http://www.liveleak.com/browse?channel_token=6a7_1302939382 Items in channel 'ShadowankerdogKGB' Sat, 18 May 2013 15:24:21 -0400 Liveleak http://edge.liveleak.com/80281E/u/u/ll2/logo.gif http://www.liveleak.com/browse?channel_token=6a7_1302939382 Fri, 29 May 2009 01:55:13 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=357_1243576270 ShadowankerdogKGB Executions, Torture in North Korea 'Worse Than Animal Slaughter' Wednesday, October 29, 2008 | FoxNews.com SEOUL, South Korea - The condemned inmate, his body torn apart by guard dogs, slumped unconscious as the three executioners fired. The bullets shattered his skull, splattering blood near other prisoners forced to watch. His offense: trying to escape from the remote prison camp in North Korea. "People were seized with fear but no one could say anything," former prisoner Jung Gyoung-il said, recalling the 2001 execution. "That's worse than the way animals are slaughtered." For a decade, North Korea has denied such accounts from defectors, and South Korea has shied away from them to maintain good relations with its wartime rival. But now, under new President Lee Myung-bak, South Korea is investigating alleged abuses, including the prison camp system. South Korea's state-run human rights watchdog is interviewing defectors and is hosting a two-day international forum on the issue this week. Meanwhile, U.S. President George W. Bush has made the push to crack down on rights abuses in North Korea one of his last missions before leaving office in January. He signed a law promoting the U.S. special envoy on North Korean human rights to ambassador and making it easier for refugees from the North to settle in the U.S. The focus on alleged abuses has infuriated North Korea, which dismisses the accusations as a U.S. plot to overthrow its government. The country's Central Committee of the Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland called Seoul's moves proof that South Korean officials are "sycophants toward the U.S." and "maniacs" who risk confrontation with the North. North Korea runs at least five large political prison camps, together holding an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 inmates, according to the U.S. State Department. The gulags remain one of the Stalinist regime's most effective means of controlling its 23 million people, analysts say. During the rights forum that started Wednesday, the U.N. investigator on human rights in North Korea demanded Pyongyang reform its prison systems and terminate public execution, calling the country's gulags "appalling" facilities. "With regard to the substantive issues of human rights as a whole, the pictures are still sadly very negative on many fronts," Vitit Muntarbhorn said. South Korean National Assembly Speaker Kim Hyong-o, in written remarks to the forum, also said "severe outrages against humanity" such as executions and vivisection are reported to have frequently occurred in the North's prison camps. Satellite images show the camps in valleys tucked between mountain ranges, each covering up to 100 square miles. Former prisoners say the camps are encircled by high-voltage electrified fences and have schools, barracks and work sites. Offenses meriting banishment to a prison camp include everything from disparaging North Korean leader Kim Jong Il to trying to flee the country, defectors say. Former prisoner Jung said he spent three years in Camp No. 15 in Yodok, about 70 miles northeast of the capital, Pyongyang, on charges of spying for South Korea. Jung, who was working for a state-run trading company, claims the charges were fabricated by security agents seeking promotion. After months of torture, Jung said he acknowledged the charge. By then he had lost nearly 80 pounds. Shortly after his release, he fled to South Korea in 2004 with his wife and two daughters and now works for a civic group on North Korean prisons. At Yodok, Jung said, the 400 inmates in his section subsisted on 20 ounces of corn each - the equivalent of one medium-size can daily - while toiling at mines, farms and factories for 13 to 15 hours a day. Many died of hunger and diseases brought on by malnutrition, he said. Some managed to trap vermin and insects. "People eat rats and snakes. They were the best food to recover our health," said Jung, 46, adding he still suffers from ulcers, headaches and back pain. One inmate, Choe Kwang Ho, sneaked away from his work for 15 minutes to pick fruit. He was executed, his mouth stuffed with gravel to prevent him from protesting, Jung recalled. "I still can't forget his emotionless face," he said. Life at the four other camps was even worse, Jung said. A former North Korean prison guard said only two inmates have ever escaped from the camps known as "total control zones." "Inmates there don't even have time to try to catch and eat rats," An Myeong-chul said in an interview in Seoul. An said he served as a guard and driver at four camps before defecting in 1994. If a female inmate got pregnant, he said, she and her lover would be shot to death publicly. Then, An said, prison guards would cut open her womb, remove the fetus and bury it or feed it to guard dogs. Forced abortions are common, and if babies are born, many are killed, sometimes before the mother's eyes, defectors say. Grandparents also may be punished since whole families are imprisoned. "We were repeatedly taught they were the national traitors and we have to eradicate three generations of their families," he said. An, 40, defected after his father, a former Workers' Party official, killed himself after being accused of criticizing the government food rationing system as inefficient. Now working at a bank in South Korea, An said he pushes for the abolishment of North Korea's prison camps as the least he can do to offset his work as a guard. Public executions are not limited to the gulags. Before he was imprisoned, Jung took his eldest daughter, then 8, to the execution of a prisoner in 1997 in the city of Chongjin. She watched solemnly as the inmate's skull was smashed to pieces. "She asked me, 'Hey Daddy, is he vomiting?"' Jung recalled, a bitter grimace curling his lips. "I should not have taken her there." http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=357_1243576270 ShadowankerdogKGB Real torture. real torture, america haters, bleeding hearts Fri, 29 May 2009 01:46:18 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=284_1243575764 ShadowankerdogKGB Saddam's Hangman Details Torture One of Saddam Hussein's official hangmen is speaking to the media for the first time - offering a firsthand account of some of the torture techniques he used on Saddam's orders. Recalling his time working at Iraq's notorious Abu Ghraib prison, Abu Hussein recalled that a new batch of political prisoners was brought in - without being charged with a crime - every week. Deserters from Iraq's war with Iran faced the firing squad, the hangman told Reuters, while prisoners who had insulted Saddam were hanged because it was more cruel. "A firing squad is more compassionate because people usually died immediately. But hanging is cruel because it can take time to die. If they don't die, we started over again," he said. Death always came after weeks of torture, Abu Hussein said. "Sometimes we would hang them upside down and beat their feet with clubs. Or we would electrocute them," he said. "One of the worst things was putting 10 people in a one-square-meter room for weeks. They had a brief break every day and were allowed the toilet every three days," he said. Three executions were carried out each Monday and Thursday. One day Saddam's feared son Uday showed up and asked about eight political prisoners standing nearby. He ordered their immediate execution, the ex-executioner told Reuters. He recalled watching men writhe in agony as they died, which even he found upsetting. But nobody could afford to defy orders in Saddam's Iraq. "We would have been killed on the spot," Abu Hussein said. "One time this executioner was one hour late in hanging someone and he was himself hanged." http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=284_1243575764 ShadowankerdogKGB More torture blast from the past true torture, saddam, america haters, bleeding hearts Fri, 29 May 2009 01:41:34 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=855_1243575179 ShadowankerdogKGB You don't need me to tell you, but lets put all this waterboarding in to perspective shall we? We waterboarded 3 high value prisoners, as well as our own troops for training. Lets remember what Saddam did. The