Politics, Everyday, All day... morning, noon and night....

[Billy Mummy]

[quote="robbidobbs"]

Sean Bedlam
warning: highly addicting[/quote]

Bush is a bad man, a very bad man!!!

I'm sending him to you know where?

[Apollonaris Zeus]

torture me and I'll say Bush is a good man, a very good man!

Judge Orders Hearing on C.I.A. Tapes

By SCOTT SHANE
Published: December 18, 2007
WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Tuesday ordered a hearing into whether the Central Intelligence Agency’s destruction of interrogation videotapes in 2005 violated his order that summer to preserve evidence in a lawsuit brought on behalf of 16 prisoners held at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

The hearing, set for Friday in Washington by District Judge Henry H. Kennedy Jr., will be the first public forum in which government officials submit to questioning about the tapes’ destruction in November 2005. The Justice Department has asked Congress to postpone inquiries into the matter and had opposed a court hearing, saying any such actions would interfere with a preliminary investigation by the department and the Central Intelligence Agency into whether the destruction of the tapes violated the law.

“We hope to establish a procedure to review the government’s handling of evidence in our case,â€

[DVD Burner]

No one will ever get the juicy "tapes"......uh......CD's cause those had all the kinky snuff on em.


Rummy has the really good snuff in a shoe box under his bed.







I mean stuff.

[Apollonaris Zeus]

I believe he masterbates to them in a Nazi Fantasy where his an SS interrogator.

[can't sit still]

There's a fire in Cheney's office at the moment. He must be burning all those incriminating E-mails

[DVD Burner]

You know, last time he said 'lets wait and see" was when those leaks happened and he promised that action would be swift and something would be done.


Bush won't judge CIA tape destruction



http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071220/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush




By TERENCE HUNT, Associated Press Writer 29 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - President Bush said Thursday he will reserve judgment on his administration's destruction of CIA interrogation tapes until several inquiries are finished. "Let's wait and see what the facts are," Bush said.
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The destruction in late 2005 of the tapes, showing harsh interrogation treatment of two terrorism suspects, is being investigated by the Justice Department, the CIA itself and by several congressional panels.

Bush stuck to the White House line that he personally did not know about either the existence of the tapes or their destruction until he was briefed earlier this month by CIA Director Michael Hayden.

"Sounds pretty clear to me when I say I have — the first recollection is when Mike Hayden briefed me. That's pretty clear," Bush said.

Congressional Democrats condemned the destruction of the tapes and a federal judge ordered Justice Department lawyers to appear before him Friday to discuss whether destroying the tapes violated his 2005 order to preserve evidence in a lawsuit brought on behalf of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Bush said that he believed the ongoing investigations by his administration, "coupled with oversight provided by the Congress, will end up enabling us all to find out what has happened."

"Until these inquiries are complete, I will be rendering no opinion from the podium," he added.

Turning to domestic issues in a year-end news conference, Bush complained Congress had stuffed a spending bill with hundreds of projects he called wasteful and instructed his budget director to explore options for dealing with them.

Bush said that a $555 billion measure passed by Congress Wednesday night before breaking for the holidays contains some 9,800 so-called "earmarks," or projects usually benefiting only one state or congressional district.

"So I am instructing Budget Director Jim Nussle to review options for dealing with the wasteful spending in the omnibus bill," Bush said.

However, without line-item veto powers, Bush's ability to block spending on specific projects appears limited. Presidential authority to strike, or veto, individual projects and other spending items from appropriations bills was overturned by the Supreme Court in 1998.

The president did praise Congress for sending him "a spending bill to fund the day-to-day operations of the federal government. They passed this bill without raising taxes." But he complained that the measure was done so late in the year that it could slow the processing of tax returns to millions of Americans.

He said his administration would "work hard to minimize" such a delay.

Bush did not get specific when asked about proposals to stimulate the economy but said "we'll consider all options."

The Commerce Department reported Thursday that the economy sprinted ahead at its fastest pace in four years during the summer, although it is expected to limp through the final three months of this year as the housing and credit crises weigh on individuals and businesses alike.

"Like many Americans, I am concerned," Bush said. "I am concerned about the fact that Americans see their costs going up. I know Americans are concerned about whether or not their neighbor may stay in their house. So we're dealing with these issues."

Bush spoke cautiously about the state of democracy in Russia under President Vladimir Putin, who has tightened control of the courts and the media and maneuvered to retain power as his term ends. Putin has agreed to serve as prime minister if his protege, Dmitry Medvedev, is elected as president as expected.

Putin was just named Time magazine's "Person of the Year" for imposing stability that restored Russia as a world power.

"I presume they put him on there because he was a consequential leader," Bush said. "And the fundamental question is, consequential to what end? What will the country look like 10 years from now? My hope, of course, is that Russia is a country that understands there needs to be checks and balances."

Bush said he hasn't talked to Putin about his serving as prime minister. "I think we better just watch and see," Bush said.

Turning to Iraq, where Bush's military buildup is generally agreed to have helped reduce violence on the ground both against U.S. forces and Iraqi citizens, Bush said work remains to be done, especially in terms of political improvements in the country.

"Are we satisfied with progress in Baghdad? No, but to say nothing is happening is not the case," Bush said. And while the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has come under considerable criticism from various quarters, "There is a functioning government."

Bush suggested that people were feeling better about their lives both in Iraq and Afghanistan, even though thousands of combat troops remain in both countries to provide security.

