Tag: Open Thread

Weekend News Digest

Weekend News Digest is an Open Thread

From Yahoo News Top Stories

1 Commander: Some US troops to stay in Iraqi cities

By LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press Writer

Sat Dec 13, 10:48 am ET

BALAD, Iraq – Despite a summer deadline to pull American combat troops from urban areas, thousands will stay in cities to support and train Iraqis, the top U.S. commander in Iraq said Saturday.

Even with the mandate in the recently approved U.S.-Iraq security agreement, there have been suggestions some troops would not leave urban areas. But Gen. Raymond Odierno was the first military leader to acknowledge some forces would remain at local security stations, as training and mentoring teams.

“We believe we should still be inside those after the summer,” he said the sprawling U.S. base in Balad, north of Baghdad before welcoming Defense Secretary Robert Gates on a brief visit.

Dow down 1000.

Here are the current Circuit Breaker Rules.

As you will certainly know by this time, the Senate has failed to invoke cloture on the Bridge Loan Bill by a 35 – 52 vote and Harry Reid has declared himself the failure he is and is adjourning the Senate for the holiday.

You can expect GM to declare bankruptcy by Monday and thousands of parts suppliers to do the same by Christmas.

The overnight markets in Asia are already tanking and you can expect selling pressure to move west with the dawn.  If Dow futures are not down over 400 points by opening bell I’ll eat my hat.

I expect it will go downhill from there.

Trading halts for 1 hour with a 1100 point drop before 2 pm.  If there is a 2200 point drop before 1 pm there will be a 2 hour halt.

If the DJIA loses 3350 points, regardless of time, the market will close.

This is a very real possibility.

If you have equity it’s too late to sell now, all you can do is hang on and see if things get better, but this is bad.

Very bad.

Late updates from Firedog Lake-

Auto Bill Fails: Market Bails By: Ian Welsh Thursday December 11, 2008 9:00 pm

White House May Just Lend Auto Companies the Money Through TARP By: Ian Welsh Thursday December 11, 2008 9:20 pm

Wire Business News Update below.

The Pony Party Yule Be Sorry You Missed

Thank all the deities that we will have a grownup in the WH after January 20:

Pony Party is an Open Thread.  Please do not REC the party.

The Morning News

The Morning News is an Open Thread

From Yahoo News Top Stories

1 Workers win a big round in Chicago factory sit-in

By MICHAEL TARM, Associated Press Writer

36 mins ago

CHICAGO – The creditor of a Chicago plant where laid-off employees are conducting a sit-in to demand severance pay said Tuesday it would extend limited loans to the factory so it could resolve the dispute, but the workers declared their protest unfinished.

The Republic Windows and Doors factory closed last week after Bank of America canceled its financing. About 200 laid-off workers responded by staging a sit-in at the plant, vowing to stay until getting assurances they would receive severance and accrued vacation pay.

Their action garnered national attention, seen by some as a symbol of defiance for workers laid off nationwide.

Pony Party – Open Thread!

This Pony Party is an Open Thread.  Chat away, but please do not rec!

Open Thread

So I’m reading the NOLA blogs and I come across this from oyster over at Your Right Hand Thief, highlighting the music of New Orleanian glyn styler..

The older guy in the video made me think of David Vitter.

When it comes to sleaze, I think the video has nothing on the US Department of the Interior bureaucracy.  But that’s just my take.

Open thread is open!

No words

Weekend News Digest

Weekend News Digest is an Open Thread

OUR TOP STORY TONIGHT!- GENERALISSIMO FRANCISCO FRANCO IS STILL DEAD!

From Yahoo News Top Stories

1 AP IMPACT: How Freddie Mac halted regulatory drive

By PETE YOST, Associated Press Writer

33 mins ago

WASHINGTON – When the Washington Nationals played their first-ever baseball game in the nation’s capital in April 2005, two congressmen who oversaw mortgage giant Freddie Mac had choice seats – courtesy of the very company they were supposed to be keeping an eye on.

Efforts to tighten government regulation were gaining support on Capitol Hill, and Freddie Mac was fighting back. The baseball tickets for home opener were means of influence.

According to confidential company documents obtained by The Associated Press, Reps. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, and Paul Kanjorski, D-Pa., spent the evening in hard-to-obtain seats near the Nationals dugout with Freddie Mac executive Hollis McLoughlin and four of Freddie Mac’s in-house lobbyists.

Weekend News Digest

Weekend News Digest is an Open Thread

From Yahoo News Top Stories

1 Charged Blackwater guards ID’d: All decorated vets

By MATT APUZZO and LARA JAKES JORDAN, Associated Press Writers

42 mins ago

WASHINGTON – The five Blackwater Worldwide guards indicted for a deadly 2007 Baghdad shooting are all decorated military veterans who have served in some of the world’s most dangerous hotspots.

According to lawyers for the guards, the men are: Donald Ball, a former Marine from West Valley City, Utah; Dustin Heard, a former Marine from Knoxville, Tenn.; Evan Liberty, a former Marine from Rochester, N.H.; Nick Slatten, a former Army sergeant from Sparta, Tenn.; and Paul Slough, an Army veteran from Keller, Texas.

The men are charged following the shooting of 17 Iraqi civilians in a busy Baghdad intersection. Documents in the case remain sealed but are expected to become public Monday, when the men have been ordered to surrender.

Midnight Open Thread

The Morning News

The Morning News is an Open Thread

From Yahoo News Top Stories

1 Gates: Military looks to accelerate Iraq pullout

By LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press Writer

1 hr 1 min ago

WASHINGTON – Defense Secretary Robert Gates signaled a willingness Tuesday to forge ahead with two key priorities for the incoming Obama administration: accelerating the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq and shutting down the Guantanamo Bay detention center.

As the only Republican Cabinet member asked to stay on by President-elect Barack Obama, Gates told reporters that military commanders are looking at ways to more quickly pull troops out of Iraq in light of the 16-month timetable that was a centerpiece of the Democrat’s campaign.

He also said it will be a high priority to work with the new Congress on legislation that will enable the U.S. to close the detention center at the U.S. naval base in Cuba, where about 250 terrorism suspects are still being held.

Pony Party/Open Thread!

This Pony Party is an Open Thread!  Use it as such.  Please do not rec the Pony Party / Open Thread.

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