horror of Saddam's mass graves Sayed Mahdi Almodarresi BrookesNews.Com Monday 24 July 2006 Jews were victims of Nazi oppression and "ethnic cleansing" the result of which was the extermination of over five million Jews. By perpetrating such a heinous crime Hitler engraved his name in history as one of the most notorious criminals who immersed himself in the blood of innocent people... We are not going to dispute that. In fact, we, more than anybody can fully grasp the agony of the holocaust. iraqi graves A body recovered from a mass grave in Iraq We have had a first hand experience with the very same horrors. Freshly dug mass graves bare witness to the plight of the Shias. They have been subjected to a systematic, state-sponsored persecution and murder. Iraq has once again revived those shocking memories. When Iraqi refugees return to their homeland, they no longer have hope of finding their loved ones. Any such hope has disappeared except for a very few hopefuls who dread the bitter reality of loss. The only hope that still exists in the hearts of expatriates is finding the burial site of their relatives. Perhaps also some identifiable remains. The search for those remains has become a daily chore for thousands of Iraqis today. New mass graves are discovered almost on a daily basis. Some sites contain tens of thousands of bodies, while some are just too swarming with human remains littered on top of each other that no one bothers to keep a head count. The bare bones, broken skulls, cuffed hands and scraps of clothing tell a horrifying story. Many skeletons belong to women, some even to young children. The scene is nothing short of horrendous, and the sorrow of loved ones is utterly inexpressible. saddam mass grave The killed were killed, the captured were killed, and the injured were killed as well. No one was spared. Each body has a story to tell. Each person had relatives, parents, and a family that was later forced to pay for the bullets used to kill them when a bill was dispatched to each household. The state was not going to pay for their punishment. The obligatory payment was probably the hardest thing to do. Yet those who received confirmation of their loved ones' death were the lucky ones. Hundreds of thousands of wives, husbands, parents, and children never had any type of emotional closure. Until, that is, the infamous incarceration compounds were emptied, Bath party records were checked, and finally mass graves were excavated. Mass graves have been found in almost every major province. Some of them are group specific (one has been found to house Dawa party members and another one for Islamic Action Organization adherents). Some are age specific. Even the children were not spared. There is no need to go into detailed descriptions of the sites and relate stories of those lucky few who fled only to tell almost unbelievable tales. The real problem lies in the fact that such stories are becoming mundane and have lost their position as the number one news story, having been breaking news items just a few days after the war. iraqi mass graves Two Iraqi women with the remains of their loved ones. For a third of a century, the Shia people of Iraq have been suffering in the confines of their own Holy Land. They have been subject to the rule of the minority, namely the Sunnis. It is no secret that Saddam and his cohorts subscribe to the Sunni sect. On the outskirts of Tikrit is a little village named Al-Awjah (which not surprisingly translates as "The Twisted"), sparsely populated and neglected for hundreds of years by the rest of the province. Saddam was born precisely in that village in 1937 from a typical Sunni family. It was Saddam's rise that paved the way for his venomous sectarian hatred to be materialized. The Shias were subjected to ethnic cleansing of an unsurpassed scale. For them the punishment for political crimes started with execution and ended with a lifetime of anguish under the brutal torture apparatus of Saddam's notorious penitentiaries. The list goes on to brutalities of detention without trial, torture, and as the west has now come to discover; mass executions and burials. Official Iraqi documents recovered after the fall of Saddam regime suggest a staggering 5 million executions were made during Baath era alone. Over 10 million were also imprisoned. They were all Shias save a small percentage of Kurds. It is also very interesting to note that after the 1991 Shia uprising over 300,000 were killed or captured never to be seen again, but there were no injured. hussein's mass graves Iraqis gather human remains This is very odd considering the logical fact that wars result in many more injuries than deaths. Under Saddam, however, people were either killed instantly or killed in mass executions soon after. With slogans such as 'After today no more Shias' the army had advanced into the city of Karbala. The killed were killed, the captured were killed, and the injured were killed as well. No one was spared. Those executed by the Saddam regime were brutally murdered because they stood for an agenda, an agenda to have peace and exercise their right to freedom of religion. Now they themselves have become an agenda. We must not forget the sacrifices made by Iraqis because although liberation was eventually accomplished at the hands of the Coalition forces, they were only sowing the seeds. The Shias of Iraq paid a very dear price for its liberation, which is why their memory must be upheld at any price. We must endeavor to permanently imprint the memory of those killed by Saddam and his regime in the hearts and minds of generations to come in order to prevent such human catastrophes from being repeated. Memorial structures and memorial museums must be erected in every major city in Iraqis well as every capital city in the western world. Names of the victims must be placed on walls lest they be forgotten. Committees must be set up to promote the Iraqi calamity all over the world in an effort to defend the rights of the Shias in general. Their memory should be preserved to help other Shias suffering persecution elsewhere in the world. In many parts of the world Shias are prevented from practicing their rituals. Their books are banned. Their sacred sites are either demolished or inaccessible. Saudi Arabia is one such country where it is a crime to be identified as a Shia. Although unofficial figures put their number at around 30 per cent of the total population, Shias do not have any such figures. In some cities (such as Medina) Shias conceal their faith to such an extent that even their immediate family members do not know about them. In such an atmosphere that the likes of Bin Laden were nurtured, Shias are seen as villains even before Americans. iraqis mass graves An Iraqi man checks a bag containing human remains The western world has only recently discovered the terrifying face of Wahhabi terrorism at the hands of Al-Qaeda. We, however, have had to deal with their bitter hatred for many years in Afghanistan (under the Taliban), Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and elsewhere. Even with the number of Shias around the world approaching 400 million, the Shia faith remains not only unrecognized by many countries but is officially banned in many others. Despite all of that it is only today that the plight of the Shias is being heard. They have been desperately crying out for help for over 30 years to no avail, but it is only after the fall of Baghdad that facts are being revealed about the nature of Saddam's vicious apparatus. We have only recently come to discover - the hard way - that these are the remnants of a truly despotic regime. It took 30 years of pain and suffering along with millions of deaths in Iraq alone, but as the old saying goes: "Better late than never". The long standing persecution of the Shias must now come to an end. Almodarresi http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=855_1243575179 ShadowankerdogKGB Torture blast from the past true torture, saddam, america haters Sat, 16 May 2009 22:12:11 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=f2f_1242526021 ShadowankerdogKGB Excuse me while I throw up a big pile of hypocrisy. This old hag as the nerve to be concerned over somebody else's expenses. You Brits are some twisted people. When are you going to ditch this stupid royalty crap? The Queen tells Brown of grave concern over MPs' expenses By Simon Walters, Political Editor Last updated at 1:45 AM on 17th May 2009 The Queen has told Gordon Brown she is worried that the scandalous revelations