Claims Victorian fires were the result of climate change

LIVE: National Day of Mourning (click for live streaming video)
2009-02-22 10:35:11 LIVE: Watch the National Day of Mourning events from the Rod Laver Arena for bushfire victims, due to start at 11am.(00:55)


Australian Search Task Group soldiers searching fire affected properties in the Marysville area

Bells sounds to mark national mourning ceremony (click here)
February 22, 2009 - 11:44AM
Bells have sounded in Melbourne to mark the beginning of a memorial service to remember those who died in Victoria's devastating bushfires.
Tens of thousands have gathered in Melbourne, including hundreds of bushfire survivors, who were shuttled into the city from fire-ravaged towns....


Thousands mourn bushfire loss (click here)
February 22, 2009
Bells have sounded in Melbourne to mark the beginning of a memorial service to remember those who died in Victoria's devastating bushfires.
Tens of thousands have gathered in Melbourne, including hundreds of bushfire survivors, who were shuttled into the city from fire-ravaged towns.
The Rod Laver Arena was filled with people, including political leaders, religious leaders, Princess Anne and other dignitaries.
Many of those at the service were wearing the distinctive yellow overalls of the firefighters.
At least 209 people are known to have died in the February 7 fire storms, most of those from a sweep of towns and villages northeast of Melbourne....



The Climate Institute says the devastating Victorian bushfires were the direct result of climate change.

The Institute says the conditions which caused the severity of the fires - the extreme heat, the low humidity, wind speed and the drought in Victoria - are all the result of global warming.

The Institute's CEO John Connor told AM's Michael Vincent the catastrophic bushfire conditions had been predicted for several years and he says they'll continue unless global greenhouse gas emissions are cut....

Weather raises fire risk (click here)
February 21, 2009
AUTHORITIES have warned that the threat of new fires in Victoria remains high this weekend, with hot weather, northerly winds and the chance of lightning increasing the risk.
CFA deputy chief fire officer Steven Warrington said yesterday it was not too late for residents to make fire plans, particularly in areas where fires were continuing to burn.
The warnings came as the official fire death toll rose to 209 yesterday. Police said 38 people were now recorded as having died in Kinglake, 45 in Marysville, and 42 in Strathewen.
The Insurance Council of Australia said that there had been 6230 claims resulting from the bushfires. The claims total $790 million.
A poll last week also found that the public wants tougher action in handling bushfire threats. Nearly six in 10 people believe there should be an order to evacuate rather than advice to decide whether to stay and defend or leave, UMR Research found.
In the national poll of 1000 people, more than nine in 10 respondents believed arsonists who lit fires that killed should be charged with murder.
MICHELL GRATTAN and PETER GREGORY

I do believe International Cooperation needs to be fine tuned a bit.

U.S. and Russia satellites collide (click here for video)
A privately owned U.S. communications satellite -- owned by Iridium-- collided with a defunct Russian military satellite above Russia's Arctic north. Space officials in Russia and the United States are now tracking hundreds of pieces of debris that were spewed into space. (59 sec./1.96Mb, shows: 543)

Farmer James Striton examines the space junk he discovered on his farm in Cheepie, 130km from Charleville in southwestern Queensland. (click here) Photo is from 2008.

Wreckage of two satellites in orbit poses serious threat to others (click here)
13:12
13/ 02/ 2009
KOROLYOV (Moscow Region), February 13 (RIA Novosti) - The remnants of the U.S. and Russian satellites that collided on Tuesday poses a serious threat to other satellites on the same orbit, a Russian Mission Control official told journalists on Friday.
"800 kilometers is a very popular orbit for remote Earth sensing and telecommunications satellites," said Vladimir Solovyov, head of the Russian segment of the International Space Station.
"There are a lot of communications satellites there, many of them still in operation. There are 66 Iridium series satellites alone on that orbit. The cloud [of debris] from the collision is a serious threat to them," he said
Tuesday's collision of a U.S. Iridium satellite and the defunct Russian Cosmos-2251 approximately 800 kilometers (500 miles) above Siberia was the first time such an incident has occurred.

I am glad someone said it besides just me.

“Let’s put everything in perspective and give him an opportunity to explain himself," Daley said today when asked if Burris should step down. "Automatically, every time something happens people want everybody to resign. Is it becoming very common now to tell people to resign after he was appointed?"

Daley gave Burris credit for voting for the federal economic stimulus package which the mayor said "never would have passed" without Burris' vote.

Official: Obama wants to halve budget deficit

...Obama's proposal for the 2010 fiscal year that begins Oct. 1 projects that the $1.3 trillion deficit he inherited from former President George W. Bush will be halved to $533 billion by 2013. That's a difference of 9.2 percent of the overall economy now vs. 3 percent in four years....


The map above is based on "population density" in relation to the Presidential Elections of 2008.

..."In the end (click here) ... most of the governors will accept most of the money and use it for the benefit of their citizens," said Pennsylvania's Democratic governor, Edward Rendell, at the association's annual meeting....

It would be good if the DNC reminded the folks that didn't find the will to bring a new Party to power, whom exactly is responsible for maintaining and enhancing their quality of life and economy. It's only right people come to terms with 'the fact' this country needed a change in the way they participated in their governments. In those states that 'didn't do well' in 2008, there needs to be a DNC election drive to sign up new voters.

After all this time. All the hopes we have for our children, gone in a moment.

Chandra Levy timeline (click here)
Associated Press
9:11 AM PST, February 21, 2009
Chandra Levy timelineA chronicle of events in the disappearance of Chandra Levy:

May 1, 2001: Levy spends much of the morning surfing the Internet, logging off at 1 p.m. It was the last trace of her until her body was found.

May 6 Unable to reach their daughter, Dr. Robert and Susan Levy call Washington police. They also call their congressman, Rep. Gary A. Condit (D-Ceres).

May 10 Condit contributes $10,000 to a reward fund and describes Levy as a "great person and good friend." May 16 E-mail written by Levy in December talks about an unidentified romantic interest with ties to Congress. Condit aides deny their boss had an affair with Levy....

