Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Stand By Your Nuke

"European countries are standing by their nuclear programs"

"Germany plans to phase out nuclear plants by 2022; Expanded use of renewable resources eyed; repercussions of move may affect Europe" by Judy Dempsey and Jack Ewing, New York Times / May 31, 2011

BERLIN — The German government yesterday announced plans to shut all of the nation’s nuclear power plants within the next 11 years, a sharp reversal for Chancellor Angela Merkel after the Japanese disaster at Fukushima caused an electoral backlash by voters opposed to reliance on nuclear energy....    

Did you know that if you are anti-nuclear power, you might be a terrrorist?

The announcement, which still faces legislative approval, was applauded by environmentalists and expected to be popular among voters. But it was greeted skeptically around Europe and within Germany's industrial sector. Some predicted it could harm economic growth, force Germany to import nuclear power from France, or even inflate the cost of energy across the continent....  

But the carbon tax over nonexistent global warming?  Nanh.

For Merkel, the embrace of clean energy represents a transformation based on the politics of the ballot box.

In other words, German politicians listen to their people, AmeriKa.

Just last year, her center-right coalition forced through an unpopular plan to extend the life of nuclear power plants, with the last to close in 2036. That action inflamed public opinion, but the Fukushima disaster politicized it 

Yeah, it is not about a safe environment or uncontaminated food supply.
 

I'll tell you, readers, I am really feeling sick and it is not because of the radiation; it is because of the newspaper and its agenda-pushing insults. 

The nuclear crisis is widely believed to have caused Merkel’s party to lose control of the German state of Baden-Wurttemberg for the first time in 58 years, in a March election that became a referendum on energy policy.... 

Related: German party leader won’t run again

Merkel's ambitious plan will not be easily achieved. The cost of plugging the gap left by the nuclear shutdown is likely to raise power costs, particularly for Germany’s globally competitive industrial sector....  

That is how well-connected interests screw a government and country.

Switzerland — a much smaller nation — decided this month to abandon plans to build new nuclear reactors and will phase out its existing plants when they reach the end of their normal lives.  

Related: Boston Globe's Swiss Miss

Also see: Swiss Are Smart

Other European countries are standing by their nuclear programs....

The Netherlands, deeply committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, intends to build new nuclear plants along with developing more renewable energy sources.  

I hope flooding doesn't knock out their cooling systems.

Britain has no plans to reduce its dependence on nuclear power.

Poland, which is eager to reduce its dependence on Russian gas and oil, is committed to pursuing a nuclear energy program, despite the expense, according to recent statements by Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

The government’s decision drew criticism and concern from some political and business leaders. The Federal Association for German Industry sent a letter to the chancellery, warning of the consequences for business....
 
Look, it AIN'T FOR ANOTHER 11 YEARS! 

Doesn't that give you guys enough time to prepare?

--more--"  

Meanwhile, over in Japan:

"2 workers may have exceeded Japan radiation limit" by Mari Yamaguchi, Associated Press / May 30, 2011

TOKYO—Two workers at Japan's crippled nuclear plant might have exceeded a radiation exposure limit amid concerns about the risks the workers face struggling to contain the crisis.....   

What my paper didn't tell me:

Authorities also reported a mishap occurred over the weekend. A heat removal pump failed at Unit 5, which came to a stable, cold shutdown after the tsunami. But the failure allowed the core water to heat nearly to boiling before the pump was replaced and cooling resumed Sunday afternoon.

Also Monday, Typhoon Songda caused heavy rains around the plant and other areas of the coast devastated by the tsunami. TEPCO said the rains caused no damage to buildings, but contaminated water that had been pooling inside the plant swelled further.  

Not a printed word about Songda.  

No leaks into the sea were detected, however.  

And why should we believe them?

A Fuji Television Network poll released Monday showed more than 80 percent of Japanese voters do not trust government information about the country's nuclear crisis. About the same percentage of respondents said TEPCO is dealing with the crisis poorly.

No one believes their governments anymore. That's what happens when you lie to people.

--more--" 

I created a Fukushima file so you can see how abysmal the pro-nuclear AmeriKan media coverage has been. 

Bringing it back home:

"Water weakened Seabrook tunnel; Work underway to assess plant; reactor remains safe, NRC says" May 30, 2011|By Beth Daley, Globe Staff

Concrete surrounding an electric tunnel at Seabrook Station nuclear power plant has lost almost 22 percent of its strength because it has been saturated with ground water for more than a decade, according to a new Nuclear Regulatory Commission inspection report.

The problem, reported to the NRC by Seabrook owners NextEra Energy Resources last year, is believed to be the first confirmed instance of such degradation in a safety-related concrete structure at a US nuclear plant.

I think AmeriKa needs to take a lesson from Germany.  

Of course, we will have to end the wars to save all that oil.

The NRC said it found no impact on electric systems, piping, or any other components in the underground structure and the concrete walls are performing well above design specifications. The report, released May 23, concluded that the plant remains safe....

As if anyone around here will believe the NRC. 

 They backed-up the Vermont Yankee liars.

The problem is coming to light just months after Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear crisis, an event that prompted politicians and the public in the United States to focus closer attention on the nation’s 104 reactors.

If Seabrook’s concrete degradation is not brought under control, it could be a problem for the plant’s ongoing efforts to extend its operating life another 20 years once its license expires in 2030. The degradation was reported in an NRC relicensing inspection report....

The tunnel and other areas where water seepage was found are part of a safety system used to help cool the reactor when it is being shut down. In addition to the concrete tunnel problem, NextEra found corroded steel supports, piping, and anchor bolts in other areas they inspected but none have degraded concrete or in any way endanger the plant, said NextEra....  

All of a sudden I don't feel so good about Seabrook.

--more--"

Related: Coakley joins fight to close nuclear plant 

I've really ripped her in these pages; however, I stand by the AG on that one! 

Also see: Around New England: No Veracity in Vermont

Around New England: Vermont Votes Yankee Down 

The Boston Globe Can Not Say a Lie   

But they sure can tell 'em!

In Support of the Troops

The best way to do that is BRING 'EM HOME!

