Blame over Beirut bombing focuses on Syrian leader – CNN.com.
A bomb blast in the predominately Christian district of Ashrafiyeh, in Beirut, Lebanon, which killed a top Lebanese security official has been blamed on the Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad
This week leaders from across Europe have been meeting to discuss the continued crisis across the eurozone. The talks have centred around increasing integration of the eurozone banking sector. The talks have been hailed as a success by French President Francois Hollande, and other European leaders, after agreement was reached as to increasing integration of the banking system. The Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) will be put it place by January 1st 2013, and will make it possible for the new European Stability Mechanism to be used recapitalise European banks, without increasing sovereign debt. The SSM is thought to be the first step towards a full banking union across the eurozone.
This is particularly important for Spain, who’s banks are still a major cause for concern, and many hope they will be able to hold out until the SSM is in place.
Germany has voiced concerns over the speed of banking integration, warning that the road map for the setting up of the SSM may not be long enough, due to the complex legal issues that have to be worked through.
The UK is also uneasy about the prospect of a full banking union within the eurozone. Although Britain are not part of the euro, the City of London by far has the largest banking sector in Europe, and it is feared that in any future decisions about financial regulation the UK will be outvoted.
However, the Summit was overshadowed by the continuing chaos in Greece, with fresh anti-austerity protests, in which a man died. Greece could run out of money by the end of November. The EU are awaiting a key report from the “troika” of international lenders – the ECB, European Commission and International Monetary Fund. The findings of the report will be key in deciding whether or not to give Greece any more money.
Rupert Murdoch’s media group is understood to be interested in purchasing the Los Angeles Times as well as the Chicago Tribune from the creditors of the papers’ bankrupt owner, Tribune Company, which is attempting to extricate itself from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.According to reports by the Los Angeles Times and Reuters, News Corp executives, including Mr Murdoch’s youngest son, James, have flown to Los Angeles twice this month for early stage talks to buy the papers in a deal which could be worth $400m £249m.
News Corp sources attempted to play down the reports last night.“Reports that News Corporation is in discussions with Tribune or the LA Times are wholly inaccurate,” a spokesman said.Mr Murdoch, the News Corp chairman, is said to have long coveted the Los Angeles Times and buying the papers would strengthen News Corp’s grip on the US newspaper industry
The Tribune Company went into bankruptcy four years ago after collapsing under the weight of debt that resulted from a leveraged buy-out, combined with a downturn in advertising revenue following the financial crisis.
The company also owns 23 television stations and is thought likely to attract interest from a range of buyers.The prospect of Mr Murdoch buying the two newspapers is likely to be challenged by some News Corp shareholders, who ascribe little value to the newspaper business. News Corp shares have jumped more than 40pc in the past 12 months because the company is putting $10bn of its cash into buying back shares, rather than large acquisitions.
A swoop for two of America’s most historic papers would come just as a majority of News Corp’s independent shareholders voted for the first time to appoint an external chairman for the group. The resolution presented at News Corp’s shareholder meeting last week was defeated because the Murdoch family control almost 40pc of the voting rights, but underlined the growing appetite to loosen the Rupert Murdoch’s grip on the business.Mr Murdoch’s last major deal for a newspaper was the $5.6bn he paid in 2007 for Dow Jones, the publisher of The Wall Street Journal.
The 81-year-old may also be emboldened to make a bid be-cause over the summer News Corp announced a plan to spin off its publishing business, which includes newspapers. Mr Murdoch will be chairman of the business but has yet to name a chief executive.
The leading Chinese Social Sciences division of its government indicated this week that they would be funding a project to create a Tibetan Buddhist dictionary.
The dictionary will include terminologies, old books, records, figures and locations all related to Tibetan Buddhism.
The dictionary will be available in Tibetan and Chinese.
While very minor tremors occur somewhat frequently on the east coast, they rarely are strong enough to be felt. This one was the strongest to hit the east coast since the Washington DC earthquake in August of 2011.
Markets are down almost as if due to the memories of that incident.
Dow Tumbles 200, All 30 Components Lower
CNBC.com | October 19, 2012 | 03:22 PM EDT
Stocks added to their sharp sell-off Friday, on track to log their worst one-day drop in almost four months, pressured by some disappointing quarterly results that highlighted the global economic slowdown.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged more than 200 points, wiping out all of its gains for the week. All 30 Dow components traded lower, led by McDonald’s [ MCD 88.77 -4.09 (-4.40%) ] and GE [ GE 22.03 -0.78 (-3.42%) ]. The last time the Dow fell more than 200 points was in June.
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq also slumped to session lows. The CBOE Volatility Index, widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, spiked more than 15 percent to trade above 17.
All key S&P sectors were firmly in negative territory, led by materials and techs.
Friday also marks the 25th anniversary of Black Monday, when the U.S. stock market went into a free fall and the Dow lost 22.6 percent in a single trading session.
Federal authorities arrested a Bangladeshi national Wednesday morning for allegedly plotting to blow up a Federal Reserve Bank in New York Citys lower Manhattan, mere blocks away from the site of the terrorist attack of Sept. 11, 2001. The bank is one of 12 branches around the country. The 21-year-old suspect, Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis, attempted to detonate what he thought was a 1,000-pound bomb in front of the Fed building on Liberty Street, but the device was a fake supplied to him by undercover FBI agents who had been tracking his activity, the FBIs Joint Terrorism Task Force said Wednesday afternoon.
