Floatin' Powa News Service: Resisting Their Normal Since 1972~

The Maladjusted Jester
Danny Kaye
From "The Court Jester"

Saudis Step Up Efforts to Repair Syria Ties
Because everyone can agree that the Jews are.... Abnormal!

Lebanese Druze leader calls for opening new page with Syria

Opening to tourism, Syria flaunts hidden treasures
Hey I know, they should crack out their multitudinous Nazi relics while they are at it too, nu?

Barak tells US aide: I support talks with Syria

Syria - A Palestinian Official Affirms: the Israeli Occupation is the Enemy of Palestinians

Vice-President of the Palestinian Legislative Council Ahmad Bahr affirmed on Friday that the enemy of the Palestinian people is the Israeli occupation who usurped its land and deprived it of its legitimate rights.

Commentary: Syria receptive to US advances
Like a broke whore.

Syria's support for Hizbullah 'stands in way' of ties with US
Yeah right.

Israel: Iran, Syria still send arms to Hezbollah

Syria to US envoy: Israel must retreat from Golan
BTW? Control of the Golan means control of the entire state of Israel's water supply.
Mmmmmhmmmmm
See: Syria's Price Tag: Israel's Water Resources from 2007

PA seizes seven Hamas members in West Bank

Fatah Gears Up for Rare Meeting

Fatah is the largest party within the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and arguably the most influential political movement to determine the fate of the Palestinian people in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip for more than 40 years.
But the fact that members have not had a conference since 1989 has fueled accusations of corruption, stagnation and internal dissension.

Hamas spokesman: Fatah, Hamas leaders to meet in Cairo Saturday

Neturei Karta delegation meets with Hamas leader in Gaza
All evil meets thrice daily at Jew Hate Junction, mah proles!

Hamas gets visit from Pickering

"I hope it will be the beginning of addressing some of the mistakes of the last three years," Naim said of his talks with Thomas R. Pickering, a former undersecretary of state and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. "This was a first meeting to investigate the positions in general terms of both parties without any commitment on any side."

Israeli warships move within cruise-missile range of Iran
They love to watch us strut.

Because Van Gough was maladjusted too!

Iran's Ahmadinejad appoints new atomic chief

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced two key appointments, including the country's new atomic chief, signalling important changes in the structure of his expected new government. Ahmadinejad named Ali Akbar Salehi, Iran's former envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency, as new head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation, the official IRNA news agency reported.

Controversial aide and close relative Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie, currently vice president in charge of tourism, will become the new first vice-president, according to the report.Mashaie replaces Parviz Davoudi who is the current first vice president. There are several other vice presidents in Ahmadinejad's current line-up. Ahmadinejad has vowed to make "considerable changes" to his government and on Thursday pledged that his new cabinet, to be unveiled in coming weeks, will be "10 times" as powerful as the previous one.

Iran has means to test bomb in 6 months
Diplomats say it even!

Diplomats say Iran is blocking U.N. nuclear agency attempts to upgrade monitoring of its atomic activities and now has the means to test a weapon within six months.

The diplomats emphasize there are no indications of plans for such a nuclear test. They told the AP Friday it was unlikely Iran would risk heightened confrontation with the West — and chances of Israeli attack — with such a course.

But one said Iran has the capacity, if not the intention, to set off a test explosion in six months. And he and a colleague said Tehran is resisting International Atomic Energy Agency attempts to increase surveillance of its uranium enrichment site meant to keep pace with the plant's increased operations.

Both demanded anonymity for revealing confidential information.

Watchdog accuses Iran of arresting photographers

Iran has arrested at least seven photographers since its disputed presidential election, with the most recent arrests occuring less than a week ago, media watchdog Reporters Without Borders said on Friday.

Images of blood-smeared protesters have captured the drama of the unrest provoked by last month's election result and footage of the death of a young Iranian woman, Neda Agha-Soltan, has become an icon of opposition protests.

"The Tehran regime is scared of images. The authorities have launched a real hunt on visual reporters so that no professional photo or video of sensitive subjects will leave the country," the Paris-based organisation said in a statement.

IRAN: Human rights lawyer Shadi Sadr reportedly arrested

Prominent lawyer, women's rights activist and journalist Shadi Sadr was arrested by plainclothes policemen on her way to Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani's much-anticipated Friday sermon, according to several reformist websites.

Iran police tear gas Mousavi supporters
Again. And those are the lucky ones.

Mousavi, Karroubi attend prayers, Khatami a no-show

“Khatami’s absence at today’s Friday prayer led to complaints by Mousavi supporters who were asking why should Khatami be absent at such a sensitive situation?”

Iran Will Release UK Embassy Employee on Bail

Latest Updates on Post-Election Protests in Iran

'Israel plotted Ahmadinejad killing'
If that were true he would be dead already.

Because Mediterranean looking women are notoriously abnormal!

Tunisia - RCD Secretary General receives Revolutionary Council member of Palestinian Fatah movement

The meeting turned on the last developments on the Palestinian scene, furtherance of preparations ahead of Fatah movement’s elective congress, as well as on Tunisia’s constant support to the Palestinian people and its leadership.

Hamas makes feature film about slain militant
Hooray for Jihadiwood!

