Up on Horner Lake...
We fished a little, and fixed some things, but mostly just enjoyed what was there!
Afternoon storms can be fun!
Evening calm can be better...
Thursday, July 09, 2009
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
FDIC's Deposit Insurance Fund Reserve Ratio Plunges To 0.27% Of Deposits
http://zerohedge.blogspot.com/2009/05/fd...
RED ALERT ON THIS
FDIC's Deposit Insurance Fund Reserve Ratio Plunges To 0.27% Of Deposits
The FDIC's Deposit Insurance Fund has plunged to an all time low of just $13 billion as of March 31, or 0.27% of $4.8 trillion in insured deposits. It is worth nothing that since March 31, 15 new banks have failed which includes the biggest one so far this year, BankUnited (which Marla has a special fondness for in her heart and will be providing some ongoing entertainment on). It is thus safe to say that the $13 billion has been spent in the past 2 months, especially since banks no longer issue debt under the TLGP (of which, nonetheless, there was $336 billion outstanding at March 31 - somehow when banks are talking about repaying TARP, their FDIC-guaranteed debt, by far the biggest crutch to the banking system, is conveniently never mentioned) and therefore no longer pay FDIC guaranteed debt issuance associated fees.
http://zerohedge.blogspot.com/2009/05/fd...
RED ALERT ON THIS
FDIC's Deposit Insurance Fund Reserve Ratio Plunges To 0.27% Of Deposits
The FDIC's Deposit Insurance Fund has plunged to an all time low of just $13 billion as of March 31, or 0.27% of $4.8 trillion in insured deposits. It is worth nothing that since March 31, 15 new banks have failed which includes the biggest one so far this year, BankUnited (which Marla has a special fondness for in her heart and will be providing some ongoing entertainment on). It is thus safe to say that the $13 billion has been spent in the past 2 months, especially since banks no longer issue debt under the TLGP (of which, nonetheless, there was $336 billion outstanding at March 31 - somehow when banks are talking about repaying TARP, their FDIC-guaranteed debt, by far the biggest crutch to the banking system, is conveniently never mentioned) and therefore no longer pay FDIC guaranteed debt issuance associated fees.
Sunday, July 05, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Amid growing controversy over procedures that exposed 10,000 veterans to the AIDS and hepatitis viruses, the Department of Veterans Affairs is now bracing against news that one of its facilities in Pennsylvania gave botched radiation treatments to nearly 100 cancer patients.
Veterans groups and lawmakers say VA hospitals have permitted these violations because federal regulations allow doctors to work with little outside scrutiny. They say the VA health system, with its under-funded hospitals and overworked doctors, is showing signs of an "institutional breakdown," in the words of one congressman.
An official with the American Legion who visits and inspects VA health centers said complacency, poor funding and little oversight led to the violations that failed the cancer patients in Philadelphia and possibly infected 53 veterans with hepatitis and HIV from unsterilized equipment at three VA health centers in Florida, Tennessee and Georgia.
"Lack of inspections, lack of transparency" were likely to blame, said Joe Wilson, deputy director of the Veterans Affairs and Rehabilitation Commission for the American Legion, who testified before Congress this month on transparency problems in a budgeting arm of the VA.
Wilson said the American Legion is investigating the case of the VA Medical Center in Philadelphia, where doctors gave 92 veterans incorrect radiation doses for treatment of prostate cancer during a six-year span when no peer review or proper oversight measures were in place, the New York Times reported.
Those doctors, whose continuous errors were finally detected last year, were immediately fired from their work at the VA center, but not before putting the lives of the 92 veterans at risk. That news came on the heels of months of investigations into medical lapses that permitted endoscopic procedures like colonoscopies to be performed improperly for years.
Wilson told FOXNews.com that poor funding has aggravated problems, and that money is often misspent on repairs for old facilities and equipment to help manage a construction backlog that has put the VA years behind. He said the aging facilities are incapable of handling or properly operating new technology and equipment.
"The average age of VA facilities is about 49 years," he said. "That's too old. In the private sector the average age of facilities is about 12 years."
The VA Medical Center in Philadelphia is 57 years old. Doctors there were performing a procedure called brachytherapy, in which radioactive seeds the size of rice grains are implanted into organs to kill cancer cells.
But doctors there were sometimes implanting the seeds into the wrong organs, and in many cases gave significantly less radiation than was prescribed -- including during an entire year when their monitoring equipment was broken and they were essentially flying blind, the New York Times reported.
And when one physician, Dr. Gary Kao, was found to have botched a brachytherapy in 2003, he simply changed his surgery plan to make the error appear to be intentional, the Times reported.
Despite the violations that cost Kao his job, some veterans' groups said the general care provided by VA is among the best in the world, and they applauded the department for taking steps to address its problems.
"Our feeling is that the quality of the care is excellent," said Jay Agg, a national spokesman for AMVETS, the American Veterans organization. "However, the fact that it occurred in the first place really points to a lack of oversight, and corrective measures need to be taken."
Both AMVETS and the American Legion welcomed advanced funding that was granted to VA this week, reversing a trend of late funding that has kept the department on tenterhooks for nearly 20 years.
But investigations conducted by the VA last month show that systemic problems remain. Under half of VA centers given surprise inspections had proper training and guidelines in place for common endoscopic procedures.
VA Secretary Gen. Eric Shinseki and senior leadership "are conducting a top to bottom review of the Department," a VA representative told FOXNews.com. "They are implementing aggressive actions to make sure the right policies and procedures are in place to protect our veterans and provide them with the quality health care they have earned."
