Link: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/08/19-4

In the wake of rebellions that spread to much of urban Britain, the ruling Conservative Party government is not only sounding like their racist American cousins, they were at least toying with the idea of importing William Bratton, the former police chief of New York, Los Angeles and Boston, to put the fear of the law into the U.K.’s darker residents. On first examination, it seems counterintuitive that anyone would look to the United States for role models in the criminal justice arena. The U.S. is by far the most violent among the wealthy nations of the world.

Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-19/u-s-stocks-post-biggest-retreat-since-2009-on-economic-concern.html?pid=msnmoney

U.S. stocks tumbled, sending the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index to its biggest four-week loss since March 2009, as concern the global economy is stalling overshadowed the cheapest valuations in 2 1/2 years.

Link: http://english.aljazeera.net/business/2011/08/20118197531654616.html

The US market gained early but quickly fell back, closing sharply down along with European and Asian markets. International markets have continued to plummet amid fears of a global economic slowdown. By closing on Friday, the US stock exhange was back in the red. It had shown signs of improvement earlier in the day, but gains quickly retracted. The Dow Jones fell 1.57 per cent, while the Nasdaq dropped 1.62 per cent. The S&P 500 was down 1.50 per cent. In European markets, London's FTSE-100 closed down 1.01 per cent and Germany's Dax lost 2.19 per cent. France's Cac fell 1.92 per cent.

Link: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/08/2011819144731502525.html

Cairo to request compensation for deaths of security officers from Israel. Egyptian demonstrators have held an angry protest outside the Israeli embassy in Cairo, over claims that up to five Egyptian security personnel were killed on Thursday. Protesters burnt the Israeli flag and chanted, "Close the embassy! Expel the ambassador" and demanded on Friday the resignation of the Israeli ambassador and the cancellation of a peace treaty between the countries.

Link: http://www.activistpost.com/2011/08/afghanistan-and-iraq-withdrawal.html

It is strange how right after a group of Taliban fighters were allegedly able to take out a Special Forces Chinook with a shoulder-mounted rocket; support is quickly rallied to justify keeping troops in Afghanistan until “at least” 2024, according to The Daily Telegraph.

Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/19/us-markets-volatility-technical-idUSTRE77I2SO20110819

Before the stormy trading of August, many stock investors probably thought "death cross" was the name of some heavy metal band. But after a period in which the S&P 500 plunged more than 15 percent, daily trading volumes spiked by 70 percent and the United States lost its vaunted 'triple-A' rating, a death cross and other technical analysis terms are something investors have had to become increasingly familiar with.