Manchester University has decided to digitize and put online a middle-age recipe book compiled by King Richard II's master cooks.
Compiled in 1390, Forme of Cury, is a Middle English language collection of 205 recipes prepared for the royal household. The book will be digitally photographed by the John Rylands University Library. Readers can learn how to cook the long-forgotten dishes such as blank mang (a sweet dish made of meat, milk, sugar and almonds) and the original quiche, known in 14th century kitchens as custard, Guardian reported.
The cookbook will be among the 40 literary treasures, slated to be digitized by a state-of-the-art high-definition camera and placed on the internet.
An early edition of Chaucer's complete Canterbury Tales, John Lydgate's two major poems Troy Book and Fall of Princes and a 500-year-old English translation of the Bible are among the Middle English manuscripts, set to go online.
"The library's Middle English manuscripts are a research resource of immense significance. Yet the manuscripts are inherently fragile, and until now access to them has been restricted by the lack of digital copies. Digitization will make them available to everyone," said director of the John Rylands library, Jan Wilkinson.
"For the first time it will be possible to compare our manuscripts directly with other versions of the texts in libraries located across the world, opening up opportunities for new areas of research. We hope that this will be the beginning of a wider digitization program, which will unlock the tremendous potential of our medieval manuscripts and printed books for the benefit of the academic community and the wider public," he concluded.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
If this subject interests you, try these sites:
http://www.godecookery.com/
http://www.elizabethan.org/compendium/
Posted by: no mo uro ||
09/24/2008 5:25 Comments ||
Top||
#2
The book, "To The King's Taste" is a Modern English version of these recipes. Lorna Sass adapted the recipes, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art published it. We got a copy via Amazon.
Thirty years ago, I belonged to The Society for Creative Anachronism, or "How to recreate the Middle Ages without plagues, malnutrition, and outdoor plumbing." I was a feast cook. May I recommend these resources: Madeleine Pelner Cosman, "Fabulous Feasts"; Madge Lorwin, "Dining With Shakespeare"; and Odile Redon et al., "The Medieval Kitchen".
#4
Now, now, JFM. It wasn't so long after the Norman conquest then. They might have brought over some recipes that those vile Saxons hadn't ruined yet.
#6
Remember, JFM, English monarchs mostly spoke either French or Castilian at court (and in their private lives often times as well) until Elizabeth I.
So there had to be SOME French Norman influence present at that time.
And you have to give the English credit for one truly great culinary invention, spit-roasted meat.
(As in an iron spit, not saliva).
Posted by: no mo uro ||
09/24/2008 14:51 Comments ||
Top||
#7
I remeber that in 2004 we visited the D-Day sites. We dined at Bayeux who was in British sector and we had chicken cooked in calvados (brandy from apples)and cheeves. It was one of the best things I have ever eaten and I live in France. Next table was an English who had ordered the same thing than us and loked suspiciously at the contents of his plate a bit like if one of us had to taste roasted insects or similar delicacies while his wife detailed him the contents of his plate in order to overcome his reluctance. An ROTFL moment.
(SomaliNet) An international watchdog's annual report said Tuesday that Somalia remains rooted to the bottom of a global corruption index that also features Iraq and Afghanistan among the world's most corrupt countries.
Transparency International's annual Corruption Perceptions Index said rich European countries such as Britain and Italy also have slipped adding that Denmark, Sweden and New Zealand share the honor of being the world's least corrupt countries.
There was little change at the bottom from last year -- with Somalia closely followed, as in 2007, by Myanmar, Iraq and Haiti. Just ahead of them was Afghanistan, which slipped to 176th place from 172nd.
Berlin-based Transparency said the index ''highlights the fatal link between poverty, failed institutions and graft.'' The ranking measures perceived levels of public sector corruption in 180 countries and draws on surveys of businesses and experts. ''In the poorest countries, corruption levels can mean the difference between life and death, when money for hospitals or clean water is in play,'' Transparency chairwoman Huguette Labelle said in a statement, describing the combination of corruption and poverty as ''an ongoing humanitarian disaster.''
Somalia has lacked an effective central government since 1991, leaving the country in the grip of violence and anarchy.
There were some bright spots in the new report: the report showed African powerhouse Nigeria improving to 121st place from 147th last year, reflecting increasingly positive perceptions of the country's new government. Georgia rose to 67th place from 79th, showing that the government's ''early reform efforts were highly effective in earning public confidence and improving the country's international image,'' the report said. But it added that, while petty corruption is generally agreed to have declined, grand corruption is a persistent concern.
Labelle stressed that ''even in more privileged countries, with enforcement disturbingly uneven, a tougher approach to tackling corruption is needed.''
The report pointed to worsening performances by Britain, which slipped to 16th from 12th, and Italy, down to 55th from 41st. It said Britain's perceived anti-corruption credentials suffered from a decision by its anti-fraud agency to halt an inquiry into whether one of the world's largest arms dealers offered bribes in exchange for lucrative contracts in Saudi Arabia; while fraud and corruption cases in the public health system weighed on Italy.
Another decliner in the European Union was Bulgaria -- described as ''still wary of tackling political corruption'' -- which slipped to 72nd from 64th. Finland, tied for first place last year, slid to fifth because of a lack of transparency in election campaign finance.
The U.S. was in 18th place, compared with 20th last year. The report noted that it remains among the lowest-ranked leading industrial countries. ''Contributing factors may include a widespread sense that political finance is in need of reform, with lobbyists and special interest groups perceived to have an unfair hold on political decision-making,'' the report said.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
#10
Guess they don't count Louisiana, New Jersey, etc as separate entities [even though their state GDP is probably higher than some countries]. We could probably take several of the top 20 positions just on those.
(SomaliNet) Nigeria's militant group responsible for the abduction of two South Africans released the two men early on Friday, ten days after 36-year-old Dan Laarman and fellow South African, Robert Berrie, were kidnapped in the Niger Delta in Nigeria. "The duo was handed over to government secret service officials at 11pm on Thursday night, who will in turn hand them over to representatives of the South African high commission," Jomo Gbomo, a spokesperson for the group, known as the Movement of the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend), said.
Doesn't it seem as if kidnapping for profit has become a pan-African affair ...
On September 9, a rival militant group seized the two South Africans - along with two British citizens, a Ukrainian and 22 Nigerians - as they travelled to an oil rig on the vessel HD Blue Ocean, at the entrance of the Sambreiro River in the delta, a vast network of mangrove creeks which is home to Africa's biggest oil industry.
Laarman was in Nigeria on a month-long contract with Hydrodive Nigeria to work on Chevron oil rigs.
Mend said it had "rescued" the 27 hostages from the group that had kidnapped them, but would hold on to the remaining 25 hostages until one of its leaders, Henry Okah, was released from prison. The group released the two South Africans because Okah's wife, who lives in South Africa, said the South African government was treating her and her children well.
South Africa's Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa said the South African high commissioner to Nigeria, Stix Sifingo, had confirmed the release of the two South Africans. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, South Africa's Minister of Foreign Affairs, expressed appreciation on behalf of the government to the Nigerian authorities for helping to bring about a resolution to the matter.
Militant groups attack oil installations and kidnap expatriate workers, saying they are fighting for a greater share of profits from oil exploitation for the poor.
Laarman's parents, Will and Ingrid, said from their Cosmos home on the Hartbeespoort Dam near Pretoria, that they were overjoyed when they received the news on Friday. "When I heard Dan's voice over the phone on Friday afternoon, it felt as if a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. It was a very emotional experience for me," Ingrid said.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
The office of ousted South African president Thabo Mbeki announced Tuesday that his deputy president, 10 cabinet ministers and three deputy ministers were resigning, an exodus that sent tremors through the markets of Africa's biggest economy and stoked fears of a political crisis.
Most worries were mitigated by afternoon, when the ruling African National Congress announced that several of those who had quit -- including Finance Minister Trevor Manuel, who is viewed as a rudder of South Africa's steady economy -- did so as a formality and were willing to serve under an interim president to be sworn in Thursday.
The assurances caused the South African rand and stock market to rebound from the drop that followed the announcement that one-third of the cabinet was leaving. But the resignations underscored the deep schism within the ANC, which asked Mbeki to resign this weekend after a court ruling suggested he had plotted to have his rival, ANC leader Jacob Zuma, charged with corruption.
The ANC had said it was trying to persuade all cabinet members to stay on. Nine of 10 of the ministers who tendered resignations are ANC members, most viewed as loyal to Mbeki. At a hastily called news conference Tuesday, ANC Secretary General Gwede Mantashe insisted that the resignations would not provoke a crisis and that "the process of governance will continue as normal."
Mantashe said that Manuel, three other ministers and three deputy ministers who had resigned wanted to let the interim president appoint a cabinet but would resume their work if asked. The deputy president and five other ministers -- whose portfolios include defense and public enterprises -- indicated that their departures were final, he said. The situation of the remaining minister, who oversees science and technology, was subject to discussion, he said.
"There's no crisis," Mantashe said. "We're ready to fill any position that arises."
The departures came a day after ANC leaders indicated, but did not formally announce, that the party's deputy president, Kgalema Motlanthe, would take over as interim president Thursday. Motlanthe, a left-leaning former union leader and political prisoner, is viewed as loyal to Zuma, who defeated Mbeki for the party leadership in December and is expected to win the presidency in national elections next year. But Motlanthe, who is a cabinet minister without a portfolio, is also viewed as moderate, reasonable and capable of soothing party divisions.
Opposition parties praised the choice. Zuma, speaking to reporters on Monday, said Motlanthe was "equal to the task." "It should be borne in mind that comrade Mbeki led an ANC government," Zuma said. "We therefore expect a smooth transition, as this is not a change of party but only leadership in government."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
The assurances caused the South African rand and stock market to rebound from the drop that followed the announcement that one-third of the cabinet was leaving.
One must wonder what our portfolios would look like if members of congress resigned
(SomaliNet) With the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) government forces claiming to have killed around 20 rebels, fresh fighting broke out on Monday between the army and rebel militia in the east of DRC.
Sources say the fighting took place close to Goma, capital of North Kivu province. "Our forces pushed the rebels back on Tuesday morning from Sake towards Mushaki," Major Omar Selamani said, adding that the bodies of about 20 rebel fighters had been seen by the road outside Sake.
According to press reports, Laurent Nkunda's rebel National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP) confirmed the attack, but made no reference to rebel casualties. The UN peacekeeping mission in DR Congo, known by the French acronym MONUC, had issued an urgent appeal to government forces and rebels on Saturday for a ceasefire. "These new clashes would have a dramatic impact on civilians," it said, recalling that 1,3-million people have been displaced by the fighting.
Fighting flared anew August 28 in North Kivu in violation of a peace accord that was signed in January.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
There has been no significant success in the unprecedented anti-corruption drive in the last 19 months in Bangladesh, which has ranked 10th among the most corrupt countries this year.
Bangladesh has jumped up three positions to 147th with 2.1 points in the annual global corruption perceptions index (CPI) of the Transparency International (TI) with a mere 0.1-point increase. Kenya, Russia and Syria have scored the same.
Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) said the shift in position bears almost no significance in terms of reining corruption; it is rather the result of decline in other countries' status.
The international anti-corruption watchdog's Bangladesh officials blamed three factors for the country's poor score--absence of administrative reforms, influence on the judiciary, and insecurity and uncertainty in business and investment.