about MPs' expenses could damage Parliament. She discussed the explosion of public outrage over the scandal in what is understood to have been a candid exchange of views when she met the Prime Minister for their weekly audience at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday. Details of their conversation - which covered the vital need to restore trust in Parliament - came to light as: * The identities of the shadowy figures who leaked the MPs' expenses were revealed. * Speaker Michael Martin told friends he is ready to quit. * A shock new poll put the anti-EU UKIP on course to overtake Labour in next month's European elections. * Public demands for criminal charges against at least five expenses-cheat MPs grew. * Labour's overall poll rating fell to yet another all-time historic low - just 20 per cent. * A Labour MP was discovered to have claimed lb125,000 expenses for a run-down garage via his 'office' expenses. * Another Labour MP was suspended for claiming lb13,000 for a mortgage that had been paid off. Neither Buckingham Palace nor Downing Street would comment on the conversation between Mr Brown and the Queen, insisting that it remain confidential. However, well-placed sources say the Queen is 'deeply troubled' by the scandal and had made it clear that she feared it could inflict 'long-lasting damage' to the Commons. 'She won't discuss individual MPs but she feels this scandal has done a lot of long-lasting damage,' said the source. 'She is aware the public feel repulsed by this sort of thing. She is conscious there is a recession on.' An entirely separate source told The Mail on Sunday that the Queen had expressed her 'disappointment' at the expenses disclosures. More... * Labour MP Fraser Kemp claimed for two DVD players and 16 bed sheets... in two weeks * Michael Martin to quit, but not until after next Election to install son in 'hereditary' seat and claim lb100,000 golden parachute * MAIL ON SUNDAY COMMENT: The Queen must press Brown for an Election now * CPS may charge MPs with fraud * DOUGLAS CARSWELL: Mr Speaker, you have brought this House into disrepute. You must go * Revealed: Key player behind the flood of leaks that rocked Westminster breaks his silence and talks of his fear of being tortured * MPs' expenses: Labour MP David Chaytor suspended from party after claiming thousands for non-existent mortgage * Peter Mandelson's lb3,000 for gardening and decorations but the house is still a tip * Homes in the Cotswolds, South Africa and Bedfordshire but MP Nadine Dorries doesn't live near the House of Commons * MP claimed lb900 in legal costs into dispute over official notepaper 'used to scare Spanish neighbours' * Fury of ex-boyfriend of Tory MP who made lb320,000 from flat sale with the help of expenses * Go out and meet the voters? Not today, thank you say under-fire MPs Both insiders stressed that Her Majesty's comments were neither politically partisan nor aimed at any particular MPs, but came out of concern for the standing of Parliament. Some observers have compared the backlash against MPs with the anger directed at the Queen in the aftermath of Princess Diana's death. The future of the Monarchy as an institution appeared briefly in jeopardy after the Royal Family's initial low-key response prompted unprecedented hostility towards the Queen. On that occasion, Mr Brown's predecessor Tony Blair played a key role in advising the Queen on how to react to public opinion. This week, amid a similar volatile and rebellious public mood, it appears to have been the Queen's turn to counsel the Government, advising Mr Brown on his own efforts to guide Parliament through the expenses crisis that threatens its entire future. The Prime Minister's spokesman refused to comment on their meeting, saying: 'Their discussions are private and we have no comment.' A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman stuck to the same strict official line, saying: 'We never comment on what is said between the Queen and the Prime Minister during their private audiences. The Queen and the Prime Minister were alone. No one ever discusses what they discussed.' Tory MP Nicholas Soames, a friend of Prince Charles, said: 'This business has done grave damage to the standing of Parliament and it will take a long time for it to recover trust and confidence. You can smell the stench of death about this Government. 'Parliament is paralysed, the whole place has effectively closed down when there are dangerous issues that this country must deal with, whether it is Afghanistan, Al Qaeda or the Middle East peace process. 'The expenses system must be reformed but we must not become obsessed with it, Parliament has important work to do.' A BPIX poll for The Mail on Sunday emphasises the strength of public anger over MPs who abuse their expenses. If voters had their way, five politicians - ex-Minister Elliot Morley, Tory MP Andrew Mackay, Employment Minister Tony McNulty, Transport Minister Geoff Hoon and Communities Secretary Hazel Blears - would face criminal charges. The Queen has had good relations with all 11 occupants of Downing Street since she came to the throne in 1952. Most came to value her vast experience of State affairs. Apart from death of Diana, the closest to a constitutional clash between Buckingham Palace and No10 came during the Thatcher years, when it was reported that the Queen expressed sympathy for striking miners and fears that Mrs Thatcher's policies were fuelling social unrest. Although the Queen's role in Parliament is now largely ceremonial, it is the Monarch who dissolves Parliament, and it is only convention that dictates that she should do so only on the advice of the Prime Minister. She also retains a key role in the passage of legislation. The Crown is expected to act with 'the advice and consent' of the Commons and Lords, but again, it is only convention which states that she will give Royal assent to Bills passed by the two Houses. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=f2f_1242526021 ShadowankerdogKGB The Queen tells Brown of grave concern over MPs' expenses queen, bullshit, hypocrisy, fraud, Tue, 05 May 2009 00:27:23 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=140_1241497444 ShadowankerdogKGB From The Sunday Times May 3, 2009 'Green' lightbulbs poison workers Hundreds of factory staff are being made ill by mercury used in bulbs destined for the West Michael Sheridan, Foshan WHEN British consumers are compelled to buy energy-efficient lightbulbs from 2012, they will save up to 5m tons of carbon dioxide a year from being pumped into the atmosphere. In China, however, a heavy environmental price is being paid for the production of "green" lightbulbs in cost-cutting factories. Large numbers of Chinese workers have been poisoned by mercury, which forms part of the compact fluorescent lightbulbs. A surge in foreign demand, set off by a European Union directive making these bulbs compulsory within three years, has also led to the reopening of mercury mines that have ruined the environment. Doctors, regulators, lawyers and courts in China - which supplies two thirds of the compact fluorescent bulbs sold in Britain - are increasingly alert to the potential impacts on public health of an industry that promotes itself as a friend of the earth but depends on highly toxic mercury. Making the bulbs requires workers to handle mercury in either solid or liquid form because a small amount of the metal is put into each bulb to start the chemical reaction that creates light. Mercury is recognised as a health hazard by authorities worldwide because its accumulation in the body can damage the nervous system, lungs and kidneys, posing a particular threat to babies in the womb and young children. The risks are illustrated by guidance from the British government, which says that if a compact fluorescent lightbulb is broken in the home, the room should be cleared for 15 minutes because of the danger of inhaling mercury vapour. Documents issued by the Chinese health ministry, instructions to doctors and occu-pational health propaganda all describe mercury poisoning in lighting factories as a growing public health concern. "Pregnant women and mothers who are breastfeeding must not be allowed to work in a unit where mercury is present," states one official rulebook. In southern China, compact fluorescent lightbulbs destined for western consumers are being made in factories that range from high-tech multina-tional operations to sweat-shops, with widely varying standards of health and safety. Tests on hundreds of employees have