Illegal immigrants to be DNA tested under new crackdown in France
By Peter Allen
Last updated at 6:33 PM on 26th
Daily Mail
France's hard-line new immigration minister is set to implement legislation that would allow DNA testing of new arrivals.
Eric Besson, who was appointed this month, has said the tests would establish which foreigners were claiming visas by making up fictious family ties with those already settled in the country.
Civil liberties groups have reacted furiously to the controversial scheme, which was approved by the French parliament 15 months ago but does not come into effect until the appropriate minister has signed the legislation.
Until now that move had been delayed by protests.
But Mr Besson has now said he wanted to give it the ‘green light’, confirming that a ministerial meeting would be held on the subject ‘in a few days’.
He added: ‘If the decree is accepted, I will scrupulously respect all individual liberties. It’s not my obsession.'
The tests will be for applications for visas of more than three months when there are doubts about an immigrant's birth or marriage certificates.
The move would allow officials to 'propose' to applicants that they take a test at their own expense to prove a biological link with other family members.
A recent report said there was often doubt over the authenticity of papers in family applications for visas.
It claimed that in African countries such as Senegal, Ivory Coast and Togo up to 80 per cent of birth and marriage certificates were forged.
Government statistics show there are 23,000 immigration cases a year where visa applications involve children, meaning DNA tests would become widespread.
[to read the rest of the story, click on the title link]
France
Monday, January 26, 2009
California: We have no money - Now Leave
Dear Sirs,
Raise our taxes further, and 10-15% of the population who has money, will move away. That 15% will take with it 10% of your revenues ... forcing you to tax even more to compensate for that loss, which will further force middle-class taxpayers to leave the state, leaving a majority in California who do not pay taxes.
Won't that be fun.
Tax at your own peril.
Calif. governor wants to tax golf, auto repairs
By STEVE LAWRENCE, The Associated Press
2009-01-26
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Golf course owners and some of their customers are teed off at Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. So are veterinarians, auto mechanics and amusement park operators.
Their anger is directed at the Republican governor's proposal to extend the state sales tax to cover more services, an idea that has surfaced in other states as they race to plug crippling budget deficits. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a research clearinghouse, predicts such deficits nationwide could reach $350 billion by 2011.
In California, Schwarzenegger wants to help close a nearly $42 billion budget deficit by taxing rounds of golf, auto repairs, veterinary care, amusement park and sporting event admissions and appliance and furniture repairs.
Democratic Gov. David Paterson in New York has proposed levies on MP3 downloads, taxi rides, movies, concerts, sporting events, and personal services such as haircuts, manicures and massages.
Schwarzenegger's fellow Republican in Utah, Gov. Jon Huntsman, has shelved a proposal to tax attorney and accounting services but promises to bring it back next year.
Service taxes in other states include levies on pet grooming, water well drilling, fur storage, massages, shoe repairs, swimming pool cleaning, taxidermy, and dating and diaper services. But that doesn't make the groups affected by Schwarzenegger's proposal feel any better.
"We're old and retired. We don't need any more taxes," said Fred Mayers of Sacramento as he played golf recently at a public course in the state capital. "The only luxury we have is playing golf. They can't charge us any more."
Scott Pattison, executive director of the National Association of State Budget Officers, said more states could be looking at service taxes as they get deeper into legislative sessions.
"It's one of those things that's so politically difficult and controversial that it's usually one of the last proposals that's floated," he said.
California already taxes some services, including gift wrapping, tuxedo rentals and video rentals for home use. But virtually every other state applies its sales tax to more services, said Jean Ross, executive director of the California Budget Project, a Sacramento think tank.
The tax on services is part of $14.3 billion in hikes Schwarzenegger has proposed to help close a budget deficit that's projected to total $41.6 billion over the next 17 months. He also is seeking $17.7 billion in spending cuts and $10 billion in additional borrowing.
In addition to the service tax, Schwarzenegger proposes hiking the sales tax by 1.5 percent through the end of 2011, boosting taxes on alcoholic drinks, increasing the vehicle registration fee by $12 and taxing companies that extract oil.
Local sales taxes in California range from 7.25 percent to 9.25 percent, varying from county to county and even from city to city. A 1.5 percentage point increase would boost the rate to nearly 10 percent in many areas of the state.
Republican lawmakers have refused for months to consider raising taxes but recently indicated a willingness to consider hikes if they're tied to tough spending controls.
Schwarzenegger and lawmakers have little time left to strike a deal. The state controller has said he will have to delay tax refunds and some other payments for 30 days starting Feb. 1 because of a cash shortage. The governor also has ordered tens of thousands of state employees to take two days off a month without pay, starting Feb. 6.
"There's no good time to raise taxes," said H.D. Palmer, a spokesman for Schwarzenegger's Department of Finance. "This is not something that the governor is putting forward because he enjoys it."
He said the six types of services Schwarzenegger is proposing to tax were picked because they involve businesses that commonly collect sales taxes on goods they sell and could quickly adjust.
The affected industry groups say they are being unfairly targeted and that similar businesses are exempt.
"You don't see a tax on movies," said Bob Bouchier, executive director of the California Alliance for Golf. "You don't see a tax on bowling. You don't see skiing. You don't see a tax on any other sport."
The administration estimates that the service taxes would raise $1.4 billion through the fiscal year that ends June 30, 2010. Schwarzenegger wants to implement the taxes on appliance and furniture repairs, golf, veterinary care and vehicle repairs by March 1. The taxes on amusement park and sporting event tickets would kick in on April 1.
Opponents question whether the taxes would raise that much, saying they would result in layoffs and fewer customers.
"You're looking at a $50 increase on a $500 (repair) bill at a time when people are not buying new cars and instead are having their old cars repaired so they can keep them on the road to drive to work," said Peter Welch, president of the California New Car Dealers Association.
"This is really going to hit people when they're down."
Opponents also suggest that other increases, such as a boost in income taxes or restoration of the annual vehicle license fee that Schwarzenegger cut when he took office, would be less damaging.
Not everyone that would be affected is upset.
Sean Grace, a home remodeling contractor from the Sacramento suburb of Elk Grove, said die-hard golfers will find a way to pay the tax if lawmakers approve it.
"Ten percent is not too much," he said before slamming a long drive down the fifth fairway at Sacramento's Land Park golf course. "You've got guys paying $100 (for green fees). What's another $10? They're going to find it somewhere."
California
Raise our taxes further, and 10-15% of the population who has money, will move away. That 15% will take with it 10% of your revenues ... forcing you to tax even more to compensate for that loss, which will further force middle-class taxpayers to leave the state, leaving a majority in California who do not pay taxes.
Won't that be fun.
Tax at your own peril.
Calif. governor wants to tax golf, auto repairs
By STEVE LAWRENCE, The Associated Press
2009-01-26
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Golf course owners and some of their customers are teed off at Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. So are veterinarians, auto mechanics and amusement park operators.
Their anger is directed at the Republican governor's proposal to extend the state sales tax to cover more services, an idea that has surfaced in other states as they race to plug crippling budget deficits. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a research clearinghouse, predicts such deficits nationwide could reach $350 billion by 2011.
In California, Schwarzenegger wants to help close a nearly $42 billion budget deficit by taxing rounds of golf, auto repairs, veterinary care, amusement park and sporting event admissions and appliance and furniture repairs.
Democratic Gov. David Paterson in New York has proposed levies on MP3 downloads, taxi rides, movies, concerts, sporting events, and personal services such as haircuts, manicures and massages.
Schwarzenegger's fellow Republican in Utah, Gov. Jon Huntsman, has shelved a proposal to tax attorney and accounting services but promises to bring it back next year.
Service taxes in other states include levies on pet grooming, water well drilling, fur storage, massages, shoe repairs, swimming pool cleaning, taxidermy, and dating and diaper services. But that doesn't make the groups affected by Schwarzenegger's proposal feel any better.
"We're old and retired. We don't need any more taxes," said Fred Mayers of Sacramento as he played golf recently at a public course in the state capital. "The only luxury we have is playing golf. They can't charge us any more."
Scott Pattison, executive director of the National Association of State Budget Officers, said more states could be looking at service taxes as they get deeper into legislative sessions.
"It's one of those things that's so politically difficult and controversial that it's usually one of the last proposals that's floated," he said.
California already taxes some services, including gift wrapping, tuxedo rentals and video rentals for home use. But virtually every other state applies its sales tax to more services, said Jean Ross, executive director of the California Budget Project, a Sacramento think tank.
The tax on services is part of $14.3 billion in hikes Schwarzenegger has proposed to help close a budget deficit that's projected to total $41.6 billion over the next 17 months. He also is seeking $17.7 billion in spending cuts and $10 billion in additional borrowing.
In addition to the service tax, Schwarzenegger proposes hiking the sales tax by 1.5 percent through the end of 2011, boosting taxes on alcoholic drinks, increasing the vehicle registration fee by $12 and taxing companies that extract oil.
Local sales taxes in California range from 7.25 percent to 9.25 percent, varying from county to county and even from city to city. A 1.5 percentage point increase would boost the rate to nearly 10 percent in many areas of the state.
Republican lawmakers have refused for months to consider raising taxes but recently indicated a willingness to consider hikes if they're tied to tough spending controls.
Schwarzenegger and lawmakers have little time left to strike a deal. The state controller has said he will have to delay tax refunds and some other payments for 30 days starting Feb. 1 because of a cash shortage. The governor also has ordered tens of thousands of state employees to take two days off a month without pay, starting Feb. 6.
"There's no good time to raise taxes," said H.D. Palmer, a spokesman for Schwarzenegger's Department of Finance. "This is not something that the governor is putting forward because he enjoys it."
He said the six types of services Schwarzenegger is proposing to tax were picked because they involve businesses that commonly collect sales taxes on goods they sell and could quickly adjust.
The affected industry groups say they are being unfairly targeted and that similar businesses are exempt.
"You don't see a tax on movies," said Bob Bouchier, executive director of the California Alliance for Golf. "You don't see a tax on bowling. You don't see skiing. You don't see a tax on any other sport."
The administration estimates that the service taxes would raise $1.4 billion through the fiscal year that ends June 30, 2010. Schwarzenegger wants to implement the taxes on appliance and furniture repairs, golf, veterinary care and vehicle repairs by March 1. The taxes on amusement park and sporting event tickets would kick in on April 1.
Opponents question whether the taxes would raise that much, saying they would result in layoffs and fewer customers.
"You're looking at a $50 increase on a $500 (repair) bill at a time when people are not buying new cars and instead are having their old cars repaired so they can keep them on the road to drive to work," said Peter Welch, president of the California New Car Dealers Association.
"This is really going to hit people when they're down."
Opponents also suggest that other increases, such as a boost in income taxes or restoration of the annual vehicle license fee that Schwarzenegger cut when he took office, would be less damaging.
Not everyone that would be affected is upset.
Sean Grace, a home remodeling contractor from the Sacramento suburb of Elk Grove, said die-hard golfers will find a way to pay the tax if lawmakers approve it.
"Ten percent is not too much," he said before slamming a long drive down the fifth fairway at Sacramento's Land Park golf course. "You've got guys paying $100 (for green fees). What's another $10? They're going to find it somewhere."
California
Children: More Play
U.S. school children need less work, more play: study
By Michael Conlon Michael Conlon
Mon Jan 26, 1:53 am ET
CHICAGO (Reuters) – All work and no play may be a hazard for some U.S. school children.
Researchers reported on Monday that a growing trend of curbing free time at school may lead to unruly classrooms and rob youngsters of needed exercise and an important chance to socialize.
A look at more than 10,000 children aged 8 and 9 found better classroom behavior among those who had at least a 15-minute break during the school day compared to those who did not, Dr. Romina Barros and colleagues at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York reported.
The behavior assessments were general in nature and not made at any particular time of the school day, their report said.
"The available research suggests that recess may play an important role in the learning, social development, and health of children in elementary school," the research team said in a study published in Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
But today many children get less free time and fewer physical outlets at school "because many school districts responded to the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 by reducing time committed to recess, the creative arts, and even physical education in an effort to focus on reading and mathematics," they added.
The researchers also found that children not getting recess were more likely to be black, from poor families and attending public schools in large cities.
children
By Michael Conlon Michael Conlon
Mon Jan 26, 1:53 am ET
CHICAGO (Reuters) – All work and no play may be a hazard for some U.S. school children.
Researchers reported on Monday that a growing trend of curbing free time at school may lead to unruly classrooms and rob youngsters of needed exercise and an important chance to socialize.
A look at more than 10,000 children aged 8 and 9 found better classroom behavior among those who had at least a 15-minute break during the school day compared to those who did not, Dr. Romina Barros and colleagues at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York reported.
The behavior assessments were general in nature and not made at any particular time of the school day, their report said.
"The available research suggests that recess may play an important role in the learning, social development, and health of children in elementary school," the research team said in a study published in Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
But today many children get less free time and fewer physical outlets at school "because many school districts responded to the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 by reducing time committed to recess, the creative arts, and even physical education in an effort to focus on reading and mathematics," they added.
The researchers also found that children not getting recess were more likely to be black, from poor families and attending public schools in large cities.
children
When Democrats Commit Indiscretions.
Spitzer, Cisneros, and then Barney ... whether Democrat or Republican, Foley - the closets are full, yet I recall the viciousness in which the media acted regarding Foley, yet completely missed the fact that Foley's successor had a mistress, sorry, had TWO mistresses.
And then there is the mayor of Portland. Wanna bet he is a Democrat.
Jan 26, 12:13 AM EST
Portland mayor won't resign over lying about teen
By WILLIAM McCALL Associated Press Writer
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- The mayor of Portland, Ore., said Sunday he would not resign despite calls for him to do so after he admitted he lied and asked a teenager to lie about their sexual relationship.
