Docudharma Times Tuesday September 16

The Fundamentals Of The economy Are Sound If?

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Dune, In Parallel Wingnut Universe, In A Cave Or

Your Name Is John “I Know Nothing About The Economy” McCain.

Wall Street Posts Worst Loss Since 2001



   By STEPHEN LABATON

Published: September 15, 2008  

WASHINGTON – In another unnerving day for Wall Street, investors suffered their worst losses since the terrorist attacks of 2001, and government officials raced to prevent the financial crisis from spreading.

Trading opened sharply down Monday morning, and the mood later turned even gloomier, despite efforts by President Bush and Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr., in separate appearances at the White House, to reassure markets that Wall Street’s deepening problems would not weaken an already anemic economy.

World markets tumble after Wall Street turmoil

Japan’s central bank injects $24 billion into markets amid fears of crisis

Associated Press

PARIS – Global stock markets tumbled Tuesday amid growing fears of a global financial crisis as investors reacted to the demise of two of Wall Street’s biggest names, Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index was down 5.3 percent to 11,560.66 in mid-afternoon trading, while Hong Kong’s blue-chip Hang Seng Index shed 5.7 percent. Both markets – Asia’s two biggest – had been closed for holidays on Monday, when news first broke about the dramatic events on Wall Street.

USA

Violent Crime Fell in 2007 From Previous Year

FBI Reports Decline In Almost Every Type  

 By Holly Watt

Washington Post Staff Writer

Tuesday, September 16, 2008; Page A19  

Violent crime in the United States fell slightly last year, reversing the upward swing of the previous two years, according to statistics released by the FBI yesterday.

The bureau’s Crime in the United States report showed a decline in crimes in almost every category. About 1.4 million violent crimes occurred in 2007, down 0.7 percent from 2006.

Texans warned to stay away from areas hit by Hurricane Ike

?’It’s going to take weeks and months to get this place cleaned up,’ Galveston City Manager Steve LeBlanc says.

  By P.J. Huffstutter and David Zucchino, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers

September 16, 2008    

GALVESTON, TEXAS — The road leading onto this barrier island was a jumble of crushed homes, splintered boat docks and mounds of sand. City officials who had ordered residents to leave ahead of Hurricane Ike were telling them Monday to stay away — maybe for weeks.

But for Vernon Baines, pastor of the tiny Live Oak Baptist Church, the need to come back was too strong. So he, like hundreds of others who had fled this slice of land along the Gulf Coast, sneaked back — hungry for a glimpse of the familiar and hopeful that their homes had escaped the storm’s wrath.

They discovered much of the town had been turned into a garbage dump.

At Baines’ church, a foot of dank water covered the sanctuary floors, the roof was peeled back and muck covered the pews in thick, black streaks.

Europe

Crimea: Divided peninsula plays host to Russian warships and Ukrainian pride

Tensions have risen since the war in Georgia and Kiev’s plans to join Nato

Luke Harding in Sevastopol

The Guardian,

Tuesday September 16 2008

From his giant monument overlooking Sevastopol, Vladimir Lenin gazes dreamily out towards the Black Sea.

In the harbour, elderly ladies in floral swimming costumes bob in the warm lilac water. Shimmering in the distance is the grey Russian battleship Moskva, framed by steep chalky-coloured mountains. The port of Sevastopol on Crimea’s rocky southern coast is the historic home of Russia’s Black Sea fleet. After the break-up of the Soviet Union, Ukraine allowed Russia to lease Sevastopol as a military base until 2017.

But after last month’s war in Georgia the peninsula is at the centre of growing speculation.

Russia shows off the spoils of war in Georgia



  By Shaun Walker in Moscow

Tuesday, 16 September 2008  

The Russian army has put on display war trophies captured during the Georgia conflict at a museum in Moscow, in an attempt to reinforce its claim that the United States and the West were responsible for encouraging Georgia to attack its breakaway region of South Ossetia. After Moscow officially recognised South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent 10 days ago, the exhibition is another sign that, far from caving under Western criticism of its actions, Russia is keen to milk the propaganda spoils of the war.

The display, at The Central Museum of Armed Forces, displays weapons, uniforms and personal possessions belonging to Georgian soldiers killed or wounded during the fighting along with graphic photographs of the burnt and mutilated bodies of dead Georgian soldiers.

