Eeyore's Important News and Views

Venezuela gets cozy with terrorists
Chad Groening - OneNewsNow - 9/8/2008 11:25:00 AM
Senior Army strategist and Pentagon advisor Bob Maginnis is concerned about the increasing problems with Hugo Chavez's rogue regime in Venezuela and its cozy ties with both Iran and the terrorist group Hezbollah.
Recently the Los Angeles Times reported that anti-terrorism officials are increasingly concerned that Hezbollah is using Venezuela as a base of operations. The report indicates that Hezbollah may be taking advantage of Venezuela's ties with Iran, the terrorist group's longtime sponsor, to move "people" and "things" into the Americas. Lt. Colonel Maginnis (USA-Ret.) has studied the geo-political situation in the Latin American country. "Hugo Chavez is an enemy of the United States. It doesn't matter what party in this country; he just doesn't like us," he contends. "He is a very close friend of radicals such as [Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad, the President of Iran." Maginnis asserts Chavez is allowing terrorists to spread Islam. "I've seen evidence of Hezbollah being involved in, I suppose, conversion of Indian tribes to Islam, away from Christianity or maybe native religions," he adds. "That is significant because Hugo Chavez is giving them the green light to do that." According to Maginnis, there are concerns that spies – operating in Venezuela – could be Hezbollah operatives using the Iranian embassy as a cover.

Kill it, grill it: Nugent on the Palin diet
Moose burger, anyone?
Moose burgers? Well, yes, wild game - though not widely hunted, served or sold in urban areas - is the name of the game for many Americans, including people like Republican vice-presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin and hunter-rock-star Ted Nugent.
"Venison is perfect food," says Mr. Nugent (who, by the way, is a huge Palin fan and called her "a political savior" in a recent column for HumanEvents.com) via e-mail from Jackson, Mich., where he's recording an audio version of his book "Ted, White, and Blue: The Nugent Manifesto," which comes out later this fall.
Jackson is also where Mr. Nugent hunts.
"We hunt, fish and trap all legal renewable game," Mr. Nugent says.
This includes rabbit, fox, elk, grouse and his favorite, venison.
"Young venison over hot coals, smothered in garlic and butter, rare, with family and friends in the great outdoors around a fire, with a slug of good African red wine," Mr. Nugent says of his favorite food and setting.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/sep/10/nugent-on-the-palin-diet/

Tripping over CIA's bureaucratic hurdles
Sunday, September 7, 2008
REVIEWED BY JOHN WEISMAN
If even half of what Ishmael Jones, the pseudonymous author of "The Human Factor: Inside the CIA's Dysfunctional Intelligence Culture" tells us is true, we have reason to be afraid, very afraid. Mr. Jones, who spent almost two decades as a NOC, or non-official cover case officer at CIA, paints a picture of a bloated, top-heavy, molasses-slow bureaucracy in which careerism trumps initiative, risk aversion wins over audacity, and spying — the CIA's core mission, the spotting, assessing, developing and recruiting of foreign nationals to steal or divulge secrets — can become a career-killer.
Mr. Jones is not the first CIA operative to describe an agency incapable of performing its core mission. But he is the first to do so without going through CIA's vetting process.
It is understandable that CIA wouldn't want any of "The Human Factor" published. Mr. Jones relates not dozens, not scores, but hundreds of incidents in which CIA managers created a system of bureaucratic hurdles that effectively prevented Mr. Jones and his fellow deep-cover case officers from doing their jobs, lied to Congress and covered up ineptitude with obfuscation and smoke and mirrors. Some examples:
On assignment to an unnamed Middle East country, Mr. Jones queries headquarters about his mission — recruiting a scientist with knowledge of chemical weapons and WMD programs. "After a month," he writes, "responses began to dribble in . . . Then came long lists of questions about my operational proposals, as well as reasons why things might go wrong. When I answered the questions more followed. The time it was taking them to come to a decision was making it impossible to move the operation forward. In one case — I'd met the target multiple times — the chief asked, 'What will you tell him when he asks you where you got his name?'"
"Congress," Mr. Jones writes, "asked the Agency how many new personnel it had hired as non-State Department officers. The Agency created a number by tallying all of the support staff, the officers in training, and the people who were assigned to posts in the United States. The number looked good."
"After President Bush gave his 'Axis of Evil' speech," Mr. Jones writes, "the Agency began sending my colleagues on missions to these and other rogue states. They didn't conduct any intelligence operations there — just visited, stayed in hotels and returned to write detailed after-action reports about their itineraries. HQs briefed Congress about all of them. This became known around HQs as Axis of Evil Tourism." And then there's the Three Stooges mentality at headquarters. "Like most organizations, the CIA had its own stationery. Its official envelopes had 'Central Intelligence Agency' written on the return address. The Agency mistakenly used this stationery for a mailing on its new diversity policy, a mailing sent to officers ... who were working deep under cover in foreign countries."
In the early 1990s, Mr. Jones sought permission to recruit Abdul Qadir Khan, Pakistan's leading nuclear scientist when Khan made a trip to the Middle East. "Our station in Islamabad would hear none of it. The Agency had no interest in contact with Khan or his subordinates." This is the same A.Q. Khan, of course, who the CIA had to admit a decade later sold and exported nuclear technology to rogue states.
Because the CIA had been so badly burned by double agents working for East Germany, Cuba and the Soviet Union, headquarters developed a system for testing that "turned out to be an enormous pile of rear-end covering extra paperwork. ... Lots of the tests were silly or inconclusive."
Charlton, one of Mr. Jones' deep-cover colleagues spent his time creating "front companies, offices, residence apartments, corporate shell companies often in out of the way countries where the Agency had limited access." Why did Charlton do that? Because, Mr. Jones explains, "during Agency briefings to Congress, the Agency could point to a map studded with pins, each representing an Agency presence. Many of these pins were the Potemkin facilities Charlton had created."
Some NOCs became so frustrated over the CIA's inability to deal with operational approval requests in a timely fashion that they took desperate measures. Loman, another of Mr. Jones' deep-cover colleagues, "had been assigned to a country in North Africa. He reported directly to headquarters, cutting a local agency station out of the loop. Still, he received no replies to his requests for approval." Loman's solution? "Finally he flew to HQs, found a computer terminal and answered his own requests. He returned to North Africa and carried out his operations,. When he needed new approvals he traveled back to HQs and sent them to himself. He continued to answer his own messages for about six months until he was caught."
In 2003 and 2004, at the height of the Global War on Terror, Mr. Jones says CIA's leaders were "inventing new ways to draw down our overseas presence. For instance, they were requiring officers to change assignments every two years." For NOCs, who had to weave themselves into the societal fabric of the country in which they worked, a two-year tour virtually guaranteed that they'd be able to produce no useful intel.
"During the spring of 2006, American intelligence activities in Europe shut down. The Agency had been terrified of conducting intel operations in France for some time. Then the Italian station sent a cable to Agency offices worldwide stating that did not intend to approve travel to . . . Italy because hotel rooms were difficult to reserve from early spring to late fall." Similar cables were sent worldwide by CIA stations in Switzerland and Germany. "No one," writes Mr. Jones, "seemed to find it unusual that a major part of the Agency's operational territory had just been shut down."
The Central Intelligence Agency is not happy with Mr. Jones. A CIA spokesperson has referred to "The Human Factor" as "fiction." To be candid, Mr. Jones does divulge information that might be considered sources and methods. He provides readers with several operational details that CIA is loath to talk about. He points out for example that CIA stations are actually sometimes located in U.S. embassies, and that many CIA officers work under State Department cover. He confirms that CIA has multiple stations and bases inside the continental United States, from which the agency targets foreign nationals. And in a couple of cases, he slips up and actually identifies a specific country in which he worked.
None of this is particularly shocking. But Mr. Jones did - as all CIA employees do - sign an agreement not to publish anything without it being vetted. This agreement Mr. Jones has obviously broken.
His goal, however, is noble. Mr. Jones obviously believes that the United States deserves the best intelligence organization in the world. He believes passionately that every American taxpayer is being cheated because we are paying scores of billions of dollars for a bloated, ineffective, risk-averse organization that cannot perform the mission for which it was created. Since the intelligence disaster that was 9/11, precious few heads in the intelligence community have rolled. In fact, George Tenet, the director of central intelligence responsible for the greatest intelligence failure since Pearl Harbor actually received the Medal of Freedom for presiding over the 9/11 debacle.
One wonders what sort of award Mr. Jones will get. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/sep/07/baring-bureaucratic-hurdles-at-cia/

