CAIRO -- The U.S. Navy has seized seven suspected pirates in the Gulf of Aden after a merchant ship sent a distress call saying gunmen had tried to board it from a skiff.
Lt. Nathan Christensen, a spokesman for the Bahrain-based 5th Fleet, says the Marshal Islands-flagged Polaris sent the call on Wednesday afternoon. The USS Vella Gulf raced to the location where U.S. sailors boarded the skiff. Christensen says the suspects were armed with AK-47s and RPGs. They will eventually be handed over to Kenya.
It was the Navy's first arrest since a new U.S. anti-pirate task force was established to deal with the escalating piracy problem in the Gulf. It also follows an agreement last month with Kenya for the U.S. to hand over arrested pirates.
#1
Small steps in the right direction. Only mistake - assuming rule of law will play out responsibly in Africa. Better to have been forced to "kill the pirates while they were trying to escape" - possibly after having been given a ten-meter head start.
Some 150 Rwandan Hutu rebels due to be repatriated from eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have gone missing, the UN said in a statement.
The group, ex-fighters of the Hutu Rally for Unity and Democracy of the Rwandan People (RUD) and their families went missing overnight Sunday to Monday -- on the eve of their planned return to Rwanda, the United Nations peacekeeping mission MONUC said.
A UN official said the group left all their belongings in a camp in the eastern village of Kisaki, where they were staying.
The mission offered no explanation for their disappearance, but a UN official suggested the group might have been threatened by members of another Rwandan Hutu rebel group, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).
Posted by: Fred ||
02/11/2009 00:00 ||
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A Guardian film smuggled out of Zimbabwe brings home the economic devastation and deprivation Robert Mugabe has wreaked upon his own people. With Morgan Tsvangirai, the opposition leader, preparing to take up the post of prime minister in a unity government, Sam Chakaipa, at considerable risk to himself and as an act of resistance, returned clandestinely to his village, 125 miles from Harare, to document the plight of his former neighbours.
The opposition activist has produced extraordinary footage of what Zimbabweans have to do in order to survive in a wrecked economy. As money is worthless -- Zimbabwe is plagued by the world's highest inflation rate -- the villagers are reduced to panning for gold in rivers. Instead of attending school, youngsters from the village scrabble knee-deep in muddy water or dig ever deeper holes in a desperate search for a few grains of gold.
These small supplies of the precious metal have thus become a crucial commodity Zimbabweans can trade for food; a loaf of bread is worth 0.1 grams. But only the young have the strength to dig and pan for gold; the village elders must go hungry, unless they have friends or relatives they can rely on. Some parents have been forced to feed rats to their children, and hunger has turned family members against each other.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/11/2009 00:00 ||
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Okay-y-y, so we're clearly NOT talking about MUGABE's = NOKOR's KIMMIE'S PERSONAL, EXPENSIVE, LUXURY FOOD DIET.
#8
Botswana. Even Kenya, compared to, for instance, Libya.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/11/2009 13:20 Comments ||
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#9
Botswana by the standards of Sub-Saharan Africa is a roaring success. Per capita GDP is $17,000 (ppp) or $7,000 (nominal). About the same as Brazil.
#12
Not all roses. Botswana still struggles to seal its border from thousands of Zimbabweans who flee economic collapse and political persecution; Namibia has long supported, and in 2004 Zimbabwe dropped objections to, plans between Botswana and Zambia to build a bridge over the Zambezi River at Kazungula crossing, thereby de facto recognizing the short, but not clearly delimited, Botswana-Zambia boundary
RIYADH - Chinese President Hu Jintao arrived on Tuesday in OPEC powerhouse Saudi Arabia for a visit aimed at securing more energy supplies for the worlds most populous nation. Hu landed in Riyadh with a large entourage of Chinese officials and executives, underscoring the growing importance of the relationship between the worlds biggest oil exporter and its most populous country.
The trip, Hus second to the desert kingdom, highlights Chinas focus on securing energy, petrochemicals and other mineral resources that power its massive manufacturing sector.
Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said Beijing was interested in strengthening energy ties with Saudi Arabia, which has the largest oil reserves in the world. Saudi Arabia is the biggest oil exporter to China. We value the role it plays and look forward to strengthening cooperation in this field, Jiang said.
Trade with Saudi Arabia has more than doubled since 2005, rising 65 percent last year alone to reach 41.8 billion dollars, as China has bought increasing amounts of oil and gas.