The representative said that all brachytherapy treatments have been ended at the Philadelphia hospital, and the VA has hired a national director of radiation oncology and developed standard procedures for calculating the accuracy of seed placement.
But veterans advocates say that won't be enough, and they say they haven't seen any evidence of changes that could fix what they call a broken healthcare system.
"How many patients can you see in a day and still give proper care?" asked Jim Strickland, a veterans' advocate and former health care technician who contributes to VAWatchdog.org. "There aren't enough physicians to handle the crisis that the VA faces."
Richard Dodd, a litigator who has represented veterans in lawsuits against the government, said that poor funding has lowered the quality of care and interest from some physicians.
"They're generally under-funded ... and I think the interest of the doctors suffers to some degree," he told FOXNews.com. "Generally speaking, the physicians that work at the VA work there because they have no interest in private health care, and in some situations are unable to find jobs in private industry."
Strickland said care and oversight would not improve until funding is increased and the leadership makes sweeping changes.
In the meantime, he said, "we are doing such a disservice to our veterans."
Lawmakers, who are bristling at that "disservice," led congressional inquiries into the endoscopy debacle during hearings last week.
"[T]here is no question that shoddy standards -- systemic across the VA -- put veterans at risk and dealt a blow to their trust in the VA," said Rep. Harry Mitchell, the Arizona Democrat who chairs the House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.
Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., is now gearing up for action over the Philadelphia facility. He wrote to Shinseki Tuesday asking "what allowed such chronic failures to occur" and demanding to know what steps the VA has taken "to ensure that such problems do not occur at other VA hospitals."
Specter called for a field hearing of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee on Monday, June 29, calling the alleged abuses at VA hospitals "very serious" and promising that they would get a "full and prompt review." A lawyer for Gary Kao said the doctor would appear at the Philadelphia hearing and answer any questions from Specter "fully and completely."
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009...ns-groups-say/
Veterans groups and lawmakers say VA hospitals have permitted these violations because federal regulations allow doctors to work with little outside scrutiny. They say the VA health system, with its under-funded hospitals and overworked doctors, is showing signs of an "institutional breakdown," in the words of one congressman.
An official with the American Legion who visits and inspects VA health centers said complacency, poor funding and little oversight led to the violations that failed the cancer patients in Philadelphia and possibly infected 53 veterans with hepatitis and HIV from unsterilized equipment at three VA health centers in Florida, Tennessee and Georgia.
"Lack of inspections, lack of transparency" were likely to blame, said Joe Wilson, deputy director of the Veterans Affairs and Rehabilitation Commission for the American Legion, who testified before Congress this month on transparency problems in a budgeting arm of the VA.
Wilson said the American Legion is investigating the case of the VA Medical Center in Philadelphia, where doctors gave 92 veterans incorrect radiation doses for treatment of prostate cancer during a six-year span when no peer review or proper oversight measures were in place, the New York Times reported.
Those doctors, whose continuous errors were finally detected last year, were immediately fired from their work at the VA center, but not before putting the lives of the 92 veterans at risk. That news came on the heels of months of investigations into medical lapses that permitted endoscopic procedures like colonoscopies to be performed improperly for years.
Wilson told FOXNews.com that poor funding has aggravated problems, and that money is often misspent on repairs for old facilities and equipment to help manage a construction backlog that has put the VA years behind. He said the aging facilities are incapable of handling or properly operating new technology and equipment.
"The average age of VA facilities is about 49 years," he said. "That's too old. In the private sector the average age of facilities is about 12 years."
The VA Medical Center in Philadelphia is 57 years old. Doctors there were performing a procedure called brachytherapy, in which radioactive seeds the size of rice grains are implanted into organs to kill cancer cells.
But doctors there were sometimes implanting the seeds into the wrong organs, and in many cases gave significantly less radiation than was prescribed -- including during an entire year when their monitoring equipment was broken and they were essentially flying blind, the New York Times reported.
And when one physician, Dr. Gary Kao, was found to have botched a brachytherapy in 2003, he simply changed his surgery plan to make the error appear to be intentional, the Times reported.
Despite the violations that cost Kao his job, some veterans' groups said the general care provided by VA is among the best in the world, and they applauded the department for taking steps to address its problems.
"Our feeling is that the quality of the care is excellent," said Jay Agg, a national spokesman for AMVETS, the American Veterans organization. "However, the fact that it occurred in the first place really points to a lack of oversight, and corrective measures need to be taken."
Both AMVETS and the American Legion welcomed advanced funding that was granted to VA this week, reversing a trend of late funding that has kept the department on tenterhooks for nearly 20 years.
But investigations conducted by the VA last month show that systemic problems remain. Under half of VA centers given surprise inspections had proper training and guidelines in place for common endoscopic procedures.
VA Secretary Gen. Eric Shinseki and senior leadership "are conducting a top to bottom review of the Department," a VA representative told FOXNews.com. "They are implementing aggressive actions to make sure the right policies and procedures are in place to protect our veterans and provide them with the quality health care they have earned."
The representative said that all brachytherapy treatments have been ended at the Philadelphia hospital, and the VA has hired a national director of radiation oncology and developed standard procedures for calculating the accuracy of seed placement.
But veterans advocates say that won't be enough, and they say they haven't seen any evidence of changes that could fix what they call a broken healthcare system.
