US continues its drone attacks

New York, October 05, 2010

Despite public protests in Pakistan over relentless US drone strikes within that country in the last 45 days, the US isn’t relenting in its drone attacks in Pakistan, with three already in October including one on Monday that reportedly killed eight German nationals in North Waziristan. They are unlikely to forgo the CIA-led strategy as it has proven effective in killing terrorists. The numbers are startling – 78 strikes so far in 2010 as against 53 in all of 2009.

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Can't Americans see that despite killing terrorists, would-be terrorists, suspected terrorists, terrorist sympathizers, and innocent men, women and children in the vicinity of possible terrorists in increasing numbers has done nothing but increase the number of terrorists? Are they so blind that they cannot see that they are quickly running out of goodwill capital with the nations of the world? Overseas adventures was a bad idea when America was the defacto superpower, but in her current weakened condition, coupled with the rise of China and others on her heels, she is tempting fate. I shudder to think what a war between or among developed countries would be like. Iraq and Afghanistan are a picnic in comparison. Terrorists aren't born--they're made.

Note: There was a time when certain events (such as drone attacks) could go on without notice and third-hand reports reaching the media could always be dismissed as lies or propaganda. Today, a Pakistani resting in the shade of a tree waiting for a bus, might capture video of a U.S. military action in the area on his cell phone and have it on YouTube and or Facebook and be seen by a million people around the world less than an hour after it occurred. It's becoming increasingly difficult to BS the people as more and more of our "news" is reported live and by ordinary people without an agenda colouring/spinning it.

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America, the beautiful

If anyone has ever wondered about (traditional) American economic superiority, I'd like to enlighten you with a simple example of the types of tricks, deception and fraud that has been a mainstay of American business. We won't get into the intimidation, threats and empty promises in this piece, but they, too, are part and parcel of what makes America "great".

Subpoenas have been issued by the New York State attorney's office to three marketing companies: Webloyalty, Affinion and Vertrue. These firms have allegedly misled consumers for years into joining membership programs and paying monthly fees. Typically, the three firms present pop-up ads to online shoppers when they're finalizing a transaction with one of as many as 22 known "respected" web retailers such as Staples, 1-800-Flowers.com and Orbitz. Some consumers have said the ads appear to be a discount coupon from the retailer.

From ZDNet: The ads offer discounts or cash back coupons if the shopper will only provide an e-mail address or username. Buried in the fine print however, are the full terms, which state that by providing an e-mail address, the customer is agreeing to sign up for a membership program and authorizing their credit card to be charged sometimes as much as $20 a month. How can these marketers charge credit cards without the owners giving them their card information? Simple, they buy it from well-respected merchants, such as Continental Airlines, Priceline and Buy.com.

Gimme a break. These bastids are happy to sell their loyal customers' credit card numbers to unscrupulous, perhaps criminal companies. Proof, once again, that when it comes to ethics, morality, and relationships, the almighty dollar trumps...especially in America.


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The war on sanity

Am I the only one who doesn't believe that North Korea is dangerous? Seriously, I don't know what all the hoopla is about. Does anyone actually believe that those in charge are anxious to have their country destroyed and for them to die an ugly death or be imprisoned for life? Does anyone not believe that would be the only possible result if they fired missiles at anyone? They aren't as loony as some would have you believe. Even if they were, I'm sure they're instinct for self preservation would trump any delusions they may have.

And the same thing goes for Iran.

When the U.S. spent trillions of dollars over decades on developing ridiculous numbers of nuclear weapons--enough to destroy the entire world many times over, I'm sure they didn't think of themselves as insane. But if today a country develops a single nuclear weapon, they're painted as individuals so unstable that they're apt to start a war with any of their neighbours at the drop of a hat. Give me a break. The United States has always been the most aggressive state since it's rise to power and even now should be feared more so than any other. If they can go to Iraq for no reason at all, what is beyond the realm of possibilities?

The world has gone mad

Insurance giant AIG reported the largest corporate loss in history in the fourth quarter--a whopping $61.7 billion! You'd think that would be enough for them to slash salaries across the board, right? Wrong. They are handing out $165 million in bonuses mostly to members of the group responsible for the massive losses stemming from risky credit default swaps. Doh!

The kicker is that AIG was given $170 billion (yes, with a "b") in bailout money to help keep it afloat. These executives keep singing the same, tired song. We need to give bonuses so that we can retain the best talent. Duh! If you had any talent on board at all, you wouldn't be in this mess.

Here's a radical idea: Fire all those responsible for the current mess you find yourselves in and hire three truly talented individuals for every four dead wood you fire and pay each of the new hires 25% more. Here's another insane idea: Pay according to performance. What, common sense is not a pre-req to getting an MBA?

He's no Jimmy Carter

You've probably heard about the massive salmonella outbreak caused by peanut products in the U.S. The story just got more interesting. Stewart Parnell, the owner of Peanut Corp. of America, who was forced by health officials to recall 1,800 different products, has refused to answer questions in a hearing of the House of Representatives subcommittee investigating the affair on the grounds it may incriminate him. Probably a wise decision since he is as guilty as can be.

So far, about 600 people have been made sick and nine people have died from ingesting the tainted foods.

This peanut-brained, sick bastard knowingly and systematically pushed through as much product as he could even when tests showed his Georgia plant was laden with salmonella bacteria. His guilt was secured by investigators in a number of e-mails he sent, once pleading with health officials to allow him to "turn the raw peanuts on the floor into money".

