20081223
Health
- 
Military
- 
Lawsuit
- 
KBR
- 
Corporate
- 
Politics
- 
Unsafe
- 
Ice
- 
IN
- 
US
- 
Iraq
"Soldiers
Accuse KBR Of Knowingly Exposing Troops To Deadly Toxin In Iraq."
... "Controversial military contractor KBR has racked up quite a record
of endangering the lives of U.S. [United States] soldiers serving in Iraq.
Over the years, the former Halliburton subsidiary has been accused of everything
from giving troops ice tainted with “traces
of body fluids and putrefied remains” to ignoring warnings of unsafe
wiring that led
to troop deaths." ... "Earlier this month, attorneys for 16 members
of the Indiana National Guard filed a lawsuit against the company, alleging
that they “knowingly
exposed the soldiers to a cancer-causing toxic chemical.” In a special
report last night, CBS News revealed that KBR knew of the toxic exposure
to hexavalent chromium long
before it informed the guardsmen:"
"Now
CBS News has obtained information that indicates KBR knew about the danger
months before the soldiers were ever informed." ... "Depositions from
KBR employees detailed concerns about the toxin in one part of the plant
as early as May of 2003. And KBR minutes, from a later meeting state “that
60 percent of the people … exhibit symptoms of exposure,” including bloody
noses and rashes." ... "Gentry says it wasn’t until the last day of
August in 2003 - after four long months at the facility - that he was told
the plant was contaminated."
WATCH:
"KBR Accused In Toxic Scandal" via -CBSNews
"After
receiving a briefing on the case on Monday, [Indiana Democratic Senator]
Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN [Democratic-Indiana]) told CBS that “KBR
has a lot to answer for“:"
"“Look,
I think the burden of proof at this point is on the company,” Bayh said.
“To come forward and very forthrightly explain what happened, why we should
trust them, and why the health and well-being of our soldiers should continue
to be in their hands.”"
"In
a statement to CBS, the company denied all charges, saying, “We deny the
assertion that KBR harmed troops and was responsible for an unsafe condition.”
According to CNN, “an
estimated 275 American soldiers may have been exposed to the chemical”
at the KBR water plant, “over a period of months through mid- to late-2003.”"
-By Matt
Corley -ThinkProgress.org
20081222
Military
- KBR
- Corporate
- Politics
- Indiana
- US
- Iraq
"Did
Contractor Expose Troops To Toxin? CBS Evening News
Exclusive: American Soldiers Are Dying Of Lung Cancer - And May Have Been
Knowingly Exposed." ... "The military contractor Kellogg Brown and Root,
known as KBR, has won more than $28 billion in U.S. military contracts
since the beginning of the Iraq war. KBR may be facing a new scandal. First,
accusations its then-parent company Halliburton was given the lucrative
contract. And later, allegations of shoddy construction oversight that
resulted in Americans getting electrocuted. Now, some other American soldiers
say the company knowingly put their lives at risk, CBS News chief investigative
correspondent Armen Keteyian and investigative producer Laura Strickler
exclusively report." ... "In April of 2003, James Gentry of the Indiana
National Guard arrived in Southern Iraq to take command of more than 600
other guardsmen. Their job: protect KBR contractors working at a local
water plant." ... ""We didn't question what we were doing, we just knew
we had to provide a security service for the KBR," said Battalion Cmdr.
[Commander] Gentry." ... "Today James Gentry is dying from rare form of
lung cancer. The result, he believes, of months of inhaling hexavalent
chromium - an orange dust that's part of a toxic chemical found
all over the plant." ... "At least one other Indiana guardsman has already
died from lung cancer, and others are said to be suffering from tumors
and rashes consistent with exposure to the deadly toxin." ... "Now CBS
News has obtained information that indicates KBR knew about the danger
months before the soldiers were ever informed." -By
Armen Keteyian -CBSNews
WATCH:
"KBR Accused In Toxic Scandal" -CBSNews
20081220
Fashion
- Politics
- 
Journalist
- 
Investigators
- US
- Iraq
- 
Turkey
"‘Bush
Shoe’ Gives Firm a Footing in the Market." ... "When
a pair of black leather oxfords hurled at [Republican] President Bush in
Baghdad [Iraq's capital] produced a gasp heard around the world, a Turkish
cobbler had a different reaction: They were his shoes." ... "“We have been
producing that specific style, which I personally designed, for 10 years,
so I couldn’t have missed it, no way,” said Ramazan Baydan, a shoemaker
in Istanbul [Turkey]. “As a shoemaker, you understand.”" ... "Although
his assertion has been impossible to verify — cobblers from Lebanon, China
and Iraq have also staked claims to what is quickly becoming some of the
most famous footwear in the world — orders for Mr. Baydan’s shoes, formerly
known as Ducati Model 271 and since renamed “The Bush Shoe,” have poured
in from around the world." ... "For now, Mr. Baydan’s customers will have
to take his word for it. The journalist who launched the shoes at a news
conference a week ago, Muntader al-Zaidi, 29, was wrestled to the ground
by guards and has not been seen in public since. Explosives tests by investigators
destroyed the offending footwear." -By Sebnem Arsu
-NYTimes
20081219
US
- Iraq
- Torture
- Investigation
- Reporter
- Fashion
- Politics
"Iraqi
shoe-thrower 'was beaten': The investigating judge
in the case of the Iraqi reporter who threw his shoes at US [Republican]
President George W Bush says the man shows signs of having been beaten."
... "The judge, who saw Muntader al-Zaidi this week, said the journalist
had bruises on his face and about his eyes." ... "He said Mr Zaidi was
beaten while still at the news conference, in the immediate aftermath of
the incident." ... "The court is investigating the beating and officials
will watch recordings of the incident, he added." ... "It is still not
clear, though, whether Muntader al-Zaidi's injuries were sustained only
when security forces wrestled him to the ground, or in custody as well."
... "One of his brothers said the journalist had broken ribs and injuries
to his arm too." ... "Muntader al-Zaidi has been in detention since throwing
his shoes at President Bush on Sunday during a news conference with the
Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri Maliki. " -By Caroline
Wyatt -BBC/News
20081218
Dick
Cheney - Criminal
- Torture
- War
Crimes - Prisons
- Law
- Military
- 
Intelligence
- Politics
- Corporate
- Media
- US
- Iraq
"If
Bush and Cheney Commit War Crimes and Everyone Knows It, But Does Nothing,
Are They Still Crimes?" ... "As Jon Ponder noted
here on Tuesday, a bi-partisan U.S. [United States] Senate panel has
found
[PDF] that [Republican President] George W. Bush was responsible for
approving War Crimes (torture and abuse) at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq,
[Republican Vice President] Dick Cheney admitted
in a recent interview to helping to approve War Crimes (torture and abuse)
in interrogations, and the corporate media --- with the lone exception
of MSNBC --- have been virtually as silent on what may be the most offensive
crimes ever committed by an Executive Branch in the U.S. as they were during
the lead-up to and follow-through on the War on Iraq, when those same officials
sent our nation into war on the basis of demonstrable lies." ... "George
Washington University's highly-respected constitutional law professor Jonathon
Turley, noting the War Crimes now known and admitted to by Bush and Cheney,
asked Keith Olbermann Tuesday night, "If someone commits a crime and everyone's
around to see it and does nothing, is it still a crime?"" ... "During the
discussion, Turley mentioned --- no less than three different times ---
that it'll be up to the citizens whether or not any action is actually
taken to prosecute those who committed these crimes." ... ""It will ultimately
depend on citizens, and whether they will remain silent in the face of
a crime that's been committed in plain view," Turley suggested. "It is
equally immoral to stand silent in the face of a war crime and do nothing,
and that is what the citizens are doing."" ... "He went on to argue: "There's
this gigantic yawn as we hear about a war crime on national television
being discussed matter-of-factly by the Vice President."" -By
Brad
Friedman -BradBlog.com
WATCH
"Countdown: Jonathan Turley and Bush Admin War Crimes."
-Keith Olbermann via -FireDogLake'sYouTube
Barack
Obama - Gay
- Politics
- Religion
- 
Book
- 
People
- 
Children
- 
Girls
- 
Schools
- US
- 
Pakistan
- Palestine
- 
British
- 
Soviet
- Military
- 
History
"Three
Cups of Tea for Rick Warren." ... "Rick Warren is
providing the invocation for the [Democratic President Elect Barack Obama's]
presidential inauguration. As a pastor whose books have been read by tens
of millions of Americans and whose voice is respected by an equal or larger
number, he has tremendous influence and power. And as an open homophobe
who aggressively works to wound gay people in this country (as well as
pretty much anybody else who doesn’t believe with his own particular and
peculiar recently-invented version of Christian theology) he should be
the guy with the bull’s-eye on his back for the progressive movement."
... "But consider that metaphor for a moment. In Pakistan there are entire
regions filled with people who not only hate gays but hate Americans as
well, regardless of religion. We've tried bombing them (as the Soviets
did, and the British before them). Three consecutive Western empires have
tried threatening them, starving them, poisoning them, infiltrating them,
and overpowering them - all without success." ... "And then Greg Mortenson
came to one of their villages, had three cups of tea with them (a metaphor
for hospitality - they nursed him back to health after a mountain climbing
injury - and the title of his best-selling book), and now in dozens of
these formerly Taliban-controlled villages the people are rejecting the
Taliban, embracing modernity, and openly proclaiming themselves as our
friends." ... "His "weapon" for this conversion? He built schools for their
children, particularly their previously-banned-from-school girls." ...
"We pushed the Palestinians on the West Bank to have open and democratic
elections, assuming that because they were using the tool of our culture
(the secret ballot) they’d vote in people reflecting the values of our
culture. Instead, they voted in Hamas, a group that is openly hostile to
us and our allies. Hamas’ “weapon” for winning the hearts and minds of
the Palestinians? They supported schools, hospitals, and fed and clothed
people." ... "You’d think that we’d have learned from these experiences
- particularly those of us who call ourselves “progressives” - that you
get your desired results faster when you embrace, engage, and nurture your
“enemies” than when you physically or rhetorically bomb them." ... "Barack
Obama has learned that lesson, and is applying it in inviting Rick Warren
to perform the invocation for his inauguration. In doing so, he is reaching
out a hand to those who today are - out of fear and ignorance - pushing
away gays the same way their intellectual ancestors pushed away African
Americans when anti-miscegenation laws were supported by most of these
same “fundamentalist” Christian churches in the 1950s and 1960s." -By Thom
Hartmann -ThomHartmann.com
20081217
Russia
- Human
- Rights
- Politics
- History
"Rights
activists denounce Russian treason bill: They say
legislation backed by Putin is 'in the spirit of Stalin and Hitler'." ...
"Rights activists Wednesday denounced new legislation backed by Prime Minister
Vladimir Putin that would allow Russian authorities to label any government
critic a traitor, calling it a chilling throwback to times of Soviet dictator
Josef Stalin." ... "The bill, which is expected to become law, would expand
the definition of treason to include damaging Russia's constitutional order,
sovereignty or territorial integrity. That, activists said, would essentially
let authorities interpret any act against the state as treason — a crime
punishable by up to 20 years in prison." ... ""It returns the Russian justice
to the times of 1920-1950s," the activists, which included Moscow Helsinki
Group head Lyudmila Alexeyeva and Civic Assistance director Svetlana Gannushkina,
said in a joint statement." ... "Alexeyeva said a person who reports government
abuses to an NGO — for example Amnesty International or Human Rights Watch
— could be deemed to have harmed Russia's interests." ... "During Putin's
eight-year presidency, the government has systematically rolled back Russia's
post-Soviet political freedoms and that has shown no signs of stopping
under Putin's successor and protege, Dmitry Medvedev."
-AP via -MSNBC
20081216
Dick
Cheney - Torture
- War
Crimes - Criminal
- 
Terrorism
-Intelligence
- Politics
- Military
- Prison
-Law
- US
- Guantanamo_Bay
- 
Cuba
"Cheney
was key in clearing CIA interrogation tactics: The
vice president [Republican Dick Cheney] says that the use of waterboarding
was appropriate and that the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, should stay
open until 'the end of the war on terror.'" ... "[Republican] Vice President
Dick Cheney said Monday that he was directly involved in approving severe
interrogation methods used by the CIA [Central Intelligence Agency], and
that the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, should remain open indefinitely."
... "Cheney's comments also mark the first time that he has acknowledged
playing a central role in clearing the CIA's use of an array of controversial
interrogation tactics, including a simulated drowning method known as waterboarding."
... ""I was aware of the program, certainly, and involved in helping get
the process cleared," Cheney said in an interview with ABC News." ... "Asked
whether he still believes it was appropriate to use the waterboarding method
on terrorism suspects, Cheney said: "I do."" ... "His comments come on
the heels of disclosures by a Senate committee showing that high-level
officials in the [Republican President] Bush administration were intimately
involved in reviewing and approving interrogation methods that have since
been explicitly outlawed and that have been condemned internationally as
torture." -By Greg Miller
-LAtimes
Jim
DeMint - 
Bob
Corker - 
Richard
Shelby - 
Mitch
McConnell - 
Foreign
- Money
-Politics
- 
Construction
- 
Auto
- 
Makers
- 
Government
- Emergency
- Legislation
- 
Labor
- 
Michigan
- 
California
- 
South
Carolina - 
Alabama
- 
Tennessee
- 
Kentucky
- 
German
- 
Japanese
- 
South
Korean
"Foreign
Auto Makers Won Billions in Government Subsidies:
Southern States Gave [Foreign] Auto Companies Tax-breaks and Cash for Training."
... "To hear Southern Republicans tell the story, the financial burdens
facing Detroit’s automakers are self-made troubles to be settled by the
laws of Adam-Smith capitalism." ... "“We don’t think it is the role of
government to intervene,” [South Carolina Republican Senator] Sen. Jim
DeMint (R-S.C. [Republican-South Carolina]) told the Fox Business Network
last week. “We need to let the market and the laws work the way they are
already in place.”" ... "Yet this argument — that the government has no
business interfering in free markets — ignores an increasingly frequent
tradition among Southern states, which have fronted billions in local taxpayer
dollars in the past two decades to attract foreign auto plants. Those incentives,
arriving in the form of tax breaks, training for new employees and even
land, have enticed [German automaker Bayerische Motoren Werke] BMW to South
Carolina, [German automaker] Mercedes to Alabama and [Japanese automaker]
Nissan to Tennessee. The result of the government subsidies has been the
steady emergence of the South as an auto-manufacturing powerhouse. Some
are dubbing it the “New Detroit” – a region where real estate is
cheap and the labor’s not unionized." ... "Not coincidentally, these Southern
states are represented by the same coalition of GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican]
senators who led the fight against the recent Detroit [Michigan] bailout
proposal. That legislation would have provided $14 billion in emergency
bridge loans to General Motors and Chrysler, both of which say they lack
the finances to survive the month. Rallying behind the animated opposition
of GOP [Republican Senators] Sens. Bob Corker (Tenn.[Tennessee]), Richard
Shelby (Ala.[Alabama]), Mitch McConnell (Ky.[Kentucky) and South Carolina’s
DeMint, Senate Republicans killed the legislation." ... "On Friday, the
day following the Senate vote, Shelby told CNBC that if the Big Three had
only managed their business operations as well as the foreign companies,
known as transplants, they wouldn’t be scrambling now for a taxpayer-funded
bailout." ... "“You look at the South,” Shelby said. “You take — not just
Mercedes in my hometown — but BMW, Honda and all of them. These companies
are flourishing with American workers made in America.”" ... "But the flourishing
of the transplants didn’t come without significant taxpayer help. Shelby’s
Alabama, for example, secured construction of a [German automaker] Mercedes-Benz
plant in 1993 by
offering $253 million in state and local tax breaks, worker training
and land improvement. For [Japanese automaker] Honda, the state’s sweetener
surrounding a 1999 deal to build a mini-van plant was $158 million in similar
perks, adding
$90 million in enticements when the company expanded the plant
three years later. A 2001 deal with [Japanese automaker] Toyota left the
company with $29 million in taxpayer gifts." ... "Alabama is hardly alone.
Corker’s Tennessee recently lured [German automaker] Volkswagen to build
a manufacturing plant in Chattanooga [Tennessee], offering the German automaker
tax breaks, training and land preparation that could total
$577 million. In 2005, the state inspired Nissan to relocate its
headquarters from southern California by offering $197
million in incentives, including $20 million in utility savings."
... "In 1992, South Carolina snagged a BMW plant for $150
million in giveaways. In Mississippi in 2003, Nissan was lured
with $363
million. In Georgia, a still-under-construction [South Korean automaker]
Kia plant received breaks estimated to be $415
million. The list goes on." -By Mike
Lillis -WashingtonIndependent.com
Mitch
McConnell - Bob
Corker - Richard
Shelby - Foreign
- Money
-Government
- Politics
- Auto
- Makers
- Working
- People
- Kentucky
- Tennessee
- Alabama
- Michigan
- US
"Do
Southern Senators Really Want to Start a New War Between the States?"
... "When my Southern pals used to say "The South is gonna rise again,"
I doubt this is what they had in mind: A cadre
of Southern [Republican] Senators, heavily financed by foreign automakers
and special interests, declaring war on the American Dream of good wages
and decent benefits. When did they decide that hard-working people trying
to make a better life for themselves are the enemy?" ... "These Senators
may want to think twice. Southern states have been benefiting from Northern
taxes for years. If they start another War Between the States, the Federal
gravy train might suddenly stop at the Mason-Dixon line." ... "Studies
by the nonpartisan Tax Foundation have consistently shown that these Senators'
states receive far more from the Federal government than they pay back
in taxes. That's an irony that could lead to some Blue State bitterness:
They love to preach about fiscal responsibility and lower taxes, but they
keep dipping their beak into the Federal trough." ... "I believe the applicable
Southern phrase is "a handful of gimme and a mouthful of much obliged.""
... "The numbers in [PDF]
the Foundation's most recent study (warning: pdf) speak for themselves:
[Kentucky Republican Senator] Mitch McConnell's Kentucky took in $1.45
from the Feds for every dollar it paid in taxes. That's a 45 cent free
ride. [Tennessee Republican Senator] Bob Corker's Tennessee received at
30-cent Federal giveaway. And [Alabama Republican Senator] Richard Shelby's
Alabama extracted a whopping 71-cent subsidy from Northern taxpayers."
... "What about Michigan? They lost 31 cents for every dollar they paid.
In other words, McConnell, Shelby, and Corker have been skimming a percentage
off these autoworkers' taxes for years on behalf of their constituents.
Now, when the same Michigan taxpayers need help, these Senators are telling
them to get lost." -By RJ
Eskow -HuffingtonPost.com
Global
- 
Climate
- History
-
Earth
- 
Fossil
Fuel - 
Gases
- Antarctic
- Pacific
Ocean - US
- Britain
"NASA
reports 2008 is ninth warmest year since 1880." ...
