Archive for August, 2008
Alistair Darling: UK Facing Worst Economic Crisis in 60 Years
August 30th, 2008Via: BBC: The UK is facing its worst economic crisis in 60 years, Chancellor Alistair Darling has admitted. He told the Guardian newspaper that the economic downturn would be more “profound and long-lasting” than most people had feared. Using strong language, Mr Darling acknowledged voters were angry with Labour’s handling of the economy. Shadow Chancellor […]
FDIC Friday: Integrity Bank Becomes 10th U.S. Failure This Year
August 30th, 2008Via: Bloomberg: Integrity Bank of Alpharetta, Georgia, was closed by U.S. regulators today, the 10th bank to collapse this year amid a surge in soured real-estate loans stemming from the worst housing slump since the Great Depression. Integrity Bank, with $1.1 billion in assets and $974 million in deposits, was shuttered by the Georgia Department […]
Dutch Intelligence: Attack on Iran Expected, Operative Pulled Out
August 29th, 2008Here’s the full story (in Dutch). For those who don’t understand the Dutch language (including me), here’s a DailyKos journal piece about it. Your mileage may vary. Grain of salt. Etc. Via: DailyKos: AMSTERDAM – The Dutch intelligence agency AIVD has conducted an ultrasecret operation in Iran with the purpose of infiltrating and sabotaging the […]
Were American Mercenaries Fighting Against the Russians in Georgia?
August 29th, 2008UPDATE: U.S. Military and Mercenaries Trained Georgian Commandos Via: Washington Post: Earlier in the day, a senior Russian military official said at a news briefing that Russian troops had recovered an American passport in the rubble of a village near the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali, where a Georgian special forces unit had been based […]
Russia May Cut Off Oil Flow to the West
August 29th, 2008It might be a swindle to gap the oil price up temporarily on the news for a long oil play. Assuming it happens, of course. Via: Telegraph: Fears are mounting that Russia may restrict oil deliveries to Western Europe over coming days, in response to the threat of EU sanctions and Nato naval actions in […]
World’s Largest Gold Refiner Runs Out of Krugerrands
August 29th, 2008Via: Bloomberg: Rand Refinery Ltd., the world’s largest gold refinery, ran out of South African Krugerrands after an “unusually large” order from a buyer in Switzerland. The order was for 5,000 ounces and it will take until Sept. 3 for inventories to be replenished, said Johan Botha, a spokesman for Rand Refinery in Germiston, east […]
“Drug Hitmen” Attack Mexican Army Unit
August 28th, 2008Via: Reuters: Suspected drug hitmen attacked a group of sleeping soldiers with grenades in central Mexico, sparking a battle that killed three gunmen, a state attorney general’s office said on Wednesday. Around 15 drug gangsters in vehicles surprised the soldiers while they were camped out in the central state of Guanajuato on Tuesday night, shooting […]
Scores of Chinese Air Passengers Smashed Computers and Desks and Clashed with Police
August 28th, 2008It’s like a scene out of Player Piano. Via: Reuters: Scores of Chinese air passengers smashed computers and desks and clashed with police Tuesday after a night stranded at an airport without accommodation, state media said. More than 170 passengers were due to leave Kunming, capital of southwestern Yunnan province, on three flights operated by […]
The Sanford and Son Salvage Economy: Landfill Sites Are Being Viewed as Mines with Buried Riches
August 28th, 2008Good luck with that. Via: IHT: Inspired by high oil prices, a sharp rise in the value of old plastic is encouraging waste companies across the world to dig for buried riches in rotting garbage dumps. Long a symbol of humanity’s throw-away culture, existing landfill sites are now being viewed as mines of potential that […]
The Heretic: Giordano Bruno
August 28th, 2008Did the Catholic Church burn alive anyone more interesting than Giordano Bruno? Via: Salon: Bruno’s achievements in the “art of memory” were legendary. (The Dominicans had once sent him to Rome where he recited a psalm in Hebrew before the pope, then repeated it backward word for word.) It’s this aspect of the philosopher’s work […]
