• EUROPEAN UNION leaders are set for an emergency meeting on Monday September 1st to review the block’s relations with Russia in light of the war in Georgia. EU leaders are also likely to discuss new aid for the war-torn regions of Georgia. More strong words of criticism for Russia’s behaviour are expected, but little else, as Europe worries about energy supplies from its vast neighbour. Russia’s government has scored a victory on the home front with its new aggressive foreign policy.
• THE Republican Party holds its four-day national convention in St Paul, Minnesota, beginning on Monday September 1st. As well as the Obama-bashing that most pundits expect, the convention will give John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, the opportunity to gauge party reaction to his surprising announcement that Sarah Palin will run beside him to become vice-president. Mr McCain wants to distance himself from the current Republican administration, so will be pleased that both George Bush and Dick Cheney are expected to skip the convention because of the probable arrival of hurricane Gustav in New Orleans.
• THE European Central Bank meets on Thursday September 4th to consider its response to deteriorating economic conditions in the euro area. Recession looms and inflation has been creeping up. The ECB may reckon that less growth will lessen the prospects of price rises; falling oil prices may ease inflation pressures too. But most think that the bank will wait until the beginning of 2009 before cutting rates to boost the economy.
• PAKISTAN is set to elect a new president on Saturday September 6th. Members of Pakistan's parliament and regional assemblies will vote for a replacement for Pervez Musharaff, who stepped down in August to avoid impeachment charges. Pakistan’s coalition government has already split over the candidacy of Asif Zardari, leader of the coalition’s main member, the Pakistan People’s Party, and favourite to become president. The coalition’s second-biggest constituent, the Pakistan Muslim League (N), walked out, in objection to Mr Zardari’s standing for a presidency with dictatorial powers. This is all an unwelcome distraction in a country facing an ever-worsening Taliban insurgency and a troubled economy.
9/04/2008
The coming days: The week ahead
RNC: Moles Wanted: Minneapolis City Pages advertise for recruits.
In the months leading up to the Republican National Convention, the FBI-led Minneapolis Joint Terrorist Task Force actively recruited people to infiltrate vegan groups and other leftist organizations and report back about their activities. On May 21, t...
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[Source: Ron Paul forum
Japan: Get someone else
Yasuo Fukuda quits as prime minister of Japan, as the country struggles to find stable leadership
IT HAD been the wish of Japan’s 72-year-old prime minister, Yasuo Fukuda of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), to outlast his hapless predecessor, Shinzo Abe, whom he privately despised. He was supposed to provide a steady hand on the helm after Mr Abe’s poor performance. But Mr Fukuda did not manage even Mr Abe’s year in office. On Monday September 1st the prime minister announced his resignation, saying bluntly that “I thought it would be better for someone else to do the job”.
From the start, he had struggled in the face of the opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) which had won unprecedented control of the upper house of the Diet (parliament). Important legislation was rammed through the Diet thanks only to the two-third’s majority enjoyed by the ruling coalition in the lower house. Most notable was a bill renewing the Japanese navy’s refuelling mission in the Indian Ocean, a part of the anti-terror effort in Afghanistan and thus a gauge of Japan’s willingness to play a part in the world. ...
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[Source: The Economist: News analysis -
Army opens prep school for dropouts to fill ranks
FORT JACKSON, S.C. (AP) - Austin Swarner left high school to care for his mother while she fought a losing battle with cancer. Tony Brown wanted to begin supporting himself and left two classes shy of a diploma. Haelee Holden got tired of trying to make it through school while flipping burgers until 1 a.m.But [...]
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The Republicans: Staying the course
The Republican convention, though battered, goes ahead
IT HAS been a rocky week for the Republican Party, as its convention gets under way in St Paul, Minnesota. After the focus on the Democrats last week, John McCain snatched back attention at the weekend with his choice of Sarah Palin, the young governor of Alaska, as his running mate. But little since that announcement has gone according to plan.
