[Straits Times] SABAH police are continuing their analysis of a video showing a group of women stripping and dancing in the nude amid speculation that the two-minute clip was shot somewhere in the state. "Yeah. We think it mighta been. It'll take a lot more analysis, though..."
State Police Commissioner Datuk Hamza Taib said on Thursday that there was no evidence to show that the video in which the nude women were seen dancing in front of an audience, was taken in Sabah. "Coulda been someplace else. We're going over it for clues now. We'll let ya know."
'All we can gather from the video so far was that the whole thing took place in a shack during the day. It could have been in Sabah or even in a neighbouring country,' he said, adding that police were also trying to identify the individuals in the video. "Especially the wimmin. We're looking at them real close for clues!"
Datuk Hamza said state police had sent a copy of the video to the forensics unit for a detailed analysis. "They were really happy to get that, lemme tell you!"
Reports of the video clip appeared in a local newspaper here several weeks ago amid claims that it could have been shot in Sabah as the accompanying soundtrack was a Kadazandusun song.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/12/2011 00:00 ||
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SABAH police are continuing their analysis of a video showing a group of women stripping and dancing in the nude...
[Arab News] Lindsay Lohan walked into a courtroom to face a felony grand theft charge looking like a million dollars, only to be told by a judge she was no different than anyone else.
Lohan's arraignment on a charge that she stole a $2,500 necklace from an upscale jeweler wasn't the first time a judge threatened to throw the troubled starlet in jail. But it was the first time a judge wielded enough power to keep her locked up for a long time.
"You're in a different situation now that a felony has been filed," Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Keith Schwartz said after the actress pleaded not guilty "Wudn't me." . "Everybody else has to follow the law," Schwartz said, noting that he was giving the actress a tamer version of a lecture he'd delivered to her attorney behind closed doors and away from the dozens of assembled news hounds. "You're no different than anyone else. So please, don't push your luck."
Testing the limits -- in the courtroom rather than the big screen -- has been Lohan's calling card in recent months.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/12/2011 00:00 ||
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#3
from WWTDD:
It was a good idea for her to wear that ridiculously short dress, because nothing says respect for the court quite like showing it that you took the time to shave.
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/12/2011 12:51 Comments ||
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#4
I've seen that dress before. Remember the infamous scene with Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct?
h/t bayourenaissanceman
Ferrari appears to have changed its mind about the name of its latest F1 race car after threat of a lawsuit yesterday by Ford.
The Ferrari F150 is now being referred to as the Ferrari F150th Italia on a Ferrari website. Ford filed a lawsuit Wednesday asking a court for an injunction against Ferrari over the use of the F150 name for Ferrari's latest Formula 1 racecar, the automaker said.
"F-150® is an established and important Ford trademark and the name of the best-seller in Fords F-Series, Americas best-selling trucks for 34 years and best-selling vehicles for 29 years," Ford said in a statement Wednesday. "Through extensive sales and advertising and exclusive use, Ford has earned invaluable goodwill in the F-150® trademark. That hard-won goodwill is seriously threatened by Ferraris adoption of 'F150'."
Indeed, Ford claims, "when Ferrari announced the name of its race car as 'F150', Ford asked Ferrari to change the name. Ferrari did not respond in a timely manner, leaving Ford no choice but to take legal action to protect its important brand and trademark rights," the automaker said in a statement this afternoon. Ford p*ssed away some incredible advertising opportunities!
#5
An easy mistake to make. After all, Google only returns 70,300,000 hits for F-150. Hey, maybe they could call it the Ferrari Pinto. I don't think that one is taken.
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/12/2011 13:08 Comments ||
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#8
Insularity, ignorance, and arrogance.
I bet there are a lot of people on F1 discussion boards who just today discovered the fact that the Ford F-150 is the most famous truck in America. And yet they will be ridiculing us for being provincial.
#13
thx tu, for an erection lasting more than four hours..I'm consulting a physician.
/actually, the truck cab shrouds the air intake poorly, and my own 5.4 liter V-8 takes off a helluva lot faster. (thanks for metering the freeway on-ramps, Caltrans!)
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/12/2011 17:14 Comments ||
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#14
And when you finished driving your Ford F-150 jet truck make sure you wash it with a nice bucket of jet wash.
