Frenzied selling wipes £62bn off value of FTSE and Dow Jones plummets in another tumultuous day for world economy Financial markets on both sides of the Atlantic were convulsed by a fresh wave of selling amid fears that the world economy is sliding back towards recession. The FTSE 100 closed down 239 points, or 4.5%, at 5092, wiping more than £62bn off its value. By late afternoon on Wall Street, the Dow Jones was down by 480 points, or 4.2%. Growing disarray in the eurozone over the latest bailout for Greece, weak American manufacturing figures and a warning from Wall Street bank Morgan Stanley that the US and Europe are “hovering dangerously close to recession” all contributed to the mood of panic. A closely watched gauge of the US manufacturing sector produced by the Philadelphia Federal Reserve plunged, underlining fears that the recovery has ground to a halt. The yield on benchmark 10-year US Treasury bonds, which measures the cost of borrowing for the American government, slipped below 2%, as investors sought a haven from the storm. Gold, which has soared in value this year, hit another new record of $1,825 (£1,106) an ounce. Sal Catrini, managing director for equities at Cantor Fitzgerald in New York, said: “The market is in meltdown mode; the data continues to stink. I don’t know that there’s much more to be said.” In Europe, investors were spooked by news that at least five eurozone countries had asked the Greek government to put up collateral against their share of the latest emergency bailout for Athens. Austria, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Slovakia joined Finland in insisting that the Greeks put up assets as security, before they sign off on the €109bn (£95bn) emergency loan agreed in July. Their demands underline fears that eurozone countries have little confidence in the latest plans to shore up the single currency. “It does suggest that northern European states have a certain lack of faith in Greece,” said Simon Derrick, of the bank BNY Mellon. Europe’s banks also saw their shares fall sharply, despite the ban on short-selling imposed by several countries including France and Germany last week. It was reported that the European Central Bank has made an emergency short-term loan of $500bn to one struggling financial firm; while a story in the Wall Street Journal suggested that European banks with US operations had been hauled in by the New York Federal Reserve and asked whether they had enough capital to survive the market chaos. In the UK, shares in Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays were down by 11%, and Lloyds by 9%. The turmoil came as Andy Haldane, the Bank of England’s executive director for financial stability, warned that the fears in financial markets have been exacerbated by the “psychological scarring” from the traumatic events of the past two years. “Memories of financial disaster are now fresh, as after the Great Depression, causing an over-estimation of the probability of a repeat disaster,” he said, in a paper published by the Bank. He called for “a more optimistic popular narrative” to help counter this ingrained pessimism. Despite the US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke’s pledge to keep interest rates at rock bottom until 2013, investors are increasingly nervous that central banks have run out of ammunition to rescue the ailing world economy. “Every time the economy got the sniffles, we had the Federal Reserve standing by with tissues,” said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Harris Private Bank. “This time around, I think the box is empty, and we’re going to have to go through this alone.” Market turmoil Global economy Economics FTSE Stock markets Dow Jones United States Europe Heather Stewart guardian.co.uk
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enlarge Credit: The Atlantic Peter Waldron is a Bachmann staffer Uganda has been a hot bed of extreme religious view points against gays for years and Rachel Maddow has been coverin g that story relentlessly. Christian organizers have been traveling around the world to spread their word on their religious views. It’s one reason why recently deposed leader Gbagbo of the Ivory Coast was being supported by Pat Robertson and his merry men . Now it’s being revealed that he helped organize Bachmann’s win of the Ames Iowa straw poll: Garance Franke-Ruta The evangelical organizer who helped Michele Bachmann win the Ames Straw Poll in Iowa Saturday was previously charged with terrorism in Uganda after being arrested for possession of assault rifles and ammunition in February 2006, just days before Uganda’s first multi-party elections in 20 years. Peter E. Waldron spent 37 days in the Luriza Prison outside Kampala, where he says he was tortured, after being arrested along with six Congolese and Ugandan nationals for the weapons, which were described variously in news reports as having been found in his bedroom or a closet in his home. The charges, which could have led to life in prison, were dropped in March 2006 after a pressure campaign by Waldron’s friends and colleagues and what Waldron says was the intervention of the Bush administration. He was released and deported from the east African nation, along with the Congolese. On Saturday, Waldron told The Atlantic in Ames that he was a staffer for Bachmann and responsible for her faith-based organizing both in Iowa and South Carolina. But he also declined repeatedly to give his name. Asked about Waldron’s role and background, Alice Stewart, the press secretary for the Bachmann for President campaign, replied in an email: “Michele’s faith is an important part of her life and Peter did a tremendous job with our faith outreach in Iowa. We are fortunate to have him on our team and look forward to having him expanding his efforts in several states.” And the Uganda story just gets weirder and weirder. Waldron, a Republican operative since the late 1980s, had been in Uganda since 2002 and was