enlarge You knew it was coming, and just in time to revive some wingnuts’ hopes of a Palin presidential bid. Oh, and the title is just…Palinesque. “The Undefeated” is a 2-hour “epic film” about…Sarah Palin. Move over to make room for her ego, please. It is produced by Steve Bannon, a former Goldman-Sachs executive turned conservative filmaker. Other titles he’s produced include Border War: The Battle Over Illegal Immigration , Fire from the Heartland , and Battle for America with Dick Morris , under the Citizens United Productions banner. Via Real Clear Politics : The fruits of that initial conversation are now complete. The result is a two-hour-long, sweeping epic, a rough cut of which Bannon screened privately for Sarah and Todd Palin last Wednesday in Arizona, where Alaska’s most famous couple has been rumored to have purchased a new home. When it premieres in Iowa next month, the film is poised to serve as a galvanizing prelude to Palin’s prospective presidential campaign — an unconventional reintroduction to the nation that she and her political team have spent months eagerly anticipating, even as Beltway Republicans have largely concluded that she won’t run. RealClearPolitics was recently given an exclusive screening of a rough cut of the now finished film, which Bannon designed, in part, to help catapult Palin from the presidential afterthought she has become in the eyes of many pundits directly to the front lines of the 2012 GOP conversation. Palin initially learned about Bannon’s work after she saw one of his previous films about the origins of the tea party movement, “Generation Zero,” which premiered last year in Nashville and was later aired in prime time on the Fox News Channel. Impressed, Palin promoted “Generation Zero” via Twitter before later reaching out to Bannon about creating something to highlight her record in Alaska, where her performance in office was overshadowed by her resignation eight months after the 2008 presidential election. We can only hope it does as well as Atlas Shrugged did at the box office.
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Levi Bellfield’s former partner tells murder trial of bouncer’s behaviour on day 13-year-old Surrey girl was snatched The man accused of murdering Milly Dowler disappeared on the day the schoolgirl was kidnapped, the Old Bailey has been told. Levi Bellfield’s former partner Emma Mills said she had tried to get hold of the 43-year-old nightclub bouncer but could not get through to his mobile phone. Mills, 33, said: “He disappeared. His mobile was off. I was trying to get in touch with him because I didn’t have any money and I needed to get some bits from the shop. Normally he would ring me or I would ring him, on and off during the day, to see what I was doing. He didn’t ring me at all until later on. I didn’t see him past lunchtime.” She said it was unusual for her not to be in contact with Bellfield, who was not working during the day at the time. She had a 40-second conversation with him at 5.38pm and a longer call later that evening, she said. “I don’t remember the actual conversation but I know how it probably went with me asking where he was all that time and when he was coming back.” Bellfield denies abducting and murdering 13-year-old Dowler and attempting to kidnap 11-year-old Rachel Cowles in March 2002. Dowler disappeared after leaving Walton-on-Thames railway station in Surrey to walk home along Station Avenue. The prosecution claims Bellfield was living yards away and murdered the girl in his flat before dumping the body. Six months later, her remains were found in woods 25 miles away. Bellfield, who also worked as a wheel clamper, was convicted in 2008 of murdering Marsha McDonnell, 19, and Amelie Delagrange, 22, and attempting to murder Kate Sheedy, 18. Mills said she met Bellfield at a club in Surrey when she was 18 and he was working on the door. She had moved into a flat in Collingwood Place in Walton-on-Thames with their two small children in 2001 and Bellfield had moved in by Christmas. The week Dowler vanished, the family were house-sitting for a friend in west London. Mills gave evidence from behind a curtain shielding her from the defendant in the dock. The court was adjourned briefly when she began crying after hearing Bellfield clear his throat twice. She told the court he returned to the friend’s house between 10 or 11 that night. He was wearing different clothes from those he had on in the morning. “I think he got a takeaway and some lagers. He had had a drink but he was not drunk,” she said. Asked if she had questioned him, Mills answered: “I did but I would never get a straight answer – and even if he did tell me something, I would never know if it was the truth.” When the pair returned to Collingwood Place the following day, Mills noticed something unusual in the bedroom: “There were no sheets or pillow cases on the bed. No duvet cover. I rang him. He said the dog had had an accident on the bed. I didn’t believe him for a second. I said, ‘Why would she do that, when did it happen?’ “He said he put the sheets in the rubbish because they could not be washed.” Mills said Bellfield’s Staffordshire bull terrier, Shy, would never have soiled the bed. When she looked in the bins outside the flat, she could see nothing, she said. The case continues. Milly Dowler Crime David Sharrock guardian.co.uk
