Obama and Cheney Deliver Dueling Speeches on National Security
President Obama and former vice president Richard B. Cheney yesterday gave the country the national security debate it never had during last year's campaign, with the two outlining starkly divergent views of American power and the presidency in the fight against terrorism.
PM Netanyahu vows Jerusalem will remain Israel's capital 'forever'
Right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Thursday that Jerusalem would remain Israel's capital "forever" as the Jewish state marked the 42nd anniversary of the annexation of the city's mainly Arab sector.
U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve. Federal Reserve holding over $2 trillion in the Darkest Balance Sheet in Financial History
The U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve have arguably two of the least transparent balance sheets known to humankind. This wouldn’t be such a big issue if the amount of money funneled into these organizations was small. That is not the case. The Federal Reserve since October of 2008 has held on its balance sheet over $2 trillion in reserve bank credit and also, Federal Reserve Holdings of U.S. Treasuries. This of course is the biggest bait in switch in history because in exchange for U.S. Treasuries, banks can offload practically any collateral (i.e., mortgages, auto loans, credit card loans, etc). The U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve are creating the biggest put option in the history of the world and the American taxpayer stands to lose big.
World Economies Plummet
Steep declines in the economies of three of the U.S.'s biggest trading partners -- Mexico, Japan and Germany -- underscored the severity of the global recession and put pressure on major industrialized nations to revive moribund global trade talks.
California already looking at CAFE 2016+
In the immediate wake of President Obama’s announcement of more stringent mileage standards by 2016, California air czar Mary Nichols told Reuters yesterday that, “California will be immediately getting to work on what the standards should be for beyond 2016,” and that she expects, “a much more stringent standard.”
Florida bank collapses - firms swoop in
$13 billion BankUnited closed in biggest failure of year. Florida thrift bought by Wilbur Ross, Carlyle Investment, Blackstone Capital and other private firms.
U.S. Insurer of Pensions Sees Flood of Red Ink
The deficit at the federal agency that guarantees pensions for 44 million Americans tripled in the last six months to a record high, reaching $33.5 billion, largely as a result of surging bankruptcies among companies whose pensions it expects it will soon need to take over.
United Arab Emirates exit leaves Gulf currency plan on brink of failure
A project to establish a common currency for the Gulf has been dealt a near-fatal blow with the decision by the United Arab Emirates to abandon monetary union after disagreement with Saudi Arabia over the location of a future central bank.
An awesome warning
Japan's brutal economic decline has been brought about by circumstances very similar to those now emerging in Britai
Computer virus strikes US Marshals, FBI affected
Law enforcement computers were struck by a Mystery computer virus Thursday, forcing the FBI and the U.S. Marshals to shut down part of their networks as a precaution.
Housing's Big Picture Isn't Pretty
By Peter Schiff
While economists and real estate investors "celebrate" the slight deceleration in the pace of home price declines in the recent data, a quick look at home price trajectories over the past 100 and 50 years reveals little to cheer about and much to be feared.
Obama: from anti-war law professor to neocon hawk in 100 days
By Alexander Cockburn
How long does it take a mild-mannered, anti-war, black professor of constitutional law, trained as a community organiser on the South Side of Chicago, to become an enthusiastic sponsor of targeted assassinations, 'decapitation' strategies and remote-control bombing of mud houses at the far end of the globe?
US Promises to Fully Fund Israeli Missile Defense System, While Cutting Its Own
Even as Secretary of Defense Robert Gates was being raked over the coals in Congress for the decision to cut funding to America’s missile defense systems, Israeli defense officials have revealed that Israel’s own Arrow 3 missile defense system will be “fully funded” by the United States yet again this year.
Top Israeli Official Mocks Two-State Plan as ‘Childish and Stupid’
Just hours after reports began to emerge of the Obama-Abdullah Plan, which sought a two-state solution involving a contiguous Palestinian state which would be banned from having a military or entering any defensive pacts, one aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lashed out at the very idea of a two-state solution, calling it “childish and stupid.”
‘What Pelosi knew’ is a ‘war on terrorism’ red herring
By Larry Chin
A red herring is a fallacy in which an irrelevant topic is used to divert attention from the original issue. The furor over House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s knowledge of the Bush/Cheney administration’s use of torture is the latest Washington noise that conveniently diverts attention from the illegitimate “war on terrorism” that continues to serve as the justification for torture, murder and war.
FCC’s Warrantless Household Searches Alarm Experts
You may not know it, but if you have a wireless router, a cordless phone, remote car-door opener, baby monitor or cellphone in your house, the FCC claims the right to enter your home without a warrant at any time of the day or night in order to inspect it.
