Friday Morning News Hump

Posted by ask | Nov 9, 2007 | 37 |

[Sorry, dada; it was suggested that we do a Friday News Hump today, rather than the customary News Dump]

There is a Moose Loose. What else is happening today?

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ask

37 Comments

ask on November 9, 2007 at 7:23 am
- ask on November 9, 2007 at 7:24 am
  
  Don’t laugh; anyone can make a mistake…
  
  Now, on to other news…
- BooMan on November 9, 2007 at 10:35 am
  
  that’s going to be one sore bison.
  - Man Eegee on November 9, 2007 at 2:59 pm
    
    looks pretty stoned to me.
    
    [groan]
- dada on November 9, 2007 at 12:08 pm
  
  HAR!
  
  can’t top that one…screwed the pooch, indeed.
  
  lTMF’sA
- chocolate ink on November 9, 2007 at 4:04 pm
  
  I once was engaged to a guy named Moose -that almost sounds like the start of a dirty limerick doesn’t it-and now I’m not. Let’s just say he was probably as smart as his namesake appears to be.
ask on November 9, 2007 at 7:30 am

All is hunky dory with our great ally, Musharraf…

Bhutto attempts to break through police barrier

Benazir Bhutto made two attempts to escape effective house arrest after being penned into her Islamabad home by a police barricade and barbed wire for around two hours today.

The former prime minister has made two attempts to break through the barricade since police arrived to thwart her planned rally in Rawalpindi.

Each time she attempted to escape in her white Landcruiser, she was blocked by a police van, forcing her out of the car to join her supporters as they shouted: “Go Musharraf, go.”

The clash between the opposition leader and police happened as two people were killed in an explosion at the Islamabad home of a government minister.

Elections in February? Sure…
- CabinGirl on November 9, 2007 at 7:54 am
  
  Elections in Pakistan? Brought to you by Diebold, the same folks who brought Bush to the WH.
- Family Man on November 9, 2007 at 7:57 am
  
  I keep wondering if Georgie is thinking, “well if Musharraf can do it, then why can’t I”. Scary.
  - CabinGirl on November 9, 2007 at 8:14 am
    
    That’s what I keep thinking, especially with the hopeless outlook for the Republicans in 2008. The only way for them to keep any sort of power appears to be the declaration of martial law, and Bush and Cheney actually have the balls to do it, IMO.
ask on November 9, 2007 at 7:39 am

We’re on a familiar path….

Washington tells EU firms: quit Iran now

Multinational companies are coming under increasing pressure from the US to stop doing business with Iran because of its nuclear programme. European operators are facing threats from Washington that they could jeopardise their US interests by continuing to deal with Tehran, with increasing evidence that European governments, mainly France, Germany and Britain, are supporting the US campaign.

It emerged last night that Siemens, one of the world’s largest engineering groups and based in Germany, has pulled out of all new business dealings with Iran after pressure from the US and German governments. This follows the decision by Germany’s three biggest banks, Deutsche, Commerzbank, and Dresdner, to quit Iran after a warning from US vice-president Dick Cheney that if firms remain in Tehran, they are going to have problems doing business in the US.
- idredit on November 9, 2007 at 12:41 pm
  
  Guiliani moves on (H/T:TPM)
  
  “forget Iran, lets take on China and Russia”
  
  Yea Rudy, Ma never told you, it’s not a good idea to kick your banker?
CabinGirl on November 9, 2007 at 8:13 am

Not here in the US: LATimes

ne of the state’s largest health insurers set goals and paid bonuses based in part on how many individual policyholders were dropped and how much money was saved.

Woodland Hills-based Health Net Inc. avoided paying $35.5 million in medical expenses by rescinding about 1,600 policies between 2000 and 2006. During that period, it paid its senior analyst in charge of cancellations more than $20,000 in bonuses based in part on her meeting or exceeding annual targets for revoking policies, documents disclosed Thursday showed.

The revelation that the health plan had cancellation goals and bonuses comes amid a storm of controversy over the industry-wide but long-hidden practice of rescinding coverage after expensive medical treatments have been authorized.

These cancellations have been the recent focus of intense scrutiny by lawmakers, state regulators and consumer advocates. Although these “rescissions” are only a small portion of the companies’ overall business, they typically leave sick patients with crushing medical bills and no way to obtain needed treatment.

How do these insurance executives live with themselves? And how would they feel when someone does something like this to their loved ones?

This is why we need single-payer universal health care, not legislation requiring us all to buy health insurance.
- anarchronarchist on November 9, 2007 at 5:27 pm
  
  VOTE KUCINICH DAMMIT!!
Nag on November 9, 2007 at 8:43 am

From TRex at Firedog Lake:

Oh, my goodness.

The Preznint seems to have arrived at a fairly novel diplomatic solution to the mess in Pakistan.

“I just spoke to President Musharraf before I came here, and my message was very plain, very easy to understand. And that is: The United States wants you to have the elections as scheduled and take your uniform off,” Mr Bush said.

Damn, George. Aren’t you going to ask him out to dinner first?