73,846 US Soldiers Dead from both Gulf Wars, How they manipulated the numbers to fool you

The wars will continue, and we shouldn't be surprised

At least AmeriKa takes care of its vets.

"House plan backs higher military health care fees; Deficit worries overcome years of reluctance" May 09, 2011|By Donna Cassata, Associated Press

WASHINGTON — After years of resisting proposed increases for military men and women, budget-conscious lawmakers are suddenly poised to make them pay a bit more for their health care....

Haven't they sacrificed enough? 

Btw, how much has the Libyan debacle alone cost us so far? 

And that was two months ago; you do the math.

The costs of the program that provides health coverage to some 10 million active duty personnel, retirees, reservists, and their families have jumped from $19 billion in 2001 to $53 billion in the Pentagon’s latest budget request.... 

Think the wars based on lies have had anything to do with it?

The explosive expense of health care rivals what the Pentagon shells out to buy fighter aircraft, submarines, and high-tech weapons, and is about half of the $118 billion that the Obama administration wants in the next budget to fight the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan....

The administration is up against one of the most powerful constituency, the network of veterans groups and retired generals determined to stop any increase. The Military Officers Association of America backs the one-year fee increase....  

Of course, the most powerful lobby in WAshIngton is why we have been PropAgandized into Ceaseless wars -- if you know what I mean.

--more--"

At least the care is top quality:

"VA infection risk leads to 12,000 tests" May 30, 2011|Associated Press

DAYTON, Ohio — The Department of Veterans Affairs is under political fire and numerous veterans are upset after enduring uncertainty over reports of improper hygiene practices at VA hospitals.

About 13,000 veterans have been warned in the last two years that their blood should be tested for potentially fatal infections after possible exposures by improper hygiene practices at five VA hospitals in Ohio, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, and Tennessee....

Infections related to medical treatment are a problem at public and private hospitals nationwide....

The Veterans Affairs system that serves about 6 million veterans a year has been praised by medical authorities for its successful efforts to reduce antibiotic-resistant staph infections from treatment, a common problem in US hospitals.

That does not reassure me about any potential surgery.

--mores--"

Related:

"Palin kept a low profile. She did not speak at the rally that followed the ride; she ate lunch with wounded veterans from Walter Reed Army Medical Center in a tent blocked off from the crowd....

That is about the only time she has kept one.

--more--" 

At least that disability check is on the way:

"Injured troops’ disability claims still lag" May 19, 2011|By Kimberly Hefling, Associated Press 

Why is it the people who beat opponents over these missions of folly over the head with "Support the Troops" never did?

WASHINGTON — A new system to help wounded service members get disability compensation more efficiently has instead kept them in the military longer than intended, preventing some from taking job offers and starting college as they wait on average more than a year for a claim to be processed, Congress was told yesterday.

All I can say to that is they SURE DEPLOY YOU FAST ENOUGH!!

William Lynn, deputy defense secretary, and W. Scott Gould, deputy secretary at the Department of Veterans Affairs, told the Senate Veterans’ Committee that the new program is significantly better than the old system, which they say took on average 540 days to complete....

Yeah, now it only takes 400 days.

--more--"  

At least banks are looking out for our vets, right? 

"Bank to pay $56m in mortgage case" April 22, 2011|By Bloomberg News

NEW YORK — JPMorgan Chase has agreed to pay $56 million to settle claims it overcharged military service members on their mortgages.

JPMorgan will pay $27 million in cash to about 6,000 active-duty military personnel who were overcharged, cut interest rates on soldiers’ home loans, and return homes that were wrongfully foreclosed upon, according to federal court records in Beaufort, S.C....

--more--"  

That's really going to help their mental stability:

"Mental health issues rise among US troops" May 20, 2011|Associated Press

WASHINGTON — American troops in Afghanistan are suffering the highest rates of mental health problems since 2005, and morale has deteriorated, the Pentagon said yesterday.  

That's because after 10 years of lies and wars based on them, having seen what they have seen and done what they have done, they realize we are the 21st-century version of the Nazis.

Military doctors said the findings were no surprise, given the dramatic increase in fighting....  

So if we ended the wars and didn't start anymore, it stands to reason that the mental health issues would drop.

The grim statistics illustrated the psychological cost of a campaign that US officials say has reversed the momentum of the insurgency in the war-ravaged country....  

Imagine toll on victims. 

And I guess it has all been worth it if the media and government can once again tell the "we are winning" lie.

But the rate of psychological problems may actually be small, considering the high level of combat that troops are seeing, said Colonel Paul Bliese, who led the last three survey teams to the battlefield, in 2007, 2009, and 2010.  

Yeah, polish up that turd, perfume it, and put a smile on it.

“We would have expected to see a much larger increase in the mental health symptoms and a much larger decrease in morale … based on these incredibly high rates of exposure’’ to traumatic combat events, he said.

Meanwhile, the military said that it has doubled the mental health staff in the country to help troops cope....  

Maybe ending the wa.... sigh. 

Add those costs to the costs of war, American taxpayers.

--more--"     

Also see: The Wars Will Make You Mad

No way to put a value on this:

"Iraq, Afghan war veteran who epitomized recovery kills self" April 16, 2011|By Kimberly Hefling, Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Handsome and friendly, Clay Hunt so epitomized a vibrant Iraq veteran that he was chosen for a public service announcement reminding veterans that they are not alone.

The 28-year-old former Marine corporal received a Purple Heart after taking a sniper’s bullet in his left wrist. He returned to combat in Afghanistan. Upon his return home, he lobbied for veterans on Capitol Hill, road-biked with wounded veterans, and performed humanitarian work in Haiti and Chile.

Then, on March 31, Hunt bolted himself in his Houston apartment and shot himself.

Friends and family said he was wracked with survivor’s guilt, depression, and other emotional struggles after combat.  

Be treated as a hero for doing horrible things can cause a conflict with the soul. 

Hunt’s death has shaken many veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Those who knew him wonder why someone who seemed to be doing all the right things to deal with combat-related issues is now dead.  

Not me. 