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US president tells parliament that Europe and the US will not be eclipsed by booming eastern economies Barack Obama declared on Wednesday that the Anglo-American special relationship would provide “indispensable” leadership to the world and said it was wrong to think that the rise of China and India had undermined the transatlantic alliance. In a speech designed to reassure Britain and other European countries, which fear that Obama’s Hawaiian upbringing means he instinctively looks to the Pacific, the president rejected as “false” the idea that Europe and the US were in terminal decline. Obama opened his speech with a joke after the House of Commons Speaker, John Bercow, said he was the first US president to address both houses of parliament in Westminster Hall. “I have known few greater honours than the opportunity to address the mother of parliaments at Westminster Hall,” the president said. “I am told that the last three speakers here have been the pope, Her Majesty the Queen and Nelson Mandela, which is either a very high bar or the beginning of a very funny joke.” Parliamentarians, who laughed at the joke, then listened to the president largely in silence until he spoke of the honour of how the grandson of a Kenyan cook could address parliament as US president. “It is possible for the sons and daughters of former colonies to sit here as members of this great parliament and for the grandson of a Kenyan who served as a cook in the British army to stand before you as president of the United States,” he said. His speech followed a joint press conference with David Cameron in the garden of Lancaster House . The prime minister said he had agreed with the US president that Nato would turn “up the heat” on Libya. Obama said the departure of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was essential: “We will continue those operations until Gaddafi’s attacks on civilians cease. Time is working against Gaddafi and he must step down from power and leave Libya to the Libyan people.” The main thrust of the speech to MPs and peers was designed to show that the US still remained committed to the transatlantic relationship. Obama insisted that Europe and the US would not be eclipsed by booming economies in the east. Warning of profound challenges ahead, he said: “The international order has already been reshaped for a new century. Countries like China, India and Brazil are growing by leaps and bounds. We should welcome this development for it has lifted hundreds of millions from poverty around the globe and created new markets and opportunities for our own nations. “And yet, as this rapid change has taken place, it has become fashionable in some quarters to question whether the rise of these nations will accompany the decline of American and European influence around the world. Perhaps, the argument goes, these nations represent the future and the time for our leadership has passed. That argument is wrong. The time for our leadership is now. “It was the US and the UK and our democratic allies that shaped a world in which new nations could emerge and individuals could thrive. Even as more nations take on the responsibilities of global leadership, our alliance will remain indispensable to the goal of a century that is more peaceful more prosperous and more just. At a time when threats and challenges require nations to work in concert with one another, we remain the greatest catalysts for global action.” Obama said Europe and the US enjoyed an “inherent advantage” in the global economy they shaped. He said: “In other words, we live in a global economy that is largely of our own making. The competition for the best jobs and industries favours countries that are free-thinking and forward-looking; countries with the most creative, innovative, entrepreneurial citizens. “That gives nations like the United States and the United Kingdom an inherent advantage. From Newton and Darwin to Edison and Einstein; from Alan Turing to Steve Jobs, we have led the world in our commitment to science and cutting-edge research; the discovery of new medicines and technologies. We educate our citizens and train our workers in the best colleges and universities on Earth. “But to maintain this advantage in a world that’s more competitive than ever, we will have to redouble our investments in science and engineering and renew our national commitments to educating our workforces.” Obama