While Hu and Saudi King Abdullah are expected to sign several accords on trade and other cooperation, Chinas imports of Saudi oil products will remain the core of the relationship, the Chinese embassy in Riyadh said. According to news reports, Chinese oil processing giant Sinopec could ink agreements with the Saudi state oil company Aramco on participating in the construction of two Saudi refineries.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/11/2009 00:00 ||
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President Hugo Chavez said Tuesday that Lech Walesa will be barred from entering Venezuela if the Nobel Peace Prize laureate attempts to come to lend his support to opposition groups.
Anti-Chavez university students invited Walesa to a pro-democracy conference last year, but the former Polish leader did not attend.
The Warsaw-based Lech Walesa Institute said at the time that Walesa decided to skip the event after Poland's foreign ministry informed him that Venezuela could not guarantee his security.
Chavez instructed authorities on Tuesday to ensure that Walesa does not enter Venezuela, which is preparing for a Feb. 15 referendum on a proposal to lift term limits for all elected officials.
Chavez made the comment after an interviewer suggested that Walesa had received a new invitation.
At least 21 people have been killed in a fight between gunmen and Mexico's army after gang members kidnapped nine people in the state of Chihuahua.
The gunmen murdered six of the hostages while the Mexican soldiers killed fourteen gangsters on Tuesday, AFP reported. At least one army soldier was killed in the gunfight.
The accident took place in the town of Villa Ahumada in the northern territories where Mexico's drug cartels have carried out deadly attacks recently, killing more than 220 people in separate clashes.
Mexico's bloody drug war killed around 5,300 in 2008 despite the government's campaign to crack down on the gang members. Analysts blame corrupt elements in the police and government for the crime wave in Mexico.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/11/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
ION COUNTERTERRORISM BLOG > WAR IN AFGHANISTAN COULD BE LOST BY SUMMER.
Weirdly and Mysteriously, but of course only PCo-incidentally + Correctly, SUMMER is also the period various Mil Forum Netters believe the USA MAY HAVE TO INVADE MEXICO as due to possib GOVT. = NATIONAL COLLAPSE???
Chinese exports and imports fell unexpectedly sharply in January, underlining how badly the world's third-largest economy has been hit by the global financial crisis and the impact that is having on its neighbours.
Exports fell 17.5 percent from a year earlier, after a 2.8 percent decline in December, while imports plunged 43.1 percent, Chinese are preparing for 30-40% export decline
twice as much as December's 21.3 percent year-on-year drop, the General Administration of Customs said on Wednesday.
Yet shipments of machinery and electronics and high-tech products, which together make up over three-fourths of China's exports, fell by 20.9 percent and 28.0 percent, respectively.
Imports of machinery and high-tech goods fell by roughly 40 percent, boding ill for the countries that sell such components for Chinese factories to assemble.
Shipments from Japan fell by 43.5 percent from a year earlier; those from South Korea were down 46.4 percent and from Taiwan, 58 percent. Meanwhile, exports to the United States and European Union fell 9.8 percent and 17.4 percent, respectively.
Posted by: ed ||
02/11/2009 08:20 ||
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ANGRY residents last night accused local authorities of contributing to the bushfire toll by failing to let residents chop down trees and clear up bushland that posed a fire risk.
During question time at a packed community meeting in Arthurs Creek on Melbourne's northern fringe, Warwick Spooner whose mother Marilyn and brother Damien perished along with their home in the Strathewen blaze criticised the Nillumbik council for the limitations it placed on residents wanting the council's help or permission to clean up around their properties in preparation for the bushfire season. "We've lost two people in my family because you dickheads won't cut trees down," he said. "We wanted trees cut down on the side of the road and you can't even cut the grass for God's sake."
Later, the meeting was cut short when Mr Spooner's father, Dennis, collapsed in his chair and an ambulance had to be called. Despite losing his wife and son and everything he owned, a friend later said he had not stopped or slept since the weekend.
Another resident said she had asked the council four times to tend to out-of-control growth on public land near her home, but her pleas had been ignored.
There was widespread applause when Nillumbik Mayor Bo Bendtsen said changes were likely to be made about the council's policy surrounding native vegetation. But his response was not good enough for Mr Spooner: "It's too late now mate. We've lost families, we've lost people."
