Archive for August, 2008
Russia to NATO: Military Help for Georgia Is a ‘Declaration of War’
August 28th, 2008Via: This Is London: Moscow has issued an extraordinary warning to the West that military assistance to Georgia for use against South Ossetia or Abkhazia would be viewed as a “declaration of war” by Russia. The extreme rhetoric from the Kremlin’s envoy to NATO came as President Dmitry Medvedev stressed he will make a military […]
The Price of Rat Meat has Quadrupled in Cambodia
August 28th, 2008Via: Reuters: The price of rat meat has quadrupled in Cambodia this year as inflation has put other meat beyond the reach of poor people, officials said on Wednesday. With consumer price inflation at 37 percent according to the latest central bank estimate, demand has pushed a kilogram of rat meat up to around 5,000 […]
UK House Prices Drop Most Since 1990, Retail Index Plunges
August 28th, 2008Via: Bloomberg: U.K. house prices declined at the fastest annual pace in almost two decades and an index of retail sales plunged to a 25-year low in August as Britain’s economy edged closer to a recession. The average value of a home fell 10.5 percent to 164,654 pounds ($301,500), the biggest drop since the final […]
U.S., Europe, Japan Devised Plan to Prop Up Dollar, Nikkei Says
August 28th, 2008Via: Bloomberg: Finance officials from the U.S., Japan and Europe in mid-March drew up plans to strengthen the U.S. dollar following troubles at Bear Stearns Cos., Nikkei English News reported, citing unnamed sources. The intervention designed by the U.S. Treasury Department, Japan’s Finance Ministry and the European Central Bank called for the central banks to […]
SEC May Let Companies Abandon U.S. Accounting Rules
August 28th, 2008Via: Bloomberg: The Securities and Exchange Commission may let large U.S. companies switch to international accounting rules in six years, a step it says will lower compliance costs and make American firms more competitive. SEC commissioners today approved a “road map” that might allow corporations with market values exceeding $700 million to abandon U.S. accounting […]
Bundesbank on Gold Reserves
August 28th, 2008Via: Guardian: Germany’s Bundesbank on Friday rejected calls that it should sell some of its gold reserves to help boost the slowing German economy, telling Reuters financial and political uncertainty make the reserves even more important than before. “Gold sales are not a suitable way to sustainably consolidate the public accounts,” the Bundesbank said after […]
FDIC MAY BORROW MONEY FROM TREASURY
August 27th, 2008Via: Reuters: Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC) might have to borrow money from the Treasury Department to see it through an expected wave of bank failures, the Wall Street Journal reported. The borrowing could be needed to cover short-term cash-flow pressures caused by reimbursing depositors immediately after the failure of a bank, the paper said. […]
The T. Boone Pickens Water Swindle
August 27th, 2008I meant to post this a couple of months ago, but it got lost in the shuffle. Now that it’s on Reddit again, in a different story, here’s the original. Via: Business Week: Roberts County is a neat square in a remote corner of the Texas Panhandle, a land of rolling hills, tall grass, oak […]
Army Opens Prep School for Dropouts to Fill Ranks
August 27th, 2008Grim. Via: 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 the […]
Oil Rises as Gustav Approaches Gulf Infrastructure
August 27th, 2008Via: Reuters: Oil rose for a third day on Wednesday, lifted by the possibility that Tropical Storm Gustav could become the first major storm since 2005 to threaten U.S. Gulf oil and gas installations. U.S. crude for October delivery was up $2.98 at $119.25 a barrel after adding $1.16 on Tuesday. London Brent crude gained […]
