Free Republic

LONDON (AFP) - The British finance minister has warned the country is facing "arguably the worst" economic downturn in 60 years and says it will be "more profound and long-lasting" than people had expected. < > Darling also concedes that the beleaguered ruling Labour Party of Prime Minister Gordon Brown is partly to blame for its own woes because it has failed to properly communicate its aims to the country, leaving voters angry. < > "We've got to rediscover that zeal which won three elections, and that is a huge problem for us at the moment." < >

A leading General Motors executive has called for government loans of up to $50bn to help American car markers build more fuel-efficient cars. Bob Lutz, GM's vice-chairman, warned that major US car manufacturers need the money to re-tool their factories and are unlikely to be able to raise enough capital alone due to tight credit markets. Mr Lutz's comments come against background of ongoing talks between leading US car makers and politicians in recent weeks over enhanced government backing to enable a shift to greener production. The three major US car manufacturers, GM, Ford and Chrysler, are working with the...

SALT LAKE CITY — The best deal on fuel in the country right now might be here in Utah, where people are waiting in lines to pay the equivalent of 87 cents a gallon. Demand is so strong at rush hour that fuel runs low, and some days people can pump only half a tank. It is not gasoline they are buying for their cars, but natural gas. By an odd confluence of public policy and private initiative, Utah has become the first state in the country to experience broad consumer interest in the idea of running cars on clean...

TORONTO - Air Canada's regional carrier Jazz is removing life vests from all its planes to save weight and fuel. Jazz spokeswoman Manon Stuart said Thursday that government regulations set by Transport Canada allow airlines to use floatation devices instead of life vests provided the planes remain within 50 nautical miles of shore.

Big jump in gold sale spurs manipulation talk Some analysts say only manipulation is government's attempt to take down oil By Moming Zhou, MarketWatch Last update: 7:54 p.m. EDT Aug. 29, 2008 NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Recent heat from Congress and regulators, along with public speculation, over whether commodity prices are being manipulated has also reached gold pits, where the debate was stirred by a surge in bets last month that gold prices would fall. "Congress is already investigating allegations of manipulation in the oil market, and it seems likely that it is only a matter of time before a...

Britain is in the grip of its worst economic crisis for 60 years, Alistair Darling has admitted. The Chancellor of the Exchequer warns that the slump is going to be "more profound and long-lasting than people thought". In an astonishingly frank interview, Mr Darling admits that voters are "p***** off" with Labour and says the party must recover the "zeal" which won it three successive general elections. Since taking up the post, Mr Darling is said to have faced a crisis "every week", including the collapse of Northern Rock and the loss of millions of people's personal details from HM...

The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to support increased oil production off its coast, a move supporters hope will add to growing pressure to lift bans on offshore drilling. The 3-2 vote, which was expected, has little practical significance because offshore drilling is banned by both state and federal moratoriums. California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, opposes new drilling. Drilling opponents note that the Board of Supervisors represents the entire county, including the conservative, pro-oil northern region. They say the majority of residents of the city of Santa Barbara itself remain against new drilling.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Alpharetta, Georgia-based Integrity Bank has been closed by regulators and its assets have been transferred to Regions Financial Corp., Regions said in a prepared statement late Friday. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. assumed some $900 million in total deposits from Integrity and has transferred them to Regions (RF), Regions said, adding that, "the FDIC will retain most of Integrity Bank's loan portfolio for later disposition."Integrity's closure is the 10th bank failure so far this year. The bank had $1.1 billion in total assets and $974 million in total deposits as of June 30, the FDIC said.

Most conservatives did not think that the selection of Palin was truly under consideration, but we have all been pleasantly surprised. Perhaps “surprised” understates our emotions. How about “shocked”, “awed”, “inspired”, and “thrilled”! It simply doesn’t get any better than the 44 year old Palin. If conservatives were caught off guard, you may rest assured that the Democrats were even more blown away – and in spite of last night’s Obama euphoria, they will lose considerable sleep tonight. Look at this! Palin is all of: · A Devout Christian · Pro-Life & Traditional Family Values · Fiscal Conservative · Tax-Cutter...

