Monday, May 31, 2010

War News for Monday, May 31, 2010

The British MoD is reporting the death of a British ISAF Marine in an IED attack in an unidentified location in Helmand Province, Afghanistan on Sunday, May 30th.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier in a small arms fire attack in an unidentified location in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, May 30th.


Kurds kill Turkish soldiers in rocket attack:

Battalion among hardest hit in Afghan war:

B-17 to drop flowers for CIA killed in Afghanistan: (This is such an obscene joke...whisker)

In Afghan region, U.S. spreads the cash to fight the Taliban:


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: A prominent local leader of anti-insurgent Sunni forces was shot and killed by two gunmen Monday. The attackers were armed with silenced pistols and shot Nael al-Azami near a popular cafe in Baghdad's northern Azamiyah district.

Two roadside bombs planted under Ghadeer bridge went off simultaneously when a police patrol passed, killing a civilian and wounding eight people, including six policemen, in Ghadeer district in eastern Baghdad, police said.

#2: A roadside bomb struck an Iraqi police patrol in the capital's Ghadir neighbourhood, killing one policeman and wounding 10 bystanders and officers nearby.

#3: A roadside bomb targeting a police troop went off and wounded six, including three policemen, in Zayouna District, eastern Baghdad, police said.

#4: A sticky bomb attached to a SUV went off and wounded a civilian in Palestine Street, north-eastern Baghdad, police said.


Kirkuk:
#1: In Kirkuk, a policeman has died after a roadside bomb hit his patrol Sunday evening. Four of his colleagues were seriously hurt in the blast.


Mosul:
#1: Police found the bodies of two unidentified females who had been suffocated to death in south-eastern Mosul, 390 km (240 miles ) north of Baghdad, police said


Northern Iraq:
#1: A 14-year-old Iraqi girl was killed Sunday and dozens of families fled their homes to escape Iranian artillery shells in northern Iraq, according to a Kurdish Regional Security Forces spokesman. The artillery shells rained down on villages Sunday where Kurdish rebels were thought to be operating, said Jabbar Yawer. The artillery targeted villages in the Balakiyaki border area, about 125 km (77 miles) northeast of Irbil province. The barrage began late Saturday and continued until Sunday morning, Yawer said. A number of farms in the villages were heavily damaged, Yawer said.




Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: NATO launched airstrikes Monday against Taliban insurgents who had forced government forces to abandon a district in eastern Afghanistan. Early Monday, NATO aircraft fired guided munitions on Taliban positions at Barg-e-Matal district in Nuristan, a province in the mountainous region on the Pakistani border. No casualty figures were given.

#2: Further south, NATO said a civilian contractor's helicopter crash-landed Sunday in Paktia province, killing one civilian on the ground and slightly injuring three crew members. NATO said the cause of the hard landing was being investigated, but there were no reports of insurgent involvement.

#3: In the north, insurgents detonated a remote-controlled bomb Sunday as a police convoy passed by, killing seven officers in a province previously considered to be relatively safe, said deputy provincial Gov. Shams-ul Rahman.

#4: In nearby Kunduz province, militants attacked a police checkpoint in Ali Abad district, triggering a gunbattle that killed three insurgents and wounded seven others, the Interior Ministry said.

#5: Eight Afghan police were wounded Sunday by a suicide bomber who struck a checkpoint on the outskirts of Khost City southeast of Kabul, officials said.


DoD: Cpl. Jacob C. Leicht

Blue Star Massacre Widget.


I have made this widget - also in the sidebar to the right - to commemorate the shaheeds of the Bluestar Massacre.



Bluestar Massacre Widget
If you would like to add it to your blog/website, the code can be found at:

 http://sites.google.com/site/thanksandchardikala/0-bluestar-massacre-widget

Copy/paste that into your site's html. To put it in the sidebar, add it as a gadget using the Javascript/html.

While you're there, feel free to look through that website.  I set it up to thank the people in my life who need thanking.  That most certainly includes you, my faithful readers.   The pages are meant to be read in order and start at the home page:  Thanks, Gurufateh and Chardi Kala. 

DEATH WISH

"gives jamies a whole new meaning" -amber smith


i got this cd for $1 at the flea market last weekend.

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Video: Freemasonry and the Illumaniti Exposed

Video: Freemasonry and the Illumaniti Exposed

News of the Day for Sunday, May 30, 2010

A U.S. soldier from A Co., 3rd Battalion, 69th Armored Regiment, 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division based at Fort Stewart, Ga., carries his belongings during a handover ceremony northeast of Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, May 28, 2010. The next step in the security agreement is the withdrawal of the first major wave of troops and this would reduce the force level from 92,000 to 50,000 troops by Aug. 31, 2010. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)





Reported Security Incidents

Near Mosul

Bomb attack on convoy of an Iraqi army colonel injures 2 of his guards.

Qaim, near Ramadi

Gunmen kidnap 2 civilians and commandeer their vehicle.

Other News of the Day

As Iraq flounders without a government, basic government functions don't get done. McClatchy's Hannah Allam reports:

For hundreds of thousands of Iraqis . .., the delay in seating a new government, which already has lasted nearly three months, has complicated everyday errands and added bureaucratic frustration to lives that are hard enough thanks to persistent violence and the lack of basic utilities.

More than 100,000 new state jobs are on hold, and mundane tasks such as obtaining licenses and registering for pensions are backlogged until a new government is seated, Iraqi officials and Baghdad residents said this week.

Each day the political infighting drags on, more Iraqis begin to question their participation in the March 7 parliamentary elections, which the Obama administration had counted on to pave the way for an unimpeded withdrawal of U.S. forces by the end of next year.


Government-owned carrier Iraqi Airways is liquidated due to debts owed to Kuwait over stolen aircraft.

Scholars Douglas L. Kriner and Francis X. Shen analyze the sources of America's cannon fodder. Excerpt:

We demonstrate unambiguously that, beginning with the Korean War, disadvantaged communities have suffered a disproportionate share of the nation’s wartime casualties, while richer communities have been more insulated from the costs of war. Furthermore, the data suggest that this “casualty gap” between rich and poor communities has reached its widest proportions in the ongoing conflict in Iraq.

snip

What would happen if the nation openly acknowledged the casualty gap? Would citizens rethink questions of war and peace? To find out, we conducted a series of original public opinion survey experiments with nationally representative samples of Americans.

We found that citizens informed about the existence of a casualty gap were significantly more likely to oppose ongoing military operations and less willing to support future ones than were their peers who were not informed about casualty inequalities.


As U.S. troops prepare to leave Iraq, they struggle to preserve impromptu in-country memorials to the dead and wounded. AP's Rebecca Santana tells the tale:

In words etched in stone, painted on concrete barriers, scribbled on hospital walls with magic markers, American troops in Iraq have followed a tradition as old as war itself: honoring their dead.

Now, as the United States prepares to dramatically decrease its military presence in Iraq this summer, American commanders are trying to decide what to do with the vast collection of plaques, street signs and painted concrete barriers dedicated to the men and women who shed their blood in this desert country.

In the Vietnam War, units brought home their memorabilia and memorials when they rotated out of the country. When the U.S. closed down bases around Germany at the end of the Cold War, the memorabilia also was preserved. Now, it's Iraq's turn. But preserving some of the memorials could prove difficult.


Afghanistan Update

Roadside bomb attack on a police patrol in the northeastern province of Badakhshan kills 7 officers.

Taliban torch 6 fuel trucks in Ghazni, destined for NATO forces in Kandahar. Separately, 4 Afghan civilians are killed in explosions in Khost, Nangarhar and Paktika and Ghor.

Gen. McChrystal claims that Taliban fighters are receiving training and arms from Iran. He offers no evidence for this assertion. From DPA: "The Iranian regime, which has built up a favorable relationship with President Hamid Karzai's government, has in the past repeatedly denied that it supports the Taliban and in turn accused the US of playing a 'double game' in the war-torn country. Afghan officials have also said they have no evidence that Iran is helping the Taliban."

