FBI: China may use counterfeit Cisco routers to penetrate U.S. networks
World Tribune : An FBI presentation states that China has counterfeited Cisco Systems network routers and may be using the equipment to penetrate U.S. government and private sector computer networks.
Federal authorities in February seized some 400 counterfeit Cisco Systems knockoffs worth $76 million. The equipment included routers, switches, gigabit interface converters and WAN interface cards.
Among the purchasers of the fake equipment were the U.S. Naval Academy, U.S. Naval Air Warfare Center, U.S. Naval Undersea Warfare Center, U.S. Air Base at Spangdahelm, Germany, the Bonneville Power Administration, General Services Administration, and the defense contractor Raytheon, which makes key missile and weapons systems.
The FBI briefing slides on the case stated that while there are "intelligence gaps" on why the Chinese made the counterfeit equipment it could have been for profit or as part of a state-sponsored operation.
Additionally the scope of the Chinese counterfeit equipment may extend beyond routers to include fake IT equipment such as PCs and printers.
Does anyone else remember the IBM sale of the entire PC division to Lenovo of China? Like your laptops now? This makes UAE owned american ports look tiny.
Under a section titled "The Threat," the FBI described the effort as "IT subversion/supply chain attack" that could "cause immediate or premature system failure during usage."
The counterfeit equipment also could be used to "gain access to otherwise secure systems" and to "weaken cryptographic systems."
The briefing slide said the Chinese information warfare efforts require "intimate access to target systems."
Hillary: 'Outrageous and offensive'...
Biden: 'Bulls*%$!'...
And from the minority leader of the Senate?
From VP Cheney?
From Fred Thompson? Giuliani?
Why is it alright for democratic leaders to say what they do, but not for the president, ANY PRESIDENT to take them to task for it?
Why does this crop of republicans TAKE IT UP THE PIPE for this abuse?
Where is their sense of what is right? Where is their duty to the national interest?
Maybe JOE LIEBERMAN who warned that undermining the credibility of a president in wartime was a dangerous thing to do, will step up and embarrass these republicans.
What do the republicans imagine the nation is eroded away to conclude week after week of this stuff?
The fact is that warning over naivety is not only proper for a president to undertake, I would think it compulsory. And if anyone on God's earth is more naive than Sen. Obama, it's J Carter.
We have already lived through Stanley Baldwin and his successor on this earth, and though they knew PRECISELY what to do to be popular and well loved, there was a price.
Finally, where is the John McCain who last week said on national TV,
"I think we are in a war against Islamic extremism, and I think that war is worldwide"?
Stanley Baldwin Prime Minister of Great Britain in the 1930's:I think it is well also for the man in the street to realise that there is no power on earth that can protect him from being bombed. Whatever people may tell him, the bomber will always get through, The only defence is in offence, which means that you have to kill more women and children more quickly than the enemy if you want to save yourselves...If the conscience of the young men should ever come to feel, with regard to this one instrument [bombing] that it is evil and should go, the thing will be done; but if they do not feel like that - well, as I say, the future is in their hands. But when the next war comes, and European civilisation is wiped out, as it will be, and by no force more than that force, then do not let them lay blame on the old men. Let them remember that they, principally, or they alone, are responsible for the terrors that have fallen upon the earth.
A series of by-elections with massive swings against government candidates--most famous was Fulham East with a 26.5% swing--in late 1933 and early 1934 convinced Baldwin that the British public was profoundly pacifist. Baldwin also rejected the "belligerent" views of those like Churchill and Robert Vansittart because he believed that the Nazis were rational men who would appreciate the logic of mutual and equal deterrence. He also believed war to be "the most fearful terror and prostitution of man's knowledge that ever was known"
Americans are as tired of history as it has been for 3000 years as Europe was of war in 1934, but we can do as little about the nature of history and humans beings as could Baldwin wishing against all reality that the enemies of the west were rational beings, as afraid of the bloodshed and horror as he clearly was.
We are at a dangerous moment, and for all the weaknesses Mr. Bush has shown, what he said and did today was in the interest of the security of the people he serves.
