*** Russia Furious With America Over Afghan Drugs, Terrorism Financing Un-Islamic, White House Food - News Headlines 19 May 2010
From Denny: Seems like everyone is angry at Prez Obama these days - even the Russians. Sounds like they good reason too. America just can't win this drug war in Afghanistan without the cooperation of the Afghan people. As a result, the drug dealers have gone across the border into Russian territory, peddling their crime. Russia has enough to deal with considering the huge Russian mob factor as a parallel government to the official one. Russia is pressuring NATO to get serious and put some teeth into prosecuting a drug war effort to prevent cheap heroin from escaping over the borders, plaguing their country.
On another front, the Saudi Arabian monarchy seems eager to please the American government by declaring the funding of terrorism to be un-Islamic. Like the terrorists are actually going to take that seriously. Even the people of Saudi Arabia don't take it seriously and just roll their eyes at their monarchy. If the war of terrorism is going to succeed then countries like Saudi Arabia have to get serious and start executing those who fund terrorism at home and abroad. Until they do violence will continue unabated. It's really in the best interests of Saudi Arabia's government and monarchy to survive to deal with terrorists before they take down their government.
And the folks running the SEC are as tone deaf and clueless as ever. They claim to have some security fixes to prevent more wild cards like the last 1,000 point crash. Yet they claim they also still don't understand exactly what happened. Would it not go to logic that if you don't understand the process of how a crash came to be that you would not also not know how to put in place a firewall to prevent it? Somebody fire these incompetent government employees. How many are former Bush appointees set in place to sabotage the Democrats?
As to the Iran uranium swap with Turkey, Christian Science Monitor, who does some of the more detailed straight forward agenda-less news writing these days, had a detailed story about this international mess with Iran provoking the United Nations over nukes.
Check it out that our own American chef, a huge promoter of Mexican cuisine, turned out to be the chef of the hour at the White House when Mexico's President visited for the State Dinner. Talk about pressure for the chef! See what Rick Bayless chose to serve the visiting Mexican head of state. It sure wasn't Taco Bell fare. :)
Moscow's new drug czar, Viktor Ivanov, claims Russia is being flooded with cheap heroin and charges that the US and its NATO allies in Afghanistan are reluctant to pursue a drug war that could drive poppy farmers into the arms of the Taliban.
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A government-appointed council of senior religious scholars in Saudi Arabia condemned terrorism financing and said it is forbidden by Islamic law.
Saudi Arabia’s top religious leaders have condemned terrorism financing as forbidden by Islamic law, giving added religious weight and potentially larger punishments to existing civil statutes.
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A report on the May 6 stock market 'flash crash' released by regulators Tuesday is thin on answers for why the Dow took a 1,000-point dive.
Regulators have issued a long report on the May 6 "flash crash" in stocks, but much of it boils down to this: We still don't know what happened. (There's a PDF file of the report if you click on the title link.)
The two agencies that oversee key US financial exchanges said several steps are being pursued or considered to reduce the risk of such crashes, including new "circuit breakers" when individual stocks become unusually volatile.
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Chicago chef Rick Bayless is a Decoder favorite, and Wednesday night he'll feed Obama and Mexico President Felipe Calderón at a White House state dinner.
How do you get to be the guest chef at a White House state dinner? Easy – run popular restaurants in the president’s home town......
It’s an unenviable task, really. Think about it – a US-born cook whipping up Mexican food for a powerful Mexican native. If President Obama went to Mexico, would they get the best US-style chef in the country to cook burgers and apple pie? It would be hard to top what Obama can get at home........
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The Iran nuclear fuel swap deal, brokered by Turkey and Brazil, was cast by many as a confidence-building measure. But Iran would still continue enriching uranium, in defiance of the UN Security Council.
Tehran has agreed to ship the bulk of its enriched uranium to Turkey, in an Iran nuclear fuel swap brokered by Brazil and Turkey that is certain to complicate American efforts to impose new United Nations sanctions on Iran.
