Iranian Unit to Be Labeled ‘Terrorist’
August 15th, 2007This is an extremely serious development. By the way, has Halliburton stopped doing business with the Iranians yet?
Via: Washington Post:
The United States has decided to designate Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, the country’s 125,000-strong elite military branch, as a “specially designated global terrorist,” according to U.S. officials, a move that allows Washington to target the group’s business operations and finances.
The Bush administration has chosen to move against the Revolutionary Guard Corps because of what U.S. officials have described as its growing involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as its support for extremists throughout the Middle East, the sources said. The decision follows congressional pressure on the administration to toughen its stance against Tehran, as well as U.S. frustration with the ineffectiveness of U.N. resolutions against Iran’s nuclear program, officials said.
The designation of the Revolutionary Guard will be made under Executive Order 13224, which President Bush signed two weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to obstruct terrorist funding. It authorizes the United States to identify individuals, businesses, charities and extremist groups engaged in terrorist activities. The Revolutionary Guard would be the first national military branch included on the list, U.S. officials said — a highly unusual move because it is part of a government, rather than a typical non-state terrorist organization.
The order allows the United States to block the assets of terrorists and to disrupt operations by foreign businesses that “provide support, services or assistance to, or otherwise associate with, terrorists.”
See Who’s Editing Wikipedia – Diebold, the CIA, a Campaign
August 15th, 2007Anyone with the sophistication of a computer literate 12-year-old could render this IP tracking tool for Wikipedia edits worthless.
So, either:
1) The CIA, Diebold, et al don’t know what a computer literate 12-year-old knows;
or
2) Someone 0wNs machines that trace back to CIA, Diebold, et al and wanted to make them look like idiots.
Take your pick.
Again, any miscreant with even half a clue would be able to obscure the origin of the sessions with ease.
Via: Wired:
On November 17th, 2005, an anonymous Wikipedia user deleted 15 paragraphs from an article on e-voting machine-vendor Diebold, excising an entire section critical of the company’s machines. While anonymous, such changes typically leave behind digital fingerprints offering hints about the contributor, such as the location of the computer used to make the edits.
In this case, the changes came from an IP address reserved for the corporate offices of Diebold itself. And it is far from an isolated case. A new data-mining service launched Monday traces millions of Wikipedia entries to their corporate sources, and for the first time puts comprehensive data behind longstanding suspicions of manipulation, which until now have surfaced only piecemeal in investigations of specific allegations.
Wikipedia Scanner — the brainchild of Cal Tech computation and neural-systems graduate student Virgil Griffith — offers users a searchable database that ties millions of anonymous Wikipedia edits to organizations where those edits apparently originated, by cross-referencing the edits with data on who owns the associated block of internet IP addresses.
SENTINEL MANAGEMENT SEEKS TO HALT REDEMPTIONS
August 15th, 2007Another crap shoot ponzi scheme gamble headed down the gurgler.
Via: Reuters:
Sentinel, a money market mutual fund firm for commodities, has asked the U.S. Commodities Futures Trading Commission to allow it to halt client redemptions until it can conduct them in an orderly fashion, CNBC television reported on Tuesday.
“We had previously thought the market would return to some semblance of order and that our clients would not join in the panic,” Sentinel wrote in a letter to clients CNBC said it had obtained. “Unfortunately this has not been the case.”
Sentinel officials were not immediately available for comment.
Wal-Mart Misses Profit Estimates, Cuts Forecast
August 14th, 2007Joe and Jane Six Pack can’t refinance now. The real estate ATM is closed.
Via: Bloomberg:
Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retailer, said second-quarter profit rose less than analysts anticipated and lowered its earnings forecast after the company cut prices on thousands of back-to-school items.
…
Price cuts, markdowns to clear out unsold goods, and the mix of merchandise contributed to the contraction, Chief Financial Officer Tom Schoewe said during the company’s recorded earnings call.
“U.S. consumers continue to be under difficult pressure economically,” Scott said on the call. “It is no secret that many customers are running out of money toward the end of the month.”
Higher gasoline prices, slowing home sales and rising mortgage rates have curtailed discretionary purchases. Consumer spending, which makes up about 70 percent of the economy, slowed to a 1.3 percent annual growth rate in the second quarter, the weakest since 2005.
Comptroller General of the United States: Learn from the Fall of Rome
August 14th, 2007Conspiracy theorist? Crackpot? Uh, U.S. Comptroller General.
Via: Financial Times:
The US government is on a “burning platform†of unsustainable policies and practices with fiscal deficits, chronic healthcare underfunding, immigration and overseas military commitments threatening a crisis if action is not taken soon, the country’s top government inspector has warned.
David Walker, comptroller general of the US, issued the unusually downbeat assessment of his country’s future in a report that lays out what he called “chilling long-term simulationsâ€.
These include “dramatic†tax rises, slashed government services and the large-scale dumping by foreign governments of holdings of US debt.
Drawing parallels with the end of the Roman empire, Mr Walker warned there were “striking similarities†between America’s current situation and the factors that brought down Rome, including “declining moral values and political civility at home, an over-confident and over-extended military in foreign lands and fiscal irresponsibility by the central governmentâ€.
“Sound familiar?†Mr Walker said. “In my view, it’s time to learn from history and take steps to ensure the American Republic is the first to stand the test of time.â€
Mr Walker’s views carry weight because he is a non-partisan figure in charge of the Government Accountability Office, often described as the investigative arm of the US Congress.
