china confdential
Thursday, December 04, 2008
UFO Over UK Cathedral Causes Power Cuts
Foreign Confidential....
A slightly luminous, grey UFO was reported to police last Saturday night in the historic town of Edmunds St Bury in the county of Suffolk, just outside London, England.
The UFO was seen spinning and hovering over the St Edmundsbury Cathedral by a townsman.
The UFO was also seen by a staff member of the Cathedral.
Sarah Friswell, the Cathedrals visitor officer, noted that the topic of the mysterious craft had come up in a staff meeting, and one of the staff members confessed to also witnessing the rather clear UFO of a very ‘Classical’ appearance.
The cathedral's visitor officer Sarah Friswell said: “I mentioned it at our staff meeting yesterday and a member of staff did see 'it' as well. But I have to say no-one else has commented or 'phoned or mentioned it.
“It happened in between two short power cuts, so we wondered if it was linked to that.”
Large Spinning Object
A police spokeswoman said: “We received a report at 10:43 pm on Saturday from a gentleman who said he'd seen a large object spinning in the sky for around 10 to 12 minutes, which looked like a UFO. This was the only report received."
The apparent sighting comes just four months after similar reports of a UFO above the town's Mildenhall and Howard estates.
Eyewitnesses told how, on September 3, they saw an object at about 9.30pm spinning and tilting above houses and appeared to change color.
The sighting was accompanied by unusual power cuts, confirmed by the Cathedral administration. The blackout could not be explained by the local electricity provider.
The town is historically significant. It is said to be the place where the idea of the Magna Carta was born--a birthplace of modern democracy. The town is also the burial place of a number of ancient Saxon Kings, and was once regarded as a place of miracles. Overall Edmunds St Bury is regarded as one of the UK's great historic towns.
The Case for Buying Chinese Stocks
Investors should buy Chinese stocks because the so-called H shares of the mainland companies traded in Hong Kong are nearing the bottom and may rise as much as 30 percent in 2009, according to Emperor Investment Management.
“H shares earnings multiples, such as price-to-book ratio, are close to the same levels seen during the 1998 Asian crisis, which was the lowest point we’ve ever seen,” said Ed Mullen, CEO of Shanghai-based Emperor, a hedge fund that oversees $150 million in Chinese stocks.
Corporate profits in China will outpace other emerging and developed markets as the country’s economic growth remains robust, Mullen said in an interview in New York. His firm’s Emperor Greater China Fund, which was set up eight years ago, fell 51 percent this year through October after climbing 93 percent in 2007.
The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of mainland shares in Hong Kong has lost 55 percent this year on concern shrinking industrial expansion and slowing exports will stifle economic growth. China’s government last week cut its key lending rate by the most in 11 years to prevent an economic slump and four weeks ago pledged a 4 trillion yuan ($580 billion) stimulus package.
“China’s economy will start to recover in the second half of next year when we’re going to see the stimulus package and monetary easing taking effect,” Mullen said.
The country’s economy, the biggest contributor to global growth, expanded 9 percent in the third quarter, slowing from 11.9 percent a year earlier. Fourth-quarter growth may slump to 5.8 percent, the slowest pace in 18 years, Credit Suisse Group AG estimated in a report last month.
- BloombergHitler's Maid Says He Was Great Boss
Rosa Mitterer, 91, worked as a maid for Hitler at his mountain retreat in Bavaria in the 1930s.
Until now, she has kept quiet about her experiences of life with the Nazi dicator, but Mitterer decided it was time to speak out, the Daily Mail reports.
"He was a charming man, someone who was only ever nice to me, a great boss to work for. You can say what you like, but he was a good man to us," she said.
Grab a vomit bag, and click here to continue reading.Measles Deaths Decline Dramatically
Measles deaths worldwide declined dramatically to about 200,000 a year, continuing a successful trend, global health authorities reported Thursday.
From 2000 to 2007, annual measles deaths dropped 74 percent, largely because of vaccination campaigns, according to a report from the World Health Organization, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other organizations.
Measles has long been a leading cause of death of young children globally and still kills more than 500 a day. But health officials estimate 11 million deaths were avoided in the decline.
The most dramatic improvements were seen in Africa and in Greater Middle Eastern countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan, where measles deaths dropped by about 90 percent. The least progress was in Southeast Asia, where most of the world's measles deaths now occur.
The report appears this week in publications of the CDC and WHO.
It was released Thursday by the Measles Initiative, a global partnership. Last year it reported that worldwide measles deaths dropped 60 percent from 1999 to 2005.
The group's estimates come from a mathematical model that factors in vaccination rates and death rates for unvaccinated children.
Measles has been resurgent in the United States, where cases this year reached their highest level in more than a decade. "It's ironic," said Dr. Anne Schuchat, director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.
Measles deaths are rare in the United States. Cases are, too: This year's increased case count totals only about 130. Nearly half of the recent cases involved children whose parents rejected vaccination.Iraq in Danger of Collapsing
Foreign Confidential....
Iraq is the next Vietnam.
So say analysts who are closely monitoring the situation on the ground in Iraq.
The Iraqi regime is in danger of collapse, they say.
Other likely scenarios: regional chaos and an internal coup.
Least likely scenario: a healthy, democratic, pro-American Iraqi government.
It is one of the world's most corrupt and least popular nations ... a virtual Iranian satellite.utures Flight: Gold, Grains, Oil Keep on Falling
Foreign Confidential....