:-(

“We know we have a problem with vets’ suicide, but this was really a slap in the face,’’ said Matthew Pelak, 32, an Iraq veteran who worked with Hunt in Haiti as part of the nonprofit group Team Rubicon.

After news of Hunt’s death spread, workers from the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors met with veterans visiting Washington for the annual lobbying effort by the nonprofit Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America group. A year earlier, Hunt had been calling on Congress to improve the disability claims process.  

We know how that is going, sigh.

He had appeared in the group’s ads encouraging veterans to seek support from an online network of fellow veterans.

Snapshots posted on Facebook reflect a mostly grinning Hunt. In one, he has a beard and is surrounded by Haitian kids. A second shows him on the Capitol steps with fellow veterans.

Friends said Hunt suffered from depression and post-traumatic stress. But with his boundless energy and many friends, he came across as an example of how to live after combat.

“I think everybody saw him as the guy that was battling it, but winning the battle every day,’’ said Jacob Wood, 27, who served with Hunt.

“He was very despondent about why he was alive and so many people he served with directly were not alive,’’ said John Wordin, 48, the founder of Ride 2 Recovery, a program that uses bicycling to help veterans heal.

--more--"  

Also see: How to Honor a Suicider

And do know what fragging is, readers?

"Soldier convicted in killing of comrades" May 26, 2011|Associated Press

FORT STEWART, Ga. — An Army sergeant was found guilty yesterday of two counts of premeditated murder in the 2008 slayings of his squad leader and another US soldier at a patrol base in Iraq, but he was spared the death penalty when the military jury didn’t return a unanimous verdict....  

I'll bet this is happening a lot more than we are told.

--more--"  

Related: 

After long months in Iraq, soldiers return home

Mass. pair served from start in Iraq, aim toward finish 

Conscientious objector wins discharge

N.H. veterans face long ride to Boston for medical care

One of last ones out recalls frantic escape from Vietnam

Flags planted at state’s national cemetery after 4-year efforts

Historic cemetery plays host to ceremony honoring vets

Honor guard’s service increasingly called upon in Mass. 

Acupuncture offered as treatment for Gulf War vets

Injured in Fallujah, Marine finds new role on police force 

Also see:

Fenway run raises $2.6m to aid veterans

11 Civil War soldiers to be honored

Harvard welcomes ROTC back to campus

Army leader expected to be named to head Joint Chiefs

Obama taps Army general to lead Joint Chiefs

A Declaration of Empire

Related:

"2d Navy carrier to bear JFK’s name" May 30, 2011|Associated Press

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced yesterday that the nation’s next aircraft carrier will be named the John F. Kennedy, in memory of the 35th president.

The nuclear-powered ship will be built at the Newport News shipyard in Virginia.  

And on his birthday, no less.  

Also see: Globe Spits on Kennedy Graves  

Somehow, I think the great man of peace might have had a problem with a weapon of war being named after -- but we will never know (sob).

Mabus said the naming of the next Gerald R. Ford-class carrier in Kennedy’s honor pays tribute to the late president’s service in the Navy.

Who is Mabus, anyway? 

Interesting if you buy into that kind of stuff.

Being a trained and certified historian, my money is on Bush once history's judgment is made.

Remember, prophecy says the AC will only be around seven years even though the World War he started will continue longer. 

As commander of PT-109, Kennedy led his crew to safety after his patrol-torpedo boat was struck and split in half by an enemy ship in the Pacific.  

He held a rope in his mouth while injured and dragged them miles to safety on an island.   The incident was one of the reasons he was in physical pain the rest of his life, something that provided a connection to the problems of ordinary folk. He truly was a great man despite some personal failings, and had to have had them because he was just a man.

Kennedy received the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for the rescue of his crew and a Purple Heart.

This will be the second aircraft carrier named after Kennedy. The USS John F. Kennedy was decommissioned in 2007 after nearly 40 years of service, including in the Persian Gulf during the first Iraq war. 

I just can't believe Kennedy would be happy about his name being attached to wars based on lies.

Efforts are underway to bring the carrier to Newport, R.I., and turn it into a museum.

“President John F. Kennedy exemplified the meaning of service, not just to country, but service to all humanity,’’ Mabus said in his announcement.  

And he was killed for it.

--more--"  

Almost 50 years later and we still haven't learned:

"In Kabul, US soldiers honor their fallen brethren" May 30, 2011|Associated Press

KABUL — Increasingly, skeptics in both America and Afghanistan question why US and NATO forces remain there. The Taliban recently began its spring offensive, as suicide bombings, roadside explosions and attacks in remote posts have returned with a frightening regularity.  

After we were told we were winning.

“You don’t get used to it because you’re in a war zone,’’ said civilian corps worker George S. Triggs, 54, of Louisville, Ky. “You learn to tolerate it and do the best you can.’’

Yet the worst stress, some acknowledged, is that of family members waiting at home for their loved ones to return. 

And praying it isn't in a cheap metal box with an AmeriKan flag made in China draped over it.

 Lieutenant Colonel Jon Chytka, 44, of Tabor, S.D., recounted having to explain to his 5-year-old daughter why he had to leave: “I told her that before she was born, there were 19 people who killed 3,000.’’   

I hate to be the one to tell you, but Muslims didn't do 9/11; Israel (and their dual-national, double-agent allies in the AmeriKan government) did.

Yeah, actually it was 103 that killed 3,000.

--more--" 

Also see: Tenth anniversary of 9/11 weighs prominently on Memorial Day

War Profiteer Piece of the Pie: F-35 Flying High in House

"$32 billion for equipment that was never built" 

Related: Following Zakheim and Pentagon trillions to Israel and 9-11 

“Seems to work out where everyone gets their piece of the pie sooner or later’’

"Costly cancellations show shift in Pentagon’s project protocol" by Marjorie Censer, Washington Post / May 31, 2011

WASHINGTON — The Army’s Comanche helicopter was envisioned as “the quarterback of the digital battlefield,’’ a technologically superior aircraft that could hide from enemies, operate at night and in bad weather, and travel farther than any other helicopter. General Richard Cody, a former vice chief of staff of the Army, called it the “most flexible, most agile’’ aircraft the country had ever produced.

