15 Day until Inauguration - Secretary of State Clinton needs a quick 'up tick' to her nomination.

A menacing danger to the USA takes place with a transition to power. Iran being the solely Shi'ite Nation will look for any and all weaknesses in the USA Defense Department to exploit and move forward an agenda of its own.

It currently is seeking to stabilize its oil prices to 'buffer' the effects of International Sanctions. Iraq is primarily a Shi'ite nation and seeks those alliances. The provinces will split. I don't believe it can be stopped and any US Secretary of State has to be prepared to confront that reality, right Joe Biden?

Al Maliki during his meeting with Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Tehran on Saturday. (click here title to entry - thank you)

UPDATE 1-Iran budget to be based on oil price of $37.5-report (click here)

Sun Jan 4, 2009 1:09pm GMT

TEHRAN, Jan 4 (Reuters) - Iran's 2009-10 budget is expected to be based on an oil price of $37.5 per barrel, a "logical" level in view of last year's price fall, Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari was quoted as saying on Sunday.
An Iranian newspaper last month said the government and a parliament committee had an initial agreement to base the budget starting in March on an oil price of $45, lower than previously suggested.
"The price of oil in next year's budget has been envisaged at $37.5 (per barrel) which seems to be a logical price considering the drop in prices," Nozari was quoted as saying by the semi-official Mehr News Agency....

Iran says OPEC plans emergency meeting in February (click here)
3 hours ago
TEHRAN,Iran (AP) — Iran's state television says OPEC countries have decided to hold an extraordinary meeting on falling oil prices in Kuwait in February.
The Monday report quotes Iran's OPEC governor, Mohammad Ali Khatibi, as saying the organization planned to hold a regular meeting in March. But he says the "trend of oil prices" calls for holding a meeting a month earlier.
Khatibi says the exact date for the meeting is not fixed and members of Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries haven't received an invitation, yet.
Iran supports a reduction of oil production to increase oil prices, which provide some 80 percent of its foreign revenue.
The price of oil has plunged from $147 a barrel in July to around $40.

Everyone getting the picture yet? Governor Richardson was also President of the National Governor's Association.

It's a shame that yet another scandal has emerged involving Democrats. If the trend continues, voters may soon forget why they voted out all those Republicans. That is, until they're reminded of the war in Iraq, the gas price spike, and loss of civil rights under Bush, or so I would like to think. (click title to entry - thank you)


The Republicans are desperate and Bush/Cheney are pulling strings all over the nation with 'ANY' potential 'slighting' of Democrats. The Illinois Governor is the same exact 'motive.' Bush/Cheney and their Homeland Security Secretary Chertoff are inappropriately using their powers to play political games to cause fear and regret in the electorate. It is the only tool they have and I guarantee you IF there are any grounds for this investigation, Richardson knew nothing about it.


This is going to be a chronic problem and I have yet to see a Republican ANYWHERE be investigated to disaffect their re-election in 2008 or pending future election.


The Executive Branch currently 'occupying' the White House is scared. They talk tough and act as though they have legitimate grounds to carry out any 'nasty' agenda they want, GOING FORWARD. The 'remnants' of the Republican Party still in the House and Senate will continue to attempt to do NOTHING but derail the new administration and seek to defeat any progress the Democratic majorities put forward.


The Republicans don't care about the country, they care about their political power that leads to their money. They are scared because of what is yet to be discovered from their administration and the potential international consequences. It is why everyone needs to be careful that the current conflict between Israel and Hamas remains contained. Bush, at some level is hoping it isn't and he'll be able (under a Patriot Act Provision) continue in a third term. THAT reality has Vladimir Putin more than intrigued as his return as well.

The Republicans are also witnessing the 'self-destruction' of their party. The election in Georgia was a joke, every member of the party had to be there to 'pheonix' the election. Even the RNC Chair. Hello, America? Why continue with such hideous choices and just reclaim the country. Chambliss is an OLD world and OLD war Republican.


Speaking of money...something occurred to me while watching Tom Cruise's Valkyrie last night (click here). As a side note, Cruise gave a 'great' performance, it is a great film of men sincerely 'sick and tired' of a dictator that was leading THEIR Germany DOWN the "W"rong path, discovering the concentration camps and the continued genocide.



But, what occurred to Germany's Old Deutsche Mark after WW I (currently Euro) was its lose of value. I don't believe the USA will achieve that degree of difficulty in today's markets, but, what needs to be examined by international agencies is the 'unilateral' slide of the currencies across the globe with the 'BUSH PANIC' surrounding the collapse of the American Banking Network. By all right, the USA Dollar should have 'tanked.' The sincere sovereignty of the USA should have come into question while military armaments globally were unable to be secured in their capacity due to the lack of capacity of the US Dollar to achieve markets for supplies.

That didn't occur.

I don't buy it that the 'emergency' in the USA Banking System was a surprise so much as a 'front' to a 'plan' to sink currency globally in intricately laced 'fiscal' dependancies. What I believe occurred was corruption within the Executive Branch to cause devaluation globally and seek to 'sink' currencies while exorbitant budgets were put forward in the USA.


Strategically, the global currency and their relationship to the USA Dollar should have and in many instances, ie: Pakistan and Ukraine, challenge the sovereignty of most other governments, WHILE, primarily 'one entity' - namely Goldman Saks survived the day. IN THAT survival they now 'free handedly' serve global investors with advise as to where and how to place their investments. That advise LACKS 'trustworthiness' in realizing the source and its relationship to the US Treasury.

