Japan and China lead flight from the dollar

By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, International Business Editor

Last Updated: 12:26am BST 18/10/2007

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/10/16/bcnchina116.xml

Japan and China led a record withdrawl of foreign funds from the United States in August, heightening fears of a fresh slide in the dollar and a spike in US bond yields.

• Fears of dollar collapse as Saudis take fright
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• Ambrose Evans-Pritchard: This bear is not capitulating

   

  	The US requires $70bn a month in capital inflows to cover its current account deficit

  Data from the US Treasury showed outflows of $163bn (£80bn) from all forms of US investments. "These numbers are absolutely stunning," said Marc Ostwald, an economist at Insinger de Beaufort.
  
  Asian investors dumped $52bn worth of US Treasury bonds alone, led by Japan ($23bn), China ($14.2bn) and Taiwan ($5bn). It is the first time since 1998 that foreigners have, on balance, sold Treasuries.

  Mr Ostwald warned that US bond yields could start to rise again unless the outflows reverse quickly. "Woe betide US Treasuries if inflation does not remain benign," he said.

  The release comes a day after the IMF warned that the dollar was still overvalued and likely to face "some depreciation in the medium term".

  The dollar's short-lived rally over recent days stopped abruptly on the data, increasing pressure on US Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson to shore up Washington's "strong dollar" rhetoric at the G7 summit this week.

  The Greenback has already fallen below parity against the Canadian Loonie for the first time since 1976 and has touched record lows against a global basket. It closed at $2.032 against the pound.

  David Woo, an analyst at Barclays Capital, said Washington was happy to see the dollar slide. "They don't care so long as the fall is not disorderly. They see it as a way of correcting the deficit. " he said.

• IMF raises spectre of UK house price correction
• Market forces: stay tuned to the markets
• Hedge funds target currency pegs

  Mr Woo said a chunk of the August outflows may have come from foreigners borrowing in the US during the liquidity crunch to meet needs in euros. "We think it may be a one-off," he said.

  The US requires $70bn a month in capital inflows to cover its current account deficit, but the key sources of finance are drying up one by one.

  BNP Paribas said America has relied on "hot money" from abroad to cover 25pc to 30pc of the US short-term credit and commercial paper market over the last two years.

  This flow is now in danger after the seizure in parts of the market over the summer and after the Federal Reserve's half point rate cut, which has shaved the US yield advantage over other countries.

  Ian Stannard, a Paribas currency analyst, said the data was "extremely negative" for the dollar. "It exceeds the worst fears. It is not just foreigners who are selling US assets. Americans are turning their back as well," he said.

  Central banks in Singapore, Korea, Taiwan, and Vietnam have all begun to cut purchases of US bonds, or signalled an intent to do so. In effect, they are giving up trying to hold down their currencies because the policy is starting to set off inflation.

  The Treasury data would have been even worse if it had not been for $60bn of inflows from hedge funds based in Britain and the Caymans, which needed to cover US positions at the height of the credit crunch.

Pútín varpar ljósi á hræsni og tvöfeldni bandar. einflokksins

Hann vill að stjórn einflokksins tímasetji og fastsetji heimkvaðningu hernámsliðsins í Írak, nokkuð sem Bandar.menn vilja alls ekki gera. Þeir vilja hafa Írak undir hernámi og hafa verið í óða önn að byggja upp herstöðvar í því skyni. Það síðasta sem þeir vilja er friðsamt Írak þar sem þeir neyddust þá til að hafa sig á brott með hernámslið sitt. Því hafa bandar. og ísraelskir agentar róið skipulega undir ófriði og sundrungu í Írak síðustu árin og það er allt samkvæmt gömlu módeli sem Breska heimsveldið beitti miskunnarlaust í sinni rányrkju og fjöldamorðum víða um heim og snýst um að deila og drottna.

Pútín vill að Bandaríkin tímasetji brottför hers síns frá Írak

Guð og strumparnir

Björn Bjarna bullar ...