Middle East

Iraq: Arrests of Sunni tribal leaders risk giving al-Qaida a way back, says Iraqi vice-president

· No action yet on promise of jobs for militiamen

· Growing anger at PM’s apparent change of heart

Jonathan Steele in Baghdad

The Guardian,

Tuesday September 16 2008

The Iraqi government is in danger of pushing Sunni tribal leaders back into the arms of al-Qaida and re-igniting major violence across Iraq if it fails to take more Sunnis into the security forces, the country’s leading Sunni politician has warned.

Many tribal leaders who opposed the US occupation switched sides on promises of jobs in the previously Shia-dominated army and police. In a sign of the success of the so-called Awakening movement (al Sahwa), which is also known as the “Sons of Iraq”, the US recently handed Anbar province – once a centre of the insurgency – back to Iraqi control.

 Iran ‘blocking UN probe into nuclear programme’



  By Anne Penketh, Diplomatic Editor

Tuesday, 16 September 2008  

UN efforts to get to the bottom of Iran’s alleged nuclear weapons programme have reached a dead end because of Tehran’s failure to co-operate with inspectors investigating its past activities, the United Nations nuclear agency has reported.

The director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Mohamed ElBaradei, also said in his report that Iran was still defying the UN by continuing to enrich uranium.

Britain and the US responded by warning that they would push for expanded sanctions against Iran in the coming weeks. Foreign ministers of the five permanent members of the Security Council, plus Germany, are to discuss Iran’s non-compliance at a meeting in New York next week.

Asia

Court issues second arrest warrant for ousted Thai premier  

 

From Times Online

September 16, 2008

Andrew Drummond in Bangkok

Thailand’s Supreme Court has issued another arrest warrant for Thaksin Shinawatra, the ousted premier, this time for cashing in on Burma’s military junta while offering himself as a mediator with the repressive regime.

While Mr Thaksin, until recently owner of Manchester City F.C., offered Thailand as host country for talks with Burma, he was secretly cashing in on his relationship and offering his own government’s money to clinch the deal, it is alleged.

This is the second warrant issued for the arrest of Mr Thaksin for corruption as the exiled Prime Minister continues his political career from his home in Weybridge, Surrey.

China milk toll may rise further  >

China’s health ministry says the number of babies sickened by contaminated milk powder could rise further.

The BBC  

State media quoted the ministry as saying medical agencies were ready for a “possibly rising” number of cases.

A “multi-level treatment system” was being set up to cope, it said, amid increasing public anger.

Two babies have died and more than 1,200 have become ill after drinking milk powder which had been spiked with the industrial chemical melamine.

“Their number could rise as the search for more infants fed Sanlu milk food spreads across the country’s rural areas,” the China Daily reported.

Africa  

Zimbabwe’s power-sharing pact: Can rivals make it work?

Mugabe and Tsvangirai agreed Monday to a deal that splits the government, but keeps the military under Mugabe.

By Scott Baldauf  | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

and a contributor

from the September 16, 2008 edition

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa; and HARARE, Zimbabwe – After nearly three decades in power, Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe officially has a partner. The question now: Will Mr. Mugabe actually share power with Morgan Tsvangirai, a rival who has been jailed, beaten, and tortured by the nation’s security forces?

After six months of stalemate and state violence, Zimbabwe’s two major political parties signed a power-sharing deal Monday in Harare. The pact finally offers a path out of a crisis that’s decimated this Southern African nation and left it shunned by many Western countries.

While the agreement clearly gives the greater share of power to Mugabe – leaving him as head of state and in direct control of the military and the intelligence services – it also diminishes, for the first time, the total control enjoyed by the ruling ZANU-PF party, and could pave the way for Mugabe to step down.

Latin America

South American leaders hold emergency session on Bolivia  

The talks in Chile aim to foster peace in Bolivia, which has been racked by political violence.

By Patrick J. McDonnell, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

September 16, 2008    

SANTA CRUZ, BOLIVIA — Leaders of nine South American nations called Monday for Bolivians to “take all actions necessary” to help calm the domestic turmoil threatening to split this fractured Andean country apart.

The hastily arranged summit, held in the Chilean capital, Santiago, underscored widespread fears that political violence in Bolivia could erupt into civil war.

The presidents expressed strong support for President Evo Morales and called for an end to violence that could break up the country.

But it was unclear what effect the meeting might have.

Not represented at the session was the Bolivian opposition, which has repeatedly accused Morales of ignoring calls for reconciliation.