found dangerously high levels of mercury in their bodies and many have required hospital treatment, according to interviews with workers, doctors and local health officials in the cities of Foshan and Guangzhou. Dozens of workers who were interviewed on condition of anonymity described living with the fear of mercury poisoning. They gave detailed accounts of medical tests that found numerous workers had dangerous levels of the toxin in their urine. "In tests, the mercury content in my blood and urine exceeded the standard but I was not sent to hospital because the managers said I was strong and the mercury would be decontaminated by my immune system," said one young female employee, who provided her identity card. "Two of my friends were sent to hospital for one month," she added, giving their names also. "If they asked me to work inside the mercury workshop I wouldn't do it, no matter how much they paid," said another young male worker. Doctors at two regional health centres said they had received patients in the past from the Foshan factory of Osram, a big manufacturer serving the British market. However, the company said in a statement that the latest tests on its staff had found nobody with elevated mercury levels. It added that local authorities had provided documents in 2007 and 2008 to certify the factory met the required environmental standards. Osram said it used the latest technology employing solid mercury to maintain high standards of industrial hygiene equivalent to those in Germany. Labour lawyers said Osram, as a responsible multi-national company, was probably the best employer in a hazardous sector and conditions at Chinese-owned factories were often far worse. A survey of published specialist literature and reports by state media shows hundreds of workers at Chinese-owned factories have been poisoned by mercury over the past decade. In one case, Foshan city officials intervened to order medical tests on workers at the Nanhai Feiyang lighting factory after receiving a petition alleging dangerous conditions, according to a report in the Nanfang Daily newspaper. The tests found 68 out of 72 workers were so badly poisoned they required hospitalisation. A specialist medical journal, published by the health ministry, describes another compact fluorescent lightbulb factory in Jinzhou, in central China, where 121 out of 123 employees had excessive mercury levels. One man's level was 150 times the accepted standard. The same journal identified a compact fluorescent lightbulb factory in Anyang, eastern China, where 35% of workers suffered mercury poisoning, and industrial discharge containing the toxin went straight into the water supply. It also reported a survey of 18 lightbulb factories near Shanghai, which found that exposure levels to mercury were higher for workers making the new compact fluorescent lightbulbs than for other lights containing the metal. In China, people have been aware of the element's toxic properties for more than 2,000 years because legend has it that the first emperor, Qin, died in 210BC after eating a pill of mercury and jade he thought would grant him eternal life. However, the scale of the public health problems in recent times caused by mercury mining and by the metal's role in industrial pollution is beginning to emerge only with the growth of a civil society in China and the appearance of lawyers prepared to take on powerful local governments and companies. A court in Beijing has just broken new ground in industrial injuries law by agreeing to hear a case unrelated to lightbulbs but filed by a plaintiff who is seeking lb375,000 in compensation for acute mercury poisoning that he claims destroyed his digestive system. The potential for litigation may be greatest in the ruined mountain landscape of Guizhou province in the southwest, where mercury has been mined for centuries. The land is scarred and many of the people have left. Until recently, the conditions were medieval. Miners hewed chunks of rock veined with cinnabar, the main commercial source of mercury. They inhaled toxic dust and vapours as the material seethed in primitive cauldrons to extract the mercury. Nobody wore a mask or protective clothing. "Our forefathers had been mining for mercury since the Ming Dynasty and in olden days there was no pollution from such small mines," said a 72-year-old farmer, named Shen. "But in modern times thousands of miners came to our land, dug it out and poured chemicals to wash away the waste. Our water buffaloes grew stunted from drinking the water and our crops turned grey. Our people fell sick and didn't live long. Anybody who could do has left." The government shut all the big mercury mining operations in the region in recent years in response to a fall in global mercury prices and concern over dead rivers, poisoned fields and ailing inhabitants. But The Sunday Times found that in this remote corner of a poverty-stricken province, the European demand for mercury had brought the miners back. A Chinese entrepreneur, Zhao Yingquan, has paid lb1.5m for the rights to an old state-run mine. The Luo Xi mining company used thousands of prisoners to carve out its first shaft and tunnels in the 1950s. "We're in the last stages of preparing the mine to start operations again in the second half of this year," said a manager at the site, named Su. At Tongren, a town where mercury was processed for sale, an old worker spoke of the days when locals slaved day and night to extract the precious trickles of silvery metal. "I worked for 40 years in a mine and now my body is full of sickness and my lungs are finished," he said. Additional reporting: Sara Hashash http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=140_1241497444 ShadowankerdogKGB 'Green' Lightbulbs Poison Workers bs, green, hoax, global warming, scam Sat, 25 Apr 2009 21:26:40 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=d39_1240708910 ShadowankerdogKGB 1. "Obama criticized pork barrel spending in the form of 'earmarks,' urging changes in the way that Congress adopts the spending proposals. Then he signed a spending bill that contains nearly 9,000 of them, some that members of his own staff shoved in last year when they were still members of Congress. 'Let there be no doubt, this piece of legislation must mark an end to the old way of doing business, and the beginning of a new era of responsibility and accountability,' Obama said." -- McClatchy, 3/11 2. "There is no doubt that we've been living beyond our means and we're going to have to make some adjustments." -- Obama during the campaign. 3. This year's budget deficit: $1.5 trillion. 4. Asks his Cabinet to cut costs in their departments by $100 million -- a whopping .0027%! 5. "The White House says the president is unaware of the tea parties." -- ABC News, 4/15 6. "Mr. Obama is an accomplished orator but is becoming known in America as the 'teleprompt president' over his reliance on the machine when he gives a speech." -- Sky News, 3/18 7. In early February, the 2010 census was moved out of the Department of Commerce and into the White House, politicizing how federal aid is distributed and electoral districts are drawn. 8. Obama taps Nancy Killefer for a new administration job, First Chief Performance Officer -- to police government spending. But it surfaces that Killefer had performance issues of her own -- a tax lien was slapped on her DC home in 2005 for failure to pay unemployment compensation tax on household help. She withdrew. 9. Turkey tried to block the appointment of Anders Fogh Rasmussen as new NATO secretary general because he didn't properly punish the Danish cartoonist who caricatured Mohammed. France's Nicolas Sarkozy and Germany's Angela Merkel were outraged; Obama said he supported Turkey's induction into the European Union. 10. . . . and he never mentioned the Armenian genocide. 11. The picture of Obama and Hugo Chavez shaking hands. 12. Hugo Chavez gave him the anti-American screed "The Open Veins of Latin America." Obama didn't remark upon it. At least it wasn't DVDs. 13. Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega went on a 50-minute anti-American rant, calling Obama "president of an empire." Obama didn't leave the room. "I thought it was 50 minutes long. That's what I thought," he said. 14. Executives at AIG get $165 million in bonuses, despite receiving an $173 billion taxpayer bailout. 