If you're wondering what was going through Britney Spears' head during her erratic era, you are not alone--so does she. "I sit there and I look back and I'm like, 'I'm a smart person. What the hell was I thinking?'" Spears said in an interview to air on MTV on Nov. 30, two days before the release of her new album. We wondered the same thing when we bothered think about you at all, Brit...
"I've been through a lot in the past two or three years, and there's a lot that people don't know." I guess that's a fair. Though I might add that most of us didn't care to know it.
The 90-minute special, "Britney: For The Record," was executive-produced by Spears' manager Larry Rudolph. It features behind-the-scenes footage of the singer and her talking about her life over the past two years. We saw the home movie of her talking with Whatsisname at their palatial estate in the trailer park. That was when I quit paying the minimal amount of attention I had been.
She's got a lot to talk about: In that time span, she has gotten divorced, been through a custody battle, gone to rehab, had very public meltdowns and had one memorably bad performance at the MTV Video Music Awards. Not to mention lopping all her hair off. I actually liked that part. Kinda like performance art, only it made sense in a kind of pop tart way...
Now on the comeback trail, Spears is releasing her sixth album, "Circus," on Dec. 2, her 27th birthday. I take it the album's autobiographical in nature?
Spears says she's hoping this TV special will "set the record straight" about her life. I think the record's pretty much straight. The question in anybody's mind would be "has she ceased being a dishpit?"
Posted by: Fred ||
10/11/2008 00:00 ||
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"I'm a smart person"
There's your problem right there, Brit - you're delusional.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/11/2008 0:23 Comments ||
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Russian warships bound for Venezuela, including the nuclear-powered cruiser Pyotr Veliky (Peter the Great), put in Saturday at the Libyan port of Tripoli for refuelling.
Only one ship was able to enter the port, which is not deep enough to allow the other vessels to dock, an AFP correspondent at the scene said. Two other warships of the Russian northern fleet could be seen in the distance, the correspondent reported.
Earlier, Russian naval spokesman Igor Dygalo said the warships also included the anti-submarine destroyer Admiral Chabanenko and support vessels, Interfax news agency reported. The frigate Neustrashimiy (Intrepid), which left Russia two weeks ago bound for Somalia where it was to join in fighting piracy in the region, was also among the vessels that put into Tripoli on Saturday, Interfax said.
That's not on the direct route between the Black Sea and the Gulf of Aden ...
Dygalo said the port call was scheduled to be completed on Monday. The ships would then resume manoeuvres at unspecified locations in the Mediterranean Sea before heading to Venezuela for joint naval exercises next month, he said.
Russia and Venezuela announced their joint military exercises last month amid high tensions between Moscow and Washington and Russian irritation at the presence of US warships near Russian waters in the Black Sea. The planned Russian naval presence in what the United States has long regarded as its "backyard" would be unprecedented since the Cold War, but Washington has mocked the move as nothing more than symbolic muscle-flexing. The Russian-Venezuelan naval exercises were scheduled to take place near the end of November.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/11/2008 15:46 ||
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#1
I refuse to get too exercised over Ivan's "muscle-flexing" yet. The ship's prolly also needed maintenance and supplies.
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/11/2008 18:53 Comments ||
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Amidst differences of opinion on retaining the provisions for party's 'associated' organisations in its constitution, Awami League's (AL) highest decision-making body holds a crucial meeting today to decide on the matter and to bring some amendments to it to get registered with the Election Commission (EC).
Posted by: Fred ||
10/11/2008 00:00 ||
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An agitated mob set the houses of two local leaders of BNP and its front organisation to fire suspecting their involvement in the sensational Dhandia union Parishad (UP) chairman Arifuzzaman Chanchal murder yesterday morning.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/11/2008 00:00 ||
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The Venezuelan government has ordered nearly all McDonald's restaurants in the country closed for 48 hours for what it calls financial irregularities. Hugo didn't get his cut, huh? Time to shut down Citgo.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/11/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Maybe Hugo needs a LGM through his window to give him more perspective? Or better yet, drop a MOAB on all his palaces aka houses.
#4
hamburger envy is rampant........bobo cant stand the fact that his rice and beans army is less in demand than those who can afford mcdeees. The gig now is to extort high payment from owners to lessen demand for the food by forcing higher prices, there by driving former Mcdee regulars to the rice and bean line.
#2
And you will not see primary metals prices rising until about 18 months after the economy picks up, due to inventories of these metals being worked down.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/11/2008 14:06 Comments ||
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#3
Don't know about that AP. I just did a jobe with 250 feet of Titanium pie. The only place I could get it was China and Italy.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
10/11/2008 19:37 Comments ||
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#4
That should be "job" and "pipe". Damn, Imma gettin old.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
10/11/2008 19:40 Comments ||
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#5
mmmm.... Titanium pie
/Homer Simpson
just poking at ya, DB ;-)
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/11/2008 19:40 Comments ||
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#6
LOL
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/11/2008 19:40 Comments ||
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#7
All we need now is Magneto and the Crimson Dinamo.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
10/11/2008 21:27 Comments ||
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THE President of Russia has called on Europe's leaders to create a new world order that would minimise the role of the United States.
Confident that a row with Europe prompted by Russia's invasion of Georgia in August was over, Dmitry Medvedev arrived in the French spa town of Evian on Wednesday determined to woo his fellow leaders into creating an anti-US front.
Gone was the kind of wartime rhetoric that saw Mr Medvedev lash out at the West and describe his Georgian counterpart, Mikheil Saakashvili, as a "lunatic". Instead Mr Medvedev spoke of a Russia that was "absolutely not interested in confrontation", and outlined plans for a new security pact to ban the use of force in Europe.
