COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Monday, October 06, 2008

Obama Youth Indoctrination



Explain to me again on how an Obama Presidency will be good for US. Join the Movement. Change

WELCOME TO STUDENTS FOR BARACK OBAMA

Senator Obama’s candidacy for President has inspired millions of young Americans to believe in their power to make America great again. Students for Barack Obama, founded in the summer of 2006, began with a few students using Facebook to petition Senator Obama to run for President in 2008. The passion and dedication of thousands of students has transformed that movement into the official student organization of Obama for America — and one of the largest grassroots student organizations in history.

Bring Senator Obama’s message of hope, action, change to your school today by finding a chapter at your school or creating your own chapter of Students for Barack Obama!



93 comments:

  1. Why are not more people getting this?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Community Organizers, one and all.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Be prepared:

    http://www.keatingeconomics.com/

    ReplyDelete
  4. A Rasmussen Research poll found 82% of Americans believed voters should show photo ID, including 70% of Obama voters.

    Voter Fraud Expected To Be Rampant

    Our society is breaking down, so I am trying to post a pic of some bighorns to cheer you all up, but am having difficulty. Working on it.

    ReplyDelete
  5. We have some pictures on Picasa but can't figure out how to get a couple over here. We tried the img src dealy and failed. Any suggestions.

    ReplyDelete
  6. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Download them to a folder on your desktop, or anywhere, and then use the img thingy to upload them.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Our society is breaking down
    ==

    What you need is more community organizers. :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Mat's suggestion is superior, of course.

    ReplyDelete
  10. If you can figure out how to zoom that picture in, you can see 5 or 6 Bighorns above the tallest pine tree and to the left a little ways on the rock outcropping.

    ReplyDelete
  11. In Ohio, the Early Voting Procedure consists of showing up w/or w/o ID, and having somebody vouch for you that you are a resident of Ohio.
    Voila, InstaMessiah Voter.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Barney's just below the rock face, trying to scramble up to git some.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I'm thinking of putting my fist through this computor screen. I am too old for this stuff.

    I wouldn't make it in private industry.

    I've also got a pic of the perfect bench and location for Rufus and me in Coeur d'Alene. Swimming, girls, even a bar nearby, but that will have to wait til tomorrow.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Cheap bastid:
    You got that fancy camera, then you set it for crumby little pics not big enuff for me to post on my "Outing Barney Blog."

    ReplyDelete
  15. Click on that magnifying glass dealy, go to the top of the highest pine tree, then just a little above, and over to the left just a little ways. I count five of 'em.

    ReplyDelete
  16. The Troy Resort is for sale. We can all retreat there. But, they got the price about 10 times what the cash flow would justify. It was open today, with the steelhead season, and hunting coming up. When things go to hell, people won't have gas to get there, so we'd be set, long as we have some ammo and fishing gear.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Your Troy Resort thing reminded me of this important message:

    Support Jefferson Statehood - The 60th State -

    ReplyDelete
  18. Roy Masters, the Energizer Bunny of Talk Radio, has his Retreat up there near Grants Pass.
    His son, Mark Masters, is CEO of the Group that syndicates Savage, among others.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Stanton brought real Irish Coffee to SF via the Buena Vista Bar, upon his return from a trip to the Mother Country.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Heart of the Siskiyous. I remember driving through there with dad once, we had to put chains on all the tires. Isn't that where that cannabalism took place?


    RWE:


    Cannoneer:

    Bob Bennet, the lawyer who defended Bill Clinton, a big time Democrat and the guy who investigated Sen McCain on the Keating 5 business, has said publically and clearly, and more than once, that McCain should never have been included in that investigation, and he formally recommended that to the authorities at that time.

    It appears that McCain was included so that they could have one token Republican as well as those 4 Democrats and thus make the investigation look Bipartisan.

    If they bring up Keating one of their own has already cut ther legs out from under them.


