The Justice Department says it foiled a plot by a fired Fannie Mae contract worker in Maryland to destroy all the data on the mortgage giant's 4,000 computer servers nationwide. The U.S. Attorney's Office says 35-year-old Rajendrasinh Makwana, of Glen Allen, Va., is scheduled for arraignment Friday in U.S. District Court in Baltimore on one count of computer intrusion.
U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein says Makwana was fired Oct. 24. Rosenstein says that on that day, Makwana programmed a computer with a malicious code that was set to spread throughout the Fannie Mae network and destroy all data this Saturday. Makwana's federal public defender did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Looking at the headline, I thought maybe it was about Bawney Fwank.
For those who care, Glen Allen is on the western outskirts of Richmond.
Interesting logistics - wonder why he moved here of all places after he was canned?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/31/2009 10:49 Comments ||
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Zimbabwe's main opposition is headed into a unity government within weeks, bowing Friday to pressure to conclude a deal with a president it considers a brutal dictator so a spiraling humanitarian crisis can be tackled.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2009 00:00 ||
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Hundreds of British energy workers walked off the job Friday to protest the use of foreign labor on British job sites, the latest sign of an increasing backlash against foreign workers amid the global recession.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
This sort of protectionist attitude is very hard to argue against when others are blatantly doing it, to your disadvantage. Open markets only work when all parties are acting equally reciprocally.
#3
...and paying taxpayers' money to foreign companies which employ subcontractors who in turn exclude British workers, at a time of high unemployment amongst British construction workers, benefits whom, besides the foreign workers? Our economy as it is relies far too much on 'unconstructive' jobs. We've got more than enough dole-bound construction workers costing us as it is.
I'm not in favour of protectionism, but when everyone else does it (and we all know the French etc have one standard when it comes to public contracts for them, and another standard for the UK), you're the pooch who gets screwed.
#4
Of course 'foreign labor' has several meanings. In the US that means anyone from outside the local area when it comes to bidding for public works, which always seemed to be sized or contractually defined such that the good o'local boys always seem to get them. You know that piece of road construction that seem to have to be done and redone again and again. Or the construction of public buildings going to "Friends of..." That's where the 5% of the Reelection Stimulus package is going to be employed in patronage to the local infrastructure and reelection coffers kickback work.
#5
This is all to the good. I fully understand and generally support the anti-protectionist agenda but this is an exception.
Britain has deeded its sovereignty to the unelected, unaccountable EU. This means that much of the law that Brits are forced to live under is not in the control of people they elect.
This may be the lever to pry open the situation and get someone with backbone to step up and demand that the UK leave the EU.
This is really a case of "taxation without representation" in the new world of oligarchic bureaucracy. Listen to Bulldog et al, go to
http://eureferendum.blogspot.com/
for the whole story.
Line forms on the right, El Jefe. And it's a long one so expect to wait...
Ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro demanded on Thursday that President Barack Obama return the US naval base at Guantanamo to Cuba without conditions, and he accused the new US leader of supporting "Israeli genocide" against Palestinians.
Castro, who had recently praised Obama as "honest" and "noble", lashed out at his administration for stating that Washington will not return Guantanamo if it has any military use for the United States and without concessions in return. "Maintaining a military base in Cuba against the will of the people violates the most elemental principles of international law," Castro wrote in a column posted on the government-run website. Ah, the old Good Commie-Bad Commie game... And trotting out 'international law', no less ...
"Not respecting Cuba's will is an arrogant act and an abuse of immense power against a little country," Castro said, resorting to a charge he has leveled against the 10 previous US presidents since he came to power in a 1959 revolution. Cuba indefinitely leased Guantanamo to the United States in 1903 after the United States occupied the country during the 1898 Spanish-American War. Castro charges that the base at the south-eastern tip of Cuba was taken over illegally. Maybe we'll break his balls and give it back to Spain...
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2009 00:00 ||
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#5
The MSM of the time, the detestable "Yellow Press" of Pulitzer and Hearst, incited the Spanish-American War as part of their white-hot circulation wars.
