NORAD/USNORTHCOM Tapes from 9/11 Posted Online
“The North American Aerospace Defense Command and the United States Northern Command have released a copy of their audio files, telephone conversations and situation room discussions, from the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. The files are posted on governmentattic.org via this link.
“NORAD-USNORTHCOM 9-11 audio recordings – Over 100 hours of audio recordings of various military communications channels on September 11, 2001. Made available in multiple mp3 files.”
http://tinyurl.com/4e23re (www.governmentattic.org)
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Berman Decries Administration’s Appalling Lack of Coherent Plan for Terrorism-Fighting in Pakistan
April 17, 2008
Washington, DC — The Government Accountability Office today released a report showing that the Bush Administration does not have a coherent plan to destroy terrorist threats and safe havens in the border regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan. The House Foreign Affairs Committee commissioned the report and received copies ahead of its release.
Committee Chairman Howard L. Berman (D-CA) said, “It is appalling that there is still no comprehensive, interagency strategy concerning this critical region, and this lack of foresight is harming U.S. national security.
“Even after the passage of congressional mandates and the Administration’s own directives, we’re still wandering around in a metaphorical desert rather than mapping out a coherent plan,” Berman noted. “But with new civilian leadership in Pakistan, we have a new opportunity to overcome the current Administration’s failures and to work with the Pakistani people to come up with a plan for victory over the extremist elements that threaten Pakistan, Afghanistan, and the rest of the world.”
The Foreign Affairs Committee will hold a hearing on May 7 to investigate the issues highlighted in the new GAO report. At the hearing, committee members will discuss actions that a new U.S. administration can take to reconstitute our foreign policy in this region, to refocus our efforts on eliminating terrorist threats there, and to rebuild our relationship with the Pakistani people. The GAO Report can be found here.
http://hcfa.house.gov/110/GAO041708.pdf
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Cost estimates for Army equipment repair, upgrades go up by billions
By Greg Grant
Rebuilding the Army’s equipment stocks that have been lost, damaged or worn down by combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan will cost at least $190 billion from 2004 to 2013, according to a new report by government auditors. Total equipment costs will not be known for some years because repair and replacement needs are tied to how long military operations continue.
Adding to the cost is the Army’s modularity initiative, which is designed to convert its organizational building block from large divisions to more agile brigades. That effort will cost more and take longer than original Army estimates, the Government Accountability Office concluded in its report (GAO-08-669). The Army needs much more equipment than originally thought because it now plans to convert and outfit National Guard units as well as active units and is adding 74,000 soldiers to its active-duty ranks.
GAO said it lacks a clear picture of the Army’s funding needs because the service has yet to provide a plan detailing how it will restructure existing forces and add six new combat brigades. The report said congressional oversight of Army equipment needs has been complicated by multiple funding requests for the same purpose — such as replacing pre-positioned equipment stocks — that draw from both the defense budget and emergency supplemental appropriations.
Full story:
http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=39791&dcn=e_gvet
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Why Are Global Food Prices Soaring?Energy costs, investment in … and more
Slate – USA
In 2006, 14 percent of the total corn crop in the United States was converted into ethanol; by 2010, that figure will rise to 30 percent.
