Tuesday, September 30, 2008
That $700-billion bailout figure
You know where that very important $700-billion figure came from?
Here's a quote from that Forbes story:
"It's not based on any particular data point," a Treasury spokeswoman told Forbes.com Tuesday. "We just wanted to choose a really large number."They made it up to be sufficiently ginormous to frighten everyone into rapid action.
And it worked.
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House members rejected bailout because voters back home hated it
[HT:WR]
WASHINGTON — Almost until the early afternoon vote Monday on the financial rescue plan, voters bombarded congressional offices, protesting almost in unison: Don't bail out renegade financial executives and companies.
The 228 votes against the plan included 95 Democrats and 133 Republicans, a mix of conservatives, liberals and members in tough re-election fights.
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Despicable Politicians Most Outrageous Demand Yet
MEMPHIS - Here's why Americans are revolting over the Wall Street rescue plan.
It's not that taxpayers refuse to dig deeper to avoid an even bigger catastrophe. It's that they're all puking over the notion that it's the same bums in Washington who caused the mess by allowing it to fester who are now demanding their money to fix it.
[click image to enlarge]It's like the criminal who breaks into your house, hurts himself, then sues you for damages...
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Saddest Thing About This Mess: Congress Had Chance To Stop It
Could the crisis at Fannie Mae-Freddie Mac and the subprime meltdown have been avoided? The answer is yes.
As early as 1992, alarm bells were going off on the threat Fannie and Freddie posed to our financial system and our economy. Intervention at any point could have staved off today's crisis. But Democrats in Congress stood in the way.
As the president recently said, Democrats have been: "resisting any efforts by Republicans in the Congress or by me . . . to put some standards and tighten up a little on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac."
No, it wasn't President Bush who said that; it was President Clinton, Democrat, speaking just last week... [snip]
This year, the media have repeated Democrats' talking points about this being a "Republican" disaster. Well, McCain has repeatedly called for reforming the mortgage giants. The White House has repeatedly warned Congress. This year alone, Bush urged reform 17 times.
Some GOP members are complicit. But Fannie and Freddie were created by Democrats, regulated by Democrats, largely run by Democrats and protected by Democrats.
That's why taxpayers are now being asked for $700 billion
[Recommended > ]
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Iraqi insurgents forced underground
Karma, Iraq - When the Iraqi Army caught Abdul al-Wasit, a mid-level operative for Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), he was working undercover as a shepherd in a rural area. It was a far cry from his earlier days in a village 65 miles south, where he used to extort locals and openly execute rivals. The once seemingly untouchable insurgent had been reduced to hiding on the fringes of society.
[but they're not gone yet]
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Pentagon Honors Exceptional Employers of Citizen-Servicemembers
WASHINGTON, Fifteen employers accepted a Defense Department award last night for their exceptional financial and emotional support of National Guard and Reserve members on their payrolls.
The recipients were selected from the nearly 2,200 employers nominated for the Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award, the U.S. government’s highest recognition for efforts made in the civilian lives of America’s citizen-servicemembers, which make up roughly half of the nation’s armed forces.
Thomas F. Hall, assistant secretary of defense for reserve affairs, said 650,000 National Guard and reserve members have mobilized since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Currently, 110,000 are on active duty around the world.
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Obama and the Reagan Doctrine Obama and the Reagan Doctrine
In his debate with John McCain, Barack Obama's attempted to portray the Bush administration as a complete failure both in domestic and foreign policy. This argument, however, is running into one big problem: Bush's Iraq policy appears to be succeeding.
Obama attempted to change the subject by saying that Afghanistan, not Iraq, is the central front of the war on terror. But none of the hijackers or their planners actually came from Afghanistan. Every single one of them was from the Middle East, mostly Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
Moreover, Afghanistan has only minor strategic significance compared to Iraq. Iraq’s neighbors include Turkey, Jordan, Iran, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. No wonder Bin Laden and his associates have declared Iraq the central front of the war on terror, the launching pad for a new world war.
Obama, by contrast, still regards the Taliban as the vanguard of global jihad. This shows Obama as being both naïve and out of date...
[not really: more like political - assuming most folk don't realize the above]
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.The Democrats' Big Problem: The War In Iraq Wasn't About Oil
This 2008 presidential election cycle has been jam-packed with irony. John McCain has been forced to rely on the 527 groups he so despises; Barack Obama has been denounced by members of the black community but embraced by upper class whites; the Clintons have been rejected by the very media that put them in power.
But perhaps the most ironic fact of the 2008 election cycle is this:
the war in Iraq was not a war for oil.,
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Cologne's Speech-Killing Politico's Reek of 'Fascism'
... I have watched in horror as local authorities yielded their charge of freedom of speech and freedom of assembly -- indeed, yielded civic space and civic peace -- to a lawless band of violent leftists, who, in their weekend stint of mob rule, successfully prevented a political rally against the Islamization of Europe from taking place.
In brief, elected officials from several different countries (Austria, Belgium, Germany, Italy), politicians who campaign and win elections on the politically incorrect issue of resistance to the spread of Islamic law (Sharia), were invited to speak in Cologne.
Why Cologne? After a long and contentious battle, the city council last month narrowly approved the construction of a giant mosque complex funded by a group called the Turkish-Islamic Union... [snip] declared before 20,000 cheering Turkish expatriates that "assimilation is a crime against humanity", and called for the German formation of Turkish-language schools... [snip]
As in Europe, huge mosque complexes are opening across the States -- one very recently in Boston and another in Atlanta. Do they portend the extension and entrenchment of Islamic law in the United States?
Possibly; we don't have any political parties willing to even discuss it.
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'Jewel of Medina' Publisher's Offices Set Afire
Amid all the false media hubub about Sarah Palin being an alleged "book banner" comes much more serious news about the British publisher of "Jewel of Medina," a book about the child-bride of Islamic prophet Mohammed has been set afire:
Three men arrested in north London on suspicion of terrorism continue to be questioned by police. They are suspected of attempting to set fire to a publisher's office in Lonsdale Square, Islington.Will the U.S. media report this event? I'm not exactly holding my breath since the American press showed little interest earlier this year when Random House, originally scheduled to publish the book in the United States went back out of fear of violence.
