Vast right-wing conspiracy is back! Oct 2, 2009
This is what scares us about banking: Federal regulators shut down the high-flying Georgian Bank in Atlanta, a failure thats expected to cost the FDIC $892 million. The banks attorney, Walt Moeling, said afterward that the bank had wealthy investors, one of the strongest boards and management around and made loans to borrowers with strong track records. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution -- Opinion)
Banks Have Us Flying Blind on Depth of Losses Oct 1, 2009
Georgians clean-up will be unusually costly. The book value of Georgians assets was $2 billion as of July 24, about the same as the banks deposit liabilities, according to a Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. press ... Thats impossible to know, which is whats so unsettling about Georgians sudden downfall. (Bloomberg -- Columnists)
EU report concludes Georgia, Russia share blame for 2008 war Oct 1, 2009
The Georgian government said the EU investigation concluded that Russia invaded Georgia; Georgia never attacked Russia or any other country ... The Georgian government claimed that it had attacked South Ossetia in response to an onslaught of Russian forces ... Moscow, which had peacekeepers based in the breakaway republic, insisted that additional troops were sent into South Ossetia and then deep into Georgia to defend against a Georgian operation already under way. (Boston Globe)
CIT's future in question ahead of lender meeting Sep 30, 2009
Regulators on Friday shut down Atlanta-based Georgian Bank, the 95th U.S. bank to fail this year as loan defaults rise in the worst financial climate in decades ... The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. took over Georgian Bank, with about $2 billion in assets and $2 billion in deposits as of July 24 ... Georgian Bank's five branches will reopen Monday as offices of First Citizens Bank. (Fresno Bee -- Business)
Georgian Bank Fails; Tally Climbs to 95 for 2009 Sep 26, 2009
Georgian Bank of Atlanta failed on Friday, and First Citizens Bank and Trust Company (FCBN) of Columbia, S.C., agreed to take over the failed banks deposits ... The FDIC estimated that Georgian Banks failure will cost its deposit-insurance fund $892 million ... Georgian Bank customers who have questions about today's transaction can call the FDIC toll-free at 800-405-1498. (Fox News)
G-20 At Least Pretending to Make Economic Progress Sep 26, 2009
As usual, the FDIC announced the resolution of another bank after close of business on Friday, and this time its Georgian Bank ... The FDIC has already found a steward for Georgian; CNNMoney ... com reports that of Georgians assets. (Slate)
UN council endorses nuclear curbs Sep 25, 2009
UN ON THURSDAY Security Council: Nuclear non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament General Debate: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Iraqi President Jalal Talabani Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton presence at the meeting marked the first US participation at the biannual conference since 1999, when the US Senate refused to ratify the treaty. (BBC News -- Americas)
Russia 'rethinks' Iran sanctions Sep 24, 2009
UN ON THURSDAY Security Council: Nuclear non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament General Debate: Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez Iraqi President Jalal Talabani Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili. Analysts say that if those talks yield nothing he wants to pursue tougher sanctions against Tehran. (BBC News -- Europe)
Black Sea Wars Sep 22, 2009
In August, the Georgian navy seized a Turkish tanker carrying fuel to Abkhazia, Georgia's former province whose declaration of independence a year ago is recognized by Russia but not the West ... Abkhazia has now threatened to sink any Georgian ship interfering in its "territorial waters," but it has no navy ... Not backing down, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili -- who launched and lost a war for South Ossetia in 48 hours in August 2008 -- has declared the blockade of Abkhazia, which he... (Townhall.com)
Calm before the storm of US-Iran talks Sep 22, 2009
