SetThings

AP - Rosalba Posada can tick off a list of problems she has encountered trying to use prepaid calling cards to stay in touch with family back in Colombia.

AP - A jury on Friday acquitted the former top lawyer at computer-security software maker McAfee Inc. of illegally tampering with his stock option grants to boost his pay package.

AP - A Canadian researcher has discovered that a Chinese version of eBay Inc.’s Skype communications software snoops on text chats that contain certain keywords, including “democracy.”

Sarah Louise Heath Palin (born February 11, 1964) is the governor of Alaska and the Republican vice-presidential nominee in the 2008 United States presidential election. She was a member of the Wasilla, Alaska, city council from 1992 to 1996 and mayor from 1996 to 2002. After an unsuccessful campaign for lieutenant governor of Alaska in 2002, she chaired the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission from 2003 to 2004. She was elected governor of Alaska in November 2006 by defeating the incumbent governor in the Republican primary and a former two-term Democratic governor in the general election. She is the youngest person to have been elected to the position, and Alaska’s first female governor. On August 29, 2008, Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain announced he had chosen Sarah Palin as his running mate. She was nominated at the 2008 Republican National Convention in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Palin is the first woman and the first Alaskan to run on the Republican Party’s presidential ticket. (Wikipedia)

Palin facing voters who doubt her readiness
The Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin enters her debate Thursday night with Democratic rival Joe Biden as many voters harbor …

A less-popular Sarah Palin heads to debate
Los Angeles Times, CA
By Maeve Reston, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer When Sarah Palin was introduced five weeks ago as John McCain’s running mate, her impact seemed seismic. …

Political Wisdom: Sarah Palin’s Big Moment Arrives
Wall Street Journal Blogs, NY
by Sara Murray and Gerald F. Seib Tonight’s vice presidential debate is the big moment for Gov. Sarah Palin, and Michelle Cottle of The New Republic says …

McCain’s ‘Stop Sarah Palin’ strategy working like a charm, polls show
Los Angeles Times, CA
Sarah Palin to stoke overconfidence among the nation’s Democrats and set the stage for yet another improbable Arizona comeback is working exactly as planned …

My life as Sarah Palin: in the line scrutiny
Newsday, NY
I was Sarah Palin last week. Someone quizzed me in front of a camera, asking me all sorts of questions - in my case, for an upcoming documentary on Shea …

Latest Sarah Palin Couric release
The Times, South Africa
Michelle Cottle in The New Republic says that the McCain campaign must be wondering why they hired Sarah Palin. ‘The governor obviously possesses raw …

Viewpoint: Palin column prompts rapid response
Baltimore Sun, United States
Sarah Palin is out of her league and should step down from the GOP ticket. The fierce reaction to my column has been both BRACing and enlightening. …

Palin has confounded opponents and staff in previous debates
Seattle Times, United States
“The political landscape here is littered with people who have underestimated Sarah Palin,” said Eric Croft, a former state representative who ran for the …

Entertainment value ‘huge’ for Palin-Biden
Hollywood Reporter, United States
Maybe the first McCain-Obama go-round wasn’t as widely watched as expected, but Thursday night’s vice presidential debate between Sarah Palin and Joe Biden …

Palin stumbles on questions
News24, South Africa
Washington - Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin underlined her opposition to abortion in a televised interview on Wednesday, but stumbled on …

Blogosphere:

Questions For Sarah Palin
masaccio
Palin. Palin. Here are three questions I’d like to ask Sarah Palin at the Debate. 1. Methicillen Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus and Multi-Drug Resistant TB are two emerging threats to health in the US. You have stated that you would …

10 answers for Sarah Palin
(Roger Simon)
Even if asked tough questions at the debate, Sarah Palin doesn’t have to be a genius to win.

