Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Friday, April 25, 2008
U.S. to provide nuke fuel to Arab states
U.S. to provide nuke fuel to Arab states
Iran triggering proliferation concerns in Middle East
Dubai - The Bush administration quietly signed an agreement to supply the United Arab Emirates with nuclear fuel and technology amid concerns Iran's continued enrichment of uranium will spur nuclear proliferation in the Middle East.
The decision to go ahead with the UAE nuclear program also follows Treasury Department talks with UAE Sovereign Wealth Funds, positioning the federation of seven Gulf states to make further investments in U.S. financial institutions this year.
...
WND has reported Dubai and Abu Dhabi, two of the largest United Arab Emirate states, have been in quiet discussions with the U.S. Treasury, offering reassurances that their investments in U.S. banks and security firms would not impose restrictions usually dictated by Islamic law.
In September 2007, Dubai acquired 19.9 percent of the NASDAQ in New York, placing the Arab government in an ownership position of the second largest stock market exchange in the U.S.
In January, the Abu Dhabi government invested $7.5 billion in Citibank for a 4.9 percent provision plus a preferred coupon return of 11 percent, providing Citibank badly needed capital to make up for losses in bank assets suffered as Citibank-held mortgage-backed securities lost value.
Iran triggering proliferation concerns in Middle East
Dubai - The Bush administration quietly signed an agreement to supply the United Arab Emirates with nuclear fuel and technology amid concerns Iran's continued enrichment of uranium will spur nuclear proliferation in the Middle East.
The decision to go ahead with the UAE nuclear program also follows Treasury Department talks with UAE Sovereign Wealth Funds, positioning the federation of seven Gulf states to make further investments in U.S. financial institutions this year.
...
WND has reported Dubai and Abu Dhabi, two of the largest United Arab Emirate states, have been in quiet discussions with the U.S. Treasury, offering reassurances that their investments in U.S. banks and security firms would not impose restrictions usually dictated by Islamic law.
In September 2007, Dubai acquired 19.9 percent of the NASDAQ in New York, placing the Arab government in an ownership position of the second largest stock market exchange in the U.S.
In January, the Abu Dhabi government invested $7.5 billion in Citibank for a 4.9 percent provision plus a preferred coupon return of 11 percent, providing Citibank badly needed capital to make up for losses in bank assets suffered as Citibank-held mortgage-backed securities lost value.
Seeds and Food Supplies
Store seeds that will grow.
Joseph Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union, set in motion events designed to cause a famine in the Ukraine to destroy the people there seeking independence from his rule. As a result, an estimated 7,000,000 persons perished in this farming area, known as the breadbasket of Europe, with the people deprived of the food they had grown with their own hands.
Stalin also imposed the Soviet system of land management known as collectivization. This resulted in the seizure of all privately owned farmlands and livestock, in a country where 80 percent of the people were traditional village farmers. Among those farmers, was a class of people called Kulaks by the Communists. They were formerly wealthy farmers that had owned 24 or more acres, or had employed farm workers. Stalin believed any future insurrection would be led by the Kulaks, thus he proclaimed a policy aimed at "liquidating the Kulaks as a class."
Joseph Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union, set in motion events designed to cause a famine in the Ukraine to destroy the people there seeking independence from his rule. As a result, an estimated 7,000,000 persons perished in this farming area, known as the breadbasket of Europe, with the people deprived of the food they had grown with their own hands.
Stalin also imposed the Soviet system of land management known as collectivization. This resulted in the seizure of all privately owned farmlands and livestock, in a country where 80 percent of the people were traditional village farmers. Among those farmers, was a class of people called Kulaks by the Communists. They were formerly wealthy farmers that had owned 24 or more acres, or had employed farm workers. Stalin believed any future insurrection would be led by the Kulaks, thus he proclaimed a policy aimed at "liquidating the Kulaks as a class."
Thursday, April 24, 2008
A Brick To Junk Mailers
Mail your own brick to junk mailers today!
Q: Does this help American families?