Sea otter sighting confirmed in Oregon for first time in 103 years

By Winston Ross
The Register-Guard
Posted to Web: Thursday, Feb 19, 2009 09:45PM Appeared in print: Friday, Feb 20, 2009
DEPOE BAY — Not wanting to look like a fool, Morris Grover kept the otter to himself for the first few hours.
The whiskered, web-footed critter looked like a sea otter, to be sure, but there have been no confirmed sightings of the marine mammals in Oregon since 1906. There have, however, been plenty of false positives.
“A lot of people accuse river otters of being sea otters,” said Grover, coordinator of the Whale Watching Spoken Here program based in Depoe Bay. “I didn’t dare tell anybody what I thought.”
But sea otters are bigger than river otters, and Grover has seen plenty of those. Both have webbed flippers, but sea otters’ flippers are significantly larger. And only sea otters spend prolonged periods of time in saltwater. The eagle-eyed volunteer in Depoe Bay who first spotted the animal saw it “with a crab on its chest, having breakfast inside Depoe Harbor,” Grover said. But he had to know for sure.
So he shipped pictures of the otter to Jim Rice, coordinator of the Oregon Marine Mammal Stranding Network, and to Jim Estes, the leading expert on sea otters on the West Coast. Both replied with zero doubt: Enhydra lutris.
“We’re ecstatic,” Grover said. “These are supposed to be extinct here.”...
Depending on whether Depoe Bay’s new resident brought relatives, the discovery could have big implications for Oregon, which lost its population of sea otters more than a century ago, five years before the Fur Seal Treaty of 1911 ended the harvest of sea otters in Russia, Japan, Britain and the United States.
By the time that treaty and a 1913 law were passed, the species was eradicated in Oregon and Washington and barely hanging on in California and Alaska.
In 1970, researchers attempted to re-establish the species in Oregon, transporting 31 sea otters from Alaska and depositing them near Port Orford. Sixty-four more were brought in the following year. They all disappeared.
Depoe Bay’s otter is certainly not from Oregon, Rice said, but a transient from California or Washington, which is still noteworthy given the distance it would have had to swim to make it this far down or up the coast, he said.
“This is not somebody who snuck over the border for a free lunch,” said Grover, who believes that the otter is male but isn’t sure. “If he came from California, that’s half a state (away).”
What would be even more significant, Rice added, is if the otter sticks around and multiplies.
“How long has it been here, and how many other are there?” Rice said.
“Hopefully the otter will discover there’s a good food supply and will be able to make a go of it here.”
Sea otters are a “keystone species,” which means they have a big effect on their environment, even in small numbers. That’s because they munch on sea urchins, which in turn gobble up large amounts of kelp. Because there’s nothing significant preying on urchins at the moment, kelp forests are suffering in Oregon.
“Urchins have taken over the seafloor,” Grover said. “This could be a mecca for this guy and anybody he wants to bring with him. It would bring balance back to our ecosystem.”
Because Thursday was the third day in a row the otter was sighted, it’s possible he’ll be around today and in the near future. But Grover warns visitors to search for it only from shore. Disturbing federally protected marine mammals is a felony, punishable by a $25,000 fine.
Contact Winston Ross at (541) 902-9030 or at winston.ross@registerguard.com.Related stories do not exist.


Issue 1, June 1999
Alaskan Sea Otters and Toxic Algae Blooms: Researching Marine Predator-Prey Interactions (click here)
Mary PatytenEarth Systems Science, CSU Monterey Bay patyten@jyi.org
This summer, Mary is studying the behavior of high-level predators in the presence of algal toxins under Rikk Kvitek, of CSU Monterey Bay. We asked her to tell us about her experiences. In this feature, Mary outlines the background of her research.To the best of our knowledge, marine mammals rarely die from ingesting the algal toxins that cause paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) in humans, even though the animals appear to be physiologically just as susceptible to the toxins as we are. How do marine mammals, such as sea otters, detect and avoid the toxins which seasonally accumulate in their prey?...

Seattle snow aftermath: The $3.5 million storm, and what’s next

Members of three Seattle City Council committees just got an hourlong update from three city department heads, and one of their own analysts, on more hindsight regarding the December ‘08 snowstorm woes, and what’ll be done to improve city response next time. The highlights: Emergency Management director Barb Graff says the storm was overall a “$3.5 million hit” to the city budget (Councilmember Jan Drago said she wished there’d been a report on the private-sector “hit” too), though there’s hope that federal disaster-relief dollars could help cover some of that, if a presidential proclamation is made (word is expected within a week). SDOT director Grace Crunican says the city now has two more snowplows: 29 total, up from 27. The two additions cost $40,000 each....

Well, Ahnold, you have to know the legislature had to see what they could 'squeeze' out of every 'stimulus' nickel.

They are stupid people, Ahnold. Stupid people that don't care about others. Yep.

...By Tuesday Mr Schwarzenegger was contemplating reprising his role as the Terminator, and turning his sights on the state's public servants....

"...the government is promoting bad behavior..." Really? Basically, they feel as though they were 'cheated' by sustaining employment.

The 'moron' makes these statements standing in the middle of a FAILED Wall Street buying floor. Hello? You can tell he's well 'clued in,' huh? He still believes the markets will rebound without any help. Sure. "CLUELESS" We all need to learn a lesson. I thought we already did.

Robert Khuzami named director of enforcement at SEC (click here)
Fri, 20 Feb 2009, 12:00
Previously, Khuzami served as a federal prosecutor for 11 years with the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York....

Trustee: Some Madoff stock trades were fiction (click title to entry - thank you)
By TOM HAYS – 58 minutes ago
NEW YORK (AP) — Investors wiped out by the Bernard Madoff scandal got more bad news on Friday: Investigators have confirmed suspicions that the monthly statements showing the disgraced financier was making stock trades for them were pure fiction.
"We have no evidence to indicate securities were purchased for customer accounts" in the past 13 years, said court-appointed trustee Irving Picard at a packed, town-hall style meeting at U.S. Bankruptcy Court in lower Manhattan. "This is a case where we're going to be looking at cash in and cash out" — the shorthand definition of a Ponzi scheme.
Picard, who is overseeing the liquidation of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, called the meeting to give the investors a progress report on his efforts to unravel the alleged fraud.
Madoff was arrested in December after investigators said he confessed to his sons that he had swindled investors of $50 billion in a Ponzi scheme. The 70-year-old former Nasdaq chairman remains confined to his Manhattan apartment under house arrest....

Thomson Financial
US FED: Fed Worsens Projections For 2009 GDP, Inflation, Unemployment (click here)

02.18.09, 02:15 PM EST

....Participants now expect GDP in 2009 to fall by 0.5% to 1.3%, much worse than the Fed's central tendency of -0.2% to 1.1% GDP growth. Participants anticipate a 'broad-based' decline in the first half of this year as consumer spending is dampened by a deteriorating labor markets, tight credit conditions, falling house prices and stock market losses. However, as in October, the Fed still sees some recovery in the second half of the year, though at a gradual pace....

S.F. to get $19.8 million aid to homeless (click here)
Heather Knight, Chronicle Staff Writer
Friday, February 20, 2009
(02-19) 18:11 PST SAN FRANCISCO -- San Francisco has received $19.8 million in federal grants to help the homeless and stands to gain a lot more federal funds in the coming months....