"Point-one increase is not at all statistically significant," Prof Muzaffer Ahmad, chairman of TIB board of trustees, said at a press conference at the Jatiya Press Club yesterday. The CPI 2008 was unveiled at the press conference.
Pointing to an apparent failure in maintaining the integrity of the legal process, TIB Executive Director Iftekharuzzaman said, "If the oversight institutions could work properly, for example, if the judiciary were not influenced, Bangladesh's position could have been better in the index."
He said at one point of the anti-corruption drive, no graft accused got bail although they were expected to. "But in a completely opposite scene later, we saw the accused being freed from jail on bail as if it was a procession," he added.
Somalia remains at the bottom of the list as the most corrupt country like last year, jointly followed by Myanmar and Iraq. Haiti is in third position while Afghanistan fourth from the bottom.
Denmark, New Zealand and Sweden have jointly ranked as the least corrupt countries with 9.3 points. Singapore followed them with 9.2 points, and Finland and Switzerland with 9 points.
The only other Asian country among the top 20 least corrupt countries is Hong Kong, which ranked 12th with 8.1 points.
Of the other South Asian countries, Pakistan ranked 14th from the bottom, Nepal 16th, the Maldives 17th, Sri Lanka 21st, India 22nd and Bhutan 36th.
Having scored 8.6 points in 2006 and 8.4 last year, the UK has scored 7.7, marking a serious deterioration hardly seen in the 14-year history of CPI. This has been attributed to the UK government's intervention into Serious Fraud Office's investigations into BAE Systems' alleged bribing of Saudi officials, the TI said.
The annual CPI was first released in 1995 and has since become most well known of the TI tools. The index includes 180 countries for ranking on their perceived degree of prevalence of political and administrative corruption determined in 14 surveys conducted by internationally reputed institutions.
The data used in the CPI reflect corruption and bribery, diversion of funds, misuse of public office for private or political gain, extent of corruption in the government, public sector corruption, government's anti-corruption efforts and achievements and its capacity to punish and contain corruption, and undocumented extra payments collected in the discharge of government functions, judiciary, executive level, and tax collection.
Bangladesh has ranked as the most corrupt country for five consecutive years since 2000, and third in 2006. The country's ranking went up four positions last year with 2 points.
"Bangladesh's apparent upward movement in ranking from seventh to tenth does not necessarily indicate any notable better performance over last year, except that other countries may have performed worse," the TI said.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
They're starting early...
Olympic organizers issued detailed design rules for the 2012 London games Wednesday, including a mandate that at least some toilets in the Olympic park do not face the holy Islamic city of Mecca. Just some? It's so nobody'll fart in their general direction.
Members of the Olympic Delivery Authority said they wanted the Olympic and Paralympic games to be inclusive of people with different faiths and individuals with disabilities. Other design requirements include wide paths with smooth surfaces and seats at regular intervals. Are they pointed at Mecca?
"The Olympic Park will be at the heart of the celebrations and people of all cultures, faiths and ages and disabled people will find London 2012's Olympic Park welcoming and easy to use," authority chairman John Armitt said. The organizers sought input from a range of communities before coming up with the design requirements. But of course. Some more then others it appears.
Muslims face Mecca, in Saudi Arabia, when they pray and generally do not believe they should do the same when using the toilet. They also wipe their asses with their left hand, so maybe they could skip the toilet paper and save a few bucks?
#4
why are there Muslim countries in the Olympics? Did they start an AK firing contest , oh never mind they don't know how too hit anythin with them either
#6
Yet how many Muslims, out of sight of the home crowd, will be "praying to the porcelain god?"
Ever seen a Saudi on vacation? Sheesh!
Posted by: Minister of funny walks ||
09/24/2008 16:02 Comments ||
Top||
#7
Toilet orienteering? Who's got that effen job?
Tried to post this as an article, then as news link didn't work out - looks as good a place as any to post the link. Tom Tancredo has some great ideas.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=5D79605E-C8BF-4AA9-9096-6F846283F749
Taro Aso, a former foreign minister who delivers snappy speeches, reads manga comics and talks tough about China, was selected Monday to be Japan's next prime minister.
"Who's the new prime minister?"
"Some Aso."
When his selection by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is formalized Wednesday in parliament, Aso, 68, a blue-blooded party stalwart whose grandfather was a prime minister, will be the third Japanese leader chosen by party officials in two years.
"Who else but our party can achieve policies in order to address the public's concerns?" Aso said after easily winning a party vote that had been viewed as a sure thing from the moment Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda abruptly announced Sept. 1 that he would quit.
As prime minister, Aso will not have to call an election until the fall of next year.
But Japan's economy is on the brink of recession, parliament is deadlocked and there is widespread public dissatisfaction with the ruling party. As a result, Aso may quickly dissolve parliament and schedule a nationwide election before his personal popularity dissipates. Recent polls show his approval ratings are slightly above 40 percent.
There has been widespread speculation that an election could be called as early as next month, although Aso said last week that would be too soon, given the turmoil in world financial markets.
In recent speeches, Aso has advocated the LDP's traditional cure-alls for what ails Japan -- tax cuts and increased public spending, especially on projects in rural areas that are the party's historic base.
He has warned about the dangers of secretive Chinese military spending, but he also reassured China that he would "not view with hostility" that country's economic development. China is Japan's biggest trading partner.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Hey, Fred that is my line.
"Millie, get that Aso from Japan on the phone."
"Yes sir, Mr. President".
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
09/24/2008 13:21 Comments ||
Top||
(AKI) - Sixteen people, including outspoken journalist Tuncay Ozkan, were arrested in Turkey on Tuesday in relation to a plot to overthrow the government.
Turkish media said Ozkan was strongly opposed to the government and founded a website, "Biz Kac Kisiyiz?" (How many are we?), as a platform to oppose the Islamist policies of the ruling AKP party. He was also the founder and former owner of a Turkish TV channel, Kanalturk.
Gurbuz Capan, a columnist for the anti-AKP Cumhuriyet daily and former mayor, Duygu Dikmenoglu, a former narrator for Kanalturk and Adnan Bulut, former executive of the channel and journalist, were among the detainees, news agencies said. A number of forensic specialists were also detained in the operation, they added.
The latest arrests are part of an ongoing investigation, known as Ergenekon, in which politicians, journalists, intellectuals and retired generals are accused of being members of an illegal organisation planning a military coup.
The Ergenekon operation was revealed in June 2007 when grenades were allegedly discovered in a house in Istanbul's Umraniye district. It is alleged to have exposed an illegal organisation that was planning events that would pave the way for a military coup to overthrow the ruling AKP government.
The detainees will be charged with a number of crimes including "forming an armed terrorist organisation, being a member of a terrorist organisation, and aiding the organisation."
Eighty-six people have been charged with conspiracy against the government in the Ergenekon indictment filed in Istanbul on 14 July 2008. Forty-seven are being held in custody and they are expected to begin appearing in court in October.
Another indictment is expected to be submitted for those detained in the latest two waves of the operation. Last Thursday 15 people, including a well-known actress, were arrested in five Turkish provinces in relation to the plot to overthrow the government. Turkish news agencies said lawyer Levent Temiz, who is also the former head of a nationalist organisation, actress Nurseli Idiz and Seyhan Soylu, an artist manager, were taken into custody in Istanbul.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
The Czech Republic is to reveal secret police files about alleged Soviet spies, including the names of some current high ranking officials. But is it a valid assumption that if they were willing to sell out 20 or 30 years ago they're still willing to sell out now?... Yeah. I think so.
The documents include the names of those who allegedly collaborated with the former Czechoslovakian secret service and they contain the names of both spies and their targets, the Russia Today reported.
Almost 19 kilometers of files with details on 140,000 people from the country's former secret police are being kept at the Institute of Totalitarian Regimes and two other locations in the Czech Republic. "Of course we cannot find all secrets of former communist regime in these files," said the institute's director, professor Pavel Zacek. "But it was a very important institution - the secret police - and this institution was so bureaucratic that there's much information and many files than can be used for study".
In 1990, then President Vaclav Havel kept the files secret, fearing they would threaten the country's democracy. The Parliament, however decided to make public the documents in 2002. But only last year they were transferred from the Interior Ministry to the Institute of Totalitarian Regimes, giving the public unprecedented physical access to them. Some lawmakers are strongly against the revelation of the files, saying digging up the past in this way could lead to "witch hunts". I'm guessing most of them are worried about their names being found on the list.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[8 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Burn them all onto CDs and distribute them widely.
Posted by: DanNY ||
09/24/2008 0:49 Comments ||
Top||
Barack Obama has recaptured the lead 45 percent to 39 percent over John McCain in the presidential race, according to a FOX News poll released Wednesday.
As majorities of each partys faithful back their party nominee, the battle stays focused on that most sought-after group of voters: independents.
These voters, evenly divided between the candidates in August, swung to McCain earlier this month, which gave him his first lead over Obama since April. In this latest poll independents give a slight edge to Obama, though many have moved back into the undecided column.
In addition, the poll shows Obama has improved his position on the most important issue to voters this year the economy. He is seen as the best candidate to handle the nations economy, and more voters also say he would be better at handling the current financial crisis facing the country.
Opinion Dynamics Corp. conducted the national telephone poll of 900 registered voters for FOX News from September 22 to September 23. The poll has a 3-point error margin.
McCain held a 3-point advantage earlier this month immediately after the Republican convention (September 8-9). Before that Obama had a 3-point lead going into the Democratic convention (August 19-20). Looking back as far as a year ago, in head-to-head polling neither candidate has had a lead outside the polls margin of sampling error. Obamas lead today is just at the outside edge of the margin of error.
The new poll finds Obama now has the edge among men (+5 percentage points) a group that had previously either been evenly divided or slightly in McCains column. Obama maintains his advantage among women voters (+8), while white women are a bit more likely to support McCain (+2).
Obama Has the Edge on Top Issues
The economy is far and away the most important issue to voters in this election. More than four times as many people say the economy (46 percent) is the top concern as choose the issue terrorism and national security (10 percent). All other issues receive single digit support.
Obama is trusted more to handle the economy by 10 percentage points, the related issue of taxes by 7 points, and he also leads on handling energy independence by 10 points. His largest advantage 21 points is on handling the issue of health care.
By double-digit margins McCain is trusted more to handle the issues of terrorism (+ 12 points) and the Iraq war (+ 8 points).
Nearly twice as many voters think their taxes will go up under a President Obama (15 percent) than a President McCain (8 percent). A 65 percent majority thinks their taxes will go up no matter which candidate takes the White House.
Which candidate do voters trust to keep his word? Some 41 percent think Obama and 38 percent McCain. Another 10 percent say neither.
By a 5-point margin more voters think the Democratic ticket has better judgment combined a reversal from two weeks ago when the Republican ticket had a 4-point edge.
The Democratic ticket has a 12-point edge when it comes to bringing the right change to Washington, up from a 7-point lead two weeks ago. The Obama-Biden ticket also has the edge on understanding the problems you and your family face these days (+13 points).
The Republican ticket is seen as having more experience combined (+ 15 points).
Voters are now almost evenly divided when asked who they would go to for advice if they had to make the toughest decision of their life 40 percent say Obama and 39 percent McCain. Earlier this month McCain had a 16-point advantage on this measure (50 percent to Obamas 34 percent). McCain had a 6-point edge in the August 19-20 poll (43 percent McCain and 37 percent Obama).
Among independents, 34 percent would go to Obama for advice and 31 percent McCain. This too is a change earlier this month independents broke 22 percent Obama and 52 percent McCain. In August, 26 percent of independents said they would go to Obama for advice and 41 percent said McCain.