The president also:

• Said his administration will join international efforts to reduce greenhouse gases, but that he will continue to oppose initiatives that will hamper U.S. economic growth. "I take the issue seriously," Bush said about global warming. "But I want to make sure that we're effective in what we do, and do not wreck our economy in whatever we do."

• Predicted that the GOP would win the White House in 2008 and regain seats in both the House and Senate. Bush said he wouldn't be dragged into the presidential race when asked about the comments of fellow GOP candidate Mike Huckabee, who criticized the administration's foreign policy as "arrogant bunker mentality." He also said he would be "very hesitant to support somebody who relied upon opinion polls and focus groups to define a way forward for a president," without identifying any such candidates by name.

• Jokingly dismissed a question about former President Clinton's suggestion that if his wife Hillary Rodham Clinton were elected, she would send him and former President George H.W. Bush on a goodwill trip around the world. "Well 41 didn't think it's necessary," Bush said, referring to his father by the number of his presidency. "Sounds like it's going to be a one-man trip."

[DVD Burner]

Kucinich's brother found dead

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071219/ap_ ... lTr4AGw_IE

By M.R. KROPKO, Associated Press Writer Wed Dec 19, 6:20 PM ET

CLEVELAND - The youngest brother of Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich was found dead at his home Wednesday.

Perry Kucinich, 52, was found face down by another brother, Larry, at about 9 a.m., said Powell Caesar, a spokesman for the Cuyahoga County Coroner's office.

There were no signs of foul play, Caesar said. An autopsy was being performed Wednesday to determine the cause of death.

Larry Kucinich had taken his brother shopping Tuesday and then took him home but couldn't get an answer when he tried calling him Wednesday, Caesar said.

Dennis Kucinich took a flight from Washington to Cleveland after learning of the death and was not immediately available for comment, said his office press secretary, Natalie Laber.

"He was very close to Perry and he's taking this very hard," Laber said.

Kucinich, 61, is a six-term congressman from Ohio who is making his second bid for his party's nomination; he sought the nod in 2004. He registers in low single digits in polls and has raised little money for what is considered another long-shot run. Kucinich, who is known for his liberal views, has attracted a devoted following.

In a statement, Kucinich said his brother was a talented artist who had some of his works on display recently at a local art gallery.

"He had extraordinary insights. Although he struggled with mental illness, with the help of his family and friends, he was able to lead a productive life," Dennis Kucinich said.

Perry Kucinich was the fifth child of Frank and Virginia Kucinich. The family's struggles are discussed in Dennis Kucinich's recently released book, "The Courage to Survive."

Besides his brother Dennis, Perry Kucinich is survived by brothers Frank, Gary, and Larry, and by sisters Theresa and Beth Ann. They all live in northeast Ohio.

A Democratic rival, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, offered his condolences to Kucinich and his family. "Barbara and I will keep your family in our thoughts and prayers," Richardson said in a statement.

[DVD Burner]

Putin is Time magazine's Person of the Year


http://www.time.com/time/world/article/ ... 72,00.html

By YURI ZARAKHOVICH/MOSCOW

"How could you take part in this outrage?"

The first such call came from a friend on Wednesday, close to midnight, just after I had stopped surfing Russian TV newscasts, all full of proud reports that TIME had named Russian President Vladimir Putin its Person of the Year.

"Is this the Moscow correspondent of the U.S. magazine most loyal to Putin?" wondered the next caller. A friend in the U.S. e-mailed me: "Putin's Time's POY? Well...But we still love you."

All these old friends — intellectuals and members of the social elite, for the most part — were teasing me. But not entirely. "Every joke contains a bit of the truth," one of them remarked in passing.

As we discussed Russian TV's positive though shrill initial reactions to TIME's announcement, I realized that Putin was not all that far from the truth when he told the magazine's editors at the Person of the Year interview that Russian TV, however state-controlled, was free. Most commentators freely hailed Putin's achievment of putting Russia back on the world map and just as freely pruned TIME's analysis of what happened on his road to achieving it: the suppression of democratic freedoms.

"How do you think this coverage will affect the ordinary people?" asked a friend that night. "Those who will never enter TIME.com or read TIME's print version?" He believed they would stay brainwashed into thinking that TIME magazine endorsed and promoted Putin and his politics.

Then, I received a call from Echo Moskvi, the last liberal Moscow Radio station, which is something of an on-air Hyde Park for limited numbers of intellectuals, a small arena for them to spout off, not unlike the old Soviet-era Literaturnaya Gazeta. I explained as briefly as I could: it's not an endorsement or a distinction. Hitler and Stalin were Men of the Year, because they left indelible imprints on their respective years' events, which were to influence history. TIME journalists are like investigators who explore, gather and present facts on the assigned case as thoroughly and conscientiously as possible, allowing our audience to make decisions and pass independent verdicts on whether a given person has made such an impact for better or worse.

In Putin's case, I told the radio interviewer, it was crucial to the Person of the Year decision that he had revived Russia, returning it once again to its integral role in international politics and the global economy. But Putin had accomplished this by suppressing the freedoms, however frail and imperfect, that Russians enjoyed in the 1980s and '90s. The majority of the Russian people supported Putin in his policy of swapping freedoms and democracy for stability and order — or, in the eyes of critics like myself, for the illusion of stability and order. Ordinary Russians believe Putin's impact is for the better. I told Echo Moskvi that I thought his impact was for worse. Only time (and TIME) will tell. They thanked me and cut off. After hearing my views on the air, other friends called to express appreciation.