The National Park Service is sponsoring programming that will commemorate the 150 anniversary of President-elect Abraham Lincoln's trip from Springfield, Illinois to Washington, DC, on February 11-23, 2011, by revisiting sixteen cities and towns at which Lincoln made remarks. Those cities include Springfield, Illinois; Indianapolis, Indiana; Cincinnati, Ohio; Columbus, Ohio; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Cleveland, Ohio; Westfield, New York; Buffalo, New York; Albany, New York; Peekskill, New York; New York, New York; Trenton, New Jersey; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Baltimore, Maryland; and, Washington, DC.
The programming will feature acclaimed Lincoln actor Fritz Klein, who will present what Lincoln said in each community as he tried to reassure a nation on the verge of Civil War. I hope Rantburgers with grandchildren who live nearby will get them to attend a local event. It was a time when real serious issues were dealt with seriously.
150 years ago yesterday, the President-elect had this to say before departing on his one-way trip to the capital:
My friends, no one, not in my situation, can appreciate my feeling of sadness at this parting. To this place, and the kindness of these people, I owe everything. Here I have lived a quarter of a century, and have passed from a young to an old man. Here my children have been born, and one is buried. I now leave, not knowing when, or whether ever, I may return, with a task before me greater than that which rested upon Washington. Without the assistance of the Divine Being who ever attended him, I cannot succeed. With that assistance I cannot fail. Trusting in Him who can go with me, and remain with you, and be everywhere for good, let us confidently hope that all will yet be well. To His care commending you, as I hope in your prayers you will commend me, I bid you an affectionate farewell.
Between 2-5% of Americans living on this date in 1861 would die due to the Civil War about to break out.
#2
What would be far more informative would be to get some serious actors to reenact the Lincoln-Douglas debates.
These were seven debates held in Illinois, which focused on the slavery issue. As such they are an essential historical document.
"The debates in Freeport, Quincy and Alton drew especially large numbers of people from neighboring states, as the issue of slavery was of monumental importance to citizens across the nation.
"Newspaper coverage of the debates was intense. Major papers from Chicago sent stenographers to create complete texts of each debate, which newspapers across the United States reprinted in full, with some partisan edits.
"After losing the election for Senator in Illinois, Lincoln edited the texts of all the debates and had them published in a book. The widespread coverage of the original debates and the subsequent popularity of the book led eventually to Lincoln's nomination for President of the United States by the 1860 Republican National Convention in Chicago."
"The format for each debate was: one candidate spoke for 60 minutes, then the other candidate spoke for 90 minutes, and then the first candidate was allowed a 30-minute "rejoinder."
Each of the debates could be put on a DVD, with historical background added, and make a heck of a set, though whether anyone would care to watch them is questionable.
#3
While the value of this could be questioned (budget deficit and all), now that the precedent has been set, look for Bambi's 'Me,too" tour. Only this one will be much more expensive; its hard to get trains to float all the way from Kenya to Hawaii.
Get ready to pay double or even triple the price for fresh produce in the coming weeks after the worst freeze in 60 years damaged and wiped out entire crops in northern Mexico and the southwestern U.S.
The problem started less than a week ago, when our nation was focusing on the Superbowl and sheets of ice falling from Texas Stadium.
Farmers throughout northern Mexico and the Southwest experienced unprecedented crop losses. Now devastation that seemed so far away, is hitting us in the pocketbooks.
"We've had to double and triple some prices and consumers come in and it's quite a shock to them," said Rusty Peake, GM of Food4Less in Southeast Portland.
"Increase, increase, increase," said produce manager Troy Winterhalter as he watched urgent messages coming across his laptop computer. "Peppers, zucchini, cucumbers, asparagus, the entire asparagus crop was wiped out," said Winterhalter.
Roma tomatoes have more than doubled in price since Thursday and very soon they may not be available at all.
About the only produce not impacted by the freeze in the coming weeks are things grown right here in the Northwest like potatoes, onions and apples.
The situation is so dire, some stores can't honor certain advertised prices, which were ordered in local newspapers long before the freeze.
#3
And thanks to the judges in California, there are no crops in the central valley. What is generally called America's Salad Bowl is now a dust bowl.
Remember that a major reason those prices are skyrocketing is because US judges have pushed those farms out of the US. We have had a wonderful spring here in California, but the fields are bare.
#4
Now is the time to stock up on a few basic foods. Any grain products. Cereals shortly will go up in price and possibly out of stock as well. Farmers can't afford to feed animals but aren't getting anything at sale. So they are just holding on. Contract food buy in groups are being told contracts can't be honored due to act of God (Sysco Foods). Huge increases for restaurants.
