SEOUL: South Korea's entire cabinet offered to resign Tuesday as tens of thousands of people filled boulevards in central Seoul in the largest demonstration yet against President Lee Myung Bak and his young but already unpopular government. The cabinet's offer to resign came as Lee struggled to find a breakthrough in the biggest political crisis to face his 107-day-old government, a dispute set off by fears that an agreement to reopen markets to American beef could expose the public to mad cow disease. But Lee's trouble runs deeper than discontent over the beef deal. Political analysts said Lee, once hailed as a potential savior of South Korea's troubled economy, has lost public confidence over a broad range of policies at a time when the nation is grappling not only with a slowing economy, but also with the continuing issue of North Korea's nuclear weapons programs. "Lee Myung Bak, out," the protesters shouted, brandishing yellow and red cards that carried the same message.
SEOUL: South Korea's entire cabinet offered to resign Tuesday as tens of thousands of people filled boulevards in central Seoul in the largest demonstration yet against President Lee Myung Bak and his young but already unpopular government.
The cabinet's offer to resign came as Lee struggled to find a breakthrough in the biggest political crisis to face his 107-day-old government, a dispute set off by fears that an agreement to reopen markets to American beef could expose the public to mad cow disease.
But Lee's trouble runs deeper than discontent over the beef deal. Political analysts said Lee, once hailed as a potential savior of South Korea's troubled economy, has lost public confidence over a broad range of policies at a time when the nation is grappling not only with a slowing economy, but also with the continuing issue of North Korea's nuclear weapons programs.
"Lee Myung Bak, out," the protesters shouted, brandishing yellow and red cards that carried the same message.
SEOUL - The issue 21 years ago was the cruelty of a venal dictator who had rammed through his own version of a constitution that would legitimize his power and that of a successor while suppressing a democratic movement that had captured the hearts and minds of a majority of the citizenry. The date was June 10, 1987, when the dictatorial Chun Doo-hwan and his top collaborator, Roh Tae-woo, both former generals, announced plans for a phony presidential election even as protesters opened three weeks of demonstrations that would transform the style and nature of Korean governance. The issue on this June 10, at what might have been a simple commemoration of that momentous month, is rather different - with eerily similar overtones. In the name of democracy, tens of thousands of protesters are taking to the streets of central Seoul to shout down what they see as an attempt to shove poisoned American beef down the throats of downtrodden South Koreans. The anti-beef, anti-American protest has mushroomed from relatively small outpourings six weeks ago to daily demonstrations complete with cartoon images of American cows beside caricatures of President Lee Myong-bak dressed in the uniform of a German Gestapo figure. The message is that he is not only a dictator in the tradition of Chun and Chun's long-ruling predecessor, Park Chung-hee, assassinated by his intelligence chief in October 1979, but also a stubborn fool with less intellect than the cows whose beef he wants to import from the US.
KRANJ, Slovenia: Opening a farewell tour of Europe, President George W. Bush won European support on Tuesday for a proposal to consider tougher sanctions on Iranian banks as a lever against Tehran's nuclear program. Bush held a final summit with leaders of the European Union in this small town in Slovenia, the country he chose for his first foray into Europe as president seven years ago. A joint statement after the meeting urged Iran to "comply with its international obligations concerning its nuclear activities." The International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna has registered "serious concern" about Iran's suspected research into the development of nuclear weapons. The issue has become more immediate following a warning by Israel's transportation minister, Shaul Mofaz, that an Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear sites would be "unavoidable" if weapons programs proceed.
KRANJ, Slovenia: Opening a farewell tour of Europe, President George W. Bush won European support on Tuesday for a proposal to consider tougher sanctions on Iranian banks as a lever against Tehran's nuclear program.
Bush held a final summit with leaders of the European Union in this small town in Slovenia, the country he chose for his first foray into Europe as president seven years ago.
A joint statement after the meeting urged Iran to "comply with its international obligations concerning its nuclear activities." The International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna has registered "serious concern" about Iran's suspected research into the development of nuclear weapons.
The issue has become more immediate following a warning by Israel's transportation minister, Shaul Mofaz, that an Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear sites would be "unavoidable" if weapons programs proceed.
Europe and the US warned they will impose new sanctions on Iran if it refuses to suspended uranium enrichment. Iran, Russia's meddling in Georgia and trade were top issues at a Tuesday, June 10 US-European Union summit. United States President George W. Bush started his last trip to Europe by focusing on points of agreement in trans-Atlantic diplomacy. At the top of the list was a joint warning to Iran that both the EU and US are prepared to add their own round of sanctions to those that the United Nations has already imposed. The joint warning calls on Tehran to freeze its suspect nuclear program or face "additional measures," which would likely be aimed at Iranian banks. "We will continue to work together ... to take steps to ensure Iranian banks cannot abuse the international banking system to support proliferation and terrorism," the leaders said. Yet Europeans also seemed keen to signal to Iran that they believed a "mutually satisfactory, negotiated solution" could be found.