As the peace Jirga looms, many are concerned about the possible outcome for women's rights. Al Arabiya compiles the story:

As Afghanistan's most powerful men arrive in Kabul for a major conference aimed at starting a peace process with the Taliban, many women are worried the event could lead to a compromise of their hard-won rights.

In an effort to end the nine-year conflict, Afghanistan is holding a peace jirga -- or an assembly -- of powerful leaders, tribal elders and representatives of civil society to consider President Hamid Karzai’s plans to open talks with Taliban. But even the remote possibility of a Taliban return has touched off concern about the fate of women who were banned from schools, the work place and public life during the Taliban rule from 1996 to 2001.

snip

Concerned activists also point to the fact that women are not adequately represented at peace jirga, in which they represent a very small number of the 1,400 seats. And although between 30 and 50 women are expected to attend, none is involved in its planning. Some believe that women were only given a “symbolic” role to lure Taliban to sit at the negotiations table.


U.S. military investigation uncharacteristically admits culpability for a missile attack that killed 23 civilians in February. "U.S. military investigators found that "inaccurate and unprofessional" reporting by U.S. operators of a Predator drone was responsible."

Canada's senior commander in Afghanistan, Brigadier General Daniel Menard, is relieved of his command, for unspecified reasons but apparently involving fraternization.

Due to threats, some tribal elders from Ghazni will not attend the Jirga.

Taliban have captured a district in Nooristan, Afghan forces have withdrawn from the district center to avoid civilian casualties.

Quote of the Day

We too, we too, descending once again
The hills of our own land, we too have heard
Far off -- Ah, que ce cor a longue haleine --
The horn of Roland in the passages of Spain,
the first, the second blast, the failing third,
And with the third turned back and climbed once more
The steep road southward, and heard faint the sound
Of swords, of horses, the disastrous war,
And crossed the dark defile at last, and found
At Roncevaux upon the darkening plain
The dead against the dead and on the silent ground
The silent slain.


Archibald MacLeish

Mike Bloomberg "Off-Shore Mayor" Brooklyn Bridge Park & Governors Island to Cayman post by Suzannah B. Troy

http://noticingnewyork.blogspot.com/2010/05/looking-gift-horse-in-mouth-examination_24.html Above link, part 1, Looking a Gift Horse in the Mouth? An Examination of Brooklyn Bridge Park in Terms of the Politics of Development Monday, May 24, 2010 Looking a Gift Horse in the Mouth? An Examination of Brooklyn Bridge Park in Terms of the Politics of Development, Part II http://noticingnewyork.blogspot.com/2010/05/looking-gift-horse-in-mouth-examination.html Monday, May 24, 2010 Looking a Gift Horse in the Mouth? An Examination of Brooklyn Bridge Park in Terms of the Politics of Development, Part III http://noticingnewyork.blogspot.com/2010/05/looking-gift-horse-in-mouth-examination_21.html
These links above are from Michael D. D. White's blog Noticing New York and explain why Mike Bloomberg is the "Off-shore mayor" from Governors Island to the Cayman Islands. by Michael D. D. White. His blog are extremely revealing or as much as they can be when it gets to the mayor's finances and other tidbits.




Watch my YouTube interview with Michael. Please take the time to read Michael's expose and for me the way Mike Bloomberg has handled real estate and this ruthless tsunami of community crushing development as reckless and stupid as what brought the implosion of Wall Street is about the mayor wanting to do what he wants unchecked. Steve Rattner thought he could do what he wanted to do unchecked and he has been busted.


Here is an excerpt from Noticing New York and it takes patience and time to get to the really, really juicy bits including the Cayman Islands.


"This three-part article, which is principally about the new Brooklyn Bridge Park currently under development, wends a long, more serpentine path through the politics of New York City development than perhaps any other we have written. As you would expect, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's appearance is much more than a cameo. We don’t offer him praise.

Inevitably the metaphor of looking a gift horse in the mouth comes to mind when we contemplate the spectacular change to the city’s waterfront that will one day be Brooklyn Bridge Park. Whatever our government agencies ultimately do, the park will provide desirable benefits that will be extremely hard to complain about. But not conscientiously examining “gifts” that government officials deliver just doesn’t work in the political environment of New York. Besides Brooklyn Bridge Park is not truly a gift; it is something that community activists worked for years to obtain. Our elected representatives are, after all, supposed to be working for us. It is their job to properly administer our available public resources. Whether they are doing so requires a conscientious examination. We hope you will find that conscientious examination takes us on an interesting and worthwhile trip.

Now, let our wending look at the politics of development begin.

The Shuffling of Dates for the Opening of Brooklyn Bridge Park 

On March 22, an initial part of Brooklyn Bridge Park opened, the Pier One portion in the north near Fulton Ferry. An actual opening is imbued with a faintly amazing aspect given that dates announced for opening the park have been shuffled around by innumerable postponements. The shuffling has occurred in truly big picture terms and it also occurred recently on a more micro level.

In big picture terms; the park, which involved decades of planning (funding for which was approved in 2000) was originally supposed to start construction in 2003/2004 and be fully open and complete in 2011 (an eight year construction period). By the end of 2004 the public was being told 2008 would be shovel-in-the-ground year and that the construction would take three or four years to complete (i.e. completion would be pushed out one more year to 2012). Such big picture delay is something that press coverage of the opening necessarily alluded to.

The rest of the media did not, however point out the shuffling of the opening date that has been transpiring recently on a more micro level,but we did. In late August, just around back-to-school time, the public was told that two sections of the park would open just four months later in December. (We were quite skeptical.) Then, in November, with three of those four months elapsed, the public was told that it would still be waiting another four months for an opening of just one section of park rather than the two promised in August.

Let us restate this in terms of what prompted our own skepticism: At the tail end of the two four year terms served by the Bloomberg administration, just as Bloomberg was running for an unprecedented third term by having overturned the city charter to repel term limits,it was being announced that part of a project funded and approved evenbefore Bloomberg took office, the whole of which was supposed to have been largely completed within those two terms, was finally, finally being started! Not only that; the public was being told that it was going to be opened just a mere days after the election.

What do you think happened? A scant 22 days after Bloomberg squeaked by (spending more than a hundred million dollars) to win re-election, it was revealed that the schedule of a four month countdown to completion announced before the election was, as we initially hypothesized, quite fanciful."



You will have to go to the blog links above to read all the installments and also don't forget my piece on Mike Bloomberg's techno-dream is the tax payer's Titanic as in CityTime.

Saturday, May 29, 2010

War News for Saturday, May 29, 2010

FEATURE-Death and betrayal stalk police in Iraq:

Taliban Leave Pakistan, but Afghans Repel Them:

When Afghans Seek Medical Aid, Tough Choice for U.S.

Options studied for a possible Pakistan strike:


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: The homes of two Sahwa members and one policeman were blown up in Hor Rijab area, south Baghdad, at 2 a.m. Friday. The families had abandoned their homes many months earlier for fear of retaliation and three civilians from a neighbouring house were severely injured.


Diyala Prv:
#1: Three sahwa (awakening) tribal pro-government fighters were wounded in a blast from an improvised explosive device (IED) west of Baaquba city on Friday, an official security source in Diala said. “An IED planted in waste dumps in al-Katoun neighborhood, (3 km) west of Baaquba, went off near a sahwa checkpoint, leaving three fighters wounded,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: Unknown gunmen on Saturday detonated a policeman’s house east of Ramadi city. “Large portions of the policeman’s house were destroyed due to the blast,” a local security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. He noted that some nearby houses were also damaged due to the explosion. “The blast caused no casualties,” the source explained.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A SUICIDE attacker with explosives strapped to his body blew himself up on Saturday outside a military caterer in Kabul but caused no casualties, Afghanistan's interior ministry said. The explosion took place east of the capital, close to a warehouse and supermarket run by Supreme Food Services, supplier of food to the foreign military, ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary told AFP. 'It was suicide attack and the suicide attacker detonated explosives strapped to his body,' he said. It was not immediately clear what the target of the attack had been, he said, adding the attacker, who was on foot, may have detonated prematurely. The blast took place at the Kabul end of the road to Bagram air base, a huge Nato installation and until recently the biggest in the country, which is about 45 kilometres further north.

