Archive for July, 2008
UK: From Housing to the High Street, a Nation Battens Down the Hatches
July 7th, 2008Via: Independent: Ever since the Northern Rock crisis struck, seemingly out of nowhere, last autumn, there has been a sense that this was just a warning clap of thunder and that the real storm still loomed some way ahead. This week, that storm suddenly came a great deal closer, with a host of indicators showing […]
UK: Government Asks Stores to Stockpile Food in Case of Infrastructure Breakdown
July 7th, 2008Via: Times: Ministers are in talks with supermarkets about emergency food reserves in case fuel protests lead to shortages at shops. The government wants to ensure retailers and suppliers can continue to sell basics such as meat, bread and milk if hauliers bring the country to a halt. They have asked supermarkets to make contingency […]
Spain, Ireland ‘Thrown to the Wolves’ After ECB Move
July 7th, 2008Is a debt paper bomb from Europe next? Via: Bloomberg: Jose Mauricio Rodriguez Montalvo rents a room from his sister to help her afford her basement flat in Madrid as mortgage costs soar. “She’s crying over the Euribor,” the 12-month money- market rate used to set Spanish mortgages, Montalvo, 28, said in an interview. “We’re […]
U.S. Colonel Sanctioned Mass Killing During Korean War
July 7th, 2008Via: Newsweek: The American colonel, troubled by what he was hearing, tried to stall at first. But the declassified record shows he finally told his South Korean counterpart it “would be permitted” to machine-gun 3,500 political prisoners, to keep them from joining approaching enemy forces. In the early days of the Korean War, other American […]
Smog in Beijing Five Times Over Safety Limit as Olympics Nears
July 7th, 2008Via: Times: Pollution around the Olympic stadium in Beijing could be five times worse than levels deemed safe by the World Health Organisation. Chinese officials admit they can no longer guarantee that the air quality will match international standards as pollution tests by The Sunday Times revealed the full extent of the challenge facing British […]
Teachers Get Guidance On How to Relay the Lessons of Sept. 11
July 7th, 2008From the beginning, there was purpose behind forced schooling, purpose which had nothing to do with what parents, kids, or communities wanted. Instead, this grand purpose was forged out of what a highly centralized corporate economy and system of finance bent on internationalizing itself was thought to need; that, and what a strong, centralized political […]
Leading British Intelligence Official, Alex Allan, Found with “Blood Everwhere,” Now In a Coma, Nothing to See Here, Move Along
July 7th, 2008Slipped on a banana peel, obviously. Accidents happen. Via: Telegraph: Britain’s leading spymaster, who is in a coma after apparently being struck down by a mystery illness, was found covered in blood, according to a tenant. Alex Allan has been described as “very, very seriously ill” and is under police guard in the intensive care […]
Electric Shock for Air Passengers?
July 6th, 2008Please tell me that this is a hoax. Via: Homeland Stupidity: You check in at the airline ticket counter. But instead of a boarding pass, you get shackled with an electronic bracelet which tracks your every move, contains all your personal information, and can shock you senseless. This vision of the future of air security […]
The Economy? Words Fail Me.
July 6th, 2008Try to watch the video. It appeared to me that Assistant Treasury secretary for economic policy, Phillip Swagel, needed to change his union suit after this press conference. Via: Washington Post: Think you’re worried about the economy? Phillip Swagel is a wreck. The assistant Treasury secretary for economic policy, Swagel came out for his monthly […]
Updates Slow; Middle Ear Myoclonus
July 6th, 2008Two days ago, I came down with what I’m practically sure is middle ear myoclonus (in my right ear). It’s a muscle spasm that causes me to hear an almost constant, dull lud-lud-lud type sound. It sounds like a boat engine idling in the distance. Here’s how a doctor describes it: If you have ever […]
