British dealing with similar credit crisis

From BBC News

Treasury to nationalise B&B bank

Parts of B&B are set to be sold on to another bank by the Treasury

Troubled bank Bradford & Bingley is to be nationalised, the BBC has learned.

Officials from the Treasury and the Financial Services Authority (FSA) have been in talks with executives from the bank in a bid to secure its future.

BBC News business editor Robert Peston says the Treasury will almost instantaneously sell to a bank, or a number of banks.

B&B's share price has plummeted and it has announced plans to cut 370 jobs due to the downturn in the mortgage market.

The bank will be nationalised using special legislation the Treasury put through when it took Northern Rock into public ownership earlier this year.

The measure is expected be announced on Sunday night or Monday morning.

Henry Kissinger not happy with Barack Obama

h/t eye on 08

Kissinger Unhappy About Obama

Henry Kissinger believes Barack Obama misstated his views on diplomacy with US adversaries and is not happy about being mischaracterized. He says: "Senator McCain is right. I would not recommend the next President of the United States engage in talks with Iran at the Presidential level. My views on this issue are entirely compatible with the views of my friend Senator John McCain. We do not agree on everything, but we do agree that any negotiations with Iran must be geared to reality."

Well, that about answers to that Obama lie.

This reply by Kissinger should find greater exposure to show that Obama really is out of his depth on foreign policy issues. Let's hope the Old Media corrects the record.

Follow election tweets on special twitter

Even though many of the tweets are liberal it does cause some great follow up conversations

clipped from election.twitter.com JohnMcCain: I Know, I know. It's the Times.: ABC News reports: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., reportedly.. http://tinyurl.com/529f64 BarackObama: Just launched a "Next Generation Veterans for Obama" video on YouTube. Watch it at http://tinyurl.com/4bfrc4 What’s this? We’re filtering hundreds of Twitter updates per minute to create a new source for gathering public opinion about the presidential election and a new way for you to share your thoughts. What do you think?

Kosovo - South Ossetia and Independance

I began writing some months ago on the Kosovo Independence situation, wondering aloud if this sets a precedent for other people groups to try and remove themselves from recognized nations in the world.

Gates of Vienna does a nice write up on some articles obviously relating Kosovo to the current problems in South Ossetia (Georgia) and other people groups in and around Russia.

If you were a United Nations expert, or even State Department expert in the US, what position would you take on these people groups attempting to establish independence worldwide. What is the affect on Israel, Pakistan, China, Russia, the Kurds in Iraq, or a whole host of Balkan and Caucasian nation-states?

Could race and language tensions be the "wall breakers" of our century? Where capitalism brought down the Soviet empire, can people groups bring down dictators in Russia, China, and Iran? Is there a silver lining possible?

International Round-up

During this campaign season I've become easily distracted by politics and the housing and mortgage industry.   Once in a while though I try to pause for an hour and get caught up on the rest of the world.  

The two sides in the major dispute in Zimbabwe have come to an agreement, full text is available online, now the juries will have to decide if this means real change or a continuation of dictatorship in the nation.  

More later, got busy this morning and never finished the post

Need - Input on powerpoint for college class

I could use input from bloggers on how to teach the value of blogging to college business class

clipped from nwiblogs.blogspot.com Business Communication - Blog? I was asked to teach-moderate a class at Valparaiso University this week (Friday) on blogging. I'm going to try and post my draft slides presentation for input and ideas from our readers.

Obama's adisors see problems brewing

First he chose a boring VP, then McCain chose an exciting one. Then he attacked Palin, and forgot he's running against McCain. Now, his advisors are getting antsy ... next comes a dwindling money supply

clipped from www.telegraph.co.uk Barack Obama under fire for ignoring advice on how to beat John McCain A senior Democratic strategist, who has played a prominent role in two presidential campaigns, told The Sunday Telegraph: "These guys are on the verge of blowing the greatest gimme in the history of American politics. They're the most arrogant bunch Ive ever seen. They won't accept that they are losing and they won't listen." The one thing everyone agrees the Obama camp have woken up to is the toxic effect on their chances of Mrs Palin's arrival on the national scene. Polls show that white women voters, attracted to her down home virtues, now support Mr McCain by a margin of 12 points, the same lead among white women that George W. Bush enjoyed over John Kerry in 2004. Until recently, Mr Obama led among that group of voters by six points.

