A gay man tried to poison his lesbian neighbours by putting slug pellets into their curry after he was accused of kidnapping their three-legged cat....
The Daily Mail's title: One gay man, two lesbians, a three-legged cat and a poisoned curry plot
Posted by: Mike ||
10/08/2009 06:31 ||
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THE fourth major earthquake in six hours has struck near the Pacific island of Vanuatu.
The latest tremor measrued 6.9 on the Richter scale, according to the US Geological Survey. It struck 100km further out than the main site of this morning's major activity, some 445km north-north-west of Santo. The quake hit at 12:12 (AEDT) at a depth of 35km.
Witnesses described scenes of panic in Vanuatu earlier today after the first 7.8-magnitude earthquake sparked a Pacific tsunami warning.
"People are hysterical, trying to find out what's going on and contacting family members," an official with aid group CARE Australia said. "Phone lines are going down as a result.''
The capital shut down as workers fled and hotels cleared tourists off the beaches, a resort official said.
"Shops and offices in the city have been closed and workers have run to higher ground in case of a tsunami,'' Arjun Channa, general manager of the luxury Le Meridien resort in Port Vila Arjun Channa said.
#1
Fortunately, as like the Indonesian quaker, Guam has only had EM sky flashes + rumblings which "grew but then suddenly stopped", wid barely-felt-anything tremors.
1993 > twas the first time I ever saw GUAM'S CHALAN HENRY KAISER ROAD SHAKE/MOVE LIKE A SEVERE = BADASS "SINE WAVE" [Mathematics Graph]
Won't stay lucky forever though.
* REMINDER 1990's NET > 2012 = QUAKE HEARD/FELT AROUND THE WORLD [Universal-Planet Quake].
Shade of MADONNA'S "HEY YOU" [the RIGGERS' BALLAD-SONG].
Inside CBS News, Robert Joel Halderman was a widely liked and well-regarded producer, known for chasing action and taking chances.
But none of his previous experiences covering wars, school killings and the mob gave any hint that Mr. Halderman might himself become the central figure in a crime story that seemed like fodder for his current CBS program, "48 Hours Mystery."
In interviews, friends and colleagues of Mr. Halderman said they were stunned last week by the news of his arrest in front of CBS News headquarters on charges of trying to blackmail David Letterman for $2 million. The case compelled Mr. Letterman to admit on his television show, "Late Show With David Letterman," that he had had sex with female staff members. Hey, that's OK, it's not sexual harassment or anything! It's sexual harassment only when it's a Republican doing it ...
"I said to my mother that this was like her waking up to find out I'd been arrested for this," said Marcy McGinnis, Mr. Halderman's boss for many years in the 1990s as the London bureau chief for CBS.
Stephanie Birkitt, a longtime Letterman staff member, also lived for a time with Mr. Halderman. Ms. Birkitt is on a paid leave of absence, according to a spokesman for Mr. Letterman's production company, Worldwide Pants. Mr. Halderman has been suspended with pay by CBS pending legal developments.
CBS colleagues described Mr. Halderman, known as Joe, as a big personality with a penchant for running to the hottest news spots -- the Falkland Islands, Bosnia and Somalia.
"Joe went to every nasty place there was," Ms. McGinnis said. She recalled him saying after hearing the news of the killing of 16 children at a school in Scotland in 1996: "Just let me grab a bag and I'm there." Ghoul.
In another sign of how much support Mr. Halderman still commands inside CBS, two of his current co-workers, Andy Soto and Marc Goldbaum, posted the bond for Mr. Halderman's bail. Neither man would comment Wednesday, but Mr. Halderman's lawyer, Gerald L. Shargel, confirmed that the men had posted the bond. Supporting a scumbag, nice.
Mr. Shargel continued to argue on Wednesday that Mr. Letterman's behavior and credibility would be relevant issues in the case, repeating, as he has in several media outlets, that Mr. Letterman sexually harassed his staff members. He said that it was valid for him to make what he called "this media blitz" of comments about Mr. Letterman.
"I'm looking to level the playing field," Mr. Shargel said. He said that the Manhattan district attorney, Robert M. Morgenthau, "seemed to embrace Letterman's story" in a news conference last week and made it appear that "this was an open and shut case" against his client. And he said that Mr. Letterman had a national television show on which to make his points.