    Oct 5, 2008 - 2:53 pm

    ReplyDelete
  21. Bob Bennett does say that, doug. He is a liar.

    Fact of the matter, plain and simple.

    But go ahead, defend the verasity of a Democrat lawyer.
    That'll be fun for US to watch.

    ReplyDelete
  22. I was curious what your take would be, Rat. I have no idea about it.

    ReplyDelete
  23. wiki's take on the question



    History

    The Senate Ethics Committee's investigation began on November 17, 1989.[37] Chaired by Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, It focused on all five senators and lasted 22 months,[22] with 9 months of active investigation and 7 weeks of hearings.[38] The committee was composed of three Democratic senators, Howell Heflin (chair), David Pryor, and Terry Sanford, and three Republican senators, Warren Rudman (vice chair), Trent Lott, and Jesse Helms.[37] Washington attorney Robert S. Bennett was appointed as special outside counsel to the committee, tasked with conducting the investigation.[37]

    Initially the committee investigated in private. On September 10, 1990, Bennett submitted a confidential report, which soon leaked, that recommended that the committee continue its investigation of Cranston, DeConcini, and Riegle, but take no action against Glenn and McCain,[21] as there was insufficient evidence to pursue the latter two.[39] Bennett also recommended that public hearings be held.[20]

    Speculation that this would be the decision had already taken place, and both Glenn and McCain were frustrated that the long delay in resolving their cases was damaging their reputations.[39] However, there were political implications, as the removal of the two would eliminate the only Republican from the case.[39]

    ReplyDelete
  24. Excuse me, a bought and paid for Democrat lawyer.

    Ny the letter of the law, McCain slid by. The money went into his wife's account, they keep them seperate, but live on hers.

    On Phoenix they lived in her family house, built and paid for by Mr Hensley, in Sedona, the Vortex Ranch is hers.

    He benefitted, big time from the $250,000. As to who "she" is, you'll have to ask

    The Keating Five Scandal involved five United States Senators accused of corruption in 1989, igniting a major political scandal as part of the larger Savings and Loan crisis of the late 1980s and early 1990s. The five senators, Alan Cranston (D-CA), Dennis DeConcini (D-AZ), John Glenn (D-OH), John McCain (R-AZ), and Donald W. Riegle (D-MI)

    Compare Ayers to Keating, by number of people devestated, Ayers = 0, Keating = 21,000.
    Jail time, Ayers = 0. Keating = In January 1993, a federal conviction followed, with a 12 and a half year sentence. He spent four and a half years in prison, but convictions were eventually overturned. Thereafter, on the eve of the retrial on the federal charges, Keating pleaded guilty to several felony charges in return for a sentence of time served.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Why would a democratic lawyer, who pursued the others, want to give McCain a whitewash?

    Just askin', as I don't know.

    Cranston was a long time crook, I do know that.

    ReplyDelete
  26. bobal said...

    Heart of the Siskiyous. I remember driving through there with dad once, we had to put chains on all the tires. Isn't that where that cannabalism took place?


    That's the country where the lodge owner got sleepy and left his bar untended. Put us on the honor system.

    Patrick Creek Lodge, c. 1971. A few minutes westward from Grants Pass.

    Never heard of any cannabalism around there. Could tell some stories about Happy Camp, though.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Contemporaneous reporting, from the hometown paper, the one not owned by the family of Dan Quayle.

    McCain: The Most Reprehensible of the Keating Five

    The story of "the Keating Five" has become a scandal rivaling Teapot Dome and Watergate


    By Tom Fitzpatrick
    Published on November 29, 1989

    You're John McCain, a fallen hero who wanted to become president so desperately that you sold yourself to Charlie Keating, the wealthy con man who bears such an incredible resemblance to The Joker.

    Keating thought you could make it to the White House, too.
    He poured $112,000 into your political campaigns. He became your friend. He threw fund raisers in your honor. He even made a sweet shopping-center investment deal for your wife, Cindy. Your father-in-law, Jim Hensley, was cut in on the deal, too.

