[Iran Press TV] Internationally recognized winner of Ivory Coast polls Alassane Ouattara ...the current president-for-life of Ivory Coast. He actually beat his predecessor in an election before having to eject him from the presidential palazzo.... has been formally inaugurated as president in a ceremony held in the capital, Yamoussoukro.
Ouattara's inauguration comes after months of violence and political turmoil that claimed the lives of hundreds of civilians.
Over 20 heads of state including French President Nicolas Sarkozy ...23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. Sarkozy is married to singer-songwriter Carla Bruni, who has a really nice birthday suit... and the UN Secretary General the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon attended the ceremony.
"The time has come to renew the founding values of our beautiful Ivory Coast, and to reunite Ivorians," he said at the ceremony
Ouattara won the November presidential election but his rival Laurent Gbagbo ... Former President-for-Life of Ivory Coast from 2000 to 2011. Laurent lost to Alassane Ouattara in 2010 but his representtive tore up the results on the teevee and he refused to vacate the presidential palace. French troops assisted the Oattara forces in extricating him from his Fuhrerbunker... refused to give up power.
Gbagbo was forced to leave office after a military raid on his compound with the assistance of French and UN troops.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/22/2011 00:00 ||
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[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Zim-bob-we's President Bob Muggsy Mugabe Octogenarian President-for-Life of Zim-bob-we who turned the former Breadbasket of Africa into the African Basket Case... has rejected security sector reforms as proposed by his partners in the inclusive government, saying the Zim-bob-we Defence Forces (ZDF) was an exemplary and reputable force.
Mr Mugabe termed the proposals "nonsensical" and motivated by ignorance of the operations of the defence forces by the two MDC factions led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Industry minister Welshman Ncube.
"It is nonsense. Our security forces are well-established, they are reputable," Mr Mugabe said in an interview with The Herald published newspaper, The Southern Times.
The President, who is also the commander in chief of the ZDF, said the unit did not need any transformation as it had successfully fought colonialism and had been the vanguard of local independence for the past 31 years.
"What reform is required? They are a force that has a history, a political history. I am Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Forces; I know how they are organised," he said, adding that the ZDF was an acclaimed unit that had earned the respect of the UN.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/22/2011 00:00 ||
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YAMOUSSOUKRO, Ivory Coast - President Alassane Ouattara was inaugurated Saturday as Ivory Coasts president in the stately ceremony he should have enjoyed six months ago, but was prevented from holding by the entrenched ruler who refused to accept his defeat at the polls and nearly dragged the nation into civil war in a bid to stay in power.
The lavish ceremony on Saturday was attended by some 20 heads of state in a show of international support for the democratically elected leader. Ouattara used the occasion to underscore his legitimacy and the return to constitutional order, but also to reach out to the half of the country that had voted for his opponent.
The serious crisis that struck Ivory Coast the day after the election ... has been resolved democratically, respecting the will of the people, Ouattara said in a speech after being garlanded with a golden chain, worn by all previous presidents.
This ceremony today is not about the victory of one side over another, he said, but about rediscovered brotherhood and new beginnings.
Tens of thousands of Ouattaras supporters flooded the normally quiet city overnight, most of them sleeping on the sidewalk for a chance to glimpse the event. Women wore dresses made out of fabric printed with portraits of the 69-year-old Ouattara, while men wore lion masks, symbolizing Ouattaras strength.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrived by special flight from Paris, and a United Nations helicopter ferried Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to the event. Both were greeted with cries thanks from the crowd at the ceremonys venue, acknowledging the key military assistance given by France and the U.N. to oust Gbagbo.
This is a historic day for democracy, said Ban as he left the ceremony.
Right up to the day Ouattara refuses to cede power to his elected successor...
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/22/2011 00:00 ||
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Indias outsourcing giants faced with rising wages at home have looked for growth opportunities in the United States. But with Washington crimping visas for visiting Indian workers, some companies are slowly hiring workers in North America, where their largest corporate customers are based.
Workers make or take calls for customers of prescription drug plans or Medicare contracts and enter and verify information. The pay runs $12 to $14 an hour, with bonus checks of up to $730 a month. Our recruitment model is simple: I dont care if you come from Park Avenue or the park bench. If you can do the job, we want you.
