http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704323704575461913267776270.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsSecond
The American taxpayer would really like an accounting of why so many of these trips are seen as necessary and why they should have to foot the bill for the needed personal entourage of the traveling elite.
I think we'd like a tally of the total amount spent per year for the travel stipends to.
Congressional investigators are questioning a half-dozen lawmakers for possibly misspending government funds meant to pay for overseas travel, according to people familiar with the matter.
The investigation follows a Wall Street Journal article in March that said lawmakers had used daily cash stipends, meant to cover certain costs of official government travel overseas, to cover expenses that appeared to be unauthorized by House rules. An independent ethics board has referred the matter to the House ethics committee.
Some lawmakers said it has been a longstanding custom of lawmakers in both parties to keep any extra money. If lawmakers weren't allowed to keep leftover travel funds, "you could never get many members traveling," said Mr. Ortiz, the Texas Democrat, in an interview earlier this year.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
US pay law branded ‘logistical nightmare’
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/977211ac-b461-11df-8208-00144feabdc0.html
A logistic nightmare. How hard is it really to compare the compensations of the Brass, to that of those in the company who actually work for a living?
Why is the exchange rate now seen as a problem for the Brass of a company, it certainly seemed to pose no problem when Brass outsourced the work to garner cheaper labor.
Could it be that the Brass don't want you to see just how cheaply, that labor comes by, especially since a large portion of America is out of work?
A lobbyists job is never done.
US companies face a “logistical nightmare” from a new rule forcing them to disclose the ratio between their chief executive’s pay package and that of the typical employee, lawyers have warned.
The mandatory disclosure will provide ammunition for activists seeking to target perceived examples of excessive pay and perks. The law taps into public anger at the increasing disparity between the faltering incomes of middle America and the largely recession-proof multimillion-dollar remuneration of the typical corporate chief.
S&P 500 chief executives last year received median pay packages of $7.5m, according to executive compensation research firm Equilar. By comparison, official statistics show the average private sector employee was paid just over $40,000.
Business sees the disclosure provision – buried in section 953(b) of the Dodd-Frank financial reform act – as a bureaucratic headache that may encourage false comparisons.
A logistic nightmare. How hard is it really to compare the compensations of the Brass, to that of those in the company who actually work for a living?
Why is the exchange rate now seen as a problem for the Brass of a company, it certainly seemed to pose no problem when Brass outsourced the work to garner cheaper labor.
Could it be that the Brass don't want you to see just how cheaply, that labor comes by, especially since a large portion of America is out of work?
A lobbyists job is never done.
US companies face a “logistical nightmare” from a new rule forcing them to disclose the ratio between their chief executive’s pay package and that of the typical employee, lawyers have warned.
The mandatory disclosure will provide ammunition for activists seeking to target perceived examples of excessive pay and perks. The law taps into public anger at the increasing disparity between the faltering incomes of middle America and the largely recession-proof multimillion-dollar remuneration of the typical corporate chief.
S&P 500 chief executives last year received median pay packages of $7.5m, according to executive compensation research firm Equilar. By comparison, official statistics show the average private sector employee was paid just over $40,000.
Business sees the disclosure provision – buried in section 953(b) of the Dodd-Frank financial reform act – as a bureaucratic headache that may encourage false comparisons.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
AP IMPACT: US wasted billions in rebuilding Iraq
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100829/ap_on_bi_ge/ml_iraq_us_reconstruction_legacy
A $40 million prison sits in the desert north of Baghdad, empty. A $165 million children's hospital goes unused in the south. A $100 million waste water treatment system in Fallujah has cost three times more than projected, yet sewage still runs through the streets
As the U.S. draws down in Iraq, it is leaving behind hundreds of abandoned or incomplete projects. More than $5 billion in American taxpayer funds has been wasted — more than 10 percent of the some $50 billion the U.S. has spent on reconstruction in Iraq, according to audits from a U.S. watchdog agency.
That amount is likely an underestimate, based on an analysis of more than 300 reports by auditors with the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction. And it does not take into account security costs, which have run almost 17 percent for some projects.
There are success stories.
A $40 million prison sits in the desert north of Baghdad, empty. A $165 million children's hospital goes unused in the south. A $100 million waste water treatment system in Fallujah has cost three times more than projected, yet sewage still runs through the streets
As the U.S. draws down in Iraq, it is leaving behind hundreds of abandoned or incomplete projects. More than $5 billion in American taxpayer funds has been wasted — more than 10 percent of the some $50 billion the U.S. has spent on reconstruction in Iraq, according to audits from a U.S. watchdog agency.
That amount is likely an underestimate, based on an analysis of more than 300 reports by auditors with the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction. And it does not take into account security costs, which have run almost 17 percent for some projects.
There are success stories.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
UK bank accounting rules 'fatally flawed', warns influential watchdog
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/7964816/UK-bank-accounting-rules-fatally-flawed-warns-influential-watchdog.html
I believe they followed standard methods applied by all of the banks.
Remember repo 105?
An influential watchdog has written to the Department of Business listing a catalogue of staggering regulatory errors that allegedly contributed to the collapse of several banks in 2008 – and still threatens the system today.
While reviewing the proposed expansion of the International Financial Reporting Standards for accounting, Tim Bush, a member of the “Urgent Issues Task Force” that scrutinises the work of the Accounting Standards Board (ASB), claims to have uncovered “fatal” and “dangerous” flaws in the system.
'The City veteran has argued that applied to banks, the standards “produced false profits and overstated capital” which have “misled creditors, misled shareholders, the Bank of England, FSA and others”.
In a devastating assessment, Mr Bush alleges the regulations, and specifically the way they have been implemented in the UK and Ireland, have led to “mistakes [being made] of such severity that it is difficult to overstate”.
I believe they followed standard methods applied by all of the banks.
Remember repo 105?
An influential watchdog has written to the Department of Business listing a catalogue of staggering regulatory errors that allegedly contributed to the collapse of several banks in 2008 – and still threatens the system today.
While reviewing the proposed expansion of the International Financial Reporting Standards for accounting, Tim Bush, a member of the “Urgent Issues Task Force” that scrutinises the work of the Accounting Standards Board (ASB), claims to have uncovered “fatal” and “dangerous” flaws in the system.
'The City veteran has argued that applied to banks, the standards “produced false profits and overstated capital” which have “misled creditors, misled shareholders, the Bank of England, FSA and others”.
In a devastating assessment, Mr Bush alleges the regulations, and specifically the way they have been implemented in the UK and Ireland, have led to “mistakes [being made] of such severity that it is difficult to overstate”.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Feds moving to dismiss some deportation cases
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7169978.html
Raise your hand if this sounds like a good idea.
With 23 states looking to follow Arizona's example,this is the governments reply.
And doesn't it somehow seem that Homeland security and ICE are working at cross purposes, so it comes off as nothing but a big waste of taxpayers dollars?
The Department of Homeland Security is systematically reviewing thousands of pending immigration cases and moving to dismiss those filed against suspected illegal immigrants who have no serious criminal records, according to several sources familiar with the efforts.
Culling the immigration court system dockets of noncriminals started in earnest in Houston about a month ago and has stunned local immigration attorneys, who have reported coming to court anticipating clients' deportations only to learn that the government was dismissing their cases.
Raise your hand if this sounds like a good idea.
With 23 states looking to follow Arizona's example,this is the governments reply.
And doesn't it somehow seem that Homeland security and ICE are working at cross purposes, so it comes off as nothing but a big waste of taxpayers dollars?
The Department of Homeland Security is systematically reviewing thousands of pending immigration cases and moving to dismiss those filed against suspected illegal immigrants who have no serious criminal records, according to several sources familiar with the efforts.
Culling the immigration court system dockets of noncriminals started in earnest in Houston about a month ago and has stunned local immigration attorneys, who have reported coming to court anticipating clients' deportations only to learn that the government was dismissing their cases.
Cabbie: ‘Are You Muslim?’ Leads To Night Of Horror
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2010/08/25/cops-man-stabbed-cabbie-after-asking-if-he-was-muslim/
He never thought this fare might be his last.
Ahmed Sharif picked up a college student on Tuesday night — and it nearly cost him his life.
Police said the clean-cut 21-year-old flew into a rage after asking his driver if he was a Muslim.
CBS 2’s Lou Young reports that’s when a vicious slashing attack started.
He never thought this fare might be his last.
Ahmed Sharif picked up a college student on Tuesday night — and it nearly cost him his life.
Police said the clean-cut 21-year-old flew into a rage after asking his driver if he was a Muslim.
CBS 2’s Lou Young reports that’s when a vicious slashing attack started.
Teacher Assigns Students To Plan Terror Attack
http://www.myfoxny.com/dpp/news/international/teacher-assigns-students-to-plan-terror-attack-20100825-newscore
Believe it or not.
Students at an Australian school were asked to plan a terrorist attack "to kill the MOST innocent civilians in order to get your message across" as part of a class assignment, Australian Associated Press (AAP) reported Wednesday.
The society and environment teacher at Kalgoorlie-Boulder Community High School in Western Australia asked Year 10 students -- aged about 16 -- to pretend they were a terrorist planning a chemical or biological attack in Australia.
Grades were to be allocated based on students' ability to analyze information they had learned on terrorism and chemical and biological warfare and apply it to a real-life scenario.
Believe it or not.
Students at an Australian school were asked to plan a terrorist attack "to kill the MOST innocent civilians in order to get your message across" as part of a class assignment, Australian Associated Press (AAP) reported Wednesday.