It was perhaps the earliest example of feckless and amoral activist media actually influencing world events. Fidel should therefore blame their latter-day successors, rather than William McKinley's, for the loss of Guantanamo.
#7
One of the issues here is the long-term resentment some Cubans have over the Spanish-American war. To wit: they believe that their ancestors were in the process of chasing the Spanish off the island and didn't need our help. We Americans barged in at the last minute, took all the credit, and then arranged affairs on the island to suit our purposes.
We should also recall that many Americans at the time wanted to annex Cuba outright and prepare it to be a state (in retrospect, a great idea). President McKinley was afraid of European opinion (nothing new there) and declined to do that. The result was that we installed (and periodically re-installed) a tame government that did as it was told.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/31/2009 10:16 Comments ||
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#8
all true, but as long as there is a Castro-style dictatorship, we should keep Gitmo open and defended.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/31/2009 10:23 Comments ||
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#9
If we're going to give it back, we should move all the criminals and other refuse Castro has sent us over the years, and move them to Gitmo first. Oh, and leave there all the terrorists we can't figure out what to do with.
JAPAN will give Y1.5 trillion ($25.54 billion) in development aid to other Asian countries for infrastructure projects to battle the economic crisis, a top government official says.
Prime Minister Taro Aso will announce the package in a speech to the World Economic Forum today, Mr Aso's press secretary Kazuo Kodama said. "The Prime Minister will announce that Japan will provide official development assistance of no less than 1.5 trillion yen in total in order to help Asian countries to build infrastructure,'' he said.
Said infrastructure to be provided exclusively by Japanese companies ...
Aso is also to suggest an end to the blame-game surrounding the economic crisis after Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin and Chinese premier Wen Wen Jiabao made forceful speeches here pointing the finger at the United States. "We will say that we have no time to engage in a blame-game which is counterproductive and is in noone's interests,'' Mr Kodama said.
Global imbalances, he will stress, are the result of over consumption in the United States but also under-consumption and over-reliance on exports in major exporting countries such as Japan and China. "Countries must shed their dependence on external demand,'' he will say, according to his spokesman.
Elsewhere, Mr Aso is also to announce a new emissions plan for the country and will reiterate a pledge by Japan made last November to lend $US100 billion ($153.4 billion) to the International Monetary Fund.
The depth of the downturn in Japan, the world's second-largest economy, emerged yesterday with industrial production showing a record 9.6 per cent decline last month and unemployment up by 0.5 per cent to a three-year high of 4.4 per cent.
Output fell at its fastest pace since records began in 1953 and it was considerably worse than the 9 per cent consensus forecasts expected by the market and up from a previous record of 8.5 per cent a month earlier. It is particularly worrying for a country that relies heavily on global exports of cars, electronics and machinery.
At the same time, the threat of deflation is looming over Japan as new data showed that the consumer price index rose by only 0.2 per cent in December, compared with a 1 per cent increase in November. Deflation held the Japanese economy in a slump for nearly a decade until 2006.
The figures come as factories across Japan are shedding jobs and reducing operating times, with large companies such as Toyota and Honda being forced to suspend plants for weeks at a time. The Japanese electronics industry eliminated 27,000 jobs yesterday with NEC anouncing plans to cut 20,000 jobs worldwide and Hitachi said that it would shed 7,000 jobs after warning of a £5 billion loss this year.
Kaoru Yosano, the Economics Minister, said: "I am extremely worried about industrial production. Probably such a sharp decline was never experienced and is likely to continue."
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/31/2009 00:00 ||
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"Japan, the world's second-largest economy"
That should give larger, more populous nations an inferiority complex.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/31/2009 10:52 Comments ||
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It was supposed to be a prank. But coming on the day after 9/11, it was one he would regret profoundly. Posing as an anonymous tipster, homicide Det. Keith Bradshaw called a police buddy and in his best Arabic accent left a chilling message on his voice mail. One of their colleagues, he said, was taking secret flying lessons, intended to knock down the Twin Towers and was an Islamic militant.
