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18 Apr 2011 09:52

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Biz: Amid deficit, S&P warns about U.S. credit-rating dangers afoot

  • Because the U.S. has, relative to its ‘AAA’ peers, what we consider to be very large budget deficits and rising government indebtedness and the path to addressing these is not clear to us, we have revised our outlook on the long-term rating to negative from stable.
  • A statement from the Standard & Poor’s • Revealing that, while they affirmed the United States’ spectacular “AAA” credit rating, they were suggesting the the outlook of said credit rating could go negative in the future. They want the country to figure out its budget mess by 2013. “If an agreement is not reached and meaningful implementation is not begun by then,” they write. “this would in our view render the U.S. fiscal profile meaningfully weaker than that of peer ‘AAA’ sovereigns.” Feel that? That’s the grumble of the money beast, wanting to be fed. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Apr 2011 20:29

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Politics: Timothy Geithner: Republicans will raise the debt ceiling (I hope)

  • I want to make it perfectly clear that Congress will raise the debt ceiling. They recognize it and they told the president that on Wednesday in the White House and I sat there with them and they said, ‘We recognize we have to do this and we’re not going to play around with it, because we know the risk would catastrophic.’
  • Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner • Speaking with a hushed tone about the need to increase the debt ceiling, the kind of thing the GOP would possibly screw with the debt ceiling. The U.S. government has just $76 billion of breathing room right now, and need to pass an increase by July 8. Problem is, Republicans want a deal to go with this. “In addition to raising the debt limit we want financial controls, we want cuts in spending accompanying a raising of the debt ceiling.” said Paul “Fancypants” Ryan. “And that is what I believe they (Republican congressional leaders) told the president.” Oh God, they’re gonna screw this up. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

25 Feb 2011 21:02

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World: U.S.: We’re sanctioning the hell out of those jerks in Libya

  • closed The U.S. is closing up shop on its embassy in Libya, which is probably a good thing, considering the current situation.
  • blocked The U.S. will also put very tight sanctions on the country – including an arms embargo and a possible travel ban.
  • frozen? And to put a cherry on top of this pie, the U.S. has also told banks to watch out for shifting Libyan funds. source
  • » Oh yeah, and: U.S. spies will reportedly be keeping tabs on the situation in hopes of maybe nailing Gaddafi and the Libyan government for potential crimes against humanity. And the UN has similar plans in their sights. This, Gaddafi, is why you don’t attack your own civilians in an desperate attempt to hold onto power.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

10 Feb 2011 20:57

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World: Mubarak’s speech: Why the United States needs to look inward

  • “I can not and will not accept to be dictated orders from outside, no matter what the source is.” What makes a leader, in the face of international, media and local scrutiny, choose not to listen to repeated calls to resign? Who essentially shames his allies? A man whose statements are so transparent that not even his own people believe them? And why is it that the world allowed him to gain so much authority that he can’t easily be toppled from his position? There are a lot of questions tonight, and we’ve been parsing through them all afternoon. The fact that Mubarak was effectively supported by the United States makes the question marks much more pointed. As Americans, we need to learn how to encourage democracy at all costs, and focus less on what we gain – leverage in Israel, influence in a region, whatever. We can’t support another military state created by the United States. It’s ended in tears multiple times, and every time, Americans lose out monetarily, civilians lose their rights, and our world becomes a little more unstable. No more. This has to stop. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Feb 2011 10:16

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U.S., World: Problem: The U.S. can’t figure out how to nail Julian Assange

  • yeah … The United States wants to nail Julian Assange for convincing Bradley Manning to leak a bunch of confidential documents, so they can arrest him for espionage.
  • … but Problem is, the evidence they have does not suggest that Assange convinced Manning to do anything of the sort, though some Wikileaks officials have closer ties. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

08 Feb 2011 21:32

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World: Egypt gets strong scolding from U.S. over emergency law

  • Hey Egypt, your strongest ally is yelling at you. Here’s why. See, Egypt has this emergency law in place that allows them to detain protesters and other folks they don’t like without charge. And the United States doesn’t like this. Especially in the wake of comments that vice president Omar Suleiman made about the country not being ready for democracy. It also doesn’t help that he suggested that the government might step in to quell the protests. What does the U.S. think? Well, a few things, which they released in a statement today. First – Stop screwing with protesters. Second – Rescind an emergency law that allows the government to detain anyone for any reason. Third – Broaden the dialogue to allow opposition voices. And finally – Invite the opposition to the bargaining table. This hard line was needed before Suleiman was around, guys. Why did this guy get the golden ring, anyway? He’s terrible. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Feb 2011 22:43

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World: U.S. State Department: Plan to leave Egypt tomorrow, Americans

  • before The U.S. started offering Americans in Egypt an opportunity to get out of the increasingly-volatile country. Many took them up on it.
  • now The U.S. is telling Americans to go to the airport ASAP if they plan to go, because it’s unlikely they’ll fly out after Thursday. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

01 Feb 2011 22:23

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U.S.: Can anyone make out the United States on this map?

  • We think this is the United States. It looks like it has the outline of the U.S. But for some reason, there’s all this weird white stuff on top of it clouding out most of the details. Can anyone figure out what’s going on here? (thanks identitymisplaced) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

31 Jan 2011 10:20

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World: The U.S. starts evacuating American citizens out of Egypt

  • 2,400 Americans on the waiting list (so far) source
  • » Only around 219 have left so far: With 52,000 Americans situated in Egypt at the moment, getting them all out, or even a good portion, might be quite the ordeal. And it’s not a cheap one for the evacuees, either. The U.S. is having the evacuees sign a clause promising to pay the government back for the trip elsewhere. The “elsewhere” varies – one flight headed to Cyprus while another headed to Athens.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

30 Jan 2011 11:22

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World: United States, Turkey, Iraq encourage citizens to leave Egypt ASAP

It’s certainly not under the best of circumstances, what with the protests and all. The U.S. had previously suggested avoiding travel to the country. This is a step further than that. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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