15. "For months, the Obama administration and members of Congress have known that insurance giant AIG was getting ready to pay huge bonuses while living off government bailouts. It wasn't until the money was flowing and news was trickling out to the public that official Washington rose up in anger and vowed to yank the money back." -- Associated Press, 3/18 16. "After pushing Congress for weeks to hurry up and pass the massive $787 billion stimulus bill, President Obama promptly took off for a three-day holiday getaway." -- New York Post, 2/15 17. SARAH PALIN ON: "I WON" AND THE DEATH OF BIPARTISANSHIP "Obama soared to victory on the hopeful promise of a new era of bipartisanship. During his inaugural address he even promised an 'end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.' "Too bad it took all of three days for the promise to ring hollow. "Start with Obama's big meeting with top congressional leaders on his signature legislation -- the stimulus -- on the Friday after his inauguration. Listening to Republican concerns about overspending was a nice gesture -- until he shut down any hopes of real dialogue by crassly telling Republican leaders: 'I won.' Even the White House's leaking of the comment was a slap at the Republican leadership, who'd expected Obama to adhere to the custom of keeping private meetings with congressional leadership, well, private. "It's only gone downhill from there. The stimulus included zero Republican recommendations, and failed to get a single House Republican vote. "It's not just the tactic of using Republicans for bipartisan photo-ops, and then cutting them loose before partisan decisions, that irks Obama's opponents. The new president wasted no time rushing forward with policies and legislation guaranteed to drive Republicans nuts. The first bill he signed into law was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act -- a partisan hot-button that drew all of eight Republican supporters in the entire Congress. Then there was the swift reversal of Bush policies on abortion and embryonic-stem-cell research -- issues dear to the Republican base. "And when Obama and the Democrats in Congress took up SCHIP -- the children's health-insurance bill that Republicans say vastly expands government's role in health care -- they had an easy chance for real bipartisanship. After all, the bill had been hashed out in the previous Congress, and a bipartisan accord was reached before President Bush responded with a veto. Did the Obama team push for the compromise version in the 111th Congress? Nope. They went back to the drawing board, ramming through the Democrats' dream version. "Of course, the lack of bipartisanship isn't limited to Capitol Hill. Obama has taken gratuitous swipes at the Republicans who recently decamped Washington, blaming President Bush for everything from the economy and the war to the lack of sufficient puppies and rainbows. And who could forget the Rush Limbaugh flap -- in which Obama's top advisers, including chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, orchestrated a public relations campaign meant to undermine the Republican National Committee chairman, Michael Steele, by framing talk-radio personality Limbaugh as the real head of the Republican Party. "For now, Obama's back-pedal on the bipartisanship promise just makes him look insincere. But the real consequences of the mistake will be felt soon enough. As Presidents Bush and Clinton could tell him, congressional majorities do change -- and at some point, Obama will need Republicans on his side. He'd be smart to spend his second 100 days making up for the serious snubs of his first." -- Sarah Palin is the governor of Alaska 18. "The willingness of a small percentage of military personnel to join extremist groups during the 1990s because they were disgruntled, disillusioned or suffering from the psychological effects of war is being replicated today." -- Department of Homeland Security intelligence report 19. Nixes a "buy American" provision in the stimulus bill. 20. "Yes, Canada is not Mexico, it doesn't have a drug war going on. Nonetheless, to the extent that terrorists have come into our country or suspected or known terrorists have entered our country across a border, it's been across the Canadian border. There are real issues there." -- Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. The 9/11 hijackers did not come across the Canada border 21. "The Obama administration is signaling to Congress that the president could support taxing some employee health benefits, as several influential lawmakers and many economists favor, to help pay for overhauling the health care system. The proposal is politically problematic for President Obama, however, since it is similar to one he denounced in the presidential campaign as 'the largest middle-class tax increase in history.' " -- New York Times, 3/14 22. JOE SCARBOROUGH ON: PROMOTING FEAR "During his historic inaugural speech, Barack Obama promised to usher in a transformational age where hope would replace fear, unity would overtake partisanship, and change would sweep aside the status quo. But early in President Obama's first 100 days it is obvious that the only thing that is changing is the Candidate of Change, himself. "The same politician who proclaimed during his inauguration that 'on this day we have chosen hope over fear' soon warned Americans that the US economy would be forever destroyed if the stimulus bill was voted down. "Why was it that same man who promised to put Americans' interests ahead of his own political ambitions chose instead to use the suffering of citizens to advance his agenda? "Maybe he was following the guidance of Rahm Emanuel, who famously said, 'You never want to waste a good crisis.' "They didn't. "The White House's warnings were so over-the-top that Bill Clinton felt compelled to warn the new president against making such grim pronouncements. Americans would quickly warn that the White House would not channel FDR's eternal optimism but rather embrace the gloomy worldview of Edgar Allen Poe. "The Candidate of Hope also quickly adopted the Nixonian worldview that Americans voted their fears rather than their hopes. Over Mr. Obama's first 100 days, that cynical calculation paid off politically for a White House that seemed most interested in appeasing the most liberal members of his Democratic Party. "I expected more from Barack Obama. For the sake of my country, I hope I get it from the new president over the next 100 days." -- Joe Scarborough, host of MSNBC's "Morning Joe" and author of "The Last Best Hope: Restoring Conservatism and America's Promise" (Crown Forum), due out June 9. 23. Sanjay Gupta was in discussions to become Surgeon General, but the TV personality withdrew after he was criticized for his flimsy political record. 24. Rasmussen finds 58% of Americans believe the Obama administration's release of CIA memos endangers the national security of the United States. 25. Only 28% think the Obama administration should do any further investigating of how the Bush administration treated terrorism suspects. 26. "Obama thanked CIA employees for their work and said they're invaluable to national security. He explained his decision to release the memos, then told everyone not to feel bad because he was now acknowledging potential mistakes. Theirs, not his. 'That's how we learn,' Obama said, as though soothing a room full of fourth-graders." -- The Oklahoman, 4/23 27. By releasing the torture memos, Obama opened American citizens up to international tribunals. A UN lawyer said the US is obliged to prosecute lawyers who drafted the memos or else violate the Geneva Conventions. 28. In their first meeting, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown gave Obama a carved ornamental penholder from the timbers of the anti-slavery ship HMS Gannet. Obama gave him 25 DVDs that don't work in Europe. 