"It's Hamaswood instead of Hollywood," Fathi Hamad, Gaza's Hamas interior minister, said after the film's first showing Friday evening at Gaza City's Islamic University. "We are trying to make quality art that is Islamic and about the resistance, without provocative (sexual) scenes."

Hamad doubled as producer, and the screenplay was penned by Mahmoud Zahar, the Gaza strongman seen as one of the architects of the group's violent takeover of Gaza two years ago.

Court Reverses Ruling Dealing With Visa of Muslim Scholar
This is bad. And again with Notre Dame. The Pope did not return my call.

A federal appeals court in Manhattan on Friday reversed a lower-court ruling that had allowed the government to bar a prominent Muslim scholar from entering the United States on the ground that he had contributed to a charity that had connections to terrorism.

The scholar, Tariq Ramadan, 46, a Swiss academic, was to become a tenured professor at the University of Notre Dame, but the Bush administration revoked his visa in 2004 and again denied him a visa in 2006. The government cited evidence that from 1998 to 2002, he donated about $1,300 to a Swiss-based charity that the Treasury Department later categorized as a terrorist organization because it provided money to Hamas, the militant Palestinian group.

2004: Daniel Pipes: Why Revoke Tariq Ramadan's U.S. Visa?

The Swiss scholar is Tariq Ramadan. He is Islamist royalty – his maternal grandfather, Hasan al-Banna, founded the Muslim Brotherhood, probably the single most powerful Islamist institution of the twentieth century, in Egypt in 1928. Tariq is a Swiss citizen because his father, Sa‘id Ramadan, also a leading Islamist, fled from Egypt in 1954 following a crackdown on the brotherhood. Sa‘id reached Geneva in 1958, where Tariq was born in 1962.

Thanks to his pedigree and his talents, Tariq has emerged as a significant force in his own right. Symbolic of this, Time magazine in April named him one of the world's top hundred scientists and thinkers. And so, when Notre Dame University went looking for a Henry R. Luce professor of religion, conflict and peacebuilding, it unsurprisingly settled on Mr. Ramadan.

Its offer was made and accepted by the beginning of 2004; a work visa followed in February. Mr. Ramadan bought a house, found schools for his four children, and dispatched his personal effects to South Bend, Indiana. He was supposed to start teaching a few days ago.

But on July 28, just nine days before the Ramadans were to leave for America, Mr. Ramadan was informed that the Department of Homeland Security had revoked his work visa. A DHS spokesman, Russ Knocke, later explained this had been done in accord with a law that denies entry to aliens who have used a "position of prominence within any country to endorse or espouse terrorist activity." The revocation, Mr. Knocke added, was based on "public safety or national security interests."

Of course, Mr. Ramadan dismisses the revocation as "unjustified" and due to "political pressure." He even blames me for the DHS decision.

Q&A: What is Jemaah Islamiyah?

Militants Not Deterred in Southeast Asia
More adventures of Jemaah Islamiyah

Because those found going their own way are.... Abnormal!

US Takes Note As China Adds Treasury Holdings

China lifted its Treasury holdings by $38 billion in May to a total $801.5 billion, cementing its stronghold as the U.S.'s biggest creditor and increasing its importance for U.S. policy makers.

China Adds to Treasury Pile, With Bias to Short End

Race for Rare Metals – And China Is Winning!

The recent G8 Summit in Italy ended with one important concluding note. As President Barack Obama summarised, “For us to think we can somehow deal with some of these global challenges in the absence of major powers like China, India and Brazil seems to me wrongheaded.” A well-timed thought as it is clear that the role played by these nations in the world economy is gaining prominence.

In the resource sector, China has already made its mark not only as one of the largest consumers but also as one of the largest accumulators of commodities. Chinese policy makers have ushered in an environment in which state enterprises, as well as private companies, are seeking to secure resource supplies around the world. It was against this backdrop that China Investment Corporation (CIC), a Sovereign Wealth Fund, acquired some 17% of Teck Cominco.

Copper is not the only metal China seeks to control and Teck is not the only acquisition China has made in the resource sector. In what could be a further indication of China’s tightening grip on the supply side, the China Non-Ferrous Metals Mining (Group) Co., Ltd. (CNMC) recently acquired controlling interest in the Australian rare earth project developer Lynas Corporation Ltd. (Lynas). The full transaction, comprising a combination of equity, debt and loan guarantees, is valued at US$366 million and provides a glimpse of what rare metal companies are really worth.

China jails environmental activists

A Chinese environmental activist and his daughter have been jailed for leaking state secrets and endangering national security related to a uranium mine, a human rights group said.

Sun Xiaodi worked at a uranium mine in the remote northwestern province of Gansu, and has campaigned against nuclear contamination and for labour rights for years, Human Rights in China said in a statement.

Sinopec's corrupt ex-chief gets death sentence

Marathon sells stake to Chinese for $1.3 billion

China CNPC aims to double gas production by 2015

CNPC to buy a stake in Malaysian refinery

Costa Rica, China CNPC sign supplement to contract

CNPC, Costa Rican Oil to build US$1-bln refinery in Costa Rica

Happy Children? ABNORMAL! No happy children, RITALIN!