Libya Says Islamist Militant Hanged Self In Jail
Libya's state prosecutor said on Thursday the death of a Libyan Islamist whose bogus testimony about al Qaeda was used by the Bush administration to justify the invasion of Iraq in 2003 was suicide.
Jobless Claims Set Another Record
More Americans than forecast filed claims for unemployment insurance last week, and the total number of workers receiving benefits rose to a record, signs the job market continues to weaken even as the economic slump eases.
No we can’t: Obama’s Guantanamo
By Cori Cride
You would be hard-pressed to find a kid more thrilled on Barack Obama’s first day in office than Mohammed el Gharani. On January 21, had you been standing at the right corner of Guantanamo Bay, you could have heard him whoop for joy when the U.S. President made history so we thought by closing the prison where el Gharani grew up.
U.K. May Lose AAA Rating at S&P as Finances Weaken
Britain may lose its AAA credit rating for the first time as government finances deteriorate in the worst recession since World War II.Britain may lose its AAA credit rating for the first time as government finances deteriorate in the worst recession since World War II.
House rejects probe into Pelosi CIA claims
House Democrats on Thursday defeated a Republican push to investigate House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's assertion that the CIA misled her in 2002 about whether waterboarding had been used against terrorism suspects.
Valerie Plame: Obama is on Bush’s side
Plame, you’ll remember, was the undercover CIA agent working on ensuring that Iran did not acquire nuclear weapons and who was outed as a CIA agent in a July 2003 Washington Post syndicated-column by Robert Novak about her husband, Joe WIlson. Wilson, a former U.S. Foreign Services diplomat, had been sent by the CIA to Africa to check out claims that Iraq was buying uranium yellowcake from Niger. His findings, published in The New York Times op-ed “What I Didn’t Find in Africa” in mid-2003, didn’t please the Bush adminsitration.
Day of reckoning looms for the U.S. dollar
The U.S. dollar's day of reckoning may be inching closer as its status as a safe-haven currency fades with every uptick in stocks and commodities and its potential risks - debt and inflation - are brought under a harsher spotlight.
Obama Is Said to Consider Preventive Detention Plan
President Obama told human rights advocates at the White House on Wednesday that he was mulling the need for a “preventive detention” system that would establish a legal basis for the United States to incarcerate terrorism suspects who are deemed a threat to national security but cannot be tried, two participants in the private session said.
Human rights advocates are growing deeply uneasy with Mr. Obama’s stance on these issues, especially his recent move to block the release of photographs showing abuse of detainees, and his announcement that he is willing to try terrorism suspects in military commissions a concept he criticized bitterly as a presidential candidate.
Synagogue targeted in NY plot, four charged
Four men were arrested on Wednesday in a suspected plot to bomb a synagogue and Jewish community center in New York City and to shoot at military planes with stinger missiles, law enforcement officials said.
Did White House OK Earliest Detainee Abuse?
It is clear that increasingly abusive interrogation techniques were used on Abu Zubaydah, the first high-value detainee, in the months between his capture and the first Justice Department memo authorizing harsh interrogations. But the legal guidance that authorized those early interrogations remains shrouded in secrecy.
Credit Card Bill Allows Guns In National Parks
The U.S. House of Representatives followed the Senate's lead and passed the Credit Card Holders Bill of Rights -- but there's more. The bill contains an amendment that has nothing to do with credit cards. The bill allows concealed weapons to be carried in America's national parks.
Prescription pill dependency among American troops is on the rise
In deploying an all-volunteer army to fight two ongoing wars, in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Pentagon has increasingly relied on prescription drugs to keep its warriors on the front lines. In recent years, the number of military prescriptions for antidepressants, sleeping pills, and painkillers has risen as soldiers come home with battered bodies and troubled minds. And many of those service members are then sent back to war theaters in distant lands with bottles of medication to fortify them.
The Crimes of Wall Street: The Scams and Sleaze at the Top
By Danny Schechter
So many of us know in detail about all the false warnings and exaggerated claims that were used to justify the war in Iraq. By now, six years later, and after many books, reports, news stories and films (hopefully including my two books and film, Weapons of Mass Deception), we see the pattern of lies and deception. We realize what a fraud was committed against the American people and what its consequences have been for the people of this country, Iraq and Afghanistan.
60 killed as violence spikes in Iraq
IRAQ has been engulfed by a wave of violence, with suicide and bomb attacks killing 23 people after a massive bomb devastated a Baghdad Shiite neighbourhood slaughtering 40 civilians yesterday,
Tamil Tiger leaders were shot 'while trying to surrender
A pair of Tamil Tiger leaders were shot dead as they tried to surrender following desperate last-minute negotiations to guarantee their safety, it was claimed last night.
Companies could vaccinate 4.9 bln against H1N1: WHO
Companies could potentially turn out 4.9 billion doses of vaccine against the new H1N1 influenza strain within a year under the best-case scenario, World Health Organization officials said on Tuesday.
