Judge who blocked planned parenthood videos is Obama appointee and raised $230,000 for Obama

A federal judge late Friday granted a temporary restraining orderagainst the release of recordings made at an annual meeting of abortion providers. The injunction is against the Center for Medical Progress, the group that has unveiled Planned Parenthood’s participation in the sale of organs harvested from aborted children.

Judge William H. Orrick, III, granted the injunction just hours after the order was requested by the National Abortion Federation.

Orrick was nominated to his position by hardline abortion supporter President Barack Obama. He was also a major donor to and bundler for President Obama’s presidential campaign. He raised at least $200,000 for Obama and donated $30,800 to committees supporting him, according to Public Citizen.

Even though the National Abortion Federation filed its claim only hours before, Orrick quickly decided in their favor that the abortionists they represent would, ironically, be “likely to suffer irreparable injury, absent an ex parte temporary restraining order, in the form of harassment, intimidation, violence, invasion of privacy, and injury to reputation, and the requested relief is in the public interest.”

Thus far the videos have featured born-alive humans discussing the killing of what abortion providers themselves call “babies,” the “crushing” of their bodies and harvesting of their organs for sale to for-profit companies.

Credit to Eutimes.net

http://www.eutimes.net/2015/08/judge-who-blocked-planned-parenthood-videos-is-obama-appointee-and-raised-230000-for-obama/

Heavy rains has severely affected 8 million people were affected in India

The consequences of cyclone Komen are ongoing in parts of Bengal, Odisha, Manipur, Gujarat and Rajasthan. Another round of heavy rains has severely affected already waterlogged areas, causing more floods and landslides. About 81 people lost their lives due to flood related incidents, and over 80 lakh (8 million) people were affected, up to August 2.

As the low pressure area reached Gangetic West Bengal, heavy rains continue to sweep the affected areas. 12 districts and large areas of Kolkata, the capital of India have been submerged by flooding waters, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said.

Video credit: AP

According to Znews,14 district and about 40 lakh (4 million) people were affected by the floods in Gujarat in the last couple of days.

Temporary relief camps have been set up in affected areas and people are accommodated on need basis. Relief and rescue operations have been employed across the affected areas and over 10 lakh (1 million) of food packets have been distributed to the victims of ongoing floods, according to the local officials.

Video credit: India Today

The floods in Manipur which have affected about 1 lakh (100 000) people are likely to be the worst in the last three decades. 20 people died in a landslide caused by severe flooding in Joumol village in Chandel district, on August 1. The river Chakpi level is well above the danger mark.

Credit to The Watchers

http://thewatchers.adorraeli.com/2015/08/03/floods-ongoing-in-bengal-odisha-manipur-gujarat-and-rajasthan-81-people-dead-8-million-affected/

First Default By U.S. Commonwealth In History: Puerto Rico Fails To Make Required Debt Payment

Over the weekend Puerto Rico was supposed to make a modest principal and interest payment of some $58 million due on Public Finance Corp. bonds, which however few expected would be satisfied. As a reminder, on Friday, Victor Suarez, the chief of staff for Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla, said during a press conference in San Juan that the government simply does not have the money.

Moments ago Melba Acosta, president of the Government Development Bank, confirmed as much, when he announced that only $628,000 of the $58 million payment, or just about 1%, had been paid. 

Below is the full statement from Acosta on the service of PFC Bonds:

Today, Government Development Bank for Puerto Rico ("GDR") President Melba Acosta Febo issued the following statement on the service of Public Finance Corporation (PFC) bonds:

Due to the lack of appropriated funds for this fiscal year the entirety of the PFC payment was not made today. This was a decision that reflects the serious concerns about the Commonwealth's liquidity in combination with the balance of obligations to our creditors and the equally important obligations to the people of Puerto Rico to ensure the essential services they deserve are maintained.

"PFC did make a partial payment of Interest in respect of its outstanding bonds. The partial payment was made from funds remaining from prior legislative appropriations in respect of the outstanding promissory notes securing the PFC bonds. In accordance with the terms of these bonds, which stipulate that these obligations are payable solely from funds specifically appropriated by the Legislature, PFC applied these funds—totaling approximately $628.000—to the August 1 payment."

WSJ adds that the payment to bondholders is the first skipped since Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla in June said the island’s debts were unsustainable and urged negotiations with creditors in an effort to restructure about $72 billion. "Still, analysts said it isn’t likely to provoke an acute market wide reaction from investors, many of whom have been inching away for the commonwealth for years."

Except for those hedge funds who haven't, and have been BTFD in hopes of another bailout of course.

And confirming that making just 1% of the contractual payment is not the same as making 100% of it, moments ago Moody's confirmed what most had already known:

• MOODY'S VIEWS PUERTO RICO IN DEFAULT

More via CNBC:

"Moody's views this event as a default," Emily Raimes, vice president at Moody's Investors Service, said in a statement, adding that payment of "debt service on these bonds is subject to appropriation, and the lack of appropriation means there is not a legal requirement to pay the debt, nor any legal recourse for bondholders.