With the struggling national economy, the prolonged Iraq war and high disapproval ratings for President Bush, the conventional wisdom has been it is impossible for a Democratic candidate to lose this election. How would voters explain an Obama loss? About one of four voters (26 percent) say if Obama loses they think racism will be to blame. A-57 percent majority thinks it would be for another reason.
Over half of black voters (55 percent) and about one of five white voters (22 percent) think racism across the country would be to blame if Obama is defeated in November.
On a similar question about McCains age, 17 percent think if he loses it will be mainly because of his age and 68 percent say because of something else. Twenty-five percent of seniors age 65 and over think McCains age would be to blame if he loses.
Voters More Comfortable with Biden Stepping in as President
More voters would be comfortable with Joe Biden as vice president as would be comfortable with Sarah Palin in that role. Some 40 percent would be extremely comfortable or very comfortable with Biden as vice president, while 34 percent would be with Palin.
Similarly, when the question asks what if it were necessary for the vice president to step in and serve as president: 44 percent would be extremely or very comfortable with Biden as president, and 32 percent with Palin.
The big difference comes at the other end of the scale: 38 percent of voters say they would be not at all comfortable with Palin stepping in to serve as president more than twice as many as say the same about Biden (17 percent).
Palins favorable rating has dropped a bit and now stands at 47 percent, down from 54 percent two weeks ago. Nearly half of voters 48 percent have a favorable view of Biden, down from 51 percent (September 8-9).
Unfair Attacks
The presidential candidates say they want to run respectful campaigns focused on the issues so are they? Almost half of voters (47 percent) think McCain has made unfair attacks against Obama somewhat higher than the 36 percent who think Obama is hitting below the belt.
#2
It seemed that when the polls showed McCain-Palin were leading you heard nary a word about the polls. Then the "One" is now leading and everything according to the media is sweetness and light. With the exception of the ABC/WAPO poll, the polls are a statistical tie. The ABC/WAPO poll had a sample of 780 likely voters, my memory is a little cloudy but I seem to remember that a sample is considered statistically significant at around 1024 respondents. This does not take into account inherent bias when you ask 54% dem and 36% repub. The only poll that counts is the one at the end of the first Tuesday of November.
Disgraced former judge Rep. Alcee Hastings told an audience of Jewish Democrats Wednesday that they should be wary of Republican VP nominee Sarah Palin because "anybody toting guns and stripping moose don't care too much about what they do with Jews and blacks."
Posted by: Mike ||
09/24/2008 15:55 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[10 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Maybe, but Rev. Sharpton has already shown how to deal with Jews. Remember Crown Heights -
"During the riot blacks looted stores,[36] beat Jews in the street,[36] and clashed with groups of Jews, hurling rocks and bottles at one another [38] after Yankel Rosenbaum, a visiting student from Australia, was stabbed and killed by a member of a mob shouting "Kill the Jew."[39] Sharpton, who arranged a rally in Crown Heights after Cato's death,[36] has been seen by some commentators as inflaming tensions by making remarks that included "If the Jews want to get it on, tell them to pin their yarmulkes back and come over to my house"[40] and referring to Jews as "diamond merchants."[41]- wiki
#2
I suppose this knucklehead didn't get the memo. Governor Palin flies the Israeli flag in her office, her support for Israel, garnered from her Church, is strong AND that's probably one of the top three reasons the politics of personal destruction leftists came out so fast and with such fury.
GOP candidate calls on Obama to join him in suspending campaign so both can work with Congress to hammer out bailout plan; asks that debate be postponed.
Very statesman-like. McCain puts the business of the Nation above his personal (and party) ambition. Looks like he's staying inside Obama's decision loop. OODA
#1
My first gut feeling was this will hurt him, hope I'm wrong. I'm worried that it could be used against him by saying he cannot handle big pressures more then one at a time.
I am really interested in others opinions on this. Please try to be serious and not just spouting party points. Does anyone else think it could hurt his chances? Thanks.
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
09/24/2008 16:41 Comments ||
Top||
#2
I look for the MSM to play this up just as you posit YS, too much to handle at one time; but what would be really great would be to see JM take these couple of days off to work this, and then come back and smoke The One in the debate.
reading the article at the link it appears the MSM lost no time in putting the leftspin on it.
#3
I don't think it will hurt him with the 40-45% who had already decided to vote for him, Yosemite Sam, nor change many minds of the 40-45% who either were going to vote for Obama or sit out the election. One must ask whether Sarah Palin will go to Washington, too, where she has no official role, or continue on the campaign trail alone for the nonce, which would change the equation (alone she'll be viewed as a real underdog, and Americans like to root for underdogs). Personally, I'm glad that a man known for building compromises between the parties is going back to the Senate to work on a situation that has the entire financial world melting down -- I read about problems in Britain, France and China resulting from our little problem here. The question is whether the 10-20% of voters who haven't yet made up their minds will be happier to see a candidate respond to a problem, possibly as threatening as 9/11, that voters across the country have been screaming to their Congressmen about, or not.
/See? No party points at all. Because you're right, that would add nothing at all to the discussion.
#5
Thanks TW. When folks present answers and insight like yours, it really helps me (and probably others) to see the trees for the forest - to come to a better conclusion then just reacting emotionally. :)
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
09/24/2008 17:06 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Hurt him? Not a chance.
Regardless bho's decision(let 'im go to Mzippi debate a coupla bitter clingers - better yet, bring Mrs. Palin to bear - pinch hit)Senator McCain should take to the floor of the Senate, throw reid/pelosi under the bus THEN extol the virtues of capitalism adding gub'mint needs to get out of the way.
Wall Street is a nest of democrats, the root cause of this crisis is democrats, over regulation and the change in accounting rules after Enron didn't help. Let the thousands of small prudent banks, small business folks and savers bail us out. Bring them/us cheap plentiful energy, suspend capital gains taxes and this shit storm will calm in short order. Perp walk a few democrat politicians, seize the assets of the hedge funds the clinton kid and biden's kid work for in an eliot(I love hookers)spitzer move just for the laughs.
Unfortunately he'd probably do what President Bush is most likely to do tonight - blame CEO compensation. It's about the only thing the ignorance of the American public will allow.
I'd be shocked if b. hussein obama agreed to that. The only elected official anywhere near DC when this hit was POTUS. The democrats where scrambling to start getting the disinformation out and republicans don't have the stomach for this kinda fight, never have. Did you hear one republican calling for criminal prosecutions of dodd or frank? The political criminal class is a different kind of animal.
#7
FWIW: Seattle Times.com sound off on this has the libs piling on, spouting the canned lines: too old, losing so gotta steal the headlines, blah, blah, blah. there are only about 3 or 4 comments in it that give JM any support.
#8
Early on in this campaign, Obama marketed himself as the great healer that would bring both sides together. This is a chance for him to act in place of pretty pretty words. Undecided independent attend.
Obama will not follow McCain's lead on this. Convinced of his own infallibility, he'll stand there alone* on that stage with his thumb and his backside, while McCain WORKS for the country in Washington.
*although the Palin gambit might prove even further enlightening for those still able to learn.
Posted by: Minister of funny walks ||
09/24/2008 17:33 Comments ||
Top||
#9
The media will spin it as a "campaign stunt."
Obama will use it as an "I really care about the American people, so I'm here to debate" photo op.
McCain is risking the election to try to save the country from a really bad version of The Great Depression.
Obama, as usual, is full of sh*t.
The media, as usual, is full of sh*t.
McCain is doing the only honorable thing, which is to work as a senior senator on the issue.
Obama, who is a junior junior junior senator, would rather try to feather his own nest, than worry about all of us.
Besides, he has the backing of rich middle-easterners and commies, so he doesn't have to worry.
Whether the PEOPLE will see past Obama and the ever-present media spin, is the question.
#12
I don't have a clue how this is going to turn out for McCain. The media spin is going to do its best to make him look foolish and, like it or not, that is going to have an impact on people.
I just don't know what to make of this damn bailout. If we do nothing and the credit market seizes, we are all in the shit. If this is just a bandaid, then we are all going to be in the shit anyway, only a bit deeper.
I am of one mind on dealing with macro issues, again keeping the credit markets open and operating. I am, however, totally against any message/bailout that gives people the impression that they no longer have to pay their mortgage, car, student loan or credit card payments.
I have lost all confidence in Bush with regard to domestic policy. He is a big government, near socialist politician. Regardless of who was originally respnsible, he let this shit go down under his watch and did not make it a priority to stop it.
Yes, I've seen the proposed oversight legislation he proposed, but did he sell it? Did he get it done? Did he make it a priority and really take on the dems on the issue? No to all of the above. He screwed it and did not lead.
I admire much of what he's done on foriegn policy, but on the domestic stuff he has been a disaster and has ruined the Republican party through a complete lack of leadership (plenty of the repub guys in congress needed their asses kicked during his first term...he never vetoed a single bill).
I think we are going to get Obama. We are going to get what we deserve. It is going to be very ugly, but hopefully will only last 4 years.
ABC News George Stephanopoulos and Rick Klein report: Sen. John McCain on Wednesday said he would suspend his presidential campaign to come to Washington to help negotiate a financial bailout bill, a dramatic move designed to seize a powerful issue.
However a senior Obama campaign official said Obama "intends to debate."
"The debate is on," a senior Obama campaign official told ABC News.
McCain said he called on the Commission on Presidential Debates to postpone the debate scheduled for Friday in Mississippi, to ensure quick congressional action.
I have spoken to Senator Obama and informed him of my decision and have asked him to join me, McCain planned to say in New York City, according to advance excerpts released by his campaign. I am calling on the president to convene a meeting with the leadership from both houses of Congress, including Senator Obama and myself. It is time for both parties to come together to solve this problem.
Obama supporter and chief debate negotiator Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., told MSNBC that "we can handle both," when asked about his reaction to McCain's call to postpone the first debate because of the administration's bailout plan.
He believes they are making good progress on Capitol Hill on the bailout and his initial reaction is that the work on the Hill should not preclude the debate from taking place.
An Obama campaign official told ABC News the Democratic presidential candidate called McCain this morning to suggest a joint statement of principles.
McCain called back this afternoon and suggested returning to Washington.
Obama is willing to return to Washington "if it would be helpful." But reiterated Obama intends to debate on Friday.
McCain and his top advisers said the Republican presidential candidate has not committed to voting for the massive financial bailout plan proposed by the Bush administration, with aides saying he will reserve final judgment until there is a final product.
A senior McCain campaign official said that the Bush package is dead. This is a serious situation. Package must be resolved by the time markets open on Monday."
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Tuesday that McCain had assured Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson that he would support the $700 billion legislation.
Asked about that Wednesday, McCain responded: I did not say that.
Senior advisor Mark Salter then interjected saying, He hasnt said that to Paulson or to Reid or to anybody else. He hasnt said that to me.
McCain campaign political director Mike DuHaime told reporters at a lunch meeting in Washington that the senator will not commit until he sees the final package that comes to the Senate floor.
Hes going to do what he thinks is right, DuHaime said at a lunch sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor. Hell make a vote as a leader in this country, and people will look to him.
DuHaime added, Quite frankly, I think you could ask Sen. Obama if hes going to do what he thinks is right. I mean, he has never -- I believe -- never once made a decision that is an unpopular decision or went against the orthodoxy of his party, and was one that was one that was a tough decision to make. . . . Sen. McCain has done that throughout his entire career, his entire life -- not just in politics, but his life.
