YAOUNDE (AFP) -- West African rebels threatened Friday to kill 10 oil workers, including six Frenchmen, taken hostage in a pre-dawn pirate attack on an industry support vessel working off the coast of Cameroon.
A group opposed to Cameroon's takeover of the Bakassi Peninsula warned that the captives would be killed one by one from Monday unless the government agreed to reopen talks on the oil-rich territory's status. "They are in good condition. We will provide them with a good treatment, but their conditions will deteriorate in three days," a fighter calling himself Brigadier Akipee of the Bakassi Freedom Fighters told AFP by telephone. "I will start killing them one by one on Monday, and I mean one by one," he said. "The people of Bakassi are suffering. They must be given the opportunity for self-determination. We want self-determination."
French foreign ministry spokesman Romain Nadal reacted cautiously. "We are aware of this claim, but we're trying to confirm its authenticity. We are doing everything to ensure the safety and freedom of our citizens as quickly as possible," he said.
Diplomacy: the fine art of saying 'nice doggie' while you look about for a rock ...
#2
DANG!!! I have just the PERFECT pic to illustrate the situation, but I can't use it, because there's the "N" word in the caption. I feel so frustrated.
UNITED NATIONS (AFP) UN chief Ban Ki-moon is stepping up efforts to settle the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), asking his peacekeeping chief to travel to the region, his press office said Friday. The secretary general, who is on a brief visit to Nepal, was sending Alain Le Roy, the head of UN peacekeeping, to the region and had discussed the crisis with a number of world leaders over the past two days, a UN statement said.
Ban would do better to let the Indian troops there take off the gloves and enforce the peace. And send the mighty Uruguayans home.
Ban notably spoke with Presidents Joseph Kabila of DRC, Paul Kagame of Rwanda, Nicolas Sarkozy of France, Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania as well as with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, African Union Commission Chairman Jean Ping and European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana. Ban stressed to them "the importance of doing everything possible" to consolidate the ceasefire ordered in Goma, Nord Kivu's capital, by rebels led by ethnic Tutsi warlord Laurent Nkunda, and to halt further violence. He also urged them to do all they could to bring the key protagonists, the presidents of DRC and Rwanda, "to a neutral venue for negotiations."
Ban stressed that the 17,000-strong UN mission in DRC (MONUC) "must be given the additional resources it needs to carry out its mandate" and that humanitarian workers should be allowed to work "without hindrance."
And he asked the UN Security Council to speed up efforts "to support or complement" MONUC, which has deployed 850 troops to maintain security and protect civilians in Goma, after Rwandan-backed Nkunda loyalists threatened to seize the city.
MONUC has requested troop reinforcements while France has suggested sending sending an EU battle group of up to 1,500 troops to bolster UN troops in Nord Kivu.
If the EU group shows up to fight and enforce the peace order that would be a considerable step.
Fighting resumed in the east of Congo on August 28 in violation of a ceasefire agreed in January, marking a return to the unrest that has gripped the region since the mid-1990s. Some 220,000 people have been displaced since August, bringing to more than one million the number forced from their homes in Nord Kivu, a province bordering Rwanda that totals five million.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/01/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
After giving up their fight against rebel forces, Congolese soldiers resorted Thursday to shaking down residents and the tens of thousands of displaced people here for cash, cellphones and skinny chickens and goats. With this important provincial city essentially surrounded by rebels, the exhausted and now aimless government soldiers roamed the streets looking for liquor, food and money.
"Go!" one soldier yelled to another, ushering him toward a clanking, idling truck full of bananas at a checkpoint on the muddy edge of the city. "Ask them for $5. And if they don't give you $5, they cannot pass!"
The fighting in eastern Congo began in August, when renegade Gen. Laurent Nkunda launched a major offensive after declaring he would "liberate" Congo. Over the past few days, his forces fought their way closer to Goma, reaching the city Wednesday.
The conflict has many interconnected causes: There are the Hutu militias, including many fighters who fled to eastern Congo after participating in the 1994 Rwandan genocide, in which 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slaughtered. The militias were never disarmed and settled into lives in the eastern forests. They have become a cause for Nkunda, who has close ties to Rwanda and casts himself as a protector of Tutsis.
