Facing complaints, Bush pledges stronger dollar

He assures a European ally that he will work to boost the currency and cut the budget deficit.

How, George, how? Pledges means nothing. One swell way to cut the deficit would be to stop engaging in lunatic foreign wars.

But Cheney’s tax cut vow worries analysts.

As should the Bushite plan to loot Social Security by floating billions in loans to pay for their venal “privatization” of Social Security.

Like the alcoholic who continually promises to stop drinking, this Bush pledge is being ignored.

Despite Bush’s statement of support for a strong dollar, the U.S. currency weakened further on international markets, losing more than 1% of its value against the Japanese yen and nearly 1% against the euro.

No Comments »

Yukos seeks US bankruptcy refuge

Embattled Russian oil giant Yukos has filed for bankruptcy protection in a US court in an attempt to prevent the forced sale of its main production arm.  Russian authorities are due to auction off Yuganskneftegas on 19 December to pay a huge tax bill sent to Yukos.

Even if the US court backed Yukos, Russian authorities would probably ignore its decision.

As well they should. Yukos has no US offices or assets so a bankruptcy filing in the US is absurd.

No Comments »

Via the Netsurfer newletter, detailing the stats from the ever-popular Boing Boing website (I can remember when Boing Boing was a fanzine! )

Internet Explorer wins the browser race with 37% of all accesses, but note that Boing Boing’s audience is tres hip: Firefox is right there at 31% with Mozilla at another 5% or so. Clearly, Internet Exporer is on the run in this particular community.

I just checked the Polizeros web stats, 28% of visitors here are using Firefox or Mozilla!

View the Boing Boing stats

No Comments »

S.E.C. Says Fannie Mae Violated Accounting Rules.

The S.E.C. has ordered Fannie Mae to restate its earnings for the last four years after concluding that it had violated accounting rules.

The staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission has ordered Fannie Mae, the nation’s largest buyer of mortgages, to restate its earnings over the last four years after concluding that it had violated accounting rules on its treatment of derivatives and loans.

Fannie said last month that if it was found to be in violation of the rules, it might have to report after-tax losses on its derivatives transactions of as much as $9 billion.

And in more crime, er,  corporate business news

Time Warner settles AOL fraud charges

As part of the settlement with the Justice Department, Time Warner agreed to cooperate with the criminal investigation. If Time Warner executives fail to do so, Deputy U.S. Atty. Gen. James Comey said, “the deal is off and they are in a world of trouble.”

No Comments »