The society and environment teacher at Kalgoorlie-Boulder Community High School in Western Australia asked Year 10 students -- aged about 16 -- to pretend they were a terrorist planning a chemical or biological attack in Australia.
Grades were to be allocated based on students' ability to analyze information they had learned on terrorism and chemical and biological warfare and apply it to a real-life scenario.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
U.S. Judges Sound Off on Bank Settlements
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/US-Judges-Sound-Off-on-Bank-nytimes-918828238.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=3&asset=&ccode=
Everything was rolling along traditional lines. A bank broke the rules. The government found out. The company agreed to pay a fine and improve its behavior.
And then the judge assigned to approve the deal blew his top.
In a scene that is becoming increasingly common, Judge Emmet G. Sullivan of Federal District Court chewed out federal prosecutors at a hearing in Washington last week for a proposed settlement with Barclays.
“Why isn’t the government getting tough with banks?” he asked.
Just one day earlier in the same courthouse, Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle refused to sign a settlement between the government and Citigroup, demanding, “Why would I find this fair and reasonable?” She ordered government lawyers to return with answers next month.
The scoldings from the bench are a striking departure from a long tradition of judicial deference to settlements formulated by federal agencies, reflecting broad disenchantment not just with Wall Street, but with its government overseers.
Everything was rolling along traditional lines. A bank broke the rules. The government found out. The company agreed to pay a fine and improve its behavior.
And then the judge assigned to approve the deal blew his top.
In a scene that is becoming increasingly common, Judge Emmet G. Sullivan of Federal District Court chewed out federal prosecutors at a hearing in Washington last week for a proposed settlement with Barclays.
“Why isn’t the government getting tough with banks?” he asked.
Just one day earlier in the same courthouse, Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle refused to sign a settlement between the government and Citigroup, demanding, “Why would I find this fair and reasonable?” She ordered government lawyers to return with answers next month.
The scoldings from the bench are a striking departure from a long tradition of judicial deference to settlements formulated by federal agencies, reflecting broad disenchantment not just with Wall Street, but with its government overseers.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Officials unveil high-tech ray gun to be installed in county jail
http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/ci_15844824
Should man actually hold this kind of power to inflict pain upon another human being?
What happens if your locked in a cell and can't get out of the way?
Note that Raytheon won't reveal the cost of this little gadget and the generosity of their free trail.
Can you see what I'm saying.
How hot is to hot?
Perhaps that's one of the answers they're looking for
A high-tech ray gun built for the military that fires an invisible heat beam capable of causing unbearable pain will be tested on unruly inmates in the sheriff's detention facility in Castaic, officials said Friday at an unveiling event.
The "Assault Intervention System" (AIS) developed by the Raytheon Co., could give the Sheriff's Department "another tool" to quell disturbances at a 65-inmate dormitory at the Pitchess Detention Center's North County Correctional Facility, said Cmdr. Bob Osborne, head of the technology exploration branch of the sheriff's Department of Homeland Security Division.
The 600-pound, 7-foot-tall device won't replace traditional methods such as tear gas, rubber bullets and batons, Osborne said.
"We're looking to see if we can exploit this science for the benefit of the Corrections Department," he said.
AIS fires a directed beam of invisible "millimeter waves" that cause an unbearable burning sensation
Should man actually hold this kind of power to inflict pain upon another human being?
What happens if your locked in a cell and can't get out of the way?
Note that Raytheon won't reveal the cost of this little gadget and the generosity of their free trail.
Can you see what I'm saying.
How hot is to hot?
Perhaps that's one of the answers they're looking for
A high-tech ray gun built for the military that fires an invisible heat beam capable of causing unbearable pain will be tested on unruly inmates in the sheriff's detention facility in Castaic, officials said Friday at an unveiling event.
The "Assault Intervention System" (AIS) developed by the Raytheon Co., could give the Sheriff's Department "another tool" to quell disturbances at a 65-inmate dormitory at the Pitchess Detention Center's North County Correctional Facility, said Cmdr. Bob Osborne, head of the technology exploration branch of the sheriff's Department of Homeland Security Division.
The 600-pound, 7-foot-tall device won't replace traditional methods such as tear gas, rubber bullets and batons, Osborne said.
"We're looking to see if we can exploit this science for the benefit of the Corrections Department," he said.
AIS fires a directed beam of invisible "millimeter waves" that cause an unbearable burning sensation
Scientists Hack Into Cars' Computers -- Control Brakes, Engine
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/scientists-hack-cars-computers-control-brakes-engine/story?id=11448163
Oh the headaches of those little complications. Real safety can never be insured, unless they take the computers out of the cars. Not only can they be hacked but they also malfuntion.
It sounds like a Hollywood movie: cybercriminals in a van use a laptop to hack wirelessly into the computer-controlled systems of the car on the road ahead. In seconds the target car's engine, brakes, and door locks are under their nefarious control.
Texas cops say a man hacked into GPS systems and disabled more than 100 cars.It doesn't take a great script writer to figure out what's next – except that it's not the movies anymore. It's real – well, almost.
Oh the headaches of those little complications. Real safety can never be insured, unless they take the computers out of the cars. Not only can they be hacked but they also malfuntion.
It sounds like a Hollywood movie: cybercriminals in a van use a laptop to hack wirelessly into the computer-controlled systems of the car on the road ahead. In seconds the target car's engine, brakes, and door locks are under their nefarious control.
Texas cops say a man hacked into GPS systems and disabled more than 100 cars.It doesn't take a great script writer to figure out what's next – except that it's not the movies anymore. It's real – well, almost.
Farms fell short on safety, FDA chief says
http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/08/22/eggs.salmonella/index.html?iref=NS1
The question is whose job is it to make sure that those farms don't fall down on safety, because they didn't do their job, and now the public is suffering for it. The public deserves better than this and the kicker is I know we pay as taxpayers for the position to ensure it does get done.
Perhaps it's time to restructure some of those priorities at the FDA, that kept them from ensuring that this kind of thing, doesn't happen again.
The companies that have recalled more than half a billion eggs following a salmonella outbreak fell short of safety standards at their farms, FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said Sunday.
"There's no question these farms involved in the recall were not operating with the standards of practice we consider responsible," Hamburg told CNN.
She said "about 1,000" people have been sickened by a salmonella outbreak that federal regulators have traced back to two Iowa egg producers
The question is whose job is it to make sure that those farms don't fall down on safety, because they didn't do their job, and now the public is suffering for it. The public deserves better than this and the kicker is I know we pay as taxpayers for the position to ensure it does get done.
Perhaps it's time to restructure some of those priorities at the FDA, that kept them from ensuring that this kind of thing, doesn't happen again.
The companies that have recalled more than half a billion eggs following a salmonella outbreak fell short of safety standards at their farms, FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said Sunday.
"There's no question these farms involved in the recall were not operating with the standards of practice we consider responsible," Hamburg told CNN.
She said "about 1,000" people have been sickened by a salmonella outbreak that federal regulators have traced back to two Iowa egg producers
Friday, August 20, 2010
Judge balks at SEC's settlement with Citigroup
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/16/AR2010081604807.html
A federal judge refused on Monday to accept a $75 million settlement between the Securities and Exchange Commission and Citigroup, marking the second time this year that a judge has questioned whether the agency had exacted the proper sanction from a major bank.
During a hearing on the settlement, Judge Ellen S. Huvelle of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia raised questions about the SEC's investigation into Citigroup, and how it decided on the size of the penalty and on the individual executives who also face sanctions, according to lawyers who were present. She asked why company shareholders must ultimately bear the price of the sanction, and why the agency charged only two executives with wrongdoing when more senior executives were involved.
Huvelle demanded additional information from the SEC and Citigroup, ordering the parties to file briefs and scheduling a hearing for late September.
A federal judge refused on Monday to accept a $75 million settlement between the Securities and Exchange Commission and Citigroup, marking the second time this year that a judge has questioned whether the agency had exacted the proper sanction from a major bank.
During a hearing on the settlement, Judge Ellen S. Huvelle of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia raised questions about the SEC's investigation into Citigroup, and how it decided on the size of the penalty and on the individual executives who also face sanctions, according to lawyers who were present. She asked why company shareholders must ultimately bear the price of the sanction, and why the agency charged only two executives with wrongdoing when more senior executives were involved.
Huvelle demanded additional information from the SEC and Citigroup, ordering the parties to file briefs and scheduling a hearing for late September.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Could 62 Million Homes Be Foreclosure-Proof?
http://www.rense.com/general91/could.htm
What would be the ramifications of this to the country, other than a definite boost in morale?
Mortgages bundled into securities were a favorite investment of speculators at the height of the financial bubble leading up to the crash of 2008. The securities changed hands frequently, and the companies profiting from mortgage payments were often not the same parties that negotiated the loans. At the heart of this disconnect was the Mortgage Electronic Registration System, or MERS, a company that serves as the mortgagee of record for lenders, allowing properties to change hands without the necessity of recording each transfer.
Over 62 million mortgages are now held in the name of MERS, an electronic recording system devised by and for the convenience of the mortgage industry. A California bankruptcy court, following landmark cases in other jurisdictions, recently held that this electronic shortcut makes it impossible for banks to establish their ownership of property titles-and therefore to foreclose on mortgaged properties. The logical result could be
What would be the ramifications of this to the country, other than a definite boost in morale?
Mortgages bundled into securities were a favorite investment of speculators at the height of the financial bubble leading up to the crash of 2008. The securities changed hands frequently, and the companies profiting from mortgage payments were often not the same parties that negotiated the loans. At the heart of this disconnect was the Mortgage Electronic Registration System, or MERS, a company that serves as the mortgagee of record for lenders, allowing properties to change hands without the necessity of recording each transfer.