Yet there was little doubt that Mr Medvedev was playing the divide-and-rule tactics of Vladimir Putin, his predecessor and now Prime Minister, by seeking to pit the US against its European allies. In a speech delivered to European leaders at a conference hosted by the French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, to discuss the international financial crisis, Mr Medvedev sought to show that the US was at the root of all the world's problems. He blamed Washington's "economic egotism" for the world's financial woes and then accused the Bush Administration of taking Europe to the brink of a new cold war by pursuing a deliberately divisive foreign policy.
He also maintained that the US was once again trying to return to a policy of containing Russia. "After toppling the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, the United States started a series of unilateral actions," Mr Medvedev said. "As a result, a trend appeared in international relations towards creating dividing lines. This was in fact the revival of a policy popular in the past and known as containment."
While he called for a cooling of the noxious rhetoric that had blighted East-West relations over the past two years, Mr Medvedev clearly laid the blame for the deterioration on the US, which he said was again viewing Russia through the prism of the Cold War. "Sovietology, like paranoia, is a very dangerous disease, and it is a pity that part of the US Administration still suffers from it," he said.
In order to end the "unipolar" model in which the world depended on the US, he proposed creating new financial systems to challenge the dominance of the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organisation, both of which had fallen under Washington's spell.
Attacking the enlargement of NATO, which he said had advanced provocatively towards Russia, he proposed a new European security treaty. The new European pact would include "a clear affirmation of the inadmissibility of the use of force - or the threat of force - in international relations" and would be built on the principle of the territorial integrity of independent nations.
While Russia has insisted it was not intending to supplant NATO, Mr Medvedev made it clear that the US-dominated alliance was partly responsible for the war in the Caucasus by its failure to rein in Georgian "aggression".
The Russian President won praise from Mr Sarkozy after he announced that all Russian troops had been withdrawn from buffer zones around Georgia's rebel enclaves of South Ossetia and Abkhazia before today's deadline. Describing his guest as a man who had "kept his word", Mr Sarkozy immediately declared that talks on an EU-Russia partnership deal, suspended as punishment for Russia's military operation in Georgia, could resume. "Why are the eastern European delegates all pouring their toast vodka on the carpet?"
At the same time, if your idiot elite "leaders" who know what's best for you go for this, for your own safety and liberty not to mention your wallets may I propose that all European Rantburgers emigrate to the U.S.?
I'm sure we can find plenty of Stateside Rantburgers willing to sponsor you. You're decent folks and don't deserve what the Bear will do to you.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/11/2008 14:08 Comments ||
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Don't forget, if they do that, all our troops leave europe, which means that their pitiful militaries will be unable to prevent the russians from taking them over. We all know Russia and their lovely agreements compliance.
They might just move to Poland, Lithuania, etc....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/11/2008 16:02 Comments ||
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But the current leaders will be able to say they secured gas and oil for the next decade. And we will either lose the BMD sites in Eastern Europe or see our allies there heavily pressured on both sides.
#6
THE President of Russia has called on Europe's leaders to create a new world order that would minimise the role of the United States.
I'm all for it if they (the Euros) are. The US has bailed them out since WW1, nearly 100 years. Let the new and improved Russia take next one hundred. Good ridance.
#7
I wouldn't worry too much: Russia is just barely managing its own problems and is not quite up to marching into Europe. But I am getting tired of footing the bill for everybody, Europeans especially.
#8
I think lotp has it right: if Medvedev and Putin pull this off, we're looking at a Europe that is now completely emasculated, neutered and put at Russia's lap. That means the dissolution of NATO (which a President Obama might not mind one bit) and loss of all facilities there, including the BMD sites. That might not happen in a month or a year but that's the clear point.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/11/2008 17:32 Comments ||
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#9
I thought Europe was already anti american?
Posted by: chris ||
10/11/2008 17:43 Comments ||
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#10
In many ways anti-american attitudes are prevalent, yes - but not to the point of other alliances that would kill formal cooperation between us at the government level.
#11
emasculated even with a NATO alliance, by their own domestic politics. They won't be welcoming a Russian army, which can't even do business succesfully in Georgia. I may be time to review just who is pulling their weight and who we should be spending our blood and treasure to defend. The Czechs, Poles, Hungarians, Ukrainians seem to be up to the challenge. Any common denominator to note there?
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/11/2008 17:56 Comments ||
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#12
"It may be time", and there's another "s" in successful....Too busy watching college football...my bad
PIMF
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/11/2008 17:58 Comments ||
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#13
so .. we pull out of Europe and South Korea.... looks like "Fortress America"
Ya know, between this and all the economic/financial seismology of the past few months, I'm wondering if the contents of George Soros' phone records and hard drive might not make very interesting reading...
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
10/11/2008 18:18 Comments ||
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#15
I'm wondering if the contents of George Soros' phone records and hard drive might not make very interesting reading...
Why hasn't George Soros been the recipient of some wet work? This guys fingerprints are all over a ton of mischief being perpetrated just about everywhere.
MURMANSK, Russia (Reuters) - Russia test-launched a strategic missile to the equatorial part of the Pacific Ocean for the first time on Saturday, at a time when Moscow's growing assertiveness is fuelling tension with the West.
President Dmitry Medvedev, who watched the launch from aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, has said problems caused by global financial turmoil would not hurt Russian plans to revive its armed forces, a symbol for Moscow's resurgence.
