They are overplaying their hand. Jerks.

There are numerous reasons that the markets fluctuate and one of the most constant factors in the housing market is the interest rate. (click here)

Monthly Average Commitment Rate And Points On 30-Year Fixed-Rate Mortgages Since 1971 (click title to entry - thank you)

Mortgage February 2009 - 5.05

Mortgage February 2008 - 5.92

Mortgage February 2000 - 8.33

Mortgage February 1990 - 10.20

TOPWRAP 7-Fed to buy Treasuries; UK unemployment at 2 mln (click here)
Wed Mar 18, 2009 3:31pm EDT

...The Fed also said it would expand its purchases of mortgage related debt in a bid to lower U.S. home mortgage rates and support the ailing U.S. housing market.

The Fed had already exhausted its main monetary policy lever by lowering benchmark interest rates to between zero and 0.25 percent last December, and many had expected it would soon follow Japan and Britain in pumping money directly into the system.
"This is a pretty dramatic move," said James Caron, head of global rates research at Morgan Stanley in New York. "We think they are buying maturities over seven years. They are trying to bring down all consumer rates."...

Fire Bernanke. He hasn't got a clue. I am sure there is an arrest warrant somewhere in China for him !

Daniel Tarullo, who was designated for a Federal Reserve seat by President-elect Barack Obama, speaks during a news conference in Chicago, Thursday, Dec. 18, 2008. Also introduced was Mary Schapiro, left, as his designate for Securities and Exchange Commission chairman and Gary Gensler, right, as his designate for Commodity Futures Trading Commission chairman and (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Shapiro is right about one thing, there needs to be enough staff at the SEC to close the gap on fraud and accountability. There is no way the USA should be siding with Bernanke to carry out more fraud as started under Paulson. A trillion dollars worth is an outrage. How could any Fed Chairman determine SINKING a trillion of funding into more securities will cure the ills. It is MORE of the SAME from the Bush White House and Bernanke needs to go !!! There is no dumping $1,000,000,000,000 into this mess while there isn't even enough safeguards in place to understand what happened under Bush and Paulson or even cast safeguards against it happening again. This is an outrage !!!!!!!!!!

SEC Calls For More Funds To Avert Cuts In Operations (click here)
By Zachary A. Goldfarb
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, March 12, 2009; Page D01
Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro warned yesterday that the agency will "make significant cuts in its current operations" this year unless Congress authorizes it to spend more money.
Responding to concerns that the agency failed to detect the alleged Bernard L. Madoff fraud, Schapiro said the SEC is working to improve collection of tips and complaints and detect wrongdoing early on.
"I do not believe it would be wise for the SEC to retrench during such perilous times in our markets," she told a House appropriations subcommittee....



Lawmakers Rally to Restore Uptick Rule (click here)
Washington, D.C. (March 18, 2009) By WebCPA staff
Lawmakers continue to apply pressure to the Securities and Exchange Commission to reinstate a Depression-era rule that prevents traders from short-selling stocks whose share prices are falling.
Sens. Ted Kaufman, D-Del., and Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., have floated a bill requiring the commission to restore the “uptick” rule, which had been discontinued in 2007. Proponents of the reinstatement hope it will discourage selling frenzies. SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro indicated that she was in favor of revisiting the issue of resurrecting the uptick rule. A vote on the rule is scheduled for April 8.

The government's power to avert disaster has been gutted through loss of staff (TAX CUTS AND DOWNSIZING GOVERNMENT) by eight years of Bush and six years of Republican domination. The sad truth is that the USA has to re-establish its 'governance' principles in order to return the country to 'functioning.' The move by Bernanke is to allow more exploitation of the USA dollar and the people of the country. It is more than obvious as there is little more he can 'pull out of his hat' to attempt a recovery. The idea that dumping a trillion dollars onto a corrupt and still corruptible securities market before safeguards are in place or a clear understanding of the 'cause' of this mess is simply the most irresponsible move a Fed Chairman could make. Ain't no way this should be occuring. The 'Obama Stimulus' package over 10 years is working. The SEC needs to be supported in the reestablishment of staff and investigations that reveal the underlying truths of the destruction of the American economy. More jobs, more tax base and the USA will reestablish its economy. Bernanke has to go.

UPDATE 2-SEC looks at more short-selling measures (click here)
Wed Mar 11, 2009 4:43pm EDT
* SEC chief aims to issue uptick rule proposal in April
* SEC chief says more funding needed for fiscal 2009
* SEC mulls asking Congress to expand whistleblower laws
(Recasts with uptick rule plan, adds comments by Schapiro,
other details)
By Rachelle Younglai
WASHINGTON, March 11 (Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission aims to issue a proposal in April to restore
the so-called uptick rule and will look at other ways to address
short-selling in the stock market, SEC Chairwoman Mary Schapiro
said on Wednesday....

SEC charges Madoff auditors with fraud (click here)

By MarketWatch
Last update: 11:05 a.m. EDT March 18, 2009

BOSTON (MarketWatch) -- The Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday charged the auditors of Bernard Madoff's broker-dealer firm with securities fraud by representing they had performed legitimate audits. The SEC alleged that certified public accountant David Friehling and his firm purported to audit financial statements and disclosures of Madoff's firm, which was at the center of a gigantic Ponzi scheme. "I will ensure that we continue this investigation and hold accountable all those who helped to facilitate this massive fraud," said new SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro in a press release.

There is OBVIOUS fraud and mismanagement with the funds Paulson and Bernanke put forward in TARP. The TARP funds were supposed to purchase bad loans and derivatives. It didn't work because the monies went to pay bills. The financial sector is now HOOKED on this vast spending plan while the Treasury simply prints more money. If TARP didn't work because it was redirected by the banks that took the funds realizing they never had to account for it, why do it again only bigger. Bernanke IS the problem, get rid of him ! It's fraud, it is stealing the future of the USA away from the people and it is a direct insult to the country's sovereignty.

Bernanke isn't even taking into account that Obama and Geithner have already proposed other instruments for purchasing the bad bank loans. The plans are already in the works so people can keep their homes and refinance and the housing market can return to some stability. Bernanke has tunnel vision and sees no restoration of government, but, only the private sector. Bernanke at this point is a toxic asset to the USA. He just is.

Is Cox (click here) still at the SEC?

WHY ?!?!?!?!




It is called a DEPRESSION.

It is called a CRASH.

Widening the tax base by creating jobs across the spectrum of the USA populous is the only 'flyin' way out of this mess and these lunatics need to be replaced and NOW !!!!!!!!!!!!

Fed to Buy $1 Trillion in Securities to Aid Economy

...As expected, the Fed kept its benchmark interest rate at virtually zero. But in a surprise, it dramatically increased the amount of money it will create out of thin air to thaw out the still-frozen credit markets that have cramped lending to consumers and businesses alike....