Lawyers for Adam Hochfelder argued that the coke addict and alcoholic must remain free because he's in dire need of sinus surgery. "He's completely blown out his nose," Hochfelder's lawyer said at a bail hearing following charges of cheating banks, relatives and friends out of more than $17M. Despite the pleas, Judge FitzGerald set bail at $1M, which Hochfelder can't pay because he sold his assets to pay back more than $12M to friends and relatives. Hochfelder, a member of the powerful NY Real Estate Board, was once a "golden boy" with "a joyous personality," a "Trump-esque like career" and...

LONG BEACH - A bill by Assemblywoman Betty Karnette, D-Long Beach, could lead to the discovery and extraction of additional oil from the Wilmington Oil Field beneath the harbor and pour hundreds of millions of dollars into city, port and state coffers, officials said Wednesday. Assembly Bill 2165 would allow the State Lands Commission to negotiate a contract with the city and Occidental Petroleum Corp. to search for reserves and open new wells in the western end of the nation's third-largest oil field. The agreement could mean an estimated $130 million to the city, $150 million to the port and...

John McCain used a Van Halen song during his big speech earlier today and the band wants to make to make one thing clear -- they're not running with McCain. Van Halen management tells us the band had no idea McCain was planning on using "Right Now" during his big entrance in Ohio telling us, "Permission was not sought or granted nor would it have been given." For the record, Dubya used the same song during a bunch of his campaign speeches back in 2004, but sources close to the band tell us, "They're not political, they're just rock and...

While a lot of the members of the mainstream media were scratching their heads, trying to figure out just who Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was, CNBC actually came through with an almost immediate positive response. The August 29 broadcast of CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" featured two of the network's prominent personalities analyzing Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain's choice of a running mate. "Closing Bell" host Maria Bartiromo and "Kudlow & Company" host Larry Kudlow said McCain's decision was wise. Bartiromo, who was set to feature Palin in an upcoming CNBC special on energy, called the governor a "terrific...

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Russian oil companies are reportedly under orders from the Kremlin to prepare for a supply cut to Germany and Poland through the Druzhba pipeline, the Daily Telegraph reported Friday citing an anonymous source. The Telegraph reported that it's believed that executives from oil major Lukoil have been put on weekend alert. "They have been told to be ready to cut off supplies as soon as Monday," an unnamed, high-level business source told the Telegraph.

MOSCOW (AP) — At the outset of this year, Russia proudly proclaimed itself an island of stability at the annual economic gathering in Davos, setting itself apart from the tumult of the global financial crisis.Then came the war with Georgia, which some here regard as Russia's 9/11.

Russia's energy minister and a top oil company denied on Friday they were preparing to cut oil flows to Europe in response to threatened sanctions, a step Moscow never took even at the height of the Cold War.As Europe prepared its response to Russia's invasion of neighbouring Georgia, the energy minister said Moscow was doing everything it could to ensure stable oil supplies on its key supply line to Europe, the Druzhba (Friendship) pipeline. AP "We are doing everything we can so Druzhba can keep working stably and supply European consumers with enough oil," Sergei Shmatko told reporters in Dushanbe,...

For Barack Obama, climate change is change we can believe in. Speakers at the Democrats’ convention this week, by and large, have taken as dim a view of fossil fuels as the Iraq war. If you were quaffing your brew at each mention of "alternative energy" from the podium, you’d have a lot of recycling to do by now. The green theme climaxes tonight, with environmental hero Al Gore setting the stage for the candidate’s address. Since he launched his campaign, Obama has offered remarkably detailed proposals and demonstrated fluency in the language of energy and carbon. He promises a...