A mad scramble for minerals has also helped fuel a thriving business in private militias that guard mines.
And then there is the Congolese army, a notoriously underpaid, ill-equipped and poorly trained force that has proved unable to provide security and deal with the complex task of disarming the Hutu militias, much less handle Nkunda's well-organized rebellion. Instead of guarding the city, some soldiers spent Wednesday night looting. Fire from machine guns overnight apparently came from soldiers who had turned their weapons on civilians.
In one lantern-lit neighborhood of wood-slat houses, two soldiers went door to door asking for dollars and cellphones, shooting one boy when he refused, according to residents of the neighborhood. After robbing several houses, the men ordered three residents -- a doctor and two women -- into an empty house and shot them.
"They slept in the room where they killed those people," said Claudine Ndakola, 19, whose aunt was one of those killed. "I don't have any idea why."
Thursday morning, streets were mostly empty as the police and soldiers drove around with megaphones telling people it was safe enough for them to return to work. But the looting continued, with doctors at one hospital forced to fight off soldiers attempting to steal an ambulance.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/01/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Is there any African army whose main mission isn't intimidating or preying on it's own citizens?
Obama's election makes for better US-Russia ties as the candidate does not entertain Cold War ideas, says a top Russian parliamentary figure.
"In contrast to Republican candidate John McCain, Obama is not burdened with the Cold War mentality," ITAR-TASS quoted the head of the international affairs committee in Russia's lower house of parliament as saying. Konstantin Kosachyov then concluded that "I, as a Russian politician, certainly link Barack Obama with hopes for an improvement in Russian-American relations," he said.
He added that, upon victory, the Democratic hopeful's would be more likely to compromise on everything the perennial moot points in bilateral ties like the Russian neighbors' wishes for NATO membership, and Washington's missile projects in Europe.
US authorities have refused to budge on the issues voicing all-out support for Georgia and Ukraine's NATO hopes and plans for partial installation of a US-proposed missile defense shield in Poland and the Czech Republic.
The official expressed confidence that a McCain coup on November 4 would turn over no new leaf in US policy while Obama was a harbinger of "drastic political change".
We don't have coups, bobo, that's your country ...
There was no telling, however, that Obama would accept the idea of strategic partnership with Russia, Kosachyov noted.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/01/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Translation: "anything that weakens the USA is good for Russia".
(AKI) -- Five Serbs were injured on Thursday in clashes with ethnic Albanians in the divided city of Kosovska Mitrovica, local officials said. Deputy police chief Predrag Vasovic told media that the incident occurred when a group of ethnic Albanians crossed into the Serb-controlled northern part of the city to repair their houses, which were damaged during ethnic fighting in 1999.
"The Serbs gathered to prevent them, and the clashes broke out," Vasovic said. He said that wooden and metal sticks were used in the fighting, but eyewitnesses said that fire from automatic weapons was heard in the area.
Doctors in Mitrovica hospital said that five Serbs were treated for light injuries, but were later discharged.
Mitrovica has been a divided city ever since the withdrawal in 1999 of Serbian forces from the province, whose majority ethnic Albanians declared independence last February. The southern part of the city is controlled by ethnic Albanians and the northern part by Serbs.
The majority of some 100,000 Serbs that remained in Kosovo live north of Mitrovica, close to Serbia. Kosovo's authorities have little control over the Serb-populated north.
Thursday's clashes were broken up by United Nations police and international forces stationed in Kosovo (KFOR), officials said.
Former Kosovo prime minister, Agim Ceku, said recently that Kosovo's authorities should establish control over northern Kosovo by force, despite an international presence in the province.
Kosovo Serb leader Milan Ivanovic said Thursday's incident was "premeditated provocation". "Ethnic Albanians have done this according to an organised and synchronised plan to establish the so called independent state of Kosovo on the entire territory," Ivanovic said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/01/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
BARACK Obama's White House campaign said yesterday it was returning a small donation from his Boston-based Kenyan aunt after questions were raised over her US immigration status.
