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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: tejek who wrote (402201)	7/27/2008 9:38:00 AM
From: i-node	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1576894

BAGHDAD — The case of a freelance photographer in Iraq who was barred from covering the Marines after he posted photos on the Internet of several of them dead has underscored what some journalists say is a growing effort by the American military to control graphic images from the war. Stupid allegation. Pretty much all the news out of Iraq today is good; the military would LOVE to have more of it covered. The reality is that the media, and in this case, a freelancer, only wants to cover the bad news. We've had enough media lies out of Iraq. The number of embedded reports has dropped to a quarter of the earlier number now that the news is all good anyway. The American military has NEVER sanctioned the reporting of our dead in an undignified way (such as the photo you posted). It is the kind of behavior you see in Pondscum Parsons. Precisely the same. The reporter should be jailed.

To: tejek who wrote (402201)	7/27/2008 9:57:35 AM
From: bentway	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1576894

As Rebates Run Their Course Editorial For all the self congratulation last February, when Congress and President Bush quickly agreed to a $168 billion stimulus plan, the effort has not sparked the economic turnaround that policy makers wanted. It has kept the economy from falling into even worse shape than it is in, but real improvement has proved elusive. The $100 billion in rebate checks — which were delivered to just about everybody from April through mid-July — will be eaten up largely by higher gasoline prices. Once the rebates are all spent, probably by October, consumers are likely to recoil in the face of rising unemployment, stagnating wages and tighter credit. Business tax breaks in the stimulus package have given a modest, near-term boost to investment. But bolstered investment this year means less investment in 2009, when, by all indications, the economy will still be ailing. So it is not surprising that lawmakers are now considering a second round of stimulus. One is needed, but tempting as it is to send out checks in an election year, lawmakers will do a disservice to those who elected them if they simply serve up more of the same. The initial stimulus plan has fallen short of expectations because the plan was flawed, not just because the economy’s problems are more severe than policy makers thought. The plan, for example, did not contain additional spending for food stamps or direct aid to states and local governments. The second one must include both. It is unconscionable to omit food aid from a stimulus measure, because the priority in a downturn should be to help the most vulnerable Americans. It is also poor economics, because a temporary increase in food stamps, which are spent quickly and in full, is the single most effective way to lift consumer spending. Direct aid to states and localities also reaches vulnerable populations, like Medicaid recipients, and is powerful stimulus because the extra money is passed on quickly to employees, contractors and program beneficiaries. Another reason to approach the next stimulus bill differently is that the government has now intervened to prop up the economy in other ways, most notably by giving the Treasury authority to bail out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage giants, if necessary. The Treasury might never have to spend a penny. Or it may have to spend upward of $100 billion. The growing possibility of huge taxpayer outlays — and ever larger federal deficits — leaves little room for error and waste in future rescue efforts. That argues against another large tax rebate scheme, or various temporary tax cuts, like increased write-offs for business equipment. Politically popular though they may be, such measures have far less bang for the buck than direct spending programs to boost the economy. Permanent tax cuts are an even worse idea than temporary ones. Mr. Bush and Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, have often connected their call for making Mr. Bush’s temporary tax cuts permanent with the need to stimulate the economy. Permanent tax cuts would do more harm than good. They dig the hole in the federal budget deeper and deeper with each passing year, and in so doing, threaten to drive up interest rates as bond investors react to the nation’s deteriorating budget outlook. This is a precarious moment, when much is riding on the nation’s leadership to restore confidence — in the markets, in the economy and in the ability of policy makers to deal with problems intelligently and responsibly. That makes tired old tax cut rhetoric especially off point and potentially harmful. Congress must take the lead this time, not the Bush administration, in writing a stimulus bill that truly addresses today’s economic problems and challenges, without wreaking undo damage on the federal budget. Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company

To: tejek who wrote (402201)	7/27/2008 11:21:13 AM
From: longnshort	Respond to of 1576894

