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BetaVote 2008
What if the whole world could vote in the US Presidential election?
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BetaVote 2008
What if the whole world could vote in the US Presidential election?
BetaVote 2008
What if the whole world could vote in the US Presidential election?
Results So FarResults are updated every 10 minutes. Last update: Tue Oct 14 12:20:05 2008. Detailed results.
Country McCain Obama Other Percent McCain Percent Obama Percent OtherAfghanistan 9 8 3 45.00% 40.00% 15.00% Albania 2 3 0 40.00% 60.00% 0.00% Algeria 1 1 0 50.00% 50.00% 0.00% American Samoa 1 2 0 33.33% 66.67% 0.00% Andorra 1 2 0 33.33% 66.67% 0.00% Angola 0 2 1 0.00% 66.67% 33.33% Antarctica 1 2 0 33.33% 66.67% 0.00% Argentina 1 7 1 11.11% 77.78% 11.11% Armenia 0 3 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% Australia 5 175 5 2.70% 94.59% 2.70% Austria 2 40 1 4.65% 93.02% 2.33% Azerbaijan 0 1 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% Bahrain 1 1 0 50.00% 50.00% 0.00% Bangladesh 1 1 1 33.33% 33.33% 33.33% Belgium 0 20 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% Belize 0 3 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% Bolivia 0 1 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% Bosnia and Herzegovina 0 3 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% Brazil 0 19 1 0.00% 95.00% 5.00% British Indian Ocean Territory 1 0 1 50.00% 0.00% 50.00% Brunei Darussalam 0 2 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% Bulgaria 1 4 1 16.67% 66.67% 16.67% Cambodia 0 1 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% Canada 27 367 16 6.59% 89.51% 3.90% Chad 0 0 1 0.00% 0.00% 100.00% Chile 0 3 1 0.00% 75.00% 25.00% China 0 4 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% Cocos (Keeling) Islands 0 1 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% Colombia 1 4 0 20.00% 80.00% 0.00% Costa Rica 0 3 1 0.00% 75.00% 25.00% Cote d'Ivoire 0 1 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% Croatia 2 5 1 25.00% 62.50% 12.50% Cuba 2 1 0 66.67% 33.33% 0.00% Cyprus 0 1 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% Czech Republic 0 1 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% Denmark 1 24 4 3.45% 82.76% 13.79% Djibouti 1 1 1 33.33% 33.33% 33.33% Dominican Republic 0 2 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% Ecuador 0 1 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% Egypt 0 3 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% El Salvador 0 1 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% Estonia 0 1 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% Ethiopia 0 1 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% Finland 1 44 0 2.22% 97.78% 0.00% France 2 40 2 4.55% 90.91% 4.55% Germany 6 66 3 8.00% 88.00% 4.00% Ghana 0 2 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% Gibraltar 0 1 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% Greece 2 10 0 16.67% 83.33% 0.00% Greenland 0 1 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% Guam 0 0 1 0.00% 0.00% 100.00% Guatemala 0 1 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% Guernsey 0 1 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% Guyana 0 1 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% Heard Island and Mcdonald Islands 1 1 0 50.00% 50.00% 0.00% Hungary 3 12 3 16.67% 66.67% 16.67% Iceland 0 17 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% India 6 19 1 23.08% 73.08% 3.85% Indonesia 0 4 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% Islamic Republic of Iran 0 1 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% Iraq 1 1 1 33.33% 33.33% 33.33% Ireland 6 54 6 9.09% 81.82% 9.09% Israel 3 11 0 21.43% 78.57% 0.00% Italy 34 234 2 12.59% 86.67% 0.74% Jamaica 0 3 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% Japan 0 10 1 0.00% 90.91% 9.09% Jersey 0 1 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% Jordan 0 4 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% Kenya 0 1 