Björn Bjarnason: Lýðveldið og guðleg forsjón. Þegar ég hugsa til ræðumannanna, sem stóðu á Lögbergi fyrir 60 árum og lofuðu gæsku Guðs við íslensku þjóðina, held ég að hvorki þeim né nokkrum áheyrenda þeirra, hefði dottið í hug, að það yrði hugsanlega notað til gagnrýni á þá, að þeir vísuðu til handleiðslu Guðs almáttugs. Í apríl síðastliðnum ræddi ég gildi bænarinnar á prestastefnu og varð það tilefni greinar í Morgunblaðinu, þar sem höfundur sagði meðal annars: „Ég vil setja stórt spurningarmerki við dómgreind þeirra sem telja sig þess umkomna að halda því fram að þeir hafi fengið guðlega leiðsögn. Er ekki mannkynssagan full af ráðamönnum þjóða og kirkna sem farið hafa hamförum í sínu sambandi við óútskýranlegar verur?“ Með öðrum orðum, góðir áheyrendur, nú á dögum, þegar stjórnmálamenn leyfa sér að ræða gildi bænarinnar og lýsa trausti sínu á hina guðlegu forsjón eru þeir ávíttir fyrir að telja sig í samandi við „óútskýranlegar verur.“ Greinarhöfundur vill, að skynsemi, rökhyggja og mat á öllum aðstæðum ráði, þegar stjórnmálamenn eða aðrir taka ákvarðanir. Ég er sammála því. En ég spyr: Hver verður verri af því, að sækja styrk til þess, sem fullvissar okkur um, að hver sá öðlist, sem biður, sá finni, sem leitar, og fyrir þeim, sem á knýr, muni upp lokið verða. Náð og blessun eru góðir förunautar og bæn um leiðsögn til þess, sem hefur öll ráð í hendi sér, spillir ekki neinni ákvörðun. ... Megi góður Guð halda verndarhendi sinni áfram yfir Íslandi og Íslendingum!

2004.

http://www.bjorn.is/greinar/2004/06/17/nr/2798

Bush og einkavinir hans hafa áhyggjur af geimveruógn (sem verður enn arðbærari fyrir þá en terrorkjaftæðið).

Bush Plans Defence Stance Against Aliens

MSNBC

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pvk4dxfjDs

Kjánar 0 - Klárir 14

Komonn, Björn Bjarna og einhverjir jólasveinar á hans vegum sáu um að grafa Villa greyið. Þetta er alveg tútal lið.

The Elephant In The Room:Kevin McPadden, 9/11-1st Responder

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STbD9XMCOho

US man faces potential 30-year prison sentence for stealing a doughnut

The Associated Press
Published: October 7, 2007

International Herald Tribune

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/10/07/america/NA-GEN-US-Doughnut-Theft.php

A Missouri man could potentially face a 30-year prison sentence for stealing a doughnut from a store.

Scott A. Masters, 41, of Park Hills, Missouri, has been charged with felony second-degree robbery in the theft of a 52-cent doughut from a Country Mart in Farmington, about 70 miles (113 kilometers) south of St. Louis. Store employees said he slipped the doughnut into his sweat shirt without paying last December, then pushed away a clerk who tried to stop him as he fled the store.

The push is being treated as minor assault, which transforms a misdemeanor shoplifting charge into a strong-armed robbery with a potential prison term of five to 15 years. Given Masters' past criminal record, prosecutors could boost that sentence to 30 years to life.

"Strong-arm robbery? Over a doughnut? That's impossible," Masters told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper from jail. He admitted that he took the pastry but denied touching the female employee. "I've never had a violent crime in my life. And there's no way I would've pushed a woman over a doughnut."

Farmington Police Chief Rick Baker said state law treats the shoplifting and assault as forcibly stealing property. The amount of force and value of the property does not matter.....

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/10/07/america/NA-GEN-US-Doughnut-Theft.php

Can Physics Rewrite History?

Can Physics Rewrite History?

A compilation of physical impossibilities & overlooked evidence

in the official explanations for the destruction of the

World Trade Center Complex

by C. Thurston

updated 11/06

This report is divided into the following sections:

Introduction

The Structures

Considerations Regarding Fire

Fuel for the Fires

The Tower Impacts

The Official Theories

Dramatic Features of the Tower Destruction that are Ignored by All the Official Theories

The Mysterious Collapse of WTC7

Final Considerations and Conclusion

Introduction:

I feel a sense of urgency over this issue because it involves the dangerous influence of a powerful, highly organizing but factually incorrect set of beliefs that continues to have a strong hold on the minds of many Americans -- and many others as well. These beliefs inherently create an unconscious mental disconnect from factual reality that has been exploited as the basis for drastic changes in law and policy that would have been otherwise impossible.

I am wary of any belief -- whether it be mine or someone else's -- if it is formed with little or no substantial verification. I'm learning to consider the possibility that a tempting new belief may have been engineered to serve the purposes of others unknown to me.