One peculiarity of my almost 20 years experience as the only Russian citizen among the select corps of TIME correspondents is that I often enough fail to see Russian matters eye-to-eye with my friends and colleagues at the magazine. Not that I always prove right. Still, I believe I'm right about this: Putin's formal emergence as the only viable national leader, and his tacit acceptance of the role, mark for Russia a point of no return in its slide into a new authoritarianism, the shape and nature of which cannot yet be fully defined. I'm sure that the period of Putin's rule — which I predict will be long — will once again put the country in the situation described by the great Russian historian Vasili Klyuchevsky almost a century ago: "The state was swelling up, the people were withering."

Nor do I agree with the view, espoused by some of my American colleagues, that this regime is dangerous for Russia only: the export of corruption, merged with the state machinery, is no better than the export of revolution. And that is why I believe that Putin was the correct choice as Person of the Year — because no other person this year made a deeper or more fateful impact on history, present and yet to come.

As I walked outside my dacha gate this morning, my friend Volodya was fiddling with his car. I asked what he thought of the coverage the Russian electronic media had been giving Putin as the magazine's choice. "What's that all about?," he asked, while fixing something in the engine compartment. "I was busy all day yesterday — first work, then picking up my kid from his nursery school, then running my wife's errands." I told him that the Russian President had been picked by TIME as the Person who made the deepest impact on this year's events. "I dunno," said Volodya. "I'm just making my living. And who cares, anyway?"

[DVD Burner]

It's lookin more and more like Cheney, Rummy boy and Bush masterbate to them tapes together about once a week:



Harper's Magazine
December 27, 2007

The Times (London) Washington correspondent, Sarah Baxter, reporting with a summary of the developments in the case involving the CIA’s destruction of recordings of the treatment of Abu Zabaydah, points to the growing belief in Washington that President Bush viewed the torture tapes. Baxter reports:

It emerged yesterday that the CIA had misled members of the 9-11 Commission by not disclosing the existence of the tapes, in potential violation of the law. President George W Bush said last week he could not recall learning about the tapes before being briefed about them on December 6 by Michael Hayden, the CIA director. “It looks increasingly as though the decision was made by the White House,â€

[Kinetik V]

Benazir Bhutto...from a very different perspective....
(edited to remove picture references only, horrible formatting is compliments of the Daily Mail)

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/f ... ge_id=1879

How Benazir let her hair down
By DAPHNE BARAK -

Last updated at 09:29am on 30th December 2007

TV journalist Daphne Barak has befriended many of the world leaders she has interviewed - from Nelson Mandela to Shimon Peres - but none became such a close friend as Benazir Bhutto. Here she reveals the private world of the murdered former Pakistan prime minister.

"Daphne,you don't want me to go back home?" asked Benazir Bhutto. She knew the answer - we'd been having the same debate for months.

Benazir was a close friend of mine and, even before an assassination attempt on her life in October this year, I was against her returning to Pakistan.

"You know how I feel," I said. "It's a trap! You fell into it, but you can still get out..."

"I can't," Benazir replied, sounding stressed. "You see Daphne,they are expecting me in Pakistan. They know Washington is supporting me. My photos are already all over the streets. Asif [her husband] and I are taking into account what you are saying.But how can I back out? It's too late. And if I don't go now, I might as well just quit politics forever."

She was confident in the support of the Bush Administration. But I wasn't so sure. I had a bad feeling about it and when I last saw her I became emotional. I knew I wouldn't see her again. She came over and hugged me. I cried. She didn't. She just held me tighter.

The Benazir I knew and loved was the most extraordinary woman. Everyone knows she was brilliant and extremely ambitious but what very few people know - and I am privileged to be one of those - was that she was also what I would call a girlie-girl who loved to talk about skincare and hairstyles.

Benazir, who used to sign off her emails to me with the name Bibi, was one of those rare women who had the ability to move a conversation from heavy politics to lightweight gossip in the space of a minute.

Benazir was like a big sister to me. I am still trying to come to terms with the loss of someone so close to me. We met for the first time while she was serving a second term as Pakistani prime minister when she gave me an exclusive interview in June 1995 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the United Nations.

We got on well and met again in 2000 at the home of our mutual friend Esther Coopersmith, who is known in Washington as the hostess with the mostest. Benazir was no longer in power but Esther had arranged an amazing lunch for her, and everything from plates, napkins and even food was in either green or white, the colours of the Pakistani flag.

From then on Benazir and I developed an increasingly close friendship.

When we met - usually in New York, sometimes in London - we talked about politics, of course. I knew she was determined to bring democracy back to Pakistan and I would sometimes arrange parties for her and make sure she met the right politicians in a private and relaxed setting.

But, as so often happens with powerful women I interview, like Hillary Clinton and Segolene Royal, I also had the great fortune to get to know her as a woman, wife, mother and friend, the sides she revealed only to people she could trust, and these are the areas I want to concentrate on.

As a woman she was very different from the tough politician she presented to the world. She wasn't, as some have said, a brutal man in feminine clothing.

She was just like so many women. She was always keen to lose weight and wanted to look younger and healthier. We discussed girlie subjects alone and when men were present.

Benazir had a very good appetite and particularly loved Italian and French food. When we went to restaurants together - only those that were off the beaten track so we would not be snapped by the paparazzi - she would always order three courses.She particularly loved desserts and cakes and chocolates. She also gained weight from stress.

