PRESIDENT George W. Bush has ordered a review of US strategy in Afghanistan, a senior Pentagon official said today, amid rising insurgent violence and tensions with Pakistan. The review is being led by Lieutenant General Douglas Lute, a deputy national security adviser, with the participation of senior representatives from the Pentagon and other departments, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
"Clearly this seems to be a larger, more cross-governmental approach to what we do here on a regular basis," the official said, referring to the Pentagon and its regular reviews of military strategy. "I think we're trying to get everything in order and make sure were on a footing for long-term success," he said.
With only months left to the current administration, the White House wants to move quickly, the official said. "I wouldn't necessarily assume that there is going to be a complete new strategy. That's what's being considered. Are these things that require adjustments?" he said.
It comes amid growing concern in the military and elsewhere over signs that insurgent groups operating from safe havens in Pakistan have coalesced and gained strength over the past two years.
Admiral Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told lawmkers earlier this month he was not convinced that the United States was winning. He said he had commissioned a strategy review by the Joint Staff that would encompass not just Afghanistan but Pakistan as well.
The Pentagon official said the Joint Staff has participants in the White House review, along with senior Pentagon officials responsible for policy in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He said there was broad support for an approach that "doesn't look at Afghanistan as an island, but looks at it in connection with Pakistan". "The problems we are seeing in (eastern Afghanistan) are directly attributable to what is going on the other side of the border," he said.
Barack Obama has recaptured the lead 45 percent to 39 percent over John McCain in the presidential race, according to a FOX News poll released Wednesday.
As majorities of each partys faithful back their party nominee, the battle stays focused on that most sought-after group of voters: independents.
These voters, evenly divided between the candidates in August, swung to McCain earlier this month, which gave him his first lead over Obama since April. In this latest poll independents give a slight edge to Obama, though many have moved back into the undecided column.
In addition, the poll shows Obama has improved his position on the most important issue to voters this year the economy. He is seen as the best candidate to handle the nations economy, and more voters also say he would be better at handling the current financial crisis facing the country.
Opinion Dynamics Corp. conducted the national telephone poll of 900 registered voters for FOX News from September 22 to September 23. The poll has a 3-point error margin.
McCain held a 3-point advantage earlier this month immediately after the Republican convention (September 8-9). Before that Obama had a 3-point lead going into the Democratic convention (August 19-20). Looking back as far as a year ago, in head-to-head polling neither candidate has had a lead outside the polls margin of sampling error. Obamas lead today is just at the outside edge of the margin of error.
The new poll finds Obama now has the edge among men (+5 percentage points) a group that had previously either been evenly divided or slightly in McCains column. Obama maintains his advantage among women voters (+8), while white women are a bit more likely to support McCain (+2).
Obama Has the Edge on Top Issues
The economy is far and away the most important issue to voters in this election. More than four times as many people say the economy (46 percent) is the top concern as choose the issue terrorism and national security (10 percent). All other issues receive single digit support.
Obama is trusted more to handle the economy by 10 percentage points, the related issue of taxes by 7 points, and he also leads on handling energy independence by 10 points. His largest advantage 21 points is on handling the issue of health care.
By double-digit margins McCain is trusted more to handle the issues of terrorism (+ 12 points) and the Iraq war (+ 8 points).
Nearly twice as many voters think their taxes will go up under a President Obama (15 percent) than a President McCain (8 percent). A 65 percent majority thinks their taxes will go up no matter which candidate takes the White House.
Which candidate do voters trust to keep his word? Some 41 percent think Obama and 38 percent McCain. Another 10 percent say neither.
By a 5-point margin more voters think the Democratic ticket has better judgment combined a reversal from two weeks ago when the Republican ticket had a 4-point edge.
The Democratic ticket has a 12-point edge when it comes to bringing the right change to Washington, up from a 7-point lead two weeks ago. The Obama-Biden ticket also has the edge on understanding the problems you and your family face these days (+13 points).
The Republican ticket is seen as having more experience combined (+ 15 points).
Voters are now almost evenly divided when asked who they would go to for advice if they had to make the toughest decision of their life 40 percent say Obama and 39 percent McCain. Earlier this month McCain had a 16-point advantage on this measure (50 percent to Obamas 34 percent). McCain had a 6-point edge in the August 19-20 poll (43 percent McCain and 37 percent Obama).
Among independents, 34 percent would go to Obama for advice and 31 percent McCain. This too is a change earlier this month independents broke 22 percent Obama and 52 percent McCain. In August, 26 percent of independents said they would go to Obama for advice and 41 percent said McCain.
With the struggling national economy, the prolonged Iraq war and high disapproval ratings for President Bush, the conventional wisdom has been it is impossible for a Democratic candidate to lose this election. How would voters explain an Obama loss? About one of four voters (26 percent) say if Obama loses they think racism will be to blame. A-57 percent majority thinks it would be for another reason.
Over half of black voters (55 percent) and about one of five white voters (22 percent) think racism across the country would be to blame if Obama is defeated in November.
On a similar question about McCains age, 17 percent think if he loses it will be mainly because of his age and 68 percent say because of something else. Twenty-five percent of seniors age 65 and over think McCains age would be to blame if he loses.
Voters More Comfortable with Biden Stepping in as President
More voters would be comfortable with Joe Biden as vice president as would be comfortable with Sarah Palin in that role. Some 40 percent would be extremely comfortable or very comfortable with Biden as vice president, while 34 percent would be with Palin.
Similarly, when the question asks what if it were necessary for the vice president to step in and serve as president: 44 percent would be extremely or very comfortable with Biden as president, and 32 percent with Palin.
The big difference comes at the other end of the scale: 38 percent of voters say they would be not at all comfortable with Palin stepping in to serve as president more than twice as many as say the same about Biden (17 percent).
Palins favorable rating has dropped a bit and now stands at 47 percent, down from 54 percent two weeks ago. Nearly half of voters 48 percent have a favorable view of Biden, down from 51 percent (September 8-9).
Unfair Attacks
The presidential candidates say they want to run respectful campaigns focused on the issues so are they? Almost half of voters (47 percent) think McCain has made unfair attacks against Obama somewhat higher than the 36 percent who think Obama is hitting below the belt.
#2
It seemed that when the polls showed McCain-Palin were leading you heard nary a word about the polls. Then the "One" is now leading and everything according to the media is sweetness and light. With the exception of the ABC/WAPO poll, the polls are a statistical tie. The ABC/WAPO poll had a sample of 780 likely voters, my memory is a little cloudy but I seem to remember that a sample is considered statistically significant at around 1024 respondents. This does not take into account inherent bias when you ask 54% dem and 36% repub. The only poll that counts is the one at the end of the first Tuesday of November.
Weekly World News exposes the shocking truth behind today's surprise developments. It's guaranteed to drive you pig-bitin' mad!
Senator McCain has asked for the Friday debate to be delayed so he may "focus on the economy". But insiders tell Weekly World News it's just a cover-up to hide his secret leg-lengthening surgery!
"I won't be dwarfed by a Democrat!", candidate declares.
Republican presidential hopeful John McCain has issued a tall order to his medical staff -- he wants to add 5 inches to his height so he won't look like a shrimp in the debates beside his Democratic rival, Barak Obama.
McCain, who stands 5 feet 7 inches, is painfully aware how puny 5-foot-6-inch Michael Dukakis appeared during debates with 6-foot-2-inch George H.W. Bush during the 1988 campaign. "Dukakis lost that election because he was shorter than Bush," McCain told an aide. "I don't want the same thing to happen to me when I have to go face-to-face with Obama."
Barak Obama stands an impressive 6 feet 1œ inches tall, and McCain feels if he can get to 6 feet, he'll be able to nullify the height advantage. . . .
Posted by: Mike ||
09/24/2008
16:43 ||
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#1
"Leg?" You know what they *really* wanted to write.
Three Hindu youths, who crossed over to India from Pakistan a month ago and were caught by the Border Security Force, will have to be deported. The matter relating to their deportation has been sent by the state government to the Union Home ministry.
According to Jaisalmer SP Somesh Kalla, the youths Pahlwan Ram, Bhagwan Ram
and Soma Ram had fled Pakistan and entered the Indian territory on August 16 to save themselves from the cruel treatment meted out to them by the zamindar (feudal lord) in their Pakistani village.
The intelligence agencies, who interrogated them, found that they were innocent and had not entered India for espionage. Hence, they recommended their deportation.
Kalla said the arrested youths, aged between 16 to 20 years, are with the Ramgarh police. They had entered the Indian territory from Khabarwala post.
They belonged to Rahim Yar Khan district in Sindh province of Pakistan and are from Bhil community. They were sold by their parents as bonded labourers to the zamindar for Rs 50,000 each to work as farm labourers where they were ill treated, they told interrogators.
They fled to India because they thought they could join their relations in India and would live here. The relations have also written to the police requesting not to deport them, else they will face punishment there.
The Hindu Visthapit Sangh, an organisation of migrant Hindus who have settled down in Rajasthan, has also made a request to the state government not to deport the youths. Hindu Singh Sodha, the convener of the Sangh, has written a letter to the state government in this regard.
Posted by: john frum ||
09/24/2008
16:39 ||
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The Mother of All Bailouts has many fathers. As panicked politicians prepare to fork over a trillion dollars in taxpayer funding to rescue the financial industry, theyve fingered regulation, deregulation, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Community Reinvestment Act, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, both Bushes, greedy banks, greedy borrowers, greedy short-sellers, and minority home ownership mau-mauers (cant call em greedy, that would be racist) for blame.
But theres one giant paternal elephant in the room that has slipped notice: How illegal immigration, crime-enabling banks, and open-borders Bush policies fueled the mortgage crisis.
Its no coincidence that most of the areas hardest hit by the foreclosure wave Loudon County, Virginia, Californias Inland Empire, Stockton, San Joaquin Valley, Las Vegas, and Phoenix, for starters also happen to be some of the nations largest illegal alien sanctuaries. Half of the mortgages to Hispanics are subprime (the accursed species of loan to borrowers with the shadiest credit histories). A quarter of all those subprime loans are in default and foreclosure.
Regional reports across the country have decried the subprime meltdowns impact on illegal immigrant victims. A July report showed that in seven of the 10 metro areas with the highest foreclosure rates, Hispanics represented at least one-third of the population; in two of those areas Merced and Salinas-Monterey, Calif. Hispanics comprised half the population. The amnesty-promoting National Council of La Raza and its Development Fund have received millions in federal funds to counsel their constituents on obtaining mortgages with little to no money down; the group almost succeeded in attaching a $10 million earmark for itself in one of the housing bills past this spring.
For the last five years, Ive reported on the rapidly expanding illegal alien home loan racket. The top banks clamoring for their handouts as their profits plummet, led by Wachovia and Bank of America, launched aggressive campaigns to woo illegal alien homebuyers. The quasi-governmental Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority jumped in to guarantee home loans to illegal immigrants. The Washington Post noted, almost as an afterthought in a 2005 report: Hispanics, the nations fastest-growing major ethnic or racial group, have been courted aggressively by real estate agents, mortgage brokers and programs for first-time buyers that offer help with closing costs. Ads proclaim: Sin verificacion de ingresos ! Sin verificacion de documento ! which loosely translates as, Income tax forms are not required, nor are immigration papers.
In addition, fraudsters have engaged in massive house-flipping rings using illegal aliens as straw buyers. Among many examples cited by the FBI: a conspiracy in Las Vegas involving a former Nevada First Residential Mortgage Company branch manager who directed loan officers and processors in the origination of 233 fraudulent Federal Housing Authority loans valued at over $25 million. The defrauders manufactured and submitted false employment and income documentation for borrowers; most were illegal immigrants from Mexico. To date, the FBI reported, 58 loans with a total value of $6.2 million have gone into default, with a loss to the Housing and Urban Development Department of over $1.9 million.
Its the tip of the iceberg. Thanks to lax Bush administration-approved policies allowing illegal aliens to use matricula consular cards and taxpayer identification numbers to open bank accounts, more forms of mortgage fraud have burgeoned. Moneylenders still have no access to a verification system to check Social Security numbers before approving loans. In an interview about rampant illegal alien home loan fraud, a spokeswoman for the U.S. General Accounting Office told me five years ago:
[C]onsidering the size of Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Houston, and other large cities throughout the United States known to be inundated with illegal aliens, I dont think the federal government is willing to expose this problem for financial reasons as well as for fear of political repercussions.
Chickens coming home to roost. And law-abiding, responsible taxpayers are going to pay for it.
#1
Meanwhile.... as the congress critters cuss and discuss verious schemes and who gets credit, the "folks" postpone thier already delinquent Sept, and upcoming Oct & Nov mortgage, Escalade, and credit card payments in anticipation of the.... NEW DEAL entitlement year of "Jubilee." The perfect storm indeed.
#2
A lot of those "first time buyers" with subprime mortgages who have not defaulted manage to hang on by turning single family homes into multi family homes.
#3
Illegals buying homes, it just sounded like a bad idea when I first heard it. Never really heard much more about it until it all started coming unraveled.
#4
#2 A lot of those "first time buyers" with subprime mortgages who have not defaulted manage to hang on by turning single family homes into multi family homes
Read that... buy single family homes fully intending to creat multi-family sanctuaries for additonal illegals. Does a hell of a lot for the neighborhood, school system, etc.
Palestinian Arab terrorists driving two cars and a bulldozer burst through an Israeli army checkpoint in Samaria on Wednesday and attempted to run down the Israeli soldiers manning the position.
The Israelis fired their weapons in the air, quickly convincing the Palestinian to halt the attack before anyone was injured. The four terrorists were all taken into custody and their vehicles confiscated.
The incident comes less than 48 hours after an Arab teenager rammed his car into a group of Israeli soldiers in Jerusalem, wounding 17 people.
Also on Wednesday, an Israeli soldier subdued and arrested a 16-year-old Palestinian after the latter drew a large knife at a checkpoint outside the town of Nablus.
In other terror related news, Israeli security officials announced on Wednesday the recent capture of a Jerusalem-based Arab terror cell that is believed to have been behind the murders of at least two Israeli Border Police officers in the capital in separate attacks.
Officials believe the cell to be part of a Hamas effort to increase its presence and activity in Jerusalem.
#2
Need new glasses; when I first saw this, I thought it said: "Pelosi Trys multi car attack..." and thought it had something to do with McCain's fleet.......
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
09/24/2008 20:00
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#4
Barbara,
That might be the point - provoke or rattle the Israelis into opening fire on an 'innocent' civilian car filled with women, children, baby ducks, etc. I'd bet the rent money that the first time the Israelis do blow away a vehicle, that's who will be in it.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
09/24/2008 21:43
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#5
Running out of suicide dude's and dudette's are they?
The Department of Natural Resources is investigating two cases of animal cruelty that have been reported in only two days.
The incidents involve two black bear killings in north of Duluth in Orr, Minn. . . . Several residents of northern Minnesota told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS the graphic killings have put a hallowing shadow over the bear hunting season. . . .
Posted by: Mike ||
09/24/2008
16:17 ||
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Heh, "hallowing". Never knew bear season was considered sacred in Minnesota. Deer season, maybe. But bear?
Disgraced former judge Rep. Alcee Hastings told an audience of Jewish Democrats Wednesday that they should be wary of Republican VP nominee Sarah Palin because "anybody toting guns and stripping moose don't care too much about what they do with Jews and blacks."
Posted by: Mike ||
09/24/2008
15:55 ||
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#1
Maybe, but Rev. Sharpton has already shown how to deal with Jews. Remember Crown Heights -
"During the riot blacks looted stores,[36] beat Jews in the street,[36] and clashed with groups of Jews, hurling rocks and bottles at one another [38] after Yankel Rosenbaum, a visiting student from Australia, was stabbed and killed by a member of a mob shouting "Kill the Jew."[39] Sharpton, who arranged a rally in Crown Heights after Cato's death,[36] has been seen by some commentators as inflaming tensions by making remarks that included "If the Jews want to get it on, tell them to pin their yarmulkes back and come over to my house"[40] and referring to Jews as "diamond merchants."[41]- wiki
#2
I suppose this knucklehead didn't get the memo. Governor Palin flies the Israeli flag in her office, her support for Israel, garnered from her Church, is strong AND that's probably one of the top three reasons the politics of personal destruction leftists came out so fast and with such fury.
GOP candidate calls on Obama to join him in suspending campaign so both can work with Congress to hammer out bailout plan; asks that debate be postponed.
Very statesman-like. McCain puts the business of the Nation above his personal (and party) ambition. Looks like he's staying inside Obama's decision loop. OODA
#1
My first gut feeling was this will hurt him, hope I'm wrong. I'm worried that it could be used against him by saying he cannot handle big pressures more then one at a time.
I am really interested in others opinions on this. Please try to be serious and not just spouting party points. Does anyone else think it could hurt his chances? Thanks.
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
09/24/2008 16:41
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I look for the MSM to play this up just as you posit YS, too much to handle at one time; but what would be really great would be to see JM take these couple of days off to work this, and then come back and smoke The One in the debate.
reading the article at the link it appears the MSM lost no time in putting the leftspin on it.
#3
I don't think it will hurt him with the 40-45% who had already decided to vote for him, Yosemite Sam, nor change many minds of the 40-45% who either were going to vote for Obama or sit out the election. One must ask whether Sarah Palin will go to Washington, too, where she has no official role, or continue on the campaign trail alone for the nonce, which would change the equation (alone she'll be viewed as a real underdog, and Americans like to root for underdogs). Personally, I'm glad that a man known for building compromises between the parties is going back to the Senate to work on a situation that has the entire financial world melting down -- I read about problems in Britain, France and China resulting from our little problem here. The question is whether the 10-20% of voters who haven't yet made up their minds will be happier to see a candidate respond to a problem, possibly as threatening as 9/11, that voters across the country have been screaming to their Congressmen about, or not.
/See? No party points at all. Because you're right, that would add nothing at all to the discussion.
#5
Thanks TW. When folks present answers and insight like yours, it really helps me (and probably others) to see the trees for the forest - to come to a better conclusion then just reacting emotionally. :)
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
09/24/2008 17:06
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#6
Hurt him? Not a chance.
Regardless bho's decision(let 'im go to Mzippi debate a coupla bitter clingers - better yet, bring Mrs. Palin to bear - pinch hit)Senator McCain should take to the floor of the Senate, throw reid/pelosi under the bus THEN extol the virtues of capitalism adding gub'mint needs to get out of the way.
Wall Street is a nest of democrats, the root cause of this crisis is democrats, over regulation and the change in accounting rules after Enron didn't help. Let the thousands of small prudent banks, small business folks and savers bail us out. Bring them/us cheap plentiful energy, suspend capital gains taxes and this shit storm will calm in short order. Perp walk a few democrat politicians, seize the assets of the hedge funds the clinton kid and biden's kid work for in an eliot(I love hookers)spitzer move just for the laughs.
Unfortunately he'd probably do what President Bush is most likely to do tonight - blame CEO compensation. It's about the only thing the ignorance of the American public will allow.
I'd be shocked if b. hussein obama agreed to that. The only elected official anywhere near DC when this hit was POTUS. The democrats where scrambling to start getting the disinformation out and republicans don't have the stomach for this kinda fight, never have. Did you hear one republican calling for criminal prosecutions of dodd or frank? The political criminal class is a different kind of animal.
#7
FWIW: Seattle Times.com sound off on this has the libs piling on, spouting the canned lines: too old, losing so gotta steal the headlines, blah, blah, blah. there are only about 3 or 4 comments in it that give JM any support.
#8
Early on in this campaign, Obama marketed himself as the great healer that would bring both sides together. This is a chance for him to act in place of pretty pretty words. Undecided independent attend.
Obama will not follow McCain's lead on this. Convinced of his own infallibility, he'll stand there alone* on that stage with his thumb and his backside, while McCain WORKS for the country in Washington.
*although the Palin gambit might prove even further enlightening for those still able to learn.
Posted by: Minister of funny walks ||
09/24/2008 17:33
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#9
The media will spin it as a "campaign stunt."
Obama will use it as an "I really care about the American people, so I'm here to debate" photo op.
McCain is risking the election to try to save the country from a really bad version of The Great Depression.
Obama, as usual, is full of sh*t.
The media, as usual, is full of sh*t.
McCain is doing the only honorable thing, which is to work as a senior senator on the issue.
Obama, who is a junior junior junior senator, would rather try to feather his own nest, than worry about all of us.
Besides, he has the backing of rich middle-easterners and commies, so he doesn't have to worry.
Whether the PEOPLE will see past Obama and the ever-present media spin, is the question.
#12
I don't have a clue how this is going to turn out for McCain. The media spin is going to do its best to make him look foolish and, like it or not, that is going to have an impact on people.
I just don't know what to make of this damn bailout. If we do nothing and the credit market seizes, we are all in the shit. If this is just a bandaid, then we are all going to be in the shit anyway, only a bit deeper.
I am of one mind on dealing with macro issues, again keeping the credit markets open and operating. I am, however, totally against any message/bailout that gives people the impression that they no longer have to pay their mortgage, car, student loan or credit card payments.
I have lost all confidence in Bush with regard to domestic policy. He is a big government, near socialist politician. Regardless of who was originally respnsible, he let this shit go down under his watch and did not make it a priority to stop it.
Yes, I've seen the proposed oversight legislation he proposed, but did he sell it? Did he get it done? Did he make it a priority and really take on the dems on the issue? No to all of the above. He screwed it and did not lead.
I admire much of what he's done on foriegn policy, but on the domestic stuff he has been a disaster and has ruined the Republican party through a complete lack of leadership (plenty of the repub guys in congress needed their asses kicked during his first term...he never vetoed a single bill).
I think we are going to get Obama. We are going to get what we deserve. It is going to be very ugly, but hopefully will only last 4 years.
ABC News George Stephanopoulos and Rick Klein report: Sen. John McCain on Wednesday said he would suspend his presidential campaign to come to Washington to help negotiate a financial bailout bill, a dramatic move designed to seize a powerful issue.
However a senior Obama campaign official said Obama "intends to debate."
"The debate is on," a senior Obama campaign official told ABC News.
McCain said he called on the Commission on Presidential Debates to postpone the debate scheduled for Friday in Mississippi, to ensure quick congressional action.
I have spoken to Senator Obama and informed him of my decision and have asked him to join me, McCain planned to say in New York City, according to advance excerpts released by his campaign. I am calling on the president to convene a meeting with the leadership from both houses of Congress, including Senator Obama and myself. It is time for both parties to come together to solve this problem.
Obama supporter and chief debate negotiator Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., told MSNBC that "we can handle both," when asked about his reaction to McCain's call to postpone the first debate because of the administration's bailout plan.
He believes they are making good progress on Capitol Hill on the bailout and his initial reaction is that the work on the Hill should not preclude the debate from taking place.
An Obama campaign official told ABC News the Democratic presidential candidate called McCain this morning to suggest a joint statement of principles.
McCain called back this afternoon and suggested returning to Washington.
Obama is willing to return to Washington "if it would be helpful." But reiterated Obama intends to debate on Friday.
McCain and his top advisers said the Republican presidential candidate has not committed to voting for the massive financial bailout plan proposed by the Bush administration, with aides saying he will reserve final judgment until there is a final product.
A senior McCain campaign official said that the Bush package is dead. This is a serious situation. Package must be resolved by the time markets open on Monday."
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Tuesday that McCain had assured Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson that he would support the $700 billion legislation.
Asked about that Wednesday, McCain responded: I did not say that.
Senior advisor Mark Salter then interjected saying, He hasnt said that to Paulson or to Reid or to anybody else. He hasnt said that to me.
McCain campaign political director Mike DuHaime told reporters at a lunch meeting in Washington that the senator will not commit until he sees the final package that comes to the Senate floor.
Hes going to do what he thinks is right, DuHaime said at a lunch sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor. Hell make a vote as a leader in this country, and people will look to him.
DuHaime added, Quite frankly, I think you could ask Sen. Obama if hes going to do what he thinks is right. I mean, he has never -- I believe -- never once made a decision that is an unpopular decision or went against the orthodoxy of his party, and was one that was one that was a tough decision to make. . . . Sen. McCain has done that throughout his entire career, his entire life -- not just in politics, but his life.
DuHaime said that while McCain understands the urgency, many voters continue to have important questions about what the bailout means to them.
When you start talking about $10,000 per household or per family to go toward bailing out Wall Street, they have legitimate questions about it, DuHaime said. People understand that that is a big thing and it affects them, and they do legitimately have questions about, is this really going to go to bail out companies or leaders of companies who now are relying on taxpayer dollars to bail them out, and are going to get these huge compensation packages after they come to the taxpayers for it.
There is some frustration, certainly, in that, and its understandable to say the least. And it has not been a quick rush to say yes or no. People understand the gravity of this, want to see it done right, while still understanding the timing factor.
#1
Senior advisor Mark Salter then interjected saying, He hasnt said that to Paulson or to Reid or to anybody else. He hasnt said that to me.
strange that Harry Reid would say such a thing. That would make him a ...liar.
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/24/2008 16:03
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#2
I'd like to see the "debate" go ahead with just Obama there, talking to himself. That would be about as useful as having him in Washington voting "present".
#3
Excellent - McCain is now going to support this handout plan just as he supported the amnesty plan. I cant believe hes pulling this kind of stunt in the middle of a presidential election campaign. Why does he persist in doing un-conservative things? Is he daring conservatives not to vote for him?
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
09/24/2008 16:26
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#5
ZF, precisely where does it say that McCain is supporting this thing? Based on his previous remarks over the week, I don't think he does.
I could care less right now about the election. He's a senator, he should be there in Washington dealing with this mess instead of giving the same canned speech over and over again, and so should Obama. (I'm betting he won't, mainly because it will put a crimp in his fundraising.)
#6
Just my two-cents -- McCain hasn't said yes to the plan:
top advisers said the Republican presidential candidate has not committed to voting for the massive financial bailout plan proposed by the Bush administration, with aides saying he will reserve final judgment until there is a final product.
Flanking McCain were former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, his one-time rival for the GOP presidential nomination, and former eBay CEO Meg Whitman. Others in the meeting were John Chambers, CEO of Cisco Systems, and John Thain, the CEO of Merrill Lynch before it was acquired by Bank of America earlier this month for a much-reduced value.
In addition, he states I am calling on the president to convene a meeting with the leadership from both houses of Congress, including Senator Obama and myself. It is time for both parties to come together to solve this problem.
One other thought -- talk about distancing himself from Bush: Bush is going prime-time tonight, pushing for the bailout; McCain steps on center-stage today and grabbed the limelight, doing just the opposite of what Bush is doing, proving he's not Bush III.