Over 62 million mortgages are now held in the name of MERS, an electronic recording system devised by and for the convenience of the mortgage industry. A California bankruptcy court, following landmark cases in other jurisdictions, recently held that this electronic shortcut makes it impossible for banks to establish their ownership of property titles-and therefore to foreclose on mortgaged properties. The logical result could be
Mississippi Commission on Marine Resources Meetings, Project Gulf Impact, August 17, 2010:
The commercial fisherman of the Gulf need your support in lending an ear to their cause, and let me assure you their cause IS your safety.
The Fisherman have a very valid concern over the toxicity of the various products that the FDA is now telling them that it's safe for you to consume.
This is their livelihood, for most, it has been their whole life. They know what's in the water, and what it's done and is still doing, to the sea life that they catch and sell.
All it will take to ruin them for a decade, is for illness to eventually prevail from selling a product that has been all to hastily reintroduced for public consumption.
The oil didn't disappear, it was made to sink to the bottom of the ocean with the aid of highly toxic dispersant.
The perfect example of "Out of sight out of mind", but the commercial fisherman can't put it out of their mind because they still see it out their everyday, and they know what you will be eating no matter what the FDA says.
http://www.floridaoilspilllaw.com/head-of-navy-on-tour-of-oil-repeatedly-asks-wow-what-are-we-in-sir-fisherman-responds-kind-of-looks-like-a-ufo-underwater-dont-it-pgi-video
YouTube Description: Mississippi Fishermen speak out on injustices of the government’s position on oil disappearing
Mississippi Commission on Marine Resources Meetings, Project Gulf Impact, August 17, 2010:
Part II at 11:50 in
Mississippi Fisherman: All [Secretary of Navy Ray Mabus] could say on my boat was, “Wow, what are we in sir?” [Fisherman responds] “Kind of looks like an UFO underwater, don’t it?” [Mabus says] “Wow.”
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gIXWYBTpLtSayJtg41LKXpxSxVPAD9HEOAVG0
Doug Suttles, BP's chief operating officer, sought to ease consumers' minds and palates by saying this week he would eat Gulf seafood himself and "serve it to my family."
Such assurances appear to be doing little to quell the distaste for Gulf seafood, though.
Some processors are having difficulty selling the seafood they can get, even to long-established customers.
"I've talked to suppliers who have sold 20 years to companies and are now being told no," Smith said. "A lot of people are substituting imported product for Gulf product."
Keath Ladner, owner of Gulf Shores Sea Products in Bay St. Louis, Miss., won't send his 70 boats out, even though shrimp season is open in some Mississippi waters.
"They'd lose money," Ladner said. "Nobody wants it. I can't sell it."
Ladner's main national buyer sent him a letter recently telling him it wouldn't be buying seafood from the Gulf "until further notice," he said.
"They can't convince brokers around the nation that it's a safe product," he said, adding that he came across a 2-square-mile patch of dead, floating fish on Friday about 12 miles off Gulfport, Miss.
The Fisherman have a very valid concern over the toxicity of the various products that the FDA is now telling them that it's safe for you to consume.
This is their livelihood, for most, it has been their whole life. They know what's in the water, and what it's done and is still doing, to the sea life that they catch and sell.
All it will take to ruin them for a decade, is for illness to eventually prevail from selling a product that has been all to hastily reintroduced for public consumption.
The oil didn't disappear, it was made to sink to the bottom of the ocean with the aid of highly toxic dispersant.
The perfect example of "Out of sight out of mind", but the commercial fisherman can't put it out of their mind because they still see it out their everyday, and they know what you will be eating no matter what the FDA says.
http://www.floridaoilspilllaw.com/head-of-navy-on-tour-of-oil-repeatedly-asks-wow-what-are-we-in-sir-fisherman-responds-kind-of-looks-like-a-ufo-underwater-dont-it-pgi-video
YouTube Description: Mississippi Fishermen speak out on injustices of the government’s position on oil disappearing
Mississippi Commission on Marine Resources Meetings, Project Gulf Impact, August 17, 2010:
Part II at 11:50 in
Mississippi Fisherman: All [Secretary of Navy Ray Mabus] could say on my boat was, “Wow, what are we in sir?” [Fisherman responds] “Kind of looks like an UFO underwater, don’t it?” [Mabus says] “Wow.”
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gIXWYBTpLtSayJtg41LKXpxSxVPAD9HEOAVG0
Doug Suttles, BP's chief operating officer, sought to ease consumers' minds and palates by saying this week he would eat Gulf seafood himself and "serve it to my family."
Such assurances appear to be doing little to quell the distaste for Gulf seafood, though.
Some processors are having difficulty selling the seafood they can get, even to long-established customers.
"I've talked to suppliers who have sold 20 years to companies and are now being told no," Smith said. "A lot of people are substituting imported product for Gulf product."
Keath Ladner, owner of Gulf Shores Sea Products in Bay St. Louis, Miss., won't send his 70 boats out, even though shrimp season is open in some Mississippi waters.
"They'd lose money," Ladner said. "Nobody wants it. I can't sell it."
Ladner's main national buyer sent him a letter recently telling him it wouldn't be buying seafood from the Gulf "until further notice," he said.
"They can't convince brokers around the nation that it's a safe product," he said, adding that he came across a 2-square-mile patch of dead, floating fish on Friday about 12 miles off Gulfport, Miss.
Friday, August 13, 2010
How many oil spills can the Gulf region handle?
This spill if that's what you want to call it happened at the end of July
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgVGmDndD-g&feature=related
And just when you thought it couldn't get any worse......it did.
This one happened this week.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1g64Q1kcPI&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgVGmDndD-g&feature=related
And just when you thought it couldn't get any worse......it did.
This one happened this week.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1g64Q1kcPI&feature=player_embedded
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
USF says government tried to squelch their oil plume findings
http://www.tampabay.com/news/environment/usf-says-government-tried-to-squelch-their-oil-plume-findings/1114225
Has NOAA been bought off by BP?
I would say so,yes
A month after the Deepwater Horizon disaster began, scientists from the University of South Florida made a startling announcement. They had found signs that the oil spewing from the well had formed a 6-mile-wide plume snaking along in the deepest recesses of the gulf.
The reaction that USF announcement received from the Coast Guard and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the federal agencies that sponsored their research:
Shut up.
The USF scientists weren't alone. Vernon Asper, an oceanographer at the University of Southern Mississippi, was part of a similar effort that met with a similar reaction. "We expected that NOAA would be pleased because we found something very, very interesting," Asper said. "NOAA instead responded by trying to discredit us. It was just a shock to us."
NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco, in comments she made to reporters in May, expressed strong skepticism about the existence of undersea oil plumes — as did BP's then-CEO, Tony Hayward.
"She basically called us inept idiots," Asper said. "We took that very personally."
Has NOAA been bought off by BP?
I would say so,yes
A month after the Deepwater Horizon disaster began, scientists from the University of South Florida made a startling announcement. They had found signs that the oil spewing from the well had formed a 6-mile-wide plume snaking along in the deepest recesses of the gulf.
The reaction that USF announcement received from the Coast Guard and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the federal agencies that sponsored their research:
Shut up.
The USF scientists weren't alone. Vernon Asper, an oceanographer at the University of Southern Mississippi, was part of a similar effort that met with a similar reaction. "We expected that NOAA would be pleased because we found something very, very interesting," Asper said. "NOAA instead responded by trying to discredit us. It was just a shock to us."
NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco, in comments she made to reporters in May, expressed strong skepticism about the existence of undersea oil plumes — as did BP's then-CEO, Tony Hayward.
"She basically called us inept idiots," Asper said. "We took that very personally."
Russia is burning in Hell's Fire storms. Siberian plague kills Russians
http://kavkazcenter.com/eng/content/2010/07/30/12337.shtml
The big "what if"
The possibility is there people. We do know for a fact that a navy base burnt. They didn't let that happen on purpose I can assure you.
So-called fiery storms, which were not observed in previous years, emerged in the hotbeds of fires raging in central Russia, the head of the civil defense department at the Emergency Situations Ministry of Russia Sergey Shaposhnikov said.
Medvedev ordered his defense ministry "to use all necessary forces and capabilities to assist in fire suppression", the press service of the Kremlin said.
The reason for using the army is possibly the fact that more and more Russians are getting infested with Siberian plague (anthrax) which appeared in some Russian regions.
It is unclear yet if it is due to another leak of Russian bacteriological weapons. Involvement of the army may indirectly indicate that such a leak nevertheless occurred because of fires and hellish heatwave.
According to Russian media outlets, at least 5 peasants from the village of Bekeshevo, Tyukalinsk district of Omsk region, near Omsk, were hospitalized with a diagnosis of "Siberian ulcer" (AKA anthrax, or Siberian plague). Two of them are in critical condition and probably died already.
"The district veterinary service confirmed a diagnosis of anthrax with two peasants. The village was put under the quarantine, homestead round has been conducted. The specialists examined all the cattle and the villagers, but had found nobody else infected.
Therefore, it is possible that another leak of bacteriological weapons occurred from some secret military plant. Russia is known to have secret storage and improving of forbidden arms in violation of all international treaties, which is traditional for this country. Anthrax is the most common and widespread type of bacteriological weapons.
A large number of secret Russian factories producing chemical and biological weapons are located in Omsk and near it.
The big "what if"
The possibility is there people. We do know for a fact that a navy base burnt. They didn't let that happen on purpose I can assure you.