The butt of the joke-gone-bad, forensics employee Abdullah Yousufi, complained to the Ontario Human Rights Commission. A tribunal hearing starts Monday. "This was over years ago," Bradshaw's lawyer, Gary Clewley, said yesterday. "He owned up to it, he apologized, he was disciplined. What the hell does (Yousufi) want? It seems gratuitous to me."
Yousufi, a long-time civilian employee of Toronto police, has filed two complaints with the commission, documents show, the first in May 2002. Besides the prank, Yousufi alleges harassment and a poisoned work environment because of his ethnicity, "a non-white person of Afghan descent who is perceived to be of the Muslim faith." In April 2004 Yousufi complained again to the commission, this time about the "negative workplace consequences" of filing the first complaint. He alleges he was denied training and his employer used the Civilian Review Process to mask an attempt to demote him.
Yesterday, Yousufi declined to comment. "I'm in a really bad situation right now," he said. "I have to take the stand, but I still have to earn a living."
After Bradshaw left the message on Sept. 12, 2001, Internal Affairs launched an investigation, putting Yousufi under surveillance. Bradshaw confessed to the prank, Clewley said. He was disciplined by having several hours of pay docked.
#1
great writing.
Yesterday, Yousufi declined to comment. "I'm in a really bad situation right now," he said. "I have to take the stand, but I still have to earn a living."
so he actually did comment. He did leave off the part where he feels a hostile work environment because he's a thin-skinned prick, IMNSHO - The guy played a joke and paid for it.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/31/2009 10:21 Comments ||
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#2
"environment because of his ethnicity, "a non-white person of Afghan descent who is perceived to be of the Muslim faith."
So, is he NOT of the Muslim faith?
If his charges are valid, I sympathize. However, it is hard to tell from the info given in the article.
11 days and counting
The Obama administration has asked the military's Joint Chiefs of Staff to cut the Pentagon's budget request for the fiscal year 2010 by more than 10 percent -- about $55 billion -- a senior U.S. defense official tells FOX News.
Last year's defense budget was $512 billion. Service chiefs and planners will be spending the weekend "burning the midnight oil" looking at ways to cut the budget -- looking especially at weapons programs, the defense official said.
Some overall budget figures are expected to be announced Monday.
Obama met Friday at the White House with a small group of military advisers, including Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Gen. James Cartwright, vice chairman, and Gen. Jim Jones, National Security Council chairman.
#1
I wonder if his lordship will ask ANY other agency of the federal govt to cut 10% of its budget. But then I already know the answer to the question...
#4
If I were a Pub congresscritter I'd call him on it. I'd show Bambi a little more of that vaunted, recent Pub unity and ensure that not a single Pub voted for the defense cuts. Bambi wants it, he gets the Donks to go along. All of them.
Would make 2010 very interesting.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/31/2009 16:11 Comments ||
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#5
Someone had to feel the pinch do Acorn can get his 4 billions.
The Republican Party chose the first black national chairman in its history Friday, just shy of three months after the nation elected a Democrat as the first African-American president. The choice marked no less than "the dawn of a new party," declared the new GOP chairman, former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele. Republicans chose Steele over four other candidates, including former President George W. Bush's hand-picked GOP chief, who bowed out declaring, "Obviously the winds of change are blowing."
Steele takes the helm of a beleaguered Republican Party that is trying to recover after crushing defeats in November's national elections that gave Democrats control of Congress put Barack Obama in the White House.
GOP delegates erupted in cheers and applause when his victory was announced, but it took six ballots to get there. He'll serve a two-year term.
Steele, an attorney, is a conservative, but he was considered the most moderate of the five candidates running.
He was also considered an outsider because he's not a member of the Republican National Committee. But the 168-member RNC clearly signaled it wanted a change after eight years of Bush largely dictating its every move as the party's standard-bearer.
Steele became the first black candidate elected to statewide office in Maryland in 2003, and he made an unsuccessful Senate run in 2006. Currently, he serves as chairman of GOPAC, an organization that recruits and trains Republican political candidates, and in that role he has been a frequent presence on the talk show circuit.
