8 April 2008
News and Comments - 04/08/08
Posted by Joy Bischoff under: What's News .
16 Comments so far...
Cameron Says:
8 April 2008 at 6:43 am.
Hopefully the title of this piece is just poor journalism not prophecy.
Maoists in, king out as Nepal faces historic vote
By Simon Denyer Tue Apr 8, 2:27 AM ET
KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Nepal stages a historic election on Thursday meant to rope a once-feared Maoist guerrilla army into democratic politics and bring an end to a once-loved 240-year-old Hindu monarchy.
High in the Himalayas, impoverished, ill-governed Nepal is hoping its first elections in nine years will help cement peace after a decade-long civil war, and allow it finally to join its booming big brother, India, in a new era of prosperity.
Two years after mass street protests brought an end to an ill-fated period of royal rule, the vote will also formally restore democracy to Nepal.
“It is not going to solve everything overnight, but it is closure for one chapter in our history and the beginning of a new one,” said Kunda Dixit, editor of the Nepali Times.
Yet the challenges ahead are immense, not least because violence and intimidation have seriously marred the campaign and could undermine the voting day itself.
The main, but far from the only, culprits are the Maoists, seemingly unable to leave behind the bullying tactics that brought them this far. Their youth wing is accused of beating up rival party workers and systematically threatening voters.
A peace accord was signed only two years ago, and is effectively in “cold storage,” with few of its provisions implemented, said magazine editor Yubaraj Ghimire.
The Maoists have locked away their arms but kept the keys, ex-guerrillas have not been integrated into the army or civilian life, and the abuses of the war have gone unpunished.
Strikes, violence and power shortages mean the economy has yet to see a dividend from peace.
One of the biggest questions facing Nepal today is just how well the Maoists will fare at the polls, and if they will accept defeat peacefully, as they promise.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080408/wl_nm/nepal_election_dc;_ylt=AnRSI3M9BjW2z4rGNpBv1rvuOrgF
Bryon Says:
8 April 2008 at 8:46 am.
Wow, that is shocking. I hope they learn to put down their fists soon.
Cameron Says:
8 April 2008 at 10:26 am.
The Reconquista movement will be encouraged by this and see it as a kind of recognition. It was a really stupid thing for this Sweden company to do.
Absolut vodka pulls ad showing California in Mexico
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The distillers of Sweden’s Absolut vodka have withdrawn an advertisement run in Mexico that angered many U.S. citizens by idealizing an early 19th century map showing chunks of the United States as Mexican.
The billboard ad has the slogan “In an Absolut World” slapped over a pre-1848 map showing California, Arizona and other U.S. states as Mexican territory. Those states were carved out of what had been Mexican lands until that year.
Although it was not shown in the United States, U.S. media outlets picked up on the ad, and after a barrage of complaints, Absolut’s maker said on Sunday the ad campaign would cease.
Defending the campaign last week, Absolut maker Vin & Spirit said the ad was created “with a Mexican sensibility” and was not meant for the U.S. market.
Joy Bischoff Says:
8 April 2008 at 10:44 am.
Peter Anderson sent this to me so I thought I would post it for all of you. I have studied Bird Flu rather closely and can tell you that there have been many more cases of human to human transmission that has been suppressed, especially in Indonesia, but also in Turkey, Egypt and a few other places. The real shock to the medical community that follows Bird Flu, is that China would admit this since they have been the worst at hiding the real story. People are trying to figure out why they are now being transparent.
Avian Flu Jumped from Dying Son to Caregiver Father
BEIJING, April 7 — A man who died late last year of highly pathogenic avian flu infected his father in one of the few “probable” cases of human-to-human transmission that have been reported, researchers here said.
The infection likely occurred while the 52-year-old father cared for his 24-year-old son, who was severely ill, according to Yu Wang, Ph.D., of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and colleagues.
Although nearly 100 close contacts were tested for the H5N1 virus, the outbreak was limited to the father and son, suggesting a potential genetic susceptibility to infection, Dr. Wang and colleagues said online in The Lancet.
Only a few cases of suspected human-to-human transmission of the virus have been reported — the largest series in Indonesia in 2006, when seven members of the same family became infected and six died (See: Indonesian Bird Flu Outbreak Raises Pandemic Fears Anew).
