Cake or Death: Syria's withdrawing because the UN said so? Yeah... right

Al Gore says global warming is YOUR fault!
"He betrayed this country! He played on our fears!"
You don't say...

September 18th, 2007

Fed Cuts Benchmark Rate Half Point, Seeking to Forestall Recession in U.S. - "The Federal Reserve lowered its benchmark interest rate by a half point to 4.75 percent, the first cut in four years, to protect the U.S. from sinking into a recession sparked by fallout from the housing-market collapse. 'Today's action is intended to help forestall some of the adverse effects on the broader economy that might otherwise arise from the disruptions in financial markets,' the Federal Open Market Committee said in a statement after meeting today in Washington. The central bank will 'act as needed to foster price stability and sustainable economic growth.' Stocks surged, two-year Treasury notes rose and the dollar fell to a record low against the euro. The larger-than-forecast reduction suggests Chairman Ben S. Bernanke is prepared to leave himself open to criticism that he's rescuing investors from bad decisions for the sake of saving the six-year expansion."
U.S. Producer Prices Drop More Than Forecast; Foreclosures on Homes Double - "The 1.4 percent decrease, the biggest since October, followed a 0.6 percent increase in July, the Labor Department said today in Washington. So-called core prices, which exclude fuel and food costs, rose 0.2 percent after a 0.1 percent gain the month before. Slower inflation gave policy makers room to cut their benchmark rate today in an effort to sustain the expansion in the face of a housing recession. A drop in fuel expenses pushed prices down in August and cooling economic growth will continue to restrain raw-material costs, economists said."

September 14th, 2007

U.S. Retail Sales, Output Rise Less Than Forecast, Adding to Rate-Cut Case - "The 0.3 percent increase in sales during August followed a revised 0.5 percent gain in July, the Commerce Department said today in Washington. Purchases excluding automobiles unexpectedly fell 0.4 percent. Production gained 0.2 percent, with factory output declining for the first time since February. While a report from the University of Michigan and Reuters Group Plc showed consumer confidence increased, their sentiment index remained near the lowest level in a year. Treasury notes rallied after the retail sales and production reports, before losing the gains."

September 13th, 2007

Greenspan Says He Didn't Foresee Credit Rout, Endorses Bernanke, CBS Says - "Current Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke 'is doing an excellent job,' Greenspan said in an interview on the 60 Minutes program, according to excerpts e-mailed by CBS today. The show is scheduled to air on Sept. 16, a day before the publication of Greenspan's book, 'The Age of Turbulence.' The remarks come amid criticism among some investors that Bernanke has failed to be as forceful as his predecessor in responding to financial turmoil. Greenspan in 1998 cut interest rates three times after a Russian debt default rippled through global markets. Bernanke's Fed has refrained from lowering its benchmark so far, relying on other tools to provide liquidity."
Commercial-Paper Market Decline in U.S. Slows as Concerns Over Credit Ease - "U.S. stocks rose and Treasuries fell after the Federal Reserve reported short-term debt dropped by $8.2 billion, compared with a decline of $31.3 billion a week earlier. That coincided with Countrywide Financial Corp. obtaining new financing and banks finding buyers for loans to fund Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.'s buyout of Alliance Boots. Issuers with the biggest chance of default had stopped trying to sell commercial paper, rekindling appetite for short- term debt, said Tony Crescenzi, chief bond market strategist at Miller Tabak & Co. in New York. 'Investors have already pushed out the weakest issuers,' Crescenzi said in an e-mail. 'The commercial paper that remains is a relatively more respected crop.'"

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Name: jwookie

Location: Temecula, California, United States

I'm just a normal guy who was trying for medical school and ended up in finance. I'm not quite sure how I got here, but there aren't alot of hippie tree-huggers in finance, so I might stick around for a while. Other than that I'm spending time with my wife and dog, working out at the gym, sports (baseball mostly, but I'll settle for basketball and football), reading, music, and more. In the end, my free time isn't very free, so I'll probably do most of my posting from work. Hopefully they think all that typing is me actually working.

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Friday, June 17, 2005

Syria's withdrawing because the UN said so? Yeah... right

UNITED NATIONS (AP)-[off the wire, no link]-Syrian President Bashar Assad has pledged to work with the United Nations to ensure full implementation of a U.N. resolution demanding the withdrawal of Syrian troops and security forces from Lebanon, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Thursday.

Annan sent a U.N. team to Lebanon last week to check reports that Syrian intelligence officials may still be operating in the country, in violation of Security Council resolution 1559.

In response to the reports, the secretary-general said he sent a letter to Assad through his envoy, Terje Roed-Larsen, "urging him that we and the Syrian government and all the parties concerned work together for the full implementation of resolution 1559."

During a two-hour meeting with Assad in Damascus on Sunday, "Larsen did get the assurance that they are prepared to work with us to fully implement 1559, and we are going to maintain the engagement," Annan said.

The verification team is working, the secretary-general said, "and I hope that, at the end of their day, we will be able to give a report that will indicate what is happening or not happening."

While resolution 1559 was adopted in September, it was the Feb. 14 assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri, and the massive anti-Syrian protests it sparked, that spurred the Syrians to leave.

Puh-lease. Do you think they complying because Kofi said so, or perhaps because there are US troops sitting on their border?

And notice that the UN ratified the resolution about nine months ago. We've only been barking at them for the past couple months and when you talk with a big stick in your hands, people have a tendency to listen. Would you listen to the demands of a "verification team" that would probably pee their collective pants if you looked at them menacingly?

Neither would I.

UPDATE: House of Wheels has more on Kofi and a wish that he'd just resign so we could start to respect the UN again. HoW is right, it won't happen, but we can hope, can't we?

Link to me! Posted by jwookie : 9:30 AM

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