China’s central bank chief laid the groundwork for an appreciation of the renminbi at the weekend when he described the current dollar peg as temporary, striking a more emollient tone after months of tough opposition in Beijing to a shift in exchange rate policy.

Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the People’s Bank of China, gave the strongest hint yet from a senior official that China would abandon the unofficial dollar peg, in place since mid-2008. He said it was a “special” policy to weather the financial crisis.

“This is a part of our package of policies for dealing with the global financial crisis. Sooner or later, we will exit the policies.”

Mr Zhou’s comments contrasted with recent Chinese comments on its currency policy in the face of international criticism that the renminbi was undervalued. In December, premier Wen Jiabao said: “We will not yield to any pressure of any form forcing us to appreciate.” Chinese officials have repeatedly emphasised the need for a stable exchange rate.

Source/Full Story: FT.com

You’ve accepted the idea that TV makes you dumber. You know there are lots of more edifying things you could be doing with your time than cheering on the contestants on “Survivor.”

And unless you’re working out to an exercise video, you know those hours sprawled out in front of the screen are going to make you fatter — not to mention the impact of all that junk food you’ve been tempted to scarf down during the commercial breaks.

But you’ll be surprised to learn the host of other bad things TV can do to you.

Source/Full Story: msnbc.com

Two months after ending his annual State of the Black Union conference, Tavis Smiley is gathering African-American advocates to press the case for a “black agenda.”

The decision was motivated by what Smiley called recent statements from some black leaders downplaying the need for President Barack Obama to specifically help African-Americans.

“I was compelled to do it because of this debate,” the activist and PBS talk show host said Wednesday.

The panel discussion will be March 20 at Chicago State University. Panelists include advertising pioneer Tom Burrell, professors Michael Eric Dyson and Cornel West, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, and Bennett College President Julianne Malveaux.

The meeting is free and open to the public. Negotiations to televise the event are in progress, Smiley spokeswoman Leshelle Sargent said.

Some black politicians and activists have recently begun to question Obama’s longtime stance that helping the overall economy will improve the fortunes of blacks who are disproportionately poor and unemployed.
…
Eric Deggans, who writes about the media and race for Florida’s St. Petersburg Times, said Smiley’s new event is consistent with his record of criticizing Obama’s race-neutral stance. But there is a perception that Smiley is personally invested in the issue, he said, because Obama declined to attend Smiley’s 2008 State of the Black Union event during the presidential campaign.

Source/Full Story: The Associated Press

A revolution will erupt if billions of euro more in taxpayers’ money is handed over to Anglo Irish Bank, Enda Kenny has warned.

The Fine Gael leader said people can no longer tolerate massive public funding of the nationalised bank as it stands.

Expected record losses at the bank, to be announced later this month, have fuelled speculation it will seek another six billion euro from the Government, on top of the four billion it has already pumped in.

Mr Kenny told Taoiseach Brian Cowen there will be a popular uprising if any such request is given the go-ahead.

“There’ll be revolution on the streets if you do that,” he insisted.

“Whatever case can be made for Allied Irish Bank (AIB), there can be no case made for giving six billion euro more of taxpayers’ money to Anglo Irish Bank.

“This is effectively a dead bank which will not lend any further monies.”

Mr Kenny demanded Anglo be split into a “good bank” and “bad bank” – taking control of the toxic borrowings – before it is given any more help.

The Fine Gael leader also demanded AIB be handed preconditions if it requests further recapitalisation, after the lender went into the red for the first time in its history with pre-tax losses of 2.65 billion euro.

Mr Cowen said Anglo has already asked the European Commission for permission to break up into a “good bank” and “bad bank”, and insisted the Government remains ready to give more cash to banks in an effort to save them.

Source/Full Story: Independent.ie

Barack Obama’s home state of Illinois is near the point of fiscal disintegration. “The state is in utter crisis,” said Representative Suzie Bassi. “We are next to bankruptcy. We have a $13bn hole in a $28bn budget.”

The state has been paying bills with unfunded vouchers since October. A fifth of buses have stopped. Libraries, owed $400m (£263m), are closing one day a week. Schools are owed $725m. Unable to pay teachers, they are preparing mass lay-offs. “It’s a catastrophe”, said the Schools Superintedent.

In Alexander County, the sheriff’s patrol cars have been repossessed; three-quarters of his officers are laid off; the local prison has refused to take county inmates until debts are paid.

Florida, Arizona, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York are all facing crises. California has cut teachers salaries by 5pc, and imposed a 5pc levy on pension fees.

The Economic Policy Institute says states face a shortfall of $156bn in fiscal 2010. Most are banned by law from running deficits, so they must retrench. Washington has provided $68bn in federal aid, but that depletes the Obama stimulus package.

Source/Full Story: Don’t go wobbly on us now, Ben Bernanke – Telegraph

The security guard is probably the pedophile.

A father was stopped from taking a photo of his son on a children’s train ride after an over-zealous security guard accused him of being a paedophile.

Kevin Geraghty-Shewan, 48, was approached by the guard after he took the picture of his four-year-old son Ben on the toy engine outside a shop.

He was then threatened with arrest after refusing to hand his mobile phone containing the picture after a row with a policeman.
Kevin Geraghty-Shewan

Mr Geraghty-Shewan said: ‘Ben saw a children’s ride which had a train on it and wanted to have a go because he’s obsessed with trains.’

Moments later, he was apprehended by the security guard.

The father-of-one, who was in the North East visiting family, said: ‘He said “you can’t take pictures in here”. I asked why and he told me it was because for all he knew I could be a paedophile.

‘I told him Ben Was my son. But he said I couldn’t prove it.

Source/Full Story: Mail Online

Thousands of the nation’s largest water polluters are outside the Clean Water Act’s reach because the Supreme Court has left uncertain which waterways are protected by that law, according to interviews with regulators.

As a result, some businesses are declaring that the law no longer applies to them. And pollution rates are rising.

Companies that have spilled oil, carcinogens and dangerous bacteria into lakes, rivers and other waters are not being prosecuted, according to Environmental Protection Agency regulators working on those cases, who estimate that more than 1,500 major pollution investigations have been discontinued or shelved in the last four years.

The Clean Water Act was intended to end dangerous water pollution by regulating every major polluter. But today, regulators may be unable to prosecute as many as half of the nation’s largest known polluters because officials lack jurisdiction or because proving jurisdiction would be overwhelmingly difficult or time consuming, according to midlevel officials.

“We are, in essence, shutting down our Clean Water programs in some states,” said Douglas F. Mundrick, an E.P.A. lawyer in Atlanta. “This is a huge step backward. When companies figure out the cops can’t operate, they start remembering how much cheaper it is to just dump stuff in a nearby creek.”

“This is a huge deal,” James M. Tierney, the New York State assistant commissioner for water resources, said of the new constraints. “There are whole watersheds that feed into New York’s drinking water supply that are, as of now, unprotected.”

Source/Full Story: NYTimes.com