WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama signaled Tuesday he would consider U.S. military action against Syria if “hard, effective evidence” is found to bolster intelligence that chemical weapons have been used in the 2-year-old civil war. But Obama made clear he would prefer to have the backing of the international community before escalating American involvement.In a White House news conference, Obama appealed for patience, saying he needs more conclusive evidence about how and when chemical weapons detected by U.S. intelligence agencies were used and who deployed them. If those questions can be answered, Obama said he would consider potential actions the Pentagon and intelligence community have readied for him in the event Syria has crossed his chemical weapons “red line.”"There are options that are available to me that are on the shelf right now that we have not deployed,” he told reporters packed into the White House briefing room. Those options include setting up a protective “no-fly zone” over Syria, creating a humanitarian corridor at the Turkish border or providing weapons directly to the rebels.Continue Reading… … Read More
Dealing with discounts: When to buy a Mac or iDevice
Contrary to popular belief, scoring deals on newly-released Apple products isn't difficult. Sure, you'll need a little patience, but waiting for those initial discounts could save you a decent chunk of change. While data suggests that the first deals on new Apple electronics have begun showing up later than they… … Read More
‘Cyprus loan deal is like planting a bomb in the financial system’
He added that the government’s plan is like planting a bomb in the structure of the financial system itself. Adamides’ thoughts were echoed by thousands of high school and university students on Tuesday, as they marched to the presidential palace in the Cypriot capital of Nicosia. The demonstrators chanted slogans and said their future had been stolen. Cyprus’ bailout plan has angered the island nation, as the government threatens to take a 40 per cent tax from accounts held in the country’s two largest banks. Financial institutions across the country are shut down until Thursday to prevent a massive run on accounts.RT: You’re in the Cypriot capital – how are people responding to the financial turbulence? And how much patience do you think they have left?Chrysostomos Adamides: The people are shocked because at the end of the day they did not expect these decisions from the Eurogroup. I don’t think it’s correct to speak for a bailout. This is not a bailout. It can be best described as an overnight assassination. Because with the decision that the Eurogroup has taken, they have pretty much destroyed 40% of the economy and now they will also add on top of the debt problem that we already have, another loan, and you have to understand that the math will not work.RT: You talk about 40% of what they call taxes, 40% being taken out of certain various bank accounts with more than 100,000 euros. Not just the big players, the little average people are also being hurt by this. The banks are closed until Thursday – how are people expected to survive?CA: Obviously we’re facing a new paradigm in the EU. This is the first time that this has been done but obviously you do understand it’s like planting a bomb in the structure of the financial system itself. Therefore I can’t see how any investor or people can keep their money in the banks when now that we will have a debt problem twice or more as bad as it was before. Obviously they will be afraid for a new levy on bank deposits so how are they expected to keep their deposits in the bank and if they are not, how do the banks expect to continue?RT: The head of the largest Cypriot bank resigned after it was announced that the Bank of Cyprus will inherit billions of toxic assets from Laiki bank. Do you believe that the country’s banking system will withstand such a challenge?CA: This has been done elsewhere, we all know the example of Greece. And the head of the bank of Cyprus has resigned for a very good reason because he obviously acknowledges that they cannot go on with these terms and conditions demanded by the Troika. Therefore, there is no other solution. They should have said no to these demands from the beginning and if they would like us to continue as partners in the EU, then obviously we need to remain partners and not just be pushed around because of our political position and because of the problems we’ve been facing since 1974 and the illegal occupation of Turkey.RT: A lot of the bankers on Cyprus have been pressured from Brussels by the EU politicians there. However, at the end of the day, do you trust the bankers now?CA: That is a very funny question. Who can trust the bankers? Don’t forget that this whole debacle started from the banks themselves. Now we are being asked to trust the banks. This is a joke. It cannot be asked of the people to do that. What the regulators should have done is have the mechanisms in place since obviously they cannot control the market, to actually have a face save mechanism when things go wrong, to be able to control it somehow. Instead, in the EU they are still discussing about the mechanisms and every single bailout has new terms and conditions. We have seen this five times. No two bailouts are exactly the same in the Eurozone. And obviously this is not something that has started now. It’s been going on since the 70s. … Read More
Default Rolls In? Cyprus gets no Russian cash, ‘EU no help’
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To investors in Cyprus: ‘Sit tight and don’t move’
On Tuesday, the parliament of the small Mediterranean islandnation was expected to vote on the controversial plan to seize ofup to 10 per cent of people’s savings. In exchange Nicosia expectsto get 10-billion-euro bailout from its eurozone partners and theInternational Monetary Fund. However, the vote was postponed tillThursday.“I think it’s the best possible option. I wouldn’t knowanything better except, perhaps, for a bankruptcy – which would bethe worst thing to happen,” states Eppink.A Cypriot bailout would become the fifth one since the beginningof the world economic crisis: Greece, Portugal and Ireland eachhave already secured international rescue packages.“There’s also limit to patience of taxpayers in Germany, theNetherlands and Finland, because finally these are the people whohave to guarantee the loans to Cyprus,” Eppink observed. “SoI think it was good to have a contribution of savers in Cyprusitself,” he added. It is feared now that a Cyprus bank levy may set a dangerouseurozone precedent. However, in Eppink’s view, it is unlikely thata similar measure would be implemented in other EU states.“It was the only way to save Cyprus. In other countries wehave different sort of problems,” he noted.Eppink empathized that Cypriots would not become the first EUnation to lose money.“Generally, European savers are losing money because we arehaving a policy of cheap money, low interest rates. That means thatsaving money – if you put money in a bank – costs you money[because of inflation]. And this is happening to a lot of EUcitizens already. It would be wrong to suggest that this the firsttime it happens. Actually, it already happened before becausesavers in Europe are not well off at all,” Eppink said.Meanwhile, the best option for Cypriot investors would be toactually stay there instead of feeling the country as there are“not many places” where they could go, the politician believes.According to a Dutch saying, “If you are being shaved, sit tightand don’t move,” he told RT. “I think when you restore the rule of law in Cyprus and savethe island, it will still be a good place to be,” Eppinkconcluded. … Read More
Soledad O’Brien rips Maryland Republican for bill protecting ‘Pop Tart guns’
CNN host Soledad O’Brien did not have much patience Monday for a Maryland state senator who recently introduced legislation aimed at preventing children from being published for making gun references in the classroom. Maryland Sen. J.B. Jennings (R) claims his bill was written in reaction to…
Anonymous message about chokri belaid and the black block
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