Russia's newest missile, the Sineva, was launched by the nuclear-powered submarine Tula from an underwater position in the Arctic Barents Sea, and hit an unspecified area near the equator in the Pacific Ocean, a navy spokesman said. "For the first time in the history of the Russian Navy the target of the missile was in an equatorial part of the Pacific Ocean rather than the Kura testing ground on the Kamchatka Peninsula," he said.
The spokesman did not specify the area where the missile landed. He said the area was closed for navigation and flights ahead of the test in accordance with international rules.
Medvedev's predecessor Vladimir Putin focused on reviving the armed forces, which were neglected for around 10 years after the fall of the Soviet Union. Russia's strategic bombers have restarted regular patrols over the Atlantic Ocean, irking NATO, and a group of the Northern Fleet ships is on its way to the Carribean to take part in joint exercises with U.S. foe Venezuela.
Russia's commitment to modernize its armed forces has grown as its ties with the West reached their lowest point since the Cold War after Russian troops crushed Georgia's attempt to retake a pro-Moscow separatist region. Medvedev said late last month: "Regardless of any crisis we should build new submarines, should simply deal with the modernization of the armed forces."
Russia, which saw eight years of strong economic growth under Putin, has adopted the goal of becoming one of the world's leading economies by 2020. Medvedev says the economy has enough resources to survive the global turmoil and achieve its goals. Putin, now Russia's prime minister, has said the next year's budges will see another 30-percent growth in defense spending.
The Sineva missile, advertised by the Russia military as an element of a new generation of Russian strategic weapons capable of surpassing any missile defense system, was commissioned last year. The Russian military says the missiles of Sineva's class will be operational at least until 2030.
Medvedev's appearance with the Northern Fleet in Murmansk is his second major visit to navy installations in just two weeks and he will oversee exercises attended by 5,000 troops, eight warships and five submarines.
Posted by: john frum ||
10/11/2008 11:42 ||
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The Russian State Duma has approved a series of emergency measures to help its banks and companies that have been hit by the credit crisis.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/11/2008 00:00 ||
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"RussiaÂ’s energy companies have suffered from the recent drop in crude oil prices and they account for more than 60% of the Russian stock indexes."
Awwwww - ain't that just too bad.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/11/2008 0:20 Comments ||
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#2
Better than frittering their money away on misguided military adventures.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
10/11/2008 13:27 Comments ||
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October 10, 2008: South Korea is buying 250,000 tons of American munitions, at 87 percent of the original cost. That's because the U.S. no longer needs the ammo, spare parts and replacement weapons, and most of it is over ten years old anyway. These supplies comprise about half the 600,000 ton War Reserve Stocks that the United States began assembling in South Korea back in the early 1980s. This was to provide a 60 day supply of ammo for U.S. and South Korean forces, in the event of a North Korean attack. It would take over a month for fresh supplies to begin arriving from elsewhere.
Austrian politician Joerg Haider, whose far-right rhetoric at times sounded sympathetic to the Nazis and contemptuous of Jews and led to months of international isolation for the Alpine republic, died Saturday in a car accident. He was 58. ...
Posted by: ed ||
10/11/2008 10:48 ||
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#1
Phaeton is a big, very secure ride. I wonder if he was belted in.
#2
"he described World War II concentration camps as 'punishment camps' and said the SS were 'a part of the German army which should be honoured'. He associated publicly with Waffen-SS veterans."
#1
I admire Sen. Obama and his accomplishments." When people booed, he cut them off.
For phuechs sake. One must wonder if he "admires" Edi Amin, Barney Franks, Dodd, OJ, Al Capone or Ted Bundy as well? Congratulations Senator, that was a real crowd pleaser.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/11/2008 19:28 Comments ||
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#3
Please. There's such a thing as losing with class, Dr. Steve, see: "Dole, Bob". We know what we got with that one.
I'd prefer that McCain show that he understands that the opponent has not been a deceitful race-card-playing socialist who's buried his record of lies, associations with racists and terrorists, and uses his thug-machine to punish and gag his opponents. That's not the record of an honorable man. If McCain wants to take the high ground and stay clean, he shouldn't have agreed to wrestle with a pig (figuratively speaking).
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/11/2008 19:38 Comments ||
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#4
doh! Except for the "not", I stand by my rant. I really should quit watching football during my rants.....
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/11/2008 19:42 Comments ||
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#5
But the pig was wearing lipstick in the primaries!
#6
I'm not suggesting that he lose. I'm suggesting that class matters. Especially when your opponent lacks it.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/11/2008 22:44 Comments ||
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#7
when your opponent doesn't hold himself to a standard, you and your supporters have to decide how much winning means. In this case, with decrepit SCOTUS judges holding out to avoid Bush appointments, it means a helluvalot. Losing with dignity is just plain stupid. Better to smoke Obama out and let history judge
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/11/2008 22:54 Comments ||
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One of the "bundlers" who has raised $50,000 to $100,000 for the Barack Obama presidential campaign is Terrence Bean, who once controlled the biggest producer of gay porn in America.
Bean, the first gay on Sen. Obama's National Finance Committee, is the sole trustee of the Charles M. Holmes Foundation, which owned Falcon Studios, Jock Studios and Mustang Studios, the producers of about $10 million worth of all-male pornography a year.
Bean also said, "I never had anything to do with running the company . . . Chuck became a friend of mine, and I got him interested in philanthropy."
#2
Wow. Why does "I never had sex with that woman" come to mind.
