Today's News

Citi Considers $400 Billion Asset Sale - FT
TCitigroup will on Friday identify as much as $400bn in non-core assets that could be sold as part of plans to reduce costs and restore profit growth to double-digit rates, according to people close to the situation.

At a long-awaited meeting with Wall Street analysts, Vikram Pandit, Citi’s chief executive, also plans to confirm his pledge, first disclosed in the Financial Times, to cut Citi’s cost base of over $60bn by about 20 per cent.

Despite his desire to prune Citi’s balance sheet aggressively, Mr Pandit will use the meeting to rebuff calls for a break-up of the company, say sources familiar with his thinking. They say he will defend Citi’s “universal banking model” combining consumer and wholesale banking.(end excerpt)

Meanwhile the talking heads that brought this crisis on are saying it is all but over or the worst is behind us. Pooppycock!... and they know it. They just want to deceive Joe Sixpac of that lie as we move into the November elections. Think about it, Citi has received billions in bailouts and still has to sell close to half a trillion in assets. Does that sound like 'over' to you?. The big banks are still, as we speak, getting bailouts from the Feds new bailout windows. NOTHING HAS CHANGED other than the tone and spin of he headlines of major financial publications. The only thing that has happened is that they have just shipped a ton of money over to Wall Street to slow (not stop) the titanic from sinking and she is still listing and taking in water. Foreclosures are still at record highs and growing, housing prices are tumbling and jobs are still going away (despite the BLS's fictitious, election year motivated numbers). They just want to pass this crisis on to the Democrats so the GOP can say, 'We had it all solved and the Democrats messsed it all up!' Bernanke's, Paulson's and Greenspans public pronouncements are not economic statements, they are political statements and once you understand that, things will be a little clearer.

Barnabas Fund Is Reaching Burma Cyclone Victims - Barnabas Fund
Barnabas Fund’s aid for Christian victims of the Burma cyclone is being channelled through Christian organisations and churches on the ground in Burma, to which we have access. It is NOT going through the Burmese government.

We have already sent a first grant and we would like to assure supporters that our partners are based in Burma and do not need to get visas to enter the country. They are already there.

Please do continue to give. There will be a great need for many months as we move from emergency relief to reconstruction and the rebuilding of the homes and lives of the Christian community.

The Clintons: Triangulating With China - Baltimore Chron.
Read this and you will know why no working person who wishes to go on working should even consider voting for a Clinton. Like I said On Wesndesday, you might as well turn the entire American nation over to the Chinese Politburo if you vote for Clinton.

Now Hillary has finally donned that white sheet she has been hiding in the closet and says she speaks for 'White Americas'. Not for all Americans, or Hispanic Americans and certainly not Black Americans but 'White Americans'. Is stirring up racial hate the only way she thinks she can win?

Quick! Get some water for Hillary.... her cross is burning!

How You Will Pay For Bernankes Bailouts - IHT
Though inflation may be an easier sell to America's voters, if not its creditors, make no mistake: It is toxic to investors, makes overall economic growth structurally lower, and ultimately is likely to boil over. "There are terrible costs associated with inflation, but all the costs are later," Malmgren said.

The Fed has cut rates to 2.0 percent from 5.25 percent since last September, though investors are now betting that rates stay on hold for several months and may next rise.

Tim Bond, global head of asset allocation at Barclays Capital in London, sees a possibility of higher inflation becoming entrenched in the United States and ultimately ending with a deep "policy recession" in several years' time.(end excerpt)

In related story OPEC's chief says the US economy is to blame for high oil prices;

"There is a direct correlation between the decrease in the value of the dollar and the increase in oil prices," Khelil said. "A week ago the dollar improved by a few percent and we saw that directly expressed in the oil price. The oil price went down. Now prospects of not only the U.S. economy, the possibility of recession, possibility for continuing devaluation of the dollar, will have an important impact on the oil price in the future."

He said this is pushing commodity speculators' actions, thus further boosting the price of oil.

"The dollar is the currency of commerce; it's the currency of reserves, currency of payments in lots of commodities, including the oil. The impact is that when the currency loses its value then the investors will go into the paper oil market and invest where they can get better returns than they would get investing in normal stock operations or investments, because they're not really attractive opportunities there." - UPI

You Know Your Country Is Broke When... - CNN
Further evidence that times are tough: It now costs more than a penny to make a penny. And the cost of a nickel is more than 7 1/2 cents.

Surging prices for copper, zinc and nickel have some in Congress trying to bring back the steel-made pennies of World War II, and maybe using steel for nickels, as well.

Copper and nickel prices have tripled since 2003 and the price of zinc has quadrupled, said Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., whose subcommittee oversees the U.S. Mint.

America: The Third World Country - Financial Armegeddon
In Financial Armageddon, I noted an Infrastructure Report Card by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) that called for $1.6 trillion to be spent over a five-year period to bring the nation's infrastructure to a good condition. My point was that this was another in a long list of multi-trillion dollar obligation that were undermining the economic and financial wellbeing of the United States. A commentary in the Financial Times by John Gapper expands upon what decaying roads, rail networks, bridges, dams and the like mean for our future in "On the Pot-Holed Highway to Hell."

Hizbollah Overruns West Beirut - The Age
Hezbollah gunmen seized control of west Beirut on Friday after a third day of battles with pro-government foes in the Lebanese capital pushed the nation dangerously close to all-out civil war.

The sectarian fighting had eased by early afternoon as the army and police moved across areas now in the hands of Shiite opposition forces who fired celebratory gunshots wildly into the air after routing Sunni militants loyal to the Western-backed government.

"There are no clashes anymore because no one is standing in the way of the opposition forces," a security official said on condition of anonymity.

But as the guns fell largely silent, it was unclear what the immediate future would hold for Lebanon, amid fears the protracted political feud could plunge the nation back to the dark days of the 1975-1990 civil war.

Armed Conflict Feared In Georgia - Reuters
The United States fears there could be bloodshed in the dispute between Russia and ex-Soviet Georgia, a State Department official said on Thursday, as he urged Moscow to stop intimidating its southern neighbor.

Acting Undersecretary of State Dan Fried said he does not believe the Russians want to go to war over Georgia's breakaway regions, and is sure that the Caucasus nation does not either.

"But what we fear is that with so much tension, so many armed people in close proximity, and a record of provocations, that there could be a spark setting off a wider problem, and suddenly you're dealing with deaths and shooting and an out-of-control incident," he told a hearing of Helsinki Commission on Capitol Hill. "We worry about that a great deal," Fried said.

FBI Raids OSC Offices - Fox
There's word that federal agents have raided the office of a U.S. special counsel as part of an obstruction of justice probe.

Law enforcement officials say the target of the probe is Scott Bloch, the nation's top protector of federal workers and whistle-blowers.

