MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) — Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Tuesday that he had ordered an end to military operations against Georgia, but Tbilisi reported more attacks after the statement was made.
Medvedev’s announcement came minutes before French President Nicolas Sarkozy was to land in Moscow to negotiate terms for a possible cease-fire.
“I have reached a decision to halt the operation to force the Georgian authorities to peace,” Medvedev said. “The aggressor has been punished and has incurred very significant losses. Its armed forces are disorganized.”
“The statement on the halt of the military action by Russia is the news we had expected. It’s good news,” Sarkozy said later, according to an Interfax report.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was also involved the talks.
Medvedev’s decision would end five days of fighting that began in Georgia’s breakaway region of South Ossetia. Watch Georgia’s reaction to halt in fighting »
The Georgian government claimed that despite Medvedev’s announcement, Russian warplanes struck two villages and military forces bombed an ambulance outside the breakaway province of South Ossetia.
Buried deeper in the story:
An Georgian Interior Ministry official added that Russian bombs hit one of the three pipelines carrying oil to the Black Sea port of Poti. There was no oil in the pipeline at the time, the ministry official said.
UK-based engery giant BP later said it had shut down two oil pipelines in the region as a “precautionary measure” linked to the security situation.
A precautionary measure to … oh … raise oil prices again? This, like all wars, is about control of resources; just as much here as it is in the Middle East. This time, it’s Russia wanting control of oil that is currently under the control of a pro-American government in Georgia.
I think the Russian government is also trying to show that the nation is still a force to be reckoned with in international affairs. Over the past few years, the focus has definitely been more on China’s rise as a global political and economic power, and the Olympics brings that spotlight even closer to Russia’s neighbor to the south.
WASHINGTON (CNN) — President Bush condemned the escalated violence between Russia and U.S.-backed Georgia on Sunday, while Vice President Dick Cheney said aggression against Georgia “must not go unanswered.”
“My administration has been engaged with both sides of this trying to get a ceasefire,” Bush told NBC’s Bob Costas in an interview in Beijing, China, where the president has attended Olympic events.
Bush was filmed speaking to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin during Friday’s opening ceremonies and said Sunday that he “was firm with Vladimir Putin” and that “this violence is unacceptable.”
Violence has continued to rage between Russia and the western ally since Thursday, when Georgia launched an operation to crack down on separatists in South Ossetia territory. Russia said it wanted to protect its peacekeepers already in South Ossetia following ceasefires in years past. But Georgia called it a full-on invasion.
Not that the conflict is causing oil prices to rise again (because pretty much any bad news will cause oil prices to rise), but that when even our dipshit President is saying that violence is unacceptable, our warmongering Veep is pushing for a response …
One of the really interesting things about this conflict is that the Russians consider South Ossetia to be a part of Russia; and have issued Russian passports to many South Ossetians … yet Putin is complaining about the “flood of refugees” crossing into Russia.
Of course, like most conflicts these days, this one is all about oil … a key pipeline which carries oil from Asia to the Black Sea runs through South Ossetia … and the Russians want control of that pipeline; and since it is in Georgian territory, obviously the Georgians want to maintain control.
The initial trailer is ready for Cianna P. Stewart’s new documentary It’s Not Porn: Behind the doors of a modern pin-up company. As a reminder, the basic treatment is as follows:
In the world of erotic photography, sexy women are objects whose pictures garner huge profits for other people. A handful of young entrepreneurs have decided to upset this system, putting control into the hands of the models & photographers, challenging who defines “sexy,” and creating a new revenue model for the next wave of the internet. Will they succeed? And what happens when regular women become known as online pin-up stars?
Cianna is still looking for investors to help complete the film, which she hopes to premiere at the SXSW Film Festival in March 2010; so if you happen to know anyone willing to buy shares, head over to Thumbnail Productions and get in touch.
The company being profiled, Zivity has been garnering a fair amount of attention in the press lately, and the quality of the photoshoots are outstanding. If you think you’ve got something to offer, then head on over and apply to be in the beta … it’s currently free, but when the site comes out of public beta early next year, it will be subscription-based; probably around $10.00/month.
I’ve got ten invites to give out, and I’ve been hoarding them … but if you want one, let me know (and why).
ST. LOUIS, Missouri (AP) — Belgian brewer InBev has announced it will buy its U.S. rival Anheuser-Busch for $52 billion to create the world’s largest brewer.