#7
I'm sure there's already a crimp in Candidate Obama's fund raising, Cornsilk Blondie. I saw a picture of a rally he held recently; more than half the seats were empty, at a location McCain and Palin had filled a few days before.
#8
One other thought -- I sure hope Romney banged McCain on the head, and laid out a to-do plan for him. McCain's plans, the "let's get together and talk about it," haven't always given us what we want. Usually, much more than we want!
#9
ZF, precisely where does it say that McCain is supporting this thing? Based on his previous remarks over the week, I don't think he does.
He just did an about face. The right plan would be no plan - i.e. let the market sort it out. The fact that he supports any plan means he's not interested in letting the market work.
I hope the handout package fails anyway. Its a real boat anchor for him, when you consider that the handout plan as envisioned requires the purchase of toxic waste assets from financial institutions (a category now broadened to include companies like IBM, GE and H&R Block) at a significant premium to what they would fetch today based on the fanciful idea that government officials have a better (in my view inflated) idea of what theyre worth than prevailing market prices. This is the biggest non-entitlement-related boondoggle in American history. Even if he wins the election, the fallout from this massive handout - due to massive portfolio losses resulting from paying too much for toxic waste assets - will make him a one-term president.
#10
Look back at where all the bad loans came from. They came from Clinton pushing for looser restrictions on home loans for people that could not qualify under a conventional loan. He proposed it. Congress made it into law. The financial houses made the sh*t loans. The loans went into default. Now Congress and the current president are trying to bail out bad policy that was made into law.
The same people who absolutely created the problem are the same people that caused the problem. God help and protect us from these incompetents, thieves, and parasites.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
09/24/2008 17:33
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#11
Last paragraph correction:
The same people who absolutely created the problem are the same people that are going to solve the problem. God help and protect us from these incompetents, thieves, and parasites.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
09/24/2008 17:34
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#12
ZF, going back to Washington to do the job Arizona elected him to do is not an about face (he's still their senior senator, in case you forgot). Sorry, but voting "present" on this one just ain't good enough.
#13
Heading off the possible collapse of our economy trumps all other activities. Just staying in contact with Reid and Pelosi by phone is not leadership.
I wonder if Obama's wife was in critical condition and could possibly die, would he continue the campaign and stay in touch with the doctors? Perhaps he would after giving the doctors his four main talking points on what her treatment should be to cure her.
#14
Isn't the bailout really needed to avoid A Great Depression II? I mean, the government will eventually have to spend big dollars in any kind of echo-FDR plan anyway. I say, best to avoid it NOW while we can. The Dems seem to be pushing to not pass it, which makes me really suspicious.
#15
McCain could still surprise everyone by coming out against the bailout & opposing Bush. The Treasury & Fed can still take control of the insolvent banks (which is probably most of them), as they are already required to do, & provide relief for the ensuing credit crunch directly.
#16
I suspect Anguper's is a VERY likely scenario. Appears the crooks on the hill may be mod'ing the... terms of reference from "bail out" which isn't selling well in Peoria, to something more palatable like "rescue plan." New deck chair arrangement, same flooded engine room.
The proposal by Sen. Chris (VIP Countrywide)Dodd, D-Conn., the Banking Committee chairman, would give the government broad power to buy up virtually any kind of bad asset including credit card debt or car loans from any of the folks financial institution in the U.S. or abroad in order to stabilize markets.
If this drags on more than a week or so, it will get much worse by design as "the folks" decide to forgoe their already delinquent Sept and pending Oct/Nov house, credit card, or Escalade payments in anticipation of a potential entitlement windfall.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Nobel Peace Prize winner and environmental crusader Al Gore urged young people on Wednesday to engage in civil disobedience to stop the construction of coal plants without the ability to store carbon.
The former U.S. vice president, whose climate change documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" won an Academy Award, told a philanthropic meeting in New York City that "the world has lost ground to the climate crisis."
"If you're a young person looking at the future of this planet and looking at what is being done right now, and not done, I believe we have reached the stage where it is time for civil disobedience to prevent the construction of new coal plants that do not have carbon capture and sequestration," Gore told the Clinton Global Initiative gathering to loud applause.
"I believe for a carbon company to spend money convincing the stock-buying public that the risk from the global climate crisis is not that great represents a form of stock fraud because they are misrepresenting a material fact," he said. "I hope these state attorney generals around the country will take some action on that."
The government says about 28 coal plants are under construction in the United States. Another 20 projects have permits or are near the start of construction.
Scientists say carbon gases from burning fossil fuel for power and transport are a key factor in global warming.
Carbon capture and storage could give coal power an extended lease on life by keeping power plants' greenhouse gas emissions out of the atmosphere and easing climate change.
But no commercial-scale project exists anywhere to demonstrate the technology, partly because it is expected to increase up-front capital costs by an additional 50 percent.
So-called geo-sequestration of carbon sees carbon dioxide liquefied and pumped into underground rock layers for long term storage
#5
One day some prankster is going to cut the power to Gore's mansion. The resulting load imbalance will blackout the entire Atlantic seaboard.
Posted by: ed ||
09/24/2008 17:15
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#6
The roots of algore's hatred for Pennsylvania go back to the Civil War. Gettysburg was the High Tide of the Confederacy. Pennsylvania introduced the world to the wonders and uses of OIL! Check Oil City, PA wiki. Pennsylvania gets about half their electricity from coal fired power plants. Pennsylvania has tremendous coal reserves, plenty of oil(sweet crude it is too)and natural gas. Unfortunately, much of it, including EPA approved drilling leases, EPA approved mineral rights mining(above and below ground, is not accessible due to environmentalist law suits. Go figure. Nah, all you gotta know is who's been running the Commonwealth since forever.
#7
PS Pennsylvanians were the original good stewards of the Earth. Saved the whales, saved the trees, propelled mankind into the Age of Oil. Of course I think they burned down Oil City a few times in the process of extracting and transporting that black gold. Connect the dots - Pennzoil, Quaker State, Wolf's Head.
#2
My hope is that Obama doesnt let McCain get away with promoting the Paulson handout plan. He needs to make McCain feel the pain, just as conservatives held McCains feet to the fire over Bushs equally wrongheaded amnesty bill. We already know that McCain did not listen to conservatives on the amnesty plan. The question is whether McCain is willing to sacrifice his bid for the presidency - in the face of Obamas attacks - in order to fund an economy-destroying handout to Wall Street. The Paulson handout plan needs to be buried in the ash heap of history.
In an interview with CNN's Larry King airing tonight, Bill Clinton offered a slightly unusual reason for postponing his campaigning for Obama: The Jewish high holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, which he's not known to observe (Typically, it is for others to be on their knees.).
"When [the Clinton Global Initiative] is over, and after the Jewish holidays, which follow close on it, I intend to go to Florida, to Ohio, to northeast Pennsylvania, and to Nevada at a minimum," he said. "I may do events in Arkansas depending on what the Democratic Party does down there. And I've agreed to do some fundraising for them in California and New York." (Unless the Shakers have something going on that I must piously observe.........)
"Are you kind of feeling Jewish that you're waiting until after the Jewish holidays?" King asked, according to a CNN transcript.
"No. But I think it would be -- if we're trying to win in Florida, it may be that," Clinton began, before discussing his real Florida target: "You know, they think that because of who I am and where my politic[al] base has traditionally been, they may want me to go sort of hustle up excellent choice of words... what Lawton Chiles used to call the 'cracker vote' there."
"But Senator Obama also has a big stake in doing well in the Jewish community in Florida, where Hillary did very well and where I did very well. And I just think respecting the holidays is a good political thing to do," he said.
#1
"An' then there's Supernatural Avocado Day, and the celebration party for the anniversary of setting the cornerstone for mah presidential library, and then I gotta get the oil changed and pick up some fish food....."
#2
That's OK, Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL) has picked up the slack with this gem: "anybody toting guns and stripping moose dont care too much about what they do with Jews and blacks".
Truly one the the great WTF moments of this years campaign.
Today the New York Times launched its latest attack on this campaign in its capacity as an Obama advocacy organization. Let us be clear about what this story alleges: The New York Times charges that McCain-Palin 2008 campaign manager Rick Davis was paid by Freddie Mac until last month, contrary to previous reporting, as well as statements by this campaign and by Mr. Davis himself.
In fact, the allegation is demonstrably false. As has been previously reported, Mr. Davis separated from his consulting firm, Davis Manafort, in 2006. As has been previously reported, Mr. Davis has seen no income from Davis Manafort since 2006. Zero. Mr. Davis has received no salary or compensation since 2006. Mr. Davis has received no profit or partner distributions from that firm on any basis -- weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly, semi-annual or annual -- since 2006. Again, zero. Neither has Mr. Davis received any equity in the firm based on profits derived since his financial separation from Davis Manafort in 2006.
Further, and missing from the Times' reporting, Mr. Davis has never -- never -- been a lobbyist for either Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. Mr. Davis has not served as a registered lobbyist since 2005.
Though these facts are a matter of public record, the New York Times, in what can only be explained as a willful disregard of the truth, failed to research this story or present any semblance of a fairminded treatment of the facts closely at hand. The paper did manage to report one interesting but irrelevant fact: Mr. Davis did participate in a roundtable discussion on the political scene with...Paul Begala.
We all understand that partisan attacks are part of the political process in this country. The debate that stems from these grand and sometimes unruly conversations is what makes this country so exceptional. Indeed, our nation has a long and proud tradition of news organizations that are ideological and partisan in nature, the Huffington Post and the New York Times being two such publications. We celebrate their contribution to the political fabric of America. But while the Huffington Post is utterly transparent, the New York Times obscures its true intentions -- to undermine the candidacy of John McCain and boost the candidacy of Barack Obama -- under the cloak of objective journalism.
The New York Times is trying to fill an ideological niche. It is a business decision, and one made under economic duress, as the New York Times is a failing business. But the paper's reporting on Senator McCain, his campaign, and his staff should be clearly understood by the American people for what it is: a partisan assault aimed at promoting that papers preferred candidate, Barack Obama.
Twelve more companies, including IBM and H&R Block, have been added to the short-sale ban list as of Wednesday, according to information posted on the New York Stock Exchange's Web site.
Don't let people lie to you that shorting CAUSES falls.
Short selling is getting a three minute hate, but the problem is that the shorts are correct, these stocks are way over-valued. Short interest causes holders to look at the balance sheets of these institutions and wonder if they are telling the truth. Several of the above are engaging in shall we say "advanced accounting" measures.
I don't think this strategy is gonna work...
Copenhagen - A Danish navy vessel freed 10 suspected pirates on a beach in Somalia rather than hand them over to the authorities there, the navy and Denmark's defence minister said on Wednesday. Officers released the suspects overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday after holding them for six days in the Gulf of Aden, said the statement on the navy's website.
Before being released, they were given back their personal effects, but weapons and communications equipment were confiscated, the statement added. "It was the lesser of two evils, for the other solution, which would have made me uneasy, would have been to hand them over to a regime where they risked being tortured and killed," Defence Minister Soeren Gade told Denmark's TV2 news. Gade announced the news to deputies late on Tuesday, saying that under Danish law it was not possible to prosecute them because of a lack of evidence. They had considered transferring them to other vessels in the multinational Task Force 150 fleet operating off the coast of Somalia, but rejected the idea, he added.
On September 17, just two days after taking command of the task force, the Danish navy vessel Absalon intercepted two suspect high-speed boats spotted by a Danish helicopter in the Gulf of Aden and detained the 10 armed men on board. The men were armed with sub-machine guns and four anti-tank shells sometimes used by pirates during attacks on civilian vessels, said Denmark's naval command. Fishing trip no doubt...
The mission of Task Force 150 is to pursue pirates and armed smugglers operating in the northern waters of the Indian Ocean. ...and let them go apparently.
I KNOW Sarah Palin, and so does my wife. Neither of us ever actually met the governor of Alaska, but we grew up with her - in the small-town America despised by the leftwing elite. One gal-pal classmate of my wife's has even traveled from New York's Finger Lakes to Alaska to hunt moose with her husband. (Got one, too.)
And no, Ms. Streisand, she isn't a redneck missing half her teeth - she's a lawyer. The sneering elites and their mediacrat fellow travelers just don't get it: How on earth could anyone vote for someone who didn't attend an Ivy League school? And having more than 1.7 children marks any woman as a rube. (If Palin had any taste, her teenage daughter would've had a quiet abortion in a discreet facility.) And what kind of retro-Barbie would stay happily married to her high-school sweetheart? Ugh. She even kills animals and eats them. (The meat and fish served in the upscale bistros patronized by Obama supporters appears by magic - it didn't really come from living things. . .)
Palin has that hick accent, too. And that busy-mom beehive 'do. Double ugh! Bet she hasn't even read Ian McEwan's latest novel and can't explain Frank Gehry's vision for a new architecture. She and her blue-collar (triple ugh!) husband don't even own a McMansion, let alone an inherited family compound on the Cape. And she wants to be vice president?
The opinion-maker elites see Sarah Palin clearly every time they look up from another sneering article in The New Yorker: She's a country-bumpkin chumpette from a hick state with low latte availability. She's not one of them and never will be. That's the real disqualifier in this race. Now let me tell you what those postmodern bigots with their multiple vacation homes and their disappointing trust-fund kids don't see: Sarah
Palin's one of us. She actually represents the American people.
When The New York Times, CNN, the NBC basket of basket cases and all the barking blog dogs insult Palin, they're insulting us. When they smear her, they're smearing every American who actually works for a living, who doesn't expect a handout, who doesn't have a full-time accountant to parse the family taxes, who believes in the Pledge of Allegiance and who thinks a church is more than just a tedious stop on daughter Emily's 100K wedding day.
I link to this article not for the substance of what it says, which is something that most Rantburgers probably already knew, but because here you have CNN actually doing some reporting about Obama for a change. Yes, kids, they actually ran a story which was not a word-for-word recycling of an Obama press release, a story that undercuts Obama's mythology, a story that reveals him to be something other than the mystical messiah of hope and change, sweeping in on his magic unicorn to give us all free ice cream.
There's hope.
Posted by: Mike ||
09/24/2008
13:40 ||
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Security forces aboard a U.S. naval vessel fired warning shots toward two approaching small boats off the Somali coast Tuesday, the U.S. military said Wednesday. The rounds landed in the water, prompting the boats to fleerun away turn around, and no casualties were reported, the military news release said.
It is unclear whether the boats were trying to attack the 41,000-ton USNS John Lenthall, the military said. "It is clear they were not following the international rules of the road observed by mariners around the globe," it said.
The release noted that the location of the incident, the types of boats involved and the maneuvering were all "consistent with reports from previous attacks on merchant vessels in the region."
The USNS John Lenthall is one of 14 "fleet replenishment oilers" in the Military Sealift Fleet Support Command, according to a U.S. Navy Web site. Oilers refuel Navy ships at sea and any aircraft they may be carrying.
Looks kinda like the ships the pirates have tried to board before. Bet they didn't expect 'resistance'. Hope (as NS says) it wasn't just small arms fire.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
09/24/2008 14:13
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#5
Naval security detachments generally have .50 cal as their heaviest weapons.
Thanks Barney and Friends
The collapse of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could soon hit home for Bay State banks. The American Bankers Association said yesterday that more Massachusetts lenders hold Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac preferred stock than financial institutions in any other state. Every state in the nation is affected, (but) the largest number of banks with exposure (is) in Massachusetts, ABA officials wrote in a letter outlining the problem to federal officials.
In 2003, Barney Frank opposed Bush administration and Congressional Republican efforts for the most significant regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry since the savings and loan crisis. This is the same guy who in 2006, was one of only three Representatives to oppose the Respect for America's Fallen Heroes Act. I wonder what will turn up in other states when the rocks are turned over?
Unfortunately, the U.S. governments recent Fannie and Freddie takeovers make the two mortgage firms shares virtually worthless. The move also eliminates dividend payments to Fannie and Freddie stockholders. As a result, U.S. banks will collectively lose as much as $15 billion on Fannie and Freddie stock, the ABA told regulators. And because banks typically loan out $7.60 for every $1 in assets held, those losses could translate into as much as $114 billion of reduced lending, the group estimated.
#1
Frank's plan in the early nineties pushed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to make "bad" loans to "underprivileged" families. This mess started on Clinton's watch. Sounds like a vote-buying scheme to me.
#2
So am I to conclude from this that most of the "reduced lending" will be in Massachusetts? Heh, heh, heh. Any chance some enterprising Republican might use an issue like that to challenge old Barney for his seat?
SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- As if getting a DUI wasn't enough, a man arrested for driving under the influence got in a lot more trouble at the police station.
Police stopped Jose Cruz on Route 60 in South Charleston Monday night for driving with his headlights off. Then, he failed sobriety tests and was arrested.
When police were trying to get fingerprints, police say Cruz moved closer to the officer and passed gas on him. The investigating officer remarked in the criminal complaint that the odor was very strong.
Cruz is now charged with battery on a police officer, as well as DUI and obstruction.
It is rumored that Italian trains have gone to the dawgs.
Passengers on the country's extensive railway network have complained of arriving at their destination itching and scratching and plagued with insect bites.
Blaming the bug problem on pets, Trenitalia has announced that from October 1, passengers will no longer be able to travel with large or medium-sized dogs defined as weighing six kilograms or more. Wonder if the authorities have looked into illegal immigrants as a possible source.
Small dogs, as well as cats, rabbits and all other domestic animals, will have to travel in portable cages. Thank Gawd fish are still exempt.
Fish will be exempt from the new regime, the train company pointed out, as will guide dogs for the blind. Pet owners caught in breach of the law will be fined 100 euros (£80) the amount it costs to clean and disinfect a carriage.
The crackdown is based on a similar effort in Spain. "Spain is similar to Italy in many respects, starting with the climate", said Trenitalia chief executive Vincenzo Soprano.
But the initiative has outraged animal welfare groups, consumer organisations and many of Italy's seven million dog owners. Of course you know, this means war.
"This hygiene mania is ridiculous. What next? Will guards be checking that people's nails and ears are clean?" MP Carla Rocchi, head of an animal protection association, told the newspaper Corriere della Serra. That's a good idea, Guglielmo! Write that down and send out a memo to all station managers!
"Trenitalia can't hope to eliminate ticks. If the cleaning services were decent, the problem wouldn't even arise."
The ADUC consumers' association agreed.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
09/24/2008
12:37 ||
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#1
They could go for the British answer: 6 months in quarantine before the animal can be released into the general population.
There are a number of interesting diseases historically carried by fleas. Perhaps rather than nails and ears, every flea bag and its owner should have to wait at the station until the results of the blood culture come back.
#2
"Will guards be checking that people's nails and ears are clean?"
My Mom would have.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
09/24/2008 14:20
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#3
so will there now a rash of dog deaths due to tying the leashes to the handrails and forgetting to retrieve them before the train sets off?
and why do the faggy little foo-foo dogs get special treatment? the should be banned just on general principles, they aren't real dogs, just self-propelled Scooby Snacks for Rotweillers.....
#4
tw, the British quarantine was intended to keep rabies off the island. It's been modified since, in part because construction of the Chunnel connected Britain to the continent. Dogs now travel to compete at Crufts and other major dog shows in the UK without having to quarantine at all, providing various vet tests etc. are submitted and a rather expensive set of transport standards are met.
#5
I didn't know the rule had been modified, lotp. I'm awfully glad -- it caused real hardship. We had two cats which moved with us to Germany, but we couldn't have (then) taken them to Britain -- they were not accustomed to kennels, and would not have survived.
They're starting early...
Olympic organizers issued detailed design rules for the 2012 London games Wednesday, including a mandate that at least some toilets in the Olympic park do not face the holy Islamic city of Mecca. Just some? It's so nobody'll fart in their general direction.
Members of the Olympic Delivery Authority said they wanted the Olympic and Paralympic games to be inclusive of people with different faiths and individuals with disabilities. Other design requirements include wide paths with smooth surfaces and seats at regular intervals. Are they pointed at Mecca?
"The Olympic Park will be at the heart of the celebrations and people of all cultures, faiths and ages and disabled people will find London 2012's Olympic Park welcoming and easy to use," authority chairman John Armitt said. The organizers sought input from a range of communities before coming up with the design requirements. But of course. Some more then others it appears.
Muslims face Mecca, in Saudi Arabia, when they pray and generally do not believe they should do the same when using the toilet. They also wipe their asses with their left hand, so maybe they could skip the toilet paper and save a few bucks?
#4
why are there Muslim countries in the Olympics? Did they start an AK firing contest , oh never mind they don't know how too hit anythin with them either
#6
Yet how many Muslims, out of sight of the home crowd, will be "praying to the porcelain god?"
Ever seen a Saudi on vacation? Sheesh!
Posted by: Minister of funny walks ||
09/24/2008 16:02
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#7
Toilet orienteering? Who's got that effen job?
Tried to post this as an article, then as news link didn't work out - looks as good a place as any to post the link. Tom Tancredo has some great ideas.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=5D79605E-C8BF-4AA9-9096-6F846283F749
This just arrived in my e-mail from Alex Patelis, global strategist at Merrill Lynch. AS THE US PRINTING PRESS STARTS
Taking Stock
* Treasury buying mortgage-related assets: $700bn
* Potential stimulus package favoured by Democrats: $100bn
* Insuring money market funds: $50bn
* Treasury fortifying the Fed's balance sheet: $100bn
* Expansion of temporary swap lines with central banks: $180bn
* Loan to AIG: $85bn
* Fed purchase of agency discount notes & ABCP: amount not specified
* Fed loans through the Primary Dealer Credit Facility: $20bn through sept 17
* Fed's discount window: $33bn balance
* Treasury purchase of GSE MBS this month: $10bn
* Potential cost of Fannie/Freddie bailout: $200-$300bn
* Financing the current account deficit: priceless
Investment Implications
SELL THE US DOLLAR
"The fiscal cost to the United States is likely to be enormous. Speculation will intensify on a possible US government paper downgrade. US policy-making and credibility has been put into question. The safety of US assets has been put into question. We remain concerned with the repercussions that this crisis will have on the financial flows into the United States against the context of a still large current account deficit."
Ouch!
Mr Patelis has come within a whisker of warning that the US now faces a full-scale run on its currency and debt markets. There is certainly a risk that this could happen.
By my tally, the serial bail-outs add $1.6 trillion to total US debt, or 12pc of GDP, (at least on paper). This is worse than the Swedish banking collapse in the early 1990s.
An entire generation of American policy-makers - Clinton, Bush, Rubin, Greenspan, and the Congressional leadership of both parties - has come perilously close to ruining a great nation. The creation of the credit bubble was one of the most disgraceful episodes of economic government in western history.
Nothing can justify it. There is no parallel to the Spain of Phillip II, who ruined his empire to pursue the religious cause of Counter-Reformation, or to the bankruptcy of the British Empire combating fascism. It occurred because America abandoned all restraint and gave licence to consumer hedonism.
Having said that, I still believe that the US has the cultural vitality to pull itself out of this debacle. While I endorse Mr Patelis's indictment, I do not entirely share his conclusions. The debt added is backed by collateral, mostly housing, and is therefore nothing like normal government debt.
Even if it were, the US general government debt (owed to the public, under IMF measures) would rise from 48pc to 60pc of GDP. Yes, I know the US "national debt" is higher, but that is not the relevant benchmark for worldwide comparisons. This extra debt is a tax on the future. It is unconscionable, but it is not a catastrophe. It would still leave US debt at French or German levels, and well below those of Japan and Italy - assuming you believe the official figures.
I do not think it will come to this. The RTC made a profit in the early 1990s as the Savings and Loan crisis slowly abated. Paulson's `TARP' may do likewise. The ABX index used to price subprime debt almost certainly overstates the likely default rate.
Stephen Jen, currency chief at Morgan Stanley, says bank crises are bloody for currencies, but nationalizations of the banking system (which is what we have here, in disguised form) typically mark the bottom.
I do not share the widespread view that the dollar will collapse. This has prompted a volley of hostile comment, as if I was somehow turning traitor to the cause of bears, or had become an optimist overnight.
The reason why it will not collapse - at least for now - is that the euro is facing an even deeper and more intractable crisis, Britain is mangled, Sweden frozen, most of Eastern Europe is facing a swing from property boom to bust, Brazil is about to slow dramatically, Japan is in full-recession, and China's banking systems is buckling, as Fitch warned today.
What I envisage as this credit crisis goes turns into a full-fledged global economic slump is that half the world resorts to currency devaluation in a beggar-thy-neighbour scramble to stave off recession and cling to market share. This will be very good for gold, though only once the EMU smash-up becomes more evident, perhaps with the onset of street protests in Spain. You won't have to wait very long.
To those GATA loyalists asking me why I never report on their claim that the gold price is manipulated by central banks, I can only say that it would be a full-time job to attempt to verify such assertions. I cannot judge whether China, Japan, Russia, emerging Asia, or the Mid-East petro-powers are colluding in such practices, or ascertain why they would do so. And unless they collude, any unilateral efforts by the US to suppress gold would prove futile -- would it not?
#1
I understand the populist and conservative sentiment of doing nothing which will force the toxic mortgages on to the sales floor. But are we, you, them, us willing to bet our homes, our credit, our savings, our portfolios, our children's and families life style? Do you feel lucky today, punk? Regardless, we are damned either way. The other reason to this immediately is to get the damn issue off the table until after the election. The more it drags out the chances increase that you will get the most inexperienced, unknowing, charlatan ever as the guy who is going to be in charge. Do you really want that?
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
09/24/2008 13:27
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Inappropriately titled, as the gist is a proposed collapse in international trade, as nations run headlong into currency protectionism.
However, a big question remains: will this wipe out the dollar or cause it to skyrocket?
Back in the good old days of mercantilism, whoever had the largest military dominated everyone else. And that meant that whoever had the most specie (gold and silver), with which to pay for a military, was dominant.
Today, despite all the feel good internationalism, the US military is still what puts us on top, and keeps our economy on top.
And the truth of our economy is that we don't have to import much of anything. We do so only because imports are a lot cheaper. But if we were stuck without imports, in 10 years or less we could easily be fully self supporting.
But this cannot be said for the rest of the world. Many nations are utterly dependent on the US for all sorts of things. So even if the world economy collapses, they will either buy from us or starve.
And this means that everyone will eventually want dollars. For them, it is better that their currency be re-pegged to the dollar then they try to do without. And pegging currency is a great way to open up trade.
#4
The trouble is that people are losing quality holdings for their money. Even corporations are going heavy into liquidity. I would not be surprised if investors have been fleeing Merrill Lynch, I know at least some are.
Eventually, if you can't trust even banks, you have to invest in a safe and keep your money at home. Assuming that you can still convert your money to cash. They may not have enough cash to hand out.
And with a credit crunch, you might not be able to spend the money you've got left in the bank.