Aides said Senator Obama had not been in touch with his late father's sister, Zeituni Onyango, 56, for at least four years, and questioned reporting about her residency status so close to Tuesday's election against Republican John McCain.
Senator Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt said the campaign was returning $US265 ($401) donated by the aunt to her nephew's White House bid.
Foreigners cannot donate money to US presidential candidates.
But aides refused to say whether returning the money was an acknowledgement that the aunt was an illegal alien.
"Given the information that has been brought to our attention, the contributions are being refunded,'' Mr LaBolt said, without elaborating.
Senator Obama's chief strategist David Axelrod would not comment on the aunt's immigration status but said Senator Obama last met her for sure at his Senate inauguration ceremony in 2004.
"It's not a real close relationship. They have not been in close touch,'' he said after Senator Obama addressed 15,000 supporters in Henderson, Nevada.
Mr Axelrod ascribed ulterior motives to the revelations after The Associated Press reported that Ms Onyango had remained living in Boston despite having her request for asylum rejected by an immigration judge four years ago.
"The American people are pretty suspicious of things that are dumped in the marketplace 72 hours out from election day,'' the top aide said.
In a separate statement, Senator Obama spokesman Bill Burton said: "Senator Obama has no knowledge of her status but obviously believes that any and all appropriate laws be followed.''
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement refused to confirm or deny the report about Ms Onyango, who is part of a large extended family on Senator Obama's father's side spread across Kenya, the US and Europe.
"We do not discuss the details of any individual's status or their case,'' ICE spokeswoman Kelly Nantel in Washington said.
Mark Salter, a senior advisor to Senator Obama's White House rival John McCain said the Republican would not comment on the story. "It's a family matter,'' he said.
#3
Does this mean that the Obama campaign is going to return all contributions from foreigners and foreign sources?? Yeah? Then they can start with all those internet contributions from the ".ir" (Iran) domain.
#1
I got dibs on Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Vote early, vote often, vote AoS.
Posted by: ed ||
11/01/2008 14:14 Comments ||
Top||
#2
THIS IS AN OUTRAGE!!! WTF!? The RB candidate was supposed to be Joe Mendiola!!!!! Joe2008! What's wrong with you people, can't you see where your true assets are? If you ever want to have a RB regular elected, Joe is the WAY! Damn. Crazy.
#3
This is so much a replay of hillary vs obama in the primaries. Joe, you've been hoodwinked, they used the opportunity of you being in a different time zone, that is so wrong.
#6
Well I believe Obama, I believe he has no clue about his aunt, how to run this country, and how to be honest. I know this isn't being hopefull that he will bring change, but lets face the facts. He is a puppet for the socialist illuminati party.
Posted by: Titus Spomoper6406 ||
11/01/2008 12:58 Comments ||
Top||
#7
Flabbergastered I tell you, utterly flabbergastered. Hopefully ACORN's meals on wheels division is looking after auntie.
#8
ACORN is not looking after auntie unless she can vote. The standards for voting are pretty low this year. I heard that about 140 millions voters will turn out this year. There are probably only 110 million or less that are legal and elgible.
Barack Obama's aunt, a Kenyan woman who has been quietly living in public housing in Boston, is in the United States illegally after an immigration judge rejected her request for asylum four years ago, The Associated Press has learned.
Zeituni Onyango, 56, referred to as "Aunti Zeituni" in Obama's memoir, was instructed to leave the United States by a U.S. immigration judge who denied her asylum request, a person familiar with the matter told the AP late Friday. This person spoke on condition of anonymity because no one was authorized to discuss Onyango's case.
Information about the deportation case was disclosed and confirmed by two separate sources, one of them a federal law enforcment official. The information they made available is known to officials in the federal government, but the AP could not establish whether anyone at a political level in the Bush administration or in the McCain campaign had been involved in its release.
Onyango's refusal to leave the country would represent an administrative, non-criminal violation of U.S. immigration law, meaning such cases are handled outside the criminal court system. Estimates vary, but many experts believe there are more than 10 million such immigrants in the United States.