DuHaime said that while McCain understands the urgency, many voters continue to have important questions about what the bailout means to them.
When you start talking about $10,000 per household or per family to go toward bailing out Wall Street, they have legitimate questions about it, DuHaime said. People understand that that is a big thing and it affects them, and they do legitimately have questions about, is this really going to go to bail out companies or leaders of companies who now are relying on taxpayer dollars to bail them out, and are going to get these huge compensation packages after they come to the taxpayers for it.
There is some frustration, certainly, in that, and its understandable to say the least. And it has not been a quick rush to say yes or no. People understand the gravity of this, want to see it done right, while still understanding the timing factor.
#1
Senior advisor Mark Salter then interjected saying, He hasnt said that to Paulson or to Reid or to anybody else. He hasnt said that to me.
strange that Harry Reid would say such a thing. That would make him a ...liar.
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/24/2008 16:03 Comments ||
Top||
#2
I'd like to see the "debate" go ahead with just Obama there, talking to himself. That would be about as useful as having him in Washington voting "present".
#3
Excellent - McCain is now going to support this handout plan just as he supported the amnesty plan. I cant believe hes pulling this kind of stunt in the middle of a presidential election campaign. Why does he persist in doing un-conservative things? Is he daring conservatives not to vote for him?
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
09/24/2008 16:26 Comments ||
Top||
#5
ZF, precisely where does it say that McCain is supporting this thing? Based on his previous remarks over the week, I don't think he does.
I could care less right now about the election. He's a senator, he should be there in Washington dealing with this mess instead of giving the same canned speech over and over again, and so should Obama. (I'm betting he won't, mainly because it will put a crimp in his fundraising.)
#6
Just my two-cents -- McCain hasn't said yes to the plan:
top advisers said the Republican presidential candidate has not committed to voting for the massive financial bailout plan proposed by the Bush administration, with aides saying he will reserve final judgment until there is a final product.
Flanking McCain were former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, his one-time rival for the GOP presidential nomination, and former eBay CEO Meg Whitman. Others in the meeting were John Chambers, CEO of Cisco Systems, and John Thain, the CEO of Merrill Lynch before it was acquired by Bank of America earlier this month for a much-reduced value.
In addition, he states I am calling on the president to convene a meeting with the leadership from both houses of Congress, including Senator Obama and myself. It is time for both parties to come together to solve this problem.
One other thought -- talk about distancing himself from Bush: Bush is going prime-time tonight, pushing for the bailout; McCain steps on center-stage today and grabbed the limelight, doing just the opposite of what Bush is doing, proving he's not Bush III.
#7
I'm sure there's already a crimp in Candidate Obama's fund raising, Cornsilk Blondie. I saw a picture of a rally he held recently; more than half the seats were empty, at a location McCain and Palin had filled a few days before.
#8
One other thought -- I sure hope Romney banged McCain on the head, and laid out a to-do plan for him. McCain's plans, the "let's get together and talk about it," haven't always given us what we want. Usually, much more than we want!
#9
ZF, precisely where does it say that McCain is supporting this thing? Based on his previous remarks over the week, I don't think he does.
He just did an about face. The right plan would be no plan - i.e. let the market sort it out. The fact that he supports any plan means he's not interested in letting the market work.
I hope the handout package fails anyway. Its a real boat anchor for him, when you consider that the handout plan as envisioned requires the purchase of toxic waste assets from financial institutions (a category now broadened to include companies like IBM, GE and H&R Block) at a significant premium to what they would fetch today based on the fanciful idea that government officials have a better (in my view inflated) idea of what theyre worth than prevailing market prices. This is the biggest non-entitlement-related boondoggle in American history. Even if he wins the election, the fallout from this massive handout - due to massive portfolio losses resulting from paying too much for toxic waste assets - will make him a one-term president.
#10
Look back at where all the bad loans came from. They came from Clinton pushing for looser restrictions on home loans for people that could not qualify under a conventional loan. He proposed it. Congress made it into law. The financial houses made the sh*t loans. The loans went into default. Now Congress and the current president are trying to bail out bad policy that was made into law.
The same people who absolutely created the problem are the same people that caused the problem. God help and protect us from these incompetents, thieves, and parasites.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
09/24/2008 17:33 Comments ||
Top||
#11
Last paragraph correction:
The same people who absolutely created the problem are the same people that are going to solve the problem. God help and protect us from these incompetents, thieves, and parasites.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
09/24/2008 17:34 Comments ||
Top||
#12
ZF, going back to Washington to do the job Arizona elected him to do is not an about face (he's still their senior senator, in case you forgot). Sorry, but voting "present" on this one just ain't good enough.
#13
Heading off the possible collapse of our economy trumps all other activities. Just staying in contact with Reid and Pelosi by phone is not leadership.
I wonder if Obama's wife was in critical condition and could possibly die, would he continue the campaign and stay in touch with the doctors? Perhaps he would after giving the doctors his four main talking points on what her treatment should be to cure her.
#14
Isn't the bailout really needed to avoid A Great Depression II? I mean, the government will eventually have to spend big dollars in any kind of echo-FDR plan anyway. I say, best to avoid it NOW while we can. The Dems seem to be pushing to not pass it, which makes me really suspicious.
#15
McCain could still surprise everyone by coming out against the bailout & opposing Bush. The Treasury & Fed can still take control of the insolvent banks (which is probably most of them), as they are already required to do, & provide relief for the ensuing credit crunch directly.
#16
I suspect Anguper's is a VERY likely scenario. Appears the crooks on the hill may be mod'ing the... terms of reference from "bail out" which isn't selling well in Peoria, to something more palatable like "rescue plan." New deck chair arrangement, same flooded engine room.
The proposal by Sen. Chris (VIP Countrywide)Dodd, D-Conn., the Banking Committee chairman, would give the government broad power to buy up virtually any kind of bad asset including credit card debt or car loans from any of the folks financial institution in the U.S. or abroad in order to stabilize markets.
If this drags on more than a week or so, it will get much worse by design as "the folks" decide to forgoe their already delinquent Sept and pending Oct/Nov house, credit card, or Escalade payments in anticipation of a potential entitlement windfall.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Nobel Peace Prize winner and environmental crusader Al Gore urged young people on Wednesday to engage in civil disobedience to stop the construction of coal plants without the ability to store carbon.
The former U.S. vice president, whose climate change documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" won an Academy Award, told a philanthropic meeting in New York City that "the world has lost ground to the climate crisis."
"If you're a young person looking at the future of this planet and looking at what is being done right now, and not done, I believe we have reached the stage where it is time for civil disobedience to prevent the construction of new coal plants that do not have carbon capture and sequestration," Gore told the Clinton Global Initiative gathering to loud applause.
"I believe for a carbon company to spend money convincing the stock-buying public that the risk from the global climate crisis is not that great represents a form of stock fraud because they are misrepresenting a material fact," he said. "I hope these state attorney generals around the country will take some action on that."
The government says about 28 coal plants are under construction in the United States. Another 20 projects have permits or are near the start of construction.
Scientists say carbon gases from burning fossil fuel for power and transport are a key factor in global warming.
Carbon capture and storage could give coal power an extended lease on life by keeping power plants' greenhouse gas emissions out of the atmosphere and easing climate change.
But no commercial-scale project exists anywhere to demonstrate the technology, partly because it is expected to increase up-front capital costs by an additional 50 percent.
So-called geo-sequestration of carbon sees carbon dioxide liquefied and pumped into underground rock layers for long term storage
#5
One day some prankster is going to cut the power to Gore's mansion. The resulting load imbalance will blackout the entire Atlantic seaboard.
Posted by: ed ||
09/24/2008 17:15 Comments ||
Top||
#6
The roots of algore's hatred for Pennsylvania go back to the Civil War. Gettysburg was the High Tide of the Confederacy. Pennsylvania introduced the world to the wonders and uses of OIL! Check Oil City, PA wiki. Pennsylvania gets about half their electricity from coal fired power plants. Pennsylvania has tremendous coal reserves, plenty of oil(sweet crude it is too)and natural gas. Unfortunately, much of it, including EPA approved drilling leases, EPA approved mineral rights mining(above and below ground, is not accessible due to environmentalist law suits. Go figure. Nah, all you gotta know is who's been running the Commonwealth since forever.
#7
PS Pennsylvanians were the original good stewards of the Earth. Saved the whales, saved the trees, propelled mankind into the Age of Oil. Of course I think they burned down Oil City a few times in the process of extracting and transporting that black gold. Connect the dots - Pennzoil, Quaker State, Wolf's Head.
#2
My hope is that Obama doesnt let McCain get away with promoting the Paulson handout plan. He needs to make McCain feel the pain, just as conservatives held McCains feet to the fire over Bushs equally wrongheaded amnesty bill. We already know that McCain did not listen to conservatives on the amnesty plan. The question is whether McCain is willing to sacrifice his bid for the presidency - in the face of Obamas attacks - in order to fund an economy-destroying handout to Wall Street. The Paulson handout plan needs to be buried in the ash heap of history.
In an interview with CNN's Larry King airing tonight, Bill Clinton offered a slightly unusual reason for postponing his campaigning for Obama: The Jewish high holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, which he's not known to observe (Typically, it is for others to be on their knees.).
"When [the Clinton Global Initiative] is over, and after the Jewish holidays, which follow close on it, I intend to go to Florida, to Ohio, to northeast Pennsylvania, and to Nevada at a minimum," he said. "I may do events in Arkansas depending on what the Democratic Party does down there. And I've agreed to do some fundraising for them in California and New York." (Unless the Shakers have something going on that I must piously observe.........)
"Are you kind of feeling Jewish that you're waiting until after the Jewish holidays?" King asked, according to a CNN transcript.
"No. But I think it would be -- if we're trying to win in Florida, it may be that," Clinton began, before discussing his real Florida target: "You know, they think that because of who I am and where my politic[al] base has traditionally been, they may want me to go sort of hustle up excellent choice of words... what Lawton Chiles used to call the 'cracker vote' there."
"But Senator Obama also has a big stake in doing well in the Jewish community in Florida, where Hillary did very well and where I did very well. And I just think respecting the holidays is a good political thing to do," he said.
#1
"An' then there's Supernatural Avocado Day, and the celebration party for the anniversary of setting the cornerstone for mah presidential library, and then I gotta get the oil changed and pick up some fish food....."
#2
That's OK, Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL) has picked up the slack with this gem: "anybody toting guns and stripping moose dont care too much about what they do with Jews and blacks".
Truly one the the great WTF moments of this years campaign.
Today the New York Times launched its latest attack on this campaign in its capacity as an Obama advocacy organization. Let us be clear about what this story alleges: The New York Times charges that McCain-Palin 2008 campaign manager Rick Davis was paid by Freddie Mac until last month, contrary to previous reporting, as well as statements by this campaign and by Mr. Davis himself.
In fact, the allegation is demonstrably false. As has been previously reported, Mr. Davis separated from his consulting firm, Davis Manafort, in 2006. As has been previously reported, Mr. Davis has seen no income from Davis Manafort since 2006. Zero. Mr. Davis has received no salary or compensation since 2006. Mr. Davis has received no profit or partner distributions from that firm on any basis -- weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly, semi-annual or annual -- since 2006. Again, zero. Neither has Mr. Davis received any equity in the firm based on profits derived since his financial separation from Davis Manafort in 2006.
