Greenspan backs bank
nationalization...The US government may have to
nationalize some banks on a temporary basis to fix the financial system
and restore the flow of credit, Alan Greenspan, the former Federal
Reserve chairman, has told the Financial Times. In an interview, Mr.
Greenspan, who for decades was regarded as the high priest of
laisser-faire capitalism, said nationalization could be the least bad
option left for policymakers.
Iran N-experts in Israel crosshairs? Israel is
involved in a covert war of sabotage inside Iran to try to delay
Tehran’s alleged attempts to develop a nuclear weapon, a British
newspaper said on Tuesday, quoting a former CIA agent and intelligence
experts. An intelligence source in the Middle East said last year Israel
planned to target Iranian nuclear scientists with letter bombs and
poisoned packages and had set off explosions in Iran. Israel’s
government declines all comment on such reports
From the Archive: The Democrats Bow to Megabanks
Congress and the White House have come up with the
granddaddy of all financial deregulation, the “Financial Services
Modernization Act,” which whipped out the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 and
removed the major restrictions of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956.
In so doing, Congress and (Bill) Clinton have opened the door for banks,
securities firms, insurance companies, and in some cases nonfinancial
corporations to combine into a handful of giant conglomerates. These
conglomerates will be the financial equivalent of nuclear bombs. The
explosion of even one could have a disastrous impact not only on the
U.S. economy but on financial systems around the world.
Lawmaker Proposing Statewide Rehabilitation Of Freight Rail Lines
Connecticut should use its extensive network of railroads to reduce
tractor-trailer traffic on its congested highways, according to a
lawmaker proposing a statewide rehabilitation of freight rail lines.
State lawmakers considering tax increases More than a dozen
bills set in motion Tuesday morning would allow the Democrat-dominated
General Assembly to raise taxes on everything from incomes to sales and
corporate taxes
Auto Insurance Bill Designed To Reduce Premiums In Cities Attorney
General Richard Blumenthal on Tuesday called for a ban on basing auto
insurance rates on consumer credit information and advocated a change
designed to reduce premiums for city residents
Ban the box in New Haven? A big vote is on the table for New
Haven's Board of Aldermen. They'll be deciding, Tuesday night, whether
people applying for city jobs have to check a box that indicates whether
they have a criminal record.
Ethics watchdog seeks probe of Armenian-American group A
high-profile ethics organization on Wednesday asked federal agencies to
investigate the Armenian National Committee of America for alleged
campaign-finance and lobbying violations.
Facebook 'withdraws' data changes Over the past few days, we have
received a lot of feedback about the new terms we posted two weeks ago.
Because of this response, we have decided to return to our previous
Terms of Use while we resolve the issues that people have raised.
Facebook calls policy gaffe clumsy
Alaska says Palin owes taxes on per diem expenses Gov. Sarah Palin
must pay back taxes on nearly $18,000 in expenses she charged the state
for living in her home outside Anchorage instead of at the state
capital, officials said Wednesday.
Postal service hits back at pay criticism Postmaster General John E.
Potter has come under criticism for his total 2008 compensation of
nearly $800,000, but the agency's board of governors says that's less
than what leaders of several other independent government agencies
receive.
Miami men face third trial in terror plot A group of Miami men
accused of plotting to destroy Chicago's Sears Tower and bomb FBI
offices sold out their country for money, a federal prosecutor said
Wednesday at the start of the men's third trial.
Microsoft gets a victory in 'Vista' case A federal judge gave
Microsoft Corp. a big boost Wednesday in a long-running lawsuit
challenging the company's marketing of some PCs as "Vista Capable" that
could only run the most basic version of the Windows Vista operating
system.
Anti-spy officials reassigned after criticism Two senior U.S.
counterintelligence officials have left positions inside the agency that
coordinates America's efforts to root out foreign spies after an
inspector general review identified management problems, government
officials said.
