Stepped up U.S. drug enforcement and interdiction in Latin America, coupled with a falling dollar and a surging demand for cocaine on the streets of Europe, is leading to political and economic chaos across West Africa, where international narco-traffickers have established their most recent, and lucrative, staging grounds. In fact, the drug trade is fast turning large parts of the region into areas that are all but ungovernable -- with major implications for international security. "The former Gold Coast is turning into the Coke Coast," said a 2008 report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). "The problem is so severe that it is threatening to bring about the collapse of some West African states where weak and corrupt governments are vulnerable to the corrosive influence of drug money."
Though hardly alone in West Africa, Guinea-Bissau, the world's fifth poorest country, with a population of 1.5 million, has for all intents and purposes become the textbook example of the African "narco-state." Due to its relative proximity to South America, its hundreds of miles of unpatrolled coastline, islands and islets, along with the fact that Portuguese is its lingua franca, Guinea-Bissau has been increasingly targeted by South American drug lords as a preferred traffic hub for European-bound cocaine, according to the UNODC. What's more, as citizens of a former Portuguese colony, Guineans do not need visas to enter that EU country, further facilitating the movement of drugs.
Authorities there can do precious little about it. "Guinea-Bissau has lost control of its territory and cannot administer justice," declared Antonio Maria Costa, the UNODC executive director, in a statement before the U.N. Security Council in December. "There is a permeability of judicial systems and a corruptibility of institutions in West Africa," he added. "Guinea-Bissau is under siege. Literally under siege."
Part of the problem, as Costa explained, is that the value of the drug trade entering the country, where about 6 grams of cocaine is roughly equal to the average annual salary, is far higher than its entire national income. One drug bust last year in Guinea-Bissau -- 600 kilograms of cocaine found in the boot of a car -- had a street value equivalent to approximately 10 percent of the country's entire GDP of $340 million. Another raid netted 635 kg of cocaine, although the smugglers were believed to have escaped with more than two tons.
But Guinea-Bissau enjoys plenty of company among its neighbors: To varying degrees, Ghana, Senegal, Nigeria, Cape Verde, Guinea-Conakry, Togo, Benin, Senegal, South Africa, and other West African and sub-Saharan states (including already-challenged states like Sierra Leone, the Ivory Coast and Liberia) are all beginning to feel the long reach of cocaine smuggling.
Though cocaine has been smuggled through West Africa for most of the last decade, the trade has increased sharply in recent years, says Yahia Affinih, a sociologist and professor of African American studies at John Jay College in New York. The two main reasons, says Affinih, are that "unemployment is very high, and law enforcement is weak."
#1
6 grams of cocaine is roughly equal to the average annual salary, is far higher than its entire national income. One drug bust last year in Guinea-Bissau -- 600 kilograms of cocaine found in the boot of a car -- had a street value equivalent to approximately 10 percent of the country's entire GDP of $340 million.
Remove the costs incurred by prohibition and it would be a fraction of that, and thus a less serious threat to the region. The euryuppies are going to get their hands on blow either way.
#2
I would kind of expect the European market in coke to crater sometime soon. It's more of a Western post-Christian sort of drug. The postmodern Islamist's drugs of choice seem to be heroin, horse tranquilizers and 'orrible new-fangled chemical concoctions.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
10/09/2008 7:45 Comments ||
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#3
As if we needed yet another reason to steer clear of African involvements. While there are many, this is one of the concerns I have for an Obama administration.
#5
I more or less agree with bigjim-ky, legalize a whole slew of drugs and dump a fraction of the money into treatment for those stupid enough to get addicted.
The government is not responsible for keeping people from the pursuit of happiness or from becoming losers.
#6
They are blowing away billions now and the price of coke is lower than it has ever been, and the purity is higher than ever at the street level.
At least that's what I read.
#7
The folks that want to legalize drugs apparently haven't had to deal with the consequences. If the druggies would just burn out their brains and die I wouldn't mind but they screw up (steal, rob, vandalize, kill) too many other innocents on their way to the grave. May your legalized druggie live next door so YOU get the fun experience.
#9
If it were legalized, the price would come down so the junkies don't have to steal (as much) to support their habit. And the killings would go down because their wouldn't be turf wars.
The war on drugs has been a disaster in every respect. If the current regime can't keep drugs out of jails, why do we expect it to keep them out of schools?
#12
And if you've ever met a full on paranoid meth freak driving down the freeway you'll understand that meth in particular needs to be suppressed. Those guys become very aggressive and very dangerous very quickly.
One thing I've said here before and I'll say again: Legalizing drugs for adults is bad enough but they will inevitably get into the hands of children who won't know any better. These kids will be particularly susceptible to addiction and the other effects of the toxins. Think about it: How are you gonna stop a junkie from selling the stuff to kids? You can talk tough all you want about how you'd shoot 'em or hang 'em or whatever but the fact is you can't stop 'em and one of those kids might be your own. It happens often enough now even with the lid on but if you take the lid off you'll have a real mess on your hands.
#13
they will inevitably get into the hands of children who won't know any better.
Do you really think they haven't already? With the profit potential of selling to disaffected adolescents, they are a major hub of drug dealing as well as usage. "Take the lid off" and the obscene profit potential disappears. And I'd doubt the number of drug users increases by 1%. The people who are vulnerable are already being "served". What's up for debate is the price they and we pay.
#15
Drugs seem to be freely available now. There are addicts now, they steal and murder and cause untold problems now. I don't see how castrating the drug cartels would make it any worse. I don't thing you'd see a big difference in drug use or abuse or addiction. It's so accessible now that anyone who wants it can get their hands on it. The drug was is a huge failure and a total black hole for money. The govt. refuses to see the futility of throwing more money at it, and people with a moral beef with drugs will never agree to legalization, so I guess it will just go on like it always has.