"The year 2008 was the ninth warmest year since instrumental temperature
measurements began in 1880, and all of the nine warmest years have occurred
in the past 11 years, NASA [National Aeronautics and Space Administration]
reported on Tuesday." ... "The new data from NASA's Goddard Institute for
Space Studies and other government agencies on Tuesday adds to the evidence
scientists have been observing about a warming Earth as fossil fuel burning
emits heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere." ... "NASA also reported
that the January to November global temperature was 0.76 degrees Fahrenheit
above the average for the 20th Century." ... "NASA also noted that the
past year was cooler than any since 2000. Scientists note that global warming
is a steady trend, but within it there are natural variations." ... "The
NASA report noted that "Eurasia, the Arctic and the Antarctic Peninsula
were exceptionally warm, while much of the Pacific Ocean was cooler than
the long-term average." It said the relatively cooler temperature in the
tropical Pacific was due to a La Nina, the cool phase of a natural temperature
variation." ... "Britain's Met Office on Tuesday also said that La Nina
was part of the reason 2008 was slightly cooler than earlier years this
decade. By Britain's accounting, 2008 was the 10th warmest year on record
dating back to 1850, and all 10 of the warmest years occurred since 1997."
-By
Renee
Schoof -McClatchyDC.com
Corporate
-Employees
- 
New
York - 
Texas
- US
- Worldwide
"Goldman
Sachs’s Tax Rate Drops to 1%, or $14 Million (Update1) ."
... "Goldman
Sachs Group Inc. [Incorporated], which got $10 billion and debt
guarantees from the U.S. [United States] government in October, expects
to pay $14 million in taxes worldwide for 2008 compared with $6 billion
in 2007." ... "The company’s effective income tax rate dropped to 1 percent
from 34.1 percent, New York-based Goldman Sachs said today in a statement.
The firm reported a $2.3 billion profit for the year after paying $10.9
billion in employee compensation and benefits." ... "U.S. [Texas Democratic]
Representative Lloyd Doggett, a Texas Democrat who serves on the tax-writing
House Ways and Means Committee, said steps by Goldman Sachs and other banks
shifting income to countries with lower taxes is cause for concern." ...
"“This problem is larger than Goldman Sachs,” Doggett said. “With the right
hand out begging for bailout money, the left is hiding it offshore.”" -By
Christine Harper -Bloomberg
China
- US
- British
- 
Hong
Kong - 
Taiwan
- Foreign
- Language
- 
Websites
- Police
- Law
-Journalists
- 
Radio
- 
Sports
"China
'bans BBC Chinese website': China appears to have
banned a number of foreign websites, including the [United Kingdom's British
Broadcasting Corporation] BBC's Chinese language news site and Voice of
America in Chinese." ... "The sites had been unblocked after journalists
attending the Beijing [China's capital] Olympics complained that the government
was censoring sites deemed sensitive." ... "The BBC expressed disappointment
at the apparent reinstatement of the ban." ... "But a Chinese government
spokesman told journalists that some sites contained content that violated
Chinese law." ... "Among the other sites blocked are Asiaweek, Reporters
Without Borders and some Hong Kong and Taiwan sites." ... "China imposes
strict controls on the dissemination of information through the web, employing
teams of people to remove sensitive content, police bloggers and remove
access to certain sites." ... "In a statement, the BBC said it was disappointed
that Chinese-speaking audiences in China were denied access to BBCChinese.com."
... "It said that except during the 2008 Games, the website had been blocked
since its inception nearly a decade ago, and Mandarin radio broadcasts
had been "subject to persistent frequency interference for decades"."
-BBC/News
BBCChinese.com
20081215
US
- Iraq
- Religious
- Fashion
"Bush
shoe-ing worst Arab insult: Around the Arab world,
if you want to escalate a situation, by saying for example "I'm going to
thump you", add the words "with a shoe" and you're adding serious insult
to the threat of possible injury." ... "It's that cultural significance
that has added real sting to the assault by an Iraqi journalist against
US [United States Republican] President George W Bush at a Baghdad [Iraq's
capital] news conference." ... "In Arab culture it's considered rude even
to display the sole of one's shoe to a fellow human being." ... "Certainly,
crossing one's legs ankle-on-knee style should never be done in a public
place for fear of offending the person next to you." ... "The sensitivity
is related to the fact shoes are considered ritually unclean in the Muslim
faith." ... "In addition to ritual ablutions before prayer, Muslims must
take off their shoes to pray, and wearing shoes inside a mosque is forbidden."
... "Shoes should either be left at the door of the mosque, or carried
(preferably in the left hand with the soles pressed together)." ... "But
beyond the Islamic significance, the dirty and degrading implication of
the sole of a shoe crosses all religious boundaries in the Middle East.
" -By Martin Asser -BBC/News
20081213
US
- Iraq
- Reconstruction
- Money
- Politics
- Foreign
- Production
- 
Accounting
- Investigations
- Federal
- History
- Military
- Law
"Official
History Spotlights Iraq Rebuilding Blunders." ...
"An unpublished, 513-page federal history of the American-led reconstruction
of Iraq depicts an effort crippled before the invasion by Pentagon planners
who were hostile to the idea of rebuilding a foreign country, and then
molded into a $100 billion failure by bureaucratic turf wars, spiraling
violence and ignorance of the basic elements of Iraqi society and infrastructure."
... "The history, the first official account of its kind, is circulating
in draft form here and in Washington among a tight circle of technical
reviewers, policy experts and senior officials. It also concludes that
when the reconstruction began to lag — particularly in the critical area
of rebuilding the Iraqi police and army — the Pentagon simply put out inflated
measures of progress to cover up the failures." ... "In one passage, for
example, [Republican President Bush's] former Secretary of State Colin
L. Powell is quoted as saying that in the months after the 2003 invasion,
the Defense Department "kept inventing numbers of Iraqi security forces
— the number would jump 20,000 a week! 'We now have 80,000, we now have
100,000, we now have 120,000.'"" ... "Mr. Powell's assertion that the Pentagon
inflated the number of competent Iraqi security forces is backed up by
[Lieutenant General] Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez, the former commander
of ground troops in Iraq, and L. Paul Bremer III, the top civilian administrator
until an Iraqi government took over in June 2004." ... "Among the overarching
conclusions of the history is that five years after embarking on its largest
foreign reconstruction project since the Marshall Plan in Europe after
World War II, the United States government has in place neither the policies
and technical capacity nor the organizational structure that would be needed
to undertake such a program on anything approaching this scale." ... "The
bitterest message of all for the reconstruction program may be the way
the history ends. The hard figures on basic services and industrial production
compiled for the report reveal that for all the money spent and promises
made, the rebuilding effort never did much more than restore what was destroyed
during the invasion and the convulsive looting that followed." ... "By
mid-2008, the history says, $117 billion had been spent on the reconstruction
of Iraq, including some $50 billion in United States taxpayer money." ...
"Five years after the invasion of Iraq, the history concludes, "the government
as a whole has never developed a legislatively sanctioned doctrine or framework
for planning, preparing and executing contingency operations in which diplomacy,
development and military action all figure."" ... "Titled "Hard Lessons:
The Iraq Reconstruction Experience," the new history was compiled by the
Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, led by
Stuart W. Bowen Jr., a Republican lawyer who regularly travels to Iraq
and has a staff of engineers and auditors based here." ... "The manuscript
is based on approximately 500 new interviews, as well as more than 600
audits, inspections and investigations on which Mr. Bowen's office has
reported individually over the years. Laid out for the first time in a
connected history, the material forms the basis for broad judgments on
the entire rebuilding program." ... "In the preface, Mr. Bowen gives a
searing critique of what he calls the "blinkered and disjointed prewar
planning for Iraq's reconstruction" and the botched expansion of the program
from a modest initiative to improve Iraqi services to a multibillion-dollar
enterprise." -By T.
Christian Miller and James
Glanz -ProPublica.org
-NYTimes
""Hard
Lessons: The Iraq Reconstruction Experience."" ... "The draft of
a federal report by the Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq
Reconstruction. Annotations are based on the review's findings." [(PDF)
Original Document] via -NYTimes
Bob
Corker - Richard
Shelby - Jim
DeMint - Mitch
McConnell - Foreign
- Money
- Politicians
- Auto
- Makers
- Michigan
- US
- Workers
- Emergency
- Law
- Tennessee
- Alabama
- Kentucky
- South
Carolina - 
Georgia
- Japanese
- German
- South
Korean
"Meet
the GOP's [Republican's] wrecking crew: Why did a
small group of Southern Republicans turn the auto bailout into a demolition
derby? Introducing the senators who hate unions and love foreign cars."
... "On July 15, [Tennessee Republican Senator] Bob Corker was a happy
man." ... ""I cannot think of a more exciting day, even more so than Election
Night, for me," the Republican senator from Tennessee said in a conference
call that day. The reason for his elation was the announcement that
[German automaker] Volkswagen, lured by up to $500 million worth of incentives
from the state government, had agreed to build a $1 billion plant near
Chattanooga, Tenn. [Tennessee.] That is, not just in his home state, but
in the suburbs of the city he once served as mayor." ... "Add VW [Volkwagen]
to [Japan automaker] Nissan, which already has two plants and its North
American headquarters in Tennessee, and you begin to see why Corker was
so aggressive this month about trying to block -- or at least dramatically
rewrite -- a proposal to float billions of dollars in
emergency
loans to domestic automakers. Most of the focus during this debate
has been on lawmakers who represent Michigan, the home of the Big Three
-- Ford, General Motors and Chrysler. But Corker represents the other side
of the coin: Tennessee and other Southern states have recently come to
depend on foreign automakers and their non-union factories. If you're from
those parts, what's good for American car companies may no longer be what's
good for the country -- because your economy now depends on their foreign
competitors instead." ... "Expect to hear more not just from the very vocal
Bob Corker, but from the rest of a core group of Southern senators whose
bread is buttered by the Japanese, Germans and Koreans. Here's a guide
to the major players."
"[Alabama
Republican Senator] Richard Shelby, R-Ala. [Republican-Alabama]"
"Foreign
auto plants: [German automaker] Mercedes-Benz, [South Korean automaker]
Hyundai, [Japanese automaker] Honda"
"[South
Carolina Republican Senator] Jim DeMint, R-S.C. [Republican-South Carolina]"
"Foreign
auto plants: [German automaker] BMW [Bayerische Motoren Werke]"
"[Kentucky
Republican Senator] Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. [Republican-Kentucky]"
"Foreign
auto plants: [Japanese automaker] Toyota"
"[Tennessee
Republican Senator] Bob Corker, R-Tenn. [Republican-Tennessee]"
"Foreign
auto plants: Two [Japanese automaker] Nissan plants, as well as the
company's U.S. [United States] headquarters; [German automaker] Volkswagen
will open near Chattanooga [Tennessee] in 2011"
"As
mayor of Chattanooga, he [Corker] reportedly conceived the idea for the
site that will soon become home to the [German automaker] Volkswagen plant,
and was instrumental in its development. He organized efforts to lure [Japanese
automaker] Toyota to the area, and when that failed, he had VW execs [executives]
and other top state politicians over to his house for dinner." ... "Georgia's
two Republican senators, Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isaakson, both voted
against the plan as well. Their state has a big [South Korean automaker]
Kia factory coming in soon." (1, 2)
-By Alex Koppelman and Mike Madden with contributions
by Vincent Rossmeier and Gabriel Winant -Salon
Bob
Corker - Richard
Shelby - Foreign
- Money
- Auto
- Makers
- Michigan
- Workers
- US
- Japan
- Germany
- Alabama
- Tennessee
"Anger
Grips Auto Workers: Critic of a Rescue, [Tennessee
Republican Senator] Sen. Corker Faces Backlash at Home." ... "As the workers
and residents of this small town [Spring Hill, Tennessee] that launched
the Saturn automobile see it, there are several villains in the collapse
of the automakers' rescue plan." ... "But what stuns many in this place
defined by the General Motors auto plant and its 4,200 workers is that
no person played a larger role in the demise of autoworker hopes than their
own Sen. Bob Corker (R[Republican]), who is now regarded by some here with
the kind of disdain reserved for traitors." ... "Corker emerged as one
of the leading critics of the rescue plan passed by the House. He lashed
into the carmaker chief executives when they came to Washington looking
for help. And it was Corker's alternative proposal, which was a plan that
would have been tougher on union workers, that ultimately failed." ...
"In a dozen interviews with workers here, many suspected that he only feigned
interest in rescuing Detroit's Big Three. Instead, they say, he wants to
crush GM [General Motors] and its union to benefit foreign automakers,
such [Japan's] Nissan and [Germany's] Volkswagen, who have opened or are
opening nonunionized plants in the state." ... ""We're deeply disappointed
in Senator Corker -- that's the official statement," said Mike Herron,
union chief at the GM plant here. "But actually my members want to choke
him."" ... "The anger of the workers and the harshness of their words reflect
the larger tension between the old [Michigan] Detroit-based domestic auto
industry, with its unionized workforce, and the new [foreign] transplant
industry in the nonunion South. Emotions were stoked by the fact that GM,
citing the economic downturn, had just announced that it will halt production
at the plant for January and the first week of February." ... "Corker "has
somehow ignored the fact that there's a major GM plant in his own state,"
said Ben McFarlane, who retired from the plant this summer and opened a
local bar where many workers go. "And if this plant goes, then my business
goes, this whole town goes, and the effects cascade across the country.""
... "At a news conference and in interviews yesterday, Corker, a millionaire
real estate developer, took pains to depict himself as sympathetic to workers
and responsive to his state's interests." ... "But Herron, like many here,
pressed the idea that the foreign automakers had been involved in stalling
the plan." ... ""It's in their best interest to see us not succeed," Herron
said. "Who were the two biggest critics of the rescue? [Republican] Senator
Shelby from Alabama and Corker -- and both preside over states that have
given hundreds of millions to have foreign automakers to open shop here.""
(1, 2)
-By Peter Whoriskey with contributions by Julie Tate
and Lucy Shackelford -WashingtonPost
Ecuador - Audit
- Law
- Foreign
- History
- 
Argentina
"Ecuador
defaults on foreign debt: Ecuador is to default officially
on billions of dollars of foreign debt it considers "illegitimate", says
President Rafael Correa." ... "Mr Correa said he had given the order not
to approve a debt interest payment due on Monday, describing the international
lenders as "monsters"." ... "The president said that some of Ecuador's
$10bn debt was contracted illegally by a previous administration." ...
"It is the first debt default by a country in Latin America since 2001."
... "At that time, Argentina failed to repay debt in the midst of its financial
meltdown." ... "His decision follows a government audit in November which
recommended that Ecuador default on almost 40% of the $10bn foreign debt,
accusing former officials and bankers of profiting irresponsibly from bond
deals." -BBC/News
20081212
Bob
Corker - 
David
Vitter - Richard
Shelby - Foreign
- Money
- Auto
- Makers
-Michigan
- Working
- People
- US
- Military
- Japan
- Tenn
- 
La
- Germany
- Korea
- Ala
"Anger
grows in Michigan over Southern opposition to auto loans."
... "Mark Dobias, a small-town lawyer from Michigan's Upper Peninsula,
hasn't always been the domestic auto industry's biggest fan. But when it
became clear that a few senators from places like Alabama and Louisiana
were determined to do anything to block any aid to General Motors, Chrysler,
and Ford, it got to him." ... ""This is regional economic warfare. Pure
and simple. The wounded Rustbelt being bayoneted in the throat by economic
interests in the East and Sunbelt with aid from their political toadies,"
he wrote me. He's normally a laid-back guy with a puckish sense of humor,
but the hypocrisy was, he said, a bit much." ... ""Michigan is a great
state. It has good people - hard-working people who make things. The nation
has gained from its natural resources and industrial capacity. And now
… we will remember this in the same way that Georgia remembers William
Tecumseh Sherman," the union general whose armies laid the Southern state
waste." ... "What was highly unusual, in Michigan's quarrelling political
culture, was the unanimity with which the state's various factions united
in support of trying to help the automakers - and disdain for the senators
who would prevent that effort." ... "The thoroughly Republican Detroit
News normally denounces any government aid program. But not this time.
In a highly rare front-page editorial, it pleaded "we urge the Senate,
please give Detroit a chance to make things right … we appeal to Senate
Republicans to act not in support of the domestic auto makers, but in the
interest of the national economy and national security - we still need
an arsenal of democracy."" ... "True, the News did publish a piece by freshman
[Tennessee Republican Senator] Sen. Bob Corker (R., Tenn. [Republican-Tennessee])
that called on Congress to impose much harsher conditions on the companies
and their workers as a precondition for any aid. He also called for more
involvement by Congress in actually running these companies. But the newspaper
shot back, that "like most of Washington, Corker is ill-informed of the
forces roiling the domestic auto industry."" ... "There was bitterness,
too, in Detroit [Michigan] at the men blocking the bailout. Some cattily
noted that when [Louisiana Republican Senator] Sen. David Vitter (R., La.
[Republican-Louisiana]) vowed a filibuster, it was the first time he had
gotten national press attention since being linked to a Washington prostitution
scandal." ... "Sens. [Alabama Republican Senator] Richard Shelby (R., Ala.
[Republican-Alabama]) and Corker both represent states where foreign, nonunion
automakers have significant operations. Mr. Corker, a freshman who won
a narrow victory in 2006, is insisting that the United Auto Workers accept
wage cuts so that workers make no more than nonunion workers in the South,
such as the [Japan's] Nissan employees in his state." ... "Alabama, a right-to-work
state, has granted vast concessions to win [auot manufacturing] plants
operated by [Japan's] Toyota, [Germany's] Mercedes-Benz, [Japan's] Honda,
and [South Korea's] Hyundai." -By Jack
Lessenberry -ToledoBlade.com
20081211
Torture
- Prisons
-War
Crimes - Secret
- Military
- Government
- Intelligence
- Law
- Investigation
- Human
Rights - Politics
- History
- 
McCain
- 
Ariz
- Mich
- US
- Guantanamo
- Cuba
- Iraq
- 
Afghanistan
- China
- 
Korea
"Bipartisan
Report: Rumsfeld Responsible for Detainee Abuse:
Senate Committee Finds Officials Made Decisions That Led to Offenses Against
Prisoners." ... "A bipartisan panel of senators has concluded that [Republican
President Bush's] former defense secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and other
top Bush administration officials bear direct responsibility for the harsh
treatment of detainees at Guantanamo Bay [Cuba], and that their decisions
led to more serious abuses in Iraq and elsewhere." ... "In the most comprehensive
critique by Congress of the military's interrogation practices, the Senate
Armed Services Committee issued a report yesterday that accuses Rumsfeld
and his deputies of being the authors and chief promoters of harsh interrogation
policies that disgraced the nation and undermined U.S. security. The report,
released by Sens. [ Senators] Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.[ Democratic-Michigan])
and John McCain (R-Ariz.[ Republican Arizona]), contends that Pentagon
officials later tried to create a false impression that the policies were
unrelated to acts of detainee abuse committed by members of the military."