"Tomorrow, I go back (to) work as your mayor. I know I have let you down and made mistakes. I ask your forgiveness," Mayor Sam Adams said in a statement. "I believe I have a lot to offer the city I love during this time of important challenges."
Adams, who was just sworn in on Jan. 1, publicly apologized this past week for lying early in his campaign about the relationship with an 18-year-old man in 2005.
The scandal has resulted in an investigation by the Oregon attorney general and has divided the city and its gay and lesbian community. The police union and four Portland newspapers have called for his resignation, but Adams has found strong support to remain, including a Friday rally on his behalf at City Hall that drew more than 400 people.
In his statement, Adams said he would "work harder than I ever have in my life" to help see the city through the tough economic times.
Two of the leading business associations in Portland had taken a wait-and-see stance.
Steve Holwerda, Chairman of the Portland Business Alliance, said in a statement the board had differing views on whether Adams should resign but they agreed it was a critical time for the city and some of its major development projects.
"Whether or not he stays in office should be based on whether he can lead our city effectively and with the integrity that all our citizens deserve," Holwerda said.
But the board of the Portland Area Business Association went further and said Adams should remain in office, but added, "pending the outcome of official investigation."
The teenager, Beau Breedlove, was a legislative intern when he met the mayor at age 17. He and the mayor both say their sexual relationship started after his 18th birthday, in June 2005.
Breedlove, now 21, told The Oregonian on Saturday that the relationship was consensual.
"I do not see any relationship that I ever had with Sam as me being taken advantage of," Breedlove told the newspaper. "I do not feel like I was ever a victim."
When Adams confirmed the relationship this past week, he said it was inappropriate because of the age difference; Adams is now 45.
He also said he lied early in his mayoral campaign and asked Breedlove to lie as well because rumors at the time falsely suggested the relationship involved a minor.
liars
And then there is the mayor of Portland. Wanna bet he is a Democrat.
Jan 26, 12:13 AM EST
Portland mayor won't resign over lying about teen
By WILLIAM McCALL Associated Press Writer
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- The mayor of Portland, Ore., said Sunday he would not resign despite calls for him to do so after he admitted he lied and asked a teenager to lie about their sexual relationship.
"Tomorrow, I go back (to) work as your mayor. I know I have let you down and made mistakes. I ask your forgiveness," Mayor Sam Adams said in a statement. "I believe I have a lot to offer the city I love during this time of important challenges."
Adams, who was just sworn in on Jan. 1, publicly apologized this past week for lying early in his campaign about the relationship with an 18-year-old man in 2005.
The scandal has resulted in an investigation by the Oregon attorney general and has divided the city and its gay and lesbian community. The police union and four Portland newspapers have called for his resignation, but Adams has found strong support to remain, including a Friday rally on his behalf at City Hall that drew more than 400 people.
In his statement, Adams said he would "work harder than I ever have in my life" to help see the city through the tough economic times.
Two of the leading business associations in Portland had taken a wait-and-see stance.
Steve Holwerda, Chairman of the Portland Business Alliance, said in a statement the board had differing views on whether Adams should resign but they agreed it was a critical time for the city and some of its major development projects.
"Whether or not he stays in office should be based on whether he can lead our city effectively and with the integrity that all our citizens deserve," Holwerda said.
But the board of the Portland Area Business Association went further and said Adams should remain in office, but added, "pending the outcome of official investigation."
The teenager, Beau Breedlove, was a legislative intern when he met the mayor at age 17. He and the mayor both say their sexual relationship started after his 18th birthday, in June 2005.
Breedlove, now 21, told The Oregonian on Saturday that the relationship was consensual.
"I do not see any relationship that I ever had with Sam as me being taken advantage of," Breedlove told the newspaper. "I do not feel like I was ever a victim."
When Adams confirmed the relationship this past week, he said it was inappropriate because of the age difference; Adams is now 45.
He also said he lied early in his mayoral campaign and asked Breedlove to lie as well because rumors at the time falsely suggested the relationship involved a minor.
liars
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Google - Greater threat to your privacy than 8 years of Bush policies
Wanna know why?
On most of our computers, we store data we would rather keep private (secret).
Brave New World we have ...
Google plans to make PCs history
Industry critics warn of danger in giving internet leader more power
David Smith, technology correspondent
The Observer, Sunday 25 January 2009
Google is to launch a service that would enable users to access their personal computer from any internet connection, according to industry reports. But campaigners warn that it would give the online behemoth unprecedented control over individuals' personal data.
The Google Drive, or "GDrive", could kill off the desktop computer, which relies on a powerful hard drive. Instead a user's personal files and operating system could be stored on Google's own servers and accessed via the internet.
The long-rumoured GDrive is expected to be launched this year, according to the technology news website TG Daily, which described it as "the most anticipated Google product so far". It is seen as a paradigm shift away from Microsoft's Windows operating system, which runs inside most of the world's computers, in favour of "cloud computing", where the processing and storage is done thousands of miles away in remote data centres.
Home and business users are increasingly turning to web-based services, usually free, ranging from email (such as Hotmail and Gmail) and digital photo storage (such as Flickr and Picasa) to more applications for documents and spreadsheets (such as Google Apps). The loss of a laptop or crash of a hard drive does not jeopardise the data because it is regularly saved in "the cloud" and can be accessed via the web from any machine.
The GDrive would follow this logic to its conclusion by shifting the contents of a user's hard drive to the Google servers. The PC would be a simpler, cheaper device acting as a portal to the web, perhaps via an adaptation of Google's operating system for mobile phones, Android. Users would think of their computer as software rather than hardware.
It is this prospect that alarms critics of Google's ambitions. Peter Brown, executive director of the Free Software Foundation, a charity defending computer users' liberties, did not dispute the convenience offered, but said: "It's a little bit like saying, 'we're in a dictatorship, the trains are running on time.' But does it matter to you that someone can see everything on your computer?
Does it matter that Google can be subpoenaed at any time to hand over all your data to the American government?"
Google refused to confirm the GDrive, but acknowledged the growing demand for cloud computing. Dave Armstrong, head of product and marketing for Google Enterprise, said: "There's a clear direction ... away from people thinking, 'This is my PC, this is my hard drive,' to 'This is how I interact with information, this is how I interact with the web.'"
Google
On most of our computers, we store data we would rather keep private (secret).
Brave New World we have ...
Google plans to make PCs history
Industry critics warn of danger in giving internet leader more power
David Smith, technology correspondent
The Observer, Sunday 25 January 2009
Google is to launch a service that would enable users to access their personal computer from any internet connection, according to industry reports. But campaigners warn that it would give the online behemoth unprecedented control over individuals' personal data.
The Google Drive, or "GDrive", could kill off the desktop computer, which relies on a powerful hard drive. Instead a user's personal files and operating system could be stored on Google's own servers and accessed via the internet.
The long-rumoured GDrive is expected to be launched this year, according to the technology news website TG Daily, which described it as "the most anticipated Google product so far". It is seen as a paradigm shift away from Microsoft's Windows operating system, which runs inside most of the world's computers, in favour of "cloud computing", where the processing and storage is done thousands of miles away in remote data centres.
Home and business users are increasingly turning to web-based services, usually free, ranging from email (such as Hotmail and Gmail) and digital photo storage (such as Flickr and Picasa) to more applications for documents and spreadsheets (such as Google Apps). The loss of a laptop or crash of a hard drive does not jeopardise the data because it is regularly saved in "the cloud" and can be accessed via the web from any machine.
The GDrive would follow this logic to its conclusion by shifting the contents of a user's hard drive to the Google servers. The PC would be a simpler, cheaper device acting as a portal to the web, perhaps via an adaptation of Google's operating system for mobile phones, Android. Users would think of their computer as software rather than hardware.
It is this prospect that alarms critics of Google's ambitions. Peter Brown, executive director of the Free Software Foundation, a charity defending computer users' liberties, did not dispute the convenience offered, but said: "It's a little bit like saying, 'we're in a dictatorship, the trains are running on time.' But does it matter to you that someone can see everything on your computer?
Does it matter that Google can be subpoenaed at any time to hand over all your data to the American government?"
Google refused to confirm the GDrive, but acknowledged the growing demand for cloud computing. Dave Armstrong, head of product and marketing for Google Enterprise, said: "There's a clear direction ... away from people thinking, 'This is my PC, this is my hard drive,' to 'This is how I interact with information, this is how I interact with the web.'"
Democrats (Losercrats) believe Abortion is an Economic Issue
She is utilitarian. She is very practical. She is also very, very, very misguided. She is the worst Catholic I have ever had the mispleasure of hearing or knowing about (next to John Kerry).
On THIS WEEK with George Stephanapoulos on Sunday:
STEPHANOPOULOS: Hundreds of millions of dollars to expand family planning services. How is that stimulus?
PELOSI: Well, the family planning services reduce cost. They reduce cost. The states are in terrible fiscal budget crises now and part of what we do for children's health, education and some of those elements are to help the states meet their financial needs. One of those - one of the initiatives you mentioned, the contraception, will reduce costs to the states and to the federal government.
STEPHANOPOULOS: So no apologies for that?
PELOSI: No apologies. No. We have to deal with the consequences of the downturn in our economy.
Democrats are racist
On THIS WEEK with George Stephanapoulos on Sunday:
STEPHANOPOULOS: Hundreds of millions of dollars to expand family planning services. How is that stimulus?
PELOSI: Well, the family planning services reduce cost. They reduce cost. The states are in terrible fiscal budget crises now and part of what we do for children's health, education and some of those elements are to help the states meet their financial needs. One of those - one of the initiatives you mentioned, the contraception, will reduce costs to the states and to the federal government.
STEPHANOPOULOS: So no apologies for that?
PELOSI: No apologies. No. We have to deal with the consequences of the downturn in our economy.
Democrats are racist
Egyptian Denial - A Way of Life
I agree with Obama on one thing - aid to countries who are not friendly and too stupid to be friendly needs to be reevaluated.
These people are not like - men are from mars, Women are from Venus - they people are from another solar system.
Jan 26, 2009 3:02 Updated Jan 26, 2009 3:03
In Egypt's Rafah, tunnel denial is the way of life
By BRENDA GAZZAR, JERUSALEM POST CORRESPONDENT
Rafah, Egypt
All was quiet on the streets of this sleepy Sinai town on Saturday, just one week after Israel's three-week offensive against Hamas ended on the other side of the border.
Beduin in Egyptian galabiyas (caftans) and head coverings milled around the half-paved streets in small groups. Most shops were closed for the weekend and few customers were in sight.
Scores, if not hundreds, of armed soldiers and policemen were stationed at checkpoints all around the city, closely eyeing and checking cars that drove by.
But it is around here, practically underneath the feet of this rural border town, that the lucrative, underground world of smuggling into the Gaza Strip has flourished for the past several years.
It is hardly a secret that hundreds of tunnels were used to transport everything - livestock, fuel, home appliances, viagra, weapons and explosives - into the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, which has faced a tight Israeli blockade for 18 months.
On Sunday, Defense Minister Ehud Barak told the cabinet there was a build-up of arms in Sinai destined for Hamas, and that Egypt was working to prevent their transfer.
One of the goals of Operation Cast Lead was to halt the smuggling through these tunnels.
Also on Sunday, a US official confirmed that a member of its defense attache's office in Cairo visited Egypt's border with Gaza on a routine and previously scheduled trip.
In Egyptian Rafah, one gets the sense that denial is more than just a river.
"The executive [security] forces are in complete control," insists Rafah Mayor Gen. Sameh Issa Abdul Wahab, who entered his post less than two months ago. "Any [tunnel] that is discovered, the authorities destroy it immediately."
Regarding the sensitive issue of weapons' smuggling, he said, "We have great control in completely preventing it... because if weapons were being smuggled, they would be discovered... All the smuggled items are medicine and food."
Abdul Wahab even denied that Egyptian border guards had ever been bribed.
"It's not possible that there would be a bribe," he said. "There is nothing like that; maybe between the smugglers themselves, but an official? No."
Yet Rafah's top city official also acknowledges the difficulty in locating the tunnels.
"You walked on the street. Did you see tunnels?" he asked a foreign visitor rhetorically.
When told that some were reportedly connected to people's homes, he responded: "It's not possible to enter your home, and open your door and damage it... What can we do?... Will we go to every house and try to enter it?"
Egypt claims that most of the weapons smuggled into Gaza come by sea, something that Israel disputes.
A front page article on Friday in Al-Ahram cited an Egyptian official who said there was evidence that most of the smuggling of weapons into Gaza was done through Israel by Israeli citizens. He did not detail the evidence, however.
[To read the rest of the article, click on the title link]
We should provide the city official with the photo of the Hamas member and his close friend - the sheep - IN A TUNNEL.
It is impossible to begin with the Egyptians.
If you cannot see the tunnels, there are not any. We need all the soldiers and police because the Bedouin are committing crimes.
If there are tunnels they are used to transport only food and medicine (which includes the sheep) BUT NOT weapons. Why not weapons? because Hamas wouldn't do that - they would only send in food and medicine. The weapons arrive in Gaza by sea, which is much harder and trickier but the medicine has to go via the tunnels that do not exist, because if weapons were sent in the tunnels then that means the weapons have to get to our city from somewhere and all the soldiers on the streets would see them. if they saw them, they would of course stop the vehicles carrying the crates of weapons and arrest the bad people, and because we have not arrested any bad people - they are not transporting weapons. Because if they were, that means the soldiers and police are abetting the illegal arms trafficking into Israel via tunnels that do not exist and the entire judicial and military system along the border would be in jeopardy - and that is just not the case.
Brilliant people. They deserve the logic award. And we should keep our $3 billion in aid, and use it for people who are worth our time.