#2: Taliban insurgents overran a remote district in eastern Afghanistan after days of heavy fighting in the area, a provincial police official said on Saturday. The battle erupted earlier this week in Barg-i-Matal district of mountainous Nuristan province, a remote area bordering Pakistan, when hundreds of Taliban fighters stormed the district centre, said Qasim Payman, police chief of the province. "The police force in the area has tactically retreated from the district after days of fighting," he told Reuters, adding there were no signs of reinforcements despite repeated requests.

#3: A bomb blast in Khost city the capital of the Khost province in eastern Afghanistan injured four civilians on Saturday morning, police said. "An explosive device was detonated in an ice cream shop in Sargardan square in Khost city this morning at 8:45 a.m. local time injuring four civilians including a 14 years old boy," deputy to provincial police chief Guldad told Xinhua.

#4: Militants ambushed an Afghan police convoy with a roadside bomb and gunfire in eastern Afghanistan, killing five officers before fleeing NATO aerial bombardment, an official said Saturday. Two militants were killed and up to six wounded in the battle Friday in Paktia province, said Ghulam Dastagir, the deputy provincial police chief. He said the convoy was headed toward the Dandi Pathan district when one vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb blast, killing five officers and wounding the district police chief. Militants opened fire after the blast, triggering a gunbattle that lasted several hours before NATO aircraft were called in.

#5: Two missiles fired by U.S. drone aircraft struck militant compound near Afghan border, killing nine militants, including some foreigners, Pakistan officials said. There was no independent confirmation of attack.

Christine Quinn forgives billion? Fleet Week! post by Suzannah B. Troy

First let us get the super hotties out of the way!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sizzling hot men have invaded NYC...it is Fleet Week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now to depressing news....Heard on the street.....Christine Quinn bragged she collected 15 million in uncollected ECB (Environmental Control Board) Fines but the only problem is according to what I heard on the street -- not Wall Street but the streets of New York -- the city was owed 1 Billion plus (add another 1/4 Billion) so she forgave a BILLION dollars and we are in a budgetary crisis.  Is this true?  Could this be......?

Look no one wants to stop a shady landlord, developer, contractor good friends or someone nice enough to grease palms so why collect BILLIONS owed and don't forget the mega-millions DOB is owed but if you get parking tickets and don't pay up expect your car to be seized....

It is like Mike Bloomberg wanting to have lowly city workers hands scanned to track their comings and goings but Mike has no records of when he gave Christine Quinn and others free rides on his private jet.
Speaking of which, The Financial Times writes:

"Quadrangle, the US private equity firm co-founded by former Obama administration car tsar Steven Rattner, is hiring bankers to consider options that could include a sale of the company, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. The move follows the firm’s agreement in April to pay $12m to settle investigations by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the New York Attorney-General’s office into 'pay to play' practices in the New York state pension system."
"Quadrangle, which settled without admitting or denying the charges, was accused of funnelling fees to a political consultant to secure investments from the state’s biggest pension fund. The case involved executives who are no longer at the firm."

By the way does anyone know the name of the new firm Steve Rattner created to manage Mike's 6 Billion dollars for charity? Is it Quadrangle 2 like Oliver Stone's sweet Wall Street flick Wall Street 1 and Wall Street 2?

Oh, and is anyone surprised about Andrew Stein getting busted?  He is one of many vain men so the worst punishment for him is if he has to go to jail and they won't let him where his toupee.  He had this Jeffrey Epstein wannabe kind of thing happening.... Has anyone asked Ron Pearlman for a comment on Andrew Stein or Shirley McClaine?

Friday, May 28, 2010

ambies and i started dating 4 years ago today!

Frosty


The Franco-German axis, which for so long has defined the European Union, has taken some serious hits lately. Following the trauma of the eurozone crisis, the relationship between the two countries is heading towards a historic post-war low - to the point that Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy are no longer on speaking terms according to whispers in Brussels. This wasn't helped by Sarkozy's comments the other week that "95 percent" of the bailout package deal agreed corresponded to French demands.

Today Wirtschaftswoche takes an interesting look at the strains, quoting one "experienced" CDU source saying that "In this government one can talk anti-French without being punished...that wasn't the case at the time of [Chancellor] Kohl".

Quite extrordinarily, the article also suggests that relations between Sarkozy and Merkel are at such a low ebb that "Merkel likes to imitate the vain behaviour of the little Frenchman, thereby making friends in her party laugh during the late hours." Harsh!

Apart from the huge implications for the future of the EU, Merkel's more assertive stance - and the power vacuum left by the radical weakening of the Franco-German axis - is also proving very confusing for journalists. Particularly anglo-saxon ones. In today's FT, Philip Stephens is so perplexed by this new order that he desperately searches for some sort of familiar point of reference and finds....Margaret Thatcher! Stephens argues:

"Mrs Thatcher spoke the language of the small shopkeeper from her native Lincolnshire. Ms Merkel, as determined as was Britain’s Iron Lady that Germany should no longer pick up Europe’s bills, has her own exemplar of the virtues of provincial thrift."

He also seems very pleased with his phrase "anti-European invective", using it twice to describe what he sees as the mood in the UK and Germany - without engaging with any of the actual arguments about the sustainability of the current model for European integration. Stephens is obviously struggling to get with the programme. If Merkel sounds like Thatcher, what exactly is that a sign of? German taxpayers are potentially liable for some €120 billion in eurozone loans and have just seen the independence of the ECB kissed goodbye - after having been promised that neither could ever happen. Whining over the fact that the Germans are not acting like this is 'business as usual' just isn't serious.

In Stephens' eyes the whole world is turning 'anti-European', apart from Sarkozy and a freemasonry of like-minded Eurocrats in Brussels (to steal a phrase from a thought-provoking piece by Simon Jenkins the other day). His views sound almost...provincial.

A leader in today's IHT is also struggling to come to terms with the changing nature of Europe:

"Now, at the worst possible moment, Germany is turning to nationalist illusions. Europe’s past economic successes are now viewed as German successes. Europe’s current deep problems are everyone else’s except Germany’s. That is neither realistic nor sustainable. But German politicians and commentators are callously and self-destructively feeding these ideas."

Some journalists should really get out more and see some ordinary people outside of the political bubbles in a few selected capitals. A more sensible take on the situation can be found in the Economist's Charlemagne column today:

"Anger and denial are hardly surprising. Germans were promised that the single currency would be the old Deutschmark in new clothes, backed by Teutonic discipline and a fiercely independent central bank. Arguably, that fantasy Deutschmark died early on May 10th, when a euro-zone bail-out mechanism was agreed and the European Central Bank started buying government bonds by the bucket load. Germans are now in mourning. How they recover is not just their problem, but Europe's".

In any case, the broken Franco-German engine certainly opens up the playing field for new alliances in Europe - and a new, more sustainable and healthy European agenda. Is the UK's Con-Lib coalition government ready to go to work?

Gunmen in Pakistan Attack 2 Mosques

Gunmen stormed two Pakistani mosques belonging to a minority sect in Lahore on Friday, taking worshippers hostage and sparking gun battles with police that left 17 people dead, officials said.

Gunfire and blasts rang out as the attackers, at least one of whom wore a suicide vest, stormed a mosque in the upscale neighborhood of Model Town and another in the busy area of Garhi Shahu as people gathered for weekly prayers.

They are both mosques of the Ahmadis, also known as Qadiani, and have tens of thousands of members. Rights groups say the sect has long been persecuted in Pakistan and has remained an occasional target of sectarian attacks.

Dunya TV showed one of the attackers atop the minaret of one of the mosques, firing an assault rifle and throwing hand grenades.

The mosques were several miles (kilometers) apart from each other, police officer Haider Ashraf said.

