very interesting.. curiosity abounds whether the woman aprehended in afghanistan rolled on this operation. nevertheless, it's a sobering reminder that this world isn't full of puppy dogs and fields of lollipops..
http://cbs4denver.com/local/burnsley.hotel.death.2.793573.html
Man Dead, Large Amount Of Possible Cyanide Found
ReportingRick SallingerE-mail
DENVER (CBS4) ― It has the makings of international intrigue. Less than two weeks before the Democratic National Convention a man has been found dead in a Denver hotel room with a container of what authorities initially suspect to be the deadly poison cyanide.
Adding to the intrigue is that the dead man, Saleman Abdirahman Dirie, 29, appears to be from outside the U.S. No passport was found on Dirie, who is believed to have entered the country from Canada.
A large container of a white powdery substance was found in the man's room on the fourth floor of The Burnsley Hotel at 10th Avenue and Grant Street. Tests are now being done by the Denver Police Crime Lab to determine exactly what the substance is. The tests could take days.
It's believed Dirie died from something other than the substance that was in the container. Denver police are leading the investigation of the man's death. The FBI and other governmental agencies, including the Joint Terrorism Task Force, are assisting in the probe. Hazardous materials assistance has included the Colorado State Patrol and the Colorado National Guard. "
Our Joint Terrorism Task Force is involved in this simply because the victim here is from another country and it just kind of makes sense that our terrorism guys would take a look a look at this," FBI Special Agent in Charge James Davis said. Davis told CBS 4 that nothing so far has been found to link the case to terrorism or the coming convention.
"I don't see how anybody could do anything but look into the possibility that this is a potential terrorist attack," said Dr. Andrew Ternay, a Department of Defense contractor. Ternay has worked with the Pentagon for 25 years. He's published text books and written "The Language of Nightmares" which is a glossary of all things deadly, including cyanide.
"The very first thought that came to my mind was murder, or somebody who's got to kill an awful lot of rodents because years ago cyanide used to be used to kill rats and roaches," said Ternay. "A tablespoon would be enough to kill you. Less actually." Authorities said The Burnsley Hotel is safe and is open for business.
Cyanide can be made from plants in very small amounts. It can be a gas, liquid or powder. It prevents the body from using oxygen and therefore is more harmful to the heart and brain than other organs. "It was used in concentration camps in World War II and by Saddam Hussein against the Kurds in the 1990s," CBD4 Medical Editor Dr. Dave Hnida said. "And put it in a little capsule, it is in fact used as a suicide pill just like you see in the movies."
Officials said cyanide can be used as a terrorist weapon if it is dumped in water put in food, sprayed as a gas, or many other methods. Ternay said the question with cyanide is how pure it is. If the powder is only 10 percent cyanide, it is not nearly as lethal. Ternay said cyanide can be easy to get if you want a quarter of a pound.
Filling out some paperwork is all that is required to order it. Larger amounts of 50 pounds or more are tougher to come by. The investigation is continuing.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
russian lies..
did anyone really believe them ?? the problem here is that the russian advance is going on with no real concrete reporting. there are a lot of rumors and not a lot of fact. it appears as if russia is going to push until the georgian president is out of power.
the implications here are significant as the west stumbles over a response and western aligned nations watch while no one comes to aid. this may make many of them reconsider their alignment.
OUTSIDE GORI, Georgia (AP) — Russian troops and paramilitaries thrust deep into Georgia on Wednesday, rolling into the strategic city of Gori and violating the truce designed to end the six-day war that has uprooted 100,000 people and scarred the Georgian landscape. Georgian officials said Gori was looted and bombed by the Russians, who denied the claim. An AP reporter later saw dozens of tanks and military vehicles leaving the city, roaring southeast.
the implications here are significant as the west stumbles over a response and western aligned nations watch while no one comes to aid. this may make many of them reconsider their alignment.
OUTSIDE GORI, Georgia (AP) — Russian troops and paramilitaries thrust deep into Georgia on Wednesday, rolling into the strategic city of Gori and violating the truce designed to end the six-day war that has uprooted 100,000 people and scarred the Georgian landscape. Georgian officials said Gori was looted and bombed by the Russians, who denied the claim. An AP reporter later saw dozens of tanks and military vehicles leaving the city, roaring southeast.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
aafia siddique - biggest intelligence gain in 5 years ?
this article from ABC indicates that her capture has been a significant gain in intelligence and may be related to some of the latest actions taken in pakistan.
-----------------------------------------------
When she was arrested in Afghanistan last month, Aafia Siddique allegedly had in her possession maps of New York, a list of potential targets that included the Statue of Liberty, Times Square, the subway system and the animal disease center on Plum Island, detailed chemical, biological and radiological weapon information that has been seen only in a handful of terrorist cases, as well as a thumb drive packed with emails, ABC News has learned.
That haul of information has led multiple government sources to describe Siddique, a 36 year-old MIT graduate, as a potential "treasure trove" of information on terrorist supporters, sympathizers or 'sleepers' in the United States and overseas.
"She is the most significant capture in five years," said former CIA officer John Kiriakou, who said she lives up to her reputation as an alleged terrorist 'Mata Hari.'
And there is an eagerness to see what, if anything, she can add to the thin trickle of fresh information on the activities of terrorists and terrorist supporters in Afghanistan and Pakistan, as well as what if any risk she might pose to national security.
-----------------------------------------------
When she was arrested in Afghanistan last month, Aafia Siddique allegedly had in her possession maps of New York, a list of potential targets that included the Statue of Liberty, Times Square, the subway system and the animal disease center on Plum Island, detailed chemical, biological and radiological weapon information that has been seen only in a handful of terrorist cases, as well as a thumb drive packed with emails, ABC News has learned.
That haul of information has led multiple government sources to describe Siddique, a 36 year-old MIT graduate, as a potential "treasure trove" of information on terrorist supporters, sympathizers or 'sleepers' in the United States and overseas.