Bush to Knesset in Israel:
The Senator was William Borah. Significantly, there were those in Great Britain who also echoed..."If I only could have had dinner with the man......""Some seem to believe we should negotiate with terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along," the President said to the country's legislative body, "We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: 'Lord, if only I could have talked to Hitler, all of this might have been avoided.' We have an obligation to call this what it is -- the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history." Watch video of Bush's comments on terror HERE.
Apparently this barb, aimed at Carter, instead was felt by Obama...
So what was all that about about talking with Iran, named by the CONGRESS YOU ARE MEMBER OF as the leader in state sponsored terrorism on this planet?In a statement, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., shot across the bow: "It is sad that President Bush would use a speech to the Knesset on the 6Oth anniversary of Israel's independence to launch a false political attack. It is time to turn the page on eight years of policies that have strengthened Iran and failed to secure America or our ally Israel. Instead of tough talk and no action, we need to do what Kennedy, Nixon and Reagan did and use all elements of American power -- including tough, principled, and direct diplomacy - to pressure countries like Iran and Syria. George Bush knows that I have never supported engagement with terrorists, and the President's extraordinary politicization of foreign policy and the politics of fear do nothing to secure the American people or our stalwart ally Israel."
ZING!"(The President) has said similar things before," a White House official told ABC News' Martha Raddatz. "But it is in reference to a number of people, think Carter, others who have engaged in this or suggested it."
White House spokesperson Dana Perino was asked if Bush's line was a slam against Obama and she insisted, "It is not."
"I understand that when you are running for office sometimes you think the world revolves around you"
Iran-backed Shi'ites in Yemen get shipments of heavy arms
CAIRO -- GERTZ - Shi'ite insurgents in Yemen have received arms from abroad in the past two months.Yemeni security sources said insurgents from the Iranian-backed Believing Youth have received a range of weapons to renew war against the Yemeni Army. The sources said the shipments included mortars, heavy machine guns, rockets and rocket-propelled grenades.
The sources said the shipments came from both sea and land, including Saudi Arabia. They said the weapons were of Soviet-origin and appeared to have arrived in March and April 2008.
The weapons shipments to the Shi'ites have fueled fresh clashes in the northern Yemeni province of Saada. In a 48-hour period in late April, at least 20 people, divided between insurgents and soldiers were killed in heavy fighting in Saada.
The sources said the Shi'ites, who agreed to a ceasefire in June 2007, succeeded in matching the Yemeni Army in weaponry in Saada. They said the heaviest fighting took place in the Haydan district of Saada.
The Shi'ite revolt has resumed amid a resurgence by Al Qaida in Yemen. On April 30, at least three mortar shells fell near the Italian embassy in Sanaa. There were no reports of injuries.
Western embassies have been reducing staff amid the Al Qaida offensive. Al Qaida has also launched mortar attacks against the U.S. embassy and Western compounds in Sanaa.
They don't need to 'invade' anywhere. The indigenous Shia population will always hold enough who HAVE CERTAINLY BEEN OPPRESSED that a discontented rebellious minority will always be ready to take action, and have the feeling that justice is with them.
If the "Believing Youth" win, Yemen has been invaded successfully.
We are going to have to beat these sons of bitches with prejudice sooner or later. They honestly think they can win this thing, and win it all the way. It is compulsory for them to be defeated in such a way that they 'recognize' that 'God is not pleased'.
That is what victory looks like.
When the rulers of Iran say THAT.
At least 10 hurt as rocket hits Ashkelon shopping centerJPOST:At least 10 people were wounded Wednesday evening, including a baby girl and her mother, when a rocket fired from Gaza hit the Hutzot Shopping Center in Ashkelon.
The baby was listed in moderate condition, her mother and two others were seriously wounded, five people were in light-to-moderate condition and two children were lightly hurt. Dozens of people were treated for shock. The casualties were evacuated to the city's Barzilai Hospital.
The rocket hit the top floor of the building, where offices and clinics are located, and the shopping center sustained considerable damage.