NEW YORK — Eighteen-year-old Ryan and 14-year-old Anna found each other on the Internet. Both were conceived by artificial insemination technology. After they registered with the Donor Sibling Registry online, they discovered that they shared the same in vitro fertilization clinic and “donor number.” The same anonymous sperm donor was their genetic father. They are half brother and sister. On a long weekend in May, Ryan and his mother flew from Colorado to New York to meet Anna and her mother and non-genetic father. Coincidentally, Ryan and Anna were celebrating the same birthday. Perfect strangers, they bonded instantly, according to...

<p>IF JOHN MCCAIN becomes president, he will be confronted by a Congress with significantly larger Democratic majorities than today's — majorities furious about high hopes dashed by an eighth Republican victory in 11 presidential elections. And if the normal pattern of off-year elections obtains in 2010, those majorities will expand. So McCain would have to deal with a hostile legislature for four years, as Arnold Schwarzenegger has done for almost five years. For that reason, and because these two self-styled post-partisan, reach-across-the-aisle mavericks admire one another — ...</p>

Brian Williams says "there are real concerns the Portland Press Herald might not be around much longer ... another victim of the web and our changing times." Watch Janet Shamlian's report. || Earlier: Press Herald publisher says closing of paper not likely.

The mantra of the free market has gained such a hold on Americans that Sen. John McCain recently aired an ad exclaiming, as if it's a given: "Higher taxes, more government spending, so fewer jobs." A similar obvious "truth" for many Americans these days, in the words of Rush Limbaugh, is that "the government can't create wealth; it can only destroy it or confiscate and redistribute it." If it is true that higher government taxation depresses job creation and that the government can't create wealth (only the free market can), it becomes rational for struggling workers to vote Republican on...

The commodity bull market has a long way to go. This bull market is not magic. It's not some crazy 'cycle theory' I have. It does not fall out of the sky. It's supply and demand. It's simple stuff. In the 80s and 90s, when people were calling you to buy mutual fund and stocks, no one called to say, "Let's invest in a sugar plantation." No one called and said, "Let's invest in a lead mine." Commodities were in a bear market and in bear markets people do not invest in a productive capacity. They never have. Perhaps they...

Comcast Sets Data Cap at 250 GB Tom Corelis (Blog) - August 29, 2008 7:35 AM Subscribers now have a visible limit on their internet usage ISP giant Comcast announced an official, 250 GB usage cap for its subscribers Thursday, which it plans to deploy October 1. "250 GB/month is an extremely large amount of data," reads its official release, "much more than a typical residential customer uses on a monthly basis." The "median" usage per customer is within 2 - 3 gigabytes per month, says Comcast. In order to exceed the data cap, a customer would have to send...

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Comcast Corp, the largest U.S. cable operator, said on Thursday it will cap customers' Internet usage starting October 1, in a bid to ensure the best service for the vast majority of its subscribers. Comcast said it was setting a monthly data usage threshold of 250 gigabytes per account for all residential high-speed Internet customers, or the equivalent of 50 million e-mails or 124 standard-definition movies. "If a customer exceeds more than 250 GB and is one of the heaviest data users who consume the most data on our high-speed Internet service, he or she may...

"The European Union is now helping pay the salaries and pensions of Palestinian Authority workers. On August 20, officials in Brussels announced that the EU will be providing the PA with an extra €40 million ($58.8 million) in financial aid. This money comes on top of the €440 million ($650 million) in aid the EU pledged to the PA at a donors’ conference in Paris last December." "In addition to covering some of the Palestinian Authority’s salary and pension costs, a part of this European cash has been earmarked for the construction of a new Palestinian security force headquarters in...

Carmakers Deserve Loan Guarantees, G.M. Official Says By NICK BUNKLEY JOLIET, Ill. — A top General Motors executive said Thursday that automakers were “deserving” of as much as $50 billion in government-backed loans so that they can build more fuel-efficient cars. G.M.’s vice chairman, Robert A. Lutz, said the car companies need money to retool their plants but probably cannot raise enough capital on their own because of the tight credit markets. He said the automakers have already made considerable progress in transforming themselves and that the government should help them proceed faster. “The American auto industry is deserving of...