A while back i posted about how badly our government is messed up. It will spend millions on a war then not even keep the men fighting it for you safe, it is absurd.
Petraeus: More than 80,000 buildings under review September 8, 2008 - 6:24pm
By KIMBERLY HEFLING Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - The number of U.S. troops and contractors electrocuted in Iraq is higher than previously reported, and now stands at 18, a senator said Monday.
Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., issued a statement with the revised number after a briefing by the Pentagon's inspector general's office. The IG's office has been investigating the death of a Green Beret from Pittsburgh, Sgt. Ryan Maseth, who was electrocuted in January while showering in his barracks in Iraq.
Gary Comerford, a spokesman for the Pentagon's IG, confirmed the department is reviewing investigations conducted by the Army's Criminal Investigation Division and Criminal Investigation Command of 18 possible deaths.
Several of those cases have been deemed accidents because they involved situations such as coming into contact with power lines. Others resulted from situations where individuals were repairing air-conditioning units, providing generator maintenance or using a shower, according to the IG.
The IG's office is also examining the military's response in fixing the problem after the incidents.
Of those electrocuted, 16 were U.S. military personnel and two others were U.S. contractors, Casey's office said. The military has previously put the tally at slightly lower than 18.
Casey also said as part of the investigation he was told the IG's office is subpoenaing Houston-based military contractor KBR Inc., which holds a multibillion-dollar contract to provide basic services at facilities in Iraq for U.S. soldiers.
In an e-mailed statement on Monday, KBR spokeswoman Heather Browne said the Houston-based company is fully cooperating. The company has denied a link between its work and the deaths.
In July, Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, ordered a comprehensive electrical safety review of facilities in Iraq.
____http://wtop.com/?nid=116&sid=1438770

Reports: US remains 'dangerously vulnerable' September 9, 2008 - 6:58am
By BRETT J. BLACKLEDGE and EILEEN SULLIVAN Associated Press Writers
WASHINGTON (AP) - The United States remains "dangerously vulnerable" to chemical, biological and nuclear attacks seven years after 9/11, a forthcoming independent study concludes. And a House Democrats' report says the Bush administration has missed one opportunity after another to improve the nation's security.
The recent political rupture between Russia and the U.S. only makes matters worse, said Lee Hamilton, the former Indiana Democratic congressman who helped lead the 9/11 Commission and now chairs the independent group's latest study.
Efforts to reduce access to nuclear technology and bomb-making materials have slowed, thousands of U.S. chemical plants remain unprotected, and the U.S. government continues to oppose strengthening an international treaty to prevent bioterrorism, according to the report produced by the bipartisan Partnership for a Secure America.
The group includes leaders of the disbanded 9/11 Commission, the bipartisan panel that investigated government missteps before the 2001 terror attacks on the United States.
"The threat of a new, major terrorist attack on the United States is still very real," concludes the report to be released Wednesday, the same day a congressional commission will hold a hearing in New York on nuclear and biological terrorism threats.
"A nuclear, chemical or biological weapon in the hands of terrorists remains the single greatest threat to our nation. While progress has been made in securing these weapons and materials, we are still dangerously vulnerable," the report said.
Congressional Democrats, meanwhile, had harsher criticism of the Bush administration's efforts. Their report, written by the staffs of the House Homeland Security and Foreign Affairs committees, found little or no progress across the board on national security initiatives.
"The Bush administration has not delivered on a myriad of critical homeland and national security mandates," the Democrats' report states. That report was being released Tuesday.
"The administration has just failed to act in so many ways," said Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss. "Let's say that we've been fortunate that we have not been attacked" since 2001, said Thompson, who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee.
The independent report focuses narrowly on weapons of mass destruction.
The report and supporting studies describe the failure of international cooperation to prevent terrorists from obtaining weapons of mass destruction, which they call a major problem. Many countries continue to ignore a United Nations mandate to prevent the spread of weapons; the ability of many countries to monitor potential bioterrorism is "essentially nonexistent," and dangerous chemical weapons stockpiles remain in some countries, including Russia and Libya, the report said.
Russia has been a significant player in U.S. efforts to secure nuclear weapons and to eliminate inventories of chemical weapons in the former Soviet region. That cooperation could be jeopardized as the two countries face off over the Russian invasion of Georgia and concerns about a U.S. missile defense base in Poland, Hamilton said.
Bush on Monday Bush on canceled a civilian nuclear cooperation deal with Russia.
"The things we do to penalize Russia will make it more difficult for us to deal with Russia on other matters," Hamilton said.
State Department spokesman Robert Wood said he hasn't seen the report. But he said there have been a number of successes in recent years, including negotiations to dismantle North Korea's nuclear program and Libya's agreement to end its nuclear and chemical weapons program.
"We have been engaged multilaterally with a number of countries to deal with this issue of weapons of mass destruction," Wood said.
Wood said he also has not seen the Democrats' report. "I fundamentally reject the charge that the administration has made the world less safe from terrorism," he said.
House Democrats also blasted Bush policy in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia as damaging to national security. U.S. efforts to combat terrorists in Pakistan have suffered because of "unyielding support for a military dictator"; Iraq has drained resources from the fight in Afghanistan, and Saudi Arabia continues to serve "as a major source of terrorist activity," the Democrats' report states.
The independent study, however, did credit the Bush administration with progress in a number of areas. It cited improved U.S. port security, reduction of military chemical stockpiles, increased U.S. funding for securing nuclear weapons sites in Russia and new international programs aimed at preventing crimes involving biological weapons.
___
On the Net:
Partnership for a Secure America: http://www.psaonline.org/
House Committee on Homeland Security: http://homeland.house.gov/
House Committee on Foreign Affairs: http://foreignaffairs.house.gov/
http://wtop.com/?nid=251&sid=1474711