Bottom line is that the USA 'has to' recover its economy to prevent 'the rise' of another and riskier Right Wing Republican Neocon in any aspect of its government. By the Republicans seeking now to destroy 'Democratic Political Estates' they are attempting to weaken the resolve of the Obama Administration while destroying Democrat (LIBERALS) reputation to replace them with new faces and of course a new strategy (Contract with America Stuff).

The problem with the current and somewhat 'catering' of the Obama Transition Administration and its leaning toward Governor's agendas for an Economic Stimulus, is that the Republicans in seeking 'weakness' will exploit that and turn the Obama Economic Stimulus into the Rove Economic Stimulus. What will emerge is the Republican agenda for the USA and its lack of 'regulatory capacity' will be reigned in through 'W'rong headed direction of funds to the tune of $750 billion.


Obama cannot forget he is the President of "Change" in a country that has been held hostage to war, environmental demise and greed. He has to maintain the integrity of his country and his promise and the future of Americans at every turn.

Quite frankly, the Democratic Party is under seige!

Israel and the United Nations should consider building 'secure access to aid' behind the Israeli 'military lines'

U.S. Government Contributes $85 million to UNRWA (click here)
The U.S. Department of State announced today a contribution of $85 million to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). Of this, $25 million will support the emergency needs of Palestinian refugees in Gaza and the West Bank via UNRWA's 2009 Emergency Appeal. Another $60 million will support UNRWA's General Fund....

Mars rovers roll on to five years - An ? economic ? space program? Hm.

Durable, reusable equipment. Too good to be true.

A 'design idea' that has more merit than just Rovers.

Materials and Engineering that actually lasts longer than their perscribed use. Nice.

Of course the 'weather' on Mars is kinder to anything built on Earth. So long as they don't need 'shade' that is.

..."These rovers are incredibly resilient considering the extreme environment the hardware experiences every day," said John Callas, project manager for Spirit and Opportunity at Nasa's Jet Propulsion laboratory in Pasadena, California.
"We realise that a major rover component on either vehicle could fail at any time and end a mission with no advance notice, but on the other hand, we could accomplish the equivalent duration of four more prime missions on each rover in the year ahead."...

16 Days until Inauguration

In this Nov. 16, 2008 file photo, Rev. Dean Snyder speaks to his congregation at the Foundry United Methodist Church during a service, in Washington. The church will contribute to a collection of sermons and orations relating to the 2009 presidential inauguration, being gathered by the Library of Congress. (AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez, File)

"...The folks at the library's American Folklife Center (click title to entry - thank you) are soliciting churches, synagogues, mosques and others for copies of sermons or passionate speeches that focus on the significance of the Jan. 20 inauguration of Obama as the country's first black president...."

17 Days until Inauguration - Amid the Turmoil, we have a celebration. Michelle Obama is about to make history.

It's no exaggeration to say that any American designer would be thrilled to create an inaugural gown for Michelle Obama. The dress she wears to the official balls will be enshrined in history. If tradition holds, it will be donated to the First Ladies Collection at the National Museum of American History to hang alongside gowns worn by Eleanor Roosevelt, Nancy Reagan and Hillary Clinton....(click title to entry - thank you)

The Current Leaders SAFELY residing in The West Bank and other provinces of Palestine need to realize Israel was the first strike...

...and they were to be the second and not the last. Hamas has grand ideas, that defeating and capturing Israel would lead to greater access to advanced weapons. No one is safe, especially the current leadership of Palestine.

Abbas and Erekat need to advocate for their people, but, Hamas needs to be disarmed. Erekat takes the position that this is some kind of gross misjustice to Hamas and the people under their control. This isn't injustice, it is necessary. If Hamas has its way there will be no Erekat in the way of their ambitions. They aren't reasonable.

Erekat: Abbas heads to New York soon (click title to entry)
www.chinaview.cn

2009-01-02

23:32:33
RAMALLAH, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat announced that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas would leave later on Friday with other Arab leaders for New York to discuss the situation in the Gaza Strip.
"President Abbas will head to News York with other Arab leaders to achieve an Arab consensus to oblige Israel to achieve an unconditioned immediate stop of the offensive on Gaza," Erekat told reporters in Ramallah....

Two Russian planes arrive in Moscow with Gaza evacuees (click here)
11:21
03/ 01/ 2009
MOSCOW, January 3 (RIA Novosti) - Two planes carrying Russian and CIS nationals, evacuated from the Gaza Strip following Israeli airstrikes, have arrived in Moscow, the emergencies ministry said on Saturday.
The two flights carrying 102 Russians and 76 nationals from Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Moldavia were evacuated from Gaza by bus on Friday and taken to Jordan for the onward flights to Moscow.
Some 250 Russians, mainly the wives and children of Palestinians who studied at Russian universities, live in the Gaza Strip.
Israel began a massive air offensive on Gaza last Saturday in what it called "an all-out war" against the Islamic militant group Hamas which controls Gaza.
Some 403 Palestinians have been killed in the airstrikes, with over 2,000 injured.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev earlier instructed the Foreign Ministry to provide aid to Russians in Gaza and evacuate them if necessary amid Israel's air offensive on the region.

