Former Iraqi ambassador to gain $100

OSLO, Norway, Nov. 12 (UPI) -- A former Iraqi ambassador to the United Nations expressed shock that a U.S. consultant to the Kurds may earn more than $100 million from an Iraqi oil deal.

Peter Galbraith, a former U.S. ambassador to Croatia, who advocated on behalf of Kurds in northern Iraq during the country's constitutional negotiations in 2005, had previously, in 2004, signed a deal with a Norwegian oil company, DNO, that gave him rights to a small portion of income from new oil discoveries in Kurdistan, The New York Times reported Thursday.

The discovery of the Tawke oil field in December 2005 could enrich Galbraith, son of renowned economist John Kenneth Galbraith, by more than $100 million, the Times said.

Former U.N. ambassador Feisal Amin al-Istrabadi said he was "speechless," that "an oil company was participating in the drafting of the Iraqi Constitution."

Similarly, Abdul-Hadi al-Hassani, vice chairman of the oil and gas committee in the Iraqi Parliament, said the "interference was not justified, illegal and not right."

Galbraith said he was acting as a private citizen.

"I believe my work with DNO helped create the Kurdistan oil industry which helps provide Kurdistan an economic base for the autonomy its people almost unanimously desire," he said.

http://michaelmoore.com/words/latest-news/us-adviser-kurds-criticized

Veterans Day / US Indirectly Funding the Taliban - Afghanistan

First off I want to take a moment to recognize Veterans Day, a day to remember all of our Troops. To remember them for their heroics, and their bravery to support our country!

The American Hero always comes through
To capture our hearts with a spirit so true Some proudly are soldiers who march in harm’s way
Insuring our freedom, courageous they stay While others come forth as civilians so brave
Determined in purpose, so steadfast to save We should always keep clear a place in our heart
For each has a value beyond precious art Their duty to country will not be surpassed
Please honor their courage, for some it’s their last We live in a world which can be hard to bear
Thank God for these people, how greatly they care Do ponder new heroes and what they will face
And pray for their safety no matter their place Our heritage brings out the best, we all know
Our great book of heroes is destined to grow. ©2003Roger J. Robicheau

Now onto the question: Should we be sending our brave troops into a war that may not have a victory to attain?


As US Ambassador Casts Doubt on Troop Increase in Afghanistan, New Report Reveals US Indirectly Funding the Taliban

In a last-minute dissent ahead of a critical war cabinet meeting on escalating the Afghan war, US Ambassador Karl Eikenberry has cast doubt on a troop escalation until the Afghan government can address corruption and other internal problems. Meanwhile, a report reveals how the US government is financing the very same insurgent forces in Afghanistan that American and NATO soldiers are fighting. Investigative journalist Aram Roston traces how the Pentagon’s civilian contractors in Afghanistan end up paying insurgent groups to protect American supply routes from attack.


The U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan is warning against sending more troops to fight in the Afghan war. In a last-minute dissent, Ambassador Karl Eikenberry sent two cables this week casting doubt on a troop escalation until the Afghan government can address corruption and other internal problems.

Well today we turn to a new report that reveals how the US government is financing the very same insurgent forces in Afghanistan that American and NATO soldiers are fighting.
“How the US Funds the Taliban” is the cover story of the latest issue of the Nation magazine.

Investigative journalist Aram Roston traces how the Pentagon’s civilian contractors in Afghanistan end up paying insurgent groups to protect American supply routes from attack. The practice of buying the Taliban’s protection is not a secret. US military officials in Kabul told Roston that a minimum of 10 percent of the Pentagon"s logistics contracts consists of payments to the Taliban.

That translates into millions of dollars being funneled to the Taliban. This summer, anticipating a surge of US troops, the military expanded its trucking contracts in Afghanistan by 600 percent to a total of over two billion dollars.

Well, Aram Roston joins us now here in the firehouse studio. He"s the author of the book “The man who pushed America to War: The Life, Adventures, and Obsessions of Ahmad Chalabi.” His latest piece “How the US Funds the Taliban” was supported by the investigative fund at the Nation institute.

Aram Roston, Investigative journalist and author of The Man Who Pushed America to War: The Life, Adventures, and Obsessions of Ahmad Chalabi. He’s written the cover story in the latest issue of The Nation magazine, “How the US Funds the Taliban.”

CIA Paying off Afghan Drug Dealer....

WASHINGTON Ahmed Wali Karzai, the brother of the president of Afghanistan, gets regular payments from the CIA and has for much of the past eight years, The New York Times reported Tuesday.

The newspaper said that according to current and former American officials, the CIA pays Karzai for a variety of services, including helping to recruit an Afghan paramilitary force that operates at the CIA's direction in and around Kandahar.

The CIA's ties to Karzai, who is a suspected player in the country's illegal opium trade, have created deep divisions within the Obama administration, the Times said.

Allegations that Karzai is involved in the drug trade have circulated in Kabul for months. He denies them.