" It is hard to conclude whether or not the move will be enough to buy Russia's full cooperation with the US. The influence of the US in Georgia, a highly problematic country for Russia, is and will be a matter of tension between Moscow and Washington. According to the New York Times on September 9, "Rising tensions between Russia and Georgia over shipping rights to the breakaway Georgian region have opened a potential new theater for conflict between the two countries. " Dimitri Simes, Russia... (Asia Times Online)
NATO Urges Linked US/Russia/NATO Defense Sep 19, 2009
But this has slowed down in recent years as the relationship faded over NATO enlargement and the Georgian war. Fogh Rasmussen's speech is a bid to revive such joint work. (CBS News)
U.S. Open: The rant aside, lots of tales played out, plus surprises Sep 16, 2009
Seventeen-year-old Georgian Melanie Oudin's surprise rush to the quarterfinals. Journeyman Jesse Witten's advance to the third round, where he said he could appreciate the Grand Slam event's laundry service and limousine rides, in contrast to the challenger events he plays where there sometimes aren't even any ball kids. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, PA -- Sports)
Jody Powell, 65; was press secretary and a close adviser to President Carter Sep 15, 2009
A Georgia native known for his deep Southern drawl, Mr. Powell and fellow Georgian Hamilton Jordan were among Carter s closest confidants ... Mr. Powell and the other Georgians who came with Carter did not always follow tradition when they arrived in Washington in 1977. (Boston Globe)
Jody Powell dies at 65 Sep 15, 2009
Powell s death comes a year after the passing of Hamilton Jordan, a fellow Georgian who served as Carter s strategist. This was the first word from. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution -- Metro)
Chavez: Venezuela To Get Rockets From Russia Sep 12, 2009
Chavez gave Moscow a boost by recognizing the independence of two Russian-supported Georgian separatist regions, South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Since 2005, Russia has signed contracts to sell Chavez's government more than $4 billion worth of weapons. (CBS News -- World)
News Briefs | Sept. 11, 2009 Sep 11, 2009
Though the three nations have recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent, other countries, including the United States, do not consider the regions independent, according to the Georgian Foreign Ministry. (Kelly Fahy). (Washington University Student Life, MO)
Chvez Recognizes Separatists Sep 11, 2009
In response, the Georgian government has dismissed the announcement. Read original story in | Thursday, Sept.10,2009. (Slate)
Falcons have 5 of the top 100 players in the NFL Sep 11, 2009
9:21 am September 10, 2009, by D. Orlando Ledbetter. Tony Gonzalez is the 10th best player in the league according to The Sporting News. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution -- Sports)
Oudin making Open her own Sep 9, 2009
We already have seen or heard her described as "a diminutive dynamo," a "sparkplug," the "darling of the tournament," a "gutty little Georgian" and "spunky.". We prefer "whirling dervish" for the 5-foot-6 (and we think that's stretching it) Georgia peach, who has dispatched four consecutive Russian opponents - three "ovas" and a "tieva.". (AZCentral -- Sports)
Beating Isner a tall order at US Open Sep 7, 2009
Two American women remain after the win by Georgian Melanie Oudin over Maria Sharapova Saturday night and champ Serena Williams s 6-2, 6-0 putdown of Daniela Hantuchova yesterday. But sister Venus is gone. (Boston Globe)
Sex crimes, real and imagined great and trivial triviaslimagined trivial Sep 7, 2009
Wilson wasn't the only Georgian ensnared because of inappropriate -- but hardly criminal -- behavior as a teenager. But when the Georgia Legislature had the opportunity to correct defects in the law -- to narrowly focus the sex registry on dangerous, violent offenders who prey on children -- it refused to do so. (Albany Times Union)
Smoothie idea gets teen to finals Sep 2, 2009
The Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship, an international non-profit organization, has picked Ussery as one of 27 national finalists, and the only Georgian, in its National Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge. She emerged from a group of about 1,000 students nationwide who participated in regional competitions. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution -- Business)
Phillips: Saying farewell to an influence and mentor Aug 23, 2009