identified the challenges as: • Economic. “In an era defined by the rapid flow of commerce and information, it is our free market tradition, our openness fortified by our commitment to basic security for our citizens that offers the best chance for prosperity that is both shared and fair.” But he warned that markets fail: “We have also been reminded in the last few years that markets can sometimes fail. In the last century, both our nations put in place regulatory frameworks to deal with such market failures – to protect the banking system after the great depression, for example. But in today’s economy, such threats of market failure can no longer be contained within the borders of any one country. Market failures can go global, can go viral and demand international responses.” • Security. “Our nations are not, and will never be, at war with Islam. Our fight is focused on defeating al-Qaida and its extremist allies. In that effort, we will not relent as Osama bin Laden and his followers have learnt.” Obama said Nato was achieving a breakthrough against the Taliban in Afghanistan. Paying tribute to an “unbroken line of heroes” in the military, he said: “Because of them we have broken the Taliban momentum; because of them we have built the capacity of Afghan security forces; and because of them we are now preparing to turn the corner in Afghanistan by transitioning to Afghan lead.” • The future of the Arab spring. Obama said: “In country after country, people are mobilising to free themselves from the grip of an iron fist. While these movements for change are just six months old, we have seen them play out before – from eastern Europe to the Americas; from South Africa to south-east Asia.” Obama hailed the Arab spring as a “rebuke to al-Qaida”, adding: “What we saw in Tehran, Tunis and Tahrir Square is a longing for the same freedoms that we take for granted at home. It was a rejection of the notion that people in certain parts of the world don’t want to be free or need to have democracy imposed upon them. It was a rebuke to the worldview of al-Qaida, which smothers the rights of individuals and would thereby subject them to perpetual poverty and violence.” Barack Obama David Cameron House of Commons House of Lords Foreign policy al-Qaida Global terrorism Libya Middle East Africa Global economy Economics Nicholas Watt guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Paul Ryan: Don’t Blame Me for NY-26 Loss! It Was Evil Democrats’ Demagoguery on Medicare
May 25, 2011 No Comment
Click here to view this media Apparently Paul Ryan needed a place to come lick his wounds after the Republicans’ loss in New York’s 26th District special election loss last night, and the crew over at Morning Joe was more than happy to help him mend his bruised ego. Given Scarborough’s screaming tirade yesterday about greedy seniors who want to keep their Medicare being just like someone who wants to eat steak and chocolate cake every day, along with the months on end of fawning coverage of him he’s received on this show, Ryan had no doubt he was coming into friendly territory this morning. When asked about the loss, Ryan of course did not accept any of the blame for the Republicans’ loss there. It’s the Democrats’ fault for “demagoguing” the issue and of course on the independent “Tea Party” candidate being in the race — it had nothing to do with anger over the Republicans voting to voucherize Medicare. So don’t blame him, it was those horrible scary, untrue ads the Democrats ran that they all felt were just terribly unfair. They also gave him the full segment to lie about how people feel about his plan. According to Ryan, the voters are alright with his plan if they’re just given enough time to understand what it does. He also continued to pretend that it does not end Medicare as we know it. It privatizes it and all the happy talk in the world out of Ryan or this bunch isn’t going to change that. And Ryan’s claim — that since Medicare would still administer the program, it wouldn’t be drastically altered — is ridiculous. They showed the ad the Democrats ran showing a Ryan lookalike throwing grandma off of a cliff, which they laughed off as ridiculous since Ryan’s plan doesn’t affect those over 55 years of age, as though anyone under the age of 55 is not one day going to be that senior, or that those over the age of 55 don’t care what happens to their children and grandchildren. And of course what was missing from this segment? The largest drivers of our debt, which is those Bush tax cuts and our military spending. Heaven forbid we can’t talk about either of those. No, the elderly and the poor must be asked to sacrifice instead. Ryan and the crew on Morning Joe can continue to laugh off and dismiss what happened in yesterday’s special election. Let’s hope the voters in Wisconsin give them one less reason to keep laughing when they hold their recall elections this summer.