So-called fiery storms, which were not observed in previous years, emerged in the hotbeds of fires raging in central Russia, the head of the civil defense department at the Emergency Situations Ministry of Russia Sergey Shaposhnikov said.
Medvedev ordered his defense ministry "to use all necessary forces and capabilities to assist in fire suppression", the press service of the Kremlin said.
The reason for using the army is possibly the fact that more and more Russians are getting infested with Siberian plague (anthrax) which appeared in some Russian regions.
It is unclear yet if it is due to another leak of Russian bacteriological weapons. Involvement of the army may indirectly indicate that such a leak nevertheless occurred because of fires and hellish heatwave.
According to Russian media outlets, at least 5 peasants from the village of Bekeshevo, Tyukalinsk district of Omsk region, near Omsk, were hospitalized with a diagnosis of "Siberian ulcer" (AKA anthrax, or Siberian plague). Two of them are in critical condition and probably died already.
"The district veterinary service confirmed a diagnosis of anthrax with two peasants. The village was put under the quarantine, homestead round has been conducted. The specialists examined all the cattle and the villagers, but had found nobody else infected.
Therefore, it is possible that another leak of bacteriological weapons occurred from some secret military plant. Russia is known to have secret storage and improving of forbidden arms in violation of all international treaties, which is traditional for this country. Anthrax is the most common and widespread type of bacteriological weapons.
A large number of secret Russian factories producing chemical and biological weapons are located in Omsk and near it.
Radiation, plague, and fires: foreign embassies urgently evacuate staff from Russia
http://kavkazcenter.com/eng/content/2010/08/07/12359.shtml
A hasty evacuation of diplomatic staff from foreign embassies, like a stampede, began in Moscow. Many embassies are trying to hide the evacuation for political reasons. Mass evacuation of the embassies of Canada and Poland was officially reported at night on August 7.
Western media meanwhile reported that the Canadian embassy in Moscow was closed. Dutch embassy is urgently evacuating its diplomatic staff from Russia.
High level of air pollution (see photo), as one of the consequences of forest fires, has become an official ground for evacuating embassy staff and their family members.
Unofficially, they speak about plague in Russia, but first of all, about sharply elevated radioactive background in the city, caused by destruction of atomic bombs in fires at nuclear weapons arsenals outside Moscow. According to unofficial information, warehouses of chemical and bacteriological weapons were also burnt down.
A hasty evacuation of diplomatic staff from foreign embassies, like a stampede, began in Moscow. Many embassies are trying to hide the evacuation for political reasons. Mass evacuation of the embassies of Canada and Poland was officially reported at night on August 7.
Western media meanwhile reported that the Canadian embassy in Moscow was closed. Dutch embassy is urgently evacuating its diplomatic staff from Russia.
High level of air pollution (see photo), as one of the consequences of forest fires, has become an official ground for evacuating embassy staff and their family members.
Unofficially, they speak about plague in Russia, but first of all, about sharply elevated radioactive background in the city, caused by destruction of atomic bombs in fires at nuclear weapons arsenals outside Moscow. According to unofficial information, warehouses of chemical and bacteriological weapons were also burnt down.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Mexico Ex-President Fox Calls for Drug Legalization
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-09/mexico-ex-president-fox-calls-for-drug-legalization-as-way-to-end-violence.html
I think "the banks" have a tad more pull in this situation than Mr. Fox does.
Drug profits have to be washed and the banks make big bucks doing it.
I don't see them allowing their own throats to be slit by the legalization of the production and sale of drugs.
Former Mexican President Vicente Fox said his country should legalize the production and sale of drugs in order to curb rising cartel-related violence.
Legalizing narcotics would curtail funding to organized crime groups, who are using profits from the drug trade to consolidate power, Fox wrote yesterday on his personal website.
“Radical prohibition strategies have never worked,” Fox said. “The cost of the fight against organized crime, and in particular narcotics trafficking, has been enormous in our country.”
Fox said in a July 28 interview with Bloomberg Television that the U.S. as well as Mexico were responsible for the violence.
“What is happening is that this huge market of the United States in drug consumption, the largest in the world, is generating the weapons that are sold to Mexican cartels, and is generating the money that is laundered in the United States and brought to Mexico,” Fox said.
Arms Trafficking
More than 90 percent of weapons used in violent crimes in Mexico are brought in illegally from the U.S., according to the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives.
I think "the banks" have a tad more pull in this situation than Mr. Fox does.
Drug profits have to be washed and the banks make big bucks doing it.
I don't see them allowing their own throats to be slit by the legalization of the production and sale of drugs.
Former Mexican President Vicente Fox said his country should legalize the production and sale of drugs in order to curb rising cartel-related violence.
Legalizing narcotics would curtail funding to organized crime groups, who are using profits from the drug trade to consolidate power, Fox wrote yesterday on his personal website.
“Radical prohibition strategies have never worked,” Fox said. “The cost of the fight against organized crime, and in particular narcotics trafficking, has been enormous in our country.”
Fox said in a July 28 interview with Bloomberg Television that the U.S. as well as Mexico were responsible for the violence.
“What is happening is that this huge market of the United States in drug consumption, the largest in the world, is generating the weapons that are sold to Mexican cartels, and is generating the money that is laundered in the United States and brought to Mexico,” Fox said.
Arms Trafficking
More than 90 percent of weapons used in violent crimes in Mexico are brought in illegally from the U.S., according to the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Virginia Lawmakers Blast Gates Plan to Cut Major Military Command
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/08/09/gates-cut-major-military-command-norfolk-officials-say/
Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Monday announced a plan to shed a major military command in Virginia as part of his effort to strip billions from the Pentagon budget, drawing heated objections from state lawmakers who call the center essential.
Gates, in a lengthy press conference Monday afternoon, outlined his plan to eliminate Joint Forces Command in Norfolk, Va., and seek deep cuts elsewhere in the budget. He acknowledged the economic impact the closure could have for thousands of workers in the Norfolk region, but stood by his decision as a critical step in bringing defense spending under control.
"I am determined to change the way this department has done business for a long time," Gates said.
Gates estimated that the Virginia command accounts for 2,800 military and civilian positions, as well as 3,000 contractors, at an annual cost of at least $240 million. Though some employees could be reassigned elsewhere, Gates said a "substantial number" of full-time workers would have to find other positions or leave the Defense Department.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Monday announced a plan to shed a major military command in Virginia as part of his effort to strip billions from the Pentagon budget, drawing heated objections from state lawmakers who call the center essential.
Gates, in a lengthy press conference Monday afternoon, outlined his plan to eliminate Joint Forces Command in Norfolk, Va., and seek deep cuts elsewhere in the budget. He acknowledged the economic impact the closure could have for thousands of workers in the Norfolk region, but stood by his decision as a critical step in bringing defense spending under control.
"I am determined to change the way this department has done business for a long time," Gates said.
Gates estimated that the Virginia command accounts for 2,800 military and civilian positions, as well as 3,000 contractors, at an annual cost of at least $240 million. Though some employees could be reassigned elsewhere, Gates said a "substantial number" of full-time workers would have to find other positions or leave the Defense Department.
Lack of resources curtails ICE tracking of illegals:Agents told to 'prioritize'
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/aug/8/lack-of-resources-curtails-ice-tracking-illegals/
Doesn't it sound like ICE is now being told to duplicate Homeland Security's job?
New guidance telling U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to focus on apprehending terrorists and criminals has many of ICE's rank-and-file agents wondering who then is responsible for tracking down and detaining the millions of other illegal border-crossers and fugitive aliens now in the country.
The new guidelines are outlined in a June 29 memo from Assistant Secretary John Morton, who heads the agency, to all ICE employees regarding the apprehension, detention and removal of illegal immigrants, noting that the agency "only has resources to remove approximately 400,000 aliens per year, less than 4 percent of the estimated illegal-alien population in the United States."
Mr. Morton said ICE needed to focus wisely on the limited resources Congress had provided the agency and would "prioritize the apprehension and removal of aliens who only pose a threat to national security and/or public safety, such as criminals and terrorists."
Doesn't it sound like ICE is now being told to duplicate Homeland Security's job?
New guidance telling U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to focus on apprehending terrorists and criminals has many of ICE's rank-and-file agents wondering who then is responsible for tracking down and detaining the millions of other illegal border-crossers and fugitive aliens now in the country.
The new guidelines are outlined in a June 29 memo from Assistant Secretary John Morton, who heads the agency, to all ICE employees regarding the apprehension, detention and removal of illegal immigrants, noting that the agency "only has resources to remove approximately 400,000 aliens per year, less than 4 percent of the estimated illegal-alien population in the United States."
Mr. Morton said ICE needed to focus wisely on the limited resources Congress had provided the agency and would "prioritize the apprehension and removal of aliens who only pose a threat to national security and/or public safety, such as criminals and terrorists."
Saturday, August 7, 2010
An AUTOPSY of the BP Gulf Oil Well at the Macondo Prospect
http://phoenixrisingfromthegulf.wordpress.com/2010/08/03/an-autopsy-of-the-bp-gulf-oil-well-at-the-macondo-prospect/
And BP is leaving their options open to go back and drill in this same area.
For the first time we have received a pictorial rendition of what may have occurred over the several stages of developing the Macondo Prospect oil well. Full credit goes to BK Lim for publishing these revealing diagrams on alternative news websites. It is quite consistent with reports and assessments that we have received over the past three and a half months since the sinking of the Deepwater Horizon.
Again, we express our deepest gratitude to BK Lim for these diagrammatic portrayals of the well gone bad at the Macondo Prospect.
