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HavenWorks.com/hermit ;-) Hermit News News by Subject - News by Date - NewsStand |
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20081115 Global -
Financial -
Crisis -
Terrorism -
Intelligence -
Nuclear -
US -
Pakistan -
China -
Afghanistan -
Yemen
"Experts See Security Risks in Downturn: Global Financial Crisis May Fuel Instability and Weaken U.S. [United States] Defenses." ... "Intelligence officials are warning that the deepening global financial crisis could weaken fragile governments in the world's most dangerous areas and undermine the ability of the United States and its allies to respond to a new wave of security threats." ... "U.S. government officials and private analysts say the economic turmoil has heightened the short-term risk of a terrorist attack, as radical groups probe for weakening border protections and new gaps in defenses. A protracted financial crisis could threaten the survival of friendly regimes from Pakistan to the Middle East while forcing Western nations to cut spending on defense, intelligence and foreign aid, the sources said." ... "The crisis could also accelerate the shift to a more Asia-centric globe, as rising powers such as China gain more leverage over international financial institutions and greater influence in world capitals." ... "Some of the more troubling and immediate scenarios analysts are weighing involve nuclear-armed Pakistan, which already was being battered by inflation and unemployment before the global financial tsunami hit. Since September, Pakistan has seen its national currency devalued and its hard-currency reserves nearly wiped out." ... "Analysts also worry about the impact of plummeting crude prices on oil-dependent nations such as Yemen, which has a large population of unemployed youths and a history of support for militant Islamic groups." ... "Annual spending for U.S. intelligence operations currently totals $47.5 billion, a figure that does not include expensive satellites that fall under the Pentagon's budget." ... "U.S. officials are following developments with particular concern because of Pakistan's critical role in the campaign against terrorism, as well as the country's arsenal of dozens of nuclear weapons. Al-Qaeda has appealed directly to Pakistanis to overthrow their government, and its Taliban allies have launched multiple suicide bombings, some aimed at economic targets such as the posh Marriott hotel in Islamabad [Pakistan's capital], hit in September." ... "Economic and social unrest has helped drive recruiting for militant groups that cross into Afghanistan to attack U.S. troops." ... "China already was on track to surpass the United States as the world's largest economy, perhaps as early as 2030. Now, many experts believe the global recession could help it do so faster." (1, 2, 3) -By Joby Warrick -WashingtonPost20081115 Politics -
People -
California -
Utah
"Mormons Tipped Scale in Ban on Gay Marriage." ... "Less than two weeks before [2008] Election Day, [Frank Schubert] the chief strategist behind a ballot measure outlawing same-sex marriage in California called an emergency meeting here." ... "The campaign issued an urgent appeal, and in a matter of days, it raised more than $5 million, including a $1 million donation from Alan C. Ashton, the grandson of a former president [David McKay] of the Mormon Church." ... "The California measure, Proposition 8, was to many Mormons a kind of firewall to be held at all costs." ... "First approached by the Roman Catholic archbishop of San Francisco [California] a few weeks after the California Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in May, the Mormons were the last major religious group to join the campaign, and the final spice in an unusual stew that included Catholics, evangelical Christians, conservative black and Latino pastors, and myriad smaller ethnic groups with strong religious ties." ... "Shortly after receiving the invitation from the San Francisco Archdiocese, the Mormon leadership in Salt Lake City [Utah's capital] issued a four-paragraph decree to be read to congregations, saying “the formation of families is central to the Creator’s plan,” and urging members to become involved with the cause." ... "“And they sure did,” Mr. Schubert said." ... "Jeff Flint, another strategist with Protect Marriage, estimated that Mormons made up 80 percent to 90 percent of the early volunteers who walked door-to-door in election precincts." ... "In the end, Protect Marriage estimates, as much as half of the nearly $40 million raised on behalf of the measure was contributed by Mormons." (1, 2) -By Jesse McKinley and Kirk Johnson -NYTimes20081114 Don E Siegelman -
Karl Rove -
Michael Mukasey -
Leura G Canary -
Bob Riley -
Criminal -
Federal -
Law -
Alabama -
Georgia -
Michigan
