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At old British base, US and India train for new wars Manu Pubby Posted: Oct 27, 2009 at 0841 hrs BABINA (JHANSI) After a tough fight, Indian forces manage to capture Abu Abida, the dreaded warlord who, with the covert support of a neighbouring state, had been pushing in heavily armed insurgents to subvert the country. As the terrorist is escorted out of the war zone with the help of American forces, the convoy is attacked by militants trying to free him. Within minutes, Indian and US Army soldiers mount a rescue mission, pummelling the enemy village with tank and...

US President Barack Obama has declared swine flu a national emergency.The White House said the president signed the proclamation concerning the 2009 H1N1 outbreak on Friday evening. It increases the ability of treatment facilities to handle a surge in H1N1 patients by easing the implementation of emergency plans. Last week US officials said swine flu activity was widespread in 46 states. More that 1,000 deaths have been linked to the virus. Health officials say the infections are already comparable to peak season flu levels. Vaccine warningUS officials said the president's declaration was similar to ones issued before hurricanes make landfall....

(3rd LD) U.S. vows unlimited deterrence against N. Korea By Sam Kim SEOUL, Oct. 22 (Yonhap) -- The U.S. pledged Thursday to mobilize its warfighting assets to their maximum capacity if needed to defend South Korea against North Korea, which continues to develop its nuclear and missile capabilities. U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates "reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to provide extended deterrence for the ROK, using the full range of military capabilities, to include the U.S. nuclear umbrella, conventional strike, and missile capabilities," according to a joint statement with South Korean Defense Minister Kim Tae-young.

U.S. pressures Japan on military package Washington concerned as new leaders in Tokyo look to redefine alliance Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, with Japanese Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa in Tokyo, pushed Japan to stick with a 2006 deal. By John Pomfret and Blaine Harden Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, October 22, 2009 Worried about a new direction in Japan's foreign policy, the Obama administration warned the Tokyo government Wednesday of serious consequences if it reneges on a military realignment plan formulated to deal with a rising China. The comments from Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates underscored increasing concern among U.S....

(IsraelNN.com) A United States-based organization's conference on breast cancer awareness, to be hosted in Egypt, has been touted by international news networks as an example of “unprecedented cooperation” in the region. However, according to Channel 2 news, the celebration of unity may be premature, as Israeli doctors were told at the last minute that their invitations to participate had been rescinded.

Discussion of Martin Gross' book, "National Suicide: How Washington Is Destroying the American Dream from A to Z." Mr. Gross discusses 'the alarming number of government programs that waste taxpayer dollars.'

Warning: Mildly rough language contained herein. Don't gripe, you were warned in advance not to read this if you'll be offended! You have to be kidding me..... From Larry Summers: "Financial institutions that have benefited from government support can, should and must use this moment to think about what they can do for their country -- by accepting the necessary regulation to protect the American people," Summers said in remarks prepared for delivery at the Economist's Buttonwood Gathering in New York. "There is no financial institution that exists today that is not the direct or indirect beneficiary of trillions of...

-Fighting Words The Minnesota Free Market Institute hosted an event at Bethel University in St. Paul on Wednesday evening. Keynote speaker Lord Christopher Monckton, former science adviser to British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, gave a scathing and lengthy presentation, complete with detailed charts, graphs, facts, and figures which culminated in the utter decimation of both the pop culture concept of global warming and the credible threat of any significant anthropomorphic climate change. A detailed summary of Monckton’s presentation will be available here once compiled. However, a segment of his remarks justify immediate publication. If credible, the concern Monckton speaks to...

IF you ever questioned whether Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza was bad for the US and for Israel too, you ought to ponder Turkey's decision to suspend a multinational air force exercise last weekend. Why? Because it's a prime example of how pursuing the goal of "greater Israel" - which means retaining control of the West Bank and Gaza and preventing a true two-state solution - is undermining US and Israeli interests. Here's the background. For the past decade or more, Turkey has been Israel's closest ally in the Muslim world. It has bought a lot of...