New Technology Keeps Mechanics Honest Even if you don't know much
about how cars work, you can use new tools and Web sites to keep from
getting taken for a ride when you need repairs.
Depositors turned away from Stanford banks Panicky depositors were
turned away from Stanford International Bank and some of its Latin
American affiliates Wednesday, unable to withdraw their money after U.S.
regulators accused Texas financier R. Allen Stanford of perpetrating an
$8 billion fraud against his companies' investors.
Stanford fails in bid to leave USA
Stanford, who has been accused of being involved in an alleged US$8
billion fraud, attempted to hire a private jet to fly him
SecurityIssues
New face of offender in federal courts is Hispanic Hispanics
outnumber other racial groups among criminal offenders in the federal
courts due in part to the crackdown on illegal immigration, according to
a study released Wednesday.
Report: Real-world CSI's lack consistent standards Crime labs
nationwide must be overhauled to prevent the types of mistakes that put
innocent people in prison and leave criminals out on the street,
researchers have concluded
Politics
Is China paying for U.S. taxpayer rebates? Anyone can bid: you, me
or the Chinese government. Lately, Beijing has been a big buyer of our
debt paper — largely because China has lots of extra dollars we sent
over there to buy cheap goods. Those dollars have to get recycled and,
like most other investors, foreign governments like U.S
Vilsack calls for stricter food labels The Obama administration is
throwing out food labeling rules proposed by the Agriculture Department
just before George W. Bush left office, saying it wants labels for fresh
meat and other foods that would show more clearly where an animal or
food came from
Bernanke: Nationalizing banks, if it's necessary, won't last long
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Wednesday that there would be
drawbacks to the federal government nationalizing banks and the Obama
administration remained committed to "return them to private hands"
quickly if nationalization became necessary.
Pope to Pelosi: Catholics can't back abortion Pope Benedict,
underscoring the Vatican's ruling on an issue that divides Americans,
told U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday that Catholic
politicians and legislators cannot back abortion rights.
Greenspan says Tarp needs boost The US administration will have to
go back to Congress for more money to recapitalise the banking system,
Alan Greenspan
We're all paying for home mortgage crisis President Obama
today unveiled a $75 billion plan to help up to 9 million struggling
home loan borrowers, CNNMoney reports. "In the end, all of us are paying
a price for this home mortgage crisis," Obama said. "And all of us will
pay an even steeper price if we allow this crisis to deepen."
OBAMA UNVEILS $275B
HOUSING PLAN
The White House's missing documents In his first weeks in office,
President Barack Obama shut down his predecessor’s system for reviewing
regulations, realigned and expanded two key White House policymaking
bodies and extended economic sanctions against parties to the conflict
in the African nation of Cote D’Ivoire. Despite the intense scrutiny a
president gets just after the inauguration, Obama managed to take all
these actions with nary a mention from the White House press
NAFTA foes have hope for Obama renegotiation Critics of the North
American Free Trade Agreement say they do not expect President Barack
Obama to return from a trip to Canada on Thursday with a blueprint to
fulfill his promise to renegotiate the pact. corps.
Lawmakers: US must enforce assault-gun import ban More than 50 U.S.
lawmakers sent a letter to President Barack Obama urging him to enforce
a ban on importing assault weapons, saying many such guns are later
smuggled south to arm Mexico's ruthless drug cartels.
Obama 666 Comment Gets Chamber Pres Suspended Southington Chamber of
Commerce President Arthur Secondo was suspended without pay for implying
in a public meeting that President Barack Obama was the Antichrist.
The UC Davis Guantanamo Testimonials Project We begin our endeavor
with The Guantánamo Testimonials Project. The goals of this
project are to gather testimonies of prisoner abuse in Guantánamo, to
organize them in meaningful ways, to make them widely available online,
and to preserve them there in perpetuity.
