Archive for February, 2009
Obama to Seek New Assault Weapons Ban… To Stop Violence in Mexico?
February 26th, 2009Well, I said, “Don’t dawdle.” And here we are. Via: ABC News: The Obama administration will seek to reinstate the assault weapons ban that expired in 2004 during the Bush administration, Attorney General Eric Holder said today. “As President Obama indicated during the campaign, there are just a few gun-related changes that we would like […]
Mexico Is in Free Fall
February 26th, 2009Via: Guardian: Shortly before the US elections last November, then vice-presidential candidate Joe Biden was widely criticised for predicting that an Obama administration would almost certainly be tested by what he called a “generated” international crisis, in much the way that the Soviet Union “tested” John F Kennedy shortly after he assumed office. Biden did […]
U.S. Military Might Be Sent to U.S.-Mexico Border as Drug Cartel Chaos Spirals
February 26th, 2009Via: Los Angeles Times: The Justice Department announced Wednesday that authorities had arrested more than 730 people across the country in a 21-month investigation targeting Mexico’s Sinaloa drug cartel and its infiltration into U.S. cities. The arrests, including 50 on Wednesday in California, Minnesota, Maryland and the nation’s capital, come amid growing concern in Washington […]
CIA Signals Continuity With Bush Era
February 26th, 2009Change. Via: Wall Street Journal: The Central Intelligence Agency’s new director outlined spy policies Wednesday, including an aggressive campaign in Pakistan, that underscored considerable continuity with the Bush administration. CIA Director Leon Panetta, in his first meeting with reporters, said the agency will continue to carry out drone attacks on militants in Pakistan. He also […]
Baxter International “Unintentionally” Sent Flu Samples to Companies that Contained H5N1 Avian Flu
February 26th, 2009That’s the headline, but the reality of what happened might indicate a far more serious situation. In U.S. Researchers Trying to Create Pandemic Avian Flu, pay very close attention to the part about the ferrets: Now, flash forward to today. What happened to the ferrets that received Baxter’s H5N1 virus material? The animals died “promptly” […]
JAPAN: EXPORTS DOWN 45.7 PERCENT FROM A YEAR EARLIER
February 25th, 2009Via: Bloomberg: Japan’s exports plunged 45.7 percent in January from a year earlier, resulting in a record trade deficit, as recessions in the U.S. and Europe smothered demand for the country’s cars and electronics. The shortfall widened to 952.6 billion yen ($9.9 billion), the biggest since 1980, the earliest year for which there is comparable […]
The Anti-Bono: Dambisa Moyo and “Dead Aid”
February 25th, 2009Via: New York Times: Q: As a native of Zambia with advanced degrees in public policy and economics from Harvard and Oxford, you are about to publish an attack on Western aid to Africa and its recent glamorization by celebrities. “Dead Aid,” as your book is called, is particularly hard on rock stars. Have you […]
Man Charged with Sending Terrorist Material by Email
February 25th, 2009Terrorist documents. Via: Daily Mail: A man has been charged with sending terrorist material by email. Mohammed Gul, 20, is accused of two counts of transmitting a terrorist publication in January this year. He is also charged with owning a document containing information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act […]
U.S. Department of Energy Cannot Account for Nuclear Materials at 15 Locations
February 25th, 2009Remember the one about the thousands of missing tritium based Exit signs? Via: Government Executive: A number of institutions with licenses to hold nuclear material reported to the Energy Department in 2004 that the amount of material they held was less than agency records indicated. But rather than investigating the discrepancies, Energy officials wrote off […]
Stanford Had Links to a Fund Run by Bidens
February 25th, 2009HAHA Do you get it yet? Via: Reuters: A fund of hedge funds run by two members of U.S. Vice President Joe Biden’s family was marketed exclusively by firms controlled by Texas financier Allen Stanford, charged by regulators with an $8 billion (5.5 billion pound) fraud, the Wall Street Journal said. The $50 million fund […]