The AP could not reach Onyango immediately for comment. No one answered the telephone number listed in her name late Friday. It was unclear why her request for asylum was rejected in 2004.
Onyango is not a relative whom Obama has discussed in campaign appearances and, unlike Obama's father and grandmother, is not someone who has been part of the public discussion about his personal life.
A spokeswoman for U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, Kelly Nantel, said the government does not comment on an individual's citizenship status or immigration case.
Onyango's casecoming to light just days before the presidential electionled to an unusual nationwide directive within Immigrations and Customs Enforcement requiring any deportations prior to Tuesday's election to be approved at least at the level of ICE regional directors, the U.S. law enforcement official told the AP.
The unusual directive suggests that the Bush administration is sensitive to the political implications of Onyango's case coming to light so close to the election.
Kenya is in eastern Africa between Somalia and Tanzania. The country has been fractured in violence in recent years, including a period of two months of bloodshed after December 2007 that killed 1,500 people.
The disclosure about Onyango came just one day after Obama's presidential campaign confirmed to the Times of London that Onyango, who has lived quietly in public housing in South Boston for five years, was Obama's half aunt on his father's side.
It was not immediately clear how Onyango might have qualified for public housing with a standing deportation order.
#3
She made a $260 illegal campaign contribution to Obama. That's how she came to public attention.
Posted by: ed ||
11/01/2008 11:24 Comments ||
Top||
#4
One other question. She skipped deportation. How screwed up is our government that they continue paying for 4 years her housing, and God know what else, even after the deportation order?
Posted by: ed ||
11/01/2008 11:26 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Obamma's team knows about every pimple on Joe the plumbers ass, yuo bet they knew about this auntie. The one will be known as the most Orwellian leader inour history.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
11/01/2008 11:59 Comments ||
Top||
#6
"It was not immediately clear how Onyango might have qualified for public housing with a standing deportation order."
Simple...she's just suckling off the goverment teet that Americans' aren't willing to do.
#7
Another fine example of the double standards of the illuminati party. Glad to see they really did their homework on Obama, good indepth reporting. He's been running for 2 years and they just now stumble on this. Blah!
#8
Hey let's not forget where she is boys & girls. The People's Republic of Taxachusetts is a sanctuary state for all intents and purposes. Of COURSE she can get bennies after being deported.
After all, we ARE talking about the Zerobama prototype Deval Patrick as gov.
Background on "Vavi"
TWO men were released from custody in Pakistan yesterday after they were arrested on suspicion of organising the wedding of their two young children to end their families feuding, their lawyer said.
Police arrested the pair and a marriage registrar in the Nazimabad area of the southern city of Karachi on Thursday, amid claims that a four-year-old girl and seven-year-old boy were being wedded unlawfully.
A court in Karachi on yesterday granted the men bail, lawyer Maqbool-ur-Rehman said outside the court.
"Judge Zahida Perveen ordered to release the three men against a personal bond of 3000 rupees ($45) and give the children's custody to their parents,'' he said.
The arrested men said the wedding was meant to end a feud between the two families.
"We had some old family disputes which we had decided to settle by getting our children wedded,'' the girl's father said.
The boy's father added: "We were just registering the marriage of our children to settle our disputes. We had decided the real wedding would be held when the couple reaches the marriageable age.''
Child marriage or "vani'', which is condemned by campaigners as a violation of human rights, is banned in predominantly Muslim Pakistan.
The minimum legal age for marriage is 18 for men and 16 for girls.
Batches of Indian naval personnel are to shortly leave for the Russia's far eastern port of Vladivostok to train on board the Chakra, (formerly the Nerpa) a Russian Akula-2 nuclear powered attack submarine which is to be transferred to India on a 10-year lease next year.
The Nerpa was launched at the Komsomolsk on-Amur shipyard in June this year after which she began harbour trials. Earlier this week, the shipyard announced that the submarine had been shifted out of the shipyard to a maintenance facility in the Primorye territory near Vladivostok for trials in the Sea of Japan.
The 12,000 tonne submarine, said to be the quietest and deadliest of Russia's attack submarines, has a crew of 100 personnel is currently being operated by the Russian Navy.