Dr. Tom Termotto, BCIM
National Coordinator
Gulf Oil Spill Remediation Conference (International Citizens’ Initiative)
And BP is leaving their options open to go back and drill in this same area.
For the first time we have received a pictorial rendition of what may have occurred over the several stages of developing the Macondo Prospect oil well. Full credit goes to BK Lim for publishing these revealing diagrams on alternative news websites. It is quite consistent with reports and assessments that we have received over the past three and a half months since the sinking of the Deepwater Horizon.
Again, we express our deepest gratitude to BK Lim for these diagrammatic portrayals of the well gone bad at the Macondo Prospect.
Dr. Tom Termotto, BCIM
National Coordinator
Gulf Oil Spill Remediation Conference (International Citizens’ Initiative)
Israel did 9/11, ALL THE PROOF IN THE WORLD!!
http://pakalert.wordpress.com/2009/12/01/israel-did-911-all-the-proof-in-the-world/
I, like many others in the United States are not satisfied with the hundreds of lose ends that were left untouched by the 9/11 commission's report.
Pacalert has done a fine job of stringing the pearls of information, that I myself can attest to as being the truth because I researched 9/11 from the same angle myself.
I struggled with the truth of the information I kept turning up because it would seem at pretty much every turn a person of the Jewish faith was involved.
I ask myself what were the odds of so many people of the same faith being involved, but in the end I could not deny the truth of what my own research had found.
This is a lengthy read, don't rush through it, so that you can understand and process
the enormity of it's meaning.
* It is my belief, that the Jewish faith and Zionism are two entirely different things.
One is about Love and the other is about wealth and power.
Figuring out exactly how 9/11 was done is the work of crime investigators or conspiracy hobbyists who will endlessly go on discussing and debating every minuscule and intricate detail of the event to no avail. It doesn’t take a structural engineer to tell you that two 110 story buildings and a 47 story steel skyscraper plummeting to the ground at nearly free-fall speed requires the assistance of explosives. All you need is two eyes that can see and a brain that thinks to come to that sound conclusion. This is why it is of my opinion that more emphasis should be placed on the “who” instead of the “how”. It should be obvious to anyone that discovering ‘who did 9/11′ is infinitely more important than discovering how they did it.
An Uncanny Prediction Comes True
This is from the comment section, I haven't followed up on this direction yet, but I fully intend to
The attacks of September 11th were intended to cover-up the clearing of $240 billion dollars in securities covertly created in September 1991 to fund a covert economic war against the Soviet Union, during which western investors bought up much of the Soviet industry, with a focus on oil and gas. The attacks of September 11th also served to derail multiple Federal investigations away from crimes associated with the 1991 covert operation and had NOTHING to do with endless war although that was certainly a by-product.
By missing these crucial facts you’ve incorrectly placed blame.
Yes, the Russian/Israeli Mafia, the Mossad and the CIA were involved but you’re neglecting Deutschbank, Carlton-Firzgerald, Dick Cheney, George Bush, Barrick Gold and a host of bankers, shady characters, corporate heads and KGB covert operators and others.
Here’s a link to exactly what happened on 911 but this link contains the citations and references to support the conclusions. This is good PakAlert, but it’s only a fraction of reality.
Read the real report on 911 here:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/4866520/Collateral-Damage-911-Covert-Ops-Funding-Targeted
I, like many others in the United States are not satisfied with the hundreds of lose ends that were left untouched by the 9/11 commission's report.
Pacalert has done a fine job of stringing the pearls of information, that I myself can attest to as being the truth because I researched 9/11 from the same angle myself.
I struggled with the truth of the information I kept turning up because it would seem at pretty much every turn a person of the Jewish faith was involved.
I ask myself what were the odds of so many people of the same faith being involved, but in the end I could not deny the truth of what my own research had found.
This is a lengthy read, don't rush through it, so that you can understand and process
the enormity of it's meaning.
* It is my belief, that the Jewish faith and Zionism are two entirely different things.
One is about Love and the other is about wealth and power.
Figuring out exactly how 9/11 was done is the work of crime investigators or conspiracy hobbyists who will endlessly go on discussing and debating every minuscule and intricate detail of the event to no avail. It doesn’t take a structural engineer to tell you that two 110 story buildings and a 47 story steel skyscraper plummeting to the ground at nearly free-fall speed requires the assistance of explosives. All you need is two eyes that can see and a brain that thinks to come to that sound conclusion. This is why it is of my opinion that more emphasis should be placed on the “who” instead of the “how”. It should be obvious to anyone that discovering ‘who did 9/11′ is infinitely more important than discovering how they did it.
An Uncanny Prediction Comes True
This is from the comment section, I haven't followed up on this direction yet, but I fully intend to
The attacks of September 11th were intended to cover-up the clearing of $240 billion dollars in securities covertly created in September 1991 to fund a covert economic war against the Soviet Union, during which western investors bought up much of the Soviet industry, with a focus on oil and gas. The attacks of September 11th also served to derail multiple Federal investigations away from crimes associated with the 1991 covert operation and had NOTHING to do with endless war although that was certainly a by-product.
By missing these crucial facts you’ve incorrectly placed blame.
Yes, the Russian/Israeli Mafia, the Mossad and the CIA were involved but you’re neglecting Deutschbank, Carlton-Firzgerald, Dick Cheney, George Bush, Barrick Gold and a host of bankers, shady characters, corporate heads and KGB covert operators and others.
Here’s a link to exactly what happened on 911 but this link contains the citations and references to support the conclusions. This is good PakAlert, but it’s only a fraction of reality.
Read the real report on 911 here:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/4866520/Collateral-Damage-911-Covert-Ops-Funding-Targeted
Local Official: “Oil just started BUBBLING OUT” of the ground; “Thick, black oil” that “did not appear to have been dispersed”
http://www.floridaoilspilllaw.com/local-official-oil-just-started-bubbling-out-of-the-ground-thick-black-oil-that-did-not-appear-to-have-been-dispersed-video
Check the video kids, it's bizarre.
I don't buy the crab holes causing it either. It's to thick to have bubbled out that way, unless it was under pressure to do so.
I don't even want to say what I think it is because it's to scary to even think about.
On a Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana barrier island “oil oozes from a foot or two underground,” according a report by Fox 8 New Orleans.
P.J. Hahn, the Plaquemines Parish Coastal Zone Director the compared it to “Jed Clampet’s oil — All we need is the theme song to ‘The Beverly Hillbillies’… Oil just started bubbling out.”
When revisiting the island with the news crew, Hahn dug into the ground “turning up thick, black oil that had not been heavily weathered and did not appear to have been dispersed.”
“I would have never thought that this oil would be this deep underground,” Hahn said to Fox 8.
Check the video kids, it's bizarre.
I don't buy the crab holes causing it either. It's to thick to have bubbled out that way, unless it was under pressure to do so.
I don't even want to say what I think it is because it's to scary to even think about.
On a Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana barrier island “oil oozes from a foot or two underground,” according a report by Fox 8 New Orleans.
P.J. Hahn, the Plaquemines Parish Coastal Zone Director the compared it to “Jed Clampet’s oil — All we need is the theme song to ‘The Beverly Hillbillies’… Oil just started bubbling out.”
When revisiting the island with the news crew, Hahn dug into the ground “turning up thick, black oil that had not been heavily weathered and did not appear to have been dispersed.”
“I would have never thought that this oil would be this deep underground,” Hahn said to Fox 8.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Exotic Deals Put Denver Schools Deeper in Debt
http://www.cnbc.com/id/38590790
The enormity of the Bank dealt atrocities across this nation and the world for that matter are only just beginning to be shown in the full light of day for the damages that they have done.
Of course when confronted with the magnitude of the damages that they have intentionally created, one always hears the same 2 standard answers.
The first being "We didn't know", But you still have to pay us that 81 million in termination fees to unwind it because bonus bucks don't materialize out of thin air you know.
And the 2ND being "No Comment"
In the spring of 2008, the Denver public school system needed to plug a $400 million hole in its pension fund. Bankers at JPMorgan Chase offered what seemed to be a perfect solution.
The bankers said that the school system could raise $750 million in an exotic transaction that would eliminate the pension gap and save tens of millions of dollars annually in debt costs — money that could be plowed back into Denver’s classrooms, starved in recent years for funds.
To members of the Denver Board of Education, it sounded ideal. It was complex, involving several different financial institutions and transactions. But Michael F. Bennet, now a United States senator from Colorado who was superintendent of the school system at the time, and Thomas Boasberg, then the system’s chief operating officer, persuaded the seven-person board of the deal’s advantages, according to interviews with its members.
Rather than issue a plain-vanilla bond with a fixed interest rate, Denver followed its bankers’ suggestions and issued so-called pension certificates with a derivative attached; the debt carried a lower rate but it could also fluctuate if economic conditions changed.
Since it struck the deal, the school system has paid $115 million in interest and other fees, at least $25 million more than it originally anticipated.
To avoid mounting expenses, the Denver schools are looking to renegotiate the deal. But to unwind it all, the schools would have to pay the banks $81 million in termination fees, or about 19 percent of its $420 million payroll.
A spokesman at JPMorgan, which led the Denver deal, declined to comment. Royal Bank of Canada, which acted as the school system’s independent adviser even though it participated in the debt transaction, declined to comment. Denver school officials said that they had agreed to sign a conflict waiver with Royal Bank of Canada.
Denver isn’t the only city confronted with budgetary woes aggravated by esoteric financial deals that Wall Street peddled in the years before the credit crisis. Banks have said the deals were appropriate for the issuers and that no one could have predicted the broad financial collapse that put pressure on the transactions.