29. TIM CARNEY ON: PICKING BILL RICHARDSON AS SECRETARY OF COMMERCE "Richardson's value in Obama's Cabinet had everything to do with appearances. First, he was the Hispanic pick. Second, because Richardson had run against Obama for President, tapping him for the Cabinet helped the media write the Obama-Lincoln comparisons by burnishing the 'Team of Rivals' image. "But Richardson withdrew before Obama was even inaugurated when news came out about a criminal investigation involving David Rubin, president of a firm named Chambers, Dunhill, Rubin & Co. (although there was no Chambers or Dunhill), who had donated at least $110,000 to Richardson's campaign committees and had also profited from $1.5 million in contracts from the state government. "This was an early warning sign about Obama's vetting process (various tax problems and the Daschle problem would reveal this as a theme), but picking Richardson to run Commerce also highlighted that Obama and Richardson's promise of 'public-private partnerships' -- such as Detroit bailouts, Wall Street bailouts, and green energy--was an open door for corruption and was at odds with Obama's promise to diminish the influence of lobbyists. "The Richardson mistake was one of Obama's first, and it was emblematic. Richardson embodied Obama's attention to self-image and the problems inherent in his vision of an intimate business-government connection." -- Tim Carney is a Washington Examiner columnist 30. Timothy Geithner nomination as Secretary of Treasury was almost torpedoed when it was discovered he had failed to pay $34,000 in Social Security and Medicare taxes. He also employed an illegal immigrant as a housekeeper. He was confirmed anyway. 31. . . . Not so lucky, Annette Nazareth, who was nominated for Deputy Treasury Secretary. She withdrew her name for undisclosed "personal reasons" after a monthlong probe into her taxes . . . 32. . . . or Caroline Atkinson, who withdrew as nominee for Undersecretary of International Affairs in Treasury Department, with a source blaming the long vetting process. Geithner still has a skeleton crew at Treasury, with no one qualified -- or willing -- to take jobs there. 33. "Barack Obama has been embroiled in a cronyism row after reports that he intends to make Louis Susman, one of his biggest fundraisers, the new US ambassador in London. The selection of Mr. Susman, a lawyer and banker from the president's hometown of Chicago, rather than an experienced diplomat, raises new questions about Mr Obama's commitment to the special relationship with Britain." -- Telegraph, 2/22 34. Obama's doom-and-gloom comments and budget bill push the Dow below 7,000, from which it's only recently recovered. 35. "You're sitting here. And you're -- you are laughing. You are laughing about some of these problems. Are people going to look at this and say, 'I mean, he's sitting there just making jokes about money--' How do you deal with -- I mean: Explain. Are you punch-drunk?" -- Steve Kroft, "60 Minutes," 3/22 36. "We have begun to modernize 75% of all federal building space, which has the potential to reduce long-term energy costs by billions of dollars on behalf of taxpayers. We are providing grants to states to help weatherize hundreds of thousands of homes, which will save the families that benefit about $350 each year. That's like a $350 tax cut." -- Obama, describing something that doesn't cut taxes. 37. "The Obama administration has directed defense officials to sign a pledge stating they will not share 2010 budget data with individuals outside the federal government." -- Defense News, 2/19 38. Backtracking on a campaign promise he made to black farmers, Obama significantly lowered the amount of money they could claim in a discrimination settlement against the Agricultural Department. "I can't figure out for the life of me why the president wouldn't want to implement a bill that he fought for as a US senator," said John Boyd, head of the National Black Farmers Association. 39. "I've been practicing bowling. I bowled a 129. It was like the Special Olympics or something." -- Obama on "The Tonight Show" 40. Obama lifts travel and remittance restrictions on Cuba. 41. Obama considers dropping the embargo on Cuba. 42. After warming signs from Raul Castro, Fidel Castro says Obama "misinterpreted" his brother's words, and that Cuba would not be willing to negotiate about human rights. 43. Obama is considering dropping a key demand to Iran, allowing it to keep nuclear facilities open during negotiations. 44. In a letter to Dmitri Medvedev, Obama offered to drop plans for a missile shield in Europe in exchange for Russia's help in resolving the nuclear weapons issue in Iran. 45. Medvedev said he would not "haggle" on Iran and the missile shield. 46. Obama asked Congress for an extra $83.4 billion to fund operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, a special funding measure of the kind he opposed while in the senate. As a candidate, Obama promised to cut the cost of military operations. 47. After trying to woo Europe as the "anti-Bush," Obama made an impassioned plea for more troops in Afghanistan. "Europe should not simply expect the United States to shoulder that burden alone," he said. "This is a joint problem it requires a joint effort." Only the UK offered substantial help, most others refused. 48. "While the online question portion of the White House town hall was open to any member of the public with an Internet connection, the five fully identified questioners called on randomly by the president in the East Room were anything but a diverse lot. They included: a member of the pro-Obama Service Employees International Union, a member of the Democratic National Committee who campaigned for Obama among Hispanics during the primary; a former Democratic candidate for Virginia state delegate who endorsed Obama last fall in an op-ed in the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star; and a Virginia businessman who was a donor to Obama's campaign in 2008." -- Washington Post, 3/27 49. Obama bows to King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia at a G-20 meeting in London. 50. "It wasn't a bow. He grasped his hand with two hands, and he's taller than King Abdullah." -- An Obama aide 51. DANA PERINO ON: REMAINING IN CAMPAIGN MODE "Has it really only been 100 days? In many ways it feels like a lot longer. "That's partly because the new administration remains in campaign mode most of the time. Now that's not in itself a bad thing if you can do that and accomplish your agenda. But what's happened is that a popular new president has laid out a very bold agenda in the midst of an economic crisis, and I don't think Congress is going to get a lot of work done on those big ticket items this year. They'll eke out a couple of small wins on issues like healthcare and maybe energy, but the Democrats will hail them as big victories. The Republicans have been working like a cohesive and loyal opposition party, and they need to continue to outline positive new ideas like the recent one to help grow American's savings. "The early stumbles on the administration's high profile nominations -- Daschle and Richardson for just to examples -- acted like weights around their ankles. In addition, the partisan shots from the White House were unbecoming and I don't think we'll see more of that. Our allies and our enemies -- heck, even we ourselves -- are trying to understand the new foreign policy direction, which in some ways seems to be change just for the sake of change. The next moves by the leaders of other countries -- like Iran, North Korea and Venezuela -- probably will prove that really not much will change just because America has a new president. "In many ways, it's the next 100 days that will tell us more about our new president and what he'll be able to accomplish than we can forecast based on the first 100 days." -- Dana Perino was White House press secretary in the Bush Administration 52. "We can't afford to make perfect the enemy of the absolutely necessary." -- Obama, describing the stimulus bill 53. Three candidates for ambassador to the Vatican -- including Caroline Kennedy -- were turned down by the Holy See because they supported abortion, according to reports. 54. After saying he wouldn't have lobbyists in his administration, Obama made 17 exceptions in the first two weeks in office. 55. . . . including Tom Daschle, who worked as a top lobbyist yet was going to be appointed Secretary of Health and Human Services -- until his failure to pay income taxes derailed his nomination. 56. For an April 14 speech at Georgetown, the administration asked the university to cover up all signs and symbols -- including the letters "IHS" in gold, a symbol for Jesus. 57. Samantha Power, who resigned from the Obama campaign after calling Hillary Rodham Clinton a "monster," was hired to a position on the National Security Council. 58. "Chicago has yet to recoup the $1.74 million cost of President Obama's victory celebration in Grant Park -- despite a burgeoning $50.5 million budget shortfall that threatens more layoffs and union concessions." -- Chicago Sun-Times, 2/20 59. Firing Rick Wagoner as president of GM. 60. Threatening to fire Vikram Pandit as CEO of Citigroup. 61. Threatening to fire anyone the administration doesn't like from any company. 62. Not adopting a dog from a shelter. 