Egyptian denial
These people are not like - men are from mars, Women are from Venus - they people are from another solar system.
Jan 26, 2009 3:02 Updated Jan 26, 2009 3:03
In Egypt's Rafah, tunnel denial is the way of life
By BRENDA GAZZAR, JERUSALEM POST CORRESPONDENT
Rafah, Egypt
All was quiet on the streets of this sleepy Sinai town on Saturday, just one week after Israel's three-week offensive against Hamas ended on the other side of the border.
Beduin in Egyptian galabiyas (caftans) and head coverings milled around the half-paved streets in small groups. Most shops were closed for the weekend and few customers were in sight.
Scores, if not hundreds, of armed soldiers and policemen were stationed at checkpoints all around the city, closely eyeing and checking cars that drove by.
But it is around here, practically underneath the feet of this rural border town, that the lucrative, underground world of smuggling into the Gaza Strip has flourished for the past several years.
It is hardly a secret that hundreds of tunnels were used to transport everything - livestock, fuel, home appliances, viagra, weapons and explosives - into the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, which has faced a tight Israeli blockade for 18 months.
On Sunday, Defense Minister Ehud Barak told the cabinet there was a build-up of arms in Sinai destined for Hamas, and that Egypt was working to prevent their transfer.
One of the goals of Operation Cast Lead was to halt the smuggling through these tunnels.
Also on Sunday, a US official confirmed that a member of its defense attache's office in Cairo visited Egypt's border with Gaza on a routine and previously scheduled trip.
In Egyptian Rafah, one gets the sense that denial is more than just a river.
"The executive [security] forces are in complete control," insists Rafah Mayor Gen. Sameh Issa Abdul Wahab, who entered his post less than two months ago. "Any [tunnel] that is discovered, the authorities destroy it immediately."
Regarding the sensitive issue of weapons' smuggling, he said, "We have great control in completely preventing it... because if weapons were being smuggled, they would be discovered... All the smuggled items are medicine and food."
Abdul Wahab even denied that Egyptian border guards had ever been bribed.
"It's not possible that there would be a bribe," he said. "There is nothing like that; maybe between the smugglers themselves, but an official? No."
Yet Rafah's top city official also acknowledges the difficulty in locating the tunnels.
"You walked on the street. Did you see tunnels?" he asked a foreign visitor rhetorically.
When told that some were reportedly connected to people's homes, he responded: "It's not possible to enter your home, and open your door and damage it... What can we do?... Will we go to every house and try to enter it?"
Egypt claims that most of the weapons smuggled into Gaza come by sea, something that Israel disputes.
A front page article on Friday in Al-Ahram cited an Egyptian official who said there was evidence that most of the smuggling of weapons into Gaza was done through Israel by Israeli citizens. He did not detail the evidence, however.
[To read the rest of the article, click on the title link]
We should provide the city official with the photo of the Hamas member and his close friend - the sheep - IN A TUNNEL.
It is impossible to begin with the Egyptians.
If you cannot see the tunnels, there are not any. We need all the soldiers and police because the Bedouin are committing crimes.
If there are tunnels they are used to transport only food and medicine (which includes the sheep) BUT NOT weapons. Why not weapons? because Hamas wouldn't do that - they would only send in food and medicine. The weapons arrive in Gaza by sea, which is much harder and trickier but the medicine has to go via the tunnels that do not exist, because if weapons were sent in the tunnels then that means the weapons have to get to our city from somewhere and all the soldiers on the streets would see them. if they saw them, they would of course stop the vehicles carrying the crates of weapons and arrest the bad people, and because we have not arrested any bad people - they are not transporting weapons. Because if they were, that means the soldiers and police are abetting the illegal arms trafficking into Israel via tunnels that do not exist and the entire judicial and military system along the border would be in jeopardy - and that is just not the case.
Brilliant people. They deserve the logic award. And we should keep our $3 billion in aid, and use it for people who are worth our time.
Egyptian denial
Obama's Picks - Cabinet Slowly Forming
I tend to think less GOP and more hubris and arrogance driven. The 60+ questions required of each candidate, the wall they must climb - the best will not climb that wall, leaving mediocrity. In fact, not only mediocrity, but some real odd balls.
It is not the GOP who are unable to drive their own car in a line let alone offer directions for Obama, it is Obama's arrogance and hubris - and the failure of people to climb on board without a great deal of pressure (which says something about their response under pressure - rats and the ship).
JANUARY 24, 2009
Delays in Cabinet Nominations Demonstrate GOP Resolve
Wall Street Journal, A1
By JONATHAN WEISMAN
WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama chose his cabinet nominees with record speed, but since his inauguration the process of securing their Senate confirmation and building his government has slowed markedly.
By the end of his first full day in office, President Bill Clinton had all but one cabinet nominee in office, even after a very rocky transition. President George W. Bush also had all but one cabinet member confirmed by the end of January 2001, despite the protracted Florida recount following the November election.
This time, Mr. Obama will start his second week without Treasury, Labor, Health and Human Services or Commerce secretaries, not to mention an attorney general to head the Justice Department. By the end of next week, Senate aides say the president may have only secured two more cabinet confirmations: Timothy Geithner at Treasury and Eric Holder at Justice.
Since President Jimmy Carter's first term, only President George H.W. Bush has had more problems than Mr. Obama on this front -- and the current president's issues have arisen after what is widely considered a smooth, quick and organized transition.
To White House aides, such comparisons are irrelevant. Mr. Obama's cabinet picks have run into some exceptional speed bumps -- for instance, a Senate Finance Committee overwhelmed by its legislative work on a record-breaking economic-stimulus plan. None of his nominees are in serious trouble or have forced the president to burn through political capital as Mr. Clinton did for Attorney General-nominee Zoe Baird, George H.W. Bush spent for Defense Department pick John Tower or his son did with John Ashcroft.
Besides, aides say, it is the speed with which the nominees were picked that counts. Mr. Geithner has been at work on economic policy since the Monday after Thanksgiving, even if his confirmation has been hung up over his past failure to pay some payroll taxes on time, they note.
But historians and Senate aides say there is more at work here. In part, Mr. Obama's lag might be evidence of some hubris from a transition that started with great pride and perhaps a little too much speed.
"It may be a bit of plain old arrogance or overconfidence," said Paul Light, a New York University expert on presidential transitions. "They're really smart people, but they seem to be underestimating the political impacts of fairly familiar problems."
Perhaps more importantly, the slow process could be a sign that the shrunken Republican Party -- with its core of determined conservatives intact -- won't be a pushover for the new president.
"We're always going to exercise our prerogatives," said Don Stewart, spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.). "We want to make sure we're part of the process."
But former Sen. Tom Daschle hasn't even been scheduled for a confirmation hearing as Health and Human Services secretary, a key position as Mr. Obama tackles health care in the budget due next month. Democratic Finance Committee aides say the holdup is in part because the committee has been hashing out the tax provisions of a stimulus package likely to exceed $825 billion. They are also working on the Senate's version of an expanded State Children's Health Insurance Program.
[Which now covers 90% of all children in the US - for those counting]
But Democratic leadership aides acknowledge more-thorny problems as well, as Republican Finance Committee aides pore over Mr. Daschle's tax returns, business ties and his connection to an education-loan provider being investigated by the committee.
Republicans are holding up the confirmation of Hilda Solis as labor secretary, saying she hasn't been forthcoming on her views about key policy matters, particularly legislation that would ease union organizing.
Ms. Solis firmly backed the bill as a House member, and Mr. Obama favors at least the concept. But Republicans strongly oppose it and are pushing for an answer in writing to gauge how important the bill would be for the Labor Department. So far, Ms. Solis has been cagey by refusing to directly answer such questions.
The hold-up with Ms. Solis is just silly, Democrats said. The president's position favoring the so-called Employee Free Choice Act -- which would allow workers to gain collective bargaining rights by signing cards rather than secret balloting -- is well known. Republicans simply want to flog her, White House aides contend.
[To read the rest of the article, click the title link]
Obama
It is not the GOP who are unable to drive their own car in a line let alone offer directions for Obama, it is Obama's arrogance and hubris - and the failure of people to climb on board without a great deal of pressure (which says something about their response under pressure - rats and the ship).
JANUARY 24, 2009
Delays in Cabinet Nominations Demonstrate GOP Resolve
Wall Street Journal, A1
By JONATHAN WEISMAN
WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama chose his cabinet nominees with record speed, but since his inauguration the process of securing their Senate confirmation and building his government has slowed markedly.
By the end of his first full day in office, President Bill Clinton had all but one cabinet nominee in office, even after a very rocky transition. President George W. Bush also had all but one cabinet member confirmed by the end of January 2001, despite the protracted Florida recount following the November election.
This time, Mr. Obama will start his second week without Treasury, Labor, Health and Human Services or Commerce secretaries, not to mention an attorney general to head the Justice Department. By the end of next week, Senate aides say the president may have only secured two more cabinet confirmations: Timothy Geithner at Treasury and Eric Holder at Justice.
Since President Jimmy Carter's first term, only President George H.W. Bush has had more problems than Mr. Obama on this front -- and the current president's issues have arisen after what is widely considered a smooth, quick and organized transition.
To White House aides, such comparisons are irrelevant. Mr. Obama's cabinet picks have run into some exceptional speed bumps -- for instance, a Senate Finance Committee overwhelmed by its legislative work on a record-breaking economic-stimulus plan. None of his nominees are in serious trouble or have forced the president to burn through political capital as Mr. Clinton did for Attorney General-nominee Zoe Baird, George H.W. Bush spent for Defense Department pick John Tower or his son did with John Ashcroft.
Besides, aides say, it is the speed with which the nominees were picked that counts. Mr. Geithner has been at work on economic policy since the Monday after Thanksgiving, even if his confirmation has been hung up over his past failure to pay some payroll taxes on time, they note.
But historians and Senate aides say there is more at work here. In part, Mr. Obama's lag might be evidence of some hubris from a transition that started with great pride and perhaps a little too much speed.
"It may be a bit of plain old arrogance or overconfidence," said Paul Light, a New York University expert on presidential transitions. "They're really smart people, but they seem to be underestimating the political impacts of fairly familiar problems."
Perhaps more importantly, the slow process could be a sign that the shrunken Republican Party -- with its core of determined conservatives intact -- won't be a pushover for the new president.
"We're always going to exercise our prerogatives," said Don Stewart, spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.). "We want to make sure we're part of the process."
But former Sen. Tom Daschle hasn't even been scheduled for a confirmation hearing as Health and Human Services secretary, a key position as Mr. Obama tackles health care in the budget due next month. Democratic Finance Committee aides say the holdup is in part because the committee has been hashing out the tax provisions of a stimulus package likely to exceed $825 billion. They are also working on the Senate's version of an expanded State Children's Health Insurance Program.
[Which now covers 90% of all children in the US - for those counting]
But Democratic leadership aides acknowledge more-thorny problems as well, as Republican Finance Committee aides pore over Mr. Daschle's tax returns, business ties and his connection to an education-loan provider being investigated by the committee.
Republicans are holding up the confirmation of Hilda Solis as labor secretary, saying she hasn't been forthcoming on her views about key policy matters, particularly legislation that would ease union organizing.
Ms. Solis firmly backed the bill as a House member, and Mr. Obama favors at least the concept. But Republicans strongly oppose it and are pushing for an answer in writing to gauge how important the bill would be for the Labor Department. So far, Ms. Solis has been cagey by refusing to directly answer such questions.
The hold-up with Ms. Solis is just silly, Democrats said. The president's position favoring the so-called Employee Free Choice Act -- which would allow workers to gain collective bargaining rights by signing cards rather than secret balloting -- is well known. Republicans simply want to flog her, White House aides contend.
[To read the rest of the article, click the title link]
Obama
Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow ... in Abu Dhabi.
This is the frozen north ... of the UAE
Anna Zacharias
January 25. 2009 1:59PM GMT
The National.ae
Snow covered the Jebel Jais area for only the second time in recorded history yesterday.So rare was the event that one lifelong resident said the local dialect had no word for it.
According to the RAK Government, temperatures on Jebel Jais dropped to -3°C on Friday night. On Saturday, the area had reached 1°C.
Major Saeed Rashid al Yamahi, a helicopter pilot and the manager of the Air Wing of RAK Police, said the snow covered an area of five kilometres and was 10cm deep.“The sight up there this morning was totally unbelievable, with the snow-capped mountain and the entire area covered with fresh, dazzling white snow,” Major al Yamahi said.
“The snowfall started at 3pm Friday, and heavy snowing began at 8pm and continued till midnight, covering the entire area in a thick blanket of snow. Much of the snow was still there even when we flew back from the mountain this afternoon. It is still freezing cold up there and there are chances that it might snow again tonight.”
Aisha al Hebsy, a woman in her 50s who has lived in the mountains near Jebel Jais all her life, said snowfall in the area was so unheard of the local dialect does not even have a word for it.
Hail is known as bared, which literally translates as cold. “Twenty years ago we had lots of hail,” said Ms al Hebsy. “Last night was like this. At four in the morning we came out and the ground was white.”Jebel Jais was dusted in snow on Dec 28, 2004, the first snowfall in living memory for Ras al Khaimah residents.
[To read the rest of the article, click on the title link]
I know the position of the global warming alarmists ... warm in places that were cold and cold in places that were warm.
Except facts and reality seem to interfere with their position (however unstable their position).
Australia - one of the mildest and coolest summers in forty years, until the end of January and now it has become unbearably hot. Such fluctuations are more indicative of changes in weather, not changed in weather.
Chile - one of the mildest summers in recorded history
Afghanistan - one of the dryest and coldest winters in the last thirty years. Food/animal loss during winter due to freezing temperatures: 100,000 cattle and other livestock.
Petersburg, Russia - For only third time in the last 100 years, the port was frozen for several days.