The enormity of the Bank dealt atrocities across this nation and the world for that matter are only just beginning to be shown in the full light of day for the damages that they have done.
Of course when confronted with the magnitude of the damages that they have intentionally created, one always hears the same 2 standard answers.
The first being "We didn't know", But you still have to pay us that 81 million in termination fees to unwind it because bonus bucks don't materialize out of thin air you know.
And the 2ND being "No Comment"
In the spring of 2008, the Denver public school system needed to plug a $400 million hole in its pension fund. Bankers at JPMorgan Chase offered what seemed to be a perfect solution.
The bankers said that the school system could raise $750 million in an exotic transaction that would eliminate the pension gap and save tens of millions of dollars annually in debt costs — money that could be plowed back into Denver’s classrooms, starved in recent years for funds.
To members of the Denver Board of Education, it sounded ideal. It was complex, involving several different financial institutions and transactions. But Michael F. Bennet, now a United States senator from Colorado who was superintendent of the school system at the time, and Thomas Boasberg, then the system’s chief operating officer, persuaded the seven-person board of the deal’s advantages, according to interviews with its members.
Rather than issue a plain-vanilla bond with a fixed interest rate, Denver followed its bankers’ suggestions and issued so-called pension certificates with a derivative attached; the debt carried a lower rate but it could also fluctuate if economic conditions changed.
Since it struck the deal, the school system has paid $115 million in interest and other fees, at least $25 million more than it originally anticipated.
To avoid mounting expenses, the Denver schools are looking to renegotiate the deal. But to unwind it all, the schools would have to pay the banks $81 million in termination fees, or about 19 percent of its $420 million payroll.
A spokesman at JPMorgan, which led the Denver deal, declined to comment. Royal Bank of Canada, which acted as the school system’s independent adviser even though it participated in the debt transaction, declined to comment. Denver school officials said that they had agreed to sign a conflict waiver with Royal Bank of Canada.
Denver isn’t the only city confronted with budgetary woes aggravated by esoteric financial deals that Wall Street peddled in the years before the credit crisis. Banks have said the deals were appropriate for the issuers and that no one could have predicted the broad financial collapse that put pressure on the transactions.
Camden Closing Library System
http://www.myfoxny.com/dpp/news/local_news/new_jersey/camden-closing-library-system-20100806-apx
This is just plain wrong and needs to be addressed.
Do you think Bill Gates or Warren Buffet might consider this to be a worthy charity to give to? Or does their idea of giving to charity only have to do with 3rd world countries?
- New Jersey's most impoverished city will close all three branches of its public library at year's end unless a rescue can be pulled off,
Camden's library board says the libraries won't be able to afford to stay open past Dec. 31 because of budget cuts from the city government. The city had its subsidy from the state cut.
The library board president says the library system, which opened in 1904, is preparing to donate, sell or destroy its collections, including 187,000 books.
Board president Martin McKernan says keeping the books around would pose a fire hazard.
Camden's library system is not the only one having financial problems. Fourteen libraries in Queens cut weekend services earlier this year.
This is just plain wrong and needs to be addressed.
Do you think Bill Gates or Warren Buffet might consider this to be a worthy charity to give to? Or does their idea of giving to charity only have to do with 3rd world countries?
- New Jersey's most impoverished city will close all three branches of its public library at year's end unless a rescue can be pulled off,
Camden's library board says the libraries won't be able to afford to stay open past Dec. 31 because of budget cuts from the city government. The city had its subsidy from the state cut.
The library board president says the library system, which opened in 1904, is preparing to donate, sell or destroy its collections, including 187,000 books.
Board president Martin McKernan says keeping the books around would pose a fire hazard.
Camden's library system is not the only one having financial problems. Fourteen libraries in Queens cut weekend services earlier this year.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Fannie Mae asks for $1.5B more in aid after 2Q loss
http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/housing/2010-08-05-fannie-mae-aid_N.htm
Fannie needs luch money again.
Government-controlled mortgage company Fannie Mae is asking for $1.5 billion in additional taxpayer aid after posting a smaller loss in the second quarter.
Fannie Mae (FNMA) said Thursday that it lost $3.13 billion, or 55 cents a share, in the April-to-June period. The results were the best since the company was put under federal control in September 2008.
Fannie needs luch money again.
Government-controlled mortgage company Fannie Mae is asking for $1.5 billion in additional taxpayer aid after posting a smaller loss in the second quarter.
Fannie Mae (FNMA) said Thursday that it lost $3.13 billion, or 55 cents a share, in the April-to-June period. The results were the best since the company was put under federal control in September 2008.
Captured: America in Color from 1939-1943
http://extras.denverpost.com/archive/captured.html
A friend posted these on another site, I thought you might enjoy them, even though they are reprinted for color.
Some how to me thought, the stark severity of the time, seems to have been taken away with the addition of the color
These images, by photographers of the Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information, are some of the only color photographs taken of the effects of the Depression on America’s rural and small town populations. The photographs are the property of the Library of Congress and were included in a 2006 exhibit Bound for Glory: America in Color.
A friend posted these on another site, I thought you might enjoy them, even though they are reprinted for color.
Some how to me thought, the stark severity of the time, seems to have been taken away with the addition of the color
These images, by photographers of the Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information, are some of the only color photographs taken of the effects of the Depression on America’s rural and small town populations. The photographs are the property of the Library of Congress and were included in a 2006 exhibit Bound for Glory: America in Color.
New Orleans TV: “Alarming discovery” of adult crabs “filled with some sort of black substance” (VIDEO)
http://www.floridaoilspilllaw.com/new-orleans-tv-alarming-discovery-of-adult-crabs-filled-with-some-sort-of-black-substance-video
No really you can eat the seafood the EPA said so.
Oiled Crabs’
Fox 8 (New Orleans) reports on an “alarming discovery” made by Mississippi fishermen — around a half dozen “full-sized crabs filled with some sort of black substance.”
The find “has many wondering what’s happening below the surface in the Gulf of Mexico.”
“You could tell it was real slick and dark,” said one of the men who discovered the crab, a longtime seafood supplier and owner of Gulf Shores Sea Products. After opening the shell, he said “The lungs of the crabs — you could see the black.” According to Fox 8, “He said he’s never seen anything like it… crab’s lungs are normally a white.”
Fox 8 reports that this seafood supplier said “some of the largest processing facilities in the country say they just can’t buy from him right now because
No really you can eat the seafood the EPA said so.
Oiled Crabs’
Fox 8 (New Orleans) reports on an “alarming discovery” made by Mississippi fishermen — around a half dozen “full-sized crabs filled with some sort of black substance.”
The find “has many wondering what’s happening below the surface in the Gulf of Mexico.”
“You could tell it was real slick and dark,” said one of the men who discovered the crab, a longtime seafood supplier and owner of Gulf Shores Sea Products. After opening the shell, he said “The lungs of the crabs — you could see the black.” According to Fox 8, “He said he’s never seen anything like it… crab’s lungs are normally a white.”
Fox 8 reports that this seafood supplier said “some of the largest processing facilities in the country say they just can’t buy from him right now because
Food stamp use hit record 40.8m in May
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2010/08/05/food_stamp_use_hit_record_408m_in_may/
For all those rich elite that Warren and Bill Gates have convinced to give their excess money to charity, here is a worth cause to donate to since you actually helped make them.
The number of Americans who are receiving food stamps rose to a record 40.8 million in May as the jobless rate hovered near a 27-year high, the government reported yesterday.
Tweet 23 people Tweeted this.Submit to Diggdiggsdigg.
Yahoo! Buzz ShareThis .Recipients of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program subsidies for food purchases jumped 19 percent from a year earlier and increased 0.9 percent from April, the US Department of Agriculture said in a statement on its website.
Participation has set records for 18 straight months.
For all those rich elite that Warren and Bill Gates have convinced to give their excess money to charity, here is a worth cause to donate to since you actually helped make them.
The number of Americans who are receiving food stamps rose to a record 40.8 million in May as the jobless rate hovered near a 27-year high, the government reported yesterday.
Tweet 23 people Tweeted this.Submit to Diggdiggsdigg.
Yahoo! Buzz ShareThis .Recipients of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program subsidies for food purchases jumped 19 percent from a year earlier and increased 0.9 percent from April, the US Department of Agriculture said in a statement on its website.
Participation has set records for 18 straight months.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Where's the oil
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-cesca/the-bp-disaster-continues_b_670937.html
Don't get caught up in the false bravado that everything is A-Ok now, because it's really not.
exit
Last week, Time magazine published the headline: "The BP Spill: Has the Damage Been Exaggerated?" This coincided, practically to the day, with the emergence of a whistleblower from the EPA, Hugh Kaufman, who explained to Lawrence O'Donnell on MSNBC that humans and aquatic life forms alike were "bleeding from their orifices" due to the volume of chemical dispersant dumped in the water and onto dry land by crop-dusters and by various other methods. That's right, according to Kaufman, people and animals are evidently suffering from some kind of anal hemorrhaging because the dispersants are liquefying their internal organs.
And we still don't know exactly how much Corexit was used. BP reports that it was 1.8 million gallons -- which is still a lot. But that's based upon a standard of using no more than 3,365 gallons in a single day. Congressman Ed Markey, this past weekend, learned that on at least two occasions, BP used as much as 36,000 gallons of Corexit in a single day.
Meanwhile, as for the rest of the oil, it didn't take long for muckraking reporters like Mac McClelland to find it. As she read the AP report quoting Thad Allen's "where's the oil at?" statement, McClelland texted a reporter friend who instantly wrote back from an off-limits beach -- a beach covered in oil.
