds of kilometres away from its target. At least last year, the United States was still reluctant to sell the JASSM missiles coveted by Finland. Finland will renew its request in the near future.
For shorter distances the so-called glide bombs, without a power source of their own, will be used. Finland plans to at least test the AGM-154C JSOW bomb. According to Lindberg, Finland also aims to test JDAM "smart" munitions.
All these plans call for large-scale changes to the aircraft's computer software. A counter-purchase clause will be added to some of the large-scale deals.
#2
Finland managed to hold off both the Russians and the Germans during World War II without much help from anybody else. I guess they sense a similar threat and still have some people who would dare to fight. Of course it sounds like a lot of the country has been EUnuchized, based on their gun-control reaction to the recent school killings.
#3
...Do NOT screw with the Finnish AF - when they went to war with the USSR in the early 40s, their primary bird was the otherwise miserable Brewster Buffalo:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brewster_Buffalo
...and they kicked the snot out of the Russians with it to the tune of a possible 26:1 kill ratio in favor of the Finns. By comparison, the best kill ratio the USAF ever got was 10:1 in Korea.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
10/02/2008 20:33 Comments ||
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Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko vows to help re-establish the governing coalition to avoid early parliamentary elections.
Tymoshenko told parliament on Wednesday that she would accept any conditions posed by President Viktor Yushchenko's party to salvage the collapsed coalition. "We will close our eyes and accept any ultimatums in order to preserve Ukraine's strategic orientation, to preserve the parliament and not to throw the country into a new crisis," Tymoshenko said.
This woman seems to have the qualities of the Hildebeast and Benazir Bhutto. And not necessarily the good qualities ...
The premier said she doubts the president would agree to cooperate, accusing Yushchenko of setting the stage for early elections, kyivpost reported. "I am certain that once we accept these ultimatums, the president will issue new ones. All these ultimatums are linked strictly to someone wanting an early election," Tymoshenko said.
Ukraine's pro-western ruling coalition between the president's Our Ukraine party and the prime minister's Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc collapsed in September. The collapse came after Yushchenko's party pulled out of the coalition in protest at Tymoshenko's decision to back a bid introduced by the opposition to trim presidential powers, which would raise the prospect of impeaching the president.
Under the constitution, in such cases the president can call for snap elections or parliament will create a new coalition in 30 days.
Yushchenko and Tymoshenko have been allies since the 2004 Orange Revolution, which overturned the rigged election of Viktor Yanukovych as president. Yushchenko gained power after promising to establish closer relations with the European Union and the United States. Tymoshenko's decision to re-establish the pro-West coalition came amid fears that the pro-Russian opposition would win the new elections.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/02/2008 00:00 ||
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RIAN > RUSSIA SAYS NATO BASES IN UKRAINE, GEORGIA ARE A MAJOR THREAT, + RUSSIAN SECURITY COUNCIL: RUSSIA MUST PROTECT ITS ARCTIC INTERESTS; + TOPIX > US TO OFFER MILITARY AID TO LITHUANIA, BALTIC STATES.
France heaped pressure on Gordon Brown last night by floating an ambitious plan for a €300 billion (£237 billion) bailout fund to rescue crippled banks across Europe.
As the world held its breath on the fate of America's $700 billion bank bailout plan, President Sarkozy was seeking the backing of European leaders for his own lifeboat.
Mr Brown also faced demands for action from British banks, furious that the Irish Republic's unilateral guarantee of all bank savings on Tuesday was robbing them of precious deposits. The British Bankers' Association, which represents high street banks, said that the move was anti-competitive and that it was raising the issue with Dublin. Some banks would like to see the UK respond with its own explicit guarantee.
The Prime Minister has begun to set up an emergency committee to take charge of Britain's response to the crisis. The body will be similar to Cobra, which is composed of ministers and government officials and meets regularly during crises such as last summer's floods. Its secretariat will be run from the Cabinet Office.
Mr Sarkozy, whose country holds the European presidency, is seeking Mr Brown's support before an emergency summit, scheduled tentatively for Saturday, with Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian Prime Minister, and Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor. His proposal was greeted with scepticism in Britain and outright hostility in Germany. It appears to involve the creation of a Europe-wide emergency fund that would be used to prop up banks when national governments are unable to intervene.
Ms Merkel said that Germany could not and would not issue a blank cheque for all banks, "regardless of whether they behave in a responsible manner or not".
Amid the confusion and bickering between governments, France denied at first that it had put forward a proposal for a fund at all and then, after admitting that it had done so, denied that it would cost €300 billion. Paris said that the figure had come from the Dutch Government. Officials in The Hague said that they had no idea what the French were talking about.
Mr Brown is expected to announce his new crisis committee today or tomorrow at the same time as his reshuffle to replace Ruth Kelly, the Transport Secretary, who has asked to step down. Ed Miliband, one of Mr Brown's key lieutenants, could be promoted. There is still a question mark hanging over Alistair Darling's future as Chancellor.
#2
Shit. This is all well and good. All of us here know this already. How many of the general electorate do ? McPain ought to be running this 24 hours a day for the benefit of the weak minds. You can't know how many people I've said this to in passing conversation, in coffee shops,etc. Want to know the reaction? These simple f**kers go stark raving mad. Spittle, shouting, outright denial of facts. If I didn't personally know them, I'd have thought they were Islamos. Incredibly, they blame Bush/McPain only.Indisputably. McPain's support is falling drastically everywhere, especially in tight races. He'd better have a couple of giant shitbombs to dump on Hussein in the next couple of weeks, or it's gone. A tragedy of unknown consequences. SCOTUS will be changed for all our living lifetimes and for that of our children and grandchildren. Likely see another worldwide conflict. Look at VDH's column today. The crazed always start crawling out of their holes when they see the strong pull back.
