News Stories

[ganbaru]

AP Sources: GOP weighs short-term debt limit hike
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...10-09-19-34-17

Charity to pay military death benefits
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...10-09-18-37-11

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

Ah yes, the inimitable Ms. Coulter. I believe it is a requirement for being a female commentator on Fox News that you be white and blond.

Isn't me or Ann Coulter is even more toxic and lunatic than most Fox News commentators ?

[Ithekro]

One more:

Obama vs. the Veterans

http://www.americanthinker.com/2013/..._veterans.html

The government has been shut down since October 1st and President Obama has decided to close Washington by making life as inconvenient as possible. He did this before with the Sequestration when he would not permit any White House tours. Instead of understanding that he should work for the best interests of Americans, helping them wherever possible, he has done just the opposite. It appears he sees this as a game where he wants to win at all costs with the clear loser the American people. In response there is the possibility of a new rally, "Million Vet March On the Memorials" that will take place on October 13th. American Thinker decided to use the World War II Memorial fiasco to point out the president's uncaring ways and how he tried to use veterans as political pawns.

Last Tuesday a group of WWII veterans from Mississippi, as part of the "Honor Flights" Program, was scheduled to visit their memorial in Washington DC. Honor Flight represents America's pride in honoring its veterans for their sacrifices. They pay for the veterans' trip to Washington so they can reflect at their memorials.

Since the beginning of the government shutdown, the White House and the Department of the Interior have both rejected a request to assure that the memorial remained open for the veterans. In fact, veterans were told that if they decided to attend arrests would be made. Congressman Steven Palazzo (R-Miss) came to their rescue. He first tried to reason with this administration, but got nowhere. He explained that the $90,000 cost was nonrefundable and that these veterans, in their 90s, might not have another chance to see their memorial. He then sent a letter wondering why an open-air monument that is untended throughout the day and is open 24/7, 365 days a year would be closed. Instead of compromising, the administration decided to put up barriers and yellow police tape barring entry, as well as sending his office an email stating, "the government is shut down what do you expect."

The congressman told American Thinker he cannot explain the logic, since the cost of procuring the barriers, transporting them, the labor involved, and having guards posted probably exceeded the cost of keeping the monument open. He took a personal interest since he is also a veteran, in his case of the Gulf War, and in the past has met and greeted the Honor Flight participants to thank them for their service, sacrifice, and courage. "At first I thought this was just a bureaucratic oversight, but soon realized it's petty politics. It made no sense since the administration had to go through an extra effort to keep them out. For these individuals to be turned away from a monument erected in their honor is un-American. I was not going to stand for it." What he did was displace some of the barriers so the veterans could get through.

A veteran who was there, Bob Hunter, agreed and felt that "it was terrible for me to be barred entry from my own memorial. I think they are trying to punish everyone because no one wants ObamaCare. It was a shame we first had to look at it across a fence. I really appreciate what our representatives did to allow us to see it. Although it would have been a much more enjoyable experience if they had not stopped the fountain from working."

Unfortunately, the administration tried to continue its callous stance when the next day it tried to bar entry to the Chicago Honor Flight World War II veterans. But the Park Service decided to allow them to exercise their First Amendment rights of Assembly and permitted them to attend. Mary Pettinato, Honor Flight Chicago CEO, told American Thinker the group wanted to go, insisting, "We stormed the eaches of Normandy and saw our buddies blown away. We are not going to be bothered by barricades. Bring it on." She also said that Park Services employees should not be blamed since many sympathized with the veterans and were saddened that the administration was making them enforce the policy. One employee sarcastically said they were forced to protect a memorial from those who wanted to see it.

Since only the veterans and their families were permitted in, she wanted to share their experience with fellow Americans. "Senator Mark Kirk (R-Ill), a twenty-year Navy veteran, who had a stroke one year ago, came out to greet us in his wheelchair. He stood up to shake our veterans hands and lost his balance. His aides pulled him back into his wheelchair. The veterans then stopped their walk of the memorial and one by one they waited in line to shake his hand. He and everyone else were crying. This was truly a powerful event since the memorial allows these veterans to say their good-byes to those who served with them. Normally we have a Marine color guard with someone singing the National Anthem. We made our own color guard and this time instead of just listening everyone sang the Star Spangled Banner."