How can America in general be this stupid?
The ECOnetic will go on sale in Europe in November
by David Kiley September 15, 2008
If ever there was a car made for the times, this would seem to be it: a sporty subcompact that seats five, offers a navigation system, and gets a whopping 65 miles to the gallon. Oh yes, and the car is made by Ford Motor (F), known widely for lumbering gas hogs.
Ford's 2009 Fiesta ECOnetic goes on sale in November. But here's the catch: Despite the car's potential to transform Ford's image and help it compete with Toyota Motor (TM) and Honda Motor (HMC) in its home market, the company will sell the little fuel sipper only in Europe. "We know it's an awesome vehicle," says Ford America President Mark Fields. "But there are business reasons why we can't sell it in the U.S." The main one: The Fiesta ECOnetic runs on diesel.
Automakers such as Volkswagen (VLKAY) and Mercedes-Benz (DAI) have predicted for years that a technology called "clean diesel" would overcome many Americans' antipathy to a fuel still often thought of as the smelly stuff that powers tractor trailers. Diesel vehicles now hitting the market with pollution-fighting technology are as clean or cleaner than gasoline and at least 30% more fuel-efficient.
Yet while half of all cars sold in Europe last year ran on diesel, the U.S. market remains relatively unfriendly to the fuel. Taxes aimed at commercial trucks mean diesel costs anywhere from 40 cents to $1 more per gallon than gasoline. Add to this the success of the Toyota Prius, and you can see why only 3% of cars in the U.S. use diesel. "Americans see hybrids as the darling," says Global Insight auto analyst Philip Gott, "and diesel as old-tech."
None of this is stopping European and Japanese automakers, which are betting they can jump-start the U.S. market with new diesel models. Mercedes-Benz by next year will have three cars it markets as "BlueTec." Even Nissan (NSANY) and Honda, which long opposed building diesel cars in Europe, plan to introduce them in the U.S. in 2010. But Ford, whose Fiesta ECOnetic compares favorably with European diesels, can't make a business case for bringing the car to the U.S.
TOO PRICEY TO IMPORT
First of all, the engines are built in Britain, so labor costs are high. Plus the pound remains stronger than the greenback. At prevailing exchange rates, the Fiesta ECOnetic would sell for about $25,700 in the U.S. By contrast, the Prius typically goes for about $24,000. A $1,300 tax deduction available to buyers of new diesel cars could bring the price of the Fiesta to around $24,400. But Ford doesn't believe it could charge enough to make money on an imported ECOnetic.
Ford plans to make a gas-powered version of the Fiesta in Mexico for the U.S. So why not manufacture diesel engines there, too? Building a plant would cost at least $350 million at a time when Ford has been burning through more than $1 billion a month in cash reserves. Besides, the automaker would have to produce at least 350,000 engines a year to make such a venture profitable. "We just don't think North and South America would buy that many diesel cars," says Fields.
The question, of course, is whether the U.S. ever will embrace diesel fuel and allow automakers to achieve sufficient scale to make money on such vehicles. California certified VW and Mercedes diesel cars earlier this year, after a four-year ban. James N. Hall, of auto researcher 293 Analysts, says that bellwether state and the Northeast remain "hostile to diesel." But the risk to Ford is that the fuel takes off, and the carmaker finds itself playing catch-up—despite having a serious diesel contender in its arsenal.
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_37/b4099060491065.htm?chan=autos_autos+--+lifestyle+subindex+page_top+stories

Don't fall for this fake email, opening it will mess up your system.
***Job-Vacancy Apply With-In*** Payments Managers Needed For New Quarter 2008 Union Food Company Limited 154 Acre Lane Brixton, London Greater London SW2 5UT United Kingdom Phone: +44(0)703 194 9037 Fax: +44(0)870 974 3450 Att: Prospective Candidate, It is my pleasure to write you in respect of Union Food Company.We import and export all kinds of food and farm materials and equipment into various countries. We are searching for reliable representatives who can help us establish a medium of getting to our customers in USA and CANADA and as well as legally receiving cash and all forms of payment on our behalf from our customers as our Representative In your area.. Your Job Description is as follows: 1) You would receive payments on our behalf from any of our Various Customers through courier service or postal service, which would come in the form of, Money orders,Travelers Checks, and Official checks. 2) You then get the Payments Deposited and Cashed at your Bank. 3) You deduct a commission of 10% of each Payment you would be receiving on our behalf. 4) You then send the Remaining Funds back via Western Union to the details you would be given later. Therefore the following details would be needed from you via Email, so as for you to start working for the Company. Withdraw 10% of the total amount on these payment instruments as your commission and then send the rest back to the company through Western Union. Please, bear it in mind that we would be dealing with quite a handful of cash and you could be making up to $5000 just working with the company in a short period of time within 2-3 weeks. If interested get back with these information below... Full Name: Address: City: State: Zip Code/postal code: Contact Number: Previous/Present occupation: Position at work: We are well registered by the appropriate authorities and we are licensed to operate under legal and licensed organization of the better business bureau of the United Kingdom, Working with our company guarantee's you a safe relationship and licensed Establishment.. To apply, forward your applications to our: UNITED KINGDOM OFFICE: Payments Processing Unit Contact Person: John Hughes E-mail:johnhunionfood@aol.com Time: 24 Hours daily by e-mail +44(0)703 194 9037 Best Regards, Job Processing Unit.

Thomas says Constitution forbids racial preference
AP - 9/9/2008 4:35:00 PM

WASHINGTON - Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas said Tuesday that African-Americans are better served by colorblind programs than affirmative action.

Thomas, addressing leaders of historically black colleges, said affirmative action "has become this mantra and there almost has become this secular religiosity about it. I think it almost trumps thinking."

A longtime opponent of race-based preferences in hiring and school admissions, Thomas said, "Just from a constitutional standpoint, I think we're going to run into problems if we say the Constitution says we can consider race sometimes."

Thomas, 60, has voted on the court to outlaw the use of race in college admissions and in determining which public schools students will attend. He wrote with evident resentment in his autobiography "My Grandfather's Son" that he felt he was allowed to attend Yale Law School in the 1970s because of his race and took a tough course load to prove he was as able as his white classmates.

"My suggestion would be to stop the buzz words and to focus more on the practical effect of what we're doing," he said Tuesday.

"I can tell you when you have fudge words, it leaves a lot of room for mischief," he said. "People have a tendency to read their personal opinions into fudge words. You want, when it comes to the issue of race, absolute words."

Thomas also reminisced about his childhood in Savannah, Ga., when his sports heroes played at the historically black institutions because the flagship state universities in the South _ with their big-time athletic programs _ remained segregated.

He recalled as a seminal moment the night in 1966 when five black starters led Texas Western to the NCAA basketball championship over an all-white Kentucky team. "I remember sitting alone at the end of that game and saying something has changed dramatically in society," he said.