"She is the most significant capture in five years," said former CIA officer John Kiriakou, who said she lives up to her reputation as an alleged terrorist 'Mata Hari.'
And there is an eagerness to see what, if anything, she can add to the thin trickle of fresh information on the activities of terrorists and terrorist supporters in Afghanistan and Pakistan, as well as what if any risk she might pose to national security.
saudi's stop terror in it's tracks...
or on the street.. or behind the wheel.. i like the mention of 'family values.' i wonder if it's in the same family values book that wraps kids up in bombs and sends them places.
------------
Qatif, 12 August (AKI) - Saudi religious police have arrested a woman in the region of Qatif in eastern Saudi Arabia for driving a car.
The 47-year-old woman was spotted by agents from the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice after other men reported the woman, said Saudi daily Okaz.
The woman was later released after her family posted bail, and will now be put on trial.
There is no law in Saudi Arabia that prevents women from driving. However, fatwas or religious edicts, have been issued by Wahhabi scholars saying it is sinful for women to drive.
Conservatives argue that if women were allowed to drive, this would lead to women being able to mix freely with men, to corruption and the destruction of family values.
Saudi women have been continually pushing to be allowed to drive, and have asked the government to make reviewing the ban a priority.
On 23 September, a group of civil rights activists will formally demand that the government reinstate women's right to drive. The date also marks Saudi Arabia's independence day.
In 1991, a group of 47 women activists challenged the ban by driving through the centre of the Saudi capital Riyadh in protest. They were arrested by the religious police but later released. However, some were then suspended from their university jobs for one or two years as punishment.
------------
Qatif, 12 August (AKI) - Saudi religious police have arrested a woman in the region of Qatif in eastern Saudi Arabia for driving a car.
The 47-year-old woman was spotted by agents from the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice after other men reported the woman, said Saudi daily Okaz.
The woman was later released after her family posted bail, and will now be put on trial.
There is no law in Saudi Arabia that prevents women from driving. However, fatwas or religious edicts, have been issued by Wahhabi scholars saying it is sinful for women to drive.
Conservatives argue that if women were allowed to drive, this would lead to women being able to mix freely with men, to corruption and the destruction of family values.
Saudi women have been continually pushing to be allowed to drive, and have asked the government to make reviewing the ban a priority.
On 23 September, a group of civil rights activists will formally demand that the government reinstate women's right to drive. The date also marks Saudi Arabia's independence day.
In 1991, a group of 47 women activists challenged the ban by driving through the centre of the Saudi capital Riyadh in protest. They were arrested by the religious police but later released. However, some were then suspended from their university jobs for one or two years as punishment.
more obama-genius
dear barack - russia has a veto in the security council. maybe less time in hawaii and more time understanding basic concepts of international geopolitics is in order.
your savior's crown is slipping....
ERIE, Pa. (AP) — John McCain and Barack Obama agree on how to deal with the fighting between Russia and Georgia.
Both want a multi-prong diplomatic effort and are warning Moscow that it's relations with the rest of the world are at stake.
John McCain wonders if Russia didn't feel freer to attack Georgia after NATO put a “membership action plan” for Georgia on hold. McCain and Obama both think NATO should reconsider that decision.
McCain also believes NATO's North Atlantic Council should convene an emergency session to demand a cease-fire, and begin talking about a peacekeeping force for South Ossetia.
Obama thinks the U.N. Security Council should pass a resolution calling for an immediate end to the violence. He also thinks a U.N. mediator should join efforts to try to end the fighting.
a0735
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
your savior's crown is slipping....
ERIE, Pa. (AP) — John McCain and Barack Obama agree on how to deal with the fighting between Russia and Georgia.
Both want a multi-prong diplomatic effort and are warning Moscow that it's relations with the rest of the world are at stake.
John McCain wonders if Russia didn't feel freer to attack Georgia after NATO put a “membership action plan” for Georgia on hold. McCain and Obama both think NATO should reconsider that decision.
McCain also believes NATO's North Atlantic Council should convene an emergency session to demand a cease-fire, and begin talking about a peacekeeping force for South Ossetia.
Obama thinks the U.N. Security Council should pass a resolution calling for an immediate end to the violence. He also thinks a U.N. mediator should join efforts to try to end the fighting.
a0735
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
obama/clooney 08?
How Clooney offers good friend Obama advice on issues from body language to IraqGeorge Clooney once famously declared he could never run for public office because he’d ‘slept with too many women, done too many drugs and been to too many parties’.
But now the Hollywood heart-throb has entered the political arena at the highest level – by becoming an unofficial adviser to US Presidential front-runner Barack Obama.
Oscar-winner Clooney, 47, is said to be helping the Democratic candidate to polish his image at home and abroad.
But he is also sharing with Obama his strong opinions on Iraq and the Middle East.
Sources say the actor has tried to hide the pair’s friendship for fear his Left-wing views and playboy image would hurt the Presidential hopeful’s bid for the White House.
But Democratic Party insiders have revealed that Clooney and Obama regularly send texts and emails to each other and speak by phone at least twice a week.
One said last night: ‘They are extremely close. A number of members of the Hollywood community, including Brad Pitt, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, offered to help raise funds for Barack but it was with George that he struck up this amazing affinity.
‘George has been giving him advice on things such as presentation, public speaking and body language and he also emails him constantly about policy, especially the Middle East.
‘George is pushing him to be more “balanced” on issues such as US relations with Israel.
'George is pro-Palestinian. And he is also urging Barack to withdraw unconditionally from Iraq if he wins.
‘It’s a very risky relationship. His hope of becoming America’s first black President depends heavily on winning over conservative voters and it would be suicidal for him to be perceived as a tool of a Hollywood Leftie, which is how they regard George.
‘But they text and email each other almost every day and speak on the phone at least a couple of times a week, often more.’
The Ocean’s Eleven star is among many Hollywood figures to have endorsed Obama, including Barbra Streisand, Scarlett Johansson, Warren Beatty and Steven Spielberg.
One of Clooney’s trusted acquaintances said: ‘George is a master at crafting his own image and he is helping Obama to hone his image both domestically and abroad.