Geithner takes his lumps along with everyone else. I don't believe he thought he'd be tapped for Treasury.

Tim Geithner May Take Loss on Home Sale (click here)
March 16, 2009 01:19 PM ET
...Geithner, now living in Washington, is trying to sell his five-bedroom Tudor home in the New York City suburbs, and it looks like he'll be taking a loss even if he gets his asking price.
The house, which has a Larchmont mailing address but is just outside that village in the town of Mamaroneck, is listed at $1.635 million. Records show Geithner and his wife, Carole Sonnenfeld Geithner, paid a little less than that when they bought it in 2004 _ $1.602 million.
After their agent's fee and land transfer taxes, the Geithners will probably clear less than what they paid, said real estate agent Debbie Meiliken of Coldwell Banker in Scarsdale, who is among the agents showing the house to potential buyer…

Let's place the BLAME exactly where it belongs ! The 'bailout' for AIG was mastermind by Goldmans former CEO

The 'emergency' of the Bush White House in October of 2008 was never an emergency at all. It was profound neglect of a burgeoning crisis that started long before Paulson 'shock and awed' the world into the biggest 'bailout' for Goldman Sachs. I knew there had to be something going on before the 'emergency.' Restructuring has to occur and the idea the USA can continue to print dollar bills forever is hideous.

M-LEC: Restructuring Not Bailout (click here)
by: Roger Ehrenberg October 22, 2007
...Now, the ultimate Wall Street player and insider, Henry M. Paulson Jr., the Treasury secretary, has bestirred himself to take serious notice of the credit problems faced by some very big lenders. He wants to create a bailout fund in which banks that still appear sound buy some of the debt of the troubled players like Citigroup....


Banks May Pool Billions to Avert Securities Sell-Off (click here)
By ERIC DASH
Published: October 14, 2007
...Citigroup, Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase, along with several other financial institutions, have been meeting to come up with a plan to create a fund that could prevent a sharp sell-off in securities owned by bank-affiliated investment vehicles. The meetings, which began three weeks ago, have been orchestrated by senior officials at the Treasury Department, and the discussions have intensified in the last few days....
...The effort to create a backup fund began about three weeks ago, when the Treasury secretary, Henry M. Paulson, called a meeting in Washington that included the chief executives of Citigroup, Bank of America, JPMorgan and other big banks. With Wall Street firms having almost no luck finding buyers for mortgage-backed securities and derivatives, Mr. Paulson wanted to see what could be done to relieve the bottleneck....

Basically, the American people were left out of the picture entirely. The only focus Paulson took was to buoy the financial markets no matter the cost. Bush/Paulson/Bernanke had plenty of time to bring hearings and call on Congress to restructure issues that would disaffect the financial sector and they did NOTHING. Never once did Hankie Paulson ever consider the contracture that would occur that would ruin the American economy that supported American labor. Never once did Paulson come forward to bring an agenda of structured 'recovery' to the people of the USA. He and bush simply 'let it ride' scared of the outcome in 2008 and hoping the 'crash' would not come before the Presidential elections.

The monies that were paid in executive compensation were simply a 'matter of fact' for any business sector. Do executives ever sabotage their employers to 'take secrets' into other venues for their own profit? Sure they do, ask Bill Gates. The 'compensation' of executives in financial institutions take many forms, it was unconscionable for Paulson to even consider eliminating 'bad decision' makers from any payroll. After all he and The Decider were of the same 'stock.'



Goldman's share of AIG bailout money draws fire (click title to entry - thank you)
Wed Mar 18, 2009 4:46am EDT
By Paritosh Bansal - Analysis
NEW YORK (Reuters) - American International Group funneled over $90 billion of taxpayer bailout funds to various U.S. and European banks, but the biggest beneficiary was politically connected Goldman Sachs Group Inc....
....$12.9 billion AIG paid to Goldman Sachs -- where then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson had previously worked as chief executive -- in the months after the insurer was rescued by the government last September.
Goldman, for its part, has insisted it did not need the bailout money because it was "always fully collateralized and hedged."...
...Asked why Goldman Sachs took $12.9 billion of taxpayer money if it was collateralized and hedged on its AIG positions, DuVally said it was because AIG was not allowed to fail, so Goldman did not get money from hedges that would have paid out if the insurer had collapsed. And, he said, under the terms of its contracts with AIG, Goldman was entitled to collateral....

Of course. Then the monies that went to Goldman Sachs they didn't need, right? So, why then weren't those monies returned to the USA Treasury and the people of the USA? Have an answer for that one?

If Paulson was sincerely concerned for the USA Treasury BEFORE placing importance on the 'bailout' of Goldman Sachs liabilities, the 'salary scale' to top executives of the 'toxic division' of AIG should have been included in the bailout he proposed. But, if that were to take place that would mean the government would actually have to 'lean' on AIG in a manner the Republican Neocons never approved of in the first place. If one recalls the first $350 billion was a free for all and STILL isn't accounted for! That was the Paulson/Bush solution.

...Goldman was not the only large bank with exposure to AIG. The list of counterparties that AIG disclosed on Sunday included others that got large sums. Goldman was followed by Societe Generale with $11.9 billion, Deutsche Bank with $11.8 billion and Barclays PLC with $8.5 billion.
Moreover, the AIG disclosures are still incomplete in that they do not include payments to the banks since December 31.

In the article below, it is clearly noted that Standard and Poor's down graded AIG on four different occassions because their financial 'risk' was increasing after it embarked on 'experimental' financial tools in their Financial Products Division. Did anyone ever ask why AIG should have received any funds to 'support' its operation past its failure based upon recognized and long standing reliable ratings such as the S&P? No. Paulson simply jumped into the mess with two feet when Goldman Sachs was sure their 'hedging' was the best in the business and should follow the same course as time would prove the performance of the new products would win out. Hankie Paulson continued his lust for his $14,000 DOW on a gamble that in time AIG's products would turn a huge profit, or better yet, the products the company developed could be sold at auction as the American People's frustration with 'promised' returns to pay back the bailout failed.


Ratings Agency: We Started Downgrading AIG In 2005 (click here)
11:26 A.M.: UPDATED:
The Standard & Poor's executive in charge of issuing credit ratings on AIG started downgrading the insurance giant in 2005, he testified moments ago before a meeting of a subcommittee of the House Financial Services committee.
Rodney Clark, the managing director of S&P's ratings group, said that his company downgraded AIG four times since 2005 because of perceived trouble brewing with the credit default swaps sold by AIG's Financial Products division, which would likely have brought down the company had it not been for $173 billion in government bailout money.
AIG carried an AAA rating from S&P for many years, Clark said, but if the insurance giant were not propped up by the government right now, it would have a BB- rating, or junk....

