News Stories

[Slick_rick]

Originally Posted by flying ^

you know there's something wrong with this picture



TSA patts down child

..... lil old lady


Ignores Man In Arab Garb


http://www.realclearpolitics.com/vid...arab_garb.html

Basically wearing Arab garb now makes you "the enemy" in the words of this congressmen. I suppose then if I was a terrorist I just wouldn't wear it when I'm trying to heist a plane then. Of course just being "brown" is a crime enough now I guess.

Let's be real pat downs are a deterrent. They have never and probably will never catch a terrorist. But if they aren't completely random then terrorist will find a way around them like they did during 9/11. If they need to smuggle weapons on board and they know you aren't to check the "poor and innocent" grandma and child then that's who they will use especially now that home grown terrorists are more prevalent. Drug trafficking is a much more of an issue because women and child have long been used to try to avoid being caught doing it.

[SaintessHeart]

CFTC to market manipulators: We're gonna get you

(Reuters) - The day after bringing its biggest case of oil market manipulation ever, a U.S. regulator warned those trying to rig the commodities markets that they will be hunted down.

"We're watching and we'll come and get you," warned Bart Chilton, a commissioner for the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Chilton's comments came after Arcadia, one of two firms sued on Tuesday for allegedly reaping $50 million by illegally manipulating oil markets in 2008, pledged to fight the CFTC.

"The CFTC is wrong on both the facts and the law," Colin Hurley, the Chief Financial Officer of Arcadia, said in an e-mailed statement.

The quick rebuttal set up a rare public show-down over trading practices in the opaque physical oil market. Many such past cases have been settled out of court, and regulators have struggled in the past to make manipulation charges stick.

The CFTC suit against London-based Arcadia and U.S. subsidiary Parnon Energy, as well as two well-known traders James Dyer and Nick Wildgoose, suggests a tougher approach from regulators under political pressure to crack down on market malfeasance.

Alleged manipulation of oil markets has become a charged political topic. The Obama administration has assured Americans it is trying to curb high U.S. gasoline prices and ensure they aren't being artificially driven up.

"This is only going to be the beginning of an array of cases that will be brought and I believe it's going to have a deterrent on market actors as we speak," said Michael Greenberger, a law professor at the University of Maryland and the CFTC's former director of trading and markets.

SQUEEZE PLAY?

Arcadia and Parnon are both owned by secretive Norwegian billionaire John Fredriksen. Known as "Big Wolf" and more widely as "Big John" in the shipping industry, he owns the world's largest independent oil tanker firm, Frontline.

The CFTC suit alleges that Dyer and Wildgoose carried out an illegal squeeze in benchmark U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil markets in early 2008 that led to $50 million in illicit profits.

The CFTC said the traders amassed large physical positions at a key U.S. trading hub in Cushing, Oklahoma to create the impression of tight supplies that would boost prompt oil prices.

Later, they dumped those barrels back onto the market, causing prices to fall and racking up profits from short positions they had accrued in futures markets, the suit said.

Parnon owns at least 3 million barrels of storage facilities at Cushing, the delivery point of the U.S. crude contract.

London-based Arcadia, whose headquarters sit opposite the iconic department store Harrods, is a major global oil trading firm, which typically markets about 800,000 barrels a day of crude and oil products around the world.

Hurley disputed the notion that Arcadia had a big enough position to influence the U.S. crude oil futures market, which had a notional daily turnover of $300 to $400 million in early 2008.

He said independent experts it had retained agreed that "the CFTC's allegations of misconduct were inconsistent with market conditions and with Arcadia's trading activity during the period."

Many civil actions around the derivatives markets have been settled before reaching trial, with firms often agreeing to pay fines without admitting wrongdoing. In this case, Arcadia said it did not expect a settlement to be possible.

"In short, our activity involved legitimate and lawful trades at market prices that were dictated by the fundamentals of supply and demand," Hurley, who also speaks for Parnon, said. "We look forward to proving this in court."

NEW POWERS

The CFTC launched a probe of crude oil markets in 2008 when prices surged to a record $147 a barrel, then crashed to nearly $30 a barrel by the end of the year.