Canada, Alberta - temperatures in northern Alberta, for two weeks straight, fell below -38 degrees. The previous record was one week, and that was held for the last 130 years.
Northwest Territories - one of the coldest and snowiest winters in recorded history (and they said that last year). -35 degrees - they reach as a high, and snow - feet of snow a day.
Those glaciers that were melting - apparently, they are refreezing at a rate not anticipated by the anti-capitalist Global Warming crowd - University of Illinois' Arctic Climate Research Center released conclusive satellite photos showing that Arctic ice is back to 1979 levels. Even more than that - measurements of Antarctic ice now show that its accumulation is up 5 percent since 1980.
Anna Zacharias
January 25. 2009 1:59PM GMT
The National.ae
Snow covered the Jebel Jais area for only the second time in recorded history yesterday.So rare was the event that one lifelong resident said the local dialect had no word for it.
According to the RAK Government, temperatures on Jebel Jais dropped to -3°C on Friday night. On Saturday, the area had reached 1°C.
Major Saeed Rashid al Yamahi, a helicopter pilot and the manager of the Air Wing of RAK Police, said the snow covered an area of five kilometres and was 10cm deep.“The sight up there this morning was totally unbelievable, with the snow-capped mountain and the entire area covered with fresh, dazzling white snow,” Major al Yamahi said.
“The snowfall started at 3pm Friday, and heavy snowing began at 8pm and continued till midnight, covering the entire area in a thick blanket of snow. Much of the snow was still there even when we flew back from the mountain this afternoon. It is still freezing cold up there and there are chances that it might snow again tonight.”
Aisha al Hebsy, a woman in her 50s who has lived in the mountains near Jebel Jais all her life, said snowfall in the area was so unheard of the local dialect does not even have a word for it.
Hail is known as bared, which literally translates as cold. “Twenty years ago we had lots of hail,” said Ms al Hebsy. “Last night was like this. At four in the morning we came out and the ground was white.”Jebel Jais was dusted in snow on Dec 28, 2004, the first snowfall in living memory for Ras al Khaimah residents.
[To read the rest of the article, click on the title link]
I know the position of the global warming alarmists ... warm in places that were cold and cold in places that were warm.
Except facts and reality seem to interfere with their position (however unstable their position).
Australia - one of the mildest and coolest summers in forty years, until the end of January and now it has become unbearably hot. Such fluctuations are more indicative of changes in weather, not changed in weather.
Chile - one of the mildest summers in recorded history
Afghanistan - one of the dryest and coldest winters in the last thirty years. Food/animal loss during winter due to freezing temperatures: 100,000 cattle and other livestock.
Petersburg, Russia - For only third time in the last 100 years, the port was frozen for several days.
Canada, Alberta - temperatures in northern Alberta, for two weeks straight, fell below -38 degrees. The previous record was one week, and that was held for the last 130 years.
Northwest Territories - one of the coldest and snowiest winters in recorded history (and they said that last year). -35 degrees - they reach as a high, and snow - feet of snow a day.
Those glaciers that were melting - apparently, they are refreezing at a rate not anticipated by the anti-capitalist Global Warming crowd - University of Illinois' Arctic Climate Research Center released conclusive satellite photos showing that Arctic ice is back to 1979 levels. Even more than that - measurements of Antarctic ice now show that its accumulation is up 5 percent since 1980.
Let's get it in perspective -
Colder in cold places, more ice where ice grows, and colder in warm areas.
Global Warming?
Ha.
The anti-capitalists will have to try again. A better choice - the world is freezing. Except that would require more burning of industry and fuel and that isn't anti-capitalist enough.
global warming
Israel must talk to hamas - so say some.
'No solution unless Hamas engaged in Middle-East peace talks'
New York (PTI): The Obama administration should engage with Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, to resolve the Israel–Palestinian conflict as there could be no solution to the issue by keeping the militant faction out of the dialogue process, a top commentator of a prestigious think tank here said.
"It will be impossible to manage, much less resolve, the Israeli–Palestinian conflict while ignoring Hamas. The Obama administration should use diplomacy to restore a livable situation for the present, and at a later date move back toward longer-term diplomacy," Nathan J Brown, an expert from Carnegie Endowment said in a new commentary.
The "West Bank First" strategy of building up the Ramallah-based government is not working, Brown, also a professor of Political Science and International affairs at George Washington University, said.
Palestinians in the West Bank have seen only modest improvements in living standards and security with no sign at all that the Israeli occupation of the West Bank will end, he said.
Besides, he added, elections will not out manoeuvre Hamas.
Elections cannot be held in Gaza without Hamas' cooperation—which they are unlikely to give if the deck is stacked against them, he said.
"And there is no guarantee they will lose," Brown said adding the public disagreements within Hamas do occur on occasion but schisms are almost unknown.
Fatah which controls West Bank, Brown said, has shown no signs of rebuilding or reforming itself after its electoral rebuke in 2006, brown said.
"Their leaders have focused on short-term solutions and returning to power."
The donors or actors looking to work with the Palestinian Authority and avoid Hamas in Gaza have forgotten that in Gaza, Hamas is the Palestinian Authority, he said pointing out that soft-liners are unlikely to split from Hamas.
"There may be no Nobel Prize to be had, but making sure the real negotiations succeed —and then immediately worrying about the next step— is a far more promising approach than pretending that the parties can be cajoled, muscled, and awboned [sic] into a final and comprehensive settlement under current conditions," he opined. [A la Clinton (Nobel prize and cajoled) and Bush (muscled or jawboned)]
The sober analysis of closed doors and missed opportunities may provoke despair, Brown concluded.
In fact, meaningful negotiations which are taking place between Israelis and Palestinians right now, specifically exclude mutual recognition and permanence, he said.
"The real negotiations are taking place not between Ehud Olmert and Mahmoud Abbas, but between Israel and Hamas," he opined.
The talks are indirect but deal with some familiar issues— the terms of Israeli withdrawal, the nature of the cessation of hostilities, the role for international forces, the release of prisoners, the flow of goods, the patrol of borders, and the supply of weapons, Brown said.
"But they are doing so in some unfamiliar ways.
"Negotiations are now integrated with violence rather than posited as an alternative; and the two parties proudly proclaim their rejection of the other's legitimacy."
Israel
India
New York (PTI): The Obama administration should engage with Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, to resolve the Israel–Palestinian conflict as there could be no solution to the issue by keeping the militant faction out of the dialogue process, a top commentator of a prestigious think tank here said.
"It will be impossible to manage, much less resolve, the Israeli–Palestinian conflict while ignoring Hamas. The Obama administration should use diplomacy to restore a livable situation for the present, and at a later date move back toward longer-term diplomacy," Nathan J Brown, an expert from Carnegie Endowment said in a new commentary.
The "West Bank First" strategy of building up the Ramallah-based government is not working, Brown, also a professor of Political Science and International affairs at George Washington University, said.
Palestinians in the West Bank have seen only modest improvements in living standards and security with no sign at all that the Israeli occupation of the West Bank will end, he said.
Besides, he added, elections will not out manoeuvre Hamas.
Elections cannot be held in Gaza without Hamas' cooperation—which they are unlikely to give if the deck is stacked against them, he said.
"And there is no guarantee they will lose," Brown said adding the public disagreements within Hamas do occur on occasion but schisms are almost unknown.
Fatah which controls West Bank, Brown said, has shown no signs of rebuilding or reforming itself after its electoral rebuke in 2006, brown said.
"Their leaders have focused on short-term solutions and returning to power."
The donors or actors looking to work with the Palestinian Authority and avoid Hamas in Gaza have forgotten that in Gaza, Hamas is the Palestinian Authority, he said pointing out that soft-liners are unlikely to split from Hamas.
"There may be no Nobel Prize to be had, but making sure the real negotiations succeed —and then immediately worrying about the next step— is a far more promising approach than pretending that the parties can be cajoled, muscled, and awboned [sic] into a final and comprehensive settlement under current conditions," he opined. [A la Clinton (Nobel prize and cajoled) and Bush (muscled or jawboned)]
The sober analysis of closed doors and missed opportunities may provoke despair, Brown concluded.
In fact, meaningful negotiations which are taking place between Israelis and Palestinians right now, specifically exclude mutual recognition and permanence, he said.
"The real negotiations are taking place not between Ehud Olmert and Mahmoud Abbas, but between Israel and Hamas," he opined.
The talks are indirect but deal with some familiar issues— the terms of Israeli withdrawal, the nature of the cessation of hostilities, the role for international forces, the release of prisoners, the flow of goods, the patrol of borders, and the supply of weapons, Brown said.
"But they are doing so in some unfamiliar ways.
"Negotiations are now integrated with violence rather than posited as an alternative; and the two parties proudly proclaim their rejection of the other's legitimacy."
Israel
India
Losercrats: Even when they win they are losers.
They weren't interested in bipartisanship. Not when he took office, nor when he left office - they hated from day one and mocked on the last day.
He invited the Obama's to the White House - didn't need to.
He invited the former-presidents to lunch, to speak with Obama - didn't need to.
He did everything possible to make the transition smooth - didn't need to.
He let Obama take control before he took office - he didn't need to.
Gracious, courteous, respectful.
The Losercrats (Get Over It, I Won) have never been gracious (unless it is in the quiet of their dreams). Mostly they are bruised losers.
Bipartisanship?
Ha.
January 20, 2009
Bush Mocked As He Arrives on Inauguration Dais
@ 11:52 am by Hill Staff
POST UPDATED AT 6:45 p.m.:
The crowd packed on the west side of the Capitol grounds serenaded President Bush in mocking fashion when he took to the inaugural stage alongside Vice President Dick Cheney.
"Nah nah nah nah, hey hey, good-bye," a section of the crowd chanted.
The crowd packed immediately below the podium received Bush in stony silence when he took his seat on the stage surrounding the podium where Barack Obama was scheduled to take the oath office to become the 44th president of the United States.
The jeers are among the final public feedback Bush will receive as president.
First Lady Laura Bush and Lynne Cheney received light applause when they were announced to the crowd.
Bush is scheduled to depart from the East Front of the Capitol by helicopter after the swearing-in ceremony.
Obama received the loudest sustained cheers from thousands who chanted his name.
Before Obama took the stage the crowd gave its warmest welcome to former President Bill Clinton and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.)
Vice-president elect Joe Biden and Michelle Obama also received warm welcomes.
House Democratic lawmakers formed a raucous audience from the section of seats rising immediately south of the speaker's podium.
They launched into a "Rahmbo" chant when they spotted White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel.
Later, when President Bush left the Capitol grounds in a helicopter, he received some cheers from a crowd of onlookers.
But at least one man was seen giving the chopper what Bush used to call the "one-finger salute."
Another man, with a thick New England accent, yelled, "Go back to Crawford!"
And a woman shouted, "Good riddance! He's leaving!"
losercrats
He invited the Obama's to the White House - didn't need to.
He invited the former-presidents to lunch, to speak with Obama - didn't need to.
He did everything possible to make the transition smooth - didn't need to.
He let Obama take control before he took office - he didn't need to.
Gracious, courteous, respectful.
The Losercrats (Get Over It, I Won) have never been gracious (unless it is in the quiet of their dreams). Mostly they are bruised losers.
Bipartisanship?
Ha.
January 20, 2009
Bush Mocked As He Arrives on Inauguration Dais
@ 11:52 am by Hill Staff
POST UPDATED AT 6:45 p.m.:
The crowd packed on the west side of the Capitol grounds serenaded President Bush in mocking fashion when he took to the inaugural stage alongside Vice President Dick Cheney.
"Nah nah nah nah, hey hey, good-bye," a section of the crowd chanted.
The crowd packed immediately below the podium received Bush in stony silence when he took his seat on the stage surrounding the podium where Barack Obama was scheduled to take the oath office to become the 44th president of the United States.
The jeers are among the final public feedback Bush will receive as president.
First Lady Laura Bush and Lynne Cheney received light applause when they were announced to the crowd.
Bush is scheduled to depart from the East Front of the Capitol by helicopter after the swearing-in ceremony.
Obama received the loudest sustained cheers from thousands who chanted his name.
Before Obama took the stage the crowd gave its warmest welcome to former President Bill Clinton and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.)
Vice-president elect Joe Biden and Michelle Obama also received warm welcomes.
House Democratic lawmakers formed a raucous audience from the section of seats rising immediately south of the speaker's podium.
They launched into a "Rahmbo" chant when they spotted White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel.
Later, when President Bush left the Capitol grounds in a helicopter, he received some cheers from a crowd of onlookers.
But at least one man was seen giving the chopper what Bush used to call the "one-finger salute."
Another man, with a thick New England accent, yelled, "Go back to Crawford!"
And a woman shouted, "Good riddance! He's leaving!"
losercrats
Obama: The Bipartisanship that never was.
Naivete - not sure who is more naive - Obama or the English media (media more generally)
There HAS NEVER BEEN BIPARTISANSHIP during this campaign except from McCain's side. He was willing to lose, rather than play dirty (and he lost). Obama demonstrated he would play anyway he had to, to win - and he did. That does not mean any bipartisanship existed.
Obama's speech - attacks on Bush and conservative ideas ... and you expect Republicans to be bipartisan? Silly or naive.
Obama never asked for bipartisanship -
He called the Democratic and Republican leadership together and TOLD them what he was going to do. Republicans differed, and Obama pointed out that HE WON and to get over it. THAT is not bipartisan.
Which is fine. Bipartisanship is why many people lose interest and say that the two parties are the same. They aren't, haven't been. So let them be different, and when one party has greater control - it will do what it does while the other points out its opposition and hopes for resurrection. The other party (one in power) will simply act as it wishes until the electorate chooses a different path. That is how it is, should be, and we are silly to wish for BIPARTISANSHIP.