United States President George W. Bush started his last trip to Europe by focusing on points of agreement in trans-Atlantic diplomacy. At the top of the list was a joint warning to Iran that both the EU and US are prepared to add their own round of sanctions to those that the United Nations has already imposed.
The joint warning calls on Tehran to freeze its suspect nuclear program or face "additional measures," which would likely be aimed at Iranian banks.
"We will continue to work together ... to take steps to ensure Iranian banks cannot abuse the international banking system to support proliferation and terrorism," the leaders said.
Yet Europeans also seemed keen to signal to Iran that they believed a "mutually satisfactory, negotiated solution" could be found.
"We will continue to work together ... to take steps to ensure Iranian banks cannot abuse the international banking system to support proliferation and terrorism," the leaders said. Yet Europeans also seemed keen to signal to Iran that they believed a "mutually satisfactory, negotiated solution" could be found.
PARIS: Global demand for oil is likely to be slightly lower than previously estimated as the effect of shrinking government subsidies for fuel in Asia softens demand in the region, the International Energy Agency forecast Tuesday. The agency forecast in its monthly Oil Market Report that global oil consumption would average 86.8 million barrels a day in 2008, or 70,000 barrels a day below the estimate that it made in its last report. Still, that would make overall demand 0.9 percent higher than in 2007. The IEA is an energy policy adviser to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, a group of 30 advanced economies, mostly in the West. The reduction of price subsidies in recent weeks for fuel in non-OECD countries including Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and India, "should slightly tame oil demand growth in that region," it said. Changes are happening in the OECD economies that will have an effect on demand, the report said, but they will "take time to filter through." It cited the reduction in flights by airlines in the face of soaring fuel costs.
PARIS: Global demand for oil is likely to be slightly lower than previously estimated as the effect of shrinking government subsidies for fuel in Asia softens demand in the region, the International Energy Agency forecast Tuesday.
The agency forecast in its monthly Oil Market Report that global oil consumption would average 86.8 million barrels a day in 2008, or 70,000 barrels a day below the estimate that it made in its last report. Still, that would make overall demand 0.9 percent higher than in 2007.
The IEA is an energy policy adviser to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, a group of 30 advanced economies, mostly in the West.
The reduction of price subsidies in recent weeks for fuel in non-OECD countries including Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and India, "should slightly tame oil demand growth in that region," it said.
Changes are happening in the OECD economies that will have an effect on demand, the report said, but they will "take time to filter through." It cited the reduction in flights by airlines in the face of soaring fuel costs.
The lower forecasts for oil production, and the comment that current prices were justified by fundamentals, do not quite seem to be as noteworthy. Thankfully enough people in the financial world want real information too. In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
As EU and US leaders meet this week in Slovenia, Arab League chief Amr Mussa urged them to talk seriously about peace in the Middle East. "I trust there will be a serious discussion about the prospects of peace in the Middle East, and on whether it will be possible as promised to have a Palestinian state by the end of the year," Mussa told a news conference in Ljubljana Monday. Slovenia, which currently holds the EU's rotating presidency, hosted Mussa on a two-day visit just ahead of the EU-US summit to be held Tuesday. "We hope... there will be a viable real state by the end of the year," he said. "This is a question that should be addressed to him (President Bush), an appeal that should be expressed." Initial reports, however, suggest that the question of a Middle East peace agreement is not on the table at this conference.
"I trust there will be a serious discussion about the prospects of peace in the Middle East, and on whether it will be possible as promised to have a Palestinian state by the end of the year," Mussa told a news conference in Ljubljana Monday.
Slovenia, which currently holds the EU's rotating presidency, hosted Mussa on a two-day visit just ahead of the EU-US summit to be held Tuesday.
"We hope... there will be a viable real state by the end of the year," he said. "This is a question that should be addressed to him (President Bush), an appeal that should be expressed."
Initial reports, however, suggest that the question of a Middle East peace agreement is not on the table at this conference.
Israel finds it easier to have perpetual war against palestinians than to have a civil war with the settlers. So, no peace, not now, not ever. keep to the Fen Causeway
The summit on soaring food prices convened by the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Rome on June 4-5 concluded with a wide-ranging declaration demanding international support and action - while failing to address a root cause behind the price surge. The declaration called on the international community to increase assistance to developing countries, in particular the least-developed countries and those that are most adversely affected by high food prices, increase investment in agriculture, provide balance of payments support and/or budget support to food-importing, low-income countries, and to provide more funding needed for UN agencies to expand assistance. The declaration also called for increasing the resilience of world's food systems to climate change, more dialogue on biofuels and their relation to food security, and for liberalizing international trade in agriculture by reducing trade barriers and market distorting policies. While these recommendations are laudable, the declaration did not addressed one of the root causes for explosive food prices, a purely monetary cause, and did not lay out an immediate action plan for the short-run stabilization of food prices.