Harry Reid said a major insurance company is about to fail; we need to pass the bailout bill. Later, his office said we are not aware of any major insurance company that is about to fail. Then again, this is the same man that said we are losing in Iraq and we are mired in a quagmire. Sheeshh! Lying and lips moving thoughts come to my mind about this time.
The Senate is poised to pass a revised Wall Street bailout bill tonight, but amendments to the controversial measure may raise the anger of some House Democrats and imperil its chances of approval in the House for the second time this week.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., pressed for passage, with the alarming news that one of the country's premier insurance companies was about to go bankrupt if the crisis was not quickly resolved. "We don't have a lot of leeway on time," Reid told reporters in the Capitol. "One of the individuals in the caucus today talked about a major insurance company -- a major insurance company -- one with a name that everyone knows that's on the verge of going bankrupt. That's what this is all about."
He did not identify the insurance company, and later in the day Reid spokesman Jim Manley said the senator was speaking broadly and not referring to anything specific.
"Senator Reid is not personally aware of any particular company being on the verge of bankruptcy," Manley wrote in an e-mail to ABCNews.com. "Rather, his comments were meant to refer to the conditions in the financial sector generally. He regrets any confusion his comments may have caused."
#2
if there is a major insurance comp about too fail , then too hell with them. they have ripped off plenty in their time of existence, if you bail one out they will all be supposedly "failing" in a few days
#4
Could be--companies following 9-11 really took a hit, then Katrina, and Ike, and the Midwest floods. You could see the stress on all of them and there was uncharacteristic bi-partisanship.
#1
I'm going out on limb here tonight.... it is caused by an event in my office today.
Gateway Pundit has here examples of headlines that yes, Obama's race will make a difference.
Being of the Southern genes, I kinda believed that. But, today, I formed a different opinion. Those that I would expect to vote against Obama for his race, I found today, no --- they are voting against him, cause they are afraid of his thoughts, his associates and his plans for this country.
I don't want the race issue to win or lose...... I want him to lose based on his strong liberal voting of those 143 days in Congress and his association with folks that I just don't believe have the love of America in their hearts. Oh, they have a love for America, but it is such a different love from mine...... .
And maybe he will win.
Interesting happening in my office today.... for whatever reason, our owner decided that every florescent light in our something like 30,000 sq ft would be replaced. Not with those energy saving types, but with those, that on the box, read, "lost of 40% of your energy."
This engineer/business/small company owner, did his math, and found, that yes, he could recoup that 40% expenditure, in 40 years, and he didn't plan to be around then!
Anyway, these two guys are not only changing out lights, but doing extensive rewiring. (Yea, I jumped, when one, on a ladder just feet from my desk, screamed, when he got shocked!)
No big deal, except, in your cubbie, nothing can be happening, cause you can't get to your computer, you can't take phone calls, (can't hear), etc.
Later in the day, I'm finally back in my cubbie, checking around the Web. Clicked into HotAir, scrolling down, and from behind me, I hear this voice, "I hope you are not voting for him."
I check my screen. There is a pic of Obama. Since my back is to this voice, I turn around, look at this guy on a ladder, changing out a fluorescent bulb, and simply state, "No."
Here's my point. Here is Joe Six-Pack as Sarah called him in her interview with Hugh Hewitt. His next statement to me, "There are lots of us out here that are coming out of the woodwork to vote against this guy."
Further discussion, it wasn't a Texan being racist.... he and his friends, his family, "Why, did you know? His best friends in college and after college have all been Communist?... he has been with Communists all his life..... I don't want that."
Interesting..... Mr. Six-Pack Joe didn't have an ounce of racism in him (which I was expecting). As we talked further, it was about Obama's ties to the communist/socialist elite of our country. He knew about this, and he and his friends/family didn't like that.
He talked further of how the media had tried to convince him otherwise... but, he just wasn't buying it.
Seems, that convention acceptance speech in Denver, (with his arms waving, he expansively described that temple, he got so into the description, he was at a lack of words).... well, that just didn't go over too well with him.... or any that he knew. That appearance is when Obama lost his vote.
Head hanging....he says, "Always voted Democrat, but I just can't vote for where this guy wants to take us. I love my country, we can't let him have it."
I believed him when he stated that "The polls aren't finding us... but we are out here, and we will vote to save our country from Obama."
You know what it is? As Mr. Joe Six-Pack told me, "We in the woodwork see right through him..."
My wife goes for her Naturization interview next week. I don't know what the process is if she gets approved - does she have to wait for her certificate I wonder? Because she can register within 15 days of the election here and she does *not* like Obama - sees right through him.
#4
Congratulations to Mrs. CrazyFool, and welcome to the family! Check with your county voting headquarters to see what they require to register her once she's approved.
#6
Unfortunately, Texans will vote for McCain. Whether they do so with a 5 percent margin or a 30 percent margin is immaterial to the contest. The numbers all across the south outside of Virginia and Florida (which increasingly aren't part of the South in a demographic sense) bear your anecdotal evidence out, Sherry. But those states would have only gone Democratic in an electoral rout.
Colorado and New Mexico and New Hampshire might be swung by the sort of thing you heard from your electrician. They're "New West" and often seem suspended between the South and San Francisco.
We need the hard-Democratic bitter-clingers in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Michigan to decide against the glorious communistic mirrorball, and this financial panic stuff is definitively Not Helping. They tend to run for their FDR shrines when times get tough.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
10/02/2008 8:33 Comments ||
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#7
More congratulations to Mrs. Crazy Fool, for making it through our crazy immigration system!
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
10/02/2008 15:09 Comments ||
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#10
The "world" can have the little weasel One.
Maybe he can travel from country to country, being their president for a time before moving on to destroy another country. They're all so PC over there, they'll praise his "wonderful work."