"This event is consistent with our belief that Puerto Rico does not have the resources to make all of its forthcoming debt payments. This is a first in what we believe will be broad defaults on commonwealth debt," she added.

In other words, small or not, PR has failed a mandatory principal repayment and is now in default under the PFC bonds. Up next, as per Bloomberg's preview "the default promises to escalate the debt crisis racking the island, where officials are pushing for what may be the biggest restructuring ever in the municipal market."

“An event like this is significant enough that it could hurt prices for Puerto Rico bonds,” said Richard Larkin, director of credit analysis at Herbert J Sims & Co. in Boca Raton, Florida. “I can’t believe a default on debt with Puerto Rico’s name will go unnoticed.”

It is unclear if creditors will now threaten the commonwealth with a "temporary" expulsion from the dollarzone as part of their hardball negotiating tactics. Nor is it clear if Schauble is still willing to trade Puerto Rico for Greece.

What is clear is that the first default by a US commonwealth is now in the history books.

Credit to Zero Hedge

Erdogan says Putin may ‘give up’ on Assad

ISTANBUL, Turkey — Russian President Vladimir Putin is having a change of heart on the Kremlin’s wholehearted support for Syrian leader Bashar Assad and may “give up on him” in the future, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was quoted as saying Monday.

When asked if Putin could be persuaded not to support Assad, Erdogan said he saw his counterpart as “more positive” during a face-to-face meeting in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku in June and in subsequent telephone talks.

“Putin’s current attitude toward Syria is more encouraging than before,” Erdogan told a group of journalists on his presidential jet as he returned from a trip to Asia.

“He is no longer of the opinion that Russia will support Assad to the end. I believe he can give up Assad,” he was quoted as saying by the Daily Sabah and Sabah dailies.

Turkey and Russia stand on opposing sides over the crisis in Syria, with Ankara one of the fiercest critics of Assad and Moscow one of his few remaining allies.

Putin and Erdogan last met in Baku on June 13 during talks on the sidelines of the European Games that were held in the Azerbaijani capital.

Relations between Turkey and Russia have become increasingly robust in recent months, with Russia’s relations with the West at a post-Cold War era low and Turkey’s bid to join the European Union at a standstill.

Analysts say that Moscow and Ankara have managed to compartmentalize disputes over the Syria conflict and Russia’s annexation of Ukraine to work for wider ties.

Notably, Russia and Turkey have agreed to begin work on a new pipeline underneath the Black Sea. But reports in recent days have suggested the Turk Stream project has hit trouble due to a dispute over the price Turkey should pay for Russian gas.

Erdogan’s comments come as Ankara wages a two-pronged “anti-terror” offensive against jihadists in Syria and Kurdish militants based in northern Iraq after a wave of attacks inside Turkey.

Credit to Times of Israel

http://www.timesofisrael.com/turkeys-erdogan-says-putin-may-give-up-on-assad/

Greek stocks fall 23%

Greece's stock market closed with heavy losses on Monday after a five-week shutdown brought on by fears that the country was about to be dumped from the euro zone.

Bank shares plummeted 30 percent before loss limits kicked in to stop investors selling any more. The main Athens stock index .ATG ended down 16.2 percent, recovering slightly after plunging nearly 23 percent at the open.

It was the worst daily performance since at least 1985 when modern records began, including a 15 percent fall when Wall Street crashed in 1987.

By contrast, the broad European FTSEurofirst 300 index was in positive territory for the day.FTEU3 [.EU]

"The market tanked, as expected," said Takis Zamanis, chief trader at Athens-based Beta Securities.

Banking shares, which make up about 20 percent of the Greece index, were particularly hard hit. The overall banking index .FTATBNK was down to its 30 percent daily limit.

All five shares comprising the index .FTATBNK - National Bank of Greece (NBGr.AT), Alpha Bank (ACBr.AT), Piraeus Bank (BOPr.AT), Attica Bank (BOAr.AT) and Eurobank (EURBr.AT) - were locked down for much of the session at the limit with no buyers.

Greece's banks have seen deposits severely depleted as Greeks pulled out their euros for fear they would be forcibly converted into a new drachma outside the euro zone. The banks have been propped up by emergency money from the European Central Bank.

Traders said they expected more bank-share losses in the next session.

"Bank shares look like they have more room to slide on Tuesday before bids emerge," said one fund manager who declined to be named. "It will take a few days for the market to balance out."

Credit to Reuters

FEAR, OF BILLIONS WORLDWIDE

Iran Confirms "Meteor Impact" Also Brail, Australia, Argentina, N. Carolina