#17
It hasn't been this way forever. The drug laws date to 1913, the same year as the Federal Reserve, the direct election of Senators, the reintroduction of segregation to Washington DC and the federal government and the income tax. One of the blackest years in US history. But Woodrow Wilson was a great President.
It's a mystery that has got British law enforcement officials and others across the planet scratching their heads. Put bluntly, enough heroin to supply the world's demand for years has simply disappeared.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) describes the situation as "a time bomb for public health and global security"...
Zimbabwe's annual inflation rate - already the world's highest - has soared to 231,000,000%, newly released official figures for July show. The rise - from 11,200,000% last month - was largely due to increases in the prices of bread and cereals.
A landmark power-sharing deal between President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has failed to ease the country's economic crisis.
Meanwhile, the UN says it needs $140m for food aid over the next six months.
Talk to Russia. They just bought Iceland. We're busy right now ...
The UN World Food Programme estimates that two million people are in need of food aid, and that the figure will rise to 5.1 million - or 45% of the population - by early 2009. "Millions of Zimbabweans have already run out of food or are surviving on just one meal a day - and the crisis is going to get much worse in the coming months," said WFP official Mustapha Darboe.
The inflation figures are from July - before the power-sharing deal - but reports from Zimbabwe suggest that the prices of many goods has continued to shoot up, while the value of the Zimbabwe dollar is plummeting.
#1
Modern technology - your ticket to brand-new, dizzying innovations in hyperinflation!
At least in the old days, hyperinflation suffocated when the printers gave up and refused to keep printing. Now the only limitations are temporary and addressable by minor coding adjustments.
Until, I suppose, the communications network goes down.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
10/09/2008 7:38 Comments ||
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#2
Meanwhile, the UN says it needs $140m for food aid over the next six months.
#5
I guess they could always ask the whites to come back and run the country for them. But that would be "degrading". Much worse than the lingering death of famine and political upheaval.
#12
This can't continue. At this rate Bob will exhaust the world's supply of paper. It's not fari soon my kids will have no paper to do their homework. We keep trying to get more paper for our printer but Staples and Wal-Mart are both out of everything except Zimbabwe dollars. We have had to dedicate one entire bathroom to beaching ZimBob dracma's back into usable white paper and let me tell you when his abuse of power shutdown the Charmin factory he made me one unhappy camper. I eat far too little ruffage to make wiping with African currency a comfortable experience.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
10/09/2008 22:39 Comments ||
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South Africa's former defense minister launched a scathing attack Wednesday against the ruling African National Congress and suggested that hundreds of members loyal to ousted president Thabo Mbeki were on the verge of forming a breakaway party.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/09/2008 00:00 ||
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Arab stock markets fell for the fourth day running on Wednesday joining stock markets across the world amid growing fears that policymakers may be powerless to stop the worst financial shock since the Great Depression.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/09/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Yup, but got over great "depression" and 1987 and 2000? and 9-11, and Gustav, and Ivan, and Katrina, and war, and political indifference, and .... bad press.
Still here.
The chamber judge of the Supreme Court yesterday dismissed the bail petition of Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General and former minister Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojahid in Barapukuria coalmine graft case.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/09/2008 00:00 ||
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Detained ailing Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) Mayor ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury was released on bail yesterday from the prison cell of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU).
Posted by: Fred ||
10/09/2008 00:00 ||
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The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) yesterday filed 15 separate cases against 24 persons including seven engineers of the Chittagong Development Authority (CDA) on charge of grafts and irregularities in the construction of a road.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/09/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Well what's an engineer in Bangladesh pull down normally? Prolly gotta skim the books to afford lunch.
The British government on Wednesday morning announced Europe's most far-reaching bank rescue plan, promising to inject tens of billions of dollars in capital into U.K. banks after two consecutive days of dramatic losses in share prices.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/09/2008 00:00 ||
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Russian troops have completely withdrawn from a 'buffer zone' surrounding Georgia's independent-seeking regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/09/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
It will be interesting to see how long Russia can afford to pay for that many troops and their equipment and all the logistical needs (like food and warm beds, barracks). Will they have to build bases for them? Penny here, dollar or ruble there. (grin)
#2
Lionel, should be no problem. Probably no Third Amendment in the Russian or Georgian Constitutions:
Amendment 3
No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
#3
I'm with Lionel here. If the ruskies do try the quartering thing, the arrogant drunken sots of the russian army should quickly wear their welcome out with the locals. Then add cabin fever. Barracks would be far cheaper for Ivan. Either way, the russians will have to pay to garrison a force.
Posted by: Minister of funny walks ||
10/09/2008 8:44 Comments ||
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#4
The Russians have garrisoned 7500 troops in South Ossetia and Abkhazia since the breakup of the USSR.
Posted by: ed ||
10/09/2008 9:31 Comments ||
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#5
Garrison a force and open a steady supply line, vehicle bone yard and shops, armory, ammo dump, jail, it would be like building an entire town. I say let them blow away as much $$$ as they want on it.
#6
ed, I don't even want to think about who might have been paying for the old Russian "peacekeeper" mission. Even though Russia supplied the bodies, who paid? Maybe you and I.
Things never to invite into your home:
(A) Vampires
(B) Russian "peacekeepers
Posted by: Minister of funny walks ||
10/09/2008 12:08 Comments ||
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EVIAN, France (Reuters) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Wednesday Washington had forfeited its place at the heart of the world order and he called on Europe instead to work with Russia on a new security pact.
Maybe they could call it the "Holy Alliance."