Crist Announces Increased Unemployment Benefits for Floridians (click here)
Federal stimulus money will increase weekly benefits by $25 for remainder of 2009.
Friday February 20th, 2009

TALLAHASSEE – Governor Charlie Crist today, continuing his efforts to strengthen the economy and help Floridians affected by the current economic downturn, signed an agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor to increase weekly unemployment benefits by $25 per week, bringing $345 million to Florida during the 2009 calendar year. By signing the agreement today, the increased benefits take effect starting Sunday, February 22, 2009. The Unemployed Workers and Struggling Families Act is a result of federal funds authorized through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009....

European shares sink, led by Anglo American, UBS (click here)
Fri Feb 20, 2009 1:53pm GMT

* FTSEurofirst 300 down 2.9 pct, having hit six-year low
* Miner Anglo American tumbles 15 percent
* UBS sinks 13 percent on U.S. tax probe
* For up-to-the-minute market news, click on [STXNEWS/EU]

By Peter Starck
FRANKFURT, Feb 20 (Reuters) - European stocks fell sharply on Friday, hitting six-year lows, on worries about more capital increases and wider financial industry woes as the economic downturn deepens.
"The ongoing flood of bad news has increased the risk aversion of investors," said Markus Reinwand, equity strategist at German bank Helaba.
"A trigger for a rapid shift in sentiment is not in sight," he said....

NEWSMAKER-UBS chief faces his biggest career challenge (click here)
Fri Feb 20, 2009 4:44pm GMT

By Lisa Jucca
ZURICH, Feb 20 (Reuters) - No sooner has Marcel Rohner, the chief executive of UBS (UBSN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research)(UBS.N: Quote, Profile, Research), put out one fire than another blaze breaks out elsewhere.
Only one day after agreeing to a painful, though vital, tax fraud settlement with U.S. authorities, Rohner was hit by a dramatic civil lawsuit against Switzerland's biggest bank that is sending shivers through the entire Swiss banking industry.
The ongoing U.S. tax woes, together with an uphill struggle to restructure the crisis-hit bank, make what used to be the pinnacle of any Swiss banker's professional ambition an unenviable poisoned chalice.
"This is the last thing he would want," said David Williams, Head of European Banks Research at Fox, Pitt-Kelton. "A difficult task has become even more difficult."
Under former, all-powerful chairman Marcel Ospel, UBS, the world's largest wealth manager, waded deep into U.S. subprime assets and was hit in 2008 by a net loss of nearly 20 billion Swiss francs ($16.92 billion), the largest annual loss in Swiss corporate history....

Sir Allen Stanford could face criminal fraud charges (click here)
Sir Allen Stanford, the Texan cricket tycoon, is being investigated by the FBI over possible criminal fraud charges.

By Nick Allen, James Quinn and Alex Spillius in Fredericksburg

Last Updated: 10:15PM GMT 20 Feb 2009

He currently faces a £6.4 billion civil case brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission but US law enforcement sources said criminal charges may be filed.
Federal prosecutors will investigate whether his Stanford International Bank (SIB) was operating a form of Ponzi scheme, in which money from new investors is used to pay high returns to older investors. They are also moving towards seizing his six private planes, worth £70 million, and his 120ft yacht.
A group of investors also announced they are suing Sir Allen for the return of their money and filed a class action suit in a Texas court.
Their complaint alleged that SIB "fraudulently peddled" certificates of deposit which promised rates of return far above those available from other banks.
In a statement the investors said: "Now that the real estate and private equity markets are in freefall, many of those who purchased SIB's certificates of deposit have recently been informed that they cannot redeem them."...

McCain campaign donates Stanford contributions (click here)
Robert Allen Stanford accused by SEC of $8 billion investor fraud
By Ronald D. Orol, MarketWatch
Last update: 1:53 p.m. EST Feb. 20, 2009
McCain campaign donates Stanford contributions
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - Senator John McCain on Friday reported that he is donating all his 2008 presidential campaign contributions from Robert Allen Stanford, the Texas financier accused of an $8 billion fraud, to charity.
"The McCain campaign is donating all contributions from R. Allen Stanford, and from individuals associated with Stanford Financial, to charity," wrote a McCain spokesperson. McCain was the Republican candidate for president in 2008.
A political action committee formed by Stanford and his wife donated almost $1 million to various candidates; the rest was doled out via the Stanford Financial Group's political action committee, the watchdog group Center for Responsive Politics said in research released Thursday.
"Robert Allen Stanford now has two things in common with embattled investment manager Bernard Madoff: Both have been accused of defrauding their investors, and both have given significant funds to politicians," the group said.
In addition to McCain, big-name recipients of Stanford's donations included President Barack Obama and Sens. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., and Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., of New York. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, also received donations.
Obama ranked third among individual lawmakers receiving funds, the CRP report said, collecting $31,750 from the company's employees during his 2008 presidential bid, including $4,600 from Stanford himself....

How Sir Allen Stanford bowled Antigua over (click here)
Sir Allen Stanford's lavish spending turned the Caribbean island of Antigua into his very own theme park, as our writer reports.

By Tom Leonard

Last Updated: 7:39PM GMT 20 Feb 2009

Surely only a fraudster with a supreme sense of invulnerability – or a shaky grasp of cricket slang – would have the nerve to call his restaurant the Sticky Wicket. But then Sir Robert Allen Stanford has clearly never been short on Texan-style chutzpah. Amid claims that not only the FBI, but also a notorious Mexican drugs cartel are now on his case, Sir Allen is at the crease and facing some very tricky balls.
That said, one could understand if the flamboyant, 6ft 4in financier and sports promoter now at the centre of $8 billion fraud allegations had felt more than usually secure on the small Caribbean island of Antigua....

Wall Street hits lowest level in 6 years (click here)
By Tim Paradis The Associated Press
Posted: 02/19/2009 08:39:33 AM PST

NEW YORK - The Dow Jones industrial average tumbled to its lowest close in more than six years on Thursday as sharp declines in key financial shares led the market lower.
The blue chips broke through a psychological barrier established in November to close at their lowest level since Oct. 9, 2002, the last bear market low....

end

Mary Wakefield, Ph.D., R.N., F.A.A.N. - Biography (click title to entry here, thank you)

Mary Wakefield, SORH; Tami Lichtenberg, TASC; and Bob Redford, AR Valley Rural Health Coop presented Funding Opportunities for Rural Health Projects.


Obama names nurse to head healthcare access agency (click here)
Fri Feb 20, 2009 4:29pm EST
WASHINGTON, Feb 20 (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama has named a University of North Dakota rural healthcare expert to head the federal agency in charge of improving access to care in the United States, the White House said on Friday.
Mary Wakefield, a nurse who heads that university's Center for Rural Health, was chosen to head the Health Resources and Services Administration, an agency of the U.S. Health and Human Services Department, the White House said.
The agency will oversee the outlay of $2.5 billion in the economic stimulus bill signed by Obama this week for training healthcare professionals and improving the nation's healthcare infrastructure....