Gold and other commodities prices fell Thursday investors extended their flight from the futures markets amid more signs of economic weakness.
The dominating driver of the commodities markets in recent months has been the fear of a sharp drop in demand for raw materials as the country sinks further into a recession. And there were plenty of signs Thursday that the nation continues to suffer hard times, including layoffs at AT&T Inc. and DuPont Co., dismal retail sales reports and an auto industry whose struggles are multiplying.
Additionally, investors remain wary ahead of Friday's employment report, which is expected to show further deterioration in the job market.
Massive Interest Rate Cuts
Massive interest rate cuts by several European central banks earlier in the day — further proof that the economic slump has spread to other parts of the world — also weighed on the market.
"Investment demand is not what it used to be," said George Gero, vice president of global futures at RBC Capital Markets in New York. "The malaise is worldwide, not just the U.S."
At the same time, analysts suspect that hedge funds and other institutional investors continue to exit their positions in commodities ahead of the new year.
"You have continued liquidation going on because of the need for cash by a lot of funds," Gero said. Investors see little potential for an increase in demand going into 2009, he said.
Gold for February delivery dipped $5 to settle at $765.50 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Dollar Mixed, Metals Down
Other precious metals prices also fell. March silver fell 7 cents to $9.520 an ounce, while March copper futures fell 8.5 cents to $1.4695 a pound.
The dollar was mixed against other major currencies. Demand for government bonds, considered to be among the safest investments, remained elevated. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, fell to 2.56 percent late Thursday from 2.67 percent late Wednesday.
Energy prices slumped on the Nymex, on the fear that demand will curtail sharply as fewer people drive to work amid rampant job losses.
Both oil and gasoline prices hit four-year lows.
Light, sweet crude fell nearly 7 percent, or $3.12, to settle at $43.67 a barrel. Just four months ago, crude rocketed close to $150 a barrel. It has fallen nearly $27 in just one month.
In other Nymex trading, gasoline futures fell 7.2 cents to 96.95 cents a gallon, and heating oil dropped 7.49 cents to $1.5091 a gallon.
Grain prices tumbled on the Chicago Board of Trade. March wheat futures fell 33.75 cents to $4.86 a bushel, while corn for March delivery fell 14.25 cents to $3.34 a bushel.
January soybeans dropped 19 cents to $8.11 a bushel.
- APRule, Britannia? Queen Closes Canada's Parliament
Foreign Confidential....
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has shut down parliament, sparing himself from a no-confidence vote that he was likely to lose.
The move comes after Harper met for two hours Thursday with Governor General Michaelle Jean, who agreed to Harper's request to suspend parliament until he can present a budget late next month.
The unprecedented step comes less than two months after Harper's re-election.
The governor general, in a mostly ceremonial post, is the representative of Britain's Queen Elizabeth, who is Canada's head of state. Jean had to decide whether to suspend parliament or allow Mr. Harper to face the no-confidence vote on Monday.
Decision Decried
Opposition members decried the decision. Liberal leader Stephane Dion, who the opposition wants to replace Harper with, warned that only "monumental change" would keep his coalition from toppling the minority Conservative government, adding that Mr. Harper was "running away" from parliament.
The leader of the New Democrats, Jack Layton, described Harper's action as putting "locks on the door" of parliament.
In a televised address Wednesday night, Harper pledged to use "every legal means" to stop an effort by opposition parties to oust him.
The Liberals, New Democrats and the separatist Bloc Quebecois announced their coalition on Monday. They have accused Harper and the Conservatives of not doing enough to help Canadians cope with the global financial crisis.
Canada's ruling Conservative Party won the most seats in an October 14 election, but failed to win a majority of the 308 seats in parliament.Chinese Conspiracy Theorists See Sinister 'Synarchist' Hand Manipulating Meltdown
Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?
China knows.
Diplomatic sources say a surprising number of Chinese officials and "official intellectuals"--government think tank workers--subscribe to a bizarre theory that an American-led, anti-Chinese conspiracy is behind the current global financial meltdown, which threatens to spread to China.
The Chinese believe that an extremely powerful, ultra-secret group of fascistic, "synarchist financiers" triggered the financial crisis in order to accomplish two strategic objectives: stop China's meteoric rise and crush American organized labor for once and all.
The "synarchists" made staggering fortunes, the conspiracy theorists assert, by manipulating and shorting the equities and commodities markets on the way down just as they had profited by manipulating markets on the way up.India: Pakistan Intelligence Agency Aided Terrorists
With U.S. help, India is said to have collected evidence that points to the role of the Pakistani ISI in the Mumbai Terror attacks. Pressure is now being mounted on Islamabad to ban the Muridke-based Jamat-ud-Dawa, which fronts for the banned Lashkar-e-Toiba, and move against its leader Hafiz Saeed.
Sources said New Delhi believes the Mumbai attack was an operation of the Pakistani Army, its intelligence agency and Lashkar cadres and that the civilian Government there was not kept in the loop. India has asked Pakistan to act against the perpetrators but has not submitted any list of Indian fugitives to Islamabad after the attack. Sources said New Delhi was demanding Islamabad initiate action not only against the Lashkar but also those within the ISI who actively conspired in the Mumbai attacks.
After pooling intelligence with the United States, New Delhi has collected names of trainers and the controller of the Lashkar terrorists, even details of the place where they were trained. Apparently some of the intercepts, mostly voice over Internet protocol, used communication pathways often used by the ISI.
- Indian Express
Friday, 5 December 2008
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