"How many patients can you see in a day and still give proper care?" asked Jim Strickland, a veterans' advocate and former health care technician who contributes to VAWatchdog.org. "There aren't enough physicians to handle the crisis that the VA faces."
Richard Dodd, a litigator who has represented veterans in lawsuits against the government, said that poor funding has lowered the quality of care and interest from some physicians.
"They're generally under-funded ... and I think the interest of the doctors suffers to some degree," he told FOXNews.com. "Generally speaking, the physicians that work at the VA work there because they have no interest in private health care, and in some situations are unable to find jobs in private industry."
Strickland said care and oversight would not improve until funding is increased and the leadership makes sweeping changes.
In the meantime, he said, "we are doing such a disservice to our veterans."
Lawmakers, who are bristling at that "disservice," led congressional inquiries into the endoscopy debacle during hearings last week.
"[T]here is no question that shoddy standards -- systemic across the VA -- put veterans at risk and dealt a blow to their trust in the VA," said Rep. Harry Mitchell, the Arizona Democrat who chairs the House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.
Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., is now gearing up for action over the Philadelphia facility. He wrote to Shinseki Tuesday asking "what allowed such chronic failures to occur" and demanding to know what steps the VA has taken "to ensure that such problems do not occur at other VA hospitals."
Specter called for a field hearing of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee on Monday, June 29, calling the alleged abuses at VA hospitals "very serious" and promising that they would get a "full and prompt review." A lawyer for Gary Kao said the doctor would appear at the Philadelphia hearing and answer any questions from Specter "fully and completely."
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009...ns-groups-say/
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Iran's Mousavi says ready for "martyrdom": ally
TEHRAN (Reuters) – Opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi said he was "ready for martyrdom," according to an ally, in leading protests that have shaken the Islamic Republic and brought warnings of bloodshed from Iran's Supreme Leader.
Mousavi also called on Saturday for a national strike if he is arrested, a witness said. As darkness fell, rooftop cries of Allahu Akbar (God is greatest) sounded out across northern Tehran for nearly an hour, an echo of tactics used in the 1979 Islamic revolution against the Shah.
EDITORS' NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on their ability to report, film or take pictures in Tehran.
In an act fraught with symbolic significance, a suicide bomber blew himself up at the mausoleum of the father of Iran's Islamic revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, while unrest continued across Tehran in defiance of a ban on demonstrations.
Riot police deployed in force, firing teargas, using batons and water cannon to disperse protesters.
Witnesses said 2,000 to 3,000 were on the streets, fewer than the hundreds of thousands earlier in the week, but a clear challenge to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who used a speech on Friday to endorse disputed election results that gave hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a landslide victory.
Defeated candidate Mousavi, a product of the Islamic establishment himself and a former prime minister, made clear he would not back down.
"In a public address in southwestern Tehran, Mousavi said he was ready for martyrdom and that he would continue his path," a Mousavi ally, who asked not to be named, told Reuters by telephone from the Jeyhun street in Tehran.
A witness to the address said Mousavi, center of protests unprecedented in the 30-year history of the Islamic Republic, appeared to anticipate action against him.
"Mousavi called on people to go on national strike if he gets arrested," the witness told Reuters.
Mousavi demanded the elections be annulled.
"These disgusting measures (election rigging) were planned months ahead of the vote ... considering all the violations ... the election should be annulled," Mousavi said in a letter to the country's top legislative body.
The scale of the demonstrations in Iran, a major oil exporter embroiled in dispute with major powers over its nuclear program, has taken Iranians and foreign governments by surprise. Hundreds of thousands have taken to the streets in largely peaceful protests, though state media said seven or eight protesters were shot dead earlier in the week.
The attack on the mausoleum of Islamic revolutionary leader Ayatollah Khomeini was likely to inflame passions among Iranians who revere the man who led a movement that overthrew the Western-backed Shah in 1979. It was not clear who carried out the bombing, confirmed by police; but such an incident could be cited by authorities in justifying a crackdown.
The bomber was killed and three others were wounded, according to the English-language Press TV.
Supporters of Mousavi set on fire a building in southern Tehran used by backers of President Ahmadinejad, a witness said.
The witness also said police shot into the air to disperse rival supporters in Tehran's south Karegar street.
Iran's highest legislative body said it was ready to recount a random 10 percent of the votes cast in the June 12 poll to meet the complaints of Mousavi and two other candidates who lost to Ahmadinejad.
WAFTS OF TEARGAS
Teargas billowed up from Enghelab (Revolution) Square as riot police confronted demonstrators, a witness said.
The Etemad-e Melli party of losing candidate Mehdi Karoubi said plans for a rally had been scrapped for lack of a permit and an ally of Mousavi said the moderate politician had not summoned his followers back to the streets.
Press TV showed footage of a burning bus, without saying where the incident occurred. It also said protesters set fire to a mosque and a number of cars and buses following clashes with police. After dark, calls of Allahu Akbar alternated with chants of "We support you, Mirhossein," ringing out over rooftops.
The 12-man Guardian Council, which must certify the result of the election, announced plans for a partial recount.
"Although the Guardian Council is not legally obliged ... we are ready to recount 10 percent of the (ballot) boxes randomly in the presence of representatives of the three (defeated) candidates," a council spokesman said.
The council had invited Mousavi, Karoubi and a third candidate, Mohsen Rezaie, to raise their complaints at a special session. But only Rezaie, a conservative who is a former Revolutionary Guard commander, attended.