Under the deal, Iran would ship 1,200 kg (2,640 lbs) of low-enriched uranium (LEU) to Turkey, where it would be held. In exchange, it would be entitled to 120 kg of uranium enriched to 20 percent for its medical reactor, likely to be provided by France and Russia.........
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Who would replace Justice John Paul Stevens?: (NBC) Two experienced federal judges and the Obama administration's top Supreme Court lawyer are widely considered the leading candidates for the next high court opening if Justice John Paul Stevens retires this year.
Stevens, 89, is expected to decide soon whether to step down after more than 34 years on the court. If he does, President Barack Obama would have his second high court pick in as many years.
Two of the three top contenders, Judge Diane Wood, 59, of the federal appeals court in Chicago and Solicitor General Elena Kagan, 49, were finalists last year when Obama chose Sonia Sotomayor to replace Justice David Souter.
Judge Merrick Garland, 57, of the federal appeals court in Washington, is a former high-ranking Justice Department official who is well respected and considered least likely to engender significant Republican opposition.
The three high court prospects have different strengths and weaknesses. But even conservative activists say any of the three would likely win confirmation in a Senate in which Democrats control 59 seats. Yet Republican Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona said Sunday he would not rule out delaying tactics if Obama nominates "an overly ideological person..."
It’s official: Obama is black: (NBC) President checks black, not black and white, on census form. leader, but when it came to the official government head count, President Barack Obama gave only one answer to the question about his ethnic background: African-American.
The White House confirmed Friday that Obama did not check multiple boxes on his U.S. Census form, or choose the option that allows him to elaborate on his racial heritage. He ticked the box that says "Black, African Am., or Negro."
Obama filled out the form on Monday, supplying information for himself, first lady Michelle Obama and their daughters Malia and Sasha, as well as for Mrs. Obama's mother, Marian Robinson, who lives with the family in the White House.
For Obama, whose mother Ann Dunham, a white woman from Kansas, married his father, Kenyan native Barack Obama Sr., the question of his racial identity has been a lifelong struggle. His first memoir, "Dreams From My Father," is an account of a difficult journey of discovery.
Obama the community activist and then politician always self-identified as African-American, and he now wears the mantle of America's first black president with pride.
On a visit to Ghana last year, he took his wife and daughters to see Gold Coast Castle, the one-time slave trading depot from which thousands of Africans were sent in shackles to a life of toil in the New World. The First Lady is descended from a South Carolina slave.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai threatened over the weekend to quit the political process and join the Taliban if he continued to come under outside pressure to reform, several members of parliament said Monday.
Karzai made the unusual statement at a closed-door meeting Saturday with selected lawmakers — just days after kicking up a diplomatic controversy with remarks alleging foreigners were behind fraud in last year's disputed elections.
Lawmakers dismissed the latest comment as hyperbole, but it will add to the impression the president — who relies on tens of thousands of U.S. and NATO forces to fight the insurgency and prop up his government — is growing increasingly erratic and unable to exert authority without attacking his foreign backers.
"He said that 'if I come under foreign pressure, I might join the Taliban'," said Farooq Marenai, who represents the eastern province of Nangarhar.
"He said rebelling would change to resistance," Marenai said — apparently suggesting that the militant movement would then be redefined as one of resistance against a foreign occupation rather than a rebellion against an elected government.
Marenai said Karzai appeared nervous and repeatedly demanded to know why parliament last week had rejected legal reforms that would have strengthened the president's authority over the country's electoral institutions.
Two other lawmakers said Karzai twice raised the threat to join the insurgency.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the reports were troubling. "On behalf of the American people, we're frustrated with the remarks," Gibbs told reporters.
The lawmakers, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of political repercussions, said Karzai also dismissed concerns over possible damage his comments had caused to relations with the United States. He told them he had already explained himself in a telephone conversation Saturday with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton that came after the White House described his comments last week as troubling.
The lawmakers said they felt Karzai was pandering to hard-line or pro-Taliban members of parliament and had no real intention of joining the insurgency.