The first difficulty was Hurricane Gustav which crossed the Gulf of Mexico before hitting Louisiana on Monday September 1st. The storm provoked memories of Katrina, the hurricane which drowned New Orleans in 2005 and whose aftermath was mishandled by George Bush’s administration. Nearly 2m people left their homes in Louisiana this week, fleeing the storm. And as a result of the upheaval, Mr Bush and his vice-president, Dick Cheney, decided to stay away from the Republican convention, scrapping planned speeches. Mr McCain was no doubt relieved: the less he is associated with the deeply unpopular incumbent, the happier he will be. ...
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[Source: The Economist: News analysis
8/28/2008
The Democrats:
Barack Obama picks Joe Biden as his running mate
LIKE much else about Barack Obama's campaign, his announcement of a running-made was unconventional. It came in the form of emails and text-messages released simultaneously to the tens of thousands of people who had signed up to receive them, at the distinctly unconventional hour of 3am Eastern time. “Dear [recipient's name], I have some important news that I want to make official”, read the message, purportedly sent by the candidate himself. “I've chosen Joe Biden to be my running-mate.”
After an entire week of press-teasing over the timing of the announcement, some might be forgiven for feeling slightly let down. Mr Biden, a six-term senator and head of the Senate foreign relations committee, was neither a surprise nor, for all his qualities, an especially exciting choice, as the selection of Hillary Clinton or Al Gore would have been. ...
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As a political statement the Beijing Olympics had mixed results
Mixed political results from the Beijing Olympics
Having held the world's attention for the past 17 days, Beijing symbolically handed the Olympic flag to London in a closing ceremony on August 24th. As a sporting event the Games were a huge success—particularly for China, which topped the gold-medal table by a wide margin. But the government's success in achieving its political objectives was mixed.
Billed as China's "coming-out party", the Beijing Games were meant to burnish the country's image both at home and abroad by showcasing the country's remarkable achievements over the past three decades. There is little doubt that this message came across loud and clear domestically, helping to cement the loyalty of China's citizens. The popular legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party increasingly derives from its ability to deliver material prosperity and international prestige, and the Olympics showed that the regime is capable of marshalling extraordinary resources and determination—and that China commands international respect. Beijing's spectacular opening and closing ceremonies, state-of-the-art venues and flawlessly organised sporting events all underlined the country's extraordinarily rapid re-emergence as a great power. ...
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Prepared Secret Service, police have new equipment if needed
Denver has assembled an army of police and stocked up on an array of new equipment to deal with the unknown during the Democratic National Convention.Mayor John Hickenlooper said the city and its partners developed what may be one of the most comprehensive security plans for an event of this magnitude.“You never know what you [...]
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8/24/2008
Buffett Says Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac `Game Is Over
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two largest mortgage finance companies, dont have any net worth, billionaire investor Warren Buffett said.
The game is over as independent companies said Buffett, the 77-year-old chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.,...
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[Source: The Economist: News analysis - Posted by King Of Videos and Blogs]
Commodities:
Some reasons not to expect a collapse in raw-materials prices
DURING the six months to the end of June commodities posted their best performance in 35 years, rising by 29%. In July they had their worst month in 28 years, falling by 10%. The slide continues: an index compiled by Reuters, a news agency, shows that prices are almost a fifth below the pinnacle reached in early July. The Economist’s index, which excludes oil, has fallen by over 12%. Breathless headlines have hailed the bursting of a bubble.
But most analysts are more reticent. They cite various reasons for the recent drop in prices, chief among them the darkening economic outlook in rich countries. In recent weeks it has become clear that Europe and Japan are faring even worse than America, and so are likely to consume less oil, steel, cocoa and the like. But that does not necessarily presage a collapse in commodity prices, they argue, thanks to enduringly strong demand from emerging markets such as China. ...
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[Source: The Economist: News analysis - Posted by King Of Videos and Blogs]
American politics:
John McCain and Barack Obama each has a problem with religion. Who will the faithful follow?
IN 2007 James Dobson, who heads Focus on the Family, a powerful Christian group, said that he “would not vote for John McCain under any circumstances.” Mr Dobson said he was worried that the Republican was “not in favour of traditional marriage, and I pray that we won't get stuck with him.” But now Mr Dobson is reconsidering. It is a strange year for religious voters trying to decide between candidates who, on Saturday August 16th, will air their views on matters spiritual and earthly by talking in turn to Rick Warren, a megachurch pastor in California.