Kassam rockets terrorists usually fire at Israel do not have enough range to reach Ashkelon. Instead, they use Grad-type rockets to hit the city of 100,000, about 15 kilometers from the Gaza-Israel border.
The attack came as Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and US President George W. Bush concluded their meeting in Jerusalem.
Oh really? Isn't that EXACTLY what you have been doing?
Olmert said at the end of the talks that Israel would not tolerate attacks from Gaza terrorists.
FARCE
NEW DELHI: Instead of blaming India and other developing nations for the rise in food prices, Americans should rethink their energy policy and go on a diet, say a growing number of politicians, economists and academics here.
Criticism of the United States has ballooned in India recently, particularly after the Bush administration seemed to blame India's increasing middle class and prosperity for rising food prices. Critics from India seem to be asking one underlying question: "Why do Americans think they deserve to eat more than Indians?"
The food problem has "clearly" been created by Americans, who are eating 50 percent more calories than the average person in India, said Pradeep Mehta, the secretary general of CUTS Center for International Trade, Economics and Environment, a private economic research organization based in India with offices in Kenya, Zambia, Vietnam and Britain.
If Americans were to slim down to even the middle-class weight in India, "many hungry people in sub-Saharan Africa would find food on their plates," Mehta said. The money Americans spend on liposuction to get rid of their excess fat could be funneled to famine victims instead, he added.
What's the average height Indian? What's the average height american?
Besides I'd hate to complicate the convenient bigoted disputes with the FACT that if WE, HERE were drilling the hell out of the continental shelves, and ANWR, etc., there'd be scant corn going into ethanol, and scant price increases attributable to it.
McCain is wrong on this. We have to do this, keep it clean while doing AND do fuel cell, battery and other technologies.
This claim against fat Americans is going to be typical of the coming wave of 'attacks'. Next up, SUV's, swimming pools, insect repellents, aircraft flights for frivolous reasons, large militaries, excessive water use, yadda yadda. I think we are going to need those 300+ F-22's Mr. England, you putz.
And now for that lunch 18" incher with extra cheese, pepper, mushrooms and onions
Israel's Tactics Thwart Attacks, With Trade-Off
By ISABEL KERSHNERNETANYA, Israel -- Suicide bombings in Israel have dropped off so significantly that the nation's security officials now dare to speak openly of success. But the very steps they are taking to thwart bombers appear to collide head-on with the government's agenda of achieving peace with the Palestinians.
It is a classic military-political dilemma. The progress in stopping suicide bombers, the vast majority of whom cross into Israel from the West Bank, has brought enough quiet for Israel to resume peace talks with the Palestinian leadership there.
I fail to see any dilemma. Any nation's first obligation is to protect it's citizens from harm. Not much purpose in having an organized govt if they cannot offer physical safety to their citizens.
But the current calm is fragile, and to maintain it Israeli security officials say they must continue their nightly arrests and sometimes deadly raids in the heart of the West Bank -- tactics at odds with a peace effort that envisions a separate Palestinian state, an eventual Israeli withdrawal from much of the West Bank and, in the meantime, a gradual transfer of authority to the Palestinian police.
Of course if the purpose of the Palestinians is to LIVE WITH Israel, there will be, in the end, NO PROBLEM. But we see quite plainly that the purpose of 100% of Palestinian, Arab, Persian and all Muslim efforts since 1919 has been to eliminate the Jews as an organized entity of any kind in the middle east, preferably in the manner of Khaibar.
"The price of staying out" of the West Bank, said one senior Israeli military official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of military restrictions, "might be one that we don't want to pay."
The military's faith in its efforts comes across in its charts showing a steep decline in suicide bombings -- from a high of 59 in 2002 to only one in 2007, and one so far this year.
"It is far from a coincidence," said Col. Herzi Halevi, commander of the Israeli Army's Paratroops Brigade, which is at the forefront of the military campaign in the West Bank, where the borders are longer and more permeable than those in the Gaza Strip, the other Palestinian territory. "It is not that the terrorists did not try enough. They did. We know."