Witnesses said they had seen Basij Islamic militia deploying across Tehran and one resident saw at least three buses full of Basij heading for the capital from the nearby city of Karaj on Saturday, as well as four trucks full of the motorcycles used by Basij militiamen during previous demonstrations.
"If there is any bloodshed, leaders of the protests will be held directly responsible," the white-bearded Khamenei told huge crowds thronging Tehran University for Friday prayers.
Scores of reformists have been arrested and authorities have cracked down on foreign and domestic media.
In a sign of defiance, Mousavi backers took to Tehran rooftops after nightfall on Friday to shout Allahu Akbar (God is greatest), a deliberate echo of tactics in the 1979 revolution.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Medvedev calls for new reserve currencies
Medvedev calls for new reserve currencies
2 hours ago
YEKATERINBURG, Russia (AP) — Russian President Dmitry Medvedev says the world needs new reserve currencies.
Medvedev told a regional summit Tuesday that the creation of new reserve currencies in addition to the dollar is needed to stabilize global finances.
Medvedev has made the proposal before. It reflects both the Kremlin's push for greater international clout and a concern shared by other countries that soaring U.S. budget deficits could spur inflation and weaken the dollar.
Airing it at a summit meeting underlined the challenge to U.S. clout.
Medvedev spoke at a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which includes China and four Central Asian nations.
Later Tuesday he hosts a summit of the BRIC group of leading emerging economies — Brazil, Russia, India and China.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
YEKATERINBURG, Russia (AP) — Russia played regional power broker Monday, hosting China and Central Asian nations for a summit that highlights the Kremlin's efforts to maintain clout in former Soviet territory and raise its profile in Afghanistan.
Moscow is expected to use the meeting of leaders from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to try to cement the six-nation group as a counterbalance to the U.S. presence in strategic Central Asia.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev opened the two-day meeting by saying the group would discuss the global financial crisis as well as the key issue the organization was created to address: regional security.
"Our organization has been created quite recently, but it has scored quite serious progress," he said.
Late Monday, Medvedev had what he called a "most productive and useful" meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and he promised that Russia will help Afghanistan create "an efficient political system."
"We are very thankful for the assistance that Russia has given Afghanistan," Karzai responded, "particularly over the last seven years, during this difficult period of history when we have been fighting terrorism."
At a meeting later with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, Medvedev said all nations needed to work together to fight terrorism — a call he repeated after he, Zardari and Karzai held a final meeting together.
"Many issues including the most difficult challenges our nations are facing today, such as terrorism and crime, can only be fought with collective efforts," Medvedev said. "If we can create efficient workable trilateral mechanism, that will benefit our nations."
The 8-year-old Shanghai Cooperation Organization is dominated by Russia and China and includes Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, with countries such as India, Iran and Pakistan holding observer status.
Medvedev also was expected to meet with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The Iranian leader postponed his arrival in this Ural Mountains city until Tuesday, according to the Iranian Embassy in Moscow, during protests in Iran over his bitterly disputed re-election.
Amid efforts by Washington and Moscow to improve strained ties, the summit will be watched for signs of stronger support from Russia and its neighbors for American-led operations in Afghanistan. That will be a signal of the depth of Russia's determination to mend fences with the United States at a time of warming relations between the two countries.
While Moscow and its neighbors have stressed solidarity with the West on the need for stability in Afghanistan, Kremlin critics say they have used their combined clout in the past to confound U.S. efforts.
In 2005, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization supported Uzbekistan's eviction of U.S. forces from a base supporting operations in Afghanistan. In February, Kyrgyzstan announced it would evict U.S. forces from their only other Central Asian base — a decision widely seen as influenced by Russia. U.S. officials have said there is still hope for a deal to keep use of the Manas base.
Karzai has appealed to Kyrgyzstan to let coalition forces continue using Manas, and the Afghan leader could meet his Kyrgyz counterpart for talks during the summit.
Kremlin foreign affairs adviser Sergei Prikhodko said Sunday that the Shanghai Cooperation Organization has seen "more transparency" from the administration of President Barack Obama on U.S. policy toward Afghanistan and Pakistan. "The niches of interaction with Western countries, including the U.S., may be widened," he said.
Russia and the Central Asian countries already have allowed the transport of non-lethal military supplies across their territory.
Prikhodko did not say what the nations might do to increase cooperation, but made it clear they want a greater say in resolving the situation in Afghanistan.
Prikhodko also said the leaders will discuss broader security issues and the global financial crisis, as well as the situation on the Korean peninsula, but that no major statement on North Korea's nuclear activity was expected.
The summit will be followed late Tuesday by the first full-fledged summit of BRIC, a group linking the emerging economies Brazil, Russia, India and China.
Medvedev may repeat Russia's call for a new global reserve currency to augment the dollar, but Russia's finance minister over the weekend suggested that the dollar would remain the currency of choice for years to come.
2 hours ago
YEKATERINBURG, Russia (AP) — Russian President Dmitry Medvedev says the world needs new reserve currencies.
Medvedev told a regional summit Tuesday that the creation of new reserve currencies in addition to the dollar is needed to stabilize global finances.
Medvedev has made the proposal before. It reflects both the Kremlin's push for greater international clout and a concern shared by other countries that soaring U.S. budget deficits could spur inflation and weaken the dollar.
Airing it at a summit meeting underlined the challenge to U.S. clout.
Medvedev spoke at a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which includes China and four Central Asian nations.
Later Tuesday he hosts a summit of the BRIC group of leading emerging economies — Brazil, Russia, India and China.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
YEKATERINBURG, Russia (AP) — Russia played regional power broker Monday, hosting China and Central Asian nations for a summit that highlights the Kremlin's efforts to maintain clout in former Soviet territory and raise its profile in Afghanistan.
