Thursday, June 30, 2011
June 30 2011 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: Obama Has A Can O' WhoopAss For Congress But YOU Have The 'Can Opener'
"All The News You Never Knew You Needed To Know ...Until Now." June 30 2011 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: Obama Has A Can O' WhoopAss For Congress But YOU Have The 'Can Opener'[Pop Out Player? Click Here] Prefer An MP3 Playlist? It's Here: [128Kbps MP3 14:20 Minutes] Other Audio Formats Available [ Here ] Razer Raygun Says: ♥ Sharing IS Caring! ♥  |
Thanks this morning to ChrisM, my MP3Angel, for supplying the news and commentary audio files.
After the commentary, George Carlin has a Can O' WhoopAss for YOU. Courtesy of the respective artists.
» President Obama gave his first news conference in three months yesterday and he was "Combative". He complained about the legislature's tendency to stagger their recesses claiming that it effectively allowed them to work only two weeks out of the month. He also gave details on the alleged Afghanistan withdrawal and said he wasn't going to address the gay marriage issue, but DID speak of his intent to increase taxes on the richest one percent of the US population and corporate jets as tax write offs.
A couple of consolidated articles from the Washington Post on the topic: Obama confronts Congress on economy, debt and Libya... ...dismisses congressional criticism of Libya action as 'politics'
President Obama had a simple message for congressional Republicans in a press conference Wednesday: Stand up and lead.» Congress is now working on David Petraeus' approval as CIA director and trade breaks for Colombia and South Korea. Harry Reid has notified the Senate that they will not go on recess over the Fourth of July, to work on the debt limit and other sticking points in the US economy. More on that from The Hill.
Obama, often in harsh and stark terms, condemned the approach that House and Senate Republicans have adopted in the final stretch of the negotiations surrounding the increase in the nation's debt limit.
They're in one week, they're out one week, said Obama of Congress. And then they're saying Obama needs to step in. I've been here.
He repeatedly challenged Republicans to make compromises in order to adopt a truly balanced approach to the debt deal; Call me naive, but my expectation is leaders are going to lead, he said.
Obama's confrontational approach toward Congress extended beyond the debt negotiations seeping into answers he gave on job creation, the broader economy and Libya.
On each issue, Obama cast himself as the adult in the room and Congress as an irresponsible child unwilling to sacrifice their desire to score political points for the good of the country.
He even made that comparison explicit citing his two daughters' tendency to get their homework done a day in advance as a good example for Congress to follow.
Politically, blaming Congress is a sound strategy. Poll after poll shows the institution is tremendously unpopular. In a new Associated Press-GfK poll just one in five people approved of the job Congress is doing.
And, attacking Republicans is also a major political winner for Obama among his liberal base many of whom believe that the president has been insufficiently tough on the GOP since the 2010 election.
From a policy perspective, it's tougher to know how Obama's repeated challenges to Republicans will impact the final negotiations on the debt ceiling...
o
o
o
By David A. Fahrenthold
June 29 2011
In his news conference Wednesday morning, President Obama was almost derisive as he dismissed congressional criticism of the military campaign in Libya.
A lot of this fuss, Obama said, is politics.
On Capitol Hill on Wednesday, legislators said their objections were not simply attempts to score partisan points. They pointed to a pair of recent votes, one in the House and one in the Senate, in which legislators from both parties rejected some of Obama's arguments on Libya.
That's patently just untrue, Rep. Thomas J. Rooney (R-Fla.) said of Obama's contention. He referenced a vote last week in the House in which 70 Democrats joined 225 Republicans in voting down a measure to authorize the operation. Look at the people who have voted to have him come and make the case for the conflict, Rooney said.
Rooney's objections were echoed by Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), who said he agrees with Obama on many issues. In this case, however, Sherman said the president had made an improper end run around Congress and deserved to be called out for it.
There is a lot of politics in the House, and there may be a few for whom politics is the main motivator for challenging Obama, Sherman said. But I think there are a lot of us in the House who are dedicated to the U.S. Constitution and to our oath of office.
Congressional concern about the Libya operation has focused on a 1973 law, the War Powers Resolution. It says presidents must obtain congressional authorization after sending troops into hostilities abroad... [Links at the heading, in order]
» The Los Alamos fire continues with the town and lab surrounded by one hundred square miles of burning brush and forest. There are 30,000 barrels of waste Plutonium sitting out on an asphalt area, perhaps an old runway, and the nuclear research lab has played down the danger.
The largest fire in New Mexico history is now the dangerous Los Conchas wildfire, which continues to threaten Los Alamos, New Mexico. The fire had consumed 94,000 acres (147 square miles) as of Thursday night, matching the 2003 Dry Lakes Fire in Gila National Forest in Southern New Mexico as the largest fire in state history. The Los Conchas fire was fanned yesterday by winds that reached sustained speeds of up to 25 mph, gusting to 34 mph, along with temperatures ... Sitrep from Jeffrey Masters, Ph.D., Director of Meteorology for WeatherUnderground.com» In other nuclear disasters, a British nuclear power plant has been shut down by massive numbers of Jellyfish clogging intake screens that normally keep debris out of the power plant's cooling system water.
» The U.S. is pulling it's drone base out of Western Pakistan on orders of the Pakistani government, who are a little tense about the slaughter of large numbers of civilians to kill the occasional al-Qaeda fighter.
The US government has opened a new front in it's Robot Wars in the third world country of Somalia to make up for the reduced number of slaughtered civilians because of that closure.
» In the meantime, a drone strike in the backwoods of Pakistan has apparently killed one of the leaders of the al-Haqqani network believed to be responsible for the the attack on Kabul's Intercontinental hotel the other day. Nineteen other alleged militants were also killed, or perhaps they're just slaughtered civilians.
» France now admits they have been providing arms to the Libyan rebels while Britain has said it will provide uniforms and armored vests.