"All I'm saying is, there is more to the story," Mr. Shargel said. A spokeswoman said the district attorney's office would not comment on the remarks.
Asked about the accusation that he seemed to be trying to muddy Mr. Letterman's reputation, Mr. Shargel said: "This is not a parlor game. My client is facing 15 years in jail. If Letterman gets muddied up, so be it." Red on red.
One former CBS colleague said that the case was not surprising in that it involved money and sex. "He lived on the edge," said the colleague, who asked not to be identified because of the limit CBS has imposed on comments about the case. "He had a bit of a checkered love life."
Some other colleagues said that Mr. Halderman was known to be very confident around women, though Ms. McGinnis, who called him "a flirty guy," said she had never witnessed anything inappropriate. "I was his boss, of course, but he never put the moves on me."
Tom Fenton, a former CBS News correspondent who traveled overseas extensively with Mr. Halderman as his producer, said he was "absolutely dumbfounded" by the accusations.
"It's like he was struck by lightning," said Mr. Fenton.
#2
I'd like to be a HR person at CBS. What a cushy job! You don't have to worry about ethics or sexual harrassment training
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/08/2009 9:32 Comments ||
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#3
Geraldo implied Letterman shagged Halderman's girl--sex, lies, and videotapes--and it was jealousy that prompted the blackmail. They both are scumbags.
#5
Their basic problem is that they can't tag any of them with the dreaded '-R' designation. Their logic rationale mechanisms locks into an infinite loop.
# There are about 1.57 billion Muslims in the world, according to the report
# Report by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life
# Nearly 2 out of 3 of world's Muslims are in Asia, report says
# Roughly 9 of 10 Muslims worldwide are Sunni, report says
#3
This guy who died last month, had a lot to do with the fact that there are more muslims in the world today than the combined number of all muslims who lived from the time of Mohamed onwards. Just look at the demographics of Pakistan, 34 million in the 1950's to 181 million now.
#4
OK, I just had a flashback to 1960 when the word was "The Blacks were going to out breed us so there were no more white folks".
How did that turn out, Ghettos, Race riots, street gangs (Black) and dope a plenty.
Or to quote My father "Quantity is not Quality" and indeed it seems he was right.
When the inner cities have touble, It's NOT "Whites".
When the city declares "Amnesty" for not paying traffic tickets, the camera shows Blacks, no white faces in line.
WHY?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
10/08/2009 15:31 Comments ||
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#5
I think the amnesty lines should have equal opportunity quotas imposed on them.
#6
Why? Because community organizers really are effective at getting goodies for their community, although not at improving the conditions that cause the problems in the first place. There are gangs and such in poor white neighborhoods, but they tend to have social workers instead of organizers, so they don't realize they should line up for *whatever*.
Total world population ~6.8 billion.
1.57 billion Muslims, or 23%
~2.25 billion Christians, or 33%
Since this is based on interviews, with apparently no cross-check with, for example, national population statistics, it is quite possible that the Muslim numbers are more boastful than real. Estimates of Muslim world population range from 1 billion to 1.8 billion according to the article and my memory.
[Al Arabiya Latest] A group of Egyptian female students threatened to sue the minister of higher education and the president of Cairo University over a ban on wearing the face veil, or burka, on campus, local press reported Tuesday.
Students wearing the niqab, an Arabic term for face veil, have been trying to meet Cairo University President Dr. Hossam Kamel for the past two days in order to protest the ban. After failing to do so, they threatened to sue him and the Minister of Higher Education Dr. Hani Helal, the Egyptian daily independent al-Masry al-Youm reported Tuesday.
Students affiliated with the Islamist Labor Party supported the disgruntled girls and organized a rally in front of the university hostel where the girls were denied admission because of the face veil. The Labor Party, originally socialist but now turned Islamist, has been suspended since 2000 by the Egyptian Committee for Political Parties.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/08/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Just what are those burkha clad hussies doing learning to read? Somebody get a shovel and bag of rocks.
Posted by: ed ||
10/08/2009 0:52 Comments ||
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#2
Read, what read? They're learning to recite Quran and sew suicide vests.