'He told me he feels Obama is a once-in-a-lifetime leader. He is doing everything he can behind the scenes to bolster support in Hollywood, not just with other celebrities but with the money men at the studios.’
The acquaintance added: ‘He has tried to keep the true extent of their involvement out of the Press because he is frightened of alienating voters.’
Clooney himself has admitted in an interview: ‘I’ve had the conversation with him saying, “Look, I’ll give you whatever support you need, including staying completely away from you.”’
The star has never tried to hide his liberal views and last week announced he is making a £15million film about the lawyer who defended Osama Bin Laden’s former driver, Salim Hamdan, on terror charges.
Clooney’s spokesman Stan Rosen-feld said last night: ‘I know they have spoken. I view it as a private conversation.’ Obama’s Press office did not comment.
Friday, August 8, 2008
the war no one is reporting ??
it's still early yet, i suppose, but it's like pulling teeth to find information on the russian invasion of georgia --from DEBKAfile
Georgian tanks and infantry, aided by Israeli military advisers, captured the capital of breakaway South Ossetia, Tskhinvali, early Friday, Aug. 8, bringing the Georgian-Russian conflict over the province to a military climax.
Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin threatened a “military response.”
Former Soviet Georgia called up its military reserves after Russian warplanes bombed its new positions in the renegade province.
In Moscow’s first response to the fall of Tskhinvali, president Dimitry Medvedev ordered the Russian army to prepare for a national emergency after calling the UN Security Council into emergency session early Friday.
Reinforcements were rushed to the Russian “peacekeeping force” present in the region to support the separatists.
Georgian tanks entered the capital after heavy overnight heavy aerial strikes, in which dozens of people were killed.
Lado Gurgenidze, Georgia's prime minister, said on Friday that Georgia will continue its military operation in South Ossetia until a "durable peace" is reached. "As soon as a durable peace takes hold we need to move forward with dialogue and peaceful negotiations."
DEBKAfile’s geopolitical experts note that on the surface level, the Russians are backing the separatists of S. Ossetia and neighboring Abkhazia as payback for the strengthening of American influence in tiny Georgia and its 4.5 million inhabitants. However, more immediately, the conflict has been sparked by the race for control over the pipelines carrying oil and gas out of the Caspian region.
The Russians may just bear with the pro-US Georgian president Mikhail Saakashvili’s ambition to bring his country into NATO. But they draw a heavy line against his plans and those of Western oil companies, including Israeli firms, to route the oil routes from Azerbaijan and the gas lines from Turkmenistan, which transit Georgia, through Turkey instead of hooking them up to Russian pipelines.
Saakashvili need only back away from this plan for Moscow to ditch the two provinces’ revolt against Tbilisi. As long as he sticks to his guns, South Ossetia and Abkhazia will wage separatist wars.
DEBKAfile discloses Israel’s interest in the conflict from its exclusive military sources:
Jerusalem owns a strong interest in Caspian oil and gas pipelines reach the Turkish terminal port of Ceyhan, rather than the Russian network. Intense negotiations are afoot between Israel Turkey, Georgia, Turkmenistan and Azarbaijan for pipelines to reach Turkey and thence to Israel’s oil terminal at Ashkelon and on to its Red Sea port of Eilat. From there, supertankers can carry the gas and oil to the Far East through the Indian Ocean.
Aware of Moscow’s sensitivity on the oil question, Israel offered Russia a stake in the project but was rejected.
Last year, the Georgian president commissioned from private Israeli security firms several hundred military advisers, estimated at up to 1,000, to train the Georgian armed forces in commando, air, sea, armored and artillery combat tactics. They also offer instruction on military intelligence and security for the central regime. Tbilisi also purchased weapons, intelligence and electronic warfare systems from Israel.
These advisers were undoubtedly deeply involved in the Georgian army’s preparations to conquer the South Ossetian capital Friday.
In recent weeks, Moscow has repeatedly demanded that Jerusalem halt its military assistance to Georgia, finally threatening a crisis in bilateral relations. Israel responded by saying that the only assistance rendered Tbilisi was “defensive.”
This has not gone down well in the Kremlin. Therefore, as the military crisis intensifies in South Ossetia, Moscow may be expected to punish Israel for its intervention.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
two us aircraft carriers head for gulf region
we were talking about this at work today... is it time to buy spider puts and xoi calls ?? i can see the market going down and oil going up !!
---------------------------------------------------
Two additional United States naval aircraft carriers are heading to the Gulf and the Red Sea, according to the Kuwaiti newspaper Kuwait Times.
Kuwait began finalizing its “emergency war plan” on being told the vessels were bound for the region.
The U.S. Navy will neither confirm nor deny that carriers are currently en route. U.S. Fifth Fleet Combined Maritime Command located in Bahrain said it could not comment because of what a spokesman termed “force-protection policy.”
While the Kuwaiti daily did not name the ships it believes are heading for the Middle East, The Media Line’s defense analyst said they could be the USS Theodore Roosevelt and the USS Ronald Reagan.
Within the last month, the Roosevelt completed an exercise along the U.S. east coast focusing on communication among navies of different countries. It has since been declared ready for operational duties. The Reagan, currently with the Seventh Fleet, has just set sail from Japan.
The Seventh Fleet area of operation stretches from the East Coast of Africa to the International Date Line.
Meanwhile, the Arabic news agency Moheet reported at the end of July that an unnamed American destroyer, accompanied by two Israeli naval vessels traveled through the Suez Canal from the Mediterranean. A week earlier, a U.S. nuclear submarine accompanied by a destroyer and a supply ship moved into the Mediterranean, according to Moheet.
Currently there are two U.S. naval battle groups operating in the Gulf: one is an aircraft carrier group, led by the USS Abraham Lincoln, which carries some 65 fighter aircraft. The other group is headed by the USS Peleliu which maintains a variety of planes and strike helicopters.