At CSHRA we take no position as to
whether the Guantánamo prisoners are guilty or innocent. Yet we
recognize that these individuals are, in either case, entitled to a set
of fundamental rights (a)
as individuals held during an armed conflict, (b)
as prisoners in general, and (c)
as ordinary human beings The strength of these testimonies is considerable. Based on them, a
number of distinguished individuals and organizations have called for
the
closure of Guantánamo.
Rehabilitation never tried at Gitmo The Pentagon never
instituted an anti-extremism rehabilitation program for terror suspects
at Guantanamo Bay, even as it released hundreds of detainees to their
home countries and saw scores go back to practicing terrorism.
Talabani to share power within his party Iraqi President Jalal
Talabani agreed to share power within his Kurdistan Patriotic Union
Party to avoid a split which would weaken the party ahead of legislative
elections in Iraq Kurdistan.
Iraq's Kirkuk Province To Distribute Leadership Posts By Ethnicity
The political blocs in the Kirkuk province, which did not participate in
the provincial council elections due to internal disputes, have agreed
to split up the leadership posts in the province by ethnicity
Conference in Tikrit to Discuss Sahwa Councils (Voices of Iraq) A
security conference was held on Tuesday in Tikrit at the headquarters of
the Iraqi army 4th division, to discuss the final mechanisms to include
Sahwa (Awakening) fighters in state institutes and security forces.
Senior Officer Escapes Attempt on Life An Iraqi police colonel on
Tuesday survived as assassination attempt in Diala’s al-Khales district,
according to an official source.
Russia delays procuring Iran with S-300 air defense system
Kommersant Russian newspaper said that Russia is delaying procuring Iran
with S-300 air defense system. To that the Newspaper published this
article while Iranian Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar pays a
visit to Moscow and said that Russia does not intend to deliver these
systems to Iran
Over a dozen detained in Hizbullah raid At least 20 were detained in
a police operation against the Hizbullah terrorist organization in
various spots around İstanbul.
Iran says it has built unmanned aircraft Iran has built an unmanned
surveillance aircraft with a range of more than 600 miles -- enough to
reach Israel -- a top defense official said in remarks published
Wednesday.
Infant Found Infected with Aids in Bahrain The case of an infant
having Aids has prompted health authorities to push for legislation to
combat illicit relationships and drug addiction to eliminate occurence
of new Aids cases in Bahrain
Ergenekon suspect applies for UK residence permit A former deputy
who is being sought under an arrest warrant as a suspect in the case of
Ergenekon, a clandestine organization accused of various crimes
committed for the purpose of creating chaos in the country to trigger a
coup, has applied for a residence permit in the UK, where he has been
residing since the summer of 2008.
General investigates Afghan bomb site A U.S. general traveled to
western Afghanistan on Wednesday to investigate claims that six women
and two children were killed in a U.S. airstrike, officials said.
Photographs of the site showed at least one dead boy, bloodied and dirty
from the attack.
Karzai expects reduced tensions with U.S. Afghan President Hamid
Karzai said on Wednesday he expected a reduction in tensions with the
United States, a day after President Barack Obama announced plans to
send fresh troops.
Drug abuse hampers Afghan police Sixty per
cent of police in Afghanistan's Helmand province
use drugs, according to British estimates
obtained by the BBC.
Obama: Troops alone cannot win in Afghanistan
Diplomacy will play a bigger role in U.S.
efforts in Afghanistan in future even as the
Pentagon announced a significant troop increase,
President Barack Obama said Tuesday in an
interview.
General investigates Afghan bomb site A U.S. general traveled to
western Afghanistan on Wednesday to investigate claims that six women
and two children were killed in a U.S. airstrike, officials said.
Photographs of the site showed at least one dead boy, bloodied and dirty
from the attack.
Corruption mars Afghanistan effort Senior British, US and local aid
workers have described a number of problems including bribery,
profiteering, poor planning and incompetence. The overall effect has
been to cripple the development effort structured under the Bush
administration's insistence on an unregulated and profit-driven approach
to reconstruction.