Chilton would not say whether the latest case, brought in the Federal Southern District Court of New York, was a harbinger of more to come, but said the agency hasn't announced the end of its investigation into market manipulation in 2008.

"I hope this sends a resounding message to whoever may consider manipulating or attempting to manipulate the futures markets," said Chilton.

"Quite frankly, I wish we had gone more rapidly but investigations take time," said Chilton.

While this case came under its existing authority, the CFTC is gearing up to test its increased powers under the Dodd-Frank Act to prevent market manipulation and disruptive trading practices. Effective in July, the law could end decades of confusion and a failure to prosecute traders.

The CFTC had previously focused mostly on smaller retail foreign exchange fraud and Ponzi rackets because regulations made it hard to prove market manipulation, according to officials who follow the agency.

The CFTC will now only have to show a trader acted in a manner that had the potential to disrupt the market, making it easier to prove a case. Currently, the regulator has to show an intent to manipulate prices.

The CFTC also recently welcomed a new enforcement chief, David Meister, who has vowed to use his "bigger arsenal of weapons" to target more cutting-edge, high impact schemes.

This is dangerous - it gives the regulators too much power. As close as this comes to Silver Thursday, it is difficult to show a trader to act in a disruptive manner because anyone with large margin can buy as many stocks as that money is worth - that is hardly even enough to prove that the person is manipulating the market.

A trader or investor MUST always be ready to dump him/her stocks at a moment's notice, instead of blaming the bigger traders all the time. Though there is truth in that some big traders work together to fix the market (known as insider trading), an independent trader must also be independent on research and not follow headlines and/or what other people say all the time.

Let's see how the proof works out before I comment anymore on this; though I have a gut feeling that Fredriksen had both his hand and foot in messing with the oil prices.

[justinstrife]

Originally Posted by flying ^

you know there's something wrong with this picture



TSA patts down child

..... lil old lady


Ignores Man In Arab Garb


http://www.realclearpolitics.com/vid...arab_garb.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyAautx-mVc

[SaintessHeart]

FINALLY!

Hedge fund star calls for Microsoft CEO to go

(Reuters) - Influential hedge fund manager David Einhorn has called for Microsoft Corp Chief Executive Steve Ballmer to step down, saying the world's largest software company's leader is stuck in the past.

"His continued presence is the biggest overhang on Microsoft's stock," Einhorn said in reference to Ballmer.

The comments by outspoken Einhorn, who made his name warning about Lehman Brothers' financial health before the investment bank's collapse, are the most pointed yet from a high-profile investor against Microsoft's leadership.

Microsoft shares, which have been static for over a decade, gained 0.87 percent in after-hours trading after Einhorn's comments, the most of any Dow Jones industrial average component.

The software giant, which was the largest U.S. company by market value in the late 1990s, has since been overtaken by Apple Inc and IBM in market value, and is no longer seen as a dominating force in technology after a failure to capitalize on new Internet and mobile computing markets.

The stock is down 6 percent in the last two weeks alone after Microsoft agreed to pay $8.5 billion for Internet phone service Skype, a move which mystified many investors.

Speaking at the annual Ira Sohn Investment Research Conference in New York on Wednesday, Einhorn said it was time for Ballmer -- who succeeded co-founder Bill Gates in 2000 -- to step aside and "give someone else a chance."

Einhorn's comments echo what some investors have said for some years in private.

A Microsoft spokesman declined comment on Einhorn's remarks.

RECENT BUYER

Einhorn's Greenlight Capital hedge fund has been a recent buyer of Microsoft stock, which at under 10 times expected earnings is regarded by many as undervalued.

Greenlight held about 9 million shares in Microsoft, or 0.11 percent of the company's outstanding shares, at the end of the first quarter, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Einhorn also said it was time for Microsoft to consider strategic alternatives for its money-losing online business, which has so far failed to win share from online search leader Google Inc.

The online services unit, which runs the Bing search engine and MSN web portal, had a loss of $726 million last quarter and has now lost $7 billion in four years.