When Paulson mastermind this entire 'bailout' for the financial sector before he was evicted from office, he stated the banks that would be saved would 'in a short period' of time return the funds to the American treasury. Never in the history of this country was $700 BILLION US ever legislated as a method to ? save ? a private sector. Never. In a matter of months $700 billion (That is seven hundred thousand units of $1,000,000 in funds) was to saturate the global markets and correct all the ills of the USA economy. Hasn't done it yet. But, of course, all those analysts will tell anyone, "But, but, but, the labor market is the last place you'll see a recovery."

In the article below it reminds the American people that there IS a way to save jobs and rebuild our economy that was ravaged by Wall Street. We don't live in a perfect world, however there are nearly 90% of the jobs saved at Catepillar due to the Obama Economic Stimulus. But, of course, in the case of bailing out Wall Street we'd have to be patient and wait for our jobs to be regenerated. Jobs that would be restructured to eliminate unions and a living wage. I don't think so !

Political Punch
Power, pop, and probings from ABC News Senior White House Correspondent Jake Tapper

The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Cont'd (click here)
March 17, 2009 7:03 PM

Caterpillar, Inc. today announced it intends to lay off 2,454 employees at five plants in three states -- including 911 employees at the plant in East Peoria, Ill., that President Obama visited in his push for Congress to pass the stimulus package.
As you may recall, on February 11, while campaigning in Virginia for his "Recovery and Reinvestment Act" to pass Congress, President Obama said that "Caterpillar, which manufactures machines used in this project has announced some 20,000 layoffs in the last few weeks. Today the chairman and CEO of Caterpillar said that if the American Recovery and Reinvestment plan passes, his company would be able to rehire some of those employees."
At the Caterpillar factory on February 12, President Obama said that Jim Owens, the CEO of Caterpillar, Inc., "said that if Congress passes our plan, this company will be able to rehire some of the folks who were just laid off."...

Protesters Greet Bush In Canada

If you can't take the heat stay out of the kitchen. It would be really interesting to actually have Bush criticize Obama. Like, what would say anyway?



A protester scuffles with police outside the venue where former U.S. President George W. Bush was speaking to an invited audience of Calgary businessmen on Tuesday, March 17, 2009. The event was Bush's first speaking engagement since leaving office in January. (AP Photo/Jeff McIntosh, The Canadian Press)




Bush says he won't criticize because Obama 'deserves my silence' (click here)
March 18, 2009
CALGARY, Alberta - Former president George W. Bush said yesterday that he won't criticize President Obama because Obama "deserves my silence," and said he plans to write a book about the 12 toughest decisions he made in office....

Obama Names Indiana’s Hamilton as First Judicial Pick

Judge David Hamilton was appointed United States District Judge for the Southern District of Indiana in 1994. Judge Hamilton previously was a partner at Barnes & Thornburg, a private law firm in Indianapolis. He served as Counsel to the Governor of Indiana from 1989 to 1991. Judge Hamilton served as law clerk to Judge Richard D. Cudahy on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago and is a founding member of the Sagamore Inn of Court in the American Inns of Court. He served as a member of the Indiana State Recount Commission from 1986 to 1987 and as chairman of the Indiana State Ethics Commission from 1991 to 1994.

10 soldiers killed in Afghanistan - Where are the bombing runs?

The Taliban are counting on the West leaving. We can't without a clear victory over these people. It is time to get it over with, someone needs to address the UN General Assembly.


1. Benazir Bhutto had addressed a rally of thousands of supporters in Rawalpindi's Liaqat Bagh Park
2. As her convoy was leaving the park via the rear gate onto Murree road, she was shot twice in the neck and chest
3. The gunman then blew himself up killing at least 16 people
4. Ms Bhutto was taken to Rawalpindi General Hospital, but was pronounced dead at 1816 local time.

Rawalpindi is where al Qaeda assassinated Benazir Bhutto. It is near the violence ridden area of Kashmir.

Enough is enough !

The violence in both Pakistan and Afghanistan is out of control due to nearly seven years of neglect by the USA when the war was diverted into Iraq. The Taliban and al Qaeda not only continued their war by attacking Europe, but, they were allowed to organize and increase in numbers.

There are no 'draw backs' to a major military action in Taliban strongholds. There just isn't. I'm not going to apologize, civilization is compromised by hideous authority and it cannot survive a long and protracted war in this region.

It is time the West's soldiers stopped dying. It should ended long ago !

Pakistan suicide bomber kills 14: police (click here)
18 hours ago
RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (AFP) — A suicide bomber blew himself up outside a restaurant in Pakistan's garrison city of Rawalpindi, killing 14 people and wounding 18 others, police said on Tuesday.
Officials said the bomber had probably been targeting a mass protest which was scheduled for Monday in Rawalpindi and the capital Islamabad but was then called off after the government vowed to reinstate the country's top judge.
"Fifteen people have been killed and 18 injured," said Rawalpindi regional police commander Nasir Durrani, including the bomber in the death toll.
"We have collected evidence from the site and talked to witnesses, and now come to the conclusion that the bomber was on foot," Durrani said.
"There is possibility that the suicide bomber may have disembarked from a vehicle before exploding himself," he told AFP.
The attack in Rawalpindi, the city in which Pakistan's powerful military is headquartered, occurred late Monday near a taxi stand in a working-class area of the city, destroying several nearby cars....

So much for peaceful coexistance with Sharia Law Swat Valley !

How did I guess it wouldn't work?

NATO is slapping the wrist of the Taliban. They aren't going to become passivists, ever ! Never ! There is no dealing with them and they are causing instability in a marginally secure nuclear country. What is NATO waiting for? Re-inforcements?

There is only ONE WAY. Not two, not three, but, one way to stop the Taliban and that is to kill them. The USA, under Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld took their eye off the ball and the result is a completely destabilized Afghan-Pakistan region. India has not been at all helpful. There is only one way 'to get on top of this mess' and that is to bomb the region.

If NATO wants to be nice? They can drop pamphlets 24 hours before bombing begins and then don't postpone or hesitate the initiation of attacks. There is no other way.


As Pakistan Restores Judges, Taliban in Swat Sends Some Home (click here)
By James Rupert
March 17 (Bloomberg) -- Taliban guerillas in Pakistan’s Swat Valley replaced judges appointed by the government with Islamic religious courts, undermining the judiciary hours after the nation’s chief justice won back his job.
The Tehrik-e-Nifaaz Shariat Muhammadi, a militant group, ordered government judges not to show up for work “because we are establishing a true Islamic justice system,” said Amir Izzat Khan, a spokesman. The group is introducing Sharia law in the region as part of a government truce with Taliban fighters....