And yesterday, we learned that oil is pooling just below the top layers of earth and sand. This shouldn't come as any surprise, since the exact same phenomenon occurred at the beaches surrounding Prince William Sound. To this day, you can visit the site of the Exxon Valdez disaster and, with a cup of water and a scoop of sand, find the oil.
But the press, government officials and BP pitchmen are insulting our intelligence by suggesting that the oil has vanished and there's nothing to worry about
Don't get caught up in the false bravado that everything is A-Ok now, because it's really not.
exit
Last week, Time magazine published the headline: "The BP Spill: Has the Damage Been Exaggerated?" This coincided, practically to the day, with the emergence of a whistleblower from the EPA, Hugh Kaufman, who explained to Lawrence O'Donnell on MSNBC that humans and aquatic life forms alike were "bleeding from their orifices" due to the volume of chemical dispersant dumped in the water and onto dry land by crop-dusters and by various other methods. That's right, according to Kaufman, people and animals are evidently suffering from some kind of anal hemorrhaging because the dispersants are liquefying their internal organs.
And we still don't know exactly how much Corexit was used. BP reports that it was 1.8 million gallons -- which is still a lot. But that's based upon a standard of using no more than 3,365 gallons in a single day. Congressman Ed Markey, this past weekend, learned that on at least two occasions, BP used as much as 36,000 gallons of Corexit in a single day.
Meanwhile, as for the rest of the oil, it didn't take long for muckraking reporters like Mac McClelland to find it. As she read the AP report quoting Thad Allen's "where's the oil at?" statement, McClelland texted a reporter friend who instantly wrote back from an off-limits beach -- a beach covered in oil.
And yesterday, we learned that oil is pooling just below the top layers of earth and sand. This shouldn't come as any surprise, since the exact same phenomenon occurred at the beaches surrounding Prince William Sound. To this day, you can visit the site of the Exxon Valdez disaster and, with a cup of water and a scoop of sand, find the oil.
But the press, government officials and BP pitchmen are insulting our intelligence by suggesting that the oil has vanished and there's nothing to worry about
Reckless Europe beats reckless America at property bubbles
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/finance/ambroseevans-pritchard/100007092/reckless-europe-beats-reckless-america-at-property-bubbles/
I think Ambrose has underestimated the US inventory, or he just hasn't figured out that the banks have it well hid off their balance sheets, but that's beside the point. The point is how many countries that he points out who all coincidentally had the same type of bubble at the same time.
What a convenient coincidence, or is it? It would seem to me that the same type of banking model practice has been put to extensive use world wide, and world wide it blew up into their face.
Can you see the outline of a plot here, that was FED fortified?
Or else the world got stupid all at the same time.
The we didn't know excuse just doesn't wash anymore
This was an intentional take down.
Once and for all, let us nail the lie that the global credit crisis was basically a US sub-prime property bubble that went wrong, and that Europe was merely an innocent bystander hit by shrapnel.
This is the property bubble chart on Page 12 of the IMF’s latest report (Article IV) on France.
As you can see, France had the most extreme price rises from 1997 to 2009, followed by Spain and Italy some way below.
The Anglo-Saxons were more moderate. The US bubble was tame by comparison (measured by price: inventory overhang is another matter) and has largely corrected. This the American way, a short sharp purge. The Club Med bubbles have not corrected, by a long shot.
I think Ambrose has underestimated the US inventory, or he just hasn't figured out that the banks have it well hid off their balance sheets, but that's beside the point. The point is how many countries that he points out who all coincidentally had the same type of bubble at the same time.
What a convenient coincidence, or is it? It would seem to me that the same type of banking model practice has been put to extensive use world wide, and world wide it blew up into their face.
Can you see the outline of a plot here, that was FED fortified?
Or else the world got stupid all at the same time.
The we didn't know excuse just doesn't wash anymore
This was an intentional take down.
Once and for all, let us nail the lie that the global credit crisis was basically a US sub-prime property bubble that went wrong, and that Europe was merely an innocent bystander hit by shrapnel.
This is the property bubble chart on Page 12 of the IMF’s latest report (Article IV) on France.
As you can see, France had the most extreme price rises from 1997 to 2009, followed by Spain and Italy some way below.
The Anglo-Saxons were more moderate. The US bubble was tame by comparison (measured by price: inventory overhang is another matter) and has largely corrected. This the American way, a short sharp purge. The Club Med bubbles have not corrected, by a long shot.
Senate Cuts Food Stamp Funds; Leaves Oil and Gas Subsidies Intact
http://food.change.org/blog/view/senate_cuts_food_stamp_funds_leaves_oil_and_gas_subsidies_intact
Times are better now, and besides the government needs that extra money to help make sure there are actually teachers when your child goes back to school this year.
From what I understand between 3-400,000 won't be coming back to school this year to teach our children, unless the government forks over for their salary, because the States don't have it, to be able to gainfully employ them.
America's poor rarely catch a break these days. The Senate is expected to vote today for a bill that will cut food stamp benefits by $6.1 billion to help fund Medicaid and teachers' jobs, reasoning they were too high now that food costs are lower than predicted. Proponents essentially argued that poor people had too much money for food.
As the Washington Post's Ezra Klein explains, last year's federal Recovery Act increased the amount of money for food stamps, or the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), to about $80 more per household each month. Amid the recession and high unemployment, about six million more people registered for the program in the past year alone, so program costs boomed from $20 billion to $65 billion. Meanwhile, food prices have deflated from last year's high rates. Now people are able to get more bang for their buck, hence the Senate's idea to cut payments. It's frustrating not only because America's poor, working, and middle class are suffering at record levels and could use this tiny leg up, but also because it's a really stupid cut for the overall economic picture: According to Klein, food stamps serve as one of the best forms of stimulus money, to the tune of $1.70 of activity for every dollar spent. In other words, our economy desperately needs this.
"This is also a question of priorities," Klein writes, explaining that the Senate voted against proposed cuts to oil and gas subsidies, and may continue tax cuts for the wealthy. "But food assistance for poor families? You can get the votes to slash those."
Times are better now, and besides the government needs that extra money to help make sure there are actually teachers when your child goes back to school this year.
From what I understand between 3-400,000 won't be coming back to school this year to teach our children, unless the government forks over for their salary, because the States don't have it, to be able to gainfully employ them.
America's poor rarely catch a break these days. The Senate is expected to vote today for a bill that will cut food stamp benefits by $6.1 billion to help fund Medicaid and teachers' jobs, reasoning they were too high now that food costs are lower than predicted. Proponents essentially argued that poor people had too much money for food.
As the Washington Post's Ezra Klein explains, last year's federal Recovery Act increased the amount of money for food stamps, or the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), to about $80 more per household each month. Amid the recession and high unemployment, about six million more people registered for the program in the past year alone, so program costs boomed from $20 billion to $65 billion. Meanwhile, food prices have deflated from last year's high rates. Now people are able to get more bang for their buck, hence the Senate's idea to cut payments. It's frustrating not only because America's poor, working, and middle class are suffering at record levels and could use this tiny leg up, but also because it's a really stupid cut for the overall economic picture: According to Klein, food stamps serve as one of the best forms of stimulus money, to the tune of $1.70 of activity for every dollar spent. In other words, our economy desperately needs this.
"This is also a question of priorities," Klein writes, explaining that the Senate voted against proposed cuts to oil and gas subsidies, and may continue tax cuts for the wealthy. "But food assistance for poor families? You can get the votes to slash those."
Secret Banking Cabal Emerges From AIG Shadows: David Reilly
http://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aaIuE.W8RAuU
I'd say more like Timmy played the "system" rather than saved the system.
Congress never agreed to the bailout money being spent for the purpose of buying
credit default swaps, the "People" would have strung them up if they had.
This should be seen for exactly what it was: The junkies were caught without a fix and Timmy copped them a score on money they fronted from us the taxpayer, even after we told congress in an exceptionally loud voice.....NO BAILOUT
The House heard "Us" but the Senate chose to just ignore "The People", so that Timmy could do his dealing, and now because of Timmy's dealings the FED is the proud owners of all the garbage that Timmy arranged to buy for them, and the 30 million dollar a month payment for it, has only just begun and the FED is now foreclosing on people to ensure that, that payment is met.
Saving the System
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was head of the New York Fed at the time of the AIG moves. He maintained during Wednesday’s hearing that the New York bank had to buy the insurance contracts, known as credit default swaps, to keep AIG from failing, which would have threatened the financial system.
The hearing before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform also focused on what many in Congress believe was the New York Fed’s subsequent attempt to cover up buyout details and who benefited.
By pursuing this line of inquiry, the hearing revealed some of the inner workings of the New York Fed and the outsized role it plays in banking. This insight is especially valuable given that the New York Fed is a quasi-governmental institution that isn’t subject to citizen intrusions such as freedom of information requests, unlike the Federal Reserve.
This impenetrability comes in handy since the bank is the preferred vehicle for many of the Fed’s bailout programs. It’s as though the New York Fed was a black-ops outfit for the nation’s central bank.
Geithner’s Bosses
The New York Fed is one of 12 Federal Reserve Banks that operate under the supervision of the Federal Reserve’s board of governors, chaired by Ben Bernanke. Member-bank presidents are appointed by nine-member boards, who themselves are appointed largely by other bankers.
As Representative Marcy Kaptur told Geithner at the hearing: “A lot of people think that the president of the New York Fed works for the U.S. government. But in fact you work for the private banks that elected you.”
And yet the New York Fed played an integral role in the government’s bailout of banks, often receiving surprisingly free rein to act as it saw fit.
