Turkey Launches Ground Operation in Iraq
February 22nd, 2008Via: AP:
Turkish troops launched a ground incursion across the border into Iraq in pursuit of separatist Kurdish rebels, the military said Friday — a move that dramatically escalates Turkey’s conflict with the militants.
It is the first confirmed ground operation by the Turkish military into Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. It also raised concerns that it could trigger a wider conflict with the U.S.-backed Iraqi Kurds, despite Turkey’s assurances that its only target was the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK.
The ground operation started after Turkish warplanes and artillery bombed suspected rebel targets on Thursday, the military said on its Web site. The incursion was backed by the Air Force, the statement said.
Turkey has conducted air raids against the PKK guerrillas in northern Iraq since December, with the help of U.S. intelligence, and it has periodically carried out so-called “hot pursuits” in which small units sometimes spend only a few hours inside Iraq.
The announcement of a cross-border, ground incursion of a type that Turkey carried out before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 was a major development in its conflict with the Kurdish rebels, which started in 1984 and has claimed as many as 40,000 lives.
U.S. Secret Service Told Dallas Police to Stop Screening for Weapons at Obama Campaign Rally
February 22nd, 2008Via: Star Telegram:
Security details at Barack Obama’s rally Wednesday stopped screening people for weapons at the front gates more than an hour before the Democratic presidential candidate took the stage at Reunion Arena.
The order to put down the metal detectors and stop checking purses and laptop bags came as a surprise to several Dallas police officers who said they believed it was a lapse in security.
Dallas Deputy Police Chief T.W. Lawrence, head of the Police Department’s homeland security and special operations divisions, said the order — apparently made by the U.S. Secret Service — was meant to speed up the long lines outside and fill the arena’s vacant seats before Obama came on.
“Sure,” said Lawrence, when asked if he was concerned by the great number of people who had gotten into the building without being checked. But, he added, the turnout of more than 17,000 people seemed to be a “friendly crowd.”
The Secret Service did not return a call from the Star-Telegram seeking comment.
Doors opened to the public at 10 a.m., and for the first hour security officers scanned each person who came in and checked their belongings in a process that kept movement of the long lines at a crawl. Then, about 11 a.m., an order came down to allow the people in without being checked.
Several Dallas police officers said it worried them that the arena was packed with people who got in without even a cursory inspection.
They spoke on condition of anonymity because, they said, the order was made by federal officials who were in charge of security at the event.
“How can you not be concerned in this day and age,” said one policeman.
Arizona: 280-MW Solar Plant to Use Molten Salt for Energy Storage
February 22nd, 2008Via: PESN:
Abengoa’s plant in Arizona will cover a surface of around 1,900 acres — nearly three square miles — and will run two 140-megawatt steam generators for a total capacity of 280 MW.
…
The Solana generating station will use Abengoa Solar’s concentrating solar power (CSP) trough technology, which entails long rows of mirrors which track the sun from east to west in order to best focus sunlight onto the receiver pipes. The receiver pipes are filled with fluid that is heated by the sun’s energy, much like a huge magnifying glass, to over 700 degrees. The heated fluid is then sent to a heat exchanger where steam is created, and that steam is then used to turn a turbine.
Storage via Molten Salt
The solar plant will also include a thermal energy storage system that allows for electricity to be produced as required, even after the sun has set. Large insulated tanks filled with molten salt can be used with concentrating solar power (CSP) to store the heat from the fluid. This stored heat can then be used to produce energy during periods of low or no sun, including the evening hours.
German State-Owned Banks on Verge of Collapse
February 22nd, 2008Via: Spiegel:
The German government has had to bail out state-owned banks with taxpayers’ money after their managements recklessly gambled away billions on subprime investments. But if a state-owned bank were to go under, the consequences could be disastrous for the whole economy.
…
The situation for Germany’s public banks has become so dramatic that it threatens to topple what has been one of the key pillars of the country’s banking system. The state-owned banks are supposed to bail each other out when necessary, but the problem is that many are in trouble themselves and hardly in a position to help their peers. And things could get even worse.
UK Apology Over Rendition Flights
February 22nd, 2008* roll eyes *
Via: BBC:
David Miliband has admitted two US ‘extraordinary rendition’ flights landed on UK territory in 2002.
The foreign secretary said in both cases US planes refuelled on the UK dependent territory of Diego Garcia.
He said he was “very sorry” to have to say that previous denials made in “good faith” were now having to be corrected.
The renditions – the transport of terror suspects around the world for interrogation – only came to light after a US records search, he said.
BBC world affairs correspondent Paul Reynolds said the revelations were “a serious embarrassment for the British government”.
Former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and former Prime Minister Tony Blair made statements in 2005, 2006 and 2007 saying there was no evidence that rendition flights had stopped on UK territory.
“What could the government be contemplating that leads it to make contingency plans to detain without recourse millions of its own citizens?”
February 21st, 2008Via: San Francisco Chronicle:
Since 9/11, and seemingly without the notice of most Americans, the federal government has assumed the authority to institute martial law, arrest a wide swath of dissidents (citizen and noncitizen alike), and detain people without legal or constitutional recourse in the event of “an emergency influx of immigrants in the U.S., or to support the rapid development of new programs.”
Beginning in 1999, the government has entered into a series of single-bid contracts with Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg, Brown and Root (KBR) to build detention camps at undisclosed locations within the United States. The government has also contracted with several companies to build thousands of railcars, some reportedly equipped with shackles, ostensibly to transport detainees.
According to diplomat and author Peter Dale Scott, the KBR contract is part of a Homeland Security plan titled ENDGAME, which sets as its goal the removal of “all removable aliens” and “potential terrorists.”
