<http://platosbeard.org/archives/306>
The big news is of course the elections in Pakistan --ravi
===== Wall St. Banks Confront a String of Write-Downs - NYT
URL:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/19/business/19banks.htmlex=1361077200&en=fe688fa0499bb530&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss
In recent weeks one part of the debt market after another has buckled.
High-risk loans used to finance corporate buyouts have plummeted in
value. Securities backed by commercial real estate mortgages and
student loans have fallen sharply. Even auction-rate securities,
arcane investments usually considered as safe as cash, have stumbled.
===== Clinton to fight for every delegate - msnbc.com
URL: http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/02/13/662535.aspx
“Could we possibly have a nominee who hasn’t won any of the
significant states — outside of Illinois?” Chief Strategist Mark Penn
said. “That raises some serious questions about Sen. Obama.”
Howard Wolfson, communications director, pointed out, “We do better
the more voters vote. The largest turnout primaries, by in large, are
the ones that have favored us. …The presidential election is not a
caucus; it’s an election for the most people to get out and vote.”
===== No Lull in Mortgage Pitches - NYT
URL:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/18/business/media/18foreclosure.htmlex=1360990800&en=059e78b52d62f689&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss
Countrywide Financial brags in its ads that “No one can do what
Countrywide can” and that “Countrywide can show you the way home.”
Wachovia ads feature an “Approved” stamp prominently at the top, and
Bank of America says, “Homeownership is the best medicine.”
===== Obama mania’s got all sides screaming
URL:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2008/02/18/2008-0218_obama_manias_got_all_sides_screaming.html
"If Hillary walked on water, she would be criticized for not
swimming," Lehane said. "And if Obama swam, he would be lauded for
being able to do what Hillary could not do."
===== Pakistanis Deal Severe Defeat to Musharraf in Election - NYT
URL:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/19/world/asia/19pstan.html_r=1&ex=1361077200&en=0969be8e2ea4a8d9&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&oref=slogin
Pakistanis dealt a crushing defeat to President Pervez Musharraf in
parliamentary elections on Monday, in what government and opposition
politicians said was a firm rejection of his policies since 2001 and
those of his close ally, the United States.
Almost all the leading figures in the Pakistan Muslim League-Q, the
party that has governed for the last five years under Mr. Musharraf,
lost their seats, including the leader of the party, the former
speaker of Parliament and six ministers.
===== The Afghanistan Conundrum: Germany Mulls Exit from Anti-Terror
Mission - SPIEGEL
URL: http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,535925,00.html
The German government is considering exiting the United States-led
anti-terror operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) in Afghanistan and has
already sent out feelers in Washington about the issue.
===== Bleak New Batch of Data on Economy - NYT
URL:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/15/business/15cnd-econ.html_r=1&ex=1360818000&en=592a1e2b786204ee&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&oref=slogin
With the price of oil near record levels, import costs grew in January
at the highest annual rate in a quarter century, the Labor Department
said. In New York, manufacturing activity fell to its lowest level in
five years. And consumers, responding to a national survey, said they
felt worse about the economy than any time since the recession era of
the early 1990s.
===== Black Leader, a Clinton Ally, Tilts to Obama - NYT
URL:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/15/us/politics/15clinton.html_r=2&ex=1360731600&en=adede1742201fbb8&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
Representative John Lewis, an elder statesman from the civil rights
era and one of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s most prominent black
supporters, said Thursday night that he planned to cast his vote as a
superdelegate for Senator Barack Obama in hopes of preventing a fight
at the Democratic convention.
===== BBC | Weak rise in US industrial output
URL: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7247093.stm
US industrial production rose a meagre 0.1% in January, official
figures have shown, the latest indication of weakness in the US economy.
===== House Holds Bush Aides in Contempt - NYT
URL:
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-White-House-Contempt.html_r=2&ex=1360731600&en=ccb27683df06e33e&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&oref=slogin&oref=login
The House voted Thursday to hold two of President Bush’s confidants in
contempt for failing to cooperate with an inquiry into whether a purge
of federal prosecutors was politically motivated.