Farmer I have their seeds, fertilizer and fuel contracts done. Hope is that with the grain increases they will pay down debt incurred to plant. Then next issue will be the weather. I knew a farmer that had to take valium to steady his nerves.
Thousands of guns are being dumped in the ocean by private security companies hired to protect ships against pirate attacks, top security executives say.
As Somali pirates grow bolder and launch attacks further into the Indian Ocean, shipping companies and yacht owners are increasingly using armed security to protect their vessels.
But there are varying laws and regulations about taking weapons into ports across the region, leading some security companies to cut costs and save time by getting rid of their guns before arriving in various countries' territorial waters.
"This is happening on a daily basis," said Richard Skinner, the Dubai director at the security company the Orchid Group. "I suspect there are literally thousands of semi-automatic and automatic weapons down there at the bottom of the Red Sea for fish to swim around."
These practices and others have led security companies and government officials to call for increased regulation of armed teams operating on the high seas. Rogue security companies could endanger the lives of their clients and innocent fishermen by failing to follow proper rules for using force against perceived threats.
"With the increase of an industry built around protecting ships, there needs to be some form of regulation, particularly if we are going to be moving weapons around," said Rear Admiral Anthony Rix, a retired Royal Navy officer who led Nato's first counter-piracy operation in the Horn of Africa. "As has happened in places like Iraq and Afghanistan, there needs to be some way to address the private security industry."
Rear Adml Rix, who is now a consultant to the UAE security company Whispering Bell, said shipping companies risked expensive lawsuits and significant harm to their reputations if they employed armed teams that did not follow proper procedures. But they also risk harm to their crews and huge costs if their ships are captured by pirates.
The Swiss government led efforts last year to create the International Code of Conduct for Private Security Service Providers, a set of principles for the growing global industry. But it is up to the countries that licence ships to oversee security teams.
Countries have vastly different laws for the use of force and for carrying weapons on board. The US allows for pre-emptive attacks on pirates, while Sweden will not allow any guns except for a single shotgun on any merchant ship it regulates.
Tim Stear, the UAE manager for the security and investigations consultancy Control Risks, said some companies were operating in a way that put their shipping clients at significant risk of breaking the law. He described situations in which security teams leased weapons from companies that were barred from renting out their equipment to third parties.
"Because of the pressures on the market, that is often what is happening," Mr Stear said. "That is where you can get into trouble. If an incident occurs, the courts are going to trace the whole process from start to finish If the weapons on board were illegal, it could create claims and counter-claims that cost a lot of money."
Some of the security companies were "being less than professional and above scrutiny", he said. "For them, it's an acceptable level of risk, but the issue is whether their clients are aware of the risks."
The rise of security firms to protect ships has quickened in the past year as the number of Somali pirate attacks has risen and insurance companies have encouraged the use of armed escorts or guards, executives say.
The total number of pirate attacks worldwide rose to 445 last year, a 10 per cent increase from 2009, according to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB). Nearly half of those took place off the coast of Somalia, in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
Ransom payments now average US$5.4 million (Dh19.8m), and the average time crews are held in captivity is 210 days. Ransom payments and the loss of assets and crews are significantly increasing costs for shipping companies.
As of January 29, 33 ships with a total of 758 crew members were being held by pirates, according to the IMB.
Governments have responded by deploying more warships to the region and establishing protected corridors for shipping traffic. Those efforts have reduced attacks in some areas, with incidents in the Gulf of Aden dropping by about half last year from 2009, but pirates have shifted to new areas to find their prey. Warships can cover only a small part of these.
Pirate attacks are now occurring at the entrance of the Arabian Gulf, including in sport fishing locations favoured by nationals of the UAE and Oman. Assaults and vessel seizures have taken place as far afield as the Seychelles and the Mozambique Channel. And captured ships are being used by pirates as bases for new attacks further away from home.
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#1
"Rogue security companies could endanger the lives of their clients and innocent fishermen by failing to follow proper rules for using force against perceived threats."
And armed homeowners might accidentally shoot an innocent person in their home at 3am, carrying their TV by mistake, after having broken a window with a brick.
ROME -- Some 1,000 Tunisians have fled the chaos in their homeland and arrived by boat on a tiny Italian island, prompting Italy to demand Friday that the European Union take stronger action to prevent an uncontrolled wave of migrants from North Africa. Since Jan. 16, about 1,600 Tunisians have landed in Italy, the U.N. refugee agency says, mostly on the island of Lampedusa, which is closer to Africa than the Italian mainland. Half of them arrived in recent days.