The ship movements coincide with the latest downturn in relations between Washington and Tehran. The U.S. and Iran are at odds over Iran’s nuclear program, which the Bush administration claims is aimed at producing material for nuclear weapons; however, Tehran argues it is only for power generation.
Kuwait, like other Arab countries in the Gulf, fears it will be caught in the middle should the U.S. decide to launch an air strike against Iran if negotiations fail. The Kuwaitis are finalizing details of their security, humanitarian and vital services, the newspaper reported.
The six members of the GCC – Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE and Oman – lie just across the Gulf from Iran. Generals in the Iranian military have repeatedly warned that American interests in the region will be targeted if Iran is subjected to any military strike by the U.S. or its Western allies.
Bahrain hosts the U.S. Fifth Fleet, while there is a sizeable American base in Qatar. It is assumed the U.S. also has military personnel in the other Gulf states, TML’s defense analyst said.
Iran is thought to have intelligence operatives working in the GCC states, according to Dubai-based military analysts.
The standoff between the U.S. and Iran has left the Arab nations’ political leaders in something of a bind. The TML analyst said they were being used as pawns by Washington and Tehran.
Iran is offering them economic and industrial sweeteners, while the U.S. is boosting their defense capabilities. Presidents George W. Bush and Mahmoud Ahmadi Nejad have paid visits to the GCC states in a bid to win their support.
---------------------------------------------------
Two additional United States naval aircraft carriers are heading to the Gulf and the Red Sea, according to the Kuwaiti newspaper Kuwait Times.
Kuwait began finalizing its “emergency war plan” on being told the vessels were bound for the region.
The U.S. Navy will neither confirm nor deny that carriers are currently en route. U.S. Fifth Fleet Combined Maritime Command located in Bahrain said it could not comment because of what a spokesman termed “force-protection policy.”
While the Kuwaiti daily did not name the ships it believes are heading for the Middle East, The Media Line’s defense analyst said they could be the USS Theodore Roosevelt and the USS Ronald Reagan.
Within the last month, the Roosevelt completed an exercise along the U.S. east coast focusing on communication among navies of different countries. It has since been declared ready for operational duties. The Reagan, currently with the Seventh Fleet, has just set sail from Japan.
The Seventh Fleet area of operation stretches from the East Coast of Africa to the International Date Line.
Meanwhile, the Arabic news agency Moheet reported at the end of July that an unnamed American destroyer, accompanied by two Israeli naval vessels traveled through the Suez Canal from the Mediterranean. A week earlier, a U.S. nuclear submarine accompanied by a destroyer and a supply ship moved into the Mediterranean, according to Moheet.
Currently there are two U.S. naval battle groups operating in the Gulf: one is an aircraft carrier group, led by the USS Abraham Lincoln, which carries some 65 fighter aircraft. The other group is headed by the USS Peleliu which maintains a variety of planes and strike helicopters.
The ship movements coincide with the latest downturn in relations between Washington and Tehran. The U.S. and Iran are at odds over Iran’s nuclear program, which the Bush administration claims is aimed at producing material for nuclear weapons; however, Tehran argues it is only for power generation.
Kuwait, like other Arab countries in the Gulf, fears it will be caught in the middle should the U.S. decide to launch an air strike against Iran if negotiations fail. The Kuwaitis are finalizing details of their security, humanitarian and vital services, the newspaper reported.
The six members of the GCC – Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE and Oman – lie just across the Gulf from Iran. Generals in the Iranian military have repeatedly warned that American interests in the region will be targeted if Iran is subjected to any military strike by the U.S. or its Western allies.
Bahrain hosts the U.S. Fifth Fleet, while there is a sizeable American base in Qatar. It is assumed the U.S. also has military personnel in the other Gulf states, TML’s defense analyst said.
Iran is thought to have intelligence operatives working in the GCC states, according to Dubai-based military analysts.
The standoff between the U.S. and Iran has left the Arab nations’ political leaders in something of a bind. The TML analyst said they were being used as pawns by Washington and Tehran.
Iran is offering them economic and industrial sweeteners, while the U.S. is boosting their defense capabilities. Presidents George W. Bush and Mahmoud Ahmadi Nejad have paid visits to the GCC states in a bid to win their support.
poor people <3 bling bling
i think this is obvious to many people. whn i'm driving around dallas i'll see cars with wings, ground effects and crazy paint jobs riding on 4 unlike wheels and bald tires.. that's not to mention the missing window and non-working tail lights. many times, people are poor because they make bad decisions with their money. exacerbating that situation is the fact that many poor people spend their time trying to be appealing to other poor people by demonstrating just how bad of decisions they can make with their money.. instead of driving a car that gets good gas mileage and saving money, they sport purses and rings and fancy hair, burning up the income prior generations would have spent to support their families. they want to feel important and affluent, even if they are incabable of making the decisions that would actually make them so. again, the culture of 'feeling' claims more victims
read on:
Conspicuous consumption is not an unambiguous signal of personal affluence. It’s a sign of belonging to a relatively poor group. Visible luxury thus serves less to establish the owner’s positive status as affluent than to fend off the negative perception that the owner is poor. The richer a society or peer group, the less important visible spending becomes.
On race, the folk wisdom turns out to be true. An African American family with the same income, family size, and other demographics as a white family will spend about 25 percent more of its income on jewelry, cars, personal care, and apparel. For the average black family, making about $40,000 a year, that amounts to $1,900 more a year than for a comparable white family. To make up the difference, African Americans spend much less on education, health care, entertainment, and home furnishings. (The same is true of Latinos.)
But the same is true for whites. Controlling for differences in housing costs, an increase of $10,000 in the mean income for white households—about like going from South Carolina to California—leads to a 13 percent decrease in spending on visible goods. “Take a $100,000-a-year person in Alabama and a $100,000 person in Boston,” says Hurst. “The $100,000 person in Alabama does more visible consumption than the $100,000 person in Massachusetts.” That’s why a diamond-crusted Rolex screams “nouveau riche.” It signals that the owner came from a poor group and has something to prove.
