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Purveyor's JournalIran's Judicial Chief Fires Back At Ahmadinejad, As War Of Words Between 2 Branches Continues
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- The head of Iran's judiciary says embattled President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad does not understand his constitutional powers.
It is the latest round in war of words between the two branches of government sparked by Ahmadinejad's attempt to visit a prison where an aide is being held.
Ahmadinejad once had the backing of the clerical establishment, but lost it when he was perceived to have challenged the country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei last year.
On Monday, Ahmadinejad accused the judiciary of "unconstitutional" behavior. He said he did not need permission to visit Evin prison near Tehran.
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http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/Irans+judicial+chief+fires+back+president+words+between+branches/7438777/story.html
Index of Manufacturing in U.S. Rose to 51.3 in October
The Markit Economics preliminary index of U.S. manufacturing rose to 51.3 in October from a final reading of 51.1 a month earlier, the London-based group said today.
A reading of 50 in the purchasing managers’ measure is the dividing line between expansion and contraction. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists was 51.5. Estimates ranged from 50.5 to 52.1.
Sustained auto sales and rising demand for homebuilder materials may be helping sustain manufacturing in the face of limited export demand as the global economy cools. Looming changes to U.S. fiscal policy continue to weigh on the industry as more than $600 billion in federal spending cuts and tax increases are scheduled to take effect in January unless Congress acts.
A gauge of euro-area manufacturing and services contracted more than economists forecast in October, suggesting the economy may struggle to regain strength.
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http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-10-24/markit-index-of-manufacturing-in-u-dot-s-dot-rose-to-51-dot-3-in-october
Palestinian Push For U.N. Upgrade Likely To Succeed: Jeremic
UNITED NATIONS | Fri Oct 19, 2012 6:27pm EDT
(Reuters) - The push by the Palestinians for upgraded status at the United Nations is likely to succeed, the president of the U.N. General Assembly said on Friday, while warning the United States against cutting U.N. funding over the issue.
In his first major interview since winning a divisive campaign for the largely ceremonial U.N. post in June, former Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic also said he was seeking to improve coordination between the world body and the Group of 20 bloc of key developed and developing nations.
Having failed last year to secure full U.N. membership due to U.S. opposition, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said last month he would ask the 193-nation General Assembly to approve a less-ambitious promotion of the Palestinian Authority's observer status to "non-member state," like the Vatican. It is currently considered an "entity.
Jeremic said Abbas is consulting with U.N. member states and is expected to call for a meeting on the Palestinian issue as early as next month, after the November 6 U.S. presidential election.
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http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/19/us-palestinians-un-idUSBRE89I1F020121019
Was There a Bankruptcy Alternative for the Automakers?
Some months ago, I predicted that we would finally move on from the overheated rhetoric surrounding the automotive bankruptcy cases. After all, even Paul D. Ryan supported the Obama administration on this point.
Boy, was I wrong.
--CLIP
The dispute between the Obama and Romney campaign turns on a 2008 opinion article that Mitt Romney wrote in The New York Times entitled “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt.” The Obama campaign focuses on the title, the Romney campaign on the end of the piece, where he urges that the auto companies go through a “managed bankruptcy.”
Neither campaign disputes the need for bankruptcy in the Chapter 11 sense. The crucial issue is whether Mr. Romney’s article was actually advocating something like bankruptcy in the Chapter 7 sense: appoint a trustee and liquidate.
--CLIP
That would have been a perfectly viable plan in 2006 or early 2007, when syndicated debtor-in-possession loans were still widely available. These would have been very large loans, but it’s not impossible that they could have been arranged.
The question is whether this would have been viable in late 2008 or early 2009, and there I think we have to say that the answer is plainly “no.”
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http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/10/23/was-there-a-bankruptcy-alternative-for-the-automakers/
October 17, 2008 - 'DIP' Loans Are Scarce, Complicating Bankruptcies
By JEFFREY MCCRACKEN and PAUL GLADER
Credit has gotten so tight in recent weeks that companies contemplating a bankruptcy filing can't find the cash needed to get through the process.
This multibillion-dollar corner of the lending market -- debtor-in-possession and exit financing -- has been rocked by General Electric Co.'s GE -1.94% recent, undisclosed decision to largely halt lending to companies in bankruptcy-court protection or near it, said several bankruptcy lawyers and financial advisers. GE is one of the world's largest such lenders, last year doing $1.75 billion in restructuring loans.
Debtor-in-possession, or DIP, financing is essential for the lawyers, layoffs and other restructuring necessary for a company's rebirth. Exit financing is used when a company "exits" reorganization. Banks have been eager to take part in this market because the loans are the first to be paid back and command high interest rates.
Without the lending lines, companies that would normally survive bankruptcy will have to quickly sell assets. Potential buyers may not be able to borrow either, meaning companies could be forced to liquidate immediately instead of working out their problems. That could cost tens of thousands of jobs across the economy.
GE Capital, meanwhile, has told numerous potential borrowers that it is out of the DIP and exit-lending business until at least next year, said these people.