Nor does the Afghan leader appear concerned that the U.S. might abandon him, having said numerous times that the U.S. would not leave Afghanistan because it perceives a presence here to be in its national interest...
It plays out like any ordinary chat between friends on Yahoo Messenger, but the subject matter is chilling: "thekiller" is looking to mesh his Indonesian militant network more deeply with al-Qaida in its Pakistani heartland...
The exchange appears in transcripts of Internet chat sessions recovered from the computer of Muhammad Jibriel, identified in the documents as the man suspected of using the screen name "thekiller". Jibriel, a 26-year-old Indonesian and well-known propagandist for al-Qaida, is currently on trial, accused of helping fund last year's twin suicide bombings at luxury hotels in his country's capital, Jakarta. He claims the transcripts are fabricated.
The 40 pages of conversations are in a police dossier that provides a rare glimpse into the inner workings of Jemaah Islamiyah, Southeast Asia's main extremist group, suggesting it and allied networks in the region have more international links than was previously assumed.
Since the chats took place, from mid to late 2008, a sustained crackdown on Southeast Asian groups has continued, resulting in the arrest of Jibriel and the execution of the man identified in the police dossier as one of his most prominent conversationalists.
But the chats refer to other people engaged in contact with international extremists, and experts believe such ties likely continue.
"The transcripts are a wake-up call," said Sidney Jones, a leading international expert on Southeast Asian terror groups. "They show that Indonesian links to Pakistani and Middle Eastern terror groups are real and dangerous, even if limited to a few individuals."
Pope's immunity could be challenged in Britain: (NBC) Protests are growing against Pope Benedict XVI's planned trip to Britain, where some lawyers question whether the Vatican's implicit statehood status should shield the pope from prosecution over sex crimes by pedophile priests.
More than 10,000 people have signed a petition on Downing Street's Web site against the pope's 4-day visit to England and Scotland in September, which will cost U.K. taxpayers an estimated $22.5 million. The campaign has gained momentum as more Catholic sex abuse scandals have swept across Europe.
Although Benedict has not been accused of any crime, senior British lawyers are now examining whether the pope should have immunity as a head of state or whether he could be prosecuted under the principle of universal jurisdiction for an alleged systematic cover-up of sexual abuses by priests.
Universal jurisdiction — a concept in international law — allows judges to issue warrants for nearly any visitor accused of grievous crimes, no matter where they live. British judges have been more open to the concept than those in other countries.
Lawyers are divided over the immunity issue. Some argue that the Vatican isn't a true state, while others note the Vatican has national relations with about 170 countries, including Britain. The Vatican is also the only non-member to have permanent observer status at the U.N.
Then again, no other top religious leaders enjoy the same U.N. privileges or immunity, so why should the pope?
David Crane, former chief prosecutor at the Sierra Leone war crimes tribunal, said it would be difficult to implicate the pope in anything criminal.
"It's a fascinating kind of academic, theoretical discussion," said Crane, who prosecuted Sierra Leone's Charles Taylor when he was still a sitting head of state. "At this point, there's no liability at all."
But Geoffrey Robertson, who as a U.N. appeals judge delivered key decisions on the illegality of conscripting child soldiers and the invalidity of amnesties for war crimes, believes it could be time to challenge the immunity of the pope — and Britain could be the place. He wrote a legal opinion on the topic that was published Friday in the U.S. news site The Daily Beast and Saturday in the British newspaper the Guardian...
U.S. admits role in killing of Afghan women: (NBC) NATO initially denied involvement in the deaths and in any cover-up. After initially denying involvement or any cover-up in the deaths of three Afghan women during a badly bungled American Special Operations assault in February, the American-led military command in Kabul admitted late on Sunday that its forces had, in fact, killed the women during the nighttime raid.
The admission immediately raised questions about what really happened during the Feb. 12 operation — and what falsehoods followed — including a new report that Special Operations forces dug bullets out of the bodies of the women to hide the nature of their deaths.
A NATO official also said Sunday that an Afghan-led team of investigators had found signs of evidence tampering at the scene, including the removal of bullets from walls near where the women were killed. On Monday, however, a senior NATO official denied that any tampering had occurred.