No one would recognise her when we went on our dinner dates. She would dress very casually, usually in a blouse and slacks, and her hair would be uncovered.

Sometimes she wanted to diet. I introduced her to my own private general practitioner Mark Hyman, who lives in New York, and he worked out diet regimes for her.

Dr Hyman would prescribe a powder that had to be made up into some kind of milkshake. You drank that and ate only vegetables for three days at a time. I found it disgusting, but Benazir persevered and would ring or email me from Dubai or wherever she was, thrilled when she'd lost a few pounds.

"Daphne," she would say. "It's wonderful I have lost some weight. Please send me more of those detox powders." She always took vitamins every day, too.

She cared about what she looked like under her clothes. I introduced her to Victoria's Secret, the sexy stylish underwear company, whose range she loved and always wore. She was very Americanised and wore her headscarf only when it was politically correct to do so.

I helped her with her hair,too.My hairdresser, Diego, who works for the Regency Hotel in New York,would style her hair when she came to some of my parties. When she was in exile, I introduced her to influential people and she wanted to look her best.

She had the most wonderful, lush, thick, dark hair and she loved, literally, to let it down. But, of course, only in private.

Benazir was interested in the latest face and body creams and asked me for advice. I change brands all the time but my latest recommendation was Pria, created by a friend of mine. Benazir told me she loved it.

We often exchanged gifts - anything from the latest political books to very sensual candles.

Of course we talked a lot about men, as all women do when they get together. She enjoyed hearing in detail about other people's love affairs but most of all she was totally fascinated by Princess Diana.

She knew I was friendly with Hasnat Khan, the Pakistani doctor whom Diana fell totally in love with before she died. Benazir enjoyed speculating endlessly about the couple's relationship.

"I am curious to know why their love didn't have a happy ending," she would say. "I wonder if Diana was serious in her intentions to go and live in Pakistan. It would be hard for her."

I also remember her discussing Diana's relationship with Dodi Fayed shortly before the Princess died. "I am sure it is just a summer fling," she said. "I firmly believe it is her attempt to lure Hasnat back to her. It won't last."

As far as her own love life went, she was completely and utterly in love with her husband Asif. In him she knew she had found a man who was confident and secure enough in himself to allow a woman to be really powerful and not to feel threatened.

Asif is also very liberal and they behaved like teenagers together. In public they were very restrained, but in private or with close friends they were very demonstrative and would hold hands and kiss. You could feel the passion between them.

She could be very giggly when she was with Asif and I can tell you he was the power behind her throne because although she was very strong-willed, she always wanted to please him.

He is really the one who has been calling the shots. He is a brilliant man and she always did everything political that he advised her to do. He will certainly run for office instead of her to maintain the legacy.

Of course Benazir and Asif did not spend very much time together throughout their 20-year marriage and had to face major challenges that not many other couples would have survived. In a way it made their relationship such a romantic one.

Asif was a rich playboy when he met the heiress of the political dynasty and became politically involved when he fell in love with her.

But in 1997 he was jailed on corruption charges and she didn't see him at all for the seven years he was in prison. She used to joke to me: "My life is strange. It seems that either I am prime minister or my husband is in jail. There can't be many like me."

During the last three years or so they saw each other only about 25 days a year. Asif lived in New York where he was undergoing heart treatment while Benazir was in exile in Dubai but they would speak and email each other all the time.

Both Benazir and their children - Bilawal, Bakhtwar and Aseefa - would travel to New York to see Asif. She would say: "They must spend time together. It is very important that they know their father."

It was hard for them all. Asif was trying to become a father and husband again, but he found coping with noise and even a lot of space very difficult after his years in confinement. Even going to a theatre was a problem and I remember him leaving one venue shortly after we had arrived because he couldn't cope with the crowds.

Asif was living in an apartment hotel and initially wanted Benazir to stay somewhere else, mainly because he didn't want to be recognised and also because it wasn't romantic enough for her, but she gradually persuaded him that they should be together.

They had two dogs - one very small and one that looked like a horse - who both chewed all the furniture. Benazir didn't complain. She didn't even seem to mind that the flat was sparsely and simply furnished.

No one besides family and extremely close friends were invited to visit and anyway she had other more important things on her mind. She would say: "My mind is on politics. My home in New York is temporary. I am not interested in making it comfortable."

She was very patient with her husband and he brought out the feminine side of her and liked her to shine. After his time in jail it was as if they found each other all over again.

I remember having a meal with them and some other friends. I had just come back from interviewing Segolene Royal, the Socialist candidate for the French presidency against Nicolas Sarkozy last May. Benazir wanted to know what Segolene wore and how was her relationship with her partner.

I told Benazir that Segolene resembled her.Asif responded forcefully and immediately. "Nobody is as beautiful as my wife," he said. Benazir blushed deeply. She loved him saying that.

She was also a wonderful mother. I called her a cross between an earth mother and a Jewish mother because she was loving but also pushed her children to do better than their best. She was very hands-on with the children and they would tease and hug each other a lot. But she wasn't at all strict.

She didn't want to put any more pressure on them than they already had because of her political ambitions. I feel she was always trying to compensate. But even though she was easy-going, the children were very well mannered.

I met them all many times. When one of her daughters, I think it was Bakhtwar, decided she wanted to become a punk singer, Benazir asked me if I could introduce her to Puff Daddy, who I know, to give her advice about a career in music.