Medvedev said the United States had taken unilateral steps -- such as its invasion of Iraq, plans for sitting a missile shield in eastern Europe and NATO expansion -- which smacked of a Cold War mentality and created new dividing lines. "A desire by the United States to consolidate its global domination led to it missing an historical chance ... to build a truly democratic world order," after the September 11, 2001 attacks on U.S. cities, Medvedev said.
"The Warsaw Pact has not existed for almost 20 years. But unfortunately for us at least, the expansion of NATO is being carried out with particular fervor," he said at an international forum in the French resort of Evian. "Quite naturally, no matter what is being said, we regard these actions as directed against us. That all belongs to the past just as Sovietology does. Sovietology, like paranoia, is a very dangerous disease, and it is a pity that part of the U.S. administration still suffers from it."
Three words spring to mind: "Mif Sov'etskogo ugroza." I spent 20 years reading about the "myth of the Soviet threat" every time I picked up a copy of Pravda. Yet it was the idea of the myth itself that was mythical, even though the Social Democracies of Europe sincerely wanted to believe the threat was non-existent.
Medvedev's tough speech echoed a similar address in Munich last year by his predecessor Vladimir Putin, which became a cornerstone of Russia's foreign policy and prompted many Western policymakers to talk of a Cold War atmosphere. Many observers had predicted Medvedev, a former corporate lawyer who took over from Putin in May, would adopt a more conciliatory approach. But his speech demonstrated he shared his predecessor's stance on foreign policy.
Of course he does. If he doesn't, Vlad will have him poisoned.
Acorn didn't fall far from the tree, did it ...
Posted by: Fred ||
10/09/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
The new pact will include Russia and Russia. Nobody else wants anything to do with it. They know about Russians.
#4
A Putimessiah Euro World Order? Make no mistake, the threat of Sovietology, like that of own homegrown Obamatology, both very real. If you buy it, you deserve it.
#8
"Unilateral steps ...created NEW DIVIDNG LINES" > IMO, should be read MEDVEY = RUSSIA KNOWS THE TRADITIONAL ASIAN ORDER = REGIONAL STATUS QUO IS NOW AT RISK OF FORCED REAL CHANGE, vis US-ISLAMIST WAR.
* TOPIX > MEDVEDEV CALLS FOR EUROPE TO CREATE NEW WORLD ORDER WHICH MINIMIZES THE USA [Anti-US WORLD-SECURITY ORDER].
OTOH, also from TOPIX/OTHER > USA STILL NUMBER ONE IN 2008-2009 GLOBAL COMPETITIVE RANKINGS.
#1
Somebody's feeling unappreciated. I think they'd have to actually shell Seoul to catch anyone's attention right now.
Um, I kind of hope it doesn't come to that.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
10/09/2008 7:40 Comments ||
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#2
Subtract the equivalent value from food and oil aid.
Posted by: ed ||
10/09/2008 8:53 Comments ||
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#3
"If North Korea fires missiles en masse, it can hardly be part of a routine exercise. Its intentions should be analysed in various ways," the source said.
I can analyze it right now, they need food and winter is coming on, so they need fuel oil quite badly. The rice crop was prolly a disaster and they are shitting their pants cause the party supporters don't even have enough food. Just ignore them.
#4
Incidents like this always remind me of an original Star Trek episode. Remember the one where the two planets are at war and everything is run by computers with people herded into disintigration chambers depending on the results of a computre simulation?
Kirk blows up one of the machines and tells them that now that they are forced to face the real horrors of war, maybe they'll do something to really end it.
I wonder if all the humanitarian aid and diplomatic feel goodism that the West engages in (like feeding the Norks) doesn't have that same numbing effect. After all how bad is it really, the West always ponies up some cash to make everyone feel better.
The Paleos are the primary example. I think that the total devastation of Japan & Germany was a strong motivator to change their behavior after WWII.
#8
AlanC, you have a point. I read an article a long time ago that said historically wars come and generally someone wins and the loser is often less likely to provoke again either because they were destroyed, occupied, humiliated or just plain terrified. In the modern day and age that equation is gone because the Superpowers or the UN would step in and prevent a total loss so you get smaller powers constantly provoking and provoking and they never really get theirs so there is no real downside the way there once was.
#9
Anybody familiar with the Thirty Years War in what is now Germany knows that what we consider war nowadays is a day at the beach. Go back to that kind of viciousness and you'll see lots of folks thinking war isn't such a good idea.
The rout in global stock markets continued Wednesday, with Japan's Nikkei suffering a historic one-day loss, officials in Seoul worrying about a cratering currency, and European shares sinking despite announcement of a U.K. bank bailout plan and a coordinated interest-rate cut by central banks in Europe and North America.
Fear and a decaying economic outlook pushed indexes from Tokyo to Mumbai to Saudi Arabia to London down sharply before the interest-rate announcement, though European markets rebounded slightly later in the day before falling again. Regulators in Indonesia and Russia halted trading early after fast declines of more than 10 percent. Mumbai's stock exchange index, the Sensex, plunged nearly 6 percent when markets opened, then staged a partial recovery. Markets also fell in Persian Gulf countries, frustrating banking officials there who said economic indicators in the region remain solid.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 9.4 percent, the largest single-day loss since the Black Monday market crash in October 1987, and now is down more than 40 percent over the past year. Markets in Hong Kong dropped more than 8 percent, and those in Singapore and South Korea were down 6 percent and 5 percent respectively.
Insulated somewhat from the global financial crisis, with banks that are holding large cash reserves, the Japanese economy has nevertheless been rattled by the sharp downturn in global car sales -- a critical component of its export-dependent economy.
Shares in Toyota Motor Corp. fell more than 11 percent following reports that it will miss its sales forecast and is facing a decline in profit of as much as 40 percent. The company has not revised its forecasts, but one executive told the Associated Press in Tokyo that the outlook was "critical."