Remember 9-11

For some reason major media didn't like this video, so of course I had to see it:


Some great posts that I read this morning:

"Seven years ago on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, America was changed forever. The peace and calm in New York and Washington, D.C., was shattered by terrorist hijackers. With it came the realization we faced a long war to defeat terrorism and preserve freedom." From The Foundry

"I wrote a long post and deleted it. Let’s just remember what we felt that day, how far we’ve come, and what you think might be important to consider going forward. Fair?" From Chris Brogan

"I remember nothing from right after the first building fell around 9:30 a.m., until 1:30 p.m., when an emergency worker asked me if I needed help and I said I guessed I did. My dog, Sammy, and I were taken to a hospital in Jersey City via ferry and then an ambulance. When we got on the ferry, my brave, beautiful golden dog, who led me away from the disaster so confidently, crawled onto my lap and every fiber of his enormous body shook for the next twenty minutes. I never thought they’d let me bring a 90-pound Lab into the hospital, but when we got out of the ambulance, they were so happy to see survivors that they welcomed us with open arms and even gave Sammy sandwiches and ice cream." From B.L. Ochman

"After years of taking a back seat to the conflict in Iraq, Afghanistan has re-emerged as a major national security concern and taken a central role" From NDTV.com India

"Strange, I took off work 9/11...then the kids came home early from school in a panic.

It was supposed to be just a day off for me. I just needed a day to catch up. A day for myself, the kids were back in school and I just wanted to get the house back in order. I wanted to do the fall clean up, iron clothes, clean up the yard, prepare for fall, and basically wanted a day to myself...a day off from work." Karen Monsour on Active Rain

"I am shocked that seven whole years have passed since September 11th, since of course, the memories of the day are so vivid that one would be forgiven for thinking that one only just lived through it. The vividness keeps the memories fresh. It keeps the outrage fresh as well and one should be outraged anew when remembering 9/11." From Redstate

Update: As for me and my house, we won't forget, and we'll cast our votes in two months for the leader that remembers 9-11 too.

President Bush yanks nuclear agreement with Russia

In continuing signs that the stand-off with Russia will continue into the foreseeable future:

Source: Reuters

WASHINGTON, Sept 8 (Reuters) - President George W. Bush has pulled a lucrative civilian nuclear accord with Russia, the State Department said on Monday, the first tangible U.S. penalty imposed on Russia after its war with Georgia.

The implications are chilling, we start cutting Russia off from the world. Russia continues to feel obliged to react and retaliate. I have posted numerous times on my Kosovo mini-blog, that cooler heads should prevail. Surely there is a way that South Ossetia can be given some form of self-determination as Kosovo was?

Leadership in energy resources - Sarah Palin

The last couple weeks I've been keeping an eye on oil markets, for the most part so I can better understand our options. I am calling for oil to drop to $80 by the end of the year. Glad to have some experts set me straight, but my thoughts:

First, Oil has risen in the

last year from $95.00 to close to $150. Why? IMHO it was demand increases coming from the Pacific Rim and China, as well as overall health of the world economy. Sure there was some irrational exuberance that fueled speculation as well. With monies flowing out of bond markets and housing related securities, hedge funds and investors wanted a place to get some kind of return.

The net effect of this huge upswing in oil prices was the obvious increase in gasoline prices to consumers, with gasoline swelling to $4.00. Finally at about $4.00 American consumers got sick of it and began cutting back on consumption. More and more car buyers went to flex fuel autos that allow ethanol blends (85% ethanol and 15% gasoline) with less expensive blends running almost $1.00 less. As 2008 ensued the gasoline prices started to become a political issue with people asking the question: "Are we adequately protecting ourselves as a nation with our dependency on others' oil?"