This incident demonstrates that the government shutdown is no longer about issues, but is just about politics. The Obama administration is trying to maximize the pain for Americans. It has become evident that this president is all about ego and spitefulness, not concern. As everyone interviewed noted, when it comes to honoring America's veterans it should be bipartisan.

[AnimeFan188]

Libyan PM Ali Zeidan seized by armed men:

"Mr Zeidan was taken from his hotel at dawn "by gunmen to an unknown place for
unknown reasons", said a statement on the government's website.

The details are unclear - sources say Mr Zeidan was arrested by an anti-crime militia
allied to the government, but others that he had been kidnapped."

See:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-24470850

[ganbaru]

Libyan PM freed after stunning abduction
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories...10-10-06-19-39

Azerbaijan announces election winner _ before vote
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/azerb...on-winner-vote

[SaintessHeart]

Singapore diplomat bitten by graft charges over pineapple tarts

(Reuters) - First it was sex, then casinos. Now, a Singapore diplomat has been charged with inflating the number of pineapple tarts and bottles of wine carried on official visits in the latest corruption case to hit the squeaky clean city-state.

Lim Cheng Hoe, former chief of protocol at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, allegedly overbilled authorities by around S$89,000 ($71,100) by overstating the amount of gifts bought for official purposes between 2008 and 2012.

Lim faces 60 charges and could be jailed for up to three years on each charge if found guilty.

Singapore, a wealthy Asian finance and trade center ranked as the world's fifth least corrupt country by Transparency International, has been embarrassed by a number of recent cases involving senior officials.

Earlier this year, the former head of the civil defense force and a law professor were found guilty of corruptly accepting sexual favors. A former chief of the police's anti-drugs squad faced similar charges but was acquitted.

More recently, an assistant director of the anti-corruption watchdog was charged with misappropriating S$1.7 million. Part of the money allegedly was used for gambling at the Marina Bay Sands casino.

Pineapple tarts are bite-sized snacks popular in many Asian countries. The versions favored in Singapore and Malaysia are open-faced buttery pastries topped with sweet pineapple jam.

Corruption tells alot about economies, whether they are suffering from a sharp inflation or serious growth deflation.

I think I see where this is going.

[risingstar3110]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

Singapore diplomat bitten by graft charges over pineapple tarts



Corruption tells alot about economies, whether they are suffering from a sharp inflation or serious growth deflation.

I think I see where this is going.

Question:

Do you think he actually took the money? Or he really bought 90k$ worth of gifts... it's just not pineapple tart and not for general official purposes?

I means the pineapple tarts seems to be there to balance some illegal expense, rather than just a scheme for him to steal money

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by risingstar3110

Question:

Do you think he actually took the money? Or he really bought 90k$ worth of gifts... it's just not pineapple tart and not for general official purposes?

I means the pineapple tarts seems to be there to balance some illegal expense, rather than just a scheme for him to steal money

Overstating gifts means that you usually buy them for, let's say, $1,000 each, and for 10 bums from other places, meaning which you expended $10,000. Based on previous experiences, you submit a claim to the central finance department for $12,000 before you buy them, with the extra 20% for "just-in-case" purposes.

I suspected that he actually put a claim up for expensive wine and bought cheap ones instead. Then instead of declaring excess, he held it "for future uses".

My point targets the investigation committee, not the diplomat. Money must have been really tight for them to scrutinise all of these instead of "due trust"; given that most ministry people actually have ALOT of work, he must have put that on his to-do list many pages later.

Then again, $90k is no small amount here. That is the amount I earn in 10-15 years.

