This morning’s key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com.

Traders await Bernanke’s Friday speech, following Perry’s slam

Ben Bernanke

Stock market traders this week have been wild with anxiety over what Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is going to talk about in the speech that he’ll give on Friday in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. In last year’s speech, he hinted at more quantitative easing, triggering a 28% rally on Wall Street. When this was being discussed on Tuesday, I honestly thought that some of the anchors on Bloomberg TV were going to burst out into song, as they sported the broadest of grins and joyously reported the rally in Wall Street stocks. Matt Miller gushed that he wished there could be an earthquake every day, if that’s what it took to push the stock market up. However, the excitement wore off and stocks were down again by Thursday, as traders realized that Bernanke is unlikely to announce any new quantitative easing program. That was true anyway, but the recent accusation by Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry that quantitative easing is “treasonous” makes any QE attempt subject to accusations that Bernanke is supporting President Obama’s reelection. Miami Herald

Egyptian activists plan ‘million man protest’ on Friday

Remarkably, Israel has not been a part of the “Arab revolutions” that have spread around the Mideast since January, but with national elections coming up soon in Egypt, Egyptian activists are demanding that the government reevaluate the Camp David agreement with Israel. The demands were triggered by the deaths of five Egyptians in the aftermath of last week’s terrorist attack in southern Israel. Activists are planning a “million man protest” on Friday, but the planned demonstrations have split the activist groups, many of whom do not wish to participate. Haaretz

Greece has yet to describe debt swap plan for bailout

A crucial part of the plan for the second bailout of Greece is that banks be forced to take a “voluntary” haircut of 21% on their existing holdings of Greek bonds. As we reported, the 21% figure is based on unrealistic assumptions, and may be much higher. (See “24-Jul-11 World View — Mauldin: Greece’s bond ‘haircuts’ are at 75-80%.”) However, Greece has yet to send out a detailed plan for the bond swap, suggesting that there are problems with coming up with a plan that won’t be ridiculed by almost every analyst in the world. Irish Times

Iraqi refugees in Syria now under attack from Assad

At the height of Iraq’s sectarian war in 2006, a flood of refugees took their families to Syria and Jordan for safety. However, Bashar al-Assad’s bloody regime is now turning its tanks and guns on the civilians in eastern Syria, on the Iraq border. As a result, many refugees are considering returning to Iraq for safety. Inter-Press Service (IPS)

Dick Cheney wanted to bomb Syrian nuclear reactor in 2007

In June, 2007, Vice President Dick Cheney urged President George W. Bush to bomb Syria’s suspected nuclear reactor site, according to leaked passages from Cheney’s new memoir. “I again made the case for U.S. military action against the reactor. But I was a lone voice. After I finished, the president asked, ‘Does anyone here agree with the vice president?’ Not a single hand went up around the room.” As it turned out, the Israeli Air Force bombed the site in September of the same year. Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Putin increases lead over Medvedev in public opinion polls

As the March 2012 presidential election approaches, public approval President Dmitry Medvedev fell in August to its lowest level since he took office, while the approval of Prime Minister Vladimin Putin has held steady. But both of their ratings would be the envy of American politicians. Medvedev’s approval rating fell to 63% in August from 66% in July, while Putin’s rating was steady at 68%. Moscow Times

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev will probably wait until December to reveal which of them will run for president in 2012. Bloomberg

New U.S. ambassador to China receives vitriolic attacks

Gary Locke is the first Chinese-American to be appointed as American ambassador to China, and this has generated an enormous amount of public interest, especially in the question: Is he more Chinese or more American? Upon arriving in Beijing, he said that “[he is] a child of Chinese immigrants representing America, the land of my birth, and the American values my family holds dear. [I and my family] all personally represent America and America’s promise as a land of freedom, equality and opportunity. And it is that enduring promise and those values that I will represent in my official capacity serving the president and the American people as the United States ambassador to China.” This was met by overwhelming public disapproval, many with vitriolic personal attacks, accusing the new ambassador of being a “Chinese traitor,” “shameless showman,” and part of a “carefully designed plot with ulterior motives.” Washington Times