But recognizing the above, we should not feel like the world has taken a turn for the worse when Republicans do not fall into lock-step with Obama. They never said they would nor do they need to.
Unlike individuals who come to Washington with a suitcase of IOUs, Obama comes with nothing. He OWES. Biden has the suitcase, and I expect he will be short for his office. I assume something of greater importance will pull him away from the Vice Presidency ... leaving the job open to ..... someone else. Time will tell.
Obama has already made missteps that will come back to haunt him.
The omen was clear from the beginning, from moment one - the swearing in. It was a misstep and not all the Chief Justices fault. Obama wanted to lead, rather than waiting for the Chief Justice to find his footing, Obama started ...
The music at the inaugural - pre-recorded (some).
The second swearing in.
Leon Panetta - his daughter and Chavez.
The Clintons - and Bill's mysterious donor, who will eventually be made public and may rain on Hillary's parade.
Obama's nominee for Treasury - Geithner, didn't pay taxes, and he apologized. I'll remember that when I don't pay taxes. Why does he get a pass? Because he is so good? Come on - have Republicans never had a GOOD candidate that had financial issues ... and they were crucified or nearly so.
Obama and Richardson - who pulled out, due to legal issues.
All this and he has only just left the starting gate.
Barack Obama picks a fight with Rush Limbaugh as bipartisan spirit crumbles
Barack Obama is on a collision course with his critics after picking a fight with Rush Limbaugh, America's most influential conservative commentator.
By Tim Shipman in Washington
24 Jan 2009
The Telegraph
Mr Obama has told Republicans in Washington to stop listening to the right-wing talk show host Rush Limbaugh, risking a new culture war with conservative voters.
His exhortation came as he enraged other Republicans by reversing George W Bush's ban on funding international aid to charities that perform or provide information about abortions.
After less than a week in office, Mr Obama's presidency is already encountering the very partisan bickering he had pledged to stamp out during his first 100 days.
He faces mounting criticism over his $825 billion economic stimulus plan, from Republican leaders who say the legislation has been drawn up without the input which Mr Obama had promised to allow them.
The president responded with a clear signal that he is prepared to ram the bill through without the bipartisan consensus he promised to construct, telling Republican leaders from the House of Representatives: "I won. I'm the president."
He then told them to break free of the confrontational mindset epitomised by Mr Limbaugh, the highest paid talk show host in America. "You can't just listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done," Mr Obama said.
His comments followed a blunt attack on him by Mr Limbaugh, who declared on air that he hoped Mr Obama would fail as president because otherwise it will usher in socialism.
With characteristic robustness, he said: "We are being told we have to hope he succeeds, that we have to bend over and grab our ankles... because his father was black, because he's the first black president, we've got to accept this."
After the euphoria of his inauguration, Mr Obama's team have been handed a cold dose of political reality. A series of controversial policy decisions, mistakes and unforeseen events has brought home the difficulty of bridging the divisions in Washington.
Mr Obama has pledged to end the culture wars on social issues that have riven American politics for a generation and did not allow television cameras to film him signing the executive order reversing the Bush abortion funding ban on aid agencies abroad, in order not to provoke pro-life groups.
When he finally did sign the order he issued a statement in a bid to placate abortion critics by promising to "reach out to those on all sides of this issue to achieve the goal of reducing unintended pregnancies." He added: "It is time that we end the politicisation of this issue."
But despite his efforts, the reaction was brutal. Family groups accused him of plotting the "infanticide" of African children. Former presidential candidate Gary Bauer, president of the American Values pressure group, said: "It is both sad and infuriating that in the same week President Obama extended new rights to prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and began planning to release men whom we know have murdered Americans, he is preparing to sentence innocent children to death through abortion."
Meanwhile the decision by the Food and Drug Administration to approve the first human trials of embryonic stem cells, anathema to the Christian right, has intensified the bubbling culture war.
Republicans are also angry that the economic stimulus plan contains funding for contraceptives and other Democratic pet projects that might take years to have any effect on the downturn.
The moderate conservative columnist David Brooks, who dined recently with Mr Obama, wrote: "The bill is an unholy marriage that manages to combine the worst of each approach - rushed short-term planning with expensive long-term fiscal impact."
Republicans are also criticising Mr Obama's decision to close the Guantanamo Bay detention camp with no plan for the detainees still incarcerated there and for forcing the CIA to follow stricter rules on interrogations. The revelation last week that 60 former inmates have returned to terrorism - and that one is now deputy leader of al Qaeda's Yemeni branch - was unfortunate timing for the President.
Other elements of Mr Obama's political morning after, like most hangovers, are self-inflicted.
Having announced new ethics rules banning lobbyists serving in his administration, the president was immediately forced to make an exception for his deputy defence secretary William Lynn, who has lobbied for the defence industry giant Raytheon.
The president has also reacted badly to his first taste of tougher questioning from the previously supine Washington press corps - becoming visibly irritated, during a visit to journalists' offices in the White House, when asked a substantive question about the ethics affair.
The White House's failure to arrange for television cameras to record Mr Obama's second swearing in, held on Wednesday night because he and Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts botched the wording at his inauguration, infuriated broadcasters.
That incident has also sparked a predictable backlash from the Christian right, with commentators like Fiox News host Glenn Beck suggesting, inaccurately, that Mr Obama might not be a legitimate president because he did not use a Bible for the second swearing in.
A Democratic strategist who has run two presidential campaigns told The Sunday Telegraph: "What can I say? 'Welcome to Washington, Mr President'.
"They knew what to expect but they've had it all their own way for so long that the speed of it may have come as a surprise. The Obama people like a scrap, they've proved that throughout the year, none more than the president. But they know they're in a fight now. And it probably won't let up for eight years."
Obama
There HAS NEVER BEEN BIPARTISANSHIP during this campaign except from McCain's side. He was willing to lose, rather than play dirty (and he lost). Obama demonstrated he would play anyway he had to, to win - and he did. That does not mean any bipartisanship existed.
Obama's speech - attacks on Bush and conservative ideas ... and you expect Republicans to be bipartisan? Silly or naive.
Obama never asked for bipartisanship -
He called the Democratic and Republican leadership together and TOLD them what he was going to do. Republicans differed, and Obama pointed out that HE WON and to get over it. THAT is not bipartisan.
Which is fine. Bipartisanship is why many people lose interest and say that the two parties are the same. They aren't, haven't been. So let them be different, and when one party has greater control - it will do what it does while the other points out its opposition and hopes for resurrection. The other party (one in power) will simply act as it wishes until the electorate chooses a different path. That is how it is, should be, and we are silly to wish for BIPARTISANSHIP.
But recognizing the above, we should not feel like the world has taken a turn for the worse when Republicans do not fall into lock-step with Obama. They never said they would nor do they need to.
Unlike individuals who come to Washington with a suitcase of IOUs, Obama comes with nothing. He OWES. Biden has the suitcase, and I expect he will be short for his office. I assume something of greater importance will pull him away from the Vice Presidency ... leaving the job open to ..... someone else. Time will tell.
Obama has already made missteps that will come back to haunt him.
The omen was clear from the beginning, from moment one - the swearing in. It was a misstep and not all the Chief Justices fault. Obama wanted to lead, rather than waiting for the Chief Justice to find his footing, Obama started ...
The music at the inaugural - pre-recorded (some).
The second swearing in.
Leon Panetta - his daughter and Chavez.
The Clintons - and Bill's mysterious donor, who will eventually be made public and may rain on Hillary's parade.
Obama's nominee for Treasury - Geithner, didn't pay taxes, and he apologized. I'll remember that when I don't pay taxes. Why does he get a pass? Because he is so good? Come on - have Republicans never had a GOOD candidate that had financial issues ... and they were crucified or nearly so.
Obama and Richardson - who pulled out, due to legal issues.
All this and he has only just left the starting gate.
Barack Obama picks a fight with Rush Limbaugh as bipartisan spirit crumbles
Barack Obama is on a collision course with his critics after picking a fight with Rush Limbaugh, America's most influential conservative commentator.
By Tim Shipman in Washington
24 Jan 2009
The Telegraph
Mr Obama has told Republicans in Washington to stop listening to the right-wing talk show host Rush Limbaugh, risking a new culture war with conservative voters.
His exhortation came as he enraged other Republicans by reversing George W Bush's ban on funding international aid to charities that perform or provide information about abortions.
After less than a week in office, Mr Obama's presidency is already encountering the very partisan bickering he had pledged to stamp out during his first 100 days.
He faces mounting criticism over his $825 billion economic stimulus plan, from Republican leaders who say the legislation has been drawn up without the input which Mr Obama had promised to allow them.
The president responded with a clear signal that he is prepared to ram the bill through without the bipartisan consensus he promised to construct, telling Republican leaders from the House of Representatives: "I won. I'm the president."
He then told them to break free of the confrontational mindset epitomised by Mr Limbaugh, the highest paid talk show host in America. "You can't just listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done," Mr Obama said.
His comments followed a blunt attack on him by Mr Limbaugh, who declared on air that he hoped Mr Obama would fail as president because otherwise it will usher in socialism.
With characteristic robustness, he said: "We are being told we have to hope he succeeds, that we have to bend over and grab our ankles... because his father was black, because he's the first black president, we've got to accept this."
After the euphoria of his inauguration, Mr Obama's team have been handed a cold dose of political reality. A series of controversial policy decisions, mistakes and unforeseen events has brought home the difficulty of bridging the divisions in Washington.
Mr Obama has pledged to end the culture wars on social issues that have riven American politics for a generation and did not allow television cameras to film him signing the executive order reversing the Bush abortion funding ban on aid agencies abroad, in order not to provoke pro-life groups.
When he finally did sign the order he issued a statement in a bid to placate abortion critics by promising to "reach out to those on all sides of this issue to achieve the goal of reducing unintended pregnancies." He added: "It is time that we end the politicisation of this issue."
But despite his efforts, the reaction was brutal. Family groups accused him of plotting the "infanticide" of African children. Former presidential candidate Gary Bauer, president of the American Values pressure group, said: "It is both sad and infuriating that in the same week President Obama extended new rights to prisoners at Guantanamo Bay and began planning to release men whom we know have murdered Americans, he is preparing to sentence innocent children to death through abortion."
Meanwhile the decision by the Food and Drug Administration to approve the first human trials of embryonic stem cells, anathema to the Christian right, has intensified the bubbling culture war.
Republicans are also angry that the economic stimulus plan contains funding for contraceptives and other Democratic pet projects that might take years to have any effect on the downturn.
The moderate conservative columnist David Brooks, who dined recently with Mr Obama, wrote: "The bill is an unholy marriage that manages to combine the worst of each approach - rushed short-term planning with expensive long-term fiscal impact."
Republicans are also criticising Mr Obama's decision to close the Guantanamo Bay detention camp with no plan for the detainees still incarcerated there and for forcing the CIA to follow stricter rules on interrogations. The revelation last week that 60 former inmates have returned to terrorism - and that one is now deputy leader of al Qaeda's Yemeni branch - was unfortunate timing for the President.
Other elements of Mr Obama's political morning after, like most hangovers, are self-inflicted.
Having announced new ethics rules banning lobbyists serving in his administration, the president was immediately forced to make an exception for his deputy defence secretary William Lynn, who has lobbied for the defence industry giant Raytheon.
The president has also reacted badly to his first taste of tougher questioning from the previously supine Washington press corps - becoming visibly irritated, during a visit to journalists' offices in the White House, when asked a substantive question about the ethics affair.
The White House's failure to arrange for television cameras to record Mr Obama's second swearing in, held on Wednesday night because he and Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts botched the wording at his inauguration, infuriated broadcasters.
That incident has also sparked a predictable backlash from the Christian right, with commentators like Fiox News host Glenn Beck suggesting, inaccurately, that Mr Obama might not be a legitimate president because he did not use a Bible for the second swearing in.
A Democratic strategist who has run two presidential campaigns told The Sunday Telegraph: "What can I say? 'Welcome to Washington, Mr President'.
"They knew what to expect but they've had it all their own way for so long that the speed of it may have come as a surprise. The Obama people like a scrap, they've proved that throughout the year, none more than the president. But they know they're in a fight now. And it probably won't let up for eight years."
Obama
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Israel v World
Most of the time I would argue that Israel should be proud of this badge - it proves Israel is doing the right thing. Unfortunately, Israel is acting, to a lesser extent than it should be, in its interests, and more than it should, in the interests of others.
Amnesty International - War Crimes - Phosphorus. Ha ha. That really is a joke. The reason for using it - as an element in tracer rounds. Not as a weapon. War Crimes. Absolutely assinine.
Israel Has Fewer Friends Than Ever, Even In America
By Rod Nordland NEWSWEEK
Published Jan 24, 2009
From the magazine issue dated Feb 2, 2009
Israel has never been more isolated. Its best friend, the United States, had vetoed 41 Security Council resolutions condemning Israel in the past three decades, but was about to vote for the Jan. 8 resolution denouncing the attack on Gaza when President Bush intervened, at the behest of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Still, in the face of unprecedented global criticism, the U.S. didn't dare veto, but merely abstained. Europe, never Israel's close ally, erupted in near unanimous outrage over Gaza, with fits of anti-Semitic violence in France, Sweden and Belgium.
Israel is accustomed to attacks from the left and the U.N. This time, though, Amnesty International has accused Israel of war crimes (using white phosphorus against civilians), and the secretary-general was unusually outspoken. After Israel bombed five U.N. compounds, Ban Ki-moon called the attack "heartbreaking … outrageous and unacceptable." His condemnation of Hamas rocket attacks came later, in milder terms.
[To read the rest of the article, click on the title link]
Amnesty International - War Crimes - Phosphorus. Ha ha. That really is a joke. The reason for using it - as an element in tracer rounds. Not as a weapon. War Crimes. Absolutely assinine.