He vowed to expand the reach of the party by competing for every group, everywhere.
"We're going to say to friend and foe alike: 'We want you to be a part of us, we want you to with be with us.' And for those who wish to obstruct, get ready to get knocked over," Steele said. "There is not one inch of ground that we're going to cede to anybody," he added. "This is the dawn of a new party moving in a new direction with strength and conviction."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2009 00:00 ||
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Bravo, the Republican Party finally gets one right!
#2
The Trunks are like the economy, at a certain point the only way that remains is up. Real change usually comes after a major disaster. Not that they'd listen, but I'd recommend the development of a 'lessons learned' cell to document fundamentals so you don't have to keep relearning from the same mistakes over and over again. You also need a mechanism to make sure you don't slip back into bad habits once you fix what needs fixing. Of course, all that requires a degree of intelligent self reflection that egos at that level seem particularly resistant to.
#5
I'm pleased with this. I think Mr. Steele gets modern politics. Now what he needs are:
1) an organization that gets modern political social organization and the Web 2.0 (Obama got it)
2) a commitment from Republicans for a 50-state, 435-district strategy (don't laugh, it worked for Howard Dean)
3) emphasis on rebuilding from the state and local levels on up
4) relentless push-back on the MSM nonsense and stereotypes
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/31/2009 10:24 Comments ||
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#6
"When do we stop harping on "...first black..." for everything?"
Hopefully before the Dems and Lefties (but I repeat myself) do, Alan.
Which is likely, seeing as to how they'll NEVER stop.
Don't forget, according to the Dems & their ilk, any black person who aligns with the Republicans isn't really black - they're "House Negroes" or worse. >:-(
When I look at Michael Steele, I don't see a black man - I see a man of honor and conviction who's good-looking too ;-p.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/31/2009 10:27 Comments ||
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#7
Ken Blackwell is another fine man, although he ran and withdrew for RNC. Steele, Jindal, Palin, Blackwell....
I like that lineup. I'm getting tired of the RINOs like McMaverick, Specter, Collins, Snowe,...... who can never be totally counted on for GOP support
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/31/2009 11:09 Comments ||
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#8
In the 1960s, somebody introduced Rep. Shirley Chisholm at a banquet or other such event. Before she launched into her speech, she said, "I'm looking forward to the day when I'm not introduced as the "first black'."
I think that was before her party glommed onto the identity politics meme. That'd be about 1967, when I was first old enough to start reading the news.
I've forgotten exactly when identity politics took off. Right about the time the govt started quota programs?
#10
Steele was my choice and frankly, I think he represents the only hope conservatives have right now to form a new political majority for the 21st century. As has been stated several times already, this guy gets it. Most of all, he can articulate and communicate sound conservative principles in a way Bush & Co. never could and never did. Few other Republicans right now, minus probably Jindal, Crist, and Pawlenty (I wish I could say Palin, too, but I still think she lacks the media savvy that is necessary to get ahead nowadays, for [better or] worse. Give her some time though and watch out!) are up to the task, either. The fact that he won the RNC Chair as a relative outsider means that the RNC gets it, too. At least one can hope.
Congratulations, Mr. Steele! I look forward to seeing what you can do to reinvigorate the moderate conservative intellectual movement in America. After all, it starts and ends with ideas and ideals and the same conservative ideas and ideals that made this country great can help make it even greater.
Now more than ever, we need to get back to basics-- what works and what doesn't-- and it is up to sensible and level-headed conservatives to lead the charge, as they always do.
#12
The Repubs have called me for money and I've told them that they won't get once cent until they actually demonstrate that they've returned to conservative principles and show that they are fighting against the rampant socialization of the economy that is now underway. Steele's election is certainly a step in the right direction. Prime example of how the Repubs had fallen...can anyone name the previous RNC chairman?? Anyone? Buehler?
When the chairman of the political organization is invisible, then the organization is essentially invisible. Steele will change that in a big way. Again, excellent first step.