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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122421475294443955.html
Romney & Company Shipped Every Single Delphi UAW Job to China
--clip
As I reported in this week's The Nation magazine cover story "Mitt Romney's Bail-out Bonanza," the Romneys are in a special partnership with the vulture fund that bought Delphi, the former GM auto parts division.
--clip
The truth? On June 1, 2009, the Obama administration announced that Detroit Piston's owner Tom Gores, GM and the US Treasury would buy back Delphi.The plan called for saving 15 of 29 Delphi factories in the US.
Then the vulture funds pounced.
The Nation discovered that, in the two weeks immediately following the announcement of the Delphi jobs-saving plan, Paul Singer, Romney's partner, secretly bought up over a billion dollars of old Delphi bonds for pennies on the dollar.
Singer and partners now controlled the company - and killed the return of Delphi to GM.
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http://truth-out.org/progressivepicks/item/12273-romney-company-shipped-every-single-delphi-uaw-job-to-china
Russia to Veto Any UN Motion for Strikes on Iran
Source: Novinite.com
Russia will scuttle any UN Security Council resolution that could be interpreted as allowing military action against Iran, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has warned.
"As the Libyan experience has shown, sadly, a military scenario is possible," he said in an interview with the daily Rossiiskaya Gazeta, as cited by RIA Novosti, when asked whether Israel or the United States could start military operations in Iran.
Russia will therefore exercise an extremely cautious approach at the UN Security Council, he added.
"We won't allow any more such disingenuous interpretations. We will see to it that no resolution is open to interpretation like the one on Libya," he said.
Read more: http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=144421
Oil Price Drops Below $87; Pump Prices Down Again
NEW YORK (AP) -- The price of oil fell to a three-month low Tuesday as big corporations cut earnings forecasts, raising concerns about economic growth and oil demand.
Benchmark oil dropped $1.98, or 2.3 percent, to finish at $86.67 per barrel in New York. Oil has lost about 6 percent since Thursday, the biggest three-day drop in a month.
That's starting to mean more relief at the gas pump for U.S. drivers. The national average for a gallon of regular gasoline dropped 2 cents overnight to $3.65. The price has fallen 17 cents in the past 12 days.
Gas prices tend to fall at this time of year. Refiners make a cheaper blend of gasoline for the cooler months, and people drive fewer miles. This year, tepid economic growth means demand could be slower than normal. That's why gasoline futures have plunged 12 percent in less than two weeks, including a 4.3-cent drop Tuesday to $2.61 per gallon.
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http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/O/OIL_PRICES?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-10-23-15-41-06
OP COMMENT: Mid-Michigan prices are currently around $3.37g down from 3.99 three weeks ago.
McCaskill Cancels Campaigning To Be With Ill Mom
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill has canceled campaign events for the remainder of the week to spend time with her critically ill mother.
McCaskill campaign spokesman Caitlin Legacki said Tuesday that the Democratic senator is with her 84-year-old mother, Betty Anne McCaskill, at an intensive care unit of a St. Louis hospital.
McCaskill canceled campaign stops Tuesday in Mount Vernon, Butler and Clinton. Legacki said she also canceled the rest of her get-out-the-vote tour in rural Missouri and all other campaign events through the end of the week.
Legacki said McCaskill and her siblings plan to be with their mother around-the-clock at the hospital and requested prayers and privacy.
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http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_MISSOURI_SENATE_MCCASKILL?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-10-23-17-03-57
Russia Condemns United States For Human Rights Record
Source: Reuters
(Reuters) - Russia accused the United States on Monday of double standards on human rights, criticizing its failure to close Guantanamo Bay prison and its use of the death penalty while the U.S. Congress considers a law which could punish Moscow for alleged abuses.
Russia and the United States attempted to "reset" their relations when President Barack Obama entered the White House in 2009, but ties have turned decidedly cooler since Vladimir Putin declared last year he planned to return to the presidency.
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has declared that Russia is Washington's number one geopolitical foe, while Moscow has chafed under recent U.S. allegations that it harbors human rights abusers.
Now two weeks before the U.S. presidential election, the State Duma lower parliament house held a three-hour hearing criticizing its former Cold War foe.
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/22/us-russia-usa-humanrights-idUSBRE89L14O20121022
Point well taken Russia but you too have 'issues'...
Jimmy Carter Claims Israel Creating ‘Catastrophic’ Situation With Palestinians
Source: Associated Press
JERUSALEM (AP) — Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter said Monday during a visit to Jerusalem that the prospect of an Israel-Palestinian peace accord is “vanishing,” blaming Israeli settlement of the West Bank.
Carter, a longtime critic of Israeli policies, called the current situation “catastrophic” and blamed Israel for the growing isolation of east Jerusalem from the West Bank. He said a Palestinian state has become “unviable.”
“We’ve reached a crisis stage,” said Carter, 88. “The two-state solution is the only realistic path to peace and security for Israel and the Palestinians.”
Carter is currently on a two-day visit leading a delegation known as the “The Elders,” which includes the former prime minister of Norway and the former president of Ireland. The group met with Israeli President Shimon Peres and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Read more: http://washington.cbslocal.com/2012/10/22/jimmy-carter-claims-israel-creating-catastrophic-situation-with-palestinians/
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