You know, Obama mimics the profile of a sociopath in many regards, which is why he is so "charismatic" and "endearing" and seems to "powerful" to people. Also, as cingold will tell you, Obama uses the cultural norming of Indonesian socialization patterns, which makes it feel to AMERICANS that Obama is everyone's "friend." Because cingold grew up in Indonesia, he can see past it. He says Obama is the most violent hate-filled man he has seen. Very dangerous.
n case you missed it . . . the profile of a sociopath (from another post):
Glibness/Superficial Charm
Language can be used without effort by them to confuse and convince their audience. Captivating storytellers that exude self-confidence, they can spin a web that intrigues others. Since they are persuasive, they have the capacity to destroy their critics verbally or emotionally.
Manipulative and Conning
They never recognize the rights of others and see their self-serving behaviors permissible. They appear to be charming, yet are covertly hostile and domineering, seeing their victim as merely an instrument to be used. They dominate and humiliate their victims.
Grandiose Sense of Self
Feels entitled to certain things as "their right." Craves adulation and attendance. Must be the center of attention with their own fantasies as the "spokesman for God," "enlightened," "leader of humankind," etc. Creates an us-versus-them mentality
Pathological Lying
Has no problem lying coolly and easily and it is almost impossible for them to be truthful on a consistent basis. Can create, and get caught up in, a complex belief about their own powers and abilities. Extremely convincing and able to pass lie detector tests.
Lack of Remorse, Shame or Guilt
A deep seated rage, which is split off and repressed, is at their core. Does not see others around them as people, but only as targets and opportunities. Instead of friends, they have victims and accomplices who end up as victims. The end always justifies the means and they let nothing stand in their way.
Shallow Emotions
When they show what seems to be warmth, joy, love and compassion, it is more feigned than experienced and serves an ulterior motive. Outraged by insignificant matters, yet remaining unmoved and cold by what would upset a normal person. Since they are not genuine, neither are their promises.
Incapacity for Love
While they talk about "God's love" they are unable to give or receive it. Since they do not believe in the genuineness of their followers' love, they are very harsh in testing it from their devotees and expect them to feel guilt for their failings. Expects unconditional surrender.
Need for Stimulation
Living on the edge, yet testing the beliefs of their followers with bizarre rules, punishments and behaviors. Verbal outbursts and physical punishments are normal.
Callousness/Lack of Empathy
Unable to empathize with the pain of their victims, having only contempt for others' feelings of distress and readily taking advantage of them. Their skills are used to exploit, abuse and exert power. Since the follower cannot believe their leader would callously hurt them, they rationalize the behavior as necessary for their (or the group's) own "good" and deny the abuse. When devotees become aware of the exploitation it feels like a "spiritual rape" to them.
Poor Behavioral Controls/Impulsive Nature
Rage and abuse, alternating with small expressions of love and approval produce an addictive cycle for abuser and abused, as well as creating hopelessness in the victim. Believe they are all-powerful, all-knowing, entitled to every wish, no sense of personal boundaries, no concern for their impact on others. The followers only see them as near perfect.
Early Behavior Problems/Juvenile Delinquency
Usually has a history of behavioral and academic difficulties, yet "gets by" by conning others. Problems in making and keeping friends; aberrant behaviors such as cruelty to people or animals, stealing, etc.
Irresponsibility/Unreliability
Not concerned about wrecking others' lives and dreams. Oblivious or indifferent to the devastation they cause. Does not accept blame themselves, but blame their followers or others outside their group. Blame reinforces passivity and obedience and produces guilt, shame, terror and conformity in the followers.
Promiscuous Sexual Behavior/Infidelity
Totalist leaders frequently practice promiscuity, child sexual abuse, rape and sexual acting out of all sorts. This is usually kept hidden from all but the inner circle. Stringent sexual control of their followers, such as forced breakups and divorces, removal of children from parents, rules for dating, etc.
Lack of Realistic Life Plan/Parasitic Lifestyle
Tends to move around a lot or makes all encompassing promises for the future. Many groups claim as their goal world-domination or other utopian promises. Great contrast between the leader's opulent lifestyle and the followers' impoverishment. Support by gifts and donations from the followers who are pressured to give through fear and guilt. Highly sensitive to their own pain and health.
Criminal or Entrepreneurial Versatility
Changes their image and that of the group as needed to avoid prosecution and to increase income and to recruit a range of members. Is able to adapt or relocate as needed to preserve the group. Can resurface later with a new name, a new front group and a new twist on the scam.
Other Related Qualities:
Contemptuous of those who seek to understand them
Does not perceive that anything is wrong with them
Authoritarian
Secretive
Paranoid
Only rarely in difficulty with the law, but seeks out situations where their tyrannical behavior will be tolerated, condoned, or admired
Conventional appearance
Goal of enslavement of their victim(s)
Exercises despotic control over every aspect of the victim's life
Has an emotional need to justify their crimes and therefore needs their victim's affirmation (respect, gratitude and love)
Ultimate goal is the creation of a willing victim
Incapable of real human attachment to another
Unable to feel remorse or guilt
Extreme narcissism and grandiose
May state readily that their goal is to rule the world
#3
ex lib, that's why i call him the anti christ. Anyone ever read the Tribulation series he sounds alot like Nicholae in the books who is by the way the anti christ
Posted by: chris ||
10/11/2008 12:04 Comments ||
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#4
'Bad boy, Obama. You're a naughty boy. The American people already know that Obama is a bad boy, a naughty boy. I'm going to speak out for the citizens of my state, who in the majority think that Obama is probably even a nasty, bad, naughty boy.
#5
Bean, the first gay on Sen. Obama's National Finance Committee...