#13
Jindal is a non-starter for me. I can't stand that ignorant creationist crap he's pulling in LA. Which is odd since the Catholic Church is against creationism.
Steele should be a good start for rebuilding the GOP. I look forward to seeing what happens in the next couple years.
#18
Jindal is very smart and a personable straight shooter (think about how hard it was to get elected Governor in La. as a child of Indian immigrants??). Don't sell him short.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/31/2009 21:59 Comments ||
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#19
I find Jindal to be a very able administrator but I have not seen a whole lot of leadership talent. He would be a competent executive, but not a charismatic one.
#20
It is no coincidence that both of the party chairmen (RNC head Steele - Maryland and DNC capo Tim Kaine - Virginia) are based in states adjacent to Washington DC. Actually the DC suburbs, as soon as Kaine wraps up his term as governor and leaves Richmond.
New Delhi, Jan. 30: A high-profile India-Russia naval war game has morphed into Goan beach parties for the Russian sailors after it was suddenly scaled down with the two countries pulling out ships and a submarine that were to participate in it.
The latest edition of the Indra (short for India and Russia) series of naval exercises was to start on January 26 and conclude today. The war game was to take place off the west coast and the Russian ships were to converge in Goa at the end. The two navies were expected to practise maritime law enforcement, counter-piracy and anti-smuggling drills.
Instead, only one Russian ship, albeit its largest non-carrier vessel from its Northern Fleet, the nuclear-powered Pyotr Velikiy (Peter the Great), had an elementary passage exercise with the INS Delhi, a destroyer from the Indian Navy, for a few hours before it sailed into Mormugao.
The Russian sailors, tired from a long voyage from South Africa, began "resting and recuperating" in a beach resort. Goa is a favourite destination for Russians.
The Indra exercises began in 2003. Though much of the Indian Navy's inventory is of Russian origin, the operational practices of the two forces are divergent.
Indeed, the Indian and US navies have developed a far greater capability to carry out sophisticated war games in the last eight years. This year, India and the US have drawn up a series of even more complex joint drills.
A senior naval officer said the war game was scaled down after the Russians pulled out one of the major vessels in the six-ship flotilla from its Northern and Pacific fleets citing technical reasons. The Admiral Vinogradov, an Udalok-class missile and anti-submarine destroyer that set sail from Russia's Pacific Fleet base in Vladivostok on December 9, was pulled out of the drill along with its support tugboats and tankers.
An Indian Navy officer said the Russians cited "technical difficulties" and also offered to host another set of drills off the east African coast where the Vinogradov has been engaged in anti-piracy patrols.
Partly disappointed, the Indian Navy, that was not keen on Indra 2009 in any case because it is actively engaged or deployed for its own war games since 26/11, also pulled out a frontline frigate (imported from Russia), a submarine and helicopters that it had planned to use for Indra 2009.
Although the Indian Navy is wary about mentioning it, it is aware that in 2004 the nuclear-powered Peter the Great had developed such problems that a former Russian navy chief feared "it could explode at any moment".
Posted by: john frum ||
01/31/2009 00:00 ||
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Many older men think about sex but don't have the drive to put theory into practice.
Hmm...they sort of left out that with a greater life experience, the older male engages in a cost benefit analysis of even bothering the make the effort. The younger dudes have a much higher level of tolerance for failure to 'connect' for all their time, resources, and emotions invested in the process. The older male simply applies experience to a return on investment [since the 'time' factor looms rather higher in their perspective than the younger male]. Older men have long found other social outlets to engage their attention through their life experience, something younger men have just now discovered by means of technology - PC and console games. Enough so, that it's effect is making it appearance in the marriage boycott phenomena. It's not just delayed adolescence, but also a withdraw from the hassle of it all.
You knew this was coming -- Iran seeminly, doesn't understand The Chicago Way
US President Barack Obama's offer to talk to Iran shows that America's policy of "domination" has failed, the government spokesman said on Saturday.
"This request means Western ideology has become passive, that capitalist thought and the system of domination have failed," Gholam Hossein Elham was quoted as saying by the Mehr news agency. "Negotiation is secondary, the main issue is that there is no way but for (the United States) to change," he added.