#7
ex-lib: It was started by Frank Roosevelt, and most people have never lived under a stable cash economy, so they have no idea that this "experimental" economy has turned out to be fatally flawed.
A stable economy cannot have something like a perpetually growing national debt and money leveraged far beyond reality. Eventually, a situation like that will overwhelm everything else. And it has.
But it might have kept going for many years, the "boiling the frog" situation, except that the users of multi-layered leveraging, like derivatives, have turned a chronic problem into an acute problem.
The US government will futz around until things get very bad, then they will be forced to do what to them is unthinkable: a budget with a surplus.
And a BIG surplus. Perhaps 25% of the federal government will have to be shut down permanently. Medicare and Social Security will have to be heavily means tested. Medicaid might have to be returned to the States.
To make matters worse, there will be a sharp drop in tax revenue, so everything on the budget will have to fight it out. Vast numbers of programs will have to be suspended, leaving only the vital parts untouched.
I am betting that most federal land will have to be returned to the States, and a huge number of funded and unfunded mandates will come to an end.
Illegal immigrants may turn into a flood, if Mexico starts another bloody civil war. So the Army and National Guard will have to secure the border.
International trade will dry up, so the US will have to rebuild many of its industries. We will have to continue exporting lots of food, because many nations are dependent on us, and food is a truly fungible commodity.
The crisis will be international, and hopefully the US will be in a strong enough position so that in a few years, we will be on the road to recovery, and be able to help the rest of the world emerge as well.
The man accused of being the architect of September 11 has turned the tables on a Guantanamo judge by demanding to know whether he is an "extremist".
Mohammed, acting as his own attorney, asked Marine Colonel Ralph Kohlmann about his views on religion and torture at an unusual pre-trial hearing of five accused September 11 co-conspirators.
"We are well-known as extremists and fanatics, and there are also Christians and Jews that are very extremist," Mohammed told the judge.
"If you, for example, were part of Jerry Falwell or Pat Robertson's groups, then you would not at all be impartial towards us," he said, referring to U.S. evangelical Christian leaders who have denounced Islam as violent.
Kohlmann replied that he did not belong to a congregation.
"When I have attended church, I was a member of various Lutheran churches and Episcopal churches, and I have not attended any of them for a long time because I have moved so often," the judge said.
Kohlmann dismissed as "inaccurate," an assertion by co-defendant Ramzi Binalshibh that he had a "Jewish name."
Kohlmann was also asked about how he followed news coverage on the day of the attacks and replied that his memory was imprecise.
He also said he had no opinion on the facts of the September 11 incident, which triggered President George Bush's "war on terror."
Binalshibh, Mohammed and three other defendants -- Mustafa Ahmed al Hawsawi, Walid bin Attash and Ali Abdul Aziz Ali -- are charged with conspiring with al Qaeda to kill civilians in the attacks.
The men face 2,973 counts of murder, one for each person killed when hijacked airliners crashed into the World Trade Centre, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field. Prosecutors want to execute them if they are convicted.
Extensive exploratory questioning of a judge's qualifications and bias by the defense is unique to military courts, including the commissions set up by Congress to try suspected terrorists at the Guantanamo U.S. Naval base.
Defence attorneys said they had not yet decided whether to ask Kohlmann to disqualify himself based on his answers.
Mohammed is one of three al Qaeda suspects known to have been subjected to CIA waterboarding, a form of simulated drowning used in interrogation that human rights groups consider torture.
He asked Kohlmann about a high-school seminar the judge conducted in 2005 on interrogation and torture, and about his views on waterboarding.
Kohlmann said he had given two articles to the class at his daughter's high school, discussing the pros and cons of harsh interrogation techniques in circumstances such as when a suspect knows of an imminent attack. "I set out the scenarios ... to try to show it's a complex question," he said.
Binalshibh was absent from Monday's session, but appeared on Tuesday after his co-defendants urged him in letters to appear rather than be brought in by force under the judge's order. Binalshibh appeared relaxed and unrestrained at the hearing, and chatted with co-defendants.
Kohlmann put a firm stamp on court proceedings.
He ruled out a late start to accommodate the Ramadan fasting schedule of the five Muslim defendants, and brushed off a request to end the day early for Ramadan. He denied Mohammed's request that he order some women participants to dress more modestly.
And after rejecting one request by the lead prosecutor for a bathroom break, Kohlmann relented 3 1/2 hours into the morning session, with an admonition that court participants should watch their fluid intake. "You all should be able to go as long as me without having to step out," he said.
#3
KSM admitted to being the planner for 911. He is responsible for killing around 3000 innocent people. That makes him a major terrorist in my mind. If one stoops to arguing with pigs, one ends up in the slop too.
New ABC News/Washington Post poll shows a significant bump for Barack Obama. Among net leaned likely voters, Obama turned a two point deficit two weeks ago into a nine point advantage:
Obama 52 (+5)
McCain 43 (-6)
Undecided 3 (nc)
Obama leads by 2.8% in the RCP National Average.
Notables from the poll: The economy jumped another 13 points in the last two weeks to reach the 50% mark as the most important issue for voters. On that issue, Obama leads McCain by 14% as the candidate voters trust more to handle the economy, 53-39. Obama also leads by 13%, 51-38, on who voters trust more on "fixing the problems with major financial institutions."
Also, Sarah Palin's favorable ratings have taken a hit. Two weeks ago she had a net +30 favorable/unfavorable rating (58/28). In the current survey her favorable rating has dipped to 52% while her unfavorable rating is up 10 points, yielding a net +14.
#4
They also exit polled the east coast, projecting Gore over Bush. They seriously misjudge anything west of the Beltway--I see a lot of Democratic Clinton supporters/anti-McCain voters joining the Palin bandwagon. Even Bill Clinton has voiced respect for the First Dude.
Posted by: Mike ||
09/24/2008 13:09
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#6
It's only mid-September. We've 1.5 months left to Election Day -- for some countries that's the entire time span they have to campaign. Remember when Candidate Obama was tootling triumphantly around Europe, while Candidate McCain drew crowds of 2,000 for town hall meetings?
#1
No it can't. Say, I have a stuffed head and ringing in the ears from antibiotics. I am not sure what I am thinking in that state. A machine couldn't know what I don't.
#4
"According to our readout, that guy is either sexually aroused, late for his flight, a terrorist, a football player or fan thinking about a game, losing money on the stock market, has recently had too much coffee, or may be psychically controlling us to make us think he is thinking those things. We had better search him."
#5
Question.
Wouldn't people with those symptoms also be, sick, tired, horny, pissed off, stressed out, having a bad day, ect?
That's going to be a bout 1/3 of everyone walking through an airport security screening station.
Quick, get the Japanese to miniaturize it and make it portable. I can see selling about 50 million units to guys who've spent their lives just trying to 'read minds'. This is going to beat the CERN accelerator in discovering the greatest mystery that men have faced since creation. :)
#15
In a Homeland Security video showing the system in action, targeted subjects are asked questions such as "are you attempting to smuggle an explosive device"...
Oh, yeah. I can see how this will go:
TSA: Are you attempting to smuggle an explosive device?
Passenger brain: Oh my god terrorists there could be terrorists on my plane I was trying to forget about that why did you bastards have to remind me die kill death pain Mommy!
Adrenal glands: Red Alert! All hands to stations!
Sensors: Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!
TSA: Step this way, please. Jose, full body cavity search for this one.
#3
Does he have an illiquid asset that he is willing to discount? Because the only people we are talking to now are stupid people who have no income but own a house worth 80% less than their mortgage.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
09/24/2008 12:49
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#4
"The solution, the bottom line, is that political stability will only come to Afghanistan when all political power groups, irrespective of the length of their beard, are given their just due share in the political dispensation in Afghanistan."
The length of their beard? Is that some quaint Pak hillbilly colloquialism or an actual political qualification?
#7
Thought $10 million was being offered by the FBI for information on this guy. Invite to the get together where the free barbecue grill is given to perps.
#10
and why would this help bring any peace too this region. There sure as hell wasn't any there before the US started kicking the shit out of the Taliban
#12
What the heck else would a Pakistani governor say? A - he's probably a Taliban symp. B - even if he weren't a Taliban symp, asking Uncle Sam to crush the Taliban would probably result in his death by suicide bombing. The fact is that the Taliban can kill Afghan governors, and they don't even run Afghanistan. Think about what they can do to Pakistani political figures, given that they run significant chunks of Pakistan.
BAGHDAD, Sept 24 - Iraqs parliament unanimously approved a provincial elections law on Wednesday after months of bickering between Arabs and Kurds, and called for the vote to be held before Jan. 31 next year, legislators said.
The polls had been scheduled for Oct. 1 but the law governing how the vote should be conducted stalled in parliament over how to treat the northern oil-rich city of Kirkuk, where control is disputed by Kurds, Arabs and ethnic Turkmen.
Parliamentarians said elections in Kirkuk would be delayed until a formula satisfactory to all sides was worked out.
The elections, which will select provincial councils across Iraq, will provide clues on how Shiite, Sunni Arab and Kurdish factions will fare in national polls scheduled for late 2009.
Both the United Nations and the United States had been urging Iraqi leaders to pass the law, saying the elections would be a vital step in building on recent decline in violence and would boost national reconciliation efforts.
Overall violence has fallen to four-year lows in Iraq, but militants continue to carry out sporadic large-scale attacks.
Gunmen killed 20 people including 12 policemen in an ambush northeast of Baghdad on Wednesday, police said.
In what appeared to be a sophisticated assault, gunmen first attacked a village checkpoint near the city of Baquba, killing one policeman. They then ambushed reinforcements, killing a further 11 policemen, local Sunni Arab patrol group members and civilians, police said.
Faraj al-Haidari, head of the Electoral Commission, said while much of the organising work for the local polls had been finished it might be 4-5 months before the vote could go ahead.
If the presidency (council) approves the law, we need 140 to 150 days to complete all the preparations to hold the elections, Haidari told Reuters.
Parliament will now submit the law to Iraqs three-member presidency council, headed by President Jalal Talabani, for approval. Talabani rejected an earlier version that was approved by MPs in July and sent it back to parliament, but given the law on Wednesday was approved unanimously it should be a formality.
Salim al-Jubouri, from the Sunni Arab Accordance Front, said both Arabs and Kurds had made concessions on Kirkuk.
A separate law for elections in Kirkuk as well as a power-sharing formula for the citys administration would be drawn up, Jubouri said.
Local elections are seen as a test of Iraqs democracy and Washington hopes they will help reconcile rival groups, especially Sunni Arabs who boycotted the last provincial polls in 2005 and, without a say in most local governments, now feel marginalised in areas where they are numerically dominant.
But the polls could also lead to tension between competing groups, especially in the Shiite south where there is expected to be a struggle for power in a region that holds most of the countrys proven reserves of oil.
UN, US PRAISES COMPROMISE
Staffan de Mistura, the U.N. special representative to Iraq, congratulated lawmakers for reaching a compromise on Kirkuk.
The Iraqi people will now have a chance to express their own opinion and their own vote about who is going to lead them at the provincial level, De Mistura told a news conference with parliamentary leaders.
U.S. embassy spokeswoman Susan Ziadeh added: The law passed with unanimous support reflects a spirit of consensus and demonstrates Iraqs full commitment to the democratic process.
The earlier version of the law passed by parliament and rejected by Talabani, a Kurd, would have divided council seats equally between Kirkuks ethnic groups. Kurdish MPs had boycotted the session in protest.
Kurds believe they are numerically superior in Kirkuk, which they consider their ancient capital and want to fold into their largely autonomous northern region. Kirkuks Arabs and Turkmen want the city to remain under central government authority.
The committee was able to fix a tough problem that remained unsolved for months, said Khalid Shwani, a Kurdish lawmaker.
The new law changes some of the voting procedures from legislation used for the last local elections in January 2005.
One significant difference is it uses an open list electoral system -- where voters can choose specific candidates. Under the old law, a closed list system was used, where they can only selected political parties.
NEW YORK (AFP) - Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai said recent leadership change in Pakistan has offered for the "first time" a hope of winning the "war on terror" and called for a joint assault on extremist "sanctuaries" along their common border.
He also asked the United States to provide full backing to the new democratically elected administration of President Asif Ali Zardari, who took over from former military strongman Pervez Musharraf, in fighting extremism.
Relations between the neighbors were strained during Musharraf's rule, with the Afghan leader persistently accusing Islamabad of not doing enough to curb cross-border militancy."For the first time, I see in the region a ray of hope," Karzai said at a New York-based Asia Society forum on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly .
He said Zardari, whose wife former prime minister Benazir Bhutto was killed in a suicide blast, would move away from what he charged was Islamabad's longstanding use of "radicalism and extremism as an instrument of policy. If we can all work together, Afghanistan, Pakistan, the United States and our allies, I see now possibilities of moving beyond the days where one or the other of us may need extremism or radicalism as an instrument of policy and when that happens, there would be no place for extremists to play against all of us and if that happens, there will be no extremist activity as it is now."
Afghanistan has repeatedly accused Pakistan of clandestinely supporting Taliban rebels, which Washington and Kabul say are using tribal areas in Pakistan along the border with Afghanistan as sanctuaries. Karzai had also blamed Pakistan's intelligence service for a deadly suicide attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul that killed 60 people -- a charge Islamabad has denied. The Afghan leader said Zardari had a "very" good understanding of the tribal region and "the need to change" the situation there."My hope is he would have the instruments to (wage the fight against terrorism) ... the instruments means backing from the United States, first of all," he said.
Karzai spoke after Zardari met US President George W. Bush for talks, also at the sidelines of the UN event."Pakistan is an ally, and I look forward to deepening our relationship," Bush told reporters. The US leader moved to ease Zardari's concerns over unilateral strikes by US forces in Afghanistan on militant hideouts in Pakistan that Islamabad said had caused many civilian casualties."And your words have been very strong about Pakistan's sovereign right and sovereign duty to protect your country, and the United States wants to help," Bush said with Zardari by his side. The Pakistani leader replied, "We have issues. We've got problems. But we will solve them and we will rise to the occasion."
Karzai also endorsed a plan voiced by his defense minister for a joint US-Afghan-Pakistani military task force that would be empowered to operate on both sides of the border. "A force to act together on two sides of the border? A new idea but a welcome idea, I'll back it," he said to a question.
He also said that any surge in international troops for the war in Afghanistan should be involved in flushing out militants in border "sanctuaries" in Pakistan instead of penetrating deeper into Afghan villages.
Underlining the need to have a regional approach to fighting terrorism, Karzai said any assault should be "concentrated on the sanctuaries -- on those that train extremists, equip extremists, motivate extremists and then send them across" to Afghanistan. "The surge, in other words, will work only if you concentrate the deployment of troops at the right places where we need them," he said.
MUMBAI: Mumbai Police claimed to have arrested five members of the terrorist group Indian Mujahideen in connection with the serial blasts in Ahmedabad and Delhi. The five are learnt to have provided logistics support to those who carried out the blasts, the police said.
The cops have also hinted at the Indian Mujahideen being controlled from Pakistan.
They are believed to have provided the suspected terrorists with logistics support, including acquiring the vehicles that were laden with explosives. The police claim to have arrested the founder member of the terrorist outfit. A large quantity of arms has also been seized from the suspects. The next target of the terrorists was Mumbai, said the city police commissioner. The police also claimed that all arrested were involved in blasts since 2005 including Mumbai train blasts in 2006.
This article starring:
Ahmedabad
Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh
Maharashtra-Karnataka border
AFZAL USMANI
Indian Mujaheddin
MOHAMAD SADIQ SHEIKH
Indian Mujaheddin
MOHAMED ARIF
Indian Mujaheddin
MOHAMED SAKIB
Indian Mujaheddin
SHEIKH ANSAR
Indian Mujaheddin
Posted by: john frum ||
09/24/2008
10:05 ||
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Those two freaks must be agonizing over this. Called on it by PETA. Those bastards!
WATERBURY, Vt. -- People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sent a letter to Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, cofounders of Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc., urging them to replace cow's milk they use in their ice cream products with human breast milk, according to a statement recently released by a PETA spokeswoman. Titty Vanilly? Boobalicious? Sweater Monkey Crunch?
"PETA's request comes in the wake of news reports that a Swiss restaurant owner will begin purchasing breast milk from nursing mothers and substituting breast milk for 75 percent of the cow's milk in the food he serves," the statement says. Puts a new spin on "milking time"...
PETA officials say a move to human breast milk would lessen the suffering of dairy cows and their babies on factory farms and benefit human health. Ummmmmmmmm...they're dairy cows. It's what they're for. Are we gonna set them loose in the wild?
"The fact that human adults consume huge quantities of dairy products made from milk that was meant for a baby cow just doesn't make sense," says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. "Everyone knows that 'the breast is best,' so Ben & Jerry's could do consumers and cows a big favor by making the switch to breast milk." ...and we haven't come up with anything outlandish in a coupla weeks.
"We applaud PETA's novel approach to bringing attention to an issue, but we believe a mother's milk is best used for her child," said a spokesperson for Ben and Jerry's. ...and we would prefer not to piss our company down the drain so that we can remain rich old hippies.
#3
Ben and Jerry do not own Ben and Jerry anymore. Unilever owns it now. Did you know that Ben & Jerry's has a Chief Euphoria Officer? So, I do not think human breast milk meets the standards of euphoria except for 6 month old little boys.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
09/24/2008 13:05
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#10
There really ought to be a separate category for Red on Red conflicts be they Islamist vs Islamist,
hippies vs. vegans, Kos kids vs Hillary or Alien vs Predator.
#1
Whom gods destroy, they first make supremely overconfident. I have a "Ginny Ferraro, First Woman VP" button my father saved from the '84 campaign; and there's also this classic track from the groove-yard of forgotten favorites:
Congratulations, Tom Dewey
You won by a landslide today
Through thick and through thin
We knew you would win
Cause who'd ever vote to let Truman stay in
Congratulations, Tom Dewey
Your Republican dreams have come true
Here's a victory roar
For president number thirty-four
The White House is waiting for you
Posted by: Mike ||
09/24/2008 9:55
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#2
And a spokesman for WEW said they expected thousands more coins to be bought if Obama becomes president, which could bring millions into the small firm.
It'll probably be made mandatory to have one in your possesion at all times.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - The Pakistani army said Wednesday it found the wreckage of a suspected U.S. spy plane near the Afghan border, but denied claims that it had been shot down.
Three Pakistani intelligence officials earlier said troops and tribesmen had shot down the drone late Tuesday near Jalal Khel, a village in Pakistan's South Waziristan region.
However, a Pakistan army statement on Wednesday said security forces had recovered the crashed surveillance aircraft. It said a technical problem appeared to have brought it down and that it was investigating further.
The U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan said one of its drones, which can be equipped with video surveillance equipment, went down Tuesday in the Afghan province bordering Waziristan. But it said coalition forces retrieved it and that no others were missing. The CIA also operates drones in the region.
The three Pakistani intelligence officials said the drone was hit after circling the Angoor Ada area of South Waziristan for several hours. Wreckage was strewn on the ground, they said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.
A senior U.S. official challenged the account. "We're not aware of any drones being down," said the official, who also asked for anonymity because of the diplomatic sensitivity of the issue.
#2
I was just wondering and some of our mil intelligence readers might know. What is the capability of a ground laser overloading the photo sensors. Similarily, it seems that radar, IR detection, and other spy plane intelligence devices could be disabled easily with modern equipment. Am I way off on this?
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
09/24/2008 11:58
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#3
Excellent question Richard. Entirely feasible given the right combination technology which I doubt the Paks or anyone besides the Russians have. Daytime aerial persistent surveillance utilizing a tight orbit at low altitude over a specific field of view (FOV) presents a tempting challenge to an enemy armed with automatic weapons. I'd hold mechanical failure responsible at 5% and the Golden BB at 95%.
#6
how about loading 10 or 15 ounds of c4 and BBs in all the drones, complete with a timimg and 'weight on wheels' fuse. i the thing goes down, the clock starts; by the time the bad guys find it and drag it home, it goes boom.
just a concept.....
Authorities in Butler County are investigating the theft of several high explosives taken from an Augusta business sometime over the weekend.
Monday morning, the Butler County Sheriff's Office responded to a report of a burglary at Martin-Marietta Aggregates located on SW Diamond Road in Augusta. A quantity of the explosives were missing, which the business uses for mining operations.
They are described as round white-covered tubes and were packaged in cardboard boxes sealed with tape.
So they look like .. dynamite.
They were taken from an explosives bunker on the company property sometime between Friday afternoon and Monday morning. Sheriff Craig Murphy says that although the bunker is secure, it is not impossible to breach.
In addition to the sheriff's office, the State Fire Marshal's Office and ATF are also investigating.
Posted by: Everyday a Wildcat(KSU) ||
09/24/2008
08:57 ||
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#1
Sounds like tubes of ANFO. It's harder than hell to set off. You need a fairly sophisticated modern blasting cap and probably a booster to get it to go.
The mainstream media have gone over the line and are now straight-out propagandists for the Obama campaign.
While they have been liberal and blinkered in their worldview for decades, in 2007-08, for the first time, the major media consciously are covering for one candidate for president and consciously are knifing the other. This is no longer journalism; it is simply propaganda. (The American left-wing version of the Völkischer Beobachter cannot be far behind.)
And as a result, we are less than seven weeks away from possibly electing a president who has not been thoroughly or even halfway honestly presented to the country by our watchdogs -- the press. The image of Obama that the press has presented to the public is not a fair approximation of the real man. They consciously have ignored whole years of his life and have shown a lack of curiosity about such gaps, which bespeaks a lack of journalistic instinct.
Thus, the public image of Obama is of a "man who never was."
I take that phrase from a 1956 movie about a real-life World War II British intelligence operation to trick the Germans into thinking the Allies were going to invade Greece rather than Sicily in 1943. Operation Mincemeat involved the acquisition of a human corpse dressed as "Major William Martin, R.M.," which was put into the sea near Spain. Attached to the corpse was a briefcase containing fake letters suggesting that the Allied attack would be against Sardinia and Greece.
To make the operation credible, British intelligence concocted a fictional life for the corpse, creating a letter from a lover and tickets to a London theater -- all the details of a life, but not the actual life of the dead young man whose corpse was being used. So, too, the man the media have presented to the nation as Obama is not the real man.
The mainstream media ruthlessly and endlessly repeat any McCain gaffes while ignoring Obama gaffes. You have to go to weird little Web sites to see all the stammering and stuttering that Obama needs before getting out a sentence fragment or two. But all you see on the networks is an eventually clear sentence from Obama. You don't see Obama's ludicrous gaffe that Iran is a tiny country and no threat to us. Nor his 57 American states gaffe. Nor his forgetting, if he ever knew, that Russia has a veto in the U.N. Nor his whining and puerile "come on" when he is being challenged. This is the kind of editing one would expect from Goebbels' disciples, not Cronkite's.
More appalling, a skit on NBC's "Saturday Night Live" last weekend suggested that Gov. Palin's husband had sex with his own daughters. That show was written with the assistance of Al Franken, Democratic Party candidate in Minnesota for the U.S. Senate. Talk about incest.
But worse than all the unfair and distorted reporting and image projecting are the shocking gaps in Obama's life that are not reported at all. The major media simply have not reported on Obama's two years at New York's Columbia University, where, among other things, he lived a mere quarter-mile from former terrorist Bill Ayers. Later, they both ended up as neighbors and associates in Chicago. Obama denies more than a passing relationship with Ayers. Should the media be curious? In only two weeks, the media have focused on all the colleges Gov. Palin has attended, her husband's driving habits 20 years ago, and the close criticism of the political opponents Gov. Palin had when she was mayor of Wasilla, Alaska.
But in two years, they haven't bothered to see how close Obama was with the terrorist Ayers.
Nor have the media paid any serious attention to Obama's rise in Chicago politics. How did honest Obama rise in the famously sordid Chicago political machine with the full support of Boss Daley? Despite the great -- and unflattering -- details on Obama's Chicago years presented in David Freddoso's new book on Obama, the mainstream media continue to ignore both the facts and the book. It took a British publication, The Economist, to give Freddoso's book a review with fair comment.
The public image of Obama as an idealistic, post-race, post-partisan, well-spoken and honest young man with the wisdom and courage befitting a great national leader is a confection spun by a willing conspiracy of Obama, his publicist (David Axelrod) and most of the senior editors, producers and reporters of the national media.
Perhaps that is why the National Journal's respected correspondent Stuart Taylor wrote, "The media can no longer be trusted to provide accurate and fair campaign reporting and analysis."
That conspiracy not only has Photoshopped out all of Obama's imperfections (and dirtied up his opponent McCain's image) but also has put most of his questionable history down the memory hole.
The public will be voting based on the idealized image of the man who never was. If he wins, however, we will be governed by the sunken, cynical man Obama really is. One can only hope that the senior journalists will be judged as harshly for their professional misconduct as Wall Street's leaders currently are for their failings.
The decision of Jamia Milia Islamia to defend Delhi serial blast accused Mohammed Shakeel and Zia-ur-Rahman would amount to misuse of public funds. There is no provision under the funding rules promulgated by the University Grants Commission under which a university/college can defend an employee or student booked for a criminal act. "The decision of Jamia Vice-Chancellor Mushirul Hasan is most unfortunate as the public funds would be used to defend somebody who is being booked for waging war against the nation," said a UGC official.
The claim made by the Jamia Vice-Chancellor that the university being an autonomous body was well within its rights to take decisions on such matters has come to be questioned. Within hours of suspending two students who were arrested in connection with the Delhi serial blasts, Mushirul Hasan declared on Monday night that the university would defend its students in court.
While releasing funds to the universities/colleges, UGC issues guidelines on how the expenses have to be made from these funds. The executive head of the institutions that is the Vice-Chancellors in the case of the universities and Principals in the case of the colleges are made responsible for the expenditure of the funds in accordance with the guidelines. If the expenses are not made according to the guidelines it amounts to financial misconduct.
Mohammad Shakeel, a student of MA (Economics) and Zia-ur-Rehman, a student of final year BA (Pass), were suspended by the Vice-Chancellor on Monday but soon thereafter he succumbed to the pressure of Islamist elements on the campus announcing the decision to defend the subversives.
In cases where the guidelines are silent, the General Financial Rules (GFR) of Government of India have to be followed. It's a practice that an officer from one of the Central financial services is posted to the Central universities as Financial Adviser to monitor the expenditure of the public funds. "In the name of autonomy, the university cannot promote subversive activities," said a senior intelligence official.