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% Kiribati 0 1 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% Dem. People's Republic of Korea 0 1 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% Republic of Korea 2 3 0 40.00% 60.00% 0.00% Lao People's Democratic Republic 1 2 0 33.33% 66.67% 0.00% Latvia 2 3 0 40.00% 60.00% 0.00% Lebanon 1 0 0 100.00% 0.00% 0.00% Liechtenstein 0 1 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% Lithuania 1 3 1 20.00% 60.00% 20.00% Luxembourg 0 2 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% Macao 1 1 0 50.00% 50.00% 0.00% Republic of Macedonia 2 5 0 28.57% 71.43% 0.00% Malaysia 0 7 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% Maldives 0 1 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% Malta 0 2 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% Mexico 0 16 1 0.00% 94.12% 5.88% Mongolia 0 1 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% Morocco 0 1 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% Nauru 0 1 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% Nepal 0 1 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% Netherlands 2 49 4 3.64% 89.09% 7.27% Netherlands Antilles 0 1 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% New Zealand 2 27 2 6.45% 87.10% 6.45% Niue 0 1 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% Norway 3 32 5 7.50% 80.00% 12.50% Pakistan 0 5 1 0.00% 83.33% 16.67% Peru 0 3 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% Philippines 2 7 0 22.22% 77.78% 0.00% Poland 6 7 1 42.86% 50.00% 7.14% Portugal 1 22 0 4.35% 95.65% 0.00% Puerto Rico 1 5 0 16.67% 83.33% 0.00% Qatar 0 0 1 0.00% 0.00% 100.00% Romania 1 7 1 11.11% 77.78% 11.11% Russian Federation 1 6 0 14.29% 85.71% 0.00% Rwanda 0 1 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% Saint Lucia 0 1 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% Saint Pierre and Miquelon 0 1 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% San Marino 0 1 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% Saudi Arabia 1 3 1 20.00% 60.00% 20.00% Serbia 0 5 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% Singapore 1 8 1 10.00% 80.00% 10.00% Slovakia 1 1 0 50.00% 50.00% 0.00% Slovenia 1 9 0 10.00% 90.00% 0.00% South Africa 0 22 1 0.00% 95.65% 4.35% Spain 1 10 2 7.69% 76.92% 15.38% Sri Lanka 0 2 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% Svalbard and Jan Mayen 0 1 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% Swaziland 0 1 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% Sweden 3 31 2 8.33% 86.11% 5.56% Switzerland 0 29 2 0.00% 93.55% 6.45% Syrian Arab Republic 0 1 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% Taiwan (Republic of China) 1 4 1 16.67% 66.67% 16.67% United Republic of Tanzania 0 5 1 0.00% 83.33% 16.67% Thailand 0 3 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% Trinidad and Tobago 0 4 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% Turkey 5 29 2 13.89% 80.56% 5.56% Ukraine 0 2 1 0.00% 66.67% 33.33% United Arab Emirates 0 2 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% United Kingdom 14 351 22 3.62% 90.70% 5.68% United States 468 2812 383 12.78% 76.77% 10.46% US Minor Outlying Islands 1 2 0 33.33% 66.67% 0.00% Uruguay 1 2 0 33.33% 66.67% 0.00% Vanuatu 1 1 0 50.00% 50.00% 0.00% Venezuela 0 3 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% Viet Nam 0 3 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% British Virgin Islands 1 1 0 50.00% 50.00% 0.00% Virgin Islands 0 2 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% Western Sahara 0 1 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% Yemen 0 2 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% Zambia 0 1 0 0.00% 100.00% 0.00% Zimbabwe 0 2 1 0.00% 66.67% 33.33% All Countries 655 4849 497 10.91% 80.80% 8.28% McCain Obama Other Percent McCain Percent Obama Percent Other © Copyright 2004-2008 Daniel Young and Kevin Frost.
BetaVote.com is not affiliated with any candidate or political organization; it is purely a thought experiment.