The military's change in policy came after a particularly bloody spring in 2002, when a Palestinian from the West Bank traveled nine short miles across Israel and walked into the modest Park Hotel here in Netanya, a coastal resort town, blowing himself up in the dining hall during a Passover seder.
The Park Hotel massacre, as it became known, was the climax of a bloody month in which 130 Israelis died in suicide bombings and other attacks. Within days Israeli forces invaded most of the Palestinian cities of the West Bank in an operation named Defensive Shield, wresting back control from the Palestinian Authority security forces who were supposed to be laying the foundations for a nascent Palestinian state.
Six years later, the glass doors at the entrance of the Park Hotel were flung wide open to catch the slightest breeze. In the lobby, a teenager casually played a video game while a tourist collected a hair dryer from the reception desk. Scores of guests were booked for the Passover meal.
The sad fact, as it has been lamented many times here, is that there is little to discuss between EITHER pairs of warring parties, Israel-FATAH, and the Holocaust minimizer, Abbas, and Israel-HAMAS where the ultimate Quranic solution is the only one HAMAS CAN admit to.
It is a war of the peoples, and it will have to end with the complete breaking of one population's will or the other, as it was in 1865.
Harsh, but unavoidable.
The Iraqi mujahideen are claiming that resistance engineering units have successfully "decoded" U.S. military robots designed for urban combat and turned them against U.S. soldiers. After redirecting the robots against U.S. forces, the American military was forced to withdraw the robots from service, according to the statement (Quds Press Agency, May 7).
With the much vaunted robots never having seen combat service, however, it appears that the Iraqi resistance is attempting to capitalize upon unsubstantiated rumors that the robots had turned their M249 light machine guns on their U.S. operators.
Designed for "high-risk combat missions" in urban settings, the twin-tread Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGV) were deployed in Iraq last June and cost $250,000 each--not including development costs--though the manufacturer states that the cost per unit could be halved in orders of 100 or more units.
The SWORD (Special Weapons Observation Remote Reconnaissance Direct Action System) robots are manufactured by Massachusetts-based Foster-Miller (owned by British Qinetiq) and were tested at the New Jersey Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC). SWORD is basically a modified version of Foster-Miller's Talon bomb-disposal UGV, 2,000 of which have been delivered to the U.S. military. Robots have long been used for bomb disposal and reconnaissance, but combat-capable robots are an innovation that is being strongly pursued in Israel and the United States.
Hey, it's only software!Only three of the combat robots have been deployed in Iraq. While the Army has authorized the purchase of as many as 80 of the systems, funding is currently not available (National Defense, September 2007). Most of the projected systems are committed for use by the six U.S. "Stryker Brigades," rapid intervention forces using 8-wheeled Stryker Light Armored Vehicles. Special Operations Command has also taken an interest in further development of the SWORD robots.
The Iraqi mujahideen are unlikely to have actually been able to "decode" and reprogram the SWORD robots. Each system is equipped with deadly anti-tampering devices and there are no reports of Iraqi fighters capturing or even encountering any of the three active systems, each of which is now safely secured.
The controversy over SWORD deployment began when Kevin Fahey, the Army's program executive officer for ground forces, stated at a RoboBusiness conference that the unit had been pulled from service before use in a combat situation as "the gun started moving when it was not intended to move" (Popular Mechanics, April 9).
Here are three other references.Fahey later clarified that SWORD was still deployed in Iraq, while a spokesman for Foster-Miller described reports of the gun moving without commands as "an urban legend" (Wired News, April 15). Apparently, only three incidents of movement without command were recorded, all minor incidents that were corrected during the testing phase. Despite the improbable claim by the Iraqi resistance, the army and the manufacturers have still not provided a full explanation of why the robots are not in use. According to Robert Quinn, an executive at Foster-Miller: "If you have a mobile weapons platform that can't be mobile, and it becomes nothing more than a fixed position, they why not just put it on a tripod?" (National Defense, May 2008)
Sounds like the muji's are into Goebbels
Iran since 1979 has been lucky in both the president at the birth of the revolutionary government, and the democratic party and it's will and it's perceived benefit at the ballot box ever since.