The coach of the winning team, Don Haskins, died Sunday.

Eeyore's Important News and Views

It is really a Global Economy, it is all interconnected. I remember a year or so ago that the DOW when it was taking a nose-drive how the other Countries index's were following suit.
House price crash goes global Riga Town, Latvia Latvia: House prices have dropped by 24.1% over the past 12 months The property crash that began in the US is spreading across the globe, according to international estate agents Knight Frank, which said today that steep declines are now taking place across Europe and into Asia. The country recording the sharpest fall is Latvia, where house prices have plummeted 24.1% over the past year. New Zealand, Denmark and Lithuania have all seen falling prices, along with Malta, Germany, Ireland, Estonia, Britain and the US. Even countries where prices have not fallen are witnessing a rapid deceleration in price growth. In South Africa the rate of house price inflation has collapsed from 15.5% this time last year to 3.8%, and is expected to be negative soon. In France, Spain and Greece price growth has halved and is running below 3.2%. The only countries to have bucked the trend are Bulgaria, Slovakia, Cyprus and the Czech Republic, where house price growth has accelerated. Last year's fastest growing market, Russia, which was seeing house price growth at an astonishing 53.7% in the second quarter of 2007, has dropped back to 26.5%. Nick Barnes, head of international research at Knight Frank, said: "The index shows that global house price inflation is continuing to fall back, with much of continental Europe now seeing low or negative growth. "Housing markets in countries such as Spain, Denmark, the UK and Ireland are all being severely challenged by the global credit squeeze." Long-term decline Globally, the rate of house price growth fell to 4.8% in the second quarter of 2008, down from 6.1% in the first quarter of the year. Several countries are now entering their second year of house price declines. Among the worst hit is Germany, where prices were falling at a rate of 4.4% last year and 2.5% this year. "There is less demand for owner-occupied property in Germany than in many other European countries and there is no shortage of supply," said Barnes. In Spain, the Knight Frank index recorded a price rise of 2.4% annually, but it warned that falls are now almost inevitable. "The well-publicised problems in Spain have not yet fed into house price statistics. So far, price falls have been concentrated in the coastal resorts and among new developments in the large cities," said Barnes. "Spain looks likely to fall into recession later this year, and house sales fell steeply during June. The number of sales dropped by 34.2% in May and 29.6% in June, suggesting that wider price falls could be imminent." But investors who bought second homes in Bulgaria have reason to feel bullish. Knight Frank said current annual price growth is 32.2%, only slightly lower than the 33.7% rate recorded in the first quarter. Biggest fallers: Year-on-year house price change to Q2 2008 Latvia -24.1% United States -16.8% Estonia -16% Lithuania -9.9% Denmark -9.6% Ireland -8.1% UK -3.9% Malta -2.7% Germany -2.5% New Zealand -2.2% http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2008/sep/02/houseprices.property?gusrc=rss&feed=networkfront

Palin's son's job to guard his commanders in Iraq
RICHARD LARDNER ASSOCIATED PRESSOriginally published 08:19 p.m., September 5, WASHINGTON (AP) - The long and divisive war in Iraq is about to resonate with presidential candidates in a way not seen so far in the campaign: The sons of both vice presidential nominees are assigned to go there soon.
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's eldest son, Track, will perform security duties for his brigade's top officers.
"He's just like any other infantry soldier here," said Army Col. Burt Thompson, who heads the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team at Fort Wainwright, Alaska. "He tries to remain as anonymous as he possibly can."
Which is harder than it sounds. The British government decided earlier this year it had to pull Prince Harry from Afghanistan after news leaked he was fighting there. That sparked a debate about whether the children of powerful politicians are treated differently when they join the military.
When Sen. John McCain selected Track's mother to be his running mate, the Alaska governor's family moved into the international spotlight. She has made no secret that Track Palin and his unit are leaving soon for duty in Iraq, repeating the news during her acceptance speech this week at the Republican national convention. Track, in a dress suit, was in the audience.
...
The dispatch of the candidate sons to Iraq also carries unavoidable political overtones. For the Democrats, Beau Biden's service could help reverse a weak spot, for example.
"Republicans always seem to imply that Democrats are somehow unpatriotic or want to be easy on the terrorists," said James Pfiffner, a professor at George Mason University's School of Public Policy. "But I think that Biden's son demonstrates that you can disagree with a policy and still support doing your duty."
Beau Biden, who is Delaware's attorney general, is a captain in the Delaware National Guard and will work as a military lawyer in Iraq.
John McCain's son Jimmy, a Marine, returned earlier this year from Iraq. Another McCain son, Jack, is a senior at the U.S. Naval Academy.
Palin's unit is believed to be...
You cab read the entire article here (which i recommend)
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/sep/05/palins-sons-job-to-guard-his-commanders-in-iraq-1/

The nuclear black market: It's a tough neighborhood September 8, 2008 - 4:23am
J.J. Green, WTOP Radio
WASHINGTON - Dressed in a crisp, off-white summer suit with a blue shirt and tie, India's top diplomat to the U.S. entered the parlor of his residence.
Located in one of Washington's most affluent neighborhoods, Ronen Sen, ambassador to the U.S., lives a world away from the harsh reality of modern day India.
"It just happens that India is located right next to the global epicenter of terrorism."
He's talking about Pakistan.
But, he's got a bigger problem: the shadowy connection between terrorists and the nuclear weapons black market.
"We are also located right next to the biggest sources and proliferation of nuclear weapons."
So who are India's neighbors? Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, China and the Indian Ocean. Two guesses at which pose nuclear concerns.
Sen would not respond to questions about China's nuclear exploits, but it is widely known that Pakistan's nuclear hero Abdul Qadeer Khan acquired blueprints for the Chinese bomb that was tested in China's fourth nuclear explosion in 1966. And, British intelligence sources say he also got enough highly enriched uranium from the Chinese for several nuclear devices.
Khan was detained in 2004 and put under house arrest. Is that the end of the Chinese nuclear story? Yes, except for a few loose ends that go by the names of Libya, Syria, Iran, Saudi Arabia and North Korea.
China also had developed serious nuclear relationships with all of them. In fact, it was Libya that blew the whistle on the clandestine network almost five years to the day (October 2003).
Former United Nations Nuclear Weapons Inspector Dr. David Kay says once Khan got hold of the designs and materials and began building his network, is where it got "murky."
"Syria has long been the crossroads for shady characters reminiscent of the bar scene in the Star Wars movie."
That has allegedly been the place where the lion's share of the nuclear black market does business.
Sen says India is committed to talking to its neighbors and trying to work out their problems, whether it's the Kashmir dispute with Pakistan or geo-political concerns with others. But at the top of the list, India is urgently trying to rally more international opposition against terrorists, especially those actively seeking nuclear weapons.
"What worries us the most is the combination of the two. That's nuclear terrorism."
Sen says the world has to get seriously involved.
"You cannot put them into neat little compartments -- global terrorists and regional terrorists -- {because} they're constantly mutating and assuming new names. Their reach is worldwide."
The bombing of their embassy in Kabul by the Taliban on July 7 was a painful reminder of that for the Indians.
Perhaps most troubling, according to Sen, is U.S. intelligence suggesting it received high level support from the Pakistani government in bombing the Indian embassy in Afghanistan.
"It's not just the reports I've seen from U.S. intelligence, which point to the involvement of some elements of the Pakistani establishment. We have our own intelligence and also intelligence that has been shared with us by other countries."
Sen says 50 people were killed, including some Indian government staffers who had worked in Washington. Experts say the attack was the latest in a decades-old fight between the two countries over strategic dominance in Afghanistan.
Dialogue between India, the U.S., Pakistan, China and the rest of the world's nuclear powers about keeping nuclear weapons away from terrorists continues, but keeping the terrorists away from the nukes is a much more difficult matter.
Pakistan's top security official, Interior Ministry Chief Rehman Malik, acknowledged a week ago al Qaida leaders have been moving back and forth to various parts of the country and sometimes outside of Pakistan.
http://wtop.com/?nid=251&sid=1473011