Death toll from Israeli airstrikes on Gaza rises to 440 (click here)
17:44
03/ 01/ 2009
BEIRUT, January 3 (RIA Novosti) - The death toll from Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip rose to 440 Palestinians with some 2,285 people injured as the conflict entered its second week, Lebanon's Al-Manar TV reported on Saturday.
Over the past week Israel's controversial bombing campaign has destroyed more than 750 facilities in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, which according to Israel were connected to terrorist activities.
In response Palestinian militants launched 500 rockets on Israeli border towns killing four people.
Analysts believe that Israel is preparing to launch a ground assault on the Gaza Strip amid concerns of a humanitarian catastrophe in the densely-populated region.
Robert Serry, UN special coordinator for the Middle East said on Friday "We are gravely concerned" that a ground operation "would just mean another cycle of violence and a further escalation of the conflict. "It is absolutely imperative now that we find an immediate and lasting way out to avoid an even deeper and deadlier conflict," he said.
The Russian embassy in Egypt said on Saturday some 60 tons of humanitarian aid, including foodstuffs, medicine, bedding and tents, had been delivered to the Gaza Strip.
And two flights carrying 102 Russians and 76 nationals from Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Moldavia evacuated from Gaza Friday arrived in Moscow earlier on Saturday.
Some 250 Russians, mainly the wives and children of Palestinians who studied at Russian universities, live in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas 'rockets' weren't firecrackers as some would like to report.

The rockets Hamas was firing reached to Tel Aviv. They were medium range rockets believed to be manufactured in China. The misinformation that is supposed to raise sympathy for Hamas in Gaza should not exist.

Jan 1, 2009 1:13

Updated Jan 1, 2009 11:15
Latest rockets manufactured in China (click here)

By YAAKOV KATZ
The Grad-model Katyusha rockets that were fired into Beersheba on Wednesday were manufactured in China and smuggled into Gaza after the Sinai border wall was blown up by Hamas in January, defense officials said.

The Chinese rockets have a range of 40 kilometers. They are very similar to the 122 mm Soviet-made Katyusha that was used extensively by Hizbullah during the Second Lebanon War and are slightly more sophisticated than an Iranian-made Grad-model Katyusha that is also in Hamas's arsenal.
The four rockets that hit Beersheba this week were filled with metal balls that can scatter up to 100 meters from the impact site, officials said. These rockets have also been fired into Ashkelon and Ashdod.
The three countries that manufacture Grad-model Katyushas are China, Russia and Bulgaria....

The laws of conspiracy and solicitation are being 'politically spun' in DC to force a non-issue to appear criminal.

The opposition to any of the charges in the Blagojevich Case stems in 'Freedom of Speech' as opposed to 'spun laws' by the US Attorney.

The reason Homeland Security decided to 'help out' was to try to prove a 'long term' trend in the methodologies of a supposed maniacal Governor and staff.

The charges are contrived WITHOUT the 'reality' of the political culture at work and NO ONE works in a vacuum at any level.

What any 'illegal' or 'legal' wiretaps prove in this case is an oppressive political culture that demands 'certain' behaviors of their leaders to maintain their political status / 'estates.'

The 'idea' of conspiracy and solicitation in this application are unclear and can be easily appealed.

Someone demanded files of 'illegal wiretaps' to be purged to Fitzgerald's office.

The problem here is not so much the players as the culture. None of the political leadership from Illinois has proven to be adverse to their constituency. It is the 'political culture' that is in question and while someone like Jesse Jackson, Jr. tried to impune the political machine of Illinois (Which as a bad rap from the OLD Mayor Richard Daley Days) by 'chronic complaints to federal prosecutors, there has never been solid evidence of same.

By the way, the NAACP has taken no overt stand on the assignment of Burris to the Senate and that is simply wrong and politically protective through isolation. (click here)

Neither has The Urban League, but, they are pushing for the 'Simulus' to support its interests. (click here)

This is such a 'hot issue' that no one wants to touch it and if it weren't for the 'solid and simple resolve' of Rod Blagojevich there would be no approach of the subject. It is my opinion that everyone thinks this taints the Obama Presidency. The opposite is true. The stronger the rights of people under Due Process the stronger the Democracy.

That said.

Just a note about "The Daley Days" to add some 'reason' to the irrational 'environment' currently.

The political culture of the USA has developed over time, no different than its technologies and economies. 'Back in the Day' there were all sorts of 'political machines,' including those in Tammany Hall. There were strong holds of 'ethnicities' as well across the country in places like Boston and the Irish, hence, expressions such as "Paddy Wagon (a common Irish shortening of Patrick). There have been and still exist, primarily today in the South, political machines based in 'regional economics' such as the Oil Barrons of Texas and Tobacco Kings of North Carolina now replaced with Hog and Chicken Factory Farms, etc.

I don't really care how insulting this entry is to the 'idea' of a corrupt free America. It wasn't and there are very good reasons why it wasn't.

Until recent decades the Civil Rights of anyone other than 'in power' entities were violated through exploitation of differences in 'religious and ethnic culture.' In the South, there was frank racism and in greater degrees than the North. Recent demonstrations of the 'continued' existance of racism is the dragging death in Texas and exploitive release of a Racist in South Carolina, the continued presence of the Confederate Flag, etc.

