Wednesday, March 21, 2012
The Vetting - Holder 1995: We Must 'Brainwash' People on Guns
Breitbart has uncovered video from 1995 of then-U.S. Attorney Eric Holder announcing a public campaign to "really brainwash people into thinking about guns in a vastly different way."Holder was addressing the Woman's National Democratic Club. In his remarks, broadcast by CSPAN 2, he explained that he intended to use anti-smoking campaigns as his model to "change the hearts and minds of people in Washington, DC" about guns.
"What we need to do is change the way in which people think about guns, especially young people, and make it something that's not cool, that it's not acceptable, it's not hip to carry a gun anymore, in the way in which we changed our attitudes about cigarettes."
Holder added that he had asked advertising agencies in the nation's capital to assist by making anti-gun ads rather than commercials "that make me buy things that I don't really need." He had also approached local newspapers and television stations, he said, asking them to devote prime space and time, respectively, to his anti-gun campaign.
Local political leaders and celebrities, Holder said, including Mayor Marion Barry and Jesse Jackson, had been asked to help. In addition, he reported, he had asked the local school board to make the anti-gun message a part of "every day, every school, and every level." Read More
What do the 41 defectors face upon their return to North Korea?
A group of 41 North Korean refugees who had been arrested in and around Shenyang last month and then temporarily held in Chinese detention facilities became the latest such people to be repatriated last week. Their repatriation took place amidst concerns about the severity of the punishments likely to be meted out by the North Korean authorities.The level of punishment varies depending on whether an individual is heading for South Korea or simply to China. Those who are presumed to be leaving North Korea for their own survival are sent to labor-training or re-education camps. However, those who appear to be aiming for South Korea are more likely to end up in political prison camps. Some, though not many, face death.
According to defectors, the local National Security Agency categorizes new arrivals accordance to their purpose of defection, and what activities they conducted while in China. There are four categories.
The first category is for persons who are adjudged to have had direct contact with a South Korean agent (from the National Intelligence Service or Defense Security Command). They are defined as spies and executed, and their immediate family members are sent to one of the NSA-run political prison camps. Those who are not immediate family members (son-in-law, daughter-in-law etc) are required to divorce in order to leave the family, and are then exempted from the same punishment. Read More
Housing bubble a danger to Canadian Economy
Overvalued housing markets in several Canadian cities and high household debt poses a "clear and present danger" to Canada’s economy, TD Bank warned in a report Friday.The study by the bank’s chief economist, Craig Alexander, proposes the government introduce measures to keep personal debt levels from rising further.
The report flags Vancouver as the market with the greatest risk of a housing price correction, because of an influx of foreign buyers, likely in the order of 10 to 15 per cent.
Toronto could also see a drop in prices because of overbuilding in the condo market, which raises questions about the ability of the market to absorb the new listings or find renters for all of the investment properties.
And all cities are at risk, Alexander says, when interest rates eventually rise from their present "exceedingly" low levels.
Household debt growth over the past decade has been fuelled not as much by credit card borrowing, he said, but largely by loans secured by real estate, in particular home equity lines of credit. Read More
The rise and fall of China's Bo Xilai
Beijing (CNN) -- "Those who win become emperors, those who lose become bandits."This old Chinese adage may be an apt subtitle to the political drama that has been playing in China in recent months.
It climaxed this week when Bo Xilai, a popular and polarizing politician, was dismissed as Communist Party chief of Chongqing, the biggest metropolis in China.
Bo's dismissal is the most sensational political scandal to hit the Chinese Communist Party in recent years.
China axes Bo Xilai from Chongqing after scandal.
As a son of a revolutionary veteran and an official with a solid, albeit controversial record, Bo was considered a strong contender for promotion into the Standing Committee of the party's Politburo, whose nine members decide how to run China.