The soaring oil and food prices are simply the tax burden imposed by the Fed's massive bailout of Wall Street investment banks and mortgage lenders. As the Fed creates money to buy bad mortgages and other worthless securities held by banks and brokerage firms, the value of the savings and wages of everyone on Main Street will continue to fall. Moreover, the various housing bills and stimulus packages now passing through Congress will significantly add to the eventual staggering price tag. The cost, in the form of accelerating energy and food prices, will be borne by ordinary citizens throughout the world. Had the Fed not succumbed to political pressures and followed prudent monetary policies, oil and food prices would have remained relatively stable. By ignoring the contributions of monetary policy to the food crisis at the summit, and with the monetary brake removed, oil and food prices will continue to race to dangerously higher and higher levels, with attendant recessionary effects and aggravation of malnutrition on the global level.
The cost, in the form of accelerating energy and food prices, will be borne by ordinary citizens throughout the world. Had the Fed not succumbed to political pressures and followed prudent monetary policies, oil and food prices would have remained relatively stable. By ignoring the contributions of monetary policy to the food crisis at the summit, and with the monetary brake removed, oil and food prices will continue to race to dangerously higher and higher levels, with attendant recessionary effects and aggravation of malnutrition on the global level.
As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
he declaration also called for...liberalizing international trade in agriculture by reducing trade barriers the declaration did not address one of the root causes for explosive food prices, a purely monetary cause, and did not lay out an immediate action plan for the short-run stabilization of food prices
the declaration did not address one of the root causes for explosive food prices, a purely monetary cause, and did not lay out an immediate action plan for the short-run stabilization of food prices
Markets work until they work, at which point we decide they don't work. The solution is more markets, which work until they work...
you are the media you consume.
Nearly 120 years after the last massacre of Native Americans by the United States cavalry at Wounded Knee, some of the lands confiscated from their descendants are to be returned to the Oglala Sioux. Badlands National Park in South Dakota, which encompasses Wounded Knee, is one of the poorest parts of the US. It has few paved roads. Unemployment is shockingly high among the Sioux. Alcoholism is rampant and there are high rates of suicide and imprisonment of American Indians. After decades of protests, the park service is now planning to return the southern part of the park to Indian control. It will take an act of Congress to approve, but is expected to occur next year. Though broadly welcomed by the Sioux residents, there are those who say the land should be returned to the original owners for private use rather than to the tribal council as a park. The shadow of Wounded Knee hangs over much of the discussion. The Sioux were among the last to fight against American expansion into the West. In the dying days of 1890, their leader, Sitting Bull, was assassinated. About 120 of his followers along with 230 women and children took refuge at Pine Ridge, South Dakota, where they were surrounded by the US cavalry.
Nearly 120 years after the last massacre of Native Americans by the United States cavalry at Wounded Knee, some of the lands confiscated from their descendants are to be returned to the Oglala Sioux.
Badlands National Park in South Dakota, which encompasses Wounded Knee, is one of the poorest parts of the US. It has few paved roads. Unemployment is shockingly high among the Sioux. Alcoholism is rampant and there are high rates of suicide and imprisonment of American Indians.
After decades of protests, the park service is now planning to return the southern part of the park to Indian control. It will take an act of Congress to approve, but is expected to occur next year. Though broadly welcomed by the Sioux residents, there are those who say the land should be returned to the original owners for private use rather than to the tribal council as a park.
The shadow of Wounded Knee hangs over much of the discussion. The Sioux were among the last to fight against American expansion into the West. In the dying days of 1890, their leader, Sitting Bull, was assassinated. About 120 of his followers along with 230 women and children took refuge at Pine Ridge, South Dakota, where they were surrounded by the US cavalry.
The shadow of Wounded Knee hangs over much of the discussion. The Sioux were among the last to fight against American expansion into the West. In the dying days of 1890, their leader, Sitting Bull, was assassinated. About 120 of his followers along with 230 women and children took refuge at Pine Ridge, South Dakota, where they were surrounded by the US cavalry. About 300 men, women and children were killed, along with 25 soldiers, mostly by their own shrapnel or bullets. In the 1970s, the militant American Indian Movement reoccupied the site, leading to still more bloodshed, this time at the hands of the FBI and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
About 300 men, women and children were killed, along with 25 soldiers, mostly by their own shrapnel or bullets.