So this research has implications beyond race. It ought to apply to any peer group perceived by strangers. It suggests why emerging economies like Russia and China, despite their low average incomes, are such hot luxury markets today—and why 20th-century Texas, a relatively poor state, provided so many eager customers for Neiman Marcus. Rich people in poor places want to show off their wealth. And their less affluent counterparts feel pressure to fake it, at least in public. Nobody wants the stigma of being thought poor.
a great thomas sowell statement..
thomas sowell, a man who i respect tremendously and read voraciously, said this as it relates to the mortgage mess we find ourselves in.
It was government intervention in the financial markets, which is now supposed to save the situation, that created the problem in the first place.Laws and regulations pressured lending institutions to lend to people that they were not lending to, given the economic realities. The Community Reinvestment Act forced them to lend in places where they did not want to send their money, and where neither they nor the politicians wanted to walk.
Now that this whole situation has blown up in everybody's face, the government intervention that brought on this disaster in is supposed to save the day.Politics is largely the process of taking credit and putting the blame on others— regardless of what the facts may be. Politicians get away with this to the extent that we gullibly accept their words and look to them as political messiahs.
It was government intervention in the financial markets, which is now supposed to save the situation, that created the problem in the first place.Laws and regulations pressured lending institutions to lend to people that they were not lending to, given the economic realities. The Community Reinvestment Act forced them to lend in places where they did not want to send their money, and where neither they nor the politicians wanted to walk.
Now that this whole situation has blown up in everybody's face, the government intervention that brought on this disaster in is supposed to save the day.Politics is largely the process of taking credit and putting the blame on others— regardless of what the facts may be. Politicians get away with this to the extent that we gullibly accept their words and look to them as political messiahs.
xom and taxes
from carpe diem - i found this fascinating:
Exxon has already paid $19.828 billion in income taxes for 2008 (data here), and will probably pay almost $40 billion in income taxes this year (see graph above, income tax data for 1999-2007 taken from Exxon's annual reports). To put $40 billion of income taxes in perspective, it can be reasonably estimated that Exxon will pay more in income taxes this year (both here and outside the U.S.) than the entire bottom 50% of American individual taxpayers (about 67 million) will pay in income taxes this year.Using IRS tax data through 2005 (in Table 6, data here), and making reasonable projections for tax payments in 2006, 2007 and 2008, the bottom 50% of taxpayers will pay an estimated $34 billion in income taxes this year, and it will probably be the first time in U.S. history that a single corporation paid more in income taxes than the entire bottom 50% of U.S. taxpayers.
israel readies attack on iran..
US sources hint that by rejecting Iran sanctions, Moscow opens door to Israeli attack
DEBKAfile Special Report
August 7, 2008, 3:19 AM (GMT+02:00)
Russian UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin: Nyet to Iran sanctions
Sources in Washington commented Wednesday night, Aug. 6, that, while it is unlikely that Israel would attack Iran without US approval, this might change if tough sanctions were taken off the table. They reported Israel was building up its strike capabilities for an attack, had purchased 90 F-16I planes that can carry enough fuel to reach Iran and would receive another 11 by the end of next year. The Jewish state had also bought two new Dolphin submarines from Germany capable of firing nuclear-armed warheads, in addition to the three already in service with its navy.
According to foreign media, Israel is active inside Iranian territory.
DEBKAfile reports that this information was leaked by Washington sources, apparently to warn Moscow that by closing the door to sanctions, it was opening the door to an Israeli attack.
A few hours earlier by Russian UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin: “There have been no firm agreements or understandings or any kind of concerted work” against Iran over its nuclear program.” He took exception to US and British statements that a fourth round of UN Security Council sanctions was on the cards against Iran for its ambiguous response to the six-power incentives.
The sources disclosed that Israel, believing Tehran will have enough enriched uranium for a nuclear bomb by next year or 2010 at the latest, is worried about Washington’s softening on Iran and intention to open a US office in Tehran.
Washington sources report that Israeli is building up its strike capabilities and appears confident that a military attack would cripple Tehran’s nuclear program even if its installations were too widely scattered to be completely wiped out.
US, British, Russian, Chinese, French, German and European officials spoke by conference earlier in the day. The US and Britain said they had agreed to consider a possible fourth round of UN Security Council sanctions for lack of a clear yes or no from Tehran on the suspension of uranium enrichment in return for incentives.
This the Russian ambassador denied. He also said Moscow had set no deadline for Iran to respond to the offer made on June 19. “The negotiating track is open, there are contacts between the parties,” he said. While Russian would have preferred a clear response, “It’s more complicated than that as we all know.”
He suggested that further talks among the six powers would take place in September on the sidelines of the next UN General Assembly.
DEBKAfile Special Report
August 7, 2008, 3:19 AM (GMT+02:00)
Russian UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin: Nyet to Iran sanctions
Sources in Washington commented Wednesday night, Aug. 6, that, while it is unlikely that Israel would attack Iran without US approval, this might change if tough sanctions were taken off the table. They reported Israel was building up its strike capabilities for an attack, had purchased 90 F-16I planes that can carry enough fuel to reach Iran and would receive another 11 by the end of next year. The Jewish state had also bought two new Dolphin submarines from Germany capable of firing nuclear-armed warheads, in addition to the three already in service with its navy.
According to foreign media, Israel is active inside Iranian territory.
DEBKAfile reports that this information was leaked by Washington sources, apparently to warn Moscow that by closing the door to sanctions, it was opening the door to an Israeli attack.
A few hours earlier by Russian UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin: “There have been no firm agreements or understandings or any kind of concerted work” against Iran over its nuclear program.” He took exception to US and British statements that a fourth round of UN Security Council sanctions was on the cards against Iran for its ambiguous response to the six-power incentives.
The sources disclosed that Israel, believing Tehran will have enough enriched uranium for a nuclear bomb by next year or 2010 at the latest, is worried about Washington’s softening on Iran and intention to open a US office in Tehran.