Obama May Widen Drone War Over Pakistan (click here)
March 17, 2009 9:16:00 PM
...Some American officials say the [drone] strikes in the tribal areas have forced some leaders of the Taliban and Al Qaeda to flee south toward Quetta, making them more vulnerable. In separate reports, groups led by both Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of American forces in the region, and Lt. Gen. Douglas E. Lute, a top White House official on Afghanistan, have recommended expanding American operations outside the tribal areas if Pakistan cannot root out the strengthening insurgency....


In the poll taken Saturday and Sunday (click here), 42% of respondents said the United States made "a mistake" in sending military forces to Afghanistan, up from 30% in February. That's the highest mark since the poll first asked the question in November 2001 when the U.S.-led invasion ousted the Taliban government that sheltered al-Qaeda terrorists responsible for the 9/11 terror attacks....

March 15, 2009
KABUL: Four American soldiers were killed in eastern Afghanistan in a roadside explosion, the U.S. military said Sunday, in the worst of several attacks by insurgents around the country.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, said a spokesman, Zabiullah Mujahid.
The Taliban have been threatening to increase attacks on foreign and Afghan forces in Afghanistan to counter the increase in U.S. troops arriving in the coming months. Military officials have been predicting an increase in violence this year.
In Kapisa Province, also in the east, a French soldier and five Afghan troops were killed in a clash with militants, Cmdr. Christophe Prazuck, spokesman for the French Defense Ministry, said Sunday.
The operation Saturday involved air support from Predator drones and other allied aircraft and dozens of militants "were hit hard," Commander Prazuck said. He did not provide estimates of enemy casualties. France has 3,300 troops in Afghanistan....


How much muscle does a soldier need? Get the feeling enough is never enough ?

A Canadian soldier from the NATO-led coalition trains in the Forward Operating Base (FOB) of the Zhari district in Kandahar province, southern Afghanistan March 16, 2009.
REUTERS/Stefano Rellandini


9th Australian soldier dies in Afghanistan (click here)
March 16, 2009
CANBERRA, Australia: A ninth Australian soldier has been killed in Afghanistan, the defense chief said Tuesday, as international pressure mounts on Australia to increase its military force in the Central Asian country.
The soldier was shot dead during a "very intense fire fight" with 20 Taliban insurgents in Uruzgan province Monday morning, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston told reporters Tuesday.
The soldier's name has not been released. He was part of a joint Australian-Afghan army patrol.
Australia has about 1,000 troops in Afghanistan. Australia's contribution is the largest outside NATO, but some NATO countries want Australia to do more in the faltering fight against Taliban and al-Qaida insurgents....

Canada pledges $132 million in aid for Afghanistan (click here)
3/17/2009 2:18 PM ET
(RTTNews) - Canada pledged an aid of $21 million (U.S.$16.5 million) for improving law and order in Afghanistan.The amount is earmarked for payment of salaries of Afghan national police and prison guards, the visiting Canadian foreign minister Lawrence Cannon said at a news conference in Kabul on Tuesday.The disbursal of the money is entrusted with the UN through a trust fund, according to Afghan officials....

Afghanistan wants larger role in terror fight (click here)
9 hours ago
KABUL (AFP) — Afghanistan called on Tuesday for more international help to develop its fledgling and embattled security forces so that it can take on a larger role in "the fight against terrorism"....
...Cannon announced the new financial contribution during a visit to the southern province of Kandahar, a Taliban stronghold where most of Canada's 2,830 soldiers in Afghanistan are deployed.
Canada is one of the main contributors to international forces in Afghanistan -- there are about 75,000 foreign troops in total, including 38,000 from the US.
Nineteen million dollars will go towards paying police salaries for three years, the minister said.
The remainder was for prison officer salaries and supporting a human rights unit within the justice ministry, the Canadian embassy said.
"We continue to believe that the way to go forward is to provide security... because security will bring stability," Cannon told reporters.
The post-Taliban Afghan army has grown to more than 80,000 men, with most of its training and equipment from the United States.
There are an equal number of police.


Trudy Rubin: Quick deal with Taliban in Afghanistan unlikely (click here)
...The prospects for any deal with the Taliban are much exaggerated. And while we can usefully study the similarities with Iraq, the differences between the two conflicts are even more key.
Indeed, Obama recognized that the Afghan situation is "more complex" than Iraq, involving "a less governed region," and fiercely independent tribes that may operate "at cross purposes." Too true. The Afghan tribes are far more fragmented than Iraqi Sunnis, and lack the tribal alliances and leaders that emerged to ally with U.S. troops....
...In Afghanistan, the Taliban are definitely not losing. Obama answered a flat "No" when asked if he thought that the United States was winning, echoing his military commanders.
We are looking at a slow, step-by-step process, working largely with local leaders. Thus, talk of talks with the Taliban means less, in the short term, than many assume.

Three Illinois National Guardsmen Killed in Afghanistan (click here)
By WEEK Producer
Story Published: Mar 17, 2009 at 5:04 PM CDT
Story Updated: Mar 17, 2009 at 8:12 PM CDT
As the 6th anniversary of the war in Iraq approaches, three Illinois families are mourning the loss of their soldier sons.
The casualties were all members of the same Illinois Army National Guard unit based in Woodstock.
Twenty–three–year–old Sergeant Christopher Abeyta, 24–year–old Specialist Robert Weinger, and 22–year–old Specialist Norman Cain III, all assigned to Company D, 1st Battalion, 178th Infantry were killed in action on Sunday.
The three Soldiers were killed when their vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan.


Lejeune Marine dies in Afghanistan (click here)
March 17, 2009 - 11:48 AM
A Camp Lejeune Marine died Saturday in Afghanistan, according to a II Marine Expeditionary Force press release. The incident is under investigation.
Staff Sgt. Archie A. Taylor, 37, of Tomball, Texas, died in Kabul province as a result of a non-hostile incident, according to the press release. He was a counter-intelligence specialist with 2nd Intelligence Battalion, II MEF Headquarters Group.
Taylor joined the Marine Corps on Dec. 9, 1989. He deployed twice to Iraq, from February to October 2004, and from March to October 2007.
His awards include the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, Combat Action Ribbon, Army Achievement Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, Iraq Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Korean Defense Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal, and Navy and Marine Corps Overseas Service Ribbon.


Another attack on NATO logistic terminal (click here)
* 60 attackers torch 16 trucks, 14 trolleysBy Manzoor Ali ShahPESHAWAR: At least 16 trucks and 14 trolleys carrying supplies for NATO troops in Afghanistan were torched on Monday in second such attack on a goods terminal in two days.Police said around 60 Taliban broke into Al-Faisal Terminal on Peshawar’s Ring Road in Pishtakhara area at around 2am, doused the vehicles parked in the compound with petrol and set them on fire. There were no casualties, police official Ihsanullah said.Three cranes and two Humvees were also destroyed....