I'd like to hear from Michael Leahy's family. He was somewhat framed for the murders. Besides that these soldiers don't get the correct training.

Michael and his family probably witnessed everyone else getting short sentences and dishonorable discharges and simply went along with it all. He didn't act alone.

U.S. soldier gets eight months in Iraq killings (click title to entry - thank you)
25-year-old pleads guilty to charges linked to murders of four prisoners

...Ribordy testified that he had helped stand guard as the prisoners were killed by other members of his patrol in early 2007. He said he approached the scene after the shots were fired and saw three bodies lying in a pool of blood, and then the fourth already in the canal.
Ribordy told the court he saw three other members of the patrol — Sgt. John E. Hatley, Sgt. 1st Class Joseph P. Mayo, and Sgt. Michael P. Leahy Jr. — at the scene and smelled gunpowder in the air.
"They all seemed calm," he said....

...In closing arguments earlier, Leahy's civilian lawyer, Frank Spinner, argued that Leahy went along with the killings because he was dazed from a lack of sleep and numb from being in a war zone for months. It was a sentiment bolstered on Thursday in testimony from Col. Charles Hoge, a doctor and director of psychology and neuroscience at the Army's Walter Reed Army Institute of Research.
He testified that Leahy was unable to reason properly because of the constant danger of living and operating in a war zone and getting little sleep for months on end.
"The tragedy resulted not so much by design but rather the working of fear, danger and madness attendant on many combat operations," Spinner said in his closing arguments.
The Iraqi prisoners were taken to the U.S. unit's operating base in Baghdad for questioning and processing, although there wasn't enough evidence to hold them for attacking the unit.(click here) (Paranoya set in and they saw themselves 'being lucky' to have lived through the attack THIS TIME, but, were worried that they would not live through the next attack if the prisoners were to be let go. They were tired and decided to protect themselves regardless of what their 'processing' produced.) Later that night patrol members took the Iraqis to a remote area and shot them in retribution for the attacks against the unit, according to testimony....

Everybody forgets this occurred for a reason. These soldiers weren't joy riding in a Humvee and decide '...today we are going to kill some Iraqis...." They were attacked before this occurred and were seeking to secure the area.

Basically, they either didn't believe any of the detainees, because of what they knew, or they didn't have command of the language and/or felt any translation was incorrect. They didn't want to be attacked again and decided to secure the area regardless of regulations for whatever reason existed.

They might have been worried that if released the enemy now, the detainees knew where they were and how better to kill them.

A lot goes on in a soldier's mind, not all of it rational when fatigue sets in. I don't believe any of this was handled well.

President Obama needs to address the growing wave of Islamic extremist releases.

Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan waves at his residence after a court verdict in Islamabad on February 6, 2009. A Pakistani court order on February 6 ruled that Khan, father of the country's atomic bomb, was a free citizen, five years after he was effectively put under house arrest. (AAMIR QURESHI/AFP/Getty Images)

Feb 17, 2009 20:47

Updated Feb 17, 2009 22:02
Shari'a-for-peace (click here)

...There are disturbing, though unsubstantiated, reports that India may be supporting the Taliban in both Pakistan and Afghanistan - another example, if true, of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" aphorism....

The way in which nuclear neighbors 'play' is not appropriate. If true and India is backing the Taliban, I would say the extremists that carried out the attacks in Mumbai may have something to say. It might also explain why India was so quick to point a finger at Pakistan and reach for its war chant so very early on.

...President Asif Ali Zardari, whose wife Benazir Bhutto was probably assassinated by Taliban types in December 2007, has approved the Shari'a-for-peace deal. So, reportedly, did the Awami National Party, a secular Pashtun grouping. The Pashtun ethnic group comprises 15 percent of Pakistan's population, and 42% (a plurality) of Afghanistan's. The Taliban is predominantly Pashtun....

It is getting to be difficult to tell the enemy from a friend. THAT is partly due to Bush's policies and the abandonment of Afghanistan for Iraq.

...The decision to trade Sharia-for-peace appears to reflect a bad trend in the Muslim (and Arab) world whereby radicals stick to their guns, and moderates capitulate. Even if the Taliban could be satiated with "just" Afghanistan and Pakistan, these vast lands would become - even more than they already are - safe havens and launching pads for terrorism against "the infidels."
Indeed, reports claim that Osama bin Laden is currently not in some cave but in the village of Parachinar, near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, in an area that's seen Sunni-Shi'ite strife.
US envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke, who is just completing a tour of the region, called the Swat deal proof that India, the United States and Pakistan "all have a common threat now."

If only that were true.

If only matters were that clear-cut....

...until tomorrow.

This has got to be the joke of the century.

To begin with, the cost of the Obama Economic Stimulus pales to the cost of the Republican blundering that occurred for four consecutive years. The Obama Stimulus is a cost extended over 10 years. That was 10 years.

Then for Republicans to come forward and act as if they have seen 'the light' and are seeking a higher morality is ludicrous beyond any imagination. These very Republicans approved of huge increases in the USA debt and raised the debt ceiling every year. They were nothing more than the pundits of Bush and his reckless Executive Branch.


Rep, Mike Pence, R-Ind., looks on at right as House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio, speaks to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Feb. 13,2009, after the House passed the stimulus legislation. (AP Photo/Lauren Victoria Burke)

GOP poised to leap on spending abuses in stimulus (click title to entry - thank you)
By CHARLES BABINGTON – 14 hours ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans are preparing to pounce on any wasteful spending in the $787 billion stimulus package as they refocus their criticisms of a measure whose success could hurt their 2010 election prospects....

Every bill they wrote was an Republican Economic Stimulus laced with Pork. Some of the pork was so offensive that it even rattled some Republicans and Ted Steven's Road to Nowhere was removed.

The entire set of circumstances we now face is due to uncontrolled Republican spending and the direct result of their abuses of our democracy. They never had a viable economy, but, only reckless and anything goes spending that would provide jobs and a fatal economy that was 'somehow' a crisis in the closing days of Bush's last year in the Executive Branch.

In those final days, the Republicans literally caught the USA off guard and stated 'the sky is falling' to the tune of $700 billion dollars. That was $700 billion to be distributed over a few months, not years. I am only grateful we have a President that has control over $350 billion of those funds and have used not quite $50 billion to formulate a 'Homeowner Package' to stop foreclosures.

Their leaders fell in a house of cards as the scandals of those years unfold. They redirected the war in Afghanistan and stood by to justify it. The Iraq War caused the USA its international reputation and today, even though diplomatic channels are opening wide for Secretary Clinton, there are enormous skeptics to the viability of the USA and its ultimate intentions. Russia is pensive and countries at our near borders see us as a threat in a way they have never viewed us before.