The first gay? I'm sure there is some meaning implied, but the grammar does not point the way to it.
is the sole trustee...said, "I never had anything to do with running the company
Of course a trustee wouldn't run the company. That's what the Board and the executive officers are for. A trustee manages the profits thrown off by the company, which means he'd be wise to pay attention to how those profits are generated. After all, isn't it for that oversight expertise that Mr. Bean was tapped for Obama's National Finance Committee?
Tyranysaurus Elmererong1948 dear, wipe your chin. You're dribbling again.
Jailed political fundraiser Antoin "Tony" Rezko, the Chicago real estate developer who helped launch Barack Obama on his political career, is whispering secrets to federal prosecutors about corruption in Illinois and the political fallout could be explosive.
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Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich, whose administration faces multiple federal investigations over how it handed out jobs and money with advice from Rezko, is considered the most vulnerable.
Rezko also was friendly with Obama — offering him a job when he finished law school, funding his earliest political campaigns and purchasing a lot next to his house. But based on the known facts, charges so far and testimony at Rezko's trial, there's no indication there'll be an October surprise that could hurt the Democratic presidential nominee — even though Rezko says prosecutors are pressing him for dirt about Obama. Rest at link
Posted by: ed ||
10/11/2008 10:43 ||
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#2
I'm shocked, SHOCKED, that there is politics going on in this election!Doesn't Gov. Palin know that you are supposed to use your power to keep officers like this ON the force, rather than have them fired!
Posted by: bruce ||
10/11/2008 8:24 Comments ||
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#3
Yeah, well the guy wasn't being fired by the appropriate person, so Palin stepped in. And Todd Palin felt strongly that the guy was a threat to his family. And the guy drank on the job, tasered an 11-year-old, and collected work comp falsely. Good for her for stepping in before someone got killed. Alaska is "small town" and the guy's superior probably couldn't bring himself to fire his buddy.
#5
"The guy's superior was a Dem appointee that Palin unwisely kept on when she took office, as a gesture of bipartisanship."
The Repubs have got to quit doing that. It's never returned in kind, and the Dems see it as a sign of weakness/agreement with them (but I repeat myself).
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/11/2008 16:45 Comments ||
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#6
She may have needed to do something along these lines. Remember, she ran against the Republican party's favored incumbent and beat him in the primary. The Ted Stevens etc. crowd would love to see her fail.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Finance officials from the world's top economic powers endorsed a plan Friday to stem the worst financial crisis in more than a half-century. The officials from the Group of Seven countries issued the five-point plan aimed at reversing a credit crisis that has unhinged Wall Street and markets around the globe. They pledged to take "decisive action and use all available tools."
Under the plan, the countries vowed to protect major banks and to prevent their failure. They also committed to working to get credit flowing more freely again, support the efforts of banks to raise money from both public and private sources, bolster deposit insurance and revive the battered mortgage financing market.
Boy howdy, that should do it. Now for dinner ...
"The current situation calls for urgent and exceptional action," the G7 finance ministers said in a joint statement.
One always looks to the Euros for 'urgent and exceptional action' ...
Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke met with their counterparts from the world's six other richest countries as the rout of financial markets sped ahead in the face of dramatic rescue efforts in the U.S. and abroad.
Besides the United States, the G7 countries are Japan, Germany, Britain, France, Italy and Canada.
Aside from the important details on bank stock purchases that Paulson offered, the finance officials did not provide specifics beyond their five-point action plan. The one-page joint statement from the G7 financial officials was rare in its brevity. The statements usually issued by the G7 run multiple pages.
By adopting a broad set of common goals, individual countries will have leeway to develop specific remedies that best suit their needs, Paulson explained. The United States and other G7 countries have unveiled a number of bold plans already aimed at shoring up banks, protecting bank depositors and thawing frozen credit.
As individual countries move forward on relief efforts, actions "should be taken in ways that protect taxpayers," the finance officials said. "Never has it been more essential to find collective solutions to ensure stable and efficient financial markets and restore the health of the world economy," Paulson said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/11/2008 00:00 ||
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Singapore's trade-sensitive economy has declined for a second straight quarter, the government said yesterday, meaning the city-state has entered a recession for the first time in six years.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/11/2008 00:00 ||
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US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson says the US government is planning to invest directly in US banks to prevent them from failing, expanding the focus of the government's $US700 billion ($1 trillion) rescue plan.
"We're going to do it as soon as we can do it and do it effectively," Mr Paulson said when asked about an equity-buying plan. "There's no doubt in our mind, given the magnitude of the issue ... that we can use the taxpayers' money more effectively and efficiently ... if we develop a standardised program for making, encouraging equity participation," he added.
A $US700 billion rescue plan approved last week had initially focused on the problem of liquidity for banks by offering to buy up their toxic assets.
Buying equity is the other way to help banks, and likely quicker than figuring out what the toxic assets are worth in an auction or sale. Either fixes the balance sheet for banks, and that's what they need right now. The government (well, a McCain administration) could sell the shares, preferred shares or warrants at a later time when the situation is stable.
Mr Paulson's comments underline how the Treasury is increasingly in favour of investing directly in struggling banks which are unable to raise new capital from private investors.
Implementing the rescue plan, called the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), is taking time because of the complexity of the problems, but Mr Paulson said officials were "working around the clock to deal with this."
Mr Paulson has warned that the first purchases of toxic assets could take several weeks and he gave no timetable for the equity purchase program. "I'm not prepared to say today about the relative sizes of the two efforts," he said when asked about the amount of money that would be spent on buying assets relative to the amount for equity.
Buying equity could happen quickly. It would be better to buy the new shares on the open market so that the market can set a price. But the government could buy preferred 'class B' shares in a matter of days/weeks and thus inject capital.