The disclosure could not come at a worse moment for the American military: NATO officials are struggling to contain fallout from a series of tirades against the foreign military presence by the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, who has also railed against the killing of civilians by Western forces.
Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the American and NATO commander in Afghanistan, has tried hard, and with some success, to reduce civilian casualties through new rules that include restricting night raids and also bringing Special Operations forces under tighter control. But botched Special Operations attacks — which are blamed for a large proportion of the civilian deaths caused by NATO forces — continue to infuriate Afghans and create support for the Taliban.
NATO military officials had already admitted killing two innocent civilians — a district prosecutor and a local police chief — during the raid, on a home near Gardez in southeastern Afghanistan. The two men were shot to death when they came out of their home, armed with Kalashnikov rifles, to investigate.
Three women also died that night at the same home: One was a pregnant mother of 10 and another was a pregnant mother of six. NATO military officials had suggested that the women were actually stabbed to death — or had died by some other means — hours before the raid, an explanation that implied that family members or others at the home might have killed them.
Survivors of the raid called that explanation a cover-up and insisted that American forces killed the women. Relatives and family friends said the bloody raid followed a party in honor of the birth of a grandson of the owner of the house.
On Sunday night the American-led military command in Kabul issued a statement admitting that “international forces” were responsible for the deaths of the women. Officials have previously stated that American Special Operations forces and Afghan forces conducted the operation.
The statement said that “investigators could not conclusively determine how or when the women died, due to lack of forensic evidence” but that they had nonetheless “concluded that the women were accidentally killed as a result of the joint force firing at the men.”
“We deeply regret the outcome of this operation, accept responsibility for our actions that night, and know that this loss will be felt forever by the families,” said Brig. Gen. Eric Tremblay, a spokesman for the NATO command in Kabul.
The admission was an abrupt about-face...
Is the tea party brewing a revolution?: (NBC) Movement unlikely to affect November elections without GOP alliance. They heeded a pamphleteer's call for "manly opposition to the machinations of tyranny" — the 60 American colonists who stormed Griffin's Wharf and emptied 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbor. And with that, a revolution brewed.
Now, more than two centuries later, come the angry throngs of the modern-day tea party. They've gotten the nation's attention. Can they foment their own revolution?
Not yet.
The Associated Press reviewed tea party operations in almost every state, interviewing dozens of local organizers as well as Democratic and Republican strategists to produce a portrait of the movement to date — and its prospects for tilting this November's elections.
The bottom line:
Though amplifying widespread voter anger at the political establishment, the tea party movement is unlikely to dramatically affect the congressional elections — unless their local affiliates forge alliances with Republican candidates. And how likely is that? Republican operatives look at the possibility of GOP-tea party collaborations with some anxiety, and many tea party activists frankly don't want to see them.
Born of protest and populism, the United States is a nation of movements — people galvanized by causes, summoned with the latest technologies. But none of those causes — not abolition, women's votes, civil rights or anti-war — was certain to succeed in its first fateful steps, or even to leave a lasting mark.
It's much too early for any long-term verdict on the tea party. Even defining what short-term success would be for its members can be a challenge.
Let's begin with what they're not.
They're sure not Democrats. But many aren't thrilled with the Republicans either.
The tea party itself is not a political party — and there are no signs it ever will be.
It has no single issue around which people rally. It has no clear leader who drives the organization's message, motivates followers and raises money. Indeed, the hundreds of tea party chapters and tens of thousands of its activists cannot agree on the most basic strategic goal: whether to influence the current political system or dismantle it.
The embryonic movement is not as much a force that drives public opinion as a reflection of it.
In the words of a senior Republican consultant: The tea party is a lot of noise, little muscle. But it has plenty of ability to make a scene: The consultant, who is directly involved in plotting the party's Senate elections strategy, insisted his name not be attached to that conclusion, concerned about alienating activists.
Many of those activists want nothing to do with political parties at all.