at the time of his arrest working for the “Africa Dispatch” newsletter and, according to reports in 2006, working on a pilot study of a new health-care information technology management system. One Ugandan paper alleged he was working with Congolese rebel militia members to capture Joseph Kony, the leader of the Ugandan guerrilla group the Lord’s Resistance Army, and claim a $1.7 million bounty on his head being offered by the International Criminal Court in The Hague, but that planning for the operation was botched, leading police to Waldron’s house and the guns. But the Kampala Monitor reported that the inspector general of police “told a news conference Waldron was suspected of links to a group in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and ‘planned to set up a political party here based on Christian principles.’” Waldron, a Republican operative since the late 1980s, had been in Uganda since 2002 and was at the time of his arrest working for the “Africa Dispatch” newsletter and, according to reports in 2006, working on a pilot study of a new health-care information technology management system. One Ugandan paper alleged he was working with Congolese rebel militia members to capture Joseph Kony, the leader of the Ugandan guerrilla group the Lord’s Resistance Army, and claim a $1.7 million bounty on his head being offered by the International Criminal Court in The Hague, but that planning for the operation was botched, leading police to Waldron’s house and the guns. But the Kampala Monitor reported that the inspector general of police “told a news conference Waldron was suspected of links to a group in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and ‘planned to set up a political party here based on Christian principles.’” And as usual, when there’s state and federal money available for the taking we are finding out that Conservatives, who now have become total anti-government zealots like Bachmann always seem to have their hands out begging for gov’t cash. From 1995 to 1999 he ran the Rising Stars Education and Sports Foundation in Florida, according to The St. Petersburg Times , taking in $600,000 from state and local governments, and he later had an affiliation with “the Rocky Mountain Technology Group, a Montana software development company,” according to the paper. This year’s was his third Ames Straw Poll organizing campaign, Waldron said Saturday. On his website, he says he also has worked for the Reagan/Bush; Bush/Quayle; Bauer; McCain; and Bush/Cheney presidential campaigns. Oh look, Jesus General makes an appearance in the article . He can do that to people.
Continue reading …It’s Just a Good Thing I Can’t Pack a Gun on the Senate Floor, Says Sen. Coburn – Then Attacks Medicare: UPDATED
August 18, 2011 No CommentAfter his role in the John Ensign scandal I’m not sure why he’s still in Congress, but yesterday he turned into an AM hate talk radio host and attacked Congress, Obama and Medicare: Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) ripped his colleagues during a tour of northeast Oklahoma, calling them “career elitists,” “cowards” and said, “It’s just a good thing I can’t pack a gun on the Senate floor.” Coburn’s gun-on-the-floor comment comes less than a month after Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) made a triumphant return to the Capitol and the House floor following her shooting in the head in January outside a Tucson supermarket. OK, threatening to shoot members of Congress is never a good thing. Maybe there should be a bill that forbids this kind of thing being said in DC. You know, if Louie Gohmert’s crazy bill which wanted to arm these Congressman was passed maybe they could have had an old fashioned shoot out — OK Corral style right in the Capitol. But he was on a roll that Rush Limbaugh would have been proud of. Next up, he made up the claim that health care for seniors was better before Medicare ever came along. He said the nation’s health care system was better before Medicare existed, even as he noted that some people received poor care at the time and doctors often accepted baked goods or chickens in partial payment. “You can’t tell me the system is better now than it was before Medicare,” he said. He said the nation’s health care system was better before Medicare existed, even as he noted that some people received poor care at the time and doctors often accepted baked goods or chickens in partial payment. “You can’t tell me the system is better now than it was before Medicare,” he said. My doctor has been telling me that he’ll trade kittens and frogs for service. Why stop now, he was rocking: Without specifying what he meant, Coburn said President Barack Obama has an “intent is to create dependency because it worked so well for him.” The World’s caption below a photo of Coburn reads the understated: “Disagrees with Obama’s politics.” “As an African-American male,” Coburn said, Obama received “tremendous advantage from a lot of these programs.” The programs were not identified in the World report There is no evidence as far as I can tell that Obama was an affirmative action recipient , but it’s the good and decent racist thing to say and it falls in line as just your basic conservative spin about the program, but he does equate getting Medicare as being a crack addict I think. UPDATE: David from Video Cafe catches a response from Coburn on local radio: “It’s just a good thing I can’t pack a gun on the Senate floor,” he said, according to The Tulsa World . Coburn’s remarks came less than a month after Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), who had suffered a gunshot wound to the head in January, briefly returned to Congress. Conservative radio host Pat Campbell gave Coburn a chance to defend his remarks Thursday. “You think that’s going to come back to haunt you?” Campbell asked. “Oh, I don’t know,” Coburn said. “I don’t care. The problems are so big. What I was trying to do was be funny. They know that.”