She wasn't snobbish about it. Nor did she seem in the least concerned about the implications it might have on her own political future.

Benazir was also particularly proud that her son Bilawal got into Oxford and made sure that both she and Asif took him up and helped him settle in, just as any parent would.

Benazir was a wonderful friend to me - the best friend you could ever have. I was staying at the Dorchester Hotel and was injured just as she arrived to spend a few days with me before her historic return to Pakistan.

Asif told her I couldn't get out of bed but she wouldn't take no for an answer and came up with creative solutions like going to Harry's Bar wearing a jump suit to cover my injuries.

Despite what she was going through herself she would regularly email me to ask how I was and if I didn't tell her exactly, she would remember to ask me again, and be very specific. Sometimes her emails made me laugh.

For ages it was impossible to use a Blackberry in Dubai, but that changed recently and so over the past six months she emailed me from it all the time. In an email about her plans for her farewell dinner in October, she wrote: "Wld u like to join me for dinner? I am having dinner at nine and cld collect you at 8.15. I am having dinner with a friend and I told him I wld like to bring you. Bibi."

Later that day as we finalised our plans, she sent me another email: "Dinner at harry's bar. Can u come in a jump suit? Do u want to check? If its not too late when we finish we will drop by for coffee. Let me know if harry's bar allows u to come in a jump suit."

After eight years in exile, Benazir finally returned to Pakistan on October 18 this year. There was an attempt on her life that very day at a homecoming rally in Karachi - a suicide bomber killed 140 people but Benazir escaped unhurt. I spoke to her on the phone and realised that she was suffering from trauma after the blast.

On November 3, Pakistan's President Musharraf declared a state of emergency and suspended elections.

Suddenly, after being snubbed for nine years, Benazir was being feted by Washington. She thought this was fantastic news and that President Bush's support would help her win the election in Pakistan.

But Asif asked me to check with my own contacts in Washington and Islamabad. I did and the information I got was that as soon as Musharraf ended the state of emergency, the Bush Administration would abandon its support for Benazir. She would be left extremely vulnerable. I thought it was a death trap.

On November 8, Benazir was placed under house arrest after threatening to join a protest rally against Musharraf. I rang several times before I managed to get my call answered.

I didn't speak to her but she later called me back. She couldn't talk freely as she knew her conversation would be overheard. She sounded frantic.

I asked her if she needed anything, meaning a book, face cream, perfume or me to contact anybody. She replied: "Yes. I need a bulldozer." I couldn't understand what she meant and thought she was talking in code.

Later Asif called me and said her house was surrounded by so many guards, Benazir needed a bulldozer to get out.

In one of our last phone calls, Benazir told me: "Washington is behind me. I can't lose this opportunity. I have been waiting for it for nine years. We need to get Pakistan democratic again. I am needed here. It is now or never."

I said: "There will be a better opportunity for you and I wouldn't bet on Washington's support. You have already been prime minister. Try something else."

Again she didn't listen. Once Benazir made up her mind about something, there was no way to change it. How I wish I could have made her think again. Bibi, I'll miss you so.

(After reading this....I can't help but feel that Shrub has more blood on his hands for pulling his support)

[DVD Burner]

So now that Al Jazera has been broadcasting the actual footage of Benazir Bhutto's assaination, and the Pakistani government has already placed blame towards al-Qaeda, does'nt it seem strange when certain activites of death bombings happen, that government and this government is very quick to blame al-Qaeda?








http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/31/world ... ?ref=world


Elections Face Possible Delay as Pakistani Tensions Grow
New York Times - 2 hours ago
Ed Wray/AP “He is a one-man calamity and the source of all the problems,â€

[mdmf007]

So who are we bombing next?

Al Queda pulls the trigger, so lets invade Venezuela?

[DVD Burner]

We didn't assassinate Bhutto, claims fiend linked to Al Qaeda

by larry mcshane
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Sunday, December 30th 2007, 4:00 AM


http://www.nydailynews.com/news/us_worl ... end-2.html


The militant Islamic terrorist accused by Pakistani officials in Benazir Bhutto's assassination delivered a simple message Saturday: It wasn't me.

"The fact is that we are only against America, and we don't consider political leaders of Pakistan our enemy," said a spokesman for Baitullah Mehsud, the extremist commander linked by Pakistan authorities to Al Qaeda.

"I strongly deny" any role in the assassination, the spokesman Maulvi Omar said, speaking for Mehsud in telephone calls to news organizations after his leader was blamed worldwide for Bhutto's assassination.

"Tribal people have their own customs," Omar continued, speaking from the lawless South Waziristan region of Pakistan. "We don't strike women."

Omar denounced as "government propaganda" statements from Pakistani leaders that Mehsud masterminded Thursday's assassination, which has ignited violence across Pakistan and raised concerns around the globe.

Pakistani officials were quick to blame Al Qaeda and the Taliban for Bhutto's death, and took just one day to produce purported transcripts of Mehsud boasting about the murder.

Pakistani authorities said Mehsud was recorded talking to another man identified as Maulvi Sahib, or Mr. Cleric, shortly after Bhutto's assassination.

"It was a spectacular job," Mehsud said, according to the transcript. "They were very brave boys who killed her."

"Praise be to God," Sahib responded. "I will give you more details when I come."

Mehsud went on to congratulate those responsible for killing Bhutto as she stood smiling from the sunroof of a bulletproof SUV, surrounded by chanting supporters.

"Congratulations once again," he said.