In 2000, it ranked as the most important planned buy for the Army. Four years later, the program, which had consumed close to 20 years of work and nearly $6 billion, was abruptly dropped.

It is one of 22 major Army weapons programs that have been canceled since 1995, ringing up a price tag of more than $32 billion for equipment that was never built....

A new study commissioned by the Army is the latest indication that the Pentagon — and the defense industry, in turn — is undergoing a seismic shift in its approach to new programs. As pressures mounted in Iraq and Afghanistan, the military retreated from its ambitions of building multibillion-dollar, technologically superior systems. Instead, it was forced to make better use of tried-and-true equipment.

For almost a decade, the Defense Department saw its budgets surge — but did not make the kind of technological strides that seemed possible.

Gone are the days of “no-questions-asked funding requests,’’ Defense Secretary Robert Gates said. The Pentagon must make do with less. It is focusing on fixing older equipment and taking a more measured approach to weapon development. 

I'll believe it when I see it. They get an INCREASE EVERY YEAR!

The shifting strategies and a shrinking defense budget have triggered the biggest restructuring in the defense industry since the end of the Cold War. Although the defense industry has always had an unusual business model in which it is hard to predict needs, officials say an uncertain trade has become all the more so.  

I don't know, war seems like a going concern here in AmeriKa. Been at it my whole lifetime.

 Indeed, in recent years, the Pentagon has killed off some of its most heralded — and most pricey — weapons programs, and many of those that remain are not certain to move forward. In some ways, this represents a market correction — and a realization that the Defense Department has to live within its means and buy weapons it can afford....   

What a PoS propaganda piece.

--more--"

"GE’s ‘green’ engine offers new chance with military" May 16, 2011|By Theo Emery, Globe Staff

WASHINGTON — For months, General Electric has fought an uphill battle to keep funds flowing for development of a next-generation F-35 fighter engine, a program the White House, Pentagon, and many in Congress oppose as wasteful but one which would support hundreds of jobs at GE Aviation’s plants in Lynn and elsewhere.

See: GE to Self-Fund F-35 Fighter Engine

Told you Congress would come through.

Attracting less attention has been GE’s work on new “green’’ engine technology for the Air Force that, analysts and specialists say, could greatly improve the company’s ability to compete for engine contracts. The technology is intended to make aircraft engines far more fuel-efficient, saving money for the Pentagon while potentially reestablishing GE’s long-term role in jet engine contracting, and the jobs that come with it.  

Related: A Green Army

The World's Biggest Polluter

I notice they never come up in the global warming debates.

The Pentagon has agreed to pay GE Aviation about $255 million for the demonstration program through 2013, officials said last week.  

Let's hope they at least build something.

GE’s effort reveals an axiom of the defense industry: contractors may get bumped from one competition, but with so few companies able to do the work, there are always openings to get back into the game.  

Oh, the WASTE of YOUR TAX DOLLARS is ALL a GAME, Americans!!

“Seems to work out where everyone gets their piece of the pie sooner or later,’’ said William C. Storey Jr., president of the Virginia-based Teal Group, a market research and analysis company....  

How come they didn't leave a piece for you, taxpayers?

The Air Force consumes about 80 percent of the military’s fuel, Air Force Chief Scientist Mark T. Maybury said, costing between $6 billion and $8 billion a year.

Related: The $9 Billion Dollar Fuel Bill

That must be one big gas pump.

--more--"

"GE jet engine survives House; Obama may veto defense legislation; jobs at stake at Lynn facility" by Theo Emery, Globe Staff / May 27, 2011

WASHINGTON — The US House of Representatives risked a potential veto by President Obama yesterday when it approved a $690 billion defense bill that throws a lifeline to a disputed jet fighter engine with parts that would be built at a General Electric plant in Lynn....   

Yeah, pity the poor Pentagon.

The engine program — with hundreds of Bay State jobs at stake — has long been backed by the Massachusetts congressional delegation.

The liberal, antiwar Massachusetts delegation?

“It shows you that this is what it takes to kill a program at the Pentagon,’’ said Laura Peterson, a senior policy analyst for the watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense. “It’s kind of ridiculous that there is such an intense battle being waged over something that the Department of Defense says it doesn’t want.’’

**********

US Representative John F. Tierney, a Democrat whose district includes Lynn, called GE’s new arrangement of self-financing “a creative approach to funding weapons systems.’’ 

And he is supposed to be a dove

****************

Despite GE’s pledge to pay for continued development, Obama still opposes the measure because it leaves the door open for future taxpayer-supported development and acquisition under certain conditions in the future....  

So the SELF-FUNDING thing was just a SCAM until Congress shoveled it more tax loot, huh?

--more--"

And you can't even take them to court 

"Calif. prisoner reduction upheld; High court says conditions violate inmates’ rights" May 24, 2011|By Adam Liptak, New York Times

WASHINGTON —In action yesterday, the court refused to take sides in a long-running, billion-dollar dispute between two defense contractors and the government over a canceled contract for a Navy plane.  

Did they build anything?

The high court unanimously threw out court decisions that would have helped the federal government, as well as the Boeing Co. and General Dynamics, the companies that were supposed to build 850 A-12 Avenger attack planes for the military.

The A-12 Avenger attack plane was canceled by the Pentagon in 1991 based on claims that the companies failed to meet the terms of the contract. The A-12 was more than 18 months behind schedule and at least $1 billion over budget when it was canceled.

The justices also turned down an appeal from Guantanamo detainees who fear they may be tortured or jailed if they are released from the US naval base in Cuba.  

Where they have been jailed and tortured.

They rejected a plea from dozens of detainees who say they should have 30 days’ advance notice to challenge their transfer to countries where they have a reasonable fear of torture, or even continued confinement.     

Sounds like they are innocent.

--more--"

What is a Patriot?