Bing has made some progress, raising its U.S. Internet search market share to 14 percent from 8 percent in the two years since launch, but has not taken any share from Google, which has held on to its 65 percent share, according to research firm comScore.

Einhorn declined to comment further.

OLD FOES APPLE, IBM REVIVED

On Tuesday, Microsoft was overtaken by IBM in market value for the first time in 15 years, chiefly because of Microsoft's static share price. Apple roared past it last year to become the world's most valuable tech company.

(Graphic showing market value of Apple, IBM and Microsoft over time: r.reuters.com/jaw69r )

An investor who put $100,000 into Microsoft stock 10 years ago would now have about $69,000 worth.

Einhorn, the president of Greenlight Capital, which had $7.8 billion of assets as of January 1, made his name with the prescient call on Lehman's accounting troubles.

In the spring of 2008, Einhorn said Lehman -- and its then-Chief Financial Officer Erin Callan -- had understated its own problems and needed to raise capital to support a balance sheet peppered with risky assets.

Einhorn's public speeches on the matter in April and May 2008 -- including one at the Ira Sohn conference that year -- touched a nerve with other investors and are widely credited as leading to Callan's departure from the company a few months before its collapse.

Microsoft shares, which gained 4 cents in normal trading, ended up a further 12 cents at $24.31 in after-hours activity.

What took you so long to make that statement Mr Einhorn? Shouldn't you have already said that eons ago?

[ganbaru]

Pakistan trims U.S. military mission as mistrust grows
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/...74P1G620110526

[SaintessHeart]

Today is a fascinating day - so many interesting news!

Ultra-realistic robots test our relationship with machines (2:21)

An ultra-realistic robot, known as a geminoid, is helping psychologists test how we relate to machines. The device is designed to be almost identical to the professor who's leading the project in Denmark. Stuart McDill reports.

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

Today is a fascinating day - so many interesting news!

Ultra-realistic robots test our relationship with machines (2:21)

very very good, it took me a few secs to figure out who was the dummy and i was looking for it.

[SaintessHeart]

Witness: Shattered humanity inside Syria's security apparatus

Reuters journalist Suleiman al-Khalidi, a Jordanian citizen, was arrested by Syrian security police when covering the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. In the following story, he recounts his treatment at the hands of the Syrian intelligence services and the scenes of torture he witnessed around him during four days of confinement.

Like other foreign correspondents, he was subsequently expelled from Syria. He now reports on the continuing unrest from Amman.

The item is accompanied by an account by correspondent Yara Bayoumy of others' experiences of abuse in Syrian prisons.

By Suleiman al-Khalidi

AMMAN (Reuters) - The young man was dangling upside down, white, foaming saliva dripping from his mouth. His groans sounded more bestial than human.

It was one of many fleeting images of human degradation I witnessed during four days as an unwilling guest of Syrian intelligence, when I was detained in Damascus after reporting on protests in the southern Syrian city of Deraa.

Within minutes of my arrest I was inside a building of the intelligence services -- known, as elsewhere in the Arab world, simply as the "Mukhabarat." I was still in the heart of bustling Damascus, but had been transported into a macabre parallel world of darkness, beatings and intimidation.

I caught sight of the man hanging by his feet as one of the jailers escorted me to the interrogation room for questioning.

"Look down," the jailer shouted as I took in the scene.

Inside an interrogation room, they made me kneel and pulled what I could just make out as a car tyre over my arms.

My reporting from Deraa, where protests against President Bashar al-Assad had broken out in March, had apparently not endeared me to my hosts, who accused me of being a spy.

The formal reason Syrian authorities gave Reuters for my detention was that I lacked the proper work permits.

That I was an established journalist working for Reuters, going about my professional business, was not an argument to men whose livelihood depends on breaking human dignity.

"So, you cheap American agent!," the interrogator shouted.

"You have come to report destruction and mayhem. You animal, you are coming to insult Syria, you dog."

From outside the room I could hear the rattling of chains and hysterical cries that echo in my mind to this day. My interrogators worked professionally and tirelessly to keep me on edge at every step of the questioning process over several days.

"Shut up, you bastard. You and your types are vultures who want to turn Syria into another Libya," said another interrogator, who kept yelling: "Confess, liar!"