Aegis, a subsidiary of Indias Essar Group, an energy, telecom and metals conglomerate, says its pioneering the next generation of outsourcing: putting the work close to its global customers. Its executives call the practice near-sourcing, diverse shoring and, sometimes, cross-shoring.
The strategy is based on the old-fashioned idea of being close to your customers. Its one embraced by companies such as credit card giant American Express, insurer Humana and government agencies, which sometimes prefer on-shore call centers to handle customer service for sensitive life insurance, financial or health-care products.
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/22/2011 09:05 ||
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#1
But with Washington crimping visas..
1HB visas started out as a means to fill very small unique niches in skills with around 10,000 allotted a year. Business bought your Congresscritters and jacked it up to 200,000 a year, killing any incentive for 'natives' to learn and acquire the skill sets for decades and making the foreigners subject to constant threats to their stay in country. Long time past for that program to end.
#2
SO, major US money grubbing corporations with an outdated business model outsource everything but the waste basket under the over paid CEO's desk to India, who then outsources the same work to the US.
What may appear wrong with that picture makes very good sense. The US corporations are subject to all of the politically correct, nanny state, crazy crap regulations passed by the Democrats over the last ten years, while the India's do not...that is too ironic for words.
I do have one solution for our unemployment rate...repeal of the crazy crap regulations passed over the last eight years and repeal Obamacare. Companies will not hire anyone until they know that Obamacare is gone, dead and buried. Everyone said it was an economy killer when it was started and the Dems ignored it.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
05/22/2011 12:29 Comments ||
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#3
You forgot an open season on neoluddites environmentalists, William.
#4
IIUC, India has RUN OUT of trained workers. So it makes sense for them to look for additional trained labor where it's available.
Posted by: My two cents ||
05/22/2011 13:43 Comments ||
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#5
Last I've heard was that India was now outsoursing it's work to places like the Philippines, China, Malasia, etc... because the standard of living in India as grown so much over the years.
[Iran Press TV] Banking regulators have announced the closure of two banks in Georgia and a small bank in Washington, bringing the total number of US bank failures so far this year to 43.
According to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., Atlantic Southern Bank of Macon with USD 741.9 million in assets and First Georgia Banking Co. of Franklin with USD 731 million in assets were shuttered in the state of Georgia on Friday, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The closures in Georgia -- one of the hardest-hit states in bank failures -- raised the number of bank closures in the state for this year to 12, more than double the amount in Florida, which has the second most.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. also seized Summit Bank in Burlington with USD 142.7 million in assets, marking the first bank failure of 2011 in the state of Washington.
The continued wave of bank failures comes against the backdrop of a sluggish economic recovery and mounds of soared loans that forced regulators to close 73 US banks by this time last year.
The failures of Atlantic Southern Bank, First Georgia Banking and Summit Bank are expected to cost the deposit insurance fund USD 273.5 million, USD 156.5 million and USD 15.7 million respectively, according to the report.
In 2010, 157 banks with total assets of USD 92 billion caved in, compared to 140 bank failures in 2009 with total assets of USD 169.7 billion.
Florida and Georgia have been the hardest-hit US states in bank failures. Twenty nine banks were closed down in Florida last year and 16 in Georgia.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/22/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
TARP, QE1 and QE2 just extended what would have been the second Great Depression into a long rolling Great Recession. Less intense but dragging on and on and on.
And will it just end in worse disaster? Every spree of easy money has just inflated the next bubble with disastrous consequences.
1) LTCM / Y2K easing of monetary policy --> internet stock bubble
2) collapse of internet stock bubble --> MORE monetary easing under Greenspan
3) More monetary easing --> cheap credit --> housing bubble
4) housing bubble pops dragging down the banks and threatening entire fiscal system. Instead of letting bad banks fail, US Government steps in and SOCIALISES losses.
This is NOT capitalism.
4) Socialisation of losses plus MORE loose monetary policy plus BIGGEST keynesian stimulus experiment since WWII --> some money tied up on bank balance sheets + other money fleeing to sexy overseas destinations: Brazil, China, Australia.