When we have a close, and important Obama adviser like Ret. Genl Merrill McPeak blaming Iran's behavior on George Bush, there is a big problem.
When we have former presidents unconsciously revealing their bigotry towards a religion AND against their fellow Americans by making cause with the reasonableness of Iran's paid whelps who said Jihad is the only solution, there is a major problem.
And here now is the man the (apparent) next democratic nominee for president wants to sit down with, yet remain perceived as strong....Ahmadinejad: Israel to be 'swept away soon'
Tehran - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Tuesday that Israel would "be soon swept away" from the Palestinian Territories by the Palestinians.
It is the second time within less than three years that the Iranian president predicted the eradication of the Jewish state.
The first time was in 2005 when Ahmadinejad hoped that Israel would be eradicated from the Middle East map. "This terrorist and criminal state is backed by foreign powers, but this regime would soon be swept away by the Palestinians," Ahmadinejad said in a press conference in Tehran.
Referring to worldwide celebrations for the 60th anniversary of Israel's foundation, he said that "it would be futile to hold a birthday ceremony for something which is already dead.""As far as the regional countries are concerned, this regime does not exist," Ahmadinejad added. The Iranian president said last week that the anniversary feasts could not save this "rotten and stinking corpse."Ahmadinejad caused international outrage in the past by hoping for the eradication of Israel, the relocation of the Jewish state to Europe or Alaska and questioning the historic dimensions of the Holocaust.
All one thing
Washington Times:
Sheik Yazeeb Khader, a Ramallah-based Hamas political activist and editor, said militant groups across the Middle East are gaining power at the expense of U.S.-backed regimes, just as Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip from forces loyal to U.S.-backed Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas."What happened in Gaza in 2007 is an achievement; now it is happening in 2008 in Lebanon. It's going to happen in 2009 in Jordan and it's going to happen in 2010 in Egypt,"
Who can blame them.
5 Myths on Who's Really 'Pro-Israel'Now I have little argument that americans who happen to be jewish have a panoply of issues to help them articulate their vote, and I KNOW FOR A FACT that many dislike an Israel which they think complicates their lives, and acts in a manner THEY find uncomfortable to defend. I know for a fact that the idea that jews in this world (might just) NEED Israel is a disturbing element in the lives of such people. These are the people who also believe that Iran is no threat and in not 'invading' anyone recently proves it had no interest in nukes, and can be deterred anyway.
1.American Jews choose to back candidates largely on the basis of their stance on Israel.
....polls show that most American Jews say they favor a more balanced U.S. Middle East policy that's aimed at achieving peace.
Hmmmmm, according to the PEACE ORGANIZATION Brit Tzedk V'Shalom HEREPoll: 81% of U.S. Jews believe Arabs want to destroy Israel
The annual survey by the American Jewish Committee shows widespread belief that the Arabs' true aim is to destroy Israel, while 38% of respondents thought that the conflict with the Palestinians could be resolved peacefully.
More....
The AJC poll found that 46 percent of American Jews answered affirmatively when asked, "In the current situation, do you favor or oppose the establishment of a Palestinian state?" Forty-three percent said they were opposed and 12 percent were not sure. Last year, the findings were 54 percent in favor, 38 percent against and 9 percent not sure.
What makes the drop more striking is the telephone survey of 1,000 Jewish Americans took place Nov. 6-25, in the lead-up to the U.S.-convened Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in Annapolis, Md.
At any rate, Israel is not the only issue for any american who happens also to be a jew, but it is an issue of varying importance, to some VERY important, at the level of NATO's importance to the US in 1949. An important ally, and elevating past that to some, a place which they might need, to depart to, one fine day, in accordance with 3000 years of real world history.