The ASPIRE Act

Citibank and Goldman reported this morning and both put up what looked at first blush to be better-than-expected numbers. But both sold off in the premarket. Why? The bulls were expecting not just beats, but stunning blowouts. But what we are not hearing from the banking industry is "we have enough loss reserves allocated and will not have to allocate more as loss rates are and will continue to come down." That's the problem at the end of the day - where is the end of the line? Asset quality continues to deteriorate pretty significantly and this deterioration is driven...

We have a real judge! “The foreclosure sales (in question are) invalid because they failed to meet the requirements of (Massachusetts law),” Land Court Judge Keith Long wrote yesterday in reaffirming a decision he originally reached in March. At issue is "lost" (or improperly endorsed) paperwork when mortgages are sold from party to party, as typically happens many times during a securitization process. I have often argued that a lot of "lost" paperwork is in fact intentionally destroyed, as this is one of the few ways to cover up blatant fraud in the origination of mortgages - brokers putting the...

My ten-year-old daughter loves “So You Think You Can Dance.” I suspect most eight to eighteen-year-old girls do. So, my question to the producers of this hit show is: “Why are you pointing my daughter to a web page asking her to work at Planned Parenthood?”

The terms counterterrorism and counterinsurgency have become common currency this decade in the wake of September 11, the invasion of Afghanistan, and the war in Iraq. To a layman’s ear, they can sound like synonyms, especially because of our habit of labeling all insurgents as terrorists. But to military professionals, they are two very different concepts. Counterterrorism refers to operations employing small numbers of Special Operations “door kickers” and high-tech weapons systems such as Predator drones and cruise missiles. Such operations are designed to capture or kill a small number of “high-value targets.” Counterinsurgency, known as COIN in military argot,...

Multiculturalism, as a concept, may seem fair until you examine its ramifications – until you look at its realities. For multiculturalism to work, all sides must be willing to work together and whatever community its tenets must insist that the local laws be followed by one and all, without exception! Muslims in the UK, want public monies but reject any strings attached: Muslim groups say that they want money from the Government but don’t like the strings attached which ask them to help root out extremism. The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) says that the grants which require them to...

QALQILYA, West Bank -- Commanders of the U.S.-trained Palestinian security forces who have been locking up criminals and battling Hamas militants here for nearly two years have maintained morale in the ranks with a single promise: They will one day be the anchor of security for an independent Palestinian state. The lack of progress toward that goal is starting to sap Palestinian public support for the forces and erode morale among troops, even as they win praise and fresh funding from Washington for their accomplishments. Palestinian Security Forces train in the West Bank city of Nablus in August. Meanwhile, the...

"Some arrive at Veterans Memorial two hours early" Sometimes Ernest Hayden Jr. forgets he's part of a global recession that has cost millions of workers their jobs. "You compartmentalize and think it's just you," said the 44-year-old Reynoldsburg resident, who was laid off by Limited Stores in May after 23 years with the company. Hayden was reminded yesterday at the Project Hire job fair that he's not alone, as he took his place at the end of a slow-moving line. "It's overwhelming," he said as he stood with about 500 other job seekers. "You get self-absorbed and then you come...

"Investing in the Stock Market is like going to Las Vegas that is the same game" The FDIC is nearly broke it should be headline news but it is not .The Treasury is the Federal reserve and the FED is the Treasury Gerald Celente Investing in the Stock Market is like going to Atlantic City or Las Vegas that is the same game that you are playing

The recent surge in the price of gold could "collapse" and quickly move back toward the $1,000 mark as the precious metal has not confirmed its upward trend yet, Daryl Guppy, CEO of Guppytraders.com, told CNBC. "There's a possibility that this rally is going to collapse relatively quickly and take us back and retest the $1,000-1,020 (per Troy ounce) level," Guppy said. "What we need is the creation of this trend before we can look at these 1,500 targets as being reasonably achievable," he said.

LONDON (Reuters) - Gold rose to a record high above $1,070 an ounce on Wednesday as the dollar slid to new 14-month lows against the euro and oil prices rose toward $75 a barrel, boosting interest in commodities as an asset class. But with the precious metals all having posted sharp gains in recent sessions, they could be poised for a period of consolidation before hitting fresh highs, analysts said. Spot gold reached a high of $1,070.40 an ounce, and was bid at $1,065.20 an ounce at 0935 GMT against $1,063.35 late in New York on Tuesday. The dollar index...