Fall is the Time to Get Rid of Grubs with Milky Spore
Did you have big Japanese beetle problems this year? I did NOT; my roses escaped pretty much unscathed for the first time in decades. In fact, I probably only saw about a dozen of the pests all summer.
But if your situation was different, get ready to spread some milky spore on your lawn to control the grub stage of those pesky beetles. Although garden centers tout this natural grub controller in the Spring, it's useless then. It can only affect grubs that are feeding, and they only feed in the fall.
Milky spore is a naturally-occurring soil disease that's deadly to grubs feeding in warm soil. Apply it to your turf anytime over the next month and it'll infect all the grubs in your soil before they can damage your lawn's roots. AND it'll keep new grubs from surviving in your lawn for decades to come.
But it needs live grubs to work; so save your money if you already spread some nasty grub killing poison or didn't have many plant-eating beetles this year.
Chiggers!
Barbara in Haymarket writes: "We've enjoyed cook outs and gardening in our small back yard for over five years - UNTIL NOW! Suddenly we have chiggers keeping us captive in our house. How can we get rid of them?"
Well Barb, the first thing you want to do is to get rid of any brush near that backyard and chop your weeds down, as these virtually invisible arachnids lurk in overgrown areas. (If your backyard is trimmed and well-maintained, you may well be being bitten by ‘somebody' else.)
If it is chiggers (or fleas), order beneficial nematodes from a mail order supplier like Gardens Alive and water them into the soil early in the evening; these microscopic good-guys will prey upon the miniscule mites down there. (They also control flea larvae and kill beetle grubs!) Keep your backyard dry, as chiggers thrive in wet areas. And take a hot bath as soon as you come inside; this kills the chiggers before they can get you a ‘itchin and a scratching!
Black Widow Spiders
Kate in D.C. writes: "My husband and I let our cats into our small back yard for supervised outdoor play. But yesterday we discovered two black widow spiders in different areas of that yard. I've been told that cats bitten by black widows die around 90% of the time. We are therefore desperate to find a way to get rid of these spiders, but we also want to keep chemicals out of our yard. Any suggestions?" Yes Kate; first visit some University sites online to make sure of your ID. If widows they are, put on heavy gloves and clean up any debris in the yard, as these creatures tend to hide in woodpiles and the like. In addition, destroy their sloppy webs with a broom and crush any adults you see. Then put some moving, highly animated cat toys out in the open to keep the kitties amused; pets only get bitten when they go poking into the sheltered areas these spiders prefer. And be aware that while black widow bites are serious, they're also very rare.
Squirrels: Tomato Enemy #1!
Carol in Silver Spring has a familiar refrain. She writes: "Squirrels are devouring tomatoes right off the vine in my garden. Do you have any suggestions? So far I've tried netting, which they went right through, and cayenne pepper, which had no effect."
Well, it had some effect Carol; it tells us that your tree rats enjoy spicy food!
This seems to be a big year for squirrel mischief, so I'll repeat that my favorite answer is to aim a motion activated sprinkler like The Scarecrow at your love apples so that the tree rats get a super soaking when they try and dine off your vine. If you can't get water to the area, the "Mini Scarecrow" uses a motion-activated sensor to scare them off with a loud blast of compressed air. And a new device, the P3 Deer Chaser, uses motion activation to trigger a bright LED spotlight and radio combination when the evil little vermin trip the beam. All three are readily available at garden centers and online; just search their names to find the best price.
No-Stick Spray your Wasp Woes Away
Tiffany emailed us all the way from North Carolina to ask for help. She writes: "We have wasp or hornet nests in our storage building. What is the best way to get rid of them?"
Well, it's unlikely that you have a big old hornet nest inside a building, Tif; more likely, it's paper wasps or mud daubers. If they aren't being aggressive, just leave them alone; they eat lots of pest insects and they won't reuse those nests next season.
If the nests are too close for comfort (I once had a big paper wasp condo right next to a frequently-used light switch. Ouch!), soak them with PAM or some other non-stick cooking oil in a spray can. These sprays are nothing more than compressed vegetable oil, and oil sprays are a highly effective non-toxic insect killer that works by smoothing the pests.
Wait for a cool evening and the wasps won't be able to get away. If one does try to emerge, don't panic; just spray it and the oil will do its work quickly. And remember: "Oil's well that ends well"!
http://wtop.com/?nid=47&sid=1468438

This is why the public schools have changed to "teach to the test only", becus of the no child left behind stuff and they can not (for the most part) do that right.