…
http://www.slate.com/id/2187882/
Time for Second Thoughts on the Ethanol Mandate
Heritage.org – Washington,DC,USA
by Ben Lieberman
America’s energy policy has been on an ethanol binge, and now the hangover has begun. The federal renewable fuels mandate is an unfolding …
http://www.heritage.org/Research/EnergyandEnvironment/wm1879.cfm
U of M: Worldwide leader in ethanol debunking
Minneapolis City Pages – Minneapolis,MN,USA
Several studies at the University of Minnesota are cited to show the impact of widespread Ethanol demand. A study by University of Minnesota ecologist David …
http://blogs.citypages.com/blotter/2008/04/u_of_m_worldwid.php
End the Ethanol Scam
Liberty Maven – Reston,VA,USA
The latest from DownsizeDC.org urges us to tell congress to stop wasting our tax dollars on the devastating scam of ethanol production. …
http://www.libertymaven.com/2008/04/07/end-the-ethanol-scam/1016/
Ethanol, Oil and Corn
By Richard K. Perrin
When will ethanol plants stop being built? Ethanol plants under construction in Nebraska will have the capacity to grind over 40 percent of the Nebraska corn crop by the end of 2007, and nearly 60 percent by the end of 2008. …
http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/agecon_cornhusker/304
Ethanol’s lie
Tribune Review – Pittsburgh,PA,USA
From Time magazine to the Internet blogosphere, critical analysis is revealing ethanol not only as a useless fuel alternative but also as an environmental …
http://tinyurl.com/4re9nj (www.pittsburghlive.com)
Guest letter: It turns out ethanol is more of a problem than a …
Minneapolis Star Tribune – Minneapolis,MN,USA
Since 1986, Minnesota lawmakers have actively encouraged the development of a sizable state ethanol industry. We now have 17 operating ethanol plants in the …
http://www.startribune.com/local/west/17593319.html
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MSNBC “apologize[d]” for false claim that McCain’s proposed gas tax holiday would mean a “20-percent cut” in prices
On the April 16 edition of MSNBC Live, host Contessa Brewer said, “We want to clarify something that we first told you about yesterday on MSNBC about [Sen.] John McCain’s proposal to suspend federal gas taxes for the summer. That move would mean a nearly 20 cent cut in prices. Yesterday, someone mistakenly said 20-percent cut. We apologize for the confusion.”
Read More
http://mediamatters.org/items/200804160009?lid=239064&rid=6898325
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Income Inequality, Income Mobility, and Economic Policy: U.S. Trends in the 1980s and 1990s, April 04, 2008 -
“Income inequality has been increasing in the United States over the past 25 years. Several factors have been identified as possibly contributing to increasing income inequality. Some researchers have suggested the decline in unionization and a falling real minimum wage as the primary causes. Others have argued that rising returns to education and skill-biased technological change are the important factors explaining rising inequality. Most analysts agree that the likely explanation for rising income inequality is due to skill-biased technological changes combined with a change in institutions and norms, of which a falling minimum wage and declining unionization are a part. Since most people are concerned with upward mobility, and given the central importance of income mobility to the debate over income inequality, this report examines the relation between income mobility and inequality.”
http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/RL34434_20080404.pdf
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U.S. Foreclosures Jump 57% as Homeowners Walk Away
Bloomberg
By Dan Levy
April 15, 2008
U.S. foreclosure filings jumped 57 percent and bank repossessions more than doubled in March from a year earlier as adjustable mortgages increased and more owners lost their homes to lenders….
“We’re not near the bottom of this at all,” said KENNETH ROSEN, chairman of Rosen Real Estate Securities LLC, a hedge fund in Berkeley, California and CHAIRMAN OF THE FISHER CENTER FOR REAL ESTATE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT BERKELEY. “The foreclosure process will accelerate throughout the year.”
Rising foreclosures will add more inventory to an already glutted market, keep home prices down through at least next year and thwart efforts by Congress and President George W. Bush to help homeowners avoid default, Rosen said in an interview….
Borrowers who owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth may be buffeted by increasing job losses in a “very substantial recession,” Rosen said. About 8.8 million borrowers had home mortgages that exceeded the value of their property, Moody’s Economy.com said last week.
At least 2 million jobs will be lost because of this recession, so we’ll get a cumulative negative spiral,” Rosen said. “A normal recession is 10 months. We think this one may be twice as long.
…
Complete article at:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a3_Y.T_wvElI&refer=home
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Open Season on Taxpayers – By U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa
Even though Old Man Winter refused to go quietly into hibernation, spring indeed has sprung in Iowa . Turkey hunters anticipate opening day to test their skills and good fortune. Baseball lovers of all ages watch that first pitch crossing home plate to signal the launch of America ’s favorite pastime. The arrival of spring brings farm families a sense of renewal and purpose as the busy planting season gets underway.
It’s also the time of year when taxpayers must get all their ducks in a row to file their taxes by April 15.