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/02/2008 21:31 Comments ||
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Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama has secured a solid lead in battleground states that could grant him victory on Election Day.
Polls released on Wednesday reveal new momentum for the Illinois senator against Republican John McCain in the trio of states namely Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania, which have proven vital in the race to the White House.
No candidate has won the presidency since 1960 without securing two of the three battlegrounds.
The Quinnipiac University polls predict that Obama will win the November 4th election and that Sarah Palin is destined to lose her initial popularity among voters.
In Pennsylvania, Obama leads McCain by a gaping 54 percent to 39 percent after the debate, compared to 49 percent to 43 percent before the debate.
He is up 51 percent to 43 percent in swing state Florida; compared to a 49 to 43 percent lead before Friday's first of three high-stakes presidential debates.
And in Ohio, Obama is up eight points, 50 percent to 42 percent, after having led by 49 percent to 42 percent before the clash in Mississippi.
The polls among likely voters in the three states were conducted in two groups, between September 22 and 26 and between September 27 and 29. The maximum margin of error was 3.4 percent.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/02/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Don't know it is true but why in the hell are you picking an Iranian news agency fore reporting about US elections.
#2
I've had three calls from the Obama campaign in the last two days, asking for my vote, which suggests to me they are not sure of Ohio, no matter the poll numbers. I fear I told them that as I am a warmonger, I couldn't possibly vote for their candidate. I've also asked each gentleman who called (all were gentlemen, for some reason) to pass on my opinion of ACORN. ... I think for future calls, and I'm sure there will be many, I will refuse to vote for someone who has worked for ACORN, both on payroll and off, his entire career. Let the honourable junior senator from the great state of Illinois ponder that when he realizes it's my vote that kept him out of the White House! ;-)
Quinnipiac polls are always over-sampled in favor of the Democratic candidate. I've never seen one where the Quinnipiac poll was on the upside outlier curve. Doesn't mean that they aren't right - 2006 comes to mind - but they tend to be the worst-case polling outfit.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
10/02/2008 8:42 Comments ||
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Posted by: Minister of funny walks ||
10/02/2008 9:20 Comments ||
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#7
I am starting to get nervous. I really do not want 4 years of amateur night in the White House. How about we make a deal here...you folks south of the 49th don't elect Obama and we folks up here will keep the Liberal moonbats out of power...
#3
"Jugs" is obviously a reference to the individual cylinders of a radial-engined bush plane; of which SP is licensed to operate. And not some cheap sexist shot.
That's bullshit. Eveybody knows it was the hunter/killer dolphins that got them all.
Nah man, it was the laser-equipped sharks ...
It wouldn't be an election cycle without Cynthia McKinney's lunacy, and fortunately she hasn't shied away from providing it. Here, we watch as the Green Party's endorsed presidential candidate accuses National Guard soldiers of committing 5,000 murders of prisoners in the wake of Hurricane Katrina: This is what a True Bugwit looks and sounds like.
I really, really appreciate the fact that she keeps coming back to be kicked ...
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
10/02/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
no wonder the dems want to make sure mental health coverage is in the bailout bill.
#2
This could literally be news from an alternate universe.
Almost this exact scenario occurs in Harry Turtledove's alternate history The Victorious Opposition, the eighth installment of his Great War series.
A black character living in Georgia hears disturbing rumors that black prisoners are being massacred in Louisiana and their bodies dumped in swamps. The nominal source is an escaped prisoner who allegedly helped with this work. In the novel, the rumors turn out to be true.
To further the parallel, here in the real world McKinney blames the "prison industrial complex" for the alleged killings "in the wake of Hurricane Katrina." In the Turtledove novel, a prison camp warden initiates the mass shootings after the nazi-style leadership sends him more prisoners than he can possibly house or feed. Even the number, 5000, is initially the same,though it goes much higher later in the novel.
One big difference: In the novel, this occurs in 1940, in the Confederate States of America. In Turtledove's alt-history, the Confederacy won the Civil War but by the 1930s it had fallen under the control of a Hitleresque dictator.
none of it is as bad as the fact that this is one UGLY bitch. She's damned tough on the eyes.
I think even the most desperately horny Arab teen would walk right past a buck naked McKinney if he knew there was an old goat available within the next ten miles.
#4
Plus, given the mouth she's got on her, in the real world I can easily see her getting the Crenshaw McDonald's knuck sandwich on a regular basis from any male unlucky enough to spend much time around her.
#5
McKinney always has that wide-eyed crazy ready for the asylum look. However, there may never be enough therapy provided in the mental health add-on to straighten out things. Oh well, it can be added into the next bailout bill.
#6
You'll be seeing more of her as she (and hundreds more like her) solicite support from Obama and the CBC of the American National Congress (ANC) for high administrative appointments.
#10
I mailed Durbin before the vote.
After the vote only Obama would take it..
Illinois state elected pols suck...
However, my Rep Roskam voted no in the house.
#15
Yeah, 3dc, it was a bad night all the way round. Cubs looked like they forgot how to play, on the same night, after that grandslam. Never seen Wrigleyites so quiet. Curses. Sure hope Big Z comes out of his trance tonight. And, hope the House stands pat. I wonder? Course, if the Wicked Witch of the West would just come out with another little diatribe prior to the next vote, who knows ?
#18
Atomic Conspiracy, it's probably not a coincidence, that is how rumors start. Two guys talking about a book are partially overheard by someone who passes it along. Along the way details are added as most storytellers are won't to do to fill in the blanks and such.
#20
The beauty of this rumor is:
- it fits with the "Bush hates black people" meme
- it's unprovable -the bodies are somewhere in the swamps, the perpetrators are sworn to silence, nobody knows just how many were executed
Of course, if even a few people came forward and said "My husband/boy friend/son went to prison for a 2 year sentence, and he never came out", with names, dates and proof, it would lend a lot of credence to the story.