"U.S. and Europe sales are getting seriously hit because of the economic conditions," Toyota senior managing director Yoichiro Ichimaru told the wire service.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/09/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Are they diving out of windows all over Tokyo yet?
Sounds like the Japs have a real problem with suicides. Do they yell Banzai! as they jump? Prolly no more often as we'd yell Geronimo!
Their culture doesn't seem to have the taboo against suicide that ours does.
Nobel peace laureates former US President Jimmy Carter and anti-apartheid campaigner Desmond Tutu arrived in Cyprus on Wednesday to back UN-brokered efforts to reunite the Mediterranean island. Cypriot President Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat launched peace talks on September 3.
The horror! The horror!
Posted by: Fred ||
10/09/2008 00:00 ||
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#2
There's a lot competition for that honor. He's not even close. He has earned the ignominy of being a trivia question in the 22nd century; Who was the James Buchannan of the 20th century?
With the nation in the middle of what is being regularly reported as the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, a new poll found that 74 percent of America's top business leaders fear "an Obama presidency would be disastrous for the country."
Don't be surprised if you didn't hear about this, for virtually no major mainstream press outlet felt it was important to share with the public.
Do you think Obama-loving media would be so apathetic if this poll found an overwhelming majority of business leaders were scared about what a McCain presidency would do to the economy?
Despite the answer, our supposedly impartial press seem totally disinterested in Chief Executive magazine's just-released survey [1] which found some CEOs worried that if implemented "[Obama's] programs would bankrupt the country within three years" (emphasis added, h/t Jazz from Hell [2], photo courtesy Time.com):
Chief Executive magazine's most recent polling of 751 CEOs shows that GOP presidential candidate John McCain is the preferred choice for CEOs. According to the poll, which is featured on the cover of Chief Executive's most recent issue, by a four-to-one margin, CEOs support Senator John McCain over Senator Barack Obama. Moreover, 74 percent of the executives say they fear that an Obama presidency would be disastrous for the country.
"The stakes for this presidential election are higher than they've ever been in recent memory," said Edward M. Kopko, CEO and Publisher of Chief Executive magazine. "We've been experiencing consecutive job losses for nine months now. There's no doubt that reviving the job market will be a top priority for the incoming president. And job creating CEOs repeatedly tell us that McCain's policies are far more conducive to a more positive employment environment than Obama's." [...]
"I'm not terribly excited about McCain being president, but I'm sure that Obama, if elected, will have a negative impact on business and the economy," said one CEO voicing his lack of enthusiasm for either candidate, but particularly Obama.
In expressing their rejection of Senator Obama, some CEOs who responded to the survey went as far as to say that "some of his programs would bankrupt the country within three years, if implemented." In fact, the poll highlights that Obama's tax policies, which scored the lowest grade in the poll, are particularly unpopular among CEOs.
Despite the poll's findings, from what I can tell, even though this study was disseminated by [3] PRNewswire, it has garnered very little mainstream media attention.
Think that would be the case if these business leaders were so negative about McCain's economic policies?
#4
2008 -2012 [2016] > Post Dubya Period + SOCIALISM IN OWG-NWO AMERIKA > seems the first victim is the Sunday Comic strip OPUS [ends 11/2/2008], whose Originator claims he is retiring and ending the strip [temporary?] becuz AMERICA + WORLD IS ABOUT TO ENTER A VERY DARK, HURTFUL PERIOD IN ITS HISTORY, AND DESIRES TO "SAVE" = DELINK OPUS AND OTHER CHARACTERS FROM SAME!?
* DRUDGEREPORT/TOPIX > AMERICA WILL LOSE ITS SUPERPOWER STATUS.
* US-LED/CENTRIC OWG-NWO + "COMMUNIFASCISM" > Wolrd-dominating USSA, versus Weak Anti-sovereign OWG Global SSR/ United Socialist Republiks of Amerika [Oil Storm]!?
#5
This is part of our bear barket lately. The market, in addition to pricing in credit troubles, is also pricing in a Barry presidency. These guys look at polling numbers also.
Now you know why the market seems to fall whether the news from the fed is good or bad.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
10/09/2008 22:58 Comments ||
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Here before us is a Soviet archival document,* a top secret report by a communist apparatchik who had received a delegation of US Senators led by Joseph Biden in 1979. After describing routine arms control discussions, it quotes Biden as telling the Soviets off-record that he did not really care about the persecution of Russian dissidents. He and other Senators might raise human rights issues with their Soviet counterparts, but only to be seen by the public as defenders of human rights, not to have those problems really solved. They would happily take no for an answer.
Vadim V. Zagladin, the then deputy head of the International Department of the CPSU Central Committee (the organization formerly known as the Comintern), wrote in the report:
The delegation did not officially raise the issue of human rights during the negotiations. Biden said they did not want 'to spoil the atmosphere with problems which are bound to cause distrust in our relations.' However, during the breaks between the sessions the senators passed to us several letters concerning these or those 'refuseniks'.
Refuseniks were one of the best known groups of oppressed citizens in the USSR at that time: thousands of Jews who were refused exit permissions to emigrate to Israel on various trumped-up pretexts.
Unofficially, Biden and [Senator Richard] Lugar said that, in the end of the day, they were not so much concerned with having a problem of this or that citizen solved as with showing to the American public that they do care for 'human rights'. They must prove to their voters that they are 'effective in fulfilling their wishes'. In other words, the collocutors directly admitted that what is happening is a kind of a show, that they absolutely do not care for the fate of most so-called dissidents.
In the same conversation, Biden asked us to ensure that senators' appeals on those issues are not left unanswered - even if we just reply that the letter is received but we cannot do anything.