An FBI spokesman confirms that agents with the FBI and the U.S. Office of Personnel Management have executed "a number" of federal search warrants. Two other officials say the raids took place at Bloch's home in Virginia and office in downtown Washington. They say computers and documents were seized.

Bloch has been on the hot seat since taking office in 2004, in part for closing hundreds of whistle-blower cases allegedly without investigating them.

(end excerpt)

Watch this story. I say again watch this story, as there are some very, very powerful people in DC sweating this one BIG TIME. This goes to a very big network of corruption that is (no exaggerating) ruining America.

Much more can be found here. This investigations scope was so wide because there is much more they are looking for than is hitting the newswires or blogoshere. They not only raided Bloch's offices but his home as well. I have heard it said by some insiders that if you want to wind up dead, send your Whistleblower complaint to Bloch's office. Sadly, very few in the Blogoshpere know what is really up and can only touch around the edges of just how messed up this office is. Clearly the FBI is only giving canned answers as to the scope of the probe and the seized documents which have been sealed. The level of corruption the FBI is investigating is truly staggering. This is pandora's box and the powers who have run this network are for once, very seriously on the defensive. Hopefully, they will not shut this investigation down due to political pressure, as so many others.

Christians, pray to God to expose this network of pure evil into the full view of the American people. It will shock a great many to action. Believe me, there is much more to this story than you will find on the net.

Govexec has a pretty good story here.

Quarter Of A Million Dead? - QC Times
The linked story is a low ball figure. Those with access to pictures and on the ground info gained from assessments say clearly that the toll could easily top 200,000. The Burmese Military in the region also took a huge hit. It is essentially non-existent. Overturned aircraft mark and ruined roads describe the terrain. The US has aid, ships and all that is needed to aid the Burmese people, the obstacle is the Burmese Junta. These evil old fogey's don't care about their own people but are clinging to power like a heroin addict clings to his needle.

If Bush had any real 'gumption' he would move aid and materials into Burma without the permission of the Burmese government and if China responds negatively (as they will), he can brow beat them on their human rights record at home, in Sudan and other places they have influence. He can ask the Chinese if they think that any one but their politburo has the right to eat, drink and live between the heavens and the earth without the constant fear of death, imprisonment or enslavement.

The Death toll in Burma does not need to be so high but will grow as there is little potable water, food or medicine. Thus those that are alive now may not be in a few more days.

Bush: 'Bail Out The Banks, Screw The People!' - FIP
Deriding the bailing out of 'Specultors' he threatens a veto. Now what does he think the big banks were doing with all those fancy derivatives that are now causing them to run to the Fed to get BAILED OUT? Is Bush loopy, out of touch or just evil? I cannot judge, but I can say this... something is horribly wrong with a President who hates his own citizens so much and remains in love with the banksters whose only product is debt-usury/debt-slaver. The same guys that are now raiding the US Treasury for bailouts, while they let you sink. I hate to be so hard on our befuddled President, but people are losing everything and are being forced to live in tent cities because of this man's polices. Some of you may not have any sympathy for 'those people' who are now getting shafted. I can assure you that this crisis is no where near over and will claim a lot of folks who are sitting smug now and think they got it made. They too will soon be looking at hard times. The time to act is now (with your votes), not when you get a a pink slip at work and a forclosure notice in the mail. Where are you going to live when its your turn to get the shaft by Wall Street/Bush/Bernanke/Pelosi et al?

Persecution And Prayer Alert - VOM
In this issue:

--Somali Christian Killed by Muslim Militants

--Pastor Killed in Mindanao, Philippines

--Pastor Martyred in Jharkhand, India

--Christian Doctor Falsely Accused of Blasphemy in Pakistan

--House Church Pastors Detained in Inner Mongolia, China

--Jailed Chinese Bookstore Owner Facing New Charges

Burma: 60,000 Dead Or Missing - WP
The number of dead and missing in the Burma cyclone soared past 60,000 Tuesday amid signs the toll will rise even higher, as much of the disaster zone remained flooded by seawater, threatened by disease and out of reach of an international relief operation that is taking shape.

President Bush offered to send U.S. Navy units to help in the operation, and sharply criticized Burma's military-run government for delays in approving visas for emergency teams. Burmese dissident groups took issue with the timing of the administration's criticism, suggesting it could complicate the relief effort.

New Bailout Plan: Pay Interest On Bank Reserves - Bloomberg
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, seeking ways to stabilize money markets, will ask Congress for authority to pay interest on commercial-bank reserves this year, a person familiar with the discussions said.

The central bank isn't authorized by Congress to begin making such payments until 2011. Allowing interest on bank reserves may allow the Fed to pump more funds into the banking system without pushing its main policy rate lower, in effect separating action to boost liquidity from monetary policy.

``It would have the effect of putting a floor under the federal funds rate,'' said Walker Todd, a research fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research in Great Barrington, Massachusetts.(end excerpt)

Attempting to stabilize a monster of the Fed's own making. He seems to want to do anything to keep insolvent banks in business, a broken financial system rolling along and do as little as possible for ordinary people who are being thrown out of their homes. There is a lot the Fed could do if it really wanted to. It could make coming to the window of these new auction facilities dependent on the banks clear and verifiable efforts to re-negotiate loan terms of homeowners stuck in ARMS. 'Hey... you wanna bailout? Here is what you gotta do, otherwise we have an army of regulators standing by once your institution goes into receivership, your choice'. But Washington is ganging up on ordinary Americans while they cry crocodile tears on TV on how much they want to help. No one wants to help really, though they want to fool you into thinking they do.

Clinton's Election Strategy In NC: 'Back Of The Bus, Darkie' - Andrew Sullivan
Here's what now seems obvious: African-American voters killed the Clinton candidacy. It is a fitting end to the Clintons' campaign and an almost Shakespearean coda to their career. The Clintons were exposed in their long-running exploitation and reliance on minority votes. No group was more loyal to them than African-Americans; and in the end, like everyone else, African-Americans realized that the Clintons are frauds, disloyal to the core, cynical to their finger-tips, and finally, finally, returned the favor. A reader writes:

I found it striking that Clinton did not even pretend to be courting African Americans in North Carolina. Had the tables somehow been turned and had Obama's soul been implanted in her body, he would have made a show of at least organizing one major African American outreach event there or in Indiana. Obama went bowling in Altoona, after all. I kept expecting Hillary, ever since South Carolina, and certainly since Louisiana, to give her own major speech on race to a black audience in which she expressed sincere regret for Bill Clinton's Jesse Jackson and related comments by her surrogates. She could have done that while still stressing that her and Bill's mistakes were innocent in their intent, but that she is someone who looks not only at intentions but effects and regrets the rift.