Unstable Afghanistan A Threat To All (click here)
16 March 2009
Benjamin Franklin, one of the founding fathers of the United States of America, said at the signing of the Declaration of Independence, "We must all hang together, gentlemen ... else, we shall most assuredly hang separately." He meant that they must band together to fight a common threat, because no individual could handle it alone, and each would suffer the consequences.On March 10th, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said something similar to the North Atlantic Council, the governing body of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO. During a meeting to consult with NATO Allies with regard to the ongoing US strategic policy review towards Afghanistan and Pakistan, and to discuss the main challenges ahead in Afghanistan, Mr. Biden said that all countries must work together to resolve the security problems in Afghanistan and Pakistan because all are in danger:"The deteriorating situation in the region poses a security threat, from our perspective, not just to the United States, but to every single nation around this table. It was from that remote area of the world that al Qaeda plotted 9/11. It was from that very same area that extremists planned virtually every major terrorist attack in Europe since 9/11, including the attacks on London and Madrid."...

Investigation Finds Burris Son' Got Job Fairly

Roland Burris II is seen in an inset to this file photo of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich with the senior Roland Burris.

Bernie Tafoya Reporting

WBBM Newsradio 780
CHICAGO (WBBM) - Newsradio 780 has learned the governor’s office has completed its investigation into the way the son of Senator Roland Burris was hired as a lawyer for the state in the weeks before the senior Burris was appointed to the Senate.
The governor’s office finds Roland Burris II got his $75,000 a year job fair-and-square. The governor’s office of general counsel has found no indication of improper conduct or, in other words, wheeling and dealing....

Hiring of Sen. Roland Burris' son: Review by Gov. Patrick Quinn's office finds no misconduct (click here)
By Monique Garcia Tribune reporter
March 17, 2009
A review conducted by Gov. Pat Quinn's office has found "no indication of improper conduct" in the hiring of Sen Roland Burris' son by a state agency six months ago.

The circumstances surrounding the hiring were questioned late last month after the elder Burris admitted he attempted to raise funds for former Gov. Rod Blagojevich and had more contact than previously admitted with Blagojevich's closest allies as he lobbied for the Senate appointment. Blagojevich's selection created a political uproar because he had just been hit by corruption charges, including allegations that he sought to sell the appointment to the seat vacated by President Barack Obama.

Roland Burris II was hired in September as senior counsel for the Illinois Housing Development Authority. His salary is $75,000.

In a statement released Monday, Quinn's office said the younger Burris was hired "in an appropriate manner" after responding to an online job posting, completing an application and interviewing with agency officials....

Durbin said some of the blame lies here in the United States.

Army soldiers guard a police station in the border city of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Monday, March 16, 2009. As retired and active-duty soldiers largely took over security in the violence-wracked city of 1.3 million, a retired Army officer took over as head of police Monday, whose last law enforcement chief resigned after receiving threats.
STR / AP Photo

Retired general takes over Ciudad Juarez security (click here)

By MARINA MONTEMAYOR
Associated Press Writer
CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico -- A retired Mexican army general took over as head of public safety in the violence-plagued border city of Ciudad Juarez on Monday and a retired colonel was sworn in as police chief, as part of a militarization that includes 7,000 soldiers dispatched to keep the peace in the city of 1.3 million.
Gen. Julian Rivera Breton was sworn in as city public safety secretary to replace a man who resigned after criminals threatened to kill a policeman every other day until he left. Two such signs appeared on the bodies of a dead officer and a jail guard....

Texas, El Paso health workers kept out of Mexico (click here)
By ALICIA A. CALDWELL

Associated Press Writer © 2009 The Associated Press

EL PASO, Texas — State and local health officials have barred their workers from business travel in Mexico, citing the ongoing drug cartel war that has killed thousands of people since last year.
Texas Health and Human Services Commission employees were officially told Feb. 25 to stay out of Mexico.
Stephanie Goodman, a commission spokeswoman, said this week the decision was made based primarily on a lengthy U.S. State Department travel alert that warned of widespread violence in Mexico, including confrontations between the military and police and violent drug cartels that resemble "small-unit combat."...
March 17, 2009, 3:42PM

I can't let this go by either. One more observation regarding the self justified Dick Cheney & G. W. Bush.

As 6th anniversary of war in Iraq nears, civilian toll is elusive (click title to entry - thank you)
By Kim Gamel
Associated Press /
BAGHDAD - In the evenings, women in black gather at Umm Fatin's house to remember the dead.
Each family in the four neighboring houses in Tahrir, a former Sunni insurgent stronghold in Baqubah, has lost loved ones to bombings or shootings. Yet these deaths and countless others have fallen under the radar of the Iraq war. Nobody keeps an accurate tally of Iraqis killed because nobody knows.
As the Iraq conflict approaches its sixth anniversary, the number of American troop deaths - more than 4,250 - has been meticulously logged by the US military. Yet analysts are no closer to knowing how many Iraqi civilians have been killed, and they acknowledge a credible death toll will probably never be recorded....

The 'justification' for the war into Iraq was never within the grasp of the President or Vice President. There was no actual threat to the USA by Iraq. It was disarmed and we were flying missions over that country to maintain that status of a leader with UN Resolutions to remove him to trial.

The problem with the former Veep's statement in his interview is that me makes no accounting of the hardship to the people of Iraq. There are estimates of over a million dead by reputable insitutions. There are known refugees of more than two million. Well over a third of the county was in poverty as recently as last year. The services to the people of Iraq are diminished and never achieved Pre-War status. There is every estimation the central authority of Iraq is not recognized by the people as a long term solution for their country and PM Maliki is attempting to use our military as his own private militia.

The reasons the USA have for the war and the continued occupation have nothing to do with the country's national security and we are "W"rong regardless of the fear of the current central authority to its end after we are withdrawn from Iraq. We had no reason to invade and we have no reason to stay, regardless of how Commanders 'on the ground' seem to be enjoying a preceived victory after a 'surge' that killed more Iraqis. I don't believe the justification for any military action is based in 'feel good feelings' for the military post Vietnam. There is STILL today no threat to the USA by Iraq. Our soliders are not the military to the Iraqi Central Government, its a sovereignty issue when soldiers are deployed for purposes other than national security.

...(Cheney) What happened in Iraq is we've eliminated that possibility. We got rid of one of the worst dictators in the 20th century. We got rid of his government. There is no prospect that Iraq is going to become a place where once again they produce weapons of mass destruction or support terrorists, as they...