Sarah Palin: Supreme Court rulings?
Mark Silva
COURIC: Joe Biden and Sarah Palin have put in some very long days, preparing for tomorrow night’s debate. Tonight, to give you a better sense of who they are and their views on a number of issues, we’re beginning a new series, …

Yet Another Slick Sarah Palin Secret E-Mail Account
Kagro X
Like Karl Rove and the rest of the Bush/Cheney gang before her, Sarah Palin has been evading public oversight and record keeping laws with what it turns out is an ever-expanding network of secret e-mail accounts designed to keep her …

Rolling Stone presents 11 myths about Sarah Palin
Mark Frauenfelder
Rolling Stone has compiled a nice list of myths about Sarah Palin. 1. THE MYTH: “She took the luxury jet that was acquired by her predecessor and sold it on eBay. And made a profit!” — John McCain, at a campaign stop in Wisconsin …

Sarah Palin’s Lesbian Friend
DAN SAVAGE
Sarah Palin claimed to have gay friends when she ran for governor of Alaska in 2006. Gay bloggers and reporters have attempted to locate Palin’s allegedly gay alleged friends in the weeks since John McCain selected her as his running …

My Sarah Palin Order!
Dee
For some reason, the bumper sticker pictures don’t want to show up on this post. The first one said, “Sarah Palin A Hero for Real Women”. The second one said, “Sarah Barracuda for Vice President”. I also got my Mom a tote bag. …

Palin Silent on Supreme Court Question
Tahman Bradley
ABC News’ Ariane DeVouge Reports: In an interview with CBS’s Katie Couric on “The Evening News” Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin could not cite a Supreme Court decision she thinks was wrongly decided besides Roe v. Wade. In the interview, Palin. …

Sarah Palin has a name for your baby
Roger Sinasohn
Yep, coming all the way from Alaska via that well-known series of tubes, it’s the Sarah Palin Baby Name Generator. Just put in the name you were thinking of and get back Sarah’s suggestion for a better name. …

Sarah Palin and the Right to Privacy
Jonathan Singer
There has been quite a bit of focus — rightly so — on Sarah Palin’s apparent inability to name a Supreme Court case outside of Roe v. Wade with which she disagreed, but I’m with Marc Ambinder: To me, even more stunning than Palin’s …

Video: 9/30 Sarah Palin Katie Couric FULL INTERVIEW (HQ). This is the full story/ full interview from Tuesday September 30th, 2008

AP - Barry Diller is feeling very lucky right now.

AP - Hollywood’s six major movie studios on Tuesday sued RealNetworks Inc. to prevent it from distributing DVD copying software that they said would allow consumers to “rent, rip and return” movies or even copy friends’ DVD collections outright.

UPDATE 1-ECB’s Nowotny: no systemic banking crisis in Europe
Reuters
VIENNA, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Europe’s banking sector is not in a systemic crisis and does not need a bailout similar to the one planned in the United States, …

Ballmer on banking crisis: No one is safe
Register, UK
He said: “I have to believe that some of the issues also face the European banks and I trust that the European Central Bank will be as intelligent as it …

Banking Crisis Forces EU States to Play Bigger Role in Finance
Deutsche Welle, Germany
“So, for now, financial supervision in Europe remains very fragmented on a country level,” analysts at banking group Citi said. “In turn, this may make the …

Euro Falls Most Against Dollar Amid European Banking Failures
Bloomberg
The highest reached in 1998, during the Asian banking crisis was minus 38.5 basis points in October 1998, according to Bloomberg data. …

Markets in crisis as Europe stares into banking abyss
Sydney Morning Herald, Australia
Mr Redeker said the latest twist was a move by banks to deposit €28 billion in funds at the European Central Bank in a panic flight to safety. …

Dow posts record point drop as US lower house rejects bailout
Hürriyet, Turkey
That further unnerved investors who on Monday saw the credit crisis claim several new victims, including Wachovia Corp and a bevy of European banks. …

World urges US to get a grip on banking crisis
AFP
With commercial banks reluctant to risk loaning money to each other, the European Central Bank attempted to release liquidity into the credit market by …

Global shares hit as banking crisis bites in Europe
Reuters
By Veronica Brown LONDON (Reuters) - European shares fell heavily on Monday as fallout from the credit crisis hit the region’s banking sector, …

Banking Crisis Leaves Europeans with Bill in the Billions
Spiegel Online, Germany
With trust between banks waning, analysts believe Europe is threatened with a serious credit crunch. The logos of Europe’s crisis banks: The crisis is …

Rand falls on Europe crisis fears
Dispatch Online, South Africa
… major currencies in late trade yesterday amid rising risk aversion in the wake of suggestions that the US banking crisis was spreading to Europe. …

Blogosphere:

What Would Europe do in a Banking Crisis?
Tom Groenfeldt
The US crisis has made at least some folks across the Altantic ask “What would Europe do?” If a BNP, HSBC, or UBS ran into life-threatening liquidity problems, could Europe generate a coordinated response? The European-based banks were …

World shares hit by Europe banking crisis
Veronica Brown
B&B, Fortis bailouts shove European shares, euro lower.

