Burma: Thousands of Executed Protesters Dumped in Jungle
October 2nd, 2007Via: This Is London:
Thousands of protesters are dead and the bodies of hundreds of executed monks have been dumped in the jungle, a former intelligence officer for Burma’s ruling junta has revealed.
The most senior official to defect so far, Hla Win, said: “Many more people have been killed in recent days than you’ve heard about. The bodies can be counted in several thousand.”
Mr Win, who spoke out as a Swedish diplomat predicted that the revolt has failed, said he fled when he was ordered to take part in a massacre of holy men. He has now reached the border with Thailand.
Related: The Education of Cindy Sheehan
Woman Dies in Airport Police Custody
October 1st, 2007Via: NY Daily News:
The daughter-in-law of one of New York’s top officials screamed, “I’m not a terrorist!” and fought with security officials in the Phoenix airport before being wrestled to the ground and handcuffed, witnesses told the Daily News yesterday.
Carol Anne Gotbaum, 45, of the upper West Side, died less than an hour later, after cops claim she apparently strangled herself while trying to escape from the handcuffs in a holding cell at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.
“I’m not a terrorist! I’m a sick mom! I need help!” yelled the mother of three after she missed the 2:58 p.m. US Airways Express flight to Tucson, said airport workers who witnessed the confrontation Friday.
They said one cop put his knee in her back to restrain her while others grabbed her flailing arms.
“I believe she was a little not-there. She kept punching. She kept screaming. She kept kicking,” one worker told The News. “She looked really scared, really frightened. I think she was afraid to go to jail.”
Gotbaum’s husband, Noah, is the son of longtime city labor leader Victor Gotbaum and the stepson of his wife, Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum, a possible candidate for mayor in 2009.
Betsy Gotbaum said her stunned family was still searching for answers in the sudden death.
Radiohead: Pay What You Want for New Album
October 1st, 2007Radiohead just blew the support columns out from underneath the already doomed music industrial complex. I know that Cryptogon is read mainly by people who have never heard of Radiohead, so, if you’re wondering what all the fuss is about, just know that Radiohead is a very big deal in the music world and they just went with a direct to consumer business model with a voluntary payment option for their work.
As for the record company executives: They just soiled their union suits.
Via: Time:
Roughly 12,000 albums are released in an average year, so the announcement late Sunday night that the new Radiohead record, In Rainbows, will be out Oct. 10 is not itself big news. Sure, Radiohead is on a sustained run as the most interesting and innovative band in rock, but what makes In Rainbows important — easily the most important release in the recent history of the music business — are its record label and its retail price: there is none, and there is none.
In Rainbows will be released as a digital download available only via the band’s web site, Radiohead.com. There’s no label or distribution partner to cut into the band’s profits — but then there may not be any profits. Drop In Rainbows’ 15 songs into the on-line checkout basket and a question mark pops up where the price would normally be. Click it, and the prompt “It’s Up To You” appears. Click again and it refreshes with the words “It’s Really Up To You” — and really, it is. It’s the first major album whose price is determined by what individual consumers want to pay for it. And it’s perfectly acceptable to pay nothing at all.
Radiohead’s contract with EMI/Capitol expired after its last record, Hail to the Thief, was released in 2003; shortly before the band started writing new songs, singer Thom Yorke told TIME, “I like the people at our record company, but the time is at hand when you have to ask why anyone needs one. And, yes, it probably would give us some perverse pleasure to say ‘F___ you’ to this decaying business model.”
Related: I’d Rather Just Pay Artists Directly for MP3s
Related: A Kirkland Cafe with No Prices
U.S. MINT FAILS TO RESTART SALES OF AMERICAN EAGLE GOLD COINS
October 1st, 2007WARNING: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument.
When I initially mentioned that the U.S. Mint had stopped selling American Eagle gold coins, that represented such a weird situation that I turned a screen shot of the U.S. Mint’s web page into the banner image for Cryptogon, as you see above.
With the global economic situation becoming more precarious by the day, I thought I’d just follow up and check out the U.S. Mint’s American Eagle gold coin page again, to make sure that they restarted sales of the coins, as they “expected” to on September 27th.
The coins are STILL not available. The U.S. Mint has also failed to provide an estimate on when sales will resume.
Cryptogon readers of all income levels are using BullionVault to buy certified, professionally vaulted gold in a cost efficient and secure manner. Here are Cryptogon pages that mention BullionVault. Here is my affiliate link to BullionVault. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. I you wish to use encryption, my public key is here.
Via: U.S. Mint:
Due to the increasing market value of gold, the American Eagle Gold Uncirculated Coins are temporarily unavailable while pricing for this option can be adjusted; therefore, no orders can be taken at this time.
CITIGROUP CUTS PROFIT FORCAST BY 60%; SUBPRIME… YOU KNOW THE REST BY HEART
October 1st, 2007Via: Bloomberg:
Citigroup Inc., the biggest U.S. bank, said third-quarter profit fell about 60 percent because of “weak” credit markets and losses on leveraged loans and mortgage-backed securities.
The bank will write down $1.4 billion before taxes on leverage finance commitments, Citigroup said today in a statement. The New York-based bank lost $1.3 billion on subprime assets and about $600 million in fixed-income trading. Higher loan-loss reserves contributed to $2.6 billion in credit costs in the consumer-banking business.