Israel Has Fewer Friends Than Ever, Even In America
By Rod Nordland NEWSWEEK
Published Jan 24, 2009
From the magazine issue dated Feb 2, 2009
Israel has never been more isolated. Its best friend, the United States, had vetoed 41 Security Council resolutions condemning Israel in the past three decades, but was about to vote for the Jan. 8 resolution denouncing the attack on Gaza when President Bush intervened, at the behest of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Still, in the face of unprecedented global criticism, the U.S. didn't dare veto, but merely abstained. Europe, never Israel's close ally, erupted in near unanimous outrage over Gaza, with fits of anti-Semitic violence in France, Sweden and Belgium.
Israel is accustomed to attacks from the left and the U.N. This time, though, Amnesty International has accused Israel of war crimes (using white phosphorus against civilians), and the secretary-general was unusually outspoken. After Israel bombed five U.N. compounds, Ban Ki-moon called the attack "heartbreaking … outrageous and unacceptable." His condemnation of Hamas rocket attacks came later, in milder terms.
[To read the rest of the article, click on the title link]
Obama, Guantanamo, and Promises
ANALYSIS
Bush's 'War' On Terror Comes to a Sudden End
Obama Plans to Close Guantanamo Prison
President Obama is expected to sign an executive order that would close the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, within the next year. Yet his administration faces a slew of legal and diplomatic hurdles, and if the effort stumbles, it could bring steep political costs.
By Dana Priest
Washington Post
Friday, January 23, 2009; Page A01
President Obama yesterday eliminated the most controversial tools employed by his predecessor against terrorism suspects. With the stroke of his pen, he effectively declared an end to the "war on terror," as President George W. Bush had defined it, signaling to the world that the reach of the U.S. government in battling its enemies will not be limitless.
[To read the article in its entirety, click on the title link]
***************************************
Property agreements/contracts and political promises have something in common.
I promise to never do Y as long as I live, and to spend every waking moment working to prevent Y from occurring again anywhere on earth, and to make every child smile, every mother sigh, every father secure. My campaign has made it clear we have many goals and I will not rest until we have accomplished our goals, culminating in my single-minded pursuit of the eradication of Y from earth. I will spend trillions, and raise trillions to fight the scourge of Y, never faltering, never settling, until mankind has been freed from this blight.
Ok. Now. After reading the above, - Do I have to fight and end the existence of Y?
But you say, you would then hold me to my promise, and or not vote for me given my failure to accomplish my stated intention.
My response - but I tried. I did everything I could. It was not my fault. You were not paying attention. I said I would and I was intent on doing so but for the goals I stated in the campaign - they took all the money, leaving me no resources to do what I said I would do. It wasn't my fault. It was ...
It was actually yours - for believing me you stupid fool, and then surprised when I didn't (couldn't).
I could even have a ceremony signing documents banning Y from occurring and have the paparazzi (media) in attendance.
And I would be telling the truth.
Such is the case of Guantanamo Bay and the many killers who reside there.
This story will continue to .... unfurl, but do pay attention to specific details, not the trumpets and fanfare. In the end, not much will be different - yet losercrats will herald His arrival as a moment to rejoice.
Foolish voters.
Stupid people
Bush's 'War' On Terror Comes to a Sudden End
Obama Plans to Close Guantanamo Prison
President Obama is expected to sign an executive order that would close the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, within the next year. Yet his administration faces a slew of legal and diplomatic hurdles, and if the effort stumbles, it could bring steep political costs.
By Dana Priest
Washington Post
Friday, January 23, 2009; Page A01
President Obama yesterday eliminated the most controversial tools employed by his predecessor against terrorism suspects. With the stroke of his pen, he effectively declared an end to the "war on terror," as President George W. Bush had defined it, signaling to the world that the reach of the U.S. government in battling its enemies will not be limitless.
[To read the article in its entirety, click on the title link]
***************************************
Property agreements/contracts and political promises have something in common.
I promise to never do Y as long as I live, and to spend every waking moment working to prevent Y from occurring again anywhere on earth, and to make every child smile, every mother sigh, every father secure. My campaign has made it clear we have many goals and I will not rest until we have accomplished our goals, culminating in my single-minded pursuit of the eradication of Y from earth. I will spend trillions, and raise trillions to fight the scourge of Y, never faltering, never settling, until mankind has been freed from this blight.
Ok. Now. After reading the above, - Do I have to fight and end the existence of Y?
But you say, you would then hold me to my promise, and or not vote for me given my failure to accomplish my stated intention.
My response - but I tried. I did everything I could. It was not my fault. You were not paying attention. I said I would and I was intent on doing so but for the goals I stated in the campaign - they took all the money, leaving me no resources to do what I said I would do. It wasn't my fault. It was ...
It was actually yours - for believing me you stupid fool, and then surprised when I didn't (couldn't).
I could even have a ceremony signing documents banning Y from occurring and have the paparazzi (media) in attendance.
And I would be telling the truth.
Such is the case of Guantanamo Bay and the many killers who reside there.
This story will continue to .... unfurl, but do pay attention to specific details, not the trumpets and fanfare. In the end, not much will be different - yet losercrats will herald His arrival as a moment to rejoice.
Foolish voters.
Stupid people
Media Bias?
The story isn't the Blackberry. He will find it more complicated than he now thinks. But of course, when he doesn't keep careful record of details, it will be a 'slipped his mind' moment - whereas with Libby - it was a lie. We'll see.
The issue is bias.
The bolded part - was it REALLY necessary for the story?
Obama refuses to surrender Blackberry
Jan 16,2009
8:24 PM US/Eastern
Despite legal and security hurdles, president-elect Barack Obama says he has a plan to retain his beloved Blackberry once he moves into the White House next week.
Interviewed by CNN Friday, Obama said the smartphone was among the tools that he would use to stay in touch with real Americans and avoid becoming trapped inside the presidential "bubble."
"I think we're going to be able to hang on to one of these. My working assumption, and this is not new, is that anything I write on an email could end up being on CNN," he said.
"So I make sure to think before I press 'send'," he said of his Blackberry, which was an ever-present fixture on his belt or in his hand on the campaign trail.
Obama did not divulge just how he will overcome legal constraints, given the requirement of the post-Watergate Presidential Records Act of 1978 to keep a record of every White House communication.
Nor did he say how he would persuade his Secret Service protectors that the Blackberry does not pose a security risk, for instance if it is hacked over the air.
But Obama, who succeeds the unpopular George W. Bush on Tuesday, said the phone was a valuable part of a wider strategy to escape the White House fishbowl.
"It's just one tool among a number of tools that I'm trying to use, to break out of the bubble, to make sure that people can still reach me," he said.
"If I'm doing something stupid, somebody in Chicago can send me an email and say, 'What are you doing?'
"I want to be able to have voices, other than the people who are immediately working for me, be able to reach out and send me a message about what's happening in America."
The mobile device dilemma may have inadvertently been solved on Friday, as Obama's Blackberry tumbled from his belt as he got out of his limousine and onto his plane in Washington.
A Secret Service agent hurried to pick up the pieces, gathering the Blackberry and battery off the frigid tarmac.
Obama
The issue is bias.
The bolded part - was it REALLY necessary for the story?
Obama refuses to surrender Blackberry
Jan 16,2009
8:24 PM US/Eastern
Despite legal and security hurdles, president-elect Barack Obama says he has a plan to retain his beloved Blackberry once he moves into the White House next week.
Interviewed by CNN Friday, Obama said the smartphone was among the tools that he would use to stay in touch with real Americans and avoid becoming trapped inside the presidential "bubble."
"I think we're going to be able to hang on to one of these. My working assumption, and this is not new, is that anything I write on an email could end up being on CNN," he said.
"So I make sure to think before I press 'send'," he said of his Blackberry, which was an ever-present fixture on his belt or in his hand on the campaign trail.
Obama did not divulge just how he will overcome legal constraints, given the requirement of the post-Watergate Presidential Records Act of 1978 to keep a record of every White House communication.
Nor did he say how he would persuade his Secret Service protectors that the Blackberry does not pose a security risk, for instance if it is hacked over the air.
But Obama, who succeeds the unpopular George W. Bush on Tuesday, said the phone was a valuable part of a wider strategy to escape the White House fishbowl.
"It's just one tool among a number of tools that I'm trying to use, to break out of the bubble, to make sure that people can still reach me," he said.
"If I'm doing something stupid, somebody in Chicago can send me an email and say, 'What are you doing?'
"I want to be able to have voices, other than the people who are immediately working for me, be able to reach out and send me a message about what's happening in America."
The mobile device dilemma may have inadvertently been solved on Friday, as Obama's Blackberry tumbled from his belt as he got out of his limousine and onto his plane in Washington.
A Secret Service agent hurried to pick up the pieces, gathering the Blackberry and battery off the frigid tarmac.
Obama
Israel: What it faces: Terrorists and Stupid People
He says that "even for the supporters of the occupying regime and its leaders, it has become clear that the continuation of the Zionist regime's life in the region is not feasible."
So says Amidinejad.
Another interesting column, and the sources, I trust are valid -
*********************
Demonstrators chanted "Nuke, nuke Israel!" and carried placards accusing Israel of "ethnic cleansing" and bearing such messages as: "Did Israel take notes during the Holocaust? Happy Hanukkah." To the dozen or so supporters of Israel gathered across the street, one demonstrator shouted: "Murderers! Go back to the ovens! You need a big oven."
*********************
Demonstrators in Fort Lauderdale clash over Gaza Strip crisis
BY ELINOR J. BRECHER AND NIRVI SHAH
Posted on Wed, Dec. 31, 2008
In a loud and angry confrontation, at least 200 pro-Palestinian demonstrators traded insults with a smaller group of pro-Israel counter-demonstrators Tuesday evening in downtown Fort Lauderdale over Israel's airstrikes in the Gaza Strip.
As more than 20 police officers lined the intersection of Broward Boulevard and Northeast Third Avenue, Palestinian supporters yelled: ``You kill our children!''
''No! You kill your own children!'' supporters of the Jewish state retorted.
Israel has been bombing Gaza for four days in response to Hamas' rocket and missile attacks on Israeli towns since a cease-fire expired Dec. 19.
The Israeli government has said it is targeting Hamas installations and trying to limit civilian casualties, but the protesters were unconvinced.
Placards read: ''Did Israel take notes during the Holocaust? Happy Hannukah. 400 dead and counting,'' and ``Gaza needs food, water, medicine. Shame on you Israel.''
Israel supporters countered with, ``You can't make peace with those who want to kill you.''
TRAFFIC SNARLED
Despite the heated exchanges, there was no violence and no one was arrested. The demonstrators briefly snarled rush-hour traffic outside the Fort Lauderdale federal courthouse as police routed vehicles away from Third Avenue.
For some demonstrators, events in the Middle East are personal. Sofian Abdelaziz Zakkout of Miami said two teenage relatives had died in the recent violence.
''I feel as if I am there with them,'' he said. 'I need a cease-fire. I don't think `who's right, who's wrong.' This will not cause a good solution.''
''We want to see peace, but Hamas doesn't,'' said counter-demonstrator Roger Firestone of Fort Lauderdale. ``They're a terrorist organization.''
The several hundred supporters of Palestinians waved flags and, at sundown, some laid down rugs, faced east and prayed.
They far outnumbered the smaller group of Jewish supporters, who organized to have a presence when they heard of the pro-Palestinian demonstration.
The South Florida Palestine Solidarity Network organized the rally, which was meant to highlight Palestinians' living conditions in Gaza under an Israeli economic blockade designed to undermine the Hamas government.
FOOD SHORTAGES
Spokesman Muhammed Malik said international humanitarian groups say the blockade has contributed to wretched conditions for ordinary Gaza residents, who face shortages of food, medicine, electricity and clean water.
Malik called Israel's actions ''collective punishment'' and said that it ``fuels terrorism. People feel they have no hope.''
He said that the Hamas attacks were ``a tragedy as well. No one should be celebrating that. Ideally there should be no violence on either side.''
Ofer Bavly, Israel's consul general in Miami, told The Miami Herald that Israel has been defending itself ''and being proactive. For too long, Israel was exercising a lot of self-control, which didn't go down well'' with many citizens.
He noted that when the cease-fire ended, Hamas ``launched 150 rockets in one week . . . We are responding strongly, and we are legitimized in doing so.''
Bavly insisted that ``Israel is doing everything it can to avoid a humanitarian situation is Gaza.
We are not at war with the Palestinian people, but with the terrorist organization that is holding them as a human shield.''
In statements issued Tuesday, members of South Florida's congressional delegation weighed in on Israel's side.
Rep. Alcee Hastings, Democrat: ``Hamas is not only an impediment to peace between Israel and the Palestinians, but also to Israel's efforts to establish normal diplomatic relations with many in the Arab world.''
Sen. Mel Martinez, Republican: ``Israel has a right to defend itself and its citizens. Terrorist organizations like Hamas cannot be allowed safe haven in any territory.''
Rep. Robert Wexler, Democrat: ``It is unconscionable for anyone to expect the Israeli government or any other government, for that matter, to sit idly as thousands of deadly rockets rain down on their cities.''
Reps. Lincoln Diaz-Balart and Mario Diaz-Balart, Republicans: ``Israel is absolutely justified in defending herself and in taking all necessary military steps to guarantee the safety and security of its people.''
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Democrat: ``Israel, like all sovereign nations, has not only a right but, moreover, an obligation to ensure the safety and security of her citizens.
``We would not allow our government to stand idly by as hundreds of rockets and mortars came crashing down on the heads of our citizens.''
RESOLUTION CRITICIZED
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Republican, condemned a proposed United Nations resolution equating Israel's response to the Hamas attacks.