A: Yes. The United States postal Service employs nearly two million people. These numbers are going down drasticly because of increased e-mail use. This junk mail program signifigantly increases USPS income generation, which allows the government to employ more people. We at Dear Bulk Mailer are pro-family, pro-jobs, and pro-America.
Q: Does this help American families?
A: Yes. The United States postal Service employs nearly two million people. These numbers are going down drasticly because of increased e-mail use. This junk mail program signifigantly increases USPS income generation, which allows the government to employ more people. We at Dear Bulk Mailer are pro-family, pro-jobs, and pro-America.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Immune To Lawsuits
Whitman Not Liable for 9/11 Statements, Court Rules
A federal appeals court in Manhattan ruled Tuesday that Christie Whitman, the former head of the Environmental Protection Agency, cannot be held personally liable for her statements about the air quality in Lower Manhattan after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit found that Mrs. Whitman had not intended to injure anyone when she reassured residents that the air in the area was safe...
The Justice Department, which represented her, argued that because Mrs. Whitman was acting as E.P.A. administrator, she was immune to lawsuits concerning her official role. In most cases, federal officials are immune from such legal action, but Judge Batts ruled that the lawsuit against Mrs. Whitman could proceed.
In Tuesday’s ruling, the Circuit Court overruled Judge Batts’s decision, finding that Mrs. Whitman’s conduct did not justify the legal action. Citing its earlier decision in a lawsuit brought against the E.P.A. by emergency responders, the court found that in order to proceed, the plaintiffs needed to establish an intent by public officials to cause harm to people. The court found that “a poor choice made by an executive official” was not sufficient to justify a legal claim merely because it “resulted in grave consequences that a correct decision could have avoided.”
...
A federal appeals court in Manhattan ruled Tuesday that Christie Whitman, the former head of the Environmental Protection Agency, cannot be held personally liable for her statements about the air quality in Lower Manhattan after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit found that Mrs. Whitman had not intended to injure anyone when she reassured residents that the air in the area was safe...
The Justice Department, which represented her, argued that because Mrs. Whitman was acting as E.P.A. administrator, she was immune to lawsuits concerning her official role. In most cases, federal officials are immune from such legal action, but Judge Batts ruled that the lawsuit against Mrs. Whitman could proceed.
In Tuesday’s ruling, the Circuit Court overruled Judge Batts’s decision, finding that Mrs. Whitman’s conduct did not justify the legal action. Citing its earlier decision in a lawsuit brought against the E.P.A. by emergency responders, the court found that in order to proceed, the plaintiffs needed to establish an intent by public officials to cause harm to people. The court found that “a poor choice made by an executive official” was not sufficient to justify a legal claim merely because it “resulted in grave consequences that a correct decision could have avoided.”
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Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Behind TV Analysts
Behind TV Analysts, Pentagon’s Hidden Hand
...
Hidden behind that appearance of objectivity, though, is a Pentagon information apparatus that has used those analysts in a campaign to generate favorable news coverage of the administration’s wartime performance, an examination by The New York Times has found.
The effort, which began with the buildup to the Iraq war and continues to this day, has sought to exploit ideological and military allegiances, and also a powerful financial dynamic: Most of the analysts have ties to military contractors vested in the very war policies they are asked to assess on air.
Those business relationships are hardly ever disclosed to the viewers, and sometimes not even to the networks themselves. But collectively, the men on the plane and several dozen other military analysts represent more than 150 military contractors either as lobbyists, senior executives, board members or consultants. The companies include defense heavyweights, but also scores of smaller companies, all part of a vast assemblage of contractors scrambling for hundreds of billions in military business generated by the administration’s war on terror. It is a furious competition, one in which inside information and easy access to senior officials are highly prized.
...
...
Hidden behind that appearance of objectivity, though, is a Pentagon information apparatus that has used those analysts in a campaign to generate favorable news coverage of the administration’s wartime performance, an examination by The New York Times has found.