Putin's Plan for All-Volunteer Military Not Working Out, Officials Say
Oh you WILL volunteer. I will show you!
~ Vlad

Questions surround "Tsar" Putin's market closure
I love it when they call me Tsar!
~ The Royal Putin

Warning to US About Revisionist Russia

BERLIN — The deep concern among America’s Eastern European allies over improved relations between Russia and the United States spilled into the open on Thursday when 22 prominent figures, including Poland’s Lech Walesa and the Czech Republic’s Vaclav Havel, published an open letter to the Obama administration begging not to be forgotten.

In the letter, the leaders urged President Obama and his top policy makers to remember their interests as they negotiate with Russia and review plans for missile defense bases in Poland and the Czech Republic. Abandoning the missile defense plan or giving Russia too big a role in it could “undermine the credibility of the United States across the whole region,” the letter said.

The letter was published on the Web site of the Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza and was signed by former presidents, like Mr. Walesa and Mr. Havel, as well as other former heads of state, top diplomats and intellectuals from a broad range of countries, including Hungary, Bulgaria and Estonia.

“Our region is one part of the world that Americans have largely stopped worrying about,” the letter said, even though “all is not well either in our region or in the trans-Atlantic relationship.”

East Europeans nervous as US courts Russia
NO MISSILE DEFENSE SHIELD FOR YOU!
POTATO!
~ Obamanable Bushman

US STATE DEPT: The Legacy of START and Related US Policies
Don't start none, won't be none!

Putin held talks with Alexei Savinov, Head of the Federal Agency for Forestry
Glorious Comrade Vladimirski will rescue the forests my friends!
He is very green as well as red!

Putin also held a meeting with Yury Petrov, head of the Federal Agency for State Property Management
Behold the master of threatening brevity, Vladmirski Czar for Lifeski.

Vladimir Putin: Are there any ways to enhance the efficiency of your work?

Senior official shot dead in Russia's Ingushetia
There will be no substitute story!

Please be advised that the NAZRAN, Russia story reporting a senior official in Russia's Ingushetia region was killed on Friday is wrong. The police source quoted in the original story withdrew the information and said the sports minister was not involved in the shooting. Local government officials said two people were killed when gunmen opened fire on a car owned by the sports ministry, but that neither were administration officials. There will be no substitute story.

There is State Terror in Russia

One called the routine threats to activists "state terror" and another accused Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin of being partially responsible for Estemirova's murder. "Let's call things what they are, there is state terror in Russia," said Oleg Orlov, the head of Memorial, Estemirova's organization. Orlov, along with many others, accuse 32 year-old Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov and his forces of being behind the murder. Kadyrov is a notoriously brutal leader, a former warlord who is backed by the Kremlin and suspected in the murders of several other rights activists.

Russia passes tax hike to boost pensions

Wary EU Girding for Disruptions of Russian Natural Gas
HA HA HA! Gird up, EUniks.
Vlad's natural gas is big weapon!
Pull my finger!
Say my name!

Is There Enough Caspian Gas, And Political Will, To Make Nabucco A Success?
HA HA HA you are just cracking Vlad up!

Medvedev Casts Doubt on Nabucco as Merkel Defends Gas Pipeline
AHAHAHAHAHA! Like shooting herring in a barrel.

Russian Gas: Black Hats and White Hats in a World of Gray
SEE?

This year, at the annual meeting on international security in Munich in February, Mrs. Merkel talked about energy without ever mentioning Nabucco.

Congress Examines Nabucco Pipeline and World Energy Supply
LOL, my Oymerikan tovariches!
That damn crazy spleenless Jewess knows who are Vlad's men in Oymerikan Politburo now.
~ Vlad The Most Bad

Gas deals needed for Nabucco, Lugar says
My man Lugar does glorious good job at the turnspeaky work.

The Oil and Glory Interview: U.S. Eurasian Energy Czar Richard Morningstar
Ooops! Son of the Morning Star alert! BTW The boy's name Richard is of Old German origin, its meaning is "powerful leader"....

Richard Morningstar talks much about déjà vu. In the late 1990s, then-President Clinton appointed him as Washington’s first special envoy for the Caspian Sea. Against strong headwinds, he attempted to persuade, cajole and muscle Big Oil into building the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline. A hostile BP, Exxon and other companies declared that they would love to build the line, but that there simply wasn’t enough oil. Russia said it might fire on any installations built in the sea. Time and new turmoil within the oil industry changed BP’s attitude, and the geostrategic pipeline became a fact in 2006.

Today, after a decade teaching law at Harvard and Stanford, Morningstar is back in the same job. The task? To persuade not just companies, but also several countries to build yet another pipeline – a much-troubled natural gas line called Nabucco. He just attended a signing ceremony among five of the proposed transit countries in Ankara. O&G caught up with Morningstar by cellphone as he passed through the Frankfurt Airport on the way back to Washington.

Our Good Friend Konstatin: Russian Intelligence and Islamic Terror

America is quite a gigantic piece for Islamic terrorists to conquer and Russia will have a lot of time for maneuver. Russia might try to survive at the expense of America. The question is if it can really do it.

Gazprom seals $2.5bn Nigeria deal
Which should explain to discerning abnormal people exactly what is going on and why with MEND

Transparency is Gazprom's Kryptonite

Russian mining industry showing some signs of recovery
I'm certain!

Israel's Peres to visit Russia in mid-August

Because abnormal people see Hebrew letters every fuckin' where!

