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POPSPiracy Spurs Threats to Shipping Costs The company, however, will save on the $200,000 fee the Egyptian government charges to use the Suez canal. "We're hoping if other companies join us, we can put enough pressure on the Egyptian and other governments to solve this problem," says Chief Operating Officer Jan Hammer. Rob Lomas, secretary general of London-based Intercargo, a lobby group, says national shipping associations plan to step up a campaign for more protection off the East African coast. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet said they would keep four warships in the Gulf of Aden, off the coast of Somalia on Africa's horn, where most attacks have occurred. If attacks continue, insurers will continue raising rates for ships making the trek through the Gulf of Aden and the Suez canal until governments prove they can clamp down on the pirates, says Simon Beale, an underwriter with Amlin PLC, a London-based underwriter.
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POPSSelective Service Registration Raises Serious Questions EXCLUSIVE: Did Next Commander-in-Chief Falsify Selective Service Registration? First, there is the Document Location Number (DLN) on the form. In the upper right hand corner of the Selective Service form SSS Form 1, there is the standard Bates-stamped DLN, in this case "0897080632," which I've labeled as "A" on both the SSS Form and the computer printout document. On the form, it reflects a 2008 creation, but on the printout, an extra eight was added in front of the number to make it look like it is from 1980, when it was actually created in 2008. Copyright 2008, Must Cite Debbie Schlussel and link to DebbieSchlussel.com http://www.debbieschlussel.com/archives/2008/11/exclusive_did_n.html
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POPSReported Obama-Hamas Contacts Bode Ill Another clash between Obama’s public statements and his team's behind-the-scenes activities. According to Yousuf, Hamas' contact with Obama's advisors was ongoing, adding that he personally had friendly relations with a few of Obama's advisers whom he had met when he lived in the US. "Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh will draft a congratulatory letter to Obama for his victory in the elections," added Yousef. "The policy Obama will instate in the Middle East will differ from that of his predecessor George W. Bush, although it is clear that the region and the Palestinian issue will not be at the top of his agenda," Yousef told Al-Hayat, "(Obama) will focus more on the economic crisis, Iraq and Afghanistan." © 2008 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
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POPSOn Veterans Day, Don't Forget About the War (cont.)Most Americans want to put the war behind them, but this feeling is based not on a coherent critique but on a kind of collective exhaustion. In many ways, we as a country find ourselves in a mood like the one towards the end of the Vietnam War: we are tired and simply want to move on and forget the conflict ever happened. Yet this feeling can come at a great cost, because it is this same dynamic that led to the betrayal of more than three million Vietnam veterans.
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POPSDarfur activists pitch tents in Washington Former U.S. Special Representative to Sudan Roger Winter said that he urged activists to widen their advocacy from Darfur to Sudan as a whole. Winter noted, “Sudan can get much worse. Note that I did not say Darfur can get much worse; I said Sudan can get much worse.”
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POPSDemocratic Administration And A Cushy Media Job
Senior Obama adviser Susan Rice (a former Clinton administration official) is married to Ian Cameron, the Canadian-born executive producer of ABC News’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos.” • NBC's David Gregory is married to Beth Wilkinson, a partner at Latham & Watkins in Washington and a former official in the Justice Department during the Clinton administration. • ABC's George Stephanopoulos hosts a show bearing his name and earlier served as a senior advisor to the Clinton administration. • Chris Matthews hosts MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews and served as a speechwriter for Jimmy Carter. • David Gergen is a political analyst for CNN and served as a special adviser to President Clinton. • Paul Begala is a CNN commentator (" a high-functioning moron") and a former senior adviser to President Clinton. • Bill Moyers is a journalist employed by PBS and was a press secretary for President Lyndon Baines Johnson. His son is a producer for CNN.
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POPSObama's Pick for Chief of Staff. . . . . . . . . . . .Tops Recipients of Wall Street Money . . . . . Emanuel, who is currently the No. 4 Democrat in the House, has also collected $136,640 from the lobbying industry during his career, making K Street his 13th most generous industry. Since being elected to the House six years ago, he has collected $1.5 million from the investment industry , with lawyers and law firms and the entertainment industry coming in at a distant second and third place ($682,900 and $376,100). As a member of the powerful House Ways & Means Committee--which has jurisdiction over tax legislation, Social Security, Medicare and other entitlement programs--Emanuel is a popular industry target. Private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners has given Emanuel more than any other contributor over his career at $93,600. Emanuel and Obama have more than just Chicago in common; investment bank UBS, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley are among both men's lists of top donors .
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POPSCitizens Will Risk Arrest to Bring Indictment of Bush and Cheney In April 2008, Obama said that as president he would indeed ask his new Attorney General and his deputies to "immediately review the information that's already there" and determine if an inquiry is warranted. It is the responsibility of citizens to make sure this happens. Chief Prosecutor at the Nuremberg Tribunals following World War II, stated, "let me make clear that while this law is first applied against German aggressors, the law includes, and if it is to serve a useful purpose it must condemn aggression by any other nations, including those which sit here now in judgement." It is time, no matter who becomes our next president, to bring the criminals of the Bush regime to justice. We, the people, have the power and we can restore justice. Our group would include someone who was directly affected by the illegal invasion of Iraq.
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POPS You Did Not Lose This Election MEMORIES OF THAT FEBRUARY day at CPAC come back to me now as I contemplate the November debacle of the Republican Party. Many conservatives will inevitably feel rejected and dejected. Try not to take it personally. You did not lose this election. Perhaps the most important statistic for conservatives to keep in mind today -- as pundits pore over and pour out exit-poll data to tell us What It Means -- is this: 53 percent of Republican primary voters did not vote for John McCain. While the Democratic struggle between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton captured all the headlines during the primary season, few pundits noticed the massive Republican resistance to McCain's nomination. Super Tuesday, Feb. 5, McCain got 33 percent of the primary vote in Missouri, 32 percent in Tennessee and Georgia; in caucuses that day, he got 22 percent in the Minnesota and 19 percent in Colorado. McCain's share of the total Republican primary vote through Super Tuesday was only 39 percent.
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POPSEnduring Progressive Majority Appears Pretty Slim WASHINGTON (CNN) – A new report from American University’s Center for the Study of the American Electorate concludes that voter turnout in Tuesday’s election was the same in percentage terms as it was four years ago — or at most has risen by less than 1 percent. The report released Thursday estimates that between 126.5 and 128.5 million Americans cast ballots in the presidential election earlier this week. Those figures represent 60.7 percent or, at most, 61.7 percent of those eligible to vote in the country. “A downturn in the number and percentage of Republican voters going to the polls seemed to be the primary explanation for the lower than predicted turnout,” the report said. Compared to 2004, Republican turnout declined by 1.3 percentage points to 28.7 percent, while Democratic turnout increased by 2.6 points from 28.7 percent in 2004 to 31.3 percent in 2008.
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POPSWall Street Fat Cats Are Trying to Pocket Billions in Bailout Cash "We're making homeowners take a big hit, and if there's any justification for any of these bonuses -- which is dubious -- sharing that burden is important." But that's not quite the sharing that Wall Street wanted from the bailout package. Yet, if "change has come to America," as per Obama's promise, then it's high time for Wall Street to shoulder its part -- starting with this bonus season. A decisive move by Obama on this topic would go a long way toward solidifying the central promise of his campaign.
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