Officers outside one of the mosques in the Garhi Shahu district of Lahore were engaged in a fierce gunfight with the attackers, an Associated Press reporter at the scene said.

Pakistan has seen scores of attacks by groups of Islamist militants against Western, government and security force targets over the past three years. Lahore, the second largest city in the country and a vital a military and political center, has been the scene of several.

Many Islamist militants believe it is permissible or honorable to kill non-Muslims, or even those Muslims who do not share their extreme views.

The Ahmadis call themselves Muslims but believe their founder declared himself a prophet centuries after Muhammad, who other Muslims believe was the final prophet. They have long been subject to informal and state-sanctioned discrimination in Pakistan.

The government has declared them a non-Muslim minority and they are prohibited from calling themselves Muslims or engaging in Muslim practices such as reciting Islamic prayers.

Mike Bloomberg's techno-fantasy is Tax Payers Titanic -- Suzannah B. Troy



I called John Liu, New York City Comptroller and a thorn in mayor Mike Bloomberg’s side because like me and so many New Yorkers, we opposed Mike Bloomberg denying us, the people of NY a referendum. This issue divided New York and seriously alienated the people so it was no surprise Mike Bloomberg barely won.

But that is not why I called and left John Liu a voice mail at City Hall here in New York City this morning at six a.m.

I called him to refer him to y new blog piece, “Mike Bloomberg’s Techno-dreams, the Tax Payer’s Titanic” and WHY CITYTIME MUST NOT BE RENEWED THIS SEPTEMBER!

You see CityTime, an Orwellian Time Clock that was suppose to save the City of New York big bucks is in fact a sham and is on it’s way to costing tax payers a billion dollars.

Why would I be writing about this now?

The renewal date for CityTime is September 2010 and CityTime must not be renewed.

In fact CityTime must be investigated. Why?

How did a program designed to save the city money go from under a hundred million dollar budget run out of control? Well for some mysterious reason CityTime needs countless consultants averaging close to half a million dollar salaries and at least one was reported to get a million and he happens to also collect a city pension.

Read my blog postings and see also how SAIC, hired to over see CityTime has scandals on a Federal level as well. I wrote this based on Ali Winston’s piece in City Limits from two years ago and an astounding series by Juan Gonzalez from The New York Daily News.

War News for Friday, May 28, 2010

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier in an IED attack somewhere in southern Afghanistan on Friday, May 28th. News reports this to be an American.


5 Vermont soldiers wounded in Afghan attack:

UN official set to ask US to end CIA Drone strikes: NYT

Attackers strike sect mosques in Pakistan; 20 dead:

Yemen soldier killed, 4 injured in south clashes:

CNN: Interactive: 6000 stories of war loss:


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Abdul-Kareem Mohammed, Arabic language university professor of the Sharia College, was shot dead in his office by one of the students, a source in the interior ministry said. The college lies in Baghdad's central Bab al-Muadham district.

#2: A roadside bomb wounded three civilians in Baghdad's northern Adhamiya district late on Thursday, an interior ministry source said.

#3: A bomb attached to a car wounded two civilians in eastern Baghdad late on Thursday, an interior ministry source said


Diyala Prv:
#1: A roadside bomb exploded near a police checkpoint in Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) northeast of Baghdad, late on Thursday, wounding three civilians, police said.


Najaf:
#1: Around 6.5 million dinars have been stolen from al-Rafideen Bank in southern Najaf, chairman of the security committee said on Friday. “A group of thieves stole 6.5 million dinars from al-Rafideen Bank of al-Mekhshab branch, wouthern Najaf,” Loay al-Yasseri told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Mosul:
#1: A civilian man was killed by unidentified gunmen in western Mosul city on Thursday, a local police source in Ninewa said. “The gunmen opened fire on a civilian local resident of al-Mahlabiya district on the main street in Tal al-Rimman area, western Mosul, killing him instantly,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: The personal driver of Al-Iraqiya List’s member Bashar al-Akidi died on Friday of wounds he sustained last Monday in the attempt on al-Akidi’s life, a police source said. “Muhanad Hazem, 30, the driver of the member of al-Iraqiya List, died this morning in Mosul public hospital of wounds,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. Bashar Hamed al-Akidi and his driver were wounded last Monday (May 24) when unknown gunmen opened fire on them in front of his house in al-Aamel neighborhood in western Mosul.

#3: Two mortar rounds targeting a fabric factory in southern Mosul wounded eleven of the factory workers, police said.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Afghan forces battled militants in a remote region near the Pakistan border for a sixth day Friday, and officials were trying to confirm reports that a key Pakistani Taliban leader was killed in the fighting. Hundreds of militants have been trying since Sunday to seize control of the Barg-e-Matal district of Nuristan province along the Pakistani border, provincial officials said.

#2: Four policemen were gunned down in Sattelite Town area of Quetta in an ambush by unidentified armed men.Unidentified gunmen Friday killed four policemen in Quetta, where targeted killings blamed on insurgents and Taliban militants are increasing, police said. The attack took place in Satellite Town, a neighbourhood of Quetta, the capital of resource-rich Baluchistan province, police said. "A police station house officer, two constables and the driver were killed on the spot. The attackers fled on their motorcycle," local police official Mohammmad Amin told AFP by telephone.

#3: The officials said that at least 25 militants were killed when fighter jets pounded militant hideouts in the Kasha area of Upper Orakzai tribal region.

#4: Separately, militant hideouts were also bombed in the Dabori, Mamuzai and Ghalju areas of Upper Orakzai killing 15 militants, injuring 25 and destroying five militant hideouts.

#5: 10 militants were killed and a security personnel identified as Shahab Akhtar died in a clash in the Dabori area.

#6: In another incident, two militants and a policeman were killed in clashes in Hangu district, which shares a border with Orakzai Agency, on Thursday, District Police Officer (DPO) Hangu Abdur Rashid Khan said. The incident occurred in the Mamu Khwr area of Tull tehsil in Hangu district when militants opened fire at a police mobile.

#8: Operations were also launched in Zagari Shinwari area when armed forces attacked using artillery fire in the Ghalju and Mamuzi areas. Reports said four insurgents were killed in the assault.


MoD: Gunner Zak Cusack

MoD: Corporal Stephen Paul Curley

kimmswick, j'onn j'onnz, garfield, and i had a photoshoot this morning

here are some of the pics


cool pic


but it would be cooler if green goblin wasn't there. i don't think he's even in my top 5 spider man villains.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

How the EU elite got it wrong on the euro


Yesterday we published a range of different promises and reckless predictions made by politicans regarding the euro over the last 15 years. Its quite clear that politicans, central bankers and others got it spectacularly wrong on the euro - displaying a combination of naïve idealism, incompetence and dishonesty.

Yes, it's now in everyone's interest for the eurozone to sort out its mess. But we also need to be honest about the fact that beyond the economic failure - as serious as that is - this crisis is about a breakdown in trust between the political class and European citizens.

If people are ever going to re-gain faith in politics - and their belief in the EU's ability to deliver what citizens actually want - now is the time to push for an alternative model for European co-operation, one that is more democratic, and both politically and economically sustainable.

Here are some examples of broken promises and bad predictions on the euro illustrating why we simply can't go on like this (for the entire briefing, see here):

The Community shall not be liable for or assume the commitments of central governments, regional, local or other public authorities, other bodies governed by public law, or public undertakings of any Member State, without prejudice to mutual financial guarantees for the joint execution of a specific project
- Article 104b, Maastricht Treaty, 1992.

We have a Treaty under which there is no possibility of paying to bailout states in difficulty
- German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, 1 March 2010.

[Greek Prime Minister] Papandreou has said that he didn’t want one cent. The German government will not give one cent, anyway
- German Economy Minister, Rainer Brüderle, 5 March 2010.

The single currency, far from being an agent of continental style corporatism, is probably the greatest export vehicle of Anglo-Saxon economics. The euro has done more to enforce budgetary discipline, to promote privatisation and force through labour and product market liberalisation in the rest of Europe than any number of exhortations from the IMF, the OECD, or the editors of The Economist

- Lib Dem leader, Nick Clegg, 2002.

