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dirtbag
climber
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Jul 18, 2011 - 09:54am PT
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I thought you supported killing OBL, bookworm.
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philo
Trad climber
Somewhere halfway over the rainbow
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Jul 18, 2011 - 01:12pm PT
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In November 2010, the BBC's investigative program Panorama reported that Saudi national textbooks advocating anti-Semitism and violence against homosexuals were still in use in weekend religious programs in the United Kingdom.[
Fats you don't have to go to London or Riyadh for that. Just go to bible belt Amerika and check out any "fundi" church.
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philo
Trad climber
Somewhere halfway over the rainbow
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Jul 18, 2011 - 01:19pm PT
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Same/same
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Jul 18, 2011 - 01:21pm PT
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Fatty, you're missing the point. There's no doubt that human and political rights in many countries in the middle east, including Israel, need significant improvement. Remembering that some countries, including Turkey and Israel, are doing reasonably well.
I was reflecting on the idiocy of the US sending a junior bureaucrat, apparently also a female and possibly Jewish, to lecture Arab countries on these matters. Whatever the message, not an effective way to deliver it. It's the sort of clumsiness that was more the trademark of Shrub and his ideologue accomplices, although it could just be a nasty internal prank, or bone-headed bureaucracy.
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Jul 18, 2011 - 01:50pm PT
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Would you two just piss off? The adults are trying to have an intelligent conversation, and you keep interrupting with your squabbling. :-)
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philo
Trad climber
Somewhere halfway over the rainbow
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Jul 18, 2011 - 01:53pm PT
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Well, If I'm not, I sure have done very well in accounting and finance, enough to be on page 16 of the 2010 Access Fund Annual Report, right under Chouinard. How much do you donate as a low wage union slave????
Well Fats that should be real easy to verify. My house mate is the accountant for the AAC.
Do you want to delete that post before or after I check your veracity. Remember your track record is none too good.
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JEleazarian
Trad climber
Fresno CA
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Jul 18, 2011 - 02:15pm PT
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Jeez, I go on vcation for ten days and you guys don't even get to 15,000.
John
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dirtbag
climber
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Jul 18, 2011 - 02:38pm PT
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Hope you enjoyed your time off, John.
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Ken M
Mountain climber
Los Angeles, Ca
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Jul 18, 2011 - 02:38pm PT
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Comrade F, I used to be a proud Teamster man. Do we need to do a little "persuading?"
Comrade Ken
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jstan
climber
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Jul 18, 2011 - 02:53pm PT
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At the same time China is warning us on our possible default they are protesting our giving the recent audience to the Dalai Lama, and doing so with unexpected fury.
The diplomatic protest could be a step preparing their population for economic losses that would be occasioned if China begins unwinding its holding of US debt.
The US, accused of interfering in China's internal affairs, will also be held responsible for their economic downturn. Actually this would help solve their problem with inflation. Might be win-win for China.
Just a possibility.
China warns U.S. debt-default idea is "playing with fire"
Wed, Jun 8 2011
By Emily Kaiser
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Republican lawmakers are "playing with fire" by contemplating even a brief debt default as a means to force deeper government spending cuts, an adviser to China's central bank said on Wednesday.
The idea of a technical default -- essentially delaying interest payments for a few days -- has gained backing from a growing number of mainstream Republicans who see it as a price worth paying if it forces the White House to slash spending, Reuters reported on Tuesday.
But any form of default could destabilize the global economy and sour already tense relations with big U.S. creditors such as China, government officials and investors warn.
Li Daokui, an adviser to the People's Bank of China, said a default could undermine the U.S. dollar, and Beijing needed to dissuade Washington from pursuing this course of action.
"I think there is a risk that the U.S. debt default may happen," Li told reporters on the sidelines of a forum in Beijing. "The result will be very serious and I really hope that they would stop playing with fire."
China is the largest foreign creditor to the United States, holding more than $1 trillion in Treasury debt as of March, U.S. data shows, so its concerns carry considerable weight in Washington.
"I really worry about the risks of a U.S. debt default, which I think may lead to a decline in the dollar's value," Li said.
Congress has balked at increasing a statutory limit on government spending as lawmakers argue over how to curb a deficit which is projected to reach $1.4 trillion this fiscal year. The U.S. Treasury Department has said it will run out of borrowing room by August 2.
If the United States cannot make interest payments on its debt, the Obama administration has warned of "catastrophic" consequences that could push the still-fragile economy back into recession.
"It has dire implications for the economy at a time when the macro data is softening," said Ben Westmore, a commodities economist at National Australia Bank.
"It's just a horrible idea," he said.
Financial markets are following the U.S. debate but see little risk of a default.