KING: No prospect or a less likely prospect?

CHENEY: Well, I think as long as it's a democratically governed country, as long as they have got the security forces they do now and a relationship with the United States, I think there is no prospect that you're going to see the kind of behavior out of this new government in Iraq that we saw out of the old one over a period of 20 or 30 years.

So I think it was absolutely the right thing to do, and I think when history reviews this period, 10 or 20 years hence, that what will be significant was that we did, in fact, accomplish what we set out to do, and that the other things are interesting and important, but, you know, they are secondary to the basic -- basic result....

A life is not a dollar bill. Maybe Republicans feel they know how to 'reach' irresponsibile bankers, but, it is a dangerous statement.

No one feels as though bonuses to AIG Executives are appropriate.

Bonuses to any company failing to support their product and employees while turning a positive bottom line for company longevity are undeserving. I find it unnecessary and more than crass to align such anger with a reasonable resolve.

The one positive aspect to Senator Grassley's statement is that he is actually blaming the people most responsible for extremely poor decision making and not the new administration that has actually inherited this mess.

The fiscal outcome of eight years of irresponsible spending in DC does not give permission, through act of hubris and preceived priviledge, to crashing a global economy. The problem is that poor examples existed at the top of government all those years and a lot of premission was given to a financial sector seeing no end in site to escalating budgets and raised debt ceilings. Nor did the financial sector know exactly where such increase in liquid capital would stop and with an Executive Branch in the White House continually screaming war was a necessity, nor did they feel it was reasonable to stop creating more financial capital regardless of how poorly many decisions were supported.

There is plenty of blame to go around and some of us OUT HERE actually saw all this 'disaster' coming, including the huge build up of 'Taliban War Fuel' now in Pakistan and Afghanistan. So, to say anyone directly responsible for fiscal irresponsibility either in government or business is innocent or actually has an excuse, needs to reconsider their position.

I will say this, however, the same executives that are CONSENTING and fall back on contractural reasons for accepting 'unearned' bonuses are more guilty of continued irresponsible decisions than they ever were before.

And to Senator Grassley, one of the hallmarks of civilization is to rise above 'primal screams' and work through methods that will attempt to correct a "W"rong path chosen by even you a long time ago. I doubt seriously that Senator Grassley actually meant any of those words except perhaps apology and resignation. He would regret anyone taking any other of his words seriously, I am confident he would regret any harm coming to anyone for any reason, self inflicted or otherwise. That does not mean we should look the other way entirely as we know full well there are members of our society that have died for reasons of financial ruin alone at their own hand and in acts imposed on them by others. For those deaths, there needs to be accountability as well. That would be justice as well as justified.

Let's get problems solved, shall we?

Was Tony Blair close enough to a solution?

Because it is looking and sounding just like the good ole days, when conflict was a way of life and oppression meant every suspected IRA leader was imprisoned.

When fiscal disasters hit delicate populations of recently settled, century long battles for freedom, it sparks the insecurities these parties had to invest in to in order to stop the conflict they inherited as a matter of identity in order to survive.

One of the reasons why violence is easy to come by in regions of the world where hatred ruled the day, is the identity of strength. With the Irish of Northern Ireland generations of sacrifice didn't need an economy to close English prisons and anchor religious freedom and acceptance. If a global financial crisis sparks old fears this easily, the diplomats that find the solutions need to also secure and guarantee an economy to stop the war forever.

This out burst of anger, which did not come unescorted by fiscal disregard due to an American administration eight years engaging in illegal war and homeland oppression and poverty, has to be viewed as aggravated and not based just in history. This incident in Ireland is a warning of the potential a global fiscal crisis, even the new USA administration identifies as a greater threat than any terrorist network, can spark. The authorities overseeing the violence in Ireland must find a way to engage economic oppression and turn it into opportunity, otherwise peace may continue to be illusive for a long time again.

Ex-IRA prisoner held over murders (click here)
Henry McDonald, Ireland editor
Saturday 14 March 2009 19.39 GMT
Colin Duffy, a prominent republican and former IRA prisoner, is one of three men being questioned over the murder of two British soldiers in Northern Ireland.
Police arrested Duffy, 41, today at his home on a private housing estate in Lurgan, Co Armagh. During the arrest-and-search operation, police cars and jeeps were attacked by youths hurling bricks, bottles and stones. The other two men were arrested in the Bellaghy area of south Derry this morning, a PSNI spokeswoman confirmed.
Three other men, including a 17-year-old and a former Sinn Féin councillor, are in custody in connection with the murder of constable Stephen Carroll.
Security remains tight throughout Northern Ireland and particularly around Greater Belfast this weekend, as the PSNI seeks to foil a feared Real IRA bomb plot. Last week security sources warned that the Real IRA had smuggled an explosive device into Northern Ireland from the Republic. Mobile checkpoints manned by armed police officers have been set up on several major arterial routes into the city....

PSNI officers search 3 homes in the Bellaghy area after the arrests of three men over the murder of two soldiers at Massereene Army barracks in Antrim last weekend


Masked rioters block the railway lines in Lurgan tonight after the arrest of Colin Duffy.


A masked youth prepares to throw a petrol bomb at police officers close to where a leading Irish Republican was arrested in connection with the recent murders of two British soldiers

Speaking at the National Press Club, Gerry Adams said his dream of a unified Ireland is more relevant now than ever. (Hyungwon Kang/ Reuters)

Sinn Fein leader calls for dialogue on Ireland's future (Click here)
Adams invites US Irish to join in conversation

By Farah Stockman
Globe Staff / March 17, 2009

WASHINGTON - Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams called yesterday for an international dialogue on the future of Ireland in the wake of attacks by republican dissidents in Northern Ireland this month that killed two British soldiers and a policeman.
Speaking at the National Press Club, Adams called on Irish Americans to participate in the conversation about Ireland's future through conferences organized by Sinn Fein to be held on June 13 in New York and on June 27 in San Francisco. A key goal of the conferences, he said, was to seek the Irish diaspora's advice about the best strategy to try to reunify the country through peaceful means.
"Our intention is to engage with the Irish diaspora and to marshal its political strength in support of a united Ireland,' " he said....