Critics say the ties with Karzai complicate the United States' increasingly tense relationship with his older brother, President Hamid Karzai. The CIA's practices also suggest that the United States is not doing everything in its power to stamp out the lucrative Afghan drug trade, a major source of revenue for the Taliban.

Some American officials argue that the reliance on Ahmed Wali Karzai, a central figure in the south of the country where the Taliban is dominant, undermines the U.S. push to develop an effective central government that can maintain law and order and eventually allow the United States to withdraw.

"If we are going to conduct a population-centric strategy in Afghanistan, and we are perceived as backing thugs, then we are just undermining ourselves," Maj. Gen. Michael T. Flynn, the senior American military intelligence official in Afghanistan, was quoted by the Times in an article published on its Web site.

Ahmed Wali Karzai told the Times that he cooperates with American civilian and military officials but does not engage in the drug trade and does not receive payments from the CIA.

Karzai helps the CIA operate a paramilitary group, the Kandahar Strike Force, that is used for raids against suspected insurgents and terrorists, according to several American officials. Karzai also is paid for allowing the CIA and American Special Operations troops to rent a large compound outside the city, which also is the base of the Kandahar Strike Force, the Times said.

Karzai also helps the CIA communicate with and sometimes meet with Afghans loyal to the Taliban, the newspaper reported.

CIA spokesman George Little declined to comment on the report.



Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/27/karzais-brother-on-cia-pa_n_336279.html

TARP chief: Banks possibly 'in more danger now'

WASHINGTON (CNN) – The banking system today may be in a more precarious position than it was a year ago, the man charged with overseeing a $700 billion bailout program said Wednesday.

Neil Barofsky, the special inspector general managing the Troubled Asset Relief Program, told CNN's Wolf Blitzer on Wednesday that the government's decision to support bank mergers over the past year may have put the U.S. economy more at risk.

"These banks that were too big to fail are now bigger," Barofsky said. "Government has sponsored and supported several mergers that made them larger and that guarantee, that implicit guarantee of moral hazard, the idea that the government is not going to let these banks fail, which was implicit a year ago, is now explicit, we've said it. So if anything, not only have there not been any meaningful regulatory reform to make it less likely, in a lot of ways, the government has made such problems more likely.

"Potentially we could be in more danger now than we were a year ago," he added.

Earlier in the day, Barofsky issued a scathing report criticizing the Treasury Department for not being transparent enough about how bailout money was being spent. He warned that this could have lasting effects.

"I think this cynicism, this anger, this distrust of government that's born in part from a lack of transparency could have far-reaching ramifications, whether there's a next crisis or when anytime the government is going to call on the American people, the taxpayer, to support necessary programs," Barofsky said.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/10/21/tarp-chief-banks-possibly-in-more-danger-now/

Why GOP Leader Opposes Hate Crimes Protections for Gays

Last week, House Republican Leader John Boehner objected to House passage of a bill that would expand hate crime laws and make it a federal crime to assault people on the basis of their sexual orientation.

"All violent crimes should be prosecuted vigorously, no matter what the circumstance," he said. "The Democrats' 'thought crimes' legislation, however, places a higher value on some lives than others. Republicans believe that all lives are created equal, and should be defended with equal vigilance."

.......

"He does not support adding sexual orientation to the list of protected classes," Smith continued.

Boehner's position, then, appears to be grounded in the notion that immutable characteristics should be protected under hate crimes laws. And while religion is an immutable characteristic, his office suggests, sexual orientation is not.

Northeastern University professor Jack Levin, who co-authored the first book written about hate crimes, told Hotsheet that "to use immutability as a criterion doesn't make any sense at all."

"Especially if he supports the current stand," Levin continued. "Religion is clearly not ascribed. It's not built into the organism. People can change it at any time and people do."

"It sounds to me as though the criticism is focused on the addition of gays and lesbians to the list of protected categories at the federal level," he said. "That seems to be the problem."

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/10/13/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry5381671.shtml

........

So let me get this straight(Pun Intended) Boehner, you CHOOSE to be gay but you Can't CHOOSE a religion...what about people that flipflop on religion like most Americans through their life..... Right Wing FAIL!

With all of the things going on in the World can't we just stop persecuting homosexuality, and take the correct stance on Nature vs Nurture......which is WE DON'T KNOW and stop pushing our own agenda's on it..... Allow Marriage, Allow Rights, and leave it at that, isn't it 2009?

Snoop Speaks Detox, and The Game

Snoop Dogg rolled through Big Boy’s morning show “Big Boy’s Neighborhood” on Los Angeles’ Power 106 this week to talk about the picture of himself, The Game, and Dr. Dre that surfaced on Twitter late last week.

“We actually working on Detox right now,” said Snoop. “Me and Dr. Dre and D.O.C. and Stat Quo we in there doing it everyday trying to go hard in the yard. I called Game up so he could come be a part of this one particular record Dre had that was needing his vocals and his assistance on.”