While most of its studies are commissioned by legislators, about 10 per cent – such as the one containing his latest warnings – are initiated by the comptroller general himself.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Mr Walker said he had mentioned some of the issues before but now wanted to “turn up the volumeâ€. Some of them were too sensitive for others in government to “have their name associated withâ€.
“I’m trying to sound an alarm and issue a wake-up call,†he said. “As comptroller general I’ve got an ability to look longer-range and take on issues that others may be hesitant, and in many cases may not be in a position, to take on.
“One of the concerns is obviously we are a great country but we face major sustainability challenges that we are not taking seriously enough,†said Mr Walker, who was appointed during the Clinton administration to the post, which carries a 15-year term.
The fiscal imbalance meant the US was “on a path toward an explosion of debtâ€.
“With the looming retirement of baby boomers, spiralling healthcare costs, plummeting savings rates and increasing reliance on foreign lenders, we face unprecedented fiscal risks,†said Mr Walker, a former senior executive at PwC auditing firm.
Current US policy on education, energy, the environment, immigration and Iraq also was on an “unsustainable pathâ€.
And Now: The Air Yacht
August 14th, 2007I don’t see anything about resistance to small arms fire.
Via: GizMag:
The trend towards radical new aircraft designs aimed at achieving new levels of efficiency and operational capability beyond anything currently gracing our skies is on the rise. Recently Gizmag examined Boeing’s Blended-Wing Body (BWB) and now Aeros have announced the new Aeroscraft ML866 aircraft which utilizes a combination of buoyant and dynamic lift to create usage possibilities that far outstrip currently available aircraft platforms. The ML866 can be utilized as a private air yacht, corporate air vehicle, business office in the sky, or commercial commuter, providing its passengers with far more space than any existing business jet.
The Aeroscraft ML866 offers 120 knots top speed and over 5,000 square feet of interior compartment. The helicopter like vertical takeoff and landing capability and ability to operate from unprepared fields enhance the scope of the Aeroscraft by enabling access to remote areas anywhere in the world. It also offers independence from large or medium airports which will keep travelers away from clogged international terminals and congested highways and get passengers underway quicker.
One of the Aeroscraft ML866 configurations offered will be a high-tech airborne business center. Business amenities include a computerized office, video conferencing capability, an advanced communications package, transformable interior, personal state room and a physical conference space that while on the ground will accommodate up to one hundred people.
Watercone: Simple Solar Water Distillation System
August 14th, 2007I actually built a solar water still a few years ago. It’s such a simple concept, but to build a good solar still, you need precise fabrication. Any air leaks/gaps will take the efficiency way down. This is a device that would really benefit from modern manufacturing practices and materials.
The Watercone people understand these things.
Via: Watercone:
The Watercone is a solar powered water desalinator that takes salt or brackish water and generates freshwater. It is simple to use, lightweight and mobile.
Research Credit: The Sietch Blog
Flush with Profits from the Iraq War, Military Contractors See a World of Business Opportunities
August 14th, 2007The Ministry of Whores of War is hiring.
Via: Alternet:
Since the launch of the “global war on terror,†the administration has systematically funneled billions of dollars in public money to corporations like Blackwater USA , DynCorp, Triple Canopy, Erinys and ArmorGroup.
Soviet America: 52% of Americans Receive Significant Income from Government Programs
August 14th, 2007I hear that the Ministry of Freedom Fries has contractor positions available. Must have active Top-Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information security clearance. Ability to lift 50 pounds unassisted.
Via: Christian Science Monitor:
Slightly over half of all Americans – 52.6 percent – now receive significant income from government programs, according to an analysis by Gary Shilling, an economist in Springfield, N.J. That’s up from 49.4 percent in 2000 and far above the 28.3 percent of Americans in 1950. If the trend continues, the percentage could rise within ten years to pass 55 percent, where it stood in 1980 on the eve of President’s Reagan’s move to scale back the size of government.
That two-decade shrink-the-government trend now appears over, if for no other reason than demographics. The aging baby-boomer generation is poised to receive big payments from Social Security and government healthcare programs.
“New Deal programs persist,” despite the Reagan revolution and its aftermath, says James Galbraith, an economist at the University of Texas in Austin. “They persist because they are largely successful and highly popular.”
Mr. Shilling’s analysis found that about 1 in 5 Americans hold a government job or a job reliant on federal spending. A similar number receive Social Security or a government pension. About 19 million others get food stamps, 2 million get subsidized housing, and 5 million get education grants. For all these categories, Mr. Shilling counted dependents as well as the direct recipients of government income.
Central Banks Pouring Money into Markets
August 13th, 2007Move along. Nothing to see here. Go to Disneyland. Buy junk from Wal Mart. Stay asleep.
The Federal Reserve will print money to keep your reckless, crap shoot, dog shit investments afloat. (For now.) This is the “free market” after all.
Via: Yahoo:
Wall Street opened higher Monday after the Federal Reserve and other central banks added more cash to their banking systems, helping investors set aside some concerns about credit tightness.
The Fed said minutes after the opening bell that it would add $2 billion in liquidity in a one-day repurchase. That follows a move by the Bank of Japan to put $5 billion into the markets and an addition by the European Central Bank of $65.3 billion; the ECB added more than $200 billion last week. The moves, following similar injections by the Fed last week, placated Wall Street for now and allowed it to look ahead to a week of fresh economic data.