To put that another way.. France is supplying the Libyan rebels with air-dropped weapons and admits it, in utter contempt of the COMPREHESIVE arms embargo included in the UN resolution on the protection of Libyan civilians:
A French military spokesman confirmed on Thursday a report in Le Figaro that rocket launchers and assault rifles were among arms parachuted in, prompting an angry reaction from Russia, one of many countries who have kept doors open to Gaddafi.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said supplying arms was a "crude violation" of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1970, which imposed a comprehensive arms embargo in February. [More @ Reuters]
Remember:
(...and try not to let your government kill too many 'dusky natives' in the interim OK?)
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Travus T. Hipp's Commentary Archive Is [ Here]
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Recorded & transcribed by Razer Raygun @ Razed By Wolves
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Travus T. Hipp Fan Page @ Facebook (unaffiliated)
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 and The Berne Convention on Literary and Artistic Works, Article 10, the news clippings, audio, and images used in this posting are made available without profit for research and educational purposes.
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Wednesday, June 29, 2011
June 29 2011 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: Unreported Trends - The Rebels In Afghanistan Know They're Fighting A Global Class War
| "All The News You Never Knew You Needed To Know ...Until Now."June 29 2011 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: Unreported Trends - The Rebels In Afghanistan Know They're Fighting A Global Class War [Pop Out Player? Click Here] Prefer An MP3 Playlist? It's Here: [128Kbps MP3 14:15 Minutes] Other Audio Formats Available [ Here ] Razer Raygun Says: ♥ Sharing IS Caring! ♥ |
Thanks this morning to ChrisM, my MP3Angel, for supplying the news and commentary audio files.
After the commentary, Elvin Bishop asks a pertinent question about a number of issues in the news... What The Hell Is Going On? Courtesy of the respective artists and KPIG Radio Freedom California... Earth.
» A bad evening in Kabul - There has been a full scale coordinated attack on Kabul's Intercontinental Hotel... Home to many foreign, umn... "Travelers" to Afghanistan. Details are still sketchy but at least 11 indigenous fighters and 12 visitors were killed. The Haqquani Pashtun tribal militia and the Taliban are claiming responsibility.
From the AfPak Channel @ Foreign Policy Magazine (Inside The War FOR South Asia... Emphasis Mine):
At least eight suicide attackers reportedly dressed as Afghan police and armed with assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades laid siege to Kabul's Intercontinental Hotel Tuesday, shaking the relative calm of the capital and killing more than 12 people, including mostly hotel staff and three Afghan police (Post, Pajhwok, AFP, NYT, CNN, Times, BBC, Tel, AJE, WSJ, AP, Reuters, Guardian, LAT, McClatchy, Independent, Bloomberg). The siege ended nearly six hours after a suicide bomber blew himself up at the hotel's first security checkpoint, when at least one NATO helicopter killed three insurgents on the roof, and Afghan commandos, supported by Western Special Forces, retook the hotel (NYT, WSJ, Times, AFP, BBC, CNN, Post). The Taliban took credit for the attack, and officials believe the target could have been a two-day meeting of provincial government officials who had convened to discuss the transition to Afghan security control (AJE).
Afghan president Hamid Karzai insisted that his government would still take over security in the country according to established timetables, and President Barack Obama will hold a press conference today to discuss the transition, as well as other subjects (AP, Bloomberg). A group of warlords and political leaders representing minority communities in Afghanistan announced the formation Tuesday of an anti-Karzai political alliance (WSJ).
...And Kathy Gannon reports on the deteriorating security situation in northern Afghanistan, as militants pour into the area (AP). [In full with all links]
» In California, the legislature has delivered a "balanced budget" (balanced on the backs of California's poor, seniors. and children) under pressure from a law which forces a dollar-a-day salary and no 'bennies' on the legislators at the time the budget becomes due. Whether governor Brown will sign the budget bill remains to be seen.
» The forest/brush fire threat to Los Alamos military nuclear research lab in New Mexico continues with the fresh fissionable materials 'safely stored' but hundreds of thousands of gallons of radioactive Plutonium waste stored on site remain exposed, albeit on asphalt and not in the woods, as the fire burns out of control.
» One of the nuclear power plants in Nebraska surrounded by floodwaters has been inundated by that water after at least one protective levee broke. It will take at least a month to clear the water.... assuming that the flooding from the Missouri river abates.
In OTHER News:
As promised yesterday, an update on the situation in Libya.
The destabilization of oil supplies brought on by the West's invasion of Libya is driving up the cost of your car's gasoline and that cost is now making a dent in many American's discretionary incomes, so...
Obama to release oil from strategic reserveNow git out there and shop to save Democracy!
By Ben Geman and Andrew Restuccia - 06/23/11
The Energy Department said Thursday that it will release 30 million barrels of oil from the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve, citing supply disruptions threatening the global economy and hailing from the unrest in Libya and other nations.
If all 30 million barrels are sold, it would be the largest sale from the reserve in history.
The release is part of a coordinated effort with other members of the International Energy Agency that will send a total of 60 million barrels of crude oil into world markets over the next 30 days, according to the Energy Department.
The decision comes amid signs that the economic recovery is faltering which is a political threat to the White House heading into 2012 and concerns that high energy prices are acting as a brake on growth. [Details @ The Hill]
Just in case you thought the US involvement in Libya is just about equipment and whether there are boots on the ground, you should think again... The US pays in 25% of NATO's budget, hence America "Hires" NATO as a multinational military-mercenary organization, but with budget cuts coming in many nations defense budgets, including the US:
Libya May Be NATO's Last Mission (The Fiscal Times)More on NATO's pending disintegration from the Globe & Mail, UK:
There is no argument that America is NATO's sugar daddy. In 2009 and 2010, the United States kicked in $408 million and $430 million, respectively, to NATO's military budget; $462.5 million is earmarked for 2011 spending.