Or more like who:

"Lawmakers send Obama message to end Afghan war" by Donna Cassata, Associated Press / May 27, 2011

WASHINGTON — In other congressional action yesterday, the House and Senate voted to extend the government’s Patriot Act powers to search records and conduct roving wiretaps in pursuit of terrorists, acting just a month after intelligence and military forces hunted down bin Laden.

Facing a midnight deadline when three terror-fighting tools would expire, the 72-to-23 Senate vote came after three days of stubborn resistance from a single senator, Republican freshman Rand Paul of Kentucky, who saw the terrorist-hunting powers as an abuse of privacy rights. The House passage followed, 250 to 153.  

Like father, like son.

Related: SEN RAND PAUL vs SEN HARRY REID "I Rise In Response To A Scurrilous Accusation!"

Rand has really surprised me.

The measure would add four years to the legal life of roving wiretaps — those authorized for a person rather than a communications line or device — of court-ordered searches of business records, and of surveillance of non-American “lone wolf’’ suspects without confirmed ties to terrorist groups.

The White House gave assurances that the provisions would not expire even though Obama is now in Europe and would have to be wakened early to sign it....

--more--"

"US proposes cybersecurity incentives" May 13, 2011|Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Companies that run critical US industries such as power plants would get government incentives to make sure their systems are secure from computer-based attacks, the White House said yesterday in detailing a broad proposal to bolster the country’s cybersecurity.

The approach is similar to legislation already in the works. While some criticized it as being too weak, the business community said it preferred a voluntary program rather than government mandates.

Under its proposed legislation, the White House would give the Department of Homeland Security the authority to work with industry officials to come up with ways to protect their computer systems against cyber threats. If a company fails to do so, or comes up with an inadequate plan, the department would develop a security framework for that firm.

The government should encourage the private sector to voluntarily adopt security standards and “avoid a one-size-fits-all, mandated approach,’’ said Phil Bond, president of TechAmerica, which represents 1,200 companies.

But critics say the White House approach has few teeth.

“The administration’s proposal shows no sense of urgency,’’ said Stewart Baker, a former Homeland Security official.  

The official debate is between tyranny or MORE tyranny, sigh, Just like it is between war or more war.

--more--" 

But they can't protect your most sensitive and private information:

Electronic medical records vulnerable 


Taliban Spreading Suicide in Afghanistan

The AmeriKan army must have caught it because it is what they are committing the longer they stay. 

They don't call Afghanistan the graveyard of empires for nothing.

"Suicide bombers spread attacks to typically secure Afghan city" by Rahim Faiez, Associated Press / May 31, 2011

KABUL — A suicide bomber blew up a car packed with explosives at the gates of an Italian military base yesterday in one of two attacks on the relatively secure western city of Herat, killing at least five Afghans in a major commercial center slated to be handed over by NATO to Afghan control in July.  

Related: Doubts About Afghanistan 

First the southern and eastern Taliban are up north, now they are out west? 

And they are allegedly losing ground?

The bombings, claimed by the Taliban, were the second major attack in three days as insurgents expand their targets outside the southern and eastern theaters that were the focus of American offensives last winter.

In other violence around Afghanistan, four NATO service members were killed yesterday.

Taliban attacks inside Herat are rare, though there are violence-prone districts on the city’s outskirts. But insurgents have been increasing attacks since the group announced its spring offensive in late April and reaching into areas that had been fairly quiet until now.

The expansion of Taliban assaults suggests that the insurgents are making a statement about their reach, just as NATO is trying to shift some more secure areas of the country to Afghan control....

Why? I've been told they infiltrated the security services.

Support for the Afghan war has been waning in allied countries after nearly 10 years of fighting and many NATO nations are sketching drawdown plans. Some have argued that the death of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden means that there is less need to spend money and lives in Afghanistan....

But attacks like those yesterday could undermine international support even for the existing plan of gradual withdrawal....  

And CUI BONO?

--more--"

Also see: Mass Suicides in Afghanistan

It really is suicide for AmeriKa, isn't it? 

Update: 

"In an Associated Press-GfK poll earlier this month, 59 percent opposed the war, and 37 percent favored it, with significant support for Obama’s plan to start removing troops this summer"  

I think it is more:  

"A new Washington Post-ABC poll that said nearly two-thirds of Americans consider the war no longer worth fighting."  

Just proving the American people are not suicidal, only their rulers.

AmeriKan Media Pulling Prank on Pakistan

The "joke" is an "inside" one, and it is not "funny" at all.... 

"Pakistan’s military wary of infiltrators; Attack on base stirs suspicions" by Karin Brulliard, Washington Post / May 31, 2011

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Embarrassed by the Osama bin Laden raid and insurgent attacks on high-security sites, top Pakistani military officials are increasingly concerned that their ranks are penetrated by Islamists who are aiding militants in a campaign against the state.

Those worries have grown especially acute since the killing of bin Laden less than a mile from a prestigious military academy. The infiltration by heavily armed insurgents last week of a naval base in the city of Karachi — an attack widely believed to have required inside help — has only deepened fears.

Related: Sending Signals to Pakistan

Also see: Bin Laden Stories Show AmeriKan Media Not to be Believed

Yeah, I let the long-dead man rest now. 

The Army’s chief, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, who, like the government, has expressed anger over the secret US raid, was so shaken by the discovery of bin Laden that he told US officials his first priority was “bringing our house in order,’’ according to a senior Pakistani intelligence official.

Smells like psyop prop.

“We are under attack, and the attackers are getting highly confidential information about their targets,’’ the intelligence official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

In the form of CIA agents posing as diplomats.

Pakistani intelligence agents have begun rounding up dismissed navy personnel over suspicions that militants who carried out the attack on the Karachi naval base had inside knowledge, the Associated Press reported yesterday, citing security officials....  

The use of therm is insulting once you realize 9/11 was an inside job.

And the suspect they come up with has been out of the service for 10 years?!?

It is unclear how authentically committed Kayani and other top military leaders are to cleansing their ranks. US officials and Pakistani analysts say support by the nation’s top military spy agency for insurgent groups, particularly those that attack in India and Afghanistan, is de facto security policy in Pakistan.