But as a native Georgian, from the small town of Jesup, she was glad to move closer to home, and Athens proved the first place she and Don could afford to make her longtime dream of Canopy come true. Many reading this now no doubt relate to having that person in your life who, aside from maybe a spouse or child, has influenced you and filled you in ways you never expected, has helped you discover your potential, and, beyond that, who you are. (Athens Banner-Herald)
Today in History Aug 22, 2009
Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili. Michael Phelps. (Yahoo News)
Summer traffic up for Google, down for Microsoft Aug 19, 2009
Civilians recruited by Russian language social-networking sites and using Russian Mafia-associated botnets perpetrated many of the cyber attacks on Georgian government Web sites during the five-day Russian-Georgian war in 2008. Beyond Binary. (Yahoo News -- Internet and WWW)
Georgia Cyberattacks Linked to Russian Organized Crime Aug 19, 2009
The report in part confirms some of the suspicions of observers, who theorized that the distributed denial-of-service attacks (DDOS), which crippled many Georgian Web sites, had its roots in Russia ... Bombers struck targets throughout the country, and at the same time Georgian media and government sites fell under DDOS attack ... "The fact that physically destructive cyberattacks were not carried out against Georgian critical infrastructure industries suggests that someone on the Russian side... (Yahoo News -- Technology)
Parents search for back to school savings Aug 16, 2009
The primary reason: The economy is changing the way parents buy for their children (Somerset Daily American, PA)
A year after Georgia-Russia war, refugees still coping with losses Aug 16, 2009
TSEROVANI, Georgia - Just off the highway between the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, and the city of Gori, epicenter of last year s war with Russia, lies this settlement of single-story, boxlike houses stretching toward the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains ... Dzhokhadze is one of an estimated 30,000 people, mostly ethnic Georgians, who have been unable to return to their homes in the breakaway region of South Ossetia and the nearby area of Akhalgori, which was under Georgian control before the... (Boston Globe)
* US military training in Georgia resumes with Russian notice Aug 15, 2009
The US will resume a combat training mission in the republic of Georgia to prepare Georgian troops for counterinsurgency operations in Afghanistan, a US Defense Department official said on Thursday ... He said the US had agreed to send a few dozen Marine trainers to Georgia to help a battalion of Georgian troops train for deployment to Afghanistan sometime next year ... The new training mission, to begin on Sept. 1, comes a year after Georgias brief war with Russia froze a similar US training... (Taipei Times, Taiwan -- World Business)
Another Attack Downs Twitter, Briefly This Time Aug 14, 2009
Last Thursday, Twitter was inaccessible for several hours following hacker attacks targeted at a Georgian blogger who uses the site. Fake traffic flooded Twitter, making it inaccessible for millions of legitimate users. (Newsmax)
Putin visits Abkhazia, vows to build Russian military base Aug 13, 2009
MOSCOW - Prime Minister Vladimir Putin traveled to the breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia yesterday and pledged to strengthen Russia s military presence there, defying US and European objections amid simmering tensions in the region ... His remarks and appearance in Abkhazia underscored Russia s growing presence in what once was Georgian territory and highlighted the sharp differences that remain between Moscow and Washington despite the Obama administration s efforts to reset bilateral... (Boston Globe)
Check out these lanes for National Bowling Week Aug 12, 2009
Several bowling alleys have been around for more than a century, including a couple of manually operated lanes in the basement of the Holler House tavern in Milwaukee that date to 1908, and three lanes built in 1899 at Georgian Court University in Lakewood, N.J., open for special events and for use by students. . (Atlanta Journal-Constitution -- Travel)
Timberlake Eyes Greenwich Nesting Site Aug 12, 2009
5 acre spread on Conyers Farm Drive -- a 13,500-square- foot, Georgian Colonial built in 1993 and renovated in 2001. It comes with a pool, spa and pool house in a private gated community famed for Greenwich polo matches. (New York Post -- Gossip)