    Nothing was too good for you. Why not? Keating saw you as a prime investment that would pay off in the future.

    So he flew you and your family around the country in his private jets. Time after time, he put you up for serene, private vacations at his vast, palatial spa in the Bahamas. All of this was so grand. You were protected from what Thomas Hardy refers to as "the madding crowd." It was almost as though you were already staying at a presidential retreat.

    ReplyDelete
  28. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  29. The McCains are a rich clients, bob.

    What lawyer ever tells you that his client is guilty.

    His father-in-law and his mentor, Kemper Marley hired William Rehnquist, only the best for the AZ mobsters.

    ReplyDelete
  30. And gee whiz wilickers, duece.
    The youth of the United States have never been active in politics, and that is a shame.

    When a politician does get them motivted, that then becomes a crying shame?

    Maverick should have built an organization to motivate those youth, but he did not have the time. Neither did GWBush or the rest of the GOP. Save Newt, who at least made an attempt at educating them.

    ReplyDelete
  31. They weren't clients back then, were they? Couldn't have been, as Bennett was doing the investigating.



    BENNETT: Well, you know, maybe I was prophetic. I wrote that chapter a long time ago. If your listeners want to know about the Keating Five case, I have a whole chapter on it. What happened was that I had recommended that John McCain be cut out of it and not go forward. And, you know, I call it the way I see it. As I said, I'm a Democrat. And I recommended they go forward against Senators DeConcini, Senator Cranston and Senator Riegle.

    But if you cut out John McCain, you would have had 28 days of public hearings with just Democrats in the dock. So, it's probably the first time in the history of the Senate that they rejected the advice of their counsel to exonerate a senator.

    ReplyDelete
  32. This is what I was thinking of. Keep thinking Bonner, finally hit on The Donner Party


    some 'party'

    ReplyDelete
  33. The AZ mobsters hire all the best folk, bob. They're not pikers out here, you know.

    You insist that an accounting firm Keating hired told you Lincoln was sound. Alan Greenspan, who Keating also hired, wrote a report saying it was sound. Why shouldn't you believe the people Keating hired? You were, after all, fellow employees.

    ReplyDelete
  34. The web of connections are pretty extensive, bob.

    I doubt you could find a check from Cindy to Mr Bennett, but then cash tells no tales.

    The history and associations are clear as a bell. I do not know Mr Bennett, only of his brother, the gambling moralist.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Donner Party met their fate 'round Donner Pass, but you probly already knew that.
    ---
    There was a sad Tale coupla years ago there tho, when that poor guy from San Fran took a wrong turn and got lost in the snow. Family survived, but he struck out for help... and struck out.
    Seems Josephine and Douglas County Law don't see eye to eye, and that got in the way.
    Finally some private party guy from Medford flew his own plane over and found the wife and kids.
    Nice to have a story to tell instead of picking up where 'Rat's gratuitous and uncalled for taunt left off!

    ReplyDelete
  36. That's the country where the lodge owner got sleepy and left his bar untended. Put us on the honor system.

    Sounds like the kind of guy that might put Congress on the honor system. At the very best the liquor will be watered down in the morning, at worst it'll be all gone, and the bar and building mortgaged through Fannie and Freddie.

    No reflection on yourself intended.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Happy Camp musta been colder than a witche's tit, hey, Linear?
    It was usually one of the coldest stations in my California Weather Publication.
    You worked there, right?

    ReplyDelete
  38. Bill said it was his money, could do what he wanted. Could give it to the casino if he wanted. Nobody hurt but himself. Says he's given up gambling now.

    He could have given the money to Catholic Charity, and enjoyed some bingo games, but he didn't.

    ReplyDelete
  39. A witch's tit isn't as cold as a well driller's ass, up this way, but close.

    ReplyDelete
  40. In Alaska there's nothing colder than a polar bear's butt.