Obama Seeks To Retake Terrorism Front
After antagonizing the political left with several unexpected national security moves, President Obama on Thursday will seek to reassert control over the politically sensitive area of fighting terrorism.
Fed Open to Buying More Securities
Some Federal Reserve officials are open to raising the amounts of mortgage and Treasury securities purchase programs beyond the $1.75 trillion that they have already committed to buying, according to minutes from the Fed’s April meeting.
House Democrat Crafts Alternative on Probe of DHS 'Right-Wing' Report
After House Republicans demand that the Department of Homeland Security explain why it compiled a study that cast "right-wing groups" as a potential terrorist threat, Democrat draws up his own resolution that would require DHS to explain.
Western Media Propagandize Iran’s Missile Test
Iran announced on Wednesday that it had successfully tested its Sejil 2 surface-to-surface missile, and Western media sources took the opportunity to portray the Middle Eastern nation as a threat to world peace and, specifically, as a threat to Israel.
US president calls for demilitarized Palestinian 'state'
Amid much speculation over US President Barack Obama's upcoming address to the Muslim world, reports published on Wednesday outlined the details of his Middle East peace plan, which are said to include a demilitarized Palestinian state.The US president's initiative, which was formulated in consultation with Jordan's King Abdullah II during the two leaders' recent meetings at the White House, reportedly does not significantly stray from the pan-Arab peace initiative proposed in 2002. Rather, it bolsters certain details within the Saudi-proposed plan. The Obama-Abdullah plan was put together in response to concerns from both Israel and the US that the Arab plan was too general and intransigent, and according to a report in Wednesday's Yediot Ahronot, will call on Arab countries to take trust-building measures in order to clear the air with Israel.
The Backdoor Draft
By Aaron Emery
Call it a backdoor draft, call it entrapment, call it obligation, but don't call it an all-volunteer military.
Obama Has Revived Hitler's Genocide Program
By John Hoefle
In October 1939, Nazi Leader Adolf Hitler issued an order, written in his own hand, ordering the extermination of those who were considered "unworthy of life." The order, entitled "The Destruction of Lives Unworthy of Life," stated that patients "considered incurable according to the best available human judgment of their state of health, be accorded a mercy death."
Modern Survivalism Tenet Number One
By Jack Spirko
The survivalist community is often perceived as a bunch of gloom and doom types sitting on a pile of MREs, ammunition and guns in some far out corner of the North West.
‘Go home Nazi scum,’ Serb hardliners tell Biden
Serb ultra-nationalist lawmakers held up insulting signs in a live TV broadcast from parliament on Wednesday as US Vice President Joe Biden, considered a strong backer of Kosovo independence, arrived in Belgrade.
Hundreds rally in China over police beating
As many as 1,000 protestors took to the streets in northwestern China after police officers allegedly beat a cyclist for running a red light, state media reported Thursday.
Germans resist Street View invasion of privacy
Google's all-seeing Street View is attempting to convince German authorities that it should be allowed to retain "partially censored images" which Hamburg and 15 other states want purged from the search monolith's databases.
FBI director schooled on marijuana by Rep. Steve Cohen (Video)
This is Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn) completely taking it to FBI Director Robert Mueller. He forces Mueller to admit that nobody has died from marijuana and jumps all over him when the Director tries to bring up the gateway theory.
US pension agency's ex-chief refuses to testify
The former head of the U.S. agency that insures corporate pensions refused to testify Wednesday at a Senate hearing examining allegations that he had improper contacts with Wall Street firms.
Geithner works to fill out Treasury team
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is surrounding himself with former aides to President Bill Clinton as he attempts to rebound from a rocky start even as top-tier vacancies have slowed decision-making.
Google: Ditching data could hinder flu tracking
Larry Page, the co-founder of Google, questioned whether the search engine giant was right to cut the amount of time it held personal search data, when by retaining information the company could help combat future pandemics.
Military attorney: Waterboarding is tip of the iceberg
Yvonne Bradley, a lawyer assigned to defend a British man detained at Guantanamo Bay detention center, told CNNs Jim Acosta that detainees may have faced interrogation techniques that were worse than waterboarding.
Dollar still top currency in Russia reserves-cbank
The dollar remains the top currency in Russia's foreign exchange reserves, the central bank said on Wednesday, qualifying an earlier report that suggested the euro had edged ahead in the world's third biggest reserves.
GPS System Could Fail Next Year, Report Warns
Mismanagement and underinvestment by the U.S. Air Force could possibly lead to the failure and blackout of the Global Positioning System (GPS), a federal watchdog agency says.