Under a G7 "action plan" announced today, the economic powers would seek to ensure that banks "can raise capital from public as well as private sources, in sufficient amounts to re-establish confidence and permit them to continue lending to households and businesses."
Earlier this week, the White House said such a plan to directly recapitalise troubled banks was "actively" being considered as part of the rescue package.
Mr Paulson said today that efforts to fight the financial crisis would be in cooperation with the G7 and said any government stock purchase would be in non-voting shares. "As we develop plans to purchase equity, as in the approach we are taking to broad mortgage asset purchases, we are working to develop a standardised program that is open to a broad array of financial institutions," Mr Paulson said.
"Such a program would be designed to encourage the raising of new private capital to complement public capital. Consistent with the legislation, any equity the government purchases through a broadly available equity program would be on a non-voting basis."
Such a move would follow similar action by British authorities, and would give the government special shares of the banks in exchange for helping boost badly needed capital in an effort to unclog credit markets. Analysts and officials said there is a precedent in the Reconstruction Finance Corporation created during the Great Depression.
A US Congress committee also announced today that it will expand its probe into the causes of the financial crisis next week by calling on leading investment managers to testify, a leading Congressman announced today. George Soros, a veteran financier famous for his speculation against the British pound on "Black Wednesday" in 1992, is among a host of leading names to be called.
Don't expect any rude questions for George ...
"This financial crisis has shaken the global economy. Congress cannot wait until a new administration arrives in January to examine what went wrong and who should be held accountable," said the chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Henry Waxman.
#2
A US Congress committee also announced today that it will expand its probe into the causes of the financial crisis next week by calling on leading investment managers to testify, a leading Congressman announced today.
In other news... mysterious force shatters Congressional cloakroom mirrors.
1. Give billions of taxpayer money to undeserving companies.
2. ?
3. Dow 15,000!!111!!
Posted by: Scott R ||
10/11/2008 10:58 Comments ||
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#4
So basically Paulson is following the Swedish precedent:
During 1991–1992, a housing bubble in Sweden deflated, resulting in a severe credit crunch and widespread bank insolvency. The causes were similar to those of the subprime mortgage crisis of 2007–2008. In response, the government took the following actions:
Sweden's government assumed bad bank debts, but banks had to write down losses and issue an ownership interest (common stock) to the government. Shareholders were typically wiped out, but bondholders were protected.
When distressed assets were later sold, the profits flowed to taxpayers, and the government was able to recoup more money later by selling its shares in the companies in public offerings.
The government announced the state would guarantee all bank deposits and creditors of the nationÂ’s 114 banks.
Sweden formed a new agency to supervise institutions that needed recapitalization, and another that sold off the assets, mainly real estate, that the banks held as collateral.
This bailout initially cost about 4% of Sweden's GDP, later lowered to between 0–2% of GDP depending on various assumptions due to the value of stock later sold when the nationalized banks were privatized.
(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bailout#Swedish_banking_rescue)
US car giants General Motors and Chrysler are in talks about a possible merger, US media say. Reports say the talks have been going on for a month but details of the deal vary from a merger to an acquisition by GM of Chrysler.
GM is the leading manufacturer and Chrysler third after Ford. All have been suffering with a plunge in US sales to 15-year lows. Neither of the parties have made any direct official comment.
Sources told the Wall Street Journal that Cerberus Capital Management, which owns 80.1% of Chrysler had proposed trading its automotive operations to GM in return for GM's stake in the auto lender GMAC Financial Services. The New York Times's sources spoke of a merger that was a "50-50" possibility, although it could take weeks to finalise and had been stalled by the turmoil in the financial markets.
GM spokesman Tony Cervone said: "Without referencing this specific rumour, as we've often said, GM officials routinely discuss issues of mutual interest with other automakers."
Analysts have questioned Chrysler's position, given its reliance on North America for 90% of its revenue. Both companies have been hard hit by falling truck and SUV sales and are struggling to push through job cuts against union opposition. GM shares hit a 60-year low this week. It posted a second-quarter net loss of $15.5bn.
Separately, Reuters reports that Ford is planning to sell most of its 33.4% holding in Japan's Mazda.
#1
Good. It's about time one of these go away. We've had too many auto manufacturers for way too long. Though if I was GM, I wouldn't want anything to do with Chrysler and I'd be to concerned with how bad GMAC (owner of Ditech.com) is going to hurt me. Makes me a little sad. I'm a big fan of the older Mopars.
I'd let Chrysler all but fail completely before I'd buy it.
And no bailout possibilities for Chrysler either. No way a Bambi administration is going to bail out a venture capital group.
A lot of Mexicans are going to lose manufacturing jobs.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
10/11/2008 3:55 Comments ||
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#2
...If this were to happen - and there would be some serious, though not insurmountable, antitrust questions - basically Chrysler would go away except for Jeep. Figure GMC, Pontiac and Buick would pretty much go too.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
10/11/2008 5:14 Comments ||
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#6
Just what GM needs. More production capacity to build cars people don't want with union thugs who are grossly overpaid. That'll work. And Cerberus may be able to pull it off.
#7
Gonna miss Mopar. UNless GM and Ford move production to non-union states, like Tenn, they will lose out to Honda and others who are producing cars far outside Detroit and the union;s reach.
Time to abandon Michigan if they want their companies to survive. Look to Atlanta.
#8
The Big Three can't escape the UAW no matter what state they're in. That's part of the 'basic contract'.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/11/2008 12:57 Comments ||
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#9
Coming soon: the Chrysler Empirical
/.5MT
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/11/2008 14:09 Comments ||
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#10
Maybe they need to look at changing their "basic contract," Steve.