The government under the Republicans practiced human rights abuses with the 'fencing' of Gitmo and torture. Such a mess it is that as noted on Michael Moore's blog today; we are left to untangle the intricacies of it while leaving old policies in place until policy is in place to do otherwise.

February 18th, 2009 8:58 am

Obama’s War on Terror May Resemble Bush’s in Some Areas (click here)
By Charlie Savage
WASHINGTON — Even as it pulls back from harsh interrogations and other sharply debated aspects of George W. Bush's "war on terrorism," the Obama administration is quietly signaling continued support for other major elements of its predecessor's approach to fighting Al Qaeda.
In little-noticed confirmation testimony recently, Obama nominees endorsed continuing the C.I.A.'s program of transferring prisoners to other countries without legal rights, and indefinitely detaining terrorism suspects without trials even if they were arrested far from a war zone....

President Obama has a rapid pace 'to change' in our country, but, cautious to remove old measures that could mean danger to citizens. I am confident where Cheney's hand was at play the 'jigsaw puzzle' and 'torture maze' is significant. Cheney no doubt had paper shredders galore and documentation that parralleled everthing he did. The 'actual' happenings within the intelligence department, where Dick made his home among some of the youngest of employees, will only be known years in the offing and 'to decide' what is fact and what is fiction will no doubt be a daughting task.

In other words, the man that 'cooked the books' at Halliburton, certainly did the same within the intelligence agencies of our government.

All the same people that sanctioned the 'ruin' of the USA now stand as if saints rather than sinners to ridicule the Democrats elected to office to stop their idiocy and wrongful adminsitrations. They scream about oversight to the Obama Stimulus when they know full well they don't have to raise a finger as the Stimulus Package has oversight built into it. They are liars and manipulators and seek to 'grandstand' an issue that doesn't even exist to try to begin a return of a political party that would be better written off in the history books.

When political practices are based in lies and inuendoes, what do you think their administrations are like? I am grateful they are grossly in the minority. They need to be removed from office in 2010. We don't need liars. We don't need 'image makers.' We need people that can protect Americans from the ravages of untruth and exaggerated ideas of economics. The Republicans have never known what viable economics are, they only know what gets them elected.



HAVE

A

BETTER

DAY !

We don't belong in Iraq.

We never did.

Rep. John Murtha needs to come forward to speak. He is not a man that took advantage of his position or the system in DC. Quite the contrary.

...The PMA Group (click title to entry - thank you) which has represented hundreds of large and small defense contactors seeking federal money, will cease operations March 31, according to a report in the Washington, D.C. newspaper Roll Call. The firm has already lost several of its lobbyists, who announced last week they were leaving to form a new firm....

I know that request seems silly to Congressman Murtha, but, we live in a time of 'mistrust' due to the calamity left behind by the previous Republican Empire. He needs to come forward regarding the efforts of small military contractors and their recognition in order to serve the country's needs.

John Murtha was a veteran of the Marines and Marine Reserves. He was not a strong pundit of the wars of Bush and Cheney. His district was called into service and sustained many losses in Iraq. His votes in Congress were to support military contractors, but, it was tempered with the realization that Bush/Cheney were moving into inappropriate and prolonged war in a country where we had no business being while al Qaeda continued to plague allies.

The defense contracts awarded this 'retiring lobbying firm' were in the millions. The monies Bush/Cheney and the Republicans spent on an illegal war (which were serviced by military contractors) were in the billions. If I am not mistaken, the first installment to Iraq was $68 billion of which yet has to be accounted.

The donations attached to this lobbyist firm started in 2001. I wonder if it were after or before 911 and what indeed peaked their interest to donate.

It is also noteworthy that the firm was 'raided' at the last minute during Bush/Cheney's final days in office. Probably about the time the firm decided to close its doors with a retiring CEO. Also noted, the lobbyists that worked for PMA (click here) aren't retiring but moving to different firms to represent clients. Client's use lobbyists. They pay fees and use lobbyists because they have a business to run and it is a way of finding representation in DC when the company cannot support its own representative to the government.

I think Congressman Visclosky has the right idea. Don't give the money back, give it to the much abused US Treasury. I like that. Do we get to keep it?

Visclosky to return PMA campaign contributions (click here)

February 19, 2009
By Jon Seidel
Post-Tribune staff writerU.S. Rep. Peter Visclosky will turn over $18,000 in campaign cash to the U.S. Treasury after a federal investigation led to questions about the source of those donations, a spokesman said Wednesday.
That money was first thought to have arrived from donors connected to The PMA Group, a?Virginia lobbying firm raided by the FBI in November whose associates have given the most cash to Visclosky's campaigns....

Counting on reputation, will it be enough? The 'Populous' Judge and Jury needs to end.

I have no personal interest in this issue, except to protect 'the laws and processes' of my country's democracy. I have been 'offline' for a short while.

By Patrick O'Connor 07:40 PM (click here)

(click title above - thank you) ...But a review by The (Springfield) State Journal-Register found that Burris' list doesn't match records kept by the Illinois secretary of state, the Cook County clerk or the Chicago Board of Ethics....

The laws of the USA, Illinios and Chicago have served this country well. It brought us the most progressive President in modern day. A President that loves us and seeks to correct the ills that have beset this country from past Republican sins. Let's not forget that as we proceed. There should be investigation to bring out the facts, but, here again there needs to be 'due process.' This especially true given the unique appreciation we should all have for Senator Roland Burris. It would be easy to track any legislation he produces or any votes he makes that serve former clients.

That said, I want a full accounting by the Senator from Illinios that the people have a right to have and I expect the Senate Ethics Committee to do a thorough job as it should. There needs not be any other 'media circus' to cater to political wills as occurred with the former Governor. I want to see evidence and I expect to hear from the Senator in question.

You know what bothers me about that cript pictured above. Is that is exists at all. The fact that an African American dedicated his life to service to Illlinios and found the need to memorialize himself as if no others would is sincerely a sad reality. It speaks to the prevalence of bigotry and its battle to over come it. Obviously, Senator Burris felt his recognition had to be set in stone to pass on a tradition of hope to the next generation. That sincerely bothers me and it should bother everyone else.

The Republican Tidal Wave that the RNC is mounting is an attempt to start a 'populous' drive to unseat even the new President. There needs to be a step away from the brink of disaster and begin to process each case as it occurs through Due Process. Otherwise, it will only prove that a 'witch hunt' and the emotions of a nation can be harnessed to unseat an elected government. What is to protect us from the Republican millionaires that continue to 'Hammer Away' at our Bill of Rights?

I do not approve of the hounds that are on the hunt. I remind, when the circumstances of a former Illinios Governor actually made it before a judge, even the Illinios Attorney General was proved "W"rong. That image should be instilled throughout this process and the 'populous' chant needs to be "Due Process" not political and media ridicule.

Being sent into harms way. We don't need a destabilizing Swat in Pakistan.