Moscow is expected to use the meeting of leaders from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to try to cement the six-nation group as a counterbalance to the U.S. presence in strategic Central Asia.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev opened the two-day meeting by saying the group would discuss the global financial crisis as well as the key issue the organization was created to address: regional security.
"Our organization has been created quite recently, but it has scored quite serious progress," he said.
Late Monday, Medvedev had what he called a "most productive and useful" meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and he promised that Russia will help Afghanistan create "an efficient political system."
"We are very thankful for the assistance that Russia has given Afghanistan," Karzai responded, "particularly over the last seven years, during this difficult period of history when we have been fighting terrorism."
At a meeting later with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, Medvedev said all nations needed to work together to fight terrorism — a call he repeated after he, Zardari and Karzai held a final meeting together.
"Many issues including the most difficult challenges our nations are facing today, such as terrorism and crime, can only be fought with collective efforts," Medvedev said. "If we can create efficient workable trilateral mechanism, that will benefit our nations."
The 8-year-old Shanghai Cooperation Organization is dominated by Russia and China and includes Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, with countries such as India, Iran and Pakistan holding observer status.
Medvedev also was expected to meet with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The Iranian leader postponed his arrival in this Ural Mountains city until Tuesday, according to the Iranian Embassy in Moscow, during protests in Iran over his bitterly disputed re-election.
Amid efforts by Washington and Moscow to improve strained ties, the summit will be watched for signs of stronger support from Russia and its neighbors for American-led operations in Afghanistan. That will be a signal of the depth of Russia's determination to mend fences with the United States at a time of warming relations between the two countries.
While Moscow and its neighbors have stressed solidarity with the West on the need for stability in Afghanistan, Kremlin critics say they have used their combined clout in the past to confound U.S. efforts.
In 2005, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization supported Uzbekistan's eviction of U.S. forces from a base supporting operations in Afghanistan. In February, Kyrgyzstan announced it would evict U.S. forces from their only other Central Asian base — a decision widely seen as influenced by Russia. U.S. officials have said there is still hope for a deal to keep use of the Manas base.
Karzai has appealed to Kyrgyzstan to let coalition forces continue using Manas, and the Afghan leader could meet his Kyrgyz counterpart for talks during the summit.
Kremlin foreign affairs adviser Sergei Prikhodko said Sunday that the Shanghai Cooperation Organization has seen "more transparency" from the administration of President Barack Obama on U.S. policy toward Afghanistan and Pakistan. "The niches of interaction with Western countries, including the U.S., may be widened," he said.
Russia and the Central Asian countries already have allowed the transport of non-lethal military supplies across their territory.
Prikhodko did not say what the nations might do to increase cooperation, but made it clear they want a greater say in resolving the situation in Afghanistan.
Prikhodko also said the leaders will discuss broader security issues and the global financial crisis, as well as the situation on the Korean peninsula, but that no major statement on North Korea's nuclear activity was expected.
The summit will be followed late Tuesday by the first full-fledged summit of BRIC, a group linking the emerging economies Brazil, Russia, India and China.
Medvedev may repeat Russia's call for a new global reserve currency to augment the dollar, but Russia's finance minister over the weekend suggested that the dollar would remain the currency of choice for years to come.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Saturday, June 06, 2009
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Exploding debt threatens America
John Taylor
Published: May 26 2009 20:48 | Last updated: May 26 2009 20:48
Standard and Poor’s decision to downgrade its outlook for British sovereign debt from “stable” to “negative” should be a wake-up call for the US Congress and administration. Let us hope they wake up.
Under President Barack Obama’s budget plan, the federal debt is exploding. To be precise, it is rising – and will continue to rise – much faster than gross domestic product, a measure of America’s ability to service it. The federal debt was equivalent to 41 per cent of GDP at the end of 2008; the Congressional Budget Office projects it will increase to 82 per cent of GDP in 10 years. With no change in policy, it could hit 100 per cent of GDP in just another five years.
“A government debt burden of that [100 per cent] level, if sustained, would in Standard & Poor’s view be incompatible with a triple A rating,” as the risk rating agency stated last week.
I believe the risk posed by this debt is systemic and could do more damage to the economy than the recent financial crisis. To understand the size of the risk, take a look at the numbers that Standard and Poor’s considers. The deficit in 2019 is expected by the CBO to be $1,200bn (€859bn, £754bn). Income tax revenues are expected to be about $2,000bn that year, so a permanent 60 per cent across-the-board tax increase would be required to balance the budget. Clearly this will not and should not happen. So how else can debt service payments be brought down as a share of GDP?
Inflation will do it. But how much? To bring the debt-to-GDP ratio down to the same level as at the end of 2008 would take a doubling of prices. That 100 per cent increase would make nominal GDP twice as high and thus cut the debt-to-GDP ratio in half, back to 41 from 82 per cent. A 100 per cent increase in the price level means about 10 per cent inflation for 10 years. But it would not be that smooth – probably more like the great inflation of the late 1960s and 1970s with boom followed by bust and recession every three or four years, and a successively higher inflation rate after each recession.