The reality of the euro has exposed the absurdity of many anti-European scares while increasing the public thirst for information. Public opinion is already changing […] as people can see the success of the new currency on the mainland and the alarming fall in inward investment into Britain as international companies show an increasing reluctance to locate here
- Kenneth Clarke MP, 2002.

The euro has been a rock of stability, as illustrated by the contrasting fortunes of Iceland and Ireland. Joining the single currency would be a major step
- Former Labour MEP Richard Corbett, 2009[5].

We must enter the euro with a clean sheet on all the criteria
- Then Greek Finance Minister, Yannis Papantoniou, 1999

The thrust of the spirit and of the letter of the Treaty is that everything is done to construct the euro area as an optimum currency area. First by ensuring that it incorporates economies that have already proved being convergent in the fiscal field as well as in the monetary and financial fields
- Then Governor of the Bank of France, Jean-Claude Trichet, 1997

It is sometimes said that while the single monetary policy may be ‘right’ for the euro area as a whole, it is ‘wrong’ for many individual countries within the area. I disagree with this view. First, it overlooks the fact that within a single currency area adjustment can occur via prices and wages

- Then President of the European Central Bank, Wim Duisenberg, 1999

Solidarity is possible, [and] will exist. A bailout is not possible and will not exist
- Then EU Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs, Joaquín Almunia, 29 January 2010

I will defend European Central Bank’s independence under any circumstance and with all my strength
- ECB President, Jean-Claude Trichet, 2007[10].

The euro is a protection shield against the crisi
- European Commission President, José Manuel Barroso, 5 February 2010[11].

The Maastricht treaty obliges the European Central Bank to pursue price stability and the ECB is more likely to overfulfil its treaty target than to ignore it. As long as this is the case, there is not the slightest danger of a break-up of the Eurozone […] On the contrary, I expect the Eurozone to be exceptionally stable in the long run […] Make no mistake, the Eurozone is here to stay
- FT columnist Wolfgang Munchau, 2006

The euro area now represents a pole of stability for those countries participating in it by protecting them from speculation and financial turmoil. It is strengthening the internal market and contributing to the maintenance of healthy fundamental figures, fostering sustainable growth
- European Council conclusions, 2001

War News for Thursday, May 27, 2010

The British MoD is reporting the death of a British ISAF soldier from small arms fire in the Nahr-e Saraj area, Helmand province, Afghanistan on Wednesday, May 26th.

The British MoD is reporting the death of a British ISAF Marine in an IED attack in the southern green zone, Helmand province, Afghanistan on Wednesday, May 26th.

The DoD is reporting the death of Sgt. Edwin Rivera who died at Bethesda Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Md, U.S.A. on Tuesday, May 25th. He was originally wounded in an indirect fire at Contingency Outpost Xio Haq (location ?), Afghanistan, on Thursday, May 20th.


One Turkish soldier dead, 3 wounded in PKK clash:


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1-4: At least 15 persons were wounded on Thursday morning in four bombs explosion in separate areas of Baghdad, a police source said.

#1: “The first blast took place in Allawi region near the main public transport garage, where six people were wounded,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: “The second blast occurred in al-Iskan region in western Baghdad, when a roadside bomb exploded on the main road, injuring four civilians,” he added.

#3: “The third explosion rattled al-Kendi street in al-Harithiya region in western Baghdad, where two civilians were wounded,” he continued.

#4: “A fourth bomb went off in al-Jehad neighborhood, southwestern Baghdad, injuring three civilians,” he said.


Diyala Prv:
#1: Army forces waged on Wednesday a military operation in north of Baaquba, according to a security source. “The forces launched the security operation in Khales district, north of Baaquba, in light of the car bomb explosion that rattled the district five days ago, during which scores were killed or wounded,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Mosul:
#1: A police officer was killed by unknown gunmen in western Mosul on Wednesday, according to a security source. “Unknown gunmen opened fire on Captain Khattab Aouni from the interior ministry on Wednesday (May 26), killing him instantly,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: A roadside bomb went off near a tribal leader's house, wounding his wife, in eastern Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

#3: A roadside bomb targeting an Iraqi army patrol wounded two soldiers in southeastern Mosul, an Iraqi army source said.


Tal Afar:
#1: An improvised explosive device went off on Wednesday in north of Talafar, without leaving casualties, a police source said. “The bomb exploded in Qubk village in north of Talafar, without leaving casualties,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: Taliban armed with rockets and grenades stormed the home of a pro-government Pakistani tribal elder Thursday, killing him, his wife and son before blowing up their house, officials said. The pre-dawn killings took place in Asghar village, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) northwest of Khar, the main town in Pakistan's lawless tribal district of Bajaur, which borders Afghanistan. "Malik tur Mulla, his wife and a son died in the attack while one women was wounded," Irshad Khan, a local administrative official in the area, told AFP by telephone. His son had been 22 years old, Khan said. "Taliban militants attacked the house. First they fired rockets and hurled hand grenades. Then they entered. They killed Malik and his family with Kalashinkovs," Jamil Khan, a local government official, told AFP by telephone. Two intelligence officials described Mulla as an active tribal elder in the area who supported military operations against the Taliban in Bajaur.

#2: In Dabori and Ghiljo areas, 15 militants were killed and another 15 injured when helicopter gunships pounded their hideouts, security sources said. Five militant hideouts were destroyed in the bombardment.

#3: Security forces also shelled Kasha area, a stronghold of the Taliban near the border with Afghanistan. At least 25 militants were killed in this area, the sources said. Security officials have claimed that over 700 militants have been killed since the army launched an offensive against the Taliban in Orakzai tribal agency earlier this year.

#4: One Afghan policmean was killed and three were wounded when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb on Wednesday in Bala Boluk district of western Farah province, the Interior Ministry said.
#5: One insurgent was killed and another wounded when the explosives they were preparing for a homemade bomb detonated in Ghazni city, southwest of Kabul, the Interior Ministry said.


DoD: Pfc. Christopher R. Barton

DoD: Maj. Ronald W. Culver Jr.,

DoD: Sgt. Edwin Rivera

Jesse James Nightline Ratings High by Suzannah B. Troy

Nightline saw it’s best rating since it’s relaunch in 2005 with Jesse James interviewed by Vicki Mabrey and she did a great job. I didn’t tune in and just watched segments.
I don’t believe Jesse James is a racist. Here in NYC , I have seen photos posted by an elderly, grossly overweight white man of a middle aged African American woman, homeless, poverty level, drunk out of her mind in the park and with no tools or resources to climb out of her destructive cycle and worse has some white man with a camera photographing her topless out of her mind and posting on the internet -- in my opinion that is racism, misogyny and a terrible double standard because I have seen that white man drunk and he had the luxury of a home to go close a door and he doesn’t want anyone to photograph him including without his shirt. Jesse James hasn't done anything near as heinous as that.
It is easy to think James is a racist and he is flat out in denial or stupid to consider the Hitler gear as a joke. It is no joke. It is repulsive as is his treatment of his wife and everyone involved but is he the most hated person in the world? Is he a racist or plain stupid? When it comes to Hitler gear - I pick plain stupid. No he is not the most hated person in the world or the brightest. He is good at making motorcycle and lots of money. The global audience have their lives and they are way too busy to think about him for more than a moment...he is “media fast food”, consumed, not digested and done with.
I have said and continue to say he will continue to do really well with his career. After all his career is based on the bad boy brand. He comes across as sincere at moments but if he himself admits he is a liar why would he suddenly find truth and clearly he is in denial. Just his talk about the Hitler gear. I don't think he should have done this interview right now but he did and the ratings were very good so all the power to him as long as it isn't white power. America loves redemption but looking at his failed marriages before none of this is a big time shocker except that Sandra Bullock was clueless.
As I understand it, Janine was pregnant with Sunny when Sandra and Jesse started dating which was a huge red light and James was not involved in Sunny’s life until she was 3 years old when Janine was heading to Federal Prison for tax evasion. Maybe I am wrong but that was what I heard....