    ReplyDelete
  41. It may havve been his money and gambling is legal, but the hypocrisy exposed is huge.

    Brothers in blood, bob.
    Fruit don't fall far from the tree

    ReplyDelete
  42. Guilt by assocoation,
    ain't it just grand

    ReplyDelete
  43. to convince her peers that this Democratic candidate is a rare find.

    Ethanol Kennedy is right on that, he is a rare find.

    That bitch Linda P. from Moscow, finally voted out of office by righteous indignation over the failure to approve the Wal-Mart Super Store, used to go to the rest homes collecting votes.

    Just a heartbeat and one breath away from Chicago voting practices.

    ReplyDelete
  44. Chicago should be the issue, but Maverick does not have the balls to make it so.

    ReplyDelete
  45. Lodge owner was all smiles the next day, as I recall. Some of us weren't in such good condition.

    I'm surprised Happy Camp stood out on temperature records. I'd have thought the country down there would have been more temperate. It's just on the lee side of the coast range, down on the Klamath River. Big trees. Tough locals. Probably a ghost town now.

    ReplyDelete
  46. Donner party -
    ---
    You Gotta be Joshin, me, right, LaBob?
    EVERYBODY knows 'bout the Donner Party!
    ...part of our Heritage, ya know.

    ReplyDelete
  47. I kept thinking Bonner for some reason related to age. The Donner Party, where the host is the roast.
    -----------
    I think Ash must still be hung over from that rum he had last night. Hasn't been around much today....

    Good nite, all.

    ReplyDelete
  48. Some beautiful places up there, Linear.
    Wish I liked cold and wet.
    Not so pretty, but interesting was that Indian Res up there:
    Round Valley, or something?

    We loved camping in the Redwoods on the (Big River Goes Here)

    ReplyDelete
  49. That's a real Boner, Bob-al.
    ...but you're excused, on account of age.
    Again.

    ReplyDelete
  50. Closest thing to cannibalism around Happy Camp was the time an overworked (or overloaded) camp cook sliced a finger off while making sandwiches for the fire crews' sack lunches. In all the ruckus getting the bleeding cook over to the medical unit, the finger was misplaced. It showed up in a feller's lunch out on the fire line, according to local legend.

    ReplyDelete
  51. Too bad it didn't come by way of Denny's.
    ---
    Donner-Reed Pass
    She had a Tee Vee show, Right?

    ReplyDelete
  52. Reminds me, I've got some neat Pictures of the Old Boca Brewery up there way back in the Days on one of the old computers.
    My friend was tryin to interest Pete Coors in helping out with a modern replica there.
    Unfortunately, Pete got beat by that Lying Mofo Mexican in Colorado, instead, tho.

    They Brewed Beer for the San Fran market. 'Bout the only Lager available.

    ...then came refrigeration, and they were shit outta.

    ReplyDelete
  53. I don't remember any reservations on the Klamath NF, Doug. There were probably some big ones over on the coast side of the range on the Six Rivers NF. A lot of AIM activism over there, as I recall. It was an interesting forest to work on. Climates ranged from high desert on the east side, in the volcanic country north of Mt Shasta to temperate rain forest down river around Happy Camp. Dismal, gray, wet winters down there. My job took me all over the forest.

    ReplyDelete
  54. Yeah, it was on the Coast Side.
    Pretty sure it was Round Valley.

    ReplyDelete

  55. Round valley

    "Covelo" forgot, like old Gramps LaBob.

    ReplyDelete
  56. That Donner Party musta had some stubborn sons-of-bitches runnin things. All they needed to do was backtrack 25 miles or so, and they'd have been down around where Reno is today. A much easier place to hold out, I'd think.

    ReplyDelete
  57. Bad Karma:
    ""I'm not happy with the way the Chinese are treating the Tibetans. I don't think anyone should be unkind to anyone else … and I'm wondering how should we deal with the Olympics because of they are not being nice to the Dalai Lama, who's a good friend of mine," Stone said in the TMZ video. "And then this earthquake and all this stuff happened and I thought, 'Is that karma? When you're not nice that the bad things happen to you?'"