But Bhutto's supporters said they believe Mehsud wasn't involved and suggested the government of Bhutto's rival, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, was trying to frame the extremist.

"It appears to us to be a planted story, an incorrect story," said Pakistan People's Party spokesman Farhatullah Babar.

Many of Bhutto's supporters have suggested Musharraf was responsible for her death in the gun and suicide bomb attack that killed at least 20 others.

Bhutto's 19-year-old son, Bilawal, will read his mother's will today to a leadership meeting of party members in her hometown of Naudero. Bhutto's posthumous wishes could determine the next leader of the PPP - possibly her husband of 20 years, Asif Ali Zardari.

Bhutto's opposition party was mounting a challenge to Musharraf in the Jan. 8 election, raising the possibility that the 54-year-old might become Pakistan's prime minister for a third time.

Pakistan government officials - who also blamed Mehsud for a failed Oct. 18 assassination attempt on Bhutto - remained resolute about his role in Thursday's slaying.

"I don't think anybody has the capability to carry out such suicide attacks except for those people," said Interior Ministry spokesman Javed Iqbal Cheema.

PPP spokesman Babar complained that the Musharraf government never followed up on complaints from Bhutto after the earlier bombing that elements within his party were plotting to kill her. More than 140 people were killed in the Oct. 18 blast.

Mehsud, 33, was elected as the top commander of the newly unified Taliban Movement of Pakistan two weeks ago, authorities said. A U.S. official briefed on intelligence reports described Mehsud as "a prime suspect" with "very strong and longstanding links to Al Qaeda leaders."

Cheema also said the Pakistani government did not want any international assistance in investigating the assassination that united world leaders in anguish and anger.

Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) has already called for an independent, international probe - perhaps involving the United Nations - after saying there was "no reason to trust the Pakistani government."

But Cheema said there was no need for outside help as authorities investigated the death.The government is planning a pair of inquiries. One will be led by a Pakistan high court judge, the other by security forces, which Musharraf's opponents say are infiltrated by agents aligned with Al Qaeda and other terrorists.

[Apollonaris Zeus]

[youtube][/youtube]


the real thing

[youtube][/youtube]

[DVD Burner]

Iranian Scientists Develop Country's Most Powerful Supercomputer

The system reportedly uses 216 AMD microprocessors. AMD said it has never authorized any product shipments to Iran, a country to which U.S. computer exports are prohibited.


http://www.informationweek.com/news/sho ... =204800653


By Antone Gonsalves
InformationWeek
December 10, 2007 05:50 PM

Iranian scientists claim to have used 216 microprocessors made by Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) to build the country's most powerful supercomputer, despite a ban on the export of U.S. computer equipment to the Middle Eastern nation.

Scientists at the Iranian High Performance Computing Research Center at the country's Amirkabir University of Technology said they used a Linux-cluster architecture in building the system of Opteron processors. The supercomputer has a theoretical peak performance of 860 giga-flops, the posting said. A giga-flop is a billion calculations per second.

The disclosure, made in an undated posting on Amirkabir's Web site, brought an immediate response Monday from AMD, which said it has never authorized shipments of products either directly or indirectly to Iran or any other embargoed country.

"AMD fully complies with all United States export control laws, and all authorized distributors of AMD products have contractually committed to AMD that they will do the same with respect to their sales and shipments of AMD products," the company said. "Any shipment of AMD products to Iran by any authorized distributor of AMD would be a breach of the specific provisions of their contracts with AMD."

Enforcement of export bans is handled through the Office of Foreign Asset Control, which is part of the U.S. Treasury Department. Officials were unavailable for comment.

The Iranian system will be used for weather forecasting and meteorological research. Iranian scientists developed software for systems management and monitoring, but use a medium scale computer model called MM5 for creating atmospheric simulations and weather forecasts. MM5 is freely available and supported by a division of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in the U.S. Other software includes the Advanced Regional Prediction System that was initially developed at the University of Oklahoma, under a program of the National Science Foundation Science and Technology Center.

Besides weather forecasting, supercomputers are used in the oil and gas industry, drug making, computer assisted design and the aerodynamics industry, as well as in scientific research. The Iranian research center built the country's first supercomputer in 2001. Another supercomputer was built in 2003 for processing satellite images for the Iranian Space Agency.

The Iranian supercomputer falls far behind the world's fastest computers. In November, the BlueGene/L System, jointly developed byIBM (NYSE: IBM) and the U.S. Department of Energy was ranked No. 1 in the world with a benchmark performance of 478.2 teraflops. A teraflop equals a trillion calculations per second.

[Apollonaris Zeus]

too bad that no one told them about all the security holes in AMD chips!

[Kinetik V]

Global Warming is a joke!
This half cocked theory is destined to be relegated to the scrap bin of questionable science, lying on top of phrenology in the trash pile...

Source Link:
http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20080103/94768732.html

Opinion & analysis
A cold spell soon to replace global warming
13:54 | 03/ 01/ 2008


MOSCOW. (Oleg Sorokhtin for RIA Novosti) – Stock up on fur coats and felt boots! This is my paradoxical advice to the warm world.

Earth is now at the peak of one of its passing warm spells. It started in the 17th century when there was no industrial influence on the climate to speak of and no such thing as the hothouse effect. The current warming is evidently a natural process and utterly independent of hothouse gases.

