propaganda press! state sponsored, people powered.

Democracy Now! In a sign of the times, the National Debt Clock in New York City has run out of digits to record the growing figure. When the national debt topped the $10 trillion point last month, the sign could not display the full amount. A larger debt clock is scheduled to be installed next year. Meanwhile, the prominent political analyst Larry Sabato has criticized both the McCain and Obama campaigns for their handling of the economic crisis.

Larry Sabato: “On this, I’m going to be critical of both candidates. One lives in Disney World, and the other lives in Disneyland. They’re separated by a continent, but they’re united in proposing loads of new tax cuts and lots of new spending. You know, apparently, no one on their staff has told them that we’re bankrupt, that we have ten trillion in national debt, with trillions more being ladled on top.”

Iceland Teeters On Bankruptcy
Parmy Olson, 10.08.08, 3:20 PM ET 

Forbes: LONDON - Iceland is getting closer to becoming the first nation to go bankrupt as a result of the subprime mortgage crisis and resulting squeeze on lending. Late Wednesday afternoon in Europe, Fitch Ratings said it had cut Iceland’s long-term sovereign currency issuer default ratings to “BBB-,” from “A,” putting them firmly in “junk” territory. Moody’s also cut Iceland’s sovereign rating to “A1,” from “Aa1,” and said its ratings were on review, according to TradeTheNews.com. Read the rest of this entry »

The Icelandic government appreciates that the British authorities are willing to step in and respond to the immediate concerns of depositors of Landsbankinn Icesave accounts.

The governments of the two countries will immediately review the matter in detail through official channels with a view to finding a mutually satisfactory solution. Read the rest of this entry »

AP: Mustafa Ibrahim Mustafa Al Hassan, who arrived Tuesday in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum, said he saw soldiers throw a Quran into the dirt during his confinement, part of what he called “all types of tortures” at the Navy base in Cuba.
“The torture would never stop until you say you have participated in the war against the Americans,” he said at a news conference in the African country.

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Two American journalists vacationing in Lebanon have not been heard from since Oct. 1 and are believed missing, the U.S. Embassy said Wednesday, appealing for information on their possible whereabouts
The two, Holli Chmela, 27, and Taylor Luck, 23, have been working for the Jordan Times and had been expected back in Amman on Saturday, the Amman-based paper’s chief editor told The Associated Press.

Yahoo News: Bush sought to reassure panicking markets. “It’s going to take awhile to restore confidence in the financial system. But one thing people can be certain of is that the bill I signed is a big step toward solving this problem,” he said in San Antonio, Texas.
Nobody seemed reassured. Chaos in the financial system seemed to be growing by the minute.
The Dow industrials plunged below the 10,000 level for the first time in four years, and at one point were down as much as 800 points before recovering to close with a loss of 370. All sectors — not just financial companies — were being sold off.

The European Union plans to open an immigration centre in Mali to help cut down migration. The centre, the first immigration centre outside Europe, will help people find work in Europe. Thousands of young West Africans try to make it into Europe each year and many die on the way. Just last week the Spanish coastguards rescued a group of 230 young Africans - the largest single boatload of immigrants to reach Spain. Mali was chosen because the West African nation is at the centre of well established migration routes. Many EU nations are tightening entry restrictions on non-EU nationals.

Has Carifesta got your creative juices flowing? Do you have a way with words and something to say? 

Merundoi Inc. in Collaboration with the University of Guyana/ Institute of Distance and Continuing Education (IDCE) will be conducting a Creative Writing for Drama Performance Workshop, October 13-17, 2008 at IDCE, Queen’s College Compound. 

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In Monday’s bombing in eastern Pakistan, the attacker barged into the home of legislator Rasheed Akbar Niwani, who belongs to the main opposition party.

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AllAfrica: A total of 77 tanks and 15 jet fighters were secretly imported by Kenya last year alone, according to official documents. Two rocket launchers and more than 40,000 automatic rifles and machine guns were also brought in, the United Nations says. Yet the government has not reported its arms purchases to the United Nations, as required by international agreements, the Sunday Nation can reveal.
Instead, Kenya told the UN it had not imported any arms at all.

AllAfrica: Speaking at the Passing Out Parade (POP) of the officer cadets of the 56th Regular Course of the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), Kaduna, the president, who was represented by his deputy, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, said “the Niger Delta situation continues to be a major concern facing this government.”
“While acknowledging the challenges facing the people of the Niger Delta, we must not allow the activities of a few criminal minds to create a permanent state of insecurity in the region, destroy the economy and scare away investors,” he said.

Bharrat Jagdeo and the PPP Crime Inc. continue to play catch and release with the hope of cunvincing a few, mostly clowns, that the criminal Guyana govt is fighting a war on drugs. there is a war going on and it’s being waged on the dark ones at the bottom of the food chain who do not own the cocaine, who’ve never owned the cocaine and who will never own the cocaine…and they are the enemy in this war. Read the rest of this entry »