Legal analysts say a federal judge's ruling absolving a Web site of responsibility for the posting of copyrighted video clips without their owner's consent could be a good sign for YouTube and other video sharing services. On Wednesday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Howard Lloyd tossed out a copyright infringement lawsuit filed by adult video maker Io Group Inc. against Veoh Networks Inc., a Web site that streams ad-supported shows. The pornography company sued Veoh in June 2006 after it said it discovered 10 of its clips posted on the site without permission. Lloyd ruled that Veoh complied with federal law by...

The temptation is to dwell on the politics in Denver, where Democrats are trying to heal wounds and bring Hillary Rodham Clinton supporters into warm embrace and striving to normalize Barack Obama in the public’s mind. We will assess those successes or failures in the coming weeks. Today, we want to consider what the Democratic vision means in policy terms: The touted “hope” and “change,” in fact, are calls to return to big-government ideals of FDR and LBJ. As buzzwords, personality and celebrity wane, the campaign inevitably must focus on real life under an Obama administration and Democratic-controlled Congress. The...

Mr. Hashim Abd Al-Amir Mahdi, owner of the Miran Company and operator of the new Joint Base Balad Container Repair facility shares a light moment with Command Sgt. Maj. Paul Crabtree of the 76th Infantry Brigade Combat Team. The facility is yet another project of the burgeoning Iraqi based industrial zones initiate that provides Iraqis with economic growth opportunities on the perimeters of installations of Coalition forces. Photo by Staff Sgt. Lesley Newport. JOINT BASE BALAD — In a region where many men are often judged on their ability to thwart progress, he is counted among a growing number that...

Should education and experience always command a high salary? It seems reasonable to think so — yet older employees with advanced degrees may lack the specialized skills needed to satisfy rapidly changing market demand. In perhaps no field is this more true than the tech industry. I recently conducted an e-mail interview with Norm Matloff, a professor at the University of California, Davis, who believes there is widespread age discrimination in the tech industry. (His busy schedule made it impossible to get Matloff on the phone.) In particular, Matloff contends that the tech industry has manufactured a false talent shortage...

In its preliminary 2Q08 GDP estimates, the Commerce Department said on Thursday, the countryÂ’s gross domestic product was revised up at an annual rate of 3.3% for the April-June period, exceeding analystsÂ’ initial estimates of a 1.9% increase as well as economistsÂ’ forecast of a 2.7% gain. Constant dollar GDP is now up 2.2% versus a year ago. The acceleration in real GDP growth in 2Q08 reflects a larger decrease in imports of 7.6% compared with a decrease of 0.8% in the 1Q08, and an acceleration in exports of 13.2% in the second quarter, compared with an increase of 5.1%...

Economy: We keep looking for the much-anticipated recession, but it doesn't seem to have gotten here yet. Could it be that many of those expecting a downturn were wrong, and the economy's not going into the tank?Going out on a limb to predict what the economy will do is a tricky business. It's possible, though by no means likely, that the economy briefly lapsed into recession late last year or early this year, based on weak GDP data, falling home sales, rising oil prices and a jump in unemployment. We won't know for sure until months — maybe years —...

** EXCERPT ** The story, marked “Hold for release – Do not use”, was sent in error to the news service’s thousands of corporate clients. The stock obituary was published "momentarily" after a routine update by a reporter, and was "immediately deleted", Bloomberg said. Jobs was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2003, but there is no suggestion that the news wire has recent news on his health. Most media organisations regularly update their pre-prepared obituaries of newsworthy figures. The obituary contained blank spaces for Jobs’s age and cause of death to be inserted.