The real reasons for climate changes are uneven solar radiation, terrestrial precession (that is, axis gyration), instability of oceanic currents, regular salinity fluctuations of the Arctic Ocean surface waters, etc. There is another, principal reason—solar activity and luminosity. The greater they are the warmer is our climate.

Astrophysics knows two solar activity cycles, of 11 and 200 years. Both are caused by changes in the radius and area of the irradiating solar surface. The latest data, obtained by Habibullah Abdusamatov, head of the Pulkovo Observatory space research laboratory, say that Earth has passed the peak of its warmer period, and a fairly cold spell will set in quite soon, by 2012. Real cold will come when solar activity reaches its minimum, by 2041, and will last for 50-60 years or even longer.

This is my point, which environmentalists hotly dispute as they cling to the hothouse theory. As we know, hothouse gases, in particular, nitrogen peroxide, warm up the atmosphere by keeping heat close to the ground. Advanced in the late 19th century by Svante A. Arrhenius, a Swedish physical chemist and Nobel Prize winner, this theory is taken for granted to this day and has not undergone any serious check.

It determines decisions and instruments of major international organizations—in particular, the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Signed by 150 countries, it exemplifies the impact of scientific delusion on big politics and economics. The authors and enthusiasts of the Kyoto Protocol based their assumptions on an erroneous idea. As a result, developed countries waste huge amounts of money to fight industrial pollution of the atmosphere. What if it is a Don Quixote’s duel with the windmill?

Hothouse gases may not be to blame for global warming. At any rate, there is no scientific evidence to their guilt. The classic hothouse effect scenario is too simple to be true. As things really are, much more sophisticated processes are on in the atmosphere, especially in its dense layer. For instance, heat is not so much radiated in space as carried by air currents—an entirely different mechanism, which cannot cause global warming.

The temperature of the troposphere, the lowest and densest portion of the atmosphere, does not depend on the concentration of greenhouse gas emissions—a point proved theoretically and empirically. True, probes of Antarctic ice shield, taken with bore specimens in the vicinity of the Russian research station Vostok, show that there are close links between atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide and temperature changes. Here, however, we cannot be quite sure which is the cause and which the effect.

Temperature fluctuations always run somewhat ahead of carbon dioxide concentration changes. This means that warming is primary. The ocean is the greatest carbon dioxide depository, with concentrations 60-90 times larger than in the atmosphere. When the ocean’s surface warms up, it produces the “champagne effect.â€

[Toolmaker]

Hardware and software bans are a joke. Chips can be bought at computer shows and shipped, software can be downloaded and often is. So what is the big deal? Do they really think that this will justify an invasion of Iran? I hear some folks with no offical name formerly run by the sharkman of the delta are already playing in Iran. Whenever those kids start playing in someone elses sandbox someone gets hurt. I expect a major news story to appear soon concerning Iran, possibly a bombing or assassination. I really don't want to see it happen but it seems this war between the christians vs. the muslims will have us witnessing some major shit to continue through the next presidents term as well.

[Apollonaris Zeus]

Obama Wins in Iowa BIG TIME with the white vote! Yeah!!!!

Is it that America leary of The Old White men that have consistantly run this country down to its worst reputation by world's citizen.

Hillary and Edwards are consider insiders and just more of the same "Old Boys" Obama is seen as the turning of new page and face for America and the world!

Have we finally come out of the Dark Ages? Alexander would be proud of mankind if we did.



Obama is gonna Love you Like your Mama!

AIIZ

PS- to the white bigots that may be planning an assasination- know this we know where you live and I say 200 leaders of your groups would equal one obama, so I wouldn't do it. And we are white, so don't think it would start a race war, it be hard to distinquish us from you!

[Apollonaris Zeus]

Add on to that about 1,000 of your goonies too!

On another bad note for bush and the republicans, employment down 5%. Another bad year for a loser and a loser's party!


AIIZ

[Toolmaker]

Add on to that about 1,000 of your goonies too!

On another bad note for bush and the republicans, employment down 5%. Another bad year for a loser and a loser's party!


AIIZ

Do you really believe that they are the ones hurt by this? You also forgot to include the Democrats, specifically Clinton who was a big supporter of NAFTA and GATT etc etc.

I have a feeling they got paid, we workers are the ones getting hurt. Its bad news for us, but really good news for them. If there are no jobs for a kid coming out of high school do ya think he might be more likely to join the armed services?

Speakin of jobs overseas.. Anyone else in the trades get job offers for high dollars in Iraq this past coupla years? The highest offer I got was for 150K a year tax free. They stopped callin when I told them the only way I would consider the gig was if I could have my own RPG and Class 3 vest issued along with the permission to bring my AR-10. I'm off on a wild tangent so I'll STFU now.

[Apollonaris Zeus]

No one asked me to work in Iraq.

I would only do it if Blackwater was guarding me!

Not really, I couldn't live knowing that every perceived threat real or unreal would have to neutralized, you know, Killed!

Not that I ever don't cross-post but this topic transcends the rule.

Mike Huckabee crosses Writers Guild picket lines:

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008 ... r-on-leno/

"Although crossing picket lines might not be unusual for most Republican candidates, Mr. Huckabee has waged an unusual populist campaign on economic issues, stressing his empathy with the anxieties of working people."

"Mr. Huckabee’s inconsistency about the picket lines outside the Leno show are the latest in a string of missteps that have underscored the ad-hoc, on-the-fly nature of his insurgent campaign. Last week, he made a series of small misstatements about Pakistan that raised questions about his fluency in matters of foreign affairs and raised eyebrows when he suggested applying special scrutiny to Pakistanis at the borders in the interest of national security. Then, he reversed a pledge to avoid attacking his opponent, Mitt Romney, and two days ago reversed himself again to renounce those attacks."