Instead, she let Ferrarro rub salt in the wound. Don't get me wrong. Obama is such a talented candidate and such a symbol of hope to African Americans that he was going to get 80% of the black vote no matter what. But 92% and even higher than that in Gary! She got numbers in the past few states worse than Nixon and worse than Reagan.

Top UBS Banker Detained By US - FT
One of the most senior private bankers at UBS, the world’s leading wealth manager, has been detained by authorities in the US investigating whether the Swiss bank helped its American clients evade tax.

Martin Liechti, the Zurich-based head of North and South America for UBS’s international wealth management business, was held in connection with a US justice department investigation into investment advice that UBS gave its American private banking clients between 2000 and 2007.(end excerpt)

This is a world all unto itself. What many of these bankers do is to use the same methodologies drug dealers and organized crime elements use to launder money, only theri clients are the rich and the super rich. This has been going on for years with the full knowledge of Western authorities nothing much was done about it. What UBS did to gain such animosity of US authorities is unknown but its recent spate of massive losses may not be wholly unrelated. Wachovia also is under investigation for money laundering. I am just guessing but I do not think the political impetus behind these two case can be separated.

$200 Oil Coming - FT
Crude oil prices could surge to $200 a barrel in the next two years, according to the Goldman Sachs analyst who three years ago correctly predicted a price “super-spike” above $100 a barrel. The warning by Arjun Murti came as oil prices hit a fresh high above $122 a barrel, boosted by supply disruptions in Nigeria, lower output in Russia and continued robust demand in China ahead of the Olympics.

Mr Murti said the energy crisis could be coming to a head as a lack of adequate supply growth was becoming apparent.

He said: “The possibility of $150-$200 per barrel seems increasingly likely over the next six to 24 months.”

He added that the spare capacity of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to cushion against unexpected supply shocks was very low.

Meanwhile in other oil News, Indonesia is considering leaving OPEC. Reason? Declining oil output:

Indonesia said on Tuesday it may quit Opec, citing a decline in crude oil output that has reduced its influence in the cartel.

Indonesia is Asia-Pacific's only member of Opec, but its crude oil output has fallen in recent years due to ageing wells, a lack of investment, and the absence of any major oil finds.

Its status as a net importer means it would benefit from lower oil prices, putting it at odds with other Opec members, who favour higher prices. - Arabian Business

Illegal Immigrants Detained Leaving US - LAT
U.S. border authorities no longer apprehend illegal immigrants only as they enter the country. Now they're catching them on the way out.

At random times near the Tijuana-San Diego border, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers have been setting up checkpoints, boarding buses destined for Mexico and pulling off people who don't have proper documentation.

The operation appears to be an expansion of a broader federal crackdown targeting illegal immigrants in jails, airports and workplaces across the country.

The checkpoints, which are not announced in advance, are set up on southbound Interstate 5 about 100 yards north of the border. Vehicles in all lanes must stop.

(end excerpt)The LA times, having to cater to a very large hispanic community in LA spins this as some great tragedy, a horrible way to mistreat people. I cannot disagree more. Detaining criminals who enter a country illegally is done in every nation in the world. It is a crime. Entering and leaving a country illegally is what a terrorist or subversive would do. If we do not know who they are or what they are doing here it behooves us to find out.

Hypothetical: A foreign agent for a foreign government gives a Mexican peasant $2000 to enter the US and carry drugs across the border and with it a strange package (that glows in the dark). He is told to pass the package and drugs onto someone he is told to meet. When he returns to Mexico, he is promised $2000 more dollars and more work in the future.

I can assure you that things like this have happened before and will happen again, though the packages may 'only' be plastics or bio-weapons. If you think that foreign nations are not using our open border as a weapon against us you are very much mistaken. This scourge of illegal immigration may very well be our undoing and beleive me, I am not exaggerating. When criminal gangs of non-citizens go about and terrorize Americans and run them out of their neigborhoods you have the makings of an open and insidious subversion that America had better get a handle on quickly. Because if the bleeding hearts get their way we will not find out what these criminals are doing until there is a mushroom cloud over LA, Chicago or Miami.

Families Refuse To Flee Chilean Volcano - Guardian
Around 20 families were today refusing to leave their homes despite an order for all residents near an erupting Chilean volcano to be evacuated.

Lava began spewing from the Chaitén volcano, in southern Chile, yesterday, prompting authorities to demand the immediate evacuation of all those remaining in a nearby town.

However, some families were refusing to leave their homes in the town of Chaitén despite of the order.

The eruption has not been reported to have directly caused any deaths or injuries, but a 92-year-old woman died of a heart attack as she was evacuated on Sunday.

A picture of this spectacular eruption can be found here.

Outsourcing Intelligence In Iraq - CorpWatch
When U.S. troops or embassy officials want to track and investigate Iraqis — such as interrogating prisoners accused of terrorism, doing background checks on potential employees, or even to chat with ordinary citizens on the street — the principal intermediary is a relatively obscure company named L-3, that is just over a decade old. Although it is not as well known as companies like Halliburton , it is now the ninth-largest military contractor in the United States. Based in Manhattan, it is headquartered on the upper floors of a skyscraper on Third Avenue, a few blocks from the United Nations. The bulk of this work is done by a recently acquired L-3 subsidiary: Titan Corporation of San Diego.

The company’s principal role is to recruit, vet, hire, place and pay these personnel. The U.S. military oversees and directs the day-to-day work, but L-3 and Titan play a key role in staffing and maintaining what was once considered an inherently governmental function: the acquisition and analysis of human intelligence during war. All told, L-3 and Titan are now being paid approximately one billion dollars a year for this work, with a cumulative total approaching $3 billion since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.(1)

L-3/Titan is now probably the second largest employer in Iraq (after Kellogg, Brown & Root, a former Halliburton subsidiary) with almost 7,000 translators and more than 300 intelligence specialists.(2) Unfortunately, a number of the personnel hired by L-3 and Titan have been barely competent and several have been indicted for criminal acts. (end excerpt)

Corpwatch always has some very interesting investigative reports that should not be missed.

Christian Leader In India Killed For 'Black Magicc' - Worthy News
Villagers in India's state of Madhya Pradesh on Saturday, May 3, recalled that exactly one month ago a local Christian leader was killed because his faith in Christ was wrongly understood, BosNewsLife monitored.

Thakur Sing Bhi was killed April 3 in Gatiya Dev village by his own brother, a father who believed Christianity was "black magic" and responsible for his teenage daughter's death, Indian Christians and relatives said.

Bhil, also known locally as Thakur Baba, apparently died of an arrow shot to the chest. The killing did not came as a surprise, villagers told media. The Christian leader, who is in his 50s, had faced opposition from relatives after converting to Christianity.