Continue reading …Time Film Critic Corliss Works Anti-Bush, Anti-Perry Snark Into Review of ‘Conan the Barbarian’ Remake
August 18, 2011 No Comment
Richard Corliss, a liberal film reviewer who found Oliver Stone's “W.” too tame for his tastes has decided to let his readers know that, some two years and seven months since the 43rd president left office, he's still not over his anti-Bush derangement. Corliss shoehorned his strange asides about the Presidents Bush — and 2012 presidential hopeful Gov. Rick Perry (R-Texas) — in his
Continue reading …NBC’s Lauer Blames Continuing High Unemployment on Employer ‘Discrimination’
August 18, 2011 No Comment
On Wednesday's NBC Today, co-host Matt Lauer teased an upcoming segment on unemployment by fretting: “And just ahead, help not wanted. If you're one of the 14 million Americans looking for work, you may have noticed a growing trend. Employers are posting job ads that say they're seeking only people who are currently employed or just recently laid off. Is that discrimination?”
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Click here to view this media Independent Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman said Wednesday that he was unsure if he would support Barack Obama for president in 2012. So, the hosts of Fox & Friends did their best to convince him that Republican Texas Gov. Rick Perry was the right choice. “Everybody remembers that in 2008, you supported the Republican in the race, John McCain, your dear friend,” Fox News host Gretchen Carlson began. “But now will you support President Obama?” “Well, I’m going to approach this 2012 election as the independent that I am,” Lieberman explained. “Therefore, I don’t know who I’m going to support at this point… I want to see who’s got the plans, who the Republicans nominate… Bottom line, too early to say.” “No one has to tell you what’s going on in Afghanistan and Iraq,” Fox News host Brian Kilmeade told the senator. “In Iraq, we seem to be taking our eye off the ball. There have been a bunch of bombings. So, that can’t make you happy. And in Afghanistan, Petraeus comes up with a plan, who you have a great respect for, and the president comes up with his own plan. Isn’t that a game breaker for you?” “It’s not a game breaker,” Lieberman replied. “The good news in terms of President Obama and Afghanistan is that he surged the troops beginning in 2009 — 30,000 extra — according to Dave Petraeus’ — Gen. Petraeus’ plan.” “Senator, I heard when you saying when you said who you were going to support, some of the things you were looking at were the economy, the debt and a strong military presence,” Fox News host Eric Bolling noted. “Rick Perry strikes me a someone, a tea party advocate, a tea partier from the very get-go, who wants to see the debt come down. The economy, very strong in Texas. And then military, he’s a military guy. If it were Rick Perry, could you get behind that one?” “It really is too early to say,” Lieberman insisted. “I never have really met Rick Perry. I must say that I watched the launch of his campaign the last few days and first impressions are important. He’s made, to me, some very good first impressions.” “Maybe at first blush, what you like about him is that he tells it like it is,” Carlson suggested.
Continue reading …Former Fox Newser Brian Wilson Cuts Parody Mocking Obama’s ‘Long and Whiny Road’ Bus Tour
August 18, 2011 No CommentWashington, D.C. morning radio host and former Fox News reporter Brian Wilson today treated listeners of his “Morning Majority” radio show with a parody of the Beatles song “Long and Winding Road” that lampoons President Obama's Midwest bus tour. It's worth a listen on WMAL's website here .