5) excess money printing -----> US $ falling
6) falling value of US$ -----> higher prices of agricultural goods, oil, materials, commodities (priced in US$)
7) higher US$ prices of necessaries of life --> riots in poorer countries where consumers spend 75 per cent of their wages on food. ---> even higher oil prices.
8) NOW we are approaching the end of QE2. The housing market is showing downturn again. Jobs have only "picked up" because of the statistical counting magic trick that doesn't count people not registered as being in the labour market (ie: those that gave up looking).
QE2 is running out in June. Congress is bickering about raising the debt ceiling - when it was set at $1 trillion back in 1981 and that didn't stop them increasing it 15-fold since then.
Banks are still failing.
In Australia I am starting to see LOTS of US citizens - young people - here applying for citizenship and looking for jobs. They are fleeing your country looking for a better life.
I am so sorry this has happened.
But the way I see it the state of play is this:
The US can NO LONGER afford to have troops in Iraq/Afpak. That is costing a billion a day. Bring them home.
The US can not afford its contribution to the UN. Cut that funding drastically.
The US can not afford its foreign aid program. Cut that out completely.
That is where you need to make your budget cuts.
Stop spending money on the citizens of foreign countries and start spending it on your OWN country where it can make jobs and cut the debt.
Otherwise you are going to end up poorer than sub-Saharan Africa or else defaulting on your loans.
The US dollar is on a fast track to total collapse.
One Aussie dollar was worth US50c when I visited your great nation in 2002.
Today my dollar is worth $1.06 with some pundits predicting $1.50 before the year is out.
Your dollar is collapsing.
Your wealth is being eaten away - if you own $100,000 in stocks on the Dow.
And you had them the last 5 years.
And they didn't lose even 1 cent of value in the market crash.
Then today your stocks are worth 30% to 40% less just in currency devaluation alone.
This is the reason gold has been skyrocketing.
Things you can do to protect your wealth:
- buy agricultural land
- grow your own food/keep chickens
- buy physical gold and silver (recent crash notwithstanding) and stick it under the mattress
- buy soft commodities (grains, cocoa, corn, soy, pork bellies, bananas, food)
even if the Bernank tightens monetary policy after QE2, the stock market will then crash and the outlook is still grim.
Had lunch at Coyote Junction (Bailey's Harbor). $20.00 for canned chili in a stale tortilla shell, a bowl of cream of brocolli and (1) root beer. Kind pricy for nada.....
Went to The Mill last nite (located at 57/42 split). All you can eat Prime for $17.00 (had 3-3/4 servings....1/4 was secreted away for Dogzilla), Mrs. Phester was absolutley enthralled by the perch. Skip the breaded 'shrooms, go direct to the curds. No salad bar, but not really missed. An eclectic
clientele.... Ask for Rachael for server.
#8
...but more on topic, yes, until we start making some serious changes (anon1 is off to a good start) we are totally screwed....looking in the eyes of our "Grandrats" is becoming more difficult by the day.....
#9
Thanks for the culinary tips Oompa Phester. I've been absent the beltway since January....some 7000 miles distant, eating dust. My fav haunts are a bit west, away from the maddening crowd. Try Lightfoots in Leesburg, or the Hunter's Head in Upperville on Route-50. You'll find both very worth your time.
It is when, not if. Financial markets merely aren't sure whether it'll be tomorrow, a month's time, a year's time, or two years' time (it won't be longer than that). Given that the ECB has played the "final card" it employed to force a bailout upon the Irish -- threatening to bankrupt the country's banking sector -- presumably we will now see either another Greek bailout or default within days.
What happens when Greece defaults. Here are a few things:
- Every bank in Greece will instantly go insolvent.
- The Greek government will nationalise every bank in Greece.
- The Greek government will forbid withdrawals from Greek banks.
- To prevent Greek depositors from rioting on the streets, Argentina-2002-style (when the Argentinian president had to flee by helicopter from the roof of the presidential palace to evade a mob of such depositors), the Greek government will declare a curfew, perhaps even general martial law.
