• The Long Road To Damascus


• Momentum Builds for Syria Action Ahead of Tunis Conference


• Frustrated Protesters Fill Streets in Damascus


• Does the Fed Print Money? Of Course! Jim Bianco Calls It “Fraud, Counterfeiting”


• Germany, Greece Quietly Prepare For "Plan D"


• Brother, Can You Spare $6 Trillion?


• Iran Stops Exporting Crude Oil to British, French Companies, Shana Reports


• Rising Gas Prices Give G.O.P. Issue to Attack Obama

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Economy

The Long Road To Damascus (jdargis)

At the UN Security Council on February 4th, Russia and China raised Western ire by vetoing a mild resolution that would have urged Bashar Assad, the president, to adhere to a peace plan drafted by the Arab League. It pressed him to cede at least some unspecified powers to a deputy, pending the outcome of reconciliation talks. Russia objected to this, and more generally to the West imposing a diktat on a sovereign state it considers an ally.

Momentum Builds for Syria Action Ahead of Tunis Conference (jdargis)

Mr. Assad, who has belittled his opponents by characterizing them as foreign-backed armed terrorist gangs, sharply escalated the repression on Feb. 4 when Russia and China vetoed a Security Council resolution condemning his crackdown and calling on him to step aside under an Arab League plan. The plan calls for new elections and a new government.

Frustrated Protesters Fill Streets in Damascus (jdargis)

“I hope President Assad opens the window of his office and sees how Damascenes are shouting against him and his regime,” said Usama, 22, a university student from the neighborhood, giving only his first name out of fear of retribution. “The regime thought we were asleep, but it doesn’t know that when we wake up his regime will be gone.”

Does the Fed Print Money? Of Course! Jim Bianco Calls It “Fraud, Counterfeiting” (Jeff B.)

"The ability of the Fed to increase the amount of money in banks' reserve accounts; that's what most people mean when they talk about money printing and that's under the direction of the Fed," Bianco says.

Germany, Greece Quietly Prepare For "Plan D" (pinecarr)

For several weeks now we have been warning that while the conventional wisdom is that Europe will never let Greece slide into default, Germany has been quietly preparing for just that.

Brother, Can You Spare $6 Trillion? (jdargis)

One of the eight men arrested had moved the $6 trillion in fictitious bonds from Hong Kong to a Swiss deposit in 2006, Mr. Colangelo said. He said the origins of the bonds were unknown, but added that authorities had also seized a fake will, which was said to be part of a scheme in which a suspect would claim to have inherited the bonds and try to use them to open credit lines at a bank.

Energy

Iran Stops Exporting Crude Oil to British, French Companies, Shana Reports (pinecarr)

Iran stopped exporting crude oil to French and British companies, the oil ministry’s news website Shana reported, citing Alireza Nikzad Rahbar, a ministry spokesman.

The halt in shipments followed a warning by the oil minister that the Persian Gulf country might act preemptively ahead of a European Union ban on purchases of Iranian oil set to start in July, Rahbar said, according to the report today.

Rising Gas Prices Give G.O.P. Issue to Attack Obama (jdargis)

Iran’s recent warnings of a disruption in the global oil trade have pushed the price of a barrel of domestic oil to more than $103, a six-month high and up about 34 percent since September. That has helped drive the average price of a gallon of regular gasoline in the United States to $3.52, a 30-cent increase in the past two months. It is already approaching $4 in some places.

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