"More Allegations of Misconduct in Alabama Governor Case." ... "Next month in Atlanta [Georgia's capital], a federal court will hear the high-profile appeal of former [Democratic] Alabama governor Don E. Siegelman, whose conviction on corruption charges in 2006 became one of the most publicly debated cases to emerge from eight years of controversy at the [Republican President] Bush Justice Department. Now new documents highlight alleged misconduct by the Bush-appointed [United States] U.S. Attorney and other prosecutors in the case, including what appears to be extensive and unusual contact between the prosecution and the jury." ... "The documents, obtained by TIME, include internal prosecution e-mails [PDF] given to the Justice Department and Congress by a whistle-blower during the past 18 months. [Michigan Democratic Representative] John Conyers, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, which investigated the Siegelman case as part of a broader inquiry into alleged political interference in the hiring and firing of U.S. Attorneys by the Bush Justice Department, last week sent an eight-page letter [PDF] to Attorney General Michael Mukasey citing the new material." ... "Conyers says the evidence raises "serious questions" about the U.S. Attorney in the Siegelman case, who, documents show, continued to involve herself in the politically charged prosecution long after she had publicly withdrawn to avoid an alleged conflict of interest relating to her husband, a top GOP operative and close associate of Bush adviser Karl Rove. Conyers' letter also cites evidence of numerous contacts between jurors and members of the Siegelman prosecution team that were never disclosed to the trial judge or defense counsel." ... "Critics, including a bipartisan group of 52 state attorneys general, have raised numerous questions, including the allegation that Siegelman was prosecuted at the insistence of Bush-appointed officials at the Justice Department and Leura G. Canary, a U.S. Attorney in Montgomery [Alabama] whose husband [William "Bill" Canary] was Alabama's top Republican operative and who had worked closely with Rove for years." ... "The documents — whose authenticity is not in dispute — include e-mails written by Canary, long after her recusal, offering legal advice to subordinates handling the case. At the time Canary wrote the e-mails, her husband — Alabama GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican operative William J. Canary — was a vocal booster of the state's Republican governor, Bob Riley, who had defeated Siegelman for the office and against whom Siegelman was preparing to run again. Canary also received tens of thousands of dollars in fees from other political opponents of Siegelman." ... "A key prosecution e-mail describes how jurors repeatedly contacted the government's legal team during the trial to express, among other things, one juror's romantic interest in a member of the prosecution team." ... "What's more, when prosecutors conducted their own investigation of suspected improper conduct by jurors after the trial, two of them were interviewed, despite instructions from the judge that no contact with jurors should occur without his permission. Those interviews were not publicly disclosed until nearly two years later, when the head of the [Department Of Justice] DOJ's criminal division belatedly wrote all parties, including the appeals court in Atlanta, to inform them." ... "Further undisclosed evidence of prosecution team members speaking with jurors following the verdict emerges in [Justice Department staffer Tamarah] Grimes' written statement to the DOJ." -By Adam Zagorin -TIME.com20081114 Auto -
Makers -
Unemployment -
Ohio -
Indiana
"GM Collapse at $200 Billion May Exceed Bailout Plan (Update1)." ... "General Motors Corp., seeking a federal bailout as its cash dwindles, would cost the government as much as $200 billion should the biggest U.S. [United States] automaker be forced to liquidate, a forecasting firm estimated." ... "A GM [General Motors] collapse would mean ``more aid to specific states like Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana, and more money into unemployment and extended benefits,'' Nariman Behravesh, chief economist at IHS Global Insight Inc. in Lexington, Massachusetts, said today in an interview. He prepared the estimate for Bloomberg News." ... "The projected expense of $100 billion to $200 billion covers funds for existing programs, such as unemployment insurance, and new measures that would be needed to revive economic growth after millions of auto-related job losses." ... "Such a sum would be an eightfold increase over the $25 billion bailout package that will be debated in Congress next week to help prop up Detroit-based GM, Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC amid the industry's worst sales year since 1991." ... "A GM shutdown would cost jobs among suppliers as well as at the automaker itself, pushing the U.S. unemployment rate next year to 9.5 percent, compared with current projections of as high as 8.5 percent due to the weakened economy, Behravesh said." -By Alex Ortolani and Mike Ramsey -Bloomberg20081114