After nearly three decades of severed ties, Obama said shortly after taking office this month that he is willing to extend a diplomatic hand to Tehran if the Islamic republic is ready to "unclench its fist".
In response, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad launched a fresh tirade against the United States, demanding an apology for its "crimes" against Iran and saying he expected "deep and fundamental" change from Obama. Iranian politicians frequently refer to the US administration as the "global arrogance", "domineering power" and "Great Satan".
Tensions with the United States have soared over Iran's nuclear drive and Ahmadinejad's vitriolic verbal attacks against Washington's close regional ally Israel.
Former US president George W. Bush refused to hold talks with the Islamic republic -- which he dubbed part of an "axis of evil" -- unless it suspended uranium enrichment, and never took a military option to thwart Tehran's atomic drive off the table.
The new administration of Obama has also refused to rule out any options -- including military strikes -- to stop Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
...During the lending boom, most mortgages were flipped and sold to another lender or servicer or sliced up and sold to investors as securitized packages on Wall Street. In the rush to turn these over as fast as possible to make the most money, many of the new lenders did not get the proper paperwork to show they own the note and mortgage.
This is the key to the produce the note strategy. Now, many lenders are moving to foreclose on homeowners, resulting in part from problems they created, and donÂ’t have the proper paperwork to prove they have a right to foreclose.
When you get a copy of the foreclosure suit, many lenders now automatically include a count to re-establish the note. It often reads like this: “…the Mortgage note has either been lost or destroyed and the Plaintiff is unable to state the manner in which this occurred.” In other words, they are admitting they don’t have the note that proves they have a right to foreclose.
If the lender is allowed to proceed without that proof, there is a possibility another institution, which may have bought your note along the way, will also try to collect the same debt from you again.
This process is not intended to help you get your house for free. The primary goal is to delay the foreclosure and put pressure on the lender to negotiate. Despite all the hype about lenders wanting to help homeowners avoid foreclosure, most borrowers know thatÂ’s not the reality.
Too many homeowners have experienced lender resistance to their efforts to work out a payment structure to keep them in their homes. Many lenders bear responsibility for these defaults, because they put borrowers into unfair loans using deceptive, hard-sell practices and then made the problem worse with predatory servicing.
Most homeowners just want these lenders to give them reasonable terms on their mortgages, many of which were predatory to begin with. With the help of judges who see through these predatory practices, lenders will feel the pressure to work with borrowers to keep them in their homes.
Don’t forget lenders made incredible amounts of money by using irresponsible practices to issue and service these loans. That greed led to the foreclosure crisis we’re in today. Allowing lenders to continue foreclosing on home after home, destroying our neighborhoods and our economy hurts us all. So, make it hard for your lender to take your home. Make ‘em produce the note!
#2
Don't forget lenders made incredible amounts of money by using irresponsible practices to issue and service these loans.
And home buyers who never had the means to own a home also fully participated in creating artificial wealth upon which these same institutions employed to leverage even more paper. Don't forget the willing participants who acted as agents/buyers driving up the bloated value of these houses, not only stuck everyone else with the final bill, but they also drove up property taxes which will in turn tip even more people into financial difficulty. There are two parties to the process. Both of whom were consume with greed, one for money, but someone else for another's property.
#3
You do NOT own that house until the last payment is received.
There is many ways to skin a cat and to rob people.
Who is really robbed is the taxpayer who subsidize all these flakes.
Posted by: Ming the Merciless ||
01/31/2009 21:54 Comments ||
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#4
Moreover, a large house cost $60,000 to build,
give and take a few...that they are still
valued at $600,000 at many places prove that there is something rotten in Denmark.
And with the magic negro's money printing of
trillions, they will indeed soon cost $600,000
to built and all houses will be worth $600,000 then...and a car will cost a million and
a loaf of bread $1000.000
I remember paying 60,000 pesos in Argentina for
a stick of bread, while 30years earlier,
ten pesos could buy a car!
