September 16, 2008 archive

1. The Guardian reports Pakistan orders troops to fire on US cross-border raids. “Pakistan’s military said today its forces had received orders to fire on US troops if they entered Pakistani territory, after a cross-border raid inflamed public opinion.”

   “The orders are clear,” General Athar Abbas, an Pakistan Army spokesman, said. “In case it happens again in this form, that there is a very significant detection, which is very definite, no ambiguity, across the border, on ground or in the air: open fire.”

   Yesterday there were reports that Pakistani troops fired warning shots over the heads of U.S. soldiers near the border. According to BBC News, “Reports say the firing lasted for several hours. Local people evacuated their homes and tribesmen took up defensive positions in the mountains.” (Hat tip Edgar.)

   [UPDATE] The NY Times is now reporting, Top Pentagon official makes a surprise visit to Pakistan. “The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, America’s top military official, made a hastily arranged visit to Pakistan on Tuesday for talks about a recent incursion by American commandos based in neighboring Afghanistan. The visit by the chairman, Adm. Mike Mullen, came as an uproar continued to grow in Pakistan about the incursion on Sept. 3…” Pakistan stated there was “no change in policy”.

Four at Four continues with Iraq standing up (so American can stand down), CYA GOP, and John McCain invented the Blackberry.

After 8 years in the United States of the war on science by the Bush administration, things wouldn’t be much better during a McCain presidency. From the Bad Astronomy blog at Discover magazine: John McCain: literally antiscience. “I am not a fan of John McCain… I have had my doubts on his support for science, but my fears have been at least in part confirmed.”

Phil Plait goes on to quote McCain from an AP story, as he changes the subject away from his running mate to Obama:

“That’s nearly a million every day, every working day he’s been in Congress,” McCain said. “And when you look at some of the planetariums and other foolishness that he asked for, he shouldn’t be saying anything about Governor Palin.”

Soldiers at the military hospital languished in part due to incompatible databases and dismal record keeping. Welcome to the Pentagon’s $20 billion medical-records boondoggle.

The above subject title is a report, over at Mother Jones, I couldn’t think of a better title than used, really, written by Niko Karvounis who, according to the Mother Jones info at the end, is a program officer at The Century Foundation, where he researches health care, among other issues and is a regular contributor to HealthBeatBlog.org.

It’s one of those “Here we go again, on the incompetence and arrogance, of those that were placed on the public payroll under this corrupt and totally incompetent administration and arrogant wanna-be top CEO, only in his dreams, and complacent GOP congress up till the previous election!”.

When the history of the early 21st century is written, we can only hope that Henry Paulson, America’s Secretary of the Treasury, will receive the praise he deserves for his role in hastening the collapse of capitalism.  While Rosa Luxemburg will always be remembered for her brilliance and courage, and Che Guevara for his daring and love for the people, Henry “Hank” Paulson will never be forgotten because of his incredible cunning in service of the revolution.



Paulson’s cover for his incredible mission was established by fate.  He was born into a bourgeoisie family in the famous luxury resort of Palm Beach.  They later moved with little Hank to the wealthy Chicago suburb of Barrington Hills, Illnois.  From there, he proceeded to check all the necessary boxes and jump through all the required hoops to join the American ruling class: an undergraduate degree from Dartmouth and a M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

The Fundamentals Of The economy Are Sound If?

You Live On

Dune, In Parallel Wingnut Universe, In A Cave Or

Your Name Is John “I Know Nothing About The Economy” McCain.

Wall Street Posts Worst Loss Since 2001



   By STEPHEN LABATON

Published: September 15, 2008  

WASHINGTON – In another unnerving day for Wall Street, investors suffered their worst losses since the terrorist attacks of 2001, and government officials raced to prevent the financial crisis from spreading.

Trading opened sharply down Monday morning, and the mood later turned even gloomier, despite efforts by President Bush and Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr., in separate appearances at the White House, to reassure markets that Wall Street’s deepening problems would not weaken an already anemic economy.

World markets tumble after Wall Street turmoil

Japan’s central bank injects $24 billion into markets amid fears of crisis

Associated Press

PARIS – Global stock markets tumbled Tuesday amid growing fears of a global financial crisis as investors reacted to the demise of two of Wall Street’s biggest names, Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index was down 5.3 percent to 11,560.66 in mid-afternoon trading, while Hong Kong’s blue-chip Hang Seng Index shed 5.7 percent. Both markets – Asia’s two biggest – had been closed for holidays on Monday, when news first broke about the dramatic events on Wall Street.

USA

Violent Crime Fell in 2007 From Previous Year

FBI Reports Decline In Almost Every Type  

 By Holly Watt

Washington Post Staff Writer

Tuesday, September 16, 2008; Page A19  

Violent crime in the United States fell slightly last year, reversing the upward swing of the previous two years, according to statistics released by the FBI yesterday.

The bureau’s Crime in the United States report showed a decline in crimes in almost every category. About 1.4 million violent crimes occurred in 2007, down 0.7 percent from 2006.

Well I really hope buhdy’s computer is fixed because all this responsibility is dragging me down.

I suppose I really should write something light and frivolous to cheer everybody up, but the news keeps getting me down and about the most humorous thing I got right now is that WaMu has been downgraded to junk, AIG has been downgraded to not quite junk and might need quite a bit more than $75 Billion to avoid bankruptcy by Wednesday.

What makes this funny is that the Dow is a mere 300 points or so from where it was the day W took the oath of office that he has so tarnished.

Unfortunately our long national nightmare is not yet over, nor will it be if we do not succeed in throwing this criminal cabal out of office and even then there are little over 2 long months to destroy what’s left.

And not all the wreckage is so easily undone as the illusionary paper greed gains the wannabe wealthy pretend plutocrats got stuck with while the real deal escape on their golden parachutes.

So tomorrow CNBC will be good for giggles, kind of like toasting marshmallows while listening to the musical stylings of Nero.