In autumn this year, the Communist Party Congress will convene in Beijing to confirm sweeping changes in this 1.37 billion-strong nation. Read More
Norovirus as big a risk to Olympics as terrorism
An outbreak of flu or vomiting bug is as big a risk to the Olympics as a terror attack, a Government security assessment has warned. Health chiefs fear the fact hundreds of thousands of people from around the world will all be in one place this summer would increase the likelihood of contagious bugs or even new strains spreading.
Monitoring systems will be expanded in the run up to and during the Games to ensure any virus is picked up on early.
Security experts also have great faith in the British weather after warning the greatest climatic threat to visitors will be suffering from a heatwave.
The warnings are included in a Home Office risk assessment which puts “natural events” alongside terrorism, organised crime, extremism and public disorder as the main threats.
Under human diseases, it warns: “The likelihood of a new, or newly recognised, infectious disease spreading to the UK is low but, with large numbers of visitors entering the UK at that time, we will need to be alert to these and to the more likely, but less serious, risk of a food borne illness or gastroenterinal outbreak such as norovirus.” Read More
Why World Water Forum 'Solutions' Miss the Mark
Yesterday I walked around the “solution tents” at the 6th World Water Forum, which is more clearly than ever a trade show for the water industry to sell expensive services and products. Arranged as a “village,” the exhibit offered no vision for a future that addresses the source of pollution or the reason that millions of people lack access to water. From the tents labeled “factory” and “slum” to the “bank” and “library” exhibits, the failure to address the real problems was Kafkaesque. Take the factory exhibit. In no place there was the cause of pollution mentioned. There was no suggestion that we should prevent pollution to begin with, or that waterways should not be the dumping ground for human waste or factory waste. In fact, pollution was never mentioned at all. The organizers of this corporate forum see pollution as a profit center to be cleaned by a range of technologies. So, instead of addressing water pollution issues, the exhibit featured an expensive machine that packages water in little plastic bags that are sold to people during disasters. It displayed the Hippo Roller, a nifty technology that is essentially a barrel on wheels that makes it easy for women to transport water. It featured a stand with two buckets, one above the other, that was for hand washing. Read More
How Can America Condemn Children to Die in Prison?
On March 20, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments that ask whether it's ever constitutional to condemn a child to spend the rest of their life in prison. Those of us who haven’t blocked out our memories of middle school probably recall agonizing over things like what to wear or feeling inexplicably moody or depressed. And with good reason. The emotional instability and intense pressures that characterize adolescence are so significant that the US Supreme Court has said children require different treatment under the Constitution when they are convicted of even the most serious crimes.
In Roper v. Simmons, which ruled out the death penalty for under-age offenders in 2005, the Court reasoned that “juvenile offenders cannot with reliability be classified among the worst offenders” because they are less mature and their sense of responsibility has not fully developed. They are more vulnerable to negative internal and external influences, including peer pressure. Unlike adults, they can’t control or escape dysfunctional homes and dangerous neighborhoods—two major contributing factors to youth crime. Read More
The Afghan Massacre Was No Aberration
Why aren't Westerners equally outraged when drone attacks kill entire families? The death of innocent civilians is nothing new in Afghanistan, but these 16 victims, nine of whom were children, were allegedly murdered by a rogue soldier, rather than the usual killers – drone attacks, air strikes and stray bullets. This incident has elicited rage among Afghans and westerners alike. But why are westerners not equally outraged when drone attacks kill entire families?