To:sin_dumitru2001@yahoo.comPEEK Newsletter
October 14th, 2008
More blogs and video »Obama Expands on Economic Plan, Emphasizes 'J-O-B-S'
By Steve Benen, Washington Monthly
Obama struck an optimistic yet pragmatic tone in a policy speech on the economy today. Read more »A Bad Start for McCain: 'The Economy Has Hurt Us a Little Bit in the Last Week or Two' (Plus Much More)
By Sam Stein, Huffington Post
McCain's week is off to a rough start, as he insists 9/11 is linked to the Iraq War and can't come up with a promised new economic plan. Read more »Latest Troopergate: Palin Plays Make Belive; Feels Vindicated
By Steve Benen, Washington Monthly
In response to being found guilty of violating the public trust, Palin has decided to play make-believe. Read more »Conservatives Conflate Official McCain Events With Random Sh*t They Find on Google
By Blue Texan, Firedoglake
No one's buying the Madonna defense, guys. Try again. Read more »Rachel Maddow on Leno: Politics, Palin, and Pat Buchanan
By Staff, Huffington Post
From Maddow's first appearance on "The Tonight Show." Read more »McCain Makes the Case Against Himself
By Faiz Shakir, Think Progress
Next President "won't have the luxury of studying up on the issues." Read more »Discrimination Making You Sick?
By Sherice Perry, Stand Up for Health Care
People who perceive some form of discrimination from their health care providers are less likely to seek preventive care. Read more »McCain's Not-So-Respectful Comment
By Melissa McEwan, Shakesville
But the Senator promises to run a respectful campaign ... right. Read more »7-11 Store Poll Shows Big Obama Lead
By Steven Rosenfeld
A poll at 7-11 convenience stores shows Obama at 59.68 percent and McCain at 40.32 percent. Read more »Lies in the War on Marijuana
By ZP Heller, Brave New Films
Marijuana Policy Project shoots down claims by the Drug Free America Foundation. Read more »Iraqi Ministry Reopens Cases of Murdered Journalists
By Yaser Abbas, Azzaman
Police have started investigating some 49 files related to Iraqi journalists killed or kidnapped since the 2003 invasion. Read more »Tags: http://silethismillennium | Edit Tags Tuesday October 14, 2008 - 01:08pm (EEST) Edit | Delete | Permanent Link | 0 Comments - Entry for October 14, 2008 -
- Top 10 Bizarre Mental Disorders
- Yahoo! 360° - Home
Sorry
I repeat:
11 ....Syndrome is my Syndrome because this is my human Syndrome make glaring mistake when I write..
Very instructive about human Syndrome ,I appreciate the compliment for dissertation about just this 10 special human characteristic ,10 view points to show cause…etc .Congratulation!
Sincerely,
Sile this Millennium
sin-collage:Top 10 Bizarre Mental Disorders
Published on October 13, 2007 - 220 Comments
Mental disorders effect millions of people in the world and can lead to years of psychotherapy. In some cases, the psychological problem suffered is extremely rare or bizarre. This is a list of the ten most bizarre mental disorders.
10. Stockholm Syndrome
Stockholm syndrome is a psychological response sometimes seen in an abducted hostage, in which the hostage shows signs of sympathy, loyalty or even voluntary compliance with the hostage taker, regardless of the risk in which the hostage has been placed. The syndrome is also discussed in other cases, including those of wife-beating, rape and child abuse.
The syndrome is named after a bank robbery in Stockholm, Sweden, in which the bank robbers held bank employees hostage from August 23 to August 28 in 1973. In this case, the victims became emotionally attached to their victimizers, and even defended their captors after they were freed from their six-day ordeal, refusing to testify against them. Later, after the gang were tried and sentenced to jail, one of them married a woman who had been his hostage.
A famous example of Stockholm syndrome is the story of Patty Hearst, a millionaire’s daughter who was kidnapped in 1974, seemed to develop sympathy with her captors, and later took part in a robbery they were orchestrating.
9. Lima Syndrome
The exact opposite of Stockholm syndrome - this is where the hostage takers become more sympathetic to the plights and needs of the hostages.
It is named after the Japanese embassy hostage crisis in Lima, Peru where 14 members of the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) took hundreds of people hostage at a party at the official residence of Japan’s ambassador to Peru. The hostages consisted of diplomats, government and military officials, and business executives of many nationalities who happened to be at the party at the time. It began on December 17, 1996 and ended on April 22, 1997.