Students, exam both come up short By KELLEY BOUCHARD, Staff Writer September 7, 2008 Read the 2007-08 Grade 8 MEA writing test. More than three-quarters of Maine's eighth-graders performed below standard on the state writing test for 2007-08, prompting education officials to toss the results and try to figure out why so many students missed the mark. State Education Commissioner Susan Gendron and her staff say the one-question test was somehow flawed because 78 percent of the estimated 14,900 eighth-graders who took the exam failed to write a persuasive essay as required. That's a 50 percent increase, over 2006-07 in the number of eighth-graders who failed to meet or only partially met state writing standards. In a rare move, Maine's Department of Education found the test results inconclusive, and withheld them from school districts and the media when it released the latest Maine Educational Assessment scores in July. The department's decision surprised even longtime educators like Tom Lafavore, director of educational planning in Portland Public Schools, Maine's largest district. "I've never seen test results pulled like this," Lafavore said. The department provided overall Grade 8 writing results to the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram only after the newspaper requested the information under Maine's Freedom of Access Act. "It is our responsibility to ensure the validity of test data," Gendron said. "It would be irresponsible for us to release data if that performance is based on a question that was unreliable." Gendron and her staff say parents shouldn't worry. Students are learning to write. The test triggered false results. Still, they say, they don't know exactly why. The 45- to 70-minute test, administered last March, asked students to support or refute the following statement, known as a prompt: "Television may have a negative impact on learning." Instructions outlined how the essay would be scored and listed 20 writing skills students should demonstrate, from identifying a logical position to using correct punctuation. The test included two lists of facts, pro and con, to use in the essay. "Kids got ticked off at the (question)," Gendron said. "In many cases, it was an emotional response rather than the intellectual exercise we were seeking, so it was not an accurate reflection of their writing skills." One student's essay began: "These facts are lies. I do my homework and get good grades even though I watch TV." This example came from an e-mail to Susan Smith, Maine's MEA coordinator, from Julie-ann Edwards, a staff member at Measured Progress, the state's testing consultant based in Dover, N.H. The newspaper obtained the e-mail through its request for records and internal communications related to the test question. "This year, students often took issue with the prompt and fact sheet," Edwards wrote. "They reacted emotionally, spouted a bit, and did not use the fact sheet information to support their argument." Edwards noted that eighth-graders who took the writing test in 2007 were able to draw from their own experience to sustain arguments for or against the following statement: "Rather than maintaining separate teams for boys' and girls' sports, a high school is considering combining teams and having a completely coed sports program." "That did not appear to be the case this year," Edwards wrote. Patricia Ross, spokeswoman for Measured Progress, referred questions to state officials. Overall, less than 23 percent of eighth-graders who took the test last spring met or exceeded state writing standards, down from 48 percent in 2006-07, indicated a report from Measured Progress. That's a 52 percent decrease. The marked difference surprised education officials because the television prompt had done well when it was field tested in 2005-06, Smith said. The state started administering writing tests as part of the MEA in 2006-07. The MEA assesses reading and math skills in grades 3... through 8 as required under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. Maine tests writing skills and science knowledge in grades 5 and 8; federal law requires the science test but not the writing one. Data on the frequency of test-question failure was unavailable. The U.S. Department of Education doesn't review the tests or individual questions states use. "States do have to demonstrate the overall technical quality of their assessments, including the validity and reliability of the scores," said spokeswoman Jo Ann Webb. She said another state dropped a question from its writing assessment because a newspaper had published the question before students took the test. Measured Progress develops the MEA, which is reviewed by Smith's staff and teacher panels to make sure questions reflect standards outlined in Maine Learning Results, a teaching and testing guide established by the State Board of Education. Updated last year, the guide sets learning targets for annual student progress in eight subject areas related to communication and problem-solving. The guide stipulates that by sixth grade, students should be able to write academic, persuasive essays like the one required on the eighth-grade writing test. Smith said students also are familiar with the detailed writing instructions that accompany the test. She said the state encourages teachers to use writing samples, scoring guides and a similar list of desired writing skills in daily writing lessons. Lafavore, the administrator with broad experience in developing and scoring academic assessments, noted that the structure of the writing test is typical, if not necessarily kid-friendly. He says the problem with the prompt may have been the subject matter and the premise that television may hurt learning. "If I were a kid, knowing what I know about the influence of technology on their lives, my first reaction would be to completely disagree with the prompt," Lafavore said. Regardless of why the prompt failed, Lafavore said he's glad the state didn't release individual Grade 8 writing results to districts and students: "There just aren't that many kids in the state who would perform below standard if the test were valid." Smith said the department got a lot of feedback from teachers and administrators about the writing test. As a result, the structure and format will be adjusted. As well, several new prompts that stress the use of analytical and argumentative skills were field tested last spring. Smith said she hopes the prompt used in 2008-09 will allow Maine's eighth-graders to demonstrate their best writing skills. "That was our goal the first time and that is our goal this time," she said. Staff Writer Kelley Bouchard can be contacted at 791-6328 or at: kbouchard@pressherald.comhttp://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=208766&ac=PHnws

Don't Fall For This…September 8, 2008 - 1:59am
You are so lucky! You just got an email that states you have a package that couldn't be delivered and it's at the FedEx office. All you have to do is claim it. Don't start cheering just yet, because you have been targeted by a crook. There are two scenarios: one in which the email asks you to open an attachment to obtain the airbill or invoice for picking up the package. Don't do it. The attachment contained in this type of email activates a virus. You should delete the email immediately. The other scenario asks you to contact someone via email. Well, if you respond, several things can happen, your email will be splashed all over cyberspace with hundreds, if not thousands, of spam suddenly appearing in your mail box. Or you may respond and be told that there is a bank draft waiting for you. Want to take wagers on whether it is genuine? I thought not.
For more information, click here.
http://www.wtop.com/?nid=97&sid=1474067

This year, the lucky wedding date was 7/7/07 but did you know that next year, 8/8/08 is considered equally as lucky especially in Chinese culture and Chinese weddings? Even if you are not of Chinese heritage, If you a bit superstitious or if you just want an extra bit of good fortune, a wedding held on 8/8/08 may be your lucky day.
Why 8? In Chinese culture, 8 is considered the luckiest of all numbers, as it portends prosperity and wealth. The number 8 is so lucky in fact for the Chinese, that in China, they often auction off license plates for thousands of dollars just because they contain the lucky number. The number is also coveted for addresses, phone numbers and bank accounts. A single 8 on a piece of property lends a sense of high status among the Chinese, as they know top dollars were paid just to obtain that number. Lucky 8 is so lucky, that the Beijing Olympics are due to open on 8/8/08 at exactly 8:08:08 PM. (for the whole story, if you really want it click the link)
http://ezinearticles.com/?The-NEW-Lucky-Wedding-Date---8-8-08&id=779719

Here are a few things to watch out for. You need to not only watch for this skimming thing but i have seen some articles recently when gas was at 4 gallons, of people having fuel stolen out of their vehicles. You have to watch out for your own back, no one will do it for you.

Be on the lookout for spam e-mails spreading the Storm Worm malicious software (malware) which mention "F.B.I. vs. facebook". The e-mail directs the recipient to click on a link to view an article about the FBI and Facebook. Once the user clicks on the link, malware is downloaded to the Internet connected device and causes it to become infected and become part of the Storm Worm botnet. A botnet is a network of compromised machines under the control of a single user. Botnets are typically set up to facilitate criminal activity such as spam e-mail, identity theft, denial of service attacks, and spreading malware to other machines on the Internet.
The following is a sample image of the web page utilized for the e-mail scheme:
http://www.snopes.com/computer/virus/fbi-facebook.asp http://www.snopes.com/computer/virus/storm.asp