Washington sources report that Israeli is building up its strike capabilities and appears confident that a military attack would cripple Tehran’s nuclear program even if its installations were too widely scattered to be completely wiped out.
US, British, Russian, Chinese, French, German and European officials spoke by conference earlier in the day. The US and Britain said they had agreed to consider a possible fourth round of UN Security Council sanctions for lack of a clear yes or no from Tehran on the suspension of uranium enrichment in return for incentives.
This the Russian ambassador denied. He also said Moscow had set no deadline for Iran to respond to the offer made on June 19. “The negotiating track is open, there are contacts between the parties,” he said. While Russian would have preferred a clear response, “It’s more complicated than that as we all know.”
He suggested that further talks among the six powers would take place in September on the sidelines of the next UN General Assembly.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
good riddance
Convicted Mexican-born killer executed
10:23 PM CDT on Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Associated Press
AP Jose Medellin
Also Online
MORE: Reports on Jose Medellin
HUNTSVILLE, Texas - Texas executed Mexican-born condemned prisoner Jose Medellin late Tuesday for the 1993 rape-slayings of two teenage Houston girls.
"I'm sorry my actions caused you pain. I hope this brings you the closure that you seek. Never harbor hate," Medellin said to those gathered to watch him die. Nine minutes later at 9:57 p.m. CDT, he was pronounced dead.
The state carried out the execution after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected his request for a reprieve in a split vote. Medellin, 33, claimed he was denied treaty-guaranteed help from the Mexican
when he was arrested.
His execution, the fifth this year in the nation's busiest capital punishment state, attracted international attention because of the claims although Texas authorities said he never invoked his consular rights until four years after he was arrested. By then, he had been convicted and condemned of participating in the gang rape, beating and strangling of Elizabeth Pena, 16, and Jennifer Ertman, 14.
Pena's father, who was among the witnesses, gently tapped the glass that separated him from Medellin as he turned to leave the witness chamber after the execution.
Several dozen demonstrators, about evenly divided between favoring and opposing capital punishment, stood outside on opposite sides of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Huntsville Unit, where executions are carried out. A driving rain, the remnants of Tropical Storm Eduardo, drenched many of them late Tuesday afternoon.
Medellin, who wsa 3 when he came to the United States and grew up in Houston, and five fellow gang members attacked the two teenage girls as they were walking home on a June night in 1993, raped and tortured them for an hour, then kicked and stomped them before using a belt and shoelaces to strangle them.
Their remains were found four days later. By then, Medellin already had bragged to friends about the killings.
Medellin's lawyers asked the U.S. Supreme Court to stop the execution until legislation can be passed to formalize case reviews ordered by the International Court of Justice, a panel based in The Hague and also known as the World Court.
The court said in its ruling that those possibilities were too remote to justify a stay. Four justices issued dissenting opinions. Justice Stephen Breyer wrote that to permit the execution would place the United States "irremediably in violation of international law and breaks our treaty promises."
Gov. Rick Perry, Texas courts and the Texas attorney general's office all said the execution should go forward and that Medellin has had multiple legal reviews. State officials noted Medellin never invoked his Mexican consular rights under the Vienna Convention until some four years after he was convicted of capital murder.
The International Court of Justice has said Medellin and some 50 other Mexicans on death rows around the nation should have new hearings in U.S. courts to determine whether the 1963 treaty was violated during their arrests. Medellin is the first among them set to die.
President Bush asked states to review the cases, but the Supreme Court ruled earlier this year neither the president nor the international court can force Texas to wait. Medellin's supporters say either Congress or the Texas Legislature should be given a chance to pass a law setting up procedures for new hearings before he should be executed and that executing Medellin now would endanger Americans abroad.
"Flouting the World Court ruling would be yet another blight on America's already tarnished international reputation," said Sue Gunawardena-Vaughn, director of Amnesty International USA's death penalty abolition campaign. The human rights organization is opposed to capital punishment in all instances.
A bill to implement the international court's ruling wasn't introduced in Congress until last month and quick passage is considered unlikely. The Texas Legislature doesn't meet until January.
Sandra Babcock, one of Medellin's lawyers, said the Supreme Court "should play its part in ensuring that the United States abides by the commitments undertaken when it signed and ratified the Vienna Convention and the UN Charter."
Randy Ertman, who lost his daughter in the attack, said Medellin's supporters were misguided.
"Mexico has a big yard down there full of filth and murders and gangs and drug cartels and they're not mentioning anything about that," he said. "There's where they need to start their work."
On Monday, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a request for a reprieve and denied his lawyers permission to file new appeals. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles also rejected requests for clemency and a 240-day reprieve.
"I don't want sympathy or pity, I'd rather have your anger," Medellin said on an anti-death penalty Web site where prisoners seek pen pals. "Don't feel sorry for me. I'm where I'm at because I made an adolescent choice. That's it!"
He said he'd "grown up behind bars and if the state gets its wish I'll die behind a locked steel door."
He added, erroneously, "There's no bars in the death chamber."
One of Medellin's fellow gang members, Derrick O'Brien, was executed two years ago. Another, Peter Cantu, described as the ringleader of the group, is on death row. He does not have a death date.
Two others, Efrain Perez and Raul Villarreal, had their death sentences commuted to life in prison when the Supreme Court barred executions for those who were 17 at the time of their crimes.
The sixth person convicted, Medellin's brother, Vernancio, was 14 at the time and is serving a 40-year prison term.
Mark Vinson, the Harris County assistant district attorney who prosecuted Medellin and is now retired, said it was interesting to him that none of the prisoner's appeals focused on his guilt or the evidence.
"I just think under cloak and dagger they're trying to reach out and grab something," he said. "I believe instead of playing this game, he should reach out to his creator. He needs to spend his time praying to his creator for mercy and forgiveness."
At least six other Mexican nationals have been executed in Texas since 1982.
On Thursday, a Honduran man, Heliberto Chi, 29, is set to die for the slaying of a suburban Dallas clothing store manager during the robbery of a clothing store seven years ago.