GLOBAL MARKETS-Shares hit as banking crisis bites in Europe
MSCI world equity index down 1.9 percent at 305.48 * B&B, Fortis bailouts shove European shares, euro lower * TARP overshadowed as investors fret on banking contagion By Veronica Brown LONDON, Sept 29 (Reuters) - European shares fell …

Markets in crisis as Europe stares into banking abyss
THE global credit crisis has triggered the rescue of five leading European banks and a near-shutdown of the region’s credit markets.

Paris Bourse slides as banking crisis reaches Europe
(IANS)As evidence grew that the US finance crisis has reached Europe, French shares fell sharply in early trading Monday, with banking shares leading the decline.After …

As contagion spreads, moods abruptly shift
Natalie
In Europe, the banking crisis “can hardly spread further — it is everywhere,” said Willem Buiter, a professor at the London School of Economics and former member of the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee. …

New Overnight Developments Abroad: Banking Crisis Slams Europe
larrygreenberg
The British government nationalized the mortgage lender, Bradford and Bingley. Germany’s Hypo Real Estate in a rescue, too. The third largest Icelandic bank was nationalized. Money market strains in Europe intensified despite news that …

Europe faces its own banking crisis
Fortis drops more than 20 percent, Royal Bank of Scotland is down 14 percent, and UK mortgage giant Bradford & Bingley is being nationaized

Fear of financial icebergs grows
Internation Musing
But will this convince savers that their money is safe in the bank? For the financial and political fire-fighters on two continents, the European banking crisis only represents one-third of their concerns. …

Lessons from Europe as the US convulses amid credit crisis
A Bank of Finland official offers parallels and solutions from Sweden, Norway and Finland, which suffered three of the worst banking crises in the post-World War II economyVideo: AM Forex NY - EUR, GBP slide, as banking crisis spreads

AP - National Public Radio, already strong online with free downloads from many of its shows, is boosting its digital ambitions with Monday’s introduction of social-networking features akin to Facebook.

AP - TiVo Inc. and Nero AG of Germany were set to announce Monday that they will be launching a package that turns a Windows PC into a TV recorder, just like a TiVo set-top box.

AP - Like a lot of 20-year-olds, Kae Takahashi has a page on U.S.-based MySpace, and there is no mistaking it for anyone else’s.

AP - Like a lot of 20-year-olds, Kae Takahashi has a page on U.S.-based MySpace, and there is no mistaking it for anyone else’s.

AP - In a nod to how finicky people have become about the gadgets they use, software company Citrix Systems Inc. is rolling out a new program for its workers: BYOC — Bring Your Own Computer.

Dâmbovicioara Canyon has a length of 2 km, within the calcareous mountain area of the Piatra Craiului Mountains, on the route Rucăr-Bran

Film made by Dan Alexoae

AP - Digg Inc., an Internet startup that specializes in rating news stories, is making a little news of its own with a $28.7 million round of financing. The investment announced Wednesday should squelch recurring rumors of a sale to Google Inc. or Microsoft Corp.

AP - The first phone that harnesses Google Inc.’s ambition to make the Internet easy to use on the go was revealed Tuesday, and it looks a lot like an iPhone.

AP - Google Inc.’s announcement last year that it would give away software that could run cell phones was met by dizzy accolades from analysts who thought it would let the search engine company conquer the world of mobile advertising.

AP - It is an elaborately crafted photographic film, extolled for its sharpness, vivid colors and archival durability. Yet die-hard fan Alex Webb is convinced the digital age soon will take his Kodachrome away.