- Greece will redenominate all its debts into "New Drachmas" or whatever it calls the new currency (this is a classic ploy of countries defaulting)
- The New Drachma will devalue by some 30-70 per cent (probably around 50 per cent, though perhaps more), effectively defaulting 0n 50 per cent or more of all Greek euro-denominated debts.
- The Irish will, within a few days, walk away from the debts of its banking system.
- The Portuguese government will wait to see whether there is chaos in Greece before deciding whether to default in turn.
- A number of French and German banks will make sufficient losses that they no longer meet regulatory capital adequacy requirements.
- The European Central Bank will become insolvent, given its very high exposure to Greek government debt, and to Greek banking sector and Irish banking sector debt.
- The French and German governments will meet to decide whether (a) to recapitalise the ECB, or (b) to allow the ECB to print money to restore its solvency. (Because the ECB has relatively little foreign currency-denominated exposure, it could in principle print its way out, but this is forbidden by its founding charter. On the other hand, the EU Treaty explicitly, and in terms, forbids the form of bailouts used for Greece, Portugal and Ireland, but a little thing like their being blatantly illegal hasn't prevented that from happening, so it's not intrinsically obvious that its being illegal for the ECB to print its way out will prove much of a hurdle.)
- They will recapitalise, and recapitalise their own banks, but declare an end to all bailouts.
- There will be carnage in the market for Spanish banking sector bonds, as bondholders anticipate imposed debt-equity swaps.
- This assumption will prove justified, as the Spaniards choose to over-ride the structure of current bond contracts in the Spanish banking sector, recapitalising a number of banks via debt-equity swaps.
- Bondholders will take the Spanish Banking Sector to the European Court of Human Rights (and probably other courts, also), claiming violations of property rights. These cases won't be heard for years. By the time they are finally heard, no-one will care.
- Attention will turn to the British banks. Then we shall see...
#2
Or if Athens would retreat to its 490 BC borders.
Posted by: Matt ||
05/22/2011 13:04 Comments ||
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- A number of French and German banks will make sufficient losses that they no longer meet regulatory capital adequacy requirements.
And guess who'll bail them out?
European banks took big slice of Fed aid
The Financial Times ^ | DECEMBER 1, 2010 | Robin Harding and Tom Braithwaite
Posted on Wednesday, December 01, 2010 4:31:06 PM by RobinMasters
Foreign banks were among the biggest beneficiaries of the $3,300bn in emergency credit provided by the Federal Reserve during the crisis, according to new data on the extraordinary efforts of the US authorities to save the global financial system.
The revelation of the scale of overseas lenders borrowing underlines the global nature of the turmoil and the crucial role of the Fed as the lender of last resort for the worlds banking sector.
However, news that banks such as Barclays of the UK, Switzerlands UBS and Dexia of Belgium borrowed billions of dollars at favourable terms from the US government may further anger critics already enraged about the Feds bail-out of Wall Street.
After being ordered by Congress to lift the secrecy on the crisis-time aid, the Fed published the details on Wednesday of more than 21,000 transactions with banks from 2007 to 2010.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
05/22/2011 16:28 Comments ||
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@Procopius2k
Banks may nominally still be "German" or "French", but in fact banks have long ceased to be national entities.
They are interdependent global, organizations.
"Greece will redenominate all its debts into "New Drachmas" or whatever it calls the new currency (this is a classic ploy of countries defaulting)"
No, that's one thing they cannot do because their debts are in euros. That's the problem with reverting to drachma. Even if you "forgive" them 50% of their debts, the drachma will plunge, which means they will still face up to about the same debt burden as before.
The problems of Greece are structural ones. They won't be solved with a currency change.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
05/22/2011 18:51 Comments ||
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"The problems of Greece are structural ones. They won't be solved with a currency change."
FTFY, EC.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/22/2011 19:04 Comments ||
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#7
Our problems have not "solved" by the borrowing and printing of more dollars either, but that is what is happening.
[Iran Press TV] Thousands of demonstrators have taken to streets in the northwestern French city of Le Havre to protest the upcoming G-8 summit of world leaders.
Less than 10 days before the summit of the group of eight industrialized countries, several thousands of people marched peacefully in the streets of Le Havre on Saturday, carrying banners which read "Put People First, Not Finance. G-8 Out!"