There is provision for legal expenses in the universities under non-recurring budget. But these expenses have to be made where the university/college has been made a party. These cases generally relate to the civil and service matters. If a principal/head has been booked for a criminal case or in civil matter, he has to arrange for his own defence. "When Zakir Hussain College lecturer SAR Gilani faced a similar case, he arranged for his own defence. He was suspended from the service till he was declared innocent," said a Delhi University official.
Claiming that Jamia's reputation was at stake, Hasan had said in a statement, "The university feels morally bound to defend its students until proven guilty and we will use the legal apparatus for this." Mohammad Shakeel, a student of MA (Economics) and Zia-ur-Rehman, a student of final year BA (Pass), were suspended by the Vice-Chancellor on Monday but soon thereafter he succumbed to the pressure of Islamist elements on the campus announcing the decision to defend the subversives.
This article starring:
Jamia Milia Islamia
MOHAMED SHAKIL
Indian Mujaheddin
Mushirul Hasan
ZIA UR RAHMAN
Indian Mujaheddin
Posted by: john frum ||
09/24/2008
08:23 ||
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#1
Tactics directly out of the Geo Soros and the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) playbooks.
One hedge fund expert pointed to The Hedge Fund Implode-O-Meter (HFI) as how he judges the state of the industry. The HFI was set up online in the wake of the credit crunch "to track as hedge funds learn the double-edged-sword nature of the often extreme leverage they use".
The group's "imploded funds" list has hit 51 companies since the sub-prime mortgage crisis in the United States kicked off a widespread downturn. That compares with its historical list, stretching back more than a decade to the end of 2006, of just 14, including the collapse of Long-Term Capital Management and Amaranth.
This year, big names including Peloton Capital Partners, Carlyle Capital Corporation and Dillon Read Capital Management are just some of the half century to collapse. "We think hedge funds have largely lost their way," HFI said. "Notably, most have abandoned capital-preservation for the goal of aggressive accumulation of capital gains, with the benefit of lax regulation and extreme leverage available to exploit."
It has 34 stocks on its "ailing/watch list" of those that have suffered significant value declines or temporarily halted redemptions. According to EuroHedge, a hedge fund data provider, 272 individual funds strategies were launched during the first six months of 2008, the lowest for nine years. In the same time, 243 funds have been liquidated, the highest in a six-month period.
To remind people. Wikipedia discusses The Carlye Group here
Principals:
Key people Louis V. Gerstner, Jr., Chairman
William E. Conway, Jr., Founder
Daniel A. D'Aniello, Founder
David M. Rubenstein, Founder
John F. Harris, CFO
Controversy
Connections between the Carlyle and the Bush family have created controversy, particularly in relation to the War on Terror and the Iraq War. George H. W. Bush and his Secretary of State James A. Baker III have at times been advisors to the group. One writer claimed that Saudi Arabian interests have given $1.4 billion to firms connected to the Bush family. Of this figure, $1.18 billion comes from contracts awarded to defense contractor Braddock, Dunn & McDonald, which Carlyle sold before George H. W. Bush became an advisor.[23] A Carlyle spokesman noted in 2003 that its 7% interest in defense industries was far less than several other Private equity firms.[24] The group has in the past had links with the Bin Laden family, although the group argues investment was relatively minor and made by relatives including half brother to Osama Bin Laden who had "disowned" him. [25]
Notable current and former employees and affiliated persons
Business
* G. Allen Andreas - Chairman of the Archer Daniels Midland Company
* Daniel Akerson - company director
* Joaquin Avila - investment banker
* Laurent Beaudoin - CEO of Bombardier (1979-)
* Paul Desmarais - Chairman of the Power Corporation of Canada
* Arthur Levitt - former Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
* David M. Moffett - CEO of Freddie Mac, unilateral appointment by Treasury Secretary, Henry M. Paulson Jr., September 7, 2008.
* Karl Otto Pöhl - former President of the Bundesbank
* Olivier Sarkozy (half-brother of Nicolas Sarkozy, President of France) - co-head and managing director of its recently launched global financial services division, since March 2008 [26].
* Jeffrey Chen- CEO of ASE-Taiwan
* Jason Chen- Chairman of ASE Group
Political figures
North America
* George H. W. Bush, former U.S. President, Senior Advisor to the Carlyle Asia Advisory Board from April 1998 to October 2003.
* George W. Bush, current U.S. President. Was appointed in 1990 to the Board of Directors of one of Carlyle's first acquisitions, an airline food business called Caterair, which Carlyle eventually sold at a loss. Bush left the board in 1992 to run for Governor of Texas.
* James Baker III, former United States Secretary of State under George H. W. Bush, Staff member under Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, Carlyle Senior Counselor, served in this capacity from 1993 to 2005.
* Frank C. Carlucci, former United States Secretary of Defense from 1987 to 1989; Also, former Princeton wrestling partner of former US Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld. Carlyle Chairman and Chairman Emeritus from 1989 to 2005.
* Richard Darman, former Director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget under George H. W. Bush, Senior Advisor and Managing Director of The Carlyle Group from 1993 to the present
* Randal K. Quarles, former Under Secretary of the U.S. Treasury under President George W. Bush, now a Carlyle managing director
* Allan Gotlieb, Canadian ambassador to the United States (1981-89) and member of Carlyle's Canadian advisory board.
* Arthur Levitt, Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) under President Bill Clinton, Carlyle Senior Advisor from 2001 to the present
* Dan Senor - political consultant
* Peter Lougheed - Premier of Alberta (1971-85)
* Luis Téllez Kuenzler, Mexican economist, current Secretary of Communications and Transportation under the Felipe Calderón administration and former Secretary of Energy under the Zedillo administration.
* Frank McKenna, Canadian ambassador to the United States and former member of Carlyle's Canadian advisory board
Europe
* John Major, former British Prime Minister, Chairman, Carlyle Europe from 2002 until 2005
[edit] Asia
* Liu Hong-Ru, former chairman of China's Securities Regulatory Commission
* Anand Panyarachun, former Prime Minister of Thailand (twice), former member of the Carlyle Asia Advisory Board until the board was disbanded in 2004
* Fidel V. Ramos, former president of the Philippines, Carlyle Asia Advisor Board Member until the board was disbanded in 2004
* Thaksin Shinawatra, deposed Prime Minister of Thailand, former member of board, who resigned on taking office in 2001
Middle East
* Shafig bin Laden, older brother of Osama bin Laden
Media
* Norman Pearlstine - editor-in-chief of Time magazine from (1995-2005)
#1
Dillion Read & Co
Dillon, Read & Co. was a prominent American investment bank from the 1920s into the 1960s.
Dillon Read originated in 1832 as the Wall Street brokerage firm Carpenter & Vermilye. However, it is best known for its actions during the 1920s. During that time Clarence Dillon managed the rescue of faltering Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, engineered the buyout (in 1925) and subsequent sale of Dodge Motors (in 1928) to Chrysler, launched the first post-war closed-end investment trust (in 1924), and led the largest-ever stock offering (in 1926). By the end of the decade, Dillon Read was considered to be an investment-banking powerhouse, alongside J.P. Morgan & Co. and Kuhn, Loeb & Co..
Dillon Read was purchased by Swiss Bank Corporation (SBC) in 1997 and merged with London-based investment bank S. G. Warburg & Co. (purchased by SBC in 1995) to become Warburg Dillon Read. The merged entity, in turn, became part of UBS AG when the latter firm bought SBC.
The Dillon Read name was dropped by 2000 but recently re-emerged in the name of UBS's internal hedge-fund division, Dillon Read Capital Management (DRCM). During its brief 18-month existence, DRCM launched a successful fund of $1.2 billion (which was over-subscribed by 50%) for outside investors which returned 16.6% after fees, making it one of the top multi-strategy funds for 2007. On May 3, 2007, UBS announced the closure of Dillon Read Capital Management due to "operational complexities." DRCM had run up a loss of $124M in the first quarter.[1] DRCM's strategies, which involved leveraged purchases of subprime and Alt-A mortgage bonds, eventually lost $3B - more than 60% of the fund's previous $4.7B value. The April 2008 report to the Swiss Federal Banking Commission (SFBC, in German: Eidgenössische Bankenkommission, EBK, in French: Commission fédérale des banques, CFB) stated that the "assets could not be sold given the illiquidity in the market."[2][3].
#4
The top five hedge funds were on to a nice little earner.
: As the world's biggest banks reeled in the face of the credit crunch last year, the top five hedge fund earners took home at least $1.5bn apiece after their funds gambled the right way in exceptionally volatile markets.
A survey by US hedge fund magazine Alpha, published yesterday, said the five - Mr Paulson, George Soros, James Simons of Renaissance Technologies, Philip Falcone of Harbinger Capital and Kenneth Griffin of Citadel - all individually earned more than the $1.2bn that JPMorgan will spend to buy Bear Stearns, the most high profile victim of the crunch.
I NEED TO ASK YOU TO SUPPORT AN URGENT SECRET BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP WITH A TRANSFER OF FUNDS OF GREAT MAGNITUDE.
I AM MINISTRY OF THE TREASURY OF THE REPUBLIC OF AMERICA. MY COUNTRY HAS HAD CRISIS THAT HAS CAUSED THE NEED FOR LARGE TRANSFER OF FUNDS OF 800 BILLION DOLLARS US. IF YOU WOULD ASSIST ME IN THIS TRANSFER, IT WOULD BE MOST PROFITABLE TO YOU.
I AM WORKING WITH MR. PHIL GRAM, LOBBYIST FOR UBS, WHO WILL BE MY REPLACEMENT AS MINISTRY OF THE TREASURY IN JANUARY. AS A SENATOR, YOU MAY KNOW HIM AS THE LEADER OF THE AMERICAN BANKING DEREGULATION MOVEMENT IN THE 1990S. THIS TRANSACTIN IS 100% SAFE.
THIS IS A MATTER OF GREAT URGENCY. WE NEED A BLANK CHECK. WE NEED THE FUNDS AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE. WE CANNOT DIRECTLY TRANSFER THESE FUNDS IN THE NAMES OF OUR CLOSE FRIENDS BECAUSE WE ARE CONSTANTLY UNDER SURVEILLANCE. MY FAMILY LAWYER ADVISED ME THAT I SHOULD LOOK FOR A RELIABLE AND TRUSTWORTHY PERSON WHO WILL ACT AS A NEXT OF KIN SO THE FUNDS CAN BE TRANSFERRED.
PLEASE REPLY WITH ALL OF YOUR BANK ACCOUNT, IRA AND COLLEGE FUND ACCOUNT NUMBERS AND THOSE OF YOUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN TO WALLSTREETBAILOUT@TREASURY.GOV
SO THAT WE MAY TRANSFER YOUR COMMISSION FOR THIS TRANSACTION. AFTER I RECEIVE THAT INFORMATION, I WILL RESPOND WITH DETAILED INFORMATION ABOUT SAFEGUARDS THAT WILL BE USED TO PROTECT THE FUNDS.
YOURS FAITHFULLY MINISTER OF TREASURY PAULSON HatTip: The Nation
Posted by: Steve ||
09/24/2008
08:13 ||
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#1
That is so close to the mark it ain't even funny...
A video of hardline Islamic preacher Abu Hamza, which was said to have been made in Belmarsh Prison, has appeared on YouTube.
A photograph of the radical cleric is displayed with an announcement that it is by "Sheik Abu Hamza Al Masri from Belmarsh Prison in Britain". During the three-and-a-half minute clip he delivers nine verses of poetry in Arabic. He praises "the spirit of the martyr" and asks for jihad fighters to be given God's mercy.
Hamza, 49, is serving seven years for spreading racial hatred and inciting the murder of " nonbelievers". The hook-handed cleric preached at Finsbury Park Mosque and was convicted of 11 of the 15 charges he faced. He was found guilty of having audio and video tapes intended to encourage racial hatred and having a document for terror purposes. Conservative MP Patrick Mercer has called for a Home Secretary Jacqui Smith to investigate the alleged Belmarsh video. He said: "How is it this poisonous man seems able to communicate at will with the outside world from within Britain's most secure prison?"
A Prison Service spokesman said: "There is no proof this recording was made by Hamza and no evidence it was made in prison." Neil Doyle, an expert on cyber-terrorism, said: "I have spent hours listening to Hamza recordings. I am 1,000 per cent sure it is him."
The dominant media storyline about the Iraq war holds that the decisions about how to conduct it pitted ignorant civilians -- especially the president and secretary of defense -- against the uniformed military, whose wise and sober advice was cavalierly ignored. The Bush administration's cardinal sin was interference in predominantly military affairs, starting with overruling the military on the size of the force that invaded Iraq in March 2003. But it's not just the media that peddles this story. As Bob Woodward illustrates in his new book, "The War Within: A Secret White House History 2006-2008," it also resonates among many senior uniformed military officers.
The plausibility of the narrative rests on two questionable principles. The first is that soldiers have the right to a voice in making policy regarding the use of the military instrument -- that indeed they have the right to insist that their views be adopted. The second is that the judgment of soldiers is inherently superior to that of civilians when it comes to military affairs. Both of these principles are at odds with the American practice of civil-military relations, and with the historical record.
In our republic the uniformed military advises the civilian authorities, but has no right to insist that its views be adopted. Of course, uniformed officers have an obligation to stand up to civilian leaders if they think a policy is flawed. They must convey their concerns to civilian policy-makers forcefully and truthfully. But once a policy decision is made, soldiers are obligated to carry it out to the best of their ability, whether their advice is heeded or not. Moreover, even when it comes to strictly military affairs, soldiers are not necessarily more prescient than civilian policy makers. This is confirmed by the historical record.
Historians have long recognized that Abraham Lincoln's judgment concerning the conduct of the Civil War was vastly superior to that of Gen. George McClellan. They have recognized that Gen. George C. Marshall, the greatest soldier-statesman since George Washington, was wrong to oppose arms shipments to Great Britain in 1940, and wrong to argue for a cross-channel invasion during the early years of World War II, before the U.S. was ready. Historians have pointed out that the U.S. operational approach that contributed to our defeat in Vietnam was the creature of the uniformed military. And they have observed that the original -- unimaginative -- military plan for Operation Desert Storm in the Gulf War was rejected by the civilian leadership, which ordered a return to the drawing board. The revised plan was far more imaginative, and effective.
So it was with Iraq. The fact is that the approach favored by the uniformed leadership was failing. As the insurgency metastasized in 2005, the military had three viable alternatives: continue offensive operations along the lines of those in Anbar province after Fallujah; adopt a counterinsurgency approach; or emphasize the training of Iraqi troops in order to transition to Iraqi control of military operations. Gen. John Abizaid, commander of the U.S. Central Command, and Gen. George W. Casey, commander of the Multi-National Force in Iraq -- supported by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Richard Myers -- chose the third option.
Transitioning to Iraqi control was a logical option for the long run. But it did little to solve the problem of the insurgency, which was generating sectarian violence. Based on the belief by many senior commanders, especially Gen. Abizaid, that U.S. troops were an "antibody" to Iraqi culture, the Americans consolidated their forces on large "forward operating bases," maintaining a presence only by means of motorized patrols that were particularly vulnerable to attacks by improvised explosive devices. They also conceded large swaths of territory and population alike to the insurgents. Violence spiked.
In late 2006, President Bush, like President Lincoln in 1862, adopted a new approach to the war. He replaced the uniformed and civilian leaders who were adherents of the failed operational approach with others who shared his commitment to victory rather than "playing for a tie." In Gen. David Petraeus, Mr. Bush found his Ulysses Grant, to execute an operational approach based on sound counterinsurgency doctrine. This new approach has brought the U.S. to the brink of victory.
Although the conventional narrative about the Iraq war is wrong, its persistence has contributed to the most serious crisis in civil-military relations since the Civil War. According to Mr. Woodward's account, the uniformed military not only opposed the surge, insisting that their advice be followed; it then subsequently worked to undermine the president once he decided on another strategy.
In one respect, the actions taken by military opponents of the surge, e.g. "foot-dragging," "slow-rolling" and selective leaking are, unfortunately, all-too-characteristic of U.S. civil-military relations during the last decade and a half. But the picture Mr. Woodward draws is far more troubling. Even after the policy had been laid down, the bulk of the senior U.S. military leadership -- the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, the rest of the Joint Chiefs, and Gen. Abizaid's successor, Adm. William Fallon, actively worked against the implementation of the president's policy.
If Mr. Woodward's account is true, it means that not since Gen. McClellan attempted to sabotage Lincoln's war policy in 1862 has the leadership of the U.S. military so blatantly attempted to undermine a president in the pursuit of his constitutional authority. It should be obvious that such active opposition to a president's policy poses a threat to the health of the civil-military balance in a republic.
Mr. Owens is a professor at the Naval War College and editor of Orbis, the journal of the Foreign Policy Research Institute.
#2
Final responsibility for success or failure rests at the top, with POTUS and his SECDEF. That responsibility includes making sure command guidance is accurately and expeditiously followed. Subordinates are replaced or moved along as necessary but never blamed.
A soldier does best what his sergeant checks often. This old axiom applies at levels of leadership.
#3
There are two problems inherit in the American military structure. One procedural and the other is institutional. The American military spends most of its existence since Vietnam in 'peacetime'. You can not find battlefield leaders in peacetime. So, the military adopts 'good practices' of business and industry, setting up a structured progression career system to get competent people to the top based upon management of assets and people. Such skills are important for the day to day operation of a major organization where the environment permits. However, it can not definitively identify combat leaders. It can identify people with leadership traits, but no more than one would find at any of the major corporations or similar organizations elsewhere in society. The battlefield is far more a Darwinian environment than business in that the price you pay is final. Friendly and hostile takeovers don't carry the penalty in corporate America that they do in war. Fail in business and there are always opportunities to do something else in life. Fail on the battlefield and only those who escape may see another day. While many competent managers were sent into this conflict, there have been far fewer leaders. Unfortunately, by year two it was obvious that the peacetime 'personnel system' was paramount to operations rather than a wartime system of quickly identifying competent combat leaders and jumping the 'check the box' career programs. The personnel programs should have been realign to support those individuals who demonstrated what the institution existed for, that is 'the conduct of war'. Successful battalion and brigade commanders should have been promoted quickly and above their year group peers, not by another rank, but several. Our military is not lacking sufficient managers to assist and support those leaders, so specific experience in select skills is not wanting and does not require box checking. Fairness is not a military principle and, while some will have the opportunity to shine and other never get an opportunity at the same chance, has no play in war. Winning is primary.
Second, regardless of the military's desire to be 'apolitical', it can not be. In trying to play the game, to retain support by keeping casualties down, in the end only plays in the political arena. When avoiding defeat becomes more important than winning, when avoiding casualties becomes primary, you have entered the political game. You are responding to the political by your actions and in doing so have become political. You will either become a pawn of one side or the target of another. Its disingenuous to claim that you are being non-partisan. You are not allowed to be so in the 'great game' no matter how distasteful it may seem. If you can not carry out the objectives of the Executive, then it is the responsibility of any senior, or for that matter junior, officer to resign your commission. Waiting till retirement or completion of contract and then 'bravely' denouncing the policies and procedures only shows you lack conviction of principles other than the pay and position you received. Going back to the first paragraph, there is a great difference between "We can not win" and "I can not win". Make room for those who can. Or as we'd say - lead, follow, or get the hell out of the way.
#4
Final responsibility for success or failure rests at the top, with POTUS and his SECDEF.
However a President the ability of a President to force its policies on reluctant geneerals or fire backstabbing ones depends onb its political position since such actions have a political cost, and that costs is much greater when the rpress is trying to distort everything you do. In 2006, Bush had few political hit points left and that is why generals could get away with disobeying direct orders and Congress on encroaching on President's powers in violation of teh Constitution.
Oh, and BTW it was not Grant but Sherman who was decisive on winning the Civil War.
#6
regardless of the military's desire to be 'apolitical', it can not be.
Didn't someone once say war was a continuation of politics by other means? What the American military has done is try to make military action a technical activity in which amateurs cannot interfere. The chickens are coming home to roost; and not just for the Army.
#9
From the learned cmts of Procopius2k... When avoiding defeat becomes more important than winning, when avoiding casualties becomes primary, you have entered the political game.
Might I add, averting attainable and total VICTORY in battle by "avoiding" enemy casualties and the death of non-combatants. The haunting downside of premature diplomatic efforts and surgical tactics.
#10
I disagree with the whole axiom, that at any point it was "Bush vs. Generals". That is, both deserve credit for what went right, and blame for what didn't, in equal measure.
What I consider our greatest problems were essentially "philosophical" ones, now very evident in retrospect. Importantly, they were *not* errors of bad faith or duplicity, just incorrect assumptions.
To start with, it can be demonstrated that every part of their government we tried to preserve and reform was a mistake; but the vast majority that we recreated from scratch worked. They had no, zero, functional government left.
So from the very beginning we should have imposed a MacArthur (PBUH) constitution on them. We should have had an American occupation government of Iraq, with J. Paul Bremer as chief executive over the rest of the government run by Americans.
The first order of business should have been a complete census and registration of all citizens, who would be issued picture IDs with all information, including their name, encrypted in data matrix bar code. Anyone detained without ID would automatically be held until they could be entered into the US military held database, and longer, if suspected of illegal activities. This would have made government much easier.
All Mosque sermons would have to be pre-approved by the provisional government. All media would be under the editorial discretion of the government as well.
A US military court system would be established as the judiciary, which would try and imprison those engaged in criminal acts. At a date certain, this court system would be replaced by a US provisional government court system. When an Iraqi government had been appointed, this court would then issue death sentences for murderous acts then deemed criminal, again, after a date certain. Liberally hanging offenders.
These US provisional courts should have been ordered based on Common Law legal principles, and Iraqis would be trained as attorneys who would then prosecute and defend Iraqis and others accused of crimes.
Iraqi police forces should have been started from the ground up as well, but organized as a national police force. Military and police service would be by draft, and both military and police would be restricted to rural training camps. Unless they were without family, the US would deliver their entire paycheck to their family.
Any unemployed male would be drafted. If unsuitable for military or police service, they would be put in work battalions and set to repair and improve infrastructure around the country. Any healthy unemployed male would be detained until assignment.
The first Iraqi parliament would be composed almost entirely of women. No burqas, only head scarfs. Each woman would be trained in parliamentary procedure, and their decisions in consultation with the provisional government would be enforced by the provisional government.
For a minimum of 20 years, the constitution would require that 50% of the parliament would be female.
Again, these things in addition to the good stuff the military and the administration did, would have settled Iraq down much faster. An iron fist, early on, does much to restore order.
#12
To impose a MacArthuresque peace upon Iraq we would have had to impose a Japanese level defeat upon them. The politician chose not to. That was a political decision. The next war may perhaps result in a victory sufficient to impose such a peace. But it will be a horrid war for which few have the stomach, even after the murder of 3,000 innocents and the incineration of $1 Trillion, less than the Paulson package.
#13
Without Grant, Sherman would not have had the support to execute his version of total war through Georgia & the carolinas.
Sheramn commanded only one army. Of course he needed other armies for holding other parts of the front. Argument was about which one was really, really good versus which one was just quite good (but still a luminary compared to other Union generals).
But the taking of Atlant was not merely a crushing blow for the CSA, it impeded a Copperhead victory in the elections. Also before Sherman, again and again Union Generals had had to withdraw
when Southerner activity at their backs thretened their supplies. Instead Sherman marched to the sea and broke Confederation's back once and for all.
#15
JFM - Grant supported Sherman not just w/men but w/the whole march to the sea plan as well as politically, Sherman answered to Grant in the chain of command. They were close friends and both Ohioans. In actuality, Grant & Sherman both had some affinity for the south - Sherman was head master at LSU (IIRC) and Grant had served w/many southern generals (Longstreet was still a friend of his & a strong supporter after the CW) during the Mex/Amer war in 1847. He and WTS wanted to make the war so awful that it ended sooner and would actually cause less suffering in the long run for the south. Grant's wife Julia Dent actually owned slaves when they first married. Grant even owned one for a short period.
#16
BTW -- Sherman was the one that persuaded Grant to stay on w/the Army. When Grant tookover as head commander he told Sherman to quit worrying about where the confederates were - just get after them. In Grant, Lincoln finally had a guy who knew how to win. Grant in some ways was like Washington -- he traded some tactical losses for strategic victories. Lee was more hannibalesque -- he knew how to win tactical victories and even some campaigns but couldn't get the strategic level taken care of. Although, much of that had to do w/his senior leaders like Jeff Davis.
#17
In keeping with the Burg theme of Fair & Balanced, the following copied from a mossy memorial in the middle of a courtyard in old Charleston.
Co. A, Hampton Legion Inftry
And she points with tremulous hand below
To the wasted and worn array
Of the heroes who strove in the morning glow
of the grandeur that crowned the Gray
Alas for the broken and battered hosts
Frail wrecks from a gory sea
Tho pale as a band in the realm of ghosts
Salute them they fought with LEE.
#19
The Generals wanted to avoid wearing the military down to the point of breaking (which could easily happen due to frequent troop rotations). THey probably hoped the administration would increase the numbers in the military to make this possible with the surge.
#20
Grant was one of the few Union generals to realize that the way to win was to force the Confederates, and Lee, especially, to fight (and in the process to blood the Union troops, pin the Confederates in place, and wear them away).
At one point during the Wilderness Campaign, Grant kept the Confederates pressed and engaged somewhere along the lines for more than 30 days straight. Grant's subordinates were afraid Grant was going to break the army by using it so roughly, but Grant pressed ahead and broke the Confederates instead although it may have been a near thing.
Even following the Wilderness Campaign there was still fight in the Confederate army although they were forced o fall back on Petersburg where Grant probably made a strategic mistake and set in a long seige that probably prolonged the war unnecessarily. Grant's characteristic aggressiveness seems to have been conspicuously absent during the whole Petersburg seige.
I'm getting first hand experience at a lobbying effort by progressives aimed at one of the Associated Press' top Washington journalists.
Long-time activist/journalist Al Giordano of "The Field" blog, among other projects, is taking the campaign against Ron Fournier, AP's Washington Bureau Chief to newsroom senior managers across the country with a campaign targeting the 27 members of the Associated Press Managing Editors association, or APME.
I know this because I was recently elected to the board of APME as an online representative....
Dino Rossi is the GOP (Republican) candidate for Governor who is facing off against Democratic Incumbent Gov. Christine Gregoire.
Noted on Sound Politics
The Rossi campaign points out: Ballots in Washington state have already been printed and military ballots are in process to soldiers and sailors overseas. If 'GOP' is ruled by the judge to be invalid, then the ballots from military personnel will be invalid.
But on with the story:
The state Democratic Party filed suit today, asking that Secretary of State Sam Reed list Dino Rossi's party preference as "Republican Party" on the general election ballot. When Rossi filed for office, he listed his party preference as "GOP Party."