In the 1970s, the militant American Indian Movement reoccupied the site, leading to still more bloodshed, this time at the hands of the FBI and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
But that's just more of the hidden history of the National Parks development process.
Most of the national parks - Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Yosemite and Glacier - were created when the Roosevelt administration forced tribes from the land in the 1930s. Karl Jacoby, a professor of history at Brown University, said: "There weren't empty wilderness areas in the United States. They had to be created by the removal of Indians."
Lurking underneath this seeming good news is the reality that the Pine Ridge Rez is a third world country. There are significant improvements since the 80% unemployment of the 70's, but:
Although Pine Ridge is the eighth largest reservation in the United States, it is the poorest reservation. Unemployment on the Reservation hovers around 20% and 49% live below the Federal poverty level.[1] Adolescent suicide is four times the national average. Many of the families have no electricity, telephone, running water, or sewer. Many families use wood stoves to heat their homes. The population on Pine Ridge has among the shortest life expectancies of any group in the Western Hemisphere: approximately 47 years for males and in the low 50s for females. The infant mortality rate is five times the United States national average. Reservation population was estimated at 15,000 in the 2000 census, but that number was raised to 28,000 by HUD, following a University of Colorado door-to-door study. [2]
While casinos are a sharp double-edged sword, the new casino on the Rez is providing both jobs and funds for a native-run health service. (A short aside for Jerome: the native radio station for the Rez is KILI-FM in Porcupine, SD. It was run by Russell Means' brother, and they've both spent some time trying to get a wind turbine there so the FBI couldn't ever pull their power plug. Sadly, it's something i never organized.)
But the return of a deserted portion of the Badlands, (they're called that because they're bad, though beautiful) is nothing to the controversy over the sacred Black Hills nearby. The Paha Sapa (in Lakota) are the center of the universe for the tribes there, including the recent arrivals Lakota who drove out the previous tribes in the 1700's. The Cheyenne have been there for 9,000 years according to the anthros, forever according to the People.
On July 23, 1980, in United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the Black Hills were illegally taken and that remuneration of the initial offering price plus interest -- nearly $106 million -- be paid. The Lakota refused the settlement, as they wanted the return of the Black Hills instead. The money remains in an interest-bearing account which now amounts to over $757 million, and in spite of their poverty the Lakota still refuse to take the money.[2]
I suppose this all underscores the reason i was so pissed by ATinNM's shit "joke" last weekend, and haven't commented since, as there was little reaction here.
Whatever happened to the hardy pioneering spirit that conquered a continent from Sea to shining Sea and pounded the Native American's red flesh back into the sand from whence it sprang?
I can still see the sad, withered faces of grandparents telling their stories of their kids being taken away to forced "Indian School," where their hair was cut and language forbidden until as late as the 50's. Even today there are billions in BIA Trust Funds in dispute.
Cobell v. Norton is a class-action lawsuit filed on June 10, 1996, in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. to force the federal government to account for billions of dollars belonging to approximately 500,000 American Indians and their heirs, and held in trust since the late 19th century. Through document discovery and courtroom testimony, the case has revealed mismanagement, ineptness, dishonesty and delay by federal officials, leading U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth to declare their conduct "fiscal and governmental irresponsibility in its purest form." .... As a result of more than a century of malfeasance, the United States government has no accurate records for hundreds of thousands of Indian beneficiaries nor of billions of dollars owed the class of beneficiaries covered by the lawsuit. The suit encompasses approximately 500,000 Indian beneficiaries. .... After a trial on Phase One - reform of the system - Judge Lamberth ruled on December 21, 1999 that the secretaries of Interior and Treasury had breached their trust obligations to the Indians. The court retained judicial oversight of the system for a minimum of five years, to ensure that it is overhauled, and ordered Interior to provide an historical accounting of all trust funds. An appeal by the government, arguing that the judge had overreached his authority, was unanimously rejected by a three-judge appeals court panel on February, 23, 2001.
Through document discovery and courtroom testimony, the case has revealed mismanagement, ineptness, dishonesty and delay by federal officials, leading U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth to declare their conduct "fiscal and governmental irresponsibility in its purest form." .... As a result of more than a century of malfeasance, the United States government has no accurate records for hundreds of thousands of Indian beneficiaries nor of billions of dollars owed the class of beneficiaries covered by the lawsuit. The suit encompasses approximately 500,000 Indian beneficiaries. .... After a trial on Phase One - reform of the system - Judge Lamberth ruled on December 21, 1999 that the secretaries of Interior and Treasury had breached their trust obligations to the Indians. The court retained judicial oversight of the system for a minimum of five years, to ensure that it is overhauled, and ordered Interior to provide an historical accounting of all trust funds. An appeal by the government, arguing that the judge had overreached his authority, was unanimously rejected by a three-judge appeals court panel on February, 23, 2001.