The effort, which began with the buildup to the Iraq war and continues to this day, has sought to exploit ideological and military allegiances, and also a powerful financial dynamic: Most of the analysts have ties to military contractors vested in the very war policies they are asked to assess on air.
Those business relationships are hardly ever disclosed to the viewers, and sometimes not even to the networks themselves. But collectively, the men on the plane and several dozen other military analysts represent more than 150 military contractors either as lobbyists, senior executives, board members or consultants. The companies include defense heavyweights, but also scores of smaller companies, all part of a vast assemblage of contractors scrambling for hundreds of billions in military business generated by the administration’s war on terror. It is a furious competition, one in which inside information and easy access to senior officials are highly prized.
...
Monday, April 21, 2008
Costco Rice Rationing
Shortage Prompts Costco Calif. Rice Rationing
Thuy Vu
MOUNTAIN VIEW (CBS 5) ― Rice is a popular dish in many Bay Area homes, but now there's a shortage that is making the cost of the staple unstable.
The cost of a 50-pound sack of jasmine rice has soared to $21.99. There have been so many buyers flocking a Costco in Mountain View that two other brands of rice were completely sold out Monday.
Costco is now posting signs limiting how much rice you can buy based on your previous purchases.
...
Thuy Vu
MOUNTAIN VIEW (CBS 5) ― Rice is a popular dish in many Bay Area homes, but now there's a shortage that is making the cost of the staple unstable.
The cost of a 50-pound sack of jasmine rice has soared to $21.99. There have been so many buyers flocking a Costco in Mountain View that two other brands of rice were completely sold out Monday.
Costco is now posting signs limiting how much rice you can buy based on your previous purchases.
...
Homeland Security blinks on Real ID
Homeland Security blinks on Real ID: No hassles on May 11
WASHINGTON--In the long-running Real ID staring match, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security ended up being the first to blink.
Homeland Security announced Wednesday that all 50 states and the District of Columbia will be technically Real ID-compliant by the May 11, 2008 deadline--even though many states actually have rejected the concept and have zero plans to embrace a national ID card.
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WASHINGTON--In the long-running Real ID staring match, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security ended up being the first to blink.
Homeland Security announced Wednesday that all 50 states and the District of Columbia will be technically Real ID-compliant by the May 11, 2008 deadline--even though many states actually have rejected the concept and have zero plans to embrace a national ID card.
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Martial Law Training
Three States Subjected To "Martial Law Sweeps"
Local, state police and sheriff's office join feds for "terror" sweeps that result in hundreds of citations for traffic violations
Steve Watson
Federal law enforcement agencies co-opted sheriffs offices as well state and local police forces in three states last weekend for a vast round up operation that one sheriff's deputy has described as "martial law training".
Law-enforcement agencies in Tennessee, Mississippi and Arkansas took part in what was described by local media as "an anti-crime and anti-terrorism initiative" involving officers from more than 50 federal, state and local agencies.
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Local, state police and sheriff's office join feds for "terror" sweeps that result in hundreds of citations for traffic violations
Steve Watson
Federal law enforcement agencies co-opted sheriffs offices as well state and local police forces in three states last weekend for a vast round up operation that one sheriff's deputy has described as "martial law training".
Law-enforcement agencies in Tennessee, Mississippi and Arkansas took part in what was described by local media as "an anti-crime and anti-terrorism initiative" involving officers from more than 50 federal, state and local agencies.
...
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Take Your Kids To Work
SWAT team members criticized for taking their kids to work -- a drug house raid
Bianca Prieto
Sentinel Staff Writer
10:08 AM EDT, April 7, 2008
Two members of the Orange County Sheriff's Office SWAT team took their kids to work with them on Friday -- to a raid on a drug house.
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Bianca Prieto
Sentinel Staff Writer
10:08 AM EDT, April 7, 2008
Two members of the Orange County Sheriff's Office SWAT team took their kids to work with them on Friday -- to a raid on a drug house.
...