Turkmenistan and Germany's RWE sign oil and gas exploration agreement

Turkmenistan takes control of industrial facilities

Kazakhstan sues to recover $1.1 bln in BTA Bank assets

Kazakh prosecutors have filed lawsuits to recover foreign assets of BTA bank worth 172 billion tenge ($1.1 billion), the General Prosecutor's office said on Friday. Kazakhstan nationalised BTA in February and sacked its chairman Mukhtar Ablyazov accusing him and other managers of fraud. Ablyazov, who has left Kazakhstan, denies any wrongdoing.

Iogan Merkel, Deputy Prosecutor General, said his agency had launched a separate probe into BTA's overseas lending, including its activities in Ukraine and Georgia. "The criminal case is being investigated. We cannot say it (the investigation) will be over soon," Merkel told reporters. "... Lawsuits have been filed to recover funds totalling 172 billion tenge."

Kazakhstan central bank grapples with CDS headache

Kazakhstan Premier Delays Seoul Visit
I dunno but I been told
Kazakh Premier ain't got no Seoul.

Get Your Wedding Dresse from Kazakhstan, Head Loppy Dee

UZBEKISTAN: Prisoners' freedom of religion or belief denied

Prisoners in Uzbekistan continue to be denied their right to freedom of religion or belief – for example to pray visibly, to have religious literature, or to receive visits from religious clergy, Forum 18 News Service has found. These denials of religious freedom affect not only prisoners of conscience of all faiths, jailed or imprisoned in a labour camp for their religious activity, but also prisoners jailed for other reasons.

Prison and labour camp conditions are harsh, and even the communities regarded as the main "traditional" faiths – the state-controlled Muslim Board and the Russian Orthodox Church – appear to have only limited access to prisoners. Other faiths told Forum 18 they have almost no access. Prisoners are often punished for religious activity in jails or labour camps, religious believers and human rights defenders have told Forum 18, however officials insist to Forum 18 that prisoners' religious freedom is respected.

These claims, along with other inaccurate information, are also in Uzbekistan's report to the United Nations Human Rights Committee, which is due to be considered in Geneva on 27 July.

Uzbekistan and Belarus Reveal Serious Disagreement within the CSTO

On June 14, member countries of the Collective Security Treaty Organization signed a document on the establishment of CSTO Rapid Reaction Forces. Due to its economic and military potential, Russia will provide the main and virtually the only viable component of these forces.

This treaty is symbolic as it seals Russia’s political-military aspirations in the CSTO area. Surprisingly, Uzbekistan and one of Russia’s closest allies, Belarus, did not sign the document.

Such developments make the mere existence of the CSTO RRF futile. Uzbekistan possesses the strongest military potential and the greatest strategic importance in Central Asia. Moreover, its decision not to sign the document is critical for considering potential U.S. engagement in the region.

BACKGROUND: The decision to establish the CSTO RRF was taken on February 4, 2009, during the summit of CSTO member countries. It was designed to fight terrorism, extremism, illegal drug trafficking, and provide for effective participation of CSTO members in maintaining regional and international security. Belarusian President Lukashenko was not present at the CSTO Summit on June 14, 2009, and did not sign the document, thus boycotting the event.

This decision was caused by the ban on Belarusian dairy products and meat from the Russian market, a serious blow to the Belarusian economy. Russia, through its Federal Service for the Supervision of Consumer Rights and Welfare (Rospotrebnadzor) banned the import of almost 500 items of dairy products from Belarus, and then a further 800 because the Belarusian producers had not redrafted documentation in accordance with the requirements of the technical regulations relating to milk. And the republic refused "to discuss collective security issues in circumstances in which its economic security finds itself under threat."

Kyrgyzstan: Presidential elections - Observers report massive fraud

Opposition leaders,members and activists during the election campaign have been intimidated, harassed and assaulted repeatedly which was highly publicized by kyrgyz independent media as well.

Kyrgyz police officer arrested in fatal beating of reporter

Kyrgyzstan Arrests 18 Suspected Militants

...several of whom are believed to have fought alongside the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Republican Youth Union opens in Kyrgyzstan
The youth are the NATION'S RESOURCE you see.
They are the property of the State.

Aim of the association is active and coordinated participation of young people in civil and political, social and economic, legal and cultural development of the country.

“Youth is the only nation’s resource which will be responsible for older and next generation, consequently, for future of the state in the decades ahead. Various social and economic problems arise in the society under the raging financial crisis. Due to these circumstances young people need to unite to work out and make constructive suggestions on their solving,” the association said.

Russia, ex-Soviet allies to hold security talks in Kyrgyzstan

A controversy over a military presence in Kyrgyzstan between the United States and Russia could become the hot topic at the summit.

Russia to Open New Military Base in Kyrgyzstan

In Reversal, Kyrgyzstan Won't Close a US Base

Kyrgyzstan sees 3000 seismic activity cases annually

All-of-a-sudden cleanup for the world's Cold War waste

In the landlocked country of Kyrgyzstan, there sits one of a few toxic legacies from the cold war: A product of the Soviet Union’s uranium enrichment programme… More than 800 million tons of uranium waste.

An estimated 6,500 hectares of land is believed to be have been exposed to radioactive contamination as a result of the waste, which is divided among 92 sites according to a 2006 report by the UNDP.Much of the waste is located near the Kyrgyz village of Mailii-Suu, which was listed by the Blacksmith Institute in 2006 as one of the world’s worst polluted places.