Moonbats don't need no stinkin' proof.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
10/02/2008 20:13 Comments ||
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Add aging teen queen Maureen Dowd, the Pulitzer-winning shopaholic columnist for the NY Times, to the list of media types who have fallen out bitterly with John McCain. The McCain campaign has barred her from flying in the McCain and Palin press planes, even though major media outlets routinely pay thousands to the campaigns every day for travel and expenses (and also begs the question, why didn't her media colleagues Man Up and get her aboard anyway?) Uhh...maybe they can't stand her, either?
It all started when Maureen covered an Aug. 30 McCain-Palin rally in Washington, Pa., then wasn't let on the McCain plane afterward, forcing her to overnight at a Pittsburgh airport hotel while the traveling press went on without her. "OMG! I couldn't find a single store with Manolo Blahniks in that town!"
"I had had a great relationship with John McCain for 16 years, through columns he liked and didn't like. So at first I thought it was a mistake and doublechecked with the press office. They said I was banned from both planes for 'the foreseeable future.' Then [McCain spokeswoman] Nicole Wallace was gloating about it to reporters on the Palin plane," Dowd wrote in an email. "It was disappointing because I didn't think John McCain would ever be as dismissive of the First Amendment as Dick Cheney." Quagmire!
It bears mentioning that the McCain camp has declared all-out war on the Times, and is being protective of Palin with everyone in the media, but especially someone as adroit and experienced at answering late night drunken booty calls as Maureen. Wonder if she broke a bottle and threatened to cut somebody?
#1
If any of you haven't believed in the great diminishment of the MSM's reach, believe it now.
Good for McCain/Palin! This is long overdue for the lefties. If they won't factually cover the news, don't give them any access. At least that way conservative candidates can indisputably argue that the libs cut their arguments from whole cloth. All talking to them now does is give them cover for their lies and spin.
#3
That would be so unfriendly to anyone/anything below. "Sorry Bill, will be late for work this morning cause I found MoDo all over my car in the driveway and have a devil of a time explaining it to the insurance company. They claim it was an act of god, but I pointed out that Obama was on the left coast last night."
#8
"forcing her to overnight at a Pittsburgh airport hotel while the traveling press went on without her. "
LOL That's a straight up Foxtrot Uniform in any language! Between this and just about goading Gwen Ifill to do here damnedest tonight it seems like McCain is has decided to run against the media as much as Obama. May he win, and we get a twofer.
Posted by: Minister of funny walks ||
10/02/2008 11:44 Comments ||
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#9
1. her NOT here.
2. McCain has decided NOT is has.
PIMF
Posted by: Minister of funny walks ||
10/02/2008 11:47 Comments ||
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#10
Busted by McCain in Pittsburgh, headin for the planes,
Feelin nearly faded as my jeans.
Bobby found a charter plane just before it rained,
Took us all the way to New Orleans.
Took my iPod out of my Gucci handbag
And was blowin coke while bobby sang the blues,
With them engine props slappin time and
Bobby clappin hands we finally sang up every song
That pilot knew.
#13
Bias is just another word
For lying 'bout the truth
Lying, cause you know that's what we do-oo
And lyin's easy when we do it, 'cause our hearts are true
And helpin' Dems win is good enough for me-ee
Good enough for me an' my Howard Dean!
(this is too easy)
The Senate last night approved a historic agreement that opens up nuclear trade with India for the first time since New Delhi conducted a nuclear test three decades ago, giving the Bush administration a significant foreign policy achievement in its final months.
The bill, which passed 86 to 13, now goes to President Bush for his signature, handing the chief executive a victory that both advocates and foes say will reverberate for decades. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who first conceived of the deal, have pushed hard for it from the earliest weeks of the president's second term.
The agreement, which sparked fierce opposition from nuclear proliferation experts, acknowledges India as a de facto nuclear power, even though it has never signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty designed to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons. India until now has been barred from worldwide nuclear trade, leaving its homegrown industry hobbled and short of uranium fuel to run its reactors. The administration said that the deal would bring a substantial portion of India's nuclear industry -- though not the facilities that produce materials for weapons -- under international observation.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/02/2008 00:00 ||
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#5
WAFF.com > INDIA-PAKI LOC > LOCAL SUPPORT FOR SIKH KHALISTAN SOVEREIGNTY MOVEMENT GROWING.Why should India's Muslims and Hindus have all the fun fightin' and politickin' at the LOC - SIKHS WANNA FEEL THE LOVE TOO???
Yeah. Toy guns. Big Problem in Gaza...
Gaza - Ma'an De facto police in Gaza are calling for parents not to give plastic guns to their children after dozens were taken to hospitals for injuries sustained during 'Eid Al-Fitr, health officials said. Well, it probably keeps them from playing with the family grenades...
Hospitals say that over 150 kids were treated after being shot by the plastic bullets fired from the toy guns. Just imitating dad, I'll bet...
"These kids are getting seriously injured by these plastic pallets," a Hamas police statement read on Thursday. It also noted that many of the reported injuries are to the eyes. You'll shoot your eye out! You'll shoot your eye out!
The police called for residents to take responsibility for the gifts in order to prevent more kids from getting hurt. Or at least shoot at the feet. Like we do.
Police also said that the guns "enflame quarrels," and are causing arguments between families and neighbors. Then everybody breaks out the real things...and Gaza zaniness ensues...
Hamas also called on shop owners to stop selling the toy guns. Toy guns in Gaza are probably their equivalent to Pop Warner football.
#1
In another news realease: Cowardice of parents blamed for injured children of children in Gaza.
In still another news release: Real bullets blamed for thousands of dead children in Sudan.