The publisher, Gibson House, is due to release a controversial novel about the Prophet Muhammad and his child bride, entitled "The Jewel of the Medina."
At that time, not a single American television network reported on this sad moment for free speech.
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Iran to pursue uranium enrichment
Tehran - Iran today said it will go on with its uranium enrichment activities despite a fifth UN Security Council resolution calling for a freeze to the sensitive nuclear work.'' Enrichment is our right and we believe that suspension is an illegal request. We will continue on our path in a normal way,''
The United States and its European allies had pushed for tougher sanctions but ran into resistance from Russia and China.
[misleading: it wasn't the 5th resolution, it was a republishing of the 4th as Russia refused to support any new/additional sanctions]
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Venezuela set to develop nuclear power
CARACAS - President Hugo Chavez said on Sunday Venezuela will develop a nuclear reactor for peaceful purposes, in another challenge to Washington just days after Russia offered nuclear assistance to the socialist Latin American leader. "In Venezuela we are interested in development of nuclear energy, of course for peaceful purposes, for medical purposes, for purposes of electricity generation," Chavez said at a political rally.
[the world's failure on Iran has far reaching consequences]
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Diplomats: Syria passes 1st test of nuclear probe
Vienna, Austria - site bombed by Israel show nothing to back up U.S. assertions that the target was a secret nuclear reactor, diplomats said Saturday.
But _ if they were interested in a cover-up _ the Syrians would have scoured the region to bury, wash away and otherwise remove any such traces. Long before the time of the June IAEA visit to the site, it had been encased in concrete that served as the foundation of a new building...
[I.e., it was a nuclear reactor, which is why Syria kept everyone out until they'd sanitized the place, despite which the IAEA published what anyone with the I.Q. of a cabbage knows is bullshit - but it's critical of the U.S. so run with it.
When will we learn? It's in our interest to dissolve the organization - starting with withholding our lion's share of dues and evicting them from New York]
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The Nonsense of Global Warming
This summer's atrocious weather tempted me to tease a Green whom I know. "Well, what about your weather theory now?" (One of the characteristics of Greens is that they know no history.) He replied: "Yes, this weather is unprecedented. England has never had such an August before. It's global warming, of course." That's the Greens' stock response to anything weather-related. Too much sun? "Global warming." Too little sun? "Global warming." Drought? "Global warming." Floods? "Global warming." Freezing cold? "Global warming."
Marxism, Freudianism, global warming. These are proof--of which history offers so many examples--that people can be suckers on a grand scale. To their fanatical followers they are a substitute for religion. Global warming, in particular, is a creed, a faith, a dogma that has little to do with science. [snip]
The idea that human beings have changed and are changing the basic climate system of the Earth through their industrial activities and burning of fossil fuels--the essence of the Greens' theory of global warming--has about as much basis in science as Marxism and Freudianism. Global warming, like Marxism, is a political theory of actions, demanding compliance with its rules.
Those who buy in to global warming wish to drastically curb human economic and industrial activities, regardless of the consequences for people, especially the poor. If the theory's conclusions are accepted and agreed upon, the destructive results will be felt most severely in those states that adhere to the rule of law and will observe restrictions most faithfully.
The global warming activists' target is the U.S. If America is driven to accept crippling restraints on its economy it will rapidly become unable to shoulder its burdens as the world's sole superpower and ultimate defender of human freedoms. We shall all suffer, however, as progress falters and then ceases and living standards decline...
[I wouldn't call it nonsense though; they're deadly serious about forcing it on us - Recommended > ]
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GREEN POWER: BUYERS BEWARE
... given their eagerness for environmental bragging rights, many of the power companies are strangely reluctant to explain with specificity how extra payments from consumers produce green energy that would not be generated otherwise. A recent investigation found that a good portion of money is actually going toward marketing:
- Georgia Power's Green Energy program services 4,042 customers, but the company charges a premium even though green energy is actually cheaper than conventional alternatives.
- In Indiana, Duke Energy sponsors the Go Green program that could provide green energy to 1,156 customers, but in 2007, less than 18 percent of voluntary consumer contributions went to renewable energy development.
- Companies like Dominion in North Carolina provide the NC GreenPower program to over 14,000 customers, yet only 19 percent of program spending in 2007 was directed to renewable energy projects. [more, snip]
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Why Americans Can’t Get U.S. Oil
It is instructive that, when President Bush began to talk about lifting the ban on offshore drilling, the global price of oil dropped precipitously. As of this writing, it has not begun to rise and, if U.S. oil companies are permitted to explore and drill, the purpose of those leases, it will not only remain at current levels, but it will drop even more.
It is the Democrat Party and radical environmental organizations that stand between the discovery and provision of new oil and natural gas. It is the Democrat Party that is trying to push through a bogus “energy” bill that would put billions in the hands of those involved in “clean energy” projects that would barely provide the electricity America needs now, nor future needs.
If Congress should ratify the Law of the Sea Treaty, the United States would lose its claim to the vast reserves that potentially exist in the Arctic and you don’t need three guesses to figure out which political party supports ratification. That would be high on the agenda if it remains in Democrat control and if Sen. Obama were to be elected.
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[also see >
The Law of the Sea Treaty: A Bad Deal for America
The Law of the Sea Treaty: Inconsistent With American Interests
Ratification of the Law of the Sea Treaty: A Not-So-Innocent Passage
summary: suicidal idea]
THE MOST IMPORTANT REASON
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Obama Supreme Court Candidate Deval Patrick—Part 1
Deval Patrick has made his mark on the law in the field of racial preferences. Let’s take a look at his remarkable record:
Patrick as AAG aggressively pursued and defended racial preferences and racial line-drawing across the board—in employment, government contracting, and gerrymandering—even in the face of contrary Supreme Court rulings. Patrick was notorious for his tactics of intimidation and abuse. Even liberal senator Carol Moseley Braun (whose seat Barack Obama occupies) decried Patrick’s “Gestapo techniques” that “run roughshod over citizens, over communities.” (Washington Times, Oct. 1, 1996.)