Interior Minister Roberto Maroni said he feared Tunisian terrorists were among those who escaped Tunisian prisons and fled during a month of nationwide anti-government protests that forced dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to flee on Jan. 14.
"There is the risk of a real and true humanitarian emergency," Maroni said Friday, adding he has asked the EU to take up the issue since it was affecting Europe's internal security.
The high numbers of late have been an anomaly, given the reduced flow of illegal immigrants after Italy's 2008 agreement with Libya to return would-be migrants without screening them first for asylum.
Maroni said Friday the surge in Tunisian arrivals stemmed from the political unrest, as Tunisia was no longer honoring a bilateral agreement to manage immigration. Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said he would meet next week with new Tunisian Foreign Minister Ahmed Ounaies to discuss reactivating the immigration accords.
"It's a real alarm," Frattini said. "We are in the presence of a true migratory emergency and we don't believe that Italy is the only place where they'll arrive and remain."
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/12/2011 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV] In yet another example of escalating scandal in the UK, another MP is pleaded guilty of fiddling his parliamentary expenses, said the media reports.
Justice Saunders, the trial judge, granted former Labour MP Dan Rostenkowski Jim Devine, 57, unconditional bail and announced that he will be sentenced in due course, British media reported.
Devine, who held the Livingston seat, submitted false invoices for cleaning and printing work totalling £8,385. He was found guilty by a jury at Southwark Crown Court of two charges of false accounting, but was cleared of one other count relating £360 for cleaning work.
The former backbencher, of West Main Street, Bathgate, West Lothian, was the first MP to stand trial in the wake of the expenses scandal.
Peter Wright QC, the prosecutor described the case against Devine as "very straightforward".
The former MP made the fraudulent claims "with a view to gain for himself, or with an intent to cause loss to another - the public purse".
The prosecutor said a guide known as the Green Book was readily available to MPs and clearly set out the rules and regulations on submitting expenses that must relate to parliamentary duties. It lists the fundamental principles MPs should adhere to when making expenses claims, Wright told the court.
"These are based on concepts of selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership," he said.
"We say these are qualities of which Devine demonstrated a woeful inadequacy." Speaking of the Green Book, he added: "We say it's wholly unambiguous. It couldn't be clearer."
Simon Clements, head of the Crown Prosecution Service special crime division, said: "Jim Devine submitted invoices for services that he had neither paid for nor received. In doing so, he took advantage of the trust that had been placed in him by virtue of the public office he held.
"Submitting a false invoice is plainly dishonest, regardless of why it has been done or who has done it. We say there is no excuse for such conduct and, with today's conviction, it is clear the jury agreed", added Clements.
The divorced MP divided his life between Scotland and Westminster, buying a one bedroom flat in Elephant and Castle, south east London, to make parliamentary life easier.
Meanwhile, ...back at the ranch... another former Labour MP Eric Illsley was sentenced to a year in jail on Thursday for dishonestly claiming parliamentary expenses. Illsley pleaded guilty to £14,000 of expenses fraud last month over second home claims made between 2005 and 2008. He becomes the second former MP to be jugged for expenses offences.
Former Labour colleague David Chaytor is serving an 18-month jail term after pleading guilty to making bogus claims.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/12/2011 00:00 ||
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8,300 pounds...hey that's chump change.
These guys are amatuers.
Wait till someone opens the books on Dame Pelosi and her excesses.
Of course the media wouldn't dare say anything untoward about the dems...
Karl,
unfortunately, Pelosi was an embarrassment to even me and I've become jaded to the two faced excesses and sense of entitlement in the Democratic party.
[Al Jazeera] Venezuelan politicians from the socialist party of His Excellency President-for-Life, Caudillo of the Bolivarians Hugo Chavez and their rivals have exchanged punches in parliament.
The fist-fight on Thursday began after Socialist party legislator Henry Ventura tried to remove an opposition member, Alfonso Marquina, from the speaker's podium.
The pair were soon joined by several other legislators and parliamentary employees who shoved and punched one another for several minutes.
"We came to work in peace, like we always do, and we hope that we are not subject to aggression for the words we say, like we were just now," Nicolas Maduro, the foreign minister, said.
The brawl was broadcast live on all Venezuela's television and radio stations via an obligatory link-up system used frequently by Chavez to air his long speeches to the nation.
The broadcast was pulled abruptly from most networks after the violence started.
