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To: ahhaha who wrote (53322)	2/10/2006 12:56:54 AM
From: mishedlo	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 110194

You still dance around the critical issue. Who will stop them from getting you? They would not bother if we were not meddling in the first place. Stupid US policies created Bin Laden. Our own CIA trained him. Probably the best training job they ever did too. Had US troops not been on "sacred Arab soil" and had we not stupidly backed Israel no matter what Israel did, there would be no Al Qaeda or Bin Laden to worry about in the first place. The idiot sitting in the whitehouse made matters worse by invading Iraq instead of capturing Bin Laden. The US had global support after 911 but we stupidly wasted that support by invading a country for no reason. The more innocent people we kill the more terrorists we will create. Pakistan was 90% in favor of the US after 911. Now they practically idolize Bin Laden as a hero. Iran was cooperating with the US after 911. Bush, the idiot that he is, failed to capitalize on that. That is the sad fact of this administration and its policies. If we stop stupid actions they will stop coming after us (outside of the occasional loonie) and we have some of them ourselves like Tim McVeigh. That is what you right wing nut jobs simply fail to understand. You have learned NOTHING from history or nothing from what Bin Laden said, and he is laughing at the US right now (if he is still alive) about us spending ourselves into oblivion. There is no FN such thing as "a war on terror". Terror is a method. That method is being used because we meddle where we have no FN right to be. That method will decrease if you and the assholes you support would have rational foreign policy. There. Does that answer your question? Mish

To: ahhaha who wrote (53322)	2/10/2006 2:11:58 AM
From: shades	Respond to of 110194

DJ Ex-CIA Official Says Admin `Misused' Iraq Intelligence-WP NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--The former CIA official who coordinated U.S. intelligence on the Middle East until last year has accused the Bush administration of "cherry-picking" intelligence on Iraq to justify a decision it had already reached to go to war, and of ignoring warnings that the country could easily fall into violence, The Washington Post reports in its Friday edition. Paul R. Pillar, who was the national intelligence officer for the Near East and South Asia from 2000 to 2005, acknowledges the U.S. intelligence agencies' mistakes in concluding that Hussein's government possessed weapons of mass destruction. But he said those misjudgments did not drive the administration's decision to invade, the Post said. "Official intelligence on Iraqi weapons programs was flawed, but even with its flaws, it was not what led to the war," Pillar wrote in the upcoming issue of the journal Foreign Affairs, the Post said. Instead, he asserted, the administration "went to war without requesting - and evidently without being influenced by - any strategic-level intelligence assessments on any aspect of Iraq." It is the first time that such a senior intelligence officer has so directly and publicly condemned the administration's handling of intelligence, according to the Post. White House officials did not respond to a request to comment, according to the Post. (END) Dow Jones Newswires

To: ahhaha who wrote (53322)	2/10/2006 2:13:57 AM
From: shades	Respond to of 110194

DJ China Sees Surge In Deaths From Major Coal Mine Accidents THe jews at auschwitz who died mining coal for Prescott Bush investment interests with german Thyssen only asked that we NOT FORGET - did you forget ahahaha SHANGHAI (AP)--More than 6,000 people died in accidents in China's coal mines and petroleum industries last year, with the proportion of those killed in major disasters rising sharply, the government reported Friday. The total number of fatalities from 3,341 coal mine explosions, fires and floods was 5,986, nearly level with the 6,027 people killed in 2004, the National Development and Reform Commission said in reports issued on its Web site. However, the number killed in major coal mine accidents jumped 60% to 3,586, it said. Meanwhile, the agency reported that 60 people died in 161 accidents in petroleum and petrochemical operations, up 29% from a year earlier. The government has made improving work safety a policy priority for years, but has fallen far short of its goals for reducing the number of accidents as mines and factories have ramped up production to meet surging demand from China's booming industries. The 0.7% decline in coal mine deaths last year fell far short of the government's goal for last year of reducing coal mine fatalities by at least 3%. Work safety officials recently announced their goal for cutting deaths in 2006 was 3.5%, but said reaching that target would be difficult. Coal output rose 7.9% in 2005 to 2.11 billion tons, the commission reported. -Edited by Marissa Chew