The Security Council ``has taken no meaningful action to stop this onslaught or condemn those Palestinian militants responsible for these assaults on Israel.
Now, after the democratic Jewish state of Israel was forced to respond to protect its citizens, the council is moving to equate Israel's calibrated self-defense measures with Hamas' actions that threaten not just Israel but regional peace and security.''
A pro-Israel rally is planned for 11 a.m. Sunday at the Miami Beach Holocaust memorial, 1933 Meridian Ave.
*****************************************
Iran says Israel must be wiped off the map.
Pro-Palestinians chant - from the river to the sea.
Hamas sends rockets into Israel DURING a ceasefire.
Hamas secret into gaza not food and electricity, but weapons, bought with the millions sent by the EU and the US.
israel
So says Amidinejad.
Another interesting column, and the sources, I trust are valid -
*********************
Demonstrators chanted "Nuke, nuke Israel!" and carried placards accusing Israel of "ethnic cleansing" and bearing such messages as: "Did Israel take notes during the Holocaust? Happy Hanukkah." To the dozen or so supporters of Israel gathered across the street, one demonstrator shouted: "Murderers! Go back to the ovens! You need a big oven."
*********************
Demonstrators in Fort Lauderdale clash over Gaza Strip crisis
BY ELINOR J. BRECHER AND NIRVI SHAH
Posted on Wed, Dec. 31, 2008
In a loud and angry confrontation, at least 200 pro-Palestinian demonstrators traded insults with a smaller group of pro-Israel counter-demonstrators Tuesday evening in downtown Fort Lauderdale over Israel's airstrikes in the Gaza Strip.
As more than 20 police officers lined the intersection of Broward Boulevard and Northeast Third Avenue, Palestinian supporters yelled: ``You kill our children!''
''No! You kill your own children!'' supporters of the Jewish state retorted.
Israel has been bombing Gaza for four days in response to Hamas' rocket and missile attacks on Israeli towns since a cease-fire expired Dec. 19.
The Israeli government has said it is targeting Hamas installations and trying to limit civilian casualties, but the protesters were unconvinced.
Placards read: ''Did Israel take notes during the Holocaust? Happy Hannukah. 400 dead and counting,'' and ``Gaza needs food, water, medicine. Shame on you Israel.''
Israel supporters countered with, ``You can't make peace with those who want to kill you.''
TRAFFIC SNARLED
Despite the heated exchanges, there was no violence and no one was arrested. The demonstrators briefly snarled rush-hour traffic outside the Fort Lauderdale federal courthouse as police routed vehicles away from Third Avenue.
For some demonstrators, events in the Middle East are personal. Sofian Abdelaziz Zakkout of Miami said two teenage relatives had died in the recent violence.
''I feel as if I am there with them,'' he said. 'I need a cease-fire. I don't think `who's right, who's wrong.' This will not cause a good solution.''
''We want to see peace, but Hamas doesn't,'' said counter-demonstrator Roger Firestone of Fort Lauderdale. ``They're a terrorist organization.''
The several hundred supporters of Palestinians waved flags and, at sundown, some laid down rugs, faced east and prayed.
They far outnumbered the smaller group of Jewish supporters, who organized to have a presence when they heard of the pro-Palestinian demonstration.
The South Florida Palestine Solidarity Network organized the rally, which was meant to highlight Palestinians' living conditions in Gaza under an Israeli economic blockade designed to undermine the Hamas government.
FOOD SHORTAGES
Spokesman Muhammed Malik said international humanitarian groups say the blockade has contributed to wretched conditions for ordinary Gaza residents, who face shortages of food, medicine, electricity and clean water.
Malik called Israel's actions ''collective punishment'' and said that it ``fuels terrorism. People feel they have no hope.''
He said that the Hamas attacks were ``a tragedy as well. No one should be celebrating that. Ideally there should be no violence on either side.''
Ofer Bavly, Israel's consul general in Miami, told The Miami Herald that Israel has been defending itself ''and being proactive. For too long, Israel was exercising a lot of self-control, which didn't go down well'' with many citizens.
He noted that when the cease-fire ended, Hamas ``launched 150 rockets in one week . . . We are responding strongly, and we are legitimized in doing so.''
Bavly insisted that ``Israel is doing everything it can to avoid a humanitarian situation is Gaza.
We are not at war with the Palestinian people, but with the terrorist organization that is holding them as a human shield.''
In statements issued Tuesday, members of South Florida's congressional delegation weighed in on Israel's side.
Rep. Alcee Hastings, Democrat: ``Hamas is not only an impediment to peace between Israel and the Palestinians, but also to Israel's efforts to establish normal diplomatic relations with many in the Arab world.''
Sen. Mel Martinez, Republican: ``Israel has a right to defend itself and its citizens. Terrorist organizations like Hamas cannot be allowed safe haven in any territory.''
Rep. Robert Wexler, Democrat: ``It is unconscionable for anyone to expect the Israeli government or any other government, for that matter, to sit idly as thousands of deadly rockets rain down on their cities.''
Reps. Lincoln Diaz-Balart and Mario Diaz-Balart, Republicans: ``Israel is absolutely justified in defending herself and in taking all necessary military steps to guarantee the safety and security of its people.''
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Democrat: ``Israel, like all sovereign nations, has not only a right but, moreover, an obligation to ensure the safety and security of her citizens.
``We would not allow our government to stand idly by as hundreds of rockets and mortars came crashing down on the heads of our citizens.''
RESOLUTION CRITICIZED
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Republican, condemned a proposed United Nations resolution equating Israel's response to the Hamas attacks.
The Security Council ``has taken no meaningful action to stop this onslaught or condemn those Palestinian militants responsible for these assaults on Israel.
Now, after the democratic Jewish state of Israel was forced to respond to protect its citizens, the council is moving to equate Israel's calibrated self-defense measures with Hamas' actions that threaten not just Israel but regional peace and security.''
A pro-Israel rally is planned for 11 a.m. Sunday at the Miami Beach Holocaust memorial, 1933 Meridian Ave.
*****************************************
Iran says Israel must be wiped off the map.
Pro-Palestinians chant - from the river to the sea.
Hamas sends rockets into Israel DURING a ceasefire.
Hamas secret into gaza not food and electricity, but weapons, bought with the millions sent by the EU and the US.
israel
Mexico: On the Brink - About to Collapse?
Mexico may collapse?
Wouldn't that be funny (in a not so funny way - the consequences for the United States would be staggering)
A serious impediment to growth in Latin America remains the power of criminal gangs and drug cartels to corrupt, distort, and damage the region’s potential. The fact that criminal organizations and cartels are capable of building dozens of disposable submarines in the jungle and then using them to smuggle cocaine, indicates the enormous economic scale of this activity. This poses a real
threat to the national security interests of the Western Hemisphere. In particular, the growing assault by the drug cartels and their thugs on the Mexican government over the past several years reminds one that an unstable Mexico could represent a homeland security problem of
immense proportions to the United States.
Joint Operating Environment 2008
United States Joint Forces Command
Mexico
Wouldn't that be funny (in a not so funny way - the consequences for the United States would be staggering)
A serious impediment to growth in Latin America remains the power of criminal gangs and drug cartels to corrupt, distort, and damage the region’s potential. The fact that criminal organizations and cartels are capable of building dozens of disposable submarines in the jungle and then using them to smuggle cocaine, indicates the enormous economic scale of this activity. This poses a real
threat to the national security interests of the Western Hemisphere. In particular, the growing assault by the drug cartels and their thugs on the Mexican government over the past several years reminds one that an unstable Mexico could represent a homeland security problem of
immense proportions to the United States.
Joint Operating Environment 2008
United States Joint Forces Command
Mexico
The Big One: It is Coming, just not today.
Study finds troubling pattern of Southern California quakes
The southern stretch of the San Andreas fault has had a major temblor about every 137 years, according to new research. The latest looks to be overdue.
By Jia-Rui Chong
January 24, 2009
Los Angeles Times
Large earthquakes have rumbled along a southern section of the San Andreas fault more frequently than previously believed, suggesting that Southern California could be overdue for a strong temblor on the notorious fault line, a new study has found.
The Carrizo Plain section of the San Andreas has not seen a massive quake since the much-researched Fort Tejon temblor of 1857, which at an estimated magnitude of 7.9 is considered the most powerful earthquake to hit Southern California in modern times.
But the new research by UC Irvine scientists, to be published next week, found that major quakes occurred there roughly every 137 years over the last 700 years. Until now, scientists believed big quakes occurred along the fault roughly every 200 years.
The findings are significant because seismologists have long believed this portion of the fault is capable of sparking the so-called Big One that officials have for decades warned will eventually occur in Southern California.
"It's been long enough since 1857 that we should be concerned about another great earthquake that ruptures through this part of the fault," said Ken Hudnut, a geophysicist at the U.S. Geological Survey in Pasadena who was not involved in the study.
Many scientists thought the Carrizo area produced relatively infrequent but large-scale earthquakes such as the Fort Tejon temblor. The new work suggests the area produces more quakes but also ones of a smaller magnitude than Fort Tejon, said Ray Weldon, a University of Oregon geologist who was not involved in the research but reviewed the paper for the Journal of Geophysical Research.
Such temblors, experts warned, would likely be at least as big as the 1994 Northridge quake, which had a magnitude of 6.7.
"Even moderate earthquakes on the San Andreas can cause considerable damage, so the overall hazard and risk has gone up," Weldon said.
The section of the San Andreas fault threading through the dry Carrizo Plain is one of the most famous and photographed parts of the fault because creek beds and other features on one side of the fault have clearly shifted away from matching features on the other side. About 100 miles northwest of Los Angeles, the Carrizo area was one of the main sections that ruptured in the 1857 quake. That rupture, roaring southwest into the Los Angeles Basin, rocked parts of the region so hard that men were thrown to the ground.
[To read the rest of the article, click on the title link]
earthquakes
The southern stretch of the San Andreas fault has had a major temblor about every 137 years, according to new research. The latest looks to be overdue.
By Jia-Rui Chong
January 24, 2009
Los Angeles Times
Large earthquakes have rumbled along a southern section of the San Andreas fault more frequently than previously believed, suggesting that Southern California could be overdue for a strong temblor on the notorious fault line, a new study has found.
The Carrizo Plain section of the San Andreas has not seen a massive quake since the much-researched Fort Tejon temblor of 1857, which at an estimated magnitude of 7.9 is considered the most powerful earthquake to hit Southern California in modern times.
But the new research by UC Irvine scientists, to be published next week, found that major quakes occurred there roughly every 137 years over the last 700 years. Until now, scientists believed big quakes occurred along the fault roughly every 200 years.
The findings are significant because seismologists have long believed this portion of the fault is capable of sparking the so-called Big One that officials have for decades warned will eventually occur in Southern California.
"It's been long enough since 1857 that we should be concerned about another great earthquake that ruptures through this part of the fault," said Ken Hudnut, a geophysicist at the U.S. Geological Survey in Pasadena who was not involved in the study.
Many scientists thought the Carrizo area produced relatively infrequent but large-scale earthquakes such as the Fort Tejon temblor. The new work suggests the area produces more quakes but also ones of a smaller magnitude than Fort Tejon, said Ray Weldon, a University of Oregon geologist who was not involved in the research but reviewed the paper for the Journal of Geophysical Research.
Such temblors, experts warned, would likely be at least as big as the 1994 Northridge quake, which had a magnitude of 6.7.
"Even moderate earthquakes on the San Andreas can cause considerable damage, so the overall hazard and risk has gone up," Weldon said.
The section of the San Andreas fault threading through the dry Carrizo Plain is one of the most famous and photographed parts of the fault because creek beds and other features on one side of the fault have clearly shifted away from matching features on the other side. About 100 miles northwest of Los Angeles, the Carrizo area was one of the main sections that ruptured in the 1857 quake. That rupture, roaring southwest into the Los Angeles Basin, rocked parts of the region so hard that men were thrown to the ground.
[To read the rest of the article, click on the title link]
earthquakes
Tamils on the Net
Sri Lankan troops seize Tigers camps: military
January 23, 2009
COLOMBO (AFP) — Sri Lankan security forces captured two Tamil Tiger guerrilla camps after heavy fighting in the island's northeast, the military said Saturday.
Government forces have been steadily advancing into the remaining territory held by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the coastal district of Mullaittivu.
"Sri Lanka army Task Force Four operating in the Puthukkudiriruppu south yesterday captured two LTTE camps located in the area," a military statement said.
The military did not say if troops had suffered any casualties in the latest fighting.
Sri Lanka's army has said it hopes to crush remaining rebel resistance by April.
The Tigers have not commented on the fighting, but the pro-rebel Tamilnet.com website had accused the military of shelling civilians trapped inside rebel-held areas.
Tamils
January 23, 2009
COLOMBO (AFP) — Sri Lankan security forces captured two Tamil Tiger guerrilla camps after heavy fighting in the island's northeast, the military said Saturday.
Government forces have been steadily advancing into the remaining territory held by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the coastal district of Mullaittivu.
"Sri Lanka army Task Force Four operating in the Puthukkudiriruppu south yesterday captured two LTTE camps located in the area," a military statement said.
The military did not say if troops had suffered any casualties in the latest fighting.
Sri Lanka's army has said it hopes to crush remaining rebel resistance by April.
The Tigers have not commented on the fighting, but the pro-rebel Tamilnet.com website had accused the military of shelling civilians trapped inside rebel-held areas.