63. "The GAO study asserts that officials from most of the states surveyed 'expressed concerns regarding the lack of Recovery Act funding provided for accountability and oversight. Due to fiscal constraints, many states reported significant declines in the number of oversight staff -- limiting their ability to ensure proper implementation and management of Recovery Act funds.' " -- ABC News, 4/23 64. "The National Newspaper Publishers Association named Obama 'Newsmaker of the Year.' The president is to receive the award from the federation of black community newspapers in a White House ceremony this afternoon. The Obama White House has closed the press award ceremony to the press." -- Los Angeles Times, 3/20 65. "Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot, in things racial we have always been and continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards." -- Attorney General Eric Holder 66. "I didn't want to get into a Nancy Reagan thing about, you know, doing any seances." -- Obama, on consulting with only "living" presidents 67. Obama quietly announced that he would not press for new labor and environmental regulations in the North American Free Trade Agreement, going back on a campaign promise. 68. NICOLE GELINAS ON: MISSPENT STIMULUS "One of Obama's most poignant missed opportunities was in not using the historic $787 million stimulus package to reorder state and local government's spending priorities. As states and cities continue to spend ceaselessly and without results on education and healthcare, they're crowding out investments in the physical infrastructure that the private sector needs to rebuild the economy. "In the stimulus, of the more than $200 billion that went directly to states and cities, nearly 70% went to education and healthcare spending. Only 24% went to infrastructure spending. "But the states and cities in the most trouble already spend way too much on education and healthcare, pushing taxes up and sending private industry away. They don't spend nearly enough on infrastructure, which attracts the private sector and builds the real economy. "As David Walker, former comptroller general of the US, said at the Regional Plan Association's annual meeting a week ago, nationwide, we are the 'highest in the world' on education. We are 'the highest in the world' on healthcare. 'Nobody comes even close.' On infrastructure, by contrast, we are 'below average' in both critical new investments and in much-needed maintenance spending. "And, as Democratic governor of Pennsylvania Ed Rendell said at the same conference, when President Dwight Eisenhower left office, infrastructure spending was about 12.5% of non-military domestic spending. Today, it's about 2.5%. "This shortfall is obvious to anyone who's ridden on an "express train" to the outer boroughs or driven on the Cross Bronx Expressway recently. But in New York, as elsewhere, the stimulus money has just allowed the state to ramp up spending on its wasteful, inhumane Medicaid program and its nosebleed public-school spending. "Meanwhile, the subways are about to crumble into oblivion -- taking the economy with them. The same is true of decaying infrastructure in California and in aging states across the nation. "The stimulus was a once-in-a-generation chance to change this. Instead, it made the situation worse." -- Nicole Gelinas is a contributing editor to City Journal 69. "The Justice Department is asking the Supreme Court to overrule Michigan v. Jackson, the 1986 Supreme Court decision that held that if police may not interrogate a defendant after the right to counsel has attached, if the defendant has a lawyer or has requested a lawyer. This isn't the first time the Justice Department, under President Obama, has sought to limit defendants' rights." -- TalkLeft blog 70. "By any measure, my administration has inherited a fiscal disaster." -- Obama 71. "Ahh, see. I came down here to visit. See this is what happens. I can't end up visiting with you guys and shaking hands if I'm going to get grilled every time I come down here." -- Brushing off questions from the White House press corps 72. On Earth Day, Obama took two flights on Air Force One and four on Marine One to get to Iowa, burning more than 9,000 gallons of fuel. 73. "President Obama's plan to require private insurance carriers to reimburse the Department of Veterans Affairs for the treatment of troops injured in service has infuriated veterans groups who say the government is morally obligated to pay for service-related medical care." -- Fox News, 3/17 74. "And I believe the nation that invented the automobile cannot walk away from it." -- Obama during his first State Of The Union address. A German invented the automobile 75. RALPH PETERS ON: FUMBLING IN AFGHANISTAN, FAKING IT IN PAKISTAN "We're squandering blood and treasure in Afghanistan. Instead of concentrating fiercely on the vital task of destroying al Qaeda and its friends, the Obama administration's determined to erect a modern nation where no nation exists. Afghanistan isn't a country. It's a dysfunctional reservation inhabited by tribes that hate each other. There's no 'Afghan' identity. And even if our blind-to-reality efforts succeeded perfectly, the result would be meaningless. "Except as a target range where we can gun down terrorists, Afghanistan doesn't matter. Next door, Pakistan matters immensely. But we don't know what to do about it. With 170 million anti-American Muslims descending into chaos as Pashtuns, Baluchis, Punjabis, Sindhis and others claw each other over the country's shabby remains, Pakistan's corrupt president shrugs, its military cowers, its loathsome intelligence services collude with Islamist extremists, and the safety of its nuclear weapons grows doubtful. "Pakistan may be this generation's chamber of horrors. "The Obama administration's response? Drill more wells in the Afghan countryside. Dramatically reinforce our troops in Afghanistan, sticking them with an impossible mission of modernizing a pre-medieval landscape while exposing them at the end of an insecure 1,500-mile supply line through, of all places, Pakistan. "As for Pakistan itself, the Obama administration wants to send billions of dollars to a thieving government that makes Nigeria's look like a Quaker meeting and to hand Pakistan's military more arms -- weapons that might soon be used against us. "Pakistan was a bad idea when it was created in 1947. It's a worse one now. Afghanistan wasn't even an idea, just an accident of where other borders ended. We can't 'save' either one -- because neither wants to be saved on our terms. "Obama said the right things -- that Afghanistan isn't Iraq and that our goal should be the destruction of al Qaeda. But his policies just regurgitate our Iraq strategy (one he opposed) in a profoundly different context, while ambitious generals echo Vietnam-era calls for more forces. "Our troops will do whatever we ask, to the best of their magnificent abilities. But we should ask them to do things that make sense. We need creative strategic thought, but we're succumbing to sheer inertia. And the president's supporters who howled that we should abandon Iraq to concentrate on their candidate's 'good war' don't seem to be volunteering to do any fighting. Meanwhile, our president's trapped himself inside his own campaign promiseing, Vietnam!" -- Ralph Peters is the author of "Looking for Trouble: Adventures in a Boken World" 77. "President Obama failed to consult Congress, as promised, before carving out exceptions to the omnibus spending bill he signed into law -- breaking his own signing-statement rules two days after issuing them -- and raised questions among lawmakers and committees who say the president's objections are unclear at best and a power grab at worst." -- Washington Times, 3/24 78. Adolfo Carrion was confirmed as Director of White House Office of Urban Affairs, but is serving under a cloud after allegations that he accepted thousands of dollars in cash from developers whose projects he approved. 