To: ahhaha who wrote (53322)	2/10/2006 2:15:23 AM
From: shades	Respond to of 110194

DJ US To Shift Envoys To China, India In Restructuring -WP . NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Two State Department lists obtained by The Washington Post shed some light on the first round of a broad restructuring of U.S. diplomatic posts ordered by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the Post reports in its Friday edition. Of 74 new U.S. diplomatic positions, China will get 15, including a dozen at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. India ranks second with 12 new posts, seven of them in New Delhi. And Indonesia is third with five new slots in Jakarta. Other countries that are to receive at least three more U.S. diplomatic slots include Nigeria, Israel, Lebanon, Vietnam, Tajikistan, Bolivia, Ecuador, Venezuela and Nicaragua, the Post said. Of 61 positions slated for elimination in the initial batch, 10 will fall in Russia and seven in Germany. U.S. embassies in several other countries - Belgium, Poland, Italy, Spain, Ukraine, Japan and Brazil - will lose two or three posts. All told, 38 of the cuts will come in European nations, according to the Post. (END) Dow Jones Newswires

To: ahhaha who wrote (53322)	2/10/2006 2:17:14 AM
From: shades	Respond to of 110194

DJ Venezuelan Farmers Protest Government Price Controls I thought chavez wanted to give them 1 million ak47's? CARACAS (AP)--Venezuelan farmers protesting government price controls rallied outside the presidential palace Thursday, demanding President Hugo Chavez overhaul the controls, which they said were causing losses and paralyzing production. The farmers said they have waited months for the government to raise state-fixed prices at which they sell harvests of rice, sorghum, corn and other grains to distributors. "It's a perverse mechanism," said Ramon Bolotin, president of an independent agricultural producers association from Portuguesa state. "We're not just asking for a change in prices - we're asking for a complete change," in the system, Bolotin said. Chavez decreed price controls on basic food staples in 2003 to counter inflation and protect the poor. But the system has increasingly raised disputes in recent months as producers claim they're being prevented from turning a profit. Government authorities have seized products like coffee and powdered milk horded by producers and forcibly placed them on the market. Bolotin said the price controls were not working because, while the prices at which they sell their produce to distributors have remained largely unchanged for two years, the cost of production has increased, including the price of transport, insecticides and seeds. Producers were being forced to lay off workers and default on bank interest payments, he said. A spokeswoman from the Agriculture Ministry said officials are negotiating with producers and refused to comment further. Peter Kornett, another producer from Portuguesa, said more than one million tons of corn - about 60% of domestic corn production - remain in silos across the country because producers are refusing to sell at loss. Those stocks were accruing storage costs of 7 billion bolivars (US$3.26 million) monthly, he said. Organizers said some 2,000 farmers from across the country had traveled to the capital of Caracas for the protest. Some held banners saying, "Chavez, you buy the corn." The government has set a price of 560 bolivars (US$0.26) per kilogram for corn, 420 bolivars (US$0.20) per kilogram for sorghum and 491 bolivars (US$0.23) per kilogram for rice. Those prices on average only cover about four-fifths the cost of production, said Ermenegildo Menin, a 37-year-old sorghum and corn farmer. Producers were asking for a 20% to 30% increase in those prices and also demanding compensation for costs accrued during the last six months while the dispute has dragged out, Bolotin said. (END) Dow Jones Newswires February 09, 2006 18:41 ET (23:41 GMT)

To: ahhaha who wrote (53322)	2/10/2006 2:20:16 AM
From: shades	Respond to of 110194

DJ UK PRESS: Europe's Banks Warned To Speed Up SEPA Plan . DOW JONES NEWSWIRES Europe's banking industry might face regulatory intervention from Brussels unless it speeds up efforts to create a better system for non-cash euro banking transfers, the Financial Times reported on its Web site Thursday. The European Commission government wants the transfer system - known as the Single Euro Payments Area - to be up and running by 2010. But in a policy paper that could be published Friday, the Commission criticizes the preparatory work done by the European Payments Council, which was set up by the banking industry to plan the system. Warning of a "severe risk" that SEPA won't be completed by 2010, the paper - a copy of which has been seen by the FT - threatens "regulatory intervention as a last resort" to ensure it will meet market requirements, the FT reported. Also, the paper says that if Europe's banking industry doesn't accelerate its efforts, the result will be "a situation in which national markets remain separated, competition will not improve, and savings cannot be realized. In other words, mini-SEPA and failure." (END) Dow Jones Newswires February 09, 2006 19:36 ET (00:36 GMT)

