This Blog is created to stress the importance of Peace as an environmental directive. “I never give them hell. I just tell the truth and they think it’s hell.” – Harry Truman
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You know the media treats these "Job Approval" ratings as if they are a popularity contest. They are a lot more than that. I imagine when the American electorate finds themselves 'toyed' with; they don't like it much. Darn shame really !
February 20, 2008 (click at title to entry) Concerns over Economy Push George W. Bush's Overall Job Approval to New Low George W. Bush's overall job approval rating has dropped to a new low in American Research Group polling as 78% of Americans say that the national economy is getting worse according to the latest survey from the American Research Group. Among all Americans, 19% approve of the way Bush is handling his job as president and 77% disapprove. When it comes to Bush's handling of the economy, 14% approve and 79% disapprove. Among Americans registered to vote, 18% approve of the way Bush is handling his job as president and 78% disapprove. When it comes to the way Bush is handling the economy, 15% of registered voters approve of the way Bush is handling the economy and 79% disapprove....
Bear Stearns sold with Fed's help (click here) Published: March 17, 2008 at 9:54 AM NEW YORK, March 17 (UPI) -- J.P. Morgan's $2 a share purchase of troubled Bear Stearns over the weekend came with the aid of $30 billion in financing from the U.S. Federal Reserve.
The unusual move by the Fed means that if the value of the $30 billion of assets the Fed is financing declines, the Fed, not J.P. Morgan, accepts the loss, The Wall Street Journal reported. Bear Stearns, the fifth largest investment bank on Wall Street, found itself unable to meet its obligations late last week and J.P. Morgan stepped in, borrowing money from the Fed and lending it to Bear Stearns.
Some of Bear Stearns' investors were stunned by the sale, which, at a total of $236 million, was $28 a share less than the $30 per share listing of Bear Stearns stock on Friday on the New York Stock Exchange.
"The building is worth $8 a share," one Bear Stearns executive told the paper, as many wondered why the board did not chose a liquidation sale instead of a fire sale.
Bear Stearns Chief Executive Alan Schwartz said the sale "represents the best outcome for all of our constituencies based upon the current circumstances."
March 8, 2008 1430z UNISYS Water Vapor Satellite March 17, 2008 1430z UNISYS Enhanced Infrared Satellite March 17, 2008 1430z UNISYS Enhanced Infrared Satellite March 17, 2008 1431z Midwest Enhanced Infrared Satellite
Valley temps drop; severe weather hits Flagstaff (click here) Mike Branom, Tribune The rain didn't fall on Sunday, but the mercury certainly did. A very cold yet dry storm rolling through Arizona brought near-record cold temperatures and scattered showers. The Valley's official high was 63 degrees - 13 below average and five above the all-time lowest high of 58. Other highs reported were 59 degrees in east Mesa and Chandler, 58 in Scottsdale and 57 at Mesa's Falcon Field. The chilly weather represented a drop of 20-plus degrees from late last week. Also, the cold was made worse by wind gusts reaching 25 mph. Coincidentally, Sunday marked the one-year anniversary of the warmest March 16 in Valley history. The high of 99 came within one degree of breaking the mark for Phoenix's earliest 100-degree day, set March 26, 1988....
'Gentle man' Some people have remarked on the contrast between Mr Paterson and the fiery Mr Spitzer. "He's got a wonderful sense of humour, a very gentle man - in that sense, he's the opposite of Eliot," Betsy Gotbaum, the New York City public ombudswoman told the New York Times. With his state senate background, Mr Paterson is expected to have a less combative relationship with New York legislators than Mr Spitzer, who had difficulties getting the Republicans in the legislature to approve his policy programmes. "[Mr Paterson] might be a fellow that when you have disagreements you sort them out," Jim Tedisco, the Republican minority leader in the state assembly, told Newsweek. Now that Mr Spitzer has resigned, New York is about to find out whether Mr Paterson's less confrontational approach will allow him to succeed where Mr Spitzer could not.
Bracing for a Bear of a Week By Jacqueline Doherty Word Count: 2,006 Companies Featured in This Article: Bear Stearns, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, Morgan Stanley, HSBC Holdings, Citigroup, Wachovia, Bank of America, Countrywide Financial, Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, American International Group SOME OF THE WORST FEARS ABOUT THE STABILITY of the U.S. financial system came to the fore last week: Credit concerns at Bear Stearns (ticker: BSC) were serious enough by weeks' end to require the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and JPMorgan Chase (JPM) to step in and provide the firm a line of credit. The news slashed Bear's stock by 47% Friday, to 30, and led to speculation of its imminent sale. The events further unsettled a worried stock market, with financial shares tumbling by about 5% on the day, and the Dow industrials losing 1.6%. Wall Street ...
Do you believe this joke? The PWG ? The President's Working Group. What does the President's Non-Working Group look like? And I have to wonder what the ones that are working are actually working on?
This is a real slap in the face to Bernanke. He doesn't know how to stop a slippery slope? Hello?
You know I really congratulate Americans for coming together like this to sink the lousy economy and end the war. It was pure genius !!!
I mean if you can't get the Congress to do "Stop-Loss" than hell you have to do it for them. I sincerely appreciate everyone that participated in this effort. It was a gas wasn't it. Now, all we have to do is sit back and watch it all happen. I mean don't stop now, we're almost there !!
Thanks !
Governor Paterson’s Tests (click here) Published: March 17, 2008 David Paterson’s inauguration Monday as New York’s governor will bring a sigh of relief from many of the state Capitol’s regulars. This is not necessarily good news for him or for the citizens he will pledge to serve....
The New York Times since the Neocons arrived in the back hallways of the paper have become nothing but lousy, fucking bastards. I was waiting for this. If you are going to sink a Governor then you have to have plans for the Lieutenant Governor. They can all go straight to hell where they belong !!!!!!!!!!!!