The U.S. contributed $66.1 million and $84.1 million to NATO's civil budget in 2009 and 2010
respectively. Some $90 million has been appropriated for this year's budget.
And U.S. contributions to the organization's security investment program, which pays for NATO installations and facilities, were $330 million and $197 million in 2009 and 2010, respectively, with $259 million earmarked for 2011.
Total U.S. financial contributions make up 25 percent of NATO's budget. Germany, the U.K. and France are the largest NATO contributors behind the U.S. Yet the differences between the contribution amounts are substantial. Germany contributes 18 percent, while France and the United Kingdom contribute 9 percent. From 2000 to 2003 between 3.1 and 3.2 percent of America's GDP to NATO, while Western Europe contributed between 2 and 1.9 percent of its GDP.
At the same time, Germany and the U.K. are in the midst of deep defense cuts that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has warned could cause long-term damage to strategic alliances, including NATO... [More @ The Fiscal Times]
NATO's military strategy in Libya is to press on, keep firing, until the people of Tripoli rise up against Moammar Gadhafi. But countries that backed the intervention are showing doubts about the plan. The cracks are now clearly visible. Italy, a key NATO ally, called for a ceasefire to deliver aid but the alliance and its military commander Canadian Lieutenant-General Charles Bouchard said the air strikes must go on... [In Full]Finally... Let it be noted... No one's hands are clean:
UN Libya team accuses both sides of war crimes
UN investigators accuse Libyan government forces of war crimes, but say there is evidence of opposition abuses as well.
The report raised concerns about alleged acts by Libyan rebels of torture and cruel treatment, particularly against migrant workers. It will be debated by the UN human rights council in Geneva on Monday.
Earlier on Wednesday at a meeting in Brussels, 28 Nato member states unanimously agreed to prolong the alliance's mission in Libya... [More @ BBC News]
Remember:
(...and try not to let your government kill too many 'dusky natives' in the interim OK?)
Audio hosting courtesy of: [www.archive.org]
Travus T. Hipp's Commentary Archive Is [ Here]
Search the archive by topic [Here]
Cabale News RSS Feed Via Internet Archive
Creative Commons CopyrightCabale New Service, KPIG Radio, and KVMR radio.
Listen to KVMR
Recorded & transcribed by Razer Raygun @ Razed By Wolves
Postings Auntie Imperial And Razer Raygun Have Done Lately Are [Here]
The Consolidated Postings in RSS format [Here]
Travus T. Hipp Fan Page @ Facebook (unaffiliated)
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 and The Berne Convention on Literary and Artistic Works, Article 10, the news clippings, audio, and images used in this posting are made available without profit for research and educational purposes.
Visitors To Cabale News & Razed By Wolves
Thanks For Stopping By
June 29 2011 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: Unreported Trends - The Rebels In Afghanistan Know They're Fighting A Global Class War
| "All The News You Never Knew You Needed To Know ...Until Now."June 29 2011 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: June 29 2011 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: Unreported Trends - The Rebels In Afghanistan Know They're Fighting A Global Class War [Pop Out Player? Click Here] Prefer An MP3 Playlist? It's Here: [128Kbps MP3 14:15 Minutes] Other Audio Formats Available [ Here ] Razer Raygun Says: ♥ Sharing IS Caring! ♥ |
Thanks this morning to ChrisM, my MP3Angel, for supplying the news and commentary audio files.
After the commentary, Elvin Bishop asks a pertinent question about a number of issues in the news... What The Hell Is Going On?. Courtesy of the respective artists and KPIG Radio Freedom California... Earth.
» A bad evening in Kabul - There has been a full scale coordinated attack on Kabul's Intercontinental Hotel... Home to many foreign, umn... "Travelers" to Afghanistan. Details are still sketchy but at least 11 indigenous fighters and 12 visitors were killed. The Haqquani Pashtun tribal militia and the Taliban are claiming responsibility.
From the AfPak Channel @ Foreign Policy Magazine (Inside The War FOR South Asia... Emphasis Mine):
At least eight suicide attackers reportedly dressed as Afghan police and armed with assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades laid siege to Kabul's Intercontinental Hotel Tuesday, shaking the relative calm of the capital and killing more than 12 people, including mostly hotel staff and three Afghan police (Post, Pajhwok, AFP, NYT, CNN, Times, BBC, Tel, AJE, WSJ, AP, Reuters, Guardian, LAT, McClatchy, Independent, Bloomberg). The siege ended nearly six hours after a suicide bomber blew himself up at the hotel's first security checkpoint, when at least one NATO helicopter killed three insurgents on the roof, and Afghan commandos, supported by Western Special Forces, retook the hotel (NYT, WSJ, Times, AFP, BBC, CNN, Post). The Taliban took credit for the attack, and officials believe the target could have been a two-day meeting of provincial government officials who had convened to discuss the transition to Afghan security control (AJE).The early report came through Reuters:
Afghan president Hamid Karzai insisted that his government would still take over security in the country according to established timetables, and President Barack Obama will hold a press conference today to discuss the transition, as well as other subjects (AP, Bloomberg). A group of warlords and political leaders representing minority communities in Afghanistan announced the formation Tuesday of an anti-Karzai political alliance (WSJ).
...And Kathy Gannon reports on the deteriorating security situation in northern Afghanistan, as militants pour into the area (AP). [In full with all links]
[In Full]
» In California, the legislature has delivered a "balanced budget" (balanced on the backs of California's poor, seniors. and children) under pressure from a law which forces a dollar-a-day salary and no 'bennies' on the legislators at the time the budget becomes due. Whether governor Brown will sign the budget bill remains to be seen.
The forest/brush fire threat to Los Alamos military nuclear research lab in New Mexico continues with the fresh fissionable materials 'safely stored' but hundreds of thousands of gallons of radioactive Plutonium waste stored on site remain exposed, albeit on asphalt and not in the woods, as the fire burns out of control.