Kremlin drafts law on use of military Aug 11, 2009
Medvedev sent troops deep into Georgian territory last year in a brief war over the disputed province of South Ossetia, but Russian news media questioned whether the proper legal procedures had been followed ... Zurab Kachkashvili, spokesman for the Georgian Foreign Ministry, said the new law was a bid to place the aggression perpetrated against Georgia last year within a legal framework, Interfax news agency reported. (Boston Globe)
Georgia-Russia: What We Still Don't Know Aug 10, 2009
Joshua A. Tucker: One Year Later, Questions Still Linger About the Russian-Georgian War ... Friday marked the one-year anniversary of the beginning of the Russian-Georgian War ... Russian-Georgian relations were frosty, and rumors flew that conflict could break out at any time. (CBS News)
Twitter harpooned, Internet survives (just barely) Aug 10, 2009
Robert X. Cringely, InfoWorld. Friday, August 7, 2009. (San Francisco Chronicle -- Technology)
Unemployment Falls, but Half a Million Jobless Sit Out Aug 9, 2009
They may have been due to an attack on a Georgian political blogger who reports on tensions with Russia. "It looks like Twitter and Facebook were just caught up in the collateral damage from an attack on this one blogger's site," one security expert said. (Slate)
Year after Georgian war, rage has only hardened Aug 9, 2009
In Gori, which came under Russian bombing in the war, authorities erected a replica of the Berlin Wall, a pointed commentary on Russia's foothold on Georgian land. Georgians observed a nationwide moment of silence in the afternoon, and 500 schoolchildren dressed in red and white formed a living replica of Georgia's flag ... As they prepared to mark the war's anniversary, Ossetians here referred to Georgians as "swine" and "livestock," and said they would never live in peace with them again. (Honolulu Star-Bulletin)
* Attack on Georgian blogger has global Web repercussions Aug 9, 2009
Attack on Georgian blogger has global Web repercussions. AP, NEW YORK Sunday, Aug 09, 2009, Page 7. (Taipei Times, Taiwan -- World)
Daily guide to television and radio Aug 8, 2009
The Legacy 10 p.m. (SUND) French tourists get involved in an ancient blood feud in the Georgian republic. Sylvie Testud. (Boston Globe)
Georgia: Saakashvili Shows Staying Power on Anniversary of War with Russia Aug 8, 2009
Despite it all, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has endured in office. And a year after Georgia s devastating war with Russia, Saakashvili s staying power is an image the Georgian government is eager to convey ... That message also echoes throughout the official August 7-8 commemoration of the 2008 war, most of which is taking place in Gori, the Georgian town occupied by Russian forces for nine days last August. (EurasiaNet.org)
Georgian President Saakashvili slams Russian ‘invaders’ Aug 8, 2009
Georgian President Saakashvili slams Russian invaders - The Boston Globe ... Georgian leader denounces Russian troops as invaders ... TBILISI, Georgia - President Mikhail Saakashvili of Georgia defiantly marked the first anniversary of his country s war with Russia yesterday, denouncing Russian troops who control two Georgian regions as invaders. (Boston Globe)
Q&A: Georgia conflict a year on Aug 7, 2009
On the Georgian side, about 225 EU monitors patrol to try to check implementation of the ceasefire and help stabilise the situation ... Georgia said Russian troops had been moving border posts in order to seize more Georgian land ... In June an ambulance driver was killed, and before that a Georgian police officer, by mine explosions. (BBC News -- Europe)
Living with the aftermath of war Aug 7, 2009
Tom Esslemont is on , where Georgians and South Ossetians are separated by Russian troops ... Along both sides of the highway were many villages populated by ethnic Georgians ... It was here that Ossetian militias went on the rampage - shooting, burning and looting until the entire Georgian population had fled into Georgia proper. (BBC News -- Europe)
Georgians remain displaced by war Aug 7, 2009
Amnesty International says most are ethnic Georgians, who continue to lack basic services and suffer hardship ... A further 138,000 ethnic Georgians living in South Ossetia were displaced by the fighting, but 18,500 who fled South Ossetia and the district of Akhalgori remain displaced ... Russia denied it was first to move, and accused the Georgian government of "a pre-planned criminal act". (BBC News -- Europe)