Venezuelans are deeply divided by the leftist president's programme to build a socialist society in the South American country of 28 million people.
Chavez's popularity will be put to the test in a 2012 presidential election when he will run again.
The new National Assembly was formed in January after elections that returned a significant number of opposition legislators after a five-year absence.
It is the first time the two sides have worked in such close confines since the opposition boycotted parliamentary elections in 2005, giving Chavez allies free rein to pass laws.
Although the new parliament has given the opposition a platform for its views, it has been effectively neutered by Chavez, who was granted decree powers in December to fast-track laws without parliamentary approval for 18 months.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/12/2011 00:00 ||
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[El Universal] The interest rate paid by the state-run oil company Petróleos de Venezuela (Pdvsa) is soaring. Two years ago, the country's largest company sold bonds at a rate of 5.12 percent; in 2010 the dollar-denominated paper had a coupon of 8.5 percent and the USD 3 billion bonds to be sold on Friday will carry a coupon of 12.75 percent, the highest interest rate in Pdvsa bonds history.
To get an idea of the interest rate to be paid by Pdvsa, it is worthwhile mentioning that Petrobras, the Brazilian oil company placed, on January 20, 10-year bonds at an interest rate of 5.4 percent.
Pdvsa is paying this coupon to narrow the gap between the US dollar in the unofficial market and the official exchange rate. Venezuelan businesses and investors use those bonds to purchase foreign currency.
Companies buy bonds with Venezuelan bolivars and then sell the securities abroad to get US dollars.
In a report issued by Barclays Capital, the British global financial services noted that the interest rate paid by Pdvsa shows that the Venezuelan authorities are willing "to issue bonds at any cost to maintain a strong implicit exchange rate for local" investors. It also warned about long-term impact on Pdvsa's cash flow.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/12/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
The interest rate paid by the state-run oil company Petróleos de Venezuela (Pdvsa) is soaring.
Buyers of Venezuelan government bonds are betting that Chavez will want to continue paying interest (never mind principal) on those bonds. 12.75% is paltry in light of the specter of non-payment.
[Emirates 24/7] The US trade deficit widened in December to its highest level in four months, the US government said on Friday in a report that also showed the annual trade gap expanded nearly 33 per cent in 2010 as imports from China hit record levels.
The December trade deficit grew nearly 6 per cent to $40.6 billion, just slightly higher than a consensus estimate of Wall Street analysts as the average price for imported oil leapt to its highest level since October 2008.
Overall imports of goods and services were also their highest since October 2008, in a sign that consumers and businesses are spending more as the US economy picks up steam.
Exports of goods and services were the highest since July 2008, the month that they hit their peak before beginning a precipitious drop caused by the global financial crisis.
US goods exports to China grew to a record $10.1 billion in December and also were a record $91.9 billion for the year.
But that strong finish was swamped by record US imports from China of $364.9 billion for the entire year, which pushed the closely watched trade gap with that country to a record $273.1 billion.
Rising oil prices also helped widen the US trade deficit in 2010. The average price for imported oil jumped to $74.66 per barrel, from $56.93 in 2009.
Imports of consumer goods and foods, feeds and beverages also set records in 2010.
Overall, US imports of goods and services grew 19.7 per cent in 2010 to $2.33 trillion dollars.
US exports grew 16.6 per cent to $1.83 trillion, a pace that if maintained would allow the United States to reach President Barack B.O. Obama's goal of doubling exports by 2013.
US exports of services, industrial supplies, consumer goods and petroleum all set records.
The strong services performance pushed the US trade surplus for services to a record $148.7 billion in 2010.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/12/2011 00:00 ||
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For people who understand economics, this is good news. Trade deficits are better than trade surpluses. A trade deficit means that we as a nation can afford to buy more than we produce. It also means that money flowing overseas returns in the form of capital investment and purchasing our government bonds.
If that trade gap narrows, watch out, because that means our people are becoming too poor to buy what we produce. In China, the average worker can not buy anywhere near what they produce.
BEIJING - China raised interest rates on Tuesday for the second time in just over six weeks, intensifying a battle in the fast-expanding economy against stubbornly high inflation that threatens to unsettle global markets.
The timing was a surprise, coming on the final day of China's Lunar New Year holiday, but investors have long expected more monetary tightening as Beijing struggles to rein in price pressures and ward off a property bubble in an economy that grew at a double-digit pace last year.