"Speaking to reporters, he said he expected his appearance on the Jay Leno show to reach more Iowa voters than a day of appearances to crowds of a few hundred each."

Sounds like Good ol'Huck will sell you out to get the vote. What will he sell
America out when he's in office?

I hear he makes some pretty good Belgum WAFFLES too!

AIIZ

[Apollonaris Zeus]

Ass-crotch head has turned up in New Jersey:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/10/washi ... ref=slogin

[erri2000]

I saw on CNN that the FBI ran out of money to pay their phone bill. Ran out of money! Really! Seriously?

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/10/ ... index.html

Do you really think that the Federal Government ran out of money to pay their phone bill? They print money, they don't run out.

Excuse me I think I am going to F*ck.

[can't sit still]

erri, you've now morphed from 10 inches tall and furry to someone with hard pecs
Gov doesn't bother to print money,,,, too slow and old fashioned. It just pushes a button and a string of zeros appear. U.S. Paper money represents only four tenths of one percent of the world dollar supply. 2/3 of this is outside the country. I believe that the figures are 135 billion in paper dollars and coin circulating in the U.S. This is dropping on the way to a cashless society. The founding fathers put restrictions on how much paper money could be created. Unfortunately, they weren't able to forsee the creation of electronic money.
That's why we have no big denomination bills. GOV really hates the underground economy. Soon, they'll declare that bird flu is spread on paper money Won't that be wonderful. When we have national ID cards and 100% electronic money, GOV will be able to track[and tax] every cent that moves. I just can't wait
I'm already checking nice towns in Chile.

[DVD Burner]

NEW BUSH COINS


http://blip.tv/file/520347

[Kinetik V]

The Mysterious Supernotes....

Source: http://www.kansascity.com/105/story/441167.html

Posted on Fri, Jan. 11, 2008 10:15 PM
By KEVIN G. HALL
McClatchy Newspapers

The only way to distinguish some of the "supernotes," experts say, is to compare photographically blown-up sections with magnifying instruments, as these craftworkers did recently in Tokyo. About $50 million of the mystery money has been seized since 1989. DANDONG, China | The currency changer, brazenly plying his illegal trade in the Bank of China lobby, pulled out a thick wad of cash from around the world and carefully removed a bill.

The 2003 series U.S. $100 bill was a fake, but not just any fake. It was a “supernote,â€

[Kinetik V]

erri, you've now morphed from 10 inches tall and furry to someone with hard pecs
Gov doesn't bother to print money,,,, too slow and old fashioned. It just pushes a button and a string of zeros appear. U.S. Paper money represents only four tenths of one percent of the world dollar supply. 2/3 of this is outside the country. I believe that the figures are 135 billion in paper dollars and coin circulating in the U.S. This is dropping on the way to a cashless society. The founding fathers put restrictions on how much paper money could be created. Unfortunately, they weren't able to forsee the creation of electronic money.
That's why we have no big denomination bills. GOV really hates the underground economy. Soon, they'll declare that bird flu is spread on paper money Won't that be wonderful. When we have national ID cards and 100% electronic money, GOV will be able to track[and tax] every cent that moves. I just can't wait
I'm already checking nice towns in Chile.

CSS, I'd encourage you to brush up on the Federal Reserve System and it's internal workings, policy, and structure starting with a visit to the NY Fed's website. I used to work for the KC Fed and while there I learned a lot about the system and how it works along with the why's and how's behind various policies and procedures. Without going into specifics your statement is not accurate.

Your comment on moving towards a cashless society is spot on though....more so than you ever realize. Just think of the idea in a timeframe stretching out another 15 years on the time horizon.

[Apollonaris Zeus]

It's official, "Recession as started! Goldman Sacks."


MAC donald's using low quality soy protein in burgers. Source unknown may be coming from china beware!

[Kinetik V]

A private message sent to the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi at www.speaker.gov after the announcement of today's absolutely fucking worthless economic stimulus package.

Thank you Ms. Pelosi for making my life miserable and even more uncertain than it already is. I've been off work since August 17th, 2007 and despite putting every effort possible into finding work I have yet to land a position anywhere. I had hoped that the economic stimulus package would include an extension of unemployment benefits...but I woke up this morning to learn that you traded away those benefits and basically gutted the stimulus package. What America is going to get now is a plan that 6 months from now will accomplish absolutely nothing for the economy and will go down in the history books as a $150 billion dollar failure.

I've been a loyal Democratic supporter since I was able to vote at 18. But if this is the kind of bogus support that the people on the lowest rungs of the economic ladder are going to get...I intend to take a long look at John McCain's run for President and making a party switch. I've lost my house in a foreclosure to Countrywide, my truck is being repossessed...and I had hoped that maybe...just maybe, an extension of unemployment benefits would keep a lifeline out there for me...instead you cut it.

I had hopes that as Speaker of the House you would inject a fresh perspective into Washington DC and provide America with true Democratic leadership. It's now very clear that you're no different than anyone else up there. Thanks for selling out the poor and downtrodden of America to further your own political agenda....when I get back on my feet I can assure you that I will give the maximum amount allowed by law to any candidate that opposes your next run for office.

I know in a way it's pissing into the wind...but damn.