When the city of Torrance, California stood up to Patrick’s charge—based entirely on statistical disparity from what quota-based hiring would yield—that it had committed employment discrimination, a Carter-appointed judge found Patrick’s case “frivolous, unreasonable, and without foundation” and awarded Torrance two million dollars in attorney’s fees.
Similar examples abound...
[this is the issue that will have repercussions lasting a generation and beyond - MUST READ > ]
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Judges: McCain’s strong suit
If John McCain falters down the stretch, he can find strength on the bench. One of the only lines that received enthusiastic applause from delegates during the flat first half of John McCain’s Republican National Convention speech last Thursday came when the nominee said his party
“believes in the rule of law, and judges who dispense justice impartially and don’t legislate from the bench.”READ MORE
Chicago Tribune Writer Finds Cause for Possible Obama Loss: Elderly Frontal Lobe Prejudice
Chicago Tribune correspondent, Howard Witt, seems to have found the villain to blame in case Barack Obama loses in November: elderly prejudiced white people.
However, such "prejudice" is not their fault, Witt "generously" allows, since they suffer from atrophied frontal brain lobes. Witt's article claims that such people will be more likely to vote against Obama due to the prejudice induced by these diseased frontal lobes...
[ah; unintended racism. progress of a sort, I guess]
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Homeland Security Detects Terrorist Threats by Reading Your Mind
Baggage searches are SOOOOOO early-21st century. Homeland Security is now testing the next generation of security screening — a body scanner that can read your mind.
Most preventive screening looks for explosives or metals that pose a threat. But a new system called MALINTENT turns the old school approach on its head. This Orwellian-sounding machine detects the person — not the device — set to wreak havoc and terror.
MALINTENT, the brainchild of the cutting-edge Human Factors division in Homeland Security's directorate for Science and Technology, searches your body for non-verbal cues that predict whether you mean harm to your fellow passengers...
[not done cooking yet - but not pie in the sky either - Interesting > ]
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Zardari’s Palin flirt earns him a fatwa
LAHORE: The prayer leader of the infamous Lal Masjid in the heart of Islamabad has issued a decree against President Asif Zardari for publicly making indecent gestures towards the American Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin during their Washington meeting, saying the act was un-Islamic and Zardari has shamed the entire Pakistani nation.
[Elect Palin. Send her on a world tour. All extremists kill each other. Another problem fixed. The 'Palin Doctrine' is born.]
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Monday, September 29, 2008
CNN Poll Vs. CNN Spin on Presidential Debate
[HT:TP]
Everybody is talking about this poll from CNN declaring victory for Obama’s debate performance last night with an article titled “Round 1 in debates goes to Obama, poll says.” Noah Pollak reads the fine print of the article and takes a few notes from deeper down into the specifics and Buried way, way down at the bottom of the story — hopefully, one surmises, past the point where anyone would read — is the following:
The results may be favoring Obama simply because more Democrats than Republicans tuned in to the debate. Of the debate-watchers questioned in this poll, 41 percent of the respondents identified themselves as Democrats, 27 percent as Republicans and 30 percent as independents.That’s bad enough, but the really egregious part is CNN’s blatant reportage of opinion as fact, which allowed the creation of a news story announcing Obama’s victory.
I’m far from being a polling expert, but this is obviously a slanted poll. A 14-point split between Republican and Democrat respondents? And what percentage of those “independents” were leaners for Obama?
[test it yourself: when next you hear of this poll {and you will}, note if its statistical bias is mentioned ]
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AOL Straw Poll: McCain 63%, Obama 37%
With all the mainstream media emphasis on [contrived, by virtue of the over representation of democrats] poll numbers that supposedly show strong leads for Barack Obama I was wondering if there should be any analysis of an AOL straw poll that shows John McCain solidly beating Barack Obama in a random sample of hundreds of thousands of readers.
A major difference between the AOL straw poll and that of other polls is that the AOL poll does not consist of people that are chosen by the pollsters.The poll runs over a number of days and is repeated on a weekly basis.
[highly suspicious to me, but as legitimacy of method evidently doesn't matter for reporting other polls his point is valid]
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Newsweek: 'McCain Won. But Will It Matter?'
[just offered to counter the MSM dumb beat to the contrary {and from Newsweek no less}]
As your humble correspondent noted earlier today, one needs to have some training in reading liberal tea leaves in order to determine which candidate actually wins presidential debates. However, in the case of this Newsweek article, written by Andrew Romano, absolutely no such training is needed. The title flat out tells us: "McCain Won."
However there is also one highly laughable caveat added on: "But Will It Matter?" First Romano tells us why he thinks McCain won (emphasis mine):
Tonight, John McCain was the more effective combatant... [snip]
...The contours of the race and the climate in the country still favor Obama, who holds a small but consistent lead in recent polls. To remake the landscape, McCain would've had to score a knockout blow. He didn't come close. The question, then, is whether he can keep delivering such solid performances from now until Nov. 4--and whether even that will be enough.Earth to Andrew Romano: Barack Obama pretty much delivered a knockout blow to himself by having to read the name on his bracelet in order to remember who it was.
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Media Fail to Correct Obama’s Claim of No Al-Qaeda in Iraq Before Invasi
Since Friday’s presidential debate, all three major broadcast networks have highlighted one of Barack Obama’s more commanding moments when he charged that John McCain was wrong in some of his pre-Iraq war predictions, but the media have so far ignored Obama’s incorrect assertion that "there was no Al-Qaeda presence in Iraq before America’s invasion in 2003.
Before the 2003 invasion, various news sources – some American, some from other countries – were already citing the governments of various countries as they reported that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the former leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, not only was already in Iraq plotting attacks to be carried out in Europe, but that he already had an association with Osama bin Laden and had spent time in Afghanistan. [snip]
ABC, CBS, and NBC have all played the that soundbite of Obama from the debate, but none recalled the facts to the contrary to which their own past reporting referred. Below are transcripts of relevant portions of past CBS Evening News, NBC Nightly News, and ABC's World News...