"The day there's an organized Tea Party in Wisconsin," says Mark Block, who runs tea party rallies in the state, "is the day the tea party movement dies."
America's tea party is a hodgepodge of barely affiliated groups, a home to the politically homeless, the fast-growing swath of citizens who are frustrated with Washington, their own state capitals and the two major political parties. Most describe themselves as conservatives or libertarians. They don't like the change wrought by President Barack Obama and his fellow Democrats in Congress.
Republican Pollster David Winston takes a comprehensive look at who comprises the Tea Party movement. Check out his site for more details: The Winston Group
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From Denny: Canada's population - in such a vast country - is only 34 million compared to its southern neighbor America of 300 million. Canada is a place where a strong sense of duty toward others, once called small town values in America, still prevails.
Many Americans are unaware of how much Canada has worked shoulder to shoulder with us over the decades. American media also has done a lousy job of covering consistent news about Canada - so much so that Americans have no clue about their neighbor to the North unless they live along the border.
Fortunately, since Canada has hosted this Winter Olympics, American news crews have been crawling all over the place to find out "just who are these people called the Canadians?" Well, it's about time, guys! This news segment was a wonderful tribute to the military who have served with our military. What is also notable is the public who acknowledge and respect their sacrifices. Take a look:
Canada's strong sense of military duty and sacrifice:
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From Denny: This leader just can't seem to get in tune with the agony of his own people at war. It's like God is calling: "Hello, do you get it yet, Mr. Brown? It's bad enough you are at war and then don't supply the soldiers properly to adequately defend themselves, then you add insult to injury by not writing condolence letters to the family until two years after a death. Do you understand yet this is an example of how not to write a condolence letter???"
Obviously, this sad situation of reopening old wounds is an exercise in humbling and humanizing an arrogant aloof leader and a lesson for the wronged to find their way to forgiveness. A tough holiday lesson for all concerned.
From Denny: Today is Veterans Day in America. While President Obama remembers on a national level there is a small town near Fort Hood, Texas that honors their troops every day. After the act of domestic terrorism from a psychiatrist who suffered a psychotic break to kill or wound many on base, the soldiers carry on their lives. They are not broken; they are not afraid. They chose to come out today and honor their own.
Please take a quiet pause today, remembering those who have fallen and those who have served this country and your country as well over many generations, whether we agree with a particular war or not. Too many honorable people have died down the centuries for dishonorable and dishonest politicians and monarchs. People who give their lives in battle or service are a testament to the quality of a country’s character. Thank you…
“Mankind must not only seek Peace. We must pursue it with all the deeply felt sincerity of our hearts. We must pursue Peace with the diligent work of our hands every day in every relationship we know. Peace comes a little at a time, rippling outward until one day it touches and convinces all.” – Denny Lyon, 3 March 2009 Memorial Day Poems
War Affects Us All
Let the old men who send the young men to war stop and think long, and work harder for Peace, before affecting generations yet to come. Poems written about the reality of war from family, children, citizens, soldiers and medical personnel. At my photo blog, Visual Insights:14 Veterans Day Remembrance Photos
From Denny: In a country still in the Stone Age on so many levels, Afghanistan is not winning any high marks in how they treat young women when they marry them. Granted, the average life expectancy is only age 44 here so it goes to the need to marry 13 year old girls. The same was true in Europe during the Middle Ages.
The problem is that 13 year old girls are simply not equipped emotionally or physically for the rigors of adulthood. As young girls they are not prepared for abuse, not knowing which way to turn. Worse, the culture is such that their own family members turn on them, victimizing them repeatedly. When a young married woman complains her husband pimps her out to his friends, trading sex for money, she gets no quarter from the local authorities or her family members.
There are too many horror stories of abuse and tales of extreme amorality to document here today but rest assured that slowly some of these young women are beginning to walk away anyway. Foreign aid agencies have stepped in to help these abandoned and abused women, offering them hope and a new life.
Afghanistan has a long way to go to improve its culture and standing in the world when it comes just to basic human rights for their wives, mothers and daughters. There is so little hope in this country for women. In the end, it will have to be the women who stand up for the women. They must defy tradition and culture in order to survive. One day they will thrive.