» One of the nuclear power plants in Nebraska surrounded by floodwaters has been inundated by that water after at least one protective levee broke. It will take at least a month to clear the water.... assuming that the flooding from the Missouri river abates.
In OTHER News:
As promised yesterday, an update on the situation in Libya.
The destabilization of oil supplies brought on by the West's invasion of Libya is driving up the cost of your car's gasoline and that cost is now making a dent in many American's discretionary incomes, so...
Obama to release oil from strategic reserveNow git out there and shop to save Democracy!
By Ben Geman and Andrew Restuccia - 06/23/11
The Energy Department said Thursday that it will release 30 million barrels of oil from the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve, citing supply disruptions threatening the global economy and hailing from the unrest in Libya and other nations.
If all 30 million barrels are sold, it would be the largest sale from the reserve in history.
The release is part of a coordinated effort with other members of the International Energy Agency that will send a total of 60 million barrels of crude oil into world markets over the next 30 days, according to the Energy Department.
The decision comes amid signs that the economic recovery is faltering which is a political threat to the White House heading into 2012 and concerns that high energy prices are acting as a brake on growth. [Details @ The Hill]
Just in case you thought the US involvement in Libya is just about equipment and whether there are boots on the ground, you should think again... The US pays in 25% of NATO's budget, hence America "Hires" NATO as a multinational military-mercenary organization, but with budget cuts coming in many nations defense budgets, including the US:
Libya May Be NATO's Last Mission (The Fiscal Times)More on NATO's pending disintegration from the Globe & Mail, UK:
There is no argument that America is NATO's sugar daddy. In 2009 and 2010, the United States kicked in $408 million and $430 million, respectively, to NATO's military budget; $462.5 million is earmarked for 2011 spending.
The U.S. contributed $66.1 million and $84.1 million to NATO's civil budget in 2009 and 2010
respectively. Some $90 million has been appropriated for this year's budget.
And U.S. contributions to the organization's security investment program, which pays for NATO installations and facilities, were $330 million and $197 million in 2009 and 2010, respectively, with $259 million earmarked for 2011.
Total U.S. financial contributions make up 25 percent of NATO's budget. Germany, the U.K. and France are the largest NATO contributors behind the U.S. Yet the differences between the contribution amounts are substantial. Germany contributes 18 percent, while France and the United Kingdom contribute 9 percent. From 2000 to 2003 between 3.1 and 3.2 percent of America's GDP to NATO, while Western Europe contributed between 2 and 1.9 percent of its GDP.
At the same time, Germany and the U.K. are in the midst of deep defense cuts that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has warned could cause long-term damage to strategic alliances, including NATO... [More @ The Fiscal Times]
NATO's military strategy in Libya is to press on, keep firing, until the people of Tripoli rise up against Moammar Gadhafi. But countries that backed the intervention are showing doubts about the plan. The cracks are now clearly visible. Italy, a key NATO ally, called for a ceasefire to deliver aid but the alliance and its military commander Canadian Lieutenant-General Charles Bouchard said the air strikes must go on... [In Full]
Finally... Let it be noted... No one's hands are clean:
UN Libya team accuses both sides of war crimes
UN investigators accuse Libyan government forces of war crimes, but say there is evidence of opposition abuses as well.
The report raised concerns about alleged acts by Libyan rebels of torture and cruel treatment, particularly against migrant workers. It will be debated by the UN human rights council in Geneva on Monday.
Earlier on Wednesday at a meeting in Brussels, 28 Nato member states unanimously agreed to prolong the alliance's mission in Libya... [More @ BBC News]
Remember:
(...and try not to let your government kill too many 'dusky natives' in the interim OK?)
Audio hosting courtesy of: [www.archive.org]
Travus T. Hipp's Commentary Archive Is [ Here]
Search the archive by topic [Here]
Cabale News RSS Feed Via Internet Archive
Creative Commons CopyrightCabale New Service, KPIG Radio, and KVMR radio.
Listen to KVMR
Recorded & transcribed by Razer Raygun @ Razed By Wolves
Postings Auntie Imperial And Razer Raygun Have Done Lately Are [Here]
The Consolidated Postings in RSS format [Here]
Travus T. Hipp Fan Page @ Facebook (unaffiliated)
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 and The Berne Convention on Literary and Artistic Works, Article 10, the news clippings, audio, and images used in this posting are made available without profit for research and educational purposes.
Visitors To Cabale News & Razed By Wolves
Thanks For Stopping By
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
June 28 2011 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: The US Supreme Court On Video Game Violence & Children - Until We Address The WHOLE Problem...
| "All The News You Never Knew You Needed To Know ...Until Now."June 28 2011 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: The US Supreme Court On Video Game Violence And Children - Until We Address The WHOLE Problem... [Pop Out Player? Click Here] Prefer An MP3 Playlist? It's Here: [128Kbps MP3 15:25 Minutes] Other Audio Formats Available [ Here ] Razer Raygun Says: ♥ Sharing IS Caring! ♥ |
Thanks this morning to ChrisM, my MP3Angel, for supplying the news and commentary audio files.
After the commentary, Tom Petty knows a kid who went mad and it makes one sad, When A Kid Goes Bad. Courtesy of the respective artists.
» The crew of the International Space Station had to retreat to their Soyuz escape capsule earlier after a close encounter @ 600 feet with what is called "Space Junk" but is really "Earth Junk"... the trash we leave in space. NORAD's mission after the Cold War ended was almost entirely made up of tracking that junk. But "After the September 11, 2001 attacks, the NORAD mission evolved to include monitoring of all aircraft flying in the interior of the United States."(src)
» The US Supreme Court has overturned California's ban on violent video games for children under 18 on first amendment grounds. One of the justices declared that the graphic violence in the game "Grand Theft Auto" is no worse than "Tom & Jerry" cartoons, which is absolutely and categorically wrong. An early 1960s study by the BBC showed conclusively that graphic realistic violence DOES affect children and cartoon violence really doesn't. That study was unique, because at the time, in Britain, there were children who had never watched TV. Therefore there was a valid control group to make the comparison from. References to that study can be found via a Google search.