There is also a line of waste buried along the Syr Darya River, which feeds “the most populated and fertile area in Central Asia.”

All it would take is a landslide, earthquake or some major storm and the waste would pour into the river, threatening the health of millions of people in Kyrgyzstan and in the nearby countries of Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

Tajikistan military kill gunmen near Afghan border

New commander of Russian military base in Tajikistan appointed
It's an Igor!

By Russian president’s decree of June 30, 2009 Colonel Igor Krasin was appointed commander of the Russian military base in Tajikistan, replacing Major-General Aleksey Zavizyon.

Violence In Western China Harms Trade With Tajikistan

The Problem of Maladaptive Behavior!

Goldman Sachs bites Uncle Sam's hand

The investment bank is fat and happy again, but you wouldn't know it from its squabbling with the Treasury over the warrants in the TARP deal.

In The Gold Man's Sacks We Trust

NYT: The Joy of Sachs

The American economy remains in dire straits, with one worker in six unemployed or underemployed. Yet Goldman Sachs just reported record quarterly profits — and it’s preparing to hand out huge bonuses, comparable to what it was paying before the crisis. What does this contrast tell us? First, it tells us that Goldman is very good at what it does. Unfortunately, what it does is bad for America.

With friends like Goldman Sachs, who needs enemies?

I don't know whatever happened to investigative journalism. Wall Street is robbing us blind and literally destroying the economic foundation of this nation. Wherever he is if Osama Bin Laden is watching surely he must be thinking no matter what I do to America I could never hurt them as much as the confluence of our own government and Wall Street. As Robert Reich notes, Goldman's is still wagering its capitol and funding giant bets with our money and after all the damage to us financially our complicit government has done nothing to change that.You would never know any of this because instead of the truth the press gives us the insanity of stories.

Two Giants Emerge From Wall Street Ruins
In all the old myths it seems we are supposed to slay the giants.
Get crackin'.

A new order is emerging on Wall Street after the worst crisis since the Great Depression — one in which just a couple of victors are starting to tower over the handful of financial titans that used to dominate the industry.

A new order! STFU you crazy spleen!

Citigroup and Bank of America surprise analysts with better results

Czar Paulson on the not so Hot Seat
They love him, the freakin' thug huggers.

In the witness chair yesterday, Mr. Paulson pretty much pleaded guilty to telling Mr. Lewis that he would be out of a job if he reneged -- with the explanation that the alternative would have been worse, namely a financial meltdown that would have spread around the world and probably cost taxpayers many billions more than did the Merrill-Bank of America merger or the bailout of insurance giant AIG. "By far the biggest advantage to the taxpayers is what didn't happen," Mr. Paulson said. Unsatisfied, several committee members arraigned Mr. Paulson for allegedly bailing out the banks and AIG to benefit his former Wall Street firm, Goldman Sachs.

AIG's European Derivatives May Take Decades to Expire

Poe-ster boy for madness....

What to do with the Fed
I got a few suggestions.

The Fed is in trouble. Obama administration proposals for enhancing the Fed’s supervisory and regulatory role and for assigning it new macro-prudential responsibilities and powers - effectively turning it into the nation’s systemic risk regulator - are meeting with strong and vocal opposition.

The criticism is not just coming from the other agencies in the US financial sector regulatory and supervisory spaghetti bowl - agencies that would stand to lose power and influence or could be put out of business completely. The desire for stronger Congressional oversight of the Fed is no longer confined to a few libertarian fruitcakes, conspiracy theorists and old lefties.

It is a mainstream view that the Fed has failed to foresee and prevent the crisis, that it has managed it ineffectively since it started, and that it has allowed itself to be used as a quasi-fiscal instrument of the US Treasury, by-passing Congressional control. Are any or all of these criticisms justified? Let’s ponder a few of them.

ROMANIA: World Bank Supports Reforms to Mitigate the Economic Crisis
They all keep using this word REFORM. Sadly I do not think it means what you are accustomed to thinking it means, dear readers. Tovarich, you won't believe it, we just bought Romania. Cheap!

The World Bank's Board of Executive Directors Thursday approved a loan to Romania in the amount of Euro 300 million ($423 million equivalent) to help mitigate the global economic crisis and help Romania resume growth and EU convergence...

Venezuelan Bank Purchases of Government Debt Soar

South Korea Pension Fund Plans to Double Assets By Investing in BRICs

Iceland to Request Support from European Central Bank

Iceland's path to EU membership could be long and troubled

Walter Cronkite Kicks It @ 92

In 2004 Cronkite criticized Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kerry for not confidently embracing the label "liberal," which the newsman equated with being "progressive," "broad-minded," "unprejudiced," and "beneficent".

SNIP

"Everybody knows that there's a liberal, that there's a heavy liberal persuasion among correspondents," said Cronkite in 1996, speaking to his colleagues at the Radio and TV Correspondents Association dinner.

Duke University Fires Frank Lombard
WTF took them so long?

Frank Lombard, who was arrested by the FBI in June on child sex abuse charges, was let go by the University Tuesday. Michael Schoenfeld, vice president for public affairs and government relations, confirmed that Lombard is no longer a Duke employee.