Benchmark one-year deposit rates will be lifted by 25 basis points to 3 percent, while one-year lending rates will also be raised by 25 basis points to 6.06 percent, the People's Bank of China said. The changes go into effect on Wednesday.
Although annual inflation slowed in December, analysts polled by Reuters expect it to have picked up to 5.3 percent last month, the fastest pace in more than two years, on the back of soaring food prices.
"It is the first interest rate rise in the Year of the Rabbit, but it will not be the last," said Xu Biao, an economist with China Merchants Bank in Shenzhen, referring to the country's new year, which began last week.
"If inflation stays high in February, the central bank will be forced to increase interest rates on a continuous basis," he added. "Investor confidence will be seriously hurt by expectations of aggressive policy tightening."
If the Chinese allow inflation the government will experience an Egypt moment. The government has long had an arrangement with the average Chinese people: let us rule, and we will ensure you are fed. Inflation and the resulting food shortages will upend that arrangement, so the government absolutely won't let it happen.
Fearing that tighter monetary policy would dampen demand in a country whose growth helped lift the world out of the global financial crisis, commodity markets fell after the central bank announcement. Oil, metals and grains prices recovered later on Wednesday though as investors shrugged off the rate hike, deeming it inadequate to slow the country's hunger for raw materials.
For now, however, Chinese officials have insisted that inflation will be controllable and domestic investors have priced in only gradual tightening. Chinese stocks could, in fact, rise slightly when the market re-opens on Wednesday to catch up with Asian counterparts that have rallied during China's week-long holiday.
This is the third rate increase since China began a monetary tightening cycle in earnest in October. It announced the last rate rise on December 25.
Wary of raising rates too high, China has leaned most heavily on quantitative tools in its tightening, forcing banks to lock up more of their deposits as reserves seven times over the past year and also ordering them to lend less. Beijing has also imposed a slew of measures to target property prices that have stayed stubbornly high. The country's leaders, acutely aware of public anger over unaffordable housing, have said they would not tolerate property inflation and speculation.
"I didn't think it (China's rate hike) would happen today, but it doesn't matter whether you think it will happen today or tomorrow. You know that interest rates are going up," said Mike Lenhoff, chief strategist at Brewer Dolphin in London.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/12/2011 00:00 ||
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Steve, the Chinese government has been expanding its money supply by whatever standardized measure you would use at a very fast pace over the last _decade_. This eventually _causes_ inflation. It's been causing inflation unevenly because of the way their economy is structured, with real estate bearing the brunt of the price increase (and in such a way that moves land use away from farming in the Eastern half of the country where historically most of the crops are grown).
That's probably the base reason for a lot of the increase in the price of foodstuffs: their economic policy has for a while been focused on turning farmland into factory-land. (Basically, the way the scam was set up, you couldn't own _land_ because that's antithetical to communism. But you could own buildings. Which means farmers don't have legal protections, but factory builders and housing developers have legal privileges. Oh, and the local governments get a lot of their income by letting people develop on it, i.e. turn farmland into factories).
#3
There are three aspects to being a successful banker and all three are important. One; borrow at 3%, lend at double, 6% and be on the golf course at 3P.M. All three are important. So how many bankers get to the golf course at 3P.M? could be where they are falling down.
#4
...because at 3PM, they're on the phone to their campaign funded Congresscritter to bail them out for that 6 percent loan to people who couldn't pay back at 2 percent. While making nice to the Congresscritter in making those loans, they couldn't move fast enough to do as many as possible salivating for the expected return and hauling in various fees and charges in the process.
Paul Krugman wrote an interesting piece a while ago when he was more interested in economics and exchange rates than he was in writing sophomoric editorials.
Based on that article, and he's a crackerjack economist, China is cruising for a bruising because their monetary policy is out of whack. They have artificially suppressed the value of the yuan against the dollar to encourage their foreign trade. However, that means that the balance between their interest rates and inflation must be closely watched. If they can't control inflation, one of two things will happen, interest rates will go through the roof or foreign exchange traders (you hear me George Soros) will find the yuan in a Greek moment and all heck will break loose.
The danger to us is that if the Chinese dump their T-bills and they almost have to if they revalue the yuan, the yield on T-bills will fall and the Fed won't be able to auction any to speak of at the next run the presses event.
James,
I agree that Paul should stick to economics and I am just dying to see what he might say in one of his WSJ editorials...
Should be interesting reading.
I agree the Chinese have played mean games in foreign trade with their fixed exchange rate and a full blown economic collapse could happen over there with their house of cards economic policy...read Japan in the 70's.