» In a second trial former governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich has been found guilty on seventeen of nineteen charges including influence peddling president Obama's former senatorial seat. He could receive up to three hundred years, but he'll most likely be incarcerated for five to ten. His immediate predecessor is still in prison.
» The forest/brush fires in Arizona continue, and in New Mexico twelve thousand people have been evacuated from Los Alamos... home to America's military nuclear research lab. The nuclear materials have allegedly been stored safely.
» In OTHER nuclear nightmare news for the United States and specifically Nebraska, flooding on the Missouri River has left two nuclear power plants surrounded by flood waters with the protective dikes begining to weep, the stage before they break down, and there has been the collapse of at least one protective berm. The floodwaters are expected to remain for at least a couple more weeks and perhaps rise further.
» White House meetings yesterday with leaders of the Senate garnered no results on the Federal Budget Debt Limit.
» Finally, from Foreign Policy Magazine's AfPak Channel Daily Brief:
The governor of Afghanistan's Central Bank, Abdul Qadeer Fitrat, announced his resignation Monday from the United States, saying that his life "was completely in danger" in Kabul due to his investigation into the Kabul Bank scandal, where nearly $900 million was allegedly given out in bad loans, including to senior officials and relatives of Afghan president Hamid Karzai (NYT, Reuters, WSJ, FT, BBC, AJE, AFP, Tel, Bloomberg).More on that here: September 03 2010 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: Bank Run In Afghanistan - What WILL Be Left When The Bank Has Been Run And Looted? (Go), here, and here: "All this money magically appears from nowhere," - The Looting Of Afghanistan's Wealth By It's U.S. Installed Kleptocracy Begins In Earnest (Go)
In his resignation letter and comments Fitrat blamed officials for interfering in his investigation into the Kabul Bank, while a presidential spokesman called his departure "treason" and said Fitrat would be prosecuted as part of the investigation (Reuters, Bloomberg). [In full with all links]
In OTHER News:
War news this morning.
Afghanistan and Iraq today. Libyan reports tomorrow.
But will the US government use it as an excuse to stay? (and that same scenario exists for Afghanistan on our withdrawal too):
Spike in U.S. Deaths in Iraq Raises WorriesDo Tell?
By TIM ARANGO
June 26, 2011
BAGHDAD Two American soldiers were killed Sunday in Iraq, the military command said, making June the worst month in combat-related fatalities for United States forces in Iraq in more than two years. The casualties also reflected the dangers ahead as the United States prepares to withdraw all its troops from Iraq by the end of the year.
The June total of so-called hostile-related deaths of American soldiers is now 11, the most since May 2009, when 12 were killed, according to icasualties.org, an online database that tracks the deaths of foreign forces in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
In a statement issued Sunday night, the American military said the two soldiers were killed conducting operations in the north... [More @ The NYTimes]
What has the war in Afghanistan really achieved?They mean two different things ya know?A new report argues that violence and billions in aid have produced a new criminal oligarchyThe IoS takes stock after one of the bloodiest months since the conflict began, and a week in which President Obama announced a speeding up of troop withdrawals.
By Jonathan Owen, David Randall, Jane Merrick and Rupert Cornwell
Sunday, 26 June 2011
At least 60 people died in a suicide bombing just 25 miles from Kabul yesterday. In a few days' time, a report on Afghanistan from the International Crisis Group will say that violence and the billions of dollars in international aid have brought wealthy officials and insurgents together. As a result, "the economy is increasingly dominated by a criminal oligarchy of politically connected businessmen".
The negatives column in the Afghan war's balance sheet does not get any shorter. So far, the conflict has lasted nine years, eight months and 17 days, cost the lives of 2,547 coalition troops, and between 14,000 and 34,000 civilians, created millions of refugees, and opened up a black hole in Western economies that has sucked in more $500bn dollars. Afghanistan costs the US around $10bn (£6.3bn) a month; and Britain will pay £4.5bn this year.
Such is the change in mood that the Foreign Secretary, William Hague, has openly admitted the prospect of parleying with the Taliban, the very people we went to war to remove... [In Full, Independent UK]
Get Out, or Get the Hell Out? That Is the Big Question in Afghanistan
A Foreign Policy Magazine Roundtable
Anthony Cordesman and Adam Mausner: A Race Against Time
Thomas Ruttig: Where's the Progress?
Ejaz Haider: Let's Face It, the Surge Didn't Work
David J. Rothkopf: When Withdrawal Is a Big Step Forward
Kori Schake: President Obama Changes Direction on Afghanistan, Again
Michael Waltz: Obama's Dangerous Message [Discussion in full]
Remember:
(...and try not to let your government kill too many 'dusky natives' in the interim OK?)
Audio hosting courtesy of: [www.archive.org]
Travus T. Hipp's Commentary Archive Is [ Here]
Search the archive by topic [Here]
Cabale News RSS Feed Via Internet Archive
Creative Commons CopyrightCabale New Service, KPIG Radio, and KVMR radio.
Listen to KVMR
Recorded & transcribed by Razer Raygun @ Razed By Wolves
Postings Auntie Imperial And Razer Raygun Have Done Lately Are [Here]
The Consolidated Postings in RSS format [Here]
Travus T. Hipp Fan Page @ Facebook (unaffiliated)
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 and The Berne Convention on Literary and Artistic Works, Article 10, the news clippings, audio, and images used in this posting are made available without profit for research and educational purposes.