10:23 PM CDT on Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Associated Press
AP Jose Medellin
Also Online
MORE: Reports on Jose Medellin
HUNTSVILLE, Texas - Texas executed Mexican-born condemned prisoner Jose Medellin late Tuesday for the 1993 rape-slayings of two teenage Houston girls.
"I'm sorry my actions caused you pain. I hope this brings you the closure that you seek. Never harbor hate," Medellin said to those gathered to watch him die. Nine minutes later at 9:57 p.m. CDT, he was pronounced dead.
The state carried out the execution after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected his request for a reprieve in a split vote. Medellin, 33, claimed he was denied treaty-guaranteed help from the Mexican
when he was arrested.
His execution, the fifth this year in the nation's busiest capital punishment state, attracted international attention because of the claims although Texas authorities said he never invoked his consular rights until four years after he was arrested. By then, he had been convicted and condemned of participating in the gang rape, beating and strangling of Elizabeth Pena, 16, and Jennifer Ertman, 14.
Pena's father, who was among the witnesses, gently tapped the glass that separated him from Medellin as he turned to leave the witness chamber after the execution.
Several dozen demonstrators, about evenly divided between favoring and opposing capital punishment, stood outside on opposite sides of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Huntsville Unit, where executions are carried out. A driving rain, the remnants of Tropical Storm Eduardo, drenched many of them late Tuesday afternoon.
Medellin, who wsa 3 when he came to the United States and grew up in Houston, and five fellow gang members attacked the two teenage girls as they were walking home on a June night in 1993, raped and tortured them for an hour, then kicked and stomped them before using a belt and shoelaces to strangle them.
Their remains were found four days later. By then, Medellin already had bragged to friends about the killings.
Medellin's lawyers asked the U.S. Supreme Court to stop the execution until legislation can be passed to formalize case reviews ordered by the International Court of Justice, a panel based in The Hague and also known as the World Court.
The court said in its ruling that those possibilities were too remote to justify a stay. Four justices issued dissenting opinions. Justice Stephen Breyer wrote that to permit the execution would place the United States "irremediably in violation of international law and breaks our treaty promises."
Gov. Rick Perry, Texas courts and the Texas attorney general's office all said the execution should go forward and that Medellin has had multiple legal reviews. State officials noted Medellin never invoked his Mexican consular rights under the Vienna Convention until some four years after he was convicted of capital murder.
The International Court of Justice has said Medellin and some 50 other Mexicans on death rows around the nation should have new hearings in U.S. courts to determine whether the 1963 treaty was violated during their arrests. Medellin is the first among them set to die.
President Bush asked states to review the cases, but the Supreme Court ruled earlier this year neither the president nor the international court can force Texas to wait. Medellin's supporters say either Congress or the Texas Legislature should be given a chance to pass a law setting up procedures for new hearings before he should be executed and that executing Medellin now would endanger Americans abroad.
"Flouting the World Court ruling would be yet another blight on America's already tarnished international reputation," said Sue Gunawardena-Vaughn, director of Amnesty International USA's death penalty abolition campaign. The human rights organization is opposed to capital punishment in all instances.
A bill to implement the international court's ruling wasn't introduced in Congress until last month and quick passage is considered unlikely. The Texas Legislature doesn't meet until January.
Sandra Babcock, one of Medellin's lawyers, said the Supreme Court "should play its part in ensuring that the United States abides by the commitments undertaken when it signed and ratified the Vienna Convention and the UN Charter."
Randy Ertman, who lost his daughter in the attack, said Medellin's supporters were misguided.
"Mexico has a big yard down there full of filth and murders and gangs and drug cartels and they're not mentioning anything about that," he said. "There's where they need to start their work."
On Monday, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a request for a reprieve and denied his lawyers permission to file new appeals. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles also rejected requests for clemency and a 240-day reprieve.
"I don't want sympathy or pity, I'd rather have your anger," Medellin said on an anti-death penalty Web site where prisoners seek pen pals. "Don't feel sorry for me. I'm where I'm at because I made an adolescent choice. That's it!"
He said he'd "grown up behind bars and if the state gets its wish I'll die behind a locked steel door."
He added, erroneously, "There's no bars in the death chamber."
One of Medellin's fellow gang members, Derrick O'Brien, was executed two years ago. Another, Peter Cantu, described as the ringleader of the group, is on death row. He does not have a death date.
Two others, Efrain Perez and Raul Villarreal, had their death sentences commuted to life in prison when the Supreme Court barred executions for those who were 17 at the time of their crimes.
The sixth person convicted, Medellin's brother, Vernancio, was 14 at the time and is serving a 40-year prison term.
Mark Vinson, the Harris County assistant district attorney who prosecuted Medellin and is now retired, said it was interesting to him that none of the prisoner's appeals focused on his guilt or the evidence.
"I just think under cloak and dagger they're trying to reach out and grab something," he said. "I believe instead of playing this game, he should reach out to his creator. He needs to spend his time praying to his creator for mercy and forgiveness."
At least six other Mexican nationals have been executed in Texas since 1982.
On Thursday, a Honduran man, Heliberto Chi, 29, is set to die for the slaying of a suburban Dallas clothing store manager during the robbery of a clothing store seven years ago.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
last month in islam..
Monthly Jihad Report July 2008
Jihad Attacks:
200
Countries:
22
Religions:
5
Dead Bodies:
926
Critically Injured:
2075
Jihad Attacks:
200
Countries:
22
Religions:
5
Dead Bodies:
926
Critically Injured:
2075
Monday, August 4, 2008
obama's birth place?
i haven't really paid a lot of attention to this.. but now there seems to be more substance to the rumors..
Expert: Obama's fake birth certificate forged from original of Hawaii woman
That said, and in the interest of fairness, if the people responsible for forging the COLB come forward and admit their liability the name of the original COLB owner will not be released publicly. It is only fair to give the guilty parties a chance to take responsibility for their actions before it embarrasses a lot of people and ruins some people's reputations.