The Game, who posted the picture to his Twitter account along with the message: “CAN U SAY “DETOX” ??? IN THE STUDIO WIT DRE & SNOOP. WE BOUT 2 MAKE A LOT OF PEOPLE MAD. RIDE WIT US OR GET RAN OVER! AFTERMATH OR DIE!”, had the internet buzzing not only because people were excited to see that this album might actually still be happening, but because it was the first time Dre (who’s usually pretty camera shy) was pictured with Game in a long while. The two previously had some beef and weren’t speaking with one another for a while.

Snoop admits that he’s responsible for reuniting the pair not only in the flesh but also on a new track slated for Detox. “They needed me to get in contact with Game,” said Snoop, “I had the number in my phone and I shot that that way and they called him and once he got there him and Dre hollered and they got a great relationship.”

According to Snoop, he’s been in the studio with Dre for the last two weeks working on Detox and hinted at the importance of what many believe this album will mean for West Coast music. “It’s always about what we can do, not what we did,” he said. “We trying to do some things to bring this whole movement back. So that’s what that picture was about. It was about symbolizing the West Coast movement… Dre don’t even let people take pictures of him. Guess who wanted to take the picture? I was upstairs. [Dre] was like man come down here let’s take a picture.”

Detox has been in the making for close to 10 years and there has yet to be an official release date for it, but this reunion appears to be a good sign for progress on the album. -Brooklyne Gipson

http://www.xxlmag.com/online/?p=59430

$15 Billion Military Base in Guam

In the midst of a recession that has cost millions of Americans their jobs, a massive military construction project on the U.S. territory of Guam is provoking a unique debate that boils down to this deceptively simple question: Should the government be more concerned about creating jobs or minding the taxpayers’ money?

At the center of the debate is one of the biggest construction projects on the U.S. government’s “to do” list: a roughly $15 billion military base expansion that is expected to require some 20,000 construction workers starting next year. Guamanian Americans will fill some of the jobs, but most are expected to go to foreign workers from the Philippines, China, and South Korea.

Cont. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33129102/ns/us_news-military/



Democracy Now:

Guam Residents Organize Against US Plans for $15B Military Buildup on Pacific Island

The United States is planning an enormous $15 billion military buildup on the Pacific island of Guam. The project would turn the thirty-mile-long island into a major hub for US military operations in the Pacific in what has been described as the largest military buildup in recent history. We speak with Julian Aguon, a civil rights attorney from the Chamoru nation in Guam.

Transcripts: http://www.democracynow.org/2009/10/9/guam_residents_organize_against_us_plans

SickForProfit Insurance!

Netting $2.5 billion in profits last year wasn't enough for WellPoint, the nation's largest insurance company.
Now, WellPoint's affiliate, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, is suing the state of Maine for refusing to guarantee it a profit margin in the midst of a painful recession.

Bernie Sanders Keeps it Real on Afghanistan

Sen. Bernie Sanders: President Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to reduce nuclear arms, ease tensions with the non-Western world and stress diplomacy. Americans should be proud that we have a president who is restoring respect for our country around the globe. This well-deserved prize is an inspiration for the president and for rest of us to do some really hard thinking about how we create a more peaceful and just world -- including our role in Afghanistan. We are now in our ninth year in Afghanistan -- twice as long as were engaged in World War II. We have lost more than 800 troops. We have spent more than $200 billion. What do we hope to accomplish in Afghanistan? What is our exit strategy?

Shady/Slaughterhouse?!?

Now this could be interesting....

Miss Info writes:

If there’s anything that we’ve learned over the years, it’s that…there are no coincidences in hiphop. Many of you sharp-eyed readers were speculating about that not-so-subtle Slaughterhouse cameo in the new “Forever” video. The four lyrical butchers stand behind Eminem during his scene, which was shot in Detroit (as opposed to the rest of the video, which was shot in Miami).

It’s a befitting finale for such a heavyweight crew cut. Eminem’s verse is fire (my personal favorite of the four) and so is the visual: seeing Em, alongside Joell Ortiz (who was once signed to Em’s mentor, Dre), Crooked I (who was once signed to Dre’s de-mentor, Suge), Royce da 5′9″ (Em’s renewed friend), and Joe Budden (who is just…Joe Budden, lol).

So here are the “rumors” that I’m hearing…

That Slaughterhouse appearance in “Forever,” was indeed a non-verbal announcement of the contract negotiations going on behind the scenes. For the past month, both sides have been working towards bringing the group to the Shady label. And that the gathering of Em and the guys at the shoot, is the first of more collaborations to come.

For now, Eminem is working on Relapse II, in Detroit. Joe is working on The Great Escape. Royce is preparing his Oct. release, StreetHop. Crooked I is working on an EP called Mr. Pig Face Weapon Waist (lol!). And Slaughterhouse will be on the road with TechN9ne for all of Oct and Nov. But fans all want to see Em plus Slaughter on a track (especially Em and Royce). Imagine the killer verse volleys!

Hopefully we’ll see some progress on this Shady/Slaughterhouse “rumor” in the next few months. It’s good for hiphop.