Link only to AP. Rush mentioned this today. 80% of 0bama's travel inside US is to democrat states.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Aided by a bleak job market, the U.S. military met all of its recruitment goals in the past year for the first time since it became an all-volunteer force in 1973, the Pentagon said on Tuesday. Military services have been stretched thin by conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, giving added weight to recruitment efforts as President Barack Obama considers sending another 40,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan next year.

We got a little problem here..... A progress report released last week by the Treasury Department showed that only 11 percent (about 95,000) of Bank of America's delinquent borrowers who were potentially eligible for the program had been given a loan modification. That compares with 27 percent, or 117,000, for J.P. Morgan Chase, and 33 percent, or 68,000, at Citigroup, the Treasury reported. The figure for Saxon Mortgage Services, which is owned by Morgan Stanley, is 41 percent, or 32,000. There are too many conflicting currents here, which is what will ultimately doom this program, as has doomed all the...

What did Turbo Timmy and Bendover Bernanke think they were trying to pull? The Fed's "Quantitative Easing" is now basically defunct, with about $6 billion left out of the original $300. Of course the scam of buying Fannie and Freddie Paper (even though it is not full-faith-and-credit, as I have noted repeatedly) will continue through the first quarter of next year. But there looms a larger and more immediate problem for Treasury - their incessant "rolling down the curve" activity over the last few years has led to some real trouble, although Treasury has started to recognize this issue. Currently...

NEW DELHI, Oct 12 - India and the United States began a massive joint military exercise on Monday, underscoring their deepening security ties they view as crucial in a troubled South Asia region. Hundreds of soldiers using heavy transport aircraft and battle tanks are participating in the biggest-ever war games between the two countries which were on the opposing side of the Cold War but now seek to build strategic and military ties. “This exercise is a clever policy for India, a correct thing to do and is clearly part of a larger programme started by both countries to improve...

This is going to be felt worldwide (October 2009) Gerald Celente, Trends Research founder, discusses the US Dollar on Russia Today I say it over and over again. You can’t print phantom money out of thin air, backed by nothing, and producing practically nothing without destroying the dollar. They’ve been doing it for decades. — It’s more than just the demise of the dollar. This is going to be felt worldwide. There’s a major financial crisis ahead. The United State, the world’s super power, is failing on its most basic level - and, that’s the gold rule. Those who have...

This is going to be an ongoing series, I suspect - tracking government abuse of the citizenry via debt-shifting. What am I referring to? Simple: Back-door bailouts of banks and industry (notably the auto industry) through farcical programs that con the citizens of the nation to take on unsustainable debt, thereby transferring what should be a corporate or bank failure to into a whole bunch of personal bankruptcies. There are two programs in particular that exemplify this attempt; "cash for clunkers" and the various machinations in the housing space, including the insanely loose FHA credit procedures. Cash for Clunkers violated...

I'm going to go back to this quote by Barney Frank of the US House, because it says everything those in state and local governments need to know: Barney Frank, the Massachusetts Democrat who is chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said in an interview that the defaults were, in essence, worth it. “I don’t think it’s a bad thing that the bad loans occurred,” he said. “It was an effort to keep prices from falling too fast. That’s a policy.” Got it? It's a policy to screw the state and local governments. Huh, you say? It's simple, really:...

We were promised one, you know. Dennis Kneale, Larry Kudlow, hell, name a "mouthpiece" on ToutTV or in the sell-side of Fraud Street and you'll find someone claiming that "the recession is over." But if it is, how can this be true? Lockyer’s spoke before Controller John Chiang said state general fund revenue fell $1.1 billion below estimates during the first three months of the fiscal year that began July 1. Let's boil this down a bit: Sales tax revenues came in at $99.8 million, or 4.5% lower than expected. Income tax revenues were also off big, but remember that...

For all you Tiger-haters out there -- he and Stricker go from one down to win by one -- 20-foot+ putt on 17, laser 4-iron from 230 yards to 7 feet or so on 18. Opponents concede. US up by 3 (10-7) rather than by only one. Seriously -- lots of other good play by US, but Tiger comes through in the clutch for the US.