... ""The abuse of detainees in U.S. [United States] custody cannot simply
be attributed to the actions of 'a few bad apples' acting on their own,"
the report states. "The fact is that senior officials in the United States
government solicited information on how to use aggressive techniques, redefined
the law to create the appearance of their legality, and authorized their
use against detainees."" ... "The report is the most direct refutation
to date of the administration's rationale for using aggressive interrogation
tactics -- that inflicting humiliation and pain on detainees was legal
and effective, and helped protect the country. The 25-member panel, without
one dissent among the 12 Republican members, declared the opposite to be
true." ... "The [Republican President Bush's] administration's policies
and the resulting controversies, the panel concluded, "damaged our ability
to collect accurate intelligence that could save lives, strengthened the
hand of our enemies, and compromised our moral authority."" ... "A Defense
Department spokesman noted that the Pentagon cooperated extensively with
the Senate investigation and has taken numerous steps in recent years to
ensure the humane treatment of detainees." ... "The panel's investigation
focused on the Defense Department's employment of controversial interrogation
practices, including forced nudity, painful stress positions, sleep deprivation,
extreme temperatures and the use of dogs. The practices, some of which
had already been adopted by the CIA [Central Intelligence Agency] at its
secret prisons, were adapted for interrogations at the detention center
at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and later migrated to U.S. detention camps in
Afghanistan and Iraq, including the infamous Abu Ghraib prison." ... "The
true genesis of the decision to use coercive techniques, the report said,
was a memo signed by [Republican] President Bush on [February] Feb. 7,
2002, declaring that the Geneva Convention's standards for humane treatment
did not apply to captured al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters. As early as that
spring, the panel said, top administration officials, including National
Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, participated in meetings in which the
use of coercive measures was discussed. The panel drew on a written statement
by Rice, released earlier this year, to support that conclusion." ... "In
July 2002, Rumseld's senior staff began compiling information about techniques
used in military survival schools to simulate conditions that U.S. airmen
might face if captured by an enemy that did not follow the Geneva conditions.
Those techniques -- borrowed from a training program known as Survival,
Evasion, Resistance and Escape, or SERE -- included waterboarding, or simulated
drowning, and were loosely based on methods adopted by Chinese communists
to coerce propaganda confessions from captured U.S. soldiers during the
Korean war." ... "The SERE program became the template for interrogation
methods that were ultimately approved by Rumsfeld himself, the report says."
-By Joby Warrick and Karen DeYoung -WashingtonPost
[PDF]
"Senate
Armed Services Committee Inquiry Into The Treatment of Detainees In U.S.
Custody." ... “What sets us apart from our enemies
in this fight… is how we behave. In everything we do, we must observe the
standards and values that dictate that we treat noncombatants and detainees
with dignity and respect. While we are warriors, we are also all human
beings” -- General David Petraeus via -WashingtonPost
Animals
-Federal
- Law
- Enforcement
- 
Science
- Politics
- History
- Global
- Climate
- Ice- Oil
- Emissions
- Construction
- Money
"Environmentalists:
New rule guts Endangered Species Act." ... "In a
move environmental groups says strikes at the heart of the Endangered Species
Act, the [Republican President] Bush administration on Thursday announced
a new rule that would let federal agencies decide on their own whether
their projects harm endangered species, instead of requiring them in many
cases to get a second opinion from federal wildlife experts." ... "Opponents
said the move destroys the checks and balances that have helped the gove
rnment save hundreds of species from extinction under the 1973 law." ...
"[Republican President Bush's] Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne said
the reason for the rule change was linked to global warming." ... "Kempthorne
listed the polar bear as a threatened species in May but said that the
Endangered Species Act could not be used to try to halt global warming.
The new regulation specifies that there is no need for consultations when
the harm to endangered or threatened species is a result from a global
process that's too broad to measure." ... "Kempthorne said it's impossible
to pinpoint the death of any single animal from emissions from any single
polluter. In fact, emissions of heat-trapping gases disperse evenly in
the atmosphere around the globe and remain there for centuries. The resulting
warming and melting of polar ice have put the polar bear at risk of extinction
by mid-century, scientists have said." ... "The rule changes also go further
and specify that federal agencies are not required to consult with the
biologists of the two agencies that enforce the act — the Fish and Wildlife
Service and the National Marine Fisheries Services — if they think a project
such as a timber sale or construction of a power plant won't harm or kill
a threatened or endangered species. The changes do not rule out voluntary
consultations." ... "The Interior Department on Thursday also finalized
a rule implementing another section of the Endangered Species Act to clarify
that it will not protect polar bears from oil and gas development or greenhouse
gas emissions." -By
Renee
Schoof -McClatchyDC.com
Auto
- Manufacturing
- Politics
- Jobs
-Economic
- History
- 
Christmas
- Consumer
- US
- China
"Senate
Republicans Determined to Cause a Depression by Destroying Big 3."
... "Looks like the Senate Republicans are serious about killing the auto
deal. Here's the bottom line, if GM [General Motors] goes down, it
will take Ford and Chrysler with it, because the three of them share suppliers.
Losing GM's business will put most of them into the red. 80%
of American consumers will not buy a car from a company in bankruptcy,
so the idea that going bankrupt is the solution to the auto companies woes
is nonsense." ... "What comes out of any bankruptcy, even if they have
the names GM, Ford and Chrysler, will be a shadow of what went into bankruptcy—assuming
anything comes out at all. More likely would be that big chunks would
be gobbled up by foreign car companies, especially by the Chinese, who
want expertise, but not to make cars in the US [United States]." ... "We
can expect, then, to lose most o f the three million jobs related to the
auto industry if the Big 2 1/2 go under. To put this in perspective,
in the last year the US has lost 2.7 million jobs. This would be
more than the job losses for an entire (lousy) year. The
US lost half a million jobs last month, and almost every economic forecaster
expects the US to lose even more jobs in January, when retailers go fish-belly
up due to an abysmal Christmas retail season." ... "Economic contractions
of this sort are self-reinforcing. The more people who lose their
jobs, the less consumer spending there is. The less consumer spending
there is, the less money businesses make. The less money businesses
make, the more they have to lay off people. The more people who lose
their jobs, the less consumer spending there is. The less... but
why go on, you get the point." ... "The cascading financial and economic
effect will make the oncoming economic storm far, far worse. If 700
billion was ok to use to save Wall Street, whose business model was probably
even worse than Detroit's (add up their losses and most of Wall Street
didn't actually make any money for the last ten years), then 15 or 25 billion
to save Detroit is peanuts." ... "Or we can make sure this turns into a
Depression. Guess the Republicans playing Scrooge this Christmas
prefer that." -By Ian
Welsh -FireDogLake.com
David
Vitter - Mitch
McConnell - Bob
Corker - Foreign
- Money
- Politicians
- Auto
- Manufacturing
- Work
- Louisiana
- Kentucky
- Tennessee
- 
Pennsylvania
- US
- Japan
- Germany
"My
Foreign Investor, Right Or Wrong." ... "A bunch of
Southern-state Republicans (including, amazingly, ... [Louisiana Republican
Senator] David
Vitter), from right-to-work states, want to push GM [General Motors]
and Chrysler into bankruptcy to bolster the foreign auto presence in their
home states. Kentucky has a Ford factory but they also have a [Japanese]
Toyota plant in Georgetown [Kentucky], so [Kentucky Republican Senator
Mitch] McConnell's on board." ... "Last week, Jane Hamsher explained
the conflict of interest for [Tennessee Republican Senator] Bob Corker
in Tennessee:"
"He
hasn't mentioned the subsidies his own state of Tennessee has given to
,
making it harder for the Big 2 1/2 to compete:"
"Tennessee
offered its richest incentive package — and perhaps the most government
assistance and tax breaks ever for an American automobile plant — to lure
[German auto manufacturer] Volkswagen to Chattanooga [Tennessee]."
"But
the state’s chief business recruiter said Wednesday that the benefits from
VW’s $1 billion assembly plant far will exceed what could top $500 million
in government assistance and tax breaks for the project."
"“The
Volkswagen investment in this community is going to have a tremendous economic
gain for the entire region,” said Matt Kisber, Tennessee’s commissioner
for economic and community development. “I’m confident we’re going to have
a very reasonable incentive package when you look at the initial costs
of what is being offered compared with a much bigger long-term return.”"
"Yes,
that's the logic -- these incentives will bring more money to the region
than they cost. But it doesn't always work out that way. As David Cay Johnston
noted
in Free Lunch, these kinds of subsidies frequently wind up costing
communities much more than they ever make back:"
"Johnson
writes: "The tribute Cabela's demanded from Hamburg [Pennsylvania] amounted
to roughly $8,000 for each man, woman, and child in town." Johnson points
out that between 2004 and 2006, Cabela's earned $223.4 million. During
those years, it collected at least $293.7 million in subsidies, more than
its reported profits. Meanwhile a family business selling fishing and hunting
gear was driven out of business in Hamburg."
"Funny
nobody is mentioning this."
The
GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican] does a lot of chest-thumping about
"Country First" and patriotism. It's fun to watch them destroy American
manufacturing so they can keep Japanese and German corporate executives
happy. OK, maybe not so fun." -By D-Day
via Hullabaloo
20081210
US
- Government
- Debt
- Money
- Safety
- Politics
- History
- Global
"Investors
buy U.S. debt at zero yield." ... "In the market
equivalent of shoveling cash under the mattress, hordes of buyers were
so eager on Tuesday to park money in the world's safest investment, United
States government debt, that they agreed to accept a zero percent rate
of return." ... "The news sent a sobering signal: in these troubled economic
times, when people have lost vast amounts on stocks, bonds and real estate,
making an investment that offers security but no gain is tantamount to
coming out ahead. This extremely cautious approach reflects concerns that
a global recession could deepen next year, and continue to jeopardize all
types of investments." ... "While this will lower the cost of borrowing
for the United States government, economists worry that a widespread hunkering-down
could have broader implications that could slow an economic recovery. If
investors remain reluctant to put money into stocks and corporate bonds,
that could choke off funds that businesses need to keep financing their
day-to-day operations." ... "Investors accepted the zero percent rate in
the government's auction Tuesday of $30 billion worth of short-term securities
that mature in four weeks. Demand was so great even for no return that
the government could have sold four times as much." ... "In addition, for
a brief moment, investors were willing to take a small loss for holding
another ultra-safe security, the already-issued three-month Treasury bill."
... "In these times, it seems, the abnormal has now become acceptable.
As America's debt and deficit spiral from a parade of billion dollar bailouts
and stimulus packages, fund managers, foreign governments and big retail
investors reckon they will get more peace of mind by stashing their cash,
rather than putting it toward any of the higher-yielding risk that is entailed
in stocks, corporate bonds and consumer debt." ... "The rapid decline in
Treasury yields — which since summer have headed toward lows not seen since
the end of the World War II — also renders the Federal Reserve less effective,
as investors and banks stuff the money that the central bank is pumping
into the financial system into Treasuries, rather than fanning it out across
the broader economy." ... ""The last time this happened was the Great Depression,
when people are willing to accept no return on their money, or possibly
even a negative return," said Edward Yardeni, an independent analyst. "If
people are so busy during the day just protecting the cash they have, it's
not a good sign."" (1,
2)
-By Vikas
Bajaj and Michael M. Grynbaum -IHT.com
US
- Government
- Debt
- Money
- Safety
- Politics
- History
- Global
"Investors
buy U.S. debt at zero yield." ... "In the market
equivalent of shoveling cash under the mattress, hordes of buyers were
so eager on Tuesday to park money in the world's safest investment, United
States government debt, that they agreed to accept a zero percent rate
of return." ... "The news sent a sobering signal: in these troubled economic
times, when people have lost vast amounts on stocks, bonds and real estate,
making an investment that offers security but no gain is tantamount to
coming out ahead. This extremely cautious approach reflects concerns that
a global recession could deepen next year, and continue to jeopardize all
types of investments." ... "While this will lower the cost of borrowing
for the United States government, economists worry that a widespread hunkering-down
could have broader implications that could slow an economic recovery. If
investors remain reluctant to put money into stocks and corporate bonds,
that could choke off funds that businesses need to keep financing their
day-to-day operations." ... "Investors accepted the zero percent rate in
the government's auction Tuesday of $30 billion worth of short-term securities
that mature in four weeks. Demand was so great even for no return that
the government could have sold four times as much." ... "In addition, for
a brief moment, investors were willing to take a small loss for holding
another ultra-safe security, the already-issued three-month Treasury bill."
... "In these times, it seems, the abnormal has now become acceptable.
As America's debt and deficit spiral from a parade of billion dollar bailouts
and stimulus packages, fund managers, foreign governments and big retail
investors reckon they will get more peace of mind by stashing their cash,
rather than putting it toward any of the higher-yielding risk that is entailed
in stocks, corporate bonds and consumer debt." ... "The rapid decline in
Treasury yields — which since summer have headed toward lows not seen since
the end of the World War II — also renders the Federal Reserve less effective,
as investors and banks stuff the money that the central bank is pumping
into the financial system into Treasuries, rather than fanning it out across
the broader economy." ... ""The last time this happened was the Great Depression,
when people are willing to accept no return on their money, or possibly
even a negative return," said Edward Yardeni, an independent analyst. "If
people are so busy during the day just protecting the cash they have, it's
not a good sign."" (1,
2)
-By Vikas
Bajaj and Michael M. Grynbaum -IHT.com
China
- Free
Speech - Human
Rights - Law
- Politics
- 
United
Nations - History
"China
arrests a signer of a freedom charter: Literary critic
Liu Xiaobo had joined more than 300 in endorsing the 'Charter 08' document."
... "China has arrested at least one prominent dissident and has questioned
and possibly detained others who were among more than 300 signatories to
a declaration demanding more freedoms." ... "Liu Xiaobo, a prolific literary
critic who spent 20 months in prison for joining students in the 1989 Tiananmen
Square protests, was arrested Monday night at his home in Beijing [China's
capital]. Human rights organizations said the 53-year-old Liu was being
detained on suspicion of "inciting subversion of state power," a charge
often used against government critics." ... "The arrest came in the run-up
to today's 60th anniversary of the United Nations' adoption of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, a landmark document credited with inspiring
the modern human rights movement." ... "The Chinese activists are using
the anniversary as a peg to release what they are calling "Charter 08,"
a petition with recommendations for constitutional reforms that would make
the ruling Communist Party more accountable." -By
Barbara Demick -LAtimes
Animals
- Seas
- Global
- Climate
- Science
- Emissions
- Economy
-
- 
Millennium
Ecosystem Assessment
"Fifth
of world's coral reefs dead, say marine scientists:
Climate change linked to warmer and more acidic seas pose biggest threat
to coral survival, says report." ... "A fifth of the world's coral reefs
have died or been destroyed and the remainder are increasingly vulnerable
to the effects of climate change, a new study says." ... "The Global Coral
Reef Monitoring Network says many surviving reefs could be lost over the
coming decades as CO2 emissions continue to increase." ... "Corals are
crucial to the livelihoods of millions of coastal dwellers around the world.
The UN's Millennium Ecosystem Assessment says reefs are worth about $30bn
annually to the global economy through tourism, fisheries and coastal protection."
-By David
Adam-Guardian.co.uk
Global
Coral Reef Monitoring Network - www.GCRMN.org
Terrorism
- Criminal
- Political
- History
- Corporate
- Religion
- Prison
- 
Pat
Robertson - Abortion
- Gay
- Rights
- Law
- California
- Texas
- US
- Iraq
- Military
"Bush
Awards Presidential Citizen Medal To Watergate Crook Chuck Colson."
... "Established in 1969, the Presidential Citizens Medal is the second
highest honor for a civilian, recognizing Americans “who have performed
exemplary
deeds of service for the nation.”" ... "Today, [Republican] President
Bush honored 24 recipients of this year’s award, including actor Gary Sinise
and Teach for America founder Wendy Kopp. Also included in that mix was
Chuck Colson, “the first member of the [Republican President] Nixon administration
to serve
prison time for Watergate-related offenses.” Colson was President Nixon’s
counsel from 1969-1973 and pleaded guilty in 1974 to obstruction of justice.
Colson received a one to three year sentence, but served just seven months.
David Plotz at Slate described Colson’s role in the Nixon administration:"
"As
special counsel to the president, he [Chuck Colson] was [Republican President]
Richard Nixon’s hard man, the “evil genius” of an evil administration.
According to Watergate historian Stanley Kutler, Colson sought to hire
Teamsters thugs to beat up anti-war demonstrators, and he plotted to raid
or firebomb the Brookings Institution. He eventually pleaded guilty to
scheming to defame Daniel Ellsberg and interfering with his trial."
"Since
that time, Colson has become an evangelical prison reformer, running the
nonprofit Prison Fellowship, which advocates for “privately run prisons
and the delivery of all social services by faith-based groups.” However,
according to author Allan Lichtman in “White Protestant Nation,” Colson
has also remained involved in conservative politics:"
"Colson
brought together politically conservative Catholics and Protestands for
a statement of common beliefs, advised conservative politicians including
Texas [Republican] governor George W. Bush, and worked with Christian right
leaders Pat Robertson and James Dobson on the development of political
strategy. He disseminated conservative messages on sex roles, abortion,
homosexuality, pornography, gay rights, and separation of church and state
in his radio broadcasts and columns, reaching millions of Americans."
"On
October 3, 2002, Colson was also one of the co-signers of a letter
from prominent evangelical leaders supporting an invasion of Iraq. More
recently he has spoken out in favor of California’s Prop. 8, accusing the
LGBT community of “anti-religious bigotry.”" -By Amanda
Terkel -ThinkProgress.org
20081209
Military
- Inpector
- Safer
- Vehicles
- Technology
- Politics
- MRAPS
- US
- Iraq
"Pentagon
ignored danger of roadside bombs, report finds."
... "The military ignored steps before the invasion of Iraq that could
have prevented the staggering number of casualties from roadside bombs,
the Pentagon's acting inspector general charged Tuesday." ... "The IG's
[Inspector General's] report says that the military knew years before the
war that mines and homemade bombs, which the military calls "improvised
explosive devices," would be a "threat . . . in low-intensity conflicts"
and that "mine-resistant vehicles" were available." ... ""Yet the military
did not develop requirements for, fund or acquire" safer vehicles, the
report says. The military invaded Iraq in 2003 "without having taken available
steps to acquire technology to mitigate the known mine and IED [Improvised
Explosive Device] risk to soldiers and Marines."" ... "Even after the war
was under way, as the devices began taking a deadly toll and field commanders
pressed for vehicles that were better protected from roadside bombs, the
Pentagon was slow to act, the report says." ... "The IG's office is headed
by Acting Inspector General Gordon Heddell." ... "Explosive devices, including
roadside bombs and mines, have caused nearly 25,000 deaths and injuries,
according to the Pentagon, the top cause of death for U.S. [United States]
service members in Iraq." ... "The IG report says that the military "stopped
processing" a 2005 request for 1,169 MRAPS [Mine Resistant Ambush Protected
vehicles] from commanders in the field. " -By David
Goldstein -McClatchyDC.com
Global
- Climate
- Floods
- Oil
- Companies
- Human
- 
Environmental
- Emissions
- Litigation
- Politics
- UK
- US
"Science
paves way for climate lawsuits." ... "People affected
by worsening storms, heatwaves and floods could soon be able to sue the
oil and power companies they blame for global warming, a leading climate
expert has said." ... "Myles Allen, a physicist at Oxford University, said
a breakthrough that allows scientists to judge the role man-made climate
change played in extreme weather events could see a rush to the courts
over the next decade." ... "He said: "We are starting to get to the point
that when an adverse weather event occurs we can quantify how much more
likely it was made by human activity. And people adversely affected by
climate change today are in a position to document and quantify their losses.