Within a few days of the hostage crisis, the militants had released most of the captives, with seeming disregard for their importance, including the future President of Peru, and the mother of the current President.
After months of unsuccessful negotiations, all remaining hostages were freed by a raid by Peruvian commandos, although one hostage was killed.
8. Diogenes Syndrome
Diogenes was an ancient Greek philosopher, who lived in a wine barrel and promoted ideas of nihilism and animalism. Famously, when he was asked by Alexander the Great what he wanted most in the world, he replied, “For you to get out of my sunlight!”
Diogenes syndrome is a condition characterised by extreme self neglect, reclusive tendencies, and compulsive hoarding, sometimes of animals. It is found mainly in old people and is associated with senile breakdown.
The syndrome is actually a misnomer since Diogenes lived an ascetic and transient life, and there are no sources to indicate that he neglected is own hygiene.
7. Paris Syndrome
Paris syndrome is a condition exclusive to Japanese tourists and nationals, which causes them to have a mental breakdown while in the famous city. Of the millions of Japanese tourists that visit the city every year, around a dozen suffer this illness and have to be returned to their home country.
The condition is basically a severe form of ‘culture shock’. Polite Japanese tourists who come to the city are unable to separate their idyllic view of the city, seen in such films as Amelie, with the reality of a modern, bustling metropolis.
Japanese tourists who come into contact with, say, a rude French waiter, will be unable to argue back and be forced to bottle up their own anger which eventually leads to a full mental breakdown.
The Japanese embassy has a 24hr hotline for tourists suffering for severe culture shock, and can provide emergency hospital treatment if necessary.
6. Stendhal Syndrome
Stendhal Syndrome is a psychosomatic illness that causes rapid heartbeat, dizziness, confusion and even hallucinations when an individual is exposed to art, usually when the art is particularly ‘beautiful’ or a large amount of art is in a single place. The term can also be used to describe a similar reaction to a surfeit of choice in other circumstances, e.g. when confronted with immense beauty in the natural world.
It is named after the famous 19th century French author Stendhal who described his experience with the phenomenon during his 1817 visit to Florence, Italy in his book Naples and Florence: A Journey from Milan to Reggio.
5. Jerusalem Syndrome
The Jerusalem syndrome is the name given to a group of mental phenomena involving the presence of either religiously themed obsessive ideas, delusions or other psychosis-like experiences that are triggered by, or lead to, a visit to the city of Jerusalem. It is not endemic to one single religion or denomination, but has affected Jews and Christians of many different backgrounds.
The condition seems to emerge while in Jerusalem and causes psychotic delusions which tend to dissipate after a few weeks. Of all the people who have suffered this spontaneous psychosis, all have had a history of previous mental illness, or where deemed not to have been ‘well’ before coming to the city.
4. Capgras Delusion
The Capgras delusion is a rare disorder in which a person holds a delusional belief that an acquaintance, usually a spouse or other close family member, has been replaced by an identical looking impostor.
It is most common in patients with schizophrenia, although it occur in those with dementia, or after a brain injury.
One case report said the following:
Mrs. D, a 74-year old married housewife, recently discharged from a local hospital after her first psychiatric admission, presented to our facility for a second opinion. At the time of her admission earlier in the year, she had received the diagnosis of atypical psychosis because of her belief that her husband had been replaced by another unrelated man. She refused to sleep with the impostor, locked her bedroom and door at night, asked her son for a gun, and finally fought with the police when attempts were made to hospitalize her. At times she believed her husband was her long deceased father. She easily recognized other family members and would misidentify her husband only.
The paranoia induced by this condition has made it a common tool in science fiction books and films, such as Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Total Recall and The Stepford Wives.
3. Fregoli Delusion
The exact opposite of the Capgras delusion - the Fregoli delusion is a rare disorder in which a person holds a delusional belief that different people are in fact a single person who changes appearance or is in disguise.