#8
They have artificially suppressed the value of the yuan against the dollar to encourage their foreign trade.
There's nothing artificial about it. If anything, a floating exchangable yuan would be lower than it is now. Part of this is masked by the existance of two different yuans, one of which is exchangable with other currencies, and the other which is more or less restricted to the peasants.
They are very secretive about the operations of their banks, and that's where M2 is derived from M1. If you can't see what their banks are doing, you can't really tell that much about what's going on with their M2.
The main reason they're having inflation is because they've been increasing their money supply this whole decade. Everything else is more or less a slightly exacerbating circumstance.
CAIRO (Ma'an) -- Arab League chief Amr Mussa announced he would resign in coming weeks, hours after Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak quit his presidency, the Cairo-based Middle East News Agency reported.
Mussa told Egyptian State TV he would quit without elaborating on his plans. Oh, you know. Spend time with the family, work on the hobbies, explore future endeavours...
Following Mubarak's ouster, Mussa hailed fellow Egyptians and the army for their "historic achievement." The Egyptian official had joined anti-government protests in Tahrir Square. That's right, folks! I never really liked Hosni. I just worked for him and did what he told me...
His term as head of the 22-member league was due to end in two months, and the charismatic leader has hinted he might run for presidency. Charismatic? Probably means he can order off a menu in ten different languages. At once... I'm not sure I could stand a charisma contest between Mousa and ElBaradei...
Earlier in February, Mousa told CNN he would be "ready for any role requested" so he could "turn his ideas, which most Egyptians support" into deeds. Tan...rested...ready.
Mussa, 74, a former foreign minister, is a dynamic figure with a quick sense of humor and charisma that often eclipsed that of his former boss Mubarak. His popularity stems from his strong stands against Israel and language that appeals to the Arab street. Always impeccably dressed, Mussa excelled as Egypt's foreign minister for a decade between 1991 and 2001. Other than the fact that he's never accomplished a friggin thing, he sounds perfect...
"If he were to run for president one day, in a free vote, he would be a sure-fire winner," said one of the diplomats in Cairo where the Arab League has its base. Potato Head vs. Jerry Lewis! Liiiiiiiive on Pay Per View!
In a much-recalled sign of his status at home, Mussa made a triumphant entry to Cairo football stadium in 2006 where he was loudly applauded by some 100,000 Egyptian fans at the final of the African Nations Cup. I must say, an impressive tongue bath by Ma'an...
[Straits Times] THE Red Shirts will hold their next rally on Sunday and keep protesting every month until their seven jugged leaders are released, Pheu Thai MP Jatuporn Promphan said on Thursday.
Sunday's rally is scheduled to begin at the Criminal Court on Ratchadaphisek Road in the afternoon before marching to Democracy Monument on Rajdamnoen Avenue.
'The rally at the court is to highlight the grievances of the seven leaders held in remand,' Mr Jatuporn said.
Organisers will read letters from the seven leaders. Protesters have been advised not to display any banners deemed in contempt of the court, he said.
The rally at Democracy Monument will last until midnight. Ex-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his lawyer Robert Amsterdam have scheduled a phone-in to greet the protesters.
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[Straits Times] VALENTINE'S Day is a secular observance that is not celebrated religiously by churches in Malaysia or worldwide, said the Council of Churches of Malaysia.
Its general secretary Reverend Dr Herman Shastri said the National Fatwa Council had erred when it referred to Valentine's Day as a Christian observance and has hurt the feelings of Christians in Malaysia.
'To suggest that Valentine's Day is observed by Christians is unfair and misleading.
'Although the word 'Valentine' draws some connection to St Valentine, the church's authorities have not endorsed the connection, be it Roman Catholic or Protestant,' he said in a statement in reference to an article on Valentine's Day posted on the website of the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim).
The website described Valentine's Day as: 'The practice of celebrating the day of love (Valentine's Day) has not been recommended by Islam. (The) spirit (of the) festival has elements of Christianity and the practice is mixed with immoral acts (and) are prohibited by Islam that clearly contradicts the belief, Sharia and Islamic morality. Therefore, Mohammedans are prohibited from engaging in celebrating the day.'
Dr Shastri said the council appealed to the authorities to repeal such hurting inferences that Christianity promotes sexual promiscuity because of Valentine's Day observance, often made in the media and in the said Fatwa.
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Nearly 45 years after he saved almost an entire company of fellow Marines in Vietnam, a Marine Corps veteran was formally recognized today for his actions.