The supposed explosives posed no threat to the public, the FBI said. A criminal complaint accuses Nafis of having overseas connections to Al Qaeda and travelling to the U.S. in January to recruit individuals to form a terrorist cell and conduct an attack on American soil. He came under the guise of going to school in Missouri on a student visa. One of Nafis potential recruits was an FBI source, who alerted authorities, the FBI said.
A federal law enforcement official told Fox News that there was no evidence Nafis was directed by Al Qaeda to carry out this attack, though he appears to have thought he was working for the terrorist group.At one point, according to criminal complaint, Nafis told undercover agents: “I dont want something thats like, small. I just want something big. Something very big … that will shake the whole country, that will make America, not one step ahead, change of policy, and make one step ahead, for the Muslims … that will make us one step closer to run the whole world.” A U.S. official told Fox News that President Obama was Nafis first target, but the criminal complaint only refers to “a high-ranking official.” The complaint also mentions the New York Stock Exchange as a proposed target.
The FBI cites a written statement obtained from Nafis, in which he said he wanted to “destroy America” and determined that the best way to achieve that goal was to target the economy. He also referenced quotes from “our beloved Sheikh Osama bin Laden”. Nafis appeared in federal court in Brooklyn to face charges of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and attempting to provide material support to Al Qaeda. Wearing a brown T-shirt and black jeans, he was ordered held without bail and did not enter a plea. His defense attorney had no comment outside court. “Attempting to destroy a landmark building and kill or maim untold numbers of innocent bystanders is about as serious as the imagination can conjure,” FBI Acting Assistant Director-in-Charge Galligan said. “The defendant faces appropriately severe consequences”. NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly noted that there have been 15 terrorist plots targeting the city since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. “Al Qaeda operatives and those they have inspired have tried time and again to make New York City their killing field,” Kelly said. “After 11 years without a successful attack, its understandable if the public becomes complacent. But thats a luxury law enforcement can’t afford.”
more at Bangladeshi man arrested after allegedly trying to blow up Fed building in NYC | Fox News.
Great Orators of the Democrat Party
” One man with courage makes a majority.” – Andrew Jackson
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt
“The buck stops here.” – Harry S. Truman
“Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” – John F. Kennedy
And, from today’s genius Democrats…
“It depends what your definition of ‘Sex’ is?” – Bill Clinton
“That Obama … I would like to cut his nuts off.” – Jesse Jackson
“Those rumors are false … I believe in the sanctity of marriage.” – John Edwards
“I invented the Internet.” – Al Gore
“The next Person that tells me I’m not religious, I’m going to shove my rosary beads up their ass.” – Joe Biden
“America is – is no longer, uh, what it – it, uh, could be, uh, what it was once was – uh, and I say to myself, uh, I don’t want that future, uh, for my children.” – Barack Obama
“I have campaigned in all 57 states.” – Barack Obama (Quoted 2008)
“You don’t need God anymore, you have us Democrats.” – Nancy Pelosi (Quoted 2006)
“Paying taxes is voluntary.” – Sen. Harry Reid
“Bill is the greatest husband and father I know. No one is more faithful, true, and honest than he.” – Hillary Clinton (Quoted 1998)
And the most recent gem of wisdom from the “Mother Moron”:
“We just have to pass the Healthcare Bill to see what’s in it.” – Nancy Pelosi (Quoted March, 2010)
HOW LUCKY CAN WE BE – TO HAVE SUCH BRILLIANT MINDS IN CHARGE OF OUR ONCE GREAT COUNTRY?
”Life’s tough … it’s even tougher if you’re stupid.” – John Wayne
Go green – recycle Congress in 2012!
ABSOLUTELY!!!!
About 2000 people joined the Dalai Lama for chanting and religious teaching.
Medford is a suburb of Boston and next door to Cambridge where he was teaching at MIT the day before.
View MIT Massachsetts in a larger map
Mitt Romney has been spending some time in his hometown of Belmont, Massachusetts, preparing for the second of the Presidential debates. The next debate takes part in Hempstead, New York, on Tuesday 16th October.
Also in the Boston area, the Dalai Lama has just finished a visit to MIT, where he has been talking on Ethics, Values and Wellbeing.
Muslims protest ‘age of mockery’ as thousands descend on Google HQ – Telegraph.
Muslim’s from across the United Kingdom have descended on London to protest outside the British Head Quarters of Google.
The protesters are demanding Google remove the anti-Muslim movie, “The Innocence of Muslims”, off YouTube. The organiser of the rally, Masound Alam has warned of further protests outside Google offices world wide until the movie is banned, adding “This is not freedom of expression, there is a limit for that. This insult of the Prophet will not be allowed.”
Protests held up banners saying “Freedom of Speech = Hatred to Muslims?”, and are arguing that we are in an “Age of Mockery”.
One of the speakers, Sheikh Faiz Al-Aqtab Siddiqui, told The Daily Telegraph: “Terrorism is not just people who kill human bodies, but who kill human feelings as well. The makers of this film have terrorised 1.6 billion people.
“Organisations like Google are key players and have to take responsibility for civility. You can’t just say it doesn’t matter that it’s freedom of speech. It’s anarchy.”
YouTube have responded saying the video does not violate any of their terms of usage, and will therefore stay on their site. What is offensive to one person, or in one country is not in another.
This teaching in the afternoon at the request of the Tibetan and Kalmyk Communities at the Lincoln Center.
The Dalai Lama will be returning to India on October 22.