The fact that the Federal Reserve is now buying longer-term Treasuries in an effort to keep Treasury yields low adds credibility to this scary story, because it suggests that the debt will be monetised. That the Fed may have a difficult task reducing its own ballooning balance sheet to prevent inflation increases the risks considerably. And 100 per cent inflation would, of course, mean a 100 per cent depreciation of the dollar. Americans would have to pay $2.80 for a euro; the Japanese could buy a dollar for Y50; and gold would be $2,000 per ounce. This is not a forecast, because policy can change; rather it is an indication of how much systemic risk the government is now creating.
Why might Washington sleep through this wake-up call? You can already hear the excuses.
“We have an unprecedented financial crisis and we must run unprecedented deficits.” While there is debate about whether a large deficit today provides economic stimulus, there is no economic theory or evidence that shows that deficits in five or 10 years will help to get us out of this recession. Such thinking is irresponsible. If you believe deficits are good in bad times, then the responsible policy is to try to balance the budget in good times. The CBO projects that the economy will be back to delivering on its potential growth by 2014. A responsible budget would lay out proposals for balancing the budget by then rather than aim for trillion-dollar deficits.
“But we will cut the deficit in half.” CBO analysts project that the deficit will be the same in 2019 as the administration estimates for 2010, a zero per cent cut.
“We inherited this mess.” The debt was 41 per cent of GDP at the end of 1988, President Ronald Reagan’s last year in office, the same as at the end of 2008, President George W. Bush’s last year in office. If one thinks policies from Reagan to Bush were mistakes does it make any sense to double down on those mistakes, as with the 80 per cent debt-to-GDP level projected when Mr Obama leaves office?
The time for such excuses is over. They paint a picture of a government that is not working, one that creates risks rather than reduces them. Good government should be a nonpartisan issue. I have written that government actions and interventions in the past several years caused, prolonged and worsened the financial crisis. The problem is that policy is getting worse not better. Top government officials, including the heads of the US Treasury, the Fed, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Securities and Exchange Commission are calling for the creation of a powerful systemic risk regulator to reign in systemic risk in the private sector. But their government is now the most serious source of systemic risk.
The good news is that it is not too late. There is time to wake up, to make a mid-course correction, to get back on track. Many blame the rating agencies for not telling us about systemic risks in the private sector that lead to this crisis. Let us not ignore them when they try to tell us about the risks in the government sector that will lead to the next one.
The writer, a professor of economics at Stanford and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, is the author of Getting Off Track: How Government Actions and Interventions Caused, Prolonged, and Worsened the Financial Crisis
John Taylor
Published: May 26 2009 20:48 | Last updated: May 26 2009 20:48
Standard and Poor’s decision to downgrade its outlook for British sovereign debt from “stable” to “negative” should be a wake-up call for the US Congress and administration. Let us hope they wake up.
Under President Barack Obama’s budget plan, the federal debt is exploding. To be precise, it is rising – and will continue to rise – much faster than gross domestic product, a measure of America’s ability to service it. The federal debt was equivalent to 41 per cent of GDP at the end of 2008; the Congressional Budget Office projects it will increase to 82 per cent of GDP in 10 years. With no change in policy, it could hit 100 per cent of GDP in just another five years.
“A government debt burden of that [100 per cent] level, if sustained, would in Standard & Poor’s view be incompatible with a triple A rating,” as the risk rating agency stated last week.
I believe the risk posed by this debt is systemic and could do more damage to the economy than the recent financial crisis. To understand the size of the risk, take a look at the numbers that Standard and Poor’s considers. The deficit in 2019 is expected by the CBO to be $1,200bn (€859bn, £754bn). Income tax revenues are expected to be about $2,000bn that year, so a permanent 60 per cent across-the-board tax increase would be required to balance the budget. Clearly this will not and should not happen. So how else can debt service payments be brought down as a share of GDP?
Inflation will do it. But how much? To bring the debt-to-GDP ratio down to the same level as at the end of 2008 would take a doubling of prices. That 100 per cent increase would make nominal GDP twice as high and thus cut the debt-to-GDP ratio in half, back to 41 from 82 per cent. A 100 per cent increase in the price level means about 10 per cent inflation for 10 years. But it would not be that smooth – probably more like the great inflation of the late 1960s and 1970s with boom followed by bust and recession every three or four years, and a successively higher inflation rate after each recession.
The fact that the Federal Reserve is now buying longer-term Treasuries in an effort to keep Treasury yields low adds credibility to this scary story, because it suggests that the debt will be monetised. That the Fed may have a difficult task reducing its own ballooning balance sheet to prevent inflation increases the risks considerably. And 100 per cent inflation would, of course, mean a 100 per cent depreciation of the dollar. Americans would have to pay $2.80 for a euro; the Japanese could buy a dollar for Y50; and gold would be $2,000 per ounce. This is not a forecast, because policy can change; rather it is an indication of how much systemic risk the government is now creating.
Why might Washington sleep through this wake-up call? You can already hear the excuses.
“We have an unprecedented financial crisis and we must run unprecedented deficits.” While there is debate about whether a large deficit today provides economic stimulus, there is no economic theory or evidence that shows that deficits in five or 10 years will help to get us out of this recession. Such thinking is irresponsible. If you believe deficits are good in bad times, then the responsible policy is to try to balance the budget in good times. The CBO projects that the economy will be back to delivering on its potential growth by 2014. A responsible budget would lay out proposals for balancing the budget by then rather than aim for trillion-dollar deficits.
“But we will cut the deficit in half.” CBO analysts project that the deficit will be the same in 2019 as the administration estimates for 2010, a zero per cent cut.