Last updated February 17, 2009 7:18 p.m. PT
Wash. Stryker brigade headed to Afghanistan
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
FORT LEWIS, Wash. -- The Fort Lewis, Wash.-based 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division is headed to Afghanistan in midsummer. The 3,900 soldiers had been scheduled to go to Iraq this summer.
President Barack Obama on Tuesday approved adding some 17,000 U.S. troops for the flagging war in Afghanistan, his first significant move to change the course of that conflict. In addition to the Stryker Brigade, those forces will include a Marine unit and support troops.
Fort Lewis spokesman Joe Piek says the 5th Stryker Brigade is the Army's newest Stryker Brigade - activated in May 2007 - and the fourth to be formed, equipped and trained at Fort Lewis. The brigade's soldiers are currently at the Army National Training Center in Fort Irwin, Calif., for exercises through the end of February.
Stryker brigades are based around highly mobile eight-wheeled infantry troop carriers.

This is where Pakistan always 'falls apart' when it comes to 'ending the terrorists within its borders.

Pakistan plays too much politics with extremists
.


The man on the left is the Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani (click here). Everyone knows the guy on the right.

...Pakistani officials in North West Frontier Province signed an agreement Monday with Sufi Muhammad, a militant leader who pledged to lay down arms in exchange for having Islamic law or Sharia in Swat valley....

Sufi Mohammad ordered thousands of followers to Afghanistan to fight the USA when we retaliated for September 11, 2001 attacks. In other words, he sent John Walker Lynd into Afghanistan, either wittingly or not, to kill Americans. John Walker Lynd is in prison. Sufi Mohammad WAS in prison until 2008, when he screamed 'non-violence' was better than a jail cell.

Now that Pakistan has established Shari Law in Swat they are allowing the very man that sent people to kill Americans back into the mix. That is the worst decision making I have ever heard, considering the 'low' success rate even the Saudis have with reformation of terrorists.

Sufi was 'in on' the negotiations for Swat. Now I said, FOR Swat. He sat down at a table with Pakistani government officials and 'bargained' for Swat.

Sufi Muhammad meets Fazlullah today (click here)

Updated at: 0710 PST, Wednesday, February 18, 2009
SWAT: The Tanzim Nifaz Shariat-i-Muhammadi (TNSM) chief Maulana Sufi Muhammad will meet his son-in-law, Maulana Fazlullah in Swat today (Wednesday) and persuade him to lay down the arms.
Earlier, life returned to near normalcy in Swat on Tuesday as Maulana Sufi Mohammad, heading a peace caravan of hundreds of his black-turbaned followers, reached Mingora after a three-hour drive from Timergara.
Talking to newsmen here, Sufi Muhammad said that he would persuade Taliban to end their armed struggle.
“Our peace caravan and camp in Swat will continue till the restoration of calm,” Sufi Mohammad declared in his short address to a big gathering at Grassy Ground in Mingora.
He said negotiations would be held with the Swat militants and they would be convinced to lay down arms, as the NWFP government had met their demand by enforcing Nizam-e-Adl. “All Qazi courts will soon be established in the Malakand division and Kohistan, which will provide speedy and cheap justice,” he assured people....

Quite a deal.

So, let's see if I get this right. Sufi decides to assit al Qaeda by sending in followers to Afghanistan to kill Americans. He is caught and imprisoned. While in prison, he is reformed and takes a caravan for peace to Swat. The very place he once organized resistance against the Pakistani government and sent followers to kill Americans.

That makes sense?

I can understand how a returning militant, honed by Allah to fear for his very life can be an instrument of reform to others, especially if they understand each other 'in the hood.' But, to turn him loose to organize AGAIN, rather than 'just spreading the word' that the Pakistani government and the USA 'mean business' and 'don't do what I did.' While, of course, he is grateful to still be alive from a merciful government.

This is the way Pakistan 'handles' the 'wilds' of the tribal areas? Why don't I have confidence in this mess?

Why?

Quality of Life - This is a great day for the USA

January 17, 2009

The Day President Obama and Vice President Biden and the Democrats of the House and Senate returned hope to our country. It is the beginning of our recovery. I proud of our President and our Congress and proud of our collective will.

I thank everyone. I thank President Obama for 'being there' for us and I thank my fellow citizens for making this day a reality.

The USA isn't back yet, but, it is on its way !

It would seem "Wall Street" didn't share our 'moment.' So. (click here) I think Forbes got it right. There is no confidence in the Bush Bailout. The numbers on the DOW was nearly that of the low after September 11, 2001.

"...In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of British shares closed down 100.62 points, or 2.4 percent, at 4,034.13, while Germany's DAX was 150.04 points, or 3.4 percent, lower at 4,216.60. The CAC-40 in France fell 86.99 points, or 2.9 percent, to 2,875.23.
In the U.S., investors returned from their long weekend in downbeat mood. The Dow Jones industrial average tumbled 261.65 points, or 3.3 percent, to 7,588.76, while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index slid 31.43 points, or 3.8 percent, to 795.41. Both hit fresh lows for the year to date...."

In other words, "We been here before."

Heck, we been here before in a lot of ways. Where is Osama bin Laden?

Why do I get the feeling that Wall Street doesn't have any answers? Huh? I think the American people have the right answer and it was signed into law today.

I thought this article had a different insight. It would seem all that European expansion of the DOW hasn't added much to it.

Component Changes Made to Dow Jones Select Dividend Indexes (click here)

...Stolt-Nielsen S.A. and Valeo S.A. are being removed due to the cancellation of their dividend payments....

Cancelling dividend payments. Well, now there is an idea. Of course, that sorta disqualifies a company from THE BIG BOARD, but, it keeps it in business, if you get my drift?

Then we heard from Detroit. That was a bittersweet. Chrysler and GM have to downsize their operations to stay in business. Ouch. But, with 'viability' we at least know where we stand and we still have automakers in the USA. And. The jobs they will continue to need American Labor for will be secure.

Secure.

Imagine that, Americans working at SECURE American jobs. Things are looking better already. I guess we'll have to wait to see the details and I am anxious to hear from the labor unions as to their HONEST opinion. Whether organized labor favors 'bailout' over bankruptcy. Pensions and health benefits and all that.

Granholm, Dingell, others react to auto plans (click here)
BY TODD SPANGLER AND OTHER FREE PRESS STAFF

February 17, 2009

...“Ultimately, I believe we will see a domestic auto industry that is financially viable that keeps thousands of employees on the job in state-of-the-art engineering, design, manufacturing, sales, and other positions in our state and throughout the world,” the governor said....

There is no doubt there have been many bad decisions made by CEOs of these industries and those on Wall Street. Otherwise, all this would not have occurred.

I don't see that the USA was ever supposed to be 'set into decline' to benefit other global partneres.