Drone attacks that kill civilians usually fall into our category of "collateral damage", because the dead civilians weren't specifically targeted, and we treat this category as an unfortunate consequence of war, not murder. Afghans see little difference – rightly so, in my opinion, because their loved ones are dead because of the conscious actions of Nato forces. Read More
4.3 Magnitude Earthquake ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA - 22nd Mar 2012
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake has struck the Andreanof Islands, Aleutian Islands, Alaska at a depth of 22.1 km (13.7 miles), the quake hit at 04:42:53 UTC Thursday 22nd March 2012The epicenter was 209 km (130 miles) SSE from Atka, Alaska
No Tsunami Warning Issued - No Reports of Damage or Injuries at this time
The conceit of George Osborne's 100-year bond
There comes a point in every Chancellor's reign when the manifest power and prestige of the job goes to the incumbent's head, and he begins to think of himself as some kind of demigod. For George Osborne, that moment seems to have come early in his stewardship with the grandiose notion, floated while on a visit with the prime minister to Washington, of an "Osborne bond" – a one-hundred-year gilt, or even a gilt issued in perpetuity, rather like the War Loan.From the Treasury's point of view, it makes perfect sense to try and refinance the ever-growing national debt at today's record low interest rates. Mr Osborne talks of "locking in the benefits of Britain's safe haven status" for future generations.
But from the investors' point of view it makes no sense whatsoever and if it ever comes to pass, I can guarantee it will eventually be seen as one of the most colossal cases of mis-selling ever seen in the UK – and there have been quite a few.
As any student of economic history knows, periods of very low interest rates can last an awfully long time, but they have never lasted 100 years or anywhere close. Any such gilt is therefore a hostage to long term fluctuations in interest rates and inflation. One thing is absolutely guaranteed – inflation adjusted, £1,000 invested in a 100-year bond today, even with interest re-invested, won't be worth anywhere close at maturity. Read More
Chinese bank ditches Iran gas project
ISLAMABAD: A consortium led by the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) has ‘run away’ from providing financial advisory services for the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project apparently because of the US opposition to the plan and forced the government to look for alternative financing options.“It is apprehended that a probable reason for not signing the agreement (to act as financial adviser for the project) till date could be geopolitical situation in the region,” a summary presented to the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet on Tuesday said.
A meeting of the ECC presided over by Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh was informed by Petroleum Secretary Mohammad Ejaz Chaudhry that the Chinese consortium’s leader had “run away from the project”.
It was informed that on the directives of decision-making forums, “a top class financial adviser had been appointed through international competitive bidding following procurement rules”. Read More
Brazil gears up for the next round of currency wars
An overly strong local currency has been a structural problem for Brazil -- except, of course, when the real has been too weak for the government's comfort. It looks like the situation is getting ready to reverse again.From the start of the year to last week, the real surged 8.6% against the dollar, returning to roughly the level the Brazilian currency traded at in late October .
While the real has since given up 2.5% so far in March, it is largely because traders are buzzing that the most recent swing to the upside has gotten the Brazilian government ready to once again raise the currency walls and shut out foreign money.
This time around, the measures on the table include calling in short-term credit lines early, sucking that liquidity out of the market -- and out of foreign traders' clutches. Read More
India’s nuclear submarine
It may seem somewhat strange for India to lease a Russian nuclear submarine, and at a heavy cost, when an earlier similar venture didn’t turn out to be smooth and when it is itself building nuclear submarines. The 10-year lease is costing India a billion dollars. In real terms the cost will be much more. Is it India’s need? India, no doubt, gains by inducting it in its navy. But this time, it is equally, may be more, the need of the supplier. And it also meets the strategic interests of another backer.The leased submarine, the 8,140-tonne SSN Nerpa, was commissioned in the Russian Navy in December 2000 and belongs to the Soviet-era nuclear-powered submarines of (Nato-named) Akula II Class. The Akula Class submarine was deployed for the first time in 1986 by the Soviet Navy. The project to lease two Akula-II nuclear submarines was initiated by India in 2002. The deal for the first submarine was signed in New Delhi in January 2004 and for the second in December 2007.
The Nerpa was to be delivered to India in August 2007. However, the programme was struck with several delays and at least one mishap. A fatal gas leak killing 20 crew members occurred during the submarine’s sea trials in November 2008. Transfer was then set to take place in 2009 but didn’t materialise. A fresh date in October 2010 was also not met. Read More