Thieves skim credit card data at fuel pumps
By Katharine Lackey, USA TODAY
Customers and police agencies across the USA are dealing with another pain at the pump — thieves who install hard-to-detect electronic devices at stations to steal credit and debit card data.
The skimmed data are used to create cards used at the victims' expense, says James Van Dyke, president and founder of Javelin Strategy and Research, a financial consulting firm that focuses on fraud and identity theft.
Investigations of theft related to skimming devices at gas pumps continue in California, Washington, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Delaware, according to various police departments.
Though the most recent cases don't necessarily represent an epidemic, the Secret Service is investigating incidents across the country, says Ed Donovan, spokesman for the agency, which has financial and electronic crimes units.
Skimming devices have been used for several years, most often at ATMs. Thieves increasingly target pumps because it's a cheap, easy way to steal credit and debit card information, Van Dyke says.
"Card fraud at gas pumps is a significant problem, and that's because of the unintended nature of the checkout devices," he says. "Essentially, every gas pump is an electronic cash register."
The skimming devices can be installed outside or inside the pump. Thieves glue a plastic sleeve, equipped with covered wires that capture data, over the pump's card reader or connect the device directly to the reader inside.
The devices are molded and painted to match the machine and are small, making them hard to detect, Van Dyke says. Among recent cases:
•California: San Jose police are investigating a case that began in May, when thieves placed a skimming device at an Arco station, eventually taking more than $200,000 from up to 180 victims, says police department spokesman Jermaine Thomas. The device was on the pump for more than a month, after which the suspects retrieved the machine, Thomas says.
"Your normal, average person would not even know that the skimming device is attached," he says.
• Washington: The Pierce County Sheriff's Office is investigating a case where thieves installed a skimming device at an Arco gas pump last August, leaving it there for 11 months and cleaning out at least 120 victims' bank accounts over the July 4th weekend, says sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer.
Reports of fraudulent withdrawals are still pouring in, and the number of victims could reach 250 with a total of $500,000 stolen, he says.
• Pennsylvania: State police recovered four skimming devices installed inside gas pumps at Wawa stations in Delaware, Chester, Montgomery and Bucks counties beginning in April, trooper Christopher Shoap says. He suspects more devices were used at other stations and estimates that several dozen victims have lost tens of thousands of dollars.
•Delaware: The Pennsylvania case is linked to one in Delaware, where police suspect a device was placed and later retrieved at a New Castle Wawa pump, Shoap says. The Secret Service is investigating, says Cpl. Jeff Whitmarsh of the Delaware State Police. The Secret Service would not comment because the investigation is continuing.
•Nevada: The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department is investigating two devices placed at gasoline pumps within the past four months, in addition to several cases where devices were placed on ATMs, says Lt. Bob Sebby of the financial crimes unit.
The combined cases total $1 million to $3.5 million stolen from hundreds of victims' accounts, Sebby says. The department is trying to prevent additional identity fraud by asking gas stations to consider placing sticker seals on the pumps that employees can check daily.
"With identify theft, it's not a matter of if you're going to be a victim, it's a matter of when," Sebby says.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/2008-08-04-gaspumpskimming_N.htm

This is probably a political stunt, but i personally think it is good thing. It may be nothing more then the house getting mad at DC for thumbing their nose at the Supreme court decision.

House seeks to end D.C. gun measures August 5, 2008 - 10:14amWASHINGTON (AP) - House leaders have agreed to allow a vote next month on a bill that would end local handgun control in the District of Columbia.
The measure was filed last week by several conservative Democrats, and supporters say it has a good chance of passing the House. Its prospects in the Senate are unclear.
The Supreme Court struck down the city's 32-year-old handgun ban in June. Since then, D.C. lawmakers have passed emergency legislation that maintains strict regulations.
The House bill seeks to eliminate those measures.
The legislation would allow D.C. residents to own handguns without registering them with police if they meet federal requirements for firearms ownership.
The bill also would end a requirement that owners keep their handguns unloaded and disassembled in their homes and would repeal the city's ban on most semiautomatic handguns. ___
Information from: The Washington Post, http://www.washingtonpost.com/
http://wtop.com/?nid=596&sid=1441828

11 Charged in Massive Credit Card Fraud Case
NEW YORK — The Department of Justice announced Tuesday the indictment of 11 people whom they say stole millions of credit and debit card numbers from major retailers in the nation's largest case of identity theft.
The 11 people — including three Americans — allegedly targeted such retailers as TJX Companies, BJs Wholesale Club, OfficeMax, Boston Market, Barnes & Noble, Sports Authority, Forever 21 and DSW.
"This is the single largest and most complex identity theft case ever charged in this country," Attorney General Michael Mukasey said at a hastily planned press conference in Boston Tuesday.
Named as the alleged ringleader in the indictment is Albert "Segvec" Gonzalez, of Miami, who had worked as a confidential informant for the Secret Service. He has been charged with computer fraud, wire fraud, access device fraud, aggravated identity theft and conspiracy for his role in the scheme and faces the possiblilty of life imprisonment.
"The Boston indictment alleges that Gonzales and his co-conspirators stole over 40 million credit and debit card numbers making this the largest credit card fraud and identity theft scheme ever identified, investigated and prosecuted in the United States," U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts Michael Sullivan said Tuesday.
Also named in the indictments are Christopher Scott and Damon Patrick Toey, also of Miami.
Investigators say Gonzalez and his cohorts were able to tap into computer networks using a technique called "war driving."
"War dirving is simply driving around in a car with a laptop computer looking for accessible wireless computer networks," Sullivan said.
Once they found a retailer's network, officials alleged the men would hack into the system and install "sniffer programs," which would relay sensitive credit card information back to the men.
"This allowed the defendants to remotely capture sensitive information such as the card numbers, passwords and account information," Sullivan said.
Those named in the indictment allegedly sold the information to criminals abroad and in the U.S., or encrypt blank credit cards to withdraw money from ATMs, officials said.
Federal officials discovered Gonzalez was involved in the scheme after he began working for the Secret Service as an informant. He is in custody.
Indictments were unsealed Tuesday in San Diego against Maksym "Maksik" Yastremskiy of Kharkov, Ukraine, and Aleksandr "Jonny Hell" Suvorov of Sillamae, Estonia. The indictments charge them with crimes related to the sale of the stolen credit card data.
Furthermore, indictments against Hung-Ming Chiu and Zhi Zhi Wang, both of China, and a person known only by the online nickname "Delpiero" were also unsealed in San Diego.
The heist was a black eye for retailers like TJX. The company, which initially disclosed the data breach in January 2007, said a few months later that at least 45.7 million cards were exposed to possible fraud in a breach of its computer systems that began in July 2005. Court filings by some banks that sued TJX put the number of cards affected at more than 100 million, based on estimates by officials with Visa and MasterCard, who were deposed in the suit.
In May, TJX said it won support from Mastercard-issuing banks for a settlement that will pay them as much as $24 million to cover costs from the data breach. A similar agreement reached last November with Visa-card issuing banks also was overwhelmingly approved. That agreement set aside as much as $40.9 million to help banks cover costs including replacing customers payment cards and covering fraudulent charges.
Federal officials urged those who think they may have been affected by the ID theft scheme to contact their bank.
FOXNews.com's Sara Bonisteel and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,398141,00.html

You can go to a couple of places that have a ton of info about identity theft and scams.
http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/lifestyle-and-money/consumer-debt/index.html

http://www.wtop.com/?nid=63

I thought this was an interesting article, please i hope any of you all are not dumb enough to fall for something like this.