The 'tone' of the paper has been more than condescending toward the new Governor of New York. First they make the point the man is legally blind and they go about explaining away the disability as if there was something to worry about in the first place. There is no decency left at The New York Times, only attempts to manipulate the opinions of the public. They should shut down the place, lock the front door and sell the real estate to Murdoch, because that is about what its worth anymore ! I get far better information from Barrons and the BBC, no one needs The New York Times anymore. They have GONE OVER TO THE OTHER SIDE !!!
The Dollar, Paulson, and Carlyle Capital Written by Mike Whitney Monday, 17 March 2008 Three Easy Pieces: The Dollar, Paulson, and Carlyle Capital by Mike Whitney So far, so bad. On Wednesday, crude-futures topped $110 for the first time, the dollar slipped to $1.55 per euro, and gold zoomed to a new high of $1,000 per ounce. Yikes! The dollar has been shoved off a cliff and no one knows where it will land. Last week, the G-7 nations announced that if “irrational” prices movements persisted, they would “collectively take suitable measures to calm the financial markets.”
Paulson Defends Bear Stearns Bailout as 'The Right Decision' Says That Drop In Home Prices Is 'Inevitable' And 'Necessary' Decline By MARY BRUCE March 16, 2008 Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson Sunday defended the Federal Reserve's recent bailout of investment bank Bear Stearns. "The right decision here, I am convinced, was the decision that the Fed made, which was to do things, work with market participants to minimize the disruptions," Paulson said in a "This Week" interview with George Stephanopoulos.
Al Qaida give Austria three-day ultimatum Agencies Published: March 14, 2008, 10:37 Dubai: The North African Al Qaida wing on Thursday threatened to kill two Austrian hostages if it had abducted in Tunisia if Vienna failed to co-operate with requests to secure the release of some of the group's members jailed in Tunisia and Algeria. The three-day ultimatum started at midnight on Thursday, Al Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb said in a statement posted on an Islamist Web site. Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik said efforts were being made to secure the release of the hostages but noted that the demands were outside Vienna's jurisdiction. "As you care for the safety of your citizens, we care to free our brothers who face the ugliest forms of torture at the prisons of Tunisia ... and Algeria," it said.
Genesee County's air won't meet new EPA standards, but don't blame big industry by Elizabeth Shaw The Flint Journal Thursday March 13, 2008, 6:00 PM GENESEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN -- Genesee County's air is too dirty to breathe, according to new ozone standards set for 2008 by the Environmental Protection Agency. And the problem can't just be blamed on the traditional target of General Motors and big industrial polluters. It may be from cars, trucks, lawn mowers and other everyday things. The EPA announced this week it was tightening the amount of ozone, commonly known as smog, allowed in the air. Genesee County is among 14 Michigan counties whose most recent three-year average fails the new tighter standard, which could put it on the EPA's list of areas requiring air quality improvements over the next 20 years.
CSX railroad plan upsets Polk leaders By DavidDeCamp, Times Staff Writer Published Saturday, March 15, 2008 8:42 PM TALLAHASSEE — Big town politicians pushing their traffic on rural neighbors. A railroad with a lucrative government deal. An outraged small city. It's the backstory of how Orlando may one day get commuter rail. And it's the reason for the heated debate dividing Central Florida and Tampa Bay lawmakers in Tallahassee. The fight is over a complex plan struck under former Gov. Jeb Bush to run commuter trains on CSX's railroad through Orlando. In exchange, the state would subsidize the building of the biggest railyard in the Southeast in Winter Haven. It would help improve CSX's freight line through west-central Florida.
Blackwater: Dubious claims SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER EDITORIAL BOARD Earlier this month, The Boston Globe reported that former Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown & Root uses offshore shell companies to avoid paying hundreds of millions in Social Security taxes and Medicare. To circumvent tax laws, the firm registers its American contractors in Iraq as employees of one of its two Caribbean shell companies. And now a House Democrat is seeking afederal investigation into Blackwater Worldwide, a major war contractor. Rep. Henry Waxman says he has concerns that Blackwater's claims of business status, which he wrote in a letter sent out last week, "appear dubious." Indeed. Blackwater lists its security guards as independent contractors in order to be eligible for certain benefits, including federal small-business contracts. How can a company that earns $1.25 billion in business contracts be eligible for $144 million in small-business contracts as well? Doing so, according to The New York Times, afforded Blackwater more than $31 million in avoided taxes. Waxman points out that when it comes to protecting Blackwater guards, the company maintains that they are employees, but when it financially benefits from it, the company claims them only as independent contractors. Given that U.S. taxpayers are onthe hook for the contractors' insurance benefits and premiums, it seems only fair that the company pay its share in taxes. Knowing what we know about Blackwater, we urge federal investigators -- especially the Internal Revenue Service -- to take a close look at the company's dealings. Enough is enough.
FBI asked to investigate whether White House destroyed Plame email... Mar 12 2008 1:18PM Associated Press FBI asked to investigate whether White House destroyed Plame e-mail Washington (AP) The FBI is being asked to investigate whether White House e-mails about the Valerie Plame affair may have been destroyed. The request comes from an ethics advocacy group. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington is basing the request on a White House document that describes an effort to recover a week's worth of missing e-mail from 2003. The missing messages included some from Vice President Cheney's office. White House technicians eventually retrieved e-mail from the missing week, but it's unclear whether all the e-mail from Cheney's office has been found. Federal prosecutors sought the e-mail in the investigation of who leaked Plame's identity as a CIA agent. The investigation eventually led to the conviction of Cheney's former chief of staff on charges of perjury, obstruction and lying to federal agents.