More.....
#3
I'm doubtful Biden would say such a thing. He thought it, I have no question about it, but to say something even to the Soviets that could be used to blackmail him later seems doubtful.
#5
Carter also approached the Soviets. When it comes to this kind of crap, I put nothing past the dhimmicrats.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
10/09/2008 19:43 Comments ||
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#6
Compare wid WAFF.com > HUGO CHAVEZ: COMRADE BUSH IS A SOCIALIST. Comrade Dubya is LEADING THE USA TOWARDS SOCIALISM, espec vee USGovt Bailout of Wall Street. Also criticizes America for complaining about the Socialist=Govtist policies of many international Nations while ignoring or pol whitewashing its own.
Also from WAFF > THE ECONOMIST [long] - AMID THE US FINANCIAL CRISIS, OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS FOR AFRICA. Are AFrica's Leaders-Govts SAAVY ENOUGH TO HELP THEMSELVES FOR THEIR OWN PROACTIVE BENEFIT???
Following Barack Obama's refusal to meet the demands of XD-235, his fickle teleprompter overlord, a revolt broke out among the Teleprompter Collective to pressure him into acquiescence. Utilizing their unique ability to manipulate the thought of ObamaNaughts everywhere, the undertrod, unappreciated slaves of the party began their revolt by subtly changing names in their scripts.
Posted by: DanNY ||
10/09/2008 10:47 ||
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(PTI) The teenaged son of a Democratic Tennessee state lawmaker was today indicted by a federal grand jury in connection with the sensational hacking of the e-mail account of Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin. David C. Kernell, 20, the student at the University of Tennessee was indicted by a grand jury in Knoxville.
If convicted, Kernell could face a maximum of five years in prison and a USD 250,000 fine. This is a much stiffer penalty than some people around the Web had been guessing, and shows that the
His father, Mike Kernell, is chairman of Tennessee's House Government Operations Committee. He has denied any hand in the hacking incident.
federal authorities are not treating Kernell like a kid, or the hacking crime as a prank, Los Angeles Times reported. No date has been set for the trial, it said.
His father, Mike Kernell, is chairman of Tennessee's House Government Operations Committee. He has denied any hand in the hacking incident.
The indictment against Kernell alleged that on September 16, he reset the password of Palin's personal e-mail account to gain access to it. Kernell allegedly read the contents of the account and made screenshots of the e-mail directory, e-mail content and other personal information.
According to the indictment, Kernell posted screenshots of the e-mails and other personal information of Palin's account to a public Web site. Kernell also allegedly posted the new e-mail account password that he had created, thus providing access to the account by others.
Kernell allegedly read the contents of the account and made screenshots of the e-mail directory, e-mail content and other personal information. Kernell also reportedly posted screenshots of the e-mails and other personal information to a public Web site.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/09/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
I believe he'll eventually receive a slap on the wrist. However if he had been the son of a GOP representative, and had hacked into Barney Franks emails highlighting Frank's affair with a fanniemae executive while Frank was serving on the House Banking Committee charged with overseeing the activities of the Fannie, the perp would have had the book thrown at him.
#2
He has denied any hand in the hacking incident.
IIRC, they never proved that Nixon had 'prior' knowledge of the break in either. It was the cover up and the 'atmosphere of hate and intolerance'* that he created that done him in. One wonders what interesting adverbial and adjectival descriptives concerning those of opposing political views were used in the Kernell household around young impressionable David.
The Maldives voted yesterday in its first multi-party presidential elections that could see Asia's longest-serving president ousted by a former political prisoner.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/09/2008 00:00 ||
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(APP): Advisor to Prime Minister on Finance Shaukat Tareen Wednesday said that notions about the bankruptcy of Pakistan are baseless and the government is neither going to seal bank lockers nor freezing foreign currency accounts. In an exclusive interview with APP after taking charge as Advisor to Prime Minister on Finance, Shaukat Tareen said the government would enhance the confidence of investors through concrete measures and alleviation of poverty would be among the topmost priorities.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/09/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Advisor to Prime Minister on Finance.
What the hell's he gonna say?
Of course he claims they're fine. Flush with moolah.
Moody's just downgraded Pak bonds to CCC+. Any takers at 6%?
Senior BJP leader L K Advani and a group of Christian leaders on Wednesday called for a stop on forcible conversions and re-conversions even as the leader of Opposition strongly condemned rape of a nun in Orissa as a "shameful crime against humanity".
Advani, who talked about the need for restoring peace and sense of security in the state through cooperation between communities, emphasised on "sustained and sincere" dialogue between Hindu and Christian community leaders on religious conversion. "Religious conversions or re-conversions, using coercive, fraudulent and allurement-based means, or through denigration of others' faiths, are condemnable and must be stopped," read a joint statement released after the meeting.
The significant call came after a meeting between senior BJP leaders and Christian representatives which was held in the backdrop of communal clashes in Orissa, Karnataka and other parts of the country. The Christian leaders also condemned the killing of Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati and his four aides in Kandhmal district in Orissa.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/09/2008 00:00 ||
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Oct. 8 (Bloomberg) -- The Federal Reserve, European Central Bank and four other central banks lowered interest rates in an unprecedented coordinated effort to ease the economic effects of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.
The Fed, ECB, Bank of England, Bank of Canada and Sweden's Riksbank each reduced their benchmark rates by half a percentage point. The Bank of Japan, which didn't participate in the move, said it supported the action. Switzerland also took part. China's central bank separately cut its key rate 0.27 percentage point.
Today's decision follows a global meltdown that sent U.S. stock indexes heading for their biggest annual decline since 1937; Japan's benchmark today had the worst drop in two decades. Policy makers are also aiming to unfreeze credit markets after the premium on the three-month London interbank offered rate over the Fed's main rate doubled in two weeks to a record.