Posted by: Ming the Merciless ||
01/31/2009 22:05 Comments ||
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#5
Why this fucking turd of an article is not under opinion is beyond me.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
01/31/2009 22:21 Comments ||
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#1
Trying to create business by fueling fear. Fact of the matter, there's not enough gold to support the world economy anymore. Just scroll down to the story about Zimmies who only want SA Rands or US dollars to work their economy. There is an incredible amount of paper dollars, real and counterfeit, that make both internal and external commerce possible. It is the lingua franca of small business whether you or anyone 'pegs' a value to it. Anyone [that includes Mr. Soros] who thinks there's something else to replace it will only find out attempting to substitute both the implicit entity and the international recognition of the dollar will result in the possible near complete collapse of the market system beyond local subsistence for the near future.
#2
In the US, however, it would be a very good idea if the individual States created plans for the printing and distribution of State scrip.
Scrip is not legal tender, but when the national currency is vacillating wildly, scrip has a stabilizing influence. Some municipalities used it during the Great Depression, and it helped them enormously.
If a dozen states created their own scrip, commerce, local and State government would continue, and the marketplace would recover much faster, with a lot less pain.
No matter what happens to the dollar, scrip retains its value and liquidity, keeping the marketplace lubricated.
#4
If China were to start dumping dollars, the dollar would tank, leaving the chinese holding lots more worthless dollars. Not a very good strategy for the chinese.
About 6 to 7 trillion was lost in the dow crash, about 4 trillion in housing. That means that the dollar is much stronger (by virtue of their being fewer of them) The reduction in credit lines also reduces flow of "credit dollars" which pumps the value of physical dollars.
The bailouts look like they are heading to 4 trillion, which is still a lot less than the losses.
Now lets say the chinese went with gold. They'd have to move it and store it - far too likely to loose their new gold reserves to their own people. Remember these people are willing to risk death by just using cheaper paint on toys.
If we had inflation, sure its a good plan, but we are heading into layoffs and dropping gdp, and that means deflation.
#1
Hmmm...they demand sex education for safe sex practices [well, you know they're going to do it anyways, so just show them how to be safe about it regardless of gender they play with].
Yes, I know, the principle escapes these usual suspects.
It appears that the FDIC closed three banks yesterday
Utah's MagnetBank became the fourth bank failure of the year, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was forced to directly refund depositors after being unable to find another institution willing to take over its operations.
That marked the first time the FDIC has been unable to find an acquirer for a failed bank in nearly five years, according to FDIC spokesman David Barr. "This bank did not have an attractive franchise value, and not many retail deposits or core deposits," Barr said. The FDIC had conducted an extensive marketing process for the bank's assets, he said. Translation: It was broke
#1
"This bank government did not have an attractive franchise value, and not many retail deposits or core deposits,"
Coming soon to a Treasury Auction near you. Maybe they'll have to sell off some of their holdings [like 80% of anything west of the Pecos - but you better get a contractually binding release from all those nasty restrictions of use otherwise it's just a title change without change of ownership].
Olbermann is the early forerunner in the contest of who can spread the most contagious Bush Derangement Syndrome, and the fruits of his labors are a plunge in popularity compared to Fair and Balanced FOX.
Posted by: Age Of Pericles ||
01/31/2009 00:12 ||
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Amidst parent Tribune Co.'s struggle to emerge from bankruptcy protection, the Los Angeles Times said Friday it is cutting 300 positions and will shrink the number of daily sections to four from five.
The paper's publisher, Eddy Hartenstein, informed staff in a memo on Friday, explaining the cuts "are designed to help us deal with the economic realities of the day."
"Not a day goes by that we don't give our readers the latest news and analysis on the deepening troubles of the U.S. economy," Hartenstein wrote. "The same challenges that face the companies we report about also are affecting us."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Announcing layoffs on Friday is "buried" in the Saturday news is the most hackneyed PR ploy in the book. Most real businesses learned long ago not to eliminate jobs on Friday because the workers go home without answers to their questions (severance, optional arrangements etc) all weekend to stew and return Monday with their lawyers in tow.