The march, which would be followed by speeches and a concert, was organized by associations, unions and left wing political parties, AP reported.
La Belle France is hosting the annual summit of the group of eight industrialized countries in Normandy's town of Deauville from May 26 to 27, 2011.
A total of 18 presidents, 25 heads of delegations, 2,500 members of delegations and 3,500 journalists will attend the event in Deauville.
More than 12,000 coppers, gendarmes, and military officers will be mobilized to protect the participants attending the summit.
The Group of Eight, which was established by La Belle France in 1975, comprises of Germany, Italia, Japan, the UK, the US, Canada joined the group and Russia.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/22/2011 00:00 ||
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[Iran Press TV] Tens of thousands of Czech workers including union leaders have taken to the streets of the capital city, Prague, to protest the government's planned austerity measures.
During the protests, the union leaders said their members would bear the brunt of the government's plans to cut pensions, healthcare and social benefits, and called for a new election, Rooters reported.
The austerity measures include increasing the retirement age, diverting part of pensions to private funds, and raising payments for healthcare, and etc.
"We are refusing your pension theft," a union leader said, addressing the government at Prague's central Wenceslas Square.
The unions have also threatened to call for a general strike if the government implements the planned reforms that are scheduled to be submitted to parliament in June.
The government says the reforms are necessary to compensate for the country's debt and to balance the budget by 2016.
The development came as similar demonstrations have been held in other European countries in protest at the austerity measures adopted by governments.
On Saturday, mass protests were held in Spain against unemployment and tight austerity measures for a seventh consecutive day.
Tens of thousands of Spaniards converged in squares in several cities across the country to express their fury at what they described as the Socialist government's ineptitude to tackle the growing financial crisis in the Eurozone's fourth-largest economy.
Earlier, protests were also held In Italia against the increasing number of government cuts on social services for the disabled, aimed at reducing. The Italian government says the cuts are needed to rid the country of its recession.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/22/2011 00:00 ||
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[Al Jazeera] Six Turkish opposition politicians have resigned over a sex tape scandal that could have far-reaching consequences for the country's parliamentary elections on June 12.
The six, all leading members of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), quit on Saturday after a website broadcast secretly filmed videos, purportedly showing senior figures having sex in a house used by party members for extramarital affairs.
Four senior members of the hardline group had already resigned earlier this month over similar videos, throwing the party's electoral prospects into doubt.
The state-run Anatolian news agency said deputy chairmen Osman Cakir, Umit Safak and Mehmet Ekici, along with general secretary Cihan Pacaci and his deputy Mehmet Taytak had resigned their party membership and candidacies to be members of parliament.
Deniz Bolukbasi, another deputy chairman who also resigned, alleged he was the victim of a politically motivated trap. "I am resigning to spare my party the damage such allegations might cause," he said.
A group calling itself "Different Nationalists" claims to have released the videos, sparking accusations from the MHP that supporters of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister, were trying to undermine the party.
Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) has denied the allegation and Turkish authorities have moved to block access to the videos.
"It is up to the party to deal with its internal affairs," Ahmet Davutoglu, the foreign minister, said on NTV television. "As unethical as they may be, I do not believe releasing those videos is correct behaviour, judging from a humanitarian perspective."
Different Nationalists had threatened to broadcast further compromising video recordings if Devlet Bahceli, the MHP leader, did not resign by a deadline of May 18. He has not resigned.
Surveys show the party is hovering around a 10 per cent support threshold designed to exclude smaller parties from parliament.
Turkey analyst Birol Baskan told Al Jizz that the latest resignations would make it difficult for the MHP to get into parliament.
"The party is extremely demoralised and has lost its focus on the real issues that the voters want to hear about," Baskan said.
Bahceli had committed a tactical mistake by accusing a religious leader, Fethullah Gulen, of conspiring against the MHP, alienating conservative voters, Baskan added.
If the MHP fails to pass the 10 per cent barrier, its votes would be redistributed among parties represented in parliament, handing even more power to Erdogan's ruling party.
The ruling party appears to be easily heading towards a third term in office, but it is aiming for an overwhelming majority that would allow it to rewrite Turkey's constitution.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/22/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Perhaps a relation to the IMF selecting a European lady - when Kemal Dervis, a former finance minister for Turkey who had been considered the leading non-European candidate, said he did not want to be considered for the position.