Relatives said his brother, identified as a middle-aged man. was especially angry about the conversion. He allegedly entered the house in a drunken rage at noon and shot an arrow into this chest from close range. Police have reportedly detained the man.(end excerpt)

A frightening thing, not for the pastor who has gone on to glory, but for the people who ascribe God's works to the devil. This is the same thing that happened to our Lord who faced the very same spiritual blindness and wickedness to which he gave the most chilling response found in the Bible.

And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house. He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad. Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come. (Mat 12:25-32)

____

War Strains US Mental Health System - Reuters
F A report by advocacy group Veterans for America said the mental healthcare system at Fort Drum was not meeting the demands placed on it and had prepared inadequately for the return of more than 3,500 soldiers from Iraq late last year. "Even though we knew this group were coming back from their 4th deployment and there would be these problems, we still had massive waits of two months (for appointments)," Veterans for America spokeswoman Adrienne Willis said. The report, released in February, said there were not enough counselors, pschologists and psychiatrists, there was too much reliance on group therapy over individual care and there was a lack of continuity in care. The lack of a hospital on base was also a problem.(end excerpt)

Sad, very sad that our nation is not, repeat not taking care of its wounded vets in a manner they deserve. They are treated like garbage, to be thrown away after prolonged misuse.

Wireless Resellers Going Under - USAT
FA few years ago, organizations from Disney to 7-Eleven to the local pinochle club were jumping into the cellphone business, leveraging their brands to appeal to niches untapped by the big carriers.

Now, many are digesting a hard reality: Running a wireless company isn't as easy as it seemed.

Many resellers of cellphone service — which lease the networks of national carriers — are closing, going bankrupt or struggling.

"Most of these people came in with a gold rush mentality," says Roger Entner, senior vice president of IAG Research. "Let me show up, and millions will flock my way."

Cyclone - Various
I was going to write on this yesterday but didn't get around to it (my news section was late as it was!). Thankfully, we have a better look at how things are today. The toll stands now at 22,000 with another 41,000 missing. This is very big tragedy and one that could have been prevented if Burma'a Military Junta had warned the people. They didn't and thousands are now dead. To make matters worse, the paranoid regime is not (as of yesterday) allowing western aid in. The real stickler is that once the aid is in, there is no guarantee that it will not simply go to the Burmese military. I can tell you that American authorities are quietly trying to get in to deliver aid but so far they have had no success. Canada has also joined a relief effort. Churches as well are sending aid. Some of her regional neighbors as well are sending aid. But the west has faced what can only be termed 'administrative obstacles'.

The UN had around 40 people on the ground already, said a spokesman, but its special five-member disaster assessment team (UNDAC) was in neighbouring Thailand awaiting visas along with staff from other humanitarian agencies. UNICEF said it was also awaiting visas.

The aid agencies, already struggling to reach the worst-hit areas because of blocked roads, the destruction of infrastructure and dense jungle areas, reported relief efforts were reliant on only a handful of staff already in the country.

The International Federation of the Red Cross said it had around 60 full-time staff and 18,000 volunteers providing front-line emergency aid in addition to the staff from the UN and other aid agencies.

Aye Win, spokesman for the UN Information Centre (UNIC) in Yangon, said the UN faced 'enormous difficulties' making an assessment of the disaster wrought by Cyclone Nargis.

'We are facing enormous difficulties right now in getting out there and unless there is an assessment ... the first thing you need is an assessment and then you can gauge your response,' he said. - M & C

High-End Homebuilder Goes belly-Up - The Tennessean
A local builder of multimillion-dollar mansions has filed for bankruptcy, the second casualty in the high-end homebuilder industry within the last two months. The company's lawyer is predicting that more bankruptcy filings could follow.

Adam Stern Homes, which built several posh homes in Williamson County's gated LaurelBrooke subdivision, is liquidating assets under Chapter 7 after home sales slowed and the company could no longer afford to finish three homes.

Competitor Corinthian Custom Homes, which filed for bankruptcy reorganization in February, built some homes that approached a half-million in sales price.

"I think it was more a realization that we had been … rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic," said Joe Rusnak, Adam Stern's lawyer. "Rather than increasing the risk to the subcontractors, and further increasing the amount owed to subcontractors, (Adam Stern) called each and every one of them, and said don't deliver lumber, don't do any more landscaping. I'm pulling the plug."

This is going to happen to a lot of builders who did not put adequate cash in the bank during the boom and make preparations for the inevitable bust. High end builders seem to be in the worst shape as it is more difficult to get those huge jumbo loans. These days lenders want to seem a lot of cash up front. You want a $3 million dollar home and want to put down 10% thats... lets see... 300,000 dollars. A lot of 'lettuce' in anyone's book.

Lehman Troubles Outlined - Mr. Mortgage
An interesting little Video on the kinds of Alt-A loans and the looming troubles that it will face. It tells you what kind of loans are they are holding. This is pretty good, check it out if you are watching the housing market.

US Base No Longer Welcome In Ecuador - Miami Herald
Mayor Jorge Zambrano pulled up to the Manta City Hall in his black Ford Explorer, expecting to find a rally in support of the American military outpost that runs drug-surveillance flights from this gritty port city.

He left an hour later behind a wall of riot shields and a cloud of Mace, as police fended off banner-waving protesters who crashed the event in March.

With 18 months left on its decade-long contract, the U.S. Forward Operating Location in Manta has few friends in this South American nation -- and fewer still who believe that the agreement has any hope of being extended.

Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa has vowed not to renew the base's contract beyond its November 2009 expiration. And politicians drafting a new constitution have proposed banning the base or any other foreign military presence in the country.

Rising Food Prices Hit Asia's Poor Hard - Bloomberg
Surging food prices are hurting 1 billion Asians as the region's poor struggle to cope with rising food and energy costs that are stoking inflation, Asian Development Bank President Haruhiko Kuroda said.

``Soaring food prices are hitting the poor very hard,'' Kuroda told delegates attending the ADB's annual meeting in Madrid yesterday. ``Their purchasing power has been eroded, placing them at a greater risk of hunger and malnutrition.''

US Prison Policy Needs Reform - Forbes
The United States currently accounts for approximately 25% of the global prison population, despite possessing less than 5% of the world's population. The U.S. prison population is now so large that it has important economic, fiscal and social consequences that are resistant to policy reform.

A series of recent international studies have underlined the stark picture of prison life and numbers in the United States, compared with other countries. The danger is that the political and economic rationale behind the massive prison population may have created a self-reinforcing cycle.

There are 2.3 million to 2.5 million prisoners in the United States:

--The United States incarcerates 751 per 100,000 members of the population.

--This is a major departure from the historic incarceration rate.

____

"Yes We Can!"... Front For Wall Street - CounterPunch
But hasn’t Senator Obama repeatedly told us in ads and speeches and debates that he wasn’t taking money from registered lobbyists? Hasn’t the press given him a free pass on this statement?