[ganbaru]

GOP meets to mull short-term hike
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/1...4.html?hp=t1_3

The genesis of this idea comes from Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), the Budget Committee chairman. Ryan pitched a short-term debt ceiling hike alongside some spending cuts at a Wednesday Republican Study Committee meeting. The idea is to remove the threat of default, while giving Washington several weeks to cull together a fiscal deal that would fund government, lift the debt ceiling for a longer period of time and enact a number of fiscal reforms.
There’s no sense whether Obama or Senate Democrats would go along with this, since they’ve said government should be re-opened and the debt ceiling must be lifted before fiscal talks begin.

[Vallen Chaos Valiant]

At this point Obama should go for broke and get everything settled for the duration of his remaining term. This should be the last time the economy is held hostage, and if he manges it history would remember him for it.

[SeijiSensei]

The best solution would be a bill to end the ridiculous debt limit, but the Republican House would never give up its "leverage," to use the Speaker's term. There are only two other countries, I believe, that detach appropriations from government borrowing. Any rational budgetary model would simply require that the government pay all the bills it incurs and borrows whatever it needs to do so if it does not collect enough in tax revenue. Now we have the absurdly anomalous situation that the government can threaten not to pay for the expenses it has already incurred. It may not be apparent to people outside the US, but the debt ceiling applies to expenses already incurred; it has no relationship to future spending.

In 1979, Democrat Richard Gephardt instituted exactly such a rule, that the debt ceiling would automatically adjust to match the level of appropriations. The House Republicans waived the rule in 1995 to once again gain leverage over a Democratic President, in that case Bill Clinton. That decision led to the two government shutdowns during his Administration.

The biggest problem for US government finances is our low rate of taxation. Americans want a government that provides a wide range of services and maintains the world's largest military, but they do not want to pay for it. US taxes at all levels constitute about 25% of GDP, compared to an OECD average of 33-35%. That puts US tax collections at the same level as Turkey's. Increasing our rate of taxation to 30% of GDP would raise about $750 billion and essentially eliminate the current Federal deficit. Rather than simply raising rates across the board, I would start by eliminating the distinctions in the tax code that treat income from capital more favorably than income from labor and raise the top rate to 50% or so. That's still considerably less than the rates during the Republican Eisenhower Administration of the 1950s when the top brackets were taxed at 91%.

I'd cut the budgets for defense and "homeland security" as well, but even cutting the Defense Department in half, which I favor, would not alone eliminate current deficits. That would reduce spending by some $300-350 billion, about the size of the projected deficit in 2015, but projected deficits in the out years are higher. A large contributor to those increases is the projected rise in interest rates after the Federal Reserve cuts back on "quantitative easing."

[willx]

Republicans get most blame for shutdown but no one’s a hero

"WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama and lawmakers must rise above their incessant bickering and do more to end the partial government shutdown, according to a poll Wednesday that places the brunt of the blame on Republicans but finds no one standing tall in Washington."

and

"The Associated Press-GfK survey affirms expectations by many in Washington — Republicans among them — that the GOP may end up taking the biggest hit in public opinion from the shutdown, as happened when much of the government closed 17 years ago. But the situation is fluid nine days into the shutdown and there’s plenty of disdain to go around."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politi...6ee_story.html

[Zakoo]

I know some countries that won't ever rise again if this story goes to its end.

[Byakou]

It's funny how people blame the republicans, both parties are responsible. Obama is basically holding america hostage until he gets his way.

[Sumeragi]

Originally Posted by Byakou

It's funny how people blame the republicans, both parties are responsible. Obama is basically holding america hostage until he gets his way.

You do not say someone who is being held hostage is the one holding hostage.

[Sugetsu]

Originally Posted by Byakou

It's funny how people blame the republicans, both parties are responsible. Obama is basically holding america hostage until he gets his way.

Seriously? Havent you been informing yourself? What are your sources?

[Byakou]

Informing myself? You're the one who doesn't seem to know how the government works. It's all based on negotiations, and Obama is flat out refusing to do any, which he should in these circumstances. Might want to read this article, who explains it much better than I ever could. Not to mention Obama's approval is rock-bottom, he needs to stop trying to force his way or the highway when the people clearly don't approve anymore.