Sigh. Hopefully, as it's been a generation or so already, some of the hatred which spilled over from the FBI's Viet Era attack, complete with all the tanks and helicopters and surveillance and bullets and unsolved murders, on the Rez has died away some. Lots of Lakota run around with FBI t-shirts, which of course stands for Full Blooded Indian.
Hokahe! "Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin
I'd like to know how the practicalities are worked out for a deal like this. Will the park remain one? Will the southern and northern half start competing with equally aghast tourist centres?
When we turned west, away from the reserve, and headed for the Black Hills I made a silent promise to myself that at least one journey through the States should be dedicated solely in visiting and delving into the cultures of the tribes. Your comments are awakening that promise again CH. Not that it will happen soon, but it's good to be reminded.
SAN FRANCISCO - As California prepares to vote on a $9.95 billion bond measure to finance a statewide bullet-train network, the Union Pacific Corp railroad is warning advocates of the planned rail system that it will not share its right-of-way corridors. The No. 1 U.S. railroad, in a recent letter, told the California High Speed Rail Authority its tracks do not belong in the corridors. The notice came as a surprise amid a relatively smooth approach to the November election for the authority's long-awaited bond measure. <snip...> The system's passenger tracks would likely have to share, to some extent, Union Pacific's existing right-of-way corridors, and that is unacceptable, said Scott Moore, a vice president of public affairs for the railroad. "Regardless of where it is we're not interested," Moore said Monday, noting Union Pacific has plans of its own for its right-of-ways, with international trade through California's seaports on the upswing as Asian economies expand. Union Pacific sees a future in which it hauls more and more freight, potentially requiring new tracks for additional trains towing various types of cars, including those that carry double-stacked shipping containers. The railroad would need to expand within its existing corridors, such as its Sunset Route line linking Los Angeles and El Paso, Texas, and it would require room for growth in urban centers, such as in and around the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, California. "The capacity needed for the future is something we're very concerned about," Moore said.
The No. 1 U.S. railroad, in a recent letter, told the California High Speed Rail Authority its tracks do not belong in the corridors. The notice came as a surprise amid a relatively smooth approach to the November election for the authority's long-awaited bond measure.
<snip...>
The system's passenger tracks would likely have to share, to some extent, Union Pacific's existing right-of-way corridors, and that is unacceptable, said Scott Moore, a vice president of public affairs for the railroad.
"Regardless of where it is we're not interested," Moore said Monday, noting Union Pacific has plans of its own for its right-of-ways, with international trade through California's seaports on the upswing as Asian economies expand.
Union Pacific sees a future in which it hauls more and more freight, potentially requiring new tracks for additional trains towing various types of cars, including those that carry double-stacked shipping containers.
The railroad would need to expand within its existing corridors, such as its Sunset Route line linking Los Angeles and El Paso, Texas, and it would require room for growth in urban centers, such as in and around the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, California.
"The capacity needed for the future is something we're very concerned about," Moore said.
In the case of the UP, there is an ongoing battle with Amtrak. Schedules are never met, diversions of passenger traffic to busses is common, and generally they don't get along.
The BNSF, on the other hand, mixes the Amtrak traffic in with the freight traffic and provides reasonably good schedule predictability. The BNSF also runs some passenger service in the Chicago area.
The U.S. west was populated entirely after railroads were invented, so practically every town and city has vestiges of a rail system still in place. It would not be impossible to get the American rail system back to the point where it was in the 1920s when it peaked.
That's not exactly the same as a modern high-speed rail system, though.
President Bush has admitted to The Times that his gun-slinging rhetoric made the world believe that he was a "guy really anxious for war" in Iraq. He said that his aim now was to leave his successor a legacy of international diplomacy for tackling Iran. In an exclusive interview, he expressed regret at the bitter divisions over the war and said that he was troubled about how his country had been misunderstood. "I think that in retrospect I could have used a different tone, a different rhetoric." Phrases such as "bring them on" or "dead or alive", he said, "indicated to people that I was, you know, not a man of peace". He said that he found it very painful "to put youngsters in harm's way". He added: "I try to meet with as many of the families as I can. And I have an obligation to comfort and console as best as I possibly can. I also have an obligation to make sure that those lives were not lost in vain." The unilateralism that marked his first White House term has been replaced by an enthusiasm for tough multilateralism. He said that his focus for his final six months in office was to secure agreement on issues such as establishing a Palestinian state and to "leave behind a series of structures that makes it easier for the next president".