[it's called revisionist history, with nary a peep from our 'professional' journalists... Recommended > ]
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Stage being set for Iraqi elections as violence flares
Baghdad, Iraq - At least 22 police officers and Awakening Council members were killed in an ambush southwest of Diyala Wednesday, a U.S. military official said. (Snip) the Iraqi Parliament in Baghdad passed a law setting guidelines for elections to select local governing bodies, Sunni legislator Salim Abdulla told CNN.
The bill's passage by 191 of the 275 members of Parliament is considered a major step toward national reconciliation among Iraqi Sunni Arabs, Shiites, and Kurds.
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Man guilty of plot to behead Canadian PM
BRAMPTON, Ontario (AP) -- A Canadian man was found guilty Thursday of knowingly participating in a terrorist group accused of plotting to storm Canada's Parliament and behead the prime minister.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper was one of the terror group's targets.
Superior Court Justice John Sproat ruled that evidence of the alleged terrorist plot was "overwhelming."
He is the first person to be found guilty of a terrorist offense in Canada since the country enacted anti-terrorism laws in 2001.
He was one of 18 people arrested in connection with the terror plot, which also included plans to truck-bomb nuclear power plants and a building housing Canada's spy service...
[GWOT]
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Europe's Sharia question
In recent weeks, the European Commission and the UK have made apparent concessions to Islamic law, and with confrontations in Cologne over a proposed mosque, the role of Muslims in a future Europe is again in the spotlight.
Princeton University historian Bernard Lewis made his famous prediction in 2004: "Current trends show that Europe will have a Muslim majority by the end of the 21st century at the latest […]. Europe will be part of the Arab West-the Maghreb."
No one knows whether or not he reads Lewis, but not to be outdone, Libya's Colonel Muammar Gadhaffi speculated in February 2006 that "we have 50 million Muslims in Europe. There are other signs that Allah will grant Islam victory in Europe, without swords, without guns, without military conquests. The 50 million Muslims in Europe, will turn it into a Muslim continent within a few decades." [snip]
A slight majority of British blame al-Qaida for 9-11 (57 percent), but another 26 percent say they don't know who the perpetrators were. The numbers were roughly the same for French and the Italians, with 8 and 13 percent, respectively thinking the US authored the act. Among Germans, almost one-quarter - 23 percent - the US itself staged 9-11.
[still think a duplicitous press is harmless? These are western countries]
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Russian spies accused of agitating Czech public
Prague, Czech Republic - Russian spies operating in the Czech Republic have tried to increase public opposition to a planned U.S. missile defense facility here, the Czech counterintelligence service said Thursday.
The spies have contacted non-governmental organizations, politicians and the media in the past year about the U.S. missile facility. "The allegation 'is true,'' Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek told CT24 news television.
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Nato entry may spark war
Berlin - Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder warned Nato on Thursday that allowing aspiring member Georgia, with its ''unpredictable'' leader, to join the defence alliance could lead to an armed conflict with Russia.
Schroeder, a close personal friend of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, said he had been shocked at the one-sided approach western nations had taken in their dealings with Russia over its conflict with Georgia.
[just another useful idiot - including the 'reporter' who never got around to mentioning:
Schroeder Accepts Russian Pipeline Job
Gazprom declined to reveal how much Schroeder would be paid. Gazprom holds a 51 percent stake in the pipeline, with two German firms -- BASF and E.ON ...
- or -
German Politicians Attack Schroeder for Siding With Russia ...
Aug 18, 2008 ... Gerhard Schroeder sits before a Gazprom logo. Schroeder heads Nord Stream project, which is heavily connected to Gazprom ...
- or -
Gerhard Schröder, Gazprom and German foreign policy
Apr 14, 2006 ... A controversy has erupted in Germany over the links between the former Social Democratic chancellor Gerhard Schröder and Russian energy ...
or any of the other 54,000 hits that "Schroeder AND Gazprom" returns on google - too difficult I guess]
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Russia grants Venezuela $1B to buy arms
MOSCOW - Russia is lending one billion dollars (682 million euros) to Venezuela to buy Russian arms, the Kremlin said Thursday, ahead of a visit by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. "Russia has taken the decision to grant Venezuela a credit of one billion dollars for implementing programmes in the field of military-technical cooperation," it said in a statement, using diplomatic jargon for arms sales.
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Venezuela's Chavez sees America as a 'sinking ship'
President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela Thursday described the U.S. economy as "a sinking ship" in the final throes of capitalism but pledged that he would not cut off oil exports to the U.S. unless his nation were attacked.
Chavez, speaking moments before flying on to Russia as part of a five-nation tour, said Venezuela's sharply rising oil exports to China wouldn't cut into sales to U.S. or other markets
[if only we had our own oil deposits]
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A WILLING PRODUCER
Colombia is a rising energy producer that has just discovered huge new oil deposits in its Meta jungle, more than doubling its reserves to 4 billion barrels overnight. Nothing would help more than a partner with a permanent trade agreement -- as Colombia ought to have -- instead of a petrotyrant, says IBD:
Unlike its neighbors Venezuela and Ecuador, Colombia wants to be a reliable partner and supplier to the United States to attract the investment it needs to develop.The U.S.-Colombia free-trade accord, stalled in Congress by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi since April, would promote investment and production. The United States benefited hugely from 1994's NAFTA deal, which made Canada our No. 1 oil supplier. A deal with Colombia would solidify its energy ties to the United States, too, says IBD.
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CNN's Dobbs Highlights Wall Street's Political Contributions
[credit where due]
As one who's been critical of CNN's Lou Dobbs a time or two, I was glad to see him and correspondents Louise Schiavone and Kitty Pilgrim perform a valuable public service on Friday's edition of Lou Dobbs Tonight.
They detailed political contributions made by finance, insurance and real estate firms to four members of Congress taking lead roles in crafting the Wall Street bailout:
DOBBS: Just four members of Congress will lead the negotiations of what President Bush and Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid want to be the largest government bailout in history. Democrats, Senator Dodd, Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, Congressman Frank, Chairman, House Financial Services Committee. Republicans Senator Judd Gregg and Congressman Roy Blunt, House Minority Whip.Dobbs is right. The Republicans received chump change compared to the bucks pulled down by their Democratic counterparts. Then again, it seems to me that the Democrats bear considerably more culpability for the financial quagmire we find ourselves in.