The Fed reduced its benchmark rate to 1.5 percent. The ECB's main rate is now 3.75 percent; Canada's fell to 2.5 percent; the U.K.'s rate dropped to 4.5 percent; and Sweden's rate declined to 4.25 percent. China cut interest rates for the second time in three weeks, reducing the main rate to 6.93 percent.
Stocks at first rallied after the announcement, then turned lower. Some analysts said the central banks should have lowered rates by more, and predicted further reductions. Economists at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley now project another half-point move by the Fed at its Oct. 28-29 meeting.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/09/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
You must find the regulatory shortfall quickly. This is not the end of the world... yet. It is a salvageable situation and this may be quantified soon. I see much good from this in the long term. The market will live. Either it be green in America or Black in the soviet Union.
But for Gods sake, please remember that investment is charity and it is moral to employ people.
Almost half the members of the Opec oil cartel are considering an emergency meeting in Vienna next month as oil prices dropped to their lowest level in nearly a year. Almost half the members of cartel have in the past few days called on the group to act to halt the slide before their next official meeting scheduled to take place in Algeria in late December.
Since the slide could hit them where it really hurts, in the disposable income they have to buy off their countrymen and cause trouble around the world ...
Iran, Libya, Nigeria, Iraq, Venezuela and Ecuador, whose economies tend to be most dependent on high oil prices and whose ministers are among the most hawkish of the 13-member group, have all lobbied for the cartel to drop output.
Their calls came as oil consuming nations moved to bolster their economies in a co-ordinated interest rate cut.
Oil prices on Wednesday resumed their slide towards $85 a barrel, a level last reached in December last year. Nymex November West Texas Intermediate fell $3.06 to $87 a barrel, while ICE November Brent slid $2.96 to $81.
I know there's been talk about putting a floor under oil prices by enacting an import tax. The idea is that we'd keep the pricing pressures in place to encourage alternative energy sources, and that might be true. But I wouldn't mind letting oil fall to $20 a barrel for a couple years if it meant we could stir up enough unrest to have the angry populations remove Chavez, the Mad Mullahs™ and the latest thug-du-jour in Nigeria.
Opec's next meeting was scheduled for December 18 in Algeria, but ministers are now saying they could meet on November 18 in Vienna, site of the group's headquarters. Opec controls nearly 40 per cent of the world's oil supply, and at its meeting last month pledged to reduce its production by about 500,000 barrels a day in an attempt to boost prices. So far the group's reduction has fallen far from that mark, but slowing production often takes more than a few weeks.
The world consumes about 87m barrels a day of oil.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/09/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Holy cash flow, Batman!
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/09/2008 1:23 Comments ||
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#2
I remember telling them that that oil money was welfare. All of them.
They know they are to become self sufficient and support their populace. No one has time for them to take over the world. We prefer to eat.
#3
....OPEC has a real problem this go-round. The Saudis - without whom OPEC is no more than just another dictators' club - aren't pushing for a production cut. Secondly, OPEC has never been successful at keeping prices high when demand is low. Pass the popcorn.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
10/09/2008 6:03 Comments ||
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#4
Putting a price floor tax in place would in no way prevent oil prices from falling. In fact, it would lower them as it restrained the demand that normally results from falling prices. That's the point.
What we are really talking about is the division of the spread between the cost to raise and deliver oil and the price the oil will fetch. Right now we give all the spread to the producers. With a floor, when the price falls below a threshold, we keep a portion of the spread. That incents government to keep the price (and demand) for oil at a level where it maximizes revenue. Sort of like tobacco.
#5
angry populations remove Chavez, the Mad Mullahs™ and the latest thug-du-jour in Nigeria
Biggest problem with this thinking is the same logical fallacy that affects Obama supporters - the assumption that 'change' is necessarily good. Even horrible circumstances can change for the worse.
#6
How stupid to cut production during a recession. OPEC has about as much understanding of economics as does our congress.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
10/09/2008 8:28 Comments ||
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#7
They sure adjusted their economies to $100bbl. oil awful fast. Now they can't pay the bills on $80bbl oil? It only costs them about $5bbl to get it on a tanker. I'd like to see it plunge all the way down to $20bbl. too. Put a floor tax at $3/gal. and rebuild our rotten old bridges and roads.
#9
I'd rather see it come from an outright tax than be borrowed from the Chinese in the form of more Treasury Bills and National Debt. But you're right, they would try to sink their greasy ham-fists into any money that was collected.
#10
We are really no better that the oil ticks, sort of. We need cash flow to keep afloat. Congress has been doing this for decades by spending like there is no tomorrow. Now it is coming to bite us in the a$$. The oil ticks do not have the depth of economy that we do, so their cash flow becomes critical sooner.
The sooner we get energy independence from these psychos, the better. However, the only ones on the national scene who get it are T. Boone Pickins and Sarah Palin.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/09/2008 11:20 Comments ||
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#11
Not quite AP. There's a bunch of good news in the backround. Scientists at universities and other public companies are really starting to sprint now on alternate fuel paths. Univ. of Wisconsin has made a discovery to strip alcohols of the oxygens using catalytic processes, resulting in a direct path to gasoline. This pathway has been known previously, but not practical. This may lead the way. They have already gone from a few beakers to a few hundred gallons. Promising. Elsewhere, both enzymes and other pathways using acids and high pressures are leading to easier, cheaper ethanol, and more importantly butanol, production from a wide variety of cellulose, not just corn. Corn was easy cause we been brewin' corn whiskey for a long, long time. Corn as the major base stock will begin to recede rapidly. And then we have electric vehicles. GM is rollin'. Battery life in hot environs is still a problem, but now they are adding insulation and cooling to make certain they can go in Las Vegas, Arizona and other desert hotspots. Ford, Toyota, Chrysler, and Renault are building electrics. BMW and VW are working advanced diesels. I don't care for them, but biodiesel is here too. As far as converting plants to fuel and consumiing food. F**k them. Let them starve. Starvation = too weak to cause trouble. These camel f**kers fortunes are going to change soon. We just have to hang on and get busy.