This is going to be hugely important."" ... "Allen's team has used the
new technique to work out whether global warming worsened the UK [United
Kingdom] floods in autumn 2000, which inundated 10,000 properties, disrupted
power supplies and led to train services being cancelled, motorways closed
and 11,000 people evacuated from their homes - at a total cost of £1bn."
... "There may also be grounds for a case on the basis that firms have
tried to misinform the public - as in US [United States] cases against
tobacco firms - about the effects of their business." ... "Owen Lomas,
head of environmental law at City firm Allen & Overy, said: "If you
look at the extent to which certain major companies in the US are accused
of having funded disinformation to cast doubt on the link between man-made
emissions and global warming, that could open the way to litigation.""
-By
David
Adam and
Afua
Hirsch -Guardian.co.uk
Blackwater
- Investigation
- Corporate
- Military
- California
- 
North
Carolina - US
- Iraq
- International
- Politics
"Plea
by Blackwater guard helps indict 5 others." ... "In
the first public airing of an investigation that remains a source of international
outrage, the Justice Department unsealed its case against five private
security guards, built largely around the chilling testimony of a sixth
guard about the 2007 shootings that left 17 unsuspecting Iraqi civilians
dead at a busy Baghdad [Iraq's capital] traffic circle." ... "In pleading
guilty to manslaughter, the sixth security guard, Jeremy Ridgeway of California,
described how he and the other guards used automatic rifles and grenade
launchers to fire on cars, houses, a traffic officer and a girls' school.
In addition to those killed, at least 20 people were wounded." ... "The
six guards were employed by Blackwater Worldwide, the largest security
contractor in Iraq; the company, based in North Carolina, has not been
charged in the case." ... "Ridgeway said in the court documents unsealed
Monday that the episode in Nisour Square on Sept. 16, 2007, started when
the guards opened fire on a white Kia sedan "that posed no threat to the
convoy."" ... "The case remained a sore point during the [Republican President]
Bush administration's negotiations with Iraq for an agreement setting new
rules for the continuing presence of U.S. [United States] troops. Ultimately,
a major provision of the agreement ended immunity for private contractors
working in Iraq." (1, 2)
-By Ginger
Thompson -IHT.com
Plants
- Animals
- 
Food
- Water
- Soil
- Global
- Climate
- Science
- Government
-US
- 
Canada
"Tree's
rapid decline sounds alarm on global warming." ...
"The whitebark pine, a tree found in the high elevations of the western
U.S. [United States] and Canada, is being killed as a consequence of global
warming and should be protected as an endangered species, an environmental
group formally told the Interior Department Tuesday." ... "If the federal
government accepts the scientific arguments in a petition by the Natural
Resources Defense Council, it would be the first time a wide-ranging tree
has been added to the list. The NRDC [Natural Resources Defense Council]
also sees an endangered designation as a warning about worsening climate
change." ... "The whitebark pine has declined dramatically due to a triple
threat — a disease called the white pine blister rust; the mountain pine
beetle, which thrives in the warmer high-altitude conditions produced by
the burning of fossil fuels, and forest management practices that have
allowed other trees to crowd it out, the NRDC's petition said." ... "Warming
also will limit the range of the whitebark pine, the petition said. Many
live more than 500 years." ... "The whitebark pine stabilizes the soil
and shades the snow, providing water over longer periods for other plants.
Grizzly bears, smaller mammals and birds eat its seeds, and elk, grouse
and other mountain animals find shelter beneath it." -By
Renee
Schoof -McClatchyDC.com
Gov Reference: "Whitebark
Pine Communities"
20081207
Barack
Obama - Medical
-Politics
- History
- 
Hawaii
-US
- Japan
- 
Vietnam
- Iraq
"Obama
Selects Shinseki for Veterans Affairs Secretary."
... "On the 67th anniversary of Pearl Harbor, [Democratic] President-elect
Barack Obama Sunday nominated [Retired Army General] Gen. Eric Shinseki
(Ret.), a Japanese-American born in Obama's home state of Hawaii, to become
Secretary of Veterans Affairs." ... "“We owe it to all our veterans to
honor them as we honored our greatest generation, not just with words,
but with deeds,” said Obama, tasking him with a modernization of the Department
so troops get the medical care “far too few” are receiving right now."
... "Obama said Shinseki, the first Asian-American named to his cabinet,
was the right person to cut red tape, boost funding, and bring benefits
to veterans." ... "“There is no one more distinguished, more determined,
or more qualified to build this V.A. [Veterans Affairs] than the leader
I’m announcing as our next Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Gen. Eric Shinseki,”
Obama said." ... "“No one will ever doubt that this former Army chief of
staff has the courage to stand up for our troops and our veterans. No one
will ever question whether he will fight hard enough to make sure they
have the support that they need.”" ... "The former Army Chief of Staff,
criticized years ago by his Pentagon bosses for saying that “several hundred
thousand soldiers” would be needed to wage the Iraq war successfully, today
pledged to reform the Department to give troops a “smooth, error-free,
no-fail, benefits-assured transition into our ranks as veterans.”" ...
"“A word to my fellow veterans: if confirmed, I will work each and every
day to ensure that we are serving you as well as you have served us. We
will pursue a 21st-century V.A. that serves your needs,” promised Shinseki,
who lost part of his foot in Vietnam." ... "“We will open doors, new doors
of opportunity so you can find a good job, support your families when you
return to civilian life. And we will always, we will always honor the sacrifices
of those who have worn the uniform and their loved ones.”" -By
Matt Jaffe -ABCNEWS.com
20081206
US
- Iraq-Corporate
- Military
- Federal
- Investigation
"Blackwater
Guards Indicted In Deadly Baghdad Shooting: 5 Face
Trial Over Incident That Killed 17 Civilians, Sources Say." ... "Five Blackwater
Worldwide Security guards have been charged in a September 2007 shooting
that left 17 Iraqi civilians dead and raised questions about the U.S. government's
use of security contractors in combat zones, according to two sources familiar
with the case." ... "The guards, all former U.S. military personnel, worked
as security contractors for the State Department, assigned to protect U.S.
diplomats and other nonmilitary officials in Iraq." ... "Federal prosecutors
obtained the indictment Thursday, and it was sealed. Channing Phillips,
a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in the District, declined to
comment on the investigation. The exact nature of the charges could not
be determined." ... "The sources said the government is bringing the charges
under the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act, which has been previously
used to prosecute only cases referred to federal prosecutors by the Defense
Department for crimes committed by military personnel overseas." -By
Del Quentin Wilber -WashingtonPost
20081203
Dick
Cheney - KBR
- Corporation
- Iraq
- Texas
- Indiana
- US
- Military
- Employees
- Health
"Ex-Guardsmen
sue KBR over alleged poisoning." ... "KBR Inc. [KBR
is a former subsidiary of Halliburton, the corporation formerly run by
Republican Vice President Dick Cheney] was sued by ex-members of the Indiana
National Guard and accused of knowingly exposing employees and the soldiers
protecting them to cancer-causing dust at an Iraqi worksite in 2003." ...
"Sixteen soldiers said in a complaint in federal court in Evansville, Ind.
[Indiana], that Houston[Texas]-based KBR and related companies are responsible
for chromium poisoning at Qarmat Ali, Iraq." ... "The plaintiffs, from
the Tell City, Ind., Guard unit, were providing security for KBR during
repairs of a water-treatment plant, according to the complaint. The site
was contaminated for six months by hexavalent chromium, a carcinogen in
powdered compounds used to control corrosion, it said." ... "“The Tell
City Guardsmen were repeatedly told that there was no danger on site, even
after KBR managers knew that blood testing of American civilians exposed
onsite confirmed elevated chromium levels,” the soldiers’ lawyers said
in court papers." ... "Hexavalent chromium on first exposure causes nosebleeds,
respiratory ailments and rashes, which the soldiers said KBR officials
told them was caused by dry desert air or sand allergies, according to
the complaint. Chromium poisoning is irreversible, it said." ... "KBR sought
to conceal the contamination and, once it was discovered, to limit exposed
individuals’ knowledge about the level of poisoning they had suffered,
the soldiers claimed." ... "Ed Blacke, who worked as a medic at Qarmat
Ali, testified that KBR fired him when he discovered the chromium exposure
and tried to warn workers." -Bloomberg
via -Chron
20081202
Dick
Cheney - KBR
- Corporation
- Military
- Laborers
- Human
Rights - Texas
- US
- Iraq
- 
India
- 
Nepal
- 
Sri
Lanka - 
Bangladesh
"Military
contractor in Iraq holds foreign workers in warehouses."
... "About 1,000 Asian men who were hired by a Kuwaiti subcontractor to
the U.S. [United States] military have been confined for as long as three
months in windowless warehouses near the Baghdad [Iraq's capital] airport
without money or a place to work." ... "Najlaa International Catering Services,
a subcontractor to KBR [formerly a Halliburton subsidiary, the corporation
formerly run by Republican Vice President Dick Cheney], an engineering,
construction and services company, hired the men, who're from India, Nepal,
Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. On Tuesday, they staged a march outside their
compound to protest their living conditions." ... "The laborers said they
paid middlemen more than $2,000 to get to Iraq for jobs that they were
told would earn them $600 to $800 a month." ... "The conditions in which
the men have been held appear to violate guidelines the U.S. military handed
down in 2006 that urged contractors to deter human trafficking to the war
zone by shunning recruiters that charged excessive fees." -By
Adam Ashton -McClatchyDC.com
20081126
Infant
- Food
- Health
- Science
- Politics
- Industrial
- Maker
- US
- China
"FDA
finds melamine traces in U.S. infant formulas." ...
"The Food and Drug Administration has found trace amounts of the industrial
chemical melamine in some U.S. [United States] infant formulas, but at
levels 10,000 times lower than those found in Chinese-made formula." ...
"In China, where faked formula killed at least four children and sickened
more than 53,000, large amounts of melamine were added to watered-down
milk to make it appear to have an appropriate protein content." ... "The
trace amounts of melamine and cyanuric acid, a melamine by-product, were
found in formula from Abbott Laboratories, Nestle and Mead Johnson, which
together make more than 90% of all infant formula produced in the United
States." -AP
via -USATODAY
20081124
China
- Media
- Politics
- 
Entertainment
- 
Music
- Free
Speech - Law
- US
"China
state media blast new Guns N' Roses album." ... "A
newspaper published by China's ruling Communist Party is blasting the latest
Guns N' Roses album as an attack on the Chinese nation." ... "Delayed since
recording began in 1994, "Chinese Democracy" hit stores in the U.S. on
Sunday, although it is unlikely to be sold legally in China, where censors
maintain tight control over films, music and publications." ... "In an
article Monday headlined "American band releases album venomously attacking
China," the Global Times said unidentified Chinese Internet users had described
the album as part of a plot by some in the West to "grasp and control the
world using democracy as a pawn."" ... "The album "turns its spear point
on China," the article said." -By Christopher Bodeen
-AP via -Yahoo
20081121
Jeff
Sessions - Bob
Corker - 
George
Voinovich - Corporate
- Government
- Law
- Auto
- Workers
- 
Thanksgiving
- Manufacturer
- Michigan
- Tenn
- Ala
- 
Ohio
- 2010
Election - US
- Japan
- South
Korea
"'Card
check' best hope for auto workers union? Congress
to vote on Employee Free Choice Act to make unionization easier." ... "Congress
returns after Thanksgiving to decide whether to approve a $25 billion loan
to General Motors, Chrysler, and Ford. The future of United Auto Workers
members in Michigan and other states is at stake." ... "“It appears to
me we possibly have one too many auto makers,” said [Tennessee Republican
Senator] Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn.[ Republican-Tennessee], who opposes the
loan [and recommends Chapter 11 bankruptcy]." ... "But it will be an industry
in which fewer workers are represented by the United Auto Workers. And
that doesn’t cause Republicans like [Alabama Republican Senator] Sen. Jeff
Sessions, R-Ala.[ Republican-Alabama], any regret." ... "One advantage
the [Japanese and South Korean auto manufacturers] Honda and Hyundai plants
in Alabama have over the General Motors, Chrysler, and Ford plants in Michigan
is lower labor costs. That's because, in part, auto workers in Michigan
are represented by the UAW and workers in Alabama aren’t." ... "But what
if the UAW [United Auto Workers] could more easily organize workers at
Honda and Hyundai? UAW-represented workers at Honda and Hyundai could then
bargain for higher wages." ... "The Employee Free Choice Act, passed by
the House of Representatives last year, but stymied in the Senate, aims
to make unionization easier by allowing workers to join a union by signing
a card rather than by going through a secret-ballot election. The bill
is called “card check” for short." ... "A UAW ally, [Ohio Democratic Representative]
Rep. Tim Ryan, D[Democratic]- Ohio, said enactment of the Employee Free
Choice Act “would level the playing field. Each facility would be competing
on the same playing field.”" ... "In the vote next year, Republicans up
for re-election in 2010, such as [Ohio Republican Senator] Sen. George
Voinovich of Ohio will be under pressure to vote for it." (1, 2)
-By Tom Curry -MSNBC
Electric
- Cars
- Industry
-Manufacturing
- Technology
- 
Transportation
- Infrastructure
- Jobs
- Consumer
- Military
- Historic
- San
Francisco - Sacramento
- California
- Michigan
- 
Oregon
- 
Washington
- US
- Global
- Planet
- Climate
- Emissions
"Recharge
America with Electric Cars." ... "Today, our country
is facing a set of seemingly insurmountable problems:"
"•
an economic meltdown of historic proportions"
"•
a car industry crashing, because of a lack of innovation and growth"
"•
oil dependence transferring our wealth abroad"
"•
an extended military presence in the Middle East"
"•
and climate change, which threatens the health of our planet"
"Yesterday,
joined by San Jose [California] Mayor Chuck Reed and Oakland [California]
Mayor Ron Dellums I [San Francisco, California's mayor Gavin Newsom] announced
a nine-step policy plan for transforming the Bay Area into the "Electric
Vehicle (EV) Capital of the U.S. [United States]" In support of this initiative
Better
Place, a global electric transportation company announced that it would
enter the U.S. market with California as its first state, beginning in
the Bay Area." ... "Commercial availability of electric cars is targeted
to begin in 2012, and Better Place estimates its network investment in
the Bay Area will total $1 billion when the system is fully deployed. I
welcomed Better Place's announcement and anticipate many other EV companies
will focus on the Bay Area as a top-priority market." ... "Electric vehicles
represent an overarching, game-changing solution that allows us to transform,
and recharge the American transportation sector for the 21st century. By
accelerating the conversion of the car industry from its oil dependent
past, to a new electric century, we can jump start the car industry, eliminate
our dependence on oil, reduce our required presence in the middle east,
create millions of jobs, and eliminate a significant portion of our CO2
emissions." ... "This plan ties together a triangle of influence that can
get our nation back on track: Detroit [Michigan] car makers who know how
to scale production, working in concert with San Francisco's culture of
innovation, aided by Sacramento [California's capital] and Washington DC
[America's capital] policy-making. The goal is to create a sustainable
strategic advantage for the US instead of a series of bailouts." ... "As
California prepares to launch this electric recharge infrastructure project,
it can also serve as a blueprint for a more widely integrated solution."
... "California can generate upwards of $2.5B in new investment in jobs
and the economy for the infrastructure effort, with billions more in cars
and battery sales to consumers. The nation as a whole can trigger tens
of billions in infrastructure, manufacturing and innovation investment.
At the same time, this conversion reduces the cost to the consumer and
nation per mile we drive. California, followed by the western US states
of Oregon and Washington are ready to drive this effort." -By
Gavin
Newsom -HuffingtonPost.com
20081119
Jeff
Sessions - Auto
- Makers
- Workers
- Health
Care - 
Pension
- Politics
- Federal
- Economy
- 2010
Election - Michigan
- Ohio
- US
- Foreign
- Alabama
- Georgia
- Kentucky
- Japan
- South
Korea
"It's
North vs. South in Big Three bailout fight." ...
"Should taxpayers in Alabama be required to bail out [American] automakers
whose plants are concentrated in Northern states like Michigan and Ohio?"
... "Alabama is home to three Honda [Japan automaker] and Hyundai [South
Korea automaker] plants. And just across the state line in Georgia, a new
Kia [Hyundai] plant is set to open and will likely employ many Alabamans."
... "[Alabama Republican Senator] Sen. Jeff Sessions, R- Ala. [Republican-Alabama],
told reporters Wednesday, “I can not imagine a real justification for a
worker in Alabama who does not have any health insurance at his company
to be taxed to maintain a Cadillac health care plan for somebody in Detroit
[Michigan].”" ... "The struggle over whether Congress should make the loan
is a classic regional battle: North vs. South, unionized states like Michigan
vs. mostly non-union ones like Alabama." ... "“There are some states that
might think there’s a competitive advantage for them if the Big Three don’t
make it,” [Michigan Democratic Senator] Sen. Carl Levin, D- Mich. [Democratic-Michigan],
a Big Three ally, told reporters Tuesday." ... "[Kentucky Republican Senator]
Sen. Jim Bunning, R- Ky. [Republican-Kentucky], who is up for re-election
in 2010, said Wednesday, “It’s not a balancing act. It’s whether the federal
government should intervene in the private-sector economy. And I believe
it should not. I am very concerned that people as hard-headed as the three
people who spoke to us yesterday would not have a plan in place and not
have any concession to make, but they would just want the money so they
can burn through it. That’s unacceptable.”" ... "And if Chrysler and General
Motors go into bankruptcy or liquidation?" ... "“I think that’s probably
the best thing that can happen,” [Kentucky Republican Senator] Bunning
replied. “Then there will be a reorganization and they’ll be able to jettison
things they couldn’t ordinarily jettison, like health care benefits, like
pension benefits and there will be someone to pick those up like the Pension
Benefit Guaranty Corp. And then they will be able to restructure their
salaries to get more in line with foreign producers and they may come out
of bankruptcy a heck of a lot better off than they go into it.”" (1, 2)
-By Tom Curry -MSNBC
20081116
Obama
- Government
- Law
- Enforcement
- Markets
- Accounting
- History
- 
Enron
- Eliot
Spitzer - New
York - US
- Global
"How
to Ground The Street: The Former 'Enforcer' On the
Best Way to Keep Financial Markets in Check." ... "[Democratic] President-elect
Barack Obama will soon face the extraordinary task of saving capitalism
from its own excesses, much as [Democratic President] Franklin D. Roosevelt
had to do 76 years ago. Up until this point in the crisis, policymakers
have appropriately applied the rules of triage -- Band-Aids and tourniquets,
then radical surgery -- to keep the global financial system alive. Capital
infusions, bailouts, mega-mergers, government guarantees of unimaginable
proportions -- all have been sought and supported by officials and corporate
chief executives who had until now opposed any government participation
in the marketplace. But put aside for the moment the ideological cartwheel
we have seen and look at the big picture: The rules of modern capitalism
have been re-written before our eyes." ... "The new president's team must
soon get to the root causes of the mistakes that have brought us to the
economic precipice. Yes, we have all derided the explosion of leverage,
the failure to regulate derivatives, the flood of subprime lending that
was bound to default and the excesses of CEO [Chief Executive Officer]
compensation. But these are all mere manifestations of three deeper structural
problems that require greater attention: misconceptions about what a "free
market" really is, a continuing breakdown in corporate governance and an
antiquated and incoherent federal financial regulatory framework." ...