GENEVA (Reuters) - Major inequalities in health and life expectancy persist worldwide, according to an independent World Health Organization commission which on Thursday called for all countries to offer universal health care. Huge discrepancies also exist within countries, including Scotland where a boy born in the poor Glasgow suburb of Calton can expect to live to 54, 28 years less than one born in affluent Lenzie, just across town, it said. "The health inequities we see in the world are absolutely dramatic in their scale," Michael Marmot, a WHO health researcher, who chaired the commission, told reporters. "Between countries we...

California drivers could be offered a new -- and often cheaper -- kind of car insurance next year under a voluntary pay-as-you-drive plan proposed Wednesday by Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner. His plan would base annual rates partly on the exact number of miles driven and would allow people to pay less if they drive less. Poizner issued proposed regulations spelling out the plan, and the state's insurers Wednesday were enthusiastic about the idea but wanted to see more details. Two out of three households in the state could save an average of $276 per vehicle, and lower-income people, who generally...

Spring's economic strength unlikely to last given slowdowns overseas, struggling consumers WASHINGTON (AP) -- The economy pulled out of a dangerous rough patch in the spring, thanks largely to strong exports, but the rebound isn't expected to last. Economic slowdowns overseas could make exports tail off just as Americans are hunkering down after the bracing impact of rebate checks wanes, plunging the country into another rut later this year.

Why Block the Boeing Tanker? by Jed Babbin Posted 08/22/2008 For all the Pentagon’s protestations -- and harsh words from the Government Accountability Office and Congress -- the promise of a real competition between Boeing and Northrop-Grumman/EADS for a new generation air refueling tanker is apparently being broken. The Pentagon, based on its public announcements and all other reports, is apparently in the process of rewriting the terms of the competition to eliminate any chance of buying the tanker the warfighters need. On June 18, the Government Accountability Office shot down the Air Force decision to award the contract to...

Jimmy P. at the DNC—Another staple of the many convention speeches is the claim that Obamanomics, via government "investment," will create five million "green collar" jobs. But here's the thing: These jobs are, for the most part, not the kind of gigs many middle class folks would have much interest in doing: bike repair, hazardous material cleanup, landscaping, tree cutting, attic insulation, large-scale green waste composting. Then again, these jobs really aren't geared toward the middle class to begin with. A 2007 report by the city of Berkeley—of course!—described the potential pool of applicants for green collar jobs this way:...

NEW YORK, NY (August 27, 2008) - Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the first-ever binding and enforceable agreement requiring a major national energy company to disclose the financial risks that climate change poses to its investors. Cuomo’s agreement with Xcel Energy (NYSE: XEL) (“Xcel”) comes as many power companies, including Xcel, are investing in new coal-burning power generation that will significantly contribute to global warming emissions. “This landmark agreement sets a new industry-wide precedent that will force companies to disclose the true financial risks that climate change poses to their investors,” said Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. “Coal-fired power...

A state-of-the-art module fabrication and assembly facility will be built in Lake Charles, La., by a newly formed joint venture created by The Shaw Group Inc. and Westinghouse Electric Company, L.L.C. Shaw's Fabrication & Manufacturing Group will serve as managing member of the new joint venture, named Global Modular Solutions, L.L.C. Shaw's new module fabrication facility will primarily produce structural, piping and equipment modules for new nuclear power plants utilizing the Westinghouse AP1000(TM) technology, the world's safest and most economical commercial nuclear power technology. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal and Department of Economic Development Secretary Stephen Moret led an aggressive team...

Barack Obama's tax advisers recently posted a piece in the Wall Street Journal about their candidate's tax plans. Their article was designed to triangulate, painting their candidate as a tax cutter and the Republican opposition as a secret tax raiser. It was well written and well argued — not that you can really trust anything you read about what candidates will or will not do once in office. In any case, I was discussing the piece with a person whose politics are certainly left of center. She said to me something along the following lines: I'm really not sure I...