I feel most sorry for Sunny because she has been through too much too soon in her short little life and hopefully Sandra Bullock will stay involved in Sunny’s life.

Janine has blocked her twitter page to only her inside circle of friends. She really wants to be in Sunny’s life and she will be in court to attempt to make it a legal reality as reported by TMZ.
Janine and Jesse has two things in common. Sunny their child and the reality they both have to work on their lives, as we all do, but if not for themselves than for Sunny and their kids from other marriages as well.

Note: I think Janine is self-destructive and has to come to terms with her demons. I also think there is something compelling about her and wished she could have been cast as the stripper in The Wrestler. That way at the very end, when Randy the Ram, Mickey Rourke is talking to her before he goes in to the ring, you would have to think, wait Randy don't do it. Janine would have made that scene before he walks out just rip! If Janine could clean up her act, I could see her crossing over in to main stream film.
I keep predicting James will be married again because he is they marrying kind and the marriage I predict will be open because I don’t see him being faithful. What ever he has been doing has aged him and clearly has not been agreeing with him. He looks much older and he may go the Hollywoo-woo way of getting some surgery to make himself look younger or do a radical change in what ever he has been doing but he looks like hell for now. Not a poster boy for bad boy who makes deals with the devil as in Oscar Wilde's Dorian Gray but a warning to guys the bad bot life style is not all it's cracked up to be.

James has a following that love him and his family and a successful career...I am sure more drama to come.
“Jesse James The Brand” will continue on with success despite his repulsive misdeeds and Nightline’s ratings are proof. Just most women would not want to date him not that will in anyway change the number of enthusiastic women that will continue to hit on him because in the biker bad boy world it is no big deal.
I write about this because I know people are interested but I am gearing up for a “grown-up” piece on NYC politics that I am far more excited about coming to you soon.

how lost should have ended

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

War News for Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Uzbekistan blocks NATO railway cargo, going to Afghanistan:

Turkish soldiers kill 4 Kurd militants in clashes:


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Three persons were wounded when a roadside bomb went off on Tuesday in central Baghdad. “The three victims are civilians,” a local police source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Daquq:
#1: Gunmen shot and killed a civilian while he was working as a security guard in an agricultural crops market near the civil defence department in the district of Daquq, south of Kirkuk.


Sinjar:
#1: Three policemen were killed in clashes with militants in the area of Sinjar, just outside of Mosul. Police arrested eight of the militants.


Mosul:
#1: Two army personnel were killed by a bomb targeting their patrol west of Mosul, Iraqi police said.

#2: One civilian was wounded on Tuesday when gunmen opened fire on an army checkpoint in eastern Mosul, a security source said. “Unknown gunmen opened fire on an army checkpoint in al-Methaq neighborhood, eastern Mosul, injuring a passing civilian, who was rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#3: Two security guards were killed on Tuesday in southern Mosul, according to a police source. “The two guards were killed late Tuesday (May 25) by gunmen, who used guns with silencers, in front of the Mosul train station in the southern section of the city,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A car bomb exploded Wednesday outside a small NATO military base in southern Afghanistan's largest city, wounding two Afghans and destroying several cars, police said. The blast occurred around 11:30 a.m. in a parking lot used by Afghans visiting Camp Nathan Smith in Kandahar city, said Gen. Shafiq Fazli, the police commander for southern Afghanistan. The base houses a few hundred Canadian soldiers, along with American military police and U.S. and Canadian government employees working on development projects. Fazli said no one was killed. A police officer said at least one security guard and one Afghan who works at the base were wounded. The officer gave only one name, Khalid.

#2: Taliban militants in efforts to consolidate grip have raided the mountainous Barg-e-Matal district in Afghanistan's eastern Nuristan province, Interior Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday. Sporadic fighting according to the statement is still continuing. "The armed rebels carried out a failed attack on Barg-e-Matal district on Tuesday which left seven insurgents dead," the statement added. It also confirmed that one policeman was killed and five others including a police constable and four militants had been injured.

#3: Afghan and international forces killed eight insurgents during a joint operation in Bala Morghab district of northwestern Badghis province on Tuesday, the Afghan Defence Ministry said. One Afghan soldier was also killed in the fighting, it said.

#4: Afghan and NATO-led forces killed "several" insurgents when they came under a attack during a search operation for a Taliban commander in southern Helmand province on Tuesday, the alliance said. No civilians were harmed during the fighting, it said.


DoD: Staff Sgt. Amilcar H. Gonzalez

Israel bombs Gaza in night raid wounding two seriously

Israel has launched two night-time air strikes on the Gaza Strip which has left a number of people wounded, Palestinian medical sources said.

The Israeli air force bombed a target in the north of Gaza and struck tunnels in the south, near the border with Egypt.

Palestinian medical sources told reporters that about 22 people had been injured, two seriously.

The attacks come a day after militants in Gaza fired mortars into Israel.

One of the seriously wounded Palestinians was 15, Palestinian medical sources said.
The Israeli Defense Forces confirmed the attacks in Beit Hanoun, east of Gaza City, and Rafah in the south.

"The tunnels were dug 1km from the security fence and were intended for infiltrating into Israel and executing terror attacks," a spokesman told the news agency Agence France Presse.

The attacks come just hours after donkey cart carrying dynamite exploded on the border between Gaza and Israel.

The donkey was killed in the explosion, which was aimed at blowing a hole in the security fence.

Militants later fired two mortars into Israel, but there were no reported casualties.

i'd also like to live in the alternate universe where they answered some of my questions on lost

i want to live in the alternate universe where everybody agrees with me that fleetwood mac suck

to each their own, i guess...

2014 Super Bowl to be played NJ + dish by Suzannah B. Troy

New Yorkers and New Jerseyites football fans are celebrating the breaking news which is 2014 Super Bowl will be played at the New Jersey Meadowlands Stadium in New Jersey. This is good for both NY and NJ who are in dire straits with economic budget problems and that is understating the problems. Thanks to 1010 Wins for the scoop.


Mark Sanchez, the gorgeous quarterback for the NY Giants is now a regular fixture on Page 666, oops, Page 6 of The New York Post and is now rumored to be dating Jamie-Lynn Sigler. Sanchez looks just too wholesome and sweet to pull an "A-Rod". A-Rod famous for kissing his own reflection has made it clear he can't settle down and no woman can compete with his own love for himself. I hear there is a tattoo on his chest that says warning, date at your own risk! Just joking...

Time to rent the dark indie The Fan if you haven't seen it already.


I tend to visit TMZ to see what breaking news they have. Harvey Levin is always found surrounded with a young diverse group of people including one "beautiful" blonde boyish guy I use to think was gorgeous until I heard him speak about women.

Harvey has a law degree which is very important when attempting to understand what is going on in current events and even gossip because celebrities seem to get in trouble with the law. Harvey is one of the elite group of people in TV land that actually reads books. Most people refer to movies instead of books but today he talks about Abraham Lincoln and says he has read books on him....just so rare except on a few grown up shows and even than they have "talking heads" as opposed to well read.

On TMZ, the latest in Suge Knight and it is exactly as I wrote in my piece about him watching The Godfather way too much.
He is now accused of ordering a hit! If you haven't watch Nick Broomfield's documentary on Tupac and B.I.G.

TMZ has new news about Jesse James supposedly thinking the Nazi "wear" was funny and let us face it -- it is not. Again Jesse James is just better when he doesn't talk about anything but motorcycles. He is not the most hated men. Most people don't even think of him and have forgotten him if they even knew about him. Jesse James has a strong following of fans and they don't care about whether he is lying about being related to the historical Jesse James and if he lied, cheated, robbed Sandra Bullock of her Oscar win joy, etc. They love him because he is a bad boy. It is that simple. Speaking up is not a good idea because he doesn't say anything that will endear him. You can watch him tonight on Nightline and decide for yourself if you care at all.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Thailand Issues Terrorism Arrest Warrant for Thaksin

A Thai soldier walks by a poster of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra left behind by anti-government protesters in Bangkok, Thailand, 21 May 2010
A Thai court issued an arrest warrant for former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra Tuesday, on terrorism charges.