But Kayani is under profound pressure, both from a domestic population fed up with insurgent attacks and from an international community that views the bin Laden hideout as the strongest evidence yet Pakistan is playing a double game. 

And that CIA man trying to move nuclear and biological material to CIA-duh? 

See: They Don't Want Your Blood Money

Oh, right, I forgot. Murk.

US officials say they have no evidence top Pakistani leaders knew about bin Laden’s redoubt, but they are still examining intelligence gathered during the raid.  

Translation: We may have some faked and forged stuff to throw at them later (if needed).

Some say they doubt Kayani or Lieutenant General Ahmad Shuja Pasha, head of the military’s Inter-Services Intelligence directorate, had direct knowledge; others find it hard to believe they did not.  

I find it hard to believe Americans are served up this slop as news day after day.

US officials have emphasized billions of dollars in US aid could end if Pakistan is found to have harbored the Al Qaeda leader.

They want to take the money away, okay.

--more--"

U.S. Silent on Saleh's Slaughter

How do you say hypocrisy in Arabic?

"Grip on Yemen town tightened" by Associated Press / May 30, 2011

Hundreds of Islamic militants cemented control over a town in southern Yemen yesterday, military officials said, while breakaway army units encouraged other military forces to switch their loyalties and join the uprising.  

If you oppose the Empire and its order then you are an "Islamic militant" or "terrorist."

The militants stormed Zinjibar, a town of about 20,000 people near the Gulf of Aden, on Friday, occupying banks and government offices.  

I can see where that got hackles up in certain quarters. 

Military officials said the militants extended their control late Saturday night, capturing six army tanks and several armored cars after the governor, the security chief, and the commander of a local army brigade withdrew. Medical and military officials said eight civilians and 18 soldiers have been killed since Saturday.

The growing number of defections in the military posed the most serious threat yet to President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s three-decade grip on his country....

--more--"

"Yemeni jets bomb town seized by Islamists" by Associated Press / May 31, 2011

SANA, Yemen — Yemeni forces opened fire on a protest camp and killed more than 20 demonstrators yesterday in the southern city of Taiz while government warplanes launched air strikes on another southern town seized by radical Islamists.

The new attempts to suppress the uprising against President Ali Abdullah Saleh with overwhelming force, after a weekend when high-level military defectors formed a united front in support of the protesters, all pointed to the longtime leader’s increasingly tenuous grip on power....

More than three months of mass street protests have posed an unprecedented threat to Saleh’s 33-year rule, splintering his security forces and battering the country’s already frail economy.  

His days are numbered.

Saleh has raised the specter of an Islamist takeover of Yemen to solicit international funds and rebuff calls that he stand down.

Government jets bombed the town’s outskirts yesterday, the loud booms sending up columns of smoke, resident Ali Dahmis said by phone. He said the army was targeting residential areas.

The strikes were the government’s hardest hit yet against the Islamists since hundreds of them streamed in Friday, seizing banks and government buildings.  

Did Obama or the administration say something and I just missed it?  

Going to get a no-fly zone going, right?

--more--" 

More: Yemen

Syrian Spring Signals Long Hot Summer

"the popular uprising may be moving toward a Libya-style armed conflict  

Translation: The USraeli war-planners are serious about this regime change. 

I don't know if you have noticed, and the AmeriKan media won't say it, but when historians look back they will record the current period we are in as WWIII.  

IMHO, Bush began it by invading Iraq.

"Syrian troops attack 3 towns; Aim to silence demonstrations" by Bassem Mroue, Associated Press / May 30, 2011

BEIRUT — Syrian government troops backed by tanks and helicopters attacked three central towns yesterday in an attempt to stop round-the-clock protests there against President Bashar Assad’s regime, killing at least five people and wounding scores of others, activists and a rights group said....

Security forces in several other parts of the country fired on crowds holding overnight demonstrations, causing casualties, activists said....

“The towns are under siege,’’ one of the activists said....    

The AmeriKan media sure has used that word a lot in regard to Syria, and yet rarely -- if ever -- employs it against Israel and their siege of Gaza.

Residents of the towns have held protests against the regime since the start of the uprising.  Those protests have increased recently, with crowds taking to the streets day and night to call for the fall of Assad’s regime, an activist said.... 

Related: Syria's See-Saw Protests

Yeah. the AmeriKan media is making me sick. 

The Local Coordination Committees in Syria, which help organize the protests, said security forces were detaining men in Talbiseh.

They said people were blindfolded before being loaded to buses that took them to detention centers.

Did they learn that from us?

Security forces opened fire on about 8,000 protesters in the northeastern town of Deir el-Zour yesterday, wounding several people, according to human rights activist Mustafa Osso.

In a separate development, a confidential diplomatic letter shared with the Associated Press yesterday stated that Syria is pledging full cooperation with UN attempts to investigate evidence that it secretly built a reactor that could have been used to make nuclear arms.  

See: Syria Simmers Down

--more--"

"Armed residents fight off Syrian government troops; Battle is first in 2-month-old popular revolt" by Zeina Karam,  Associated Press / May 31, 2011

BEIRUT — Residents used automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades to repel advancing government troops in central Syria yesterday, putting up a fierce fight for the first time in their 2-month-old revolt against President Bashar Assad’s autocratic regime.

The escalation raised fears the popular uprising may be moving toward a Libya-style armed conflict.

Until now, the opposition against Assad has taken the form of peaceful protests by unarmed demonstrators, though authorities have claimed, without offering solid proof, that it was being led by armed gangs and propelled by foreign conspiracies....   

Here we go with the deceitful insults.  

Yeah, it is not "solid" proof, but IT IS PROOF! 

Of course, same mouthpiece media shovels any old slop propto push its agenda.  

Related: 

"reports proliferate of some protesters resorting to arms"

Yeah, my agenda-pushing propaganda organ called a newspaper decided to ignore those.  

Also see:    

Who is Behind The Protest Movement?

U.S. secretly backed Syrian opposition

Saudis blamed for Syrian violence


Of course, there are no conspiracies save 19 Arabs from a cave.

In Geneva, the UN’s top human rights official said yesterday that the brutality and magnitude of repression in Syria and Libya against antigovernment protests is “shocking.’’  

