from the "ch-ch-changes" dept.

So the "stupid" war is having a profound effect on the US economy. And, because economies tend to be linked, it's having a profound effect on everyone.

The US Dollar is tanking and now comes word that some forex bureaux are refusing to take the US Dollar because it's falling so fast that they'll lose money. Sounds like the Zimbabwean Dollar!

But could the US Dollar, once the defacto currency of world travellers, actually collapse?

A documentary that aired recently on Dutch television asked that question. From BoingBoing:

"The documentary was based on a script made by an economist who was assigned the task to make a 'what if' scenario about how the dollar could crash within 24 hours. Americans are living beyond their means and Asia is currently financing that. But eventually the Asians/Europeans will stop financing the USA and then the bubble will burst."

That's not good...

from the "it's the sub-primes, stupid" dept.

There's some scary stuff going on south of the border... is this another long-lasting gift from W to the people of the U.S.A.? Maybe not directly, but a stupid war and a corrupt administration don't do much for the economy. Four More Years! Four More Years!

Take note the last sentence below. What does that say about the state of today's media?

The details and link from BoingBoing:

In this chilling BBC clip, a newsteam ventures to one of LA's new shantytowns made up of people who've lost their homes in the subprime meltdown and now live in tents, improvised shacks or RVs on abandoned land. It's the contemporary Hooverville, and, as the Subliterate Cinephile notes, I wonder why I found out about this from the BBC and not US media. Link

Cheers.

from the "jaysus, not that song" dept.

What would St. Patrick's Day be without this stirring rendition of Danny Boy?

from the "get it off your chest" dept.

Hey Journalist... not having a good day? Check out AngryJournalist.com -- you can rant and rave and get it off your chest.

Having a good day?

Then read about the hell your fellow scribes are going through!

Slainte!

from the "I hope there's a cure" dept.

Left-leaning Brave New Films has launched a viral video campaign to show how wacko Faux News commentary spreads to other media outlets. These are the same folks who brought you the eye-opening documentaries Outfoxed and Iraq For Sale.

From Wired's Threat Level blog:

In an e-mail blast, the group's founder Robert Greenwald asks supporters to sign a petition that he says he plans on sending to news rooms chiefs. He wants the rest of the media to stop following Fox's lead.

This video is the latest in a series that Brave New Films has made over the past few months. The series is called Fox Attacks!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Slainte!

from the "olympic ideals" dept.

The brutality continues in Tibet.

Some shocking revelations (like 300 people possibly slaughtered courtesy of the 2008 Olympic host country) HERE.

The latest from BBC and Al-J.

And just in case you forgot what the Olympics stand for, here's the official mission statement:

The Games have always brought people together in peace to respect universal moral principles. The upcoming Games will feature athletes from all over the world and help promote the Olympic spirit.

Right.

from the "two systems one brutal regime" dept.

Ya know, if Saddam was such a baddie, why did the IOC award/reward another dubious regime with the Olympics? After the events in Tibet today, that question carries even more weight:

China: The myth:

The Reality (or what do China and Burma have in common?):

From BBC: Deaths reported in Tibet protests

Clashes between protesters and security forces in Tibet's main city of Lhasa have left at least two people dead, according to reports.

An emergency official told AFP news agency that many people had been hurt and an unspecified number had died.

The US-based Radio Free Asia quoted witnesses who said they had seen at least two bodies on Lhasa's streets.

Rallies have continued all week in what are said to be the largest protests against Beijing's rule in 20 years.

[MORE]

How soon we forget:

from the "Franz Liszt would be proud" dept.

Sometimes it's good to be on the list. It means you're getting into a concert or event for free.

Sometimes it's not so good. Like being on America's terrorist watch list. But at least you'll have lots of company.

The ACLU has a counter to show how many people are on the watch list. Would you believe it's nearing a million?


From the ACLU:

Why are there so many names on the U.S. government's terrorist list?

In September 2007, the Inspector General of the Justice Department reported that the Terrorist Screening Center (the FBI-administered organization that consolidates terrorist watch list information in the United States) had over 700,000 names in its database as of April 2007 - and that the list was growing by an average of over 20,000 records per month.¹

At that rate, our list will have a million names on it by July. If there were really that many terrorists running around, we'd all be dead.

Terrorist watch lists must be tightly focused on true terrorists who pose a genuine threat. Bloated lists are bad because

• they ensnare many innocent travelers as suspected terrorists, and
• because they waste screeners' time and divert their energies from looking for true terrorists.

Small, focused watch lists are better for civil liberties and for security.

The uncontroversial contention that Osama Bin Laden and a handful of other known terrorists should not be allowed on an aircraft is being used to create a monster that goes far beyond what ordinary Americans think of when they think about a "terrorist watch list."

This is not just a problem of numbers. The numbers are merely a symptom. What's needed is fairness. If the government is going to rely on these kinds of lists, they need checks and balances to ensure that innocent people are protected. (See ACLU Backgrounder on Watch Lists for more)

Who's on the Watch List? You'd be surprised. Check it out HERE.

[h/t boingboing]

Happy travels!

from the "USSR not going to believe these prices" dept.

I've always had this odd fascination for all things Russian (and Eastern European). I love reading about that part of the world. I love travelling there (Ukraine next month!). And I'd kinda-sorta like to live there for a spell.

This might be my chance.

The Guardian is reporting that the Russian Army is having a fire sale of sorts. Auctioning off everything from huge tracts of land to some lovely properties. Unfortunately, no former-Soviet republics are for sale. Damn!

The Russian army is to auction off property ranging from mansions to barracks and even whole towns to raise cash to build modern housing for its officers, according to reports.

The daily paper Izvestia said yesterday that more than 20 army properties near Moscow, St Petersburg, Kaliningrad and Vladivostok would be offered to the highest bidders in the first auction on April 8.

Among the properties for sale, Izvestia said, were "fabulous mansions and guest houses, dilapidated garrison towns, unused shooting ranges and vast tracts of neglected land on which no human has set foot for years". The paper claimed that the army occupied more land than the territories of Greece or Austria.

The rest of the story HERE.

Cheers!

from the "faux news redux" dept.

Now this is something... a story about Fox News and how it tried to kill a report about chemical giant Monsanto. Truly amazing.

The fact that a hardcore Republican friend of mine send it to me speaks volumes...