Special investigations Chief Tharit Pengdit told reporters there is enough evidence to believe that Mr. Thaksin was the mastermind behind mass protests in Bangkok by the anti-government Red Shirt movement.

The former Thai leader, now in exile in Dubai, is considered as a hero by many Red Shirts, mostly rural and urban poor, for his populist policies.

Thai officials say protest-related violence killed at least 88 people and wounded almost 1,900 since March.

Terrorism charges carry a maximum penalty of death in Thailand.

Thailand's Cabinet has extended a curfew in Bangkok and 23 provinces for four more nights.

Officials said Tuesday the prime minister and Cabinet ministers decided not to extend the curfew for a full week as suggested by emergency officials because they wanted to limit the impact on the public.

Authorities re-opened streets in Bangkok's commercial hub to traffic Monday for the first time since opposition Red Shirt protesters began occupying them in mid-March.

Trading resumed this week on the Thai stock exchange following its closure Wednesday amid the fighting. The main stock index ended Monday's session down 2.8 percent.

The Thai government said the country's economy grew 12 percent in the first three months of the year from the same period a year earlier. But it said the unrest that began toward the end of that quarter likely will cut Thailand's economic growth for 2010 by 1.5 percent.

Human rights workers began Monday investigating the protests and the government's response to them. A Law Society of Thailand member said many people suffered rights violations. He called on the government to hold an independent inquiry into those abuses.

Opposition lawmakers allied to the Red Shirts filed a parliamentary motion Monday to censure Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and other ministers for their handling of the crisis. The motion was likely to fail because Mr. Abhisit's coalition has a majority in the assembly.

The Red Shirts have demanded early elections to replace a government they see as elitist and illegitimate.

War News for Tuesday, May 25, 2010

MNF-Iraq (OIF) is reporting the death of a U.S. Soldier during combat operations in an undisclosed location in Iraq on Monday, May 24th.

The DND/CF is reporting the death of a Canadian soldier in an IED attack about 20 kilometres southwest of Kandahar City, in the Panjwa’i District, Kandahar province, Afghanistan on Monday, May 24th.

NATO is reporting the death of an ISAF soldier from a small-arms fire attack in an undisclosed location in eastern Afghanistan on Monday, May 24th.


U.S. Is Said to Expand Secret Military Acts in Mideast Region:


Reported security incidents

Baghdad:
#1: Baghdad police say masked gunmen have attacked gold shops in the Iraqi capital, killing 14 people before they fled with a large quantity of gold. The police say the gunmen came in five cars, their faces covered with traditional Arab headscarves, and opened fire on 12 shops in the southwestern Baghdad neighborhood of Baiyaa before noon on Tuesday. They used guns with silencers. Police and hospital officials say some of those killed were gold shop owners and workers and others were bystanders. All the officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

#2: A roadside bomb targeting a police patrol in northeastern Baghdad wounded five people including three police officers, police said.


Mosul:
#1: Gunmen in northern Iraq killed a newly elected lawmaker from a Sunni-backed list that narrowly won Iraq's March elections, officials said, in a slaying certain to rattle the fragile political system. A spokesman for the Iraqiya list said Bashar Mohammed Hamid Ahmed was killed in a drive-by shooting as he was on his way home, making him the first lawmaker to die since the March 7 election.

#2: An old woman was killed by gunmen on Monday inside her house in central Mosul, a police source said. “Unknown gunmen stormed a house in Khazrag region, central Mosul, killing an old woman, born in 1935, who was alone in her house,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency, noting that they fled the area to unknown place.

#3: One civilian was killed on Monday by unidentified gunmen in western Mosul, a police source said. “One civilian was shot and killed by gunmen on a road in 17 Tamouz neighborhood, western Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.


Al Anbar Prv:
#1: One civilian was wounded by an improvised explosive device in eastern Falluja, a police source said on Monday. “The bomb exploded on a road in al-Shuhadaa region in central al-Karma district, eastern Falluja, injuring a civilian and damaging a passing vehicle,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

#2: Two bombs targeting the house of a senior police officer killed his guard and wounded four members of his family in central Ramadi, 100 km (60 miles) west of Baghdad, police said.

#3: Two separate bomb blasts targeted the homes of two police officers in central Ramadi. There were no casualties.



Afghanistan: "The Forgotten War"
#1: A bomb blast in Pakistan's Balochistan province has killed at least two people and injured over a dozen others, including women and children. The improvised explosive device (IED) was planted in a rickshaw, officials told Press TV, adding that the rickshaw was heading to the airport in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province. The rickshaw driver and a passenger were killed, while several people travelling in a passenger van close to it were wounded. Of the 14 injured, who were on their way to a wedding party, six were women and two were children.

#2: Afghan and NATO-led forces killed several individuals in a fierce gun battle in Paktia province on Tuesday, the alliance said. The targeted individual killed was an Afghanistan al-Qaeda leader, while the remaining individuals were engaging the security force with automatic rifles and hand grenades.


DoD: Lance Cpl. Philip P. Clark

DoD: Pfc. Jason D. Fingar

DoD: Spc. Stanley J. Sokolowski, III

DND/CF: Trooper Larry John Zuidema Rudd

Government Experiment? Yes.

Chemtrails: Another Horrific Government 'Experiment'?
By Zen Gardner (Editor)
beforeitsnews.com
Monday, May 24, 2010 3:15

The aerosol spraying of ours and many other nations' skies continues in 'plane' site. Watch your skies for yourself, or google "chemtrails" if this is news to you. Jets have never spewn emissions that hang over the skies for hours, unless doing some air show stunt or are low-flying small planes spraying crops. Even then the trails would disipate far sooner than these concoctions designed to do just what they do--hang and spread out--poisoning the air we breathe and the animal and plant life of earth, and polluting our oceans, lakes, rivers and drinking water. (Go to CaliforniaSkyWatch.com for more documentation.)

The degree of silence and cover-up of this toxic spraying is Orwellian. The most stunning aspect of this strange reality, besides the absence of admission by any authority, is the lack of media coverage of such an obvious and intrusive phenomenon. While in some ways that is sadly not surprising in today's clamp-down state controlled media, the idea that someone is purposely poisoning the very air we breathe on such a massive scale is harrowing.

Couple this massive spraying with the campaign for "clean air" and the emissions crack down on the victim citizens below, (even the life giving CO2 we emit!) and you have cognitive dissonance at its best. The two ideas are so contradictory the average citizen gives up trying to reconcile the two and goes into a state of rationalization. This translates into enforced acceptance of the status quo or phenomenon being introduced which eventually puts them into a docile state of apathy. It's a known method of scientific social and cultural manipulation, and it's used at every level of public information. Make war, get peace prize. Promise transparency, everything hidden. No lobbyists, all lobbyists. Global warming, planet cooling. Preserve freedom by more control. Save nations by destroying them..etc. etc.

Wikipedia: A powerful cause of dissonance is when an idea conflicts with a fundamental element of the self-concept, such as “I am a good person” or “I made the right decision.” The anxiety that comes with the possibility of having made a bad decision can lead to rationalization, the tendency to create additional reasons or justifications to support one’s choices.

It's conditioning, and we've been getting hit harder and harder with it, especially over the past 2 generations as the modern media machine gained it's grip. Hitler conveyed a similar, simpler precept for crowd control--tell a big enough lie and people will believe it. People just can't bring themselves to believe anyone could be so manipulative, so inhuman, especially their so-called "elected" goverment, as to perpetrate such horrific things on their own people.

Think again.

Read some real history. Oligarchs and rulers have routinely used their people to their own ends, or their handlers' ends, not ours. They just try to keep us sedated, distracted and thinking we're happy so we don't wake up, revolt, and throw them out.

'Are you telling me countries would carry out dangerous clandestine experiments on their own citizens?'