#3
A woman with salable skills is a better helpmate to her husband, g(r)omgoru. Personally, I would have gone for dressmaking, cookery and early child development, with basic house repairs for the advanced students, but nobody asked me.
#5
We're postulating the women who want to wear burkas, g(r)omgoru. Women like your boss are in a different category. Besides, those are skills everyone, male and female, should have, and if I ever seriously go back to school I'm going to acquire some of them. The writer Robert A. Heinlein wrote a more extensive list somewhere.
A-Pee story via Yahoo (at the link); wording here from private newsletter.
Saudi Arabia has been waging a quiet campaign You misspelled "blackmail Western countries."
to secure financial assistance for major oil producers if a global climate bill to slash greenhouse gas pollution ends up cutting into oil revenues.
The country that controls the world's largest proven oil reserve said it stands to lose about $19 billion a year beginning in 2012 under a new global pact, according to a calculation by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. GOOD! Hope it happens and hope it hurts - a lot.
But those calculations were disputed in a report this week by the International Energy Agency that found that even with an international climate agreement, OPEC revenues would still rise $23 trillion between 2008 and 2030, a four-fold increase over growth between 1985 and 2007.
"We are among the economically vulnerable LAZY countries," Mohammad S. Al Sabban, head of the Saudi delegation, said on the sidelines of talks this week in Bangkok. "We are in the process of diversifying our economy but this will take a long time. We don't have too many resources enough gumption to get off our dead asses and WORK. And we obviously can't let women work."
Al Sabban said Western nations are pursuing a policy against oil producers cloaked as a campaign to save the planet. No, we're against the oil proreducers period.
Hey Faisal, perhaps you could distribute your large holdings amongst your people to help them get through lean times ...
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/08/2009 14:22 ||
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#1
No, we're against the oil proreducers period.
That's what everyone has said the last twenty years, and somehow the Saudi share of the market keeps going up, and local producers' share keeps going down.
#2
Apparently the Saudis don't get it. If there is any merit to cutting worldwide oil consumption, it is to prevent so much money from going to them. The Saudis are beyond arrogant.
A new internet game is about to be launched which allows 'super snooper' players to plug into the nation's CCTV cameras and report on members of the public committing crimes.
The 'Internet Eyes' service involves players scouring thousands of CCTV cameras installed in shops, businesses and town centres across Britain looking for law-breakers.
Players who help catch the most criminals each month will win cash prizes up to £1,000.
The Internet Eyes' website will also feature a rogue's gallery of the so-called 'criminals' along with a list of their offences and which internet user caught them.
But civil rights campaigners today condemned the game, which launches in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, next month, and branded it 'a snoopers paradise'.
They claim nosey neighbours could snoop on homeowners putting the wrong rubbish in bins and even motorists guilty of the most minor misdemeanors.
But businessman Tony Morgan, a former restaurant owner, said it would give local businesses protection against petty criminals, and act as a deterrent once 'Internet Eyes patrol here' signs are prominently displayed.
He will charge those who use the service, which could eventually include local authorities and even police forces as well as shop owners, £20 a week per camera to have their CCTV included on the site - amounting to thousands each year.
'There are over four million CCTV cameras in the UK and only one in a thousand gets watched.
'Crimes are bound to get missed but this way people the cameras will be watched by lots of people 24-hours-a-day.
'It gives people something better to do than watching Big Brother when everyone is asleep.
'We've had a lot of interest from local businesses and hope to roll it out nationwide and then worldwide.'
WASHINGTON -- First, depose a president. Second, hire a lobbyist.
In the months since soldiers carried out a lawful court order ousted the Honduran president, Manuel Zelaya, the de facto government and its supporters have resisted demands from the United States that he be restored to power. Arguing that the left-leaning Mr. Zelaya posed a threat to their country's fragile democracy by trying to extend his time in office illegally, they have made their case in Washington in the customary way: by starting a high-profile lobbying campaign.
Works too. Thank goodness some things are predictable ...
The campaign has had the effect of forcing the administration to send mixed signals about its position to the de facto government, which reads them as signs of encouragement. It also has delayed two key State Department appointments in the region.