President Bush has admitted to The Times that his gun-slinging rhetoric made the world believe that he was a "guy really anxious for war" in Iraq. He said that his aim now was to leave his successor a legacy of international diplomacy for tackling Iran.
In an exclusive interview, he expressed regret at the bitter divisions over the war and said that he was troubled about how his country had been misunderstood. "I think that in retrospect I could have used a different tone, a different rhetoric."
Phrases such as "bring them on" or "dead or alive", he said, "indicated to people that I was, you know, not a man of peace". He said that he found it very painful "to put youngsters in harm's way". He added: "I try to meet with as many of the families as I can. And I have an obligation to comfort and console as best as I possibly can. I also have an obligation to make sure that those lives were not lost in vain."
The unilateralism that marked his first White House term has been replaced by an enthusiasm for tough multilateralism. He said that his focus for his final six months in office was to secure agreement on issues such as establishing a Palestinian state and to "leave behind a series of structures that makes it easier for the next president".
Bush:
He added: "I try to meet with as many of the families as I can. And I have an obligation to comfort and console as best as I possibly can. I also have an obligation to make sure that those lives were not lost in vain."
Is there any evidence that he has met with any of the families? If there's a token photo-op out there, it's not easy to find, and anything more than that is even less plausible.
USATODAY.com: Return of U.S. war dead kept solemn, secret
An honor guard removed the aluminum "transfer case" containing the body from the aircraft, as other military officers present to receive the slain servicemember snapped salutes. The honor guard process here at Dover -- repeated hundreds of times since the Iraq war began -- is dignified and reverent. And it's carried out in secret, off-limits to the media. This wasn't always the case. Photographs and film footage of caskets coming home from battlefields have been a stark reminder for Americans of the toll of war. During the Vietnam War, the image of caskets arriving at Dover became a staple of the nightly news. The phrase "Dover Test" later came to signify public tolerance, or lack of it, for mounting war casualties. ... The result is that images of caskets being returned to U.S. soil are not shown to the American public. This policy contrasts with Italy's national display of grief last month when 19 of that country's troops died in an Iraq suicide bombing and received a state funeral through the streets of Rome. ... President Bush also hasn't attended funerals or special ceremonies for the military men or women killed in Iraq.
This wasn't always the case
...
The result is that images of caskets being returned to U.S. soil are not shown to the American public. This policy contrasts with Italy's national display of grief last month when 19 of that country's troops died in an Iraq suicide bombing and received a state funeral through the streets of Rome.
President Bush also hasn't attended funerals or special ceremonies for the military men or women killed in Iraq.
Since 1991, the media have been banned from covering the arrival of remains at Dover. The air base houses the military's largest mortuary, where bodies are prepared for burial before they are sent to the families' hometowns.
So he only sees the parents who'll tell him what he wants to hear. Very Robert Mugabe. keep to the Fen Causeway
Citigroup, Merrill Lynch and UBS, the banks most exposed to Ambac and MBIA, could face further writedowns of up to $10bn after the bond insurers last week lost their fight to retain their triple A credit ratings.The banks have used the bond insurers to hedge holdings of complex bonds such as collateralised debt obligations and other mortgage-backed securities.The prospects of further writedowns related to bond insurers, also known as monolines, could deepen concerns over the financial health of US and European banks. Ambac and MBIA, which guarantee more than $1,000bn of bonds, raised cash earlier this year to prop up their capital bases, damaged by exposure to mortgage-backed bonds. Al-though concerns have eased that bond insurer downgrades could damage the entire financial system, there remains the potential for individual banks and investors to suffer further pain from Ambac and MBIA's problems. Meredith Whitney, analyst at Oppenheimer, said in a report this week that UBS had the largest exposure to monolines of $6.3bn, Citigroup came second with $4.8bn and Merrill Lynch followed with $3bn. The value of CDOs and mortgage-backed bonds has plunged amid soaring foreclosure rates in the US. This week, CDOs in default crossed the $200bn mark, according to specialist publication Total Securitization. Many of these bonds had triple A ratings when they were issued and large amounts were retained by banks.S&P cut Ambac and MBIA to double A; Moody's expects to downgrade Ambac to double A and could cut MBIA to single A
Citigroup, Merrill Lynch and UBS, the banks most exposed to Ambac and MBIA, could face further writedowns of up to $10bn after the bond insurers last week lost their fight to retain their triple A credit ratings.
The banks have used the bond insurers to hedge holdings of complex bonds such as collateralised debt obligations and other mortgage-backed securities.
The prospects of further writedowns related to bond insurers, also known as monolines, could deepen concerns over the financial health of US and European banks.