As a heads up to the guilty parties -- the names and dates have already been restored -- as has the fact the owner is a female born in the 70's. That is all that will be revealed publicly for now. Besides if I turn up in a ditch someplace the information is already in a few 3rd party hands and they will just release it in my place.
LATEST UPDATE: so, i've heard about this Phillip Berg for a while - and i have somewhat dismissed his lawsuit, thinking he was a republican partisan. turns out he's a life long democrat with significant public service in Penn. I would invite you to watch this video and make a decision for yourself..
this is worth your time... also take a look here for more information.
this is worth your time... also take a look here for more information.
ANOTHER UPDATE: http://fieldsoflollipops.blogspot.com/2008/08/obama-mentor-bisexual-communist-perv.html
it looks like obama had a bi-sexual, communist as his mentor while in hawaii.. good times indeed!! there is nothing like a president who has a mentor who has sex with children, trolls city parks and wishes he had 2 peni..
so, i wonder if obama got to be a part of any of these urine soaked, s&m fests... sure sounds like they had the drug usage in common. they say you can tell a lot about a man by his friends -- this guy has felons, bisexual pedophiles, terrorists and psychotic preachers who trade in victimhood.. sure sounds like he's a great guy to lead the free world...
YET ANOTHER UPDATE: http://www.waronfreedom.org/dox/BONoUsCitizen.htm
this has some interesting points - i didn't realize that factcheck.org is a function of the annenberg center.. also, i'm interested to look in to the 'mysterious deaths of black gays in and around wright's church..' there seems to be more than just a passing insinuation that obama has had some level of male on male action in his past..
what is a windfall profit?
What Is a 'Windfall' Profit?August 4, 2008
The "windfall profits" tax is back, with Barack Obama stumping again to apply it to a handful of big oil companies. Which raises a few questions: What is a "windfall" profit anyway? How does it differ from your everyday, run of the mill profit? Is it some absolute number, a matter of return on equity or sales -- or does it merely depend on who earns it?
Enquiring entrepreneurs want to know. Unfortunately, Mr. Obama's "emergency" plan, announced on Friday, doesn't offer any clarity. To pay for "stimulus" checks of $1,000 for families and $500 for individuals, the Senator says government would take "a reasonable share" of oil company profits.
Mr. Obama didn't bother to define "reasonable," and neither did Dick Durbin, the second-ranking Senate Democrat, when he recently declared that "The oil companies need to know that there is a limit on how much profit they can take in this economy." Really? This extraordinary redefinition of free-market success could use some parsing.
Take Exxon Mobil, which on Thursday reported the highest quarterly profit ever and is the main target of any "windfall" tax surcharge. Yet if its profits are at record highs, its tax bills are already at record highs too. Between 2003 and 2007, Exxon paid $64.7 billion in U.S. taxes, exceeding its after-tax U.S. earnings by more than $19 billion. That sounds like a government windfall to us, but perhaps we're missing some Obama-Durbin business subtlety.
Maybe they have in mind profit margins as a percentage of sales. Yet by that standard Exxon's profits don't seem so large. Exxon's profit margin stood at 10% for 2007, which is hardly out of line with the oil and gas industry average of 8.3%, or the 8.9% for U.S. manufacturing (excluding the sputtering auto makers).
If that's what constitutes windfall profits, most of corporate America would qualify. Take aerospace or machinery -- both 8.2% in 2007. Chemicals had an average margin of 12.7%. Computers: 13.7%. Electronics and appliances: 14.5%. Pharmaceuticals (18.4%) and beverages and tobacco (19.1%) round out the Census Bureau's industry rankings. The latter two double the returns of Big Oil, though of course government has already became a tacit shareholder in Big Tobacco through the various legal settlements that guarantee a revenue stream for years to come.
In a tax bill on oil earlier this summer, no fewer than 51 Senators voted to impose a 25% windfall tax on a U.S.-based oil company whose profits grew by more than 10% in a single year and wasn't investing enough in "renewable" energy. This suggests that a windfall is defined by profits growing too fast. No one knows where that 10% came from, besides political convenience. But if 10% is the new standard, the tech industry is going to have to rethink its growth arc. So will LG, the electronics company, which saw its profits grow by 505% in 2007. Abbott Laboratories hit 110%.
If Senator Obama is as exercised about "outrageous" profits as he says he is, he might also have to turn on a few liberal darlings. Oh, say, Berkshire Hathaway. Warren Buffett's outfit pulled in $11 billion last year, up 29% from 2006. Its profit margin -- if that's the relevant figure -- was 11.47%, which beats out the American oil majors.
Or consider Google, which earned a mere $4.2 billion but at a whopping 25.3% margin. Google earns far more from each of its sales dollars than does Exxon, but why doesn't Mr. Obama consider its advertising-search windfall worthy of special taxation?
The fun part about this game is anyone can play. Jim Johnson, formerly of Fannie Mae and formerly a political fixer for Mr. Obama, reaped a windfall before Fannie's multibillion-dollar accounting scandal. Bill Clinton took down as much as $15 million working as a rainmaker for billionaire financier Ron Burkle's Yucaipa Companies. This may be the very definition of "windfall."
General Electric profits by investing in the alternative energy technology that Mr. Obama says Congress should subsidize even more heavily than it already does. GE's profit margin in 2007 was 10.3%, about the same as profiteering Exxon's. Private-equity shops like Khosla Ventures and Kleiner Perkins, which recently hired Al Gore, also invest in alternative energy start-ups, though they keep their margins to themselves. We can safely assume their profits are lofty, much like those of George Soros's investment funds.
The point isn't that these folks (other than Mr. Clinton) have something to apologize for, or that these firms are somehow more "deserving" of windfall tax extortion than Big Oil. The point is that what constitutes an abnormal profit is entirely arbitrary. It is in the eye of the political beholder, who is usually looking to soak some unpopular business. In other words, a windfall is nothing more than a profit earned by a business that some politician dislikes. And a tax on that profit is merely a form of politically motivated expropriation.
It's what politicians do in Venezuela, not in a free country.
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