Rossi has said he's always used the term GOP to identify his party and isn't trying to confuse voters about his party affiliation.
But the Democrats, who argue the Republican Party has become a damaged brand, say that's exactly what Rossi is doing. The lawsuit filed in King County Superior Court says,
Allowing Mr. Rossi to obscure his true party preference and affiliation directly violates the law, would mislead a substantial portion of the voting public and would breed cynicism and mistrust in our public institutions and, indeed, in our electoral process. This Court has the power and the duty to correct such threatened errors in the preparation and printing of the ballot and should exercise that power to protect the integrity of the electoral process.
Rossi is facing a rematch with Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire, who beat him by 133 votes four years ago after three counts and a court challenge. And don't forget boxes of 'found' ballots in the King County Elections office (a fifedom of the Democratic Executive)
Washington's new "top-two" primary system allows candidates to pick how they want to be identified on the ballot.
#3
The democrats are really proving that they are masters of public relations. Invalidating military ballots may be popular in Seattle, but it's probably not so funny in the rest of the state.
#4
bigjim, no, its not. and i only hope the judge tosses this case as frivolous.
another side effect: the state has a huge deficiet, thanks to a Democrat gov and legislature; so now the Dems are bring a lawsuit that is going to cost how much????
tough being Red in a Blue state.
The office of ousted South African president Thabo Mbeki announced Tuesday that his deputy president, 10 cabinet ministers and three deputy ministers were resigning, an exodus that sent tremors through the markets of Africa's biggest economy and stoked fears of a political crisis.
Most worries were mitigated by afternoon, when the ruling African National Congress announced that several of those who had quit -- including Finance Minister Trevor Manuel, who is viewed as a rudder of South Africa's steady economy -- did so as a formality and were willing to serve under an interim president to be sworn in Thursday.
The assurances caused the South African rand and stock market to rebound from the drop that followed the announcement that one-third of the cabinet was leaving. But the resignations underscored the deep schism within the ANC, which asked Mbeki to resign this weekend after a court ruling suggested he had plotted to have his rival, ANC leader Jacob Zuma, charged with corruption.
The ANC had said it was trying to persuade all cabinet members to stay on. Nine of 10 of the ministers who tendered resignations are ANC members, most viewed as loyal to Mbeki. At a hastily called news conference Tuesday, ANC Secretary General Gwede Mantashe insisted that the resignations would not provoke a crisis and that "the process of governance will continue as normal."
Mantashe said that Manuel, three other ministers and three deputy ministers who had resigned wanted to let the interim president appoint a cabinet but would resume their work if asked. The deputy president and five other ministers -- whose portfolios include defense and public enterprises -- indicated that their departures were final, he said. The situation of the remaining minister, who oversees science and technology, was subject to discussion, he said.
"There's no crisis," Mantashe said. "We're ready to fill any position that arises."
The departures came a day after ANC leaders indicated, but did not formally announce, that the party's deputy president, Kgalema Motlanthe, would take over as interim president Thursday. Motlanthe, a left-leaning former union leader and political prisoner, is viewed as loyal to Zuma, who defeated Mbeki for the party leadership in December and is expected to win the presidency in national elections next year. But Motlanthe, who is a cabinet minister without a portfolio, is also viewed as moderate, reasonable and capable of soothing party divisions.
Opposition parties praised the choice. Zuma, speaking to reporters on Monday, said Motlanthe was "equal to the task." "It should be borne in mind that comrade Mbeki led an ANC government," Zuma said. "We therefore expect a smooth transition, as this is not a change of party but only leadership in government."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008
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#1
The assurances caused the South African rand and stock market to rebound from the drop that followed the announcement that one-third of the cabinet was leaving.
One must wonder what our portfolios would look like if members of congress resigned
By Farrukh Saleem
As our national defence strategy appears to have collapsed, our own proxies -- the Taliban and the Jihadis -- are now waging a war on Pakistan itself and have killed 10,267 Pakistanis in five years, which is 6,000 more deaths than the total number of Pakistani lives lost in the Pak-India War of 1965. It's neither about religion nor about tribal traditions.
Our national defence strategy has long been dependent on the use of the Taliban in the West and the Jihadis pinning down elements of India's 9, 10, 14, 15 and 16 Corps in the north-east. The tripodal national defence strategy meant maintaining a good 90 per cent of our military assets -- including the two strike Corps and Corps X, XXX, IV and XXXI -- in the east, sustaining the Taliban in the West in order to project power into Afghanistan plus our nuclear deterrent. For some two decades, the military-conceived strategy performed remarkably well. And then came September 11. After the 9/11, our tripodal strategy came tumbling down like a house of cards. But, we are still in a state of denial. Seven years hence, Pakistan now stands isolated and completely encircled. A mere 100 miles east of Islamabad are six of India's Su-30MKIs, the most advanced, nuclear-capable, long-range, high-endurance, heavy-class Air Dominance Fighters with multi-mission capabilities.
A hundred miles west of Islamabad are the United States Air Force's MQ-1 Predators, MQ-9 Reapers, the 37-nation International Security Assistance Force (Isaf), the Afghan National Army and Nato forces. Off the coast of Karachi is the United States Navy's Nimitiz-class, nuclear-powered, $4.3 billion super-carrier, USS Ronald Reagan (Pakistan's entire annual defence allocation is $ 4 billion).
After 9/11, we have lost at least two legs of our national defence strategy. As if losing two legs wasn't enough, our Jihadis and our Taliban, the very tools of our foreign policy, are on the loose. Our ex-proxies are hitting back at the very soul of Pakistan.
It's neither about religion nor about tribal traditions. This is an active insurgency whereby our ex-proxies are struggling to suck the soul out of the nation-state called the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and then hold physical terrain from where to affect their agenda. Our one-time proxies have challenged the state for control of a portion of its territory.
The outside world, in the meanwhile, is out to contain us and contain our violence from spreading. Our national defence strategy has long been due for a major makeover. But, we have long been in a state of denial. Pakistan is truly under siege; under siege because of the proxies we keep.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008
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#1
And now, VIRGINIA, you know yet another reason why RUSSIA FOUGHT GEORGIA IN AUGUST 2008.
#2
It's all fun and games when your trained attack dogs are murdering infidels, but when your rabid curs turn on their masters...well, it sucks to be you.
#3
Pakistan would have collapsed if GWB had the common sense to carpet bomb Pashto Afghanistan from the north. Instead - in service of his Saudi owners - GWB lifted sanctions and poured aid into the terror entity. If stupidity was a crime, GWB wouldn't breath free air for the rest of his wretched life. I wonder what the knee jerkers think?
#5
Thor Elmulet1863, you ever thought how the World would look now if George (Condi) considered the facts instead of rushing headlong into "Nation Building"?
#6
Somebody in Pakistan has actually stepped back from the testosterone overdose to see reality. Al Qaeda has already shown the Muslim world that attacking America is a loser's game. Perhaps if this goes on long enough, the Ummah will realize that sponsoring terrorists is even more stupid -- in the long run a much more effective strategy than bombing the part of Pakistan that they don't much care about even further into the stone age than they currently are.
#7
Farrukh Saleem, when I read you, my head just starts to spin. Where do I start following your logic? Where does it lead me? I get dizzy trying to figure it out.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
09/24/2008 8:42
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#8
Su-30MKIs, the most advanced, nuclear-capable, long-range, high-endurance, heavy-class Air Dominance Fighters with multi-mission capabilities.
#10
As our national defence strategy appears to have collapsed, our own proxies -- the Taliban and the Jihadis -- are now waging a war on Pakistan itself ......
well it seemed like a good idea at the time...
An Afghan journalist held for nearly a year in Afghanistan said Tuesday he would stop at nothing to get justice to compensate for the "hell" he went through at the torturing hands of the U.S. military.
Jawed Ahmad, a 22-year-old reporter who worked for Canadian TV (CTV), was detained Oct. 26, 2007, at a NATO base near the southern city of Kandahar. He was initially labeled by the U.S. military as "an unlawful enemy combatant" but was released 11 months later without charge.
Ahmad was accused of having contact with Taliban leaders, including possessing their telephone numbers and video footage of them.
Oh, so he was working for Reuters ...
"I want justice. I'll knock the doors of (U.S.) Congress, I'll go to (U.S. President George W.) Bush, I'll go to (Democratic presidential hopeful) Obama, to everywhere and everyone until I get justice," Ahmad said.
"I was tortured and jailed for 11 months and 20 days for doing nothing," he said in Kabul. "They have destroyed my future, my soul. I'll fight until they apologize to me and give me back what I have lost," he said.
Ahmad, also known as Jo Jo, said his U.S. captors had tortured him by depriving him of sleep for nine days, beating him and putting him in a cell with "mentally sick" prisoners who had attacked him and broken two of his ribs. Ahmad also said he was repeatedly kicked, that his head was slammed into a table and forced to stand barefoot in the snow, which led to him to pass out twice.
Asked how he would fight, Ahmad said: "I'm not a terrorist, I have never been a terrorist. I'm a journalist. With the help of other journalists and human rights (organizations), I'll fight for my rights."
His allegations could not be independently verified and the U.S. military headquarters at Bagram rejected the charge. "We don't have any evidence of his mistreatment while in detention here," U.S. Captain Christian Patterson said.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008
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#1
If we are as evil as he claims, then why did we not just kill him and lose the body?
#3
Because we're not the Great Satan. If we were the Great Satan, we'd kill him and when Amnesia International complained we'd say, "Sure. Of course we killed him. We're the Great Satan. It's in the rules, we're allowed to wax him. And you too if you get too yippy. Now scram."
That is, if we were the Great Satan.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/24/2008 2:47
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#5
Kill him and lose the body? Its still not too late. Find someone who needs the money and get a cutout to offer to pay him what the job is worth. Then bye-bye Jawed Ahmad.
Put a tail on him and find out where he goes, then tag him in a quiet spot between point A and Point B. Then:
Just do a snatch and put him in a mailbag.
Do we have any flights to somewhere about 35,000 feet over the Indian Ocean?
Get Guido to handle it. Allocate the money thru Clemenza.
#6
Some terrorists fight with a gun, some with a camera. I'm sure that they don't arrest and jail people for being journalists, though I can think of a few I'd love to see in the slam. Suck it up son, you got busted and did a relatively short stretch for an unlawful enemy combatant.
#7
"I want justice. I'll knock the doors of (U.S.) Congress, I'll go to (U.S. President George W.) Bush, I'll go to (Democratic presidential hopeful) Obama, to everywhere and everyone until I get justice," ..... mess with me and you're messing with the entire trailer park.
#9
Ahmad was accused of having contact with Taliban leaders, including possessing their telephone numbers and video footage of them.
How many of those Taliban leaders have met the booming end of a missile since then, I wonder? And how many of those who didn't will be willing to be video taped by their dear friend Mr. Ahmad, now?
#15
I'm very confused : reporters have souls? Wow. That's very interesting, in fact, it means they are a whole lot more like human beings than I thought, it's as if they only lack the ability to distinguish right from wrong.
#22
"I want justice. I'll knock the doors of (U.S.) Congress, I'll go to (U.S. President George W.) Bush, I'll go to (Democratic presidential hopeful) Obama, to everywhere and everyone until I get justice," ...
Sure, Jawed, talk to everyone, just avoid McCain, the one person who might just explain to you what real torture looks like.
#23
"I want justice. I'll knock the doors of (U.S.) Congress, I'll go to (U.S. President George W.) Bush, I'll go to (Democratic presidential hopeful) Obama, to everywhere and everyone until I get justice," ...
Sure, Jawed, talk to everyone, just avoid McCain, the one person who might just explain to you what real torture looks like.
This is stranger than fiction. Biden is the gift that keeps on giving. He was only off by about 3 1/2 years on FDR's presidency and 10 years on the introduction of TV. Close counts in horseshoes, hand grenades, atomic bombs and dancing.
#2
I guess that Joe was one of the contributors to Richard Lederer's Anguished English. By the evidence, he wrote this:
World War II happened when Hitler and the Knotsies had erotic dreams of conquest all over Europe, but Franklin Roosevelt went over there and put a stop to him. Hitler committed suicide in his bunk, and World War II ended on VD Day.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
09/24/2008 8:01
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#3
Remember when you actually had to get up off your ass to change the channel? I think that was around 1929. Well, whenever it was, it was hell lemme tell ya...
#6
I knew we could count on Slow Joe. Trouble is, his goofs are not well publicized. Nothing in the daily fishrappers. Nothing on Leno or Letterman. SNL should be feasting on this fool. Not one word. All of the shitasses are waayy too busy piling on Palin. Good thing she has a strong character. I see she banned the MSM from an event the other day, and the pigs came out squealing. They couldn't believe she basically told them to f**k-off. Ha !
#7
If my memory doesn't fail me there were already TVs by the end of Twnties. Instead of a a giant vacuum tube and an elctronic ray lighting photophores they used a wheel with mirrors on its outer ridge. The wheel rotated in front of a lamp who want on or off depending on if th point was white or black (or perhaps there was something covering or uncoveriong the lamp don't remember) and because the mirrors were differntly tilted according to the one who was passing in front of the lamp a diifernt point of the creen would become white.
Of course definition was very, very low. Around one hundred lines (over six hundred on electronic TVs).
And in 1928 Philo Farmsworth demonstrated the first all electronic TV ie with CRT. Lincoln used it for broadcasting the Gettisburgh address.
Adviser to the Prime Minister on Interior Rehman Malik has suspended and ordered an inquiry against 25 police officials posted in the Red Zone of Islamabad for negligence, BBC Urdu reported on Tuesday. According to the channel, Malik took his personal vehicle at 2am on Monday night and drove around in the Red Zone for a considerable amount of time, however, none of the police officials deployed in the area took notice of his suspicious behaviour. The advisor called the Islamabad Inspector Genera and Senior Superintendent Police and reprimanded them over their negligence in the most sensitive area of the federal capital.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008
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#1
ION REDDIT > THE US ARMY WANTS TO DEV SOLAR-POWERED COMBAT AIRCRAFT/DRONES. SMAVS = SMUVS = Solar-Powered Micro-Size Armed | Unmanned Vehi-i-i-i-kles, for that KINDLER GENTLER COMBAT AREA SATURATION, SEARCH-AND-DESTROY = SEARCH-AND-RECCE.
#5
He's got my vote - unfortunately, he has the proverbial snowball's chance in Hades of winning. But at least the (R)s are running someone this time - unlike last time when his only opponents were from the Green and Libertarian parties.
A military judge on Monday ordered Ramzi Binalshibh, one of the accused Sept. 11, 2001, plotters, brought to court here by force if necessary, after he refused to leave his cell to attend a hearing in his case.
But the presiding judge, Marine Col. Ralph Kohlmann, also decided to let Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the alleged operational planner of the terrorist attacks, and three other defendants write letters to Binalshibh to encourage his appearance Tuesday morning without recourse to force. Binalshibh's lead attorney said that, after receiving the letters, Binalshibh agreed to appear in court Tuesday.
Binalshibh acted as a liaison between the Hamburg cell that spearheaded the attack and al-Qaeda's leadership in Afghanistan. He refused to come to court Monday for hearings on a series of motions before his trial, which has yet to be scheduled. Binalshibh, who wants to represent himself, has also declined to meet with his military or civilian attorneys.
The pretrial hearings also will cover defense demands for more resources, the production of transcripts of proceedings in Arabic and requests by Binalshibh's counsel for the appointment of clinical and forensic psychologists.
Navy Cmdr. Suzanne Lachelier, Binalshibh's lead attorney, said there are substantial questions about Binalshibh's mental state and his competence to stand trial. She noted that among the medications being administered to him "is a psychotropic drug prescribed to persons with schizophrenia."
If he's that crazy he shouldn't ever be set free ...
Binalshibh's attorneys said it remains unclear whether the detainee has been diagnosed with schizophrenia or if the drug, which they declined to identify because the information is classified, is being used for behavior control.
Two psychiatrists hired by the government examined Binalshibh two weeks ago, but defense attorneys said they have not received a report of the findings. The defense is seeking to have its own independent examination of Binalshibh and asked that the proceedings be suspended until a hearing is held on his competence to stand trial.
The judge rejected the motion, siding with the prosecution. "Our position is that you don't get to opt out," said Army Col. Lawrence Morris, the chief prosecutor. "He is presumed competent."
The prosecution's desire to see Binalshibh brought to court was stymied, however, when the military refused to forcibly extract him from his cell without a formal order from the judge. The behind-the-scenes standoff led the judge to suspend proceedings.
As the judge discussed the legal wrangle with the prosecution, Mohammed raised his hand and offered to meet with Binalshibh in an effort to persuade him to come to court. The other defendants also said they would help out.
This article starring:
Ramzi Binalshibh
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008
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#1
may I suggest a trepanation and lobotomy with a rusty fork?
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/24/2008 8:03
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#2
Everyone knows cyanide cures schizophrenia usually within 24 hours. What seems to be the difficulty?
#3
This circus is one more reason that we should have a "take no prisoners" policy. I know - we give up important intelligence but geez I am getting tired of all this.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
09/24/2008 12:54
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karachi Hotels in Karachi which have been enjoying good times for the past several years with occupancy rate touching 90 per cent, have started feeling the effects of the Islamabad blast as occupancy rate has declined to 30 per cent in recent days.
Pshaw! That was all the way up in Islamabad. You don't have moose-limb crazies in Karachi, do ya?
Since Saturday hotels in the city have witnessed an alarming drop in bookings from foreigners as well as Pakistani nationals and many occupants have checked out before their departure date fearing a Islamabad type attack by a suicide bomber.
Looks like Harold and Maude are vacationing in Mauritania instead ...
Although business is usually sluggish in the holy month of Ramadan as foreigners tend to avoid visiting Pakistan, ...
... good advice the whole year 'round ...
... the deteriorating law and order situation in the country has also not helped the cause of the hotel business in Karachi.
A hotel industry official told Khaleej Times on Tuesday that after the Islamabad bomb blast, the city hotels have been incurring a combined loss of Rs7 million daily while all over the country the loss stood at around Rs30 million per day.
We got some hedge-fund operators who might need a place to stay ...
Karachis three five-star hotels have admitted that they had been flooded with cancellation calls from overseas clients. They are also losing millions of rupees of business daily as private companies and individuals have cancelled Iftar and dinner parties, a major source of income in Ramadan. a sources in the hotel industry said.
Managements of the five-star hotels of the city feared the worst in the coming months for the hotel business unless the law and order situation all over the country and especially improved considerably. If the present law and order situation persists and bomb blasts go unchecked it will be disastrous for the hotel industry and could lead to largescale retrenchements and loss of jobs, he said.
They'll go from five stars to one star, and that might not be low enough.
Meanwhile, hotels in Karachi have adopted more stringent security measures by boosting the number of armed guards at its entrance gates besides restricting movement of cars into car parks. The city police have also placed more personnel around the hotels to provide security.
The management in Islamabad thought they had increased security enough, too ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/24/2008
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#1
Do not stay in a hotel.
I know a lovely little Bed and Breakfast in Swat that's just charming.
The Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) has called for the government to take the nation into confidence on the ongoing war on terror.
"Now, we will have to face the challenge as a nation, as innocent women and children are being killed with impunity," PTI Media Adviser Zahid Hussain Kazmi said in a statement issued here on Monday. "Pakistan, today, is one of the most insecure countries because of the disastrous policies of the rulers following the 9/11 events," he said.
The PTI leader opposed allowing the US or British spy agencies to investigate into the Marriott suicide attack, asking if they were to probe into such acts, why the local agencies were being allocated hefty budgets.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008
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#3
Note that Hussein has received the largest graft payments from these clowns over the past 2 years. Followed by Hillarity. Of course, over a ten year period, good ole Chris Dodd has been taking the most money from them. Bought & paid for. Acorn, the criminal activity in which Hussein participated for a number of years, also gets healthy payouts. Also, LaRaza gets their cut. Funny that Hussein never mentions his Acorn experience, isn't it ? Or that they are frenzied in their current support, signing up dead bodies, illegals, and just plain non-exixting names in every state, especially those which look to be borderline contests. And, no one is stopping them. I would like to see "shoot-to-kill" orders issued on these thugs. Every part of their activity is criminal and very, very dangerous to the continuing existence of our free republic.
Major Japanese banks, fat with cash and nearly free of toxic investments, are spotting opportunity in the global financial mess and snapping up substantial holdings on Wall Street.
Because many Japanese banks and brokerage houses have vast amounts of cash while U.S. banks are increasingly desperate for it, analysts here say more major purchases are likely in coming days and weeks as the financial crisis churns on.
Nomura Holdings on Tuesday announced it would buy the European and Middle Eastern divisions of the failed Lehman Brothers investment bank -- just one day after it had picked up Lehman's Asia-Pacific franchise. Lehman filed for bankruptcy protection last week.
Japan's largest bank, Mitsubishi UFJ, said Monday it would acquire 10 to 20 percent of Morgan Stanley, a deal that could make the Tokyo bank the largest shareholder in a profitable company that is one of the crown jewels of global investing. The deal is valued at up to $8.4 billion, a relative snack for a bank with $1.15 trillion in deposits as of March.
It fits with the bank's recent record of acquiring overseas holdings in showcase financial companies. It spent about $10 billion in August to buy the remaining shares of California's second-largest bank, UnionBanCal Corp. "This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity," Kenichi Watanabe, president and chief executive of Nomura, said in a statement. He added that "our ability to capitalize on this opportunity in spite of such volatile markets reflects our financial strength."
He call the two deals "transformational" for Nomura.
Japan's chance to buy up investment talent that its banks and brokerage firms have long coveted is, in part, a function of turmoil on Wall Street, where investment firms are desperate to cover bad wagers on subprime mortgages and other failed speculation.
But it is also the culmination of the slow, stolid recovery of banks and other financial institutions from Japan's own market meltdown in the 1990s.
"We didn't take part in the good growth of the worldwide economy in the 1990s, and now we are not getting hit by the downward trend," said Oki Matsumoto, chief executive of Monex Group, one of Japan's largest online brokers. "Japan has huge reserves of capital. We are much safer than any other country."
Banks and brokerage houses here spent nearly two decades rebuilding, selling off bad debt and devouring one another in mergers. These mergers, as several weaker banks were digested by stronger rivals, account for the alphabet-soup names of such banks as Mitsubishi UFJ.
Banks here have also changed their credit culture. Before, they lent money on the basis of assets, much as U.S. lenders still do. Now, many banks here analyze the cash flow of their clients before they extend large amounts of credit.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008
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Mauritania's junta, widely condemned since coming to power in a coup last month, could gain Western support by pledging to fight "terrorism" after a grisly attack blamed on an Al-Qaeda-linked group, analysts say. Eleven Mauritanian soldiers and one civilian who went missing following an ambush of a patrol in the country's north on September 14 were found decapitated over the weekend.
Their capture had been claimed by Al-Qaeda's branch in North Africa in a statement on a Web site purporting to be from the group, and Mauritanian authorities have attributed the attack to the organization.
The group, which calls itself Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Magreb, is suspected of carrying out attacks throughout the region, gaining the attention of Western powers.
"The junta has been weakened. It is a military setback, the army has been humiliated," the editor in chief of the Mauritanian weekly Tahalil Hebdo, Isselmou Ould Moustapha, told AFP. "However it is also strengthened in other ways because there is a sympathy with the victims." The junta will seek "sympathy from the West, which is very sensitive to the terrorist threat and often ready to compromise" to help regimes facing Islamic extremism, he added.
Following the attack, France paid tribute to the "resolute commitment in the fight against terrorism" by "the nation and the army," without mentioning the junta.
France, the former colonial power in the northwest African nation, had led international condemnation of the August 6 coup that overthrew the country's first democratically elected leader. Besides France, Mauritania's other main donors - the European Union and the United States - also condemned last month's bloodless coup that ousted President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi. They have called for a return to constitutional order and for the president to be released from house arrest, but some say the September 14 attack could help change the diplomatic tone.
On Sunday, the European Union issued a statement condemning the attack and expressing its "solidarity in the fight against terrorism."
The September 14 attack "will strengthen the junta's arguments that the international community should not sanction or isolate the country because the security situation remains fragile," said Alain Antil, a researcher at the French Institute for International Relations.
A diplomatic source signaled that the mood of the international community could already be changing. "This is a difficult time for Mauritania, but we should not remain passive under the pretext that we do not recognize the military regime," the diplomatic source told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Last week, the European Union invited the junta, led by General Mohammad Ould Abdel-Aziz, for talks related to the situation created by the coup, and the meeting could be held in the second week of October.
Until recently largely untouched by attacks, Mauritania has been shaken by four in under a year blamed on extremists linked to Al-Qaeda. The decapitations of the soldiers, in the middle of Islam's holy month of Ramadan, has sent shock waves throughout the country. "This is the first time something like this has happened in Mauritania," said Antil. "They wanted to shock public opinion."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008
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09/24/2008
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#1
With all the illicit buggering that goes on over there, you'd think they'd be used to it by now. Was it 60% of boys who had been sodomized that I read?
Mortar rounds slammed into a market in Somalia's capital Monday, killing up to 30 people, including children, and overwhelming hospitals with dozens of wounded in the worst fighting in months, witnesses said.
The violence -- extreme even by the standards of this chaotic country in the Horn of Africa -- comes as Islamist insurgents who want to topple the government appear to be gaining significant power. The government, which has failed to assert any real control since it was formed in 2004, had no comment on the bloodshed.
At least 60 people were wounded, including nine children, according to Dahir Dhere, a physician at Medina Hospital. "There is blood everywhere, and human flesh on the walls," said Abshir Mohamed Ali, a shop owner at Mogadishu's Bakara market, where much of the carnage was centered.
Seven members of one family -- a mother, grandmother, four children and an uncle -- were among the dead, according to Sahal Mohamed Ali, who was attending their funeral. "Only the 2-year-old child survived this disaster, with minor injuries," Ali said by telephone from the funeral.
The fighting began after insurgents fired mortar shells at the capital's main airport and the presidential palace, said Ali Mohamed Siyad, who heads the Bakara market traders association. Government forces and their Ethiopian allies responded with mortar rounds and gunfire.
In the past, government officials have suspected that insurgents use the Bakara market as a base. Militants with ties to al-Qaeda have been fighting for control since the government and its Ethiopian allies pushed the Islamists from the capital in December 2006. But the government, riddled with corruption, has failed to deliver basic services and comes under daily attack.
Thousands of civilians have died in the fighting, and hundreds of thousands have fled Mogadishu, contributing to a massive humanitarian emergency. Foreigners, journalists and humanitarian workers are frequently abducted for ransom.