Lombard, formerly the associate director for the Health Inequalities Program at the Center for Heath Policy, is charged by the FBI with offering his five-year-old adopted son to an undercover police officer for sex. According to an affidavit, Lombard was arrested after a confidential informant told the FBI about child molestation he had witnessed in an online "videochat" program.

The University originally placed Lombard on unpaid administrative leave following his June 24 arrest. Schoenfeld declined to comment further on the decision to terminate Lombard's employment.

Don't be afraid to see what you see.
~ Ronald Reagan

Humanism 101: What is the New Atheism?
Same as the old atheism.

Ranks of atheists grow, get organized
Believe in nothing and you shall have it. In abundance!

Religion 101: Where do the humanists and atheists meet in Boise?
Yes your atheism is a religion. I think we should get a law passed proclaiming it such so that we can then try to enforce some separation of militant atheist and state issues....

Glad to be godless!
Ahh but you are not godless, you staggering fools.
You just worship a different god than I do.

Like other summer camps, Camp Quest satisfies a demand that springs from America’s combination of very long holidays for children and very short ones for their parents. Unlike other camps, it is staffed entirely by humanists.

Atheism in Philadelphia 101

Atheist ad campaigns come in peace, love and understanding
Nuthin' funny 'bout it, MFers.

'Conservative' pope's liberal encyclical deserves attention

If you think that President Barack Obama is a socialist, wait'll you hear what the pope had to say last week.

President Barack Obama Misled Pope Benedict XVI on Reducing Abortions
NO! Unheard of! Absurd!
And guess what? The Pope knew it.
REPENT!

Gateway Pundit: More Evidence That Obama Lied to Pope Benedict
Don't be so shocked, they call this shit DIPLOMACY.
I assure you, Jewsus is not amused.

What, me worry?

A Reckless Congress

Democrats want to ram through one of the greatest raids on private income and business in American history. Say this about the 1,018-page health-care bill that House Democrats unveiled this week and that President Obama heartily endorsed: It finally reveals at least some of the price of the reckless ambitions of our current government. With huge majorities and a President in a rush to outrun the declining popularity of his agenda, Democrats are bidding to impose an unrepealable European-style welfare state in a matter of weeks.

On abortion, don't ask, don't tell

Have any doubt about where Barack Obama stands on abortion rights? You shouldn’t. (NEITHER SHOULD THE POPE -bz) During last year’s presidential campaign, Obama said he would make “preserving a woman’s right to choose under Roe v. Wade a priority as president.”

House spending bill allows DC abortion funding

Specter and Lugar to back Sotomayor
NNNNAAAAAAaaaturally!

Lugar backs S'mayor
Lugar: Obama's American KGB handler.
And you people still insist you have two parties!

AMA supports ObamaCare: Good politics or treachery?

Proposed National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility
ZOONOTIC mah pipples!

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate today released the Record of Decision (ROD) on the National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF). Manhattan, Kan., has been selected as the site for a state-of the-art, high-security laboratory facility to study foreign animal and zoonotic (transferable from animal to human) diseases that can impact livestock. This formal ROD follows the publication of the NBAF Final Environmental Impact Statement (NBAF Final EIS) in the Federal Register on Dec. 12, 2008 and officially designates a site upon which to build the NBAF.

Swine flu could kill 65,000 in UK, warns chief medical officer
PANIC NOW!

Europe prepares for swine flu pandemic
We said NOW! Are you people deaf?

Because women are aberrant.

Senate passes hate crimes but veto looms

The Senate approved the long-sought Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act by a voice vote Thursday night. The measure, however, was approved as an amendment to an annual defense spending bill. While President Barack Obama has long supported the hate crimes legislation, he is adamantly opposing additional funding for the purchase of stealth fighter jets.

White House LGBT press liaison Shin Inouye released a statement Friday, July 17, saying, "The President has long supported the hate crimes bill and gave his personal commitment to Judy Shepard that we will enact an inclusive bill. Unfortunately, the President will have to veto the Defense Authorization bill if it includes wasteful spending for additional F-22s."

Gates: Future Jet Supporters are Risking Today's Troops
LOL! RAYTHEON itself is his #2 and he has balls to say this shit?

At a speech today in Chicago, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates lashed out at members of Congress, at the “defense and aerospace industry,” and at the “institutional military itself” for trying to keep ultra-expensive, often-useless weapons programs in the Pentagon budget. It’s just not right, he said, while the country is fighting two wars in which such gear is clearly not required.

ICE Heralds New Era of Cooperation with ATF, DEA
FUSION!

Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid:
Same way they now get "exigent circumstances" warrants from phone companies instead of courts guarantee they will also get them from Microsoft & pals in order to invade your PC's files.

On Monday of this week, Microsoft and ESRI announced the Fusion Core Solution, a solution architecture to strengthen the ability of government agencies to prepare, assess, and respond to threats of national security as well as natural disasters.

SNIP

After looking at the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice guidelines, Microsoft identified three core functions a fusion center needed .

DARPA feeds $155M to Raytheon for military wireless network

FEMA head wants Americans to "take responsibility"

Fugate answered a number of viewer questions for a segment to be aired this Sunday morning at 10:30 on YOUR SHOW on My20, Comcast Channel 3. The program will also feature your questions being asked to the man in charge of overseeing the $3.7 billion from the President's economic stimulus package coming into Colorado. To send a question for that segment, e-mail us at yourshow@9News.com.