Further, and missing from the Times' reporting, Mr. Davis has never -- never -- been a lobbyist for either Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Mr. Davis has not served as a registered lobbyist since 2005.
Though these facts are a matter of public record, the New York Times, in what can only be explained as a willful disregard of the truth, failed to research this story or present any semblance of a fairminded treatment of the facts closely at hand. The paper did manage to report one interesting but irrelevant fact: Mr. Davis did participate in a roundtable discussion on the political scene with...Paul Begala.
We all understand that partisan attacks are part of the political process in this country. The debate that stems from these grand and sometimes unruly conversations is what makes this country so exceptional. Indeed, our nation has a long and proud tradition of news organizations that are ideological and partisan in nature, the Huffington Post and the New York Times being two such publications. We celebrate their contribution to the political fabric of America. But while the Huffington Post is utterly transparent, the New York Times obscures its true intentions -- to undermine the candidacy of John McCain and boost the candidacy of Barack Obama -- under the cloak of objective journalism.
The New York Times is trying to fill an ideological niche. It is a business decision, and one made under economic duress, as the New York Times is a failing business. But the paper's reporting on Senator McCain, his campaign, and his staff should be clearly understood by the American people for what it is: a partisan assault aimed at promoting that papers preferred candidate, Barack Obama.
New ABC News/Washington Post poll shows a significant bump for Barack Obama. Among net leaned likely voters, Obama turned a two point deficit two weeks ago into a nine point advantage:
Obama 52 (+5)
McCain 43 (-6)
Undecided 3 (nc)
Obama leads by 2.8% in the RCP National Average.
Notables from the poll: The economy jumped another 13 points in the last two weeks to reach the 50% mark as the most important issue for voters. On that issue, Obama leads McCain by 14% as the candidate voters trust more to handle the economy, 53-39. Obama also leads by 13%, 51-38, on who voters trust more on "fixing the problems with major financial institutions."
Also, Sarah Palin's favorable ratings have taken a hit. Two weeks ago she had a net +30 favorable/unfavorable rating (58/28). In the current survey her favorable rating has dipped to 52% while her unfavorable rating is up 10 points, yielding a net +14.
#4
They also exit polled the east coast, projecting Gore over Bush. They seriously misjudge anything west of the Beltway--I see a lot of Democratic Clinton supporters/anti-McCain voters joining the Palin bandwagon. Even Bill Clinton has voiced respect for the First Dude.
Posted by: Mike ||
09/24/2008 13:09 Comments ||
Top||
#6
It's only mid-September. We've 1.5 months left to Election Day -- for some countries that's the entire time span they have to campaign. Remember when Candidate Obama was tootling triumphantly around Europe, while Candidate McCain drew crowds of 2,000 for town hall meetings?
#1
Whom gods destroy, they first make supremely overconfident. I have a "Ginny Ferraro, First Woman VP" button my father saved from the '84 campaign; and there's also this classic track from the groove-yard of forgotten favorites:
Congratulations, Tom Dewey
You won by a landslide today
Through thick and through thin
We knew you would win
Cause who'd ever vote to let Truman stay in
Congratulations, Tom Dewey
Your Republican dreams have come true
Here's a victory roar
For president number thirty-four
The White House is waiting for you
Posted by: Mike ||
09/24/2008 9:55 Comments ||
Top||
#2
And a spokesman for WEW said they expected thousands more coins to be bought if Obama becomes president, which could bring millions into the small firm.
It'll probably be made mandatory to have one in your possesion at all times.
I'm getting first hand experience at a lobbying effort by progressives aimed at one of the Associated Press' top Washington journalists.
Long-time activist/journalist Al Giordano of "The Field" blog, among other projects, is taking the campaign against Ron Fournier, AP's Washington Bureau Chief to newsroom senior managers across the country with a campaign targeting the 27 members of the Associated Press Managing Editors association, or APME.
I know this because I was recently elected to the board of APME as an online representative....
Dino Rossi is the GOP (Republican) candidate for Governor who is facing off against Democratic Incumbent Gov. Christine Gregoire.
Noted on Sound Politics
The Rossi campaign points out: Ballots in Washington state have already been printed and military ballots are in process to soldiers and sailors overseas. If 'GOP' is ruled by the judge to be invalid, then the ballots from military personnel will be invalid.
But on with the story:
The state Democratic Party filed suit today, asking that Secretary of State Sam Reed list Dino Rossi's party preference as "Republican Party" on the general election ballot. When Rossi filed for office, he listed his party preference as "GOP Party."
Rossi has said he's always used the term GOP to identify his party and isn't trying to confuse voters about his party affiliation.
But the Democrats, who argue the Republican Party has become a damaged brand, say that's exactly what Rossi is doing. The lawsuit filed in King County Superior Court says,
Allowing Mr. Rossi to obscure his true party preference and affiliation directly violates the law, would mislead a substantial portion of the voting public and would breed cynicism and mistrust in our public institutions and, indeed, in our electoral process. This Court has the power and the duty to correct such threatened errors in the preparation and printing of the ballot and should exercise that power to protect the integrity of the electoral process.
Rossi is facing a rematch with Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire, who beat him by 133 votes four years ago after three counts and a court challenge. And don't forget boxes of 'found' ballots in the King County Elections office (a fifedom of the Democratic Executive)
Washington's new "top-two" primary system allows candidates to pick how they want to be identified on the ballot.
#3
The democrats are really proving that they are masters of public relations. Invalidating military ballots may be popular in Seattle, but it's probably not so funny in the rest of the state.
#4
bigjim, no, its not. and i only hope the judge tosses this case as frivolous.
another side effect: the state has a huge deficiet, thanks to a Democrat gov and legislature; so now the Dems are bring a lawsuit that is going to cost how much????
tough being Red in a Blue state.
This is stranger than fiction. Biden is the gift that keeps on giving. He was only off by about 3 1/2 years on FDR's presidency and 10 years on the introduction of TV. Close counts in horseshoes, hand grenades, atomic bombs and dancing.
#2
I guess that Joe was one of the contributors to Richard Lederer's Anguished English. By the evidence, he wrote this:
World War II happened when Hitler and the Knotsies had erotic dreams of conquest all over Europe, but Franklin Roosevelt went over there and put a stop to him. Hitler committed suicide in his bunk, and World War II ended on VD Day.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
09/24/2008 8:01 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Remember when you actually had to get up off your ass to change the channel? I think that was around 1929. Well, whenever it was, it was hell lemme tell ya...
#6
I knew we could count on Slow Joe. Trouble is, his goofs are not well publicized. Nothing in the daily fishrappers. Nothing on Leno or Letterman. SNL should be feasting on this fool. Not one word. All of the shitasses are waayy too busy piling on Palin. Good thing she has a strong character. I see she banned the MSM from an event the other day, and the pigs came out squealing. They couldn't believe she basically told them to f**k-off. Ha !
#7
If my memory doesn't fail me there were already TVs by the end of Twnties. Instead of a a giant vacuum tube and an elctronic ray lighting photophores they used a wheel with mirrors on its outer ridge. The wheel rotated in front of a lamp who want on or off depending on if th point was white or black (or perhaps there was something covering or uncoveriong the lamp don't remember) and because the mirrors were differntly tilted according to the one who was passing in front of the lamp a diifernt point of the creen would become white.
Of course definition was very, very low. Around one hundred lines (over six hundred on electronic TVs).
And in 1928 Philo Farmsworth demonstrated the first all electronic TV ie with CRT. Lincoln used it for broadcasting the Gettisburgh address.
Credit ratings firm Moody's cut its ratings outlook for Pakistan's government bonds to negative from stable because of the country's depleting foreign currency reserves as economic reforms are hit by political mayhem.
Moody's analyst Aninda Mitra said on Tuesday he was concerned about arrears on sovereign debt and missed repayments as Islamabad's access to foreign exchange worsens.
Pakistan's foreign currency reserves stood at $8.91 billion on September 13, barely enough to cover two months of imports at a time when alarming levels of current account and trade deficits could require emergency funding, analysts said.
The current account deficit is running well ahead of target. It widened to $2.57 billion in July and August -- equivalent to about 1.6 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and more than a quarter of the government's full-year target of 6 percent of GDP.
"The outlook has been changed mainly due to the deteriorating economic and law-and-order situation of Pakistan," said Muhammad Imran, head of research at First Capital Equities Ltd.
Moody's action follows Standard & Poor's (S&P) in June cutting its rating to B from B-plus. S&P has a negative outlook on its rating, meaning another downgrade is on the cards.
The country's financial markets have taken a beating -- the stock market which rallied for six years has slumped 35 percent since the beginning of the year and the rupee is off more than 21 percent since January, hovering at record lows.
Offshore sources: Analysts say the tensions between Pakistan and its largest donor, the United States, over US military strikes against militants on Pakistani territory are adding to concerns because of their possible impact on US foreign aid to the South Asian country.
Moody's said any delays in receiving assistance from offshore sources, which have already contributed to Pakistan's bleak external position, would be damaging.
"It remains unclear how Pakistan would rebuild its external liquidity in the medium-term, unless either considerably larger amounts of foreign assistance were disbursed, or foreign investor sentiment improved sharply," Mitra said.
Moody's also lowered the outlook on its B3 foreign currency bank deposit ceiling to negative, while the outlook on the Ba3 foreign currency bond ceiling remained negative.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[8 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
Who in the hell is buying Pakistani government bonds?
#5
That's the first thing that came to my mind tu3031, seems like they are going pretty much day to day to me. If they don't get a big aid package this year they will prolly go into default.
Pakistan improved slightly its ranking on Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) released on Tuesday, and is now the 46th most corrupt country in the world.
"Pakistan has improved its ranking jumping from 138th of 180 countries to 134th, but the government still needs to save the country from a disaster," Transparency International Chairman Adil Gillani said during a press conference at the Karachi Press Club. The CPI measures perceived levels of public sector corruption in a country and is a composite index based on surveys among experts and businessmen. The 2008 CPI scored 180 countries on a scale from zero (highly corrupt) to ten (highly clean). For the second year running, Somalia, Myanmar and Iraq received the poorest marks, with Somalia scoring 1.0 and Myanmar and Iraq scoring 1.3 each.
Denmark retained its ranking as the world's least corrupt nation, alongside Sweden and New Zealand. All scored 9.3. "An analysis of Pakistan and India's CPIs for the last 10 years shows a strongly inverse relationship between perceived corruption levels and the economy," Gillani added. "In 1998, Pakistan and India's reserves were at $1.6 billion and $26 billion respectively and in 2008 they are at $9.1 billion and $237 billion respectively," Gillani said, adding that besides an increase in the gap of foreign reserves of Pakistan and India, Pakistan's trade deficit has also increased manifold.
Gillani said that despite ratifying the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) on August 9, 2007, Pakistan has not initiated any reform to ease out the regulatory burden of doing business in the last one year. "The country needs immediate enforcement of good governance and a transparent administration to counter the acute problems of terrorism, hyperinflation, reduction of the KSE-100 index, the 20-percent devaluation in currency and the increase in the dollar's value from Rs 64 to Rs 77 due to the bad governance during the last 10 years," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[10 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
Labor party leader Ehud Barak has called for an emergency government amid reports that the Israeli party might join Livni's coalition. "At this time Israel needs a national emergency government, not as a slogan but as a real national requirement," Ynet quoted Barak as saying on Tuesday.