“We inherited this mess.” The debt was 41 per cent of GDP at the end of 1988, President Ronald Reagan’s last year in office, the same as at the end of 2008, President George W. Bush’s last year in office. If one thinks policies from Reagan to Bush were mistakes does it make any sense to double down on those mistakes, as with the 80 per cent debt-to-GDP level projected when Mr Obama leaves office?
The time for such excuses is over. They paint a picture of a government that is not working, one that creates risks rather than reduces them. Good government should be a nonpartisan issue. I have written that government actions and interventions in the past several years caused, prolonged and worsened the financial crisis. The problem is that policy is getting worse not better. Top government officials, including the heads of the US Treasury, the Fed, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Securities and Exchange Commission are calling for the creation of a powerful systemic risk regulator to reign in systemic risk in the private sector. But their government is now the most serious source of systemic risk.
The good news is that it is not too late. There is time to wake up, to make a mid-course correction, to get back on track. Many blame the rating agencies for not telling us about systemic risks in the private sector that lead to this crisis. Let us not ignore them when they try to tell us about the risks in the government sector that will lead to the next one.
The writer, a professor of economics at Stanford and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, is the author of Getting Off Track: How Government Actions and Interventions Caused, Prolonged, and Worsened the Financial Crisis
Monday, May 25, 2009
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Monday, May 18, 2009
Saturday, May 16, 2009
see our work:
The Dead Photographers Society
May 12 - June 12, 2009
Reception: Saturday, May 16, 2009 (6-8 p.m.)
Enjoy a visual feast of black and white photography during the Dead Photographers Society exhibition at the Ice House Cultural Center. This collection of photographs includes landscape, portraiture and other subject matter by artists from the DFW region.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Sunday, May 10, 2009
US, Costa Rica swine flu deaths reported
SEATTLE – The number of swine flu-related deaths outside Mexico has inched up to five with the U.S. reporting its third fatality and Costa Rica its first, both involving men who also had underlying illnesses.
The number of confirmed cases of the infection in the U.S. has risen to 2,532 in 44 states, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Sunday.
Washington state health officials said the victim there was a man in his 30s who had underlying heart conditions and viral pneumonia when he died Thursday from what appeared to be complications from swine flu. The state Department of Health said in a statement Saturday that swine flu was considered a factor in his death.
"We're working with local and federal partners to track this outbreak," said Washington State Secretary of Health Mary Selecky.
The man was not further identified. He began showing symptoms on April 30, and was treated with anti-viral medication. Dr. Gary Goldbaum, Snohomish Health District medical director, said medical officials hadn't been able to isolate any "risk factors" for the man to identify where he might have been exposed.
The death of a 53-year-old man in Costa Rica on Saturday was the first involving swine flu outside North America. He also suffered from diabetes and chronic lung disease, the Health Ministry said.
Most of the victims in Mexico, the center of the outbreak where 48 people with swine flu have died, have been adults aged 20 to 49, and many had no reported complicating factors.
Previously, U.S. authorities reported swine flu deaths of a toddler with a heart defect and a woman with rheumatoid arthritis, and Canadian officials said the woman who died there also had other health problems but gave no details.
Mexico, which raised its count of confirmed cases to 1,626 based on tests of earlier patients, has been gradually lifting a nationwide shutdown of schools, businesses, churches and soccer stadiums.
But an upswing in suspected — though not confirmed — cases in parts of Mexico prompted authorities in at least six of the country's 31 states to delay plans to let primary school students return to class Monday after a two-week break.
"It has been very stable ... except for those states," Health Department spokesman Carlos Olmos said, referring to states in central and southern Mexico.
Mexican health authorities released a breakdown of the first 45 of the country's 48 flu deaths that showed that 84 percent of the victims were between the ages of 20 and 54. Only 2.2 percent were immune-depressed, and none had a history of respiratory disease.
___
Marshall reported from Seattle; Jimenez reported from San Jose, Costa Rica.
Saturday, May 09, 2009
George Fuller lost his bid to become McKinney's next mayor tonight, but made a strong showing with 40% of the vote!
The really sad thing here is that by some accounts the voter turnout was only 11%...proving once again that as long as people's personal comfort zone is not affected they are just not going to get in a big hurry to participate in the democratic process and exercise one of the most basic rights they have, which is to elect the candidate of their choice for political office...
Thursday, May 07, 2009
Monday, May 04, 2009
WHO head indicates full flu pandemic to be declared
Mon May 4, 2009 10:58am BST
By Ben Harding and Laura MacInnis
MADRID/GENEVA (Reuters) - The World Health Organization is likely to raise its flu alert to the top of its six-point scale and declare a pandemic, its director-general indicated in an interview published on Monday.
In remarks setting the scene for another alert increase, but without saying when, WHO chief Margaret Chan warned against over-confidence following a stabilization in the number of new cases of the H1N1 strain that has proved deadly in Mexico.
"Level 6 does not mean, in any way, that we are facing the end of the world. It is important to make this clear because (otherwise) when we announce level 6 it will cause an unnecessary panic," she told Spanish newspaper El Pais.
"Flu viruses are very unpredictable, very deceptive ... We should not be over-confident. One must not give H1N1 the opportunity to mix with other viruses. That is why we are on alert."
The WHO's pandemic phases reflect views about how a virus is spreading, and not how severe its effects are.
Last week the United Nations agency raised the alert level twice, from 3 to the current 5, in response to the sustained transmission of H1N1 in Mexico and the United States.
Before issuing a level 6 alert, the WHO would need to see the virus spreading within communities in Europe or Asia.