Earlier Monday, Somali forces opened fire on kidnappers to free a German man and his Somali wife, said Muse Gelle Yusuf, governor of the northern port of Bosasso. The couple were in police custody after being freed unharmed, Yusuf said. In Berlin, Foreign Ministry spokesman Jens Ploetner said the couple were doing "well, generally speaking."
Off the country's lawless coast, heavily armed pirates stalk the seas. Fifty-seven ships have been attacked this year, most in the Gulf of Aden. The surge in attacks has prompted the U.S. Naval Forces Central Command to establish a security corridor patrolled by an international coalition of warships.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008
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#1
What else are bored Somali lads to do with themselves on a Monday?
(AKI) - Israeli police has denied the family of the so-called Palestinian 'car terrorist' to hold a traditional Arab funeral for their son on Tuesday.
Qasim Salah al-Mughrabi, 19, an Arab Israeli resident of East Jerusalem on Monday rammed his car into a group of 17 people, mainly Israeli soldiers, in Jerusalem's Tzahal Square, close to the Old City's Jaffa Gate.
After al-Mughrabi's black BMW hit a wall, the youth was shot dead by one of the soldiers who reportedly feared he would restart the car and strike more people.
The family of the attacker claims al-Mughrabi did not have a driver's licence and that the incident was a traffic accident, reported Israeli daily Haaretz quoting Israel Radio. A report said al-Mughrabi had been in an 'agitated state' after a spurned marriage proposal. He had no previous security record, police said.
The police have reportedly barred the family from setting up the traditional Arab mourner's tent at their home. But the family has rejected allegations that al-Mughrabi belonged to any militant organisation.
The Palestinian news agency Maan reports that the attack was claimed by a group called Nisour al-Jalil, while the Palestinian militant organisation Islamic Jihad endorsed the attack.
Terrorist or not, Pops, that's all the justification the Israelis need.
The attack follows two similar incidents by Palestinian residents of Jerusalem. In July an attacker drove a bulldozer into a bus before he was shot dead. Three Israelis were killed and over 30 were injured in the incident. Ten days later another bulldozer drove into several Israeli vehicles, wounding more than 30 people.
This article starring:
Qasim Salah al-Mughrabi
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008
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#1
Again, they should keep a bottle of rancid pork fat around just for such an occasion, then loudly announce that it is pork fat when pouring it on the living or dead Muslim.
(AKI) - The masked men who kidnapped 19 people in Egypt come from the central African country of Chad, according to the Arab television network, Al-Jazeera.
Egypt says negotiations are continuing in a bid to secure the release of the group abducted near the southern city of Aswan on Friday. Five Italians, five Germans and a Romanian, along with eight Egyptians were kidnapped while on safari. The government says they were taken across the border into Sudan, and the hostage takers have demanded a ransom.
Sources told Al-Jazeera that secret service agents from Italy and Germany are working directly with the wife of the tour operator, who was abducted, to free the 19 hostages.
The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Franco Frattini, said on Monday the government was monitoring the situation closely and working with Egyptian officials to free the hostages.
Since news of the kidnapping broke on Monday, there has been a significant fall in the flow of tourists, particuarly European tourists, in the region surrounding Aswan.
Egyptian officials said early reports suggesting the tourists had been freed were premature. The tourists and the Egyptians were abducted near the Gilf al-Kebir plateau, close to the Libyan and Sudanese borders.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008
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(PTI) At least six demonstrators were killed today when police fired on hundreds of people protesting against the civilian casualties during the military operation against the Taliban in Pakistan's restive Swat valley, witnesses said. Angry demonstrators defied curfew, burnt two banks and shouted slogans against the military operation in the area. The security forces opened fire, killing six demonstrators and injuring nine others, witnesses said.
Unidentified gunmen also destroyed a gas plant and electricity grid station, disrupting power and gas supply to the area.
Local residents said that shells fired by the army on suspected militant hideouts usually landed on homes, killing civilians. Five members of a family were killed and several others injured when a mortar hit a house in Charbagh area of Swat yesterday.
The people staged a protest to condemn the civilian casualties. They marched 15 kilometres to Mingora, the headquarters of Swat district, and staged sit-in to block a road.
The protesters also burnt tyres at several places to block traffic. The leaders of the protesters said the operation by the security forces has forced the people to demonstrate. They demanded the withdrawal of the army from Swat.
A statement issued by the army expressed regret over the civilian casualties in the firing by the security forces.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008
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#1
The people staged a protest to condemn the civilian casualties.
Cause everyone knows, there's nothing they hate more than VIOLENCE in the frontier.
The holiest night of Ramadan falls during the last ten days of the month, Muslims believe that the Prophet Mohammad received revelation of the Quran on this night and many believe that this is the night wishes come true.
The Night of Power known as 'Laylat al-Qadr' is one of the most special nights of the Muslim calendar and in Morocco women have already begun preparing for the night their wishes come true.
Women visit spice stores lined with many strange substances, from Indians flies and chameleon eggs the nails, skin, and heads of a variety of birds and animals, in search of spells that promise to subdue their husbands or increase their love or solve any other of a myriad of marital problems.
Some light incense or candles in their houses so the spirits released on this holy night will find the place warm and inviting and will expel its demons.
Sociologists explain that women resort to spells because they believe their demands will be fulfilled, although some warn that the phenomenon is a dangerous tradition since it encourages belief in magic, which is forbidden in Islam.
"Usually spells are used to tame a wayward husband, bring a husband back home, make the relationship more passionate, or sometimes to settle scores amongst women," Dr. Abdul-Rahman Enabi told AlArabiya.net.
Sheikh Abdul-Bari al-Zamzami, member of the Moroccan Scholars Association, said the Laylat al-Qadr tradition was pernicious because vendors take advantage of women and deceive them into believing that magic is the answer to their problems.
Spell-casting and magic are also flagrant violations of the true spirit of Ramadan, a holy month that should be dedicated to prayer and worship, Zamzami added.
Sheikh Mohamed al-Sahabi, chairman of al-Tawheed Institute for Quran studies in the city of Chellah, said that Satan takes advantage of the weaknesses of human beings to seduce them to commit sins and that this is what happens with those women who resort to magic.
"Instead of going to mosques, those women spend their time preparing spells and engaging in meaningless superstition," Sahabi told AlArabiya.net.
Sahabi attributed this phenomenon to ignorance of the Quran and lack of proper knowledge of religion, which paves the way for swindlers to take their money and delude them into making their dreams come true.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008
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#5
Women can make wishes? Cool! Can I wish for the Islamic world to join the twenty first century?
I promise to light a scented candle, pick out some spices from the rack and might even find some bug parts down in the cellar so I can be all good with tradition here.
About 1,000 people protested against Indonesia's anti-pornography bill on the resort island of Bali on Tuesday, prompting the local governor to vow he would ask the president to drop the controversial legislation.
The protesters -- who wore traditional Balinese sarongs and headdresses, and carried banners with the words "Anti-porn bill no, Indonesia yes" -- marched to Governor Made Mangku Pastika's office in Denpasar.
The anti-porn bill is being pushed by a small group of Islamist parties in predominantly Muslim, but officially secular, Indonesia.
But it has been condemned by some of the country's minorities including the Balinese, who are Hindu, as well as Christians, and some tribal groups who favor near nudity as traditional attire.
Critics say that the exceptions to the bill for sexually explicit cultural and artistic material are too vague, and that by allowing civil organizations to play a role in preventing pornography, this could open the door for vigilante groups to take the law into their own hands.
Balinese art incorporates nudity and sexually explicit images, while in the eastern province of Papua some tribal men wear just penis gourds.
Legislators have so far stopped short of passing the bill, which has been discussed for about three years, because critics say it would threaten Indonesia's tradition of tolerance and diversity.
Some parliament members were hoping that the anti-smut bill would be approved this month, but the bill was postponed again last week.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008
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#1
Where can I get one of those penis gourds? Should I put on a tie with my penis gourd when I'm off on a big date?
#2
Here ya go, bigjim. Everything you wanted to know about the...ahem...gourds of Papua. I've seen these guys on the History Channel before. It's hard to believe but apparently they are for real. Either that or they're playing some kind of a joke on the rest of us.
As for Bali, if ever there was a province of a bigger country that needs independence Bali would be it. How about a pr0n revolution?
(SomaliNet) With the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) government forces claiming to have killed around 20 rebels, fresh fighting broke out on Monday between the army and rebel militia in the east of DRC.
Sources say the fighting took place close to Goma, capital of North Kivu province. "Our forces pushed the rebels back on Tuesday morning from Sake towards Mushaki," Major Omar Selamani said, adding that the bodies of about 20 rebel fighters had been seen by the road outside Sake.
According to press reports, Laurent Nkunda's rebel National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP) confirmed the attack, but made no reference to rebel casualties. The UN peacekeeping mission in DR Congo, known by the French acronym MONUC, had issued an urgent appeal to government forces and rebels on Saturday for a ceasefire. "These new clashes would have a dramatic impact on civilians," it said, recalling that 1,3-million people have been displaced by the fighting.
Fighting flared anew August 28 in North Kivu in violation of a peace accord that was signed in January.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008
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Manchester University has decided to digitize and put online a middle-age recipe book compiled by King Richard II's master cooks.
Compiled in 1390, Forme of Cury, is a Middle English language collection of 205 recipes prepared for the royal household. The book will be digitally photographed by the John Rylands University Library. Readers can learn how to cook the long-forgotten dishes such as blank mang (a sweet dish made of meat, milk, sugar and almonds) and the original quiche, known in 14th century kitchens as custard, Guardian reported.
The cookbook will be among the 40 literary treasures, slated to be digitized by a state-of-the-art high-definition camera and placed on the internet.
An early edition of Chaucer's complete Canterbury Tales, John Lydgate's two major poems Troy Book and Fall of Princes and a 500-year-old English translation of the Bible are among the Middle English manuscripts, set to go online.
"The library's Middle English manuscripts are a research resource of immense significance. Yet the manuscripts are inherently fragile, and until now access to them has been restricted by the lack of digital copies. Digitization will make them available to everyone," said director of the John Rylands library, Jan Wilkinson.
"For the first time it will be possible to compare our manuscripts directly with other versions of the texts in libraries located across the world, opening up opportunities for new areas of research. We hope that this will be the beginning of a wider digitization program, which will unlock the tremendous potential of our medieval manuscripts and printed books for the benefit of the academic community and the wider public," he concluded.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008
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#1
If this subject interests you, try these sites:
http://www.godecookery.com/
http://www.elizabethan.org/compendium/
Posted by: no mo uro ||
09/24/2008 5:25
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The book, "To The King's Taste" is a Modern English version of these recipes. Lorna Sass adapted the recipes, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art published it. We got a copy via Amazon.
Thirty years ago, I belonged to The Society for Creative Anachronism, or "How to recreate the Middle Ages without plagues, malnutrition, and outdoor plumbing." I was a feast cook. May I recommend these resources: Madeleine Pelner Cosman, "Fabulous Feasts"; Madge Lorwin, "Dining With Shakespeare"; and Odile Redon et al., "The Medieval Kitchen".
#4
Now, now, JFM. It wasn't so long after the Norman conquest then. They might have brought over some recipes that those vile Saxons hadn't ruined yet.
#6
Remember, JFM, English monarchs mostly spoke either French or Castilian at court (and in their private lives often times as well) until Elizabeth I.
So there had to be SOME French Norman influence present at that time.
And you have to give the English credit for one truly great culinary invention, spit-roasted meat.
(As in an iron spit, not saliva).
Posted by: no mo uro ||
09/24/2008 14:51
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#7
I remeber that in 2004 we visited the D-Day sites. We dined at Bayeux who was in British sector and we had chicken cooked in calvados (brandy from apples)and cheeves. It was one of the best things I have ever eaten and I live in France. Next table was an English who had ordered the same thing than us and loked suspiciously at the contents of his plate a bit like if one of us had to taste roasted insects or similar delicacies while his wife detailed him the contents of his plate in order to overcome his reluctance. An ROTFL moment.
American soldiers accidentally shot and killed the leader of a local U.S.-allied Sunni group Tuesday after coming under attack in a volatile area north of Baghdad, the military said. The shooting comes a week before the Shiite-led Iraqi government begins to assume authority over the Sunni groups known as the Sons of Iraq, or Awakening Councils. The military has credited the Sunni revolt against al-Qaida in Iraq as a key factor in the sharp decline in violence over the past year.
The head of the group in Siniyah, Jassim al-Garrout, was killed after he rushed to the site of an ambush against U.S. forces in the area, which lies between the northern oil-hub of Beiji and Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, according to witnesses and police.
One of al-Garrout's comrades said the group would demand an apology from the Americans. "The Awakening Councils have become targets of al-Qaida, the government and sometimes even the U.S. forces. We do not know our fate and we are feeling lost," Farooq Sami said. "We are undertaking the task of combating terrorists, yet we are left sometimes unpaid and without money. We have participated in maintaining peace and security in our area, yet we sometimes do not get our salaries."
Lt. Gen. Lloyd Austin, the No. 2 U.S. commander in Iraq, said Monday that the Iraqi government will begin next week paying the salaries of about 54,000 of the mostly Sunni fighters in the province surrounding Baghdad.
In Tuesday's incident, the U.S. soldiers were hunting for insurgents and weapons after they were hit by a roadside bomb and small-arms fire near Siniyah, 110 miles northwest of Baghdad, according to an e-mailed military statement.
The troops then came under fire while searching a house and "shot a Sons of Iraq leader who was mistaken for the enemy when he entered the house," said Navy Lt. Cmdr. David Russell, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad. Medical aid was administered, the military said, but the troops were unable to save al-Garrout.
Russell said the U.S. soldiers had warned their Sunni allies to identify themselves and to stay clear of the house.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008
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#1
American soldiers accidentally shot and killed the leader of a local U.S.-allied Sunni group Tuesday after coming under attack in a volatile area north of Baghdad, the military said.
Personally, I believe these "Sons of Iraq" were moonlighting as "insurgents".
#3
Michael Yon described a similar incident with the 1920s Brigade where we shot up a van of allied militia dudes. It boiled down to a combination of suspicious behavior (speeding van in a volatile area) and lack of the day's ID token (specific colored tape in designated areas).
Given how many friendlies of formally allied real military forces have been hit, I'm surprised this doesn't happen more often.
Ulema from different schools of thought on Monday unanimously condemned the truck-bomb attack at Marriot Hotel and termed it unIslamic and against humanity.
Chairman, Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee, Mufti Muneebur Rahman termed the attack a deliberate move to distort the image of the country and Islam. ''Suicidal attacks are against the teachings of any religion, law or ethics in any country and it is condemned by all beliefs,'' he said while talking to APP.
He called upon the government to make concrete steps to investigate the sad incident and try to probe the root-causes of terrorism to eradicate this menace permanently. He said it is a clear-cut ëalarm and challengeí to the security agencies and the government.
Maulana Zafar Abbas Naqvi also expressed deep condolence and sorrow over the colossal tragedy at the Marriot Hotel, which, he said, has left a trail of grievances across the world. ''Suicide can neither be endorsed as Islamic or from ethical point of view while it has largely been condemned across the world,'' he maintained and called it as ''Haraam'' (unfair).
Maulana Zafar said that love for ones homeland and its inhabitants is also part of the religion. ìIf any body could not meet this important part of the religion, he would not be called a Muslim.î He demanded to arrest the culprit behind the gory incident to avoid further killing of innocent people and restore law and order in the country.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008
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#1
So where are we in the script?
Terrorism is unIslamic, sir.
Oh, right. "Terrorism is unIslamic."
Very nice, sir.
(SomaliNet) An international watchdog's annual report said Tuesday that Somalia remains rooted to the bottom of a global corruption index that also features Iraq and Afghanistan among the world's most corrupt countries.
Transparency International's annual Corruption Perceptions Index said rich European countries such as Britain and Italy also have slipped adding that Denmark, Sweden and New Zealand share the honor of being the world's least corrupt countries.
There was little change at the bottom from last year -- with Somalia closely followed, as in 2007, by Myanmar, Iraq and Haiti. Just ahead of them was Afghanistan, which slipped to 176th place from 172nd.
Berlin-based Transparency said the index ''highlights the fatal link between poverty, failed institutions and graft.'' The ranking measures perceived levels of public sector corruption in 180 countries and draws on surveys of businesses and experts. ''In the poorest countries, corruption levels can mean the difference between life and death, when money for hospitals or clean water is in play,'' Transparency chairwoman Huguette Labelle said in a statement, describing the combination of corruption and poverty as ''an ongoing humanitarian disaster.''
Somalia has lacked an effective central government since 1991, leaving the country in the grip of violence and anarchy.
There were some bright spots in the new report: the report showed African powerhouse Nigeria improving to 121st place from 147th last year, reflecting increasingly positive perceptions of the country's new government. Georgia rose to 67th place from 79th, showing that the government's ''early reform efforts were highly effective in earning public confidence and improving the country's international image,'' the report said. But it added that, while petty corruption is generally agreed to have declined, grand corruption is a persistent concern.
Labelle stressed that ''even in more privileged countries, with enforcement disturbingly uneven, a tougher approach to tackling corruption is needed.''
The report pointed to worsening performances by Britain, which slipped to 16th from 12th, and Italy, down to 55th from 41st. It said Britain's perceived anti-corruption credentials suffered from a decision by its anti-fraud agency to halt an inquiry into whether one of the world's largest arms dealers offered bribes in exchange for lucrative contracts in Saudi Arabia; while fraud and corruption cases in the public health system weighed on Italy.
Another decliner in the European Union was Bulgaria -- described as ''still wary of tackling political corruption'' -- which slipped to 72nd from 64th. Finland, tied for first place last year, slid to fifth because of a lack of transparency in election campaign finance.
The U.S. was in 18th place, compared with 20th last year. The report noted that it remains among the lowest-ranked leading industrial countries. ''Contributing factors may include a widespread sense that political finance is in need of reform, with lobbyists and special interest groups perceived to have an unfair hold on political decision-making,'' the report said.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008
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#10
Guess they don't count Louisiana, New Jersey, etc as separate entities [even though their state GDP is probably higher than some countries]. We could probably take several of the top 20 positions just on those.
Labor party leader Ehud Barak has called for an emergency government amid reports that the Israeli party might join Livni's coalition. "At this time Israel needs a national emergency government, not as a slogan but as a real national requirement," Ynet quoted Barak as saying on Tuesday.
Citing senior sources in Labor, Army Radio reported that the party was "on the way to" joining a new coalition led by Kadima's head Tzipi Livni. The Labor party chairman has also said he would not hesitate to call for snap elections if political factions could not reach an agreement. "We will do everything to try and form a stable, functioning government. If we manage to reach true companionship this is what we'll do. If it doesn't work out, we have no fear of general elections," he added.
Barak has received a commitment from Foreign Minister Livni that she would form a stable coalition for more than just a few months and that any decision on a date for a general election would be coordinated between Labor and Kadima. Livni has 42 days to form a new government and replace Ehud Olmert as prime minister. She needs both of the current coalition parties Labor and Shas to sign up for her new government
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008
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#1
Oh. I thought it was Obama. [wink]
Posted by: Bobby ||
09/24/2008 6:03
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(AKI) - Sixteen people, including outspoken journalist Tuncay Ozkan, were arrested in Turkey on Tuesday in relation to a plot to overthrow the government.
Turkish media said Ozkan was strongly opposed to the government and founded a website, "Biz Kac Kisiyiz?" (How many are we?), as a platform to oppose the Islamist policies of the ruling AKP party. He was also the founder and former owner of a Turkish TV channel, Kanalturk.
Gurbuz Capan, a columnist for the anti-AKP Cumhuriyet daily and former mayor, Duygu Dikmenoglu, a former narrator for Kanalturk and Adnan Bulut, former executive of the channel and journalist, were among the detainees, news agencies said. A number of forensic specialists were also detained in the operation, they added.
The latest arrests are part of an ongoing investigation, known as Ergenekon, in which politicians, journalists, intellectuals and retired generals are accused of being members of an illegal organisation planning a military coup.
The Ergenekon operation was revealed in June 2007 when grenades were allegedly discovered in a house in Istanbul's Umraniye district. It is alleged to have exposed an illegal organisation that was planning events that would pave the way for a military coup to overthrow the ruling AKP government.
The detainees will be charged with a number of crimes including "forming an armed terrorist organisation, being a member of a terrorist organisation, and aiding the organisation."
Eighty-six people have been charged with conspiracy against the government in the Ergenekon indictment filed in Istanbul on 14 July 2008. Forty-seven are being held in custody and they are expected to begin appearing in court in October.
Another indictment is expected to be submitted for those detained in the latest two waves of the operation. Last Thursday 15 people, including a well-known actress, were arrested in five Turkish provinces in relation to the plot to overthrow the government. Turkish news agencies said lawyer Levent Temiz, who is also the former head of a nationalist organisation, actress Nurseli Idiz and Seyhan Soylu, an artist manager, were taken into custody in Istanbul.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008
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Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008
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#1
Nice, um, mink.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/24/2008 0:01
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#2
For once I have to agree with PETA-heads: This would be a much better picture if the poor animal friend had been allowed to go free rather than being murdered for its pelt.
Boyz and Girlz, Clearly That's one of dem Hybrid Beavers.
A completely new strain I might also Add... AND Her baby Beaver needs Lotsa fluffing, stroking, and bonding time!
Hey No Problemo... cause..
In the interest of Internal Relations, Ima volunteering RBees thank You Guys.
:)
Fred: Super # 10+++ plus-plus-plus!
~:)
Posted by: Red Dawg ||
09/24/2008 2:15
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#4
All I found on her was that she was a Gypsy Joe Dancer in the 1928 Broadway production of "Whoopee", to which I sincerely add, amen!
I have a question for Red Dawg, though. If this is a Hybrid Beaver, where do you plug it in? Anyway, the photo is absolutely stunning. Thanks, Fred.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
09/24/2008 8:12
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#5
MUST NOT SAY IT...WON'T SAY IT...I CAN'T HELP MYSELF
#7
Actually, guys, I think that's an otter. If that were a mink, there would be MUCH MORE of her exposed. I otter go over there and make sure SHE knows what it is, in case of allergies... or something.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
09/24/2008 11:07
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(SomaliNet) Nigeria's militant group responsible for the abduction of two South Africans released the two men early on Friday, ten days after 36-year-old Dan Laarman and fellow South African, Robert Berrie, were kidnapped in the Niger Delta in Nigeria. "The duo was handed over to government secret service officials at 11pm on Thursday night, who will in turn hand them over to representatives of the South African high commission," Jomo Gbomo, a spokesperson for the group, known as the Movement of the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend), said.
Doesn't it seem as if kidnapping for profit has become a pan-African affair ...
On September 9, a rival militant group seized the two South Africans - along with two British citizens, a Ukrainian and 22 Nigerians - as they travelled to an oil rig on the vessel HD Blue Ocean, at the entrance of the Sambreiro River in the delta, a vast network of mangrove creeks which is home to Africa's biggest oil industry.
Laarman was in Nigeria on a month-long contract with Hydrodive Nigeria to work on Chevron oil rigs.
Mend said it had "rescued" the 27 hostages from the group that had kidnapped them, but would hold on to the remaining 25 hostages until one of its leaders, Henry Okah, was released from prison. The group released the two South Africans because Okah's wife, who lives in South Africa, said the South African government was treating her and her children well.
South Africa's Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa said the South African high commissioner to Nigeria, Stix Sifingo, had confirmed the release of the two South Africans. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, South Africa's Minister of Foreign Affairs, expressed appreciation on behalf of the government to the Nigerian authorities for helping to bring about a resolution to the matter.
Militant groups attack oil installations and kidnap expatriate workers, saying they are fighting for a greater share of profits from oil exploitation for the poor.
Laarman's parents, Will and Ingrid, said from their Cosmos home on the Hartbeespoort Dam near Pretoria, that they were overjoyed when they received the news on Friday. "When I heard Dan's voice over the phone on Friday afternoon, it felt as if a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. It was a very emotional experience for me," Ingrid said.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008
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Bomb blasts including the attack on the Marriott hotel in Islamabad have nothing to do with jihad but are blatant acts of terrorism, which must be eliminated, Jamatud Dawa Pakistan head Hafiz Muhammad Saeed said on Tuesday. Talking to Express News Saeed condemned the Islamabad suicide bombing and said that he did not think that the government would be able to investigate the bombing. Opposing cross-border raids by United States-led forces into Pakistan, he said that the US should ask the Pakistani government to try any person wanted by the US on suspicion of terrorism.
This article starring:
HAFIZ MUHAMAD SAID
Jamatud Dawa Pakistan
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008
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(AKI) - Iranian Christian convert Ramtin Soudmand faces the death penalty after being jailed for the crime of 'ertedad' or abandoning the Muslim faith.
Ramtin's father Hossein Soudmand, a Protestant pastor, was executed almost 20 years ago for converting to Christianity and refusing to deny his new faith. Hussein Soudmand, an Assemblies of God pastor and a Muslim convert to Christianity, was executed in December 1990.
Married with two children, Soudmand was detained by security officials in Mashad about a month ago.
"The authorities have not yet charged my brother with any crime, but we fear that his charges will be formalised after the execution of the sentence, like what happened with my father," said Ramtin's sister, Rashin in an interview with Adnkronos International (AKI).
The Iranian Parliament is currently considering a law to make apostasy or the renunciation of the Muslim faith a crime. It is expected to be passed soon.
"The thing that bothers us the most is the silence by political and religious authorities of Christian countries, and not the attitude of the Islamic Republic that does not recognise the freedom of its citizens to choose their own faith," Rashin said.
Rashin said her brother had been allowed limited contact with his family since his arrest. "Since Ramtin was taken by some undercover police, he was allowed to talk to his wife and our mother on only two occasions, but never for more than a couple of minutes," Ramtin's sister, Rashin, told AKI.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008
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#2
Ramtin's father Hossein Soudmand, a Protestant pastor, was executed almost 20 years ago for converting to Christianity and refusing to deny his new faith.
Now that, for any muslims that may be reading, is the true definition of martyr. Not the splodeydopes we keep hearing referred to as martyrs.
#3
Now let's, just for a moment, assume the story that Oblah, blah, blahma attended a "Muslim school" beyond just a "present" vote has some substance....any problem here?
#4
Truth be told, Christians have never found a better recruiting tool than to be murdered for being Christians.
Especially now, it looks to the typical Muslim on the street as a sign of weakness in their leaders. Even if they know nothing about Christianity, they want to find out what makes the Mullahs so scared.
There has been no significant success in the unprecedented anti-corruption drive in the last 19 months in Bangladesh, which has ranked 10th among the most corrupt countries this year.
Bangladesh has jumped up three positions to 147th with 2.1 points in the annual global corruption perceptions index (CPI) of the Transparency International (TI) with a mere 0.1-point increase. Kenya, Russia and Syria have scored the same.
Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) said the shift in position bears almost no significance in terms of reining corruption; it is rather the result of decline in other countries' status.
The international anti-corruption watchdog's Bangladesh officials blamed three factors for the country's poor score--absence of administrative reforms, influence on the judiciary, and insecurity and uncertainty in business and investment.
"Point-one increase is not at all statistically significant," Prof Muzaffer Ahmad, chairman of TIB board of trustees, said at a press conference at the Jatiya Press Club yesterday. The CPI 2008 was unveiled at the press conference.
Pointing to an apparent failure in maintaining the integrity of the legal process, TIB Executive Director Iftekharuzzaman said, "If the oversight institutions could work properly, for example, if the judiciary were not influenced, Bangladesh's position could have been better in the index."
He said at one point of the anti-corruption drive, no graft accused got bail although they were expected to. "But in a completely opposite scene later, we saw the accused being freed from jail on bail as if it was a procession," he added.
Somalia remains at the bottom of the list as the most corrupt country like last year, jointly followed by Myanmar and Iraq. Haiti is in third position while Afghanistan fourth from the bottom.
Denmark, New Zealand and Sweden have jointly ranked as the least corrupt countries with 9.3 points. Singapore followed them with 9.2 points, and Finland and Switzerland with 9 points.
The only other Asian country among the top 20 least corrupt countries is Hong Kong, which ranked 12th with 8.1 points.
Of the other South Asian countries, Pakistan ranked 14th from the bottom, Nepal 16th, the Maldives 17th, Sri Lanka 21st, India 22nd and Bhutan 36th.
Having scored 8.6 points in 2006 and 8.4 last year, the UK has scored 7.7, marking a serious deterioration hardly seen in the 14-year history of CPI. This has been attributed to the UK government's intervention into Serious Fraud Office's investigations into BAE Systems' alleged bribing of Saudi officials, the TI said.
The annual CPI was first released in 1995 and has since become most well known of the TI tools. The index includes 180 countries for ranking on their perceived degree of prevalence of political and administrative corruption determined in 14 surveys conducted by internationally reputed institutions.
The data used in the CPI reflect corruption and bribery, diversion of funds, misuse of public office for private or political gain, extent of corruption in the government, public sector corruption, government's anti-corruption efforts and achievements and its capacity to punish and contain corruption, and undocumented extra payments collected in the discharge of government functions, judiciary, executive level, and tax collection.
Bangladesh has ranked as the most corrupt country for five consecutive years since 2000, and third in 2006. The country's ranking went up four positions last year with 2 points.
"Bangladesh's apparent upward movement in ranking from seventh to tenth does not necessarily indicate any notable better performance over last year, except that other countries may have performed worse," the TI said.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008
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Taro Aso, a former foreign minister who delivers snappy speeches, reads manga comics and talks tough about China, was selected Monday to be Japan's next prime minister.
"Who's the new prime minister?"
"Some Aso."
When his selection by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is formalized Wednesday in parliament, Aso, 68, a blue-blooded party stalwart whose grandfather was a prime minister, will be the third Japanese leader chosen by party officials in two years.
"Who else but our party can achieve policies in order to address the public's concerns?" Aso said after easily winning a party vote that had been viewed as a sure thing from the moment Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda abruptly announced Sept. 1 that he would quit.
As prime minister, Aso will not have to call an election until the fall of next year.
But Japan's economy is on the brink of recession, parliament is deadlocked and there is widespread public dissatisfaction with the ruling party. As a result, Aso may quickly dissolve parliament and schedule a nationwide election before his personal popularity dissipates. Recent polls show his approval ratings are slightly above 40 percent.
There has been widespread speculation that an election could be called as early as next month, although Aso said last week that would be too soon, given the turmoil in world financial markets.
In recent speeches, Aso has advocated the LDP's traditional cure-alls for what ails Japan -- tax cuts and increased public spending, especially on projects in rural areas that are the party's historic base.
He has warned about the dangers of secretive Chinese military spending, but he also reassured China that he would "not view with hostility" that country's economic development. China is Japan's biggest trading partner.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008
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#1
Hey, Fred that is my line.
"Millie, get that Aso from Japan on the phone."
"Yes sir, Mr. President".
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
09/24/2008 13:21
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(SomaliNet) The Scotland Yard said on Tuesday that British police are investigating a suspected petrol bomb attack at the Iranian Embassy in London,. Scotland Yard said the attack on Monday sparked a minor fire which caused little damage to the embassy. No one was injured. Meanwhile, officers believe arsonists targeted the embassy. They are examining CCTV footage for clues.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008
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Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday accused the United States of encircling his country, and said Washington was the real threat to world stability. Ahead of a speech to the General Assembly of the United Nations, the Iranian leader defended his confrontational stand against the West and Israel.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008
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#1
ION FREEREPUBLIC > FEAR GROWS IN LEBANON AS SYRIA MOVES 10,000 ARMY TROOPS TO LEBANESE BORDER.
#3
Right, cause we're the ones that are always making threats of annihilation on TV, believe that we have halo's and sit around waiting for a guy to pop out of a well and lead us to world domination.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008
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#1
The African Union has asked the U.N. Security Council to freeze the ICC case against al-Bashir, which can do so if it deems the prosecution as a threat to peace and security. While the Security Council took note of the request in July, it had said it would revisit it later.
Pakistani troops backed by helicopter gunships and artillery killed some 60 militants close to the Afghan border, officials said Tuesday, underlining the government's intent to confront extremists after the Marriott hotel bombing.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said terrorists are "enemies of Islam with no faith" and vowed to get tough on militants sheltering in the border region. "We will not allow them to challenge the writ of the government and create a law of the jungle and a life of the stone age," he told a gathering of Muslim scholars in the capital, Islamabad.
The fighting Monday and Tuesday comes at a time of tension between the U.S. and Pakistan over American military attacks on militants based in the lawless tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan.
Washington has urged Pakistan to assert its control in the region, which is a haven for al-Qaida and Taliban militants who cross into Afghanistan to attack American and NATO troops as well as for Pakistani extremists who are striking targets in Pakistan.
The bloodiest fighting this week has been in the Kohat region, where the military deployed helicopter gunships and artillery in killing at least 50 militants, an army spokesman, Maj. Murad Khan, said. One solider also died, he said. Khan said the military regained control of a mountain road tunnel seized by insurgents several days ago.
In the nearby Bajur tribal region, security forces killed at least 10 militants Tuesday in the latest round of a major offensive there, government official Iqbal Khattak said.
Al-Qaida or the Taliban are suspected in Saturday's truck bombing at the Marriott hotel in Islamabad. The attack killed 53 people, among them the Czech ambassador and two U.S. Defense Department employees, and wounded about 270. Some officials believe the bombing may have been a response to the Bajur offensive, which the army says has killed more than 700 suspected militants since August. The region is believed to be a possible hiding place for Osama bin Laden.
Pakistan's army spokesman, Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas, has described Bajur as a "mega-sanctuary" for militants and said the military was determined to flush them out. However, a series of recent cross-border operations apparently conducted by U.S. forces, including missile strikes and a ground assault, have highlighted Washington's concerns that the Pakistani government is unwilling or incapable of rooting out extremists.
The incursions have angered many Pakistanis and drawn officials protests that Washington is violating the country's sovereignty, something President Bush acknowledged before meeting with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari in New York on Tuesday. "Your words have been very strong about Pakistan's sovereign right and sovereign duty to protect your country, and the United States wants to help," Bush said. "Pakistan is an ally, and I look forward to deepening our relationship."
Meanwhile, at least six people -- including a 12-year-old boy -- were killed and a bank set afire Tuesday during rioting in Mangora in the northwestern Swat Valley, police and a hospital official said. It was unclear how the people died, but police said officers fired warning shots trying to control a mob that was protesting the lack of electricity and natural gas in the town. Police officer Mohibullah Khan said militants bombed the power station and gas pipeline to the town last week.
In Geneva, the U.N. refugee agency asked for donations of $17 million to aid more than 300,000 Pakistanis who have fled fighting and floods near the Afghan border. The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees has distributed supplies to 84,000 people displaced by floods in northwestern Pakistan and could provide shelter and other relief to more than three times that number if it had more money, agency spokesman William Spindler said. Pakistan's government estimates 90,000 people chased from their homes by fighting are living as refugees along the Afghan border in North West Frontier Province and a similar number are displaced in the northern part of the province around Swat, Spindler said.
The deadly bombing of the Marriott continued to affect operations of diplomatic missions, aid groups and other organizations. British Airways said Tuesday it "indefinitely" suspended flights to Pakistan "in light of the current security situation." A British Embassy spokesman, Aidan Liddle, said a company that runs four visa application centers for the embassy closed them pending a security review.
In Washington, the Pentagon identified one of two Americans killed in Marriott bombing as Air Force Maj. Rodolfo I. Rodriguez, 34, of El Paso, Texas.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008
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#1
killed some 60
Applying the Pakistani correction factor, I conclude they killed 2, or maybe 3.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has dismissed Central Bank Governor Tahmasb Mazaheri and his replacement will be announced Wednesday, according to a Central Bank official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008
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#1
Ahmadinejad must have sensed a Wall Street connection. Or was it a careless wink at depositors?
Benazir Bhutto had alleged in her posthumous book that Qari Saifullah, who had played a lead role in a 1995 failed coup plot to topple her second government, had masterminded the October 18, 2007 deadly suicide attack on her welcome procession in Karachi
Shortly before her assassination, Benazir Bhutto was putting final touches to her hard-hitting memoirs: "Reconciliation: Islam, Democracy and the West", which were published by Simon & Schuster six weeks after her death.
Continued on Page 49
This article starring:
QARI SAIFULLAH AKHTAR
Harkatul Jehadul Islami
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09/24/2008
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At least three people were killed in roadside bomb attacks across Iraq on Tuesday after insurgents bombed the house of a Sunni MP in the northern city of Mosul in a separate attack, officials said. One man was killed and three were wounded when a bomb targeting an Iraqi Army patrol exploded in central Baghdad, a police source said.
A motorist was killed and three others were wounded when their car was blasted by a roadside bomb in Iskandariyya district, just south of the capital, police said.
In Mosul, the house of Sunni MP Hashem Yahiya al-Tai came under attack on Monday, his Iraqi Islamic Party said on Tuesday. Tai was in Baghdad when the attack took place, but several civilians were wounded when insurgents bombed his house, a statement from the party said.
"The security situation is getting worse in Nineveh" Province of which Mosul is the capital, it said. "After journalists, it is now parliamentarians who are being targeted," the party said, adding that Tai's house was badly damaged in the blast.
The Iraqi Islamic Party is the leading party in the National Concord Front, the main Sunni bloc which holds 40 seats in the 275-member Parliament.
Insurgents continue to launch sustained attacks in Mosul and the surrounding province of Nineveh. A number of attacks have also targeted Iraqi journalists in the city. Last week four members of a TV crew from the private Al-Sharqiyya channel were kidnapped and killed by gunmen in Mosul as they were filming a Ramadan show.
An American soldier was also killed on Tuesday, the US military said. "The soldier was killed as a result of a small-arms fire attack west of Salman Pak," just south of Baghdad, the military said in a statement without elaborating.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008
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An outlaw was killed in a shootout between his cohorts and police at Teltupi village in Harinakundu upazila eary on Tuesday.
No, we really don't know where that is.
The dear departed deceased was identified as Fazar Ali, 47, area commander of outlawed party JSD Gonobahini.
He was wanted on twelve systems in eight cases, including of four murders, police said.
Nope, his mother didn't love him.
Acting on a tip-off, ...
... the ever-helpful Mahmoud the Weasel strikes again ...
... police arrested Fazar from his house in Teltupi village on Monday midnight.
"Teltupi Village. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be careful."
That's why it's a 'shootout' and not an 'encounter' or a 'cross-fire' ...
According to his painfully extracted statement, ...
... how many times did he fall down the stairs again ...
... police conducted operation in a killing brick field of the village along with Fazar at about 2:15 am.
Always in the 'Back of the Brickyard' upazila ...
"As soon as police reached the spot ...
"Which spot?"
"That spot!"
... accomplices of Fazar fired towards them ...
... don't worry, you'll never see or hear from them again, they're polite that way ...
...forcing the law enforcers to fire back that triggered a gun battle", said an eyewitness account of police.
And the forensics people didn't recover even a single spent round of bullet ...
Fazar was caught in the line of fire ...
THWIP!
... while fleeing ...
... hard to keep the feets fleeing when you've caught a round of bullet ...
... and received bullet wound.
... right behind the ear.
He succumbed when he was taken to upazila health complex.
I don't even want to ask what kind of health care is available at the 'upazila health complex'.
Police recovered one shutter gun and 10 bullets from the scene.
Borrowed the shutter gun from the RAB. Sure hope Lt. Chaudray signed the chit ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/24/2008
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A group that claimed responsibility for bombing the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad had not previously been heard of, but Pakistani intelligence eavesdroppers heard Al Qaeda operatives celebrating the attack. The suicide truck bomb that killed at least 53 people and gutted the hotel on Saturday has raised fresh fears about worsening security in Pakistan. A group calling itself Fidayeen-e-Islam (Partisans of Islam) claimed responsibility in a call to an Islamabad-based correspondent for Al Arabiya, an Arab news channel. "It's either new or it might be a distraction," said a senior intelligence officer. "What we do know is that there was a lot of celebration among the lower ranks of Al Qaeda." Three members of a Pakistani group known for Al Qaeda ties were caught in Gujranwala as a result of electronic surveillance hours after the Marriott blast, according to another intelligence officer. Arabiya reported that the group that claimed responsibility issued several demands, including that Pakistan ends co-operation with the United States. Many Pakistanis already say that the alliance with the US incites militant violence and Pakistan should not be fighting 'America's
war'.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan
#1
Pakistan should not be fighting 'America's
war'.
Well, if Pakistan weren't fighting Afganistan's war, then there wouldn't be any problem.
The family of a Palestinian shot dead after his car plowed into pedestrians at a busy Jerusalem intersection challenged on Tuesday Israeli police allegations that he had carried out a deliberate terror attack.
But police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said authorities were convinced the attack was politically motivated. "We're 100 percent sure ... he deliberately drove into people," Rosenfeld said.
Israeli police on Tuesday beefed up patrols around Jerusalem, hours after
More than a dozen soldiers, on a late-night excursion to the city ahead of the Jewish New Year next week, were injured in Monday's incident. No Palestinian group has made a credible claim of responsibility.
Police, including undercover agents, were out on Jerusalem's streets in larger numbers, on the lookout for suspicious activity and conducting spot checks of Palestinian pedestrians and vehicles, Rosenfeld said. Officers were also patrolling Arab neighborhoods of the city, including village of Jabel Mukaber, where the driver had lived.
Police announced Monday night that the incident was a terrorist attack, the third of its kind using vehicles against Israelis in the city since July and involving Palestinians from East Jerusalem and have wide freedom of movement.
The driver of the black BMW was identified as Qassem Mughrabi, 19. Mahmoud Mughrabi, 49, his father, said his son did not have a driving licence and apparently lost control of the car. "My son was murdered, they killed him. He did not carry out a terrorist attack. This was a car accident."
Mughrabi, owner of a trucking business, said at his home where police had barred him from setting up a traditional Muslim mourning tent. Mughrabi said he wished the soldiers a speedy recovery, a remark not typical of parents of Palestinian militants killed by Israeli forces.
IDF Lieutenant Elad Amar, who shot and killed Qassem Mughrabi, said Tuesday that he fired a hail of bullets into the BMW after it hit a wall, because he feared that the driver would restart the car and strike more passers-by. Amar told Israel Radio that the driver pointed the car directly at the group of soldiers and "floored it. I didn't see his face, just the car as it neared us."
"He ran into them, they flew into the air, some landing on the hood, people you were laughing with, joking with, just a moment before," Amar said. "They're my friends and I love them."
Army Radio said the Palestinian terrorist was shot 11 times.
This article starring:
Qassem Mughrabi
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008
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#1
Hard to blame them for thinking they'll eventually win.
(SomaliNet) The United Nations children's fund (UNICEF) on Monday urged the immediate release of 90 children kidnapped in the Democratic Republic of Congo by rebels from Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). ''UNICEF demands the unconditional release of the abducted children," said Julien Harneis, Unicef's chief of field operations in the eastern DRC.
UNICEF cited local authorities as saying the children were snatched from their schools on September 17 in simultaneous attacks on the eastern villages of Kiliwa, Duru, and Nambia. The children are presumed to have been taken to nearby LRA bases in the forest, it added. "These children were taken from their schools; Unicef is very concerned that they will now be forced to fight or support fighting, putting their lives at risk," Harneis said.
A village chief and two Italian missionaries were also abducted in the LRA attacks, during which at least three civilians were killed, health centres were looted and houses burnt.
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09/24/2008
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World oil prices dipped slightly on Tuesday in choppy deals as traders banked profits, one day after New York crude had soared more than $16 for its biggest-ever daily jump. The massive price surge on Monday was driven partly by hopes that a US plan to buy tainted mortgage-related assets would save the global economy from collapse and thus maintain strong demand for energy, dealers said.
The rally was also driven by technical factors because the contract for New York oil deliverable in October had expired on Monday.
On Tuesday, New York's new main contract, light sweet crude for November delivery, shed $2.10 to $107.27 a barrel. The separate October contract had soared $16.37 a barrel to close at $120.92 on Monday after hitting an intra-day high point of $130. On Tuesday it fell back to $120.92. Monday's price surge in New York exceeded the previous record one-day rise of $10.75 dollars on June 6.
Oil had also been buoyed by the weak US currency, which makes dollar-priced oil cheaper for buyers using stronger currencies, stimulating demand.
Elsewhere on Tuesday, Brent North Sea crude for November delivery dived $2.26 to $103.78 a barrel, after jumping by $6.43 on Monday.
"Oil was lower, correcting after yesterday's meteoric and historic rise, with concerns about the US toxic debt bailout plan growing," said Michael Davies at the Sucden brokerage in London. "There are many, including us, who feel that the optimism we have seen since news of the plan broke last Thursday is unfounded.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008
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#1
So basically the traders made an ass of themselves for all the world to see? When the price goes on a rip like that, something is wrong, but market fundamentals didn't really warrant that. What an embarrassment.
NWFP Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani on Monday said a network of would-be suicide bombers was building up in the Punjab and there were also reports of women's recruitment for the purpose.
The NWFP governor, accompanied by Fata Additional Chief Secretary Habibullah Khan, was giving a briefing on the situation of the areas at the Governor's House. Punjab Governor Salman Taseer was also present.
Governor Salman Taseer said the total number of militants in Fata was estimated at 10,000 including foreigners. He said each militant was paid between Rs 20,000 and 30,000 per month while the annual aid received by the militants was estimated at Rs 3.5 billion. He said militants were scattered across the country. He disclosed the main supply line of militants to Fata was from religious seminaries in Southern Punjab, particularly Bahawalpur and DG Khan divisions.
Taseer said some battle-hardened students from Southern Punjab were now leading militant gangs in FATA. Taseer urged the nation to back the government in eliminating the militants and the trend from the country. He also asked the media to tell both sides of the story and positively focus on military personnel's heroic struggle.
Terming ongoing military operations in Fata a regular war, Taseer cautioned the masses against ignoring the threat posed by militants. "This is not just a war restricted to Fata, it can spill into other parts of the country if not checked timely," he warned.
Responding to queries by journalists, the NWFP governor termed Fata the defence line of Pakistan, saying the war against insurgency could continue for an indefinite period. He said militants in Swat were on the run and successful action had forced many into laying down arms. He said the government had rescued around 0.3 million peaceful people from the conflict-ridden area.
Earlier, Fata Additional Chief Secretary Habibullah Khan said militants were highly organised, trained and battle-hardened.. He said the existing system of governance in Fata had been out-gunned and out-funded by the new phenomenon which had the full backing of foreign elements. He said the militants were divided into various groups, including al-Qaeda, Afghan Taliban, Pakistani Taliban, local non-Taliban groups, religious zealots and criminals.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008
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(AKI/DAWN) - Pakistani police took custody of a 12-year-old girl allegedly tortured by her husband and sent her to a women's police station. "We picked Shahnaz after receiving information that her husband was torturing her," Sartaj Jagirani of the Waleed police station told Pakistani daily Dawn. She would be sent to hospital for a medical check-up, he added. Her husband Abdul Latif Brohi and brother Aijaz Siyal have been arrested.
Shahnaz told Dawn that her brother Ismail had sold her in Hyderabad for 80,000 Pakistani Rupees (700 Euro) when she was only five years old.
Shahnaz told Dawn that her brother Ismail had sold her in Hyderabad for 80,000 Pakistani Rupees (700 Euro) when she was only five years old. She was rescued about three months ago on high court's orders on a petition filed by her brother Ajiaz who later sold her to Latif Brohi for 125,000 Pakistani Rupees (1000 Euro) and a marriage was solemnised three months ago.
She alleged that her husband was a drug addict who used to beat her and keep her in locked room. She also said that her in-laws used to threaten to kill her. She said she had no mother and would prefer to live with her father after her divorce. Shahnaz said she had five married sisters.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008
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#1
brother Ismail had sold her in Hyderabad for 80,000 Pakistani Rupees (700 Euro) brother Ajiaz who later sold her to Latif Brohi for 125,000 Pakistani Rupees (1000 Euro)
Nice little racket they've got going there.
Pakistan improved slightly its ranking on Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) released on Tuesday, and is now the 46th most corrupt country in the world.
"Pakistan has improved its ranking jumping from 138th of 180 countries to 134th, but the government still needs to save the country from a disaster," Transparency International Chairman Adil Gillani said during a press conference at the Karachi Press Club. The CPI measures perceived levels of public sector corruption in a country and is a composite index based on surveys among experts and businessmen. The 2008 CPI scored 180 countries on a scale from zero (highly corrupt) to ten (highly clean). For the second year running, Somalia, Myanmar and Iraq received the poorest marks, with Somalia scoring 1.0 and Myanmar and Iraq scoring 1.3 each.
Denmark retained its ranking as the world's least corrupt nation, alongside Sweden and New Zealand. All scored 9.3. "An analysis of Pakistan and India's CPIs for the last 10 years shows a strongly inverse relationship between perceived corruption levels and the economy," Gillani added. "In 1998, Pakistan and India's reserves were at $1.6 billion and $26 billion respectively and in 2008 they are at $9.1 billion and $237 billion respectively," Gillani said, adding that besides an increase in the gap of foreign reserves of Pakistan and India, Pakistan's trade deficit has also increased manifold.
Gillani said that despite ratifying the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) on August 9, 2007, Pakistan has not initiated any reform to ease out the regulatory burden of doing business in the last one year. "The country needs immediate enforcement of good governance and a transparent administration to counter the acute problems of terrorism, hyperinflation, reduction of the KSE-100 index, the 20-percent devaluation in currency and the increase in the dollar's value from Rs 64 to Rs 77 due to the bad governance during the last 10 years," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008
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The government should review its policy on war on terror by discussing it in parliament, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Fazlur Rehman said on Tuesday. Addressing a news conference after his arrival from Saudi Arabia, he said Interior Adviser Rehman Malik should admit the state's failure to pre-empt the Marriott hotel attack instead of claiming that the country's top leadership was saved due to the last-minute change of the venue. The interior adviser has said the government had planned an iftar dinner in the hotel, but the venue was changed to Prime Minister's House at the last moment. The hotel's owner has denied Malik's claim, saying there was no booking for such a dinner.
This article starring:
FAZLUR REHMAN
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl
Interior Adviser Rehman Malik
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008
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The security forces in Darra Adamkhel on Monday claimed to have killed six militants in the restive town at a public sector primary school in Torchapper area while a soldier was killed and another injured in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast.
Also, the security forces started search operation in the gun-manufacturing town and recovered arms and ammunitions from some houses in Qasimkhel area of the semi-tribal region. Tribal sources told The News that the security forces continued shelling from Kohat and Speena Thana throughout the day on Monday.
During the shelling one school at Torchapper area was targeted in the evening, which, the security forces said, was being used by the militants as their base camp.Official sources said six militants were killed in the incident. However, the claim could not be confirmed independently.
Earlier in the wee hours of Monday, a vehicle of the security forces hit an IED that was planted by the militants on main road near Sanikhel area. The blast killed a soldier identified as Hameedullah of 23-AK unit of Pakistan Army while Hawaldar Sadiq sustained injuries.
The body and the injured soldier were brought to Combined Military Hospital (CMH), Kohat. Moreover, two gunship helicopters were seen hovering over the restive town all the day. However, they did not resort to shelling, the tribal sources informed.
On the other hand, the local tribesmen have voiced concern over the recovery of arms and ammunitions in Qasimkhel area. They said that majority of population of Darra Adamkhel was involved in the business of arms and ammunitions.
Due to operation their business had already come to a complete standstill, resulting in serious financial losses for them. While most of the businessmen had shifted their arms to their houses in order to avoid looting of their shops during the operation. The tribesmen had stored their arms in basements in their houses, they said.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008
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Credit ratings firm Moody's cut its ratings outlook for Pakistan's government bonds to negative from stable because of the country's depleting foreign currency reserves as economic reforms are hit by political mayhem.
Moody's analyst Aninda Mitra said on Tuesday he was concerned about arrears on sovereign debt and missed repayments as Islamabad's access to foreign exchange worsens.
Pakistan's foreign currency reserves stood at $8.91 billion on September 13, barely enough to cover two months of imports at a time when alarming levels of current account and trade deficits could require emergency funding, analysts said.
The current account deficit is running well ahead of target. It widened to $2.57 billion in July and August -- equivalent to about 1.6 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and more than a quarter of the government's full-year target of 6 percent of GDP.
"The outlook has been changed mainly due to the deteriorating economic and law-and-order situation of Pakistan," said Muhammad Imran, head of research at First Capital Equities Ltd.
Moody's action follows Standard & Poor's (S&P) in June cutting its rating to B from B-plus. S&P has a negative outlook on its rating, meaning another downgrade is on the cards.
The country's financial markets have taken a beating -- the stock market which rallied for six years has slumped 35 percent since the beginning of the year and the rupee is off more than 21 percent since January, hovering at record lows.
Offshore sources: Analysts say the tensions between Pakistan and its largest donor, the United States, over US military strikes against militants on Pakistani territory are adding to concerns because of their possible impact on US foreign aid to the South Asian country.
Moody's said any delays in receiving assistance from offshore sources, which have already contributed to Pakistan's bleak external position, would be damaging.
"It remains unclear how Pakistan would rebuild its external liquidity in the medium-term, unless either considerably larger amounts of foreign assistance were disbursed, or foreign investor sentiment improved sharply," Mitra said.
