NY-20 Race Heading For Recount:Update, No Recount But Re-Canvassing

We have no idea who is going to win, but the absentee ballots will come into play as well as the challenges. As of now its Murphy by 65 votes. My wager, the seat stays open much of the year.
a re-canvassing in which the voter rolls will all be checked to ensure a proper election. (Each vote cast would not be checked and then re-checked under such a scenario.) With almost 6000-10000 military and absentee ballots to check. According to Tedisco there is Republican edge there.

New York (CNN) — The special election for an empty Congressional seat in upstate New York has now turned into a dead heat with only a few votes separating the candidates on Tuesday night.

The race to fill the vacant House of Representative seat of democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand will be a close call.

When the final numbers were reported from all 610 precincts in the 20th Congressional District in upstate New York, Democrat Scott Murphy led his rival, Assemblyman Jim Tedisco, a Republican, with just 65 votes. In all Murphy had 77,344 votes and Tedisco had 77, 279 votes.

“No one has claimed victory,” said John Conklin Director of Information for the New York State Board of Elections. There are still 10,000 absentee ballots to be counted and only 6,000 have been sent back to the board. He explained the local absentee ballots have until April 7th to be sent in and military or overseas ballots have until April 13th to be sent in.

According to Conklin late Tuesday night Republicans filed a lawsuit to have all of the absentee ballots impounded.

It could take up to 2 weeks for a winner to be announced.

From The Wapo-Venture capitalist Scott Murphy (D) holds a 65-vote lead over state Assemblyman Jim Tedisco (R) in a special election in Upstate New York, a race cast as an early referendum on President Obama's economic stimulus package.

With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Murphy had 77,344 votes to Tedisco's 77,279. Somewhere between 6,000 and 10,000 military and absentee ballots remain uncounted, according to the Associated Press, and overseas absentee ballots will continue be accepted until April 13. In short, no winner will be declared any time soon.

According to a Republican source, there will be no recount, however. Instead election officials will complete a re-canvassing in which the voter rolls will all be checked to ensure a proper election. (Each vote cast would not be checked and then re-checked under such a scenario.)

Murphy, a political unknown at the start of a special election, focused almost exclusively in the campaign on his support for Obama and, specifically, the $787 billion economic stimulus plan pushed through Congress by the president.

March 31, 2009 - 10:37PM ET

(i) = incumbent

= winner

= runoff

U.S. House - District 20 - General

County Precincts Scott Murphy (Dem) James Tedisco (GOP) Total 610/610 77,344 50% 77,279 50%

Iraqi Women Empowered

Learning to Shoot

An Iraqi police recruit looks down the sights of her rifle during weapons training. She is one of several female recruits in basic training at the Iraqi Police Academy in Karbala, Iraq.

Now some on the left is going to have to explain how this women is part of a neo-con plot. Add this to the girls going to school and think about the shift that is occurring in that region.

France Threatens Walkout at G-20 Summit

Ans what does he want, tighter regulation. What does that mean, well I guess that will be for bureaucrats to decide.

LONDON (Reuters) - France threatened Tuesday to storm out of this week's G20 summit if it did not get the results it wanted, despite Britain's call for countries to unite and restore confidence to a broken world economy.

As leaders of the world's big powers converged on London for Thursday's crisis meeting to chart a way out of the worst global downturn since the Great Depression, the World Bank announced a $50 billion (35 billion pound) program to get international trade flowing again.

The International Monetary Fund also looks poised to get a huge cash boost to its ability to help countries being ravaged by the recession, and the leaders will likely announce common codes on financial regulation to prevent future crises.

"I want results," French president Nicolas Sarkozy told reporters. "We have to get results, there's no choice, the crisis is too serious to allow us to have a summit for nothing."

Shattering any impression of unity, his finance minister warned that Sarkozy would not sign the G20 communique if the summit failed to satisfy his objectives.

"(He) was very clear on that front. He said if the deliverables are not there, I won't sign the communique -- that means walking away," Christine Lagarde said in a TV interview

PARIS, France (CNN) -- French President Nicolas Sarkozy wants a "real transformation" of international financial regulations out of this week's G-20 summit in London, a spokesman said Tuesday amid reports that Sarkozy will walk out of the gathering if he's not satisfied.

"President Sarkozy thinks that this summit is of the utmost importance for the whole world," Sarkozy spokesman Jean-David Levitte said Tuesday. "We cannot fail."The G-20 -- financial leaders from 19 nations and the European Union -- begins meeting Thursday in London. The global monetary crisis is expected to be the central issue.

News outlets throughout Europe on Tuesday were reporting that Sarkozy would leave the summit or otherwise disrupt it if he doesn't feel members are seriously addressing business regulation, a crackdown on tax havens and other matters related to the world market. iReport.com: Do you live in a G-20 nation? Share your story

Would he actually do it?

But would Sarkozy really storm out of Brown's summit, or snub the new US leader that he has been at pains to impress? That would be, his aides admit, the nuclear option.

"In nuclear deterrence there's an essential principle, which is to never say in advance when you plan to use it," the president's office said.

Economist Crucifies Chavez

Considering the damage he has already done it may be too late

THE revolution is bust. After five years of rapid growth, based on oil-fuelled public spending, Hugo Chávez’s Venezuela has run into the buffers. The president insists that the country is shielded by “21st-century socialism” from what is essentially a crisis of capitalism. But between the lines of the modest adjustment package he announced on March 21st can be glimpsed the true gravity of the situation.

Venezuela’s original 2009 budget was based on oil at $60 a barrel. That has now been revised down to a more realistic $40, although independent analysts reckon the country is producing only about two-thirds of the 3m barrels a day the government claims. Budgeted spending is to be cut by 6.7%. But if compared with actual spending in 2008, the nominal cut is around 18%. When inflation is taken into account it is over a third.

The budget deficit will be narrowed by increasing VAT from 9% to 12%. But that still leaves a gap of over $10 billion to be filled by borrowing. Since foreign credit is virtually unobtainable, this will require a 180% rise in the government’s internal debt.

As the situation disintegrates Chavez will have two options, increase the pace of nationalizations at home and assault on enemies abroad, or back away from the "Bolivaran Revolution". Sadly my hopes for some rational thought from the tyrant are minimal to say the least. With that said who stole all of the money:

The finance minister, Alí Rodríguez, cites the $57 billion transferred in recent years into the government’s National Development Fund. However, according to his ministry’s figures, there was only $6 billion left in the fund at the end of December, shortly before the government raided the central bank’s reserves for $12 billion to top it up. What has happened to that money since remains unclear.

49 billion, gone?