But public health authorities worry that small genetic changes in the virus, now widespread among poultry, might one day allow it to pass easily from one person to another, setting the stage for an influenza pandemic.
http://www.medpagetoday.com/InfectiousDisease/URItheFlu/tb/9041
Cameron Says:
8 April 2008 at 10:59 am.
I wish I knew a solution to the Iranian problem.
Iran Begins Installing More Centrifuges
By ALI AKBAR DAREINI
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran has begun installing 6,000 new centrifuges at its uranium enrichment plant in Natanz, state television quoted President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as saying Tuesday.
Iran already has about 3,000 centrifuges operating in Natanz, and the new announcement is seen as a show of defiance of international demands to halt a nuclear program the United States and its allies say is aimed at building nuclear weapons.
“The president announced the start of the phase of installing 6,000 new centrifuges in Natanz,” state television reported.
Centrifuges are machines that can enrich uranium to a low level to produce nuclear fuel or a high level for use in a weapon. Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful and solely focused on the production of energy.
Mac Says:
8 April 2008 at 11:05 am.
The Iran problem is one I’ve tried to figure out as well Cameron. I know it would be unpopular to take them on but I also know they want to nuke Israel. How can we let that happen? We are Christians here and maybe some Jews IDK, but we believe there will be a show down and we believe Jerusalem will be at the center of it. We can’t let them be nuked. Sacrifice is hard but what are the consequences if we don’t deal with this problem soon?
Cameron Says:
8 April 2008 at 11:11 am.
There is a lot of bad news out today.
Citigroup, Wells Fargo May Loan Less After Downgrades (Update1)
By Mark Pittman, Alan Katz and David Mildenberg
April 8 (Bloomberg) — Bank holding companies including Citigroup Inc., Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co. have the thinnest safety cushion against losses in seven years.
The margin may erode further in coming weeks. Credit ratings on $704 billion of bonds have been cut this year following the collapse of the U.S. housing market. Sheila Bair, chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., said last week that the downgrades may compromise bank capital ratios enough that some of the largest institutions will no longer be considered well capitalized.
Falling below a regulatory benchmark that is intended to maintain a minimum level of capital to protect depositors against losses would subject banks to more scrutiny from regulators than they have ever experienced.
“This is a nightmare for the country,” said William Isaac, who was chairman of the FDIC from 1981 to 1985. Banks will “raise what capital they can, then they’ll slow down their growth and stop lending, and what should be a mild recession becomes a much more serious one.”
The biggest danger to the economy is that to preserve their ratios, banks will cut off the flow of credit, causing a decline in loans to companies and consumers. Banks have already raised $136 billion in capital, based on data compiled by Bloomberg, and cut dividends. More stock sales and payout reductions are likely to follow, says analyst Meredith Whitney at Oppenheimer & Co.
`Institutional Panic’
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=ay.wksrAwOGI&refer=home
Jesse Says:
8 April 2008 at 11:14 am.
Mac, I understand that we need to help Israel and we don’t want it to be destroyed but attacking Iran would be suicide. Our military is over stretched already and financially it would break our country to go into another war. Not only that, it would be WWIII and the world would blame us. We would be taking on Russia and China plus others. I don’t think America would come out of it intact. Don’t underestimate the anger of the world towards us and the consequences. We have to find another way.
T. Fan Says:
8 April 2008 at 11:23 am.
I have mixed feelings about the whole Iran problem. I know we aren’t in a position to do anything about it militarially but it is obvious they are doing something very serious with nukes. There was a blog here awhile back talking about under cover operations to try and interfere with their program and also try and get the citizens of Iran to want a different president. This is a hard one. What I do know is business. Before you start a business you look at your resources to see if you have what you need to do the job. If you don’t have it then you don’t do it. I’m afraid Jesse is right about that.
Cameron Says:
8 April 2008 at 11:26 am.
Fed Auctions Another $50 Billion
Tuesday April 8, 11:04 am ET
By Martin Crutsinger, AP Economics Writer
Fed Auctions Another $50 Billion to Cash-Strapped Banks in Battle Against Credit Squeeze
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve, still working to combat the effects of a severe credit squeeze, said Tuesday it had auctioned another $50 billion to cash-strapped banks. Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund warned that further actions are needed globally to prevent more wrenching problems.