"First, we must confront head-on the pervasive misunderstanding of what
constitutes a "free market." For long stretches of the past 30 years, too
many Americans fell prey to the ideology that a free market requires nearly
complete deregulation of banks and other financial institutions and a government
with a hands-off approach to enforcement. "We can regulate ourselves,"
the mantra went." ... "Those of us who raised red flags about this were
scoffed at for failing to understand or even believe in "the market." During
my tenure as New York state attorney general, my colleagues and I sought
to require investment banking analysts to provide their clients with unbiased
recommendations, devoid of undisclosed and structural conflicts. But powerful
voices with heavily vested interests accused us of meddling in the market."
... "When my office, along with the Department of Justice, warned that
some of American International Group's reinsurance transactions were little
more than efforts to create the false impression of extra capital on the
company's balance sheet, we were jeered at for attacking one of the nation's
great insurance companies, which surely knew how to balance risk and reward."
... "And when the attorneys general of all 50 states sought to investigate
subprime lending, believing that some lending practices might be toxic,
we were blocked by a coalition of the major banks and the [Republican President]
Bush administration, which invoked a rarely used statute to preempt the
states' ability to probe." ... "No major market problem has been resolved
through self-regulation, because individual competitive behavior doesn't
concern itself with the larger market. Individual actors care only about
performing better than the next guy, doing whatever is permitted -- or
will go undetected. Look at the major bubbles and market crises. Long-Term
Capital Management, Enron, the subprime lending scandals: All are classic
demonstrations of the bitter reality that greed, not self-discipline, rules
where unfettered behavior is allowed." ... "Those who truly understand
economics, as did Adam Smith, do not preach an absence of government participation.
A market doesn't exist in a vacuum. Rather, a market is a product of laws,
rules and enforcement. It needs transparency, capital requirements and
fidelity to fiduciary duty. The alternative, as we are seeing, is anarchy."
(1, 2)
-By Eliot L. Spitzer -WashingtonPost
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 -WashingtonPost
20081114
Criminal
- 
Computer
- Hackers
- 
E-Mails
- Corporation
- Technology
-California
- US
- Worldwide
"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
-LAtimes
20081112
Blackwater
- Corporate
- Military
- Federal
- Investigation
- NC
- US
- 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.com
20081111
Animals
- Environment
- Global
- Climate
- Gases
- Industrial
- Science
-History
"Report:
Greenhouse gases imperil oceans' web of life." ...
"Corals, lobsters, clams and many other ocean creatures — including some
at the bottom of the food chain — may be unable to withstand the increasing
acidity of the oceans brought on by growing global-warming pollution, according
to a report Tuesday from the advocacy group Oceana." ... "Based on scientific
findings of the past several years, Oceana's report "Acid Test" examines
the far-reaching consequences of the accumulation of heat-trapping gases,
particularly carbon dioxide, in the world's oceans." ... "A high level
of carbon dioxide in seawater depletes the carbonate that marine animals
need for their shells and skeletons. Creatures who are at risk if trends
continue include corals, which provide habitats for about a quarter of
the world's fish; things many people like to eat, including shrimp and
lobster; and pteropods, or swimming sea snails, which are an important
part of the base of polar and sub-polar food chains." ... "The acidity
of the oceans' surfaces has increased 30 percent since before the Industrial
Revolution, and the current trend would increase it 100 percent by the
end of this century, exceeding levels of the past 20 million years, the
report says." -By
Renee
Schoof -McClatchyDC.com
Report:
"Acid
Test: Can We Save Our Oceans from CO2?" [PDF
Full Report] - Oceana.org
Barack
Obama -People
- Politics- 
Illinois
- Hawaii
- US
- 
Indonesia
- 
Kenya
"Obama's
Fascinating Interview with Cathleen Falsani." ...
"The most detailed and fascinating explication of [Democratic President-Elect]
Barack Obama's faith came in a 2004 interview he gave Chicago Sun Times
columnist Cathleen Falsani when he was running for U.S. Senate in Illinois."
... "Because of how controversial that interview became, Falsani has graciously
allowed us [Beliefnet.com] to print the full conversation here." ... "FALSANI:
What
do you believe?" ... "OBAMA: I am a Christian." ... "So, I have
a deep faith. So I draw from the Christian faith." ... "On the other hand,
I was born in Hawaii where obviously there are a lot of Eastern influences."
... "I lived in Indonesia, the largest Muslim country in the world, between
the ages of six and 10." ... "My father was from Kenya, and although he
was probably most accurately labeled an agnostic, his father was Muslim."
... "And I'd say, probably, intellectually I've drawn as much from Judaism
as any other faith." ... "So, I'm rooted in the Christian tradition. I
believe that there are many paths to the same place, and that is a belief
that there is a higher power, a belief that we are connected as a people.
That there are values that transcend race or culture, that move us forward,
and there's an obligation for all of us individually as well as collectively
to take responsibility to make those values lived."
-Beliefnet.com
20081110
Al
Gore - Barack
Obama - Global
- Climate
- Technology
- Money
- Environmental
- Emissions
- Law- Politics
- San
Francisco - California
"Gore
urges US to try for 100% renewable energy within a decade."
... "[Democratic President-Elect] Barack Obama should set drastic targets
to force the US [United States] to switch to renewable energy in an effort
to slow down climate change, according to the former [Democratic] vice
president Al Gore. Gore said that one of Obama's first acts as US president
should be to demand a move to 100% renewable energy within 10 years." ...
""We can do that," he said during the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco [California]
last Friday. "The declaration from [Democratic] President [John F] Kennedy
that we would land a man on the moon and bring him back safely was thought
by many to be impossible."" ... "During his presidential campaign, Obama
promised to invest $150bn (£96bn) in renewables over 10 years as
part of the plan to increase US energy security amid fear of oil shortages,
while also cutting carbon emissions. Many hope to see those policies enacted
with a far-reaching climate-change bill that would bring the US back into
the global environment fold." -By Bobbie Johnson
-Guardian.co.uk
20081109
Secret
- Military
- Law
- Politics
- Terrorism
- Intelligence
- 
Virginia
- US
- World
- 
Syria
- Pakistan
"Secret
Order Lets U.S. Raid Al Qaeda." ... "The United States
military since 2004 has used broad, secret authority to carry out nearly
a dozen previously undisclosed attacks against Al Qaeda and other militants
in Syria, Pakistan and elsewhere, according to senior American officials."
... "These military raids, typically carried out by Special Operations
forces, were authorized by a classified order that [Republican President
Bush's] Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld signed in the spring of 2004
with the approval of President Bush, the officials said. The secret order
gave the military new authority to attack the Qaeda terrorist network anywhere
in the world, and a more sweeping mandate to conduct operations in countries
not at war with the United States." ... "In 2006, for example, a Navy Seal
team raided a suspected militants’ compound in the Bajaur region of Pakistan,
according to a former top official of the Central Intelligence Agency.
Officials watched the entire mission — captured by the video camera of
a remotely piloted Predator aircraft — in real time in the C.I.A.’s [Central
Intelligence Agency] Counterterrorist Center at the agency’s headquarters
in Virginia 7,000 miles away." ... "Some of the military missions have
been conducted in close coordination with the C.I.A., according to senior
American officials, who said that in others, like the Special Operations
raid in Syria on Oct. 26 of this year, the military commandos acted in
support of C.I.A.-directed operations." ... "According to a senior administration
official, the new authority was spelled out in a classified document called
“Al Qaeda Network Exord,” or execute order, that streamlined the approval
process for the military to act outside officially declared war zones."
... "It was issued after the Bush administration had already granted America’s
intelligence agencies sweeping power to secretly detain and interrogate
terrorism suspects in overseas prisons and to conduct warrantless eavesdropping
on telephone and electronic communications." (1, 2)
-By Eric
Schmitt and Mark
Mazzetti -NYTimes
20081108
Sarah
Palin -John
McCain - Clothes- Money
-
Comedian
- Canada
- 
France
- 
Mexico
- US
- 2008
Election - 2012
Election
"Palin
calls critics among McCain aides ‘jerks’." ... "The
[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John] McCain campaign
aides complained about the $150,000 that the Republican National Committee
had spent on [2008 Election Republican Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah]
Ms. Palin’s clothes, the way a Canadian comedian was able to embarrass
the campaign by calling her and pretending to be the president of France,
and the political ambitions she seemed to harbor beyond 2008." ... "By
the end of the week, their complaints had escalated considerably, with
Fox News quoting unnamed McCain campaign officials as saying that Ms. Palin
had not known that Africa was a continent, not a country, and claiming
that she did not know which countries were covered by the North American
Free Trade Agreement [the US, Canada, and Mexico]." ... "Ms. Palin told
reporters in Alaska that the anonymous criticism was “cowardly,” and that
she had discussed the campaign’s position on Nafta at her debate prep sessions."
... "“I remember having a discussion with a couple of debate preppers,”
she said. “So if it came from one of those debate preppers, you know, that’s
curious. But having a discussion about Nafta — not, ‘Oh my goodness, I
don’t know who is a part of Nafta.’ ”" ... "“So, no, I think that if there
are allegations based on questions or comments that I made in debate prep
about Nafta, and about the continent versus the country when we talk about
Africa there, then those were taken out of context,” Ms. Palin said. “And
that’s cruel and it’s mean-spirited, it’s immature, it’s unprofessional,
and those guys are jerks, if they came away with it taking things out of
context and then tried to spread something on national news. It is not
fair and not right.”" -By William Yardley and Michael
Cooper with contributions by Julie Bosman and Brian Stelter
-NYTimes -MSNBC
Barack
Obama - 
John
Boehner
- 
Karl
Rove - 2008
Election - Media
- Politics
-Corporate
- Healthcare
- Ohio
- US
- Iraq
- Global
- Climate
"Sunday
Roundup." ... "In the wake of [2008 Election Democratic
President-Elect Barack] Obama's overwhelming victory, and Democratic gains
in the House and Senate, conservatives are desperately trying to convince
the world that these results are meaningless. "Democrats should not make
the mistake of viewing Tuesday's results as a repudiation of conservatism,"
insisted
[Ohio Republican Representative] John Boehner. "Barack Obama understands
this is a center-right country,"
claimed
Karl Rove. "This country remains every bit as center-right as it has for
a generation," parroted
Brent Bozell. And David Brooks dreamed
of an Obama administration that understands "this was an election where
the middle asserted itself." Drunk on self-delusion, a staggering GOP whistles
past the electoral graveyard, missing the whole point of this election:
the center
has shifted, and positions that used to be considered "left-wing" --
on healthcare, on global warming, on corporate responsibility, on Iraq
-- are now solidly mainstream." -By Arianna
Huffington -HuffingtonPost.com
20081106
Chinese
- Hackers
- US
- Government
- E-Mail
- Network
- Military
- Technology
- Intelligence
- Politics
"Chinese
hack into White House network." ... "Chinese hackers
have penetrated the White House computer network on multiple occasions,
and obtained e-mails between government officials, a senior US [United
States] official told the Financial Times." ... "On each occasion, the
cyber attackers accessed the [Republican President Bush] White House computer
system for brief periods, allowing them enough time to steal information
before US computer experts patched the system." ... "US government cyber
intelligence experts suspect the attacks were sponsored by the Chinese
government because of their targeted nature. But they concede that it is
extremely difficult to trace the exact source of an attack beyond a server
in a particular country." ... "The official said the Chinese cyber attacks
had the hallmarks of the “grain of sands” approach taken by Chinese intelligence,
which involves obtaining and pouring through lots of - often low-level
- information to find a few nuggets." ... "Some US defence companies have
privately warned about attacks on their systems, which they believe are
attempts to learn about future weapons systems." ... "The National Cyber
Investigative Joint Task Force, a new unit established in 2007 to tackle
cyber security, detected the attacks on the White House. But the official
stressed that the hackers had only accessed the unclassified computer network,
not the more secure classified network." ... "The US has increased efforts
to tackle cyber security, particularly since Chinese hackers believed to
be associated with the Peoples’ Liberation Army last year perpetrated a
major attack on the Pentagon." ... "US military computer experts battled
for weeks against a sustained attack that eventually overcame the Pentagon’s
defences. The cyber attackers managed to obtain information and emails
traffic from the unclassified computer system that supports Robert Gates,
the defence secretary. Pentagon IT technicians were forced to take the
network down for days to conduct repairs." -By Demetri
Sevastopulo -FT.com
20081105
Barack
Obama - John
McCain - Sarah
Palin - Fashion
- Money
- Internet
- Hacking
- Federal
- Investigation
- 2008
Election -Technology
- Politics
- US
- Russia
- China
"Hackers
and Spending Sprees." ... "The computer systems of
both the [2008 Election Presidential Candidates] Obama and McCain campaigns
were victims of a sophisticated cyberattack by an unknown "foreign entity,"
prompting a federal investigation, NEWSWEEK reports today." ... "At the
Obama headquarters in midsummer, technology experts detected what they
initially thought was a computer virus—a case of "phishing," a form of
hacking often employed to steal passwords or credit-card numbers. But by
the next day, both the FBI [Federal Bureau of Investigation] and the Secret
Service came to the campaign with an ominous warning: "You have a problem
way bigger than what you understand," an agent told Obama's team. "You
have been compromised, and a serious amount of files have been loaded off
your system." The following day, Obama campaign chief David Plouffe heard
from White House chief of staff Josh Bolten, to the same effect: "You have
a real problem ... and you have to deal with it." The Feds told Obama's
aides in late August that the McCain campaign's computer system had been
similarly compromised. A top McCain official confirmed to NEWSWEEK that
the campaign's computer system had been hacked and that the FBI had become
involved." ... "Officials at the FBI and the White House told the Obama
campaign that they believed a foreign entity or organization sought to
gather information on the evolution of both camps' policy positions—information
that might be useful in negotiations with a future administration. The
Feds assured the Obama team that it had not been hacked by its political
opponents. (Obama technical experts later speculated that the hackers were
Russian or Chinese.)" ... "NEWSWEEK has also learned that Palin's shopping
spree at high-end department stores was more extensive than previously
reported. While publicly supporting Palin, McCain's top advisers privately
fumed at what they regarded as her outrageous profligacy. One senior aide
said that Nicolle Wallace had told Palin to buy three suits for the convention
and hire a stylist. But instead, the vice presidential nominee began buying
for herself and her family—clothes and accessories from top stores such
as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus. According to two knowledgeable
sources, a vast majority of the clothes were bought by a wealthy donor,
who was shocked when he got the bill. Palin also used low-level staffers
to buy some of the clothes on their credit cards. The McCain campaign found
out last week when the aides sought reimbursement. One aide estimated that
she spent "tens of thousands" more than the reported $150,000, and that
$20,000 to $40,000 went to buy clothes for her husband. Some articles of
clothing have apparently been lost." (1, 2)
-Newsweek
20081103
Barack
Obama - John
McCain - Sarah
Palin - 2008
Election - Economy
-Politics
- War
- US
- Iraq
- World
"Francis
Fukuyama." ... "I’m voting for Barack Obama [2008
Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] this November for a very simple
reason. It is hard to imagine a more disastrous presidency than that of
[Republican] George W. Bush. It was bad enough that he launched an unnecessary
war and undermined the standing of the United States throughout the world
in his first term. But in the waning days of his administration, he is
presiding over a collapse of the American financial system and broader
economy that will have consequences for years to come. As a general rule,
democracies don’t work well if voters do not hold political parties accountable
for failure. While John McCain [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate]
is trying desperately to pretend that he never had anything to do with
the Republican Party, I think it would a travesty to reward the Republicans
for failure on such a grand scale." ... "McCain’s appeal was always that
he could think for himself, but as the campaign has progressed, he has
seemed simply erratic and hotheaded. His choice of Sarah Palin [2008 Election
Republican Vice Presidential Candidate] as a running mate was highly irresponsible;
we have suffered under the current president who entered office without
much knowledge of the world and was easily captured by the wrong advisers.
McCain’s lurching from [Republican President] Reaganite free- marketer
to populist tribune makes one wonder whether he has any underlying principles
at all." -By Francis Fukuyama
-AmConMag.com
20081030
Corporate
- Government
- Politics
-US
- Britain
- Germany
"Banks
to Continue Paying Dividends: Bailout Money Is for
Lending, Critics Say." ... "U.S. [United States] banks getting more than
$163 billion from the Treasury Department for new lending are on pace to
pay more than half of that sum to their shareholders, with government permission,
over the next three years." ... "The government said it was giving banks
more money so they could make more loans. Dollars paid to shareholders
don't serve that purpose, but Treasury officials say that suspending quarterly
dividend payments would have deterred banks from participating in the voluntary
program." ... "Critics, including economists and members of Congress, question
why banks should get government money if they already have enough money
to pay dividends -- or conversely, why banks that need government money
are still spending so much on dividends." ... ""The whole purpose of the
program is to increase lending and inject capital into Main Street. If
the money is used for dividends, it defeats the purpose of the program,"
said [New York Democratic Senator] Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y. [Democratic-New
York]), who has called for the government to require a suspension of dividend
payments." ... "The 33 banks signed up so far plan to pay shareholders
about $7 billion this quarter. Companies generally try to pay consistent
dividends and, at the present pace, those dividends will consume 52 percent
of the Treasury's investment over the initial three-year term." ... "The
Treasury's approach contrasts with decisions by foreign governments, including
Britain and Germany, to require banks that accept public investments to
suspend dividend payments until the government is repaid. The U.S. government
similarly required Chrysler to suspend its dividend payments as a condition
of the government's 1979 bailout." (1, 2)
-By Binyamin Appelbaum -WashingtonPost
20081029
Barack
Obama - 
- Ad
-Media
- 2008
Election - Families
- Economy
- Military
- Ohio
- 
Missouri
- 
Kansas
- 
New
Mexico - 
Florida
- Arizona
- - US
- Iraq
"30-minute
Obama ad shows campaign muscle." ... "[2008 Election
Democratic Presidential Candidate and Illinois Senator] Sen. Barack Obama's
30-minute TV ad, which ran simultaneously on broadcast and cable networks
at 8 p.m. ET Wednesday, is muscle-flexing that has little precedent, a
campaign advertising expert said." ... ""It's evidence, if you needed any,
that the Obama campaign has more money than there is ad time left to buy,"
said Evan Tracey, director of the Campaign Media Analysis Group. "This
is flexing the muscles."" ... ""The strategic brilliance of this for Obama
is that he is going to consume about 24 hours of the news cycle," Tracey
said. "It boxes [John] McCain in, takes the oxygen out of the room."" ...
"In the carefully produced infomercial, Obama laid out his plans for the
economy and for bringing an end to the war in Iraq." ... "It also featured
stories of struggling families in swing states such as Ohio and Missouri
and included testimonials from high-profile supporters, including Kansas
[Democratic Governor] Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and New Mexico [Democratic
Governor] Gov. Bill Richardson." ... "Obama's Republican opponent, Arizona
Sen. John McCain, was not mentioned, nor was the GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican].
The spot ended with a brief, live Obama address to a rally in Florida,
another hotly contested state in this year's campaign." -By
Richard Allen Greene -CNN
WATCH
Barack
Obama ad: "American Stories, American Solutions."