Citing senior sources in Labor, Army Radio reported that the party was "on the way to" joining a new coalition led by Kadima's head Tzipi Livni. The Labor party chairman has also said he would not hesitate to call for snap elections if political factions could not reach an agreement. "We will do everything to try and form a stable, functioning government. If we manage to reach true companionship this is what we'll do. If it doesn't work out, we have no fear of general elections," he added.
Barak has received a commitment from Foreign Minister Livni that she would form a stable coalition for more than just a few months and that any decision on a date for a general election would be coordinated between Labor and Kadima. Livni has 42 days to form a new government and replace Ehud Olmert as prime minister. She needs both of the current coalition parties Labor and Shas to sign up for her new government
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Oh. I thought it was Obama. [wink]
Posted by: Bobby ||
09/24/2008 6:03 Comments ||
Top||
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has dismissed Central Bank Governor Tahmasb Mazaheri and his replacement will be announced Wednesday, according to a Central Bank official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
Ahmadinejad must have sensed a Wall Street connection. Or was it a careless wink at depositors?
Twelve more companies, including IBM and H&R Block, have been added to the short-sale ban list as of Wednesday, according to information posted on the New York Stock Exchange's Web site.
Don't let people lie to you that shorting CAUSES falls.
Short selling is getting a three minute hate, but the problem is that the shorts are correct, these stocks are way over-valued. Short interest causes holders to look at the balance sheets of these institutions and wonder if they are telling the truth. Several of the above are engaging in shall we say "advanced accounting" measures.
Thanks Barney and Friends
The collapse of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could soon hit home for Bay State banks. The American Bankers Association said yesterday that more Massachusetts lenders hold Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac preferred stock than financial institutions in any other state. Every state in the nation is affected, (but) the largest number of banks with exposure (is) in Massachusetts, ABA officials wrote in a letter outlining the problem to federal officials.
In 2003, Barney Frank opposed Bush administration and Congressional Republican efforts for the most significant regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry since the savings and loan crisis. This is the same guy who in 2006, was one of only three Representatives to oppose the Respect for America's Fallen Heroes Act. I wonder what will turn up in other states when the rocks are turned over?
Unfortunately, the U.S. governments recent Fannie and Freddie takeovers make the two mortgage firms shares virtually worthless. The move also eliminates dividend payments to Fannie and Freddie stockholders. As a result, U.S. banks will collectively lose as much as $15 billion on Fannie and Freddie stock, the ABA told regulators. And because banks typically loan out $7.60 for every $1 in assets held, those losses could translate into as much as $114 billion of reduced lending, the group estimated.
#1
Frank's plan in the early nineties pushed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to make "bad" loans to "underprivileged" families. This mess started on Clinton's watch. Sounds like a vote-buying scheme to me.
#2
So am I to conclude from this that most of the "reduced lending" will be in Massachusetts? Heh, heh, heh. Any chance some enterprising Republican might use an issue like that to challenge old Barney for his seat?
This just arrived in my e-mail from Alex Patelis, global strategist at Merrill Lynch. AS THE US PRINTING PRESS STARTS
Taking Stock
* Treasury buying mortgage-related assets: $700bn
* Potential stimulus package favoured by Democrats: $100bn
* Insuring money market funds: $50bn
* Treasury fortifying the Fed's balance sheet: $100bn
* Expansion of temporary swap lines with central banks: $180bn
* Loan to AIG: $85bn
* Fed purchase of agency discount notes & ABCP: amount not specified
* Fed loans through the Primary Dealer Credit Facility: $20bn through sept 17
* Fed's discount window: $33bn balance
* Treasury purchase of GSE MBS this month: $10bn
* Potential cost of Fannie/Freddie bailout: $200-$300bn
* Financing the current account deficit: priceless
Investment Implications
SELL THE US DOLLAR
"The fiscal cost to the United States is likely to be enormous. Speculation will intensify on a possible US government paper downgrade. US policy-making and credibility has been put into question. The safety of US assets has been put into question. We remain concerned with the repercussions that this crisis will have on the financial flows into the United States against the context of a still large current account deficit."
Ouch!
Mr Patelis has come within a whisker of warning that the US now faces a full-scale run on its currency and debt markets. There is certainly a risk that this could happen.
By my tally, the serial bail-outs add $1.6 trillion to total US debt, or 12pc of GDP, (at least on paper). This is worse than the Swedish banking collapse in the early 1990s.
An entire generation of American policy-makers - Clinton, Bush, Rubin, Greenspan, and the Congressional leadership of both parties - has come perilously close to ruining a great nation. The creation of the credit bubble was one of the most disgraceful episodes of economic government in western history.
Nothing can justify it. There is no parallel to the Spain of Phillip II, who ruined his empire to pursue the religious cause of Counter-Reformation, or to the bankruptcy of the British Empire combating fascism. It occurred because America abandoned all restraint and gave licence to consumer hedonism.
Having said that, I still believe that the US has the cultural vitality to pull itself out of this debacle. While I endorse Mr Patelis's indictment, I do not entirely share his conclusions. The debt added is backed by collateral, mostly housing, and is therefore nothing like normal government debt.
Even if it were, the US general government debt (owed to the public, under IMF measures) would rise from 48pc to 60pc of GDP. Yes, I know the US "national debt" is higher, but that is not the relevant benchmark for worldwide comparisons. This extra debt is a tax on the future. It is unconscionable, but it is not a catastrophe. It would still leave US debt at French or German levels, and well below those of Japan and Italy - assuming you believe the official figures.
I do not think it will come to this. The RTC made a profit in the early 1990s as the Savings and Loan crisis slowly abated. Paulson's `TARP' may do likewise. The ABX index used to price subprime debt almost certainly overstates the likely default rate.
Stephen Jen, currency chief at Morgan Stanley, says bank crises are bloody for currencies, but nationalizations of the banking system (which is what we have here, in disguised form) typically mark the bottom.
I do not share the widespread view that the dollar will collapse. This has prompted a volley of hostile comment, as if I was somehow turning traitor to the cause of bears, or had become an optimist overnight.
The reason why it will not collapse - at least for now - is that the euro is facing an even deeper and more intractable crisis, Britain is mangled, Sweden frozen, most of Eastern Europe is facing a swing from property boom to bust, Brazil is about to slow dramatically, Japan is in full-recession, and China's banking systems is buckling, as Fitch warned today.
What I envisage as this credit crisis goes turns into a full-fledged global economic slump is that half the world resorts to currency devaluation in a beggar-thy-neighbour scramble to stave off recession and cling to market share. This will be very good for gold, though only once the EMU smash-up becomes more evident, perhaps with the onset of street protests in Spain. You won't have to wait very long.
To those GATA loyalists asking me why I never report on their claim that the gold price is manipulated by central banks, I can only say that it would be a full-time job to attempt to verify such assertions. I cannot judge whether China, Japan, Russia, emerging Asia, or the Mid-East petro-powers are colluding in such practices, or ascertain why they would do so. And unless they collude, any unilateral efforts by the US to suppress gold would prove futile -- would it not?
#1
I understand the populist and conservative sentiment of doing nothing which will force the toxic mortgages on to the sales floor. But are we, you, them, us willing to bet our homes, our credit, our savings, our portfolios, our children's and families life style? Do you feel lucky today, punk? Regardless, we are damned either way. The other reason to this immediately is to get the damn issue off the table until after the election. The more it drags out the chances increase that you will get the most inexperienced, unknowing, charlatan ever as the guy who is going to be in charge. Do you really want that?
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
09/24/2008 13:27 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Inappropriately titled, as the gist is a proposed collapse in international trade, as nations run headlong into currency protectionism.
However, a big question remains: will this wipe out the dollar or cause it to skyrocket?
Back in the good old days of mercantilism, whoever had the largest military dominated everyone else. And that meant that whoever had the most specie (gold and silver), with which to pay for a military, was dominant.
Today, despite all the feel good internationalism, the US military is still what puts us on top, and keeps our economy on top.
And the truth of our economy is that we don't have to import much of anything. We do so only because imports are a lot cheaper. But if we were stuck without imports, in 10 years or less we could easily be fully self supporting.
But this cannot be said for the rest of the world. Many nations are utterly dependent on the US for all sorts of things. So even if the world economy collapses, they will either buy from us or starve.
And this means that everyone will eventually want dollars. For them, it is better that their currency be re-pegged to the dollar then they try to do without. And pegging currency is a great way to open up trade.
#4
The trouble is that people are losing quality holdings for their money. Even corporations are going heavy into liquidity. I would not be surprised if investors have been fleeing Merrill Lynch, I know at least some are.
Eventually, if you can't trust even banks, you have to invest in a safe and keep your money at home. Assuming that you can still convert your money to cash. They may not have enough cash to hand out.
And with a credit crunch, you might not be able to spend the money you've got left in the bank.
#7
ex-lib: It was started by Frank Roosevelt, and most people have never lived under a stable cash economy, so they have no idea that this "experimental" economy has turned out to be fatally flawed.
A stable economy cannot have something like a perpetually growing national debt and money leveraged far beyond reality. Eventually, a situation like that will overwhelm everything else. And it has.
But it might have kept going for many years, the "boiling the frog" situation, except that the users of multi-layered leveraging, like derivatives, have turned a chronic problem into an acute problem.
The US government will futz around until things get very bad, then they will be forced to do what to them is unthinkable: a budget with a surplus.
And a BIG surplus. Perhaps 25% of the federal government will have to be shut down permanently. Medicare and Social Security will have to be heavily means tested. Medicaid might have to be returned to the States.
To make matters worse, there will be a sharp drop in tax revenue, so everything on the budget will have to fight it out. Vast numbers of programs will have to be suspended, leaving only the vital parts untouched.
I am betting that most federal land will have to be returned to the States, and a huge number of funded and unfunded mandates will come to an end.
Illegal immigrants may turn into a flood, if Mexico starts another bloody civil war. So the Army and National Guard will have to secure the border.
International trade will dry up, so the US will have to rebuild many of its industries. We will have to continue exporting lots of food, because many nations are dependent on us, and food is a truly fungible commodity.
The crisis will be international, and hopefully the US will be in a strong enough position so that in a few years, we will be on the road to recovery, and be able to help the rest of the world emerge as well.
One hedge fund expert pointed to The Hedge Fund Implode-O-Meter (HFI) as how he judges the state of the industry. The HFI was set up online in the wake of the credit crunch "to track as hedge funds learn the double-edged-sword nature of the often extreme leverage they use".
The group's "imploded funds" list has hit 51 companies since the sub-prime mortgage crisis in the United States kicked off a widespread downturn. That compares with its historical list, stretching back more than a decade to the end of 2006, of just 14, including the collapse of Long-Term Capital Management and Amaranth.
This year, big names including Peloton Capital Partners, Carlyle Capital Corporation and Dillon Read Capital Management are just some of the half century to collapse. "We think hedge funds have largely lost their way," HFI said. "Notably, most have abandoned capital-preservation for the goal of aggressive accumulation of capital gains, with the benefit of lax regulation and extreme leverage available to exploit."
It has 34 stocks on its "ailing/watch list" of those that have suffered significant value declines or temporarily halted redemptions. According to EuroHedge, a hedge fund data provider, 272 individual funds strategies were launched during the first six months of 2008, the lowest for nine years. In the same time, 243 funds have been liquidated, the highest in a six-month period.