FEMA's Craig Fugate Said Mitigation Language, Roles Must be Redefined
He who controls language controls thought...

That includes changing building codes and standards, as well as the language used in mitigating hazards.

DHS listens and learns at Ogma
LOL! HAIL OGMA.
Named for a pagan god, even!
I am telling you, this shit just writes itself.

The Department of Homeland Security Office for Interoperability and Compatibility, Office of Emergency Communications, FEMA National Preparedness Directorate and the Center for Homeland Defense and Security recently hosted "The Ogma Workshop: Exploring the Policy and Strategy Implications of Web 2.0 on the Practice of Homeland Security."

According to DHS, it was an "effort to establish what we know thus far about pervasive technology, review established and emerging best practices, and discuss what needs to be done next." Chris Essid, Director of the Office of Emergency Communications at DHS, tells FederalNewsRadio that using social media for public safety is "an exciting prospect. It's an exciting new information stream that our responders can utilize to have better situational awareness."

The Ogma Workshop, according to DHS, was named after the Irish-Celtic god of eloquence and learning. The learning, in this case, is from those on the front lines already using the technologies, says Essid.

DHS To Spend Up To $389 Million On Emergency Communications

The Department of Homeland Security has picked four contractors to support national security communications over the next five years in an effort that could see the department spending up to $389 million.

Under the terms of the contract, Booz Allen Hamilton, General Dynamics, SAIC and SRA International will provide scientific, engineering and technical support to the National Communications System, an interagency group that's responsible for some cybersecurity and coordinates national security and emergency preparedness communications.

DHS: Give us info on cybersecurity products

The Homeland Security Department wants information from companies on technical solutions that could be used to protect the ".gov" cyber domain used by federal civilian agencies, according to recently published notice.

Testimony of Secretary Napolitano before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, "Identification Security" (Oral Testimony) given July 15, 2009

Further, under Pass ID, a requirement for electronic verification of Social Security Number and lawful status remains. Now, the differences: Why is this easier to implement from the state perspective?

First, Pass ID eliminates the blanket requirement to use untested technologies for electronic verification of any and all source documents. States still have to validate documents, but they can pursue different ways to reach that standard.

Second, they are required to electronically verify Social Security and lawful presence through the S-Solve and SAVE [Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements] databases; but, unlike REAL ID, under Pass ID, they are exempted for paying the fee for doing those checks.

Third, there is greater flexibility under Pass ID. in terms of how you re-enroll existing driver’s license holders, because under REAL ID you've got to re-enroll everybody under the age of 50 three years earlier than everybody else. Under Pass ID we give the states flexibility on how to do the re-enrollment so long as everything is complete by 2016—which actually is one year earlier than the final completion date for REAL ID.

Yes because walking your own way is ABNORMAL DAMMIT!
Act like the rest of us, NOW!

Calls for the nationalisation of South African mines

Nationalise mines, for whom?

New element named 'copernicium'

Discovered 13 years ago, and officially added to the periodic table just weeks ago, element 112 finally has a name. It will be called "copernicium", with the symbol Cp, in honour of the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus.

Navajos mark 30th anniversary of uranium spill

The leader of the Navajo Nation marked the 30th anniversary of a massive uranium tailings spill by reaffirming the tribe's ban on future uranium mining.

Speaking in Navajo and English, President Joe Shirley Jr. addressed about 100 people who made a seven-mile walk to the site of the July 16, 1979 spill and to the land of Navajo ranchers who live near another contaminated site.

What Shirley called "the largest peacetime accidental release of radioactive contaminated materials in the history of the United States" occurred when 94 million gallons of acidic water poured into the north fork of the Rio Puerco after an earthen uranium tailings dam failed. Within days, contaminated tailings liquid was found 50 miles downstream in Arizona.

Shirley said the spill — the same year as the Three Mile Island accident in Pennsylvania — barely registered on the consciousness of the United States but will not be forgotten by the by Navajo and non-Navajo residents "who still worry today about the potential impacts of this tragic accident."

Newfound attention to massive Church Rock uranium contamination

Thirty years ago today, an earthen tailings dam near the United Nuclear Corp. Church Rock Uranium mine collapsed, spilling ninety million gallons of liquid radioactive waste and eleven hundred tons of solid mill wastes into the Rio Puerco.

The spill contaminated water, land and air at least 50 miles downstream on Navajo Nation land in New Mexico and Arizona.

It is believed that more radiation was released in the spill than in the Three Mile Island nuclear accident in Pennsylvania, making the Church Rock spill the largest release of radioactive waste ever in the U.S. — and second only to the Chernobyl meltdown globally. The privately-owned site of the Church Rock spill is a Superfund site — and it is still leaking radioactive waste throughout Indian lands to this day.

Yet few people today have ever heard of it.

Uranium Resources To Buy New Mexico Properties In Cash And Stock

Uranium Resources, Inc. announced an agreement to acquire 113,000 acres of mineral rights in the Crownpoint area of New Mexico from NZ Uranium, LLC. The closing of the transaction is expected to to occur by mid August. Uranium Resources would also acquire Hosta Butte, southeast of Crownpoint, which it had evaluated as an in situ recovery project for NZ Uranium in the past. Uranium Resources plans to commission a third-party engineering study to update the estimates.