"Obama:
"I'm reminded every single day that I am not a perfect man. I will not
be a perfect president. But I can promise you this: I will always tell
you what I think and where I stand. I will always be honest with you about
the challenges we face. I will listen to you when we disagree. And, most
importantly, I will open the doors of government and ask you to be involved
in your own democracy again."" - BarackObama.com
20081025
Sarah
Palin - Religious
- Video
- Kenya- 
Alaska
- US
- 2008
Election
"YouTube
Videos Draw Attention to Palin’s Faith." ... "[2008
Election Republican Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah] Ms. Palin’s faith
has come under scrutiny after two videos taken in her former church surfaced
on YouTube and became immediate sensations. The first showed a visiting
preacher from Kenya praying fervently over Ms. Palin in a gravelly voice
and asking God to favor her campaign for governor and protect her from
“every form of witchcraft.”" ... "The second showed Ms. Palin at an event
in June praising the African preacher’s prayer as “awesome” and “very,
very powerful.” She is also seen nodding as her former pastor from Wasilla
prays over her and declares that Alaska is “one of the refuge states in
the Last Days,” a piece of prophecy popular in some prayer networks that
predicts that as the “end times” approach, people will flock to Alaska
for its abundant open space and natural resources." ... " ... Ms. Palin
has had long associations with religious leaders who practice a particularly
assertive and urgent brand of Pentecostalism known as “spiritual warfare.”"
... "Its adherents believe that demonic forces can colonize specific geographic
areas and individuals, and that “spiritual warriors” must “battle” them
to assert God’s control, using prayer and evangelism. The movement’s fixation
on demons, its aggressiveness and its leaders’ claims to exalted spiritual
authority have troubled even some Pentecostal Christians." ... "Bishop
Thomas Muthee, the Kenyan preacher shown on the YouTube video anointing
her as she ran for governor, is celebrated internationally as an effective
spiritual warrior who led a prayer movement that drove a witch out of his
town in Kenya." ... "Critics say the goal of the spiritual warfare movement
is to create a theocracy. Bruce Wilson, a researcher for Talk2Action, a
Web site that tracks religious groups, said: “One of the imperatives of
the movement is to achieve worldly power, including political control.
Then you can more effectively drive out the demons. The ultimate goal is
to purify the earth.”" (1, 2)
-By Laurie
Goodstein -NYTimes
Search
Youtube videos: <Palin Church>
Search
Youtube videos: <Palin witch-hunter>
Search
Youtube videos: <Palin witchcraft>
20081020
Cartoon
- Fashion
- History
-Germany
- 
Poland
-US
- McCain
- Palin-2008
Election - /Channel
- Media
- Corp
"Fox
Family Feud Over ‘Family Guy’." ... "A Sunday night
episode of the Fox animated series “Family
Guy” stirred up trouble by suggesting rather directly that Nazi
officers would have supported the McCain-Palin ticket. And it was another
arm of the News Corp. conglomerate, Fox News Channel, that first reported
on the episode." ... "Fox (the broadcast network) aired the episode in
which Stewie, the obnoxious baby character at the center of the series,
and Brian, a talking dog, traveled back in time to Poland during the 1939
German invasion. The characters ambush Nazi soldiers in an alley and steal
their uniforms so they can travel without drawing attention. Putting on
an overcoat, Stewie notices a McCain-Palin campaign button affixed to the
lapel. “Huh, that’s weird,” Stewie remarks." -By Brooks
Barnes -NYTimes
"Family
Guy" cartoon with animated character "Stewie" in a Nazi uniform with a
McCain/Palin button on it:
WATCH
episode of "Family Guy" cartoon with character Stewie in Nazi uniform with
McCain/Palin button
John
McCain -Barack
Obama - Military
- Politics
- 2008
Election - AZ
- 
Nevada
- VA
- TX
- US
- Iraq
- Afghanistan
- Vietnam
- History
"McCain
Lies Again, Repeats False Claim He ‘Received The Highest Honor And Awards’
From Every Vets Group." ... "Yesterday, [2008 Election
Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain
(R-AZ [Republican-Arizona]) held a telephone town hall meeting, in which
“thousands” of Nevadans — according to the McCain campaign — called to
listen in. Among some of the
hostile,
pointed, and critical questions came one from a veteran, who challenged
McCain on his voting record regarding funding for the Veterans Administration
and veterans’ priorities:"
"Q:
I know you voted for lesser increases, and sometimes they were so much
less, and our VA desperately needs the money. Can you tell me why you
would vote for less money for the VA when there’s a war going on?"
"M:
Well of course I have not and I’m afraid I’ve been endorsed by the VFW
in every election that I’ve been in. I have been — received the honors,
the highest honor and awards from all our veterans organizations for my
consistent support of them. I don’t know what you’re looking at, but
the DAV, the VFW, the American Legion, all of them have given me their
highest awards for my consistent support of them."
"As
ThinkProgress has repeatedly
[-] documented,
McCain is either willfully lying or he is delusional about his record —
and the meaning of “highest awards.” In fact, McCain has recently stood
on the opposite side of all three of the groups he mentioned:"
"–
Disabled American Veterans (DAV): In a list of 36 “key votes,” shows
McCain “Voted
Against Us” 16 times. ([2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate
Barack] Obama “Voted
With Us” 17 times, and against only once.)"
"–
Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW): Endorsed
[Virginia Democratic Senator] Sen. Jim Webb’s (D-VA [Democratic-Virginia])
GI Bill that McCain vigorously opposed; called McCain’s alternative GI
Bill “very
partisan” and said they “didn’t have much input” in its crafting."
"–
American Legion: Endorsed
Webb’s GI Bill and criticized McCain’s concern
about how it would affect retention, saying the bill “would
encourage young men and women to join the military.”"
"Just
last week, the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America gave McCain a
grade of D for his record of voting against veterans. (Obama got a
B.)
The Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) have noted that in its “Key Votes,”
McCain “Voted Against
Us” 15 times and “Voted For Us” only 8. (Obama voted for VVA 12 times,
and against only once.)"
... "Earlier this month, [Texas Democratic Representative] Rep. Chet Edwards
(D-TX [Democratic-Texas]), a leading veterans advocate, excoriated McCain
in an interview with ThinkProgress: “If you look at John McCain’s record
on veterans issues, it’s
a failed one.” It’s a sentiment IAVA executive director Paul Rieckhoff
agrees with. Noting McCain’s dismal voting record on VA funding, Rieckhoff
told ThinkProgress, “If he says the VA’s not working, it’s
in part because he hasn’t funded it properly.”"
"Update In an interview with Richmond's
[Virginia's capital] WTVR on Friday, McCain repeated his favorite lie:
"I've been a friend of the veterans for a long time and I've
received every award from every major veterans organization." He added,
"I'm proud of my support for the veterans."" -By Ali
Frick -ThinkProgress.org
John
McCain - Illegal
- Foreign
- Money
- Politics
- Russia
-
- Arizona
- US
- 2008
Election
"McCain:
Brother, Can You Spare A Ruble?" ... "... the [2008
Election Republican Presidential Candidate John] McCain campaign sought
illegal contributions from the Russian ambassador to the United Nations."
"The
Russian Mission to the United Nations issued a bizarre statement to the
UN press corps today stating simply, "We have received a letter from [Arizona]
Senator John McCain requesting financial contribution to his Presidential
campaign. In this connection we would like to reiterate that Russian officials,
the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations or
the Russian Government do not finance political activity in foreign countries.""
"Intrigued,
I called the Russian Mission and a press officer there directed me to this
item on the Mission's website. It seems that the McCain-Palin campaign
sent a generic fundraising letter to Russia's UN Ambassador Vitaly I Churkin."
"Accepting
foreign
money is, of course, against the law. The McCain campaign was, in effect,
asking the Russian ambassador for an illegal campaign contribution." ...
"Russian officials don't believe the McCain campaign was deliberately asking
for an illegal donation." -By Steve Benen
-WashingtonMonthly.com
20081015
Sarah
Palin - Russia
- Alaska
- Energy
- Markets
- US
- 2008
Election
"Palin
unaware of Russian energy meeting in Alaska." ...
"The campaign of [Republican] vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin said
the Alaska governor was unaware of a visit by Russian energy officials
to Anchorage [Alaska] on Monday." ... "Eight high-level officials from
Gazprom, Russia’s state-controlled energy conglomerate, traveled to Anchorage
earlier this week to meet with the Alaska Department of Natural Resources
and the chief executive of ConocoPhillips to discuss energy projects and
the possibility of expanding into new markets." ... "But the campaign said
the governor did not know that the Gazprom delegation was meeting with
the commissioner of the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, who is
a Palin appointee." -By Peter Hamby
-CNN
20081014
John
McCain - 
William
Timmons - Criminal
- Oil
- Money
- Terrorism
- Politics
-Government
- Iraq
- International
- Law
- South
Korea - US
- 2008
Election
"McCain
Transition Chief Aided Saddam In Lobbying Effort."
... "William Timmons, the Washington lobbyist who [2008 Election Republican
Presidential Candidate] John McCain has named to head his presidential
transition team, aided an influence effort on behalf of Iraqi dictator
Saddam Hussein to ease international sanctions against his regime." ...
"The two lobbyists who Timmons worked closely with over a five year period
on the lobbying campaign later either pleaded guilty to or were convicted
of federal criminal charges that they had acted as unregistered agents
of Saddam Hussein's government." ... "During the same period beginning
in 1992, Timmons worked closely with the two lobbyists, Samir Vincent and
Tongsun Park, on a previously unreported prospective deal with the Iraqis
in which they hoped to be awarded a contract to purchase and resell Iraqi
oil. Timmons, Vincent, and Park stood to share at least $45 million if
the business deal went through." ... "Timmons' activities occurred in the
years following the first Gulf War, when Washington considered Iraq to
be a rogue enemy state and a sponsor of terrorism." ... "Virtually everything
Timmons did while working on the lobbying campaign was within days conveyed
by Vincent to either one or both of Saddam Hussein's top aides, Tariq Aziz
and Nizar Hamdoon. Vincent also testified that he almost always relayed
input from the Iraqi aides back to Timmons." ... "Talking points that Timmons
produced for the lobbyists to help ease the sanctions, for example, were
reviewed ahead of time by Aziz, Vincent testified in court. Proposals that
Timmons himself circulated to U.S. [United States] officials as part of
the effort were written with the assistance of the Iraqi officials, and
were also sent ahead of time with Timmons' approval to Aziz, other records
show." ... "Vincent, an Iraqi-born American citizen with whom Timmons worked
most closely, pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges in January 2005
that he had acted as an unregistered agent of Saddam Hussein's regime.
Tongsun Park, the second lobbyist who Timmons worked closely with, was
convicted by a federal jury in July 2006 on charges that he too violated
the Foreign Agent Registration Act." ... "At the time Timmons introduced
the two men, Park's notorious background was well known:" ... "In the 1970s,
Park had admitted to making hundreds of thousands in payments and illegal
campaign contributions to U.S. congressmen on behalf of the South Korean
government. Park was indicted on 36 counts by a federal grand jury, but
fled to South Korea before he could face trial. All of the charges were
later dismissed in exchange for Park providing information about which
public officials received funds from the South Korean government." -By
Murray
Waas with contributions by Patrick B. Anderson-HuffingtonPost.com
History
- Book
- California
- US
- Global
"Taleb's
`Black Swan' Investors Post Gains as Markets Take Dive."
... "Investors advised by ``Black Swan'' author Nassim
Taleb have gained 50 percent or more this year as his strategies
for navigating big swings in share prices paid off amid the worst stock
market in seven decades." ... "Universa Investments LP, the Santa Monica,
California-based firm where Taleb is an adviser, has about $1 billion in
accounts managed to hedge clients against big moves in financial markets.
Returns for the year through Oct. 10 ranged as high as 110 percent, according
to investor documents. The Standard
& Poor's 500 Index lost 39 percent in the same period." ...
"The S&P 500 dropped 18 percent last week, its worst week since 1933,
on concern that the credit crunch would cripple the financial system and
trigger a global recession." ... "As a trader turned philosopher, Taleb
has railed against Wall Street risk managers who attempt to predict market
movements. Even so, Taleb said he saw the banking crisis coming." ... "``The
financial ecology is swelling into gigantic, incestuous, bureaucratic banks
-- when one fails, they all fall,'' Taleb wrote in ``The Black Swan: The
Impact of the Highly Improbable,'' which was published in 2007." ... "Taleb
said the current crisis is a ``White Swan'', not a Black Swan, because
it was something bound to happen." -By Stephanie Baker
-Bloomberg
20081010
US
- Global
- Economic
-History
- 
Belgium
- 
"Ex-president
Carter slams Bush on market crisis." ... "Former
[Democratic] President Jimmy Carter said on Friday the "atrocious economic
policies" of the Bush administration had caused the worst global financial
crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s." ... "Carter told reporters
on a stopover in Brussels [Belgium and EU's capital] that "profligate spending,"
massive borrowing and dramatic tax cuts since President George W. Bush
took office in 2001 were behind the market turmoil and economic crisis."
... "Eight years ago, the United States had a budget surplus, low inflation
and a stable, strong economy, he said." ... "Carter said he was astonished
that the United States now owed China "in the neighborhood of $1 trillion.""
... "Deregulation and what he called a withdrawal of supervision of Wall
Street had encouraged irresponsible elements in the U.S. financial system,
enabling banks to borrow 30 times their value." -By
Paul Taylor with contributions by Sami Aboudi
-Reuters
Japan
- History
- US
- 
Real
Estate
"Nikkei
tumbles 9.6 percent on crisis fears." ... "Japan's
key stock index plunged a stunning 9.6 percent Friday to close out its
worst week in history as frantic investors worried about a global recession
dumped stocks after huge losses on Wall Street." ... "The benchmark Nikkei
225 index tumbled 881.06 points to 8,276.43, its lowest since May 2003.
It was its biggest one-day percentage loss since the stock market crash
of October 1987." ... "The index dropped by more than 11 percent at one
point but recovered modestly in the afternoon." ... "Since last Friday,
the Nikkei has lost nearly a quarter of its value." ... "Mid-sized insurer
Yamato Life Insurance Co. [Company] went bankrupt Friday, becoming the
first major Japanese financial company to collapse on the fallout from
the U.S. [United States] credit crisis. On Thursday, New City Investment
Corp.'s [Corporation's] bankruptcy filing made it Japan's first real-estate
investment trust to fail." -By Shino Yuasa
-AP via -Google
20081009
US
- History
- Global
"US
STOCKS-Recession fear plunders Wall St, Dow dives 678.91."
[DOW at 8,579.19] ... "U.S stocks plummeted for a seventh straight
session on Thursday as investors bet recent moves by authorities worldwide
to thaw frozen credit markets would not be enough to avert a global recession."
... "The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI dropped 678.91 points, or 7.33
percent, to 8,579.19, while the Standard & Poor's 500 Index .SPX plummeted
75.02 points, or 7.62 percent, to 909.92. The Nasdaq Composite Index .IXIC
sank 95.21 points, or 5.47 percent, to 1,645.12." ... "The steep declines
came on the anniversary of the Dow's all-time closing high above 14,000."
... "The Dow average has lost 2,271.47 points in the last seven trading
days -- the worst ever in such a period. Since its record closing high
a year ago today, the Dow has tumbled 5,585.34 points -- or almost 40 percent."
... "The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index .VIX, Wall Street's
preferred fear gauge, hit another all-time closing high -- jumping 11.11
percent to end at 63.92." (1, 2,
3)
-By Kristina Cooke with contributions by Leah Schnurr,
Ellis Mnyandu, and Jan Paschal -Reuters
Noteworthy
- Sarah
Palin -Military
- Terrorism
- Alaska
- Federal
-Oil
- Land
- Money- Politics-
- International
-Law
-US
- 2008
Election
"Alaskan
Independence Party: The Last Refuge of a Scoundrel."
... "[2008 Election Republican Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah] Palin,
it could be argued, following her own logic, thinks so little of America's
perfection that she continues to "pal around" with a man--her husband,
actually--who only recently terminated his seven-year membership in the
Alaskan Independence Party. Putting plunder above patriotism, the members
of this treasonous cabal aim to break our country into pieces and walk
away with Alaska's rich federal oil fields and one-fifth of America's land
base--an area three-fourths the size of the Civil War Confederacy." ...
"AIP's charter commits the party "to the ultimate independence of Alaska,"
from the United States which it refers to as "the colonial bureaucracy
in Washington." It proclaims Alaska's 1959 induction as a state "as illegal
and in violation of the United Nations charter and international law.""
... "AIP's creation was inspired by the rabidly violent anti-Americanism
of its founding father Joe Vogler, "I'm an Alaskan, not an American," reads
a favorite Vogler quote on AIP's current website, "I've got no use for
America or her damned institutions." According to Vogler AIP's central
purpose was to drive Alaska's secession from the United States. Alaska,
says current Chairwoman Lynette Clark, "should be an independent nation.""
... "Vogler was murdered in 1993 during an illegal sale of plastic explosives
that went bad. The prior year, he had renounced his allegiance to the United
States explaining that, "The fires of hell are frozen glaciers compared
to my hatred for the American government." He cursed the stars and stripes,
promising, "I won't be buried under their damned flag...when Alaska is
an independent nation they can bring my bones home." Palin has never denounced
Vogler or his detestable anti-Americanism." ... "Palin's husband Todd remained
an AIP party member from 1995 to 2002. Sarah can be described in McCarthy-era
palaver as a "fellow traveler." While retaining her Republican registration,
she attended the AIP's 1994 convention where the party called for a draft
constitution to secede from the United States and create an independent
nation of Alaska. The McCain Campaign has reluctantly acknowledged that
she also attended AIP's 2000 Convention. She apparently found the experience
so inspiring that she agreed to give a keynote address at the AIP's 2006
convention and she recorded a video greeting for this year's 2008 convention."
-By
Robert
F. Kennedy Jr. -HuffingtonPost.com
20081008
Japan
- Hong
Kong - Indonesia
- Taiwan
"Asian
markets crumble, Nikkei 225 dives 9.4%: Hang Seng
loses 8.2%, S&P/ASX 200 off 5%, Indonesia index slumps 10.4%." ...
"Asian markets crumbled Wednesday, as investors alarmed by a deteriorating
financial markets situation dumped blue-chip stocks to raise cash, sending
several indexes tumbling down to multi-year lows." ... ""It's not just
the hedge-funds, everybody is selling ... And there are no buyers," said
Dale Tsang, managing director at Imperial Dragon Asset Management Co. in
Hong Kong. "There is a state of panic, for cash. Everybody needs cash.""
... ""No, I haven't seen anything like this, and I don't think anybody
has seen anything like this before, except those who are over 75 years
old and have seen the Great Depression," Tsang added." ... "Japan's Nikkei
225 Average tumbled the most to close 952.5 points, or 9.4%, lower at 9,203.32
for its worst single-day percentage drop in years. The broader Topix index
lost 8% to 899.01. Both benchmarks declined for a fifth straight session."
... "In Taipei [Taiwan's capital], the Taiex tumbled 5.8% to 5,206.40,
its lowest level since July 2003. " -By V. Phani Kumar
-MarketWatch
20081007
Secret
-US
- Iraq
- Afghanistan
- Military
- Terrorism
- Politics
- McCain
- Obama
- 2008
Election
"New
U.S. intelligence report warns 'victory' not certain in Iraq."