Those are overt examples and better recalled due to the higher incidence of deaths, demonstrations and punitive laws. But, in decades past and after immigration was a profound reality in the days of Ellis Island, the 'minority ethnicities' coming from Europe met with bigotry and discrimination that forced them into poverty. Their promise of an America paved in gold was diminished, but, they submitted to survive as to return to any oppression they left would be just as bad, if not worse. Oppression of this nature, no matter the decade including today, 'creates' a 'cheap work force' and hence it does today.

People disempowered from political stature because of the 'iconology' of 'the times' didn't have a say and in many instances a vote to change their circumstances. Hence, 'political machines' developed following the assent to power by 'occassionally pleasing' candidates. The corruption existed, but, it existed to raise an ethnicity out of poverty and empower the populous that was suffering. With that came 'moral legitimacy' of a 'political machine' and what occurred was media permission for corruption through legitimaizing of it and/or ridicule BUT without political clout. To be outside 'the political structure' for news media was to cause demise of same and HENCE everyone 'learned' how to survive within such a structure.

Now. About the current 'Illinois issue.'

Let me add this entry of a very different 'tone' as a reference to the current 'trend' to defame Rod Blagojevich:

Remarks by Secretary Ridge at Chicago TOPOFF Press Conference (click here)

Release Date: 05/15/03 00:00:00
For Immediate ReleaseOffice of the Press SecretaryMay 15, 2003
Thank you, Governor Blagojevich. Good afternoon. On Monday of this week, the Department of Homeland Security launched a five-day, full-scale national exercise in Chicago and Seattle to measure and analyze our nation's response to a mock terrorist attack.
Let me start off by complimenting Mayor Daley and Governor Blagojevich for the strong leadership they have provided to the people of Chicago during these exercises. The City of Chicago has an excellent reputation in the preparedness community, and we appreciate the City's willingness to test these capabilities before a national audience. Although a thorough analysis of the exercises will be done in the coming weeks, I am pleased to say that our initial assessment is that the City has performed well under the difficult circumstances it was presented with over the past few days....

Regrettably what surrounds young Black, Democratic leaders such as the current President-Elect, Representative Jesse Jackson, Jr., the current appointment of Roland Burris (age 71) and the current Governor of Illinois, Mr. Caucasian Rod Blagojevich; is a 'cultural' inheritance that only ended when the former Mayor Daley ended his last term. Actually, it lived beyond Daley for awhile.

Richard Daley was in office a long time, from 1955 through 1976. He was elected four times to office. His administration had plenty of issues and I am not going into them here, but, what is important is that 'the culture' to some extent, especially, 'the language' still exists. If you want to indulge in the 'exploration' of how deeply seated a 'cultural language' can sustain, then do it on your own, but, there still lingers in Illiniois a political iconology that demands 'tough talking' politics and those that can 'take the heat.' The 'icon' is all left over from the Daley Days regardless of whom does not want to admit it.

Now, in regard to 'slights' by authority. I don't doubt Governor Rod Blagojevich has said many 'crude' things and may have even implied one needs to enter his 'favor' in order to receive appointments. He might have even said such things to Jesse Jackson, Jr. as a 'slight' to separate his 'political territory' from that of Jackson's.

Political territories are a 'reality' in this political environment and we are seeing same transferred to national politics through media exploitation of a 'perhaps' bigger issue. There is no larger issue. This is the 'remants' of an old political culture. All the political leaders that have 'grown up' within this political culture have survived, but, have been tainted in some way or another even if it were by Preachers that behave badly.

Political territories have 'invisible' dynamics that need to be respected to survive the day. How one manuevers through them can be interesting and the 'slights' by authority result in 'in fighting' and 'slandering' in order to 'protect' one's interests. Political territories come with financial support as well as 'grassroots' involvement and brings all kinds of 'should and should nots.'

In Illinois as we have witnessed between the State Attorney General Madigan (Is she married without taking her married name for the sake of political recognition. I didn't look to see if she is married.) and Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan a kinship. It is a family that has risen to power in Illinois not dissimilar than other familes across this country, but, it is also a family that through the Attorney General's over reaching has proven to be 'power players' and 'power abusers.' Definately a separate political territory from any other Democratic entity within Illinois.

Governor Rod Blagojevich has done nothing wrong. He made statements, in this case, under sincere pressure that actually tainted his power as Governor. I still say, there should have been no 'looking over the shoulder' at his old Senate seat by Obama. There is a certain arrogance that precedes the 'idea' that Obama should call for his replacement. That is not the case. It is not within his authority and quite frankly he was a resigning US Senator, so he really had no authority at all EXCEPT for some 'political clout' that attempted to force Blagojevich to submit to Obama's supposed preference.

I am quite certain that Governor Blagojevich in his verbalizations recoded on illegal wiretaps (It has always been stated that 'legal' wiretaps by Homeland Security wasn't to involve the 'interior' of the country, but, was for 'foreign monitoring that reached into the interior of the country to complete the wiretap.' Hence, Homeland Security's involvement is illegal and exploitive, espescially on the grounds of 'power politics' of existing political territories in the Oval Office and the grounds of privacy.) stated many things, but, only to assist in proving he was still in control of his political territory. That is all this is and Fitzgerald has NO CASE.

Oh, one other thing.