"AIG to Pay Millions To Top Workers: Move Comes on Heels Of Revised Bailout." ... "American International Group plans to pay out $503 million in deferred compensation to some of its top employees, saying it must tap the funds to keep valuable workers from exiting the troubled insurance giant." ... "News of the payments to top AIG [American International Group] talent comes as the federal government has just put more money into saving the company from bankruptcy, beefing up the total public commitment to $152 billion. Meanwhile, members of Congress are questioning the company's expenditures -- including lavish business trips to resorts -- during a time when taxpayers are on the hook for the bailout." ... "AIG's troubles stem from bad bets it made guaranteeing and buying risky mortgage investments. On Monday, the U.S. [United States] government announced that it would have to expand its rescue of the company to nearly double the $85 billion loan it first provided in September when AIG was unable to pay billions of dollars in claims." ... "The company reported losses this week that brought total losses to $37.63 billion for the first nine months of the year." -By Carol D. Leonnig -WashingtonPost20081114 Computer -
E-Mails -
Technology -
"Spam traffic plunges after report blames server hosting company: The number of such e-mails falls about two-thirds worldwide after Internet providers cut off a server company accused of enabling nefarious activity." ... ""I'm not under the illusion that it's going to last forever, but it's nice to have these small victories," said Paul Ferguson, an advanced threat researcher at software security company Trend Micro Inc. who contributed to the effort." ... "He and other analysts circulated a dense report Wednesday that blamed some companies for allowing spam to proliferate. Two big providers of Internet connections named in it -- Hurricane Electric Internet Services and Global Crossing Ltd. -- acted quickly to cut ties to the core subject of the document, a little-known Silicon Valley [California] company called McColo Corp. [Corporation] that rents out servers to clients." ... "The researchers didn't say whether McColo knowingly aided criminals, but they described some of the nefarious activities conducted on some websites the company hosted. Among other things, McColo reportedly enabled its customers to control vast networks of hijacked computers to send spam and take payments for fake anti-virus software." ... "The criminal groups that allegedly used McColo are largely believed to be based overseas. The groups now have to find other service providers." -By Joseph Menn -LAtimes20081113
"Jobless claims hit 25-year high, imports plunge." ... "The number of U.S. workers drawing jobless benefits hit a 25-year high this month and imports suffered a record fall in September, according to reports on Thursday that underscored a rapid drop-off in the U.S. economy." ... "The number of workers filing new claims for jobless benefits rose by an unexpectedly steep 32,000 last week to 516,000, the highest since the weeks following the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, the Labor Department said." ... "The number of workers still on the benefit rolls after drawing an initial week of aid hit 3.9 million in the week to November 1, the highest since January 1983." ... ""This is obviously very, very serious deterioration in the labor market, more than a lot of people had expected even a couple of months ago," said Scott Brown, chief economist with Raymond James & Associates in St. Petersburg, Fla." ... ""We are looking at the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression and the biggest economic crisis we have had in the United States since the early 1980s."" (1, 2) -By Doug Palmer with contributions by Lisa Lambert and Diane Craft -Reuters20081112 History -
Military -
"Failure of auto industry could set off catastrophe." ... "Advocates for the nation's automakers are warning that the collapse of the Big Three -- or even just General Motors -- could set off a catastrophic chain reaction in the economy, eliminating up to 3 million jobs and depriving governments of more than $150 billion in tax revenue." ... ""We've got to do this because the cost of inaction is so high to communities, to workers, to companies," said [Ohio Democratic Senator] Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat from Ohio. He was among many lawmakers worried that an industry collapse would be devastating for everything from school districts to small businesses." ... "Even if just GM [General Motors] collapsed, the failure could bring down the other two companies -- and even