The Indian crew, which has already been trained at a facility in Sosnovy Bor and later at the School of Advanced Undersea Warfare in Visakhapatnam, is to board the submarine in small batches based on their specializations.
The final acceptance team is slated to leave for Russia in March next year and the submarine is to be handed over to the Indian Navy in July for a likely commissioning date of August 15, 2009.
Both India and Russia have publicly denied plans to lease the submarine. Under the secret lease signed in January 2004, India agreed to pay $ 650 million which would go into completing the unfinished hull of the submarine laid down by the Soviet Union in 1991.
The Nerpa is being leased for 10 years to rapidly train personnel to man the Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV) a series of three indigenously built nuclear powered ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs).
The first ATV has been completed and assigned a yet undisclosed name. The submarine is to be launched at the Shipbuilding Centre (SBC) in Visakhapatnam on January 26 next year to begin harbour trials.
Posted by: john frum ||
11/01/2008 13:16 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
As part of India's strategic programme, the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) has developed fourth generation uranium enrichment gas centrifuges with an output of more than 10 times the earlier design, a top BARC official has said.
"An experimental cascade of the fourth generation design is in operation at BARC and will soon be ready for induction at the Rare Materials Plant (RMP) in Ratnahalli near Mysore," BARC director Sreekumar Banerjee said addressing the Founder's Day celebration yesterday.
"The Third generation design with 5 times more output than earlier designs are presently being inducted at RMP," he said.
Enriched uranium fuel supplied by BARC for the light water reactor programme at Kalpakkam for strategic purposes has been performing quite satisfactorily, Banerjee said.
"Our facility at Mysore is ready to meet the demands of the current strategic programme. We have had remarkable success in improving the separating work of our centrifuges and I am confident that we will be in a position to enter the uranium enrichment activity on an industrial scale within a short time," he added.
On fresh challenges for scientists and engineers, he said, "we must maintain a constant vigil on our performance so that the technology gain that has been achieved through years of efforts is kept well-secured despite the threat of technology invasion."
Posted by: john frum ||
11/01/2008 11:46 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
India's finance ministry has for the second time rejected a proposal from the nation's defence ministry to approve an additional $1.2 billion in funds to complete a retrofit project to the decommissioned Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov.
Moscow had originally agreed to deliver the modernised vessel for $1.5 billion, but demanded the additional payment after citing factors including an underestimation of the level of work required at its Sevmash shipbuilding yard.
India, which has already paid Russia two-thirds of the original programme cost, has made no further payments since January 2007, and the 44,500t carrier's expected delivery date has slipped from 2009 until at least 2012. The finance ministry's latest decision also stemmed from a request to allocate $60 million to perform sea trials of the refurbished vessel during 2011.
The Indian navy has ordered 12 RSK MiG-29K fighters and four MiG-29KUB trainers to operate from the ex-Russian navy ship.
Posted by: john frum ||
11/01/2008 06:50 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Sounds like an excellent time for us to sell India the Kitty Hawk.
#3
Perhaps India and Russia will take their frustration out on each other and help us solve one international crisis or two. (also good for the environment) Its great to see two socialist illuminati parties get along so well.
(APP) Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani Friday said Turkey’s secular and modern education system could inspire Pakistan to change its methods and system to face the challenges of extremism and terrorism. In an exclusive interview published in the leading English Turkish newspaper, “Turkish Daily News” Prime Minister Gilani spoke about the reforms planned by the democratic government. He said, “I sent my team of educationists here to study the system (in Turkey).”
Posted by: Fred ||
11/01/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
(AKI) - Saudi Arabia has announced it will provide 100 million dollars for victims of Pakistan's devastating earthquake. The Pakistani government said that King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud (Photo) announced the aid would be provided to the President's Earthquake Relief Fund for victims of the quake that struck Baluchistan on Wednesday.
Health officials fear the death toll from the earthquake may rise above 300, while at least another 1,000 are believed to have been injured. The earthquake, which reached 6.2 on the Richter scale, struck the Ziarat valley in Baluchistan, north of the capital Quetta.