More than 500 people spilled out of the small hall during the meeting, at which the CFA, Victoria Police, Department of Human Services and Telstra provided updates. Many expressed anger that police road blocks were stopping them from reaching survivors trapped in fire-ravaged areas with no water, power or other basic needs. One man present spoke of counselling a woman whose two children had been killed and whose grief had been compounded by not knowing where they were because the area had been declared a crime scene and she had not been allowed to return.
Most of those present were tired, grieving the loss of relatives and friends and with little more than the smoke-coated clothes on their backs. Some were still showing symptoms of shock after experiencing the worst natural disaster in the nation's history. Scattered around the hall and outside were trestle tables with clothing sorted in neat piles, toiletries, food and bottled water. On the floor were dozens of pairs of shoes. There was also a section dedicated to baby clothes and another for children's toys.
Of all the speakers who addressed the meeting, it was Arthurs Creek CFA Captain David McGahy who got the most rousing reception. Choking back tears he told them: "I'm so terribly sorry. We desperately wanted to protect you but we couldn't. In the cold analysis of light, it wouldn't have mattered if we'd have had 200 units here, all that would have happened is we would have ended up with a whole lot of dead firefighters. I've been at this game for about 40 years and I haven't experienced anything like that, not even remotely like it."
#1
My Dad (82 at the time) cleared a 80-foot wide & 300-foot long swath of brush on a "State Protected" 'wild growth area' (read - wildfire hazard) in southern California adjacent to his house. Borrowed a bobcat from a nearby home construction site. Did it over a weekend.
When the state DNR folks came looking soon after for who did it, he and his neighbors (who were and still are quite happy this happened as this hazard abutted their properties, too) told them that the "Mexicans probably came and got the stuff for firewood".
During the last big area brush fire, it didn't seriously affect any of the homes adjacent to the 'cut'. Fire did get the homes down the hill that weren't cleared away, though.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
02/11/2009 12:04 Comments ||
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Environmentalists will gladly trade 200 deaths so that they can keep the land as they like it. To their thinking, there are too many humans already and we're due for a cull.
From NewsweekNewsweakObamaweek
In many ways our economy already resembles a European one. As boomers age and spending grows, we will become even more French. Damned boomers again. America's worst generation (and yes, I am one of that generation much to my shame), even though I'm like many here, one of the few to fight against the boomer tide
it was, again, under a conservative GOP administration that we enacted the largest expansion of the welfare state in 30 years: prescription drugs for the elderly. People on the right and the left want government to invest in alternative energies in order to break our addiction to foreign oil. And it is unlikely that even the reddest of states will decline federal money for infrastructural improvements. Back that truck the hell up! This was NOT NOT NOT a "conservative" GOP Administration - Bush was a moderate, and a "Big Government" type, as were Delay and the idiots in Congress. They ABANDONED basic Reaganist small government and fiscal conservatism, and the only reason they were there was the alternative (which we are seeing now) was far worse. SO that's a HUGE lie at the core of this. The rest you can fisk on your own
If we fail to acknowledge the reality of the growing role of government in the economy, insisting instead on fighting 21st-century wars with 20th-century terms and tactics, then we are doomed to a fractious and unedifying debate. The sooner we understand where we truly stand, the sooner we can think more clearly about how to use government in today's world.
As the Obama administration presses the largest fiscal bill in American history, caps the salaries of executives at institutions receiving federal aid at $500,000 and introduces a new plan to rescue the banking industry, the unemployment rate is at its highest in 16 years. The Dow has slumped to 1998 levels, and last year mortgage foreclosures rose 81 percent.
All of this is unfolding in an economy that can no longer be understood, even in passing, as the Great Society vs. the Gipper. Whether we like it or not--or even whether many people have thought much about it or not--the numbers clearly suggest that we are headed in a more European direction. A decade ago U.S. government spending was 34.3 percent of GDP, compared with 48.2 percent in the euro zone--a roughly 14-point gap, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. In 2010 U.S. spending is expected to be 39.9 percent of GDP, compared with 47.1 percent in the euro zone--a gap of less than 8 points. As entitlement spending rises over the next decade, we will become even more French. And the left is so tickled that we are going to become "French" and demolish American Excpetionalism and cripple ourselves and our posterity. Traitorous SOBs. Time to dismantle DC, either now vial the ballot box, or within a decade via the cartridge box.
#4
In fact if Obama has his way you will surrender to Islam, will be known as hamburger-eating surrendering monkeys and the French will rename their American sandwiches to freedom sandwiches.