That's your lineup, folks and over the past two decades, those four men have accepted almost $20 million in donations from finance, insurance and real estate firms. Yes, the very same firms that stand to benefit from that almost trillion dollar federal bailout. [snip]
DOBBS: Well he and -- I mean that's sort of shocking. He and Blunt are pikers (ph). I mean Christopher Dodd and Barney Frank have been making them look silly. I mean you're talking tremendous sums of money on the Democratic side. I'm a little embarrassed for the Republicans. They're supposed to be the party of business and they're not getting their fair share of the business.
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IS THE UNITED STATES GOING BROKE?
The current debt estimate represents the present value difference between all the government's projected future spending obligations and all its projected future tax receipts. This gap takes into account the government's need to service official and unofficial debts, including its obligation to pay baby boomers their Social Security and Medicare benefits.
But there are other obligations, too, that aren't calculated into the national debt for which the government remains at risk, says Kotlikoff. So, how do we pay for this, ? We have two options:
- Double employer plus employee payroll tax rates immediately and permanently, taking another 15 percent out of our pockets each payday.
- Cut benefits; Medicare could be scaled back to keep its cost growth in line with the growth in the economy.
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Villaraigosa to unveil L.A. housing plan
California
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Monday will unveil a $5-billion, five-year plan to build housing for the poor and middle class. The blueprint, which calls for thousands of new homes along subway and bus lines, and developments with people of all incomes living together, would, according to the mayor's deputies, alter the look and feel of the city forever.
[5 large. Wonder where they're getting the money?]
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Big Labor's Billion Dollar Bet on Obama
On June 26, the AFL-CIO brass officially endorsed Barack Obama for president. With Big Labor's largest umbrella organization and its member unions pouring unprecedented resources into the general election campaign, the public ought to fear the legislative payback that would ensue if Obama were elected. [snip]
Top on the union agenda is the so-called "Employee Free Choice Act" (EFCA), which is better described as the Employee "No Free Choice" Act. If it passes, employees would lose the ability to cast their vote by secret ballot... [snip]
Another union power grab on the fast track is the misnamed "Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act." If it becomes law, the bill would force state and local governments to collectively bargain with union officials over all contracts involving police officers, firefighters, and paramedics -- even in states with laws guaranteeing workers the right to choose... [snip]
But there's more. An Obama White House will also seek law changes that prohibit permanent replacement of striking workers. In advocating a ban on striker replacements union ordered strikes would be automatic winners, and American workplaces would come to a screeching halt in the face of extortionate union demands... [snip]
So the union bosses have found their man. With their billion dollar bet on Barack Obama, they know that the payoff of new union coercive powers will be worth the trouble.
[this will effect you - Recommended > ]
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Unions file appeal of bankruptcy ruling
California
Vallejo's police and fire unions have appealed a judge's ruling granting bankruptcy to the cash-strapped North Bay city. The unions filed their appeal in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Sacramento late Thursday, charging that the bankruptcy proceedings are endangering public safety because so many police and fire fighters have quit as a result.
[it's the unions that bankrupted the city in the first place - literally]
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Pa. Marine sues Rep. Murtha over Haditha comments
PITTSBURGH - A former Marine sued Rep. John Murtha for slander on Thursday, saying the congressman damaged his reputation by saying he and his comrades killed women and children "in cold blood" in Haditha, Iraq, in November 2005.
Former Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt filed the federal lawsuit in Pittsburgh. Sharratt claims the comments the high-ranking Pennsylvania Democrat made on news shows in May 2006 also violated his constitutional rights to due process and presumption of innocence.
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Austrian teens prepare for historic vote
Vienna, Austria - For her birthday, Nina Stanke gets 16 candles — and one vote. Austria makes history in the European Union on Sunday by becoming the first member of the 27-nation bloc to give 16-year-olds a voice in national elections.
And Stanke, one of up to 200,000 eligible Austrian teenagers, isn't about to pass up this opportunity. The two main parties are flirting with first-time voters and — to some extent — making an effort to cater to a younger crowd.
[dumb. personally I'm in favor or raising the voting age to 36. minimum.]
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Friday, September 26, 2008
BLAME FANNIE AND CONGRESS FOR THE CREDIT MESS
The vast accumulation of toxic mortgage debt that poisoned the global financial system was driven by the aggressive buying of subprime and Alt-A mortgages, and mortgage-backed securities, by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The poor choices of these two government sponsored enterprises (GSEs) -- and their sponsors in Washington -- are largely to blame for our current mess, says the Wall Street Journal. [snip]
Moreover, Fannie and Freddie were viewed in the capital market as government-backed buyers; thus, they were able to borrow as much as they wanted for the purpose of buying mortgages and mortgage-backed securities, says the Journal.
Their strategy of presenting themselves to Congress as the champions of affordable housing appears to have worked. They retained the support of many in Congress, particularly Democrats, and were allowed to continue unrestrained. In fact, Congress basically told them that if they concentrate on affordable housing, despite their problems, congressional support is secure.
But Democrats are now criticizing the risk-tolerant regulatory regime, blaming the current crisis on deregulation.
However, deregulation in the financial world in the last 30 years has permitted banks to diversify their risks geographically and across different products, which is one of the things that has kept banks relatively stable.
It's the concentration of risk in Fannie and Freddie - brought about by their governmental backing - which has led us to where we are today with institutions 'too big to fail'...
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How A Rule Rewrite Made Subprime Crisis Inevitable
One of the most frequently asked questions about the subprime market meltdown and housing crisis is: How did the government get so deeply involved in the housing market?
The answer is: President Clinton wanted it that way.
While President Carter in 1977 signed the Community Reinvestment Act, which pushed Fannie and Freddie to aggressively lend to minority communities, it was Clinton who supercharged the process.
In so doing, he turned the two quasi-private, mortgage-funding firms into a semi-nationalized monopoly that dispensed cash to markets, made loans to large Democratic voting blocs and handed favors, jobs and money to political allies.
This potent mix led inevitably to corruption and the Fannie-Freddie collapse...