Maybe he had his own share of dark secrets. Politicians and runaway libidos - like bacon and eggs.
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/22/2011 10:35 Comments ||
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Some of the nation's largest labor unions are cutting back dramatically on their financial support to the Democratic Party, saying they are highly frustrated with the failure of Democrats to put up stronger resistance to Republican proposals opposed by labor.
The unions have cited what they see as Democrats' tepid response to Republican efforts to eliminate collective bargaining rights for public sector workers, cut Medicare funding and require voters to show identification at the polls. Form your own party folks. Oh, wait. There is a Socialist Party, isn't there.
The most dramatic shift was in giving by the International Union of Operating Engineers, which represents construction workers and has a large federal PAC. In the first quarter of 2009, the union gave $1.6 million to House Democrats, while the PAC this year has not made a single contribution to either party.
Officials with the engineer's union said in a statement that high unemployment in the construction sector was its top priority and that it "wants to see Congress more urgently address this issue on a bipartisan basis and move on legislation to create jobs." You got to learn - to wait your turn, Bro!
The determination of the unions, who have traditionally been among the largest campaign donors, to use money as a carrot and stick over policy matters could ultimately play a significant role in next year's elections, seriously harming some Democrats' chances of election. I hope so. Maybe they can elect a Socialist Representative from Wisconsin. Or Washington. So Pelosi wouldn't be so lonely.
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/22/2011 08:18 ||
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#1
Everything that's wrong with unions, right there. They don't represent their members, they represent themselves.
#2
"The unions have cited what they see as Democrats' tepid response to Republican efforts to eliminate collective bargaining rights for public sector workers, cut Medicare funding and require voters to show identification at the polls."
Proving once again that even a broken clock is right twice a day.
Outside of a few ideological extremists even the Dems have figured out that labor in general and public sector labor in particular is grossly overpaid, not only in their paychecks but in the hyperregulatory work environment which represents an additional type of compensation for workers, and that said overpayment must go away or the country will.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
05/22/2011 10:12 Comments ||
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#3
I like the sympathy meter.
Unions, not so much.
Posted by: Mike Ramsey ||
05/22/2011 13:50 Comments ||
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#4
"The unions have cited what they see as Democrats' tepid response to Republican efforts to eliminate collective bargaining rights for public sector workers, cut Medicare funding and require voters to show identification at the polls."
Awwwwww, da' poor babeeeeeees.
Time was, when you bought a DemocRat politician, he stayed bought. Guess there really is no honor among thieves.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/22/2011 14:18 Comments ||
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#5
How wonderful, the objective to get unions out of politics has been achieved with relatively effort. I'm very pleased they figured it out on their own.
#6
Yokay, once again I'll bite, merits notwithsanding in this WAR FOR OWG-NWO AKA THE GWOT, + by extension[multipolar/lateral]
"GLOBALISM", REGIONALISM + CONTINENTALISM,
"TRANS-NATIONALISM", ... @ETC. does it make sense for US-BASED = AFL-CIO Unions to stay "Nationalist" only in focii???
#7
Well, I suppose the article itself is proof of exactly the sort of corruption we have long suspected and they had long denied.
So this is basically an admission that the unions had expected those politicians to be "bought and paid for" and when they didn't get their expected results, they hold back the cash expecting the politicians to come back on their knees groveling in order to get it back.
The Democrats are in sort of a double bind. If they cave to the unions, we throw them out of office. If they don't cave to the unions, they lose a good chunk of their campaign funds.
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.
the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Zim-bob-we's President 
[Iran Press TV] Banking regulators have announced the closure of two banks in Georgia and a small bank in Washington, bringing the total number of US bank failures so far this year to 43.
Six Turkish opposition politicians have resigned over a sex tape scandal that could have far-reaching consequences for the country's parliamentary elections on June 12.
Some of the nation's largest labor unions are cutting back dramatically on their financial support to the Democratic Party, saying they are highly frustrated with the failure of Democrats to put up stronger resistance to Republican proposals opposed by labor.