Endorsements For Tedisco

.Local Newspapers weigh in with their endorsements of Jim Tedisco.
Newspapers agree: Jim Tedisco is the best candidate to fight for Main Street jobs, cut taxes, reform government and fight the greed on Wall Street and waste in Washington.

Post Star
"[Jim Tedisco] comes across as part every-man, part street-brawler...While the three-men-in-a-room budget process has driven our state toward insolvency, Mr. Tedisco has been demanding transparency and accountability from the highest levels...Mr. Murphy brings none of Mr. Tedisco's political experience in the trenches and has displayed little indication that he would buck his party or its leaders." (Post Star, "Tedisco is the Choice," 3/29/09)

Saratogian
"Public service, experience and political philosophy are the tipping points that earn Jim Tedisco our endorsement to represent the 20th Congressional District...Despite his minority role, Tedisco earned a reputation as an outspoken bulldog when it came to the state budget and various state and local issues." (Saratogian, "Political Endorsement: Public service, experience", 3/29/09)

Poughkeepsie Journal
"Already, Congress and President Barack Obama have approved hundreds of billions of dollars in funding to jumpstart the economy and stabilize financial institutions. Much of it was needed, but there has to come a point when some in Congress stand up and demand the spending be curbed and not loaded with political pork...Tedisco is a proven fighter in this way." (Poughkeepsie Journal, "Tedisco is best choice for Congress," 3/22/09)

Glens Falls Chronicle
"Maybe [Scott Murphy's] brilliant. He's rich, but we don't really know how he got that way. We just don't know him. We know an ad campaign. There's no way yet that we can grasp his political astuteness, how attuned he is to the character and possibilities of this community, whether he has the backbone to stand up to special interests.
"So far he seems just to toe the Democratic leadership line. That may well win him the election, given the Democrats' current popularity and President Obama's honeymoon with the American people, but I don't think it's nearly enough to earn our vote for United States Congressman." (Glens Falls Chronicle, "Scoop: Tedisco for Congress," 3/26/09)

New York Post
"The Post urges the election of state Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco (R-Schenectady)...Democrat Scott Murphy, a newcomer to elective politics, has said little in this campaign to suggest that he'd be much more than a rubber stamp for the high-spending agenda of President Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi." (New York Post, "Tedisco for the 20th," 3/26/09)

Ballston Journal
"The simple result of the vote totals will have more effect on the fate of the nation than all the other actions that will be taken by the winning candidate during the next two years. For that reason we urge a vote for Republican James Tedisco...Poorly written legislation, such as the recent federal stimulus bill, which was passed without a single Member of Congress having an opportunity to actually read it, inevitably leads to waste and unintended consequences. The AIG bonus provision, inserted by staff members, without an opportunity for amendment or discussion, is a perfect example of the dangers of haste and lack of accountability." (Ballston Journal, "A chance to send a message," 3/26/09)

Adirondack Daily Enterprise
"Overall, we see [Jim Tedisco] as more real, more independent, more experienced and more involved a lawmaker than Scott Murphy, whom we cannot help but see as a plastic pawn of the national Democratic Party whose abundant money and good looks aren't backed up by a whole lot of substance." (Adirondack Daily Enterprise, "On balance, we choose Tedisco," 3/28/09)

If you live within the 20th CD please don't forget to vote tomorrow, March 31st.

If you'd like to help us reach our online fundraising goal - please consider an additional donation of $20 for NY20.

Mayor Langford Gets Trial Delayed Till August

Who knows, is it about hopes to get this prosecutor replaced?

Associated Press - March 27, 2009 4:14 PM ET

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - A federal judge has delayed the bribery and public corruption trial of Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford and two associates.

Langford, Montgomery investment banker Bill Blount and Democratic lobbyist Al LaPierre were set to go on trial in May. But a judge granted a defense request Friday to delay the trial, which is now set for Aug. 31.

Lawyers for the three men said they needed more time to prepare a defense.

Langford, Blount and LaPierre were named in a 101-count indictment in December that includes charges of conspiracy, fraud, bribery, money laundering and filing false tax returns.

All three pleaded not guilty and are free on bond.

Terrible: Euna Lee and Laura Ling To Be Tried By North Korean Court

Is about the launch scheduled for next week? Perhaps about their plutonium weapons program, maybe they are just crazy. Either way the President is coming across as hapless while American journalists are being held hostage by tyrannical regimes.

SEOUL, South Korea – Two American journalists detained at North Korea's border with China two weeks ago will be indicted and tried, "their suspected hostile acts" already confirmed, Pyongyang's state-run news agency said Tuesday.

The Korean Central News Agency report did not say when a trial might take place, but said preparations to indict the Americans were under way as the investigation continues.

"The illegal entry of U.S. reporters into the DPRK and their suspected hostile acts have been confirmed by evidence and their statements," the report said, referring to the country by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The report did not elaborate on what "hostile acts" the journalists allegedly committed.

Where is Al Gore on this? The reporters were part of Current TV .

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Two American journalists detained in North Korea entered the country illegally and intended "hostile acts," according to the nation's state-run news service, KCNA

"The illegal entry of U.S. reporters into the DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea] and their suspected hostile acts have been confirmed by evidence and their statements, according to the results of [an] intermediary investigation" conducted by North Korean officials, KCNA reported Monday.

Preparations are being made to try the journalists "on the basis of the already-confirmed suspicions," the report said.

The news agency added that the journalists are allowed consular contact and their treatment is governed by relevant international laws while the investigation is under way.

Sudan's Bashir Betting on Arab Support

Total criminal, does the world really care about genocide in darfur?

CAIRO — Arab leaders may be divided over which Palestinian faction to support and what to do about Iran’s rising influence, but they have found one cause to rally around: protecting the president of Sudan from charges he orchestrated the rape, killing and widespread pillaging in Darfur.

DOHA (Reuters) - An Arab summit voiced support for Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir on Monday, rejecting an international arrest warrant issued against him for alleged war crimes in Darfur.

"We reiterate our solidarity with Sudan and our rejection of the measure of the ... International Criminal Court against his Excellency (Bashir)," said a final statement read at the summit in Qatar's capital Doha.

Bashir thanked the summit, saying the warrant issued against him "targets Sudan's national unity" and promised action to solve Sudan's problems. "We will try to do all we can to realize peace in all Sudan," he said.

North Korean Missile on Pad, US Ships in Region Ordered to Not Intefere

With two Americans still being held hostage, reports that Iran is actually helping north Korea, our enemies re-arming and on the march across the globe, why wouldn't they launch missile. Of course this weapons can reach the United States, but I am sure a little hope and change is all we need. As for the orders to stay out, I really don't get it. The launch is clearly a violation of international law and why should the US telegraph anything to North Korea, even if we are going to do nothing why say it?

(CNN) -- A North Korean rocket slated for launch sometime early next month can be clearly seen in a satellite photograph taken Sunday.

The satellite imagery, obtained by the Institute for Science and International Security from DigitalGlobe, shows the rocket at the Musudan-ri launch site in northeastern North Korea, casting a shadow on the ground below.U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Sunday there is little doubt that the planned launch is designed to bolster that country's military capability.

He also indicated that the U.S. military could be prepared to shoot down a North Korean missile if the rogue regime develops the capability to reach Hawaii or the western continental United States in a future launch.

The North Korean government says it will launch a commercial satellite atop a rocket sometime between April 4 and April 8.

Suspected Missile Sight

The Weapon

Well we have two ships there but they are planning on doing, well nothing:

SEOUL (Reuters) - The United States deployed two missile-interceptor ships from South Korea on Monday, a military spokesman said, days ahead of a North Korean rocket launch widely seen as a long-range missile test that violates U.N. sanctions.

The launch presents the first significant challenge by the prickly state to U.S. President Barack Obama, who will discuss Pyongyang's intentions with global leaders including Chinese President Hu Jintao this week at the G20 summit in London.

The United States, however, has no intention to shoot down the rocket in a test seen by Washington as part of Pyongyang's goal to eventually develop an intercontinental ballistic missile, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Sunday.

"I would say we're not prepared to do anything about it," Gates said on "Fox News Sunday" when asked if the Pentagon planned to shoot down the missile.

Enemies on the march and Obama has taken the tough line on these guys.

Government Rejects Turnaround Plans from Auto Industry as Obama Tightens Control on Companies

Its Corporatism as in the state essentially runs the company and to an extent the union. Both sides are forced to be in harmony according to goals established by elected officials while the company itself produces products in accordance with the government. Now the government has shot down the plans of these companies and is pushing deeper into controlling them. It won't work but that is not going to stop them.

The decision to ask G.M.’s chairman and chief executive, Rick Wagoner, to resign caught Detroit and Washington by surprise, and it underscored the Obama administration’s determination to keep a tight rein on the companies it is bailing out — a level of government involvement in business perhaps not seen since the Great Depression.

President Obama is scheduled to announce details of the auto package at the White House on Monday, but two senior officials, offering a preview on condition of anonymity, made clear that some form of bankruptcy — a quick, court-supervised restructuring, as they described it — could still be an option for one or both companies.

Mr. Obama’s auto industry task force, in a report released Sunday night assessing the viability of both companies and detailing the administration’s new plans for them, concluded that Chrysler could not survive as a stand-alone company.

It doesn't work mind you but that won't stop them and friring of Rick wagoner is clearly political in nature. I expect the Obama admin will demand givebacks and layoffs from trhe unions, to make them feel better he can say he tossed out the evil corporate boss as well.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration autos task force on Monday rejected the turnaround plans of General Motors Corp and Chrysler LLC and warned both could be put through bankruptcy to slash debts.

The announcement by the White House autos panel headed by former investment banker Steve Rattner marked a stunning reversal for management at both automakers and for GM investors and creditors who had bet on a softer line.

"We have unfortunately concluded that neither plan submitted by either company represents viability and therefore does not warrant the substantial additional investments that they requested," said a senior administration official, who asked not to be named.

Instead of granting GM's request for up to $30 billion in loans, the administration only pledged to fund GM's operations for the next 60 days while the top U.S. automaker develops an even more sweeping restructuring plan under new leadership.

This isn't a bailout its a takeover.

(CNN) -- General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner announced his resignation early Monday -- the latest change for the troubled automaker.

White House and GM sources had told CNN Sunday that Wagoner would resign as part of the federal government's bailout strategy for the troubled automaker."On Friday I was in Washington for a meeting with Administration officials. In the course of that meeting, they requested that I 'step aside' as CEO of GM, and so I have," Wagoner said in a statement posted to the GM Web site.

He is being replaced by GM's president and chief operating officer, Fritz Henderson. Kent Kresa will serve as interim chairman.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The Obama administration offered General Motors and Chrysler LLC a huge carrot Monday - the possibility of billions of dollars more in loans if they can win additional concessions from creditors and unions.

It also gave GM and Chrysler a break by not recalling the $13.4 billion already loaned to GM (GM, Fortune 500) and the $4 billion already loaned to Chrysler.

But it also unveiled a large stick - the threat of putting the two companies into bankruptcy, and possibly even forcing Chrysler out of business, if they do not reach deals that the government insists are needed to make the two companies viable for the long-term

Omar Al-Bashir Telling World to Stick It

AP – Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, foreground, is accompanied by Qatari Emir Sheik Hamad Bin Khalifa …

Free as a Bird

And why wouldn't he, with almost 250,000 dead in Darfur and a million about to starve to death the tyrant who runs the country is being backed by his allies, traveling and gaining support and is now getting the backing of the Arab League. We know an Axis of Evil is supporting them and of course the UN is paralyzed .

OMAR AL-BASHIR certainly gets around. In defiance of the arrest warrant for war crimes issued against him by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on March 4th, the Sudanese president has spent the past week jetting about northern Africa. He visited Eritrea, Egypt and Libya and was planning a trip to Ethiopia. Having called on some of his neighbours, he is making up his mind whether to attend a summit of the Arab League in Qatar on Monday March 30th.(He Went)

Mr Bashir is scathing about the allegations of crimes against humanity and war crimes that are levelled against him. As he travelled, a spokesman for the Sudanese foreign ministry said that the president considers the warrant for his arrest “not worth the ink it is written with—and this is the message of this trip.”

Within the country there is no threat to him and as it stands there is no one willing to stand up to this tyrant. But, on the off chance he is at risk his supporters have left him with an out:

Yet Mr Bashir might yet hesitate. Various former heads of state—from Liberia’s Charles Taylor to Yugoslavia’s Slobodan Milosevic—were eventually delivered to international tribunals, despite widespread belief that the courts were toothless because they lacked the direct means to conduct arrests. The Committee of Muslim Scholars, Sudan’s highest religious authority, has issued a fatwa advising Mr Bashir to avoid the Arab League summit because “the enemies of the nation are creeping round”. Should Mr Bashir decide to stay home, he has a convenient excuse to do so.

(CNN) -- Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir landed in Qatar on Sunday for an Arab League summit, a move that could put him at risk of arrest on war crimes charges leveled by a U.N. tribunal.

Al-Bashir met with Qatar's emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, after arriving in Doha, Qatar's capital.

Earlier this weekend, al-Thani criticized the timing of the arrest warrant issued in early March by the International Criminal Court, arguing it has undercut his government's efforts to resolve the long-running conflict in Sudan's Darfur region.

Evil on the March.

GhostNet: Can Your Computer Be Used to Watch You?

I have always been a little suspicious of the cameras that are built into computers, its just a little too 1984 for me. If this report is true then their is tremendous opportunity for an invasion of privacy the likes of which has only existed in science-fiction. Apparently its some form of Malware that invades and takes control, it arrives in an e-mail and then Big Brother is watching.

From Forbes:

The Information Warfare Monitor, a Canadian cyber-espionage watchdog, goes to pains not to point the finger of blame at the Chinese government for a massive China-based cyberspy ring it has uncovered. "While our analysis reveals that numerous politically sensitive and high-value computer systems were compromised in ways that circumstantially point to China as the culprit," it writes in a report issued March 29, "we do not know the exact motivation or the identity of the attacker(s), or how to accurately characterize this network of infections as a whole."

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Nearly 1,300 computers in more than 100 countries have been attacked and have become part of an computer espionage network apparently based in China, security experts alleged in two reports Sunday.

Computers -- including machines at NATO, governments and embassies -- are infected with software that lets attackers gain complete control of them, according to the reports. One was issued by the University of Toronto's Munk Centre for International Studies in conjunction with the Ottawa, Canada-based think tank The SecDev Group; the second came from the University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory.

Researchers have dubbed the network GhostNet. The network can not only search a computer but see and hear the people using it, according to the Canadian report.

"GhostNet is capable of taking full control of infected computers, including searching and downloading specific files, and covertly operating attached devices, including microphones and web cameras," the report says.

The Chinese deny any wrongdoing.

(CNN) -- Analysts in China are dismissing claims that nearly 1,300 computers in more than 100 countries have been attacked, and have become part of a cyber-espionage network apparently based in China.

"This is purely another political issue that the West is trying to exaggerate," Song Xiaojun, a Beijing-based strategy and military analyst, told China Daily, a state-run newspaper.

Zhu Feng, a professor with the school of international studies at Peking University, added: "Cyber security has been a global issue, but this time those who see China as an emerging threat again have picked the subject as a new weapon."

NYTIMES-TORONTO — A vast electronic spying operation has infiltrated computers and has stolen documents from hundreds of government and private offices around the world, including those of the Dalai Lama, Canadian researchers have concluded.

In a report to be issued this weekend, the researchers said that the system was being controlled from computers based almost exclusively in China, but that they could not say conclusively that the Chinese government was involved.

The researchers, who are based at the Munk Center for International Studies at the University of Toronto, had been asked by the office of the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan leader whom China regularly denounces, to examine its computers for signs of malicious software, or malware.

Their sleuthing opened a window into a broader operation that, in less than two years, has infiltrated at least 1,295 computers in 103 countries, including many belonging to embassies, foreign ministries and other government offices, as well as the Dalai Lama’s Tibetan exile centers in India, Brussels, London and New York.

Family Research Council Endorses Tedisco

WASHINGTON, March 26, 2009 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ ----Today FRC Action PAC is endorsing Jim Tedisco for Congress representing the 20th district of New York.

"Jim Tedisco will be a true friend of the family. We need representatives who will fight to defend life against the radical leadership in the House of Representatives," said Tony Perkins, President of FRC Action PAC. "I feel confident in Jim Tedisco's ability to do just that.

"Jim Tedisco's opponent said recently that he supports taxpayer funding of abortion for women on Medicaid or other national healthcare programs.

"We need pro-family representatives in Congress and FRC Action PAC believes that Jim Tedisco will be a true advocate for the issues that best uphold and strengthen pro-life policies and families. We are proud to support his candidacy."

FRC Action PAC is the political action committee connected to FRC Action, a 501(c)(4) membership organization. FRC Action is the legislative advocacy arm of the Family Research Council, a 501(c)(3) organization.

SOURCE FRC Action PAC

Stupidity of the Day: Spanish Prosecutor to Investigate Bush Offiicals over Gitmo

With the world burning down, genocidal tyrants on the march and thumbing their nose at the world, lets look into the people who prevented another 9/11. This is all about paralyzing the Western World so our enemies can run wild, be it investigating Israel, CIA agents, or this. By the way since Gitmo is still open will Obama eventually end up in the dock?

Investigating magistrate Baltasar Garzon has passed a 98-page complaint to prosecutors that accuses former Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and five others of being the legal architects of system that allowed torture in violation of international law, human rights lawyer Gonzalo Boye told CNN.

Prosecutors will review the document to determine if a crime has been committed.

The prosecutor's office will make a decision within five days, said Boye, one of the report's authors. Garzon accepted the complaint under Spanish law because there were several Spaniards at Guantanamo who allegedly suffered torture.

The complaint was filed in March 2008 by Boye and the Association for the Rights of Prisoners.It names Gonzales -- who was President George W. Bush's counsel when the Guantanamo Bay detention center was established -- and other top Bush administration officials John C. Yoo, Douglas J. Feith, William J. Hayes II, Jay S. Bybee and David S. Addington.

A former top aide to Colin Powell, who was secretary of state in the early days of the Bush administration's "war on terror," testified before Congress last summer that the six officials "colluded" to develop a legal rationale for allowing detainees to be subjected to harsh treatment.

The Amorality of the Left in Today's America

There is something amoral in the behavior of the Democrats, the media, and their allies. We see it in the hatred and demagoguery of business as well as the de-humanization of political enemies. Perhaps we should not be surprised, as these are the people who used Sarah Palin's special needs baby as a weapon against them. Surly the 90% tax the House passed last week is one of the most frightening pieces of legislation passed in our lifetimes (GOP members who voted for it should be ashamed) . Think about this, we have elected leaders fomenting hatred as means to garner political support, all the while using government to enrich themselves and their political allies. What is stopping the government from targeting anyone of us now, and if that happens what next?

In regards to the President we have seen many in the media put themselves in a state of willing dis-belief even though they know he is being disingenuous. For starters most main-stream media outlets have pointed out that Obama's budget is based on make believe numbers, yet I have not seen him crucified for peddling false stats and lies as he pushes his budget. On the political level the use of "agitators/community organizers" to threaten and intimidate people as happened last week should have outraged all of us. hard working people who had nothing to do with the financial crisis were harassed merely because of the company they worked for. That should not have happened and to be quite frank if it happens again we have duty to protect and defend the targets of this calculated hatred. This class hatred is based on ignorance especially the foolish notion that your "wealth is your work". Its an idiot idea put forth by people who cannot understand that those who work in offices or are ceo's who work with stocks and money are doing a very complicated job far above the pay-grade of an average American. Mopping a floor is in honorable job, I have been a custodian myself, but its not enough to run an economy and many on wall street or any street for that matter earn their money and they sure as hell earn their bonuses. Phony outrage about private companies is hate speech, pure and simple.

The other day I was talking to some people who work in finance and I have many friends and family members who have worked their ways into high positions of responsibility, nobody gave them anything and they earned everything they got, they have been good for America and America has been good to them. Now we have these nitwit thugs, vapid media types, and despicable politicians trying to destroy their fellow Americans, these priests of power know one thing, the greatest threat to their plans is not our countries enemies or Al Qaeda, its Americans. Their hatred and determination for their fellow citizens knows no bounds.

For the first time in my life I am hearing from Americans the sounds of fear. More then one person I know, good people mind you, has told me they may end up leaving the country, out of anger, fear, disgust. I have no doubt others out in our country, who watching the winds of hate spread across the land, contemplate dropping out of society or simply moving away. Of course these things have always happened throughout world history, but usually people came to America to flee them, now we are witnessing these events play out here. All the while the left, the crony-capitalists and the politicians plot their power grabs and legitimize the grand theft of our national treasure.

I joined the military in October of 2001 to defend the Constitution and all Americans from our enemies, left, right, Republican, Democrat, no matter we are all American. Now the normal political battles that have typified our system of government have transformed into something far more insidious and dangerous to all of us. For now the left is content with their frenzied hatred and targeted attacks, in due time some of them will devour their own, unfortunately by then the America we love may have been irrevocably damaged. Does this mean we should surrender in the face of this onslaught, no, but we must be prepared to defeat these guys and accept that temporary setbacks must not deter us from the goal of restoring American values for all of us.

God Bless the USA!

Opposition As Obama Heads to London

There are people addicted to protest, no other way to describe. I general the opposition is coming in two forms. There is the institutional left typified by trade unions and various organizations. The anti-American left motivated by anti-war, environment, etc.. A final opposition will be political leaders angered by our stimulus plan and fearful of rising protectionism. Its a hornets nets, no other way to describe it.
Via HA

Despite his immense popularity around the world, Mr. Obama will confront resentment over American-style capitalism and resistance to his economic prescriptions when he lands in London on Tuesday for the Group of 20 summit meeting of industrial and emerging market nations plus the European Union.

The president will not even try to overcome NATO’s unwillingness to provide more troops in Afghanistan when he goes on later in the week to meet with the military alliance.

He seems unlikely to return home with any more to show for his attempts to open a dialogue with Iran’s leaders, who have, so far, responded with tough words, albeit not tough enough to persuade Russia to support the United States in tougher sanctions against Tehran. And he will be tested in face-to-face meetings by the leaders of China and Russia, who have been pondering the degree to which the power of the United States to dominate global affairs may be ebbing.

Mr. Obama is unlikely to push for specific commitments from other countries on stimulus spending to bolster their own economies, White House officials acknowledged Saturday in a teleconference call, despite the fact that administration officials would like to see European countries, in particular, increase their spending to try to prompt a global economic recovery.

Biden Laying Some Groundwork:

SANTIAGO, Chile (CNN) -- Five days before world leaders meet in England for the G-20 Summit, Vice President Joe Biden is attending a two-day conference in Chile that includes seven Latin American and European heads of state

The leaders attending the Progressive Governance Conference in the seaside resort city of Vina del Mar are Presidents Michelle Bachelet of Chile, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil, Christina Fernandez de Kirchner of Argentina and Tabare Vasquez of Uruguay as well as Prime Ministers Gordon Brown of Britain, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero of Spain and Jens Stoltenberg of Norway.

The conference is billed as "a vital opportunity for the center left's leading international figures to put forward a future vision for progressive politics, as an era defined by the neoliberal faith in laissez faire irrefutably comes to an end."

Mortgage Swindlers Still At it:"Bleed Their Victims"

Just great, more mortgage swindlers out there. When I drive around I see sketchy store fronts exclaiming this or that in regards to mortgages, how many are one hit scam artists who move in, set up the mortgage, collect the fees and then vanish? How many will take advantage of Obama's new plan?

March 27 (Bloomberg) -- In early 2008, Cheryl Ann Montero, a California mortgage broker, held a series of free seminars in the clubhouse of the Lone Tree Golf Course in Contra Costa County, a suburban area near San Francisco. The attendees, homeowners facing foreclosure, were desperate for a rescue from their woes. Using a PowerPoint presentation, Montero delivered one.

She said her firm, Freedom Financial Solutions, could pressure lenders to stop foreclosures by challenging the legality of loan agreements, according to court records. Her fee: $2,500 upfront and a $2,000 monthly payment to cover legal costs. Promoting her services on the Web site Craigslist, Montero, a blond-haired, blue-eyed woman who looked like a soccer mom, became known as a foreclosure escape artist.

“All the real estate agents knew about her classes,” says Kay Trail, a realtor in Antioch. “She was one shrewd sister.”

She was also ripping people off, says Ken McCormick, a prosecutor in the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s office. A player in a new confidence game exploiting soaring defaults, Montero didn’t have a team of attorneys to confront lenders. Instead, her firm took a small ownership stake in some of her clients’ houses and filed for bankruptcy, temporarily suspending foreclosure proceedings on those homes, according to an investigative report filed in court by prosecutors.

In the end, she didn’t deliver lower mortgages for the 10 homeowners who paid a total of$52,000 for her services, McCormick says. Montero did have mounting financial woes of her own: In September, she filed for personal bankruptcy, according to court records.

Bleed Their Victims

“She couldn’t make it in real estate anymore, so she just changed hats,” McCormick says. “But she was taking money and doing nothing.”

The prosecutor charged Montero with 36 counts of grand theft and related charges in December. She pleaded not guilty and is free on $100,000 bail. Her lawyer, Cameron Bowman of San Jose, didn’t return telephone calls for comment.

The media likes to throw trillion dollar numbers around, but on the ground their is always a swindler waiting to exploit the situation.

Too Funny, "Green Bulbs" Don't Work

(CNN) -- Lights were going out across the world on Saturday as millions of homes and businesses in major cities went dark for one hour in a symbolic gesture to highlight concerns over climate change.

In Australia, floodlights of the Sydney Opera House were extinguished as the city's iconic harbor kicked off events for Earth Hour, a day-long energy-saving marathon stretching through 88 countries and 24 time zones.

The event's Web site reported that hundreds of people lined the harbour for a glimpse of the dimming skyline at 8:30 pm -- the local time that nearly 4,000 participating cities around the world were expected to switch off non-essential lights.

But is the thought that counts! Of course the companies trying to cash in on the hysteria can't compete with their shoddy products, so get the government to help you out! Basically the government wanted widespread use so they encouraged mass production leading to shoddy products. The argument goes yeah, some of them don't work but the overall goal is worthy. Oh and by the way some of the bulbs do have too high a level of Mercury, how that fits into a worthy policy goal is not explained.

Take the case of Karen Zuercher and her husband, in San Francisco. Inspired by watching the movie “An Inconvenient Truth,” they decided to swap out nearly every incandescent bulb in their home for energy-saving compact fluorescents. Instead of having a satisfying green moment, however, they wound up coping with a mess.

“Here’s my sad collection of bulbs that didn’t work,” Ms. Zuercher said the other day as she pulled a cardboard box containing defunct bulbs from her laundry shelf.

One of the 16 Feit Electric bulbs the Zuerchers bought at Costco did not work at all, they said, and three others died within hours. The bulbs were supposed to burn for 10,000 hours, meaning they should have lasted for years in normal use. “It’s irritating,” Ms. Zuercher says.

In reality Consumers are making a choice:

In California, where bulbs have been heavily encouraged, utilities have concluded that they will not be able to persuade a majority of consumers to switch until compact fluorescents get better. That is prompting them to develop specifications for a better bulb.

The effort aims to address the most consumer complaints: poor dimming, slow warm-up times, shortened bulb life because of high temperatures inside enclosed fixtures, and dissatisfaction with the color of the light.

“Because of the aggressive goals in California, we have to be pushing the envelope at all times,” said Roland Risser, director of customer efficiency at Pacific Gas and Electric.

Experts and bulb manufacturers say that consumers need to play a role in solving the problems by learning more about the limitations of compact fluorescent bulbs. The Federal Trade Commission has begun to study whether it should force improvements in the labels of the bulbs.

This probably not what they had in mind.

(CNN) -- Lights were going out across the world on Saturday as millions of homes and businesses in major cities went dark for one hour in a symbolic gesture to highlight concerns over climate change.

In Australia, floodlights of the Sydney Opera House were extinguished as the city's iconic harbor kicked off events for Earth Hour, a day-long energy-saving marathon stretching through 88 countries and 24 time zones.

The event's Web site reported that hundreds of people lined the harbour for a glimpse of the dimming skyline at 8:30 pm -- the local time that nearly 4,000 participating cities around the world were expected to switch off non-essential lights.

Af-Pak: Obama's Taliban Strategy

With our enemies on the march its more important then ever to see the Taliban defeated. The president to his credit is trying. The key policy, and it is risky, is to simply view the issue as regional rather then Afghanistan alone. To some extent this has always been the policy as the Bush admin would often strike across the border and encourage the Pakistan military to be helpful. Now the real question will be how aggressive will we be with the Taliban forces located in Pakistan, by recent accounts they are unifying waiting for us. As we send another 21,000 troops into the country. But how far will we go into Pakistan, the predator strikes have continued un-abated, but how often will troops go in of the fear is desatbilizing the all ready tenuous state of affairs in that nuclear armed country. With that said it appears the Obama admin is discounting nation building and simply trying to defeat the Taliban and Al Qaeda.

From The Economist:

At the heart of the strategy is the idea of treating both sides of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border as a “single theatre”. For all the extra military effort that is likely to be devoted to Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke, America’s special envoy to the “Af-Pak” region, thinks the real source of the problem lies in Pakistan. The Taliban, he told NATO ambassadors, were only the “outer rim” of the global jihadist movement. But America’s ability to influence events in Pakistan directly is limited. Mr Holbrooke said American troops would not cross the border as that was a “red line” (though American drones periodically shoot at targets in Pakistan).

Central to the review is the idea of increasing the size of Afghan security forces. The additional 4,000 soldiers will come from the 82nd Airborne Division to southern Afghanistan, in part to support the Afghan army and in part to offer more training. The local army is due to grow from 80,000 to 134,000 by 2011, and some of the proposals speak of expanding it to 250,000. The police, too, would be boosted. The cost will certainly run into billions of dollars. But this is probably cheaper than continuing to fight the Taliban with Western troops.

Commanders had asked for several thousand more soldiers yet. These may come eventually, if Mr Obama can secure additional contributions from allies. But America is likely to get little more than penny-packets from allies. Poland, for instance, recently announced an extra 400 troops. The Obama administration has decided pragmatically not to demand big new troop contributions to avoid an early failure. Instead it is pushing Europeans and others to help pay some of the extra costs and to step up civilian efforts. France has suggested sending European gendarmes to help train the Afghan police but the European Union has struggled to find the 400 trainers it had promised.

Look this may work, but it will take time and patience.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- More troops, new legislation, improved troop training and added civilian expertise highlight President Obama's strategy to fight terrorism in Afghanistan and Pakistan.Obama on Friday announced his plan to tackle what he called an "international security challenge of the highest order."

Stressing soberly that "the safety of people around the world is at stake," Obama said the "situation is increasingly perilous" in the region in and around Afghanistan, where the United States has been fighting al Qaeda and the Taliban for more than 7½ years after attacks in New York and at the Pentagon.

Karzai's Public Reaction:

KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Saturday praised U.S. President Barack Obama's new plan for the war in Afghanistan.

"He has our full support," Karzai told a news conference. "This was better than what we expected."Obama unveiled the plan Friday which called for more troops, new legislation, improved troop training and added civilian expertise in the war in Afghanistan.Obama said the plan would address what he called an "international security challenge of the highest order."

Israel Has Launched Three Strikes on Sudan Since January

Via HA

I would like to see the complaints, would the left and the the fascist regimes they support even dare criticize these strikes. At least someone is attacking this genocidal state. Of course Israel was looking out for its own interests here, but the Sudanese government is acting with impunity and needs to be chastened. We know an Axis of Evil is supporting them and of course the UN is paralyzed . We shall see.

Earlier this week, CBSNews.com was the first to report that Israel had conducted an airstrike in January against a convoy carrying weapons north into Egypt to be smuggled into the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

But actually, since January, Israel has conducted a total of three military strikes against smugglers transporting what were believed to be Iranian weapons shipments destined for Gaza, a U.S. official told ABC News.

The information matches recent reports from Sudanese officials of two airstrikes in the desert of eastern Sudan and the sinking of a ship in the Red Sea carrying weapons.

Jonathan Peled, a spokesman for the Israeli Embassy in Washington, would only say, "No comment," when contacted by ABC News on the matter.

Sudanese officials initially said this week that 39 people riding in 17 trucks were killed in a mid-January airstrike conducted by an unidentified aircraft in a desert area north of the Red Sea port of Port Sudan.

Russia to Build 6 Submarines With Cruise Missile Capability

Severodvinsk-class submarine. Six new ones to be built by Russia with a 2011 launch date.

With enemies on the march is this any surprise? By the way they plan on paying for these subs by selling cruise missiles, what customers might want those?

MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- Russia will build at least six nuclear-powered submarines with long-range cruise missiles for its navy, a source in the Russian Defense Ministry told the Itar-Tass news agency.

The missiles can potentially carry low-capacity tactical warheads, the news agency reported Friday.

"These supersonic, highly maneuvering missiles are designed for strikes on aircraft carriers of the enemy if the latter poses a direct threat to Russia's security," the unnamed source told Itar-Tass. "The missiles can be launched at the most important coastal facilities."

Oh and the missiles can be tipped with Nuclear warheads.

Capabilities: From Russian Military Analysis

Jefferson County Pushed to Lose Control of Sewage System as Greatest Municpal Collapse in History Unfolds

The reckoning of the muni-bond scandal and cdr financial products is taking place.

By JAY REEVES , 03.26.09, 04:56 PM EDT

Bond insurers urged a federal judge Thursday to intervene in Jefferson County's massive sewer debt crisis, contending that a toxic mix of corruption and incompetence has pushed it near financial ruin.

Henry Simpson, a lawyer for bond insurers who already have made millions in bond payments the county couldn't afford, asked the judge to name a manager to assume operation of the sewage system in Alabama's most populous county.

Simpson called the $3.9 billion debt debacle - which has brought the county to the brink of filing the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history - one of the worst cases of mismanagement in modern times in the United States.

"There could be no greater manifestation of ineptitude, incompetence and corruption ...," Simpson said.

I have often pointed out how big the collapse of Jefferson County Will be, well uts this big:

County leaders have been at odds for more than a year trying to avoid filing a nearly $4 billion bankruptcy that would eclipse the $1.7 billion case filed by Orange County, Calif., in 1994 as the largest municipal bankruptcy ever.

What is the mayor accused of?
Its pretty straightforward. Starting in 1996 the mayor began to push various deals including a land deal known as Vision Land. Being a man of fine tastes he found his expenses outmatched his revenues, and turned to Montgomery investment banker Bill Blount and lobbyist Al LaPierre. Blount would become the underwriter for every bond offering and LaPierre became a vehicle by which Mayor Langford would recieve bribes. LaPierre would "lend" money to the Mayor to make everything nice and legal and essentialy launder the bribes. In 2006 the SEC began to investigate some of these deals and by December of last year a special federal grand jury in Birmingham returned a 101-count indictment against Langford, the former commission president; Montgomery investment banker Bill Blount and lobbyist Al LaPierre. The indictment includes charges of conspiracy, bribery, fraud, money laundering and filing false income tax returns in what prosecutors described as a long-running bribery scheme related to sewer bonds and other Jefferson County financial transactions. It was this sewage deal which might bankrupt the municipality and involves CDR Financial Products Charles LeCroy of J.P Morgan Chase.
The indictment includes charges of conspiracy, bribery, fraud, money laundering and filing false income tax returns in what prosecutors described as a long-running bribery scheme related to sewer bonds and other Jefferson County financial transactions.


In summary the Mayor is the one:
Who is facing 101 counts on corruption and bribery charges
The man who bankrupted Jefferson County Alabama
Helped increase fees on middle and working class people
The man who did it for designer suits and rolex watches.
Mayor Langford's Culture of Corruption.
Who helped J.P Morgan Chase and other Financial Groups overcharge by 100 million in fees Jefferson County.
The same Mayor who has saddled his constituents with a billion dollar debt.

Obama to Funnel More Money to Auto Industry: Bonus, Obama to Increase MPG Requirements

Well they are to big to fail. Of course this will end badly but pumping money into any problem is Obama's policy. We know it won't work, but who cares, its just 16 billion for GM and 5 billion for Chrysler! The takeover continues and the payoff to the UAW will never end until it all goes under. And lets make the cars more expensive, why not we can just funnel more money in!

DETROIT — The Obama administration will probably extend more short-term aid to General Motors and Chrysler on Monday, but will impose a strict deadline for bondholders and union workers to make concessions that would help the ailing automakers become viable businesses and avert bankruptcy.President Obama’s auto task force is expected to say that despite its recommendation of more federal assistance for G.M. and Chrysler, bankruptcy could still be a possibility for either company, according to people close to the discussions.

The task force was in its final stages Friday of determining how to keep the two Detroit companies afloat. Meanwhile, the automakers were negotiating retiree health care costs with the United Automobile Workers union, and their debt burden with bondholders and lenders.But both immediate and longer-term help will be tied to completing the restructurings that G.M. and Chrysler began after receiving $17.4 billion in federal loans.

This ends with the companies going under and the choice will be bankruptcy of Nationalization.

Update, Just in Time We are also going to make cars more expensive to make!

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The Department of Transportation announced the first increase in 25 years of the nation's fuel economy standards Friday.

Under the new rules, 2011 model year, cars will be required to get, on average, 30.2 miles per gallon and light trucks, such as pick-ups, SUVs and vans, will have to average 24.1 mpg.

The combined fleetwide goal for cars and trucks will be 27.3 mpg, a 2 mpg increase over the current standard of 25.3 mpg.

Tearing Down Walls in Sammara Iraq

Children jump onto a flat-bed truck and celebrate as a crane removes several concrete barriers from a marketplace in Samarra, Iraq, March 23.



Another sign of improvement, the blast wall themselves played a key role in preventing infiltration by terrorists, criminals, and death squads. A good day with more to come.

FOB BRASSFIELD-MORA (March 26, 2009) — Scores of Samarra citizens joined provincial and community leaders March 23 as concrete barriers were removed during a ceremony reminiscent of the opening of the Berlin wall nearly 20 years ago.

The concrete barriers, commonly known as T-walls, surround several government and military buildings throughout Samarra to provide a layer of protection against insurgent attacks. While T-walls have become a familiar site in Iraq, they are a sign of more dangerous times, and most citizens agree it’s time for them to go.

Samarra’s mayor, Mahmood Khalaf Ahmed, joined Lt. Col. Sam Whitehurst, commander, 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, to witness the first step in a city-wide barrier removal project.

“Samarra has become very peaceful,” said Omar Khaled, a local produce shop owner. “The barriers remind us of bad times, but it is time to look toward the future and enjoy our peace. It is time to reopen Samarra.”

Futher Inquriy into AIG

Cuomo may have been thuggish in bonuses, but I would like to see how what they turn up from various deals that may have been ciminal in nature. There has been a remarkable convergence of the Banks, the Democrats, and AIG across this country. Now theye trying to lift up the stone and see what lies beneath. Just this week we have Jefferson County, Alabama beginning to think the unthinkable and declare bankruptcy. Many of these deals are so opaque by nature that there are several scandals going on here at the same time, so lets see what happens and we can hope information turns up will unravel the whole ball of wax .

The banks and investment firms that ended up with A.I.G.’s bailout money last fall were, in many cases, counterparties to derivatives contracts it had sold, known as credit-default swaps, which guaranteed the value of assets in their investment portfolios. Had A.I.G. not been bailed out, and simply allowed to go bankrupt, they would have suffered investment losses running into the billions of dollars.

A.I.G. released the names of its major counterparties this month, at the urging of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. They included Wall Street firms, like Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Merrill Lynch, that have successfully resisted efforts to regulate credit derivatives in the past, on the argument that such contracts were valuable risk management tools, safe in the hands of the experts.

In several hearings this month, members of Congress said they believed the derivatives had often been used to speculate, not to manage risk. They have expressed outrage that A.I.G.’s trading partners got 100 cents on the dollar for their money-losing trades when ordinary Americans paying for the bailout have suffered big losses in their 401(k) accounts and other investments.

Some have also been dismayed to learn that taxpayer money had ended up bailing out foreign banks. Some of the biggest beneficiaries of the bailout of A.I.G. were banks in Europe, including Société Générale of France and Deutsche Bank of Germany, each of which received nearly $12 billion, Barclays of Britain, which received $8.5 billion, and UBS of Switzerland, which received $5 billion.

I posted this last week:

One of he real scandals here, in addition to the sub-prime meltdown was the collapse brought about by involvement in various schemes that brought down many of these financial houses. UBS, Soc Gen, JP. Morgan, Chase, all of these banks were involved in the various corruption scandals that stretch from New Mexico to Florida and often involve CDR financial products and the Democratic party. We need to start looking at the root of the losses, and that is where the true outrage will be found, not the whipped up hysteria over bonuses.

From The Economist:

Shocking though the bonuses have been, they pale in comparison with the $49.5 billion of payments that AIG has made to counterparties in its disastrous foray into credit-default swaps—many of them foreign banks (see chart). This was no accident: it was precisely bailing out these trading partners that the government viewed as necessary to avoid a systemic meltdown. Still, the transfers—including almost $13 billion to Goldman Sachs, making it, as one newspaper put it, a “charity case”—are likely to receive more scrutiny as the bonus storm subsides.

A quick look at the companies being investigated over alleged black box deals, (The Highlighted companies merely reflect who received the biggest payouts from AIG, Chase may not be highlighted but they received money) So we have the whole system collapsing and the federal Government pouring money into AIG to provide financial cover for deals that should never have taken place. At the same time various cities and states have filed an anti-trust case against the very companies the Fed is now trying to save. The same companies that the Federal government is connecting to various corruption scandals across the country.

Now Congress is getting into the act:

NEW YORK (Fortune) -- The derivatives traders that hit the jackpot with last fall's AIG bailout are getting more attention from the government.

More than two dozen Democrats in Congress called on Thursday for an investigation of the decision to pay in full the holders of credit default swaps written by AIG (AIG, Fortune 500).

The group of 27 legislators, led by AIG critic Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, sent a letter to Neil Barofsky, the special inspector general for the Troubled Assets Relief Program, demanding the investigation.

The legislators say they want to know why AIG's trading partners - a group that includes some of the biggest and most sophisticated financial institutions in the world - were made whole for risky, unregulated trades with scarce taxpayer funds.

Enemies on The March and Obama Admin Adrift and Indifferent

Wonderful, and lets forget these other developments:

• Talk of Russia placing bombers in Cuba and Venezuela.
• The recent hostage taking of American Journalists by North Korea and Iran.
• The Russian military buildup.
• The Iranian weapons program.
• North Korea threatening to restart its weapons program.
• Criminal regimes and organizations supporting Sudan.
• The continuing flaunting of the world and the US by the criminals in Sudan.
• Iran spitting in the face of the President's peace overture.

Our enemies are on the march and pushing and testing us wherever and whenever they can. The Obama admin's response, send video tapes. I do wonder why are Democrats tougher on AIG bonuses then enemies overseas.

Japan orders Military to Be on Alert Over Korean Missile, US Navy Moving Warships In

The Game of Chicken just got turned up a notch. In addition they are still holding two us citizens hostage and they are threatening to re-start their weapons program. Things are getting very serious very quick.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- As North Korea prepares for an expected rocket launch next month, the U.S. Navy says it is moving to the Sea of Japan ships capable of shooting down ballistic missiles.

Later Thursday, Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada said that debris from the North Korean rocket would be fired on and destroyed if the launch fails and fragments fall into Japanese territory, ministry spokesman Yuichi Akiyoshi said.

The U.S. ships, with powerful Aegis radar that can track ballistic missile launches, are on regularly planned deployments but are "prepared to track a launch or more, if afforded," according to a U.S. Navy official who could not be named because of the sensitivity of the information.

USS Chaffee heading to South Korea

TOKYO, (CNN) -- Japan is mobilizing its missile defense system, and U.S. Navy ships are deploying to the Sea of Japan, as North Korea prepares to launch a rocket that is expected next month, officials said.

Japan's move, aimed at shooting down debris from the launch that might fall into its territory, is notable for a country with a pacifist constitution.

The U.S. ships are capable of shooting down ballistic missiles, a Navy spokesman said.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan on Friday ordered its military to prepare to intercept any dangerous debris that might fall on its territory if a missile launch planned by Pyongyang goes wrong.

Pyongyang has said that between April 4-8 it will launch a satellite, but regional powers believe the real purpose is to test its longest-range missile, the Taepodong-2. It has already positioned what is believed to be the missile on a launch pad.

"I have issued an order ... to prepare to destroy any object that might fall on Japan as a result of an accident involving a flying object from North Korea," Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada told reporters after a meeting of Japan's Security Council.

North Korea this week put a long-range missile in place for the launch, which the United States has warned would violate U.N. sanctions imposed on Pyongyang for past weapons tests.