More People Are Tapping Their 401(k) for Cash
February 21st, 2008What? They can’t do an instant re-fi to buy that grande mocha from Starbucks anymore?
Via: MSNBC:
Trent Charlton knew the risks when he borrowed $10,000 from his 401(k) and cut his retirement savings in half.
But Charlton, a 40-year-old account executive at an Irvine, Calif., trucking company, said he had little choice because he and his wife could not keep up with monthly expenses after American Express reduced the limits on three credit cards.
As home prices fall and banks tighten lending standards, more people are doing the same thing: raiding their retirement savings just to get by and spending their nest eggs to gas up SUVs, pay mortgages or put food on the table.
…
Some of the nation’s largest retirement plan administrators, such as Great-West Retirement Services and Fidelity Investments, are seeing double-digit spikes in hardship withdrawals and increases in loan requests, a sharp departure from levels that traditionally varied little.
Administrators say consumers are using retirement savings to pay for unmanageable mortgages, maxed-out credit cards, and costly utilities and groceries.
Charlton and his wife used the retirement money and $7,000 from savings to pay down their credit card debt. They also cut monthly expenses by pawning a diamond ring and selling camera equipment he owed money on. And he’s looking for someone to take over his $550 monthly payment on a gray BMW 335i he leased last April.
Foreclosed Homes Occupied by Homeless
February 21st, 2008Via: Houston Chronicle:
The nation’s foreclosure crisis has led to a painful irony for homeless people: On any given night they are outnumbered in some cities by vacant houses, and some street people are taking advantage of the opportunity by becoming squatters.
Foreclosed homes often have an advantage over boarded-up and dilapidated houses abandoned because of rundown conditions: Sometimes the heat, lights and water are still working.
“That’s what you call convenient,” said James Bertan, 41, an ex-convict and self-described “bando,” or someone who lives in abandoned houses.
While no one keeps numbers of below-the-radar homeless finding shelter in properties left vacant by foreclosure, homeless advocates agree the locations—even with utilities cut off—would be inviting to some. There are risks for squatters, including fires from using candles and confrontations with drug dealers, prostitutes, copper thieves or police.
“Many homeless people see the foreclosure crisis as an opportunity to find low-cost housing (FREE!) with some privacy,” Brian Davis, director of the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless, said in the summary of the latest census of homeless sleeping outside in downtown Cleveland.
WTF Are These Facebook Machines Doing?
February 21st, 2008I saw four machines reloading Cryptogon’s homepage hundreds of times each and I thought, “Someone’s trying to F with me.”
But I looked up the machines, and it’s Facebook. You know, that admitted CIA cutout operation, Facebook. There’s some bullshit explanation on the link provided by their user agent information. Hmm. Nothing in there about multiple machines reloading your document root hundreds of times.
Machine: out003.sf2p.tfbnw.net 204.15.23.170
Reloads: 225
Machine: out001.sf2p.tfbnw.net 204.15.23.168
Reloads: 264
Machine: out002.sf2p.tfbnw.net 204.15.23.169
Reloads: 233
Machine: out004.sf2p.tfbnw.net 204.15.23.171
Reloads: 235
That entire CIDR (204.15.20.0/22) can choke on my 403 now.
UPDATE: Facebook Bots Now Arriving from a Different Network
HAHA! I banned the entire range of Facebook IPs from which those bots above appeared. I thought, “Well, that’s that.” I checked about an hour later and, guess what: They’re back, from a different IP range this time. These are running much slower:
Machine: outnat01-05-1.sf2p.tfbnw.net 69.63.176.250
Reloads: 5
Machine: outnat01-05-2.sf2p.tfbnw.net 69.63.176.251
Reloads: 5
The counts are low because I caught them early. But lookee there, a few clicks later and 69.63.176.0/20 gets 403ed.
Any more, Facebook?
Gold: New Record, Up and Out of Previous Range
February 21st, 2008WARNING: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument.
Gold has broken out higher from the previous range, setting a new all time high. It has decisively breached both daily and intraday overhead resistance levels.
Oil is trying to stay over $100, but can’t manage for the moment.
With regard to the U.S. Dollar, downside pressure appears to be building. Daily USDX is forming a somewhat sloppy descending triangle. While it’s sloppy, the lower highs are the giveaway. With the recent moves on gold and oil, I don’t understand why we haven’t seen a commensurate downward move on the dollar. The inverse correlation is weaker sometimes. As a dollar bear, I’m not thrilled about that correlation breaking down with the USDX near all time lows. However, the intact descending triangle is a welcome development. Daily MACD on the USDX hasn’t yet crossed down, but it’s very close to doing so.
Via: Forbes / AP:
Gold surged to a record in aftermarket trading Wednesday after oil rallied above $100 a barrel and investors bet the Federal Reserve will again slash interest rates – boosting the metal’s appeal as a hedge against inflation.
Other precious metals traded mixed, with silver also touching a record-high and platinum retreating from historic levels.
Gold has risen more than 12 percent this year, driven mainly by oil’s ascent to $100 and steep declines in the U.S. dollar. Gold for April delivery jumped as high as $949.20 an ounce in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange – the highest ever and within striking distance of the psychologically important $1,000 barrier. Earlier Wednesday, gold settled $8 higher at $937.80.
“I would point to oil as the primary driver. Oil and gold seem to be in lockstep right now,” said Jon Nadler, senior analyst of Kitco Bullion Dealers Montreal.
Silver joined gold’s rally, shooting 33.2 cents higher late Wednesday to reach $17.84 an ounce for March delivery on the Nymex, after earlier touching a record $17.87. Silver ended the day 25.20 cents higher to settle at $17.760.