Or the UAW idiots can keep whining for more and plants can start shutting down and they can be unemployed with the wonderful knowledge that if they did have UAW jobs, they'd make a lot more money than they're actually worth.
That warm fuzzy feeling of what might have been won't feed the baby or pay the mortgage, of course, but it's more important than compromising or taking a pay cut in order to keep your company afloat.
I know an engineer who recently was handed a $6,000/year pay CUT, and he's grateful. Grateful that he's still working (unlike the 15 other people in his company who were let go for lack of business). Can you see any union member having that attitude? They'd rather all be unemployed from "high-paying" jobs than be employed with medium-paying jobs.
Pfui.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/11/2008 14:18 Comments ||
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#11
But Barbara don't you see?!? The most important part is that they didn't give in! They might be out of a job, but hey, they never gave in. /sarc
#12
That's how my darling father-in-law ended up retired and pensionless after spending his life at Bethlehem Steel, first as a union man, then as a quality inspector (first line management -- all the responsibility with none of the benefits).
#14
Unfortunately, L1011, that's exactly what they will say when the plants start closing for good.
And it won't be sarcasm from them.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/11/2008 16:08 Comments ||
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#15
Yeccchhh. And the result would be a grotesque, flailing monster that would REALLY be "too big to fail."
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
10/11/2008 18:13 Comments ||
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#16
My 2004 Ford F150 is a beauty, everything I wanted and still great. They keep enticing me to buy a new one, but why would I? The days of buying new vehicles (like my Dad did) every couple years is over. They are too well made, too expensive when new (my fully loaded 4x4 Lariat Supercrew was close to $38K with extended warranty) . The San Diego Union had a Auto section article that noted Porsche Cayennes are selling well at $86K. If you had one, would you sell it at a huge depreciation to incur a ...what?....$96K purchase of a new one in a couple years?
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/11/2008 18:45 Comments ||
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#17
"They keep enticing me to buy a new one, but why would I?"
Because if Ford goes belly up you'll be stuck with a Toyota Tundra. With a newer model you'll at least postpone the inevitable.
How many miles you got on the F-150?
#18
66K...warranty til 72K. Oil change every 3K, leather interior's like new, no recalls, dealer serviced at required mileages. Looks, runs like new - and no, I'm not selling it
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/11/2008 19:28 Comments ||
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#19
On Thursday I picked up some other staff for a site visit. When they get in a nearly 5-yr old truck and say: "wow, this is nice", I feel good
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/11/2008 19:32 Comments ||
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#20
I have a 1996 Dodge 2500 Club Cab 4-wheel drive with a V-10. It's got 126K and runs like new. I also have a 1999 Cavalier with a 4cylinder that has 146K and gets 32 MPG on the highway. They are paid for. I have no reason to buy new.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
10/11/2008 19:47 Comments ||
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#21
If you merge the two, and rationalize production, you could end up with an auto manufacturer that could build all the light truck (pickup), SUV, and small car production for NA in Mexico, and large cars in Canada.
I would expect this is just a preliminary round. Would not be surprised to see Nissan fold NA production into GM (Chrysler has already taken the Titan business to Mexico) and Ford and Honda to talk.
When we emerge from this economic disaster, the Big 3 will be Toyota, GM/Chrysler/Nissan, and Honda/Ford.
Global stocks went into freefall yesterday, with double-digit losses in Frankfurt, London and Tokyo, on fears that the financial crisis was spiralling out of control, dealers said.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/11/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
US catches cold, the rest of the world gets pneumonia. And they would love to see Hussain Osama as the next president. Idiots.
#4
It's irrational, therefore there is little you can do to 'stop' it. It's like a hurricane. You need to weather it out and save your resources for the afterward instead of throwing it away in the wind. Time to plan for 'recovery' not worry about the immediate storm. Time to stop the process of inflating the currencies and retain the value of the stuff you have so that the 'opportunities' that will appear can be exploited. Let those who panic lose their position so others less anxious can prime the system recovery with viable currancy.
(PTI) The US benchmark index Dow Jones Industrial Average has plunged to its lowest level in five years, amid negative market sentiments in the world economy and some analysts predicting that recovery could take a long time. In the last ninety minutes of trading, the Dow index dropped to 8,579.19, the lowest level in five years, down as much as 679 points.
In percentage terms the Dow saw its 11th largest since the index came into effect, with a fall of 7.3 per cent yesterday.
The fall was witnessed even as foreign ministers of major powers are to meet today in Washington to chalk out steps to restore confidence in the light of failure of measures taken so far, including cut in interest rate, to stem the blood bath.
Analysts said after the seventh straight day of losses, stocks have lost around USD 2.3 billion in a week as investors saw their wealth plummeting by USD 8.4 trillion dollars after year-long decline.
The New York Times reported that no corner of the market was left untouched as investors dumped stocks en masse with 1,754 stock falling and just 87 rising. In the last six trading days, the Dow has plummeted a staggering 2,251.8 points losing 20.8 per cent.
Besides, 'The Times' quoted analysts as saying that at current prices, the market is suggesting that investors fear the country could face a severe and long recession that has not been seen since at least the early 1970s.
The global stocks have continued to suffer despite the approval of USD 700 billion bailout package, Dutch government readiness to pump 20 billion euros in the market to shore up banks and other European nations considering similar injection of capital to unfreeze credit markets.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/11/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
If this is a front page, abovw the fold story, its good news for investors. The tv stations will parrot this all weekend and help us get to the bottom quickly.