Seems it had nothing to do with Bush, just your whacko Islamic friends, do what liberals do to people they don't like In e-mail, Islamic group claims India blasts Jul 27 10:03 AM US/Eastern By R.K. MISRA Associated Press Writer Write a Comment Yash Vyas, 6, lies on a bed in a ward of the Civil Hospital in Ahmadabad,... Victims of a bomb explosion lie at the site of the blast in Ahmadabad, India,... A cow lies dead, killed in a bomb explosion, in Ahmadabad, India, Saturday,... AHMADABAD, India (AP) - An obscure Islamic group claimed responsibility for a series of synchronized explosions that killed at least 45 people in western India, warning of "the terror of Death" in an e-mail sent to several television stations minutes before the blasts. Another unexploded bomb was found and defused early Sunday, said the city's police commissioner, O.P. Mathur. He said police had detained 30 people. "In the name of Allah the Indian Mujahideen strike again! Do whatever you can, within 5 minutes from now, feel the terror of Death!" said an e-mail from the group sent to several Indian television stations minutes before the blasts began. The e-mail's subject line said "Await 5 minutes for the revenge of Gujarat," an apparent reference to 2002 riots in the western state which left 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, dead. The historic city of Ahmadabad was the scene of much of the 2002 violence. Saturday's e-mail, sent from a Yahoo account and written in English, was made available to AP by CNN-IBN, one of the TV stations that received the warning. State government spokesman Jaynarayan Vyas said 45 people were killed and 161 wounded when at least 16 bombs went off Saturday evening in several crowded neighborhoods. The attack came a day after seven smaller blasts killed two people in the southern technology hub of Bangalore. Investigators in Surat, a city about 160 miles south of Ahmadabad, found a car carrying detonators and a liquid that police suspect may be ammonium nitrate, a chemical often used in explosive devices, city police Chief R.M.S. Brar told reporters. Cities around the country were put on alert and security was stepped up at markets, hospitals, airports and train stations. The e-mail was sent by a group calling itself Indian Mujahedeen which was unknown before May, when it said it was behind a series of bombings in Jaipur, also in western India, that killed 61 people. In its e-mail, the group did not mention the bombings in Bangalore and it was not clear if the attacks were connected. "An e-mail was received by many news organizations. We are inquiring into that. We haven't traced it yet," city police Chief A.N. Roy said. The Saturday bombs went off in two separate spates. The first, near a busy market, left some of the dead sprawled beside stands piled high with fruit, next to twisted bicycles. The second group of blasts went off near a hospital. The side of a bus was blown off and its windows shattered, while another vehicle was engulfed in flames. Most of the blasts took place in the narrow lanes of the older part of Ahmadabad, which is tightly packed with homes and small businesses. Bomb-sniffing dogs scoured the areas. Distraught relatives of the victims crowded the city's hospitals. One of the wounded was a 6-year-old boy whose father was killed in the blasts. He lay in a hospital bed with his arms covered in bandages and wounds on his face. Narendra Modi, the chief minister of Gujarat state where Ahmadabad is located, called the blasts "a crime against humanity." He said the bombings appeared to have been masterminded by a group or groups who "are using a similar modus operandi all over the country." India has been hit repeatedly by bombings in recent years. Nearly all have been blamed on Islamic militants who allegedly want to provoke violence between India's Hindu majority and Muslim minority, although officials rarely offer hard evidence implicating a specific group. The perpetrators also rarely claim responsibility—a fact that raised doubts about the Indian Mujahedeen when it took credit in May for attacking Jaipur. Fears that an attack could spark religious riots are real in India, which has seen sporadic violence between Hindus and Muslims since independence from Britain in 1947. Those fears were amplified by the recent history of the 2002 religious riots. The violence was triggered by a fire that killed 60 passengers on a train packed with Hindu pilgrims. Hindu extremists blamed the deaths on Muslims and rampaged through Muslim neighborhoods, although the cause of the blaze remains unclear. Ahmadabad is also known for the elegant architecture of its mosques and mausoleums, a rich blend of Muslim and Hindu styles. It was founded in the 15th century and served as a sultanate, fortified in 1487 with a wall six miles in circumference.