Russia's new military doctrine will contain some changes to the situations that could trigger the use of nuclear weapons or preventive strikes against potential foes, the secretary of Russia's Security Council said on Thursday.
Russia will soon adopt a new military doctrine that aims to transform the Armed Forces into a more effective and mobile military force. Their structures will be "optimized" through the use of combined arms units performing similar tasks.
"In respect to the possibility of preventive or nuclear strikes we will formulate some provisions that will be somewhat different from those contained in the current doctrine," Nikolai Patrushev said.
The draft doctrine, called "The new face of the Russian Armed Forces until 2030," is still being developed by the General Staff and will be given, according to Patrushev, to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev for consideration by the end of 2009.
The current military doctrine was adopted in 2000. It outlines the role of the Russian military in ensuring the defense of the country and, if necessary, preparing for and waging war, although it stresses that the Russian military doctrine is strictly defensive.
The doctrine lists factors that the Russian Federation perceives as potential threats, both internal and external and declares support for a multipolar world, in preference to a unipolar world dominated by a single superpower that is quick to resort to military force.
The current document also emphasizes Russia's commitment to military reform, with continued use of conscription, but a gradual shift towards a professional army.
But the Security Council believes that since 2000, drastic changes have occurred in the geopolitical and military situation in the world and in the nature of threats against national security, which makes it necessary to revise the specific tasks facing the Russian Armed Forces and related security agencies.
"We would like to make this new military doctrine transparent so that people in the country and abroad will know what we have developed and how we want to work. We will set goals and lay out how to achieve them," Patrushev said.
President Dmitry Medvedev announced last year that Russia would make the modernization of its nuclear deterrent and Armed Forces a priority in the decade up to 2020.
#1
Someone did a "comedy" sketch with a performer imitating Michael Jackson in blackface? What, have they been under a rock for twenty-five years? Michael Jackson impersonations call for *whiteface*, if anything!
And a fake nose.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
10/08/2009 15:29 Comments ||
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If you can't get it through the front door (legislation), you get it enacted through the back door (regulation) on the installment plan.
On Thursday, Oct. 1, 2009, the EPA finally released its long-awaited (and in many cases, feared) plan for controlling greenhouse gases (GHGs) under the Clean Air Act. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson announced a proposal that would require large industrial facilities (excluding farms and small businesses) that emit at least 25,000 tons of GHGs a year to obtain construction and operating permits covering those emissions. The plan would require facilities to implement best-available control technologies (BACT), level of requirement used by the EPA's New Source Review (NSR) program.
The proposed tailoring rule addresses a group of six greenhouse gases, most prominently CO2, but also methane, N2O), HFCs, PFCs, and SF6.
These large facilities would include power plants, refineries, and factories. Small businesses such as farms, restaurants and many other types of small facilities would not be included in these requirements, the agency said in an accompanying press release.
If the proposed fuel-economy rule to regulate GHGs from cars and trucks is finalized and takes effect in the spring of 2010, Clean Air Act permits would automatically be required for stationary sources emitting GHGs. This proposed rule focuses these permitting programs on the largest facilities, responsible for nearly 70 percent of U.S. stationary source greenhouse gas emissions.
In the release, the EPA estimated that 400 new sources and modifications to existing sources would be subject to review each year for GHG emissions. In total, approximately 14,000 large sources would need to obtain operating permits that include GHG emissions, the agency said. Most of these sources are already subject to clean air permitting requirements because they emit other pollutants.
"By using the power and authority of the Clean Air Act, we can begin reducing emissions from the nation's largest greenhouse gas emitting facilities without placing an undue burden on the businesses that make up the vast majority of our economy," said EPA Administrator Jackson. "This is a common sense rule that is carefully tailored to apply to only the largest sources -- those from sectors responsible for nearly 70 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions sources. This rule allows us to do what the Clean Air Act does best -- reduce emissions for better health, drive technology innovation for a better economy, and protect the environment for a better future -- all without placing an undue burden on the businesses that make up the better part of our economy." The greenhouse gas part ain't so simple.