    This Einstein Clone lost custody of her adopted kid for good reason:
    She was gonna have the 8yr old get botox injections in his feet, 'cause she didn't like the smell!

    Judge said her ex would just change his socks from time to time, and that would be that.

    ReplyDelete
  58. Gonna flick it in, Doug. Time to go dream about Boca Beer and finger sandwiches.
    Good night.

    ReplyDelete
  59. Yeah, but then 'Rat woulda got on em for gamblin, tho.
    Can't win for losin, here at the Bar.

    ReplyDelete
  60. Good thread. I needed the laughs.

    ReplyDelete
  61. Night, Linear.
    Don't go to bed feelin guilty about all the GOP sins you were exposed to at the Bar.

    ReplyDelete
  62. Yeah, quite the Bimbo, that!

    ReplyDelete
  63. Just out of curriosity...not related to anything, what is the shelf life for 9mm and 12GA ammunition?

    ReplyDelete
  64. Son's got some from WWII:
    Says they still work.
    I'll get the name of the Kraut Gun he bot next time he's here.

    ReplyDelete
  65. GOP sins? Ha Ha. The least of my guilts.

    I will admit to temptation to vote Barr, though. A CA vote for McCain is just pissing in the wind at this moment in time, whereas every vote for Barr sends a message. Whatever you do, don't tell the rodent I said that.

    ReplyDelete
  66. Yon was asking for answers to some pictures of Rifles he saw in Afghanistan. Old Suckers.

    ReplyDelete
  67. Too Bad Barr's a nut.
    ...probly what attracts the Rat!

    ReplyDelete
  68. I'll try and remember to ask my neighbor. He loads his own. I'm tempted to buy a loading outfit and a few cannisters of powder and primers. May be hard to come by before long.

    ReplyDelete
  69. ""I hope you'll vote for this man, who only comes once or twice in 100 years,"
    Ethel Kennedy told about 60 residents yesterday at Salemhaven Nursing Home.
    "
    ---
    So those two little girls is all she wrote from the Messiah.
    Hell of a note.
    No wonder Michelle's so Damned Mad!

    ReplyDelete
  70. Quick survey:

    ---What´s the guarantee and shelf life of cartridges?

    * In accordance with the Civil Code, the guarantee for cartridges is two years.
    * The shelf life of cartridges is however much longer. It depends on the means of storage. If you aren´t sure with the safety of cartridges after the guarantee time please contact us on the e-mail address info@sellier-bellot.cz


    ---In a cool ,dry location, rifle and pistol ammo will outlast you. WWII surplus ammo still is being shot today bu some people. Can't help on the shotgun ammo.
    http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=220968

    ---Most modern ammunition is very stable and has an extremely long shelf-life. However, storage in extreme heat can degrade any ammunition. Experts I've spoken to have indicated that this can sometimes result in a significant reduction in the power of the ammunition. One reliable source reports that in some instances the ammunition may become more powerful, resulting in a very dangerous situation for the shooter & bystanders if the ammunition is fired & the excess pressures cause the gun's metal to fail.
    http://www.armchairgunshow.com/Z-AGG04.htm


    ---Kept cool and dry, not in sunlight, ammo will keep for many.,many years. I regularly shoot .30 carbine that was made in 1952, older than me.

    Lead shot can oxidize to the point that the shot will stick together in one big clump like a slug. Usually that is ammo that was not kept cool and dry. I shot a pheasant with an old load like this once. I was very disappointed when I approached the bird and found a huge hole through the back and breast leaving only the wings and legs edible. Checked the next shell and found it too, was clumped together.
    Now I shoot my ammo when it hits 5-8 years old as practice ammo.
    http://ca.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080119134059AAVuYJb

    ReplyDelete
  71. "I sincerely believe that banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies, and that the principle of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a large scale."