#13
Compressed natural gas, or CNG, is plentiful, with trillions of cubic feet under Alaska alone, and is immediatel usuable technology. There is a lack of distribution centers, but vehicles are currently in use. Toyota makes one, but conversion kits are also available. They should be converting all those extra cars on the lot now. LNG is also being used by several school districts that have converted expensive diesel buses. We don't need them.
#14
Woozle Elmeter 2700: re comment #11. I realize that we are doing a lot on this. Good stuff. I am involved in the design of 6 or so bulk wood and cordwood fired central heating systems for rural communities and schools at this time.
What I mean in my comment 10 is that on the national scene, i.e., the President and congress, they just do not get it. I am glad that the states and other entities are doing something. We HAVE to do something, because fossil fuel prices are killing us. As far as Washington, DC goes, I do not care what happens to them, except for a few Rantburgers.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/09/2008 16:55 Comments ||
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#15
#13. Is that you T. Boone?
I keed. I keed.
Posted by: Scott R ||
10/09/2008 17:07 Comments ||
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#16
Before all you CNG advocates get too excited, please be advised that we already have to import natural gas in liquified form (LNG) to satisfy demand -- and that's before you convert any more transportation. And it may take ten years to get Palin's pipeline across Canada given all the Native American lawsuits expected. The natural gas companies want you to use more natural gas because they smell profits in increased retail sales, and they don't give a damn whether it's imported or not. Furthermore, the pipelines to our houses may not be big enough to satisfy both our heating requirements and our transportation requirements in winter. And lastly, there's a lot of areas that those pipelines don't serve, so we'll need a huge fleet of LNG tanker trucks to move the natural gas around, especially outside most metropolitan areas. Good luck with that quick fix.
#17
And before you buy T. Boone's spiel, you ought to research him a tad. You'll find that he has a lot of vested interest in pushing natural gas:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T._Boone_Pickens
"Banks may be failing. But the world's bottom billion can bank on us."
The world's poorest people can count on the United Nations and its member states to support them, despite the current crisis engulfing financial markets, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Tuesday. "Everyone has felt the earthquake on Wall Street. But it has not shaken our resolve," Ban told reporters at UN Headquarters in New York, where he held the first in a series of regular monthly press conferences. "Banks may be failing. But the world's bottom billion can bank on us."
Posted by: Fred ||
10/09/2008 00:00 ||
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Do the bottom billion despise me, or is that a drafty Halloween costume you are wearing, UN?
Is that an invoice for the US Federal Government or are you just happy to see me? After all, that dominatrix Bolton has been promoted to galactic affairs. Are you still squabbling about that damn renovation?
#11
I don't give a flyin' shit what ole Ban Ki and his UN hustler pals do as long as we American Taxpayers are not any part of it. Let McPain say that one of his first acts when he becomes POTUS is to divest the United States from the UN. That would cause a lefty like Brokaw ( who tries to cover his path well) to choke on his cud. McPain would get a lot of votes also. But, the old fool won't do it. Someone said he resembled Yosemite Sam after the dynamite didn't go off yet again. I laughed till I hurt on that one. I hadn't thought of it, but that's exactly what he resembles. He better get some smoke in his ass pronto. It may be too late already.
#12
If by 'bank on', you mean 'behave in a completely predictable and self-serving way', then yeah, what he said. And hurry up with my shrimp cocktail!
#13
The UN should sell seats to the Security Council. A bidding war. If Japan, India, Brazil or whomever want a permanent seat the pony up and outbid one of the existing members.
Let a couple nations pool their resources and buy a seat together. Say Canada, New Zealand and Australia. That would get some fun back into the UN if they held an actual auction and you'd get a ton of money in the process. It's not as if the UN isn't bought and sold anyway.
A six-week-old political standoff in Thailand turned violent again Tuesday as police fired tear gas at protesters attempting to derail the legislative agenda of the new prime minister, Somchai Wongsawat.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/09/2008 00:00 ||
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Malaysia's prime minister announced Wednesday he will step down in March and hand over power to his deputy, averting an open rebellion from party members that could have led to a humiliating ouster.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/09/2008 00:00 ||
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Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday blamed a lack of attention to religion and God for the crisis running wild in global financial markets. "Their economy is collapsing ... The reason for their defeat is that they have abandoned faith in God and piety," Ahmadinejad said in a televised speech in the northeastern city of Bojnurd.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/09/2008 00:00 ||
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One illegal alien was arrested this year in Tucson after allegedly using a stolen social security number to buy two homes and rack up over $780,000 in bad debt.
Some five million fraudulent home mortgages are in the hands of illegal aliens, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
It's not known how many of those have contributed to the subprime housing mortgage meltdown, but it has affected every state, including Arizona.
The problem began years ago when banks were forced to give mortgages without confirming social security numbers or borrower identification. As a result, illegal immigrants were able to obtain home mortgages which they could not afford.
#3
Boggle. You don't have to confirm a SS# prior to making a loan? Why the hell did I have to put mine on the form when we bought our house last year?
Willie Sutton wouldn't rob banks anymore. He'd just buy a house ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/09/2008 14:11 Comments ||
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#4
I don't care whether they can 'afford' them or not, you shouldn't be buying a home as an illegal. I don't think you can own real estate in Mexico even if you are a legal permanent resident.