Take a look at this video as a French aid doctor is clearly upset at what he treats on a regular basis. Do what you can to help, if only to pray every day for the women in Afghanistan.
From Denny: Hillary's bluntness was not exactly the hallmark of former quality diplomacy in diplomatic circles where they are accustomed to getting their egos massaged for doing nothing. The motto of "preening and not doing" is not the way of the new administration's State Department in America. Times have changed from the idiot Bush years and it was important to shock Pakistan into realizing how dire is their situation. The truth stings our egos. Better to get stung and live than hide, thinking we will survive this battle for the country.
While it is understandable the Pakistani people are shocked at such public bluntness and gave America some serious blowback in the press, they might want to consider another perspective. Pakistan and America have had eight years to get this problem of terrorists handled; both have failed miserably.
Pakistan fell into the same ego trap and made the same mistake America and every other country does at some point in their history: back some group because they too hate the group they are fighting. Then that foolish act turns around and bites them. In Pakistan's case, the very militants they backed against America have now turned on Pakistan. Why? They want those nuclear weapons and will not stop until they get them. Now, Pakistan is in for the fight of their lives to destroy the monster they created. Welcome to Big Boy Countries 101. It's imperative that Pakistan take back all control and cede not one inch of land or government control to the terrorists. Give them an inch and they will shoot you in your sleep; count on it.
For now, it's more important to the safety of the Pakistani people to protect themselves and for America and the rest of the world to help support them in their endeavor. Quit worrying about egos and the anger Pakistan had at Bush spilling over onto Obama. Obama is not Bush.
While in the Middle East memories are centuries long over this or that slight or major catastrophe, it's important to work with what we know right now and with the people we know. We must begin anew and build quality relationships of trust. It's time to quit the centuries long squabbling, America included, and get serious about learning how to live in Peace with each other. No one said we had to like each other, approve of each other or adopt each other's cultures. What we can do is be respectful that we all deserve to share the same planet.
Here she frankly discusses the past relationship of Pakistan and America as not always to the benefit of the Pakistani people. There is a real "trust deficit" on the part of Pakistan with America. She is working on repairing the relationship mess from past American administrations. It's like a wayward husband who is a serial cheater, saying, "But, baby, trust me one more time." The wife grows weary of getting her heart trounced. If there is anyone who understands how truly difficult it is to trust someone who has hurt you, it's Hillary Clinton whose husband, Bill Clinton, was publicly impeached over an affair. Pakistan's reticience is understandable. They will need to start spending some time to get to know the new America and then make their judgment about trust:
What Hillary is trying to impress upon Pakistan is the dire need to save their country. If the government is too weak to protect the nuclear weapons from falling into the hands of the terrorists, count on it that whomever feels the most threatened in the region of those nukes falling into the wrong hands will enter the battle, transforming both the terrorists and Pakistan into a footnote in history.
From Denny: This was quite the "anniversary" for the Afghanistan War, marked by plenty of statistics like America paying out over $5 billion a month, clips from the Bush years and the fact it's been eight years now. Something has to change; "fish or cut bait" as they say in the Amerian South!
From Denny: This was a Meet The Press that was worth the view all the way through the show. I usually find David Gregory weak as rainwater and a poor proponent of idiot and arrogant ambush journalism of which I have no use. What I'm looking for are real facts and an intelligent discussion - not the cat and mouse process of trying to force an interview to go the way you desire just to make someone look bad to boost your entertainment ratings. Not to worry. America's Ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, outboxed and outclassed him every step of the way in the most finesseful manner. She sure got my vote! :)
Usually, I don't stick around for the Roundtable discussions as it is Republican heavy and full of Washington insider blowhards that the rest of America and the world could care less about their priviledged opinions. This was the first time some of these guys made plausible, sane, even common sense and compelling arguments that didn't sound like they just got out of the mental hospital (with friends and relatives waiting in the wings ready to pounce and capture, stuffing them into a straight jacket for a return trip).