Tens of thousands have been left homeless and international aid agencies have been struggling to provide aid to victims in below freezing temperatures as a series of after shocks continue to affect the area.
According to the Pakistani daily, Dawn, Ziarat District Nazim Dilawar Khan expressed dissatisfaction over the pace of relief. He claimed that 47,000 people had been left homeless in the district and were waiting for government help.
"Wam is the worst affected village with 114 deaths," he said, adding that people had no other option but to spend the night outdoors. He warned of more deaths if immediate shelter was not provided to the homeless.
Provincial authorities said the government was making every effort to provide tents and food to the survivors. They said that more relief would reach Quetta on Friday from Islamabad and other parts of the country.
"People who have not been affected by the earthquake in Ziarat town and other areas are also demanding tents and blankets," a senior official told Dawn.
Saudi Arabia, the biggest international aid donor so far, said it would provide all possible assistance to Pakistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/01/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
A former speaker of Parliament has denounced reports that Iranian MPs are being offered government cash to vote against impeaching the interior minister, who lied about his education, the Mehr news agency said Friday. "God save us from money being given to a deputy asking him to vote for or against someone or for or against a bill," said Gholam-Ali Hadad.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/01/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
After a bruising battle to get it through a doubting Congress, the Bush administration's $700 billion Wall Street rescue plan to purchase distressed mortgages and other bad assets has morphed into something else entirely.
Today the Emergency Economic Stabilization Plan, signed by President Bush on Oct. 3, involves the government taking direct equity stakes in banks, and at least one bank used the money to buy a rival. The taxpayer money's also expected to be used to buy stakes in life insurance companies, and may soon even go to help two struggling Detroit automakers merge.
In short, what once was disparagingly referred to as bailout for Wall Street now looks like a broader bailout of all sorts of troubled businesses. Some lawmakers and outside analysts question whether that's serving the public interest as intended -- or whether it's becoming a taxpayer-financed giveaway to favored firms.
"I could say I told you so," said Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, who helped lead a revolt against GOP leaders and sunk the $700 billion plan on its first pass. "It was so open-ended and we put so little accountability into it, they can basically do whatever they want to with the money."
Lawmakers in both parties worried when the Treasury Department announced on Oct. 14 that $250 billion of the $700 billion plan would be used to inject cash directly into troubled banks. That pushed Treasury's previous emphasis on purchasing troubled mortgage assets to the back burner.
Some $125 billion was used to take equity stakes in the nine largest U.S. banks, and now lenders across the nation can ask, through Nov. 14, for more. At least a dozen other banks have done so.
In an interview with McClatchy, Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank, the House Financial Services Committee chairman, who shepherded the legislation through Congress, disagreed that the plan has morphed beyond its original intent. "Buying equity was always in the plan," he insisted. Still, he said he'd hold a Nov. 18 hearing to look at some of the developments that are troubling other lawmakers.
Among them is the fact that Pittsburgh-based PNC Financial Services used some of its $7.7 billion in taxpayer money to purchase Cleveland-based lender National City for $5.8 billion on Oct. 24.
That raised a question: Did the taxpayer money spur more lending, as the plan was intended to do, or did it just let one strong bank, PNC, get stronger by absorbing a weaker rival?
Posted by: Fred ||
11/01/2008 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Gee whiz, we sure wouldn't want the stronger companies taking over the weaker ones. Our socialism is being hijacked by capitalist pigs.
Talk about snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
11/01/2008 1:45 Comments ||
Top||
#2
i think the lack of oversight was a selling point for most of the Dems as they believed Obamma was a shoe in and then one of their guys can pass out the gravy to the 'right' people.
notice Franks is waiting till after the election to see how his hearings should proceed... O-bam gets in 'nothing to see here'. McCain get in, and we will have to re-do the whole thing for sure.
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
11/01/2008 2:20 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Wrong.
Franks just set the democrats up to repeal the bailout at the top of next year's Congress. By March, 2009 the bailout will be but a dim memory.