Ambac and MBIA, which guarantee more than $1,000bn of bonds, raised cash earlier this year to prop up their capital bases, damaged by exposure to mortgage-backed bonds. Al-though concerns have eased that bond insurer downgrades could damage the entire financial system, there remains the potential for individual banks and investors to suffer further pain from Ambac and MBIA's problems.
Meredith Whitney, analyst at Oppenheimer, said in a report this week that UBS had the largest exposure to monolines of $6.3bn, Citigroup came second with $4.8bn and Merrill Lynch followed with $3bn.
The value of CDOs and mortgage-backed bonds has plunged amid soaring foreclosure rates in the US. This week, CDOs in default crossed the $200bn mark, according to specialist publication Total Securitization. Many of these bonds had triple A ratings when they were issued and large amounts were retained by banks.
S&P cut Ambac and MBIA to double A; Moody's expects to downgrade Ambac to double A and could cut MBIA to single A
Another domino falling... "Dieu se rit des hommes qui se plaignent des conséquences alors qu'ils en chérissent les causes" Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet
So in an sense, the desperate efforts led by the NY regulators to force the ratings agencies to maintain the AAA rating then was successful. It was a political decision, and seen as such, but it gave time to everybody to move away from that market in an orderly fashion.
(The issus was not that the papers were bad per se, just that those only allowed to hold AAA instruments would have been forced to sell massive volumes, which would have caused a price crash. without the obligation to sell in the short term, they could sell to players able to hold the underlying paper even if no longer rated AAA, so the loss existed, but was much smaller). In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
John McCain on Tuesday promised a clampdown on corporate malpractice if elected president and vowed to give shareholders a veto over executive pay.The Republican presidential candidate said government had become beholden to big business and too forgiving of corporate abuses."For too long, government has been the voice of big business," he told a small-business conference in Washington. "Even when very large businesses violate their trust, they seem to be held to a different standard - getting away with conduct that would leave any small-business owner broke."
The Republican presidential candidate said government had become beholden to big business and too forgiving of corporate abuses.
"For too long, government has been the voice of big business," he told a small-business conference in Washington. "Even when very large businesses violate their trust, they seem to be held to a different standard - getting away with conduct that would leave any small-business owner broke."
Oh, really? "Dieu se rit des hommes qui se plaignent des conséquences alors qu'ils en chérissent les causes" Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet
New York Times: The Republican Debate in New Hampshire (January 5, 2008)
SEN. MCCAIN: -- have sued -- have sued the pharmaceutical companies because of overcharging of millions of dollars of Medicaid costs to their patients. How should that -- how could that happen? How could pharmaceutical companies be able to cover up the cost to the point where nobody knows? Why shouldn't we be able to reimport drugs from Canada? It's because of the power of the pharmaceutical companies. And we should have people -- pharmaceutical companies competing to take care of our Medicare and Medicaid patients. MR. : Okay, don't leave me. MR. ROMNEY: Don't turn the pharmaceutical companies into the big bad guys. I -- SEN. MCCAIN: Well, they are. MR. ROMNEY: No, actually they're trying to create products to make us well and make us better, and they're doing the work of the free market. And are there excesses? I'm sure there are, and we should go after excesses. But they're an important industry to this country. But let me note something else, and that is, the market will work. And the reason health care isn't working like a market right now is you have 47 million people that are saying, "I'm not going to play. I'm just going to get free care paid for by everybody else." That doesn't work. Number two, the buyer doesn't have information about what the cost or quality is of different choices they could have. If you take the government out of it to a much greater extent you'd get it to work like a market and we'll rein in costs.
MR. : Okay, don't leave me.
MR. ROMNEY: Don't turn the pharmaceutical companies into the big bad guys. I -- SEN. MCCAIN: Well, they are.
SEN. MCCAIN: Well, they are.
MR. ROMNEY: No, actually they're trying to create products to make us well and make us better, and they're doing the work of the free market. And are there excesses? I'm sure there are, and we should go after excesses. But they're an important industry to this country.
But let me note something else, and that is, the market will work. And the reason health care isn't working like a market right now is you have 47 million people that are saying, "I'm not going to play. I'm just going to get free care paid for by everybody else." That doesn't work.
Number two, the buyer doesn't have information about what the cost or quality is of different choices they could have. If you take the government out of it to a much greater extent you'd get it to work like a market and we'll rein in costs.