The faster this market settles down, the better for McCain. If he decides to run for president.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
10/11/2008 2:42 Comments ||
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#2
Mike continues to lead in the Snark o' the Day competition.
NEW YORK (AP) - Oil prices plunged in another violent sell-off Friday, briefly tumbling below $78 a barrel as investors grow more pessimistic about the prospects for resolving a mushrooming global economic crisis. A barrel of oil hasn't been this cheap in 13 months.
Light, sweet crude for November delivery fell $8.01 to $78.61 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after earlier falling to $77.28, its lowest level since Sept. 11, 2007. Crude has now lost about 47 percent since hitting a record $147.27 on July 11, tumbling as a deepening credit crisis caused by the subprime mortgage fiasco wreaks havoc around the globe and drives down energy demand.
Underscoring Americans' waning appetite for fuel, a gallon of regular gasoline dropped 5.3 cents overnight to a new national average of $3.35 a gallon, according to auto club AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and Wright Express.
Oil market traders were also fixated on signs of falling energy demand around the globe. The International Energy Agency on Friday cut its global oil demand forecasts for this year and 2009, pointing to the worsening economic conditions and the tight credit supply. The Paris-based energy watchdog cut its forecast for oil demand this year by 240,000 barrels per day, and slashed its 2009 forecast by 440,000 barrels per day. The IEA now expects global oil demand to total 86.5 million barrels per day this year and 87.2 million barrels per day next year.
"The fundamental game for oil has changed. In the last decade, oil went up because of strong global economic growth. That story for the near term is over, so everybody has to re-evaluate," Flynn said. What's driving this market right now is fear of demand destruction and lack of credit," he said. "If you can't borrow money to buy crude, then demand falls more and so do prices."
In other Nymex trading, heating oil futures fell 22.06 cents to $2.198 a gallon, while gasoline prices dropped 22.26 cents to $1.8047 a gallon. Natural gas for November delivery fell 26 cents to $6.565 per 1,000 cubic feet. In London, November Brent crude fell $8.39 to $74.27 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange. Bangla Daily Star has oil at $77 a barrel.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/11/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
...Still occasional shortages here in Columbia, SC, but as of last night it's down to $3.26 - actually lower than it was before Hurricane Ike.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
10/11/2008 5:09 Comments ||
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#2
"If you can't borrow money to buy crude, then demand falls more and so do prices."
It's not just demand, the 'credit' market has gone south stopping the speculators from floating paper to jack up the commodity. Now to really hammer it home, the regulators need to follow through and make sure those who bid oil 'futures' above $100 pay and are not permitted to exercise an escape clause. Those unable to pay need to be barred for life from commodities trading.
#3
Crude can't be allowed to crash! Why, it might actually benefit Joe Schmoe, and the crazies of the world won't be able to blow up as much crap as before! Quagmire!!!
#5
Oil prices need to stabilise between 65 and 90 to maintain infrastructure of the bio fuels and unconventional oils. If we don't we will see wildly flunctuating prices that ultimately will hurt the consumers and the worlds economies.
#6
Here is a graph, inflation adjusted, for crude oil prices for 60 years or so.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/11/2008 14:21 Comments ||
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#7
As a child my family took a trip from KC to the Ozarks in 1961. I recollect an oil price in hillbilly land (not a slam by the way) at 17.9 cents per gallon. Never seen it lower in my lifetime. For 2 bucks you could "fill 'er up". My point, nostagia aside, is that the oil companies were raking in millions even back then. Today "supply and demand" is not at work - cartels adjust supply as they wish. No better or worse than the folks in Sinaloa or Colombia.
#8
Crude on the world market is priced in dollars. With the dollar at a 16 month high, crude prices (in dollars) had to fall, even independent of supply/demand changes.
Posted by: Minister of funny walks ||
10/11/2008 16:16 Comments ||
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#9
Procopius2k nailed it above. I hope our feckless government takes the appropriate action.
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.
If you're wondering what was going through Britney Spears' head during her erratic era, you are not alone--so does she. "I sit there and I look back and I'm like, 'I'm a smart person. What the hell was I thinking?'" Spears said in an interview to air on MTV on Nov. 30, two days before the release of her new album. 
An agitated mob set the houses of two local leaders of BNP and its front organisation to fire suspecting their involvement in the sensational Dhandia union Parishad (UP) chairman Arifuzzaman Chanchal murder yesterday morning.
The Russian State Duma has approved a series of emergency measures to help its banks and companies that have been hit by the credit crisis.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Finance officials from the world's top economic powers endorsed a plan Friday to stem the worst financial crisis in more than a half-century. The officials from the Group of Seven countries issued the five-point plan aimed at reversing a credit crisis that has unhinged Wall Street and markets around the globe. They pledged to take "decisive action and use all available tools."
US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson says the US government is planning to invest directly in US banks to prevent them from failing, expanding the focus of the government's $US700 billion ($1 trillion) rescue plan. 
US car giants General Motors and Chrysler are in talks about a possible merger, US media say. Reports say the talks have been going on for a month but details of the deal vary from a merger to an acquisition by GM of Chrysler.
(PTI) The US benchmark index Dow Jones Industrial Average has plunged to its lowest level in five years, amid negative market sentiments in the world economy and some analysts predicting that recovery could take a long time. In the last ninety minutes of trading, the Dow index dropped to 8,579.19, the lowest level in five years, down as much as 679 points.
NEW YORK (AP) - Oil prices plunged in another violent sell-off Friday, briefly tumbling below $78 a barrel as investors grow more pessimistic about the prospects for resolving a mushrooming global economic crisis. A barrel of oil hasn't been this cheap in 13 months.