But when Israel does it in Palestine, ho-hum! 

And here I used to respect and like the U.N. years ago. What an USraeli tool.

--more--"  

Related:  

"General Wesley Clark, who commanded the North Atlantic Treaty Organization bombing campaign in the Kosovo war, recalls in his 2003 book Winning Modern Wars being told by a friend in the Pentagon in November 2001 that the list of states that Rumsfeld and deputy secretary of defense Paul Wolfowitz wanted to take down included Iraq, Iran, Syria, Libya, Sudan and Somalia [and Lebanon]."

That is VERY, VERY INTERESTING given the state of the world TODAY!

Brief Pause For Peace in Libya

"Moammar Khadafy is ready for a truce to stop the fighting in his country, South Africa’s president said yesterday after meeting the Libyan ruler, but he listed familiar Khadafy conditions that have scuttled previous cease-fire efforts. Rebels quickly rejected the offer.President Jacob Zuma said Khadafy is ready to accept an African Union initiative for a cease-fire that would stop all hostilities, including NATO airstrikes in support of rebel forces."  

Related: Libya

Where Did Dictators Move Middle East Money?

Where everyone else who steals loot does:

"Swiss authorities say that banks in their country have located almost $1 billion in assets of Libyan leader Moammar Khadafy and the former presidents of Egypt and Tunisia.

Financial regulators in Switzerland had identified in Swiss bank assets worth almost $416 million that may belong to the embattled Libyan leader or the government; $474 million that is linked to former president Hosni Mubarak of Egypt; and $69 million belonging to Tunisia’s fallen leader, Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali.

The announcement was made Monday by Swiss President Micheline Calmy-Rey at a diplomatic meeting in the Tunisian capital Tunis and confirmed by a Swiss foreign ministry spokesman.

--more--"

Israeli Fisching Around For IMF Job

Why not?  They run the damn thing anyway. 

Why not drop all charades and pretensions?

"Israeli economist may seek IMF post" May 30, 2011|Associated Press

JERUSALEM — Israel’s central bank chief, Stanley Fischer, is interested in the top job at the International Monetary Fund, a person familiar with the banker’s thinking told the Associated Press yesterday.

The person said Fischer has not decided whether to pursue the job, but “if the opportunity comes along, he will take it,’’ said the person....

Fischer, an internationally respected economist, held the number two position at the IMF during the 1990s....

He has also held top jobs at the World Bank and Citigroup Corp. He arrived in Israel in 2005 to be governor of the Bank of Israel. He has been widely credited with enabling the country to largely escape the global economic crisis....

They are the ONLY ONES THAT DID, and does THAT EVER TELL YOU a LOT about WHO SITS on TOP of the ELITE HEAP!

--more--" 

Also see: Lagarde makes case in Brazil for IMF leadership candidacy

"French minister accused of assault quits" May 30, 2011|Associated Press

PARIS — A minister accused of sexually assaulting two women he once worked with resigned yesterday in an apparent bid to spare the French government the kind of notoriety the opposition has faced since its leading man, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, was charged with attempting to rape a Manhattan hotel maid....

One of the women said she was inspired to come forward after a housekeeper at a luxury Manhattan hotel said she was sexually assaulted by Strauss-Kahn, 62, a leading presidential hopeful in next year’s elections for the rival Socialist Party. He resigned his post as International Monetary Fund chief after charges were filed in New York.

Georges Tron, 53, is a member of President Nicolas Sarkozy’s conservative UMP party who joined the government just over a year ago.

Tron’s resignation appeared to be damage control as Sarkozy primps his image for a likely reelection bid in the 2012 presidential race. The popular Strauss-Kahn had been expected to run as the Socialist candidate for president.

Both Tron and Strauss-Kahn have denied any wrongdoing....

--more--"
 
Also see: French minister accused of sex crimes

IMF Man Maid in Manhattan

IMF Scum on Suicide Watch in Pathetic Ploy For Sympathy

I suppose he's off it now that he's in a posh Manhattan apartment. 

DNA said to link ex-IMF chief to maid 

Case has been quiet ever since.  

Greece Going Down?

See: Inside the E.U.

"Greeks again protest austerity plans" May 30, 2011|Associated Press

ATHENS — About 30,000 people protested in Athens yesterday against the government’s tough economic austerity policies.

Related:   

"NATO figures show that Greece spent 2.8 percent of gross domestic product on its armed forces in 2008. That makes it the most expensive military budget in Europe in per capita terms, and second only to the United States in the alliance."

No austerity there.  Banker$ like bullet$ and bomb$.

The demonstration, larger than many others that have taken place during Greece’s economic crisis, appeared to be the first that resulted from spontaneous calls over social media sites such as Facebook. Many others have been organized by unions or political factions.

Pointing at Parliament, many of the protesters chanted “Thieves! Thieves!’’ Others shouted slogans against Prime Minister George Papandreou and the International Monetary Fund. No violence was reported and few police were on the scene.  

Yeah, because they were part of the crowd.

Papandreou has vowed to continue his fiscal reforms. Yesterday, he warned against “sirens’’ calling for Greece to default on its debt. He said it is “foreign taxpayers’ money’’ that has allowed his nation to continue paying public sector salaries and pensions.  

Why don't you just blow the bankers on TV?

Reforms are painful, but the economy will return to growth in 2012, he said. The austerity measures have eroded the incomes of many Greeks, causing widespread anger.  

Because they know where the money is going.

--more--"

"Greece prepares for EU decision; Papandreou had presented more budget cuts" by Maria Petrakis, Bloomberg News / May 31, 2011

ATHENS — Prime Minister George Papandreou is trying to convince European Union officials that he can deliver on pledged budget cuts and asset sales needed to secure more bailout aid after opposition parties rejected the measures.

And he's supposed to be a socialist?

EU and International Monetary Fund officials will conclude within days a review of whether Greece has made enough progress to receive the fifth installment of its $157 billion. To secure the funds, Papandreou unveiled last week more budget cuts and speedier asset sales, but failed to get the multiparty support demanded by the EU and IMF.   