ARREST IN THE STREET

I had crossed the border from Jordan, where I have reported for Reuters for nearly two decades, on March 18, as unrest was first breaking out in Deraa. I spent most of the next 10 days reporting from that city. Inspired by the fall of Arab dictators in Tunisia and Egypt, the protests rapidly escalated into a grave challenge to the Assad family's 40-year rule.

I was arrested on March 29 in Damascus as I went to meet someone in an old district of the capital. Two plain clothes security men approached me and told me not to resist as they held my arms and then marched me into a hairdresser's until an ordinary-looking white car came to take me to the Mukhabarat.

Interrogators showed particular interest in two aspects of my reporting -- the fact that I had written about watching protesters burn images of late President Hafez al-Assad, father of the incumbent, and hearing chants attacking Maher al-Assad, brother of Bashar and commander of the Republican Guard.

Iron busts of Assad the father and portraits of the current president adorn the corridors and offices in buildings of the state security apparatus, part of a family personality cult recognizable to students of authoritarian rule the world over.

DEMONSTRATION OF METHODS

I felt my hosts wanted to give me, as a foreign journalist, a demonstration of the methods they use on Syrians. To brace myself for what might yet come and save myself from total breakdown, I tried to fix my mind on old childhood memories.

These mental games helped me avoid thinking of my young twins and wife back home in Amman, who had no way of knowing where I was, or even whether I was still alive.

The questioning lasted eight hours until midnight on my first day of detention. Mostly I was blindfolded, but the blindfold was removed for a few minutes.

That allowed me -- despite orders to keep my head down so that my interrogators should remain out of view -- to see a hooded man screaming in pain in front of me.

When they told him to take down his pants, I could see his swollen genitals, tied tight with a plastic cable.

"I have nothing to tell, but I am neither a traitor and activist. I am just a trader," said the man, who said he was from Idlib province in the north west of Syria.

To my horror, a masked man took a pair of wires from a household power socket and gave him electric shocks to the head.

At other moments, my questioners could be charming, but would quickly switch to ruthless mode in what looked like an orchestrated performance to wear me down.

"We will make you forget who you are," one of them threatened as I was beaten for the sixth time on my face.

I could not see what hit me. It felt like fists.

Twice in detention I was whipped on the shoulder, leaving bruises that stayed a week.

During intervals in the corridor, with my back against the wall and my hands in the air, I stood on display as at least a dozen security men jostled me and hurled abuse.

And yet humanity could appear at the unlikeliest moments.

At one point, the interrogator who was screaming at me that I was a dog (a particular insult to Arabs) took a call on his mobile phone. His tone became immediately warm and affectionate: "Of course, my dear, I'll get you whatever you want," he said, switching from professional torturer to indulgent father.

SCREAMS AND COCKROACHES

For long periods, I lay on a mattress in a windowless cell, lit by a small neon light, as cockroaches scurried around.

Occasional screams reminded me of where I was and what might happen. I was kept in solitary confinement and my jailers gave me a piece of dry bread or a potato and a tomato twice a day.

When I wanted to go to the toilet, I would knock on the door of my cell. A jailer would then appear, though it could take over an hour to have my request met.

I thought of the thousands of people in Syrian prisons, and how they endured solitary confinement and constant degradation, many for decades. I thought of Russians I had read about in Siberian exile, and about the meaning of freedom, for Syrians and for other Arabs living under autocrats across the region.

I was not the first person there in the cell, of course. One of my unknown predecessors had carved an inscription on the wall, apparently with his fingernails.

"God against the oppressor," it read.

My mind went back to the events in Deraa -- the thousands of youngsters clapping in unison, shouting "Freedom," and the expressions on the faces of the women, children and old men who came out to the streets to watch in a mixture of disbelief and euphoria, an electrifying spirit of defiance.

I saw how decades of fear sown in the hearts and minds of people was crumbling as hundreds of bare-chested young men braved bullets fired by security men and snipers from rooftops. I will never forget the bodies of men shot in the head or chest, carried through the blood-spattered streets of Deraa, and dozens of shoes left on the streets by youths running from gunfire.