The deal would create the world’s largest brewer and put the U.S. beer-maker in the hands of Belgian-based InBev.
The acquisition means control over America’s largest brewer, the No. 2 worldwide, moves overseas. Based in St. Louis, Missouri, Anheuser-Busch has more than 48 percent of American market share with brands that include Bud Light.
InBev confirmed the details of the purchase of Anheuser-Busch early Monday. It first bid for Anheuser-Busch on June 11.
InBev is the world’s second largest beer maker, with brands that include Stella Artois and Becks.
The deal must be approved by shareholders and European and US antitrust regulators. The merger will produce the fourth-largest consumer product company worldwide.
Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. did not return messages seeking comment Sunday evening.
The Wall Street Journal said the deal was for $70 a share, a $5 increase over the offer Anheuser-Busch rejected in June.
As it turns out, the Busch family’s posturing when they rejected the original offer, and more so through the commercials that have been airing on TV the past few weeks have been more about getting InBev to sweeten the offer … and it worked.
So here’s hoping that everything goes smoothly from here on out, and that some of those fantastic international (especially Belgian) brands that InBev controls get some better distribution in the United States once the deal is completed.
Update (more stories on the InBev / Anheuser-Busch deal):
An old friend of mine in San Francisco, Cianna Stewart (one of the Sexiest Geeks Alive), is becoming quite a prolific independent filmmaker … her latest project, just going into production, will be a documentary about Zivity.com, a new online social network for connoisseurs of pin-up photography.
Cianna’s basic treatment of the film is as follows:
It’s Not Porn: Behind the doors of a modern pin-up company
In the world of erotic photography, sexy women are objects whose pictures garner huge profits for other people. A handful of young entrepreneurs have decided to upset this system, putting control into the hands of the models & photographers, challenging who defines “sexy,” and creating a new revenue model for the next wave of the internet. Will they succeed? And what happens when regular women become known as online pin-up stars?
Now if I can just figure out a way to get an invite to the beta.
Cianna is looking for investors to help finance the film; so if you happen to know anyone willing to buy shares, head over to Thumbnail Productions and get in touch. For those that want to support, but can’t afford to the extent of investing, donations will also be accepted, with a thank you to be determined (I’ve suggested a private premiere screening, or a copy on DVD) …
“A COMPANY for carrying out an undertaking of great advantage, but nobody to know what it is.” This lure for the South Sea Company, published in 1720, has a whiff of the 21st century about it. Modern finance has promised miracles, seduced the brilliant and the greedy—and wrought destruction. Alan Greenspan, formerly chairman of the Federal Reserve, said in 2005 that “increasingly complex financial instruments have contributed to the development of a far more flexible, efficient, and hence resilient financial system than the one that existed just a quarter-century ago.” Tell that to Bear Stearns, Wall Street’s fifth-largest investment bank, the most spectacular corporate casualty so far of the credit crisis.
It seems like whenever there’s a a major disaster in one of the markets, the comparison to the South Sea Bubble inevitably gets trotted out … but rather than bore you all with a history lesson, I’m going to recommend a wonderful novel by David Liss, entitled A Conspiracy of Paper, a historical mystery set during the the world’s first stock market crash, which will give some insight into what happened nearly 300 years ago, wrapped up in a story of pugilism and prostitution.
And then, once you’ve finished A Conspiracy of Paper, you can read The Coffee Trader (the introduction of coffee to the commodities exchanges in Amsterdam in the mid 17th Century) and A Spectacle of Corruption (about the machinations involved in an early 18th Century British national election) … all are timely novels to read in the current political and economic climate … a little history to put current events into perspective.
Heard on the Street - WSJ.com Some Traders Win Big
Harbinger, Greenlight, Tremblant Profited By Betting Against Bear
By GREGORY ZUCKERMAN, JENNY STRASBURG and TOM MCGINTY
March 20, 2008
The collapse of Bear Stearns Cos. dealt a severe blow to investors, from big names like billionaire Joseph Lewis to thousands of employees of the brokerage firm.
But there’s one group trying to contain their joy amid all the gloom on Wall Street: Investors who placed big bets against Bear Stearns.
Large hedge funds — including Harbinger Capital Partners, Greenlight Capital, Tremblant Capital Group and Paulson & Co. — made millions of dollars as Bear Stearns’s shares tumbled and various bearish positions rose in value, according to securities filings and people close to the firms.
Cianna’s basic treatment of the film is as follows:
