Free Republic

States, Localities Face Deeper Crisis The Bond Buyer By Lynne Funk October 8, 2008 State and local governments are facing a fiscal crisis that will be far worse than the 2001 recession because sharp declines in income and sales tax collections will lead to more widespread budget cuts in the months ahead, a new Rockefeller Institute of Government report warns. But governments may have to issue more debt as a result of their financial difficulties, according to Don Boyd, the author of the report, titled The Damage is Just Beginning, and other market participants. Boyd said he expects a major...

The Jack White and Alicia Keys song for the next James Bond movie finally has a video, and it's way way worse than you could have ever imagined.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A Justice Department investigation finds former U.S. Attorney Todd Graves of the Western District of Missouri was forced out because of opposition from Missouri Sen. Kit Bond's office. The report by the department's internal watchdog says Bond's legal counsel, Jack Bartling, asked the White House at least twice in 2005 to remove Graves. Bartling told investigators that he wanted to remove Graves because of conflicts between the staffs of Bond and Graves' brother, U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, a Republican who represents northwest Missouri. Bartling said Rep. Graves' operation "did not run business" the way that Bond's office...

Much coolness to behold!Trailer 2, Quantum Solace

When federal immigration agents raided a Houston rag factory and took 166 suspected illegal immigrants into custody, a Boston philanthropist and multimillionaire was ready to chip in bond money to help the workers. Robert J. Hildreth, 57, is the public face of the National Immigrant Bond Fund, a fledgling organization that helps immigrants swept up in Immigration and Customs Enforcement workplace raids post bonds. The controversial fund has the backing of major immigrant advocacy groups and religious leaders, but has drawn criticism from anti-illegal immigration organizations. Since spring 2007, the fund has paid more than $180,000 to bond out immigrants...

White Stripes frontman Jack White and soul singer Alicia Keys have recorded the next Bond theme tune - Another Way To Die. Amy Winehouse, Duffy, Grace Jones and Leona Lewis had all been tipped as frontrunners to perform the track in Quantum Of Solace. Another Way To Die has been written by US star White, 33, who also plays drums on the track, and will be the first duet in Bond soundtrack history. Daniel Craig reprises his role as 007 in Quantum Of Solace, the 22nd adventure in Bond history, when the film opens later this year. Bond producers Michael...

NAACP: Obama Win Won't Fix Race Problems CINCINNATI, July 14, 2005(AP) Racial disparity will remain an issue in America, regardless of whether Barack Obama is elected as the nation's first black president, the chairman of the NAACP told the organization's national convention Sunday night. Julian Bond, a veteran civil rights leader, said Obama's candidacy doesn't "herald a post-civil rights America, any more than his victory in November will mean that race as an issue has been vanquished in America." But he drew loud applause when he said the country, and "all of us here," are taking pride in the success...

http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2008/06/bond-teaser-tra.html Released Nov 7th, 2008

FORWARD OPERATING BASE LOYALTY, Iraq, June 30, 2008 – Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers and Iraqi National Police officers share the stresses and successes of providing security and stability in Iraq as they work side by side every day to protect the people of Baghdad. Army Sgt. Brent Mann (far left), of Austin, Texas, and Army Spc. Octavio Torres, of New York, share water with a policeman from 1st Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 1st National Police Division, near a checkpoint at a major intersection in eastern Baghdad. Mann and Torres are assigned to Multinational Division Baghdad in Company D, 2nd Battalion,...

The curse of James Bond has struck again - after 007 actor Daniel Craig sliced off the tip of one of his fingers filming an action sequence. Craig, 39, was taken to hospital today while the 22nd Bond movie, 'Quantum of Solace' was being shot at Pinewood Studios. It is the second time in two weeks that Craig has been injured during filming. A week ago his face was cut and required eight stitches. But after the injury to his hand in the morning he was back on set to resume filming in the afternoon. 'There was quite a lot...

Beyonce Knowles has reportedly been approached to replace Amy Winehouse and record the theme song for the forthcoming Bond movie, 'Quantum of Solace'. Winehouse was rumoured to have been dropped as the film's official musical muse after DJ Mark Ronson told reporters he had scrapped his 007 collaboration with the singer, because she was not "ready" to work on music after a recent return to her erratic ways.

Bond measure to improve children's hospitals on ballot A $980 million bond measure aimed at modernizing and expanding children's hospitals in California has qualified for the November ballot.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy has just filed an emergency motion for a hearing to modify the bond for Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. Action News broke the story of the Mayor's weekend trip to Dallas. Now...the prosecutor wants the mayor on a tighter leash.

After getting the bad end of his own ax in a fight, a bloodied villain limps alone in a stark desert. Mathieu Amalric stumbles to the red, rocky ground. "CUT!" rings loudly from the set of the 22nd James Bond film. Picking up an hour after "Casino Royale" left off, "Quantum of Solace" is the spy franchise's first direct sequel. Filming began in January and has taken the crew from Britain to Panama to this moonlike landscape in northern Chile, which is standing in for Bolivia. It's a place that director Marc Forster said evokes Bond's "isolation and loneliness." "He...

Mr. Obama: “White Racism Is Not To Blame For Your Pastor’s Hate Speech” Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson, Founder and President of BOND, the Brotherhood Organization of a New Destiny, released the following statement today in response to Barack Obama’s speech on race and his close relationship with his divisive and racist minister, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Jr: “Barack Obama gave a speech which will placate his supporters, but failed to repudiate his racist spiritual mentor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Jr. Obama attempted to address the issue of white racism, but failed to adequately address black racism. He also tried to put...

Bond debt rates surge The auction-rate bond market has collapsed, with Colorado hit hard. By Aldo Svaldi and Jeffrey Leib The Denver Post Article Last Updated: 03/08/2008 03:54:45 PM MST February was a bad month for Stephanie Doughty, the chief financial officer for Poudre Valley Health System, as interest rates on most of its $215 million in auction-rate bonds climbed steeply, adding as much as $140,000 to weekly interest costs. On Monday, things are expected to get worse when $50 million of that debt goes to auction to face higher rates. "It was just unbelievable, to see such a dramatic...

Lawmakers ask SEC to allow bond buybacks By MARCY GORDON WASHINGTON The call to let local governments, public agencies and other bond issuers buy back their own debt is getting louder. Key lawmakers are joining Wall Street investors in asking federal regulators to allow the buybacks to ease market distress that's sent borrowing costs soaring for public entities. Recent failed auctions in a $330 billion public-debt market -- held to determine the interest rate for bonds issued by municipalities, public agencies, hospitals and state student-loan agencies -- have pushed up their borrowing costs and spread alarm on Main Street and...

Stocks slide as investors scramble for safety By Michael Mackenzie and Saskia Scholtes in New York Published: February 29 2008 19:08 | Last updated: February 29 2008 21:10 Stock prices and bond yields tumbled on Friday as fears about the stability of the financial system sent investors scrambling for the safety of government debt. The yield on the two-year Treasury note dropped to its lowest level in nearly four years, while the S&P 500 stock index fell 2.7 per cent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 2.5 per cent. Traders said sharp falls in the prices of mortgage bonds...

A new sharia law controversy erupted last night over Government plans to issue special "Islamic bonds" to pay for Gordon Brown's public-spending programme by raising money from the Middle East. Britain is to become the first Western nation to issue bonds approved by Muslim clerics in line with sharia law, which bans conventional loans involving interest payments as "sinful". The scheme would mark one of the most significant economic advances of sharia law in the non-Muslim world. It will lead to the ownership of Government buildings and other assets currently belonging to British taxpayers being switched wholesale to wealthy Middle-Eastern...

Britain's Treasury is likely to back plans to issue Shariah law-compliant bonds, officials said Sunday - amid continuing debate about the application of Islamic laws in the country. Treasury Secretary Alistair Darling, who will present his annual budget March 12, plans to issue the Islamic bonds, known as sukuk, to tap into a fast-growing market in the products. "We want the City of London to be one of the gateways globally for Islamic financial products," a Treasury spokesman said, on customary condition of anonymity in line with policy. ...Shariah law prohibits charging or paying interest, which has led to the...

Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson Announces Personal Endorsement of Governor Romney for President of the United States Los Angeles—Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson, author, radio host and Founder and President of BOND, the Brotherhood Organization of A New Destiny, announced this morning his personal endorsement of Governor Mitt Romney for President of the United States: “I have never before endorsed a candidate for President of the United States, but the circumstances that have been placed upon us and the gravity of this election have caused me to come forward at this time. Love of God, family and country are the most important...

The Dog wants to make amends for having had a bad mouth and this time he did not go to Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson to seek forgiviness...he asked Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson of BOND to help him. He will be selling and autographing copies of his book You Can Run But You Can't Hide and giving really nice, free toys to the kids for Christmas. You don't have to buy a book to get a toy, all are welcome. All proceeds will go to BOND'S Home for Boys.So come and meet Duane "Dog" Chapman, star of the hit show...

On Wednesday, I received a proof copy of Kenneth Timmerman's new book, Shadow Warriors: The Untold Story of Traitors, Saboteurs, and the Party of Surrender, which tells the tale of the alleged war against the Bush administration within the CIA and State Department. Timmerman is always a fascinating read, but I just haven't had the chance to get to the book yet. Yesterday's leak by the New York Times on confidential memos on interrogation techniques reminds me that I have to get to it, as does their follow-up today: The disclosure of secret Justice Department legal opinions on interrogation on...

Hillary slipped up and gave us a rare glimps of her genuine leftwing view on the role of the Federal Government. Is she too good to be true? I think so. The following is a link to my "vlog" on this militant lesbian feminist. http://youtube.com/watch?v=0Aq1EWjp5uQ Best regards, MrArbitrage

Science has spoken and the results are shocking, positively shocking. Psychologists at two U.K. universities have determined that Sean Connery most closely resembles the vision author Ian Fleming had in mind when he created his British spy James Bond, according to a report in the London Telegraph. Rob Jenkins of the University of Glasgow and Richard Wiseman of the University of Hertfordshire created a composite image using all of the actors that Fleming himself said in 1961 had the right facial structure to be his 007 hero. The technique — called prototyping — combined photographs of Stewart Granger, Richard Burton,...

BOND VIGILANTES POUNCE ON PRICES...WHILE CONSIDERABLY MORE UPSIDE STILL LEFT IN EQUITIES Friday May 18, 2007 By Mike Paulenoff MPTrader.com What a week! My sense is that the watershed event that occurred was the plunge in the bond market (climb in yield), which I suspect is the beginning of a relentless back-up on the long end of the curve in response to the "inflationary" environment exuded by equities and commodities that has resulted from the constant creation of money and easy credit for years. In other words, up until this week, it seemed to me that the bond market was...

James Bond on Jack's Turf: Taunts Bauer Again, Calls Him "Rubbish" -- New York Times headline, February 30, 2007 After months of transatlantic bickering and tabloid name-calling, the public feud between Jack Bauer and James Bond has taken on an ugly new coloring. The battle for espionage bragging rights, now affecting U.S.-UK relations, has become a classic barroom brawl, as the clandestine torture tactics championed by both principals is bandied about in television spots, print articles, and YouTube videos the world over, aided and abetted by the New Media Youth. In an effort to calm the dispute, U.S. Secretary of...

Plame’s testimony shifting, source says Mar 23, 2007 3:00 AM by Rowan Scarborough, The Examiner The public testimony of former CIA officer Valerie Plame before a House committee last week conflicts with what she told a bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee three years ago, a government source told The Examiner this week. The difference centers on Plame’s role in a CIA supervisor’s decision in 2002 to send former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, her husband, on a trip to Niger to investigate claims that Saddam Hussein pursued uranium for nuclear bombs.The trip eventually embroiled the White House in a three-year criminal investigation.Plame...

Nuke Accords Breathe Life into N.Korean Bonds Insolvent North Korean bonds worth W400 billion (US$1=W946) are finding favor with international traders. Denominated in Swiss francs and German marks, the 13-year bonds maturing March 12, 2010 are being traded on major international financial markets like New York and London. North Korean bonds were valued at less than 10 cents per dollar five or six years ago, but since the six-way nuclear deal was reached in Beijing last month they have surged on expectations that the North Korean economy will gather steam. According to a London finance insider, some investors are purchasing...

Bay Area officials reacted with disappointment and anger to state planners' recommendation that $500 million worth of transportation bonds pay for rural highway projects such as the Willits Bypass, leaving the Bay Area with less than half of what officials requested. The staff of the California Transportation Commission on Friday released its project choices for the $4.5 billion Corridor Mobility Improvement Account, the biggest program within the $20 billion transportation bond state voters approved Nov. 7. The commission is scheduled to make the final choice on projects to be funded on Feb. 28 in Irvine. Only $707 million worth of...

Former Ambassador Joseph Wilson demands that Republican members of the Senate Intelligence Committee set the record straight. July 16, 2004 | Editor's note: Last week, the Senate Intelligence Committee released its report on the U.S. intelligence community's prewar assessments on Iraq. An appendix discusses the role taken by former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson in determining whether Iraq had obtained uranium from Niger. The following is Wilson's letter to the Senate Intelligence Committee pointing to errors in the Republican senators' additional comments to the report and demanding corrections. The Hon. Pat Roberts, Chairman, Senate Select Committee on Intelligence The Hon. Jay...

The Libby trial continues today with FBI agent Bond acknowledging that her notes are inaccurate and that the summary of the second interview prepared by her supervisor Eckenrode is substantially at odds with her notes. She also said that while Libby said he "couldn't recall" a key conversation, for example, Eckenrode reported that Libby "adamantly denied "it occurred. Imagine how confusing it must have been to be confronted in the grand jury with these notes falsely describing the interviews and having no means to challenge them! Significantly, Agent Bond confirms: Libby testified that on 9/30/03, Colin Powell told him that...

Euro displaces dollar in bond markets By David Oakley and Gillian Tett in London Published: January 14 2007 22:08 | Last updated: January 14 2007 22:08 The euro has displaced the US dollar as the world’s pre-eminent currency in international bond markets, having outstripped the dollar-denominated market for the second year in a row. The data consolidate news last month that the value of euro notes in circulation had overtaken the dollar for the first time. Outstanding debt issued in the euro was worth the equivalent of $4,836bn at the end of 2006 compared with $3,892bn for the dollar, according...

Last week, Amazon.com billionaire Jeff Bezos revealed images and video footage of the November test flight of his Goddard rocket in the Texas desert. Bezos’ company, Blue Origin, has been operating in extreme secrecy. But why should we expect anything else? It is, after all, what we’ve been fed by the movies for five decades.

Is there 1 white man who has any courage? December 16, 2006 By Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson And I sought for a man among them, that should … stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none. – Ezekiel 22:30 Why are white Americans afraid to speak truth to black Americans? Let me start with a tale of two Michaels: Michael Richards, the "Seinfeld" co-star who lashed out at a black heckler, repeatedly calling the man a "ni---r," has since made numerous apologies to black Americans. He apologized on David...

SACRAMENTO - Voters may not face another round of huge public works bonds in two years, as originally planned, according to state officials who gathered Tuesday to eye effective use of a $37 billion bond package approved last month. While acknowledging the measures as a down payment on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's $200 billion infrastructure repair and construction plan, legislative representatives said there may not be a need for another transportation bond proposal as soon as 2008. The $20 billion transportation bond voters approved Nov. 7 -- together with a voter-approved measure that ensures gasoline taxes earmarked for use on roads...

'Bond' heralds the return of pure 'pecs' appealBy MARTIN NEWLAND Last updated at 00:15am on 23rd November 2006    The now ubiquitous image of a heavily muscled Daniel Craig emerging from the waves in the remake of Casino Royale has left many women gasping in appreciation. For the physique he spent six hours a day knocking into shape before filming, is more than just well made like, say, David Beckham's; it is chiselled, bulky, imposing, almost threatening. It is what body builders term 'ripped' - devoid of fat, and comprised of layers of toned, protein-fed muscle. As one who...

Obsessed with fundraising, the fabulously wealthy Southern Poverty Law Center exaggerates the scope of racism in the United States to frighten donors into opening their wallets. It spends little on actual litigation and uses politically skewed definitions of racism to indoctrinate children while smearing conservatives who question racial preference programs. It has one key message: America is boiling over with hatred and intolerance. Decades after the civil rights movement forever changed America, U.S. race relations are always worse today than in the days of Jim Crow, according to SPLC. “Hate in America is a dreadful, daily constant. The dragging death...

10/23/2006 - BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) -- During his five-year Air Force career, Staff Sgt. Morgan Maul has had a variety of jobs as a security forces member. However, with his most recent deployed job, he's managed to build a special bond that he won't soon forget. With less than a week's notice, Sergeant Maul and eight-year-old military working dog Ajax deployed to Kirkuk Air Base, Iraq, from Moody Air Force Base, Ga. This was Sergeant Maul's fourth deployment, but his first time deployed as a military working dog handler. "When you get the call, you have to be...

An election is coming up. Lots of localities have "bond measures" or "bond initiatives" on the ballot. Often there is little public discussion of these things pro or con - well, usually lots of pro advocacy, because someone wants the money for some project, which of course they will say is very deserving. So voters who are well-informed on candidates may still get blindsided by these things when they show up to vote, and it seems like a lot of people just vote yes on them by reflex. I was looking for a website or reference which might provide a...

Rev. Peterson: Liberals’ ‘Outrage’ Against Chavez Phony LOS ANGELES- Last weeks’ unprecedented attack on President George W. Bush by Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez has forced the president’s fiercest political opponents to distance themselves from Chavez. Charles Rangel (D-NY) and Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) both publicly expressed their disapproval of Chavez’s reference to the President as a “devil.” Prominent black conservative minister, Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson, is calling the liberals’ selective outrage “phony.” Rev. Peterson said, “We’re supposed to believe that the same liberal Democrats who have been vicious in their attacks on President Bush in time of war—some even calling for...

Contact: Ermias Alemayehu (323) 782-1980 / (213) 804-1872 Democrats’ Endorsement of a Radical Black Muslim for Congress Called a “Security Threat” by Black Leader LOS ANGELES- Democratic candidate and black Muslim Keith Ellison’s victory in last Tuesday’s Democratic primary in Minnesota has positioned him to become the first Muslim ever elected to Congress. Ellison’s selection to represent the heavily Democratic fifth district has caught the attention of Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson, founder and president of BOND, the Brotherhood Organization of a New Destiny, who says that he is disturbed that Democrats have endorsed a “radical black Muslim with ties to...

Cocaine seized, 4 arrested in bustBy Sonja Elmquist Staff Writer Sheriff Sam Page (left) displays weapons and cocaine that were seized. WENTWORTH -- Four illegal immigrants were arrested Tuesday in western Rockingham County and charged with trafficking nearly 18 pounds of powder cocaine valued at $800,000. Deputies seized the drugs, automatic weapons and two vehicles. Sheriff Sam Page said Thursday that he didn't know if the drugs were destined for Rockingham County or if the alleged traffickers were just passing through. Either way, Page said, it was a danger. "When you have 171/2 or 18 pounds of cocaine going through...

-Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson, Founder and President of BOND (Brotherhood Organization of a New Destiny) will appear on “The Al Rantel Show” (KABC-AM 790) tonight at 7:30 p.m. PST to discuss the reaction to Mel Gibson’s recent arrest and his anti-Jewish remarks—and why people should have compassion for Gibson. -Patrick Rooney, Dir. Of Development for BOND will appear on NBC News Channel 4 tonight during the 5 p.m. or 6 p.m. PST Newscast to discuss the Mel Gibson case.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger endorsed on Friday a November ballot measure asking voters to approve a $5.4 billion general obligation bond to finance water and natural resource projects. Voters will vote an another four general obligation bond measures that make up a $37 billion public works debt package crafted by California's Democrat-led legislature and supported by the celebrity Republican governor. The $5.4 billion bond measure, Proposition 84, would complement the public works debt package by financing environmental projects, Schwarzenegger said. "This measure also provides essential funding to help ensure our water supply is clean, reliable, and...

Thirteen propositions that have qualified for the Nov. 7 ballot ask voters to authorize billions of dollars in bond issues and new taxes, creating political land mines for the candidates for governor, especially Democrat Phil Angelides. The cumulative weight of the measures could make it more difficult for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to sell his ambitious package of public-works bonds. In the June primary election, voters decisively rejected a seemingly routine library bond issue whose price tag was a tiny fraction of what the Republican governor is promoting. The proposed tax increases on the November ballot complicate life for Angelides, the...

A federal judge Wednesday denied bond to six men accused of plotting to blow up the Sears Tower and conspiring to help al-Qaida blow up several federal buildings in Los Angeles and other cities. U.S. Magistrate Judge Ted Bandstra ruled that the men posed too great a risk to the community to be released. "The charges against each of the defendants are serious charges and constitute counts of violence," Bandstra stated, adding that it was "not relevant that the plans appear to be beyond the abilities of the defendants." The six men, who have pleaded not guilty, were arrested June...

Ford Motor Co. shares took a hit Wednesday, pressured as Standard & Poor's pushed the automaker's credit rating deeper into junk status... At last check, shares of the second-biggest U.S. car manufacturer were down 13 cents, or 2%, at $6.41 -- just 3 cents above their lowest level in nearly 13 years. The ratings agency downgraded $151 billion in Ford debt by one notch, to a B+ rating, and thus put the rating four levels into speculative-grade territory, with a negative outlook. "Notwithstanding its multiyear plan to turn around the performance of its North American automotive operations, " S&P said,...

DURHAM, N.C. - A judge reduced the bond of a Duke University lacrosse player charged with rape to $100,000 at a hearing Thursday, and the prosecutor said he had turned over hundreds of additional pages of evidence to defense lawyers. The family of sophomore Reade Seligmann, 20, of Essex Fells, N.J., had posted a $400,000 bond after their son was charged in April with rape, kidnapping and sexual offense. The two other players facing the same charges — Collin Finnerty, 19, of Garden City, N.Y., and David Evans, 23, of Bethesda, Md. — remain free on $400,000 bond. A trial...

Ready or not, the $37.2 billion infrastructure bond package on the November ballot just got a little bigger. About $5 billion bigger, to be exact. A coalition of California environmental groups has qualified an initiative that calls for $5.4 billion in bonds to pay for water quality improvements, protection of rivers, lakes and streams, shoreline protection and parkland purchases. Backers of the measure made it clear that they'll be hugging the governor's bipartisan bond package tight in an effort to get the conservation bonds passed. "This is the fifth prong of the infrastructure bonds," said Fiona Hutton, a spokeswoman for...