Some Northern Rock Clients Buying Gold
October 1st, 2007“I really wonder if we are at a point where physical demand from people looking to diversify their portfolios could cause the thing to breakout higher. How many bank runs will the herd endure before it looks for alternatives?”
—Cryptogon, September 16th, 2007
Via: The Post:
Some beleaguered Northern Rock customers who withdrew their savings used the money to buy gold in search of old fashioned stability.
Dublin-based broker Gold and Silver Investments said that some of its British customers had switched funds from Northern Rock to gold as the price of the precious metal hit a 28-year high last week.
Mark O’Byrne said the demand for gold has been rising steadily but the falling dollar and record oil prices have driven up gold prices as investors turn to traditional investments.
‘‘The turbulence in financial markets is another factor,†O’Byrne said.
Research Credit: Pookie
UBS: UNEXPECTED LOSS CAUSED BY SUBPRIME WRITEDOWNS
October 1st, 2007Via: Bloomberg:
UBS AG, Europe’s biggest bank, had an unexpected third-quarter loss and plans to cut 1,500 jobs after writing down the value of fixed-income securities by more than 4 billion Swiss francs ($3.4 billion).
The pretax loss, the first reported by any of the world’s largest banks, totaled 600 million francs to 800 million francs, the Zurich-based company said today. Huw Jenkins, the head of the investment bank, will step down and become an adviser to Chief Executive Officer Marcel Rohner. Chief Financial Officer Clive Standish will retire. The shares fell.
Some Bank of England Gold Reserves Do Not Meet “London Good Delivery” Standards
October 1st, 2007Via: UK Channel4:
Some of Britain’s gold reserves held in the Bank of England are cracking up because they were poorly made.
The deterioration could temporarily cut the value of the country’s 320-tonne reserve, which is held by the Bank on behalf of the Treasury.
A Freedom of Information request by trade journal Metal Bulletin revealed that the cracks and fissures had appeared in some gold.
The bank is said to be in discussions to establish exactly how much of its hoard is involved, although it is only believed to be a small proportion.
The quality of gold in the UK is defined by the London Good Delivery (LGD) standards laid down by the London Bullion Market Association.
The affected bullion, originally imported in the 1930s and 1940s, falls below the proper LGD standard.
This is due to the poor refining processes used at the time, which is thought to be the cause of the deterioration.
A Bank of England spokesman insisted the problem was only superficial and not an issue of the gold’s purity. But the affected gold would attract a lower price were it to be sold now and the bank would have to re-refine it to bring it up to standard.
“This is not about purity, this is about physical appearance,” the spokesman said.
Gold is held by the Bank of England as an insurance policy in case of turmoil in the world’s money markets. The complete British reserve is currently worth around £4 billion.
UK: Homeowners Face Payment Shock
September 29th, 2007Via: Financial Times:
Homeowners with patchy credit histories are set to face a 26 per cent jump in their monthly mortgage payments due to the global credit squeeze, according to a new report.
Standard & Poor’s, the ratings agency, said that 80,000 UK borrowers who are due to come to the end of existing mortgage deals now face a huge “payment shock” because subprime mortgage lenders have been pushing up interest rates and tightening lending criteria in recent weeks.
Many subprime mortgage lenders such as GMAC and Kensington are now asking borrowers to put down a larger deposit of 25 per cent – rather than the 10 per cent which was required just a few weeks ago.
In its report S&P believes the global credit squeeze – which has seen lenders struggle to raise funding and securitise mortgage assets into the capital markets – will make it much harder for borrowers to re-mortgage on similar terms.
Tougher rules are set to prevent subprime customers with poor credit records from remortgaging because lenders may refuse to offer them a new deal when they come to the end of their current rate leaving them stuck on expensive standard variable rates.
This will mean borrowers’ monthly payments will rise sharply which could in turn lead to greater home repossessions and more borrowers falling into arrears.
More: ARM Resets in the U.S.
Congressman: State Department Official Threatened Investigators
September 29th, 2007Via: McClatchy:
Aides to State Department Inspector General Howard Krongard threatened two investigators with retaliation this week if they cooperate with a congressional probe into Krongard’s office, the chairman of a House of Representatives panel and other U.S. officials said Friday.
The allegations are the latest in a growing uproar surrounding Krongard. Current and former officials in his office charge that he impeded investigations into alleged arms smuggling by employees of the private security firm Blackwater and into faulty construction of the new U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.
Krongard has denied the charges and is due to appear before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee next month.
In a statement e-mailed to reporters Friday, his office said it was cooperating with investigators.
“The Office of the Inspector General has cooperated with and will continue to cooperate with the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s investigation,” the statement said. “Furthermore, the OIG will continue to make any OIG employee available to speak with the committee, if they choose.”
Officials at the State Department and other agencies said support for Krongard appeared to be slipping and that it remained uncertain whether he could keep his job. They spoke on condition of anonymity, because Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice hasn’t made a final decision in the matter.
The probe into Krongard’s office is being led by Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., the chairman of the House oversight committee.
The two investigators said they were threatened with retaliation — perhaps including losing their jobs — if they cooperated, Waxman said in a letter to Krongard.
According to the letter, Krongard’s congressional liaison told one of the two, Special Agent Ronald A. Militana, “Howard can fire you. It would affect your ability to get another job.”
Interesting: John Kokal