As long as the Palestinians elect HAMAS and the holocaust minimizer Abbas they are telling the world something. There can be NO ISRAEL. There can be no justice if Israel exists, and the reason is completely and utterly religious. This complete delusion that Israel faces a political situation which can be ameliorated via negotiating with these people as if they are the United Mine Worker's Union is the arrogant anthropocentric dream of westernized refusal to accept other as serious and with meaning. This is the SCHWERPUNCT of the entire 'peace' movement. When the Palestinian peoples themselves reject these kinds of leaders and outright murderers not only will peace be in the offing but movement towards it will occur quickly. However as long as these people we see now hold the confidence via votes of the Palestinians because they understand that to the Palestinian peoples the Quranic return to the orange groves of Jaffa on a river of blood, is what is wanted, no peace is possible, nor is there much to discuss. We should be directing all efforts towards helping those Palestinians who DO want peace organize and form up without fear of being murdered as apostates and collaborators ...something which, since the ascendancy of Haj Amin al Husseini after 1920, it shoul dne noted, HAS NEVER HAPPENED.2.To be strong on Israel, you have to be harsh to the Palestinians.
As long as Palestinians despair of a decent and dignified life, Israel will be at war.
HERE
If that's not the same old same old, I just cannot imagine what is. And smarmy doesn't begin for Mr. Goldberg's attempt at a folksy yiddishkeit. I found it condescending
JG: (Atlantic Mag) Why do you think Ahmed Yousef of Hamas said what he said about you? (That they wanted Obama to win)
BO: My position on Hamas is indistinguishable from the position of Hillary Clinton or John McCain. I said they are a terrorist organization and I've repeatedly condemned them. I've repeatedly said, and I mean what I say: since they are a terrorist organization, we should not be dealing with them until they recognize Israel, renounce terrorism, and abide by previous agreements.
So I read those words, I can hear his voice, WHY CAN"T BELIEVE HIM? (WrightMalleyPowersRiceZbigAyersDorhnMcPeak).
Obviously the mass murderers of HAMAS don't believe him either, and I give them credit for being hard headed guys.
JG: Were you flummoxed by it?
BO: I wasn't flummoxed. I think what is going on there is the same reason why there are some suspicions of me in the Jewish community. Look, we don't do nuance well in politics and especially don't do it well on Middle East policy. We look at things as black and white, and not gray. It's conceivable that there are those in the Arab world who say to themselves, "This is a guy who spent some time in the Muslim world, has a middle name of Hussein, and appears more worldly and has called for talks with people, and so he's not going to be engaging in the same sort of cowboy diplomacy as George Bush," and that's something they're hopeful about. I think that's a perfectly legitimate perception as long as they're not confused about my unyielding support for Israel's security.
(WrightMalleyPowersRiceZbigAyersDorhnMcPeak).
These morons are liable to be running the joint. Someone has to have a clue.
I hope the sons of bitches in the McCain campaign are taking notes.
"When Senator and presidential candidate Barack Obama says he will negotiate with Syria and Iran over Iraq's future, he signals every Persian Gulf regime to cut its own deal with Iran. When his stances convince Hamas that he's the guy for them; when Iran and Syria conclude they merely need stand defiant and wait until January 21 for any existing pressure vanishes, the U.S. position in the Middle East is being systematically destroyed."
One of Barack Obama's Middle East policy advisers disclosed yesterday that he had held meetings with the militant Palestinian group Hamas - prompting the likely Democratic nominee to sever all links with him.
Robert Malley told The Times that he had been in regular contact with Hamas, which controls Gaza and is listed by the US State Department as a terrorist organisation. Such talks, he stressed, were related to his work for a conflict resolution think-tank and had no connection with his position on Mr Obama's Middle East advisory council.
"I've never hidden the fact that in my job with the International Crisis Group I meet all kinds of people," he added.
Barack HAS horrific judgment.
Wright
Ayers
Malley
Rice
Powers
McPeak
AND Michelle's numerous revelatory comments display their inner gestalt on america and the world
So sorry, but is this not yet clear?
DEBKAfile's military sources report that three weeks before Hizballah seized western Beirut, the Shiite terrorist group took delivery of 35 fast speedboats for use with explosives from Iran. The craft can threaten US Sixth Fleet and Israel Navy shipping close to Lebanese shores, reach Israel's Haifa and Ashdod Mediterranean ports and raid its coastal oil installations.