Assassination e-mail targets your wallet July 17, 2008 - 6:41am

WASHINGTON - Imagine opening an e-mail and reading that the sender wants to kill you.
The assassination e-mail is one of the newest varieties of phishing scams, scams that try to get you to part with your hard-earned cash.
"It's almost kind of like a modern-day kidnapping," says Doug Gansler, Maryland's attorney general.
"They'll send out literally hundreds of thousands of these. If they get a few people to bite, they get a lot of money.
"It clearly works or they wouldn't continue to do it."
Gansler says most of the e-mails originate out of the country, with the scammers using stolen e-mail lists.
Those who do the phishing are "incredibly difficult to catch."
"The spammers are always ahead of law enforcement and generally one step ahead of the Internet providers," Gansler says.
Gansler's advice is simple: Don't send money to people you don't know.
"if it's not a contact you initiated, you the consumer, you the person on the computer, you ought not be sending them money."
Gansler also says Internet providers need to do a better job of filtering spam e-mails.

http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=25&sid=1441765

I love the hypocritical world we live in and the wonderful press we have. It makes me so proud. Now before i start let me say i in no way endorse what Don Imus said about a year ago about the Rutgers female basketball players (www.youtube.com/watch?v=RF9BjB7Bzr0), but he got fired and lost his employment because of it. He was castigated, humiliated and belittled. He apologized to everyone from the girls to the world. Don't get me wrong, he should have been fired for that and some of the other stupid stuff he said. but what gives? Jesse Jackson, a few years ago makes a comment and calls New York city "Hyme town" referring to the jews. Now he has called Obama the "N" word. He gets off with an apology then it will get swept under the rug, untill he does it again. Worst of all Al Sharpton was the one who lead the crusade against Imus, and now he won't even condemn Jackson what a hypocrite.


Fox: Jackson used N-word in crude off-air remarks July 17, 2008 - 5:00am

In this Wednesday, July 9, 2008 file photo, Rev. Jesse Jackson speaks during a news conference in Chicago. The Rev. Jesse Jackson used the N-word during a break in a TV interview where he criticized presidential candidate Barack Obama, Fox News confirmed Wednesday, July 16, 2008.

CHICAGO (AP) - The Rev. Jesse Jackson used the N-word during a break in a TV interview where he criticized presidential candidate Barack Obama, Fox News confirmed Wednesday.
The longtime civil rights leader already came under fire this month for crude off-air comments he made against Obama in what he thought was a private conversation during a taping of a "Fox & Friends" news show.
In additional comments from that same conversation, first reported by TVNewser, Jackson is reported to have said Obama was "talking down to black people," and referred to blacks with the N-word when he said Obama was telling them "how to behave."
Though a Fox spokesman confirmed the TVNewer's account to The Associated Press, the network declined to release the full transcript of the July 6 show and did not air the comments.
Jackson _ who is traveling in Spain _ apologized in a statement Wednesday for "hurtful words" but didn't offer specifics.
"I am deeply saddened and distressed by the pain and sorrow that I have caused as a result of my hurtful words. I apologize again to Senator Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, their children as well as to the American public," Jackson said in a written statement. "There really is no justification for my comments and I hope that the Obama family and the American public will forgive me. I also pray that we, as a nation, can move on to address the real issues that affect the American people."
A spokeswoman for Jackson's civil rights organization, Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, said she could not confirm that Jackson used the slur.
Jackson has called on the entertainment industry, including rappers, actors and studios, to stop using the N-Word. He also urged the public to boycott purchasing DVD copies of the TV sitcom "Seinfeld" after co-star Michael Richards was taped using the word during a rant at a Los Angeles comedy club in 2006.
The Rev. Al Sharpton, who has joined Jackson in opposition of the word, said Wednesday he wanted to hear the comments for himself and declined to discuss Jackson specifically.
"I am against the use of the N-word by anyone and I think we must be consistent," he told The Associated Press. "We must not use the word."

http://www.wtopnews.com/?sid=1441528&nid=104


Ok her is my look to the future article for today's blog entry. This will give you and interesting look at what this Country will look like if we let Sharia Law rule here. Don't be mistaken over the last few years you have seen unrest in Europe over this issue where when an area becomes predominately Muslim, they want to be governed by Sharia Law. It is happening in England (www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1535478/Sharia-law-is-spreading-as-authority-wanes.html) and France (politicalbeachgirl.blogspot.com/2006/10/teacher-violates-frances-sharia-law.html) and other countries now, about a year ago in Canada this came up also (news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4215182.stm www.cbc.ca/news/background/islam/shariah-law.html). We recently had a cabbie that killed his daughter an "honor killing" (www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/011008dnmetteenskilled.7ba7cc6.html)

and now the latest outrage?

"Kidnapped Christian girls, judge ratifies marriage and conversion" By Qaiser Felix ("AsiaNews", July 16, 2008) Islamabad, Pakistan - District judge Mian Muhammad Naeem, of the section of Muzaffargarh, has ruled that the two Christian sisters "have converted in a legitimate manner to Islam", and for this reason they cannot be "restored to their family of origin". Setting aside the request from their father to regain custody of his daughters, the judge also admitted the "validity" of the marriage of the girls to two Muslims. Saba Younas, aged 13, and her sister Anila were kidnapped last June 26 in the village of Chowk Munda, in the province of Punjab, where they had gone to visit their uncle, Khalid Raheel. This is the same uncle who in recent days reported their kidnapping, asking for help from news organisations and human rights groups. According to Raheel's account, a Muslim fruit vendor named Muhammad Arif Bajwa kidnapped the girls, and then handed them over to a friend, Falak Sher Gill, who then organised the marriage between his own son and the older of the Christian sisters, Saba. In court, moreover, father and son both stressed the "complete willingness of the girl to contract marriage". The girls' uncle does not conceal his preoccupation, and denounces to AsiaNews that the Muslims involved in the kidnapping are acting as a "gang", recruiting the girls in order to "make them work in a bordello". This alarm has also been heard by the Catholic commission for justice and peace (NCJP) in the country, which confirms the words of Khalid Raheel: the kidnappers are believed to be human traffickers linked to prostitution, known to the police and under the protection of some local politicians. "For these unscrupulous people", charges Naeem Asghar, local coordinator of the NCJP, marriage is a pretence in order to control the girls, run their lives and exploit them for their own business purposes". The Catholic community continues to uphold the cause of Saba and Anila, and promises that the family will not be left to itself. Expressing the hope that the girls will be brought back home, the coordinator of the NCJP emphasises that "an appeal will soon be presented to the high court of Multan, to contest the decision of the district judge" and have the girls "restored to their parents".

http://wwrn.org/article.php?idd=29073

Not sure which part of the Country you are in but if you have trouble with mosquitoes, then you probably have to worry about West Nile Virus. It is starting to show up in my area, in the birds tested.

Mosquito samples test positive for West Nile virus
July 16, 2008 - 8:23pm
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) - Alexandria city health officials say mosquito samples taken last week from Daingerfield Island have tested positive for West Nile virus.
The samples were collected July 9. The health department says it's the city's first reported activity of the virus this year.
Officials say no human cases of the virus have been reported in the city this year. They recommend residents eliminate mosquito breeding grounds by emptying water from containers such as birdbaths at least once a week.
http://www.wtop.com/?nid=25&sid=1441509

If you want to find out more info about it you can go to this site for more info

http://survivetheflu.tripod.com/id66.html


Have a great day

eeyore