The condition is named after the Italian actor Leopoldo Fregoli who was renowned for his ability to make quick changes of appearance during his stage act.
It was first reported 1927 by two psychiatrists who discussed the case study of a 27 year old woman who believed that she was being persecuted by two actors whom she often went to see at the theatre. She believed that these people “pursued her closely, taking the form of people she knows or meets.”
2. Cotard Delusion
The Cotard delusion is a rare psychiatric disorder in which a person holds a delusional belief that he or she is dead, does not exist, is putrefying or has lost their blood or internal organs. Rarely, it can include delusions of immortality.
One case study said the following:
[The patient’s] symptoms occurred in the context of more general feelings of unreality and being dead. In January, 1990, after his discharge from hospital in Edinburgh, his mother took him to South Africa. He was convinced that he had been taken to hell (which was confirmed by the heat), and that he had died of septicaemia (which had been a risk early in his recovery), or perhaps from AIDS (he had read a story in The Scotsman about someone with AIDS who died from septicaemia), or from an overdose of a yellow fever injection. He thought he had “borrowed my mother’s spirit to show me round hell”, and that he was asleep in Scotland.
It is named after Jules Cotard, a French neurologist who first described the condition, which he called “le délire de négation” (”negation delirium”), in a lecture in Paris in 1880.
1. Reduplicative Paramnesia
Reduplicative paramnesia is the delusional belief that a place or location has been duplicated, existing in two or more places simultaneously, or that it has been ‘relocated’ to another site. For example, a person may believe that they are in fact not in the hospital to which they were admitted, but an identical-looking hospital in a different part of the country, despite this being obviously false, as one case study reported:
A few days after admission to the Neurobehavioural Center, orientation for time was intact, he could give details of the accident (as related to him by others), could remember his doctors’ names and could learn new information and retain it indefinitely. He exhibited, however, a distinct abnormality of orientation for place. While he quickly learned and remembered that he was at the Jamaica Plain Veterans Hospital (also known as the Boston Veterans Administration Hospital), he insisted that the hospital was located in Taunton, Massachusetts, his home town. Under close questioning, he acknowledged that Jamaica Plain was part of Boston and admitted it would be strange for there to be two Jamaica Plain Veterans Hospitals. Nonetheless, he insisted that he was presently hospitalized in a branch of the Jamaica Plain Veterans Hospital located in Taunton. At one time he stated that the hospital was located in the spare bedroom of his house.
The term ‘reduplicative paramnesia’ was first used in 1903 by the Czechoslovakian neurologist Arnold Pick to describe a condition in a patient with suspected Alzheimer’s disease who insisted that she had been moved from Pick’s city clinic, to one she claimed looked identical but was in a familiar suburb. To explain the discrepancy she further claimed that Pick and the medical staff worked at both locations
Contributor: JT
Copyright (c) 2007-2008 Jamie Frater. All Rights Reserved.Tags: http://silethismillennium | Edit Tags Tuesday October 14, 2008 - 12:31pm (EEST) Edit | Delete | Permanent Link | 0 Comments - Entry for October 12, 2008 -
- Economic Bailout Plan
- Yahoo! 360° - Home
sin-collage:
Sat Oct 11, 9:43 AM ET
President Bush, left, makes a statement in the Rose Garden of the White House after meeting with G7 finance ministers about the financial crisis, Saturday, Oct. 11, 2008, in Washington. Seen from left to right listening are Italy's central bank governor Mario Draghi; IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn; Eurogroup's Chairman Jean-Claude Juncker; Japan's Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa; Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson; France Finance Minister Christine Lagarde; Canada Finance Minister James M. Flaherty, and Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Alastair Darling.
(AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
Bush, allies seek to calm jittery investors
By
JENNIFER LOVEN and MARTIN CRUTSINGER,
Associated Press Writers 1 hour, 19 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - President Bush and financial leaders from nations rich and poor pledged Saturday to intensify their efforts to unblock a frozen financial system before it does more damage to an increasingly shaky global economy.