(image by darkblack)

You know, in keeping with today’s theme.
- ask on November 9, 2007 at 9:20 am
  
  LOL.
  Does the cod-piece come off with the uniform?
  - Nag on November 9, 2007 at 10:52 am
    
    That and a little ego-stroking.
ask on November 9, 2007 at 9:48 am

Those Brazilians better start arming up…
Invasion on the horizon.

Brazil announces new oil reserves

The Brazilian government says huge new oil reserves discovered off its coast could turn the country into one of the biggest oil producers in the world.

Petrobras, Brazil’s national oil company, says it believes the offshore Tupi field has between 5bn and 8bn barrels of recoverable light oil.

{This is certainly a large field, but to put it in perspective; if the recoverable reserve is 8bn bbls, this field could supply the global oil demand for all of ~100 days.)
- anarchronarchist on November 9, 2007 at 5:30 pm
  
  Then why hasn’t my PetroBras stock skyrocketed :O
  
  oh wait, it did. A little bonus reward for putting my money where the alternative energy is..
Nag on November 9, 2007 at 11:12 am

From the NYT:

Iraq Plans to Confront Security Firms on Guns

BAGHDAD, Nov. 7 — The Iraqi interior minister said Wednesday that he would authorize raids by his security forces on Western security firms to ensure that they were complying with tightened licensing requirements on guns and other weaponry, setting up the possibility of violent confrontations between the Iraqis and heavily armed Western guards.

The tightening of the requirements followed a shooting in September by one of those firms, Blackwater, that Iraqi authorities said left 17 Iraqis dead.

“Every company will be subject to such examination, and any company that does not follow the law will lose its license,” the minister, Jawad al-Bolani, said of the planned raids. “They are called security companies. They are not called violate-the-law companies.”

[snip]

Within Baghdad’s relatively safe and heavily guarded Green Zone, there have been early indications of a battle over who controls Iraqi streets. Private security guards say that Iraqi police officers have already descended on Western compounds and stopped vehicles driven by Westerners to check for weapons violations in recent weeks.

This article is quite good, if you have time, check it out.
- ask on November 9, 2007 at 12:22 pm
  
  Good that Iraqi authorities take an offensive stance on this issue.
  
  But it would not surprise me if we see the birth of a new racket…
Kamakhya on November 9, 2007 at 11:34 am

LA wants to map Muslims

The LAPD’s counterterrorism bureau plans to identify Muslim enclaves in order to determine which might be likely to become isolated and susceptible to “violent, ideologically based extremism,” said Deputy Chief Michael P. Downing on Thursday.

“We want to know where the Pakistanis, Iranians and Chechens are so we can reach out to those communities,” said Downing, who heads the counterterrorism bureau.

Oh yeah, I’m sure they want to “reach out” to these communities. Before you know it, we will be setting up checkpoints around these communities so we can make sure they are “safe”.
Nag on November 9, 2007 at 11:49 am

Sorry, I absolutely could not resist.
- CabinGirl on November 9, 2007 at 2:10 pm
  
  Aren’t they just such a cute couple…NOT.
dada on November 9, 2007 at 12:11 pm

is the current spate of economic turmoil just a

hump

bump in the road? ummm…not so much:

Fed Chairman Forecasts Slowdown in U.S. Economy

Bernanke acknowledged another set of risks with unusually specific language.

The rising price of oil and other commodities, and the simultaneous fall in the dollar, could ripple through the economy and create higher prices for a broader range of products. Such inflation would tie the Fed’s hands if the economy weakens because if it cuts interest rates further, it could spur more inflation.

Bernanke said the higher oil prices and weaker dollar “were likely to increase overall inflation in the short run, and, should inflation expectations become unmoored, had the potential to boost inflation in the longer run as well.”
.
.
wapo

but wall street isn’t buying the act:

Investors Shred Bernanke’s Outlook, Bet on Rate Cut

…Futures traders focused on his growth comments, increasing the odds of a quarter-point cut in the benchmark rate on Dec. 11 to about 96 percent today, from 68 percent a week ago.
.
.
“Market participants don’t think the Federal Reserve is facing reality,” said Allen Sinai, president of Decision Economics Inc., a New York forecasting firm. “We have a consumer that is facing a lot of headwinds. We have a business sector that is showing lower revenues, and we have a banking system that is showing a lot of cracks.”
.
.
bloombergreport

anybody else remember this: stagflation: An economic phenomenon of the late 1960s and 1970s characterized by sluggish economic growth and high inflation. The word is a blend of stagnation and inflation.

wasn’t a lot of fun then, don’t think it’s likely to be this time either.

lTMF’sA
- anarchronarchist on November 9, 2007 at 5:32 pm
  
  As long as salaries can rise in proportion to inflation…
  
  cha right.
dada on November 9, 2007 at 12:14 pm

abu

humps

hits the circuit:

Alberto Gonzales to Give Speech in Florida

The former attorney general, who left office two months ago under a cloud of controversy, will give a speech later this month at the University of Florida.