Consequences though to all decisions, a big move toward ethanol created a run up in prices on corn and grains, causing food prices to jump in early 2008. This isn't good for our economy, causing inflation, and sure isn't good for overseas nations dependent on our supply of low priced meal.

The Democrats have been quietly gleeful that prices have soared, hoping this will cause consumption cut-backs and investment in alternative fuels. My thought is that investment in alternative fuels will happen anyway, and that government ought to keep their hands as far away as possible, they merely tend to waste money and get in the way.

Republicans on the other hand began talking in the early summer about increasing our own oil drilling domestically, either on ANWR or offshore or both. When Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats decided to shut down Congress and go home for five week vacations, Republicans led by Indiana's Mike Pence decided otherwise and began staging the #dontgo home revolt, literally staying on the House floor in the dark demanding that Speaker Pelosi let Congress come back and vote for more oil production.

Now this week we get to meet Governor Sarah Palin, from Alaska, who will accompany Senator John McCain for the next 60 days in an effort to regain the White House. She, more than all the other leaders running for office, appears to have more experience with this issue. She has negotiated with oil companies, she has forced their hands, and she knows the games they play. She also is a huge proponent of drilling and investing in innovative energy resources.

So, I come full circle, what is best for our long term future?

• An immediate release of ANWR and off-shore drilling properties with large rents or profit sharing agreements to increase supply. Though this will take 2-3 years, even the hint of legitimate supply increases in the future will push oil back to $80.00
• Review all current land leases and make sure that oil companies willing to explore are maximizing these leases. If not, while maintaining the legality of the contracts, look to move these leases to oil companies willing to explore.
• Invest in energy innovation, but don't meddle with government oversight
• Pass a Shovel Ready Nuclear Power Act, that would target 50 sites for nuclear power and fast track the government approvals that currently make it impossible to develop
• Tell OPEC to back off, I'm getting a little sick of their monopolistic games. Let the free market rule. It's time to bust up this little group of anti-freemarket countries.
  
• Eliminate farm subsidies, at least this is a positive part of food price increases from ethanol, let's get rid of one of our blackeyes in international negotitations on free trade.
  

Does anyone have the ability to lead like this? Disagree with me, great enter the discourse.

Iraq - US turning over Anbar Province to Iraqis

From Gateway Pundit

This makes 11 of 18 Iraqi Provinces now under Iraqi governmental control.
--One in four Americans lost in Iraq were killed in Anbar Province.

Map of Iraq showing provinces transferred from US to Iraqi control. Iraqi forces have taken over control of Anbar, once the most explosive battlefield in Iraq, from the US military, symbolising the growing security gains in the war-torn country.
(AFP/Graphic/Gil) 

Comment: Of course major media won't be covering this story, it would play into John Mccain's hands and show that he was right about the surge and about finishing the job in Iraq.  At this point I think even Obama knows that we need to finish the job, but he's keeping his mouth shut so he doesn't make MoveON.org mad

Obama still not gaining in polls

Staying at 8 pts in Gallup and less in other polls, Barack Obama really never got anything from the Biden pick or his convention. Sure he's still the leader, but with fundraising down and polls leveled off ... where does he go from here? Down

Gallup Daily: Obama Still at 8 points

Leads McCain by eight percentage points, 50% to 42%

September 2, 2008Barack Obama now wins the support of 50% of registered voters in general election preferences ...his 8-point margin over John McCain, with 42%, is one point shy of his widest lead, seen in late July.

Oil prices fall as Gustav passes over

"Crude oil prices on Tuesday tumbled to a five-months low of $105.46 a barrel as energy traders sold contracts following minor damage to refineries from hurricane Gustav and strengthening of the US dollar.

From Friday’s close of $115.46 a barrel, Nymex October West Texas Intermediate fell $10. Although the New York Mercantile Exchange opened for electronic trading on Monday during a US public holiday, it did not issue a settlement price." From Financial Times

It's entirely possible that with the dollar strengthening, interest rate cuts at an end, and housing in the US beginning to recover ... we'll see oil back under $100 for the first time this year. Now that's just what this economy ordered.