.While there were no concrete offers of new moves, Bush vowed anew that his administration was doing everything possible to halt the biggest market disruptions since the Great Depression. The finance ministers spoke in unusually somber terms about the need for action.Bush started the day shortly after daybreak with a Rose Garden appearance with finance ministers from the world's richest countries and later made an unexpected evening visit to the headquarters of the 185-nation International Monetary Fund a few blocks from the White House.
With Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, he participated for about 25 minutes in a discussion with the Group of 20, which includes rich countries and major developing nations such as China, Brazil and India.
Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega said that the president told the finance ministers that he was doing all he could to involve other countries in efforts to resolve the crisis. According to White House spokesman Tony Fratto, Bush acknowledged the problems began in the U.S., with a meltdown of the market for subprime mortgages in the summer of 2007. The president felt it was important to take the rare step of coming to such a meeting because the problems were spreading globally.
"It doesn't matter if you're a rich country or a poor country, a developed country or a developing country — we're all in this together," Bush said, according to Fratto. "We take this seriously, and we want to work with you."
In response, the G-20 countries issued a joint statement in which the finance officials pledged to work together "to overcome the financial turmoil and to deepen cooperation to improve the regulation, supervision and the overall functioning of the world's financial markets."
The financial turmoil also dominated discussions at weekend's annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank. The IMF strongly endorsed a five-point plan put together a day earlier by the so-called Group of Seven wealthy powers, in which the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Britain, Italy and Canada jointly pledged to use all means possible to prevent major financial institutions from failing and to keep pumping money into the banking system to unfreeze lending and get credit — the lifeblood of the economy — flowing again.
"The depth and systemic nature of the crisis call for exceptional vigilance, coordination and readiness to take bold action," the IMF said in its joint statement. That statement, in an unusual move, repeated verbatim all of the commitments made in the G-7 statement that had been released on Friday.
"There is a resolve that this crisis will be resolved, that no tools will be spared to address this issue," Egypt's finance minister, Youssef Boutros Ghali, chairman of the IMF's policy panel, told a news conference late Saturday.
In his Rose Garden appearance, Bush made a plea for nations work together to address the crisis, avoiding the go-it-alone protectionist trade strategies that worsened conditions during the Great Depression.
"In an interconnected world, no nation will gain by driving down the fortunes of another. We are in this together. We will come through it together," Bush said, flanked by representatives from G-7 nations, the IMF, World Bank and European Union. "There have been moments of crisis in the past when powerful nations turned their energies against each other or sought to wall themselves off from the world. This time is different."
Fratto said Bush's commitment to collaborative action was repeated and agreed to by every official and minister who took part in the White House meeting.
Bush did not mention any specific action that prompted his call. But Ireland recently moved to guarantee all bank deposits, triggering similar actions in Germany and other countries concerned that nervous depositors would move their bank accounts to Ireland.
In his White House remarks, the president barely noted a significant new step from his administration — partial nationalization of some banks. After days of speculation this move was coming, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson announced late Friday night that the government would buy part ownership in an array of American banks.
President Hoover tried something like that in 1932 during the Great Depression. No detail was provided about how the Bush administration's approach would work, only that it was similar to Britain's move to pour cash into its troubled banks in exchange for a stake in them. The U.S. government would use an unspecified portion of the $700 billion approved by Congress a week ago to purchase stocks in a wide variety of banks and other financial institutions.
The rescue program originally was sold to Congress and the public as a plan to buy mortgage-related loans from financial institutions. The goal was to remove troubled assets from those institutions' books and inspire them to restart more normal lending operations.
Congress passed the massive and hard-fought legislation, and Bush signed it. The government raised the amount of bank deposits it insured. Billions of dollars of reserves have gone into banking systems in the U.S. and other countries. Yet credit has remained virtually frozen.
This paralysis in the credit markets has translated into intense turmoil in the stock markets. The Dow Jones industrial average just completed its worst week in history, plummeting more than 18 percent. Over the past year, people in the U.S. have watched $8.4 trillion drain from investment accounts and retirement savings.