Moody's also lowered the outlook on its B3 foreign currency bank deposit ceiling to negative, while the outlook on the Ba3 foreign currency bond ceiling remained negative.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
Who in the hell is buying Pakistani government bonds?
#5
That's the first thing that came to my mind tu3031, seems like they are going pretty much day to day to me. If they don't get a big aid package this year they will prolly go into default.
French prosecutors have started building a case against six alleged Somali pirates captured in the Indian Ocean this month in a commando operation to rescue a couple held aboard a hijacked yacht. Special forces stormed aboard the Carre d'As on September 15 to rescue its crew, a French couple who had been abducted nearly two weeks earlier. One suspect was killed and six captured and flown to France.
It was the second French operation against Somali pirates this year, and President Nicolas Sarkozy has vowed to get tough with the gangs who prey on shipping in the waters off east Africa's most troubled state.
Prosecutors in Paris have now opened an inquiry, which a judicial source said would be conducted by gendarmerie officers with a view to charging the six captives with hijacking, hostage-taking for ransom and conspiracy.
How about charging them with 'piracy'?
A legal source said that the gang had demanded $2 million for the safe return of the boat and its crew but that no talks had been entered into before the commando raid.
The charges carry life sentences and are the same as those facing six more Somalis captured in April in an earlier raid launched by French commandos after another French-owned yacht was captured and its crew ransomed.
Sarkozy has promised that French forces will continue to fight piracy and France has called for the creation of an international naval patrol to protect shipping lanes in the Gulf of Aden and escort humanitarian aid to Somalia.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008
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Top|| File under:
#1
It's a big ocean. Remember that the next time you capture these guys.
#3
Guillotines aren't anywhere as attention-getting as a body hanging from the Eifel Tower. It might also work on some of France's current non-French residents. Public hangings act as a deterrance, whether the EU is willing to acknowledge it or not. Hanging someone for a capital crime such as piracy or murder can't be called racist, as hard as some people might try to push it, especially if you hang anybody that commits a sufficiently heinous crime, regardless of race, creed, color, religion, sex, national origin, or lack of personal hygiene.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
09/24/2008 21:14
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A senior negotiator for the Palestinian group Fatah said on Tuesday that Fatah was no longer asking rival group Hamas to restore the status quo that existed in Gaza before the Islamists took control in June 2007.
Nabil Shaath, the head of a Fatah delegation in Cairo for talks with Egyptian mediators on a Palestinian reconciliation package, said Fatah was taking a more flexible position.
For months Fatah has said that reconciliation with Hamas depends on reversing what Palestinian President and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas has repeatedly called a Hamas coup in Gaza. But Shaath told Reuters: "We are not calling for this (the reversal of the coup)... We are not asking anybody to apologize. We are not asking anybody to go back to where we were. We want to go forward, not backward."
He said Fatah, which continues to control the Palestinian Authority and the West Bank, accepted an Egyptian proposal that the Palestinians form a new "national government of consensus".
"It may or may not have people from any of the (Palestinian) organizations but it will have people accepted by the organizations and also accepted by the Arabs and also have international acceptance," he added. Asked if this meant that Fatah was taking a more flexible position in the talks, Shaath said: "Yes."
A national consensus government would end exclusive Hamas control of Gaza but simultaneously give the Islamist movement more influence in the West Bank.
The settlement proposed by Egypt would reunite Palestinian security forces, ending Hamas's monopoly over security in Gaza in favor of a force acceptable to both sides.
Officials of Hamas and Fatah said privately that Shaath's remarks may represent a change of tone. But they also said that Fatah's underlying position was the same as before. Senior Fatah official Azzam al-Ahmad, who is in Cairo with Shaath's delegation, told Reuters by telephone: "There is no change in Fatah's position."
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said: "There was nothing new in the statement by Nabil Shaath because Fatah and other PLO factions stick to the legitimacy of the president and marginalize and sideline the other legitimacies."
"In Hamas we stress that any dialogue and any results of a dialogue should be based on respecting the results of the parliamentary election (won by Hamas in 2006) and all the Palestinian legitimacies," Abu Zuhri added.
Shaath's delegation had talks on Tuesday with Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, who has been meeting all this month with a succession of Palestinian factions. Shaath said that talks between Suleiman and a Hamas delegation would start on Oct. 8 and the Egyptians would bring together all the factions in the first week of November.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008
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U.S. President George W. Bush bid farewell to the United Nations on Tuesday as he slammed Syria and Iran for continuing to sponsor terrorism and called for sanctions against North Korea and discussed the financial crisis. In his final address to the annual U.N. General Assembly, Bush said nations such as Syria and Iran "continue to sponsor terrorism, yet their numbers are growing fewer and they are growing more isolated."
The vastly unpopular in all the right places U.S. president, who made no mention of the battle to succeed him in January, also cautioned against letting up in the global war on terrorism he declared after the September 11, 2001 attacks. Bush went on to promise world leaders fearful of a global economic meltdown that Washington would implement a financial bailout package "in the urgent timeframe required."
Bush warned that failure to act would be "devastating." "I can assure you that my administration and our Congress are working together to quickly pass legislation approving this strategy, and I'm confident we will act in the urgent timeframe required," said the U.S. president.
Just four months before the end of his eight-year run at the White House, Bush leveled some of his toughest-yet criticism at Moscow over its war with Georgia. "The United Nations charter sets forth the equal rights of nations large and small. Russia's invasion of Georgia was a violation of those words," he said, vowing to keep supporting the former Soviet republic's territorial integrity.
"Young democracies around the world are watching to see how we respond to this test," he said, naming Georgia, Ukraine, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Liberia and Iraq. "We must stand united in our support of the people of Georgia."
With hope ebbing for a Middle East peace deal before he leaves office, Bush pressed for U.N. support of Lebanon and for "the people of the Palestinian territories, who deserve a free and peaceful state of their own."
Bush also touched on Pakistan and expressed his "deepest condolences" over Saturday's devastating suicide attack on the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad, which left at least 60 people dead. "Pakistan is an ally, and I look forward to deepening our relationship," he said after offering condolences to the families of the deceased.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008
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#1
the battle to succeed him in January
We call that an 'election' in these parts, Abu. We have one every four years, like clockwork; no gunfire, bombing or murder involved.
Any truth to the rumor that Bush unleashed a giant robotic John Bolton that stormed thru the halls of the UN building and destroyed the offices of the UN Commission on Human Rights?
#2
Lashes out
sounds like the discription of a foaming at the mouth deranged lunatic
kind of sounds like that nazarene hippie who went on a rampage in the Temple courtyard driving out livestock with a whip, throwing money changers' coins in the dirt, upsetting evil traders' tables
vastly unpopular
I'll bet on that
Is this according to liberal push polls?
Is this unpopularlike the Congress is unpopular?
We want Barrabus for Christ's sake!
"We want Barrabus, we want Barrabus"
"We want Barack Obama, we want Barack Obama"
"I love you man."
Heston's (Moses') last words,
"From my cold, dead hands!"
Posted by: Uncle Bush ||
09/24/2008 1:33
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#3
And exactly what has GWB done about Saudi terror financing? Zero! Why? The House of Saud owns the House of Bush.
#4
I've caught a part---he was talking about "small group of extremists/great religion" again, I've changed to Bollywood channel.
I guess, the only way I'll learn to appreciate George lackawit is if Obama is elected.
#6
And exactly what has GWB done about Saudi terror financing? Zero! Why? The House of Saud owns the House of Bush.
Well, watching for the last couple years I've noted a lot of traffic accidents in the desert of Saudi extended family members and various people of importance. Quietly the Saudis have been killing a fair number of cockroaches and retiring a number of imams from their posts. Now they did get away with not interfering in the process those imams were working sending their koolaid drinkers followers off to distant lands to die at the hands of the infidel. Which resulted in a different version of 'house cleaning' for them. It appears that the Saudis have been doing a far more effective job of cooling the boys at home than the Paks, one way or another. I suspect there are things we'll never know about some Saudi cooperation because it would destabilize the family's standing [and we all know how well destabilizing worked with the Shah of Iran].
Societe Generale has advised clients to dump shares of banks exposed to the Far East.
"The collapse of emerging market economies will shake investors to the core. The great unwind has only just begun," said Albert Edwards, the bank's global strategist. "The big surprise in store is what could happen in China. The potential for a deep recession in the US is already on the radar screen, but people will be stunned if China's economy contracts, as I believe it will. Investors could be massively caught out," he said.
"The consensus has a touching belief that emerging markets will prove resilient despite a deep downturn in developed economies. My view is that an outright contraction in global GDP is entirely possible next year."
"The emerging market boom is totally tied up with a decade of ballooning current account deficits in the US. Put that into reverse and you'll be surprised what pops out of the woodwork."
Mr Edwards said the vast accumulation of foreign exchange reserves -- led by China with $1.8 trillion -- had provided the "rocket fuel" of liquidity for frontier markets. This virtuous circle has now turned vicious as America tightens its belt. Countries in Asia and Latin America are intervening to prop up their currencies, causing reserves to fall. "We could see monthly trade surpluses in the US within a year. The emerging market liquidity squeeze will intensify ferociously, and assets linked to the region will become toxic waste. That includes previously resilient banks such as HSBC, Standard Chartered and Banco Santander," he said.
The gloomy forecast comes as Fitch Ratings warns of mounting distress for banks in China, where debt has been shunted off books to circumvent state limits on credit growth. The pattern looks eerily like the use of "conduits" by Western banks at the height of the credit bubble.
The agency's China team, Charlene Chu and Chunling Wen, said banks had used an "underground market" on a large scale to stoke up lending. "These types of credit and/or institutions fall outside the traditional structures of financial supervision, exposing banks to a growing amount of risk that is for the most part hidden By getting a portion of their credit off books, Chinese banks are able to comply with official loan quotas while in practice exceeding them," he said.
Under the mechanism, the loans are packaged into wealth products and sold to investors searching for bumper yields. The parallel with the US sub-prime debacle is striking, although Fitch avoids an explicit parallel.
Moreover, the banks issue "entrusted loans" in which they act as piggy-in-the-middle between two sets of clients, keeping the credits of the portfolio sheet. These loans have reached 1.5 trillion yuan ($220bn).
Even without such off-books liabilities, the banks are facing a crunch as the economy slows hard and the property market stalls. Shenzen house prices are already down 30pc. "The Chinese banking system is nearing the point at which it can no longer sustain additional large net withdrawals of liquidity without generating further strains on banks' ability to lend," it said.
Morgan Stanley said this month that China's housing market was heading for a "melt-down". Data is patchy and rarely reliable, but it is clear that home sales in Beijing, Shanghai and other Eastern cities have fallen drastically over the summer.
#1
May we please de-globalize now?
Pretty please.
Not only do we have to worry about our economy, which we seem to have only marginal control over, but now we need to worry about the chicoms imploding? This system is very complicated and only really benefits a small group of already super-rich people, not the common working ilk.
#2
Please, don't be a moron, bigjim. Unless you live in a shack in the hills and haven't set foot in a WalMart in the last twenty years, I doubt you personally have not benefited from globalization.
Stupid is a drug on the market this season. Don't get caught with a shitload of it in your porfolio.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
09/24/2008 9:43
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#3
This system is very complicated and only really benefits a small group of already super-rich people, not the common working ilk.
I saved this from a Readerâs Digest article _Rich as
a King_ condensed from Home by David Owen, 1995.
William I, who conquered England some 930 years, had
wealth, power and a ruthless army. Yet although William
was stupefyingly rich by the standards of the time, he had
nothing remotely resembling a flush toilet. No paper
towels, no riding lawn mower. How did he get by?
History books are filled with wealthy people who were
practically destitute compared to me. I have triple-
tracked storm windows; Croesus did not. Entire nations
trembled before Alexander the Great, but he couldnât
buy cat food in bulk. Czar Nicholas II lacked a compound-
miter saw.
Given how much better off I am than so many famous
dead people, youâd think Iâd be content. The trouble is
that, I compare my prosperity with that of living
persons: neighbors, high school classmates, TV
personalities. The covetousness I feel toward my friend
Howardâs new kitchen is not mitigated by that fact
that no French monarch ever had a refrigerator with
glass doors.
There is really no rising or falling standards of living. Over
the centuries people simply find different stuff to feel
grumpy about. Youâd think that merely not having
bubonic plague would put us in a good mood. But no,
we want a hot tub too.
Of course, one way to achieve happiness would be to
realize that by even contemporary standards the things
I own are pretty nice. My house is smaller than the
houses of many investment bankers, but even so it has
a lot more rooms than my wife and I can keep clean.
Besides, to people looking back at our era from a
century or two in the future, those bankersâ fancy
counter tops and my own worn Formica will seem
equally shabby. I canât keep up with my neighbors
right now. But just wait.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
#6
Mitch, are you seriously arguing that the cheap plastic crap I buy at Wal-Mart should be considered a fair trade for the good paying construction and manufacturing jobs that have run from this country like water? Don't you be a moron, what has globalization ever done for you, bedsides cheaper consumer goods crap?
HAS IT MADE YOUR REAL WAGES GO UP?
HAS IT MADE YOUR STATE'S INFRASTRUCTURE BETTER?
HAS IT MADE YOUR KID'S SCHOOLS BETTER?
HAS IT MADE YOUR COUNTRY SAFER ECONOMICALY?
HAS IT DONE JACK SHIT AT ALL?
Probably not. Instead of quoting from the Conservative Argument Playbook, look at it from a rational angle. All the big debacles, all the big ripoffs, all the scandals and breakdowns have nothing to do with us. The super-rich and multi-national corps glean all the wealth from globalization. We get dick. We get our job sent to india, or we get a mexican bussed up from Tecate to replace us. That's the only effect of globalism I have EVER seen. I'm not trying to be pissy at you Mitch, but I see NO real benefit from globalization at all in my house.
Look down at your keyboard. You know where all that plastic, glass, and parts are made?
I used to operate an IBM 360 back in the 70s. Big iron, with punch cards and big ass printers. The ones that only business, universities or government could afford. What you have before you is more powerful and far far cheaper than that piece of 'Made in America' iron. You got what IBM thought you needed. Globalization changed that for everyone. It's given you a voice you'd otherwise not have. It gives access to information that would have been buried or killed so you could understand the real world around you. Just give it a thought of where a media created individual like Obama would be had not this device been available like any other household appliance. There would only be THE ONE and ONLY because those who owned and operated the media would have only let you know what they wanted you to know. We would all be happy neo-socialist marching off to our new workers paradise promised that its different this time, cause Big Brother the 'right' people would be in charge.
#8
Jim, that period of super-high union wages was a dream paradise during which unions milked American companies and the American consumer for every penny he had, and destroyed entire American industries, ranging from stereo equipment, TV's, textiles, auto manufacturing, steel, and so on. Now that the unions have looted American companies into extinction, they want to loot the entire American economy as well. Here's the problem - the British tried the "the entire economy organized as one big union" concept during the entire postwar period ending with Margaret Thatcher's election in 1979, with union-dominated industries and high tariffs. The result was decades of stagnation at the end of which Brits made less money than a lot of European countries they had previously looked down on.
#9
"The super-rich and multi-national corps glean all the wealth from globalization. We get dick. We get our job sent to india, or we get a mexican bussed up from Tecate to replace us. That's the only effect of globalism I have EVER seen."
Are you the guy who's also supposed to be getting his MBA?
#10
Just because you are working on an MBA doesn't mean you are comfortable with globalization. I've worked in the construction industry most of my life, as a UNION pile driver, diver and welder, later as a supervisor. Globalization has wrecked the construction industry and most of the ancillary businesses that surround it. You have to order steel 18 months ahead of time from South Korea instead of calling Dayton Ohio and having it sent down on a truck the next week, and so on.
That's just one example out of a hundred. So yes, I'm working on an MBA, no I don't like everything I hear in the classes. And while it might be a boon to importers it has absolutely ruined some industries, like steel.
#11
And I don't know of anyone who made super-high, dreamy wages. Pile drivers (part of Carpenters Union) before I went back to school to work on my Civil Eng. degree were making about 25.60 an hour for heavy highway and bridge building work. Dangerous, back breaking, outdoor, weather affected, highly specialized work that requires highly trained people that don't grow on trees. That's not exactly what I'd call a fortune.
Police are searching for two explosives-laden trucks in the federal capital, Daily Times learnt on Tuesday. Sources said intelligence agencies had informed the police that three trucks loaded with explosives had entered the federal capital. One of them targeted the Marriott Hotel on Saturday, while whereabouts of the other two are not known.
The sources said the 'missing' trucks were still present in the city, adding that a risk of strikes by them had forced the police to put the security on high alert, increase personnel deployment near important buildings, erect pickets on key roads and begin intensive patrolling across Islamabad. Vehicles, especially trucks, were being searched by the police at the pickets, the sources said, adding the police were keeping a close watch on hotels and guesthouses.
Meanwhile, the Federal Interior Ministry has warned that banned militant groups could strike in Karachi as well as other cities of the country, Daily Times learnt on Tuesday.
Following this, Additional Home Secretary for Law Enforcement Dr Shafqat Abbasi has written a letter to Sindh Police Inspector General (IG) Sultan Salahuddin Babar Khattak and ordered him to ensure foolproof security measures for foreigners, especially Chinese nationals and their installations, sources said on condition of anonymity. "We have ordered the Sindh IG to provide foolproof security to all foreign nationals and sensitive government and foreign installations," Abbasi said.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008
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#1
Might be easier to find the two unexplosive laden trucks in Islamabad.
#3
Inspector General (IG) Sultan Salahuddin Babar Khattak and ordered him to ensure foolproof security measures for foreigners, especially Chinese nationals and their installations, sources said on condition of anonymity.
Happy to see the Senator Chris Dodd "VIP treatment" catching on.
The Czech Republic is to reveal secret police files about alleged Soviet spies, including the names of some current high ranking officials. But is it a valid assumption that if they were willing to sell out 20 or 30 years ago they're still willing to sell out now?... Yeah. I think so.
The documents include the names of those who allegedly collaborated with the former Czechoslovakian secret service and they contain the names of both spies and their targets, the Russia Today reported.
Almost 19 kilometers of files with details on 140,000 people from the country's former secret police are being kept at the Institute of Totalitarian Regimes and two other locations in the Czech Republic. "Of course we cannot find all secrets of former communist regime in these files," said the institute's director, professor Pavel Zacek. "But it was a very important institution - the secret police - and this institution was so bureaucratic that there's much information and many files than can be used for study".
In 1990, then President Vaclav Havel kept the files secret, fearing they would threaten the country's democracy. The Parliament, however decided to make public the documents in 2002. But only last year they were transferred from the Interior Ministry to the Institute of Totalitarian Regimes, giving the public unprecedented physical access to them. Some lawmakers are strongly against the revelation of the files, saying digging up the past in this way could lead to "witch hunts". I'm guessing most of them are worried about their names being found on the list.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008
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#1
Burn them all onto CDs and distribute them widely.
Posted by: DanNY ||
09/24/2008 0:49
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(SomaliNet) The Police in Kenya said on Monday that a centenarian woman was murdered in the Kenyan coastal town of Malindi by locals who suspected her of being a witch. "We are investigating the murder of an old woman who was aged 100 or more and was killed on allegations that she was practising witchcraft," Malindi police chief Gregory Waikwa said.
The Kenyan News Agency identified the victim as 111-year-old Yaa Gwalu. "We have received crucial clues and our officers are already looking for some young men said to have participated in the killing," Waikwa said.
Other elderly residents of the same area were attacked in recent days. "I am aware of the cases which we are blaming on what locals here are terming the war against witchcraft... There is no law that permits them to kill anyone on suspicion of any specific crime," Waikwa said.
Several women suspected of being witches were lynched and burnt alive in other parts of Kenya in 2008. Cases have also been reported in recent months in neighbouring Tanzania, forcing President Jakaya Kikwete to order special protection for albinos, who were murdered and mutilated for good luck by witch-doctors.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008
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#1
Caught between witch-doctors, ice cream and breast milk. Yum Oh! Absolutely nothing beats the Burg!
WASHINGTON (AP) - The FBI is investigating four major U.S. financial institutions whose collapse helped trigger a $700 billion bailout plan by the Bush administration, The Associated Press has learned. Two law enforcement officials said Tuesday the FBI is looking at potential fraud by mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and insurer American International Group. Additionally, a senior law enforcement official said Lehman Brothers Holdings also is under investigation.
The inquiries will focus on the financial institutions and the individuals that ran them, the senior law enforcement official said. Spokesmen for AIG, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac did not immediately return calls for comment Tuesday evening. A Lehman spokesman did not have an immediate comment.
Officials said the new inquiries bring to 26 the number of corporate lenders under investigation over the past year. Just last week, FBI Director Robert Mueller put the number of large financial firms under investigation at 24. He did not name any of the companies under investigation but said the FBI also was looking at whether any of them have misrepresented their assets.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/24/2008
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#1
No more golden parachutes for the guys responsible. Heads need to roll. It's a good thing the Feds are doing this, so The People(tm) don't have to. Lynch mobs are not a pretty thing.
#3
Meanwhile, near New Delhi: Laid-off workers beat manager to death. 63 arrested for murder. Labour Minister Oscar Fernandes said "This should serve as a warning for the managements."
#8
So, when are they going to investigate the worms in Congress and the Executive branch who set this whole house of cards up in the first place and ignored it for so long?
Foreign Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters are 'infiltrating' into Bajaur from Afghanistan to join their colleagues in the crucial battle for survival in the face of an all-out military action, highly placed sources said on Tuesday.
"Foreign militants are leading the fight against the army. The army action is beyond the local combatants' capacity and they need hardened and well-trained foreign militants," said the sources on condition of anonymity.
They told Daily Times that the foreign Taliban and Al Qaeda -- Arabs, Chechens, Uzbeks and Afghans -- are being led by an Afghan commander Qari Ziaur Rehman.
"He (Rehman) is leading the fight and he is calling for reinforcement from across the Afghan border," said the sources. "He is leading the whole show. He carries a lot of clout among foreign militants who mostly engage the Americans inside Afghanistan," the sources said.
Tunnels: The sources said a network of tunnels was discovered in Tankkhata, Rashakai, Kerala and Loyesam, where the Taliban hold great sway. "They would fire at the forces from some house and then use the tunnel to escape the army's return fire.
"These foreigners were interested in renting houses by the roadside, and paid Rs 20,000 to Rs 25,000 in rent per month. The purpose of renting houses along the roadside was to attack the forces if they launched action against the militants," said the sources.
Pakistan Army's Major Murad Khan confirmed to Daily Times that "We have received information about militants crossing into Bajaur from across the border and they are mostly foreigners."
When asked whether the Pakistan Army had informed the coalition forces in Afghanistan about stopping militant infiltration from the Afghan side, he said, "I have no information." The confirmation coincides with reports from Khar that most of the resistance was being offered by foreigners.
The army undertook a leading role in the operation from September 1, after paramilitary forces made a failed attempt to take over Loyesam from the militants on August 6.
Since then, 80 percent areas of Utmankhel, Salarzai and Khar tehsils have been 'cleared of militants', the sources said. However, tehsils Nawagai and Mamoond have not yet been secured against the militants. Unofficial reports say the government forces arrested some foreign militants during the action but their nationalities were not disclosed for security reasons.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/24/2008
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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.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Nobel Peace Prize winner and environmental crusader Al Gore urged young people on Wednesday to engage in civil disobedience to stop the construction of coal plants without the ability to store carbon.
MUMBAI: Mumbai Police claimed to have arrested five members of the terrorist group Indian Mujahideen in connection with the serial blasts in 
A video of hardline Islamic preacher Abu Hamza, which was said to have been made in Belmarsh Prison, has appeared on YouTube. 
A military judge on Monday ordered 
(AKI) - Israeli police has denied the family of the so-called Palestinian 'car terrorist' to hold a traditional Arab funeral for their son on Tuesday.
(AKI) - The masked men who kidnapped 19 people in Egypt come from the central African country of Chad, according to the Arab television network, Al-Jazeera.
Bomb blasts including the attack on the Marriott hotel in Islamabad have nothing to do with jihad but are blatant acts of terrorism, which must be eliminated, 
(AKI) - Iranian Christian convert Ramtin Soudmand faces the death penalty after being jailed for the crime of 'ertedad' or abandoning the Muslim faith.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday accused the United States of encircling his country, and said Washington was the real threat to world stability. Ahead of a speech to the General Assembly of the United Nations, the Iranian leader defended his confrontational stand against the West and Israel.
Pakistani troops backed by helicopter gunships and artillery killed some 60 militants close to the Afghan border, officials said Tuesday, underlining the government's intent to confront extremists after the Marriott hotel bombing. 
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has dismissed Central Bank Governor Tahmasb Mazaheri and his replacement will be announced Wednesday, according to a Central Bank official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
An outlaw was killed in a shootout between his cohorts and police at Teltupi village in Harinakundu upazila eary on Tuesday.
World oil prices dipped slightly on Tuesday in choppy deals as traders banked profits, one day after New York crude had soared more than $16 for its biggest-ever daily jump. The massive price surge on Monday was driven partly by hopes that a US plan to buy tainted mortgage-related assets would save the global economy from collapse and thus maintain strong demand for energy, dealers said. 
(AKI/DAWN) - Pakistani police took custody of a 12-year-old girl allegedly tortured by her husband and sent her to a women's police station. "We picked Shahnaz after receiving information that her husband was torturing her," Sartaj Jagirani of the Waleed police station told Pakistani daily Dawn. She would be sent to hospital for a medical check-up, he added. Her husband Abdul Latif Brohi and brother Aijaz Siyal have been arrested.
The government should review its policy on war on terror by discussing it in parliament, 
French prosecutors have started building a case against six alleged Somali pirates captured in the Indian Ocean this month in a commando operation to rescue a couple held aboard a hijacked yacht. Special forces stormed aboard the Carre d'As on September 15 to rescue its crew, a French couple who had been abducted nearly two weeks earlier. One suspect was killed and six captured and flown to France.
A senior negotiator for the Palestinian group Fatah said on Tuesday that Fatah was no longer asking rival group Hamas to restore the status quo that existed in Gaza before the Islamists took control in June 2007. 
U.S. President George W. Bush bid farewell to the United Nations on Tuesday as he slammed Syria and Iran for continuing to sponsor terrorism and called for sanctions against North Korea and discussed the financial crisis. In his final address to the annual U.N. General Assembly, Bush said nations such as Syria and Iran "continue to sponsor terrorism, yet their numbers are growing fewer and they are growing more isolated."
Societe Generale has advised clients to dump shares of banks exposed to the Far East. 