The EPA is requesting public comment on its previous interpretation of when certain pollutants, including CO2 and other GHGs, would be covered under the permitting provisions of the Clean Air Act. A different interpretation could mean that large facilities would need to obtain permits prior to the finalization of a rule regulating greenhouse gas emissions. Public comment is a good place to pour your heart out on a decision that has already been made.
The EPA will accept comment on these proposals for 60 days after publication in the Federal Register. So, for such a major undertaking such as GHG emissions, does Congress have anything to say in this, or will they abrogate their responsibilities and let unelected bureaucrats set policy?
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/08/2009 16:12 ||
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#1
Congress have anything to say in this, or will they abrogate their responsibilities and let unelected bureaucrats set policy?
SOP, that way they can try to blame someone else. They also do the same thing by allowing activist judges to do their jobs as well. In the end, people won't miss them when they're gone [other than the savings on generous retirement and healthcare plans they put in place for them and their families.]
#4
No problem. Just shut down all of the power plants, auto factories, oil refineries and anything else that generates CO2. This is a win-win from the viewpoint of the greenies: it cuts greenhouse gasses, much more that Kyoto would require; it throws the US into a deep economic depression; it cripples the US military since there won't be enough taxes coming in to pay for them. As I said, win-win.
/sarcasm
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
10/08/2009 22:27 Comments ||
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#5
The Hell bent race to control "greenhouse gases" is nothing more than an international movement to establish a form of neo-colonialism upon countries "willing to participate" in "saving the planet". How does it work, you the totally "uneducated, unempowered dolt" is going to be forced to submit your "money, freedom of economic choice and political rights" and to a "united nations treaty" which will mandate what type of car you can buy, food you can eat, travel options(rationing of air travel if you do not have enough 'carbon credits'). Are you going to accept this ?
So, it has come to this. For all the hubris, for all the federal government using its unique position to influence a judge's decisions, Chrysler may still go under.
From TFA: Chrysler sales are now running at the rate of 750,000 a year. It probably does not have the capital to wait through another year of low US car sales with a market share that is almost certainly to stay below 8%. It does not have models tailored to the current market tastes. Chrysler is going out of business. The company just hasn't made it official.
#1
No shocker there; their cars (except for the minivans) are appallingly mediocre. (Ever taken a good long look at a Dodge Caliber?) The bailout was a band-aid on a severed artery.
Posted by: Mike ||
10/08/2009 15:52 Comments ||
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#2
Dems have to hope Chrysler can limp past November 2010 ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/08/2009 16:36 Comments ||
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#3
Crisis Motors is toast. Dems ought to worry about whether Government Motors can make it to 2010.
#5
Frankly the "American" car buyer is a Japanese, Korean or German car buyer. The "Americas" gave up on domestic manufactured automobles in the 1980s,this "American Auto Bail-out" is a Democratic party farce, they could have said "NO, this is not change" but did not have the guts to say NO. So like it or not this failure rests with the last guy with his hands in the till. --- Go ahead name him.
As far as I can see the nails are in the coffins of "Crisis and Government Motors" -
#1
THE US dollar continued to tumble against most Asian currencies today, prompting another wave of intervention by central banks in South Korea, Taiwan, and the Philippines seeking to limit damage to their export industries.
The natural order is starting to exert itself by readdressing the underpricing of commodities dumped into the American market. As their prices rise, their products are more expense. They sale less. Fewer dollars should go international. American production should become cheaper and more attractive. HOWEVER, that advantage will be hammered by more dollars needed to chase imported energy sources driving up the price of production and transportation. Had we got in place domestic energy sources to handle domestic requirements, the cost would rise proportional to everything else within the domestic economy, rather than being subject to international demands, vagaries, and manipulations.
#2
The USA not persuing energy independence is a huge geopolitical error. There are a number of scenarios where oil from the gulf gets cut off and once it does, getting it started again is a much bigger problem than most realize. States will be 'diverting' oil shipments and the cost of keeping the sea lanes open will become too high for the USA alone. And there is no one else prepared to do it on a global basis.
Then it won't be just oil, all those things needed to keep a modern economy running will become much more difficult to get.
#3
right on phil...our leaders & eco-freaks are absolute morons. Coal, nuclear, U.S. oil drilling, nat gas - use some commonsense and do it all says I...anytime I hear some clown say "well, it will take us 10 yrs to get oil from Alaska." I reply - then we better start drilling today.
