Archive for January, 2009
New Law in Russia Ends Jury Trials for ‘Crimes Against State’
January 2nd, 2009Via: Los Angeles Times: President Dmitry Medvedev signs the controversial measure with little publicity. A pending Putin-backed law widens the definition of treason. Government critics fear the stage is set for a crackdown. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev paused in the last, quiet hours of a dying year to sign into law a controversial bill that […]
Rising Desperation as China’s Exports Drop
January 2nd, 2009Maybe the Fed will bailout China? Oh, hmm, uhh… Wait, it’s supposed to be the other way around. Via: IHT: At the docks here, the stacks of shipping containers that used to loom above the highway overpass are gone. Logistics managers say they negotiate deeper discounts every week on ships that are leaving half empty. […]
I Know You’re Listening
January 2nd, 2009hehe Via: xkcd:
UK: Private Firm May Track All Email and Calls
January 2nd, 2009Via: Guardian: The private sector will be asked to manage and run a communications database that will keep track of everyone’s calls, emails, texts and internet use under a key option contained in a consultation paper to be published next month by Jacqui Smith, the home secretary. A cabinet decision to put the management of […]
Icelandic TV Program Featuring PM Forced Off Air
January 2nd, 2009Via: AP: A nationally televised meeting between Iceland’s prime minister and other political leaders was forced off the air Wednesday night when angry protesters disrupted the broadcast. For more than two decades, the leaders of Iceland’s political parties have met every New Year’s Eve over champagne and spiced herring to talk about the year ahead […]
Russia Says It Will Halt Delivery of Natural Gas to Ukraine
January 1st, 2009Via: Washington Post: Russia said Wednesday night that it planned to suspend delivery of natural gas to Ukraine on Thursday morning after negotiations to resolve a politically tinged dispute over prices collapsed without an agreement. A cutoff of fuel shipments to Ukraine could have a ripple effect across Europe, because Russia supplies a quarter of […]
Nationalization of U.S. Auto and Other Industries Will Expand
January 1st, 2009Via: Bloomberg: The U.S. Treasury drafted broad guidelines for aid to the auto industry that would let officials provide funds to any company they deem important to making or financing cars. With today’s announcement, the Treasury is giving itself room to provide money from the Troubled Asset Relief Program beyond loans already committed to General […]
Fails: Bond Dealers, Hedge Funds Will Face Penalty for Failed Trades
January 1st, 2009This is THE core process that animates the entire zombie money system… I’m at a bit of a loss to think of applicable analogies that might describe the failure of this mechanism. Have you ever seen a top fuel dragster explode at maximum throttle? That’s my best guess. —The U.S. Treasury Market Reaches Breaking Point; […]
SEC’s Top Enforcement Accountant Joins Private Firm
January 1st, 2009What did she put on her CV? “Ignored multiple warnings that Bernard Madoff was a swindler”??? “On my watch, the largest investment scam in the history of the world went undetected”??? Via: Reuters: The top enforcement accountant at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will leave the agency in January to become a managing director […]
U.S. Stocks Suffer Worst Year Since Great Depression
January 1st, 2009Yeah, well, not quite, “No one.” * snort * Via: Financial Times: The worst annual performance for Wall Street stocks since the Great Depression ended with a modest rally on the final day of trading as the Federal Reserve pushed ahead with its plan to buy mortgage-backed securities. The central bank’s plan to buy up […]