Protests Over Food Prices
Protests over food prices paralyze Haitian capital
Food riots grip Port Au Prince
By Joseph Guyler Delva
PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - Haitians erected fiery barricades and tried to storm the National Palace on Tuesday as protests against rising food prices, which have killed five people, paralyzed the impoverished nation's capital.
Some demonstrators in the city carried empty plates to show the government they had nothing to eat.
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Food-riot watch: Egypt protests spook government
Mon, 04/07/2008 - 2:53pm
KHALED DESOUKI/AFP/ Egypt's economic and political pressure cooker gave a kick and a hiss yesterday as a crackdown to prevent a general strike resulted in over 200 arrests throughout the country. The unrest was provoked by rising prices and falling wages. As Blake has reported, Egypt is a big wheat importer with a corrupt bread subsidy program, and the country heads into local elections tomorrow.
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Food riots grip Port Au Prince
By Joseph Guyler Delva
PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - Haitians erected fiery barricades and tried to storm the National Palace on Tuesday as protests against rising food prices, which have killed five people, paralyzed the impoverished nation's capital.
Some demonstrators in the city carried empty plates to show the government they had nothing to eat.
...
--------------------------------------------------------------
Food-riot watch: Egypt protests spook government
Mon, 04/07/2008 - 2:53pm
KHALED DESOUKI/AFP/ Egypt's economic and political pressure cooker gave a kick and a hiss yesterday as a crackdown to prevent a general strike resulted in over 200 arrests throughout the country. The unrest was provoked by rising prices and falling wages. As Blake has reported, Egypt is a big wheat importer with a corrupt bread subsidy program, and the country heads into local elections tomorrow.
...
2.5m children on drugs
2.5m children on drugs in US
Sarah Boseley The Guardian, Monday April 7 2008
Antipsychotic drugs for children have taken off in the US on the back of a willingness to diagnose those with behavioural problems as having manic depression. Even children barely out of babyhood are getting a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, the modern term for the condition.
The chief symptoms are mood swings, which, however, are common in children of any age.
David Healy, an expert on bipolar disorder, said there were now 2.5 million American children on antipsychotics. However, the UK guidelines on the disorder, from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, urge caution.
One drug which prompted concern was Risperdal, originally to be sold for children with "irritability" or difficult behaviour in autism. It was reviewed by experts for the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency because of "concern about the potential misuse of [it] as ... long-term chemical control". The drug's maker, Janssen-Cilag, though it won a licence for it, withdrew its application, citing differences with the authority.
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Sarah Boseley The Guardian, Monday April 7 2008
Antipsychotic drugs for children have taken off in the US on the back of a willingness to diagnose those with behavioural problems as having manic depression. Even children barely out of babyhood are getting a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, the modern term for the condition.
The chief symptoms are mood swings, which, however, are common in children of any age.
David Healy, an expert on bipolar disorder, said there were now 2.5 million American children on antipsychotics. However, the UK guidelines on the disorder, from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, urge caution.
One drug which prompted concern was Risperdal, originally to be sold for children with "irritability" or difficult behaviour in autism. It was reviewed by experts for the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency because of "concern about the potential misuse of [it] as ... long-term chemical control". The drug's maker, Janssen-Cilag, though it won a licence for it, withdrew its application, citing differences with the authority.
...
Permanent Checkpoint
Homeland Security Wants to Install Permanent Checkpoint
Washington, D.C. - April 4, 2008
Homeland Security wants to build a permanent immigration checkpoint in central Vermont. ...
Senator Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, is blasting the idea, saying the checkpoints are useless and an inconvenience to Vermonters.
Washington, D.C. - April 4, 2008
Homeland Security wants to build a permanent immigration checkpoint in central Vermont. ...
Senator Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, is blasting the idea, saying the checkpoints are useless and an inconvenience to Vermonters.