In anotrher news release: After 60 yhears Palestinas still don't have an economy but ahev plenty of money for terrtors. In teh meantime it is Western tax payer who feeeeds them.
#2
just another reason traditional journalism will die. Jounalists rely on wikipedia for their expertise
hummm this case was probably much worse than any journalist just using wikipedia as their primary resource.
Weiss supposedly doctored Wikipedia multiple times with malice to cover Wall Street Crimes AND also POISON Patrick Byrne's work while hiding his own dirty deeds from the public [anonymously].
Posted by: Red Dog ||
10/02/2008 9:16 Comments ||
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#3
Patrick Byrne is the victim of Wall Street Journal, New York Times and CNBC reporters who made Overstock.com lose $170m in the past 3 years via a conspiracy with naked short-sellers. Does this sound right? No! He lost it partly due to operational problems and partly due to the intensely competitive (price- and service-wise) nature of retailing. A persecution complex convinced Byrne to buy back stock in the 30's and 40's in 2005 (ostensibly to defend it from shorts), and then issue new stock in the teens and 20's in 2006. The stock remains in the teens today.
Again - I don't fully understand how the stock being shorted translates to operational problems. Does UPS charge him more money because his stock is being shorted? Do customers make false claims against him because of naked short sellers? Did short sellers make him borrow $80m? The problem with Byrne is that he is spending too much time focusing on an irrelevant topic and not enough time on running his company. At the present burn rate, his company will run out of money in little over a year. Instead of focusing on operations, like any normal CEO, he is rambling on and on about reporters and short-sellers operating at the behest of a "Sith Lord".
#5
The issue isn't shorts per se, but naked shorts. Short sellers who don't own the underlying stock are free to maliciously tank a company's share value and profit along the way, without the risk associated with their owned shares dropping too.
In other words, naked short selling is bad because it inherently bypasses market discipline and rigs the information available to other buyers/sellers. Cuts at the heart of market integrity.
#6
The issue isn't shorts per se, but naked shorts. Short sellers who don't own the underlying stock are free to maliciously tank a company's share value and profit along the way, without the risk associated with their owned shares dropping too.
In other words, naked short selling is bad because it inherently bypasses market discipline and rigs the information available to other buyers/sellers. Cuts at the heart of market integrity.
Naked shorts need brokerages to conduct their shorts. The proceeds from short sales are held in escrow at the brokerages. Short-sellers themselves must put up cash margin to support their short positions, just as stock purchasers are required to put up margin to support their long positions. If the market moves against them, short-sellers get margin calls just like anyone else. The only advantage naked shorts get over non-naked shorts is that naked shorts can't be subject to short squeezes from a lack of stock to borrow, since they never borrow stock in the first place. But they can be forced to buy back stock at a higher price if the price moves up to a level that triggers a margin call. Note that short-sellers, naked or not, are taking much bigger risks than stock purchasers. Stock purchasers can only lose 100% of their investment. A short-seller can lose several multiples of his initial investment (or margin), since a stock he shorts at $10 could go to $50, $100 or indeed, any amount that investors or acquirers are prepared to pay. For instance, naked or not, anyone who shorted Google at $80 has either voluntarily exited the position at a loss, or involuntarily had his short position closed out - via a margin call - with an $80 (or higher) loss.
#7
I'm a major fan of short sellers, even though I have personally never sold stock short. Here's why - if a company is cooking the books, large short positions are an early warning signal that the company's results aren't necessarily what executives have stated. If I have looked at the company's results and found the short-sellers' objections to be unconvincing, the existence of short-selling activity gives me a good price on the stock. If I'm holding a stock and the company reports a series of results that demolishes the bears' case, short-sellers fleeing their busted bets provide a nice pop to my holdings - holdings that I bought at a discount because short-sellers were active in the stock. This is why I like having short-sellers around - they keep stock prices from getting out of hand on the upside. Anyone who thinks naked short-selling is a guaranteed path to riches needs to look at the performance of bear funds over the past several decades - they have at best kept up with Treasuries and are certainly nowhere near the levels of the major stock indices.
#8
Naked short selling is and has been a violation of trading rules. In a short sale, the seller borrows the stock from an owner and promises to return it later. The borrowed stock is then sold. The seller is betting that the stock will go down and they will be able to then buy it for less than they sold it and return the share to the lender, having made a profit.
In a naked short sell, illegal, they sell the stock, driving the price down. When the trade settles, they have no stock and the trade fails, that's why it's technically illegal.
I believe shorting serves a valid market function, but only if the stock is borrowed with the owners consent and only if the sale is completed. Naked shorting is an attempt at market manipulation without risk as the penalties appear to be de minimus.
#9
Naked shorting is an attempt at market manipulation without risk as the penalties appear to be de minimus.
Actually, the penalties aren't minimal, since when discovered, naked short sellers are required to close out their positions, at whatever the market price currently is, which might be at a 52-week high. They stand to lose huge sums of money. Imagine if you were penalized by selling your stock at the market price today, even if your stock was at a 52-week low.
The fact is that with short-selling, the financial risk is far greater than investing in stock, since you can lose several times your initial investment. Someone who did a naked short on Google at $80 and closed it out yesterday would have lost three dollars on top of every dollar invested, the same as someone who borrowed shares before shorting. In contrast, anyone who bought Fannie Mae at $80 in '04 only lost one dollar for every dollar invested.
#10
Actually, the penalties aren't minimal, since when discovered, naked short sellers are required to close out their positions, at whatever the market price currently is, which might be at a 52-week high.
And they might have made money if the stock had declined. That's not much of a penalty for undermining a market.
#11
And they might have made money if the stock had declined. That's not much of a penalty for undermining a market.