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They Gave Your Mortgage to a Less Qualified Minority
[meanwhile, in the media... {well, MSNBC}]
On MSNBC this week, Newsweek's Jonathan Alter tried to connect John McCain to the current financial disaster, saying: "If you remember the Keating Five scandal that (McCain) was a part of. ... He's really getting a free ride on the fact that he was in the middle of the last great financial scandal in our country."
McCain was "in the middle of" the Keating Five case in the sense that he was exonerated.
The lawyer for the Senate Ethics Committee wanted McCain removed from the investigation altogether, but, as The New York Times reported: "Sen. McCain was the only Republican embroiled in the affair, and Democrats on the panel would not release him."
So John McCain has been held hostage by both the Viet Cong and the Democrats.
[the rest of the piece details the rule changes Clinton's Federal Reserve forced lenders to follow under threat of law suits - which I've cover previously, but this piece is more specific if you're unfamiliar - Recommended > ]
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EU warns Iran close to nuclear arms capacity
VIENNA, Austria - Iran is nearing the ability to arm a nuclear warhead even if it insists its atomic activities are peaceful, the European Union warned Wednesday. In comments prepared for delivery to the International Atomic Energy Agency's 35 board members, the EU also asserted that Iran appeared to have had a past nuclear arms program despite its denials.
While the evidence "remains to be verified, the IAEA's exhaustive and detailed" information, "leads one to think that the Iran has methodically pursued a program aimed at acquiring the nuclear bomb," the statement said.
The statement included no action plan should Iran continue in its activities.
[Unbelievable: the place is populated by suicidal idiots. I'm not crazy about Iran, either.]
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Putin says ties with Latin America a top priority
NOVO-OGARYOVO, Russia- Prime Minister Vladimir Putin vowed Thursday to make relations with Latin America a top foreign policy priority, a pledge backed by the first Russian naval deployment to the Caribbean since the Cold War.
Putin greeted Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, on his second trip to Russia in just over two months, with offers to discuss further arms sales to Venezuela and possibly helping it to develop nuclear energy.
[since the cold war? correction: as part of ...]
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Chavez: Latin States Should Partner With Russia Against U.S.
MOSCOW — President Chavez of Venezuela said in an interview broadcast today that Latin America needs strong friendship with Russia to help reduce American influence and keep peace in the region. The interview aired as a Russian Navy squadron prepared to sail to Venezuela.
Venezuela recently hosted a pair of Russian strategic bombers and is preparing to conduct a joint naval exercise with Russia.
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U.S. Officials: North Korea Reassembling Nuclear Facility
Washington - North Korea, after halting the disassembly of a key nuclear center, is now putting the facility back together in violation of the United States' conditions for improved diplomatic relations between the countries, U.S. officials told Fox News on Tuesday.
Japan's public broadcaster NHK and Kyodo News agency also reported Wednesday North Korea has begun putting its Yongbyon facility back together, days after it halted disablement work.
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Family barred from burying stepfather on a Saturday ... because he isn't a Muslim
The family of a 75-year-old man have been refused permission to bury him on a Saturday because he is not a Muslim.
Harold Lemaire died last week and his family wanted the service to be held this Saturday to make it easier for far-flung relatives to attend.
But their plans were scuppered after the council said only Muslim and Jewish funerals are allowed on weekends and bank holidays.
But as Jews cannot bury their dead on the Sabbath – from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday – it means that effectively only Muslims can use the service...
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Police Stop Anti-Islam Rally in Cologne After Violence Erupts
German police Saturday canceled an anti-Islam congress organized by a far-right group on safety grounds in Cologne after the venue was blocked by opponents. Radical leftists also fought riot police on the streets...
[catch that? The pro-Islam leftists blocked the organized rally and then became violent, so naturally the government response was to disband the peaceful marchers. brilliant]
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Sharia Law: Coming to a Western Nation Near You?
Georgetown University’s Prince Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding (ACMSU) will be hosting a conference on October 23 that asks the loaded question: “Is There a Role for Shari'ah in Modern States?”
The Saudi-funded ACMSU and its founding director, John Esposito, one of the foremost apologists for radical Islam in the academic field of Middle East studies, have certainly been doing their bit to make the idea more palatable...
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It's not easy being green...
.
UK SEEKING CO2 TRADING INCREASE
The United Kingdom wants the rights to buy its way out of half its CO2 reduction targets, and they are not alone. Other European Union (EU) nations believe they should be allowed to trade away 50 percent of their emissions reductions -- up from the 30 percent currently allowed, says the BBC News. [snip]
The dispute centers on the credibility of the system used for trading international carbon permits -- the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) -- arranged under the Kyoto Protocol, which allows rich countries to offset some of their emissions reductions by purchasing carbon credits which backer claim help developing countries get clean technology.
However, CDM is under fire because some investors are obtaining credits for projects in countries where they would have been built anyway, meaning that no CO2 is saved. Various reports suggest that up to 60 percent of CDM projects do not save additional CO2.
[so if it's not saving on dreaded CO2, why do it? A: the (huge, huge sums of) money. This thing is a scam from back to front - and coming to a United State near you soon...]
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BRITAIN FACES POWER CUTS THREAT
The United Kingdom faces an energy gap in five years but continues spending on renewable energy...
The United Kingdom will experience prolonged power cuts in about five years unless urgent action is taken now, says a new report. A third generation capacity was due to be decommissioned by 2020, but is not being replaced fast enough. Since the new reactors will not be ready in time, many question continued spending on renewable energy, says BBC News.
Researchers identified a number of factors that would combine to create the energy gap, including a European Union directive that requires the most coal- and oil-fired power station to close would result in the likely loss of a further 12GW generation capacity.
They also question whether government subsidies for renewable energy are the best way to spend public money. Government figures show that subsidies for renewable last year amount to one billion pounds; by 2020, that figure will be between 20 and 30 billion pounds...
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.
Meahwhile, in America...
.
Harry Reid Sneaks in Oil Shale Ban
Leave it to Senator Majority Leader Harry Reid to crash the Energy Freedom party. Not only is he crashing the party, he’s doing so through the side door where he thinks no one can see him.