The US trade deficit widened in April to its highest level in more than a year as the soaring cost of imported crude oil offset another record-setting month for US exports, a Commerce Department report revealed on Tuesday. The trade gap in goods and services rose by 7.8 per cent to $60.9bn from a downwardly revised $56.5bn the previous month, representing the biggest increase in more than two years. The US trade deficit is now at its widest since March 2007.Exports climbed by 3.3 per cent to a record $155.5bn, helped by aircraft, agricultural machinery and medical equipment sales. Although the weaker US dollar is encouraging foreign buyers to purchase US-made goods, the surging cost of imported commodities is offsetting some of that progress. Costly oil imports are likely to continue weighing on the US trade deficit given the recent spike in crude prices above $130 a barrel. However, if price increases are stripped out, the real trade deficit narrowed a fraction in April to $46.9bn, providing encouragement to some economists at the start of the second quarter.
The trade gap in goods and services rose by 7.8 per cent to $60.9bn from a downwardly revised $56.5bn the previous month, representing the biggest increase in more than two years. The US trade deficit is now at its widest since March 2007.
Exports climbed by 3.3 per cent to a record $155.5bn, helped by aircraft, agricultural machinery and medical equipment sales.
Although the weaker US dollar is encouraging foreign buyers to purchase US-made goods, the surging cost of imported commodities is offsetting some of that progress.
Costly oil imports are likely to continue weighing on the US trade deficit given the recent spike in crude prices above $130 a barrel.
However, if price increases are stripped out, the real trade deficit narrowed a fraction in April to $46.9bn, providing encouragement to some economists at the start of the second quarter.
Chinese officials have accused the US of harbouring "hostility" to investments by foreign government-controlled entities and of drifting towards "investment protectionism" in proposed regulations that set out how cross-border deals ought to be vetted.The Chinese Securities Regulatory Commission said in a letter to the US Treasury that the proposed regulations left "too much room for interpretation" by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US, or Cfius, an inter-agency panel chaired by the Treasury, and left the body with "excessive authority".The proposals were also criticised by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce. "This discriminating provision apparently tilts toward investment protectionism and is tinged with the colour of politicising economic issues. It therefore stands as a grave impediment for the normal course of investment in the US," it said.
The Chinese Securities Regulatory Commission said in a letter to the US Treasury that the proposed regulations left "too much room for interpretation" by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US, or Cfius, an inter-agency panel chaired by the Treasury, and left the body with "excessive authority".
The proposals were also criticised by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce. "This discriminating provision apparently tilts toward investment protectionism and is tinged with the colour of politicising economic issues. It therefore stands as a grave impediment for the normal course of investment in the US," it said.
This new study from the Commonwealth Fund, showing a sharp rise in the number of Americans with inadequate insurance, is getting some well-deserved attention. Just to be sure it's credible, I checked out the Kaiser Family Foundation's data, which bear indirectly on the issue; KFF's data show declining overall rates of coverage, and at least a suggestion that very large deductibles are becoming much more common. The really important thing to realize is that this deterioration in coverage took place in the best years of the Bush economy. The system is now falling apart so fast that things get worse even during periods of economic expansion.
The really important thing to realize is that this deterioration in coverage took place in the best years of the Bush economy. The system is now falling apart so fast that things get worse even during periods of economic expansion.
As he launches out on his first days of true general election campaigning, consider Obama's most recent moves.His innovative and daring campaign advisors have plotted out an artful game plan, and it's every bit as shrewd as Obama's caucus/internet based bid for the Democratic nomination.
As he launches out on his first days of true general election campaigning, consider Obama's most recent moves.
His innovative and daring campaign advisors have plotted out an artful game plan, and it's every bit as shrewd as Obama's caucus/internet based bid for the Democratic nomination.
But on the other hand, I just listened to the debut of his newly bulked-up economic team during one of those wonkish conference calls for reporters. And I have to say, if sweeping change is what Obama is all about, I didn't hear it on that call.
And I have to say, if sweeping change is what Obama is all about, I didn't hear it on that call.
Controversy surrounding the US military's new Africa Command has forced the Pentagon to put plans for establishing a headquarters in the continent on a slow track, US defense officials have said.The Pentagon still hopes to have a command headquarters in Africa, but officials acknowledge it will take time to overcome negative regional perceptions. ... The problem became evident when General William Ward, the head of AFRICOM, toured the region after assuming his post in October and found that Africans were convinced the United States wanted to establish bases and send troops to the region. ... AFRICOM, headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany, becomes fully operational October 1. It will stay in Germany for at least several years, defense officials said.
Controversy surrounding the US military's new Africa Command has forced the Pentagon to put plans for establishing a headquarters in the continent on a slow track, US defense officials have said.
The Pentagon still hopes to have a command headquarters in Africa, but officials acknowledge it will take time to overcome negative regional perceptions.
The problem became evident when General William Ward, the head of AFRICOM, toured the region after assuming his post in October and found that Africans were convinced the United States wanted to establish bases and send troops to the region.
AFRICOM, headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany, becomes fully operational October 1. It will stay in Germany for at least several years, defense officials said.