[Sumeragi]

Why the hell do you "negotiate" on something that was already decided upon and is supposed to be receiving funds without hinder? You're basically saying that one can completely tear up a finished contract to start "negotiations" to get what one wants.

That's nothing but what criminals would do or support. Supporting such actions shows what kind of "morals" a person has.

[Zakoo]

Originally Posted by Byakou

Informing myself? You're the one who doesn't seem to know how the government works. It's all based on negotiations, and Obama is flat out refusing to do any, which he should in these circumstances. Might want to read this article, who explains it much better than I ever could. Not to mention Obama's approval is rock-bottom, he needs to stop trying to force his way or the highway when the people clearly don't approve anymore.

You base your thinking as if the political process you described is universal and it can not go otherwise. I consider this very wrong, and dangereous, it's the beginning of stagnation, the democratic system began to show its limit since some decades, the laws, the system do not follow how the society evolves, precisely because politics take months to do something under the name of negocations.

I do not know if Obama is right or wrong, I can't judge him because I do not have the necesssary knowledge to do so, but I know one thing, if he lets the rep wins this showdown, we will have the same thing over and over, and one day US will truly hit the roof. When you are the first economical country and pull with you the whole world, you can't have your allies, or ennemies see you in such a pitiful situation. The opposite party need to understand (republicans now and democrats tomorrow) that the debt ceiling is and must never become a political tool.

[Byakou]

The republicans will fund the government with something out and democrats won't fund government unless something is in. This is bad, pathetic behaviour on both sides. Just what is your criteria for assigning all the blame on the republicans?

Stop and think for a second if the tactic that Obama used became commonplace in the future. I'm shutting down the government until abortion is banned. I'm shutting down the government until every gun in the country is confiscated. Extreme examples but you get the point. This is why negotiation exists, you offer things up to get the other party to cooperate. Except Obama is flat-out refusing to do it, but somehow it's all the republicans' fault. Don't be stupid.

[Vallen Chaos Valiant]

Originally Posted by Byakou

Informing myself? You're the one who doesn't seem to know how the government works. It's all based on negotiations, and Obama is flat out refusing to do any, which he should in these circumstances. Might want to read this article, who explains it much better than I ever could. Not to mention Obama's approval is rock-bottom, he needs to stop trying to force his way or the highway when the people clearly don't approve anymore.

You appear to not understand what is at stake here. If the political landscape is switched a few years time, Democrats can subvert the political process and demand complete firearms bans in exchange for a 6 week extension of the debt ceiling, and then after 6 weeks repeat the process for universal single payer healthcare. All without care of what the other branches of government say or do.

This is not how policies are suppose to be decided. Especially policies that are legal and can only be changed via certain means.

And it appears you do not understand that Obama wasn't forcing anything. The Heath Care Act is passed, it is Constitutional determined by the courts. If you want to remove such a law without due process then you render all laws meaningless.

The republicans will fund the government with something out and democrats won't fund government unless something is in. This is bad, pathetic behaviour on both sides. Just what is your criteria for assigning all the blame on the republicans?

The criteria is that the "something" is ALREADY in, LEGALLY. And if you think it is okay to default in order to force a change of an unrelated, legal, law, then we will have this happen every week.

Stop and think for a second if the tactic that Obama used became commonplace in the future. I'm shutting down the government until abortion is banned. I'm shutting down the government until every gun in the country is confiscated. Extreme examples but you get the point. This is why negotiation exists, you offer things up to get the other party to cooperate. Except Obama is flat-out refusing to do it, but somehow it's all the republicans' fault. Don't be stupid

You got it BACKWARDS. Literally backwards. You stop hostage taking by giving hostage takers NOTHING. Because "negotiations" is NOT about giving people who don't deserve anything, what they want.

NO, you do NOT "offer" anything to the person who threatens you. Because that will just keep happening every day as a result. You stop it by refusing. I have no idea why you have the completely opposite idea of how to negotiate. You negotiate when both sides want something to happen. But NOT when one side threatens to blow up the country.