Just when it appeared that we could celebrate Congress lifting the ban on oil shale, Senator Reid “has decided to sneak an extension of the oil shale ban through as Congress fights over the financial bailout”...
[how much of this do we endure before we can label it the national sabotage it is? Brace yourself for 24/7 media coverage of his maleficence...]
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Gore urges civil disobedience to stop coal plants
Environmental crusader Al Gore urged young people on Wednesday to engage in civil disobedience to stop the construction of coal plants without the ability to store carbon.
"If you're a young person looking at the future of this planet and looking at what is being done right now, and not done, I believe we have reached the stage where it is time for civil disobedience to prevent the construction of new coal plants that do not have carbon capture and sequestration,"The government says about 28 coal plants are under construction in the United States. Another 20 projects have permits or are near the start of construction.
[prevent the construction. Pity we don't have a political process for such disagreements where folks get together, debate their ideas, and decide - by majority vote if necessary - how to proceed... {i.e., this 'energy-insurgence' from a former Presidential candidate - just makes you proud all over]
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And the People's Republic of California...
.
Calif. lawmakers get free gasoline
SACRAMENTO, Calif.- California lawmakers enjoy a perk not available to their colleagues in any other state: unchecked use of gasoline charge cards that stick taxpayers with the bill.
Through the first seven months of the year, California taxpayers have spent $220,000 to pay for lawmakers' gasoline, according to a review of records requested by The Associated Press...
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T. Boone Pickens backs Proposition 10, from which he would profit
SACRAMENTO -- Perhaps you've seen oilman T. Boone Pickens on television advertising the "Pickens Plan" for alternative energy, urging Americans to wean themselves from foreign fuel by adopting natural gas and wind power.
Pickens has another plan he isn't advertising and from which he also stands to profit. He wants Californians to borrow $5 billion to invest in natural gas and alternative energy by voting yes on Proposition 10 on the November ballot....
[are we learning anything from the current credit crisis? Like maybe bright ideas that don't attract private market capital aren't that bright? Another boondoggle in the making - will we be duped again? {if we base our votes on 30-second TV spots we will}]
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The neutral media...
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Media Covering For OBama
Washington Times, by Tony Blankley
The mainstream media have gone over the line and are now straight out propagandists for the Obama campaign. While they have been liberal and blinkered in their worldview for decades, in 2007-08 for the first time, the major media are consciously covering for one candidate for president and consciously knifing the other.
This is no longer journalism — it is simply propaganda. (The American left-wing version of the Volkischer Beobachter cannot be far behind.) And as a result, we are less than seven weeks away from possibly electing a president who has not been thoroughly and even half way honestly presented to the country by our watchdogs — the press.
The public will be voting based on the idealized image of a man who never was. If he wins, however, we will be governed by the sunken, cynical man Mr. Obama really is. One can only hope that the senior journalists will be judged as harshly for their professional misconduct as Wall Street's leaders currently are for their failings.
[Tony's the past editor of the W-T and worth listening to - Recommended > ]
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Barack Obama, John McCain, the Polls, and the Electoral College
The economic crisis hasn't been bad for every single American: Sen. Barack Obama (and his running mate, Sen. Joe Biden) seem to have benefited from it.
Not financially, of course, but in the polling data that continues to improve for the Democratic ticket, despite or perhaps because of economic declines.
Even better for Obama/Biden, the gains are not just in the national polls but in the all-important Electoral College and battleground states...
[object lesson: could this be possible if the media weren't generally ignoring the fact that the overwhelming majority of blame for our current situation rests with a succession of Democrats?
Think the lack of 'investigative reporting' would be different if the fingerprints on this debacle were predominantly Republican?
The most prevalent spin: omission.]
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Democrats give Ahmadinejad reason to smile
Some friendly advice to our Obama-supporting friends: When your interests are aligned with those of Iran's President and Hitler-wannabe Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, it's time for some re-assessment of priorities.
Democrat activists this week gave Ahmadinejad a huge gift by sabotaging a major bipartisan anti-Iran rally. More important to them than Iran, apparently, was the opportunity to marginalize popular Republican vice-presidential candidate Governor Sarah Palin... [snip]
Democrats and Obama-supporters, please ask yourselves: was it really so important to begrudge any forum to Palin that you'd sacrifice a golden opportunity to raise the profile of Iran's increasingly imminent threat to world security?
What, exactly, are your priorities?
[A: party before country {or, evidently, world}]
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Pentagon Hails Passage of Iraqi Provincial Election Law
A senior Pentagon spokesman hailed today’s passage of a new Iraqi provincial election law, which opens the way to holding local elections within the next few months.
The law’s passage “is another hugely encouraging sign of progress in Iraq,” Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell told reporters today.
“This is exactly what we have been looking for,” Morrell said. U.S. officials have said that passage of the law is integral to Iraq’s reconciliation efforts.
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Biden's Latest Iraq Gaffe Timely; Disproved Same Day
Since the media are so eager to report the “lies” and gaffes by Republicans John McCain and Sarah Palin, will they cover the mistake Democrat Joe Biden, the man known as a “Gaffe Machine," made on Wednesday, September 24?
Biden's tough-talking Cincinatti, Ohio foreign policy speech was designed to boost Obama's credibility on the War on Terror and foster confidence in the Illinois Senator's ability to handle international issues.
In the process, Biden laid the bluster on thick and appeared to either be dishonest or unable to keep up with the news--or both--by claiming“... the surge is over, and the political reconciliation it was supposed to produce has not materialized." (transcript)
Unfortunately for Biden, news broke that same day about Iraq's “major step toward national reconciliation"...
[Biden: the gift that keeps on giving]
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Thursday, September 25, 2008
RECKLESS MORTGAGES BROUGHT FINANCIAL MARKET TO ITS KNEES
The strangest fact is that the housing sector is having such problems when the economy otherwise has been doing well. Why have there been so many defaults when the economy has not been in a recession, asks John R. Lott Jr., the author of "Freedomnomics" and a senior research scientist at the University of Maryland?