Top o' the mornin' to you

St Patrick's Day in White House is not mere shamrock diplomacy (click here)
THE ANNUAL shamrock ceremony at the White House has become such a familiar fixture in the political calendar that it’s easy to overlook the extraordinary and unlikely nature of today’s events in Washington.
Starting with a bilateral meeting in the morning and ending with a lavish reception this evening, the leader of the most powerful nation on earth will devote much of his working day to one of the smallest countries in Europe – one that is not even a military ally of the United States.
When Brian Cowen meets President Barack Obama in the Oval Office for almost an hour this morning, they will be joined by vice-president Joe Biden, secretary of state Hillary Clinton and national security adviser Jim Jones. After the shamrock ceremony, the Taoiseach and the president will join House speaker Nancy Pelosi for lunch on Capitol Hill, with dozens of congressmen and senators, including chairmen of some of the most powerful committees.
In the evening, the president will host almost 400 people at the most elaborate party the White House has seen since he took office. During the day, Clinton will meet the North’s First Minister and Deputy First Minister and Obama will find time to drop in on a meeting between the Northern leaders and Jones....

The Ireland that Saint Patrick knew (click here)
Andersonstown News Thursday
By Fr Des
We’re celebrating St Patrick again. Maybe this time we should also celebrate not just Patrick but the kind of Ireland he came to.
The Ireland Patrick came to was a highly organised, highly developed people, culturally and otherwise. The Druids were the intellectual elite. Trade was constant with countries to the northeast and in the Mediterranean. Ships of the period were capable of carrying hundreds of people and substantial cargos. Baltinglass in the Wicklow Hills was one of the most important settled trading communities. Highly organised agriculture was going on in what we now call the Ceide Fields in the West. Trading and organised farming had been going on for hundreds of years before Patrick arrived.
When Patrick was captured it must have been by people in ships of a size capable of carrying slaves, equipment, armed warriors. When he eventually escaped from bondage he managed to reach an Irish seaport where a cargo ship was anchored, ready to sail, probably toward France.
Hundreds of years before Patrick, around about 65 BC, there was a massive sea battle involving hundreds of ships, Celtic and Roman, somewhere by the northwest coast of France. The Roman ships were more easily manoeuvred than the heavier ocean-going Celtic vessels and the Celts were defeated by a change in the direction of the wind. That happened a few times in Irish history. Julius Caesar, in his ruthless extension of the Roman Empire, also had to destroy Celtic sea power to enable Romans to invade Britain. Roman forces eventually got up to what we think of as a line dividing England and Scotland and there is reason to suppose they could not progress further by sea because Rathlin Island, standing between Irish-controlled territories in Ireland and Scotland, barred the way.
Interesting stuff and far removed from the simple version of Patrick coming to civilise a rude and unlettered race. Roman citizens, like imperial warriors the world over, always thought they were civilising other peoples.
The people of Ireland before Patrick used their own Ogham writing, and Roman and Greek letters as well. They must have been highly literate otherwise they could not have been a trading nation, which they were.
Main roads before Patrick seem to have been well developed and so did the technical skills to build vast monuments like those at Newgrange and district. The Irish had these building skills before the Egyptians built their pyramids. Travelling through Ireland was a matter of using the main skillfully-laid roads and paying one’s way – a kind of toll charge – through territory where local rulers made a bob or two charging for safe passage.
The laws by which Irish people governed themselves before Patrick’s time were more humane and enlightened than Chinese law systems – we have interesting records of these – or the laws laid down in the Jewish Christian Old Testament which largely mirrored the law system of Hamurabi, a Babylonian lawyer.
Here is an interesting thought. We read in the Old Testament that Abraham was the founder of the Jewish race. He was born about 1500 BC. By that time the Ceide Fields had been organised, the Newgrange Monuments built. When the people of Ireland had already organised agriculture, trade, laws and customs, Abraham had not even been born.
The important question is not whether Patrick came and civilized us, the important question is what effect he had on a people culturally, economically and politically developed already.
And why it happened the way it did.

Now, why is it that China is so 'pressed' for Cash? Hm?

China, Iran Sign $2 Billion Oil Production Agreement (Update2) (click here)
December 10, 2007 04:01 EST
...Sinopec Group, as China Petrochemical is known, hopes to talk about liquefied natural gas supplies ``later,'' Iran's state news agency IRNA said today, citing Zhou Baixiu, president of Sinopec Group's international exploration and production unit. China is ``willing'' to buy LNG from Iran, Zhou said.
China, a veto-holding member of the United Nations Security Council, has resisted pressure from the U.S. to isolate Iran and impose a third round of international sanctions over the country's nuclear program. The Chinese government wants its oil and gas producers to step up their global search for energy resources to meet rising consumption, spurred by an economy that surged 11.5 percent in the third quarter....


A conversation with Robert Zoellick, former Deputy Secretary of State. Mr. Zoellick currently serves as International Vice Chairman of Goldman Sachs. (click here)
Tuesday, May 8, 2007

Doing Business With The Enemy (click here)
Are U.S. Firms Doing Business In Nations That Support Terrorism?
Aug. 29, 2004 by Rebecca Leung
...In other words, there are U.S. companies that are helping drive the economies of countries like Iran, Syria and Libya, all places that have sponsored terrorists. Correspondent Lesley Stahl reported on this story last January....


Halliburton is welcome to pump Iran's Gas Glut (click here)

Halliburton Moves Its Headquarters Abroad (click here)
Critics Pounce on News of War Contractor's Planned Move From Houston to Dubai

By SONYA CRAWFORD
March 11, 2007
The much-maligned defense contractor Halliburton is moving its corporate headquarters from Houston to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
"The Eastern hemisphere is a market that is more heavily weighted toward oil exploration and production opportunities," said CEO Dave Lesar at an energy conference in nearby Bahrain. "And growing our business here will bring more balance to Halliburton's overall portfolio."
The draw is obvious. Dubai's friendly tax laws will add to Halliburton's bottom line. Last year, it earned $2.3 billion in profits.
Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-N.H., called the company's move "corporate greed at its worst." He added, "This is an insult to the U.S. soldiers and taxpayers who paid the tab for their no-bid contracts and endured their overcharges for all these years. At the same time they'll be avoiding U.S. taxes, I'm sure they won't stop insisting on taking their profits in cold hard U.S. cash."...

While I agree with Senator Leahy that Halliburton is a 'toxic asset' of the worst kind, it isn't just 'greed' that drives their operations to Dubai. It would seem Halliburton and any affiliations hence (which might include China) need sanctions as well as Iran.

A general view shows the massive South Pars gas field
Borzou Daragahi in Beirut
March 16, 2009
IRAN has announced a $US3.2 billion ($4.9 billion) natural gas deal with China (click title to entry - thank you), a move that underscores the difficulty of using economic sanctions to put pressure on Tehran over its nuclear program....