In 2000 and again in 2004 the choice was easy: George Bush wore his religion on his sleeve, declared that Jesus was his favourite philosopher and staunchly promoted religious-conservative positions. This year things are rather different. Mr McCain is an infrequent churchgoer and he hardly mentions his faith. When asked about it, he often speaks not of himself but of one of his North Vietnamese captors, a Christian who treated him kindly. He made enemies on the religious right in 2000 by saying that Jerry Falwell, a televangelist, was among harmful “agents of intolerance”. ...
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[Source: The Economist: News analysis - Posted by King Of Videos and Blogs]
Indonesia's president is troubled by rising prices
Rising fuel prices are making the president less popular in Indonesia
The damage to the standing of the Indonesian president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, caused by the 30% increase in government-administered fuel prices in May has been reflected in recent opinion polls, in which his nearest contender, Megawati Soekarnoputri, who chairs the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDI-P), has taken a lead. A survey in June by a local polling company, Indo Barometer, put voter support for Ms Soekarnoputri at 30.4%, compared with 20.7% for Mr Yudhoyono. Prior to the May fuel price increase, the president led his nearest rival by a considerable margin in a range of opinion polls.
Polls have repeatedly highlighted the fact that economic problems are voters' main concern, and it is therefore no surprise that Mr Yudhoyono's rating has fallen as the result of a policy change that had an immediate and tangible impact on the cost of living. However, a fight-back by the president in the opinion polls is to be expected once the effects of the fuel price increases have played out through the economy. Bank Indonesia (BI, the central bank) estimates that this process will be completed within two months. ...
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[Source: The Economist: News analysis - Posted by King Of Videos and Blogs]
A series of deadly bombs
Algeria's reconciliation policy is threatened by a spate of bombings
Some 60 people have been killed in a series of car bomb explosions over two days in a region to the south-east of Algiers, marking a major escalation in the activity of Islamist underground groups that have acquired new purpose since affiliating with al-Qaida in 2006. The upsurge in violence appears to reflect the concern of al-Qaida's leadership to open up new fronts in the Middle East and North Africa after the serious setbacks that the movement has suffered in Iraq. Some Algerian commentators have also blamed the escalation on the government's reconciliation policy, thereby raising questions over whether the president, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, should be allowed to stay on for a third term.
The heaviest casualties from the latest attacks occurred when a suicide bomber exploded his vehicle outside a gendarmerie training college in Issers on August 19th where a large number of prospective new recruits were waiting for the gates to open. The government said that 43 people were killed and 45 injured. The next day there were two car bomb explosions in the nearby town of Bouira. The first, outside a military building, left four soldiers lightly wounded, according to the official Algerian Press Service. The second exploded outside a hotel, and killed 11 people. It was reported that the hotel was being used to house contractors working on the nearby Koudiet Acerdoune dam project. Companies from Canada, Turkey and Italy have been involved in this project, but it was not immediately clear whether any foreign nationals were among the casualties. ...
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[Source: The Economist: News analysis - Posted by King Of Videos and Blogs]
TV-Licensing
TV-Licensing threatening to use (possibly illegal) ways to get the data to make you pay.
Recorded by someone who cannot pay TV-Tax for legal reasons, although he wants to.
http://vidzking.com/Tags/TV-Licensing
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[Source: The Economist: News analysis - Posted by King Of Videos and Blogs]
Top 5 Mistakes Home Sellers Make
Trying to sell your home is hard enough without making these costly errors
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[Source: The Economist: News analysis - Posted by King Of Videos and Blogs]
8/16/2008
The coming days: The week ahead
In search of a resolution to the war in Georgia, and other news
• RUSSIA and Georgia have agreed to form humanitarian corridors to arrange for the evacuation of civilians caught up in fighting in South Ossetia. Amid ongoing uncertainty, Georiga now says that it has withdrawn troops from South Ossetia, where they had been battling Russian soldiers. The coming days will see whether the conflict is snuffed out quickly, or whether further escalation is likely.