Continue reading …Catholic scholars raise moral issues for Republicans like Boehner — so O’Reilly calls them immoral
May 25, 2011 No Comment
Click here to view this media There’s an interesting dynamic beginning to play out recently on Paul Ryan’s budget by Catholic theologians and scholars against what I would call Catholic lobbyists — and having been raised Catholic, it’s a dynamic I’m familiar with. A group of Catholic academics spoke out against Rep. John Boehner, (who is also a Catholic) because he supports Paul Ryan’s budget plan, which will ultimately hurt the least of us — and as such, he’s violating important tenets of modern Catholicism. Here’s the cached version of the letter that was sent to Boehner and those that signed it: Mr. Speaker, your voting record is at variance from one of the Church’s most ancient moral teachings. From the apostles to the present, the Magisterium of the Church has insisted that those in power are morally obliged to preference the needs of the poor. Your record in support of legislation to address the desperate needs of the poor is among the worst in Congress. This fundamental concern should have great urgency for Catholic policy makers. Yet, even now, you work in opposition to it. The 2012 budget you shepherded to passage in the House of Representatives guts long-established protections for the most vulnerable members of society. It is particularly cruel to pregnant women and children, gutting Maternal and Child Health grants and slashing $500 million from the highly successful Women Infants and Children nutrition program. When they graduate from WIC at age 5, these children will face a 20% cut in food stamps. The House budget radically cuts Medicaid and effectively ends Medicare. It invokes the deficit to justify visiting such hardship upon the vulnerable, while it carves out $3 trillion in new tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy … read on You remember the phony outrage that was caused when right wingers went ballistic over President Obama being invited to speak at Notre Dame? It’s not surprising the the mainstream media hasn’t covered this at all. But when it’s the Catholic Bishops trying to screw up health care reform, it’s major news. As E.J. Dionne also observed about this media blackout, you didn’t hear many news stories coming out about this divide because it doesn’t fit with the Beltway’s usual narrative: And the story broke from the stereotypical narrative the media like to impose on Christians in general, and Catholics in particular. If the headline is “Conservative Catholics Denounce Liberal Politician on Abortion,” all the boilerplate is at the ready. But when the headline is “Catholic Progressives Challenge Conservative Politician on Social Justice,” this is something new and complicated. It’s far easier to write the 10th story of the week about Newt Gingrich. Catholics Anthony Stevens-Arroyo writes: Catholics challenge Boehner on faith and morals The exception, in a perverse way, was Fox News, which briefly last week tried to make a right-wing issue out of the story. Bill O’Reilly led the charge, and he came up with an unusual defense of Boehner (since he sides with the GOP) by calling the academics, gasp, immoral. O’Reilly: But to attack Speaker Boehner as an unfit Catholic is itself immoral because only God can make that judgment. The college professors protesting the speaker’s commencement address at Catholic University are making a blatantly political statement that has little to do with religion . Bill O’Reilly, a self proclaimed moral gasbag opinionator, made what he calls his own moral arguments against Dr. George Tiller, and eventually Tiller was murdered. See, everything for right-wing Catholics is tied to a woman and how they can control them. It’s as if nothing else matters, and that’s sad. Bill O also lies by justifying his own position against our social safety nets by saying that America is going bankrupt. Now I, your humble correspondent, am also Catholic, and I do support spending cuts because even though entitlement programs do some good, the looming bankruptcy of the country would harm far more people than the entitlements help. Oh, and if you thought those Catholic Bishops wouldn’t support Paul Ryan’s odious budget, guess again: Jonathon Cohen: The Catholic Bishop and the Devil Timothy Dolan, the Archbishop of New York and president of the Conference of Catholic Bishops, sent a letter on Wednesday to House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan. The subject of the letter was the House Republican Budget, which Ryan wrote, and it was part of an ongoing dialogue between the two men. Dolan’s letter did not endorse the Republican budget per se. But it praised Ryan for his attention to the Church’s values and, if you read the text, you can see why Ryan has (according to Politico ) been brandishing it as a signal of support Digby recaps how those same Catholic Bishops acted as a lobbying group for Republicans in their efforts to kill health car reform. Here’s the entire Bill O transcript: Bill O’Reilly: Controversy Over Boehner Speaking at Catholic University Speaker Boehner is set to give the commencement address at Catholic University in Washington, D.C., this Saturday. But 79 college professors around the country have signed a letter opining that Mr. Boehner