#6
bigjim, here's the money quote from the Mexican Constitution -
"In a zone of one hundred kilometers' distance from the borders, and fifty from the coast, no foreigners shall be permitted to acquire direct ownership of land or water for any reason."
[...which makes it fascinating watching International House Hunters on HGTV as gringos Americans 'buy' places along the ocean in Old Mexico. Next bailout in...]
#10
I don't know about our rate of crime for illegals. However, we had the murder of a young woman in our city. She was visiting to help set up a new restaurant. She was staying at a local motel. The murderer was a guy who worked at the motel and came into her room with a pass card or key. The guy turned out to be an illegal alien with what the police called a very good forgery of a social security card. I wonder who makes these forgeries and where they get them?
#12
typically what you "buy" in Mexico is a 99-year land lease, and hope an Ejido doesn't pop-up and claim ownership after you build your dream retirement casa...
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/09/2008 19:08 Comments ||
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#14
Is there anything in Mexico worth buying
Tequila
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
10/09/2008 19:22 Comments ||
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#15
"Texas Hill Country is pretty nice - I understand that will be part of Mexico again before too long."
Not if the descendents of the original settlers there have anything to say about it - they are all German, and stubborn as the day is long. (I should know, I just finished writing a trilogy of historical novels about them!)
And also, this is Texas, so they are all armed. As far as I can see, the rich Mexicans have taken refuge in a gated community a little north of San Antonio on I-10. They don't want anything to do with all this "La Raza" reposession of Texas and the southwestern US - where the hell would they go to live a normal life and take refuge from the mess that their kind have made in Old Mexico, anyway?
#16
HUD: Five Million Fraudulent Mortgages Held by Illegals
One illegal alien was arrested this year in Tucson after allegedly using a stolen social security number to buy two homes and rack up over $780,000 in bad debt.
Besides HOMES Illegals are recieving FREE Organ Transplants which also includes FREE Organs of course.
In 2003, a "matching" viable liver costs $600,000 plus another $500,000 for its installation and after care costs at any Major Hospital in Caliphornia; Like Stanford University Ca. or UCSF University of Caliphornia @ San FranFreakco.
Imagine that the SAME illegal alien waz busted for racking up $780,000 in bad debt also recieved a FREE ORGAN TRANSPLANT paid for by You and Me.... Suckers.
:(
Posted by: Red Dawg ||
10/09/2008 20:08 Comments ||
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#17
GolfBravoUSMC LINK FOUND To illegal alien report
Posted by: Red Dawg ||
10/09/2008 20:21 Comments ||
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#14 Is there anything in Mexico worth buying
Tequila
Posted by: Deacon Blues
just a word of recommendation: I did a side job for a homeowner and paid me and gave me a "thank you" bottle of Abandonado silver tequila. It's in the freezer, and I drink it straight over ice. Gooood stuff. I like it
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/09/2008 20:34 Comments ||
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#19
CHINESE MIL FORUM Thread > IS THE US FEDERAL RESERVE ENGAGED IN ACTS OF ECONOMIC WARFARE AGZ AMERICA? Treason agz their own Govt-Nation via massive Pro-HyperInflationary printing of Counterfeit or Baseless US Monies + other policies???
The International Monetary Fund, in its bleakest forecast in years, said on Wednesday the world economy was set for a major downturn with the United States and Europe either in or on the brink of recession.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/09/2008 00:00 ||
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Mods - could we have a "Master of the Obvious" logo here?
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.
Arab stock markets fell for the fourth day running on Wednesday joining stock markets across the world amid growing fears that policymakers may be powerless to stop the worst financial shock since the Great Depression.
Detained ailing Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) Mayor ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury was released on bail yesterday from the prison cell of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU).
The rout in global stock markets continued Wednesday, with Japan's Nikkei suffering a historic one-day loss, officials in Seoul worrying about a cratering currency, and European shares sinking despite announcement of a U.K. bank bailout plan and a coordinated interest-rate cut by central banks in Europe and North America. 
Nobel peace laureates former US President Jimmy Carter and anti-apartheid campaigner Desmond Tutu arrived in Cyprus on Wednesday to back UN-brokered efforts to reunite the Mediterranean island. Cypriot President Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat launched peace talks on September 3.
With the nation in the middle of what is being regularly reported as the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, a new poll found that 74 percent of America's top business leaders fear "an Obama presidency would be disastrous for the country."
(PTI) The teenaged son of a Democratic Tennessee state lawmaker was today indicted by a federal grand jury in connection with the sensational hacking of the e-mail account of Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin. David C. Kernell, 20, the student at the University of Tennessee was indicted by a grand jury in Knoxville.
(APP): Advisor to Prime Minister on Finance Shaukat Tareen Wednesday said that notions about the bankruptcy of Pakistan are baseless and the government is neither going to seal bank lockers nor freezing foreign currency accounts. In an exclusive interview with APP after taking charge as Advisor to Prime Minister on Finance, Shaukat Tareen said the government would enhance the confidence of investors through concrete measures and alleviation of poverty would be among the topmost priorities.
Oct. 8 (Bloomberg) -- The Federal Reserve, European Central Bank and four other central banks lowered interest rates in an unprecedented coordinated effort to ease the economic effects of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday blamed a lack of attention to religion and God for the crisis running wild in global financial markets. "Their economy is collapsing ... The reason for their defeat is that they have abandoned faith in God and piety," Ahmadinejad said in a televised speech in the northeastern city of Bojnurd.
One illegal alien was arrested this year in Tucson after allegedly using a stolen social security number to buy two homes and rack up over $780,000 in bad debt. 