Not to be overlooked.

There is always this 'under tone' to Republicans that demand descriptions of bigot, rasicst and bias. It's true. Republicans frequently like to 'draw on' OLD STEREOTYPES to support their base and propel others into favoring them politically by exploiting old realities. It is not uncommon for bigotry, bias and racism to be conducted with known stereotypes that support a hostile social and political environment.

Hello, America!

ACLU Reaffirms Opposition To Unconstitutional FBI Guidelines (click here)

(9/17/2008)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: (202) 675-2312, media@dcaclu.org or

(212) 549-2666, media@aclu.org
WASHINGTON, DC – Following testimony before both the House and Senate Judiciary Committees this week, FBI Director Robert Mueller failed to dispel unease regarding new internal FBI guidelines governing investigations. Yesterday and today, members of both committees sought reassurances that the guidelines – which give overly broad authorities to agents – would not be abused by the bureau. Director Mueller said the guidelines would not be rewritten to include more safeguards but that protections would instead be written into overarching FBI policies.
Under the revised guidelines, FBI agents no longer need “factual predication” to use paid informers, spy on a person’s activities or engage in other types of intrusive surveillance; all that will be necessary is a hypothetical “threat.” The American Civil Liberties Union remains gravely concerned that this controversial change opens the door to racial profiling as someone’s race, religion or ethnic background could be used as a factor in opening an investigation....

Former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris, shown here, is reportedly Gov. Rod Blagojevich's pick to succeed Barack Obama in the Senate.

Let's Pretend this isn't a Racial Issue. A qualified candidate and the US Senate seeks to stop it? What would you call it?

There are no other Black Americans in the Senate and if this nominee isn't accepted there is no guarantee there will be either. That is incredible to realize, that we now have our first African American President and no Senators.

WOW ! That is nothing to be proud of, either.

..."The citizens of Illinois will not be fully represented if Senator-Designate Burris' appointment is blocked," according to Burris' latest motion filed today (A PDF of Burris' court filing).
"Failure of this court to act very quickly would deprive (Burris) and the citizens of Illinois of the representation to which they are entitled" under the U.S. Constitution, according to the motion. "Such failure may also result in an unlawful exercise of authority by (White) in allowing him to, in effect, block the lawful exercise of appointment by the governor of Illinois."
Also today, an attorney for Burris sent a letter to the Senate Democratic leadership asking them to "acknowledge his right to serve and grant him the same privileges as other incoming Senators."...

The Bush White House keeps doing 'their thing.' They currently have a US Attorney with a case to weak to take to court that insures the Defendant with a 'timely trial' and now they have acted to impune the safety of Illinois citizens to inflame the circumstances of a still legally seated Governor.

Where are the 'VALID' reasons that justify the actions of Homeland Security. There needs to be EVIDENCE that a state Governor has violated Homeland Security protocols to take 'security rights' away from citizens. This is outrageous and needs to be moved to the US Supreme Court as soon as possible. Citizen rights are on the line with a hostile, angry, lame duck and extremist administration still in the Executive Branch.

It is scare tactics to unit the people of Illinois against their freely elected Governor. It might be a methodology to destroy the minority influence that propelled Obama into a Presidency.

The Republicans and wrongly ambitious Democrats are playing with fire here. The Illiniois Governor is proceeding with his responsibilities and yet abuse of power continues to attempt to remove an elected Governor without clearly indictable evidence. It is outrageous to say the least.

There is a lot wrong with these circumstances and they don't all belong to Governor Rod Blagojevich. There are Illinois Democrats that will eventually be replaced due to their indiscriminate use of power without conscience to the rights of all involved here under the US Constitution.

I don't know. I sincerely don't like the racial undertones to the consequences of the actions taken by any authority with ONLY a complaint that struggles to keep its allogations afloat. This seems like an assault against the Constitution and Democracy. It is way outside the parameters of Due Process.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Bush and Cheney went to war in Iraq for oil, they'll do anything.

It's unfortunate this has become such a media frenzy for attention to a subject that has little to do with governing so much as a political circus. THAT, by the way, is what 'insures' any political corruption and its processes. Media circuses that INFLUENCE the electorate to MAINTAIN 'control' of the outcome of voting preferences insures leanings in power structures. It 'permits' corruption within a Democracy.

It is why Bush is always 'high profile.' It maintains influence on the electorate.

Blagojevich loses classified security access (click here)

January 2, 2009 at 9:21 PM
Officials today said the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has revoked Gov. Rod Blagojevich's access to classified federal security information.
Blagojevich spokesman Lucio Guerrero tonight called the move "pretty standard procedure." He says there are still a number of other state officials with access.
Also today, Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan said he is calling lawmakers back to Springfield next week for a possible vote on impeaching Blagojevich.
The Illinois Emergency Management Agency received a memo about Homeland Security's decision on Dec. 9, the day Blagojevich was arrested, said IEMA spokeswoman Patti Thompson. The memo was brief and did not include a reason for the action.
Thompson said that the head of the Illinois State Police and Illinois Emergency Management Agency have access to federal security intelligence and could relay it to the governor.
Homeland Security spokeswoman Amy Kudwa confirmed the revocation. But she declined to comment further....