is not upholding Catholic moral teachings. The professors say that because the speaker supports budget cuts that might impact poor people, including women and children, that he is “anti-life and not upholding Catholic theology.” Mr. Boehner himself is a Catholic and replied this way: (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. JOHN BOEHNER, R-OHIO, SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Like any religion, you will have some who are a little bit more liberal and some who are a bit more conservative. But I believe that the actions that I have taken during my years in Congress uphold the values of my faith. (END VIDEO CLIP) Now I, your humble correspondent, am also Catholic, and I do support spending cuts because even though entitlement programs do some good, the looming bankruptcy of the country would harm far more people than the entitlements help. The college professors are missing the essential point. The responsibility of the U.S. government is to protect all its citizens, and a bankruptcy in this country would devastate everyone. The cold truth of the matter is that our government simply cannot spend the amount of money it is spending. Everything has to be cut, including entitlements. That is not an immoral position. That is a responsible position because, again, if the economy collapses, everyone will be hurt. Now, many left-wing academics believe that raising taxes on the wealthy and corporations will cover the entitlement spending, but that is a canard. The enormous rise in Medicaid, Medicare and the looming Social Security disaster can never be covered by revenue enhancement. Never. All entitlements must be re-evaluated. There are ways to help the poor that don’t bankrupt us, and Catholics are compelled to help the poor. As you may know, “The Factor” gives millions of dollars to charitable causes. We have set up BillOReilly.com to do that because we believe those who have should help the have-nots. But to attack Speaker Boehner as an unfit Catholic is itself immoral because only God can make that judgment. The college professors protesting the speaker’s commencement address at Catholic University are making a blatantly political statement that has little to do with religion. And that’s “The Memo.”
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Facebook campaigners call for boycott of Danish bacon and urge rethink by Danish food officials Marmite fans in Denmark are planning a revolution against the authorities for banning the spread . Several groups on Facebook have already emerged in reaction to the ban imposed by the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration because the product is fortified with added vitamins. The groups include ” Eating marmite in Denmark because you’re a fearless bastard “, “Save Marmite in Denmark, Boycott Danish Bacon and Lego Now!! ” and ” Bring back Marmite in Denmark “. There is even an Expats Annual Marmite Day being organised, due to be held, if the page is to be believed , on 6 June. Founder Pat Kelly encouraged outraged Marmite eaters in the country to join forces and, presumably, eat extra Marmite on the allocated day. “Spread the word, but most importantly spread the Marmite,” wrote Kelly. “On every street in good old Denmark, show ‘em what they’re missing after they’ve banned this iconic product from our supermarket shelves! Make it a Marmite day everyday folks! Let the rise of the Marmite army begin!” But even on the page, opinion remained divided. A perplexed Ray Weaver wrote: “but… it’s horrible…” On the page calling for a boycott of Danish goods, fan Joe Figg feared the ban could have far-reaching consequences. “This dastardly move could bring about global warming of toast,” he wrote. While Mark Salisbury wrote: “Down with spread fascism!” Unilever, which produces Marmite, is weighing up its options to keep Marmite on Danish shelves. “We are sad to hear reports that our devoted fans may not be able to purchase Marmite in Denmark,” said a spokeswoman. “We’re looking into ways to ensure our Marmite lovers will not be left without their beloved spread. In the meantime we want to remind our fans in Denmark that they can still purchase Marmite from the Marmite shop – www.marmiteshop.co.uk”. She said the Facebook pages revealed a true love of the divisive savoury spread. “People are being very vocal and passionate about their favourite product,” she said. Denmark Europe Food & drink Alexandra Topping guardian.co.uk
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Yvette Cooper says appointment of Life organisation to panel raises question over ministers’ continuing support for abortion The Labour party has said that the appointment of a campaigning anti-abortion group to a new government advisory panel on sexual health raises concerns about whether abortion will continue to have support from ministers in future. The Life organisation , which is opposed to abortion in all circumstances and favours an abstinence-based approach to sex education, has been invited to join the sexual health forum, the Guardian revealed on Wednesday . The forum has been set up to replace the Independent Advisory Group on Sexual Health and HIV, which was abolished last year by Anne Milton, the public health minister. Yvette Cooper, shadow home secretary and shadow minister for women and