To remind people. Wikipedia discusses The Carlye Group here
Principals:
Key people Louis V. Gerstner, Jr., Chairman
William E. Conway, Jr., Founder
Daniel A. D'Aniello, Founder
David M. Rubenstein, Founder
John F. Harris, CFO
Controversy
Connections between the Carlyle and the Bush family have created controversy, particularly in relation to the War on Terror and the Iraq War. George H. W. Bush and his Secretary of State James A. Baker III have at times been advisors to the group. One writer claimed that Saudi Arabian interests have given $1.4 billion to firms connected to the Bush family. Of this figure, $1.18 billion comes from contracts awarded to defense contractor Braddock, Dunn & McDonald, which Carlyle sold before George H. W. Bush became an advisor.[23] A Carlyle spokesman noted in 2003 that its 7% interest in defense industries was far less than several other Private equity firms.[24] The group has in the past had links with the Bin Laden family, although the group argues investment was relatively minor and made by relatives including half brother to Osama Bin Laden who had "disowned" him. [25]
Notable current and former employees and affiliated persons
Business
* G. Allen Andreas - Chairman of the Archer Daniels Midland Company
* Daniel Akerson - company director
* Joaquin Avila - investment banker
* Laurent Beaudoin - CEO of Bombardier (1979-)
* Paul Desmarais - Chairman of the Power Corporation of Canada
* Arthur Levitt - former Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
* David M. Moffett - CEO of Freddie Mac, unilateral appointment by Treasury Secretary, Henry M. Paulson Jr., September 7, 2008.
* Karl Otto Pöhl - former President of the Bundesbank
* Olivier Sarkozy (half-brother of Nicolas Sarkozy, President of France) - co-head and managing director of its recently launched global financial services division, since March 2008 [26].
* Jeffrey Chen- CEO of ASE-Taiwan
* Jason Chen- Chairman of ASE Group
Political figures
North America
* George H. W. Bush, former U.S. President, Senior Advisor to the Carlyle Asia Advisory Board from April 1998 to October 2003.
* George W. Bush, current U.S. President. Was appointed in 1990 to the Board of Directors of one of Carlyle's first acquisitions, an airline food business called Caterair, which Carlyle eventually sold at a loss. Bush left the board in 1992 to run for Governor of Texas.
* James Baker III, former United States Secretary of State under George H. W. Bush, Staff member under Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, Carlyle Senior Counselor, served in this capacity from 1993 to 2005.
* Frank C. Carlucci, former United States Secretary of Defense from 1987 to 1989; Also, former Princeton wrestling partner of former US Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld. Carlyle Chairman and Chairman Emeritus from 1989 to 2005.
* Richard Darman, former Director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget under George H. W. Bush, Senior Advisor and Managing Director of The Carlyle Group from 1993 to the present
* Randal K. Quarles, former Under Secretary of the U.S. Treasury under President George W. Bush, now a Carlyle managing director
* Allan Gotlieb, Canadian ambassador to the United States (1981-89) and member of Carlyle's Canadian advisory board.
* Arthur Levitt, Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) under President Bill Clinton, Carlyle Senior Advisor from 2001 to the present
* Dan Senor - political consultant
* Peter Lougheed - Premier of Alberta (1971-85)
* Luis Téllez Kuenzler, Mexican economist, current Secretary of Communications and Transportation under the Felipe Calderón administration and former Secretary of Energy under the Zedillo administration.
* Frank McKenna, Canadian ambassador to the United States and former member of Carlyle's Canadian advisory board
Europe
* John Major, former British Prime Minister, Chairman, Carlyle Europe from 2002 until 2005
[edit] Asia
* Liu Hong-Ru, former chairman of China's Securities Regulatory Commission
* Anand Panyarachun, former Prime Minister of Thailand (twice), former member of the Carlyle Asia Advisory Board until the board was disbanded in 2004
* Fidel V. Ramos, former president of the Philippines, Carlyle Asia Advisor Board Member until the board was disbanded in 2004
* Thaksin Shinawatra, deposed Prime Minister of Thailand, former member of board, who resigned on taking office in 2001
Middle East
* Shafig bin Laden, older brother of Osama bin Laden
Media
* Norman Pearlstine - editor-in-chief of Time magazine from (1995-2005)
#1
Dillion Read & Co
Dillon, Read & Co. was a prominent American investment bank from the 1920s into the 1960s.
Dillon Read originated in 1832 as the Wall Street brokerage firm Carpenter & Vermilye. However, it is best known for its actions during the 1920s. During that time Clarence Dillon managed the rescue of faltering Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, engineered the buyout (in 1925) and subsequent sale of Dodge Motors (in 1928) to Chrysler, launched the first post-war closed-end investment trust (in 1924), and led the largest-ever stock offering (in 1926). By the end of the decade, Dillon Read was considered to be an investment-banking powerhouse, alongside J.P. Morgan & Co. and Kuhn, Loeb & Co..
Dillon Read was purchased by Swiss Bank Corporation (SBC) in 1997 and merged with London-based investment bank S. G. Warburg & Co. (purchased by SBC in 1995) to become Warburg Dillon Read. The merged entity, in turn, became part of UBS AG when the latter firm bought SBC.
The Dillon Read name was dropped by 2000 but recently re-emerged in the name of UBS's internal hedge-fund division, Dillon Read Capital Management (DRCM). During its brief 18-month existence, DRCM launched a successful fund of $1.2 billion (which was over-subscribed by 50%) for outside investors which returned 16.6% after fees, making it one of the top multi-strategy funds for 2007. On May 3, 2007, UBS announced the closure of Dillon Read Capital Management due to "operational complexities." DRCM had run up a loss of $124M in the first quarter.[1] DRCM's strategies, which involved leveraged purchases of subprime and Alt-A mortgage bonds, eventually lost $3B - more than 60% of the fund's previous $4.7B value. The April 2008 report to the Swiss Federal Banking Commission (SFBC, in German: Eidgenössische Bankenkommission, EBK, in French: Commission fédérale des banques, CFB) stated that the "assets could not be sold given the illiquidity in the market."[2][3].
#4
The top five hedge funds were on to a nice little earner.
: As the world's biggest banks reeled in the face of the credit crunch last year, the top five hedge fund earners took home at least $1.5bn apiece after their funds gambled the right way in exceptionally volatile markets.
A survey by US hedge fund magazine Alpha, published yesterday, said the five - Mr Paulson, George Soros, James Simons of Renaissance Technologies, Philip Falcone of Harbinger Capital and Kenneth Griffin of Citadel - all individually earned more than the $1.2bn that JPMorgan will spend to buy Bear Stearns, the most high profile victim of the crunch.
I NEED TO ASK YOU TO SUPPORT AN URGENT SECRET BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP WITH A TRANSFER OF FUNDS OF GREAT MAGNITUDE.
I AM MINISTRY OF THE TREASURY OF THE REPUBLIC OF AMERICA. MY COUNTRY HAS HAD CRISIS THAT HAS CAUSED THE NEED FOR LARGE TRANSFER OF FUNDS OF 800 BILLION DOLLARS US. IF YOU WOULD ASSIST ME IN THIS TRANSFER, IT WOULD BE MOST PROFITABLE TO YOU.
I AM WORKING WITH MR. PHIL GRAM, LOBBYIST FOR UBS, WHO WILL BE MY REPLACEMENT AS MINISTRY OF THE TREASURY IN JANUARY. AS A SENATOR, YOU MAY KNOW HIM AS THE LEADER OF THE AMERICAN BANKING DEREGULATION MOVEMENT IN THE 1990S. THIS TRANSACTIN IS 100% SAFE.
THIS IS A MATTER OF GREAT URGENCY. WE NEED A BLANK CHECK. WE NEED THE FUNDS AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE. WE CANNOT DIRECTLY TRANSFER THESE FUNDS IN THE NAMES OF OUR CLOSE FRIENDS BECAUSE WE ARE CONSTANTLY UNDER SURVEILLANCE. MY FAMILY LAWYER ADVISED ME THAT I SHOULD LOOK FOR A RELIABLE AND TRUSTWORTHY PERSON WHO WILL ACT AS A NEXT OF KIN SO THE FUNDS CAN BE TRANSFERRED.
PLEASE REPLY WITH ALL OF YOUR BANK ACCOUNT, IRA AND COLLEGE FUND ACCOUNT NUMBERS AND THOSE OF YOUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN TO WALLSTREETBAILOUT@TREASURY.GOV
SO THAT WE MAY TRANSFER YOUR COMMISSION FOR THIS TRANSACTION. AFTER I RECEIVE THAT INFORMATION, I WILL RESPOND WITH DETAILED INFORMATION ABOUT SAFEGUARDS THAT WILL BE USED TO PROTECT THE FUNDS.
YOURS FAITHFULLY MINISTER OF TREASURY PAULSON HatTip: The Nation
Posted by: Steve ||
09/24/2008 08:13 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
That is so close to the mark it ain't even funny...
WASHINGTON (AP) - The FBI is investigating four major U.S. financial institutions whose collapse helped trigger a $700 billion bailout plan by the Bush administration, The Associated Press has learned. Two law enforcement officials said Tuesday the FBI is looking at potential fraud by mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and insurer American International Group. Additionally, a senior law enforcement official said Lehman Brothers Holdings also is under investigation.
The inquiries will focus on the financial institutions and the individuals that ran them, the senior law enforcement official said. Spokesmen for AIG, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac did not immediately return calls for comment Tuesday evening. A Lehman spokesman did not have an immediate comment.
Officials said the new inquiries bring to 26 the number of corporate lenders under investigation over the past year. Just last week, FBI Director Robert Mueller put the number of large financial firms under investigation at 24. He did not name any of the companies under investigation but said the FBI also was looking at whether any of them have misrepresented their assets.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/24/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
No more golden parachutes for the guys responsible. Heads need to roll. It's a good thing the Feds are doing this, so The People(tm) don't have to. Lynch mobs are not a pretty thing.
#3
Meanwhile, near New Delhi: Laid-off workers beat manager to death. 63 arrested for murder. Labour Minister Oscar Fernandes said "This should serve as a warning for the managements."
#8
So, when are they going to investigate the worms in Congress and the Executive branch who set this whole house of cards up in the first place and ignored it for so long?
Societe Generale has advised clients to dump shares of banks exposed to the Far East.
"The collapse of emerging market economies will shake investors to the core. The great unwind has only just begun," said Albert Edwards, the bank's global strategist. "The big surprise in store is what could happen in China. The potential for a deep recession in the US is already on the radar screen, but people will be stunned if China's economy contracts, as I believe it will. Investors could be massively caught out," he said.
"The consensus has a touching belief that emerging markets will prove resilient despite a deep downturn in developed economies. My view is that an outright contraction in global GDP is entirely possible next year."
"The emerging market boom is totally tied up with a decade of ballooning current account deficits in the US. Put that into reverse and you'll be surprised what pops out of the woodwork."
Mr Edwards said the vast accumulation of foreign exchange reserves -- led by China with $1.8 trillion -- had provided the "rocket fuel" of liquidity for frontier markets. This virtuous circle has now turned vicious as America tightens its belt. Countries in Asia and Latin America are intervening to prop up their currencies, causing reserves to fall. "We could see monthly trade surpluses in the US within a year. The emerging market liquidity squeeze will intensify ferociously, and assets linked to the region will become toxic waste. That includes previously resilient banks such as HSBC, Standard Chartered and Banco Santander," he said.
The gloomy forecast comes as Fitch Ratings warns of mounting distress for banks in China, where debt has been shunted off books to circumvent state limits on credit growth. The pattern looks eerily like the use of "conduits" by Western banks at the height of the credit bubble.