The speedboats were tailor-made for Hizballah by Iranian Revolutionary Guards shipyards at Bandar Abbas as the only marine terror fleet operating in Mediterranean waters. Our military sources report the boats are capable of carrying chemical, biological and radiological weapons systems.
They were delivered in mid-April by an Iranian freighter at the Syrian port of Latakia and trucked to Naimah port south of Beirut. There they were hidden in the subterranean hangars belonging to Ahmed Jibril, head of the Palestinian Liberation Front-General Command. Today, the PLF-GC is financed and directed by the Revolutionary Guards. The hangars were constructed in the seventies by East Germany engineers with a protected Mediterranean anchorage and made virtually impenetrable by sea or air.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrat Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman said on Thursday he believes the Democrats will have a presidential nominee in June and that if it is not Clinton, she will campaign for rival Barack Obama.
While the MSM's, embarrassingly in the bag, pundits keep saying it is over, the iron hard facts are that if Hillary wants to make fight for Florida and Michigan's votes, absolutely NOTHING has been decided.
More, if the super delegates are not counted as rock hard, nothing has been decided even if those two states are discounted. We have seen several-many supers switch at will already.
If Hillary is going to win WV and KY and only Moonbat land eco delusionaries in Oregon are going for Obamessiah, then nobody has anything to claim, PROVIDED Hillary has decided to contest Florida and Michigan, and that can only occur in one place..DENVER at the convention.
So what is this story really about?
New wheat disease detected
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned in March that Iran had detected a new highly pathogenic strain of wheat stem rust called Ug99.The fungal disease could spread to other wheat producing states in the Near East and western Asia that provide one-quarter of the world's wheat.
The FAO warned stated east of Iran -- Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan to be on high alert.
Scientists and international organizations focused on controlling wheat stem rust have said 90 percent of world wheat lines are susceptible to Ug99. The situation is particularly critical in light of the existing worldwide wheat shortage.
The fungus causes dark orange pustules on stems and leaves of infected plants. The pustules can completely girdle stems, damaging their conducting tissue and preventing grain fill. Yield losses may reach 70 percent, while some fields are totally destroyed. If stem rust arrives early in the growing cycle, losses are higher. Spores released by the fungal pustules are spread by the wind and may travel great distances in storms.
Word of the new wheat disease comes amid global shortages of rice and wheat resulting from typhoon-related flooding in Java, Bangladesh, and India and from agricultural pests and diseases in Vietnam. Last year Australia suffered its second consecutive year of severe drought and a near complete crop failure, heavy rains reduced production in Europe, Argentina suffered heavy frost, and Canada and the U.S. both produced low yields.
Food riots have broken out in Egypt, Haiti and several African states, including Mauritania, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso and Senegal in recent months.
Time for a Wheat/Corn/Soy OPEC?
OK... so what about production... where is it?
Nations East of Iran get the warning....look out India, and China..we're shifting somewhat to corn, but that clearly leaves the democratic west as the largest producers of export wheatWorldwide, wheat supplies are somewhat tight, but for a variety of reasons:
1) The European Union-27 (EU-27) is expected to be the world's largest
wheat producing region in 2007/08, increasing wheat production to 127
million tons, only a 2-percent increase from the drought-stricken crop
in 2006/07. The expansion of rapeseed area to supply biodiesel limited
the rebound in wheat plantings. Moreover, the growing season so far has
been far from ideal.
2) China is expected to be the second-largest wheat producer in 2007/08
reaching 100 million tons, a 3-percent decline from the previous year.
Area planted is reported down slightly as wheat returns and government
payments were not enough to maintain area. Dryness has been reported in
some regions and growing conditions so far have not been as good as a
year ago.
3) Wheat production in the former Soviet Union (FSU-12) is forecast at
92 million tons in 2007/08, up 7 percent from a year earlier. Fall
planting conditions were much better, facilitating a rebound in winter
wheat plantings in Ukraine and parts of Russia. However, the strong
exchange rate and increased input costs have limited the profitability
of wheat production.
4) India is projected to produce 74 million tons in 2007/08, up 6
percent from a year earlier. High wheat prices encouraged a 5-percent
increase in area and growing conditions have been mostly favorable.
