XIAM007 - Making Unique Observations in a Very Cluttered World

Thursday, 30 June 2011

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has signaled he’s considering leaving after Congress raises the federal debt limit -

Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner has signaled to White House officials that he’s considering leaving the administration after President Barack Obama reaches an agreement with Congress to raise the federal debt limit, according to three people familiar with the matter.

Geithner hasn’t made a final decision and won’t do so until the debt-ceiling issue has been resolved, according to one of the people. All spoke on condition of anonymity to talk about private discussions.

The Treasury secretary has said that the U.S. risks defaulting on its obligations if Congress doesn’t raise the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling by Aug. 2. The administration and Republicans in Congress are at an impasse in negotiations to raise the limit, which is tied to efforts to cut the nation’s long-term deficit.

Moody’s Investors Service said on June 2 that it expects to place the U.S. government’s Aaa credit rating under review for a possible downgrade if there’s no progress on the debt limit by mid-July. Fitch Ratings said June 21 it would place the U.S. on a negative rating watch if no action is taken by Aug. 2.

An exit by Geithner would complete the turnover in Obama’s original economic team, with Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Austan Goolsbee scheduled to leave in early August to return to the University of Chicago.

Political Impact

That would leave Obama with two key posts to fill as Republicans are seeking to turn the 2012 election into a referendum on Obama’s handling of the economy and as the recovery is slowing. Theunemployment rate rose to 9.1 percent in May, according to the Labor Department, and the economy grew at a 1.9 percent pace in the first quarter, according to Commerce Department figures released June 24.

Jen Psaki, a White House spokeswoman, declined to comment.

New San Francisco bridge built in China to be shipped to US -

Next month, four enormous steel skeletons, the last of the 12 segments of the bridge, will be shipped 6,500 miles from Shanghai to San Francisco before being assembled on site.

The bridge, which will connect San Francisco to Oakland on the other side of the bay, is a sign of how China has moved on from building roads and ports in Africa and the developing world and is now aggressively bidding for, and winning, major construction and engineering projects in the United States and Europe.

After building forests of skyscrapers in Beijing and Shanghai, showpiece buildings like the Bird's Nest stadium and the Guangzhou Opera House, and a high-speed rail network that is the envy of the world, Chinese construction companies are flush with cash and confidence. This week, Wen Jiabao, the Chinese premier, lobbied David Cameron to give the contract for the UK's new high speed rail link to a Chinese company.

According to Engineering News Record, five of the world's top 10 contractors, in terms of revenue, are now Chinese, with likes of China State Construction Engineering Group (CSCEC) overtaking established American giants like Bechtel.

TSA FAIL: Nigerian Man Flies From NY to LA With Fake ID, Day-Old Boarding Pass...-

CBS News has confirmed that authorities are looking into a shocking security breach that took place at John F. Kennedy International Airport last week.

Investigators say Olajide Oluwaseun Noibi, a Nigerian, boarded Virgin America Flight 415 to Los Angeles without a valid passport or identification, using an expired boarding pass for a flight the day before that belonged to someone else.

Officials say Noibi got through security and was able to board the plane. No one noticed until the flight was airborne when a flight attendant realized Noibi was sitting in a seat that was supposed to be vacant.

He showed the attendant the expired boarding pass that was in someone else’s name and then showed him a University of Michigan identification card with his picture on it.

'To Catch a Predator' Host Chris Hansen Caught in Cheating Sting - caught cheating on wife with 30 year old ex intern -

Chris Hansen, the NBC anchor famous for snagging Internet pedophiles on the show 'To Catch a Predator' has found himself in the center of an ironic scandal, The London Daily Mail reports.
Hansen, 51 has allegedly been having an affair with Kristyn Caddell, a 30-year-old TV Reporter from Florida.
Hansen was caught in a sting organized by the National Enquirer as he was having a romantic dinner with Caddell at the Ritz-Carlton in Palm Beach. After dinner, the pair then drove to her apartment where they were seen leaving together the next morning.
A source says that Caddell is a former intern at NBC and 'there was an immediate physical attraction between them' when they met.
Hansen lives with his wife Mary, 53 in Connecticut but reportedly has been spending time in Florida on a disappearance investigation.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2011/06/30/to-catch-predator-host-caught-cheating/?test=latestnews

Wednesday, 29 June 2011

Ron Paul On 2012: Establishment, Media Unable To Exclude Me This Time Around -

Texas Congressman Ron Paul feels much more optimistic about his 2012 presidential run than he did prior to his 2008 campaign, primarily because he knows that the establishment can no longer exclude him from debates and national polls.

The Congressman spoke exclusively to The Alex Jones show yesterday to give the inside track on the progress of the campaign, his thoughts on the ailing economy and to express his concerns over the precedent being set by US involvement in the military action in Libya.
Paul addressed those in the media, as well as political opponents, who have previously resorted to dirty tricks and smear in an attempt to discredit The Congressman’s campaign, noting:
“We have made progress, and that is because there are a growing number of people who are onto their tricks and are watching them rather closely, and they are going to hear from the supporters if they start doing that. So, in spite of the obstacles, our job is to keep doing what we’re doing and gain supporters.”
“The laughing and the ridicule so far has gone away,” The Congressman added. “I don’t know whether they’ll go back to that or not but it’s not like when there were just three major networks and hardly anybody on talk radio that would defend our position.”
“Last go around, the first two major debates, the one right before Iowa and one before New Hampshire, they excluded me. This year they’re not going to be able to do it.” Paul asserted.
“As bad as this system is, it still operates reasonably well. That is, over the years I’ve been able to run for Congress and get elected, and now I am still able to compete, even up against these odds and these tricks, because we can get in and organize and our numbers are growing.”
Paul specifically noted that many of his political opponents, even those that have sought to discredit him previously, are now emulating some of his views, because they recognize his growing popularity.
“I think they do have concerns. One place that we think they are revealing that we, our side, is making progress, is that they’re starting to support some of our positions. ” Paul said. “Whether it is backing off on some of this war mongering stuff and saying some things about auditing the Fed. What they believe is that if they just appease or neutralize that a little bit and they can get elected, they don’t have to follow through with the policies.”
Last week we reported on the fact that a long term Paul detractor, Newt Gingrich, has become extremely vocal about wishing to see an audit of the federal reserve, something Paul has been campaigning toward for years.
Paul also noted that he feels an overwhelming wave of support coming from younger people this time around.
“The young people are realizing how much they’re being dumped on… how they are getting ripped off because there’s no way, even if they could get a good job, they can’t pay off debt obligations. But they’re not getting good jobs.”