Monday, April 07, 2008
FEDERAL OFFICERS ON CHOKE CHAINS
WYOMING SHERIFFS PUT FEDERAL OFFICERS ON CHOKE CHAINS
County sheriffs in Wyoming are insisting that all federal law enforcement officers and personnel from federal regulatory agencies must clear all their activities in a Wyoming county with the Sheriff's Office. Speaking at a press conference following the recent US District Court decision (case No 2:96-cv-099-J) Bighorn County Sheriff Dave Mattis stated that all federal officials are forbidden to enter his county without his prior approval.
"If a sheriff doesn't want the Feds in his county he has the constitutional power and right to keep them out or ask them to leave or retain them in custody." The court decision came about after Mattis & other members of the Wyoming Sheriffs' Association brought a suit against both the BATF and the IRS in the Wyoming federal court district seeking restoration of the protections enshrined in the United States Constitution and the Wyoming Constitution. The District Court ruled in favor of the sheriffs, stating that, "Wyoming is a sovereign state and the duly elected sheriff of a county is the highest law enforcement official within a county and has law enforcement powers exceeding that of any other state or federal official."
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County sheriffs in Wyoming are insisting that all federal law enforcement officers and personnel from federal regulatory agencies must clear all their activities in a Wyoming county with the Sheriff's Office. Speaking at a press conference following the recent US District Court decision (case No 2:96-cv-099-J) Bighorn County Sheriff Dave Mattis stated that all federal officials are forbidden to enter his county without his prior approval.
"If a sheriff doesn't want the Feds in his county he has the constitutional power and right to keep them out or ask them to leave or retain them in custody." The court decision came about after Mattis & other members of the Wyoming Sheriffs' Association brought a suit against both the BATF and the IRS in the Wyoming federal court district seeking restoration of the protections enshrined in the United States Constitution and the Wyoming Constitution. The District Court ruled in favor of the sheriffs, stating that, "Wyoming is a sovereign state and the duly elected sheriff of a county is the highest law enforcement official within a county and has law enforcement powers exceeding that of any other state or federal official."
...
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Garbage Warrior
The film
What do beer cans, car tires and water bottles have in common? Not much unless you're renegade architect Michael Reynolds, in which case they are tools of choice for producing thermal mass and energy-independent housing.
What do beer cans, car tires and water bottles have in common? Not much unless you're renegade architect Michael Reynolds, in which case they are tools of choice for producing thermal mass and energy-independent housing.
Students Make a Case for Carrying Guns to School
Students Make a Case for Carrying Guns to School
The Bryant Park Project, March 19, 2008 · After deadly shootings at schools in Illinois and Virginia, 12 states are considering legislation to allow guns on college campuses. Stephen Feltoon, a director for Students for Concealed Carry on Campus (SCCC), is part of a movement that says college students should have the same gun ownership rights as others.
Feltoon says he purchased his first gun for recreation. "Now I own it for defense," he says. "I can take a firearm anywhere that's not a college campus, a liquor establishment, or any business that posts a 'no gun' sign. When am I carrying it? That's the beauty of conceal and carry. You'll never know until I need it."
He says SCCC started a day after the Virginia Tech shootings and that when he first learned of the group, he signed on immediately. "I believed that my right to self-defense was being infringed on college campuses," he says. "College campuses are vulnerable and I didn't want to be defenseless."
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The Bryant Park Project, March 19, 2008 · After deadly shootings at schools in Illinois and Virginia, 12 states are considering legislation to allow guns on college campuses. Stephen Feltoon, a director for Students for Concealed Carry on Campus (SCCC), is part of a movement that says college students should have the same gun ownership rights as others.
Feltoon says he purchased his first gun for recreation. "Now I own it for defense," he says. "I can take a firearm anywhere that's not a college campus, a liquor establishment, or any business that posts a 'no gun' sign. When am I carrying it? That's the beauty of conceal and carry. You'll never know until I need it."
He says SCCC started a day after the Virginia Tech shootings and that when he first learned of the group, he signed on immediately. "I believed that my right to self-defense was being infringed on college campuses," he says. "College campuses are vulnerable and I didn't want to be defenseless."
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