5) Canadian planting intentions surveys indicate a sharp drop in
sowings of Canadian western red spring wheat, more than offsetting a
planned increase for durum. Canola and barley are expected to offer
better returns than wheat. Moreover, winter wheat seedings in eastern
Canada dropped sharply due to cold wet planting conditions last fall.
6) Argentina's 2007/08 wheat production is projected to decline 10
percent to 12 .8 million tons due to a decline in expected planted
area. The Government restricted export registrations in 2006/07 in
order to limit internal flour price increases and thus, reduced
producer planting incentives for 2007/08. Moreover, a program to
subsidize wheat production appears to have been ineffective.
7) Australia is expected to rebound from devastating drought in
2006/07, more than doubling wheat production to 22 million tons in
2007/08.
While the there is a strong demand for US wheat from food, feed, and exports, there is also a problem in producing the crop. Some early season damage from freezing temperatures and some late season problems with crop diseases will create crop quality problems. With more acreage planted a year ago, supplies should be sufficient to meet the demand, but still keep wheat prices in the mid to upper $4 range according to USDA and the outlook specialists.
Teheran-Moscow Caspian oil deal would allow Russia troop presence
LONDON --
Iran has been preparing to sign an agreement, supported by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, that would enable a Russian military presence.Western intelligence sources said Ahmadinejad also wants Iran to join the Shanghai Group, a security cooperation regime that includes China and Russia. The sources said Ahmadinejad believes an Iranian alliance with China and Russia could deter the United States.
The Teheran regime has been negotiating a military cooperation accord, meant to end a dispute with Moscow over the Caspian, that would permit Russia to station troops in parts of Iran.
Under the proposal, Teheran would abandon its claim for 20 percent of the crude oil and natural gas in the Caspian. Instead, Iran would agreed to 11 percent of the resources.
The sources said Iran has proposed to abide by a 1921 treaty that would give Russia the right to station troops. They said this would include a Russian military presence along the Caspian Sea.
9% apparently buys a lot.
Strike immediately.
Will Russia really act to 'guard' the Iranians from strikes against their nuclear weapons development?
First Law of Russian Foreign policy:
Anything which hurts the USA
and its people -
is good for Russia in the big zero sum great game that
doesn't exist.
EVEN IF that means a nuclear detonation in Israel or the
USA
since they have judged that a full scale nuclear war will not
break out
McCain on Oreilly.No matter what other weaknesses we perceive....No drilling in ANWR, climate change believer etc,. that is a winner...but it is ONLY the recognition of what IS.
Once again, as in 2004, this trumps anything the democrats have to say, and in fact is in direct opposition to the frail, naive claim that our war is against Al Qaeda in Afghanistan.
Iran on Friday accused the United States and Israel of fueling the deadly sectarian fighting in Lebanon between its Shiite militant Hezbollah ally and the Western-backed ruling majority."Adventurous efforts and interventions by the United States and the Zionist regime are the main cause of the continuous chaotic situation in Lebanon," foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said.
"Unfortunately, part of the political plot which was predicted ... has been executed," said Hosseini, who was quoted by ISNA and Fars news agencies.
"We hope that those who have been responsible for creating this situation exert the effort needed to restore stability and calm to Lebanon," he added, without elaborating.
Hezbollah gunmen seized control of west Beirut on Friday after a third day of battles with Sunni militants loyal to the Western-backed government that has killed at least 11 people, Lebanese security official have said.
Hosseini said Iran will pursue "tireless efforts ... to help different political groups reach an understanding."
The United States and Israel have repeatedly accused Iran of arming and financing Hezbollah in a bid to destabilise Lebanon -- a charge the Islamic republic has constantly denied.
The United States has condemned the violence in Lebanon and demanded that Hezbollah, which is also backed by Syria, stops its "destructive activities."
Israeli President Shimon Peres on Friday claimed the violence in Lebanon was fomented by Iran to further what he said was Tehran's goal to control all of the Middle East.
The unbelievable MEMRI....check out the logo top right.
You have to just love this guy