#6
If Senator Obama wins this election, the following is what it has taken to get a very questionable, extremely inexperienced, very junior first time Senator past the mark:
1. Senator Obamas campaign is outspending the Senator McCains campaign 4 to 1 or more in some locations. This is due to Senator Obama backing out of an agreement he made with Senator McCain.
2. Senator Obamas campaign has opened up about 700 offices nation-wide versus less than 100 than Senator McCains campaign has opened up.
3. The mainstream media has been completely biased against Senator McCain.
4. Biased organizations, such as ACORN, have received contributions from Senator Obama, have been openly supporting Senator Obama, and are under investigation for committing voter registration fraud in multiple states favoring Senator Obama.
5 An enormous number of biased celebrities have been supporting Senator Obama and speaking out against Senator McCain.
6. Even though Congress is very unpopular, both sides are controlled by the democrats and have been making biased statements against Senator McCain.
7. Senator McCain is disadvantaged because of the unpopularity of the incumbent President.
8. All four of the debate moderators lean to the left and were not 100% fair.
Even with all of the biased and unfair things mentioned above that are running against Senator McCain, Senator Obama only has a narrow lead. Should he not be way out in front? I have heard people state that on the news from both campaigns. That should tell you something. Also, Senator Obama pulled a cheap shot on Senator McCain and the American public in regards to campaign financing. Both campaigns agreed to use public financing during the presidential campaign. At the last moment, Senator Obama backed out of his agreement and took private financing, giving Senator Obama a significant advantage over Senator McCain in financing his campaign. In addition, Senator Obama is not being totally open as to where all his contributions are coming from. But even though Senator Obama took a sucker punch and tricked Senator McCain and all Americans by backing out of his agreement, Senator McCain is keeping with his word and using public financing. This is severely disadvantaging Senator McCains campaign financing by putting much lower caps on the amount of money he will have available. This is the reason Senator Obama can outspend Senator McCain 4 to 1. This also shows that Senator Obama does not keep his campaign promises, just like his past campaign promises.
Just imagine what it will be like when you have both the House of Representatives and the Senate controlled by the democrats, and Senator Obama in the Whitehouse signing everything that comes across his desk from them. In other words, the person writing the check will also be the one cashing it. There will be no checks and balances, especially if the democrats pick up a few more seats in the Senate and it becomes filibuster-proof, which means they will have a monopoly. Again, there will be no checks and balances. We will have higher taxes, more government, and fewer rights. They have already promised all of those things. You will have a government that will tax the people that are creating the jobs so they can spread the wealth around. Who do you think creates the jobs in this country? Have you ever seen a business owned by a poor person? Are they the ones starting small businesses and creating jobs? Obviously not! So we have established the fact that the people that own the small businesses and create the jobs are NOT the poor. So lets talk about what is going to happen when they start taxing the people that do own the small businesses that create the jobs.
So what do you think will happen when they start taxing the small business owners? First, jobs will be lost. They will not be able to afford to keep the same amount of people they have now they will have to let people go. In addition, they will not be able to expand their businesses and hire more people. The second thing that will happen is that prices will go up. Do you think businesses will not raise the cost of their products and services to offset the extra taxes they have to pay? This should be obvious. The prices will go up on everything and will affect everybody to include the middle class and the poor. When you go to the grocery store, the food prices will be higher. When you go buy a car, the prices will be higher. When you go to the department store the prices are going to be higher. Put yourself in the shoes of a business owner; if your expenses go up, would you not raise the price of your products to pay for them? Of course you would! And taxes are an expense.
Now lets talk about presidential qualifications. When a federal employee or a member of the military has a need to have access to classified materials, they would need to get a security clearance. A security clearance attempts to certify that an individual is of high moral character and does not pose a security risk. If a federal employee or a member of the military admits to using a dangerous drug, such as cocaine, they will not be eligible for a security clearance. In addition, an admitted cocaine user would not be able to get in the military and if he or she is a federal employee, he or she would be moved to a position of lesser responsibility and not have access to classified materials. Senator Obama has admitted to using cocaine in his book that he wrote. As a candidate for president, should he not be held up to the same standards of a federal employee or a member of our military? As President, he is going to be exposed to an enormous amount of classified materials, have his finger on the nuke button, and be the commander in chief of the strongest military in the world. Would you not want someone in that position that can qualify for a security clearance?