• PARTIES that make up Pakistan's ruling coalition are set to launch impeachment proceedings against President Pervez Musharraf when parliament convenes on Monday August 11th. Mr Musharraf, who has presided over an economic meltdown and a growing Taliban insurgency in the north-west of the country, faces a vote of no confidence. The ruling coalition says that Mr Musharraf acted unconstitutionally by declaring a state of emergency last November and dismissing nearly 60 judges. But it is far from clear if his opponents can muster the two-thirds majority in the upper and lower houses needed to remove Mr Musharraf from office. ...
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Bolivia: Divided we rule
A boost for Bolivia's president as he wins a referendum on his rule, but divisions persist
CRIES of "Evo, brother, the people are with you!" resounded on Sunday August 10th in front of Bolivia's presidential palace. The revellers were celebrating victory by the country's socialist president, Evo Morales, in a referendum on whether he should remain in office. He not only survived but appears to have emerged with a stronger mandate, according to unofficial results (official ones are due at the end of the week). These suggest that Mr Morales secured over 60% support, more than the 54% he won in a presidential election in December 2005.
But his chief opponents, the governors of four eastern regions, also appear to have had their mandates confirmed by the recall referendum, with thumping majorities. The referendum has thus confirmed Bolivia's political divide between the impoverished, Amerindian, high plains in the west, which remains strongly loyal to Mr Morales, and the more prosperous, capitalist and gas-rich eastern lowlands, which backs the opposition. ...
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On the up
Interest rates go up in South Korea
South Korea's central bank, the Bank of Korea (BOK), raised its policy interest rate by 25 basis points on August 7th, following the lead of other Asian central banks that have begun tightening monetary policy in an effort to tame soaring inflation. The bank's decision is likely to have been a difficult one, however, given simultaneous fears of an economic slowdown.
The BOK raised its benchmark base rate from 5% to 5.25%. This was the bank's first rate hike in a year, and the accompanying monetary-policy statement indicated that the need to subdue inflation expectations was one of the main reasons for the hike. The bank's statement also acknowledged that the domestic economy was weakening. The fact that it went ahead with the rate hike anyway suggests that South Korean policymakers are very much in the same quasi-stagflationary boat as those in many other Asian economies, which have been forced to raise borrowing costs even as concerns about slower economic growth--and the impact of the US's economic and financial-sector woes on other countries--have intensified. ...
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Keep it tight
No need for a shift in monetary policy in China
There are few countries in the world where double-digit rates of GDP growth would qualify as a cause for concern. However, China has become so used to supercharged rates of expansion that, despite GDP growth of 10.1% in the second quarter, panic is spreading over the state of the economy. Amid press reports of slowing sales of cars and other key consumer goods, of soaring costs for labour, materials and power, and of problems in the export sector, the lobby pressing the government to relax monetary policy has gathered strength. When top officials conducted a tour of China's coastal regions in person to assess the state of events on the ground in July, there was a widespread expectation that this was a prelude to a formal change in government priorities.
On the face of it, expectations were justified when pronouncements at the end of July, following a key government economic policy meeting, appeared to shift the priority from controlling inflation back to maintaining steady and fast development. This was accompanied by an adjustment in the export VAT rebate regime, which reversed some of the steps taken last year by increasing the rebates available to garment and apparel producers from 11% to 13%. The People's Bank of China (the central bank) is also reported to have increased the annual loan quota for 2008 by around 5%, instructing banks that the new funds should be channelled towards small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and areas affected by the May earthquake in Sichuan. Some observers have also made much of the fact that the renminbi has actually fallen against the US dollar for much of the past month--weakening from around Rmb6.81:US$1 in mid-July to Rmb6.86:US$1 in early August. ...
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Ceding control
Nigeria hands territory to Cameroon
Nigeria has handed control of the Bakassi peninsula to Cameroon, theoretically ending a 15-year territorial dispute. However, Cameroon may struggle to assert its control over the region.
The handover of the potentially oil-rich Bakassi peninsula was completed on August 14th, in theory resolving a long-running territorial dispute. Nigeria and Cameroon nearly went to war over the area in 1994--when Cameroon first took its case to the International Court of Justice (ICJ)--and in 1996. In 2002 the ICJ ruled in Cameroon's favour, and while Nigeria initially rejected the court ruling, it agreed in 2006 to hand over the territory. Nigerian security forces have subsequently been ceding control of parts of Bakassi, and the handover of remaining areas completes the process. ...
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