The agency's China team, Charlene Chu and Chunling Wen, said banks had used an "underground market" on a large scale to stoke up lending. "These types of credit and/or institutions fall outside the traditional structures of financial supervision, exposing banks to a growing amount of risk that is for the most part hidden By getting a portion of their credit off books, Chinese banks are able to comply with official loan quotas while in practice exceeding them," he said.
Under the mechanism, the loans are packaged into wealth products and sold to investors searching for bumper yields. The parallel with the US sub-prime debacle is striking, although Fitch avoids an explicit parallel.
Moreover, the banks issue "entrusted loans" in which they act as piggy-in-the-middle between two sets of clients, keeping the credits of the portfolio sheet. These loans have reached 1.5 trillion yuan ($220bn).
Even without such off-books liabilities, the banks are facing a crunch as the economy slows hard and the property market stalls. Shenzen house prices are already down 30pc. "The Chinese banking system is nearing the point at which it can no longer sustain additional large net withdrawals of liquidity without generating further strains on banks' ability to lend," it said.
Morgan Stanley said this month that China's housing market was heading for a "melt-down". Data is patchy and rarely reliable, but it is clear that home sales in Beijing, Shanghai and other Eastern cities have fallen drastically over the summer.
#1
May we please de-globalize now?
Pretty please.
Not only do we have to worry about our economy, which we seem to have only marginal control over, but now we need to worry about the chicoms imploding? This system is very complicated and only really benefits a small group of already super-rich people, not the common working ilk.
#2
Please, don't be a moron, bigjim. Unless you live in a shack in the hills and haven't set foot in a WalMart in the last twenty years, I doubt you personally have not benefited from globalization.
Stupid is a drug on the market this season. Don't get caught with a shitload of it in your porfolio.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
09/24/2008 9:43 Comments ||
Top||
#3
This system is very complicated and only really benefits a small group of already super-rich people, not the common working ilk.
I saved this from a Readerâs Digest article _Rich as
a King_ condensed from Home by David Owen, 1995.
William I, who conquered England some 930 years, had
wealth, power and a ruthless army. Yet although William
was stupefyingly rich by the standards of the time, he had
nothing remotely resembling a flush toilet. No paper
towels, no riding lawn mower. How did he get by?
History books are filled with wealthy people who were
practically destitute compared to me. I have triple-
tracked storm windows; Croesus did not. Entire nations
trembled before Alexander the Great, but he couldnât
buy cat food in bulk. Czar Nicholas II lacked a compound-
miter saw.
Given how much better off I am than so many famous
dead people, youâd think Iâd be content. The trouble is
that, I compare my prosperity with that of living
persons: neighbors, high school classmates, TV
personalities. The covetousness I feel toward my friend
Howardâs new kitchen is not mitigated by that fact
that no French monarch ever had a refrigerator with
glass doors.
There is really no rising or falling standards of living. Over
the centuries people simply find different stuff to feel
grumpy about. Youâd think that merely not having
bubonic plague would put us in a good mood. But no,
we want a hot tub too.
Of course, one way to achieve happiness would be to
realize that by even contemporary standards the things
I own are pretty nice. My house is smaller than the
houses of many investment bankers, but even so it has
a lot more rooms than my wife and I can keep clean.
Besides, to people looking back at our era from a
century or two in the future, those bankersâ fancy
counter tops and my own worn Formica will seem
equally shabby. I canât keep up with my neighbors
right now. But just wait.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
#6
Mitch, are you seriously arguing that the cheap plastic crap I buy at Wal-Mart should be considered a fair trade for the good paying construction and manufacturing jobs that have run from this country like water? Don't you be a moron, what has globalization ever done for you, bedsides cheaper consumer goods crap?
HAS IT MADE YOUR REAL WAGES GO UP?
HAS IT MADE YOUR STATE'S INFRASTRUCTURE BETTER?
HAS IT MADE YOUR KID'S SCHOOLS BETTER?
HAS IT MADE YOUR COUNTRY SAFER ECONOMICALY?
HAS IT DONE JACK SHIT AT ALL?
Probably not. Instead of quoting from the Conservative Argument Playbook, look at it from a rational angle. All the big debacles, all the big ripoffs, all the scandals and breakdowns have nothing to do with us. The super-rich and multi-national corps glean all the wealth from globalization. We get dick. We get our job sent to india, or we get a mexican bussed up from Tecate to replace us. That's the only effect of globalism I have EVER seen. I'm not trying to be pissy at you Mitch, but I see NO real benefit from globalization at all in my house.
Look down at your keyboard. You know where all that plastic, glass, and parts are made?
I used to operate an IBM 360 back in the 70s. Big iron, with punch cards and big ass printers. The ones that only business, universities or government could afford. What you have before you is more powerful and far far cheaper than that piece of 'Made in America' iron. You got what IBM thought you needed. Globalization changed that for everyone. It's given you a voice you'd otherwise not have. It gives access to information that would have been buried or killed so you could understand the real world around you. Just give it a thought of where a media created individual like Obama would be had not this device been available like any other household appliance. There would only be THE ONE and ONLY because those who owned and operated the media would have only let you know what they wanted you to know. We would all be happy neo-socialist marching off to our new workers paradise promised that its different this time, cause Big Brother the 'right' people would be in charge.
#8
Jim, that period of super-high union wages was a dream paradise during which unions milked American companies and the American consumer for every penny he had, and destroyed entire American industries, ranging from stereo equipment, TV's, textiles, auto manufacturing, steel, and so on. Now that the unions have looted American companies into extinction, they want to loot the entire American economy as well. Here's the problem - the British tried the "the entire economy organized as one big union" concept during the entire postwar period ending with Margaret Thatcher's election in 1979, with union-dominated industries and high tariffs. The result was decades of stagnation at the end of which Brits made less money than a lot of European countries they had previously looked down on.
#9
"The super-rich and multi-national corps glean all the wealth from globalization. We get dick. We get our job sent to india, or we get a mexican bussed up from Tecate to replace us. That's the only effect of globalism I have EVER seen."
Are you the guy who's also supposed to be getting his MBA?
#10
Just because you are working on an MBA doesn't mean you are comfortable with globalization. I've worked in the construction industry most of my life, as a UNION pile driver, diver and welder, later as a supervisor. Globalization has wrecked the construction industry and most of the ancillary businesses that surround it. You have to order steel 18 months ahead of time from South Korea instead of calling Dayton Ohio and having it sent down on a truck the next week, and so on.
That's just one example out of a hundred. So yes, I'm working on an MBA, no I don't like everything I hear in the classes. And while it might be a boon to importers it has absolutely ruined some industries, like steel.
#11
And I don't know of anyone who made super-high, dreamy wages. Pile drivers (part of Carpenters Union) before I went back to school to work on my Civil Eng. degree were making about 25.60 an hour for heavy highway and bridge building work. Dangerous, back breaking, outdoor, weather affected, highly specialized work that requires highly trained people that don't grow on trees. That's not exactly what I'd call a fortune.
Major Japanese banks, fat with cash and nearly free of toxic investments, are spotting opportunity in the global financial mess and snapping up substantial holdings on Wall Street.
Because many Japanese banks and brokerage houses have vast amounts of cash while U.S. banks are increasingly desperate for it, analysts here say more major purchases are likely in coming days and weeks as the financial crisis churns on.
Nomura Holdings on Tuesday announced it would buy the European and Middle Eastern divisions of the failed Lehman Brothers investment bank -- just one day after it had picked up Lehman's Asia-Pacific franchise. Lehman filed for bankruptcy protection last week.
Japan's largest bank, Mitsubishi UFJ, said Monday it would acquire 10 to 20 percent of Morgan Stanley, a deal that could make the Tokyo bank the largest shareholder in a profitable company that is one of the crown jewels of global investing. The deal is valued at up to $8.4 billion, a relative snack for a bank with $1.15 trillion in deposits as of March.
It fits with the bank's recent record of acquiring overseas holdings in showcase financial companies. It spent about $10 billion in August to buy the remaining shares of California's second-largest bank, UnionBanCal Corp. "This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity," Kenichi Watanabe, president and chief executive of Nomura, said in a statement. He added that "our ability to capitalize on this opportunity in spite of such volatile markets reflects our financial strength."
He call the two deals "transformational" for Nomura.
Japan's chance to buy up investment talent that its banks and brokerage firms have long coveted is, in part, a function of turmoil on Wall Street, where investment firms are desperate to cover bad wagers on subprime mortgages and other failed speculation.
But it is also the culmination of the slow, stolid recovery of banks and other financial institutions from Japan's own market meltdown in the 1990s.
"We didn't take part in the good growth of the worldwide economy in the 1990s, and now we are not getting hit by the downward trend," said Oki Matsumoto, chief executive of Monex Group, one of Japan's largest online brokers. "Japan has huge reserves of capital. We are much safer than any other country."
Banks and brokerage houses here spent nearly two decades rebuilding, selling off bad debt and devouring one another in mergers. These mergers, as several weaker banks were digested by stronger rivals, account for the alphabet-soup names of such banks as Mitsubishi UFJ.
Banks here have also changed their credit culture. Before, they lent money on the basis of assets, much as U.S. lenders still do. Now, many banks here analyze the cash flow of their clients before they extend large amounts of credit.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
World oil prices dipped slightly on Tuesday in choppy deals as traders banked profits, one day after New York crude had soared more than $16 for its biggest-ever daily jump. The massive price surge on Monday was driven partly by hopes that a US plan to buy tainted mortgage-related assets would save the global economy from collapse and thus maintain strong demand for energy, dealers said.
The rally was also driven by technical factors because the contract for New York oil deliverable in October had expired on Monday.
On Tuesday, New York's new main contract, light sweet crude for November delivery, shed $2.10 to $107.27 a barrel. The separate October contract had soared $16.37 a barrel to close at $120.92 on Monday after hitting an intra-day high point of $130. On Tuesday it fell back to $120.92. Monday's price surge in New York exceeded the previous record one-day rise of $10.75 dollars on June 6.
Oil had also been buoyed by the weak US currency, which makes dollar-priced oil cheaper for buyers using stronger currencies, stimulating demand.
Elsewhere on Tuesday, Brent North Sea crude for November delivery dived $2.26 to $103.78 a barrel, after jumping by $6.43 on Monday.
"Oil was lower, correcting after yesterday's meteoric and historic rise, with concerns about the US toxic debt bailout plan growing," said Michael Davies at the Sucden brokerage in London. "There are many, including us, who feel that the optimism we have seen since news of the plan broke last Thursday is unfounded.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
So basically the traders made an ass of themselves for all the world to see? When the price goes on a rip like that, something is wrong, but market fundamentals didn't really warrant that. What an embarrassment.
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.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Nobel Peace Prize winner and environmental crusader Al Gore urged young people on Wednesday to engage in civil disobedience to stop the construction of coal plants without the ability to store carbon.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has dismissed Central Bank Governor Tahmasb Mazaheri and his replacement will be announced Wednesday, according to a Central Bank official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Societe Generale has advised clients to dump shares of banks exposed to the Far East. 
World oil prices dipped slightly on Tuesday in choppy deals as traders banked profits, one day after New York crude had soared more than $16 for its biggest-ever daily jump. The massive price surge on Monday was driven partly by hopes that a US plan to buy tainted mortgage-related assets would save the global economy from collapse and thus maintain strong demand for energy, dealers said. 