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Governors describe ‘unprecedented situation’ as over 700 of those charged with riot-related offences are remanded in custody The prison population of England and Wales has hit a new record high of 86,608 people, with a rise of nearly 700 this week as the courts took the exceptional step of remanding into custody almost two-thirds of those charged with riot-related offences. Prison governors said that the system now faced “an unprecedented situation” because of the riots, and emergency contingency measures had been agreed with prison service chiefs in case the rise in inmate numbers continued unabated. The Prison Governors Association said the medium- to long-term measures included opening sufficient new and refurbished jail accommodation to avoid the normal emergency measure of using police cells. The governors said they were confident the situation could be managed safely. The record prison numbers are putting the jails and young offender institutions under increasing pressure; there are only 1,485 spare places in the system before prison governors have to put out the “jail full” signs. Prison service chiefs are expected to outline the new contingency measures on Friday, including increased overcrowding by doubling and even trebling inmates in cells designed for single occupation. Prison governors had already warned that the riots have put further strains on an already-stretched prison system, with inmates being moved out of London and Manchester to create space for rioters being sent to jail or remanded in custody awaiting trial. The Ministry of Justice said that its latest figures, up to noon on Wednesday, showed that 1,297 people had appeared before magistrates charged with riot-related offences. A total of 772, or 65%, had been remanded in custody, compared with the “normal” remand rate for serious offences being 10%. “This is causing massive problems for prisons,” said Harry Fletcher, of Napo, the probation officers’ union. There are so many of them coming through the system, it is causing considerable problems. When people are being held so far from home it causes real difficulties for their families.” He said that Nottingham jail alone had been sent a group of 30 prisoners from London this week. The total prison population on Friday last week stood at 85,931, which included 607 immigration detainees. As space runs out so the potential for work, education or rehabilitation will be “zero”, claimed Fletcher. The justice secretary, Kenneth Clarke, will be hoping that the developing pressures on the prison system are purely temporary, otherwise they have the capacity to derail his plans to stabilise the jail population and bring in his “rehabilitation revolution”. The normal pressure valve for the prison system when it comes close to capacity is to put into effect Operation Safeguard, which involves emergency use of police cells to house prisoners. But that option is now closed off as forces stay prepared for any further disturbances. In the medium-term the prison service might be able to add portable accommodation within the perimeters of existing jails, and no doubt in the longer-term the prospect of finding a new prison ship could be raised. The prison service has already announced plans to close two small jails, Latchmere House, in London, and Brockhill prison, at Redditch, Worcestershire, next month. One option could be to postpone these closures if the pressure on jails continues to rise at the current rate. A Ministry of Justice spokeswoman said that there were enough places for those being sent to prison, including in young offender institutions, following the riots: “There is substantial capacity in the prison system. We will provide prison places for those committed to custody by the courts. We are developing contingencies should exceptional pressure be placed on the prison estate.” Prisons and probation UK riots Alan Travis guardian.co.uk
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enlarge Credit: The Tweeters It’s not just a tweet – it’s a re-tweet of the Heritage Foundation that showed up on the Speaker of the House’s feed. Yes, the Heritage Foundation – you know the people who scored the first Bush Tax Cut and reported they would : 1) Effectively pay off the federal debt; 2) Reduce the federal surplus by $1.4 trillion; 3) Substantially increase family income; 4) Save the entire Social Security surplus; 5) Increase personal savings; 6) Create more job opportunities. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. And wrong. Nice credible people to associate with, Boehner. Even better people to have your aide parrot on Twitter. I’ve yet to see 140-characters sum up a person better than this tweet. Amazing. And of all the CEOs in the world who could be kvetching about the Affordable Care Act – they quote one from a fast food chain?! “I’m very concerned that in the coming years we’ll be unable to create as many jobs as we would like due to the increased expenses necessitated by laws such as the PPACA [Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act],” Andy Puzder testified . Oh no! Fewer burger flipping jobs?! In America? Right. Let us not forget that when we’re talking about minimum wage jobs – we’re talking about jobs you can’t live on so you’re forced to rely on food stamps and Medicaid to survive. When we talk about minimum wage jobs – we’re talking about government subsidized workers . Andy Puzder CEO of Carls Jr. is a McJobs creator. Hey Boehner – where are all those taxpayer-funded McJobs?
Continue reading …Since conservative talk-radio star Laura Ingraham confronted NBC morning co-host Matt Lauer on NBC about the sleazy acts the Peacock Network booked for its summer concert series, Ingraham applied the same scrutiny when she interviewed ABC Good Morning America co-host George Stephanopoulos on the first hour of her radio show Thursday. She asked about their booking the group LMFAO for today. (That's short for “laughing my f—–g a– off.”) George touted they “scrubbed their lyrics” for the ABC show. The ABC host was more contrite about Nicki Minaj, who had too much of a breast pop out on the August 5 edition of the morning show. Stephanopoulos said GMA has a delay button, but the producers “missed” their opportunity to keep ABC decent. It sort of a made a mockery out of the song Minaj sang. It's called “Where Them Girls At.” (One of them girls was breaking out.) At one point, Minaj raps in the song “You can suck a d–k / Or you can suck a ballsack.” ABC isn't so slow when it comes to damage control. Many blogs that linked to video on this incident now say “This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Disney.” Ingraham told Stephanopoulous that Disney should have more decency in choosing its musical guests in the first place. Stephanopoulos claimed that ABC producers and the Minaj camp had a long discussion about what would be appropriate dress for the concert segment. If you're willing to believe that, the sensation-seeking, ratings-grabbing ABC producers are obviously terrible negotiators.
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