Posted by: john frum ||
02/11/2009 16:37 ||
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Posted by: john frum ||
02/11/2009 16:41 Comments ||
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What do you want to bet that ISRO will have their program flying before "Teh One (termer)"'s new Nasa administration will have the Constellation program in orbit? Say goodbye to the high ground America! The launcher looks eerily similar to the chinese Long March 2F. Capsule a modified Shenzhou?
Not exactly the most efficient of launchers (the liquid strapons burn longer than the solid core and carry its dead weight after burnout) but ISRO already made the components (for the PSLV) and it got them in geosynchronous orbit.
ISRO's budget of 800 million a year has to go far. They are very good at working on a shoestring. They put a probe on the moon for 80 million.
The GSLV-3 will be a far more capable vehicle but won't be ready in time.
Posted by: john frum ||
02/11/2009 20:05 Comments ||
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BANGALORE: India's indigenous nuclear submarine is in its "final stages" of completion, Defence A K Antony said on Wednesday. "Things are in final stages," Antony told reporters on the sidelines of the Aero India show here when asked about the progress of the Advanced Technology Vehicle (ATV) project.
He said there were certain "bottlenecks" in the project earlier, but now these have been resolved.
The ATV is India's first venture into nuclear submarine design and development and it is expected to be armed with ballistic missiles such as the 750-km range Sagarika carrying nuclear warheads.
The warship is expected to be launched for sea trials in April this year.
Asked about the Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier additional price negotiations, Antony said the Cabinet had already given its consent for discussing the fresh cost of the warship with the Russians and the two sides were holding frequent talks to arrive at a mutually agreeable price.
India had signed a USD 1.5 billion deal with Russia in 2004 for Gorshkov and rechristened the ship as INS Vikramaditya. The aircraft carrier's refit and refurbishing programme is currently in progress at the Sevmash shipyard in Russia. Since 2007, Russians have been demanding an additional USD 1.5 billion for the warship, citing escalating refit costs
Posted by: john frum ||
02/11/2009 16:10 ||
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Meanwhile...
The Indian military's Landing Craft Mechanised (LCM) and infantry combat vehicles take part in a joint amphibious warfare exercise by the Indian armed forces at Madhavpur beach along the Arabian Sea, about 475 km (295 miles) west of the western Indian city of Ahmedabad, February 9, 2009.
Posted by: john frum ||
02/11/2009 17:57 Comments ||
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#2
LOL I thought that first pic was of the Mumbai scumbags coming ashore. My bad.
The Election Compass for the 2009 Knesset elections in Israel is an interactive tool designed to inform the Israeli voter about the positions on various issues of the diverse political parties, to present the political landscape in Israel and to show the voter where he or she is situated in it according to his or her positions, views and feelings. After answering the questions, a red compass needle will indicate your position. Fun
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni led exit polls after Tuesday's parliamentary election but her Kadima party's two-seat lead over right-winger Benjamin Netanyahu left it too close to call who would be prime minister.
The polls released by three Israeli television channels showed Kadima ahead with 29-30 seats followed closely by Likud party with 27-28 seats in the 120-member Knesset, or parliament.
Whatever the final outcome, which could take until well into Wednesday to confirm, jubilant Kadima supporters broke out into dances and jumps of joy at the exit poll projections. If Livni wins she will form Israel's next coalition government and become the first woman leader since Golda Meir in the 1970s.
Netanyahu dismissed the exit polls and voiced confidence that he would become Israel's next prime minister. His Likud party had seemed to be cruising to victory until Livni and her centre-left coalition launched a three-week assault on the Gaza Strip in late December that won popular support in Israel despite an international outcry over the 1,300 Palestinians killed in the Hamas-ruled enclave.
However, some analysts noted that soldiers, whose votes could account for a couple of seats, had not been counted in exit polls and that could favor Netanyahu as tallying continues through into Wednesday.
One television station put the right-left split at 64 seats for the right to 56 for the left, which could deny Livni the premiership and persuade President Shimon Peres to ask Netanyahu to try to form a coalition government.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/11/2009 00:00 ||
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Its a shame, I wanted Natanyahu-extreme right to win with a large majority.. Time for the world to see Israel for what it is, a war mongering nation..
Livni is no better but she can hide behind ''we want peace'' thus fooling the world, while maintaining same aggressive policies...