My independent research efforts into this matter are of a volunteer nature and are motivated by a desire to learn the truth about these events. Even if you disagree with my conclusions I hope you can at least share my intentions. This report is primarily an information assist for others who may also be looking into these questions on their own.

The information presented here can be easily verified and/or expanded upon with simple internet searches. Many good sources are available. Independent research is a healthy exercise for anyone's critical and logical faculties -- it is also a profound opportunity to reclaim control of the future.

How were three steel frame high-rise structures completely destroyed on 9/11? Many conflicting theories are being put forward, but unlike most of history's unanswered puzzles, the destruction of the WTC Towers and the mysterious collapse of WTC7 are matters of physics. We cannot even begin to define the crime of 9/11 until we have a basic understanding of the indisputable physical events that we all witnessed. The consideration of who had the means, motive and opportunity can only begin once we know what actually happened!

Existing photographic and video evidence that has undisputed authenticity and is a part of the public record presents a number of striking problems with the belief that the airplanes initiated a chain of events that ultimately destroyed the Towers, and of course Building 7 was not hit by an airplane. To clearly see these problems, it is helpful to have a little background on materials behavior and the design of the Towers, and an awareness of some of the distinct and remarkable features of the events themselves. ........

http://www.truememes.com/911_physics.html

Gamalkunnug díalektísk trix sem ótrúlega margir falla fyrir

Sennilega er menntunarskorti um að kenna þegar menn kvarta yfir "fljótfærnislegum vinnubrögðum" og bla bla bla. Og/eða grunnhyggni, eitthvað er það.

Eitt af alelstu trixunum í bókinni er að setja á svið "krísu", bíða eftir fyrirsjáanlegum viðbrögðum og koma þá með fyrirfram ákveðnar "lausnir". Þessi orkufarsi er algjörlega eftir þessu díalektíska módeli og sumir hérna á blogginu skilja það greinilega en ótrúlega margir falla samt fyrir ódýrum og útslitnum leiksýningum af þessu tagi.

Breskir fasistar banna mótmælagöngu gegn stríði en án árangurs

Anti-Iraq war protest goes ahead

Hundreds of anti-war protesters took to the streets in 2005.

Anti-war protesters have marched down Whitehall to Parliament Square, despite being told the protest was illegal.

The Stop the War Coalition timed its protest to coincide with Gordon Brown's Commons statement on Iraq.

Students, campaigners and trade unions joined the rally in Trafalgar Square, before marching down to Parliament.

The group was told it could not march down Whitehall because of a law passed in 1839 which protects the right of MPs and peers to get to Westminster.

But a last-minute decision to let the march go ahead was hailed by organisers, who said they had struck a "significant blow" for democracy.

Protesters' determination

Lindsey German, convener of the Stop the War Coalition, said they had repeatedly been told they could not go ahead with the march - but said the authorities had underestimated their determination.

The protest coincided with Prime Minister Gordon Brown's statement to MPs, in which he said the plan was to reduce troop numbers to 2,500 by next spring - depending on conditions on the ground.

The attempt to ban this demonstration is an unacceptable assault on our civil liberties John McDonnell

Ms German said her message to the government was: "You will never draw a line under this war until you bring all our troops home."

Labour left-wing MP John McDonnell said the attempt to "ban" the protest had been "an unacceptable assault on our civil liberties".

Lawful protest

Respect MP George Galloway, currently suspended from the House of Commons after a row about his Mariam Appeal charity and his comments about standards watchdogs, said organisers had won a "significant victory".

Speaking at the start of the protest in Trafalgar Square, he said that Mr Brown saw Iraq as a "photo opportunity" but that it had been a "graveyard for a million Iraqis".

Other speakers included comedian Mark Thomas and Ben Griffin, a former SAS trooper.

Owen George, 21, who was at the protest in Parliament Square, said the demonstration was "amazing".

He said: "They managed to get into the square, which is very good. It's amazing how much freedom people do have in this country."

CND chairwoman Kate Hudson accused Mr Brown of trying to ban the protest - despite promising to extend liberties around the world at the Labour Party conference.

However, a Home Office spokeswoman said the march had not been "banned" and talks had been held to find a way of re-routing protesters.

The Metropolitan Police said it had worked with the coalition to "facilitate" a lawful protest.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "Our aim is to balance the right of the Stop the War Coalition to freedom of protest whilst maintaining the right of MPs and peers to conduct the business of either House whilst they are sitting."

BBC.COM

8/10/2007