A declaration of a full pandemic would send a signal to governments worldwide to institute their pandemic response plans, which may include measures affecting hospitals, schools or public events.
Phase 6 would also trigger increased support for developing countries which lack the drugs, diagnostic tests, and medical staff to respond appropriately to the flu that the WHO has said could be especially dangerous for people with HIV/AIDS.
While the top-level alert would not have an automatic effect on the world's flu vaccine production, the WHO is expected to make an announcement alongside any such declaration to specify whether manufacturers should switch from making seasonal to pandemic flu vaccines.
In her remarks to El Pais, Chan said that weather patterns could play an important role in how the flu continues to spread. The southern hemisphere is about to enter winter, when seasonal flu cases normally spike, the infectious disease expert said.
"We have to be very careful. No one can predict what is going to happen when countries in the south have flu peaks and this new one arrives -- which it is going to do, without a doubt," she said.
On Sunday, a WHO spokesman said the relatively large number of infections in Spain of what has been commonly known as swine flu -- at 40, according to the WHO's count -- seemed to be mainly "imported" cases involving people returning from Mexico, the epicenter of the disease outbreak.
Chan echoed this and said that so far, there were not many flu patients in Europe that have not been to Mexico or had direct contact with those who had.
"It is true that the number is small, but because of that I would say that we have not seen the full situation or the whole picture of what is happening. The situation is evolving and the virus is changing," she said.
Chan, who fought SARS and bird flu in her previous job as Hong Kong's health director, said it was too early to predict what proportion of the population would catch the new flu strain after the European Union predicted 40 percent of the population would become infected.
Mon May 4, 2009 10:58am BST
By Ben Harding and Laura MacInnis
MADRID/GENEVA (Reuters) - The World Health Organization is likely to raise its flu alert to the top of its six-point scale and declare a pandemic, its director-general indicated in an interview published on Monday.
In remarks setting the scene for another alert increase, but without saying when, WHO chief Margaret Chan warned against over-confidence following a stabilization in the number of new cases of the H1N1 strain that has proved deadly in Mexico.
"Level 6 does not mean, in any way, that we are facing the end of the world. It is important to make this clear because (otherwise) when we announce level 6 it will cause an unnecessary panic," she told Spanish newspaper El Pais.
"Flu viruses are very unpredictable, very deceptive ... We should not be over-confident. One must not give H1N1 the opportunity to mix with other viruses. That is why we are on alert."
The WHO's pandemic phases reflect views about how a virus is spreading, and not how severe its effects are.
Last week the United Nations agency raised the alert level twice, from 3 to the current 5, in response to the sustained transmission of H1N1 in Mexico and the United States.
Before issuing a level 6 alert, the WHO would need to see the virus spreading within communities in Europe or Asia.
A declaration of a full pandemic would send a signal to governments worldwide to institute their pandemic response plans, which may include measures affecting hospitals, schools or public events.
Phase 6 would also trigger increased support for developing countries which lack the drugs, diagnostic tests, and medical staff to respond appropriately to the flu that the WHO has said could be especially dangerous for people with HIV/AIDS.
While the top-level alert would not have an automatic effect on the world's flu vaccine production, the WHO is expected to make an announcement alongside any such declaration to specify whether manufacturers should switch from making seasonal to pandemic flu vaccines.
In her remarks to El Pais, Chan said that weather patterns could play an important role in how the flu continues to spread. The southern hemisphere is about to enter winter, when seasonal flu cases normally spike, the infectious disease expert said.
"We have to be very careful. No one can predict what is going to happen when countries in the south have flu peaks and this new one arrives -- which it is going to do, without a doubt," she said.
On Sunday, a WHO spokesman said the relatively large number of infections in Spain of what has been commonly known as swine flu -- at 40, according to the WHO's count -- seemed to be mainly "imported" cases involving people returning from Mexico, the epicenter of the disease outbreak.
Chan echoed this and said that so far, there were not many flu patients in Europe that have not been to Mexico or had direct contact with those who had.
"It is true that the number is small, but because of that I would say that we have not seen the full situation or the whole picture of what is happening. The situation is evolving and the virus is changing," she said.
Chan, who fought SARS and bird flu in her previous job as Hong Kong's health director, said it was too early to predict what proportion of the population would catch the new flu strain after the European Union predicted 40 percent of the population would become infected.
Friday, May 01, 2009
Lewisville Independent School District
http://www.lisd.net/
http://www.lisd.net/
Added: May 1, 2009 - 2:22 p.m. - Parent & Staff Letters, AP Information
To Parents:
In cooperation with the Denton County Health Department and its assessment of the
increasing number of probable cases of H1N1 (swine flu), Type A and Influenza-like
illnesses within our district, the health department supports the district-wide closing of
school from Monday, May 4 through Friday, May 8. Students and staff will not have to
makeup days lost due to the swine flu school closures.
Symptoms of the swine flu are similar to the regular seasonal flu. Swine flu symptoms include: high fever of 100.5 or higher, severe headache, muscle and body aches, chills, fatigue, vomiting and diarrhea. If your child has any of these symptoms, please call your child's doctor immediately.
Our district’s top priority is the safety and welfare of our students and staff; and therefore we are taking the Denton County Heath Department’s directives seriously. We recognize that closing our schools will cause a hardship for our families; however, we want to ensure our schools are safe and conducive learning environments.
Continue to visit our district’s website at www.LISD.net for updates. If you have any
questions, please feel free to call the district’s Communications Office at 469.948.8152.
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