Too bad she's not a terrorist. She could go to fingerpainting school...
A Saudi judge has ordered a woman should be jailed for a year and receive 100 lashes after she was gang-raped, it was claimed last night. The 23-year-old woman, who became pregnant after her ordeal, was reportedly assaulted after accepting a lift from a man. He took her to a house to the east of the city of Jeddah where she was attacked by him and four of his friends throughout the night.
She later discovered she was pregnant and made a desperate attempt to get an abortion at the King Fahd Hospital for Armed Forces.
According to the Saudi Gazette, she eventually 'confessed' to having 'forced intercourse' with her attackers and was brought before a judge at the District Court in Jeddah. He ruled she had committed adultery - despite not even being married - and handed down a year's prison sentence, which she will serve in a prison just outside the city.
She is still pregnant and will be flogged once she has had the child. Gonna wait? Must be a liberal judge...
The Saudi Arabian legal system practices a strict form of medieval law. Women have very few rights and are not even allowed to drive. They are also banned from going out in public in the company of men other than male relatives.
#8
Judging by the IP, S2 is just your garden- variety antisemitic Swiss.
Resident of Switzerland, Pappy. Lots of those are moneyed Arabs or moneyed others. Not that the Swiss necessarily need outside help to be antisemitic, but accuracy in such matters is important. ;-)
Member of Iran's Expediency Council, Mohammad Hashemi Rafsanjani, says he may enter the race for the upcoming presidential elections. He does every time, gets trounced every time.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/11/2009 00:00 ||
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Investors are buying record amounts of gold bars and coins, shunning risky assets for the relative safety of bullion amid renewed fears about the health of the global financial system.
The US Mint sold 92,000 ounces of its popular American Eagle coin last month, almost four times that which it sold a year ago and more than it shipped during the whole of the first half of 2007. Other countries' mints have also reported strong sales. "Large purchases of coins are perhaps the ultimate sign of safe-haven gold buying," said John Reade, a precious metals strategist at UBS.
Inflows into gold-backed exchange traded funds surged in January, pushing their bullion holdings to an all-time high of 1,317 tonnes. Last month's flows of 105 tonnes were above September's previous record of 104 tonnes, and absorbed about half the world's gold mine output for January, said Barclays Capital.
"We estimate that investment demand [into gold] could double in 2009 compared to 2007," said Mr Reade. "Purchases of physical gold have jumped over the past six months as investors' fears about the current financial crisis ... have intensified."
The move into gold is being driven by the very rich, with bankers saying that some clients are hoarding gold in their vaults. UBS and Goldman Sachs said last week that investor hoarding would drive prices back above $1,000 an ounce. On Monday gold was trading at $892 an ounce.
Traders and analysts said jewellery demand, historically the backbone of gold consumption, had collapsed under the weight of the high prices. Sharp falls in demand in the key markets of India, Turkey and the Middle East have capped the potential of any price rally. But the lack of jewellery demand has not discouraged investors.
Jonathan Spall, director of commodities at Barclays Capital in London, said: "We have seen more new enquiries about investing in gold so far this year than during the whole 2008."
Philip Klapwijk, chairman of GFMS, the precious metal consultancy, said that investors were buying gold because of fears about the global financial system rather than looking for a quick gain. "This is a new round of safe haven buying," Mr Klapwijk said.
GFMS estimated bullion coin demand last year reached its highest level in 21 years.
Sure, gold is worth a lot to people willing to buy it, but it won't buy food if no one has any to sell, and it won't pay most people to move out of their house and live outdoors so the gold-owner can move in.
Same with diamonds. I just don't get it.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/11/2009 16:14 Comments ||
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Now if it was beef bullion I could understand. Add a little water, some veggies, and boil for a bit and you have a tasty meal.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/11/2009 19:09 Comments ||
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#5
Deacon---someone said that Porculus is the new white meat.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/11/2009 21:13 Comments ||
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The U.S. Senate approved an $838 billion economic rescue plan on Tuesday, setting the stage for tough haggling this week over the final package of tax cuts and spending aimed at averting a deeper recession.
President Barack Obama wants the Democratic-controlled Congress to deliver a package to his desk this weekend, but the Senate and House of Representatives must first reconcile differences between their two bills. The House has approved an $819 billion plan.