equalities, said on Wednesday: “Many women will be alarmed to hear that an organisation that campaigns against abortion in all circumstances is now advising the government. “Abortion is legal in this country but the appointment of this group raises a concern about whether that will continue to be supported by ministers in future.” She added: “We know that women don’t take decisions about pregnancy and abortion lightly. They will want reassurances from ministers that the appointment of this group does not signal a backwards step in independent advice, proper health support for women and safe access to abortion.” There has also been criticism of the government’s decision to omit the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) from the new forum, despite its long-term membership of the previous advisory group. The Department of Health has justified its decision on the basis that it was important that the forum represented “a wide range of interests”. However, news of the invitation to Life and omission of the BPAS has caused anger. Education for Choice , a pro-choice charity that provides education and training resources, used Twitter on Wednesday to “urge all those with interest in young people’s health to write to public health minster Anne Milton to express disapproval”. Lisa Hallgarten, director of Education for Choice, said that sexual health professionals had played a key role advising the government in improving sexual health services in recent years. Women have particularly benefited from developments including greater investment in contraception and improvements to abortion access, she said. “It is hard to see how an organisation dedicated to opposing provision of abortion would support these kinds of advances and our main concern would be that Life might seek to obstruct further advances in contraceptive and abortion access or even turn the clock back on some of them,” she added. But the move was welcomed today by the Conservative MP and pro-life campaigner Nadine Dorries, who won backing from MPs this month for a motion proposing that teenage girls must be given lessons in how to say no to sex. “The news that the government has ejected BPAS from the new sexual health forum and replaced them with the charity Life is pleasing, as it was the right thing to do,” she wrote on her blog. MPs voted 67 to 61, a majority of six, to let Dorries bring forward her bill, which would provide classes in abstinence for girls aged 13 to 16. It will receive its second reading in January, though it is unlikely to become law without government support. She added: “Journalists who have contacted me have asked the question ‘do you agree that this decision was taken quickly, as a result of the success of your 10-minute rule bill calling for abstinence to be included in sex education teaching’ and ‘do you think the government have been caught off guard by the amount of public support for your bill’? I have no idea, what I do know though is that it is a very good step in the right direction.” The MP has also tabled amendments to the to the health and social care bill to tighten the rules on terminations. The new sexual health forum also includes representatives from the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV, the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Health, the Association of Directors of Public Health and the British HIV Association. Also on the panel are the Terrence Higgins Trust, sexual health charity Brook, the Family Planning Association, the Sex Education Forum and National Children’s Bureau. Abortion Health Women Sexual health Yvette Cooper Ben Quinn guardian.co.uk
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Attack helicopters’ use against Gaddafi to be formally announced amid warnings by forces minister of possible long haul for UK Ministers are to announce the deployment of Apache attack helicopters to Libya, a move seen as a significant escalation of Britain’s role in the conflict despite government denials, according to well-placed Whitehall sources. The decision will be officially announced on Thursday after a meeting of the cabinet and the National Security Council chaired by David Cameron, the Guardian understands. HMS Ocean, with four Apaches on board, is expected off the Libyan coast within days. The heavily armed helicopters will be used to protect a 16-mile buffer zone around Misrata, defence officials said. They could also be used to attack Gaddafi forces’ positions in the port city, despite possible vulnerability to rocket-propelled grenades and even rifle fire. The decision – agreed jointly with the French who are deploying 12 Tiger helicopters – had already been taken as far as military commanders were concerned. Nick Harvey, the armed forces minister, told the Commons on Tuesday that “no decision” had yet been taken. He added that the deployment would represent “a shift in tactics not an escalation of what we are doing”. But ministers and officials have made clear they are frustrated about the failure to make headway against Muammar Gaddafi’s forces and fear that military operations will not end any time soon. Libyan rebels have been pressing Nato to help them defeat Gaddafi troops, now in civilian clothes, who are continuing to fire at them in Misrata. Harvey told the Guardian the government has ruled out going