This underscores the ongoing buggy whip mentality of newspapers as businesses.
Posted by: regular joe ||
01/31/2009 8:11 Comments ||
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#2
1. It's a start.
2. How about outsourcing to, say, India your entire management staff.
#3
I just cancelled my local paper. I noticed last fall that I wasn't reading it much - mostly it went straight into the recycle bin, or piled up all week and then went into the bin. So I switched to Friday-Sunday delivery, since the TV section is in Saturday's edition and I calculated the delivery price for the 3 days was about the same as my going out and buying one each Saturday, when the aggravation factor was accounted for.
As soon as I switched, the TV section got MUCH skimpier. I also found over the last 3 months that I don't have time to sit down and read the Sunday paper, and I honestly don't miss it. I miss the idea of reading the paper, but news delivery had changed so much in my lifetime that what I was used to for decades is no longer true. Now by the time I get home in the evening I already know the news, and I found TV listings on my cable company's website that even let me choose the channels I care about, and pops up with whatever's on according to the time I access it. Just don't need the paper anymore. It's sad, but my life has managed to go on surprisingly well without it.
I don't know the answer for the newspapers.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/31/2009 11:01 Comments ||
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#4
Mrs. Besoeker and I discussed cancelling the Atlanta Constipation. Petsmart cage liners are an even greater expense and the bird really enjoys the sports section, so we retained the subscription but only until the bird dies.
#5
I think the newspaper industry will closely track the fortunes of the cage bird breeding industry.
My supermarket is giving away the (NY)Daily News, and there are piles of mouldering local papers in the lobbies of all the local apartment buildings I go into.
(Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama said on Friday that the current economic crisis is a "continuing disaster" for America's families and urged the Congress to approve the multi-billion dollars stimulus package.
"Today we learned that our economy shrank in the last three months of 2008 by 3.8 percent. That's the worst contraction in close to three decades," said the president at a White House gathering. "This isn't just an economic concept. This is a continuing disaster for America's working families," he warned. "The recession is deepening, and the urgency of our economic crisis is growing."
Obama said the government can't drag its feet or delay action much longer. "They (Americans) need action now. They need us to pass the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan," said the president, urging the Senate to approve the 819 billion dollar stimulus package immediately.
"I'm pleased that the House with the urgency necessary in passing this plan. I hope we can strengthen it further in the Senate," Obama said. "What we can't do is drag our feet or delay much longer. The American people expect us to act, and that's exactly what I intend to do as president of the United States," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
closer to the truth:
B.O. a continuing disaster for US economy.
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
01/31/2009 2:31 Comments ||
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This is a continuing disaster for America's working families," he warned. "The recession is deepening, and the urgency of our economic crisis is growing."
That's why for their own good they and their children are going to be made tax serfs for the rest of their lives.
#4
I've been wondering what future generations will call this period of economic turmoil. The Great Post Mellenial Clusterfuck? The Clinical Depression? Weneed a name!
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/31/2009 12:22 Comments ||
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#5
I favor "The Zero Times".
Posted by: Rednek Jim ||
01/31/2009 16:06 Comments ||
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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.
The Justice Department says it foiled a plot by a fired Fannie Mae contract worker in Maryland to destroy all the data on the mortgage giant's 4,000 computer servers nationwide. The U.S. Attorney's Office says 35-year-old Rajendrasinh Makwana, of Glen Allen, Va., is scheduled for arraignment Friday in U.S. District Court in Baltimore on one count of computer intrusion. 
The Republican Party chose the first black national chairman in its history Friday, just shy of three months after the nation elected a Democrat as the first African-American president. The choice marked no less than "the dawn of a new party," declared the new GOP chairman, former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele. Republicans chose Steele over four other candidates, including former President George W. Bush's hand-picked GOP chief, who bowed out declaring, "Obviously the winds of change are blowing."
(Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama said on Friday that the current economic crisis is a "continuing disaster" for America's families and urged the Congress to approve the multi-billion dollars stimulus package. 