Panel votes for probe of 'extremist' report
Democrats joined Republicans on a key House panel Tuesday in voting for a formal inquiry into the development and distribution of a contentious Homeland Security Department report that described military veterans as possible recruits for extremists.
Tagged for dropping sweets
A motorcyclist has told how he was electronically tagged for four months and given a 36-hour community order – for dropping mint imperials while riding.
Soy Protein Used in "Natural" Foods Bathed in Toxic Solvent Hexane
Virtually all "protein bars" on the market today are made with soy protein. Many infant formula products are also made with soy protein, and thousands of vegetarian products (veggie burgers, veggie cheese, "natural" food bars, etc.) are made with soy protein. That soy protein is almost always described as safe and "natural" by the companies using it.
CIA head: J'lem knows not to attack Iran
CIA director Leon Panetta on Wednesday said that Jerusalem knew it needed to coordinate its strategy on Iran with other nations and was aware of the fact that launching an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities would mean "big trouble."
Wary of U.S. debt, China shifts gears on investment
China has engineered a subtle yet significant shift in the investment of its foreign exchange reserves, a sign of how it is willing to act on concerns about financing an explosion of U.S. debt.
In a 22-page decision issued Tuesday evening, U.S. District Court Judge John Bates ruled that members in Al Qaeda or the Taliban could be detained, but that mere support for Al Qaeda activities is not a sufficient basis for the government to hold prisoners at Guantanamo Bay or elsewhere.
Billionaire Donors Hold Secret Meeting
"Under a cloak of secrecy, some of the world's wealthiest people gathered in an unprecedented meeting early this month in New York City possibly to coordinate strategies for giving their vast fortunes to charity in the midst of the financial crisis," ABC News reports.
U.S. crude futures rise $2 as EIA says supply fell
U.S. crude oil futures rose more than $2 per barrel on Wednesday, pushing to a 2009 front-month intraday peak above $62 a barrel as the government reported crude oil and gasoline inventories fell last week.
Gold Demand Surges 38% on Investment
Gold purchases rose 38 percent in the first quarter, led by investment demand that exceeded usage by jewelers for the first time since at least 2004, according to the World Gold Council.
Birmingham police beating video: Five officers fired (With Video)
Five Birmingham police officers have been fired for a January 2008 beating of an already-unconscious suspect with fists, feet and a billy club, a battering caught on videotape until a police officer turned off the patrol car camera, city and police officials said today.
Report: Spain trying to rein in judges on Israel war crimes trial
'Wall Street Journal' reports Spanish government proposing legislation that would prevent courts from dealing with cases not directly related to Spain. Unclear if bill would have impact on open war crimes investigations against US, China and Israel
Woman vows fight over handrail ticket
The Montreal woman who was handcuffed and fined $420 for not holding a subway station escalator handrail is planning to fight the tickets, saying she was treated like a "criminal" for trying to avoid germs.
Democrats seek financial rescue of minority-owned broadcasters
High-ranking House Democrats are urging the Treasury Department to prop up minority-owned broadcasters suffering from a lack of capital and lost advertising revenue amid the economic slump.
Washington Watch: Ex-AIPACer: There is no military option in Iran
There is no viable military option for dealing the Iranian nuclear threat, and efforts by the Israeli government and its supporters to link that threat to progress in peace with the Palestinians and Syria are "nonsense" and an obstacle to the Arab-Israeli and international cooperation essential to changing Iranian behavior.
New York Times Falsifies Obama-Netanyahu Meeting
What is more disturbing and far more consequential is that the Times made this meeting into a story about Iran. They read into Obama's careful and measured remarks exactly the hostile intention toward Iran and the explicit deadline for results from his negotiations with Iran that Obama had taken great pains to avoid stating.
Letter from a Dodge Dealer
My name is George C. Joseph. I am the sole owner of Sunshine Dodge-Isuzu, a family owned and operated business in Melbourne, Florida. My family bought and paid for this automobile franchise 35 years ago in 1974. I am the second generation to manage this business.
Arms Sent by U.S. May Be Falling Into Taliban Hands
The presence of this ammunition among the dead in the Korangal Valley, an area of often fierce fighting near Afghanistan’s border with Pakistan, strongly suggests that munitions procured by the Pentagon have leaked from Afghan forces for use against American troops.
Corrupt Afghan officials hurt aid
Corruption in the Afghan political and legal systems is "pervasive" and "entrenched," a report prepared for the main U.S. aid agency says, posing a challenge to the Obama administration's plans to steer more assistance through the U.S.-backed Afghan government.
The Humanitarian Face of the State, With Fangs
By Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.
The glorious Barack Obama, broad-minded humanitarian universalist that he is, promised to reverse the wickedness of the Bush administration, which ran a prison camp in Guantánamo Bay and kept pictures of ruthless abuse from public view to save the face of Bush.