... "A nearly completed high-level U.S. [United States] intelligence analysis
warns that unresolved ethnic and sectarian tensions in Iraq could unleash
a new wave of violence, potentially reversing the major security and political
gains achieved over the last year." ... "U.S. officials familiar with the
new National Intelligence Estimate said they were unsure when the top-secret
report would be completed and whether it would be published before the
Nov. 4 presidential election." ... "More than a half-dozen officials spoke
to McClatchy on condition of anonymity because NIE's, the most authoritative
analyses produced by the U.S. intelligence community, are restricted to
the president, his senior aides and members of Congress except in rare
instances when just the key findings are made public." ... "The new NIE,
which reflects the consensus of all 16 U.S. intelligence agencies, has
significant implications for Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack
Obama, whose differences over the Iraq war are a major issue in the presidential
campaign." ... "The findings seem to cast doubts on McCain's frequent assertions
that the United States is "on a path to victory" in Iraq by underscoring
the deep uncertainties of the situation despite the 30,000-strong U.S.
troop surge for which he was the leading congressional advocate." ... "But
McCain could also use the findings to try to strengthen his argument for
keeping U.S. troops in Iraq until conditions stabilize." ... "For Obama,
the report raises questions about whether he could fulfill his pledge to
withdraw most of the remaining 152,000 U.S. troops _ he would leave some
there to deal with al Qaida and to protect U.S. diplomats and civilians
_ within 16 months of taking office so that more U.S. forces could be sent
to battle the growing Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan." ... "The findings
of the intelligence estimate appear to be reflected in recent statements
by Army [General] Gen. David Petraeus, the former top U.S. commander in
Iraq, who has called the situation "fragile" and "reversible" and said
he will never declare victory there." -By Jonathan
S. Landay, Warren P. Strobel
and Nancy A. Youssef with
contributions by Leila Fadel
-McClatchyDC.com
Sarah
Palin - Terrorism
- Politics
- Alaska
- 
Iran
-
- History
- US
- Federal
- Law
-Enforcement
- Earth
- Environment
- 2008
Election
"The
Palins' un-American activities." ... ""My government
is my worst enemy. I'm going to fight them with any means at hand."" ...
"The quote is from Joe Vogler, the raging anti-American who founded the
Alaska Independence Party. Inconveniently for [2008 Election Republican
Vice Presidential Candidate and Alaska Governor Sarah] Palin, that's the
very same secessionist party that her husband, Todd [Palin], belonged to
for seven years and that she sent a shout-out to as Alaska governor earlier
this year. ("Keep up the good work," Palin told AIP members. "And God bless
you.")" ... "AIP chairwoman Lynette
Clark told me recently that Sarah Palin is her kind of gal. "She's
Alaskan to the bone ... she sounds just like Joe Vogler."" ... "So who
are these America-haters that the Palins are pallin' around with?" ...
"Before his strange murder in 1993, party founder Vogler preached armed
insurrection against the United States of America. Vogler, who always carried
a Magnum with him, was fond of saying, "When the [federal] bureaucrats
come after me, I suggest they wear red coats. They make better targets.
In the federal government are the biggest liars in the United States, and
I hate them with a passion. They think they own [Alaska]. There comes a
time when people will choose to die with honor rather than live with dishonor.
That time may be coming here. Our goal is ultimate independence by peaceful
means under a minimal government fully responsive to the people. I hope
we don't have to take human life, but if they go on tramping on our property
rights, look out, we're ready to die."" ... "This quote is from "Coming
Into the Country," by John McPhee, who traipsed around Alaska's remote
gold mining country with Vogler for his 1991 book. The violent-tempered
secessionist vowed to McPhee that if any federal official tried to stop
him from polluting Alaska's rivers with his earth-moving equipment, he
would "run over him with a Cat and turn mosquitoes loose on him while he
dies."" ... "Vogler's greatest moment of glory was to be his 1993 appearance
before the United Nations to denounce United States "tyranny" before the
entire world and to demand Alaska's freedom. The Alaska secessionist had
persuaded the government of Iran to sponsor his anti-American harangue."
... "That's right ... Iran. The Islamic dictatorship. The taker of American
hostages." ... "AIP leaders allege that Vogler, who was murdered that year
by a fellow secessionist, was taken out by powerful forces in the U.S.
before he could reach his U.N. platform." -By David
Talbot -Salon
McCain
- Terrorism
-Finance
- History
- Secret
- Government
- Intelligence
- Military
- Politics
- Iran
- 
Nicaragua
- Foreign
- Arizona
- US
-2008
Election
"McCain
linked to private group in Iran-Contra case." ...
"GOP [GOP=Grand Old Party=Republican] presidential nominee John McCain
has past connections to a private group that supplied aid to guerrillas
seeking to overthrow the leftist government of Nicaragua in the Iran-Contra
affair." ... "The U.S. Council for World Freedom was part of an international
organization linked to former Nazi collaborators and ultra-right-wing death
squads in Central America." ... "The council's founder, retired Army [Major
General] Maj. Gen. John Singlaub, said McCain became associated with the
organization in the early 1980s as McCain was launching his political career
in Arizona." ... "Covert arms shipments to the rebels called Contras, financed
in part by secret arms sales to Iran, became known as the Iran-Contra affair.
They proved to be the undoing of Singlaub's council." ... "In 1987, the
Internal Revenue Service withdrew the tax-exempt status of Singlaub's group
because of its activities on behalf of the Contras." ... "Elected to the
House in 1982 and at a time when he was on the board of Singlaub's council,
McCain was among Republicans on Capitol Hill expressing support for the
Contras, a CIA[Central Intelligence Agency]-organized guerrilla force in
Central America. In 1984, Congress cut off CIA funds for the Contras."
... "Months before the cutoff, top [Republican President] Reagan administration
officials ramped up a secret White House-directed supply network and put
National Security Council aide Oliver North in charge of running it. The
goal was to keep the Contras operational until Congress could be persuaded
to resume CIA funding." ... "Singlaub's private group became the public
cover for the White House operation." ... "Secretly, Singlaub worked with
North in an effort to raise millions of dollars from foreign governments."
-By Pete Yost -AP
via -Yahoo
20081006
John
McCain - Racist
- Terrorism
- Money
- History
- 2008
Election - Phoenix
- Arizona
- US
- Military
- Law
- Foreign
"Why
McCain's Time With Council Of World Freedom Matters."
... "Since Sunday, Democrats have been buzzing about the re-revelation
that during the 1980s, [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate
and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain served on the board of a far-right
conservative organization that had supplied arms and funds to paramilitary
organizations in Latin America." ... "Democratic strategist Paul Begala
lit the fire when, during an appearance on Meet the Press, he warned that
this relatively obscure detail from McCain's past could draw him into a
guilt-by-association game he was bound to regret." ... ""John McCain sat
on the board of...the U.S. Council for World Freedom," said
Begala, "The Anti-Defamation League, in 1981 when McCain was on the
board, said this about this organization. It was affiliated with the World
Anti-Communist League - the parent organization - which ADL said 'has increasingly
become a gathering place, a forum, a point of contact for extremists, racists
and anti-Semites.'"" ... "But McCain's involvement in the U.S. Council
for World Freedom, which extended from 1981 through, possibly, 1986 is
significant -- not merely because it ties him to unsavory characters but
because it firmly associates him with a foreign policy that was, at the
time and still, controversial." ... "The USCWF was founded in Phoenix,
Arizona in November 1981 as an offshoot of the World Anti-Communist League.
The group was, from the onset, saddled with the disreputable reputation
of its parent group. The WACL had ties to ultra-right figures and Latin
American death squads. Roger Pearson, the chairman of the WACL, was expelled
from the group in 1980 under allegations that he was a member of a neo-Nazi
organization." ... "It [The USCWF] claimed to support "pro-Democratic resistance
movements fighting communist totalitarianism." And during the 1980s it
became a vehicle for the [Republican President] Reagan administration to
prop up some of the more totalitarian, anti-communist efforts in Central
America." ... "The funders of the U.S World Council of Freedom read like
a who's who list of prominent conservative figures. Joe Coors, the Republican
Beer baron was reportedly a big donor. Time Magazine wrote that the Christian
Broadcasting Network was a backer as well. The Washington Times newspaper,
owned by the controversial Reverend Sun Myung Moon, started a fundraising
drive of its own." ... "Through it all, McCain was a member." ... "...
McCain's association with a group that reportedly circumvented law, financed
right-wing military institutions, and engaged in sometimes brutal anti-communist
tactics, could be telling for some voters." -By
Sam
Stein -HuffingtonPost.com
John
McCain - 2008
Election - Law
- Politics
- Investigation
- Arizona
- Texas
- US
- Iraqi
"FEC
Queries McCain Campaign on 'Excessive Contributions'."
... "The FEC [Federal Election Commission] sent a letter to [2008 Election
Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain's
campaign treasurer [September] Sept. 30 demanding the candidate turn over
more information about "contributions that appear to exceed the limits.""
... "The letter is accompanied by a nine-page list showing scores of overages
from McCain's August campaign finance report, including nearly $13,000
from Texas rancher Ray R. Barrett Jr.; $9,200 from an Iraqi security consultant,
H. Carter Andress; and $5,000 from Joseph F. Davolio, an executive at a
major national liquor, beer and wine distributor." ... ""Please inform
the Commission of your corrective action immediately in writing and provide
photocopies of any refund checks and/or letters reattributing or redesignating
the contributions in question," the letter from the FEC's senior campaign
finance analyst, Leah S. Palmer, says. "The acceptance of excessive contributions
is a serious problem."" -By Matthew Mosk
-WashingtonPost
20080925
John
McCain - Barack
Obama - Financial
- Law
- Veterans
- Housing
- Energy
- 2008
Election -US
- Iran
"McCain
has not sponsored a banking bill this Congress."
... "[2008 Election] Republican presidential nominee John McCain has not
introduced any banking or housing bills in the 110th Congress, while [2008
Election Presidential] Democratic rival Barack Obama has proposed five."
... "Obama’s legislation calls for bolstering housing assistance for veterans,
amending the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 to provide shareholders
with an advisory vote on executive compensation, halting mortgage transactions
that promote fraud, authorizing local and state governments to crack down
on companies that invest in Iran's energy sector and authorizing a pilot
program to prevent at-risk veterans from becoming homeless." -By
Bob Cusack -TheHill.com
US
- Germany
- Global
- Financial
- Crisis- Politics
"Era
of U.S. financial dominance at an end: Germany."
... "Germany blamed the United States on Thursday for spawning the global
financial crisis with a blind drive for higher profits and said it must
now accept more market regulation and a loss of its financial superpower
status." ... "In some of the harshest criticism of the United States since
the crisis threw Wall Street banks into financial disarray this month,
German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck said the turmoil would leave "deep
marks" on both sides of the Atlantic, but called it primarily an American
problem." ... ""The world will never be as it was before the crisis," Steinbrueck
told the Bundestag lower house of parliament." ... ""The United States
will lose its superpower status in the world financial system. The world
financial system will become more multi-polar," he said." ... "The crisis
has put the [Republican President] Bush White House, which has long advocated
a hands-off approach to markets, on the defensive and forced it to rethink
its financial policy." -By Noah Barkin and Kerstin
Gehmlich -Reuters
via -Yahoo
Sarah
Palin - Politics
-2008
Election - Alaska
- US
-Kenya
"Palin
once blessed to be free from 'witchcraft'." ... "A
grainy YouTube video surfaced Wednesday showing Sarah Palin being blessed
in her hometown church three years ago by a Kenyan pastor who prayed for
her protection from "witchcraft" as she prepared to seek higher office."
... "The video shows Palin standing before Bishop Thomas Muthee in the
pulpit of the Wasilla Assembly of God church, holding her hands open as
he asked Jesus Christ to keep her safe from "every form of witchcraft.""
... "Pentecostals are conservative in their reading of the Bible. Unlike
most other Christians — including most evangelicals — Pentecostals believe
in "baptism in the Holy Spirit." That can manifest itself through speaking
in tongues, modern-day prophesy and faith healing, which includes the laying
on of hands." ... "The [Reverend] Rev. Zipporah Ndiritu, who studied under
Muthee in the Kiambu, Kenya-based Word of Faith Church, said the bishop
is revered among evangelicals there. In a phone interview from Mombasa,
Kenya, she said church doctrine focuses on ridding the world of demons
— and witches." -By Garance Burke
-AP via -Google
WATCH:
Republican Palin's church's speaker Reverend Muthee lays hands on Sarah
Palin to pray she be kept safe from "every form of witchcraft."
Search: <Palin witch> in <Google>
<YouTube>
20080923
Secret
- Afghanistan
- US
- Military
- 2008
Election - Terrorism
- Politics
- 
Dutch
- Canadian
"'Grim'
Afghanistan Report To Be Kept Secret by US." ...
"US intelligence analysts are putting the final touches on a secret National
Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Afghanistan that reportedly describes the
situation as "grim", but there are "no plans to declassify" any of it before
the [2008] election, according to one US official familiar with the process."
... "According to people who have been briefed, the NIE will paint a "grim"
picture of the situation in Afghanistan, seven years after the US invaded
in an effort to dismantle the al Qaeda network and its Taliban protectors."
... "Seth Jones, an expert on Afghanistan at the Rand Corporation think
tank, called the situation in Afghanistan "dire."" ... ""We are now at
a tipping point, with about half of the country now penetrated by a range
of Sunni militant groups including the Taliban and al Queida," Jones said.
Jones said there is growing concern that Dutch and Canadian forces in Afghanistan
would "call it quits."" ... ""The US military would then need six, eight,
maybe ten brigades but we just don't have that many," Jones said." ...
"Last week, Admiral Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff, told Congress "we're running out of time" in Afghanistan. "I'm not
convinced we're winning it in Afghanistan," Adm. Mullen testified." ...
"Perhaps foreshadowing the NIE assessment on Afghanistan, Adm. Mullen told
Congress, "absent a broader international and interagency approach to the
problems there, it is my professional opinion that no amount of troops
in no amount of time can ever achieve all the objectives we seek in Afghanistan.""
(1, 2)
-By Brian Ross -ABCNEWS.com
US
-Iraq
- Investigators- Reconstruction
- Accounting
- Politics
"$13
Billion in Iraq Aid Wasted Or Stolen, Ex-Investigator Says."
... "A former Iraqi official estimated yesterday that more than $13 billion
meant for reconstruction projects in Iraq was wasted or stolen through
elaborate fraud schemes." ... "Salam Adhoob, a former chief investigator
for Iraq's Commission on Public Integrity, told the Senate Democratic Policy
Committee, an arm of the Democratic caucus, that an Iraqi auditing bureau
"could not properly account for" the money." ... "While many of the projects
audited "were not needed -- and many were never built," he said, "this
very real fact remains: Billions of American dollars that paid for these
projects are now gone."" ... "He said a report that went to Iraqi Prime
Minister Nouri al-Maliki and other top Iraqi officials was never published
because "nobody cares" about investigating such cases. Many investigators,
he said, feared for their safety because 32 of his co-workers have been
murdered. " -By Dana Hedgpeth with contributions by
Julie Tate -WashingtonPost
20080921
Henry
Paulson
- Government
- Politics
- US
- Foreign
"Foreign
Banks Can Unload Bad Debt Too: Paulson." ... "[Republican
President Bush's] Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Sunday that foreign
banks will be able to unload bad financial assets under a $700 billion
U.S. proposal aimed at restoring order during a devastating financial crisis."
... ""Yes, and they should. Because ... if a financial institution has
business operations in the United States, hires people in the United States,
if they are clogged with illiquid assets, they have the same impact on
the American people as any other institution," Paulson said on ABC TV."
-CNBC
20080919
Henry
Paulson
-Corporate
- Government
- Illegal
- Accounting
- Politics
- History
- US
- Global
"Can
you trust a Wall Street veteran with a Wall Street bailout?"
... "Making the rounds on the Sunday morning talk shows, [Republican President
Bush's] Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson repeatedly said today's financial
problems were long in the making. He should know. He was part of the Gold
Rush that has brought the global financial system to the brink of collapse."
... "Paulson presided over one of the most profitable runs on Wall Street
as chairman and chief executive officer of investment banking titan Goldman
Sachs & Co. from 1999 until [Republican] President Bush nominated him
on May 30, 2006 to take over the Treasury Department." ... "But with Paulson
now seeking virtually unfettered authority to administer the largest bailout
of the financial industry in U.S. [United States] history, many are wondering
whether Paulson also doesn't come with enormous potential conflicts of
interest." ... "Paulson has surrounded himself with former Goldman executives
as he tries to navigate the domino-like collapse of several parts of the
global financial market. And others have gone off to lead companies that
could be among those that receive a bailout." ... "The administration's
draft law also would preclude court review of steps Paulson might take,
something Joshua Rosner, managing director of economic researcher Graham
Fisher & Co. in New York, said could be used to mask previous illegal
activity." ... "The Treasury proposal sent to Congress also offers no process
to hire asset managers in an open and competitive process. That's particularly
questionable given that Wall Street players are now hiring Wall Street
players, Rosner said." ... ""This seems to invite a risk of collusion between
sellers and buyers to the detriment of the taxpayer," he wrote." ... "At
a minimum, there's irony in Paulson being in charge of so large a bailout."
... "In the last annual report at Goldman that Paulson signed off on in
November 2005, a year in which he received $38 million in compensation,
investors were clearly told that the federal government wouldn't be there
to save them from bad investments." ... "In 2002, Paulson received $12.1
million in compensation, including a $6.3 million bonus — an improvement
over the previous three years when Wall Street accounting scandals unsettled
investment banks, including a $1.5 billion settlement Goldman and other
banks paid for issuing overly bullish research reports that promoted deals
the banks themselves were involved in." ... "Published reports said Paulson
received $30 million in compensation and salary in 2003." -By
Kevin
G. Hall -McClatchyDC.com
20080918
Sarah
Palin - 
Chuck
Hagel - John
McCain - 
Nebraska
- Alaska
- US- International
- Russia
-2008
Election
"[Republican
Senator] Sen. Hagel doubts Palin's ready." ... "[Nebraska
Republican Senator] Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska is the nation's most prominent
Republican officeholder to publicly question whether Sarah Palin has the
experience to serve as president." ... ""She doesn't have any foreign policy
credentials," Hagel said Wednesday in an interview. "You get a passport
for the first time in your life last year? I mean, I don't know what you
can say. You can't say anything."" ... "Palin was elected governor of Alaska
in 2006 and before that was the mayor of a small town." ... "The McCain
campaign has cited the proximity of Alaska to Russia as evidence of her
international experience." ... "Hagel scoffed at that notion." ... ""I
think they ought to be just honest about it and stop the nonsense about,
'I look out my window and I see Russia and so therefore I know something
about Russia,'" he said. "That kind of thing is insulting to the American
people."" ... ""I think it's a stretch to, in any way, to say that she's
got the experience to be president of the United States," Hagel said."