EXPELLED

Then on the fourth day of detention, my hosts came to move me, putting me in a car that whisked me to what turned out to be the intelligence headquarters several blocks away in Damascus.

It was a huge complex, with hundreds of plain-clothes security men in the courtyard outside, all with grim faces.

"Search every inch of him," said one man as two others dragged me toward the basement.

I spent two hours in a cell where I reflected on how I would cope with imprisonment in the months ahead.

Then I was brought into a room nearby. To my bewilderment an urbane man with an air of authority told me: "We are sending you back to Jordan."

I realized later, from looking at pictures in the media, that this had been Major General Ali Mamluk, the director of Syrian State Security himself, a man whose subordinates hold thousands of Syrians in similar jails across the country.

He said my reporting from Deraa had been inaccurate and had damaged the image of Syria.

Within hours I crossed the border and was back home, where I learned that Jordan's royal family had worked for my release and spared me from a longer and more grueling fate. Other Reuters journalists were also expelled, some also after detention, and now Syria is effectively barred to most foreign media.

Nearly two months later, time has helped me absorb the impact of those four days, to the extent that I can record the experiences in writing. But I am haunted by the human cost of the Arab uprisings for people seeking the sort of freedoms which others elsewhere in the world take for granted.

This is scary. The ruler that tortures his own people into submission?

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

Witness: Shattered humanity inside Syria's security apparatus



This is scary. The ruler that tortures his own people into submission?

In a sense, this is the end game for "libertarianism" (as little government as possible). The biggest thug in town does what he wants and takes what he wants because there's no rule-of-law engrained into the society to stop him. What's the difference between a warlord, a crime boss, or a powerful family with nothing to stop them? (shrug) sometimes just the kind of finery they wear or claiming some monstrous sky fairy gave them the go-ahead. In many cases, psychopaths and sociopaths are much of what one reads about in history books.

[Jinto]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

This is scary. The ruler that tortures his own people into submission?

The way you say this, triggers some pseudo-philosophical question like:

Does the own in "own people" imply ownership?
Does torture work on someone who is into SM (a masochist)?
Is it okay to torture other people who are not your own?
Did they copy from the CIA or do they use their own, patented torturing techniques?

What where you expecting from these regimes.. of'course its a little darker than the torture practiced in the "free" world. I mean they do not kill their opponents with drones from the sky (causing collateral damage), they try to convince the subjects before they kill them. Hm, maybe its a good idea to end my relativistic view on human rights here, before somebody thinks I actually mean what I say (its supposed to be sarcasm).

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by Vexx

In a sense, this is the end game for "libertarianism" (as little government as possible). The biggest thug in town does what he wants and takes what he wants because there's no rule-of-law engrained into the society to stop him. What's the difference between a warlord, a crime boss, or a powerful family with nothing to stop them? (shrug) sometimes just the kind of finery they wear or claiming some monstrous sky fairy gave them the go-ahead. In many cases, psychopaths and sociopaths are much of what one reads about in history books.

China has old saying

The Winner is King, the Loser is a bandit

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by Jinto

The way you say this, triggers some pseudo-philosophical question like:

Does the own in "own people" imply ownership?
Does torture work on someone who is into SM (a masochist)?
Is it okay to torture other people who are not your own?
Did they copy from the CIA or do they use their own, patented torturing techniques?

Technically speaking, rulers, be it presidents, monarchs or junta generals, they own their citizens through enforcement of social order. When that turns into oppression, it immediately descends into a tyranny, something removes the justice and right of rule.

What where you expecting from these regimes.. of'course its a little darker than the torture practiced in the "free" world. I mean they do not kill their opponents with drones from the sky (causing collateral damage), they try to convince the subjects before they kill them. Hm, maybe its a good idea to end my relativistic view on human rights here, before somebody thinks I actually mean what I say (its supposed to be sarcasm).

Sometimes, I wonder if I should uphold my respect for people practicing Abrahamic religions, or just descend into their standard of mudslinging people who worship other faiths.