I'd say more like Timmy played the "system" rather than saved the system.
Congress never agreed to the bailout money being spent for the purpose of buying
credit default swaps, the "People" would have strung them up if they had.
This should be seen for exactly what it was: The junkies were caught without a fix and Timmy copped them a score on money they fronted from us the taxpayer, even after we told congress in an exceptionally loud voice.....NO BAILOUT
The House heard "Us" but the Senate chose to just ignore "The People", so that Timmy could do his dealing, and now because of Timmy's dealings the FED is the proud owners of all the garbage that Timmy arranged to buy for them, and the 30 million dollar a month payment for it, has only just begun and the FED is now foreclosing on people to ensure that, that payment is met.
Saving the System
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was head of the New York Fed at the time of the AIG moves. He maintained during Wednesday’s hearing that the New York bank had to buy the insurance contracts, known as credit default swaps, to keep AIG from failing, which would have threatened the financial system.
The hearing before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform also focused on what many in Congress believe was the New York Fed’s subsequent attempt to cover up buyout details and who benefited.
By pursuing this line of inquiry, the hearing revealed some of the inner workings of the New York Fed and the outsized role it plays in banking. This insight is especially valuable given that the New York Fed is a quasi-governmental institution that isn’t subject to citizen intrusions such as freedom of information requests, unlike the Federal Reserve.
This impenetrability comes in handy since the bank is the preferred vehicle for many of the Fed’s bailout programs. It’s as though the New York Fed was a black-ops outfit for the nation’s central bank.
Geithner’s Bosses
The New York Fed is one of 12 Federal Reserve Banks that operate under the supervision of the Federal Reserve’s board of governors, chaired by Ben Bernanke. Member-bank presidents are appointed by nine-member boards, who themselves are appointed largely by other bankers.
As Representative Marcy Kaptur told Geithner at the hearing: “A lot of people think that the president of the New York Fed works for the U.S. government. But in fact you work for the private banks that elected you.”
And yet the New York Fed played an integral role in the government’s bailout of banks, often receiving surprisingly free rein to act as it saw fit.
Foreclosed On—By the U.S.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704499604575407584128526218.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsForth
Lets all remember what the FED actually is, and that would be a private institution
The Federal Reserve System (12 Fed Res banks) is a private entity - according to the 1913 Federal Reserve Bank Act - owned by its shareholders (national banks). The Chairman is appointed by the US President,and confirmed by the US Senate to give it the sense of being a federal agency, but it most certainly is not.
So who my friends is foreclosing on the trash called assets that Bear Stearns died owning or owing upon as the case actually now presents itself to be?
The Federal Reserve is, NOT the US Government.
That's a point I feel should be made very clear now that the monthly 30 million dollar payments loom large for the acceptance of the responsibility of Bear's blowout.
The FED owes and is responsible for the repayment of the money, which they borrowed supposedly in good faith,from the American taxpayer.
Those CDS's are going to be an extremely hard swallow since they are now seen for what they are, absolutely worthless.
James Currell is struggling to prevent his Minnesota home from being foreclosed. But his lender isn't a bank. It is the U.S. government.
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York is facing the prospect of foreclosing on a number of properties in the coming months, from homes to commercial buildings, a result of a souring mortgage portfolio it took over when it helped bail out Bear Stearns in 2008.
As it deals with delinquent borrowers, a team of New York Fed officials and outside advisers are trying to avoid having the U.S. government, along with local sheriff's departments, seize commercial properties and homes as it copes with falling real-estate values. In the process, the New York Fed is getting a hard lesson in the challenges of mortgage lending.
It is an unprecedented test for the most powerful of 12 regional branches of the Federal Reserve System. In its 96-year history, the Fed hasn't made or controlled loans to U.S. citizens and businesses outside of banking since the 1930s, when it was done on a much smaller scale. Now, under the watchful eye of Congress, the New York Fed must recoup a $29 billion loan secured by the Bear assets.
"For the Fed to come in and foreclose on properties puts it at some reputational and political risk," said Vincent Reinhart, a former senior Fed staffer who is now an economist
Lets all remember what the FED actually is, and that would be a private institution
The Federal Reserve System (12 Fed Res banks) is a private entity - according to the 1913 Federal Reserve Bank Act - owned by its shareholders (national banks). The Chairman is appointed by the US President,and confirmed by the US Senate to give it the sense of being a federal agency, but it most certainly is not.
So who my friends is foreclosing on the trash called assets that Bear Stearns died owning or owing upon as the case actually now presents itself to be?
The Federal Reserve is, NOT the US Government.
That's a point I feel should be made very clear now that the monthly 30 million dollar payments loom large for the acceptance of the responsibility of Bear's blowout.
The FED owes and is responsible for the repayment of the money, which they borrowed supposedly in good faith,from the American taxpayer.
Those CDS's are going to be an extremely hard swallow since they are now seen for what they are, absolutely worthless.
James Currell is struggling to prevent his Minnesota home from being foreclosed. But his lender isn't a bank. It is the U.S. government.
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York is facing the prospect of foreclosing on a number of properties in the coming months, from homes to commercial buildings, a result of a souring mortgage portfolio it took over when it helped bail out Bear Stearns in 2008.
As it deals with delinquent borrowers, a team of New York Fed officials and outside advisers are trying to avoid having the U.S. government, along with local sheriff's departments, seize commercial properties and homes as it copes with falling real-estate values. In the process, the New York Fed is getting a hard lesson in the challenges of mortgage lending.
It is an unprecedented test for the most powerful of 12 regional branches of the Federal Reserve System. In its 96-year history, the Fed hasn't made or controlled loans to U.S. citizens and businesses outside of banking since the 1930s, when it was done on a much smaller scale. Now, under the watchful eye of Congress, the New York Fed must recoup a $29 billion loan secured by the Bear assets.
"For the Fed to come in and foreclose on properties puts it at some reputational and political risk," said Vincent Reinhart, a former senior Fed staffer who is now an economist
An interesting rise
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5alY3-ydJ8&feature=player_embedded
What exactly has ROV caught here?
What ever it was I didn't care for the look of it.
What exactly has ROV caught here?
What ever it was I didn't care for the look of it.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
It's a small world after all
http://www.blacklistednews.com/news-9977-0-15-15--.html
Ask yourself, what are the odds that all the Presidents except one can be traced back to the Royal family of England and it takes a little kid to find it.
Girl discovers royal blood runs deep with U.S. presidents
Ask yourself, what are the odds that all the Presidents except one can be traced back to the Royal family of England and it takes a little kid to find it.
Girl discovers royal blood runs deep with U.S. presidents
Mentally Disabled Chicago Teenager Gang-Raped In South Side Basement
http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpps/news/national/disabled-chicago-teenager-gang-raped-south-side-basement-20100802_8976928
This is the mentality of America!
Welcome to the new world order!
The nightmare began when the victim (FOX is not revealing her identity, or her mother's) momentarily left her Bronzeville apartment to take out the trash. She never came back; her mother found the trash on the ground in the alley less than ten minutes later.
Police say the teen's kidnappers took her to a little-used laundry room in the basement of a Washington Park apartment building, where she was forced to have sex with multiple men.
"You know what she told me? She said that it was 'a long line, mommy. It was a lot of people, a big, long line'," the victim's mother said.
"She said, 'Mommy, there were little boys and big men.'" Police say it was a gang rape that lasted nearly a day.
"She was bruised from head to toe. They hit her. She had big patches of her hair pulled out," her mother said, on the verge of tears.
"They couldn't hardly examine her because she was bleeding so bad and she was ripped so bad," her mother explained. An unknown man led her out of the basement, her mother said
Although the victim is 18-years-old, her mother said her mental disability means "she's actually the equivalent of 4 or 5 on a good day."
A young man named Jacque, also 17, was questioned by the police but not charged.
"I went down there. I didn't see what they were doing, but I knew," he explained, his words trailing off. He said he saw about six men in the basement with the girl, but he insisted, "I didn't partake in nothing." Still, he added, "I don't think she was raped because she let them do it. She wasn't screaming or nothing."
Philip Brown's mother agrees. "I don't think they raped her. I think it was her own free will to have sex with them."
This is the mentality of America!
Welcome to the new world order!
The nightmare began when the victim (FOX is not revealing her identity, or her mother's) momentarily left her Bronzeville apartment to take out the trash. She never came back; her mother found the trash on the ground in the alley less than ten minutes later.
Police say the teen's kidnappers took her to a little-used laundry room in the basement of a Washington Park apartment building, where she was forced to have sex with multiple men.
"You know what she told me? She said that it was 'a long line, mommy. It was a lot of people, a big, long line'," the victim's mother said.
"She said, 'Mommy, there were little boys and big men.'" Police say it was a gang rape that lasted nearly a day.
"She was bruised from head to toe. They hit her. She had big patches of her hair pulled out," her mother said, on the verge of tears.
"They couldn't hardly examine her because she was bleeding so bad and she was ripped so bad," her mother explained. An unknown man led her out of the basement, her mother said
Although the victim is 18-years-old, her mother said her mental disability means "she's actually the equivalent of 4 or 5 on a good day."
A young man named Jacque, also 17, was questioned by the police but not charged.
"I went down there. I didn't see what they were doing, but I knew," he explained, his words trailing off. He said he saw about six men in the basement with the girl, but he insisted, "I didn't partake in nothing." Still, he added, "I don't think she was raped because she let them do it. She wasn't screaming or nothing."
Philip Brown's mother agrees. "I don't think they raped her. I think it was her own free will to have sex with them."
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