That's only if you agree that they are undermining a market. Given that *all* short-sellers take tremendous financial risk, I believe they are actually facilitating the market. I have bought heavily-shorted stocks and seen short-sellers get wiped out as these stocks went to the moon. But because the short-sellers were out there, I got to buy stocks at bargain prices (not on a risk-adjusted basis, of course - the whole reason the stocks were cheap was because the underlying companies were in dire financial straits). Note that a forced purchase (or sale) is always disadvantageous. If they had wanted to close out their positions, they would already have bought them back. If the employer fires you from your job or your landlord evicts you from your home tomorrow, it might actually be advantageous to you, long term. But the fact is that you were bounced from comfortable situations before you were prepared to vacate them.
General Electric Co plans to raise $15 billion through stock sales -- including $3 billion from Warren Buffett -- to improve liquidity and give it the option of more acquisitions at a time of intense market turmoil, the U.S. conglomerate said on Wednesday.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/02/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
I have some of this stock in the retirement portfolio. The company is fairly well diversified. Lately, GE has gotten in "Green Initiatives" for political correctness as far as I can tell. I have seen it go down, down, and then down some more. Investors have remained worried about the troubles at GE's vast finance arm. Nearly half of its profit comes from a loan and lease business. I don't think the stockholders have been well-served by CEO Jeff Immelt. He tried to sell off the appliance division which in the past has been a good part of the business. The strength of the company in the past has been research, innovation, and manufactured products such as jet engines, locomotive engines and electrical products. They need to get out of the fake paper business and develop some cash reserves. Maybe Buffet will have enough ownership to straighten this company out. Buffet is a hard-nosed, no-nonsense business man. He doesn't spend a dime that he can't get a return on it.
Major automakers reported plunging U.S. sales for September -- led by a 34 percent slide at Ford Motor Co -- as an escalating credit crisis hit the slumping industry and raised new doubts about when the world's largest auto market would stabilize.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/02/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Apparently auto sales (and prices) have been falling all year. When the price of gas doubles, there isn't nearly as much money available for new car payments.
#2
A well-maintained, paid off older vehicle will be appreciated vs a new one with a car payment during times like this.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
10/02/2008 6:08 Comments ||
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#3
It's also model year end. Unless you're buying to use and hold for a long time, it's a waste to drive something off the lot that depreciates immediately 25% and then the next month another 25%. Annual new car purchase is fashion, not practical and when people start seriously looking at expenses, fashion gets put on hold.
#4
I wouldn't put too much money into repairs or upkeep. Obama's Euro-Carbon tax will eliminate those wasteful old dinosaurs in your garage, along with harmful emmissions from firearms.
#5
A well-maintained, paid off older vehicle will be appreciated vs a new one with a car payment during times like this.
Used car dealers are hurting as well. You can't afford to buy a new used car if your finances are hurting. Remember - California's unemployment rate is 7.7%, despite having a huge buffer of illegal immigrants who get laid off first.
#6
This is a surprise to whom ? Average Americans haven't been able to actually "afford" purchasing a new vehicle since the late 80's. It's all extended payments since then. First 3 yr., 4 yr., 5 yr., 6 yr., etc. They are just using the vehicles while paying rent. With financing cut off, no new vehicles will be moving anywhere, except to auctions. "Marked-to-market", if you will. All these huge auto dealers will be going belly up. Largest GM dealer in US, Bill Hirt Chevrolet just did the dive. Look for many more. Auto makers had the right business model in the 50's. One of each model on display, for customer examination. And each manufacturer had maybe 3 or 4 model lines, not 25. You went in, bargained, struck a deal, and waited with great anticipation for your vehicle to be built and delivered. This was sound business. Didn't have 600 vehicles sitting around, didn't have 30 useless assholes posing as salesmen waiting to pounce on you. This worked very well. So what did the shitasses do ? Went the Asian way. Lots of vehicles. Take what's available. Can't know the actual sales price. Can't deal with one guy, gotta get thru about 4 layers, by which time you're so pissed you don't want the damn car. All F'd up. Bunch of A-holes and deserve the contraction they're in for.
#7
Average Americans haven't been able to actually "afford" purchasing a new vehicle since the late 80's. It's all extended payments since then. First 3 yr., 4 yr., 5 yr., 6 yr., etc.
That's the problem. They've been borrowing from future sales for a while now. They are now starting to pay the piper. All of them - not just Detroit.
#8
Damn, I'm getting to feel that I'm carrying the whole damn economy by myself.
I just finished paying for my youngest's college degree, paid for with savings and income; not a dime of loans. My house is 95% paid off and all three cars are 100% paid off. AND my total credit card debt is less than 1 months salary.
Wonder what shape the economy would be in if everyone took my approach?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/02/2008 12:43 Comments ||
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#10
Don't forget the unions, there Woozle, a bunch of morons trying to strangle the goose that laid the golden egg. They might have finally succeeded. I got fed up a long, long time ago being a slave to a car. When I was 17 it was a big thrill to get behind the wheel of my dad's Pontiac. But it's no fun anymore especially when I'm stuck in traffic with all the other slaves.
#12
Hey there NASCAR fans, is it true that the Ford, Chevy, and Dodges are assembled in Mexico and Canada? I think only the Toyotas are assembled in USA..(Alabama)
I think I heard there was some $$$ put in the bailout plan for a new NASCAR Track somewhere.
Can anyone here confirm??
Posted by: Tom- Pa ||
10/02/2008 14:59 Comments ||
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#13
Tom - lots of rice burners have plants in the US - Nissan has a plant in Canton, MS and Honda has one in Marysville, OH for example.
My newest car is a 1998 - but my fav is my 1990 Volvo 740 with 285,000 miles. Been paid off for 15 years. I have no idea what a car payment feels like.