U.S. Treasury prices were firm in Europe on Wednesday, supported by a flight to their perceived safety on the back of the Greek debt crisis and worries about a slowdown in U.S. economic growth.
Marc Ostwald, a strategist with Monument Securities in London, said markets were working on the assumption that the U.S. debt story "will go away." But nervousness would grow if a resolution was not reached in the next five to six weeks.
'WOULDN'T HAPPEN'
The Republicans' theory is that bondholders would accept a brief delay in interest payments if it meant Washington finally addressed its long-term fiscal problems, putting the country in a stronger position to meet its debt obligations later on.
But interviews with government officials and investors show they consider a default such a grim -- and remote -- possibility that it was nearly impossible to imagine.
"How can the U.S. be allowed to default?" said an official at India's central bank. "We don't think this is a possibility because this could then create huge panic globally."
Indian officials say they have little choice but to buy U.S. Treasury debt because it is still among the world's safest and most liquid investments. It held $39.8 billion in U.S. Treasuries as of March, U.S. data shows.
The officials declined to be identified because they are not authorized to speak to the media.
Oman is concerned about the impact of a default on the currency reserves of the sultanate and its Gulf neighbors.
"Our economies are substantially tied up with the U.S. financial developments," said a senior central bank official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
"It just wouldn't happen," said Barry Evans, who oversees $83 billion in fixed income assets at Manulife Asset Management. "They would pay their Treasury bills first instead of other bills. It's as simple as that."
Monument's Ostwald called the default scenario "frightening" and said bondholders' patience would wear thin if lawmakers persisted in pitching this strategy in the coming weeks.
"This isn't a debate, this is like a Mexican standoff and that is where the problem lies," he said.
Yuan Gangming, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a government think tank, smelled some political wrangling behind the U.S. debt debate as the 2012 presidential election draws nearer and said Republicans "want to make things difficult for Obama."
But with time running short before the U.S. Treasury exhausts its borrowing room, Yuan said default was a real risk.
"The possibility is quite high to see a default of the U.S. debt, which would harm many countries in the world, and China in particular," he said.
(Reporting by Kevin Lim and Jong Woo Cheon in Singapore,
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Jul 18, 2011 - 03:18pm PT
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The word schadenfreude ("experiencing pleasure at the misfortunes of others") seems tailor-made for Rupert Murdoch's current situation. At this point, the only real question seems to be how much Murdoch knew, and when he knew it. The head of the English police resigned yesterday, essentially taking the blame for less than diligent investigation of the accusations when they first arose, and for the fact that some policemen - probably unbeknownst to their seniors - seem to have been suborned by Murdoch's henchmen. The British prime minister may be in trouble, for his employment of one of those henchmen. There are allegations that Murdoch's rags tapped into telephones in the US, which doesn't bode well. (Murdoch, the "dirty digger" from Australia, is now a US citizen.)
All great fun to watch - except that Murdoch can legitimately argue that he's simply providing what the people wants, even if its trash. News of the World, Fox News, whatever. And someone else will simply fill the gap - yellow "journalism" has a long and dishonourable history. Whether it also led to deterioration of standards at The Times, The Sunday Times, or the Wall Street Journal remains to be seen. But the Murdoch taint may be hard to live down.
And exposing Fox News and its tawdry, biased sister outlets for what they are is surely for the benefit of the public.
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Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
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Jul 18, 2011 - 03:40pm PT
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Has anyone mentioned to the Israelis that submarines don't work so good in the desert?
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apogee
climber
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Jul 18, 2011 - 04:24pm PT
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"And exposing Fox News and its tawdry, biased sister outlets for what they are is surely for the benefit of the public. "
More weirdness in the downspiralling of Rupert Murdoch...
One of the whistleblowers regarding the cellphone hacking was found dead today...
Yes, indeed, this is the publishing voice of the Republican Party...
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John Moosie
climber
Beautiful California
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Jul 18, 2011 - 04:49pm PT
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Hedge, I live in Yosemite and can't spell Tuolumne Meadows correctly half the time. I often have to look it up. I also have a hard time with Humboldt, though I went to school there.
How about just letting that response die?
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rottingjohnny
Sport climber
mammoth lakes ca
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Jul 18, 2011 - 05:20pm PT
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Mighty...Submarines in the Desert....? Better have fattard contact his Israeli Colonel so the Israelis don't fall for this scam...The Krauts are still putting it to the jews...
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rottingjohnny
Sport climber
mammoth lakes ca
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Jul 18, 2011 - 05:21pm PT
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Murdochgate...!
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John Moosie
climber
Beautiful California
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Jul 18, 2011 - 05:33pm PT
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Some of us just can't spell worth a hoot. My dad is the same way, but he is a very intelligent man.
the amount of a persons education is only a partial indicator of their potential success. lots of successful people out there with only a GED.
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