To: ahhaha who wrote (53322)	2/10/2006 2:21:29 AM
From: shades	Respond to of 110194

=DJ GAO Calls For Improvements In SEC Personnel Practices . By Judith Burns Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--The Securities and Exchange Commission needs to make further improvements to its hiring and personnel practices, according to a Government Accountability Office report issued Thursday. The GAO said the SEC could do a better job recruiting and retaining staff for its Washington, D.C., headquarters and 11 regional and district offices. It said the agency might benefit from more input from its 3,800 employees and more outreach to members of Congress and the securities industry. SEC Associate Executive Director Jeff Risinger agreed with the findings, saying the SEC recognizes that "much work remains to be done" to strengthen its personnel practices. His written comments, dated Dec. 15, were included in the GAO report. Risinger said the SEC is wrapping up work on a "strategic human capital plan" that will strengthen areas of concern cited by the GAO report. Among other things, the GAO said the SEC doesn't have a formal process to identify its staff's skills, or to link the staff's skills to its strategic goals. The SEC has taken a number of steps to improve management practices. It retained a recruitment firm to help it hire more accountants in its corporation finance division and is using bonuses to attract candidates to work for the federal government, the GAO said. The agency is testing an off-site work program and had more than 800 employees enrolled in its telecommuting program by last August, up from about 650 last March, the GAO said.

To: ahhaha who wrote (53322)	2/10/2006 2:22:23 AM
From: shades	Respond to of 110194

DJ Oracle To Cut 2,000 Jobs; 'Less Than Half' From Siebel . By Andrew Simons Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES LOS ANGELES (Dow Jones)--Oracle Corp. (ORCL) told investors it would be laying off approximately 2,000 employees as a result of its acquisitions of Siebel Systems Inc. and provided updated earnings guidance on a conference call Thursday. For the third quarter, Oracle said its earnings per share would come in at 13 cents to 14 cents, or $706 million to $734 million. In the same period a year earlier, the company earned $540 million, or 10 cents a share. Analysts on average had expected 19 cents a share, according to First Call estimates. The Redwood Shores, Calif., software maker said third-quarter revenue would range between $3.45 billion and $3.5 billion, up 17% to 19% from $2.95 billion a year ago. For the fourth quarter, analysts had expected 21 cents to 23 cents per share. Analysts on average had expected 27 cents a share. In addition, Oracle said it would be laying off approximately 2,000 employees, but emphasized that Oracle's existing employees would suffer the greatest hit. "Less than half are coming from Siebel," said Larry Ellison, Oracle's chief executive, on the conference call. The cuts will come from positions across the board, Oracle executives said. Oracle's acquisition of Siebel closed last week, essentially adding approximately 4,700 Siebel workers to Oracle's payroll. Prior to the acquisition, Oracle employed about 51,000 workers before the takeover. The layoffs follow a similar pattern for Oracle, which cut its work force following last year's $11.1 billion takeover of PeopleSoft Inc. Following that deal, Oracle laid off some of its own workers in a cut that eliminated 5,000 jobs. Siebel employees have already suffered a series of layoffs brought by a prolonged sales slump that culminated in the company's sale to Oracle. At its apex, Siebel employed nearly 9,000. Over the past few years, Oracle has sought to purchase rivals to boost its challenge to Germany-based SAP AG's (SAP) market leadership in business software. Oracle executives on Thursday's conference call emphasized that the merged sales teams of Oracle and Siebel were excited and that morale was good. The company also said it would consider more acquisitions, but decline to offer any clues about what products or companies it was looking at. -By Andrew Simons, Dow Jones Newswires; 323-658-3874 (END) Dow Jones Newswires

To: ahhaha who wrote (53322)	2/10/2006 2:24:14 AM
From: shades	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 110194