Another point I would like to make is in regards to Senator Obamas experience, which is a drop in the bucket compared to Senator McCains. With the world and the economy in such a delicate position, I cannot imagine why anyone would not want the most experienced person in the Whitehouse. Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, and even Senator Obamas running mate, Senator Joe Biden, have made statements to the fact that Senator Obama is not experienced enough to be President and that the presidency is not the type of job for on-the-job training. They also said that Senator McCain brings a lifetime of experience to the table. Senator Obamas running mate, Senator Biden, even said he would even be honored to run with his friend John McCain. These individuals are now claiming that they said that during the primaries when they were running against Senator Obama. Does that mean they were lying then, or now? Senator Obama claimed that he had more diverse foreign policy experience because he lived overseas as a kid. Living overseas does not give you foreign policy experience, unless you are an Ambassador, which he was not. If it did, then Senator John McCain would again best Senator Obamas record since he has lived overseas being a member of the military.
What issue or issues are you going to base your voting decision on? Will it be the economy? National defense? Education? There are so many out there. Because of the current economic situation, a large number of you are going to base your decision on who is best for the economy. I would hope that I have answered this question for you earlier on in this article. Such as pointing out which candidate has promised to raise taxes and spend more reducing jobs and raising the cost to live. But just in case I have not, I have a couple additional items for you to think about. If you look at all of the campaign promises on Senator Obamas web site, you will see hundreds of them. How is he going to pay for them? I think I answered that already. But, if you add of the costs of all of them, mathematically it is going to cost us a lot more than he will be able to raise in taxes. So many of these are going to be just like so many of his previous campaign promises they wont get done. Maybe the economy is not the best issue to use in making a decision for president. What about national defense? In my opinion, if you dont have a secure nation, the rest of the issues are moot. With Russia and China outspending us two fold to build up their military; with Iran and North Korea toying around with nukes and making threats; with Russia making friends and conducting military exercises not too far from our back door in Venezuela; with Russia helping Iran build nuclear processing material plants; and with the terrorist threat growing in Pakistan (a nuclear country), Afghanistan, Africa, and several other countries throughout the world, I want the most experienced and tested person in that office. Not some junior Senator that has absolutely no experience in national security. The economy is important, but national defense is a must. Remember, if our country is not secure, then the economy means nothing, our freedom is in jeopardy, and our lives as we know them today could easily be drastically changed in a moments notice. Just ask the citizens of the country of Georgia. One last point: Have you see who is openly supporting Senator Obama in the news? Iran and the terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbollah have made public statements that they would prefer Sen. Obama to win. Go figure.
So after reading this, where do you stand? The differences in these two candidates are very apparent. On one hand, you have an individual with many years of applicable real world experience, has been a public servant and leader for about 50 years, has a proven record to reduce taxes and government spending, and is dedicated to growing the US economy and jobs. On the other hand, you have an individual with very little experience, questionable associations, has a proven record to increase taxes, government spending, and earmarks, and has promised to increase taxes and government spending. As I said at the beginning of this article, I cannot imagine why anyone in their right mind, after doing a real comparison of the two candidates, would vote for Senator Obama. I admit, he presents himself well and has a good appearance, as long as he has a teleprompter to read from. So the bottom line is what do you want in the next president, appearance or substance?
Posted by: Glen M ||
11/01/2008 10:31 Comments ||
Top||
#7
Nice comment Glen. Its definetely shocker that congress never foresaw this, I mean you would think that they would eventually get something right one day, sometime, possibly. Well its going to be fun ride if the illuminati party gets their way during the election.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
(AKI) -- Five Serbs were injured on Thursday in clashes with ethnic Albanians in the divided city of Kosovska Mitrovica, local officials said. Deputy police chief Predrag Vasovic told media that the incident occurred when a group of ethnic Albanians crossed into the Serb-controlled northern part of the city to repair their houses, which were damaged during ethnic fighting in 1999. 