Read more -
http://www.prisonplanet.com/ron-paul-on-2012-establishment-media-unable-to-exclude-me-this-time-around.html

Russian President Loses Control of SUV and Nearly Hits Crowd -

Russian President Dimitri Medvedev may want to think twice the next time he decides to drive himself to a public appearance.

The Russian leader had a quite a scare on Saturday in the town of Kazan when he lost control of his car while exiting. The car kept going and headed straight for a crowd of cheering, and horrified, supporters. And it was all caught on video (fast forward to about 45 seconds below):

Body found in public pool 2 days after victim drowned - lifeguards were on duty - people were swimming no one noticed body -

The body of a Fall River woman was discovered floating in a state run pool late last night, two days after she apparently drowned in that same pool.

Police say lifeguards were on duty and people were swimming in the Veterans Memorial pool at Lafayette Park Sunday, Monday and Tuesday and it appears no one noticed the dead body.

Investigators identified the body as 36-year-old Marie Joseph.

Police say Joseph was watching her 9-year-old neighbor at the pool on Sunday when she apparently had an accident sliding down a waterside.

Family friends tell FOX25 the little boy told lifeguards that she did not come up from above water but no action was taken.

Body found in public pool 2 days after victim drowned: MyFoxBOSTON.com

North Korea to Chair UN Disarmament Conference - like “asking the fox to guard the chickens,” -

Despite numerous breaches of arms embargoes and continued threats to expand its nuclear weapons program, North Korea has assumed the presidency of the United Nations Conference on Disarmament. In a speech to the 65-nation arms control forum in Geneva, the newly-appointed president, North Korean Ambassador So Se Pyong, said he was “very much committed to the Conference.”
Appointing a North Korean to chair the UN’s only multilateral disarmament forum is like “asking the fox to guard the chickens,” says Hillel Neuer, of the UN watchdog organization UN Watch. Neuer is calling on the U.S. and European governments to protest the appointment, which he says, “damages the UN’s credibility.”

When asked about the controversy over North Korea’s new leadership role, UN spokesman Farhan Haq pointed out that the head of the Conference on Disarmament is selected by the member states that sit on the conference, not the UN secretary general.
Haq added that when Secretary General Ban Ki-moon spoke at the Conference on Disarmament this January, he urged the states who sit on the conference to do more to advance its work, so that it “does not become irrelevant.”Aware that many nations see the Conference on Disarmament as a place of talk rather than a forum that does substantive work, Secretary General Ban warned: “The very credibility of this body is at risk.”

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/06/29/north-korea-to-chair-un-disarmament-conference/

Lightning Kills 22 Students, Teacher in Uganda - Another 51 students, aged 7 to 16 were injured -

Twenty-two students and a teacher died when lightning struck their school in Uganda, officials said.

Another 51 students, aged 7 to 16 were injured in the freak strike 160 miles northwest of Kampala, said local police spokeswoman Zura Ganyana.

Lightning strikes in recent weeks have killed at least 38 people around the country in recent weeks, as unseasonably heavy storms have ravaged the area. Experts said the school was prone because it is on high ground and does not have a lighting conductor to ground strikes.

Another lightning strike injured 37 students at a school 200 miles away, officials said.

One member of parliament called the situation a crisis.

"I don't know which minister is in charge of the lightning but let the government come up with a statement to inform the country on what is going on and how we can manage it," Parliament Speaker Rebecca Kadaga told Reuters.

Uganda's Minister of State for Disaster Preparedness Musa Ecweru told the BBC the deaths could be blamed on buildings not having lightning rods.

"There are very many schools and brand new health centres which are lacking lightning arrestors," Mr Ecweru said.

In the 10 years since the September 11, 2001, attacks, spending on the conflicts totalled $2.7 TRILLION & 258,000 lives -

In the 10 years since U.S. troops went into Afghanistan to root out the Al Qaeda leaders behind the September 11, 2001, attacks, spending on the conflicts totalled up to $2.7 trillion.
Those numbers will continue to soar when considering often overlooked costs including obligations to wounded veterans and projected war spending from 2012 through 2020.
They also do not include at least $1trillion in interest payments and expenses.

More than 30,000 Allied personnel have died in the War on Terror

The study, 'Costs of War', brought together more than 20 academics to uncover the expenses of war.
It underlines the extent to which war will continue to stretch the U.S. federal budget and questions what has been gained from the massive investment.
Senator Bob Corker, a Republican from Tennessee, said: 'I hope that when we look back, whenever this ends, something very good has come out of it.'
Catherine Lutz, head of the anthropology department at Brown and co-director of the study, said: 'We decided we needed to do this kind of rigorous assessment of what it cost to make those choices to go to war.
'Politicians, we assumed, were not going to do that kind of assessment.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2009371/Iraq-Afghanistan-Pakistan-wars-US-cost-3-7trillion-258k-lives.html#ixzz1QgN5ED9o