#4
Then it won't be just oil, all those things needed to keep a modern economy running will become much more difficult to get.
But they will become more difficult to get for every other nation in the world. Relatively-speaking, Uncle Sam won't be disadvantaged. If anything, the producing countries will have to bulk up their militaries to ensure that their products get through.
The falling US dollar is giving ammunition to the critics of the Obama administration and fuelling broader concerns about the potential erosion of Americas reserve currency status.
The depreciation of the US dollar is sparking growing jitters among critics of the Obama administration over the potential loss of Americas reserve currency status. Economists point out that a declining dollar could prove a boon to the US economy in the absence of credible anxiety over inflation.
Republican politicians have highlighted the dollars slide as evidence of waning US power. Sarah Palin, the former vice-presidential Republican candidate, on Wednesday sought to link the dollar decline to rising US indebtedness and dependence on foreign oil. We can see the effect of this in the price of gold, which hit a record high today in response to fears about the weakened dollar, she wrote on her Facebook site.
With other nations also expressing concern about dollar weakness, the administration is at pains to emphasise that it understands the responsibilities that come with issuing the worlds reserve currency and will live up to them.
It is very important to the United States that we continue to have a strong dollar, Tim Geithner, Treasury secretary, said at the weekend. We recognise that the dollars important role in the system conveys special burdens and responsibilities on us and we are going to do everything necessary to make sure we sustain confidence.
Angst about the dollar which has fallen 11.5 per cent on a trade-weighted basis over the past six months extends beyond ideological conservative political circles.
Last week, Robert Zoellick, president of the World Bank, warned that the United States would be mistaken to take for granted the dollars place as the worlds predominant reserve currency.
Much of todays debate echoes the traditional political response in the US whenever the currency depreciates. But it is now accompanied by warnings from Americas creditors, many of which are widely rumoured to be eyeing large purchases of US real assets such as property and companies.
While the latest swoon in the dollar is attracting attention, analysts say that it needs to be put in context. In trade-weighted terms, the dollar is essentially back to where it was at the start of the financial crisis on August 9, 2007, according to Federal Reserve data.
While the price of gold has gone up, financial market measures of inflation expectations have not. The yield on the 10-year note was trading at 3.18 per cent on Wednesday. Indeed, analysts say that the dollars slide stems more from investors growing appetite for risk and the prospects of interest rate rises elsewhere.
The first order reason for the decline in the dollar has been the normalisation of markets, said Ken Rogoff, a Harvard professor and former IMF chief economist. The financial crisis probably has brought forward the day when the dollar is no longer dominant but maybe from 75 years to 40 years.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/08/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Soros is leading this--he has heavly invested in gold and divested from the dollar. Unfortunately, he is also an unofficial advisor to Obama.
#3
Its very odd to me that people who complain about the US not manufacturing stuff, about how we've lived on a bloated financial sector, dont see that the decline in the value of the currency is a necessary part of what they want, of us getting away from living off foreigners (mainly Asians) reliance on the dollar as reserve curr and on our financial markets, and back to living off of making stuff (for export mainly, though I might expect SOME import substitution as the dollar declines)
Its also a little odd, that folks are dying to get into gold, cause its ALREADY gone up a lot, and you know, it can never go down, right? I mean it couldnt possibly be a bubble, could it?
#4
Its also a little odd, that folks are dying to get into gold, cause its ALREADY gone up a lot, and you know, it can never go down, right? I mean it couldnt possibly be a bubble, could it?
Current and projected government spending is a bubble that must come down.
Sooner or later it will come down.
At least those investing in gold are risking money they earned, you know, their own money, unlike the federal government.
WASHINGTON The federal budget deficit tripled to a record $1.4 trillion for the 2009 fiscal year that ended last week, congressional analysts said Wednesday. The Congressional Budget Office estimate, while expected, is bad news for the White House and its allies in Congress as they press ahead with health care overhaul legislation that could cost $900 billion over the next decade.
The unprecedented flood of red ink flows from several factors, including a big drop in tax revenues due to the recession, $245 billion in emergency spending on the Wall Street bailout and the takeover of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Then there is almost $200 billion in costs from President Barack Obama's economic stimulus bill, as well as increases in programs such as unemployment benefits and food stamps.