The Fed auction marked the ninth in a series that began in December that so far have pumped $310 billion in short-term loans into the nation’s banking system.
Meanwhile, the 185-nation IMF delivered its most detailed review yet of the global credit crisis that hit last August. It said Tuesday that governments must be prepared to do more to support the global financial system if conditions worsen.
“Markets remain under considerable strain” from a variety of forces such as weakened balance sheets from increased bad loans, the IMF said in a report prepared for meetings this week in Washington of the IMF and its sister lending institution, the World Bank.
Benjamin Says:
8 April 2008 at 11:44 am.
I agree that the Iran question is incredibly complicated and difficult. I think our only option is to try and get the UN behind a stronger response. If we go it alone or just with Israel then we have bit off a lot more than we can chew. The consequences would be unacceptable.
Cameron, the article you just posted really is frustrating. The cash cow isn’t a bottomless pit. They keep printing up dollars and it is being artificially held up and what they are doing is going to make the crash worse. What a mess.
Jeezer Says:
8 April 2008 at 12:04 pm.
Two things in the news. First, al-Sadr said he wants a time table for US withdrawal from Iraq then he will continue the cease fire from his militia. If we have him keep that secret then it seems like a great idea. If he breaks the cease fire again then it will be civil war again.
I also heard Condeleezza Rice say she has no interest in being VP for McCain.
Jesse Says:
8 April 2008 at 12:08 pm.
Uh-oh, you should have kept that under wraps Jeezer. Now we might have Rice Riots here. jk
I wonder if the article about it just got it wrong or if she considered it and changed her mind?
E.E. Says:
8 April 2008 at 1:25 pm.
I wish Ahmadinejad wasn’t so psycho. His people need to rise up and toss him out. This is very bad news.
Iran Says It Tests Advanced Centrifuges
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says Iran has tested new advanced centrifuges, a breakthrough in a uranium enrichment program that the U.N. has demanded the country halt.
The hardline president says a “new machine was put to test” that is smaller but five times more efficient than the P-1 centrifuges already in use.
Ahmadinejad’s comments Tuesday at a ceremony marking the second anniversary of Iran’s first enrichment of uranium reflect his continued defiance of U.S. and U.N. demands that the country stop the process, which produce reactor fuel or material for a nuclear warhead.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8VTQSE81&show_article=1
E.E. Says:
8 April 2008 at 1:29 pm.
It is not looking good over in Iraq. What is going to change it?
Fear and fighting in Iraq’s Sadr City
BAGHDAD (AFP) - “We’re scared,” admitted Abu Muamel as the sudden blast of a mortar round fightened the baby in his arms to tears and set US and Iraqi armoured vehicles racing through Sadr City’s smoke-choked streets.
“It’s too dangerous to stay here,” Abu Muamel added as he and his family of eight on Tuesday fled the sprawling district in eastern Baghdad that is the theatre of raging battles between Mahdi Army militiamen and security forces.
“A mortar landed in our street, killing a boy. I’m taking my family out of here. We’re going to stay with relatives in Mansur,” the 42-year-old artisan said, referring to a relatively safe part of western Baghdad.
As he spoke another two mortar rounds slammed into a nearby neighbourhood. The explosions drowned out the whine of US Stryker armoured troop carriers and the relentless clatter of Apache helicopters, which have been blasting away at mortar and rocket teams with Hellfire missiles for the past three days.
“That’s Jaish al-Mahdi (Mahdi Army) trying to hit the Americans,” explained an Iraqi soldier manning a checkpoint at the edge of Sadr City.
“They don’t target us, only the Americans,” he added as one of Abu Muamel’s small daughters began coughing from the acrid smoke in the air.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080408/wl_mideast_afp/iraqunrestsadrcity_080408165832
Benjamin Says:
8 April 2008 at 1:57 pm.
Listening to Rush, he was quoting some articles from economic experts saying the worst of the recession might be over. I thought Rush would agree with that because he always down plays economic problems. Instead he said the experts are always wrong and they just said that to make the liberal actions by the fed look good. Rush said not to believe the worst was over. This really surprised me.
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