You see who the "socialist" serves, right?

 Greece’s inability to meet the deficit-reduction goals of the original bailout forced Papandreou to present a fifth round of budget cuts....

Bondholder losses are mounting as the yield gap between 10-year Greek bonds and German bunds reached a record last week.

“It will take a long time to enact the privatizations and will be politically controversial,’’ said Martin Blum, co-head of asset management at Ithuba Capital in Vienna. The EU and IMF “want to ensure that politicians don’t try to score points, and it’s also clear the government is losing support and sooner or later a change could occur,’’ he said.  

Like a REGIME change?

With Papandreou’s term due to end in 2013 and polls showing New Democracy gaining support....

The wage cuts and tax increases under Greece’s bailout have led to strikes, driven the economy into recession for a third year, and boosted unemployment to a record....

New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras said he wouldn’t be blackmailed into accepting the austerity plan after meeting with Papandreou and other political leaders in Athens. European Union Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn followed up by saying it was “essential’’ for all parties to support the program and “time was running out.’’

--more--"  

Update: 

GREECE: Shocking New Bailout Conditions Mean The End Of National Sovereignty
 
IT'S STARTING - Bank Runs Begin In Greece

Military coup possible in Greece

Another one?

Serbs Mad About Mladic Arrest

Latest related: Back to the Balkans

Maybe they should be a little sore.

"Clashes erupt in Belgrade to protest Mladic arrest" by Jovana Gec, Associated Press / May 29, 2011

BELGRADE, Serbia—Protesters throwing stones and bottles clashed with baton-wielding riot police Sunday in Belgrade after several thousand Serbian nationalist supporters of jailed war-crimes suspect Ratko Mladic rallied outside the parliament building to demand his release.

By the time the crowds broke up by late evening, about 100 people were arrested and 16 minor injuries were reported. That amounted to a victory for the pro-Western government, which arrested Mladic on Thursday, risking the wrath of the nationalist old guard in a country with a history of much larger and more virulent protests.

Rioters overturned garbage containers, broke traffic lights and set off firecrackers as they rampaged through downtown. Cordons of riot police blocked their advances, and skirmishes took place in several locations in the center of the capital....

The clashes began after a rally that drew at least 7,000 demonstrators, many singing nationalist songs and carrying banners honoring Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb military commander. Some chanted right-wing slogans and a few gave Nazi salutes.  

Then they are either idiots, provocateur plants, or Croats. 

What, you think we don't know history out here? 

The Serbs made the top 3?

How many mass graves claimed to be Jews have Serbs in them?  

Related: The Mass Graves of Germans

Huh? What do you mean you never heard of those?

Supporters of the extreme nationalist Serbian Radical Party were bused in to attend the rally.

Right-wing extremists and hooligan groups also urged followers to appear in large numbers....

I guess I would also be angry after the AmeriKan media hatchet job.

More than 3,000 riot police were deployed around government buildings and Western embassies, fearing that the demonstration could turn violent. Riot police tried to block small groups of extremists from reaching the rally.

--more--"

Also see: Serbia presses case to join EU fold 

That's why they nabbed him. 

Spanish Salad Sucks

I'm not hungry anyway.

"EU nations trade blame for outbreak" by Associated Press / May 31, 2011

BRUSSELS — Europeans traded blame yesterday over the source of a mysterious bacterial outbreak that has killed 14 people and sickened hundreds across the continent and forced Russia to ban imports of some fresh vegetables from Spain and Germany out of fear they could be contaminated....

Spanish cucumbers tainted with enterohaemorrhagic E. coli have carried the bacteria, although they are unable to determine the source.

I don't eat cucumbers.

Spain went on the defensive, saying there was no proof that the E. coli outbreak has been caused by Spanish vegetables....

Bon appetit.

--more--"

Latest related: Inside the E.U.

And now even the food stinks.  

Also see: Spanish Police Beat And Shoot Peaceful Protesters And Journalists 

Protesters Hospitalized in Spain as Police Brutality Sweeps Through Barcelona


Not a word in my Glob.

Boston Globe Closes Doors on Berlusconi Trial

They haven't been covering it.

"Italy’s local races a test for Berlusconi" May 30, 2011|Associated Press

ROME — Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi insists his government’s stability will not be affected by the local voting. But his own popularity has been sagging, amid the country’s economic woes and his personal legal problems. In April, Berlusconi went on trial on charges that he paid for sex with an underage Moroccan prostitute and tried to cover it up.  

Globe been silent on it the whole month.

--more--"  

Related: Italian Love Stories

Paper sure loves the politics:

"Cities deliver setback to Berlusconi" by Alessandra Rizzo, Associated Press / May 31, 2011

ROME — Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi acknowledged yesterday that his center-right party suffered defeats in his political stronghold of Milan and in Naples, outcomes that observers say could undermine his government’s stability and his leadership.

Berlusconi had campaigned hard ahead of the local elections and urged Italians to go to the polls to signal their support for his conservative coalition government in Rome.

“This time we didn’t win, but we continue. I am a fighter. Any time I have lost, I tripled the effort,’’ Berlusconi told reporters in Romania, where he was on an official visit.

Final results from the runoff elections held yesterday and Sunday appeared to support recent opinion polls that have shown his popularity slipping as he faces a trial in Milan in a prostitution scandal. Critics have said that he is devoting most of his energy to defending himself from charges that he paid for sex with an underage Moroccan teenager then used the prime minister’s office to try to cover it up. The trial continues today.

??

The votes mark a setback for the 74-year-old Berlusconi personally and for his local candidates, analysts say, and probably will raise questions about his leadership. 

I have a few of my own, Glob.

--more--"

Clubbing in Morocco

Just think of it as their way of telling you they love you.

"Club-wielding Moroccan police riding motorcycles drove into crowds of thousands of demonstrators in Casablanca to disperse a protest by prodemocracy activists yesterday. A similar protest in Sale also was violently disrupted. With a hand-picked commission set to recommend amendments to the constitution as part of King Mohammed VI’s reform process, authorities are showing no tolerance for demonstrations."