US NASA Missile Slams Moon, Warning For Iran By US, Israel On Nuclear Weapons? By Joel Leyden Israel News Agency Jerusalem, Israel ---- October 9, 2009 ..... It definitely sounded innocent enough. NASA in a search to discover if there's water on the moon, bombed the moon today with a rocket weighing some 2.2 tons, carrying the destructive force equivalent that of 1.5 tons of dynamite. In pre-dawn hours, a US spacecraft punched a deep hole in the moon's south pole to find out whether ice is hidden in a crater that hasn't seen sunlight in billions of years. Two...

WASHINGTON — The Department of the Interior has frozen oil and gas development on 60 of 77 contested drilling sites in Utah, saying the process of leasing the land was rushed and badly flawed. The 77 government-owned parcels, covering some 100,000 acres in eastern and southern Utah, were leased in the last weeks of the Bush administration. But the leases were immediately challenged by conservation groups, and in January a federal judge blocked drilling on the ground that the Interior Department had failed to follow its own procedures for reviewing the appropriateness of lands designated for oil and gas extraction.

The U.S. administration is furious over Israeli incitement against President Barack Obama, Democratic congressmen close to Obama told an Israeli source who returned from a visit to Washington this week. The congressmen even hinted that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been personally involved. The source, who met in Washington with administration officials and members of Congress, told Haaretz he was stunned by the level of anger there over attempts to portray Obama to the American public as an enemy of Israel because of his efforts to restart peace talks and freeze settlement construction. "There are people here who are playing...

Why gold could hit $1,500 on back of dollar’s decline: One view is that gold has become a currency of its own – one you can’t print more of The dollar's decline has paused and the record-setting ascent in the value of gold has slowed but now the political pressure is mounting on President Obama to reassure global investors that the US remains a sound financial bet. Republican politicians are looking to make political hay from the currency's slide, depicting it as proof of declining US power. Sarah Palin, the beauty queen turned vice-presidential candidate turned bestselling memoirist, is using...

KABUL – Insurgents fought their way inside an American base in Afghanistan last weekend in a rare security breach before they were driven back under heavy fire during the deadliest battle for U.S. troops in more than a year, a U.S. official said Wednesday. The bold assault raised serious questions about the security of thinly manned outposts spread across the troubled nation's volatile border region with Pakistan, and reflects growing insurgent resolve. It comes as pressure is building on the Obama administration to decide a way forward in the conflict. Wednesday marked the eighth anniversary of the U.S. invasion that...

Those people who have saved for the future could soon form our own generation of bankrupted, Babushka pensioners... TWENTY-FIVE years ago, the Russians found themselves in a hole. They had an official price for petrol (gasoline) of 1 rouble. But the cost of providing it, for example by buying it on world markets, was 8 roubles. In so far as the state could supply any petrol to anyone at all, it was definitely going to be at a big loss. Yet they obstinately refused to accept that their price was wrong. How we laughed at this dogmatic denial of the...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Dalai Lama, accepting a human rights prize from a U.S. foundation Tuesday, chastised the United States for not fully addressing the economic divide between its poorest and richest citizens. "Huge gap, rich to poor. This is unhealthy," he said. "You have to think seriously about those less-privileged people. They're also human beings." The "real greatness of America," he said, "is your ancestors' principles," and he urged the nation to preserve those principles. "When I think of America, I think of the idea -- concept of freedom, liberty, equality. I think these are real human values," he...

At the UN, the Obama administration backs limits on free speech. Eye on the UN For Immediate Release: October 5, 2009 Contact: Anne Bayefsky info@EYEontheUN.org You Can't Say That: At the UN, the Obama administration backs limits on free speech. This article, by Anne Bayefsky, originally appeared in The Weekly Standard. The Obama administration has marked its first foray into the UN human rights establishment by backing calls for limits on freedom of expression. The newly-minted American policy was rolled out at the latest session of the UN Human Rights Council, which ended in Geneva on Friday. American diplomats were...

It began before dawn — a devastating, well-planned attack. About 300 insurgents swarmed out of a village and mosque and attacked a pair of isolated American outposts in a remote mountainous area of eastern Afghanistan with machineguns, rockets and grenades. They first stormed the Afghan police post at the foot of the hill in the province of Nuristan, a Taleban and al-Qaeda stronghold on the lawless Pakistan border. They then swept up to the Nato post. The battle lasted all day. American and Afghan soldiers finally repelled them, with the help of US helicopters and warplanes — but at heavy...