There isn't anything wrong with trading as a means to improving the economies of other countries, but, Wall Street got greedy and overlooked the 'mother' of their opportunities. The companies that became multinational entities started right here. It isn't a matter of 'how to expoit' a nation for profit, it is about a viable economy built with 'good values' and 'FAIR' profits. Somewhere along the way, Wall Street lost its values, its 'American' values and sought to make a 'buck' rather than a 'profit.'

I don't know if there is hope for the 'markets' these days. They are so corrupted by poor decision making that it may be hopeless for many. I know it is hopeless for some still, even after adjustment after adjustment after adjustment.

China has a populous that needs an expansive economy. It needs to put its nation to work to produce products for its own people. The same is true of India. Those cheap wages will have to come up to match those that would have to be paid in the USA, IF our global partners are going to sustain their economies.

Currently, Secretary of State Clinton is in Asia. Evidently, in Japan, it has taken three years to find a willing partner to sign an agreement to move USA Marines from Okinawa (click here) to Guam. Go figure. What the heck are we still doing in Japan? I think China will breath a sigh of relief when 'our presence' isn't so imposing and it will make 'trade talks' a whole lot more friendlier. I mean Hillary is moving mountains over there.

Clinton Calls for Coordinated Action To Improve Global Economy (click here)
Tuesday, Feb 17, 2009 @09:49am CST
(Tokyo) -- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the worldwide economic downturn demands a coordinated global response.
She made the statement after meeting with top Japanese officials and inviting Japan's prime minister to meet with President Obama in Washington next week.
Japan is wrestling with its worst recession in a generation.
On another front, Clinton and Japan's foreign minister signed an agreement related to the U.S.-Japanese defense alliance.
It calls for the transfer of eight-thousand Marines from Japan's southern island of Okinawa to the U.S. island territory of Guam in the northern Pacific Ocean.

It is about darn time that the USA 'HONOR' its 'One China Policy' without the mainland wondering 'which China the USA is talking out of both sides of its mouth' this time. I mean, why did the Chinese ever yet Bush in the country? I don't know that Cheney was ever there. I know Paulson treated China as his home away from home. Does he own a home over there? Wasn't with one of 'those mortgages' was it?

Pentagon Welcomes Resumption of US-China Military Dialogue (click here)
By Julia Ritchey

Washington

18 February 2009

...The Pentagon says it will be the first policy dialogue between the People's Liberation Army and the U.S. Defense Department under President Barack Obama. China ended all military exchanges and discussions during the Bush administration to protest the U.S. arms sale last October to Taiwan. China maintains that Taiwan is part of its territory....

It looks like Cheney was there once. I heard they were going to pull his passport after that, too. Kritoff knows all about that issue, huh? It figures Dickey was interested in the nuclear stuff. What a jerk that man was.

Cheney to Visit Japan, China and South Korea in April (click here)
By ERIC SCHMITT
Published: March 25, 2004

Vice President Dick Cheney plans to visit China, Japan and South Korea next month to discuss North Korea's nuclear arms program, operations in Iraq and trade policy, Bush administration officials said Wednesday. It will be only his third overseas trip since taking office three years ago....

So, is Kristoff over there with Hillary? Let's see? Nah. He's still stuck in Cambodia. I guess he still hasn't 'gotten it right' with China yet.

Girls For Sale (click here)
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
Published: January 17, 2004
One thinks of slavery as an evil confined to musty sepia photographs. But there are 21st-century versions of slaves as well, girls like Srey Neth....

Russia isn't Hillary's agenda this trip. Putin is in Davos. Hillary is meeting with the Russian Foreign Minister in March. Russia is finding ways of cutting costs for the Olympics. I wonder what kind of 'advertising' support they are getting.

Clinton to meet Russian FM in March: Solana (click here)
4 days ago
WASHINGTON (AFP) — US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is due to meet her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in early March in Geneva, the EU's foreign policy chief Javier Solana said Friday.
"The sixth of March, the secretary of state meets with the Russians in Geneva," Solana told reporters while in Washington for talks with US leaders.
Clinton is due to attend a NATO meeting in Brussels on March 5, and "Lavrov and the secretary may meet around that time in Geneva," Solana said.
The US State Department, which usually does not announce the secretary's travel plans until the last minute for security reasons, did not confirm the meeting, but efforts to organize a meeting were underway....

Lower Construction Costs Cut Olympic Bill by 15% (click here)

18 February 2009

By Maria Antonova / The Moscow Times

Government spending on venues for the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi has dropped 15 percent on cheaper construction costs, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak said Tuesday.Kozak had earlier predicted that expenses would fall by 10 to 15 percent because of sharp drops in the prices of certain materials, such as cement.Budgetary constraints have called into question the state's ability to fund the projects and has stepped up the pressure to attract private investors, who have started showing interest after a plan was developed outlining the long-term use of the venues....

Updated at 5:04 a.m., Saturday, January 31, 2009
Olympics: Sochi organizers sign $260m deal for 2014 Winter Games (click here)
By NATALIYA VASILYEVAAssociated Press
SOCHI, Russia — Organizers for the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi signed a domestic sponsorship deal worth $260 million Saturday, the largest of its kind in Olympic history, as Russia sought to quell concerns about its ability to fund the event....

I think Russia needs to open opportunity to more advertizers. Coke is still a very viable company. Always has been.

Coke (click here) - the five year and extended graph shows a company that appeals to people and sustains.

Russia might get a few 'PETA' demonstrators, but, McDonalds is doing better than ever. You know that Monopoly Game becomes an investment after a while.

McDonald's Loves Your Recession (click here)

Stephanie Dahle, 02.17.09, 04:00 PM EST
The Forbes.com Investor Team says McDonald's is the pick of the fast food litter.
At a time when recession-weary Americans are cutting back, McDonalds is holding onto its consumers and showing growth--the fast food chain is trading at $55.77--up from the $13.45 it was at just six years ago. Their global same-stores sales were up 7.1% in January, and their stock is up 1% in the last year, while paying a $0.50 dividend. So, it's not just empty calories....

JC Penney (click here) is hanging on to its 'baseline.' Can still get the kids pictures done for Holiday gifts.

I heard that 'Day Spas' are doing a great business. Imagine that. It would seem as though Day Spas are considered an economic indulgence rather than all these fancy long 'flight' trips to far away places. Pretty cool.

Well, so much for rambling on and on.

There was a time when the Swat Valley of Pakistan was a tourist attarction for its natural beauty.

The primary EXCUSE by Rumsfeld and Musharraf regarding the 'sustained' war in Afghanistan was the terrain. The 'geography' would be the one true reason why NO effort would succeed in that region of Pakistan. The terrain is why everything went "W"rong, including, Tora Bora.

The terrain? You mean that even as Hannibal used elephants to defeat his rivals. And even as Genghis Kahn mounted horses to found the Mongol Empire, the USA military was thwarted by terrain.