the U.S. [United States] operations of foreign automakers -- as parts suppliers run out of money and shut down." ... "Concern about the automakers hit new heights Friday when GM and Ford reported they spent a combined $14.6 billion more than they took in last quarter. GM said it could run out of money by the end of the year." ... "Ford said it could last through 2009, but only because it arranged a hefty credit line last year." ... "All this comes after tight credit and economic uncertainty in October reduced U.S. auto sales to their lowest level in 25 years -- with no rebound in sight." ... "The Big Three have cut their combined U.S. hourly work force more than 40 percent since 2005, from 244,000 to about 139,000." ... "Brown, the Ohio senator, said letting the industry collapse would also be a national security risk, eliminating companies that were essential in two world wars." -By Tom Krisher and Ken Thomas -AP via -Yahoo20081112 Blackwater -
NC -
Iraq
"Blackwater likely to be fined millions in Iraq weapons case." ... "The State Department is preparing to slap a multi-million dollar fine on private military contractor Blackwater USA for shipping hundreds of automatic weapons to Iraq without the necessary permits." ... "Some of the weapons are believed to have ended up on the country's black market, department officials told McClatchy, but no criminal charges have been filed in the case." ... "The expected fine is the result of a long-running federal investigation into whether employees of the firm shipped weapons hidden in shrink-wrapped pallets from its Moyock, N.C. [North Carolina] headquarters to Iraq, where Blackwater is the State Department's largest personal security contractor." ... "Since the arms shipment allegations first became public 14 months ago, Blackwater, which has received $1.2 billion in federal contracts, according to the Web site fedspending.org, has consistently denied involvement in illicit arms trafficking." ... "However, the State Department found that Blackwater shipped 900 weapons to Iraq without the paperwork required by arms export control regulations, one department official said. Of that number, 119 were "particularly ... erroneous," he said." ... "Blackwater employees are also the subjects of a Justice Department probe into the killing of 17 Iraqi civilians in Baghdad's [Iraq's capital] Nisoor Square on Sept. [September] 16, 2007." ... "A federal grand jury is weighing whether to indict the Blackwater guards who were involved in the killings." -By Warren P. Strobel -McClatchyDC.com20081112 Sarah Palin -
John McCain -
Alaska -
Arizona
"What Just Happened." ... "Despite all the grief she's gotten, I continue to think that the selection of [2008 Election Republican Vice Presidential Candidate and Alaska Governor] Sarah Palin as [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] John McCain's running mate represents the breaking of a consensual cultural barrier far more fundamental than most people realize. It's not just that she was inexperienced (Spiro Agnew and John Edwards weren't much more experienced than Palin when they ran for VP) but that she was — obviously, transparently, completely — uninterested in and uninformed about national policy at nearly every level. We've simply never seen someone so completely unmoored from the normal requirements of national office before. She was chosen purely at the level of celebrity, and an awful lot of people seemed to be just fine with that." ... "Via email, here's an excerpt from Wolf Blitzer's interview today with Palin:""BLITZER: Another question. What are your new ideas on how to take the Republican Party out of this rut that it’s in right now? Give me one or two new ideas that you’re going to propose to these governors who have gathered here in this hotel.""Should I laugh or should I cry?" -By Kevin Drum -MotherJones.com"PALIN: Well, a lot of Republican governors have really good ideas for our nation because we’re the ones there on the front lines being held accountable every single day in service to the people whom have hired us in our own states and the planks in our platform are strong and they are good for America. It’s all about free enterprise and respecting the ..."
"BLITZER: Does that mean you want to come up with a new Sarah Palin initiative that you want to release right now."
"PALIN: Gah! Nothing specific right now. Sitting here in these chairs that I’m going to be proposing but in working with these governors who again on the front lines are forced to and it’s our privileged obligation to find solutions to the challenges facing our own states every day being held accountable, not being just one of many just casting votes or voting present every once in a while, we don’t get away with that. We have to balance budgets and we’re dealing with multibillion dollar budgets and tens of thousands of employees in our organizations."