I read from the Koran and Bible, and it really seems that the interpretation of the texts have gone seriously FUBAR in the world we live in. Not only am I reading about Muslims practicing such hideous techniques in the Mideast (even on their fellow believers), also I recently read about a local news where a Christian volunteer was evicted from the hospital for proselyting to a patient speaking in bigotry of his entity. It seemed to me that modern Christianity and Islam is trying to force their beliefs onto non-believers via violence or subversive brain-washing.

Where is the following of the heavenly decree of "Respect others no matter what their beliefs" as written in the holy scriptures? Do we really need the world to be separated by religious factionalism round every street and corner? Or is religious genocide and outlawing of religion a necessity, in the time and date where neither party bothers to reason with each other?

[Endless Soul]

It seemed to me that modern Christianity and Islam is trying to force their beliefs onto non-believers via violence or subversive brain-washing.

Indeed. Count me out.

[ganbaru]

Judge voids controversial Wisconsin union law
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/...74P4PR20110526

[FDW]

Originally Posted by ganbaru

Judge voids controversial Wisconsin union law
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/...74P4PR20110526

This is good.

[justinstrife]

Originally Posted by ganbaru

Judge voids controversial Wisconsin union law
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/...74P4PR20110526

Hopefully the politicians will vote for it the proper way and get it passed without any shenanigans.

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by justinstrife

Hopefully the politicians will vote for it the proper way and get it passed without any shenanigans.

if the R wants to pass it again, they are going to have to do it soon. They might not have a majority after the recall elections.

[AnimeFan188]

"Antipiracy legislation that would dramatically increase the government’s legal power to
disrupt and shutter websites “dedicated to infringing activities” cleared a major
legislative hurdle Thursday.

Two weeks after being introduced, the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously
advanced the package to the Senate floor.

But by the late afternoon, Senator Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) placed a hold on the Protect
IP Act that will keep it from landing on the Senate floor."

See:

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/201...-law-advances/

[justinstrife]

Originally Posted by Xellos-_^

if the R wants to pass it again, they are going to have to do it soon. They might not have a majority after the recall elections.

What recall elections? First I've heard of any.

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by justinstrife

What recall elections? First I've heard of any.

this recall

http://thirdcoastdigest.com/2011/05/...c-proportions/


Wisconsin voters are on the verge of making history, with a recall vote of epic proportions, never seen in this country before.
Organizers targeted every one of the 16 eligible senators (meaning they’ve been in office for at least one year) — eight Democratic and eight Republican — for their votes and behavior pertaining to Act 10, also known as the budget repair bill.
Republicans are targeted for their votes in favor of Act 10, which would restrict collective bargaining rights among public employees, as well as a perceived subversion of the democratic process with a hasty committee vote on an altered form of the bill; Democrats are on the block for opposing Gov. Walker’s reforms or their 3-week flight to Illinois to stall the vot


Petitions against nine senators have been submitted to the Government Accountability Board, the first step toward a recall election. Each petition must contain qualified, unique signatures totaling at least 25% of the votes cast for the office being recalled in the previous election. If the submitted petition is ratified, a recall election can move forward.
The effort against the Republican senators has been more successful, as Sens. Alberta Darling (River Hills), Robert Cowles (Green Bay), Sheila Harsdorf (River Falls), Luther Olsen (Ripon), Randy Hopper (Fond du Lac) and Dan Kapanke (La Crosse) could face recall election races. Three Democratic senators – Dave Hansen (Green Bay), Jim Holperin (Conover) and Robert Wirch (Pleasant Prairie) — may also end up on recall ballots.

and if the D win the recall, you can see this in Nov

Recall of Governor?

Anger over Act 10, forwarded by Walker, is driving the recalls, and it’s no surprise that talk of recalling the governor has been loud and strong, especially among the protesters marching in Madison over the last few months. Like all other public officials, Walker is not eligible for recall until he serves at least one year. According to the GAB, recall petitions against Walker cannot be circulated until early November 2011, and cannot be filed until January 3, 2012.
The number of signatures required to trigger a recall election for Governor is 540,208, or one-quarter of the 2,160,832 votes cast for Governor in the November 2010 General Election.