#14
Somewhat. Consumers Report had a write up within the last couple years. Lots of 'American' vehicles made in Mexico and Canada [which the unions lobbied to be classified as 'American'] and lots of 'Japanese' vehicles are made in the United States. Not all inclusive but a good selection.
After the threat of caps for imports during the last real big down turn in the late Carter years, the Japanese planned ahead and established domestic production plants to get around the 'Protect Detroit' mafia.
#16
I just thought it a little ironic, that US companies, Ford, Dodge, and Chevy use foreign/cheap labor of Canada & Mexico (non-USA jobs) and Japanese Toyota supports jobs in USA.
Posted by: Tom- Pa ||
10/02/2008 15:40 Comments ||
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#17
Re: #16 -- It's not just that, Tom. The foreign car companies building plants in the US and employing Americans are doing so in states where they can avoid the unions. That's an anchor around the necks of GM, Ford, et al, that has been contributing to that sinking feeling for decades now.
Posted by: Dar ||
10/02/2008 15:50 Comments ||
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#18
Take a walk through any dealer's lot and read the stickers. they display country of origin information. ignoring the 'el stupido' added dealer markup sticker it makes for interesting reading.
#19
I just thought it a little ironic, that US companies, Ford, Dodge, and Chevy use foreign/cheap labor of Canada & Mexico (non-USA jobs) and Japanese Toyota supports jobs in USA.
Given that the loonie is at parity with the dollar, I don't think Canuck workers qualify as cheap labor any more. After the multi-trillion dollar handout programs Congress is devising work their way through the system, and the US dollar tanks, even Mexican labor might not qualify as cheap labor. It would be amusing to hear of Mexicans complaining about hordes of American illegal aliens stealing their jobs. But then there's a silver lining to the dollar getting slammed - the world will be seeing a lot more "Made in USA" labels on the products they use. And Americans won't be buying a lot of imports - because we won't be able to afford them.
#21
What would the dollar tank against? The Euros and the Brits are doing their own bailouts by the hundreds of billions, I don't see why the dollar would fall against the Euro or the Pound.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
10/02/2008 18:52 Comments ||
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#22
A falling Dollar is really a pay cut for the whole of America.
You don't say. My $0.99 USB cables from the 99 cent store are now costing me $1.49.
#23
the 'boom' of the past few years in car sales was from home equity cash outs... now that the 'free' money of the home re-fi has dried up, the car bubble is going to burst.
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
10/02/2008 22:01 Comments ||
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Senate leaders were confident they could deliver the votes needed sometime after 7:30 p.m. EDT on Wednesday to pass the Wall Street bailout bill. If the controversial legislation clears the Senate with bipartisan support, the House was likely to consider the retooled bill on Friday, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat, said.
The Senate wants to couple the measure with extension of some popular tax breaks to the middle-class and others while also providing more insurance -- a maximum $250,000 per account instead of $100,000 -- for people's bank deposits.
"I'm confident that we'll get a good strong bipartisan vote here in the Senate," predicted Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat.
His Republican counterpart, Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, added, "We're confident that the way we've got this package will work in the Senate and we're optimistic it'll work in the House."
President George W. Bush expressed confidence in the bill's fate this time around but warned lawmakers the measure was necessary "so as to stabilize this (economic) situation, so that it doesn't get worse."
Financial markets on Wednesday marked time in the run-up to the Senate vote, in contrast to the record 778-point drop on Monday in reaction to the failed vote in the House.
The expanded insurance for bank depositors would come as three of the biggest U.S. banks have succumbed to the crisis in recent months, with more teetering before the November 4 presidential and congressional elections.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/02/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Sink this turkey.
90% of the issues could be addressed in a more rational context by giving the market time and a timeline to resolve the underlying issues.
Modify accounting rules to allow mark to the market losses to be discounted over five years on a declining schedule 100%, 80%, 60%, 40%, 20%.
That would allow the market to adjust and the effected companies to restructure in an orderly fashion.
The next thing to do would be to open the coastlines to immediate drilling for oil which will drop the oil prices almost immediately and reduce the brake that has been thrown on the economy.
Third is to appoint an INDEPENDENT (Not Congressional) investigator to review the actions of congress and the management of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to determine who was responsible and to recommend or pursue legal action against any found culpable.
Posted by: DanNY ||
10/02/2008 6:43 Comments ||
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#2
Mordida, dash, spiffs, baksheesh, cadeaus, special fees, tea money, fines, bribes, gifts.... how very congressional. Appears 74 senators came to a fork in the road, waved farewell to (flipped off) their constituents, and turned left. I fear for the Republic.
#3
An example of, if you want it bad enough, you get it bad enough.
Congresscritters are, if nothing else, highwaymen.
Posted by: Minister of funny walks ||
10/02/2008 9:26 Comments ||
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#4
I had a thought this morning and as I haven't seen any thing like it elsewhere I thought I'd run it up the RB flag pole.
From the timing of the sub-prime mess as an outgrowth of the 1995 CRA redo, it struck me that much of the bad paper could have been written as a result of the .com bubble. My memory is that everyone and their brother that had anything to do with IT (or could spell it) was leveraged to the eyeballs with no money down and balloon payments, ARMs etc. all on the basis of their future .com generated wealth.
When that bubble burst what happened to all that "toxic waste"? Was that a big step to the current mess?
#10
The senate is the pool of the elite. They come from the upper tiers of the connected and camp on the plane of plenty. They feed at the head table and they pass their trash to the people. They have no clue that we are watching them in their clusterfeast. They have no clue that the money they are spending slinging has not been printed yet. They have never deduced that the future taxpayers, parents, and struggling homeowners will pay dearly for this.
The house will reject it, until after the election, then they will void upon us and our plans and dreams. Keep your powder dry. This crap cannot be allowed.