CIA secretly using Pak airbase to fly Predator
drones: Report The Central Intelligence
Agency (CIA) has secretly been using an airbase
in southwestern Pakistan to launch the Predator
drones to attack the militants within the
country, a report said.
Pakistan unrest displaces over 300,000: official More than 300,000
people in northwest Pakistan have been displaced over the last six
months because of fighting between Taliban insurgents and government
troops, officials said Wednesday.
Asia
Hostile" forces stirring up China jobless: official China must guard
against "hostile forces" within and outside the country working to stir
up trouble among its masses of newly unemployed workers, a senior trade
union official said in comments published on Wednesday.
East Timor Revisited: Ford, Kissinger and the
Indonesian Invasion ..., 1975-76 The Indonesian
invasion of East Timor in December 1975 set the stage for the long,
bloody, and disastrous occupation of the territory that ended only after
an international peacekeeping force was introduced in 1999. President
Bill Clinton cut off military aid to Indonesia in September
1999—reversing a longstanding policy of military cooperation—but
questions persist about U.S. responsibility for the 1975 invasion; in
particular, the degree to which Washington actually condoned or
supported the bloody military offensive.
India says war was never an option after Mumbai attacks In a clear
reference to America's strikes on Pakistan's tribal area in recent days,
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee has said that retaliatory
strikes against Pakistan after 26/11 were never on the tabl
India offers Sri Lanka evacuation India says it ready to help in the
evacuation of tens of thousands of civilians caught up in fighting in
Sri Lanka.
Jury Dismissed At British Plane-Bombing Plot Trial A judge in London
has discharged the jury in the case of a group of British Muslims
accused of plotting to blow up trans-Atlantic passenger jets in midair,
citing legal reasons.
Africa
Al-Qaeda claim over Niger kidnaps A man claiming to be from an
al-Qaeda affiliate says it has two Canadians and four European tourists
abducted in Niger.
Obama compares oil sands to coal President Barack Obama, in advance
of his first foreign trip, said Tuesday that Canada's oil sands
operations leave a carbon foot print that adds to climate change
concerns.
Mexican drug gang menace spreads in Guatemala Guatemala, scarred by
years of civil war and rampant street gang crime, is suffering a new
scourge as violent Mexican drug traffickers put down deep roots in the
country.
France sends troops to Guadeloupe France
deploys 260 military police to its Caribbean
island of Guadeloupe, after a local official is
killed in anti-inflation protests.
Canadian protesters urge Obama to shun oil sands
Greenpeace activists scaled a bridge in the
Canadian capital on Wednesday and unfurled two
large banners urging U.S. President Barack Obama
to take a tough stand on Canada's huge oil sands
when he visits on Thursday.
Drug Tie Seen to Protests in Mexico
Authorities say they see the hidden hand of drug
traffickers in a recent wave of demonstrations
protesting the presence of army troops across
northern Mexico
This site is a collection of
the previous days news from hundreds of domestic and international news sources.
There is no celebrity nonsense, sports, or reliance on opinion and analysis.
This site relies on you to do the analyzing. Only the most relevant news is
allowed. Good news is hard to find, but I will do the searching for you. UPDATED
DAILY!
*
Warning, this site is updated daily and no stories from one day will be
posted more then once, unless there is an update. This means missing one
day may leave you missing something important. I wish it wasn't so, but
there is just so much each day
"One of the goals of party is to acquire influence, within
particular districts, and misrepresent the opinions and aims of
other districts. You cannot shield yourselves too much against
the jealousies and heart-burnings, which spring from these
misrepresentations; they tend to render alien to each other those,
who ought to be bound together by fraternal affection. Hence,
likewise, they will avoid the necessity of those overgrown military
establishments, which, under any form of government, are
inauspicious to liberty, and which are to be regarded as
particularly hostile to Republican Liberty. "