Barack Obama, speaking in Greenville, South Carolina on January 22, 2008:

“Washington lobbyists haven’t funded my campaign, they won’t run my White House, and they will not drown out the voices of working Americans when I am president”.

Barack Obama, in an email to supporters on June 25, 2007, as reported by the Boston Globe:

“Candidates typically spend a week like this – right before the critical June 30th financial reporting deadline – on the phone, day and night, begging Washington lobbyists and special interest PACs to write huge checks. Not me. Our campaign has rejected the money-for-influence game and refused to accept funds from registered federal lobbyists and political action committees”.

The Center for Responsive Politics website allows one to pull up the filings made by lobbyists, registering under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 with the clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives and secretary of the U.S. Senate. These top five contributors to the Obama campaign have filed as registered lobbyists: Sidley Austin LLP; Skadden, Arps, et al; Jenner & Block; Kirkland & Ellis; Wilmerhale, aka Wilmer Cutler Pickering.

Is it possible that Senator Obama does not know that corporate law firms are also frequently registered lobbyists? Or is he making a distinction that because these funds are coming from the employees of these firms, he’s not really taking money directly from registered lobbyists? That thesis seems disingenuous when many of these individual donors own these law firms as equity partners or shareholders and share in the profits generated from lobbying.(end excerpt)

I know a lot of people some close to me who are so enamored by Obama that they cannot see the forest for the trees. None of the mainline candidates speak for me... not one and unless you are pulling in a high six figure salary in the Debt Slavery or War Machine industries, neither do any of the candidates speak for you. But they can be enormously successful in fooling you into thinking they are. The Clintons? Who is backing them besides the NeoCon? I will give you a real big hint. Don't let these charlatans hoodwink you into voting race/gender when we have an full blown economic crisis brewing and a war we can't afford and can't win going on that they won't talk about.

____

S&P Stops Rating 'Home Equity' Paper - Mr. Mortgage
Fresh news out…S&P pulled a slick one. They STOPPED rating second mortgage RMBS citing “anamolous and unprecedented” borrower behavior. Here is a little piece from Bloomberg that enhances the previous story very well, calling all Home Equity loans ‘junk’. Remember, this is a $1.3 TRILLION market with the bulk belonging to very few banks such as BofA, Wells, Chase, CITI, Countrywide, WAMU, National City, GMAC and IndyMac. I put a couple of nice quotes below. This could turn out to be a fairly large story in the making.

Home Equity Lines of Credit and loans (HELOC, HEL’s, second mortgages) were the true ‘Home ATM Machine’ and could be a big wipe-out for the big banks. These loans were mostly used to avoid Mortgage Insurance on purchase and refinance loans over 80% LTV and went up to 100% of the house value in recent years. As a matter of fact, an appraisal or full documentation was often not required. These loans were very easy to get and primarily relied upon an electronic evaluation of the property value and credit score alone.(end excerpt)

This crisis is no where near finished, believe me! Things just keep getting worse. Mr. Weiss lists four reasons why this is not over yet.

Our leaders are doing nothing but lying to us. Unemployment going down? Sorry, It simply isn't true. John Mauldin wrote a piece on this that you may find of interest. In short there are so many statistical tricks available to the BLS that if no one was working anywhere in America, they could claim 100% employment. I will not go on and on about it, if you can't see what is happening by now, I pity you. Our leaders are doing all they can to hide the truth from you. The only way to survive this tidal wave of debt defaults, mass layoffs and declining dollars is to know what is happening and make decisions based on sound information, not government lies. It will be a supreme tragedy to watch Americans get hit with this thing because they did not see it coming. Figure out what is happening, protect yourself and you may be able to eat while others starve.

Please, I beg you not to think I am exaggerating the real risks of your being hungry and homeless. It is happening to Thousands of Americans already. It really is. Do you see any of the candidates talking about this? No... not one. readers this is one of the reasons why this site is so important. There really is a battle on for your mind and as a whole, the American people have already lost the war. Our nation can never redeem its dying glory. The chastisement we are now feeling and will continue to feel is to get individuals (not the nation) to repent and understand the times we are in. This is critical, absolutely critical in these times. As Christ said, 'be not deceived'. He said this in direct relation to the end times.

The only kind of Christians I run into today are deceived ones who do not want to know anything remotely resembling the truth, but are 'stuck on stupid'. They refuse to come out of the comfortable deceptions that have made their homes in their minds. Know this: A deceit mentally digested grows and becomes a demonic stronghold. The American people's minds as a whole remind me of a old skull on some long forgotten battlefield that the winds and the sands blow through. I try as best as I can to show people what is really happening and why you should care as a Christian, and as a human being. In the din of spin that makes the rounds on the news networks and your large blogs and sites, I try to do something different and give events perspective. Here let it be known that what is happening in the US economy will reshape the world, the three remaining candidates can make whatever promises they want to, no one is dealing in reality. They are simply reading what pollsters are telling them people want to hear and then making empty promises accordingly. The 'real change' candidates have been cast out, Kuchinich and Paul were the only mainline candidates that would have brought us any real change.

The Democrats actually tried (I am told) to unseat their own (Kuchinich) because he really means that he wants to pull out of this war and is the only democrat that consistently opposed the war, not just with his mouth (like Hillary) but with his votes (this is the same stunt that was pulled on McKinney, with success). This should tell you how the Democrats really feel about the war. Any promise to pull out troops will be repudiated as soon as the votes are counted. There may be a symobloic withdrawal, coupled with a staged 'gulf of tonkin' incident to ensure the troops return. In short, Vote for Hillary McCain or Obama (though he may be our best hope as far as the war is concerned) and the war which we simply cannot afford, will go on. Think long and hard about your vote and don't vote based on these 'hot button' issues like Obama's pastor or, 'oh... he's black, I'll vote for him' or 'she's a woman I'll vote for her', or 'he's an old white man, I'll vote for him'. THESE ARE DISTRACTIONS to keep you from looking at the real issues and the candidates stand on them. Want to live in a trailer park or a tent city? Vote Democrat or Republican.

China, Japan, N. Korea Set Up New 'Crisis' Fund - AFP
Finance ministers of 13 Asian nations agreed here on Sunday to set up a foreign exchange pool of at least 80 billion dollars (52 billion euros) to be used in the event of another regional financial crisis.

China, Japan and South Korea will provide 80 percent of the funds, with the rest coming from the 10 members of ASEAN, they said in a joint statement issued after talks on the sidelines of an Asian Development Bank meeting in Madrid.

The 13 nations agreed after the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis to set up a mainly bilateral currency swap scheme known as the Chiang Mai Initiative (CMI) to protect their currencies from turmoil in the future.