The student newspaper, the Alligator, reports that Gonzales will be paid $40,000 for the Nov. 19 appearance, which was made possible by ACCENT — the student-run speakers bureau.

link

guess spending all that time with the family’s getting boring, not to mention those rising legal bills.

lTMF’sA
dada on November 9, 2007 at 12:16 pm

it

can’t

can happen here:

‘Lyrical Terrorist’ found guilty

A 23-year-old who called herself the “Lyrical Terrorist” has become the first woman in the UK to be convicted under the Terrorism Act.

Samina Malik denied being a terrorist…

Samina Malik, from Southall, west London, was found guilty at the Old Bailey of owning terrorist manuals.

The jury heard Malik had written extremist poems praising Osama Bin Laden, supporting martyrdom and discussing beheading.
.
.
Malik said she had only called herself the Lyrical Terrorist “because it sounded cool”.

She was convicted of having articles “likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism”.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke, head of the Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command, said: “Malik held violent extremist views which she shared with other like-minded people over the internet. She also tried to donate money to a terrorist group.

“She had the ideology, ability and determination to access and download material, which could have been useful to terrorists. Merely possessing this material is a serious criminal offence.”

Malik was bailed under what the judge described as “house arrest” until her sentencing on 6 December.

He warned her that “all sentencing options” remained open to him.

bbc

crazy, over zealous brits you say?

well don’t look now, but the house recently passed HR 1955, a lovely piece of legislation titled Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007, by a vote of 404 – 6.

yup, the demoRATs gotcha again! introduced by jane harman [d-ca] and cosponsored by 14 other rats.

somewhere, george orwell, and sinclair lewis are having one hell of a laugh at our expense.

lTMF’sA
- ask on November 9, 2007 at 12:34 pm
  
  I really, really would like to stop being a total cynic!
  But these people (too many Democrats included) make it very clear that there is no reason for optimism for the future.
  Has Congress become the biggest congregation of cowards and Scaredy Cats ever observed in a legislative body?
  
  [I’m sorry to say, but I’ve been telling curly lately that even most of the US population is displaying incredible cowardness in so meekly accepting the current national leadership’s march towards the cliff – fucking lemmings.)
  - ask on November 9, 2007 at 12:36 pm
    
    is probably a better word (ESL).
    And the above response could have been posted as reply to most of the comment above.
  - dada on November 9, 2007 at 2:11 pm
    
    l hear ya
    
    An OPTIMIST is a person who doesn’t have all the facts.
    A PESSIMIST is an optimist who does have all the facts.
    A CYNIC is a pessimist who has seen the facts in action.
    A PARANOID is a cynic who has FINALLY realized that the facts are after him.
    
    from the urban dictionary
    
    lTMF’sA
dada on November 9, 2007 at 3:20 pm

yet another omen of pending capitulation to ol 24%’er.

l just don’t have it in me to expound on this; feel free to provide whatever expletive(s) suits your mood:

Dems question latest anti-war strategy

…”I don’t think you’ll see the House pass anything without restrictions,” said Murtha, D-Pa….

[l’ll take that bet]

Pelosi, D-Calif., told members in a private caucus meeting on Thursday that if Bush rejected the measure, she did not intend on sending him another war spending bill for the rest of the year….

[and that one too]

Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he did not want to approve a spending measure for Iraq unless it forced a change in Bush’s policies. When asked whether that was possible, considering the thin majority Democrats hold in the Senate, Reid said it “is up to the White House and up to the Republicans.”…

[wtf…l’ll take the trifecta]

now who’s hiding behind the troops?

senate rats contact info HERE, house rats HERE.

lTMF’sA
idredit on November 9, 2007 at 3:25 pm

Spooks refuse to toe Cheney’s line on Iran

By Gareth Porter

“WASHINGTON – The US National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iran has been held up for more than a year in an effort to force the intelligence community to remove dissenting judgments on the Iranian nuclear program. The aim is to make the document more supportive of Vice President Dick Cheney’s militarily aggressive policy toward Iran, according to accounts provided by participants in the NIE process to two former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officers.”
- Real History Lisa on November 9, 2007 at 4:33 pm
  
  Speaking of Iran – I highly encourage everyone to see “Lions for Lambs.” The crowd here will love it. They talk at length about Iran, which is ironic, since the film was penned three years ago. Feels like it was written yesterday!
  
  Robert Parry posted my review of the film at Consortium News. Go have a look!
  - chocolate ink on November 9, 2007 at 5:47 pm
    
    Thanks for the link to your review Lisa. Glad to read a review from someone I ‘know’. I thought the movie looked good but your review makes me want to see it even more. (Even if Cruise is in it..one of my very least favorite actors)
    - Real History Lisa on November 9, 2007 at 11:46 pm
      
      Well, Cruise is PERFECTLY cast in this role. Truly, it’s hard to imagine anyone who could do it better.
      
      Redford himself was resistant to the idea originally, but he came to see that it would work very well. You’ll know what I mean after you see it.
      
      And let me hear your thoughts. That’s the downside of seeing movies a week before everyone else. There’s no one to share the experience with!
on November 9, 2007 at 6:41 pm

Sans videocamera, what does a father give to his daughter. Two bull moose fighting over whatever in the early morning on an October day. Me explaining to the yuppie train searcher that he best turn around lest he have moose dents in his Toyota Camry.
The footage would have been National Geographic.

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