
Canadians gave an appropriate welcome to George Bush in Toronto....


Every country BUT the U.S. seems to do such a better job of giving Bush a "proper" reception.
Good job Toronto! We could learn something from our neighbors to the north-- Eh?
High Stakes GM: Instead, the government will convert that debt into a 72.5% stake in the new company. This means that for taxpayers to make back any of the money loaned to GM, it will have to be because shares of the new GM increase in value following an exit from bankruptcy.
* Various CNN news articles were used for the reference info.
WAR DEAD
Since the U.S. invasion of Iraq began on March 20, 2003 (last week’s numbers in parentheses):
In Iraq
• 4,296 U.S. troops killed* (4,292)
• 31,256 U.S. troops injured* (31,245)
• 182 U.S. military suicides* (182)
• 1,123 U.S. contractors killed (accurate updates NA)
• 100,361 to 1.2 million civilians killed*** (100,339)
• $670.7 billion cost of war ($667.9 billion)
• $190.6 million cost to Eugene taxpayers ($189.9 million)
In Afganistan
• 685 U.S. troops killed* (682)
• 2,828 U.S. troops injured* (2,820)
• $188.2 billion cost of war ($187.7 million)
• $53.3 million cost to Eugene taxpayers ($53.3 million)
* through May 18, 2009; source: icasualties.org; some figures only updated monthly
** sources: icasualties.org, defenselink.mil
*** highest estimate; source: iraqbodycount.org; based on confirmed media reports; other groups calculate civilian deaths as high as 655,000 (Lancet survey, 2006) to 1.1 million (Opinion Research Business survey, 2008)
I for one greatly appreciate them keeping this information in the public eye. No analysis, opinion or comment, just the statistics.
In case you missed this video montage made by Veteran for Peace, Gordon Sturrock, check it out--
My Veterans for Peace friend, Gordon Sturrock put together this montage~ in his words:
"A farewell to the 162nd Infantry of the 2nd Battalion. Created from video
footage filmed at the Mobilization Ceremony on May 4, 2009 at the Lane
Country Fairgrounds in Eugene, woven into an audio and video "tapestry of
contrast" by fellow vets who are deeply concerned for all the souls who
will ultimately be touched by this deployment."
CNN Money Reports: The Obama administration on Tuesday is set to propose stricter fuel economy standards in an effort to cut down vehicle greenhouse gas emissions. The plan will require passenger cars and light trucks to get an overall average of 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016, according to a senior administration official with knowledge of the plan. By that year, cars will be expected to average about 39 mpg and 30 mpg for trucks.
Current fuel economy standards are 27.5 mpg for cars and 23.1 mpg for trucks.
The Obama plan would accelerate by four years new fuel economy standards passed by Congress at the end of 2007.
Fuel economy will be increased gradually beginning in 2012 and continuing through 2016. The administration predicts the changes will save 1.8 billion barrels of oil by 2016. That's roughly what the country goes through in about 86 days, according to numbers from the Energy Information Administration.
http://www.VeteransAgainstTorture.com
member: Vietnam Veterans Against the War, Veterans For Peace
(His posted tag line quote)
"The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil,
but because of those who look on and do nothing" Albert Einstein
CNN reports:
"This revelation was buried within Chrysler's bankruptcy filings last week and confirmed by the Obama administration Tuesday. The filings included a list of business assumptions from one of the company's key financial advisors in the bankruptcy case.
Some of the main assumptions listed by Robert Manzo of Capstone Advisory Group were that the Treasury would forgive a $4 billion bridge loan given to Chrysler in the closing days of the Bush administration, a $300 million fee on that loan, and the $3.2 billion in financing approved last week by the Obama administration to fund Chrysler's operations during bankruptcy.
"The reality now is that the face value [of the $4 billion bridge loan] will be written off in the bankruptcy process," said the official, who added that the 8% equity stake that Treasury will be receiving as part of the company's reorganization is meant to compensate taxpayers for the lost money.
"While we do not expect a recovery of these funds, we are comfortable that in the totality of the arrangement, the Treasury and the American taxpayer are being fairly compensated," said the official.
The company filed for bankruptcy Thursday as part of a deal with the federal government, unions, some lenders and Italian automaker Fiat to keep the company from being shut down.
The Obama administration official said that other money being made available to Chrysler, such as the $4.7 billion that will go to the company as it exits bankruptcy, will be a loan that the government expects to be paid back. In addition, that loan will be secured by company assets, unlike the previous loans to Chrysler.
According to the filing, the company's financial advisor also foresees the need for an additional $1.5 billion loan from the Treasury Department by June 30, 2010.
Lori McTavish, a spokeswoman for Chrysler, said some of the assumptions made by the company have changed since its bankruptcy filing on April 30. But she could not say specifically if the company still hoped for the additional federal loan in 2010.
"The content of the document needs to speak for itself. We are simply not in a position to comment," she said."
Major banks and hedge funds that loaned Chrysler $6.9 billion were offered only $2.25 billion to settle those loans by Treasury. While major banks accepted the offer, hedge funds rejected it, forcing the company into bankruptcy.
He said the fact that Chrysler isn't paying what is owed should be a warning that the $15.4 billion loaned to General Motors by Treasury since December, as well as any bankruptcy financing it might need, is also at risk.
"Certainly there are red flags," he said."
Certainly there ARE red flags. As for that Chrysler spokeswoman who is "not in a position to comment", well of course you are not in a position to comment. What are you going to say really? Suckers!
Unlike the notorious bank robbers like Baby Face Nelson, John Dillinger, or the early twentieth century Willie Sutton, when asked why he robbed banks, he was famously reported as answering "Because that's where the money is." Now in the 21st century, any one wanting to make a heist of large sums of money knows better than to go to a bank-- they are failing-- they go the the Government- they hit the Federal Reserve.
Although they arrived in private jets, dressed in their fancy suits & ties, they came to ask for money. The people's money- and lots of it. Although there was much grandstanding, and the good argument that not only would the demise of the big three take down so many other businesses - dealers, mechanics, suppliers, etc, but the country would lose an entire industry.
How powerful could a superpower be, if it could not even make it's own vehicles?
All good questions, but none of the fundamental questions were being asked, such as:
• What caused US carmakers to fail?
~ They totally missed the boat on Hybrids & fuel efficient vehicles at the time fuel soared to an all time high.
• Why are the foreign car makers more successful?
~ They made a better product. Consumer reports, and resale values were generally better. The vehicles had a much longer engine life.
They made decent cars at affordable prices.
• Even to this day, the new car write up section in the Saturday paper featured a Dodge truck that gets 13 miles to the gallon. 13 miles to the gallon in the 21st century?
~ My 15 year old Dodge vehicle gets 18 miles to the gallon. They are going backwards in terms of fuel efficiency.