Bad month for Microsoft and Google

Written by Iain Thomson in San Francisco
vnunet.com, 02 Jan 2009
The latest data on browser market share indicates that Mozilla has broken the 20 per cent barrier in worldwide adoption.
Data collected by Net Applications showed Firefox’s November market share was 20.78 per cent, with Microsoft’s Internet explorer falling below 70 per cent fore the first time. Google’s Chrome browser was used by less than one per cent of the internet population.
Mozilla's chief executive John Lilly said: “Reaching 20 percent worldwide market share is a significant milestone for Firefox and Mozilla.”
“It's a huge achievement by the global Mozilla community, one that just a few years ago most would have considered impossible. The open web is more vibrant than ever, and the thousands of Mozilla contributors around the world have played a major role in making it that way.”
Apple’s Safari browser was used by over seven per cent of internet sessions....

An Escalating Revolution - Bare Feet

Thousands of shoes litter Palmetto Expressway (click title to entry - thank you)

...A mountain of those thousands of used shoes is now somewhere in northern Miami-Dade County, and Florida Highway Patrol officials are distributing them to local and national nonprofits that promise to give them to the poor.
No witnesses have yet come forward to explain just how thousands of shoes appeared at 7:42 a.m. on the southbound lanes of the busy highway between the Bird Road and Miller Drive exits.
Some think a truck's doors simply burst open, allowing its massive shipment to scatter across the concrete. Others suggest an intricate prank, much like the one pulled off by thieves who returned a statue stolen from the West Palm Beach home of Bernard Madoff.
And others consider it a protest against President Bush, a reference to his recent shoe-dodging experience in Iraq.
Whatever the case, several nonprofits were invited to pick up as many shoes as they could carry from the stack that the Florida Highway Patrol was keeping in northern Miami-Dade....

Wikipedia reaches 6-million-dollar fundraising target

...Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales said more than 125,000 people had donated a total of four million dollars since he made an appeal for funds on July 1....

The FDIC is the only agency that knows what they are doing. They always have. Forget US Treasury.

Mnuchin, Paulson & Co. in Group Buying IndyMac Bank (Update1) (click title to entry - thank you)
By Zachary R. Mider and Ian Katz
Jan. 2 (Bloomberg) -- A group including Steven Mnuchin of Dune Capital Management LP and firms run by hedge-fund manager John Paulson and J. Christopher Flowers agreed to acquire IndyMac Bank from the U.S. and inject $1.3 billion in cash into the failed lender, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said.
Mnuchin’s group controls IMB Management Holdings LP, a thrift holding company that includes J.C. Flowers & Co., Paulson & Co., MSD Capital LP and Stone Point Capital, the FDIC said in a statement today. The FDIC agreed a month ago to let private investor groups without bank charters bid for failing lenders after a financial crisis wiped out 25 institutions in 2008 and may threaten at least 171 more.
“This is really in some respects, the first step toward finding a bottom for a lot of these assets,” Michael Yoshikami, the president of YCMNet Advisors in Walnut Creek, California, said in an interview Dec. 30.
Mnuchin, 46, a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. executive vice president who worked on the purchase, will become chairman and chief executive officer of IndyMac’s new holding company, the agency said. Mnuchin founded Dune with former colleagues from Goldman Sachs Group Inc., David Neidich and Chip Seelig after a stint at billionaire George Soros’ hedge fund. Dune’s investments included stakes in Viacom Inc.’s DreamWorks LLC film library, and the 802-room Hyatt Regency hotel in San Francisco....

Will Obama 'sell out' his administration to others completely?

When people smell 'easy money' they just go 'on vacation' thinking they can resurrect a destroyed economy all by themselves.

A $1 trillion dollar 'bailout' for stated, called a stimulus?

No.

...A group of influential Democratic governors (click title to entry - thank you) that includes Deval Patrick is pressing the federal government for a $1 trillion stimulus package for the states over the next two years that would contain $250 billion for education in an effort to avoid inflicting irreversible damage to schools during a fiscal crisis....

There is no fixing a country destroyed by decades of Republican Conservative influence and eight years of complete destruction of the USA infrastructure.

The 'influence' of Governors can't be 'catered to' in the face of REAL CHANGE in the country. If Barak Obama doesn't deliver change to this country while providing mass transit, alternate energies and 'carbon dioxide free' cars then what good is any stimulus to a dying planet? The fact of the matter is that while Governors have their own ideas for 'their own change' selling out to them to allow them to 'lead' the way isn't leadership at all.

There is nothing wrong with assisting states to change their infrastructure while building high speed magnetic rail to link the country. In doing same, jobs will be created and long term employment can be assured. Changing the infrastructure of the USA to stop its carbon dioxide emissions can't be sacrificed for ideas that simply 'seem' like a good idea.

Everyone is asking for too many concessions to rebuilding the country. The USA Dollar has to be supported along the way. Additionally, the jobs that are created/saved have to prove to be establishing a wider and widening tax base for the federal and state systems.

If the education system of the USA is in grossly neglected status, then blame it on the former administration and find a way to 'return' it to its former splender. But, to simply 'spend, spend, spend' to reach for an 'ideology' without a complete plan and vision would prove to be as bad as the administration that destroyed the system in the first place.

I do believe the electorate of the USA knows there is a NEW Secretary of Education at the FEDERAL level, right? A Secretary of State that will be happy to take any complaints, concerns and suggestions from Governors. The Governors weren't elected to Federal office, Barak Obama was.