Cemetery Tour maps local history Aug 7, 2009
He went on to serve as a Georgian delegate to the Constitutional Convention in 1787. It was in this role that he achieved great fame, casting the tying vote in the decision over legislative representative apportionment. (Fairfield Minuteman, CT)
US rearming Georgia? Aug 6, 2009
On a visit to Tbilisi on 23 July, US Vice President Joe Biden admitted that Washington, which equipped and trained Georgian forces prior to the war last August, was working on "maintaining" the Georgian military ... The secretary of Georgia's national security council, Eka Tkeshelashvili, dismissed Russia's accusations that Georgia was rearming as a "ridiculous perception" concocted in Moscow to foster a "myth" of Georgian aggression ... The United States has long supported the goal of Georgian... (iAfrica.com)
Georgia, Russia step back from fears of a new war Aug 6, 2009
Each reported attack was followed by ominous or aggrieved words from both sides, culminating in Russia's Defense Ministry saying it reserved the right to use all available means against Georgian aggression ... But Georgian National Security Council chief Eka Tkeshelashvili contends that Georgia's close contacts with the United States and the European Union are keeping the tensions from boiling over ... On Thursday, the government is to issue an extensive report detailing its contention it had to... (New York Post -- News)
Russian troops on alert as Georgia tensions rise Aug 5, 2009
Andrei Nesterenko, the spokesman for Russia s Foreign Ministry, said the move was a response to Georgian provocations ... The situation near South Ossetia has become increasingly tense as the first anniversary of the Russian-Georgian war approaches Friday, with Georgia and Russia blaming each other for provocations and intentions to resume fighting ... President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev discussed the lessons of last year s Georgian crisis in a telephone conversation late... (Boston Globe)
Clinton gets N. Korean deal to free captured journalists Aug 5, 2009
Our Georgian DOT should turn around and audit the FTA. THAT agency probably wastes the frozen 28 million in ONE DAY.. Angry Black Man. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution -- Opinion)
Harlin has Georgia on his mind Aug 4, 2009
Renny Harlin has been set to direct an untitled drama based on the five-day Russia/Georgia conflict that commemorates its first anniversary on August 8, when Georgian forces attacked the border territory South Ossetia and were subsequently routed by Russian troops. Harlin will shoot the gritty film in areas near the conflict. (Variety)
Biden’s tough love for Georgia Aug 2, 2009
Georgians are understandably anxious not just about the continued presence of Russian troops in the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, but also about President Obama s determination to reset US relations with Russia. Biden assured the Georgians that Washington will not sell them out ... I know there is some concern, and I understand it, that our efforts to reset relations with Russia will come at the expense of Georgia, he told the Georgian Parliament. (Boston Globe)
'Willing' to leave Iraq Jul 30, 2009
Georgia s contingent manned the checkpoints in the fortified Green Zone of Baghdad, for instance, and brooked no arguments from people trying to enter, especially since few of the soldiers spoke anything but Russian or Georgian. Its contribution grew to a peak of 2000, until the soldiers were withdrawn in August and rushed home to defend Tbilisi after the Russians invaded. (Sydney Morning Herald -- World)
Music: the week ahead Jul 30, 2009
THE LOVELL SISTERS Only one of them is out of her teens, but the sweet-voiced Georgian siblings behind this bluegrass trio sound well beyond their years. Playing fiddle, mandolin, and resonator guitar, the Lovells coax a rich and rootsy sound from their instruments, as heard on their brand-new album, Time to Grow. (Boston Globe)
Suicide bomber kills 6 in Chechnya attack Jul 27, 2009
Two of the wounded, a Turkish construction manager and a Georgian national, died in the hospital, it said. Chechnya s president, Ramzan Kadyrov, said the attack will not stop the eradication of militants in the province. (Boston Globe)
Novelist Sarah Waters takes a ghostly turn Jul 24, 2009