Tamils
Friday, January 23, 2009
Hamas and Iran: Re-Arming Together
In light of a couple articles posted on 1/24 - the world against Israel, the lack of friends Israel has ... in very simple terms, yet, I believe morally very clear terms - the world stands with Hamas when it opposes Israel for there are only two sides to this issue - the terrorists and killers among Hamas and those of Israel (as distinguished from individuals within the Israeli government who may or may not act in the best interests of Israel, which at all times is against groups like Hamas - understanding the role Israel had in the creation of Hamas). Roseanne Barr (she is a stand-in for every stupid liberal) has made it clear where she stands. The Europeans are also quite clear, although they can always be bribed to do the right thing. The UN never knows the right thing to do, but may do the right thing by accident. Hamas has never done the right thing.
Israel - she has acted on short-term best interests. Rarely long term and that is Israel's problem.
Two US warships escort Iranian ship carrying arms for Hamas out through Suez Canal
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report
January 23, 2009, 6:06 PM (GMT+02:00)
DEBKAfile's military sources report that a US Navy Coast Guard team this week boarded an Iranian arms ship flying a Cypriot flag in the Red Sea and found weapons in its hold.
This was the first time an America warship had ever intercepted an Iranian vessel in international water. The incident activated the Memo of Understanding the former US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice signed with Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni a week ago on actions to halt the flow of Iranian arms to Hamas as part of the Gaza ceasefire.
The Iranian ship's captain showed the US boarding team documents recording the Syrian port of Latakia as its cargo's destination. DEBKAfile reports that both US and Israeli intelligence are certain the arms were bound for Hamas. But according to international law, the US Navy's Combined Task Force (CTF) 151, set up last week to combat piracy, was not authorized to confiscate the cargo or stop the ship because no enforcement mechanism was yet in place.
After a few hours, therefore, the US force released the Iranian vessel and two warships escorted it out of Red Sea waters. The ship and its escort are due to enter the Suez Canal heading north Saturday night, Jan. 23, after being prevented from unloading its arms freight on the coast of Sinai or Gaza.
Tehran has so far not reacted to the incident.
DEBKAfile revealed last week that the new US task force policing the waters of the Gulf of Aden, Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean and Red Sea, under the command of Rear Adm. Terry McKnight, had been additionally assigned with intercepting Iranian ships smuggling arms for Hamas, often in conjunction with Somali pirates and Sinai Bedouin militias.
Massed on the lead ship San Antonio is a helicopter detachment, a "surgical team" for dealing with small speedboats trying to hem the ship in and 14 Navy VBSS members, including two Navy boarding officers. The Coast Guard detachment is made up of eight members, all of them qualified as boarding officers.
Israel
Hamas
Israel - she has acted on short-term best interests. Rarely long term and that is Israel's problem.
Two US warships escort Iranian ship carrying arms for Hamas out through Suez Canal
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report
January 23, 2009, 6:06 PM (GMT+02:00)
DEBKAfile's military sources report that a US Navy Coast Guard team this week boarded an Iranian arms ship flying a Cypriot flag in the Red Sea and found weapons in its hold.
This was the first time an America warship had ever intercepted an Iranian vessel in international water. The incident activated the Memo of Understanding the former US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice signed with Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni a week ago on actions to halt the flow of Iranian arms to Hamas as part of the Gaza ceasefire.
The Iranian ship's captain showed the US boarding team documents recording the Syrian port of Latakia as its cargo's destination. DEBKAfile reports that both US and Israeli intelligence are certain the arms were bound for Hamas. But according to international law, the US Navy's Combined Task Force (CTF) 151, set up last week to combat piracy, was not authorized to confiscate the cargo or stop the ship because no enforcement mechanism was yet in place.
After a few hours, therefore, the US force released the Iranian vessel and two warships escorted it out of Red Sea waters. The ship and its escort are due to enter the Suez Canal heading north Saturday night, Jan. 23, after being prevented from unloading its arms freight on the coast of Sinai or Gaza.
Tehran has so far not reacted to the incident.
DEBKAfile revealed last week that the new US task force policing the waters of the Gulf of Aden, Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean and Red Sea, under the command of Rear Adm. Terry McKnight, had been additionally assigned with intercepting Iranian ships smuggling arms for Hamas, often in conjunction with Somali pirates and Sinai Bedouin militias.
Massed on the lead ship San Antonio is a helicopter detachment, a "surgical team" for dealing with small speedboats trying to hem the ship in and 14 Navy VBSS members, including two Navy boarding officers. The Coast Guard detachment is made up of eight members, all of them qualified as boarding officers.
Israel
Hamas
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Global Warming: Yes. Carbon Trading: No
Al Gore - No. Global Warming: Yes.
Carbon Trading: Silly. Wind: Silly.
The foremost expert on our environment gave an interview to New Scientist.
Well worth reading
Some excerpts:
Carbon Trading with its huge government subsidies, is just what finance and industry wanted. It's not going to do a damn thing about climate change, but it'll make a lot of money for a lot of people ...
...to spoil all the decent countryside in the UK with wind farms is driving me mad. It's absolutely unnecessary, and it takes 2500 square kilometres to produce a gigawatt - that's an awful lot of countryside.
The biosphere pumps out 550 gigatonnes of carbon yearly; we put in only 30 gigatonnes.
**********************************
Worth reading what Dr. Lovelock has to say.
Carbon Trading: Silly. Wind: Silly.
The foremost expert on our environment gave an interview to New Scientist.
Well worth reading
Some excerpts:
Carbon Trading with its huge government subsidies, is just what finance and industry wanted. It's not going to do a damn thing about climate change, but it'll make a lot of money for a lot of people ...
...to spoil all the decent countryside in the UK with wind farms is driving me mad. It's absolutely unnecessary, and it takes 2500 square kilometres to produce a gigawatt - that's an awful lot of countryside.
The biosphere pumps out 550 gigatonnes of carbon yearly; we put in only 30 gigatonnes.
**********************************
Worth reading what Dr. Lovelock has to say.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Oil and Gas Prices
I admit, some things, some ideas, some 'things' are just beyond my ability to understand.
Gas use down.
US oil supplies higher than at any time, ever.
World oil use, down.
Oil cost per barrel, down.
Gas prices - UP
I understand there are complicated naswers that include refineries and shipping and ... I don't care. Oil is cheaper than it has been in 15 years and our gas prices should be at the same level or very close. I am figuring, somewhere around 90 cents, even $1 would be fine. I would even accept $1.25. What the oil companies have done, if it is not intentional, was brilliant.
Force us to tolerate, accept and psychologically embrace the $4.50 per gallon, then lower it, but never go as low - thereby keeping profits higher and adding to government coffers while still much lower than the $4.50.
Hang them all until the prices fall.
Gasoline price plunge pushes consumer prices down
Jan 16 12:08 PM US/EasternBy MARTIN CRUTSINGERAP Economics Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - A record plunge in gasoline prices pushed overall consumer prices down for the third straight month in December, closing out a year in which inflation rose at the slowest rate in more than a half-century.
Concerns remain low about possible deflation, but represent a marked change from just six months ago when soaring energy prices threatened to trigger a widening inflation problem that many analysts believed the Federal Reserve would have to fight by raising interest rates.
The Labor Department said Friday that consumer prices dropped 0.7 percent in December, slightly smaller than the 0.9 percent drop economists expected.
For the year, consumer prices edged up by just 0.1 percent, down from 4.1 percent in 2007 and the smallest annual change since consumer prices actually fell by 0.7 percent in 1954. The big yearly improvement occurred because of the sizable declines in energy prices in recent months.
Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core inflation was unchanged in December. For the year, it rose a moderate 1.8 percent, compared with a 2.4 percent increase for all of 2007.
Price pressures have eased as the recession intensified. Further evidence of the slowdown came Friday in a separate report from the Federal Reserve showing that production at the nation's factories, mines and utilities plunged 2 percent in December, capping the worst year for manufacturers since 2001. Last month's drop, double the amount analysts expected, came after a 1.3 percent decline in November, which was even sharper than initially reported.
For all of last year, industrial production declined 1.8 percent, a sharp reversal from the 1.7 percent increase logged in 2007. It marked the worst showing since a 3.4 percent decline in 2001, when the country last suffered through a recession.
For December, gasoline prices fell by 17.2 percent, the largest monthly decline on records that go back 71 years.
Overall energy prices also dropped by record 8.3 percent as home heating oil and natural gas showed declines.
For 2008, energy prices fell 21.3 percent, with gas costs tumbling by 43.1 percent. Food costs were unchanged in December, and rose 5.8 percent for all of last year.
But some large foodmakers have been raising their prices to offset input costs that reached records highs last summer, and it's not clear how much, if at all, those will drop as ingredient costs moderate.
Kellogg Co., the world's leading maker of breakfast cereals, has been increasing the price of its products, like Frosted Flakes, and competitors with less market share have followed suit, UBS analyst David Palmer. The "substantial pricing action" Kellogg took gives it wiggle room to promote, and play with pricing, as input costs come down, he wrote in a note to clients Friday.
Food companies that have raised prices are better positioned this year because if they have to lower them to match price drops by private label competitors trying to entice shoppers to switch to lower-cost brands, it won't hurt their profit margins as much, analysts said.
Kellogg's most recent pricing action was announced in the fall. Starting next week, there will be low-to-mid single digit percentage price increases on Pop-Tarts and the bulk of the Battle Creek, Mich.-based company's cereal brands, but not All-Bran or Special K.
The sizable slowdown in overall inflation last year gave consumers more spending power. Average weekly earnings, after adjusting for inflation, rose 2.9 percent last year, a big improvement from 2007 when average weekly earnings fell 1 percent, the government's CPI report showed on Friday.
However, the typical household may not feel those benefits as they watch the value of their homes and stock holdings plunge, and see job layoffs soar.
The big declines in overall prices in recent months came after soaring energy and food prices in early 2008. But the worst financial crisis since the 1930s sent the economy into a tailspin in the fall. The Fed is now focused on trying to ensure the financial turmoil does not push the country into a severe and prolonged recession.
gasoline
Gas use down.
US oil supplies higher than at any time, ever.
World oil use, down.
Oil cost per barrel, down.
Gas prices - UP
I understand there are complicated naswers that include refineries and shipping and ... I don't care. Oil is cheaper than it has been in 15 years and our gas prices should be at the same level or very close. I am figuring, somewhere around 90 cents, even $1 would be fine. I would even accept $1.25. What the oil companies have done, if it is not intentional, was brilliant.
Force us to tolerate, accept and psychologically embrace the $4.50 per gallon, then lower it, but never go as low - thereby keeping profits higher and adding to government coffers while still much lower than the $4.50.
Hang them all until the prices fall.
Gasoline price plunge pushes consumer prices down
Jan 16 12:08 PM US/EasternBy MARTIN CRUTSINGERAP Economics Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - A record plunge in gasoline prices pushed overall consumer prices down for the third straight month in December, closing out a year in which inflation rose at the slowest rate in more than a half-century.
Concerns remain low about possible deflation, but represent a marked change from just six months ago when soaring energy prices threatened to trigger a widening inflation problem that many analysts believed the Federal Reserve would have to fight by raising interest rates.
The Labor Department said Friday that consumer prices dropped 0.7 percent in December, slightly smaller than the 0.9 percent drop economists expected.
For the year, consumer prices edged up by just 0.1 percent, down from 4.1 percent in 2007 and the smallest annual change since consumer prices actually fell by 0.7 percent in 1954. The big yearly improvement occurred because of the sizable declines in energy prices in recent months.
Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core inflation was unchanged in December. For the year, it rose a moderate 1.8 percent, compared with a 2.4 percent increase for all of 2007.
Price pressures have eased as the recession intensified. Further evidence of the slowdown came Friday in a separate report from the Federal Reserve showing that production at the nation's factories, mines and utilities plunged 2 percent in December, capping the worst year for manufacturers since 2001. Last month's drop, double the amount analysts expected, came after a 1.3 percent decline in November, which was even sharper than initially reported.
For all of last year, industrial production declined 1.8 percent, a sharp reversal from the 1.7 percent increase logged in 2007. It marked the worst showing since a 3.4 percent decline in 2001, when the country last suffered through a recession.
For December, gasoline prices fell by 17.2 percent, the largest monthly decline on records that go back 71 years.
Overall energy prices also dropped by record 8.3 percent as home heating oil and natural gas showed declines.
For 2008, energy prices fell 21.3 percent, with gas costs tumbling by 43.1 percent. Food costs were unchanged in December, and rose 5.8 percent for all of last year.
But some large foodmakers have been raising their prices to offset input costs that reached records highs last summer, and it's not clear how much, if at all, those will drop as ingredient costs moderate.
Kellogg Co., the world's leading maker of breakfast cereals, has been increasing the price of its products, like Frosted Flakes, and competitors with less market share have followed suit, UBS analyst David Palmer. The "substantial pricing action" Kellogg took gives it wiggle room to promote, and play with pricing, as input costs come down, he wrote in a note to clients Friday.
Food companies that have raised prices are better positioned this year because if they have to lower them to match price drops by private label competitors trying to entice shoppers to switch to lower-cost brands, it won't hurt their profit margins as much, analysts said.
Kellogg's most recent pricing action was announced in the fall. Starting next week, there will be low-to-mid single digit percentage price increases on Pop-Tarts and the bulk of the Battle Creek, Mich.-based company's cereal brands, but not All-Bran or Special K.
The sizable slowdown in overall inflation last year gave consumers more spending power. Average weekly earnings, after adjusting for inflation, rose 2.9 percent last year, a big improvement from 2007 when average weekly earnings fell 1 percent, the government's CPI report showed on Friday.
However, the typical household may not feel those benefits as they watch the value of their homes and stock holdings plunge, and see job layoffs soar.
The big declines in overall prices in recent months came after soaring energy and food prices in early 2008. But the worst financial crisis since the 1930s sent the economy into a tailspin in the fall. The Fed is now focused on trying to ensure the financial turmoil does not push the country into a severe and prolonged recession.
gasoline
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