-By Joseph Morton -World-Herald
20080915
John
McCain - Sarah
Palin - Federal
- Money
- Politics
- Immigration
- Religion
- US
- Alaska
- Russia
- Iraq
- Military
-2008
Election
"John
McCain's Journey From Maverick to Liar." ... "When
Jon Stewart asked [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John]
McCain last year, "Are you going into crazy base world?" the celebrated
maverick acknowledged, "I'm afraid so."" ... "McCain flip-flopped on the
[Republican President] Bush tax cuts. He abandoned immigration reform.
He reached out to Jerry Falwell and other religious conservatives." ...
"It wasn't enough. And so, in a move that even one of his longtime advisers
conceded (in a remark captured by an open microphone) was disturbingly
"cynical," McCain gave the base [2008 Election Republican Vice Presidential
Candidate] Sarah Palin." ... "So far, the main "maverick" actions that
McCain has promised as the next Republican president are to trim nonmilitary
Democratic spending and continue the Iraq war. You can't get more conventional
than that." ... "And even that message has been somewhat undermined by
disclosures that Palin was a champion of those costly federal earmark projects
she has lobbied for in Alaska—where, you know, you can see Russia." ...
"At this point, McCain has taken the obvious way out—launching a series
of distracting attacks on [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate]
Barack Obama, with slim regard for truth." ... "The ads have spurred a
backlash, the consequences
(or lack) of which may well decide the election." ... "For 18 months,
Obama has wagered all his chips on the (quaint? idealistic? brilliant?)
idea that the American people are tired of the same old sleazy and divisive
politics. McCain has now chosen to bet against him." ... "And we are the
cards." -By John Aloysius Farrell
-usnews.com
20080914
John
McCain - William
E. Timmons, Sr. - Corporate
- Government
- Politics
- Oil
- 
Drug
- Housing
- Consumer
- Investigation
- Law
- Foreign
- Japan
- US
- 2008
Election
"Obama
Memo on a [Republican McCain] "Lobbyist-Run White House"."
... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John] McCain's Team
of Lobbyists Grows, As They Plan for a Lobbyist-Run White House" ... "Joining
the ranks of the seven lobbyists running McCain's campaign, William Timmons,
a top Washington lobbyist, has been named to plan McCain's transition effort.
With at least 177 lobbyists helping advise, raise money and run his campaign,
there was little doubt who would be influencing McCain's White House, should
he win, but this appointment just confirms: a John McCain White House will
be organized, managed and influenced by lobbyists and the same old Washington
politics John McCain has decried. Campaigning on reform while surrounding
himself with lobbyists for the oil industry, big drug companies and foreign
interests doesn't seem much like change, and nothing shows that more than
naming a top Washington lobbyist to plan his transition." ... "SEPTEMBER
2008: TIMMONS JOINS MCCAIN TEAM" ... "One Of DC's “Most Senior Inside Players,”
A Special Interest Lobbyist To Help McCain Transition Planning Effort.
William E Timmons, Sr., the McCain campaign's new senior advisor of a hypothetical
transition, is a “prominent Washington lobbyist who has worked for every
Republican president since Richard Nixon” pointed out Time magazine. This
year alone, he is registered as a lobbyist for Freddie Mac, Anheuser-Busch,
an insurance industry trade group, an oil industry group, and a pharmaceutical
company. Time called him one “of Washington's steadiest and most senior
inside players.” [Time, 9/12/08; Senate Office of Public Records]" ...
"Timmons, A Former Nixon Aide, Founded Lobbying Shop In The Aftermath Of
Watergate. “Aftershocks of the Watergate scandal were still rumbling in
1975 when William Timmons and three other former Nixon aides decided to
launch their own lobbying shop. ‘We figured if we got 10 clients to pay
us $100,000 a year, we'd be in the clover,' recalls the 76-year-old Timmons.”
[Politico, 3/7/07]" ... "WHILE MCCAIN CRITICIZED FREDDIE MAC'S LOBBYISTS,
TIMMONS EARNED MILLIONS LOBBYING FOR FREDDIE MAC." ... " ... Timmons Earned
More Than $2.7 Million for His Firm Lobbying for Freddie Mac from 2000-2008.
William Timmons earned $2,795,000 in lobbying fees for his firm lobbying
from 2000 through the 2nd Quarter of 2008. His firm lobbied for Freddie
Mac on housing issues. [Timmons and Company Lobbying Disclosures, 2000-2008]"
... "TIMMONS ALSO EARNED MILLIONS FOR HIS FIRM LOBBYING FOR OIL COMPANIES"
... "Timmons Earned $2.1 Million for His Firm Lobbying for Unocal and Also
Lobbied for Chevron. William Timmons lobbied for Unocal from 1999-2005
and then briefly lobbied for Chevron in 2005 after the firm purchased Unocal.
[Timmons and Company Senate Lobbying Disclosures, 1999-2005]" ... "Timmons
Lobbied on Two Price Gouging Prevention Bills For Oil Industry. According
to lobbying disclosure forms, William Timmons – on behalf of the American
Petroleum Institute – lobbied on S. 94 and S. 1263 in 2007, two bills which
dealt with prohibiting price gouging by merchants. Timmons continued his
registration, which began in 1999, into the summer of 2008. [Timmons and
Company Senate Lobbying Disclosures]" ... "HITACHI: Timmons Contract Came
As US Government Opened Investigation" ... "8/2/85: Justice Dept. Opens
Investigation Of Hitachi For Antitrust Violations. In early August 1985,
the US Dept. of “investigation of Hitachi Ltd. for alleged unfair pricing
practices.” The probe “accused the Japanese of closing their doors to U.S.-produced
goods while using unfair tactics to make gains in the domestic U.S. marketplace.”.
[San Diego Union Tribune, 8/7/85]" ... "8/27/85: Hitachi Hires Timmons's
Firm. The $75,000 contract (one year) was to “represent the interests of
Hitachi before the legislative and executive branches.” [FARA, Exhibit
AB, http://www.fara.gov/docs/3489-Exhibit-AB-19850901-D0V9DI01.pdf
]" ... "[FARA (Foreign Agent Registration Act) filings, US Dept. of Justice
(fara.gov)]" -From the
capaing of Barack Obama
-TIME.com
McLobbyist.com
20080912
Sarah
Palin - Terrorism
-Politics
- US
- Iraq
- Military
- Intelligence
- 2008
Election
"Out
of bounds! Palin confuses Iraq with al Qaida." ...
"Throw the flag on: [2008 Election Republican Vice Presidential Candidate]
Sarah Palin." ... "Call: Pass interference." ... "What Happened: On the
7th anniversary of the [September] Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Palin
linked Iraq to those attacks. " ... "Why that's wrong: The bipartisan National
Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States said it found "no
credible evidence that Iraq and al Qaida cooperated on attacks against
the United States."" ... "The panel also said that contacts between al
Qaida and Iraq before the attacks "do not appear to have resulted in a
collaborative relationship."" ... "The group's conclusion confirmed similar
findings by the CIA [Central Intelligence Agency] and other U.S. intelligence
agencies. [Republican] President Bush, who once claimed such a pre 9-11
connection to Iraq, has since backed off." -By Steven
Thomma -McClatchyDC.com
20080911
Media
- US
- Mexico
"Carlos
Slim Helu, World's Second Richest Man, Buys Large Stake In New York Times."
... "Mexican financier Carlos Slim Helu and members of his family now own
6.4 percent of publicly traded shares in The New York Times Co., according
to a regulatory filing Wednesday." ... "The 9.1 million Class A Common
Shares were purchased by Inmobiliaria Carso, S.A. de C.V, a Mexican holding
company controlled by members of the Slim family, according to a disclosure
report the company filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission."
-AP via -HuffingtonPost.com
20080904
Sarah
Palin -John
McCain - Marketing
- Media
- 2008
Election - US
- Foreign
"No
Questions, Please. We'll Tell You What You Need To Know."
... "According to Nicole Wallace of the [2008 Election Republican Presidential
Candidate John] McCain campaign, the American people don't care whether
[2008 Election Vice Presidential Candidate] Sarah Palin can answer specific
questions about foreign and domestic policy. According to Wallace -- in
an appearance I did with her this morning on Joe Scarborough's show --
the American people will learn all they need to know (and all they deserve
to know) from Palin's scripted speeches and choreographed appearances on
the campaign trail and in campaign ads." [
WATCH the discussion]
... "Wallace's bash-the-media exercise has its merits as a campaign tactic.
It certainly rallies the base. But the base won't lift McCain to 50% in
November. More importantly, in her smug dismissal of the media's role in
asking questions of the candidates, Wallace was really showing contempt
not for reporters, but for voters." -By Jay Carney-Time-Blog.com
20080903
Sarah
Palin - US
- Iraq
- Military
- Politics
- Alaska
- Gas
- Companies-2008
Election
"Palin:
Iraq war 'a task that is from God'." ... "Alaska
[Republican Governor] Gov. Sarah Palin told ministry students at her former
church that the United States sent troops to fight in the Iraq war on a
"task that is from God."" ... "In an address last June, the [2008 Election]
Republican vice presidential candidate also urged ministry students to
pray for a plan to build a $30 billion natural gas pipeline in the state,
calling it "God's will."" ... ""Our national leaders are sending them out
on a task that is from God," she said. "That's what we have to make sure
that we're praying for, that there is a plan and that plan is God's plan.""
... "Palin told graduating students of the church's School of Ministry,
"What I need to do is strike a deal with you guys." As they preached the
love of Jesus throughout Alaska, she said, she'd work to implement God's
will from the governor's office, including creating jobs by building a
pipeline to bring North Slope natural gas to North American markets." ...
""God's will has to be done in unifying people and companies to get that
gas line built, so pray for that," she said." -By
Gene Johnson -AP
via -Yahoo
WATCH:
"Sarah Palin: War in Iraq is "God's Plan""
WATCH:
"Sarah Palin: Alaskan Pipeline is "God's Will""
20080902
Sarah
Palin - US
- Iraq
- Foreign
- Military
- Terrorism
- Politics
- Alaska
- 
Massachusetts
- 2004
Election - 2008
Election
"Palin's
Church May Have Shaped Controversial Worldview."
... "A review of recorded sermons
by Ed Kalnins, the senior pastor of Wasilla Assembly of God [Wasilla, Alaska]
since 1999, offers a provocative and, for some, eyebrow-raising sketch
of [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate Sarah] Palin's longtime
spiritual home." ... "In his sermons, Kalnins did not hide his affections
for certain national politicians." ... "During the 2004 election season,
he praised [Republican] President Bush's performance during a debate with
[2004 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Massachusetts Senator]
Sen. John Kerry, then offered a not-so-subtle message about his personal
candidate preferences. "I'm not going tell you who to vote for, but if
you vote for this particular person, I question your salvation. I'm sorry."
Kalnins added: "If every Christian will vote righteously, it would be a
landslide every time."" ... "Months after hinting at possible damnation
for Kerry supporters, Kalnins bristled at the treatment President Bush
was receiving over the federal government's handling of Hurricane Katrina.
"I hate criticisms towards the President," he said, "because it's like
criticisms towards the pastor -- it's almost like, it's not going to get
you anywhere, you know, except for hell. That's what it'll get you."" ...
"Much of his support for the current administration has come in the realm
of foreign affairs. Kalnins has preached that the 9/11 attacks and the
invasion of Iraq were part of a "world war" over the Christian faith, one
in which Jesus Christ had called upon believers to be willing to sacrifice
their lives."
"What
you see in a terrorist -- that's called the invisible enemy. There has
always been an invisible enemy. What you see in Iraq, basically, is a manifestation
of what's going on in this unseen world called the spirit world. ... We
need to think like Jesus thinks. We are in a time and a season of war,
and we need to think like that. We need to develop that instinct. We need
to develop as believers the instinct that we are at war, and that war is
contending for your faith. ... Jesus called us to die. You're worried about
getting hurt? He's called us to die. Listen, you know we can't even follow
him unless you are willing to give up your life. ... I believe that Jesus
himself operated from that position of war mode. Everyone say "war mode."
Now you say, wait a minute Ed, he's like the good shepherd, he's loving
all the time and he's kind all the time. Oh yes he is -- but I also believe
that he had a part of his thoughts that knew that he was in a war."
...
"In his sermons, Pastor Kalnins has also expressed beliefs that, while
not directly political, lie outside of mainstream Christian thought." ...
"He preaches repeatedly about the "end times" or "last days," an apocalyptic
prophesy held by a small but vocal group of Christian leaders. During his
appearance with Palin in June, he declared, "I believe Alaska is one of
the refuge states in the last days, and hundreds of thousands of people
are going to come to the state to seek refuge and the church has to be
ready to minister to them."" ... "He also claims to have received direct
"words of knowledge" from God, providing him information about past events
in other people's lives." -By Nico
Pitney and Sam Stein -HuffingtonPost.com
John
McCain - Military
- Politics
- Ads
- US
- Vietnam
- History
- 2008
Election
Watch
- "Former
POW says McCain is "not cut out to be President"."
... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain has
been exploiting his prisoner of war experience every chance he gets. He
has used this story to justify everything from not knowing how many homes
he has to his healthcare plan to his marital infidelities to his taste
in music. The McCain campaign is even using his POW story in paid ads.
But now a veteran who was a prisoner with McCain in Vietnam is explaining
loud and clear that being a POW does not qualify McCain to lead our country."
... "We are sure this video will draw an onslaught of right-wing attacks,
but we bring it to you because it is our job to continue to convey the
truth together and give these issues national attention. As Dr.
Butler has said, McCain does not have the temperament to have his
finger near the red button. Get this video to everyone you know—friends,
family members, coworkers, and especially those who don't share your political
views. The video is designed to reach them. Get it on your social networking
sites like Digg. And get it to every blog, newspaper, and TV station that
has ever overplayed McCain's POW story. It is time to fight back with truth!"
... "The mainstream press has already begun to call out McCain for overusing
his POW story. And it's cut across all political persuasions. * "Whether
he's deflecting criticism over his health-care plan or mocking a tribute
to the Woodstock music festival, Senator John McCain has a trump card:
the Hanoi Hilton. — Edwin Chen, Bloomberg * "Noun, Verb, POW" — Andrew
Sullivan, The Atlantic Monthly * "The McCain campaign's constant invocation
of the candidate's POW past is weird bordering on irrational..." — Ana
Marie Cox, TIME * "I think they are going to it way too many times." —
Howard Fineman, Newsweek" ... "Remember how Joe Biden got the press to
refer to Rudy Giuliani as "A noun, a verb, and 9/11"? Well, let's actually
take Andrew Sullivan's lead here and get the media to boil McCain down
to a similar phrase: "A noun, a verb, and POW." Considering how often the
McCain campaign invokes his POW story, isn't that what they're already
doing?" -BraveNewPac
-BraveNewFilms.org
20080901
Sarah
Palin - US
- Foreign
- Military
- 2008
Election
Watch - "Tucker
Bounds on Palin's National Security Experience."
... "Campbell Brown interviews Tucker Bounds on [2008 Election Republican
Vice Presidential Candidate] Sarah Palin's national security experience"
-CNN via
-TPMTV
.TalkingPointsMemo
20080831
Sarah
Palin - John
McCain - Political
- Investigation
- Attorney- Government
- Transportation
- Construction
- Money
- Alaska
- Oil
- Global
- Climate
- 2008
Election
"What
McCain Didn't Know About Sarah Palin." ... "They've
[the 2008 Election Republican Presidential campaign of John McCain] bragged
that [Alaska Republican Governor Sarah] Palin opposed the famous "Bridge
to Nowhere," only to learn that Palin
supported the project and even told residents of Ketchikan [Alaska]
that they weren't "nowhere" to her. After the national outcry, she decided
to spend the funds allocated to the bridge for something else. Actually,
maybe it's more fair to say that coincident with the national outcry, she
changed her mind. The story shows her political judgment, but it is not
a reformer's credential." ... "Likewise, though she cut taxes as mayor
of Wassila [Alaska], she raised the sales tax, making her hardly a tax
cutter." ... "She denied pressuring the state's chief of public safety
to fire her sister-in-law's husband even though there's mounting evidence
that the impetus did indeed come from her. Ostensibly to clear her name,
Palin
asked her attorney general to open an independent investigation—the
legislature had already been investigating. (I am told that the campaign
was aware of the ethics complaint filed against her but accepts Palin's
account.)" ... "McCain's campaign seemed unaware that she supported a windfalls
profits tax on oil companies and that she is more skeptical about human
contributions to global warming than McCain is." ... "They did not know
that she took trips as the mayor of Wasilla to beg for earmarks." ... "They
did not know that she told a television interviewer this summer that she
did not fully understand what it is that a vice president does." -By
Marc
Ambinder -TheAtlantic.com
20080830
Sarah
Palin - Alaska
- Newspapers
- US
- Iraq
- Military- Politics
- McCain
- 2008
Election
"2
Top Alaska Newspapers Question Palin's Fitness."
... "For the past 24 hours, the pages and web sites of the two leading
papers up there have raised all sorts of issues surrounding [2008 Election
Republican Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah] Palin, from her ethics problems
to general lack of readiness for this big step up." ... "A reporter for
the Anchorage daily, Gregg Erickson, even did an online chat with the Washington
Post, in which he revealed that Palin's approval rating in the state
was not the much-touted 80%, but 65% and sinking -- and that among journalists
who followed her it might be in the "teens." He added: "I have a hard time
seeing how her qualifications stack up against the duties and responsibilities
of being president.... I expect her to stick with simple truths. When asked
about continued American troop presence in Iraq, she said she knows only
one thing about that (I paraphrase): no one has attacked the American homeland
since [Republican President] George Bush took the war to Iraq."" ... "Dermot
Cole, a columnist for the Fairbanks paper, observed that he thinks highly
of Palin as a person but "in no way does her year-and-a-half as governor
of Alaska qualify her to be vice president or president of the United States."
... ""One of the strange things Friday was that so many commentators and
politicians did not know how to pronounce her name and had no clue about
what she has actually done in Alaska....I may be proven wrong, but the
decision announced by McCain strikes me as reckless. She is not prepared
to be the next president should something happen to McCain."" -By
Greg
Mitchell -HuffingtonPost.com
20080829
Sarah
Palin - Science
- Politics
- Global
- Climate
- Atmosphere
- 2008
Election - John
McCain - Alaska
- Arizona
"Palin
Not Convinced on Global Warming." ... "Some scientists
believe Alaska will be among the first to feel the impact of global warming,
but [2008 Election Republican Vice Presidential Candidate] Sarah Palin
told voters there she wasn't sure climate change wasn't simply part of
a natural warming cycle." ... ""I will not pretend to have all the answers,"
Palin said about global warming, according to the Anchorage Daily News.
Her spokesman clarified at the time that "she's not totally convinced one
way or the other. Science will tell us . . . She thinks the jury's still
out."" ... "Palin shared her views in the run-up to the 2006 governor's
race, at an Alaska Federation of Natives convention, where delegates passed
a resolution calling for a mandatory reduction in pollution affecting the
atmosphere." ... "Answering a question from the Daily News, Palin cautioned
against "overreaction."" ... "Those were among the comments that brought
condemnation today from Greenpeace to her selection as [2008 Election Republican
Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain's running
mate on the Republican ticket. The environmental group's Alaska Global
Warming Campaigner, Melanie Duchin, described Palin as "one of the most
anti-environment records of any governor in the United States." -By
Matthew Mosk and Juliet Eilperin -WashingtonPost
/ 
/ Archive