Disturbingly, just one week before the nation’s tax-filing deadline, a new federal audit shows how taxpayers are viewed as sitting ducks by some unscrupulous federal employees who misuse government-issued credit cards for personal spending sprees.
The report revealed federal agencies could not account for almost $2 million worth of items purchased with government credit cards. What’s more, the Government Accountability Office said nearly half of all transactions made during the 2006 fiscal year using the purchase cards did not follow proper procedures to prevent abuse.
This latest report adds fuel to the fire I’ve been working to extinguish since 2001. That’s when I first discovered mismanaged government credit card accounts at the Department of Defense. Since then I’ve learned additional federal agencies also have shown an incredible inability to rein in abusive spending by employees using government credit or debit cards. The most basic principles to authorize purchases and account for goods and services somehow get bungled in the federal bureaucracy.
Perhaps now my legislative attempts to clamp down on the problem will gain traction in Congress. If federal agencies aren’t able to prevent dishonest employees from swiping tax dollars when they swipe through a transaction using their government credit card, this U.S. Senator will see to it that Congress does its job to protect the public purse.
My committee-passed bill now pending before the full Senate would require federal agencies to install penalties for wrongful and fraudulent use of government credit cards. The bill would require the Inspector General for each agency to conduct periodic audits to identify violations. Serious violators would be subject to losing their jobs and/or facing prosecution by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The latest audit of the federal government’s credit card system studied transactions made from July 1, 2005 through September 30, 2006. Wrongful purchases were categorized as “fraudulent,” “abusive” or “improper.”
Those descriptions don’t do justice to an outrageous spending pattern that somehow went undetected by the U.S. Forest Service. One employee gamed the system from 2000 to 2006 to create a cash pipeline for a live-in boyfriend. She managed to deposit more than $640,000 in their joint bank account before her reckless wildfire was put out by a whistleblower who tipped off investigators. Without the whistleblower sucking the oxygen out of her scheme, it’s hard telling how long the fleecing would have continued. It sounds nearly impossible to believe such a lack of accountability could exist. In a gross disservice to hard-working taxpayers, the U.S. Forest Service failed to see the forest or the trees. The good news is the former employee was sentenced to prison and ordered to repay the money.
Other improper charges found during the investigation included payments for Internet dating services, lingerie, laptop computers, digital cameras, iPods, expensive clothing and fine dining.
It’s time to end the open season on taxpayers. The credit card system was intended to streamline government purchases by federal employees. Better management, stronger enforcement and stiffer penalties must take place across the board to show federal employees there is zero tolerance for squandering tax dollars.
When Congress appropriates money to the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. State Department or the Pentagon, those tax dollars better be used to serve the taxpaying public. No matter the season of the year, I’m prepared to hunt down waste, fraud and abuse as long as it takes to get the job done.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Big Tax Breaks for Businesses in Housing Bill –Bush’s corpora-terrorist cronies get tax breaks of $6 billion through 2018
16 Apr 2008
The tax provisions of the Foreclosure Prevention Act, which consumer groups and labor leaders say amount to government handouts to big business, show how the credit crisis, while rattling the housing and financial markets, has created beneficiaries in the power corridors of Washington. “The Senate legislation gave corporations and Wall Street billions in tax breaks,” Terence M. O’Sullivan, the president of the Laborers International Union of North America, said at a news conference on Tuesday to denounce the bill. “If anything, this multibillion-dollar windfall will make things worse,” he continued.
At:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/16/business/16bailout.html
From: CLG News
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And now for the important news ….
By Argus Hamilton
The World Bank warned Monday that the high cost of food and resulting food shortage is causing Third World hunger riots. There must be a solution. Scientists all over the world are trying to develop crops that Americans cannot convert into gasoline.
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com
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three thousand words
Paul Combs: we love these guys, …
http://img.slate.com/media/50/080416_ed.gif
Mike Keefe: we don’t want an elitist for president. …
http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoons/KeefeM/2008/KeefeM20080417_low.jpg
Ted Rall: federal reserve slashes key interest rate …