#13
As was said by Rush Limbaugh, we got rid one of British George III and ended up with 100 George IIIs in the Senate and 435 George IIIs in the House.
#14
They have never deduced that the future taxpayers, parents, and struggling homeowners will pay dearly for this.
Look at the face of your children and their children as the Senate toils to make them tax serfs for generations. Not for a tax for work today or that of their choosing, but rather a bondage laid upon them by these politicians for actions not of their say or desire.
#15
The Senate passed the original bill last week, so this should not be a surprise. It was the House Republicans who stopped the original bill when the honourable Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi played her stupid little games. The question is what those who voted against the House bill last time around will do this time.
Congress didn't pass the bill yet. Only the Senate did, and their version may not be the final one if the House Republicans and Blue Dog Democrats stand strong together.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is seeking temporary unlimited borrowing authority from the Treasury Department, according to a copy of the final Senate bailout legislation on Wednesday.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/02/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
so now that they finished raiding the stock market, the pension plans, the insurance companies, the banks and the credit institutions they intend to run the Treasury dry too.
#2
This business of increasing FDIC insurance from $100k to $200k per account is nothing more than a meaningless placebo. Unless the depositor has been hooked to a life-support system for the past 25 years, I suspect individual accounts in excess of the currently insured amount are quite rare indeed.
#3
IRA accounts are ALREADY FDIC insured at the higher level. The only practical benefit is to give non-IRA money fleeing the market a safe parking besides T-bills, notes and bonds.
The amazing thing to me is that even with all the bailout loans and plans, and with the FED pumping the money supply, the dollar is at a 12+ month HIGH!
Posted by: Minister of funny walks ||
10/02/2008 11:28 Comments ||
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#4
$200,000 doesn't cover for a small business with a payroll, however. Some of the smaller community banks are about to go under, which would hit Main St. very hard.
#5
A lot of people don't have their checking and savings accounts in 'bank' accounts at all, but in brokerage house 'cash management accounts.' These usually act like cash but are actually mutual funds of very short term paper. As such I don't think they are covered by FDIC. The accounts are usually insured by the brokerage but against default only; if there is a 'run' on the accounts they may have to liquidate that short paper at a loss, leaving the accounts underfunded for the remaining depositors - and I am not sure that kind of loss is insured (until the brokerage house goes bankrupt, sort of like wrecking a rental car, make sure you total it or you are screwed.)
Central bankers and elected leaders around the world acknowledged Tuesday that they lacked a comprehensive strategy to protect their countries from the global financial crisis and were as dependent as ever on Washington to come up with a solution.
In Europe, France and Belgium propped up another failing bank Tuesday, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy invited his counterparts from Britain, Germany and Italy to an emergency summit. But officials, exasperated by the defeat of the $700 billion rescue plan in Washington, said they were quickly realizing how little power they had to act on their own to confront a rising threat to their economies and financial markets.
"The Americans have no choice," Christian Noyer, head of the French central bank and a member of the governing council of the European Central Bank, told Germany's RTL radio network. "We must have a comprehensive solution."
Added Patrick Steinpass, chief economist for the German Savings Bank Association: "All I can say is that I simply cannot imagine that the Americans will not come up with some sort of a solution. Anything else is outside the realm of my imagination."
Posted by: Fred ||
10/02/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Same thing I heard and read here all day in Korea. "It's the Americans' fault. They've got to fix it!"
My response: no, we don't have to fix it. It will fix itself. It wasn't the U.S. taxpayer who made the bad bets and it shouldn't be the U.S. taxpayer who has to eat the losses.
Euros or Asians want to pay $700 billion to Wall Street, they can be my guest. I damned well don't want to and I won't be voting for anyone who does.
The idea behind state intervention into the otherwise free market economy is leveling crises. But there is another side: market participants come to expect the crises to be leveled, and swing the market unreservedly. This is especially true for huge companies: they are implicitly assured of the government support, lest they fail, layoff many employees, and send shock waves through markets. Huge corporations can, therefore, assume higher risks: while they succeed, their profits are above average and they grow relative to smaller companies; when they fail, they are assured of bailout. Such a guaranteed status brings to them customers and investors who seek government-like safety with market returns. They are basically a fraud: the government subsidizes customers and shareholders of very large companies with taxpayer money. Fannie Mae and Freddie Macs operating profits ran into tens of billions of dollars during the years of the real estate bubble; its top officers received hundreds of millions of dollars in bonuses. The taxpayers are left with two to five trillion dollars in bad debt.
Here the interests of liberals and swindlers meet. Liberals want businesses to embrace social agenda rather than pursue profits. Such agenda is by definition unprofitable, or it would have been taken on and solved by free market already. Unprofitability can be solved by rising prices or lowering risks. In the American phantasmagory, liberals tax the commoners to increase the big businesses profits by providing them with government guarantees.
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.
President Dmitry Medvedev says Russia will fulfill its promise to withdraw troops from areas of Georgia outside two separatist regions.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko vows to help re-establish the governing coalition to avoid early parliamentary elections. 
Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama has secured a solid lead in battleground states that could grant him victory on Election Day. 
The Senate last night approved a historic agreement that opens up nuclear trade with India for the first time since New Delhi conducted a nuclear test three decades ago, giving the Bush administration a significant foreign policy achievement in its final months.
Indian left parties have decided to observe October 4 as 'Black Day' to protest against the government's 'surrender to US imperialism.'
General Electric Co plans to raise $15 billion through stock sales -- including $3 billion from Warren Buffett -- to improve liquidity and give it the option of more acquisitions at a time of intense market turmoil, the U.S. conglomerate said on Wednesday.
Central bankers and elected leaders around the world acknowledged Tuesday that they lacked a comprehensive strategy to protect their countries from the global financial crisis and were as dependent as ever on Washington to come up with a solution.
