while we were out

Anti-War protests
Thousands of Iraq war protesters march in Washington; more than 190 arrested
The Associated Press
Saturday, September 15, 2007



WASHINGTON: Several thousand anti-war demonstrators marched through downtown Washington, clashing with police at the foot of the Capitol steps where more than 190 protesters were arrested.

The group marched from the White House to the Capitol on Saturday to demand an end to the Iraq war. Their numbers stretched for blocks along Pennsylvania Avenue, and they held banners and signs and chanted, "What do we want? Troops out. When do we want it? Now."

Army veteran Justin Cliburn, 25, was among a contingent of Iraq veterans in attendance.

"We're occupying a people who do not want us there," Cliburn said of Iraq. "We're here to show that it isn't just a bunch of old hippies from the 60s who are against this war."

Trouble in Redneck city
Sunbelt City in Grasp of Housing Undertow
Ripple Effect Could Be National Omen
By Neil Irwin and David Cho
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, September 16, 2007; A01

FORT MYERS, Fla.-- To understand how the housing bust may ripple through the broader American economy, look beyond the countless for-sale signs that dot this middle-class city. Instead, stop by Boater's Landing, where salespeople sit idle, hoping someone will once again want to buy a boat.

Or visit the women answering phones at the local United Way, which is dealing with a flood of aid requests from the unemployed, whose numbers have nearly doubled in a year. Or talk to the Shevlins, a real-estate agent and a carpenter, whose combined incomes dropped from $350,000 to less than $60,000 in two years.

Across this city, even businesses that have little to do with real estate are reeling. Unemployment is up, sales are down and redevelopment ambitions have been scaled back.

Trouble in London
Global credit crunch reaches new dimension
By Eric Pfanner
Friday, September 14, 2007

LONDON: A bailout of a big British mortgage bank caused shudders among account-holders and investors alike Friday, opening a new phase in the global financial turmoil that emanated from a shakeout in the U.S. home lending business, analysts said.

Depositors flocked to withdraw money after the bank, Northern Rock, unable to raise funds from its usual sources - capital markets - because of the global credit crunch, turned to the Bank of England for an emergency loan. Northern Rock shares plunged more than 30 percent, prompting a broader sell-off in European stock markets.

And, of course, war
Report: As many as eight IAF air craft involved in strike on Syria
By Barak Ravid, Avi Issacharoff and Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondents
Haaretz Service and News Agencies
16.09.2007

An alleged Israel Air Force strike in northeastern Syria roughly 10 days ago involved as many as eight aircraft, the U.K. newspaper The Observer reported Sunday.

According to the report, the force included F-15s and F-16s equipped with Maverick missiles and 500 pound bombs.

Flying among the warplanes at great height, The Observer reported, was an electronic intelligence gathering aircraft.