The defaults are the result of rules that were created to accomplish the "noble goal" -- an increase in home ownership among poor and minority Americans. Accepting these rules and criteria were hardly voluntary, with the Fed warning banks that failure to comply could subject a financial institution to civil liability for actual and punitive damages.
[some of the governments imposed rules:]
- Lack of credit history should not be seen as a negative factor because, for lower-income applicants in particular, unforeseen expenses can have a disproportionate effect on a credit record.
- Accumulating enough savings to cover the various costs associated with a mortgage loan is often a significant barrier to homeownership by lower-income applicants.
- Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will accept overtime and part-time work, retirement and Social Security income, Veterans Administration (VA) benefits and others and valid income sources. [valid yes, reliable no]
[i.e., political correctness run amok was the impetus for this mess, with the government telling professional risk managers how to evaluate risk. Yet the politicians and media are spinning the root cause as a lack of government intervention... They'll probably pull it off]
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Socialism Is Coming to America
In his classic 1932 book, Toward Soviet America, Communist Party boss William Z. Foster wrote about how “The United Soviet States of America” will come about.
"As a result of various capitalist crises, the national government would assume more and more control over the economy. “In finance,” ... “it will mean the nationalization of the banking system and its concentration around a central State bank…”Foster is dead, but the Wall Street financial “bail-out” plan offered by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, in coordination with the Federal Reserve, will bring about a socialist America. [snip]
Over at Political Affairs Magazine, a publication of the Communist Party USA, writer John Case is gloating. His article about the crisis is headlined, “A Dose of Socialism to Forestall Disaster.” He thinks that Paulson and Federal Reserve Board chairman Ben Bernanke have been reading the works of closet Marxists.
It would be an exaggeration to say that we are getting close to anything resembling the Soviet system. But it is also a big mistake to call this a “bailout.”
It is socialism. Why are so many in the media afraid of using this term?
[maybe because more American would be angry if they knew what was being done to them, step by step, and it might be stopped?]
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Iraqi Government Prepares to Take Control of ‘Sons of Iraq’ Program
Multinational Division Baghdad calls them “Sons of Iraq.” Their countrymen call them the “Volunteers.” Both are fitting namesakes for the 28,000 Baghdad residents who formed citizen militias last year, in coordination with the Iraqi security forces and Multinational Division Baghdad, to protect their communities against al-Qaida in Iraq and other violent extremists.
“They risked their lives and fought a common enemy,” said Army Col. Richard Welch, reconciliation and engagements team chief for Multinational Division Baghdad, who has been involved with the Sons of Iraq program since its earliest days and has watched it grow and change.
Under the new initiative, the Iraqi government will assume the payroll for the Sons of Iraq. To ensure a seamless transfer, officials are undertaking deliberate but paced efforts, beginning with payroll registration at joint security stations throughout Baghdad.
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Support for Osama Ben Laden
Amman - Jordanian Muslims' support for Osama Ben Laden has dropped dramatically this year, with only 19 per cent expressing confidence in Al Qaeda leader, compared to 61 per cent three years ago, according to a study.
Substantial numbers of Muslims, however, continue to express confidence in Ben Laden, according to the poll, notably in Nigeria (58 per cent), Indonesia (37 per cent) and Pakistan (34 per cent).
[GWOT]
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MSNBC: Bin Laden’s Driver Is ‘Victim’ of Bush Admin ‘Urinating’ on Constitution
[meanwhile, in America...]
On Thursday’s Countdown show, one night after accusing President Bush of not doing enough to protect America from Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda organization before the September 11th attacks, MSNBC host Keith Olbermann was outraged on behalf of of bin Laden’s former driver...
[you know; the guy with two rockets in the trunk...]
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Biden Fact Check: No US Diplomats In Tehran
CINCINNATI, OH — Big, long, dense speech from Joe Biden on McCain’s foreign policy today, which I’ll parse a little more in depth soon. But first, one face-off between Biden and the facts that, once again, the facts seem to have won.
Criticizing McCain for opposing negotiations with Iran, Biden said even the Bush administration now favors such talks — which Obama has long supported.
“After seven years, in which our senior diplomatic personnel were not allowed to make a single contact with Iranians, the Bush administration realized the absurdity of its own policy and sent our leading diplomat to Iran,” he said. “The Assistant Secretary of State as he went to Tehran, sat down at the instruction of the President of the United States.”It sounds great for Obama and Biden that the president came around to something so close to their position on talks with Iran; trouble is, the event Biden described never actually happened.
In point of fact, the one “meeting” that has taken place was in Geneva, Switzerland, when Under Secretary of State William Burns sat in on a discussion between Iranian representatives and the other “P5 +1″ political directors involved in nuclear talks. Burns was there merely as an observer, and had no formal role or talks with the Iranians.
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Islamic Nations’ Push to Outlaw Religious Defamation Faces Hurdles
The drive by the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), led by members including Pakistan, Iran and Egypt, has sparked concern that the right to freedom of expression is being undermined by a group of countries, including some that enforce blasphemy laws and punish “apostasy.”
Addressing a press conference at the U.N. headquarters on Monday, OIC secretary-general Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu said states would be asked to back a measure declaring activities such as the publication of “blasphemous” caricatures a crime... [snip]
In its latest annual report on international religious freedom, the State Department criticized the OIC campaign, saying that;
“Defamation, in its ordinary meaning, refers to unwarranted attacks on one’s reputation,” they said. “Religions, like other beliefs, cannot be said to have a reputation of their own.”
“despite a pretence of protecting religious practice and promoting tolerance, the flawed concept attempts to limit freedom of religion and restrict the rights of all individuals to disagree with or criticize religion, in particular Islam.”
A petition organized by the American Center for Law and Justice, urging U.N. officials to block the OIC move, has been signed by more than 84,000 people.
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Egypt cleric says Mickey Mouse is not agent of Satan
CAIRO - An Egyptian Muslim scholar has called for an end to risible religious edicts after a Saudi cleric said Mickey Mouse was an agent of Satan who should die, local media reported on Wednesday. Sheikh Mohamed al-Munajid, a cleric who often appears on Saudi television and who is also a former Saudi diplomat in the United States, said last week that mice were "agents of Satan" and should be killed.
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