DJ UN Annan: Will Ask US To Play Role In Sudan Peacekeeping . UNITED NATIONS (AP)--U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he will ask U.S. President George W. Bush for the U.S. to play a major role in a peacekeeping force in Sudan's Darfur region. Annan told reporters Thursday that Darfur's plight is too severe for rich nations, including the U.S., to simply fund the mission while third-world nations contribute troops - a practice that is largely the norm for U.N. peacekeeping missions around the world. "It is not going to be easy for the big and powerful countries with armies to delegate it to third-world countries," Annan said. "They will have to play a part if we are going to stop the carnage that we see in Darfur." Annan said he planned to raise the issue with Bush during a White House meeting on Monday. The U.S. currently pays about a quarter of the U.N. peacekeeping budget, which topped $5 billion in 2005, but provides a very small percentage of troops or police. Annan said the Darfur mission will need a "completely different force." That means highly trained troops with solid logistical support, backed by air power, with the ability to move quickly. The U.N. mission must send a message to those responsible for the violence "that we have a force that is capable to respond, a force that is everywhere and a force that will be there on time to prevent them from intimidating and killing the innocent civilians," Annan said. Asked specifically what he would seek from Bush, Annan told reporters: "I will share with him the facts that I have shared with you, the needs that we have and the countries that I think can supply those needs, and that would include the U.S." On Thursday, the U.N. Security Council authorized planning for the United Nations to take over peacekeeping duties in Darfur from the African Union, whose 7,000 troops have been hampered by shoddy equipment, poor training and lack of funds. The A.U. troops have made a difference in the areas where they are stationed, but have been unable to bring lasting peace to Darfur, where an estimated 180,000 people have died in violence since 2003. The U.S. and several other nations have said genocide occurred in Sudan. The U.S. will be reluctant to send its troops because of its commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan. It has also been far more reluctant to contribute troops since 18 U.S. soldiers were killed in clashes with gunmen in 1993 during the peacekeeping mission in Somalia. U.S. Mission spokesman Richard Grenell wouldn't comment on whether the U.S. planned to contribute troops. "The American people have provided an incredible amount of money to support the A.U. force and an incredible amount of money for the humanitarian response, and the American people have also been very generous to peacekeeping operations and disasters around the world," Grenell said. U.S. officials in Washington have said the U.S. envisions combining the A.U. force in Darfur with the 7,000 U.N. troops monitoring a separate peace agreement between southern rebels and the Sudanese government. While wealthy nations once provided the bulk of peacekeeping troops, they have done so less frequently in recent years. Instead, they fund the missions, while poor nations like Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Nigeria provide the troops, in part because they receive much-needed cash for it. Last month, the top U.N. envoy in Sudan, Jan Pronk, called for a U.N. peacekeeping force of up to 20,000 troops to disarm marauding militias and provide security so over 2 million refugees can return home in Darfur. Human Rights First sent letters to Bush and Annan on Thursday urging them at their upcoming meeting to support the appointment of a prominent public figure as a U.N. envoy to provide new impetus to find a political solution to the Darfur conflict. Pronk has said he opposes a new envoy. (END) Dow Jones Newswires February 09, 2006 20:00 ET (01:00 GMT) Copyright (c) 2006 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.- - 08 00 PM EST 02-09-06

To: ahhaha who wrote (53322)	2/10/2006 2:42:40 PM
From: anachronist	Respond to of 110194

Nice cherry pick. Porter Goss, the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, testified to Congress earlier this year that, "Islamic extremists are exploiting the Iraqi conflict to recruit new anti-U.S. jihadists. These jihadists who survive will leave Iraq experienced and focused on acts of urban terrorism." He went on to say, "The Iraq conflict, while not a cause of extremism, has become a cause for extremists." And, the Commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, General George Casey, testified to Congress earlier this year that "the perception of occupation in Iraq is a major driving force behind the insurgency." Who said there needed to be one? Well, now you are changing your argument. YOU said there was a connection between Iraq and Al Qaeda. Now you are saying that it doesn't matter. Is your name David Frum? You still dance around the critical issue. Who will stop them from getting you? No one. If someone wants to commit a terrorist act against America, there has been almost nothing done in the last 5 years to prevent them from doing it. We have given the enemy a heck of a lot of free training against our military in Iraq though.