So the administration decided to use the bailout bill to pump equity directly into the banks — an idea never mentioned during the congressional debate. The administration says it is authorized by an obscure provision of the 400-page legislation.
Officials are not saying how long it will take to get this program under way — just as is the case with the even more complicated effort to buy mortgage-backed securities.
Bush seemed to acknowledge that the lag is feeding anxiety on Wall Street. "These extraordinary efforts are being implemented as quickly and as effectively as possible," he said. "The benefits will not be realized overnight."
The president said the G-7 nations have together pledged to "do what it takes to resolve this crisis."
Officials in Europe prepared for a meeting Sunday of the leaders of the 15 nations using the euro currency. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Saturday they opposed to the creation of a common financial rescue fund for Europe.
For Bush, it was the 22nd day in the past 27 he had spoken about the financial crisis, since evidence first arose that the year-old subprime mortgage mess was evolving into a broader and more calamitous meltdown.
Bush also addressed the crisis in his weekly radio address, as did Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden in delivering his party's response. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, in a series of Philadelphia rallies, also focused on words of calm.
"I know these are difficult times. I know folks are worried," he said. "But I also know that now is not the time for fear or panic. Now is the time for resolve and steady leadership. Because I know we can steer ourselves out of this crisis."
___
Associated Press writer Harry Dunphy contributed to this report.
___
On the Net:
White House: http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/economy/
Treasury Department: http://www.ustreas.gov/
World Bank : http://www.worldbank.org/
International Monetary Fund: http://www.imf.org/external/index.htm
SUN-TZU: THE PRINCIPLES OF WARFARE
#fullpost {display:none;}
Chapter One: Calculations
Sun-tzu said:
Warfare is a great matter to a nation;
it is the ground of death and of life;
it is the way of survival and of destruction, and must be examined. ?
Therefore, go through it by means of five factors;
compare them by means of calculation, and determine their statuses:
One, Way, two, Heaven, three, Ground, four, General, five, Law. ?
The Way is what causes the people to have the same thinking as their superiors;
they may be given death, or they may be given life, but there is no fear of danger and betrayal. ?
Heaven is dark and light, cold and hot, and the seaonal constraints.
Ground is high and low, far and near, obstructed and easy, wide and narrow, and dangerous and safe. ?
General is wisdom, credibility, benevolence, courage, and discipline. ?
Law is organization, the chain of command, logistics, and the control of expenses. ?
All these five no general has not heard;one who knows them is victorious, one who does not know them is not victorious.?
Therefore, compare them by means of calculation,
and determine their statuses.?
Ask:
Which ruler has the Way,
which general has the ability,
which has gained Heaven and Ground,
which carried out Law and commands,
which army is strong,
which officers and soldiers are trained,
which reward and punish clearly,
by means of these, I know victory and defeat! ?
A general who listens to my calculations, and uses them, will surely be victorious, keep him;
a general who does not listen to my calculations, and does not use them, will surely be defeated, remove him. ?
Calculate advantages by means of what was heard, then create force in order to assist outside missions. ?
Force is the control of the balance of power, in accordance with advantages. ?
Warfare is the Way of deception. ?
Therefore, if able, appear unable,
if active, appear not active,
if near, appear far,
if far, appear near. ?
If they have advantage, entice them;
if they are confused, take them,
if they are substantial, prepare for them,
if they are strong, avoid them,
if they are angry, disturb them,
if they are humble, make them haughty,
if they are relaxed, toil them,
if they are united, separate them. ?
Attack where they are not prepared, go out to where they do not expect. ?
This specialized warfare leads to victory, and may not be transmitted beforehand. ?
Before doing battle, in the temple one calculates and will win, because many calculations were made;
before doing battle, in the temple one calculates and will not win, because few calculations were made; ?
many calculations, victory, few calculations, no victory, then how much less so when no calculations?
By means of these, I can observe them, beholding victory or defeat! ?Posted by raka reksapati at 11:21 PM 0 comments
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