Once again, we see an example of the almighty dollar being placed above human health and even human lives. The last thing I want is for this guy to go to prison. He needs to work his tail off for the rest of his life and be made to pay restitution to each and every victim. Would anyone disagree with me? Let's see if his high-priced lawyer gets him off with a slap on the wrist.

It's times like these that I miss the good, old days when an angry mob carrying torches and pitchforks could pluck a guy like him out of his home and force feed him a half dozen of his own peanut butter sandwiches. Well, maybe I'll settle for my Pepsi.

Q & A's from around the web

Why DID BUSH PROMISE TO CATCH OSAMA BIN LADEN DEAD OR ALIVE THEN FAIL??

Unless Bin Laden is right next to the oil, they will never find him.

Black shmack

Is it just me or wouldn't the election of a black leader anywhere else in the world go by without any fanfare whatsoever? What does this say about the United States?

Let me be clear. I am happy for the American people, Black people everywhere, and even the entire rest of the world. It's just that to me, the circus around the event underscores the kind of deep-seated problems of hate and racism that have been a part of the United States since it was founded. Let's hope that Obama's inauguration signals the beginning of the end to the ongoing systemic problems that discriminate against Blacks, Hispanics and others in America.

Money!

I've been putting off writing about the stock market, but I can't ignore it any longer. The economic news keeps getting worse and worse and the indexes keep going higher and higher. Something's got to give. I've been out of the market for several months, having exited before the major carnage started, but I've been reluctant to get back in the water, fearing there's sharks just below the surface.

It's possible that the market dropped too low and has corrected itself, but being a pessimist by nature, I am more prone to believe that the recent recovery is a "dead cat bounce". As far as I'm concerned, we have not yet seen the devastating effect all the layoffs are to have on the economy. Everyone is cutting spending. And that includes those lucky enough to have a job right now. They're scared #$!2^@# that they're next on the chopping block...and they probably are.

This sort of situation tends to be a catch-22. The more layoffs there are, the less spending there is. The less spending there is, the worse the economy gets. The worse the economy gets, the more layoffs there are.

I am going out on a not-so-long limb and declare that this thing will get much worse before it gets better. I know I'm not the only one predicting doom and gloom, but I have been posting, chatting, e-mailing and conversing about the emergence of third world countries and the possible economic collapse of the United States for almost 20 years now.

Having said that, I pray it doesn't turn out as bad as I have imagined it, for that would not bode well for the whole world and especially Canada, America's largest trading partner. One bright note is that the emergence of third world nations has provided a much needed diversification of trading partners. If an economic collapse of the U.S. had happened ten years ago, the entire planet might have become "the third world". Today, there's a few others to do business with.

One last thought, and remember, you heard it here first (at least if I am right), I see the American indexes dropping below their previous lows in the coming months. I'll join the market at that point because I expect slow and steady gains going forward for the foreseeable future. However, I'm not giving refunds if I'm wrong.

How ironic is it?

How ironic is it that the election of Obama as president of the United States has made virtually the whole world jubilant while almost half the citizens of the united States are so completely distraught over it? Barack Obama was widely called a terrorist and even the anti-Christ. How could 150 million people hold such an extremely different view from the other six billion people on the planet?

I think the answer lies in the fact that Americans think quite differently than the rest of the world. And Obama is more like the rest of us than he is like the average American. In the minds of a great number of Americans, this can only spell disaster. Several had expressed to me that they would leave the country if Obama were to be elected. Remember, these are the same people who elected George W. Bush to office not once but twice. I think this makes it extremely clear how Americans think.

Palin gets punked

I thought he was kidding

Someone posted about tent cities in the United States. I have not seen anything in the news about it, so I thought the guy was joking. Just to be sure, I did a search and found this:






The chickens have come home to roost.

War Drums

Damascus — Despite fierce opposition from the United States, Iran and Syria signed an agreement on Wednesday to place an Iranian missile defense base on Syrian territory.

The Israeli government has leveled sustained criticism against the Syrian plan, characterizing it as a hostile act near the Israeli border. But Syrian officials insist that the system will defend against threats from countries like The United States and would not target Israel.

“Missile defense, of course, is aimed at no one,” said Iranian Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref, who signed the agreement in Damascus with his Syrian counterpart, Prime Minister Naji al-Otari . “It is in our defense that we do this.”

Editor's note: I'm just curious--does the following news item give you a different sense at all?...

WARSAW — Despite fierce opposition from Moscow, the United States and Poland signed a long-stalled agreement on Wednesday to place an American missile defense base on Polish territory.

The Kremlin has leveled sustained criticism against the American plan, characterizing it as a hostile act near the Russian border. But American officials insist that the system will defend against threats from countries like Iran and would not target Russia.

“Missile defense, of course, is aimed at no one,” said Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, who signed the agreement in Warsaw with her Polish counterpart, Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski. “It is in our defense that we do this.”

US toll in Iraq hits all-time low as month ends

That was the AP news headline today. Does anyone else believe that this is the calm before the storm that will be unleashed in the months ahead? The "opposition" in Iraq doesn't have the resources the Americans do or for that matter that Iraq has. But I don't believe that insurgents there are ready to give up, especially while American troops are still there. I expect that they are regrouping, raising money and re-organizing before mounting a major wave of attacks. Let's hope I'm wrong. Let's also hope that no major attack is perpetrated against a western country. After all, nothing has changed for those who have been disgruntled with The West for more than half a century.

Q & A's from around the web

im a german...if i join the airforce... can the airforce get me a green card?

You need to be a legal resident of the U.S. of A. in order to get a "green card"
Marry a hot American citizen fraulein or a horny MILF is your other option!