Visitors To Cabale News & Razed By Wolves
Thanks For Stopping By
Monday, June 27, 2011
June 27 2011 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: War Ain't What It Used To Be - Drone Wars And Other Remote Controlled Mayhem Simply Costs Less
| "All The News You Never Knew You Needed To Know ...Until Now."June 27 2011 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: War Just Ain't What It Used To Be - Drone Wars And Other Remote Controlled Mayhem Simply Costs Less [Pop Out Player? Click Here] Prefer An MP3 Playlist? It's Here: [128Kbps MP3 10:43 Minutes] Other Audio Formats Available [ Here ] Razer Raygun Says: ♥ Sharing IS Caring! ♥ |
Thanks this morning to ChrisM, my MP3Angel, for supplying the news and commentary audio files.
Due To Time Constraints No Synopsis This Morning
Listen In...
(...and try not to let your government kill too many 'dusky natives' in the process OK?)
Audio hosting courtesy of: [www.archive.org]
Travus T. Hipp's Commentary Archive Is [ Here]
Search the archive by topic [Here]
Cabale News RSS Feed Via Internet Archive
Creative Commons CopyrightCabale New Service, KPIG Radio, and KVMR radio.
Listen to KVMR
Recorded & transcribed by Razer Raygun @ Razed By Wolves
Postings Auntie Imperial And Razer Raygun Have Done Lately Are [Here]
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Thursday, June 23, 2011
June 23 2011 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: Marijuana - It's Legal In A Number Of States So Why Is It Still Called A 'Drug'?
| "All The News You Never Knew You Needed To Know ...Until Now."June 22 2011 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: Marijuana - It's Legal In A Number Of States So Why Is It Still Called A 'Drug'? [Pop Out Player? Click Here] Prefer An MP3 Playlist? It's Here: [128Kbps MP3 14:16 Minutes] Other Audio Formats Available [ Here ] Razer Raygun Says: ♥ Sharing IS Caring! ♥ |
Thanks this morning to ChrisM, my MP3Angel, for supplying the news and commentary audio files.
[After the commentary, in light of the commentary, Richie Spice burns one on the corner (lyrics). Courtesy of the respective artists, this morning's sponsor Becky Johnson @ One Woman Talking, and The Most High Jah.]
» President Obama laid out his plan for troop withdrawal from Afghanistan and elsewhere. He talked of spending the money domestically. The plan calls for 10,000 troopers out of Afghanistan by the end of year and 23,000 more out in the next seven months... leaving 70,000 troops in the country and negotiations ongoing with the Taliban.
From TheHill.com:
President Obama lays out exit strategy for the Afghanistan warTo be quite blunt, what our president has REALLY promised is:
By Sam Youngman - 06/22/11
President Obama announced Wednesday he is ending the Afghanistan surge by withdrawing 10,000 troops by the end of the year, promising an end to the war is near.
In a prime-time address, Obama said another 23,000 troops will leave Afghanistan by the end of September 2012 after a decade-long conflict increasingly unpopular with American voters and lawmakers from both parties.
The tide of war is receding, said Obama, who noted that all U.S. troops will leave Iraq by the end of this year... [More]
Three More Years of War in AfghanistanOthers see this scenario in future US-Afghan relations:
By Matthew Rothschild, June 23, 2011
Our war president promised more war. While he trumpeted his big Afghanistan speech as the first step in ending that war, Barack Obama essentially told the American people that tens of thousands of our soldiers would still be fighting there for at least three more years.
A year from now, Obama said all the additional “surge” troops will be back home. But the U.S. will still have close to 70,000 troops in Afghanistan, twice the number that were there when Obama took office.
Only “by 2014,” he said, will the Afghan people “be responsible for their own security.”
And even then, Obama appears to have left himself an out. “We’ll have to do the hard work of keeping the gains that we made,” he said. But what if those “gains” aren’t kept? Would he reverse course and keep more troops there? [More @ The Progressive]
Obama Says US Not Deserting Afghanistan: 'We Will Continue to Follow You on Twitter'No matter how your choose to view it, you should be convinced, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Barack Obama is...
Promises Strong Social Networking Ties with Afghan People
WASHINGTON - Announcing a drawdown of American troops, President Barack Obama tonight maintained that the United States was not deserting Afghanistan, promising the Afghan people, We will continue to follow you on Twitter.
Mr. Obama indicated that the United States' relationship with Afghanistan would soon transition from a military one to a social networking one, with the United States promising to Like Afghanistan's Facebook page and share contact information on LinkedIn.
In summing up the United States' ten-year military mission in Afghanistan, Mr. Obama said... [In Full]
Finally on the topic of hypocrites and warmongers, a "Cold Cut" from October last year... Chris Floyd:
"Friends, it's very simple: if you support Barack Obama and the Democrats -- even if reluctantly, even if you're just being all sophisticatedly super-savvy and blogospherically strategic about it, playing the "long game" or eleven-dimensional chess or what have you -- you are supporting the outright murder of innocent people who have never done anything against you or yours." --Obama's Finest Hour: Killing Innocent People For "Made-Up Crap" [More @ Empire Burlesque]The situation in Libya was also referred to by the president and wouldn't you know... America is the first responder.
It begs the question... Where are the first responders to protect them from invasion?
Libya: "The Right to Protect" has Triggered a Humanitarian Disaster» The government of Pakistan has issued forty visas to US counterintelligence operatives for their war on the indigenous Haqqani Network and the occasional al qaeda fighter, of whom there may be one hundred in the whole world.
The Legacy of Winston Churchill
by William Bowles
June 16, 2011"I do not understand this sqeamishness about the use of gas. I am strongly in favour of using poison gas against uncivilised tribes." -- Winston Churchill 1920 (speaking of the Iraqis, Kurds, and other 'dusky natives' of the region)Now let me get this straight: In order to save civilian lives (the infamous 'Right to Protect'), the Empire, through its Rottweiller NATO, not only deindustrializes Libya but it also causes a mass exodus of refugees hundreds of whom drowned and many thousands more were left stranded, attacked and abused.