A financial crisis happens when some financial institutions or assets suddenly lose a large part of their value. Many financial crises are banking panics, and many recessions coincided with these panics. Other situations that are often called financial crises include stock market crashes and the bursting of other financial bubbles, as well as international phenomena like currency crises and sovereign defaults. (Wikipedia)

White House rivals war over deepening financial crisis
AFP
Obama, arguing the United States was “in the midst of the most serious financial crisis in generations,” heaped scorn on McCain for claiming the economy was …

Bloomberg warns of possible ‘next wave’ crisis
The Associated Press
Bloomberg said he was concerned that the credit crisis in the United States may scare off foreign investors that, until now, have been willing to buy debt …

Crisis Exposes Flaws in US Economy, Tarnishes Image (Update1)
Bloomberg
The meltdown has created “a crisis of confidence in the US government,” said Jim Leach, a former Republican US congressman from Iowa who is now a …

Lawmakers Left on the Sidelines as Fed, Treasury Take Swift Action
Washington Post, United States
By Lori Montgomery The frenetic pace of the financial crisis has forced the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve to make rapid-fire decisions in recent …

Fischer holds emergency meeting in wake of Wall Street crisis
Ynetnews, Israel
Inc. Interior Minister Sheetrit, Defense Minister Barak call on cabinet to take any action necessary to minimize impact of recent Wall Street crisis on …

Stocks plunge after crisis in investment firms
Boston Globe, United States
Meanwhile, the financial crisis could mean the loss of hundreds of financial services jobs, not just at Lehman’s offices, but at other investment firms in …

The financial crisis Wall Street’s bad dream
Economist, UK
It is a measure of the scale of the crisis that, by the evening of Wednesday, all eyes were on Morgan Stanley, and no longer on AIG, which only 24 hours …

Bush Cancels Trip Amid Financial Crisis
Wall Street Journal
It wasn’t immediately clear whether Mr. Bush would make any further public comment on the crisis on Thursday. He’s maintained a relatively low profile on …

US CRISIS: WASHINGTON MUTUAL FOR SALE
Agenzia Giornalistica Italia, Italy
Washington Mutual, the American mortgage giant, seriously weakened by the mortgage crisis, is up for sale. This according to sources close to the situation.

Financial crisis deepens amid fear of continued stock dive
Los Angeles Times, CA
The global financial crisis deepened Wednesday as stock prices cratered and credit markets seized up, teetering financial institutions sought salvation in …

Blogosphere:

McCain and Financial Crisis
Mona Charen
This has not been John McCain’s finest hour. Does he rail against Wall Street for political effect? If so, it’s demagoguery. But he has a unpleasant tendency to accuse others of corruption. Now I’m no expert on these financial deals but …

Russia faces biggest financial crisis since default
Russia halted stock trading for a second day yesterday, poured $US44 billion into its three largest banks and relaxed restrictions on lenders to stem the financial crisis.

Another conference, another crisis
Ros Scott
Arriving home in Suffolk for a brief connection with my cottage, I was reflecting on how often our conferences have co-incided with some kind of external crisis - Northern Rock last Autumn, sterling crashing out of the ERM when we were …

Meltdown 2008: What Wall Street’s crisis means for your finances
Amey Stone
Filed under: Major movement, Market matters, Personal finance. It seems like years ago, but it was only Monday when I wrote a post about what Wall Street’s meltdown means to the average American. The post generated a slew of additional …

Explaining the Financial Crisis: Continuously Updated News …
Josh Korr
News sites could help explain the crisis by putting up a continuously updated aggregation of links to the best reporting and commentary. Some sites may already have bloggers linking to these stories, but why not put the links right on …

Comment on Crisis: Necessary Steps
CalculatedRisk
… the viability of WaMu and others institutions in doubt, Fannie and Freddie placed in conservatorship, a major money market fund halting redemptions, it might seem like the credit crisis is spiraling out of control. …

Open thread on the financial crisis
A reader asks me to let my resident experts discuss the situation, and my resident learners to ask questions. So here you go: talk away.

Nobel Prize Winning Economist: Crisis As Bad As Great Depression …
Describing the current situation as a “top down crisis”, Stiglitz also cited the $3 trillion cost of the Iraq war as a key factor in the economic downturn, saying it has increased the budget deficit and consumed resources that would …

Global Markets Are Rattled By Growing Financial Crisis
Financial markets continued to be pounded by worries that the turmoil sweeping Wall Street will continue to spread around the globe. Crisis Ripple Effects: Pros Speak; AIG Gets US Government Lifeline; Rescues Cost $900 Billion So Far.

Financial Crisis: Dems Try to Rewrite History - Again
As I pointed out previously, Nancy Pelosi is clueless. Apparently history, at least for her, started after at least 2005. As Ed Morrissey points out, 2005 would be the year John McCain made this speech: Mr. President, this week Fannie. …

Verona video

The road to the Rucăr Pass seen from the castle terrace.

Film made by Dan Alexoae