Dying In America's New Death Camps - NYT
Word spread quickly inside the windowless walls of the Elizabeth Detention Center, an immigration jail in New Jersey: A detainee had fallen, injured his head and become incoherent. Guards had put him in solitary confinement, and late that night, an ambulance had taken him away more dead than alive.

But outside, for five days, no official notified the family of the detainee, Boubacar Bah, a 52-year-old tailor from Guinea who had overstayed a tourist visa. When frantic relatives located him at University Hospital in Newark on Feb. 5, 2007, he was in a coma after emergency surgery for a skull fracture and multiple brain hemorrhages. He died there four months later without ever waking up, leaving family members on two continents trying to find out why.

Mr. Bah’s name is one of 66 on a government list of deaths that occurred in immigration custody from January 2004 to November 2007, when nearly a million people passed through.

The list, compiled by Immigration and Customs Enforcement after Congress demanded the information, and obtained by The New York Times under the Freedom of Information Act, is the fullest accounting to date of deaths in immigration detention, a patchwork of federal centers, county jails and privately run prisons that has become the nation’s fastest-growing form of incarceration.(end excerpt)

The Road to Ausschwitz is paved with with the cement of indifference and the gravel of ignorance.

UBS May Cut 8000 Jobs Amid Staggering Losses - Bloomberg
UBS AG may cut as many as 8,000 jobs as it grapples with the biggest credit writedowns of any European bank and a 12 billion-franc ($11.4 billion) first-quarter loss.

Switzerland's biggest bank, which had a 3 billion-franc profit a year earlier, is set to spell out plans for layoffs when it reports detailed results tomorrow. The company will probably say it's eliminating between 2,500 and 3,000 jobs in its investment bank, more than 10 percent of the division, two people familiar with the matter said May 2.

Russia's Dangerous Decline - Boston Globe
THE United Nations Population Fund projected last week that Russia's population will drop from 142 million today to 100 million in the next 40 to 50 years. The agency's report praised recent government efforts to increase birth rates and extend lives. But not enough is being done to counter stark demographic forces: an impending decrease in the number of women of child-bearing age, poor healthcare, rampant vehicular and industrial accidents, widespread alcoholism, and social conditions that discourage family formation.

These trends have disturbing implications, not just for Russia and its political leadership, but for the United States. No amount of windfall profits from oil and natural gas in the hands of Kremlin plutocrats can save Russia from a many-faceted decline - unless surpluses are invested in medical and social services, industrial modernization, and hefty incentives for child-bearing.

Oil Price Speculation - Global Research
The price of crude oil today is not made according to any traditional relation of supply to demand. It’s controlled by an elaborate financial market system as well as by the four major Anglo-American oil companies. As much as 60% of today’s crude oil price is pure speculation driven by large trader banks and hedge funds. It has nothing to do with the convenient myths of Peak Oil. It has to do with control of oil and its price. How?

First, the crucial role of the international oil exchanges in London and New York is crucial to the game. Nymex in New York and the ICE Futures in London today control global benchmark oil prices which in turn set most of the freely traded oil cargo. They do so via oil futures contracts on two grades of crude oil—West Texas Intermediate and North Sea Brent.(end excerpt)

Yes, there are people all over the world but particularly in America are doing to keep the price of oil up? Why? High prices make them rich. Are you ready for $10 a gallon? Its coming, dear readers... it's coming.

Russia's New Strategic Industry - Moscow Times
A decade ago, the public perception of the agriculture industry was one of subsidies, trade distortions and rigged markets. More recently, public awareness has focused on concerns over food security, price inflation and even shortages.

The demand factors are easily identifiable -- population growth, urbanization, rising incomes, changing diets and fuel requirements. With the exception of biofuels, these factors combined present a picture of unrelenting demand for grains -- gradual, paced and persistent.

India Considers Ban Of Food Futures Trading - FT
ndia’s finance minister said on Monday he was considering a blanket ban on trading in food futures, underlying growing concerns in Asia over the role of hedge funds and financial market traders in the recent surge in commodities prices.

If India imposes a ban, it would come only five years after the country introduced such futures trading as part of a broader push to develop India as a leading financial centre.

The Real John McCain - FOL
As a delegate to our state convention this coming weekend we have a solemn obligation to know the truth about the man who has been anointed the “presumptive nominee” of our party. Our job is not to be a rubber stamp for anyone else’s agenda, no matter how “nobly” the cause is presented. The Republican establishment in Maine is counting on us not having the documented information on this sheet. It is counting on our willingness to be told what to think in the same way that the mainstream media has been telling us what to think throughout this entire election cycle. We are expected to suspend any other concerns we may have in the name of “party unity.”

The truth is that a patriot who loves his country makes it an ultimate priority to be well-educated about the decisions he or she must make. Unless we have come to understand how dominated by the leftist military-industrial complex America’s major media has become, and done some research, we are not prepared to do our duty at the convention.

This letter, supported by many delegates to the Republican Convention, is literally about saving the party and the nation from a maniacal neoconservative war monger, who supports a United States presence in Iraq for 100 years, and who is not really even a Republican!

“War hero” image is a media creation not supported by the facts...

Canadian Middle Class Keeps Shrinking - Niagra Falls Review
BThe 2006 census compared income earnings based on age, education and occupation. Among the findings: Top earners saw salaries rise more than 16 per cent while bottom earners saw wages drop 20 per cent between 1980 and 2005. Middle-class earning remained virtually the same; Full-time workers today make only $53 a year more than they did in 1980, when adjusted for inflation; Youths continue to make less money than their parents did a generation ago. Brock University economics professor Lewis Soroka said the census shows the general distribution of income is becoming more uneven. There are fewer middle-class earners, while more workers are moving either up or down on the pay scale. "There are a smaller percentage of workers in the middle; that's been going on for 25 years," he said.

US Manufacturing Contracts For 3rd Month In A Row - NWA News
Manufacturing in the U. S. shrank for a third month and rising prices eroded consumers ’ buying power as the six-year economic expansion ground to a halt.

The factory index compiled by the Tempe, Ariz.-based Institute for Supply Management was unchanged at 48. 6 in April. The Commerce Department reported consumer spending rose 0. 4 percent in March. Stripping out the effect of inflation, purchases were up 0. 1 percent after stagnating the previous month.

On Wall Street, stocks jumped almost 190 points to 13, 010, the first time it finished over 13, 000 since Jan. 3. The Nasdaq composite index rose 67. 91, or 2. 81 percent, to 2, 480. 71, its highest close since Jan. 10.(end excerpt)

Don't you be dumb enough to believe the Government stats on employment released today. They will be revised significantly upwards after the November elections. Mass layoffs now and to come in consumer retail, manufacturing, real estate are not going to be reported by the Bush administration. They must put up the facade that the US is not in recession to fool the Fox news crowd that bad things only happens to 'those people'. How about the $6 trillion dollars in wealth that is being lost right now? Record high foreclosures in many parts of the nation, like here, here, and everywhere. It is not easy for the government to coerce RealtyTrac who comes up with nationwide foreclosure stats to fudge their numbers, but my guess is that they may try. In all seriousness, don't believe the numbers put out by this administration. As I said on Wednesday, if they can falsify intelligence to take us to war, they can fudge a few numbers on economic statistics.