The previous record deficit was $459 billion and was set just last year.
The Obama health plan would be "paid for" with new revenues and curbs in spending. But the overhaul effort would eat up tax increases and spending cuts that could be used to bring the deficit down.
Obama has attributed the nation's dismal fiscal situation to the financial and economic crises he inherited. White House Budget Director Peter Orzsag is overseeing the administration's efforts to tackle the soaring deficit next year. "As part of the fiscal 2011 budget, we will be putting forward proposals that return us to a fiscally sustainable path and that have lower deficits in the out-years," Orszag said in a recent Associated Press interview.
The huge deficits have raised worries about the willingness of foreigners to keep purchasing Treasury debt. The administration promises that once the recession is over and the financial system is stabilized, it will move forcefully to get the deficits under control. Economists worry that the deficits could place upward pressure on interest rates in future years as the government has to offer higher rates to attract investors.
Republicans pounced on the bad news.
"This new CBO data makes it clear that our children and grandchildren will end up buried under a mountain of debt if we continue taxing, spending and borrowing at these dangerous levels," House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said. "How many alarm bells have to be set off before Washington Democrats get serious about tackling dangerous budget deficits?"
Economists say the best measure of the deficit is to compare it with the size of the economy. On those terms, the 2009 deficit reached almost 10 percent of gross domestic product, a level not witnessed since World War II.
The White House says it wants deficits in the next few years to stabilize at or below 3 percent of GDP. But by the White House's own estimates released in August which predicted deficits averaging about 4 percent through the rest of the decade it would take several hundreds of billions of dollars in new taxes or spending curbs to just get the deficit down to 3 percent of GDP.
Those steps would easily exceed the efforts under way now to pay for Obama's health care plan. For example, bringing the 2014 deficit back in line with Obama's goals would require about $240 billion in deficit-closing steps in that year alone near the amount of revenue that would flow from the expiration of former President George W. Bush's tax cuts.
Such steps would almost certainly force Obama to break his promise to limit tax increases to the wealthy.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/08/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
How much of that was TARP funding?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
10/08/2009 15:37 Comments ||
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[Iran Press TV Latest] Poland has received American assurance that it would receive an air defense battery armed with 100 missiles.
And we all know what a guarantee from Bambi is worth ...
A Polish delegation to Washington recently clinched US assurances for the deployment of the Patriot air-defense missiles, Polish radio station RMF FM said on Tuesday.
According to May remarks by Deputy Polish Defense Minister Stanislaw Komorowski, the same number of American personnel will also be deployed alongside the apparatus. "We expect the Patriot battery to be deployed on Polish soil by the end of 2009, as initially agreed with the Americans," he had said then.
Komorowski had also mentioned that the missiles were to be temporarily put on the Polish soil until 2012, when they would be permanently based.
US had previously planned to set up 10 of the batteries in Poland, based on the claim that they would head off alleged 'threats from Iran and North Korea.' Washington scrapped the plan recently, bowing to criticism from Russia, which had denounced the move as a security threat.
While arguing in favor of the installation of a single battery, however, the Polish official claimed "...there is no reason to think the threat from Iran has grown smaller since last year."
This is while The Islamic Republic has, on numerous occasions, stressed that its missile capabilities only serve defensive purposes. Moscow has likewise ruled out the potential for an 'Iranian threat.'
Posted by: Fred ||
10/08/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
How about moving a heavy mechanized brigade to one of Poland's vast training areas instead? It's not like they are doing any good in Germany.
Posted by: ed ||
10/08/2009 0:59 Comments ||
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#2
Does anyone know the Polish translation for "Fool me once, shame on you....fool me twice...."