CHARLIE HOPKINSONSarah Waters s latest novel, The Little Stranger, is a story set in post-World War II England about the eerie events at a dilapidated Georgian mansion ... Set in post-World War II England, The Little Stranger is a ghost story, more or less, about the mysteries plaguing a dilapidated Georgian mansion and its residents, the Ayres family. (Boston Globe)
In speech, Biden pledges US support for Georgia Jul 24, 2009
While saying Russia should withdraw its forces from two separatist Georgian regions, Biden also said Georgia should abandon any hopes of reclaiming those regions by force ... He pledged that the Obama administration would not abandon Georgia even as it sought to mend relations with Moscow, badly damaged by the Russian-Georgian war. (Boston Globe)
NYC judge restores Rather's fraud claim vs. CBS Jul 22, 2009
Georgian president proposes reforms, foes scoff. Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili offered his opponents electoral reforms Monday, and called for political unity in the face of a common enemy - referring to Russia as an occupying foe with forces a few dozen kilometers (miles) from the capital. (Fresno Bee -- Nation)
Ukraine, Georgia seek Biden’s reassurance on US support Jul 20, 2009
And although the Obama administration has insisted nothing has changed regarding the Georgian and Ukrainian candidacies, there s a widespread perception in the former Soviet bloc that the United States has opted to move more slowly ... Biden s visit is occurring 11 months after Russia and Georgia fought a five-day war over two breakaway Georgian regions ... This visit will be aimed at cooling the hotheads in Moscow and starting more active work on de-occupying Georgian territory, said Temuri... (Boston Globe)
The Pragmatist: Georgias Irakli Alasania Emerges As Political Alternative Jul 19, 2009
And that s just one way he contrasts with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, who absentmindedly began chewing his red silk necktie on television in an apparent fit of nerves during last summer s war with Russia ... Both are committed to bringing Georgian fully into Western institutions including NATO and the European Union ... Many Georgians, weary of the exhausting high-wire act that has been Saakashvili s presidency, are increasingly looking to Alasania as someone who could break the... (EurasiaNet.org)
US warship off Georgia draws response from Russia Jul 15, 2009
Russian tanks and troops poured into the region and overwhelmed the Georgian army ... The guided-missile destroyer USS Stout yesterday anchored off Batumi, where its commander, Mark J. Oberley, was welcomed ashore with Georgian music ... This visit and the combined training demonstrate the US and Georgian commitment to work together, Oberley said. (Boston Globe)
Ted KeithINSIDE BASEBALL Jul 12, 2009
And though Francouer is a native Georgian who was born in Atlanta and reached the majors with his hometown team, whatever sadness he felt for being dealt away from his first club was overshadowed by the prospects of a fresh start in New York. "I'm excited," he said. (SportsIllustrated.CNN -- MLB)
Federal Web Sites Knocked Out by Cyber Attack Jul 12, 2009
For instance, last summer, in the weeks leading up to the war between Russia and Georgia, Georgian government and corporate Web sites began to see "denial of service" attacks. The Kremlin denied involvement, but a group of independent Western computer experts traced domain names and Web site registration data to conclude that the Russian security and military intelligence agencies were involved. (Fox News)
10 North Shore sights to target this summer Jul 12, 2009
Today The Sargent House Museum, a well-preserved example of Georgian architecture, its front door looming on a low hill above the main street, hosts exhibits of the city s history, as well as paintings by John Singer Sargent, a descendant of Murray. 49 Middle St., Gloucester, 978-281-2432. (Boston Globe)
Rethinking Russia Jul 10, 2009
Investigative journalist Ron Suskind reported that in 2003, a Georgian source working with the CIA intercepted a delivery of 170 grams of 93 percent enriched uranium (65 percent is considered good enough for weapons grade) that had originated at nuclear production facilities in Novosibirsk. The package was intercepted while being smuggled from Russia to Georgia, but the ultimate customer was "a Moslem man.". (CBS News)