The DC Madam
I haven't got a clue as to what happened to her really, but since she died in that very short but legally significant period of time between conviction and sentencing (like Ken Lay), I rather think there is more to her 'death' than a simple suicide. Keep in mind she and her whores 'serviced' some of the most powerful of the powerful in the beltway. There was no way they were going to let her talk. No way.

Sorcha Faal as an interesting take that you should read with the utmost care and discernment. If what I think happened to her happened, I will not be writing on it anymore. Why? My name won't look good engraved in marble!

Apostate In The Pulpit Speaks - Christian Today
According to the BBC, the controversial gay bishop who now says he wears a bullet-proof vest for some public appearances, also said God would be “very disappointed” in the way Dr Williams had not confronted one of the most outspoken critics against gay bishops, Nigeria’s Archbishop Peter Akinola.

Bishop Robinson, an openly-gay, divorced father of two, also accused Dr Williams of directing criticism only at the US Episcopal Church, and ignoring incidents elsewhere.

Tensions have been rising recently, even more so than normal, following death threats being sent to members of a gay Anglican group called Changing.(end excerpt)

As The Church slips further into rebellion and apostasy and as rebels against God gain places of prominence in the Church, it is clear that its leaders take instructions from the prince of this world, rather than God. Setting up these men in places of authority is a serious acceptance of false doctrines and rebellion. Do you want to be holy before God? Dissociate yourself from these unholy and ungodly 'churches'. Get Out and don't let the dust from the sanctuary cleave to the soles of your shoes.

And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.(Mark 10:14-15)

North Korea: The Church's Subversion And Infiltration - Worthy News
Former police and security officers in North Korea told a U.S. government body that their superiors had instructed them to play the role of Christians and infiltrate "underground" prayer meetings in order to incriminate, arrest, imprison and sometimes execute believers in North Korea.

Interviewed for a report issued by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), the six officers were tasked – before they fled North Korea – with finding and eliminating small groups of Christians.

They said the North Korean government considers religion – and Christianity in particular – to be the primary threat to national security, according to the report, released April 15. Four of the six security agents had worked with the National Security Agency (NSA), two with the People’s Security Agency (PSA) and another for the Korean Workers’ Party.

They also had meted our severe punishment to refugees repatriated to North Korea who admitted having contact with Chinese or South Korean Christians.

Non-Muslims Under Islam - Barnabas Aid
Skip down to page 11 and read it. Barnabas aid has an excellent newsletter they send to their donors. There is so much news out there that gets drowned out by the din of the day.

Christians, What Are You Thinking About? - Spirit Daily
When we die, we will go to the place that corresponds to the purity of our thoughts. That's a powerful notion -- one we should weigh every single day. Hellish life, hellish afterlife. Heavenly life, heavenly hereafter. If there is darkness it will be to the extent of our separation from God's Love. If you meditate on nothing else this day, meditate on that.

What are we thinking?

Who are we thinking about? Meditating on such, we may realize how many times we think of others without love -- negatively.

That's dangerous because it comes back to haunt us, it boomerangs. By thinking ill of others, we darken our spirits. And when we do so, the devil (as "prince of darkness") has a "legal right" to the dark territory.

We also bind ourselves to the focus of our annoyance.

The more annoyed we are, the more annoyed we become.

It's a vicious cycle that can hold us to carnality.

Obsession has the hiss of the snake. Don't let such slither toward you.

Notice what Jesus did from the Cross: He made certain to forgive everyone, especially those who most abused Him, and the result was resurrection. He blessed them. When we don't forgive -- and especially when we resent -- we are spiritually assaulting another. We are binding ourselves to them, negatively. We are sending to them the darkness we have allowed to build around us.

It's okay to correct. It is okay to admonish -- in a gentle fashion. Sometimes, even strongly (see Jesus in the temple). But resenting another person focuses the dark forces around us and aims it at the focus of our resentment. It attacks another. It is a subtle form of hatred.

The 'Vandals' At The DOJ - Mister Info
Wikinews has learned that a United States Department of Justice (DOJ) IP Address has been blocked on Wikipedia after making edits to an article which were considered "vandalism". In two separate instances, the IP address from the DOJ removed information from the Wikipedia article about the organization Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA), regarding an attempt by the organization to secretly gain influence on the site. The IP address has been confirmed by Wikinews to beregistered and used by the DOJ located in Washington, D.C.

On April 21, Electronic Intifada published a report based on leaked emails written between CAMERA and Wikipedia contributors who are allegedly planning to gain influence on the online encyclopedia. Information about CAMERA's campaign to influence Wikipedia was first added to the site's article about the organization on April 21 by user 'Bangpound', who cited the Electronic Intifada article.

(end excerpt) The US Justice Department is the victim of the most insidious kinds of subversion and corruption. No one who tries to blow the whistle on outright theft, political murders, vandalism and prosecutorial misconduct in the government need bother to tell the DOJ about it. They are more likely to pass the complaint on to elements in our own government that can make a person 'disappear' or commit 'suicide' or have an 'accident', than to investigate it. The DOJ has pretty much become a synonym, not for criminal prosecution, but criminal collusion. Stories like this are just the very tip of the iceberg. I hate to be so hard on our DOJ because there are some good people still working there. It is at the political level that you get untold corruption and mafeasence.

And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the LORD saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment. (Isa 59:14-15)

Do you wnat to know who savvy insiders get things done inside the beltway? They get political dirt on leading political figures. They get pictures of them with underage girls, catch them on hidden camera in Hotel rooms with hookers... stuff like that. This is the only way to get people moving in any kind of direction that makes sense in DC. That is how dirty one must play the game in DC. Pretty sick isn't it.

I say this to you in all honesty, I have the opportunity to take an important job in an upcoming administration if any one of two of the three remaining contestants win. But I have been strongly warned that things are very, very different these days if you work in one of these important posts and the sewer driven politics will surely make itself felt in my own life if I take the job. I know I could do a lot of good but do I want to deal with people like this on a daily basis for a nation of people who do not deserve the sacrifices I would have to make and by and large, too intellectually lazy to care? This is a question I have been wrestling with for the past several months as those candidates remain standing and at least one will be in the general election.

____

Obama Condemns Former Pastor - FT
A visibly angry Barack Obama yesterday all but disowned Jeremiah Wright, his former pastor, whose ever more provocative comments are believed to have dented the Illinois senator's hopes of securing the Democratic party's presidential nomination.