The Pirates attempted to assassinate Gaddafi but succeeded in killing women and children instead. The Pirates bomb educational infrastructure, communications, power, agriculture and terrorize the population from the air and sea with the combined military might of the most powerful countries on the planet. So this is what humanitarian intervention looks like?
The reality of it is that in the 'good old days' they made no bones about the issue of keeping the natives in their place, phrases like humanitarian intervention would have made Churchill laugh. Though perhaps, just as with our current leaders and its lapdog mass media, Churchill would have appreciated the propaganda value of 'humanitarian intervention for domestic audiences.
And after all, the Libyans, Iraqis, Afghanis, Pakistanis, Somalians, Yemenis and Serbians don't need to be told what 'humanitarian intervention' really is.
Check out the following to get an idea of how the Pirates viewed the 'peasants' back in 1920... [More @ globalresearch.ca]
» The conference of mayors, which hadn't involved itself in foreign affairs since the Vietnam war called for a pullout of Afghanistan and Iraq, to spend the money domestically.
» In response to the repeated failure of the California legislature to come up with a budget a state law was passed last year that takes effect when the budget expires. State legislators will work for a dollar a day and no per diem or back pay. That will situation will most likely occur next week. We'll see if governor Jerry Brown springs that pay cut.
» In regard to Tuesday's commentary... They caught Irish gangster Whitey Bulger, at home in Santa Monica California, quietly retired. See that day's commentary for more.
In OTHER News:
Economics in the news!
First... Federal budgets... Where CAN we slash-and-burn appropriately?
I wonder...
From Congressional Quarterly's "Behind The Lines" (Free email subscription):
Money, honey: Thanks to wars and terror concerns, State's budget has doubled since 9/11, NPR's Alan Greenblat accounts. This war on terror amounts to the American industrial-military complex massively benefiting from the spending while many innocent lives have been lost...Here's a note on the oft repeated myth that Capitalism outperforms Socialism when it comes to the global markets.
From the Columbia Journalism Review:
But the point is, the ascent of laissez-faire economic policies in the U.S. during the first quarter century following the Reagan Revolution wasn't enough to outdo French stocks, which faced the heavy hand of government.The Audit
Economic Crisis
June 21, 2011
Stock Market Chart of the Day: Socialism vs. Cowboy Capitalism
By Ryan Chittum
In the appendix of that report on executive compensation and inequality that the Washington Post wrote about the other day, there's an interesting chart comparing stock market indexes for the U.S., France, and Japan from 1981 to 2006.
Check it out (figure 3, page 74):
First, applaud the fact that the authors adjusted stock prices for inflation. That's almost never done. They did it here by prices for each respective country.
The authors cut off the stock chart at 2006 because that coincides with the tax data they were studying. Since then, the U.S. stock market has done a little less worse than French stocks. And it seems as if the researchers just used index averages and not dividends in their calculations, which could change the (while I can't seem to find historical data on French dividend yields, I'd guess they're at least comparable to American ones).
But the point is, the ascent of laissez-faire economic policies in the U.S. during the first quarter century following the Reagan Revolution wasn't enough to outdo French stocks, which faced the heavy hand of government.
Take it for what a single datapoint is worth, but it's interesting, non? You don't and won't hear much about this one in the American business press. And you don't even want to look at truly socialist Sweden's stock returns, which have outpaced even France's.
Want to push back further, to the start of the Nixon administration? [In Full @ CJR]
Remember:
(...and try not to let your government kill too many 'dusky natives' in the interim OK?)
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In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 and The Berne Convention on Literary and Artistic Works, Article 10, the news clippings, audio, and images used in this posting are made available without profit for research and educational purposes.
Visitors To Cabale News & Razed By Wolves
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Wednesday, June 22, 2011
June 22 2011 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: The Idiot Expedition - Despite The 'We're Winning' Spin We've Already LOST Afghanistan OUT NOW!
| "All The News You Never Knew You Needed To Know ...Until Now."June 22 2011 Travus T. Hipp Morning News & Commentary: The Idiot Expedition - Despite The Cheery 'We're Winning' Spin We've Already LOST In Afghanistan... OUT NOW! [Pop Out Player? Click Here] Prefer An MP3 Playlist? It's Here: [128Kbps MP3 12:31 Minutes] Other Audio Formats Available [ Here ] Razer Raygun Says: ♥ Sharing IS Caring! ♥ |
Thanks this morning to ChrisM, my MP3Angel, for supplying the news and commentary audio files.
[After the commentary, Phil Ochs (Wikipedia, His sister Sonia's tribute page here) talks about another "Idiot Expedition" in America's historically recent past. Courtesy of the respective artists and this morning's sponsor Becky Johnson @ One Woman Talking.]
» Meanwhile fifty six percent of US citizens want them all out NOW! Today is showdown day on Afghanistan troop withdrawals as president Obama claims that ten thousand troops will leave the country by the end of the year and twenty thousand more will be gone by at least the end of 2012. That thirty thousand troops is the equivalent of the 'surge' troops send over the last few years, leaving seventy thousand US troops and an uncountable (and unaccountable) number of mercenaries and CIA contractors in the country.
Some more details on the depth of the opposition to our current wars from the New York Times where they note that the Conference of Mayors has approved a resolution (pdf) calling for a speedy end to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and redistribution of the $126 billion a year spent on those wars, to “urgent domestic needs,”. More @ The New York Times
» The McCain-Kerry bill will go to the senate floor today or tomorrow. The bill would allow for our involvement in the rape of Libya until the end of the year as long as there are no US 'boots on the ground'. Of course the Pentagon's stonewalling of all requests to find out about US Special Forces in Libya, noted just before the NATO invasion began by a number of sources, is being construed to mean we don't already have soldiers on the ground there.
More news about Libya:
A "Steal" [Snigger] at the price: "...less than $1 billion so far..." spent on our Libyan War...