China Warns Against Iran Sanctions (click here)
Official: Plan To Enrich Iran's Uranium In Russia 'Could Be Helpful'
BEIJING, Jan. 26, 2006
by Sean Alfano
(AP) China on Thursday warned that sanctioning Iran over its nuclear program could further complicate the dispute as it threw its support behind a proposal to allow Iran to enrich its uranium in Russia.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan said the Russian plan, proposed earlier this week when Iran's chief nuclear negotiator visited Moscow, "could be helpful to break the stalemate."
Kong's remarks came as Iran's High Council of National Security Secretary Ali Larijani met with Chinese officials in Beijing in an apparent bid by Tehran to strengthen support with another of its key allies.
"We agreed members of the (Non-Proliferation Treaty) have right to peaceful nuclear energy," Larijani told reporters after meetings with Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing and State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan....


China: Iran sanctions are not the solution (click here)
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-12-24 15:32
BEIJING - China on Sunday called on all sides to resume talks on Iran's nuclear programme, adding that although it supported the UN resolution to punish Iran, Beijing did not think sanctions could solve the problem.
"We hope that the resolution is earnestly enforced, but we also think that sanctions are not the objective and cannot be a permanent solution to the problem," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said in a statement.
The UN Security Council, of which China is a permanent member, voted unanimously on Saturday to impose sanctions on Iran's trade in sensitive nuclear materials and technology, an effort to stop enrichment work that could be used in bombs....

It would seem 'the enemy of Cheney's enemy' is Iran's friend.

Halliburton operates in Iran despite sanctions (click here)
How do U.S. contractors legally do business there?
By Lisa Myers & the NBC investigative unit
updated 12:24 a.m. ET, Tues., March. 8, 2005
It's just another Halliburton oil and gas operation. The company name is emblazoned everywhere: On trucks, equipment, large storage silos and workers' uniforms.
But this isn't Texas. It's Iran. U.S. companies aren't supposed to do business here.
Yet, in January, Halliburton won a contract to drill at a huge Iranian gas field called Pars, which an Iranian government spokesman said "served the interests" of Iran. ...

We have been at this juncture before, but with Russia and GasProm. The Iranian sactions that President Clinton due up unilaterally to control the development of Iranian missiles was honored by Russia and eventually they stopped their interest in Iranian Gas. That, however, has not been the case with the "W" administration when the global community took over the sanctions against Iran, while "W" simply wouldn't extend diplomatic relationships. When Clinton was faced with Russian interests in Iranian Gas Opportunities, he met with cooperation and mutual understanding. That. Does not seem to be the outcome after eight years of a Bush and China now demanding USA funds to 'fund their venture into Iran.' (click here) I find it odd that Goldman Sachs maintains such a sincere interest in Iran REGARDLESS of the country they sidle up to.

...No one at Goldman, Sachs would comment publicly on the Gazprom announcement. While Gazprom has good financial reasons, after the Russian stock market drop, to postpone the bond offering, both Gazprom and Goldman, Sachs have good political and strategic reasons not to force a challenge to the Clinton Administration now, American officials said, just when it is trying to salvage its Iran policy without starting a sanctions war with the rest of the world.

If Dick needs to work on his image, he can start by telling the truth.

The plans to detonate liquid explosives over the USA which would be initiated in London were discovered by British MI5 agents. How could CNN let Cheney get away with such a statement when their own reporting in 2006 stated otherwise.


Friday, August 11, 2006; Posted: 3:33 p.m. EDT (19:33 GMT)
"...British and Pakistani authorities teamed up to thwart the attacks (click here), and 24 men were arrested in overnight raids in Britain, authorities said.
An undercover British agent infiltrated the group, giving the authorities intelligence on the alleged plan, several U.S. government officials said....


The only aspect of the USA's response that mattered was cooperation in supplying the British with whatever information they wanted and supplying Sky Marshalls for British flights bound for the USA. What programs was Cheney talking about in his 'ego driven' interview with King? Cooperation?


Three US airlines are believed to have been targeted....(click here)
..."There has been an enormous amount of co-operation with the US authorities which has been of great value and underlines the threat we face and our determination to counter it," he said in a statement....
...A spokesman for Number 10 said Tony Blair had briefed US President George Bush on the situation during the night...


Police at the scene of one of the raids, on Forest Road, Walthamstow, London. (click here)
...Of the approximately 24 suspects who were arrested in and around London on the night of 9 August 2006, eleven were charged with terrorism offenses on 21 August, two on 25 August (subsequently discharged on 1 November), and a further three on 30 August.
Eventually, only 8 men (Ahmed Abdullah Ali, Assad Sarwar, Tanvir Hussain, Oliver Savant, Arafat Khan, Waheed Zaman, Umar Islam, Mohammed Gulzar) were charged in connection with the plot. The trial began in April 2008.
On 8 September 2008, after more than 50 hours of deliberations, the jury did not find any of the defendants guilty of conspiring to target aircraft. The jury found Ali, Sarwar and Hussein guilty of conspiracy to murder charges but was unable to reach verdicts on charges relating to the alleged plot to blow up aircraft in respect of them.
The jurors were unable to reach verdicts on those charges or conspiracy to murder charges as well on conspiracy to detonate explosives on aircraft against Oliver Savant, 27, of Stoke Newington, Umar Islam, 30, of Plaistow, and Waheed Zaman, 24, and Arafat Waheed Khan, 27, both of Walthamstow, all London. Mohammad Gulzar, 27, of Barking, east London, was found not guilty on all counts....


In an emergency statement, Home Secretary John Reid said police had disrupted a "major threat to the UK". (click here)





...CHENEY (click here): John, I've seen a report that was written based upon the intelligence that we collected then that itemizes the specific attacks that were stopped by virtue of what we learned through those programs. It's still classified. I can't give you the details of it without violating classification, but I can say there were a great many of them. The one that has been public was the potential attack coming out of Heathrow, when they were going to have several American planes with terrorists on board, with liquid explosives, and they were going to blow those planes up over the United States.


Now, that was intercepted and stopped, partly because of those programs that we put in place....


He hasn't learned a darn thing. SO, Dick when you want to diss the new administration you might want to remember exactly why people didn't listen to you in the first place ! You are the boy that cried "WOLF" one to many times !

Nikkei gains 2.1 pct, banks jump as U.S. fears ease

Mon Mar 16, 2009 1:05am EDT

..."Two of three major concerns in the market have become a bit brighter (click title to entry - thank you), with the risk of nationalisation of Citi and Bank of America receding and U.S. retail sales turning out to be better than expected," said Takashi Kamiya, chief economist at T&D Asset Management. [.N]

"But what we are seeing is not the beginning of an upward trend, as uncertainty over GM's future still remains. This is merely a series of short-covering, not full-fledged buying by institutions such as pension funds."...

A man walks by an electronic board displaying falls in share prices on October 10, 2008 in Tokyo, Japan. The Nikkei 225-issue stock index falls below 9,000 yen level for the first time since June 2003.
(Photo by Koichi Kamoshida/Getty Images AsiaPac)