Obama, making a campaign-style stop in an economically hard-hit part of Florida, immediately called the outcome "good news" and "a good start" to his bid to rescue the battered U.S. economy.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/11/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Like throwing a drowning man an anvil. At least all the prior con game plans involved a vague notion that the borrower 'intended' to repay some of the funds. There is no return on the outflow on this piece of political theater other than unsecured debt.
#2
What they fail to realize or simply deny is a very large percentage of the American people have little or absolutely no confidence in this scheme. No confidence means a continued failure to invest or spend what money they or we DO have. Fear tactics, bullying this package through, ignoring Congressional Republicans and a large segment of the population was not smart and probably guarantees it's failure. The aviation metaphor of a "Death Spiral" may be appropriate here.
#3
"No confidence means a continued failure to invest or spend what money they or we DO have."
If you don't spend what money you DO have, they'll just raise the bet another trillion. Your only choice is spend it or lose it to inflation. Other than the pork and liberal fascist tools in this (and all the other mega-spends), the whole point is to create inflation, and multiply the stimulative (er, laxative?) effect of the government spend by the induced private spend.
#4
Could be Glen, and you are precisely correct about the end state being the creation of inflation and devaluation of the gov't borrowed dollar. It's been on 40 year return to zero devaluation program for many years now. Along with inflation however comes sky-high interest rates (12-14% and higher loans) similar to the ones we saw during the Carter years. Those who had a little money in the bank did pretty well with CD's, deposits, and the underground economy. I guess I'm just stubborn enough to do just the opposite of what these bloody thieving bastards are suggesting.
#5
I am scared to death by this. I lived through the Carter nightmare and remember what inflation did to those on a fixed income.
I'm currently looking at an early retirement package which, if I don't take it, could lead to being laid off with nothing in 3 - 6 months.
I'm looking at hoarding as much cash as possible and planning on living on $500 max / week.
Do I pay off my mortgage which is down to $26K and mostly principle to cut out a $900/month expense? Damned if I know what to do.
#6
Appears you've answered your own question Alan. Congratulations on your early retirement and paid off mortgage! When gasoline goes back up to $4.00 per gallon, you'll enjoy keeping the commuting miles off the Ford I'll assure you. Retirement, even a partial retirement has it's rewards.
An old farmer in Georgia had owned a large farm for several years. He had a large pond in the back, fixed up nice; picnic tables, horseshoe courts, basketball court, etc. The pond was properly shaped and fixed up for swimming when it was built.
One evening the old farmer decided to go down to the pond, as he hadn't been there for a while, and look it over. As he neared the pond, he heard voices shouting and laughing with glee. As he came closer he saw it was a bunch of young women skinny-dipping in his pond.
He made the women aware of his presence and they all went to the deep end of the pond. One of the women shouted to him, "We're not coming out until you leave!"
The old man replied, "I didn't come down here to watch you ladies swim or make you get out of the pond naked."
"I'm here to feed the alligator."
Moral: Old age and cunning will triumph over youth and enthusiasm every time.
#7
$500 a week, lucky shit, try living on a thousand a month.
Posted by: Rednek Jim ||
02/11/2009 14:41 Comments ||
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#8
No thanks Jim, been there done that as a young'n and I've no desire to revist Carter's days of pain.
I've worked my ass off for the last 30 years in a well paid profession and skimped and and saved my way to this point INCLUDING 2 college educations for my kids.
This time last year I was thinking more along the lines of $1000 - $1500 a week but this crash took care of that toot sweet.
Here we go again...
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage-finance companies seized by regulators, may need more than the $200 billion in funding pledged by the U.S. government if the housing market continues to deteriorate, Federal Housing Finance Agency Director James Lockhart said.
The companies' needs will depend largely on the direction of home prices, Lockhart said in an interview in Las Vegas yesterday. His comments followed statements from Fannie Mae in November and Freddie Mac Chairman John Koskinen last week that the government's funding commitment through 2009 may fall short of what the companies need to make good on their obligations.
#1
It appears that by the time the final bill is tallied with all the pork and add-ons, it would probably have been cheaper just to buy all the homes in the first place with a restructure of mortgages to cover the principle without interest.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni led exit polls after Tuesday's parliamentary election but her Kadima party's two-seat lead over right-winger Benjamin Netanyahu left it too close to call who would be prime minister. 
The U.S. Senate approved an $838 billion economic rescue plan on Tuesday, setting the stage for tough haggling this week over the final package of tax cuts and spending aimed at averting a deeper recession. 