    ~ Thomas Jefferson

    " If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their money, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them, will deprive the people of their property until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered."
    "

    ReplyDelete
  72. @ that link 'Rat, Shadegg before he went over to the Dark Side.

    Rep. John Shadegg on why he didn't vote for the bailout. - Sep 30, 2008
    Rep. John Shadegg discusses why Congress didn't pass the bail out plan.

    ReplyDelete
  73. If Barr had a snowballs chance in hell of winning, his being a nut would be of consequence, doug.
    But neither is the case.

    Won't vote for Shadegg, now.
    Never again.

    ReplyDelete
  74. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  75. That Jeffersn fella, he was damned smart SOB, weren't he.

    ReplyDelete
  76. Probly picked it up from those French Wenches.

    ReplyDelete
  77. Bloomberg:


    Global Stocks, U.S. Index Futures Fall as Credit Crisis Widens

    By Adria Cimino and Chua Kong Ho
    More Photos/Details

    Oct. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Stocks tumbled around the world, the euro fell the most against the yen since its debut and oil dropped below $90 a barrel as the yearlong credit market seizure caused bank bailouts to spread through Europe. Government bonds rallied.

    The MSCI Emerging Markets Index headed for its steepest drop since October 1997 as Russia's Micex Index fell 17 percent, before trading was halted. BHP Billiton Ltd. slid 7.8 percent and UBS AG lost 9.4 percent as commodities producers and banks dropped the most in the MSCI World Index. The gauge of 23 developed countries is down 30 percent this year, the worst annual performance since at least 1970.

    The euro weakened the most against the yen since 1999 after the German government and state banks were forced to pledge $68 billion to rescue Hypo Real Estate Holding AG. Crude dropped 39 percent from its record on July 11 as the global economy slowed. Investors seeking the safety of government bonds pushed yields on two-year Treasury notes to 1.5 percent, 50 basis points below the Federal Reserve's main interest rate.

    ``It's like a fire,'' said Emmanuel Soupre, a fund manager at Neuflize OBC Asset Management in Paris, which oversees the equivalent of $33 billion. ``It's easier to extinguish five minutes after the start. Now we're about an hour into it. We have to act quickly to assure the continuity of the financial system to avoid an irreversible contamination of the entire economy.''

    The MSCI World Index lost 2.5 percent to 1,110.04 at 1:19 p.m. in London as all 10 industry groups decreased. National markets in China, Germany, France, Japan, South Korea and the U.K. fell more than 4 percent.

    The Fed said today it ``stands ready'' to foster ``liquid money market conditions.''

    `Seeing Panic'

    Europe's Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index sank 5.1 percent as BNP Paribas SA said it will take control of Fortis in Belgium and Luxembourg. Only six stocks in the index rose. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index lost 4.4 percent. Futures on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index slipped 2.5 percent, as JPMorgan Chase & Co., the biggest U.S. bank by deposits, fell 5.3 percent.

    ``We're seeing panic all over the markets right now,'' said Javier Barrio, head of equity sales for Spanish clients at Banco BPI SA in Madrid. ``Governments are taking steps to try to reduce investors' fears but confidence is weak.''

    National benchmark indexes sank in all 18 western European markets. France's CAC 40 slumped 5.3 percent, and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 decreased 4.6 percent. Germany's DAX fell 4.9 percent.

    In Asia, Japan's Topix index lost 4.7 percent, and South Korea's Kospi slipped 4.3 percent. China's CSI 300 Index fell 5.1 percent, as trading resumed after a one-week holiday.

    Emerging Markets

    Indonesian stocks plunged the most since the 2002 Bali bombings and the rupiah and bonds dropped as investors exited commodities and emerging markets to limit losses in a global rout.

    The MSCI Emerging Markets Index dropped 6.2 percent. Turkey's ISE National 100 Index sank 7.1 percent, while Saudi Arabia's Tadawul All-Share Index tumbled 9.8 percent.