Then I witnessed The Pashtun using donkeys. I saw our CIA riding on donkeys to defeat al Qaeda. They used donkeys that were supplied by the Pashtun. I thought, hm? Strange. It would seem the terrain isn't an issue to many folks, so why Rumsfeld and Musharraf?

Somehow I felt 'lied to.' Imagine that. So, I thought, you know there used to be all sorts of ancient trade routes through that region and low and behold, right there on Google, were images of ancient trade routes that defied the ability of the USA military under Rumsfeld.

I'll be darn. So, to think that the 'SURREND' of the Taliban in Swat is a 'transition' thing that can be undone is NOT acceptable and I strongly suggest the USA military, under Gates, get their act together along with our allies in NATO.

You know that 2 mile air base at Baghdad International? It belongs in SWAT !



One of the most compelling 'segments' I noted about Afghanistan after the USA's CIA first entered that country, was to learn that the 'average/common' Pashtun (an ethnic of Afghanistan) had no knowledge of the USA, or its towers, or its pending wars. They had no television. They simply lived life from day to day believing in God/Allah and loving their families.
Yet, there was pictures of 'bin Laden' watching Aaron Brown and the destroyed Trade Towers on television. So, what I had to conclude is that bin Laden was not a man of the people, but, an occupier. One that held himself, his goals and 'covert' army separate from the people, EXCEPT, the Taliban whom ruled in Afghanistan.

So, with that conclusion made, it became perfectly obvious that The Taliban were as much a part of the al Qaeda power structure as bin Laden himself. The question is, are there Taliban that actually disavow violence as much as The Pashtun do? You have to wonder and how can we be sure. I sincerely hope the Taliban of Swat are considering themselves lucky to be liberated from al Qaeda.


There is this 'corner of the world' that has seemed impervious, or WAS impervious to the influence of civilization and its militaries.


The 'Swat' region is very convenient. It is near Kashmir as well.

Where this gets really intersting, is to realize, Musharraf was not in power within Pakistan until 1999. It was in 1999, that Musharraf caused a coup as then Chief of Army Staff and removed the Nawaz Sharief Government. Where is gets even more interesting is to realize that Don Rumsfeld bargained with the Musharraf Coup Government for air space into Afghanistan in 2001. The USA has a policy to not recognize coup governments. Why do I get the feeling as though Don just wanted to 'process' Afghanistan to get to Iraq? Don't know why I think such things.

The darnest thing is that Musharraf wasn't 'elected' until 2002. Long after the al Qaeda attacks on the USA. Musharraf should have immediately fell under suspicion for harboring and assisting terrorists. We already know he was a 'pal' of bin Laden. Hm.


This is a general idea of where Swat, Pakistan is located. As a matter of fact, this map is featured in a report regarding the American military and its drones in the region. The attacks by the USA military TO RETURN peace to the Swat Region has facilitated the surrender there. And whether anyone wants to admit it or not, it has taken a change in government in Pakistan and the USA to achieve this milestone in the war against al Qaeda. Whether anyone wants to admit it or not, this is how the terrorist networks of the world will end.

Suspected US missile strike kills 26: Pakistani officials (click here)
4 hours ago
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AFP) — A suspected US missile strike on Monday destroyed an Afghan Taliban camp and killed 26 in Pakistan's northwest tribal area of Kurram, security officials said.
At least one missile fired by a suspected drone struck the Taliban centre in Bhagan, part of a remote mountain stronghold for the hardline movement waging a fierce insurgency across the border in Afghanistan.
"One missile fired by a suspected US drone destroyed the Taliban centre," a top Pakistani security official told AFP.
"Nine dead bodies were taken to Afghanistan, while the burial of 17 is under way in the area," a security official told AFP.
Another security official confirmed the toll of 26.
It was the first suspected US drone attack in Kurram, one of seven semi-autonomous tribal areas in Pakistan on the border with Afghanistan, where the Taliban are fighting US-led, NATO and Western-backed Afghan forces.
One security official said most of the dead were Afghan Taliban fighters and that commanders had been staying at the hideout, which was used to store weapons and lodge militants resting from bouts of fighting in Afghanistan.


This picture was from 2002 and appeared on Flicker. The war inside Afghanistan to retake it from the Taliban and al Qaeda started in October of 2001. It didn't take long for al Qaeda to find its way into this region, set up housekeeping and assassinate Benizar Bhutto. There is a report about vast arms found in a Mosque in Swat, which is near the Afghanistan border, actually. I'll get the article.

This is the article that 'cites' the large munitions within this one time peaceful village. It states 5.5 tons. 5.5 tons is 11, 000 pounds of high exposes. I wonder where al Qaeda is and how they managed to kill people in Madrid and London? Hm? It was featured on The Huffington Post:

...Separately, the army said in a statement it had found 5.5 tons of explosives hidden in a mosque in the Swat Valley (click here), an area in the north of the country that it recaptured from the militants in December.

There are lots of pine forets in the Upper Swat Valley but still the area is suffering from deforestation. The ine forest is a useful source of timber and also a home to species such as Common Leopard, Musk Deer, Pheasants, Black Bears and Rhesus Monkeys. Markhor, Ibex, Wolves and Snow Leopards are also found here especially at higher elevations.
The pine forests are an eco-lovers paradise but it is safe to take a guide with you or go in a group so any local vagabonds do not take advantage.

I thought they were on the same side. Go figure.

And we are worried about Iran?


2007 picture of Le Triomphant.

...A Royal Navy nuclear submarine and a French vessel have been damaged in a collision deep below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean.
HMS Vanguard and Le Triomphant, which were carrying nuclear missiles, are believed to have collided while submerged on 3 or 4 February, according to reports. The submarines had a total of around 250 sailors on board
Defence officials told guardian.co.uk that the two submarines collided in what they said was an extraordinary accident....

...France's defence ministry said in a brief statement on 6 February that the Triomphant had struck "a submerged object (probably a container)" during a return journey from a patrol, damaging the sonar dome on the front of the submarine....

A submerged object. Of course, it had to have been put there by Russia, right? I mean Russia knew exactly where they could undo the French after all.

...Vanguard, one of Britain's four V-class submarines that make up the Trident nuclear deterrent and are each capable of carrying up to 16 missiles, was said to have visible dents on her hull as she was towed home last night....

TOWED, the word is TOWED.

Now would be a good time for Russia to 'take on' the EU over Gasprom. It would seem as though they have been able to disable at least TWO of the EU's best subs. Yep.

...Inquiries are under way on both sides of the Channel....

Good. Real good.

...Stephane Lhomme, a spokesman for the French anti-nuclear group Sortir du Nucleaire, said its network of activists was on alert for any signs of radioactive leaks near French shores....

That was NATO, right?

A 1994 picture of HMS Vanguard.