MILITARY anger boiled over last night after Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth rebuffed a plea from front-line soldiers for immediate reinforcements in Afghanistan. Mr Ainsworth had asked soldiers who have just endured a gruelling and bloody six-month tour what they needed. Without hesitation he was told: “More troops”. But the Defence Secretary – in Afghanistan with Home Secretary Alan Johnson, ironically to boost morale – merely replied that reinforcements would “take time”. Staff Sgt Kim Hughes, who will shortly return to his family in Shropshire, said: “It’s been a ridiculously busy, ridiculously hard tour. We have lost two guys. “Clearly more...

Jordans (walls of resistance) are breaking wide open today , But not in the old fashioned way , For now not an Ark will hold troubled waters aside , But my very own overcomers will cause them to subside , So stand in the gap for my children I call my own , And do not move from this appointed place until I bring them all home \o/ 4) Yet there shall be a distance between you and it, about 2,000 cubits in length. Do not come near it, in order that you may know the way you shall go,...

After World War II, the U.S. government invested an enormous amount of money in medicine; medical research, medical procedures and medical technologies. This investment made contemporary scientific medicine into American medicine, characterized by a continuing flow of new treatment possibilities. These advances raised all kinds of ethical questions. Some were personal and individual, others were social and political. Both type questions are addressed by a new academic discipline called bioethics. The first attempt to develop a scientific medicine took place in Greece in the 5th century B.C. It was called Hippocratic medicine. Closely linked with this first scientific medicine was...

That woman just brought me to tears, and that's not easy.

U.S.: North Korean Tactics Won't Work For Iran By Corey Flintoff Published September 28, 2009 4:23 PM The U.S. says Iran won't get anywhere by copying North Korea's pattern of provocative actions, but it's not clear whether Tehran's latest missile tests or the revelations about its secret nuclear enrichment facility will draw tougher international sanctions. Iran showed its military prowess with two days of missile tests that culminated Monday with the launch of a rocket said to be capable of reaching Israel or U.S. bases in the Middle East. The show of force comes just days before Iranian negotiators are...

U.S. Congressman to visit Honduras Ros-Lehtinen will meet with President Micheletti, officials and leaders of Honduran society 30.09.09 - Updated: 30.09.09 05:58 pm - AP: diario@elheraldo.hn WASHINGTON, United States . Republican Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen said Wednesday he will visit Honduras next week to meet with Roberto Micheletti, president of that country and senior officials of his government. Ros-Lehtinen, who supports Micheletti, has criticized the ousted President Manuel Zelaya for allegedly starting the political crisis in the Central American country and has asked the president Barack Obama tacitly to support the interim president, named president by Congress to replace Zelaya ....

Every FReeper needs to listen to this. A mom. Passionate. One of the best callers to Rush. Maybe ever.

Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for the Americas Everett Eissenstat told a crowd at the Americans Conference that work was progressing on free trade agreements with both Panama and Colombia, though ``less tangible'' concerns about violence and impunity in Colombia have yet to be fully resolved. ``I don't think anyone even in Colombia is happy with the status quo,'' Eissenstat said in an interview with The Miami Herald following an address at the Americas Conference in Coral Gables. ``The Colombian government is undertaking tremendous reforms on its own initiative and I think that is indicative that they feel there is additional...

Washington - US President Barack Obama said on Tuesday the war in Afghanistan was not purely an "American battle" but was a broader Nato mission, as he met the western alliance's chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen. "This is not a American battle, this is a Nato mission," Obama told reporters after the Oval Office meeting, which comes as he launches a series of intense talks on whether to send more US soldiers to the Afghan war.

The US and Panama have signed an agreement allowing Washington to deploy two naval bases in Panama to beef up anti-narcotic measures. A preliminary agreement on the bases was reached recently in New York between Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. A final treaty is expected to be inked in the coming days, reported Panama's La Prensa newspaper, according to Russia's RIA Novosti.

No links from Bloomberg allowed. Link to article at site posted or below.