to the UN to try to give the military campaign greater scope because there would not be the “groundswell of support we achieved last time” for a change of mission criteria. He warned, though, that the UK might have to brace itself for the long haul. The minister said there was probably an “over expectation” that military pressure alone would force Gaddafi out of power, and that the effort had to be pursued on three fronts. “Things are progressing in the right direction, albeit slowly. It could be that the military, economic and political pressure if sustained will get us to the point that the threat to the civilian population can be overcome,” he said. “It takes as long as it takes. I think that the whole effort is going to take quite a bit longer. Even if Gaddafi goes there is going to be a need for a smooth transition programme, and very likely a big job for the United Nations to help in the recovery phase.” A senior Whitehall source said the Libyan leader was constantly on the move. “We know where his compound is. It does not follow that that is where he is.” Libya was on the agenda of talks between Barack Obama and Cameron in Downing Street but British officials have said that they do not expect the US to reverse its earlier decision to withdraw combat aircraft. After London expressed concerns to the US, Washington agreed to send Predator unmanned drones. The US accounts for a quarter of all sorties over Libya, mainly by reconnaissance aircraft. For the second successive night, Nato air strikes targeted the area around Gaddafi’s Bab al-Aziziya compound in the Libyan capital, Tripoli. The Ministry of Defence said RAF planes attacked four heavy armoured vehicles deployed near the city of Zliten and destroyed a regime radar station at Brega. The MoD denied reports that No 10 had asked the RAF to dispatch more Tornado jets to the country. It emerged that two Typhoon pilots due to fly missions over Libya were sent back to the UK for “inappropriate behaviour”. The men, deployed at Gioia del Colle air base in Italy – where 12 Tornados and 6 Typhoons are based – returned to RAF Coningsby, in Lincolnshire, at the end of March. The disciplinary action followed a night’s drinking, but the MoD was unable to confirm whether the pilots were declared unfit to fly. The RAF said two personnel had been “returned from detachment”. They will be dealt with through internal “administrative action” which will have serious implications for their future career, defence officials said. The army’s Apaches have clocked up 100,000 flying hours across the world, a third of which have been flown on operations in Afghanistan, the MoD announced. The defence secretary, Liam Fox, said: “The army’s attack helicopter force has proven itself to be a versatile and capable attack platform providing vital support to our ground troops over the last five years in Afghanistan.” Apache force commander, Colonel Neale Moss, said: “Apache is a highly capable and versatile aircraft that has proved its value time and time again on operations in Afghanistan, and its future role is constantly evolving.” Military Libya Middle East Africa Arab and Middle East unrest Defence policy Muammar Gaddafi Obama administration United States US foreign policy Richard Norton-Taylor Nick Hopkins guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …I find it hard to believe that these are the only people involved. To people like this, $50 million is small change. My guess is, this is just the tip of the iceberg. After all, oil speculation is a major factor in the rising cost of food, too: New YORK (CNNMoney) — Federal regulators charged five oil speculators Tuesday with manipulating the price of crude and making a $50 million profit from the scheme. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission alleges the speculators bought enormous amounts of actual crude oil for sale in Cushing, Okla, during the early months of 2008. This created a perceived shortage of oil in Cushing — a major point for oil delivery — and drove the price of oil futures contracts higher. The speculators then bet the price of oil would fall by selling so-called “short” contracts to other investors. When the speculators sold their actual oil holdings in Cushing en mass, the price of oil did fall, netting the group a hefty profit. The alleged scheme took place between January and April 2008, a time when oil prices were gradually climbing toward their all-time record of $147 a barrel set in the summer of 2008. The price of crude during the months of the alleged misdeeds changed very little, generally staying within a $10 range but the traders made their money off the daily fluctuations. Crude traded at $99 a barrel Jan. 2, 2008, and ended March 2008 at $101 a barrel. The speculators charged in the suit are Parnon Energy Inc. of California, Arcadia Petroleum of the United Kingdom, Swiss-based Arcadia Energy, James T. Dyer of Australia and Nicholas J. Wildgoose of California.
Continue reading …Time magazine's Feifei Sun took the media obsession with Newt Gingrich's half-million dollar credit line at Tiffany & Co. and cranked it up to 11. In a May 24 NewsFeed blog post , Sun accounted for $87,500 of the expenditures by scouring photos of Callista Gingrich and tabulating the value of her bling.
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