I sincerely believe this 'feeding frenzy' is simply Democrats acting badly. They need to prove they have a SUSTAINABLE plan that will actually prove its performance before the country completely throws the baby out with the bath water.

Honestly !

I don't find it appropriate that Governors are simply going to 'take over' the USA Federal Treasury for their own purposes. IT'S NOT THEIR MONEY !!!!!

I'm really becoming disillusioned if this administration proves to be unable to sculpt real change in this country and simply 'sells out' federal programs to states for the sake of 'doing something.' States need to formulate their own infrastructure changes with verifiable guarantees of long term job growth and increasing tax bases.

The Governors need to DO THEIR HOMEWORK and present verifiable results to any request for monies. This is ridiculous. It all sounds like 'flash in the pan ideologues' that see 'easy rides' to their administrative responsibilites. We don't need a blasted Gas Pipeline from Alaska through Canada either.

They all need to 'get over' themselves and go to work !

All residents need relief from this mess, NOW. They need to evacuate. This is ridiculous.

This reminds me of the EPA at Ground Zero.

'Too Little, Too Late.'

A Tennessee Valley Authority employee surveyed damage caused by the Monday failure of a retention pond. (J. Miles Cary/knoxville news sentinel/Associated Press)

Arsenic Found (click here)

Alarming Levels Of Mercury And Arsenic Found In Chinese Freshwater Ecosystem (click here)

...Chen and her team were curious to learn how arsenic and mercury, two toxic environmental metals, moved through the food web in a freshwater ecosystem known to be polluted and contaminated. In a process called bioaccumulation, mercury and arsenic were found throughout the food web, from the water, into the algae, through the tiny algae-eating zooplankton, to the fish. As expected, the researchers found that more nutrient-rich environments supported larger algal blooms, which resulted in lower concentrations of mercury and arsenic in the water due to uptake by the algae....

Long-term exposure (click here) to inorganic arsenic in drinking water in Taiwan has caused blackfoot disease, in which the blood vessels in the lower limbs are severely damaged, resulting eventually in progressive gangrene. Its occurrence in Taiwan may be influenced by factors such as poor nutrition. However, arsenic exposure has caused other forms of blood vessel disease in the limbs in several other countries.

The Development and Use of an Innovative Laboratory Method for Measuring Arsenic in Drinking Water from Western Bangladesh (click here)

...Regrettably, this new source of drinking water was not tested for toxic metals. In 1993, Dhaka Community Hospital first diagnosed chronic arsenic poisoning caused by drinking Bangladesh's groundwater [British Geological Survey (BGS) 1999a]. In 1997, our team produced the first national-scale map of As concentration in Bangladesh's groundwater [Frisbie et al. 1999; U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) 1997]. This map showed that 45% of Bangladesh's area had groundwater with As concentrations greater than the 50 µg/L national standard (Frisbie et al. 1999; USAID 1997). In 2003, a risk assessment estimated that 28 million Bangladeshis were drinking water with As concentrations greater than this national standard (Yu et al. 2003). As a result of this exposure, skin cancer, melanosis, leukomelanosis, keratosis, hyperkeratosis, and nonpitting edema from chronic As poisoning are common in Bangladesh (BGS 1999b; Frisbie et al. 2002). In addition, the rates of bladder cancer, liver cancer, and lung cancer are expected to increase in Bangladesh based on an analysis of death certificates for As exposures in Taiwan (Morales et al. 2000)....

18 Days until Inauguration - Maybe we can stem WW III before it actually happens.

Many always assume, for political reasons, that Russia is alway wrong no matter the truth. Let's hope the new American Administration in DC will stop the demonizing of international partners.

Gazprom Plans to Use Part of Ukraine Payment to Cover Fines (click at title to entry - thank you)
By Guy Collins
Jan. 2 (Bloomberg) -- OAO Gazprom will use part of a $1.5 billion payment from Ukraine which it will receive on Jan. 11 to cover fines it says it is owed relating to gas deliveries.
Ukraine will still owe Gazprom $614 million after the $1.5 billion has been received, since the remaining funds will only cover part of the sum owed on gas deliveries, Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov told a press conference in Moscow.
He also said Ukraine must pay for “technical” gas needed to keep pipelines flowing, and said supplies of gas to Europe through Belarus have been increased and have further capacity. He said it is not clear when Ukrainian officials will return for further gas talks. Last Updated: January 2, 2009 09:13 EST

UPDATE 1-Ukraine to divert some European gas on Jan 3-Russia (click here)
Fri Jan 2, 2009 9:37am EST

MOSCOW, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Ukraine has not given agreement to ship the full volume of gas to Europe on Saturday that Russia has requested, Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom (GAZP.MM) said on Friday.
"The Ukrainian side for the next 24 hours has not agreed to the needed transit volume," Gazprom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov said at a Moscow news conference.
He said Ukraine had agreed to ship 296 million cubic metres (mcm) to Europe on Jan. 3, not the 303 mcm that Russia had requested.
As Ukraine does not recognise the validity of its transit contract with Russia, the two sides are agreeing what volumes to ship to European customers on a day-by-day basis.
He said Gazprom expected to receive most of the arrears it is claiming from Ukraine by Jan. 11, though $614 million will still be outstanding.
Kupriyanov also said Ukraine had admitted stealing gas volumes intended for European customers, and said Gazprom was increasing supplies to Europe. (Reporting by Conor Humphries; Writing by Christian Lowe; Editing by William Hardy)

Defining what an 'Economic Stimulus' actually is, requries focus, NOT indulgence.