Uranium Incident at B&W in Lynchburg Leads to Alert
Good luck finding more out about this shit. A total of 11 articles on it exist and they are all basically the same:

Lynchburg, VA - An incident at Babcock and Wilcox Wednesday night caused the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to have safety experts in Atlanta and Maryland to monitor the situation at the Lynchburg plant.

The NRC says the alert- classified as the lowest level of emergency- started around 7:45 p.m. A news release states B & W staff noticed that a saw used to cut fuel components leaked oil that contained an unknown amount of highly enriched uranium into a receptacle.

NRC responds to scare at B&W nuclear plant in Va.

Reuters - Scott DiSavino, Lisa Shumaker - ‎21 hours ago‎

NEW YORK, July 17 (Reuters) - The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission this week responded to a scare at Babcock & Wilcox's nuclear facility in Lynchburg, ...

Feds Investigate Uranium Incident At Va Facility WJZ

Nuclear Regulatory Commission responds to B&W in Lynchburg after ... WDBJ7.com

Feds investigate uranium accident at Lynchburg B&W plant WSLS.com

all 11 news articles »

Extract Says Contacted About Namibian Uranium Project
How many Africans, Rednecks or Indians will have to die for this crap?
Never mind, they don't matter, they are all abnormal.

Extract Resources Ltd., an Australian mining company planning a uranium project in Namibia, said it’s studying a wide range of development and funding options after it was contacted regarding the venture.

Feds studying hazards at Texas cement factory town

To hear Sue Pope tell it, tons of toxic pollutants spewing from three nearby cement factories have ruined her immune system, stripped her lung capacity, and probably caused her husband's cancer as well as numerous inexplicable illnesses around town.

Talk to state, local or industry officials here and they'll tell you that decades of studies prove the air around the nation's largest concentration of cement plants is just fine.

Both sides hope a sweeping new federal study will finally answer the question that environmentalists, industry leaders, politicians and scientists have argued about for at least 20 years: Just how toxic is this place?

Granite fabricators exposed to more radiation than nuke workers

In June, a nationwide advisory cautioned that granite fabricators can be exposed to more radiation than nuclear power plant workers. The data behind that advisory were presented at the Health Physics Society annual conference this week. Those data show that granite fabricators can be exposed to several hundred times more radiation than allowed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The granite used to collect the data was Jupurana Bordeaux, removed from a San Carlos home last fall. When Cathy Woods learned that her counter tops qualified as uranium ore, she had her granite removed. Cathy generously allowed us to use that granite for research.

We shipped samples of Cathy’s granite to scientists around the country. Those scientists tested her granite for radiation, radon, and thoron emission. Their data will be presented in papers they publish over the coming months.

We used other sections of Cathy’s granite to measure uranium exposure during fabrication. When we saw the lab reports, we had some concerns. The airborne dust in the work area contained more uranium than OSHA would allow.

Because there are insane killers in our midst!

'Extinct' tiny shrew rediscovered
Survival of the Unfittest Akbar.

So, why are there still chimpanzees?
Richard Dawkins will tell you!

Two earthquakes rock New Zealand, aftershocks continue

Magnitude 5.1 VOLCANO ISLANDS JAPAN REGION

Philippines Volcano Threatens to Erupt

The Supervolcano That's About to Shatter Yellowstone

DOE Earmarks $85M for 'Advanced' Biofuels

The Energy Department will provide up to $85 million to accelerate commercial production of "advanced" biofuels that can be derived from algae and other feedstocks.

Bruno has a gay ole time in the Holy Land

Bruno is an over-the-top gay Austrian fashionista with a Nazi streak whose goal is to become the biggest Austrian celebrity since Hitler. To do so he travels to America, where he is told he must take on a charitable cause to achieve worldwide fame. So he decides to bring peace to a troubled place he calls "Middle Earth."

There, he nearly sparks a riot in an ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighborhood in Jerusalem when he struts down the street in a sexed-up Hassidic outfit that includes skintight shorts. On the Palestinian side, he tries to convince a West Bank militant to kidnap him, while giving the man condescending fashion tips. Bruno confuses the popular chickpea spread "hummus" with the Islamic militant group "Hamas" when he tries to bring together Israeli and Palestinian personalities to make peace.

Baron Cohen, an observant, Hebrew-speaking Jew with close ties to Israel, has ribbed the region before. In his 2006 movie Borat, his fake Kazakh language was actually Hebrew and his shtick was peppered with Israeli slang. In Bruno he goes a step further, taking aim at the Middle East's most sacred cows.

San Diego Opera Plays Nabucco
Vlad is very pleased, tovariches!

God had other plans for rock 'n' roll drummer
I loved Rat Race Choir.

This guy was the touring drummer for the rock group Mountain. He was a founding member of Rat Race Choir and The John Entwistle Band (where he played alongside Entwistle, bass guitarist for the legendary rock band The Who). Luongo pounds things for a living. He never thought he’d be CEO material.And yet here he is, running the 6-year-old John Entwistle Foundation, working every day to get musical instruments into the hands of poor and sick kids.

“If you want to make God laugh,” Luongo said, “tell him your plans.”

Because everyone knows all musicians are maladjusted longhair militants