Navy Secretary Ray Mabus presented Ned E. Seath with the Navy Cross -- the second-highest award a Marine can receive for valor -- in a ceremony at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, Va.
Then a lance corporal, Seath was serving as a machine gun team leader with the 3rd Marine Divisions Company K, 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, when he halted an assault of North Vietnamese soldiers July 16, 1966, using an M-60 machine gun he reassembled from spare parts. But his story of heroism was tucked away when his service in the Marine Corps ended.
All I could think was theyre going to be overrun us and they were going to kill us all, Seath said. I had Hutton and Bennett on my flanks with fixed bayonets holding them off. They gave me a good two more minutes to make one good gun.
His unit, one of the four Marine battalions in Task Force Delta, was called into action to support Operation Hastings, an effort to push the a North Vietnamese army division out of South Vietnams Quang Tri province. The companys mission was to establish a blocking position in the middle of an enemy trail network.
Led by platoon commander David Richwine, now a retired major general, Seaths role was to provide machine-gun fire to aid in disrupting North Vietnamese army activity in the area. After landing, Seaths company soon came upon a reinforced enemy platoon waiting for the Marines in a defensive position.
During the ensuing onslaught, Seath moved to obtain a disabled machine gun from a wounded Marine nearby, building an operational M-60 machine gun out of two inoperative weapons, and he quickly returned devastatingly accurate fire to the oncoming enemy.
One of the weapons simply malfunctioned, Seath said, while another fire team a few fighting positions away could provide only semi-automatic fire. He pulled out a clean poncho, grabbed some grease and a brush, and went to work on the two weapons to craft the one the Marines so desperately needed.
Richwine said Seath began laying down machine-gun fire in the prone position. As his field of fire became obstructed by enemy casualties, he completely disregarded his safety as he knelt at first and eventually stood up, fully exposed to enemy fire, to continue repelling the enemys advance.
Everyone was fighting for their lives, Richwine said, noting that the advancing enemy was closing in. Several Marines even had affixed bayonets. Seath was providing well-aimed, disciplined machine-gun fire, which ultimately killed their attack. It was a combined effort stopping the enemy, but Seath was the guy with the tool to do the job best - all while in the dark.
All that illuminated the sky that night was sporadic flairs from passing aircraft, but what lit the battlefield was the tracer rounds -- red streaks from the Marines and green streaks from the North Vietnamese army, Richwine said.
If it werent for Ned Seath, Id be buried right now in Arlington [National Cemetery], said Hutton, who fought alongside Seath during that battle. We were surrounded and outnumbered. But Ned didnt quit. He went above and beyond the call of duty. He saved a company of Marines.
By this night, only the second night of the operation, Seath was very familiar of the possibility of dying on the battlefield for the sake of his fellow Marines. Just 24 hours earlier, he had rushed to the aid of two wounded Marines under heavy machine-gun fire that already had claimed the lives of two Marines, and dragged them to safety. For these actions, he received the Bronze Star Medal with a V device for valor, which was presented along with his Navy Cross.
What Ned went through - what he did - is emblematic of the Marine Corps, Mabus said. This is one of the biggest honors I have. Ned Seath is a hero.
#4
Not to demean his superb accomplishment in any way, but it probably helped that his platoon leader is now a retired major general in receiving the award.
I wonder how many guys did similar things and the only people that know about it are the guys that were there.
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.
[Straits Times] SABAH police are continuing their analysis of a video showing a group of women stripping and dancing in the nude amid speculation that the two-minute clip was shot somewhere in the state.
ROME -- Some 1,000 Tunisians have fled the chaos in their homeland and arrived by boat on a tiny Italian island, prompting Italy to demand Friday that the European Union take stronger action to prevent an uncontrolled wave of migrants from North Africa. Since Jan. 16, about 1,600 Tunisians have landed in Italy, the U.N. refugee agency says, mostly on the island of Lampedusa, which is closer to Africa than the Italian mainland. Half of them arrived in recent days.
His Excellency President-for-Life, Caudillo of the Bolivarians Hugo Chavez
BEIJING - China raised interest rates on Tuesday for the second time in just over six weeks, intensifying a battle in the fast-expanding economy against stubbornly high inflation that threatens to unsettle global markets.
CAIRO (Ma'an) -- Arab League chief Amr Mussa announced he would resign in coming weeks, hours after Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak quit his presidency, the Cairo-based Middle East News Agency reported.