US Steel Joins BP In Polluting Lake Michigan (click at title to entry - thank you)
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10.12.07

The questionably named Indiana Department of Environmental Management, which should be still smarting from its BP Whiting Refinery scandal (TreeHugger here and here) is handing out permits to pollute again, this time to US Steel's mill in Gary, Indiana. According to the Chicago Tribune, Indiana is moving to scrap, relax or omit limits on toxic chemicals and heavy metals dumped into a Lake Michigan tributary....

There is an article today in the NYTimes stipulating US Steel is looking for a Trillion Dollar Bailout.

Steel Industry, in Slump, Looks to U.S. Stimulus (click here)

...The industry itself is turning to government for orders that, until the September collapse, had come from manufacturers and builders. Its executives are waiting anxiously for details of President-elect Barack Obama’s stimulus plan, and adding their voices to pleas for a huge public investment program — up to $1 trillion over two years — intended to lift demand for steel to build highways, bridges, electric power grids, schools, hospitals, water treatment plants and rapid transit....

NO !

Here is why.

Besides the obvious, in that the USA does not want to make the same environmental mistakes twice, the safety of our environmental policies have to be assessed to know exactly how much damage was done over the past eight years WHILE the Earth has still been rotating and changing due to Human Induced Global Warming. To DUMP huge amounts of money into industries with grossly damaging environmental records without sufficient restraint would only INCREASE their ability to do more damage AND add COSTS to an already deteriorating American economy with escalating National Debt.

NOT EVERY job in the American Work Force is a worthy one. And why 'create' more jobs adding to 'Superfund Costs' for the sake of an economy. Absolutely not.

Addtionally.

The Economic Stimulus of the next American Administration is to change as well as stabilize the American Infrastructure. That means that industries such as US Steel may not have the 'market share' they used to depending on the demands within the country. That demand will be known as time goes by and can be accommodated in the future. To simply 'DUMP' monies into an economy with the whim of every business interest in the country demanding huge bailouts is pure idiocy.

To 'drop' a cool $1 Trillion US in the pockets of US Steel for the sake of jobs may actually 'crash' the economy future if there is less demand for the products they produce. If the American government were to be so foolish, the industries would then have to turn to international markets that may or may not exist. THAT could lead to a return to outsourcing while seeking labor to supply foreign markets by AGAIN multi-national countries.

I am not an isolationist, but, the monies from the US Treasury is supposed to benefit the US economy and NOT a global infrastruture. The American people and their currency will not be financing the entire global market place. Sorry. The US currency and the way its value is levied according to the National Debt is an issue as well. A very cheap US Dollar as a direct effect on National Security as well.

While the steel industry in the USA has produced a superior product than any global industry can, there is still much to be desired in the knowledge to the impact a NEW American Economic Strategy will provide on the industries profits.

Also to note, it this industry UNDER predominately Republican administrations, that has lost market share. Why? Because the industries they supply have lost market share. Why? Because Republicans base their economic strategies in oil and gas fueled internal combustion engines. The more the 'market share' of US Auto Markers fell due to 'environmental preferences' of conscientious consumers seeking to save the planet for their children (no small promise to future generations) the less US Steel was required within the economy.

There has also been a trend with Republican administrations to 'cut infrastructure' and 'downsize corporations' for increased profits. That said, the hospital systems have downsized their facilities. Consolidation and mergers reduce the need for corporate headquarters and building of the same.

If the American people want to stimulate the steel industry, they need to require all government building and structures such as the 'rebuilding of Ground Zero in New York' be done exclusively with US Steel. It would be a very interesting exercise to fund the rebuilding of Lower Manhattan with 'Stimulus' monies and demand US products and labor ONLY be used in its realization.

FINALLY, $ 1 Trillion US pays for a whole heck of a lot of unemployment and re-education of the American work force. A 'need' that was caused by the lack of government commitment OVER 5 DECADES AGO and the call of American Scientists, to 'sound science' and the acceptance of the need to re-tool the US Economy to be environmentally responsible and 'set a standard' for Global Environmental Responsibility.

Why is the USA dumping its responsibilites? "Not in My Backyard?"

Other terrorists, Abdel-Rahman and Moussaoui are incarcerated at Supermax in Florence, Colorado. Padilla is there. I don't see the issue, really.

"...UK pressure (click at title to article)
The US State Department has asked about 100 countries for help clearing Guantanamo Bay over a two-year period, The Australian newspaper reported.
Australia had rejected a similar request to resettle "a small group of detainees" in early 2008, Ms Gillard said, and would probably do so again.... "

Supermax or Security Housing Unit, has been described; "In 1996, a team from the United Nations assigned to investigate torture described SHU conditions as “inhuman and degrading.” (click here). It might be that the Gitmo detainees have more 'yard time' than they will ever receive at Supermax (click here).

SOURCE: Federal court documents, Bureau of Prisons GRAPHIC: Laura Stanton, Seth Hamblin and M.K. Cannistra, The Washington Post - May 05, 2006 (click here)

"Supermax Prisons" (click here)