Meanwhile, the UN resolution calling for the protection of Libyan civilians is obviously violated multiple times with no action taken by that body to rein in their participating members:
Globe and Mail("...unspoken goal of ousting Gadhafi," ? EVERYONE is talking about it!)
June 20, 2011
Civilian deaths raise doubts about future of Libya mission
Allies anxious to reach their unspoken goal of ousting Gadhafi
Nevertheless...
"The military mission in Libya that began as the enforcement of a no-fly zone and has escalated to heavy air strikes is now facing a test of international and public support: not because of a high death toll of Western combat troops, as in Afghanistan, but because of another toll that goes with air strikes - civilian deaths of the Libyans whom the mission is mandated to protect." [More]» Are jobs a top priority for the Republicans? The senate has killed the seventh job bill to come before them, and the Federal Aviation bill which would have added staff to the sometimes exhausted and asleep at the controls air traffic controllers was killed last week.
More news from the Senate:
Senate unanimously approves Panetta as new Defense chiefDast I say '...will leave Panetta with a political 'hand grenade' that's already had the pin pulled, in the wake of Gate's departure.'
o
o
o
Panetta also has made clear he plans to examine military personnel programs, including its vast health care enterprise, to find savings as Pentagon budgets shrink.
Experts say this effort, pushed by Gates in his final months, will require political skill and will. That's because cutting troops' benefits while two wars are still hot will... [In Full @ The Hill]
» The Tunisians have convicted their EX-president in absentia for embezzlement, theft, and more. Their former ruler left so fast he left cash and gems behind.
» Hugo Chavez of Venezuela has not been seen since a June medical procedure in Cuba and some suspect he is being forced out of the Venezuelan presidency... Which would suit the US just fine.
In OTHER News:
We almost lost Omaha! But you need to read the Pakistani newspapers because the...:
US orders news blackout over crippled Nebraska Nuclear PlantEven as the GAO notes the dangerous situation existing at... Who knows how many US nuclear power plants. They have no way to check:
The Nation
nation.com.pk
June 18 2011
A shocking report prepared by Russia's Federal Atomic Energy Agency (FAAE) on information provided to them by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) states that the Obama regime has ordered a total and complete news blackout relating to any information regarding the near catastrophic meltdown of the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power Plant located in Nebraska.
According to this report, the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Plant suffered a catastrophic loss of cooling to one of its idle spent fuel rod pools on 7 June after this plant was deluged with water caused by the historic flooding of the Missouri River which resulted in a fire causing the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) to issue a no-fly ban over the area.
Located about twenty minutes outside downtown Omaha, the largest city in Nebraska... [In Full]
GAO: leaks at aging nuke sites difficult to detect
By JEFF DONN & JUSTIN PRITCHARD - Associated Press
June 21 2011
U.S. nuclear power plant operators haven't figured out how to quickly detect leaks of radioactive water from aging pipes that snake underneath the sites and the leaks, often undetected for years, are not going to stop, according to a new report by congressional investigators.
The report by the Government Accountability Office was released by two congressmen Tuesday in response to an Associated Press investigation that shows three-quarters of America's 65 nuclear plant sites have leaked radioactive tritium, sometimes into groundwater.
Separately, two senators asked the GAO, the auditing and watchdog arm of Congress, to investigate the findings of the ongoing AP series Aging Nukes, which concludes that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the nuclear power industry have worked closely to keep old reactors operating within safety standards by weakening them, or not enforcing the rules... [In Full]
It's an American Republican's dream! Iraq has a new Football (soccer) federation chief!
Iraqi federation elects new chiefWhile public worker unions are banned:
AFP - The Iraqi Football Association (IFA) gained a new chief on Saturday, in an election in which the country's football establishment won over a candidate unofficially backed by the government. [Read On]
By Kamaran al-Najar
Iraq Oil Report
June 1, 2011
KIRKUK - Unionists in Iraq's oil sector have been fined and days ago were relocated to remote locations as part of a campaign of seeming retaliation against their role in organizing workers.
Jamal Abdul-Jabbar Akram, president of the Oil and Gas Workers' Union of the General Federation of Iraqi Workers (GFIW), said he has been transferred after his organization staged a February rally outside the headquarters of the state-owned North Oil Company (NOC).
In a separate incident, according to a ministerial order issued in February, recently obtained by Iraq Oil Report, Oil Minister Abdul Karim Luaibi fined 16 workers nearly $60,000 for a March 2010 work stoppage at the Basra refinery. Days after that strike, workers involved were transferred from Basra to Baghdad.
It's not clear if the stated fine is the total amount or the per-person fee.
Iraqi workers in the public sector are forbidden from forming unions not formally sanctioned and controlled by the state, a regulation remaining since the Saddam Hussein era.
Iraq is a signatory to international workers rights agreements, and the 2005 constitution has called for a new labor law. A draft has languished in the political process. Oil workers along with teachers, dockworkers and others have formed unions nonetheless.
The oil unions have stopped or threatened to stop production and have held rallies over issues like legislation, pay and treatment. In response, they have been targeted by security forces and members have had warrants issued for their arrest or been relocated to areas away from their families. [In Full]
Remember:
(...and try not to let your government kill too many 'dusky natives' in the interim OK?)
Audio hosting courtesy of: [www.archive.org]
Travus T. Hipp's Commentary Archive Is [ Here]
Search the archive by topic [Here]
Cabale News RSS Feed Via Internet Archive
Creative Commons CopyrightCabale New Service, KPIG Radio, and KVMR radio.
Listen to KVMR
Recorded & transcribed by Razer Raygun @ Razed By Wolves
Postings Auntie Imperial And Razer Raygun Have Done Lately Are [Here]
The Consolidated Postings in RSS format [Here]
Travus T. Hipp Fan Page @ Facebook (unaffiliated)
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 and The Berne Convention on Literary and Artistic Works, Article 10, the news clippings, audio, and images used in this posting are made available without profit for research and educational purposes.
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