20081112 Media -
"Why Palin Still Matters." ... "Let's be real in a way the national media seems incapable of: this person [2008 Election Republican Vice Presidential Candidate and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin] should never have been placed on a national ticket in a mature democracy. She was incapable of running a town in Alaska competently. The impulsive, unvetted selection of a total unknown, with no knowledge of or interest in the wider world, as a replacement president remains one of the most disturbing events in modern American history. That the press felt required to maintain a facade of normalcy for two months - and not to declare the whole thing a farce from start to finish - is a sign of their total loss of nerve. That the Palin absurdity should follow the two-term presidency of another individual utterly out of his depth in national government is particularly troubling. 46 percent of Americans voted for the possibility of this blank slate as president because she somehow echoed their own sense of religious or cultural "identity". Until we figure out how this happened, we will not be able to prevent it from happening again. And we have to find a way to prevent this from recurring." ... "It happened because [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] John McCain is an incompetent and a cynic and reckless beyond measure. To have picked someone he'd only met once before, without any serious vetting procedure, revealed McCain as an utterly unserious character, a man whose devotion to the shallowest form of political gamesmanship trumped concern for his country's or his party's interest." ... "It was a final product of the now-exhausted strategy of fomenting fundamentalist resentment to elect politicians dedicated to the defense of Israel and the extension of American military hegemony in every corner of the globe. Palin was the reductio ad absurdum of this mindset: a mannequin candidate, easily controlled ideologically, deployed to fool and corral the resentful and the frightened, removed from serious scrutiny and sold on propaganda networks like a food product." ... "This deluded and delusional woman still doesn't understand what happened to her; still has no self-awareness; and has never been forced to accept her obvious limitations. She cannot keep even the most trivial story straight; she repeats untruths with a ferocity and calm that is reserved only to the clinically unhinged; she has the educational level of a high school drop-out; and regards ignorance as some kind of achievement. It is excruciating to watch her - but more excruciating to watch those who feel obliged to defend her." ... "Her candidacy, in short, was indefensible. It remains indefensible." -By Andrew Sullivan -TheAtlantic.com20081109 Food -
"On store shelves, stealthy shrinking of containers keeps prices from rising." ... "The only way to know you are buying less is to look at the weight on the label...." ... "Across the supermarket, manufacturers are trimming packages, nipping a half-ounce off that bar of soap, narrowing the width of toilet paper and shrinking the size of ice cream containers." ... "Often the changes are so subtle that they create "the illusion that you are buying the same amount," explained Frank Luby, a pricing consultant with Simon-Kucher & Partners of Cambridge, Mass." ... "Shoppers understand the manufacturers' dilemma but also say they feel deceived at times." ... ""What these companies don't realize is that their chronically deceptive marketing ploys tell us loud and clear that we absolutely cannot trust them for anything," Yukl said." ... "Other shoppers agree. "I think the whole thing is deceitful, and yes, it does irritate me, and I do feel they are tricking the consumer," said Bill Stone of Long Beach. "This practice, however, has been going on for many years and apparently the manufacturers feel it is to their advantage to try to slip these changes by the customer rather than announcing it."" -By Jerry Hirsch -LAtimes20081112 Massachusetts -
New York
"Hard Times, But Big Wall Street Bonuses." ... "For Wall Street workers still employed, there could be a hefty bonus in their checks next month." ... "According to a report from financial news agency Bloomberg, Goldman Sachs, for example, has set aside $6.8 billion for bonuses, and Morgan Stanley, $6.4 billion." ... "And the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Massachusetts [Democratic Representative] Democrat Barney Frank, isn't happy. "These are people who lost enormous amounts of money," Frank observes. "How do you give a bonus to someone for having failed so badly as many of these people did?"" ... "What's got many on Main Street and Ca
