It’s no secret that the dollar is on a downward spiral. Its value is dropping, and the Fed isn’t doing a whole lot to change that. As a result, a number of countries are considering a shift away from the dollar to preserve their assets.  

These are seven of the countries currently considering a move from the dollar, and how they’ll have an effect on its value and the US economy. 

Sorry, no apology: Howard 

Prime Minister John Howard has drawn a distinction between saying he is sorry about yesterday's interest rate rise and apologising for it. 

Mr Howard and Treasurer Peter Costello have both said they are sorry for the financial problems it will cause. 

I've been waiting for something like this. An addition to the problems that Israel faces from Iran, it seems, is that by next year it will be capable of making dirty bombs. That's the message that's apparantly been given to the Israeli cabinet today.

Debkafile reports that a briefing is being given that Iran will now be capable of creating plutonium from 2008. They no doubt are aware of this from the receipts Dick Cheney kept from his Halliburton rector part sales in the late 90s.

The dirty bomb thing is, as I've been yapping all year, a pill coating to sell the Iran attack to the great unwashed. Mushroom clouds are too much to contemplate, but little radioactive bangs striking fear into a city are another thing altogher.. much more user-friendly in the fear factor department.

What happens now? Try this from RoD Greher of the Dallas Morning News:

PM says sorry for latest rate hike 

Prime Minister John Howard says he regrets the extra burden that will be placed on Australian families because of today's interest rate rise. 

Former Liberal Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser gave an interesting speech last week entitled “Finding Security in Terrorism’s Shadow: The importance of the rule of law”. It is an interesting and thought provoking speech. It is appropriately scathing of the neo-conservatives and their malign influence not just in the USA but on the globe. 

RBA lifts interest rates 

The Reserve Bank has made history, weighing into the politically-charged federal election campaign by raising interest rates to their highest in a decade. 

Family-friendly Coalition policy a con: Democrats 

The Democrats have labelled the family-friendly measures contained in the federal Coalition's new industrial relations policy as a con. 

Pope, Saudi King hold historic meeting 

Pope Benedict and Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah held a historic meeting and discussed the situation of minority Christians in the Islamic country where the Vatican wants them to have more freedom. 

Howard compares Cup to campaigning efforts 

Prime Minister John Howard has spent most of today on the hustings in his home electorate as the Melbourne cup overshadowed the campaign. 

Police fired tear gas and clubbed lawyers protesting Monday against President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's emergency rule. The U.S. and other nations called for elections to be held on schedule and said they were reviewing aid to Pakistan. 

George W. Bush is having a hard time adjusting to the fact that he no longer has an automatic rubber-stamp Congress at his beck and call. And, while the Republican minority in Congress has still been winning some unfortunate battles, and the Democrats haven't done enough to fight back, it's not quite as easy for Bush as it was before this past January. 

The Supreme Court's recent decision to hear ExxonMobil's reasons to void the $2.5 billion punitive award in the Exxon Valdez case hit the town of Cordova, Alaska, hard. This small coastal fishing community - my hometown - along with the Alaska Native villages in Prince William Sound have borne the brunt of the largest crude oil spill in America's waters; a spill that took place more than 18 years ago, but one that continues to hold the region hostage.

from Crikey ….. 

We have been searching our minds to try to figure out why John Howard and Peter Costello refuse to criminalise cartels and send their perpetrators to jail. Here are 10 possible reasons for their inaction: 

from Crikey .....

Media freedom hampered by media irresponsibility 

Howard denying all responsibility for inflation: Rudd 

Labor leader Kevin Rudd says he is stunned that Prime Minister John Howard can say he believes inflation is unavoidable.