Four more polio cases have been confirmed among infants in Swat, a private television channel reported on Monday. According to Health Ministry sources, one-year-old Shahidullah, two-year-old Yasmeen, 18-month-old Anila and 10-month-old Wajiha have fallen victim to the crippling disease. This brings the number of confirmed polio cases in Swat to 14 this year, the channel said.A three-day immunisation campaign begins in Swat and Mingora from October 12.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/08/2009 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
(ANSAmed) - GAZA, OCTOBER 7 - From now on, in Gaza women will no longer be allowed to ride as passengers on motorbikes and scooters: the new ban was promulgated by the Interior Ministry' of Hamas, the radical Islamic movement ruling over the Gaza strip since 2007. 'Women are not used to riding on bikes,'' said the spokesman for the movement, Ihab Alghusin, 'they move in a frenzied manner and may cause accidents''. Not mentioning that, to sit firmly on the bike, the female passengers would have to hold on to the driver: this, according to the Hamas code of conduct, is unacceptable. The new ban is only last of a series of new restrictions, based on the Islamic sharia, adopted in the Strip over the last few months, even though they may cause some discontent amongst the Palestinian population, traditionally more 'lay'' compared to other communities within the Arab world. The ban, though, is also part of a wider set of laws on motorbike safety, issued following the high numbers of accidents that occurred over the last few years: since when motorbikes, introduced in the country illegally through underground tunnels (to circumvent Israel's restrictions), have become a widespread mean of transport in the Gaza strip. (ANSAmed).
#1
For Gawd! sake no Harley Fatboys that rumble the riders to the very core.
Posted by: ed ||
10/08/2009 1:37 Comments ||
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#2
The real reason is that men in the Interior Ministry got to fantasizing about the contact between women's privates and the bike seat. Made for unclean thoughts. Can't have that, now can we?
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
10/08/2009 10:21 Comments ||
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#3
...unless they're wearing a suicide vest.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
10/08/2009 15:34 Comments ||
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#1
typical gamesmanship from our paragons of virture in congress...ironically funny how they attached this to the military budget - who still have the don't ask, don't tell policy- not that I disagree w/it. We're not a social experiment.
#2
if they had the conviction of their vote - they'd put it up as a separate vote - the fact they don't shows it has no popular support and they don't want to risk their cowardly jobs to vote for it. P&ssies
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/08/2009 22:31 Comments ||
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#1
In the never ending expansion of the power of the Central government via the Commerce Clause, the court could come up with the opinion that while the 1st Amendment protects the free speech to offer such channels, the Clause authorizes the government to ban any monetary compensation to see it. Real 'free' speech.
#2
Speech isn't free if you aren't allowed to broadcast it. The press isn't free if you can't own a printing press. Religion isn't free if a congregation can't own the building in which it prays or the land upon which that building sits.
Property rights are the underlying foundation of human rights.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/08/2009 12:50 Comments ||
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#3
Property rights are the underlying foundation of human rights.
An investment of $10 trillion in renewable energy and other carbon-abatement technology will be necessary over the next two decades to limit the rise in the Earth's temperature, the International Energy Agency warns in a new report.
The IEA, energy adviser to the world's richest nations, urges more-aggressive reductions in carbon emissions than what many nations are currently planning. In the report, to be released Tuesday, the IEA calls for investment - in clean-energy initiatives such as solar power, new nuclear plants and other measures - of $500 billion a year over the next 20 years. Think of all the jobs that could be saved!
That is 37% more investment than what the IEA estimated was necessary just a year ago. Some analysts put the current level of investment in clean energy at around $100 billion a year. Chump change for The One Who Writes The Checks.
Posted by: Bobby ||
10/08/2009 08:50 ||
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#2
Like many in congress, he doesn't care. He'll be dead before they prove him wrong, but he gets his money for speeches today. Quite a deal, if you ask me.
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.
A gay man tried to poison his lesbian neighbours by putting slug pellets into their curry after he was accused of kidnapping their three-legged cat....
[Al Arabiya Latest] A group of Egyptian female students threatened to sue the minister of higher education and the president of Cairo University over a ban on wearing the face veil, or burka, on campus, local press reported Tuesday.
Four more polio cases have been confirmed among infants in Swat, a private television channel reported on Monday. According to Health Ministry sources, one-year-old Shahidullah, two-year-old Yasmeen, 18-month-old Anila and 10-month-old Wajiha have fallen victim to the crippling disease. This brings the number of confirmed polio cases in Swat to 14 this year, the channel said.A three-day immunisation campaign begins in Swat and Mingora from October 12.