    Accelerating bailouts of financial companies and bank credit losses and writedowns approaching $600 billion has spurred the rout in global equities. The MSCI World is valued at 13.2 times the earnings of its companies, the lowest since at least 1995, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Europe's Stoxx 600 trades at 10.4 times earnings, near the lowest since at least 2002, while the S&P 500 is valued at 20.9 times earnings.

    `Challenged'

    UBS, the European bank worst hit by credit crisis, lost 9.4 percent to 21.72 francs. The bank's earnings power may be ``challenged for some time,'' and UBS may write down $3.1 billion in the third quarter, Oppenheimer & Co. analyst Meredith Whitney wrote in a note to clients. The Swiss bank has posted $44 billion in losses, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

    Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Japan's largest bank, fell 9.2 percent to 806 yen. Mizuho Financial Group Inc. dropped 7.8 percent to 402,000 yen.

    JPMorgan slid 5.3 percent to $43.48 in trading before the U.S. stock market opened.

    BNP Paribas dropped 3.5 percent to 68.84 euros. France's biggest bank agreed to take control of Fortis in Belgium and Luxembourg for 14.5 billion euros ($19.8 billion) after an earlier government rescue failed to ensure the company's stability.

    Hypo Real Estate plunged 36 percent to 4.78 euros. The German government and the country's banks and insurers agreed on a 50 billion-euro rescue package for the commercial property lender after an earlier bailout faltered.

    `Complete Reform'

    German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the government will guarantee savings of private account holders to prevent a rush of withdrawals from the nation's banking system.

    U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling said Britain is ``ready to do whatever it takes'' to help its banks, while Denmark said commercial lenders will provide as much as 35 billion kroner ($6.4 billion) over the next two years to a fund to insure depositors against losses.

    U.S. President George W. Bush last week signed a $700 billion rescue package into law to stem a banking crisis that has claimed Bear Stearns Cos. and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.

    The euro earlier reached $1.3540. It fell to 141.97 yen, the weakest since May 18, 2006, as investors cut holdings of higher-yielding currencies funded in the Japanese currency.

    ``The euro zone is the second domino of the globe to be falling over after the U.S.,'' said Alex Sinton, a senior currency dealer at ANZ National Bank Ltd. in Auckland.

    Money Market

    The cost of borrowing in dollars overnight jumped, the British Bankers' Association said. Asian money-market rates stayed at the highest in more than nine months.

    BHP Billiton, the world's largest mining company, sank 7.8 percent to 1,095 pence. Rio Tinto Group, the third-biggest, slipped 10 percent to 3,060 pence.

    Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Europe's biggest oil company, dropped 5.4 percent to 1,540 pence. PT Bumi Resources, Indonesia's biggest power-station coal producer, tumbled 32 percent to 2,175 rupiah, extending a six-day, 19 percent slide.

    [...]

    Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

    A week's worth of Ayers v. Keating oughta take care of it, though. Or at least make for a nice diversion while the third rate, dime store ideologues hitch up their pants and go to work.

    ReplyDelete
  78. What the Media Isn't Reporting
    Oliver North

    General David Petraeus has ordered Central Command to quietly review the disposition of U.S. forces in his theater – and equally important – NATO roles and missions in Afghanistan. In the aftermath of the September 20, Marriott Hotel suicide bombing in Islamabad, the Pakistani government is renewing efforts to reign in Islamic radicals.

    Last week Afghan Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak urged creation of a combined Afghan, Pakistani, U.S. Security Force for the porous, mountainous and largely ungoverned Afghan-Pakistani border region where 10-15,000 Al Qaeda and Taliban insurgents have havens. Pakistan’s new President Zardari apparently likes the idea – as do U.S. commanders in the field.
    ---
    Did you see this when I posted it before, Trish?
    Does that sound remotely do-able to you?

    ReplyDelete