Mr Obama, whom opinion polls show to be level with his rival Hillary Clinton in Indiana, which holds what some have billed a "tiebreaker" primary vote on Tuesday, said he was "outraged and saddened" by the Reverend Wright's most recent comments.

"Rev Wright does not speak for me - he does not speak for our campaign," said Mr Obama. "I cannot prevent him from continuing to make these outrageous remarks. But I do want him to be clear that [his remarks] contradict . . . who I am and everything that I am about."(end excerpt)

What is happening with this pastor? I will tell you only what the Obama campaign found out on Monday. That His pastor, according to some very well placed folks, just got a large multi-million dollar infusion of money from the Neo-Cons as well as an 'open door' to open his mouth on just about any TV news network he wants. The NeoCons want him in the spotlight and to keep front and center as an 'issue'. This pastor has a pretty big ego I am told. But why did he take the money? Is there no loyalty to Obama, you might ask? Yes, but it appears that this guy has some very serious personal shall we say 'hang-ups' that would come to light if he did not take the money and talk.

I told you that Hillary and Bill had got into bed with the NeoCons. I am telling you this loud and clear so that you can make no mistake about it, the NeoCons are doing what they can for Hillary. The machine is working in full power in the remaining primary states and Obama may not win another. Vote fraud, attack ads, hate video's on You Tube.... believe me. This is all coming from the NeoCons. I would be surprised if Obama won the nomination. You see, Hillary has secretly supported much of Bush's policies in secret when she went in public and said the opposite. Her coffers once bulged with money from the very same defense contractors that Democrats hope will be reigned in. I have news for you, Obama is fighting two very clever, and morally bankrupt political machines. The Clinton Murder Machine and the neo-Con Slime Machine. It is absolutely amazing that he is still standing. I think there are just enough people out there who see through Hillary and know that she is truly bad news.

Finally, Black Americans have been able to see through Bill Clinton as I did 16 years ago when his first act as President-elect was to let Haitian's drown in the ocean... because they were Black. When he wanted to take media attention away from his sex scandals, he launched a missile attack on Black Africans, who never attacked us nor had any intention of doing so. Black leaders went to the White House to support Clinton in his hour of need (during the impeachment scandal) but he did nothing for Blacks of any real substance while in office. Nothing. If folks want to wonder why so many blacks are deserting the Clinton's and may very well desert the party if they Anoint Hillary, this is why. It is as I have always said and any of you should know by now, especially supporters of Hillary, You cannot trust habitual liars to do anything but habitually lie. If you want more lies, vote for a Clinton. You will get George Bush with a skirt.

Military Readiness: Why The US Cannot Sustain An Attack At Home - WW
Our military is in taters. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. We have an army that is worn down from long deployments, an Airforce with aging airframes, some of which are falling into varying stages of disrepair. Only the Navy can say its readiness is not quite disasterous. The primary reason is the Iraq war. This has led to some very serious recruitment problems. "Gen. Cody said that the "heavy deployments are inflicting 'incredible stress' on soldiers and families and that they pose 'a significant risk' to the nation's all-volunteer military. 'When the five-brigade surge went in, that took all the stroke out of the shock absorbers for the United States Army,' Cody testified. Let me tell you how the Army is filling its ranks. It is filling them with convicts. Oh yes, real convicts, not parolee's, not ex Convicts (of which there are many) but Convicts. No you are not going to hear about it anywhere as it is all being done in a very, very hush-hush fashion. But real convicts are now populating our military. Things have really sunk that low. Today if you misbehave in the military, go AWOL, strike an officer, or otherwise commit a crime, you have a better chance at promotion. The army is seeing a very serious spike in crime at military bases as well. Dearest readers, Our Economic and Military empire are in its twilight.

The U.S. military isn't ready for a catastrophic attack on the country, and National Guard forces don't have the equipment or training they need for the job, according to a report.

Even fewer Army National Guard units are combat-ready today than were nearly a year ago when the Commission on the National Guard and Reserves determined that 88 percent of the units were not prepared for the fight, the panel says in a new report released Thursday.

The independent commission is charged by Congress to recommend changes in law and policy concerning the Guard and Reserves.

The commission's 400-page report concludes that the nation "does not have sufficient trained, ready forces available" to respond to a chemical, biological or nuclear weapons incident, "an appalling gap that places the nation and its citizens at greater risk." - AP (end excerpt)

Yellowstone: Half Of Bision Heard Dies - Deyo
Bison block a road in Yellowstone National Park in 2003. The park's herd has plummeted by 2,400 since November because of weather, hunting and disease-control efforts. As a result, the park estimates its bison herd has dropped from 4,700 in November to about 2,300 today, prompting the government to halt the culling program early.

"There has never been a slaughter like this of the bison since the 1800s in this country, and it's disgusting," said Mike Mease of the Buffalo Field Campaign, a group seeking to stop the slaughter program for good.

Government officials say the slaughter prevents the spread of the disease brucellosis from the Yellowstone bison to cattle on land near the park. Brucellosis can cause miscarriages, infertility and reduced milk production in domestic cattle.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that half of Yellowstone's bison herd is infected with the bacterium.

McCains Answer To The Disabled: Jail 'Em!! - Raw Story
At least 20 disabled activists, most of them in wheelchairs, were arrested outside Sen. John McCain's offices Tuesday after being refused a meeting with the GOP presidential nominee-to-be over a bill to expand Medicaid coverage to more people who want in-home care.

"If he should be president, it would be ironic that he comes from a party that talks a lot about family values," said Bob Kafka, national organizer for ADAPT, a group advocating for passage of the bill. Without the legislation, many disabled and elderly people don't have the choice to apply coverage to anything other than institutional care, he said.

"Families are devastated because they don't have a choice to keep people at home," Kafka said.

Workers Health Insurance Costs Soar - LAT
If gas and milk price hikes seem steep, check out health insurance premiums. They have increased 10 times faster than incomes in recent years, a study shows.

Workers with job-based coverage for their families saw earnings rise 3% from 2001 to 2005, while their health insurance premium contribution increased 30%, according to the study by researchers at the State Health Access Data Assistance Center at the University of Minnesota.(end excerpt)

Real inflation that people must actually pay in rising prices are not being factored into the CPI properly. These government numbers no longer bear any resemblance to reality. The average Joe is feeling real economic pain, even if he is still working. None of the figures coming out of this administration should be believed. If they can fake intelligence on Iraq, they can sure fake economic stats, and that is what they are doing. Remember this is an election year.

Raw Story Does Expose Of 'Pirate' GOP Honcho - Raw Story
You got to hand it to Raw Story, these guys are about as far left as they come but they always have some truly excellent investigative reporting, something almost no one does anymore. (begin excerpt)