The Sordid History of US Experimentation--On It's Own People

After World War I, the United States went on a chemical weapons binge, producing millions of barrels of mustard gas and Lewisite. Thousands of US troops were exposed to these chemical agents in order to "test the efficacy of gas masks and protective clothing". The Veterans Administration refused to honor disability claims from victims of such experiments. The Army also deployed mustard gas against anti-US protesters in Puerto Rico and the Philippines in the 1920s and 1930s.

In 1931, Dr. Cornelius Rhoads, then under contract with the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Investigations, initiated his horrific Puerto Rico Cancer Experiments, infecting dozens of unwitting subjects with cancer cells. At least thirteen of his victims died as a result. Rhoads went on to head of the US Army Biological Weapons division and to serve on the Atomic Energy Commission, where he oversaw radiation experiments on thousands of US citizens. In memos to the Department of Defense, Rhoads expressed his opinion that Puerto Rican dissidents could be "eradicated" with the judicious use of germ bombs.

In 1942, US Army and Navy doctors infected 400 prisoners in Chicago with malaria in experiments designed to get "a profile of the disease and develop a treatment for it." Most of the inmates were black and none was informed of the risks of the experiment. Nazi doctors on trial at Nuremberg cited the Chicago malaria experiments as part of their defense.

At the close of World War II, the US Army put on its payroll, Dr. Shiro Ishii, the head of the Imperial Army of Japan's bio-warfare unit. Dr. Ishii had deployed a wide range of biological and chemical agents against Chinese and Allied troops. He also operated a large research center in Manchuria, where he conducted bio-weapons experiments on Chinese, Russian and American prisoners of war. Ishii infected prisoners with tetanus; gave them typhoid-laced tomatoes; developed plague-infected fleas; infected women with syphilis; performed dissections on live prisoners; and exploded germ bombs over dozens of men tied to stakes. In a deal hatched by Gen. Douglas MacArthur, Ishii turned over more than 10,000 pages of his "research findings" to the US Army, avoided prosecution for war crimes and was invited to lecture at Ft. Detrick, the US Army bio-weapons center in Frederick, Maryland.

That's just for starters, folks. There's a littany of atrocities that were uncovered in FOI documents. Here's a few more:

From 1950 through 1953, the US Army released chemical clouds over six US and Canadian cities. The tests were designed to test dispersal patterns of chemical weapons. Army records noted that the compounds used over Winnipeg, Canada, where there were numerous reports of respiratory illnesses, involved cadmium, a highly toxic chemical.

In 1951 the US Army secretly contaminated the Norfolk Naval Supply Center in Virginia with infectious bacteria. One type was chosen because blacks were believed to be more susceptible than whites. A similar experiment was undertaken later that year at Washington, DC's National Airport. The bacteria was later linked to food and blood poisoning and respiratory problems.

Savannah, Georgia and Avon Park, Florida were the targets of repeated Army bio-weapons experiments in 1956 and 1957. Army CBW researchers released millions of mosquitoes on the two towns in order to test the ability of insects to carry and deliver yellow fever and dengue fever. Hundreds of residents fell ill, suffering from fevers, respiratory distress, stillbirths, encephalitis and typhoid. Army researchers disguised themselves as public health workers in order photograph and test the victims. Several deaths were reported.

In 1965 the US Army and the Dow Chemical Company injected dioxin into 70 prisoners (most of them black) at the Holmesburg State Prison in Pennsylvania. The prisoners developed severe lesions which went untreated for seven months. A year later, the US Army set about the most ambitious chemical warfare operation in history.

From 1966 to 1972, the United States dumped more than 12 million gallons of Agent Orange (a dioxin-powered herbicide) over about 4.5 million acres of South Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. The government of Vietnam estimate the civilian casualties from Agent Orange at more than 500,000. The legacy continues with high levels of birth defects in areas that were saturated with the chemical. Tens of thousands of US soldiers were also the victims of Agent Orange. (read more hideous examples here)

No, we're not the only country to commit such hideous crimes. In the UK it's the same:

The Guardian: The Ministry of Defence turned large parts of the country into a giant laboratory to conduct a series of secret germ warfare tests on the public.

A government report just released provides for the first time a comprehensive official history of Britain's biological weapons trials between 1940 and 1979.

Many of these tests involved releasing potentially dangerous chemicals and micro-organisms over vast swaths of the population without the public being told.

While details of some secret trials have emerged in recent years, the 60-page report reveals new information about more than 100 covert experiments. UK Guardian

Back to the Current Chemtrail 'Experiments'

(Germans are being sprayed as well and are also upset. Many countries are reporting the same phenomenon. It's no longer if they're doing it, it's WHY?)

Even stranger is the now open admission of PLANNED aerosol programs under the name of "geoengineering" of exactly the nature that we've been experiencing in our skies as far back as 1995! This is similar to the "discoveries" of "new technologies" that have been available and used in covert projects in the military for years, such as lasers and microwave and infrared technologies to name just a few. By the time we hear about it it's well under control and either deployed or surpassed by a newer technology. This parallels the Orwellian introduction of known poisons into our food supply such as fluoride, aspartame, msg and genetically modified foods, only to "find out" later, once it's taken hold and they've made their money, "Ooops, our bad. It's toxic, we'll stop. But wait--we have some wonderful new chemicals to sell you.."

Here's one defintion of Chemtrails:

Streaks of chemicals created in the air by spray systems on airplanes at any altitude. Chemicals are sprayed via [typically unmarked] planes for many purposes including crop dusting and mosquito control. Also fuel is sometimes dumped to reduce weight before landing. But within the Chemtrail observer community Chemtrails are the product of an active large scale operation. Chemtrails are said to vary from contrails in their length of persistence. Source

Chemtrails have been found to contain:

Barium, Aluminum Oxide, Titanium, Magnesium, and BannEthylene dibromide (dibromethane) or EDB are the essential elements of the chemtrail. [Nano particles, dessicated human blood cells, bacteria, fungi and other toxic substances have also been detected.]

Aerosol Barium salts were sprayed from planes over Panama, Libya, and during Desert Storm to make people sick and weak. Barium poisoning is worse than lead poisoning. The lungs are affected adversely. Many complaints of colds, flu, even pneumonia occur within a very few days after heavy chemtrail spraying over an area.

Aluminum causes extreme neurological disorders. Dementia, uncontrollable spasms, Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's Disease can be caused by long term aluminum exposure. Breathing in those particulates over time is a definite long term hazard.

EDB or dibromethane was banned in the USA years ago from use in all auto and jet fuels. But somehow it is appearing again in samples from chemtrail residue. It is a major component of insecticides, which are nerve poisons. It affects the nervous system especially where breathing is involved. And it is very carcinogenic. (Source)

Where's the Media In All This?
You won't see many mainstream media reports on chemtrails or the aerosol program, people are afraid to touch the subject. On the ground most people have become so Pavlovian that they can't even acknowledge anything that hasn't been formally introduced into the group consciousness. But now that people are beginning to wake up to this atrocity, they're beginning to disclose a plan to supposedly counteract the global warming emergency with a geoengineering project--or however they couch this program to suit the current mindset and pretend it was for our "good".

I've written the EPA, the Weather Channel, contacted local officials, and there's no official acknowledgement whatsoever. A friend called one of the California high desert airbases after watching her skies turn white with trails and one jet in particular was doing "doughnuts" over and over leaving a thick plume of this toxic slurry. The officer's answer? "You're crazy lady, there's nothing going on up there." The jet immediately left the area.

One brave reporter for an NBC affiliate in San Bernadino, California had the guts to tackle the issue. He clearly tries to address the problem with the obvious hindering trappings of mainstream media controls keeping him from stating the obvious.









Will anyone disclose the truth and call for a halt to this insanity and a full, real investigation? Here's an impassioned plea for help:









See also "The Chemtrail Smoking Gun" and also visit http://www.carnicom.com/ and http://www.geoengineeringwatch.org/

http://beforeitsnews.com/news/48/816/Chemtrails:_Another_Horrific_Government_Experiment.html