Above is Yahoo! headline. Stocks jump on better-than-expected gross domestic product reading, decline in jobless claims NEW YORK (AP) -- Stocks extended their advance in early trading Thursday after a better-than-expected reading on the nation's economy and a drop in jobless claims. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 150 points. Stocks gained as oil prices, up in early trading, reversed course.

The US economy grew at a revised 3.3% annually in the second quarter of 2008, the Commerce Department said, much higher than its first estimate of 1.9%. The rebound was linked to strong US exports, helped by the weak dollar, while government tax rebates also boosted consumer spending. GDP grew at a rate of 0.9% in the first quarter, after a 0.2% contraction in the last three months of 2007. The Federal Reserve has warned the economy will remain weak this year. "While we're not out of the woods yet, maybe we're beginning to see some sunlight," said John Wilson,...

When William Bolthouse, a California philanthropist, donated $100,000 in March to support a proposition to ban gay marriage in California, calls and emails poured in -- not to Mr. Bolthouse, but to the corporate offices of a company that bears his name -- even though he sold it three years earlier. "It wasn't us, it's not our fault," says Jeffrey Dunn, now the chief executive of Bolthouse Farms, whose juice bottles are sold at upscale markets such as Whole Foods. Bolthouse Farms is the latest target in what has become an increasingly bitter political fight in California. As gay-rights activists...

The Mayans and Egyptians constructed incredible feats of architecture able to weather the test of time, but they had no idea their pyramids would inspire the shape of the latest carbon-neutral super-structure to hit Dubai. Dubai-based environmental design firm Timelinks recently released some eye-catching renderings of the gigantic eco pyramid - aptly named Ziggurat - with plans for its official unveiling scheduled for the Cityscape Dubai event which runs October 6-9 of this year. The ginormous pyramid will cover 2.3 square kilometers and will be able to sustain a “community” of up to 1 million. Timelinks claims that their Ziggurat...

Or 20 reasons why Pelosi and gang need to be “booted”.

Word from the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Fort Payne Improvement Authority was basically the same – grin and pay it. That’s how power officials discussed TVA’s largest rate hike in almost 35 years. Listening to them tell us there is nothing that can be done is depressing for some but more concerning for others. This substantial rate jump will be felt by everyone – from families to small business to even large industry. We all need power. We know the reasons for the increase, and for the most part, they are out of our control. Higher fuel costs take...

Tennessee Valley Authority officials are looking at the feasibility of completing its two unfinished nuclear reactors in northeast Alabama and has asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to reinstate its construction permits. The utility said Wednesday that it sent a letter Tuesday to the NRC asking to reinstate the permits for Units 1 and 2 at its 1,600-acre Bellefonte site in Jackson County. TVA had stopped construction at the site, and by the mid-1990s had spent $4.6 billion; it gave up its construction permits in 2006. TVA said it would pursue construction permits from the NRC for two modern reactors at...

At the entrance of "The Big Tent" -- a refuge for bloggers a short walk from the Pepsi Center -- there's a signup sheet for visitors from newspapers and television and others of their ilk. "Traditional Media," it says. It's a subtle putdown, but illustrative of a larger truth: the "new media" -- the Internet journalists, the V-loggers, the satellite radio hosts -- are on the ascent at this convention. They're the ones with the swagger, the ones with the coolest parties and the wonkiest panel discussions. At "The Big Tent," funded in part by Google and progressive blog DailyKos...

Economy rebounds at better-than-expected pace in the spring, mostly spurred by exports The economy shifted to a higher gear in the spring, growing at its fastest pace in nearly a year as foreign buyers snapped up U.S. exports and tax rebates spurred shoppers at home. The Commerce Department reported Thursday that gross domestic product, or GDP, increased at a 3.3 percent annual rate in the April-June quarter. The revised reading was much better than the government's initial estimate of a 1.9 percent pace and exceeded economists' expectations for a 2.7 percent growth rate. The rebound comes after two dismal quarters....