79. KYLE SMITH ON: GOING AFTER RUSH LIMBAUGH "Every so often an unfocused athlete forgets about the field of play and climbs into the stands. Ty Cobb did it. Ron Artest did it. Maybe no one did it with more sick flir than the greasy, furious Hanson Brothers who, in 'Slap Shot,' climbed into the stands to give a beatdown to a fan. "In March, Barack Obama sent his own personal Hanson Brothers, Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and spokesman Robert Gibbs, out to attack a non-politician -- Rush Limbaugh -- who was sitting innocently in the stands jeering the action. Limbaugh didn't even throw a cup of beer. "Senior White House staffers, who have already fallen into the classic trap of paying more attention to polls than fixing the country's problems, had become obsessed with surveys showing that Limbaugh was an unpopular figure with swing voters. Pretty soon Emanuel and Gibbs developed Limbaugh Tourette's. To paraphrase Joe Biden's witty putdown of Rudy Giuliani, for a few days every sentence they uttered contained three things: a subject, a verb and Rush Limbaugh. "El Rushbo, chuckling over his cigar as his ratings skyrocketed, could not have been more pleased if a picture had emerged of Obama wearing a Che Guevara T-shirt and burning the American flag on Harvard Square. Even that portion of the public that doesn't like Rush squirmed at the embarrassing spectacle of the president's men going all Mean Girls on an entertainer. George W. Bush's spokesmen maintained a dignified silence about Michael Moore. Picture them fanning out over the Sunday talk shows to denounce, and drive up the box-office receipts of, 'Fahrenheit 9/11.' Wouldn't you have loved that, Michael?" -- Kyle Smith is a Post columnist 80. Forced banks that didn't want TARP money to take it, then added on stipulations about pay and government control after the fact. Secretly forced Bank of America to buy Merrill Lynch, then allowed the bank to be criticized for overpaying. 81. "More than 90% of the guns recovered in Mexico come from the United States," Obama said in Mexico, yet factcheck.org says, "The figure represents only the percentage of crime guns that have been submitted by Mexican officials and traced by U.S. officials. We can find no hard data on the total number of guns actually 'recovered in Mexico,' but US and Mexican officials both say that Mexico recovers more guns that it submits for tracing. Therefore, the percentage of guns 'recovered' and traced to US sources necessarily is less than 90%." 82. Obama: " , said that if Congress passes our plan, this company will be able to rehire some of the folks who were just laid off." Jim Owens: "I think realistically no. The truth is we're going to have more layoffs before we start hiring again." 83. "In America, there is a failure to appreciate Europe's leading role in the world. Instead of celebrating your dynamic union and seeking to partner with you to meet common challenges, there have been times where America has shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive." -- Obama in Strasbourg, France 84. Joe Biden: "If we do everything right, if we do it with absolute certainty, if we stand up there and we really make the tough decisions, there's still a 30% chance we're going to get it wrong." 85. Joe Biden: "You all worked for change. You wanted to see change. Well, that wasn't a hard thing to try to communicate to the American people. Obviously, obviously, we needed a change almost no matter who was running." 86. Joe Biden: "You know, I'm embarrassed. Do you know the Web site number? I should have it in front of me and I don't. I'm actually embarrassed." 87. "There are more than 6.5 million trucks in the United States. The program Congress terminated allowed 97 Mexican trucks to roam among them. Ninety-seven! Shutting them out not only undermines NAFTA. It caused Mexico to retaliate with tariffs on 90 goods affecting $2.4 billion in U.S. trade coming out of 40 states." -- Charles Krauthammer, 3/20 88. DAVID M. DRUCKER ON: BOWING TO CONGRESS "Although the president possesses enormous political capital -- both because of high approval ratings and because his administration is still in its infancy -- he has generally declined to exercise it with Democratic leaders in the House and Senate, including when it comes to crafting legislation key to moving his agenda forward. "Rather he has allowed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev) to craft legislation as they see fit -- even though the very bills in question were proposed by the president and involve key planks in his agenda. Among them were Obama's signature $787 billion economic stimulus bill, his first major piece of legislation that was signed into law in February; and now health care reform, currently being negotiated on Capitol Hill with minimal input from the White House. "This soft-pedal style of leadership runs the risk of forcing Obama to embrace legislation constructed for narrow partisan interests rather than in a manner capable of garnering broad bipartisan support. Over time, the public might come to see Obama's deference to Pelosi and Reid as a weakness of leadership not befitting a president in tough times." -- David M. Drucker is a staff writer for Roll Call 89. "It has become apparent during this process that this will not work for me as I have found that on issues such as the stimulus package and the Census, there are irresolvable conflicts for me." -- Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), who became the second failed Commerce Secretary nominee 90. In the third sentence of his first speech as president, Obama said, "44 Americans have now taken the presidential oath." The correct number is 43, as Grover Cleveland served twice. 91. The $49 million inauguration -- triple what taxpayers spent at Bush's first inauguration. 92. Giving the Queen of England an iPod full of his own speeches. 93. Three prime-time briefings in his first 100 days, eating into television revenues and this Wednesday pre-empting "American Idol." 94. "The United States government has no interest in running GM. Your warranty will be safe. In fact, it will be safer than it's ever been, because starting today, the United States government will stand behind your warranty." -- Obama 95. GM is given $15.4 billion in loans from the government. 96. The Obama Administration is trying to scuttle a lawsuit filed in federal court against Iran by former US embassy hostages. The lawsuit alleges that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was one of the hostage-takers who interrogated the captives. 97. GLENN BECK ON: BAD ECONOMIC PREDICTIONS "Ten days before his inauguration, the President's chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, Christina Rohmer, released a report describing what to expect economically during the first 100 days and beyond. It presented two starkly different scenarios: one good (if the stimulus were to be passed), and one terrifyingly bad (if we did nothing). Amazingly, the report estimated that if the stimulus package were to pass, the unemployment rate would not go above 8% at any time until at least 2014. "It's already at 8.5%. "In fact, while there is an acknowledged level of uncertainty, the projections estimated that the unemployment rate would be lower today if we had done nothing at all. This suggests one of two things: either the administration misjudged the seriousness of our economic problems, or the stimulus plan is actually making things worse. I suspect it's a little of both. "Remember, when the President's budget was released, he was roundly criticized for his never ending deficits, even under his own optimistic scenarios for growth. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projected deficits that were even uglier. But, if the President and his economic planners were this far off, this soon, how much worse does the future look now? "The election was supposed to bring 'change,' but I was hoping for more than the letter after the President's name, the positivity of the media coverage, and the hypoallergenic qualities of the White House puppy. President Obama didn't get us into this situation, but so far he's doubling down on the same spending philosophy that did. Common sense tells us that new debt is not the cure for old debt. No matter what the slogans say, that won't change in 100 days or 100 years." -- Glenn Beck is the host of the "Glenn Beck" show, weekdays at 5 p.m. on Fox News. 98. "Education Secretary Arne Duncan has decided not to admit any new students to the D.C. voucher program, which allows low-income children to attend private schools ... For all the talk about putting children first, it's clear that the special interests that have long opposed vouchers are getting their way." -- Washington Post, 4/11 99. Obama enrolled his daughters in a DC private school. 100. "Don't think we're not keeping score, brother." -- Obama to Rep. Peter DeFazio, after the Democratic congressman voted against the stimulus bill. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=d39_1240708910 ShadowankerdogKGB 100 DAYS, 100 MISTAKES bs, lies, fail, partisan, 2012 Thu, 16 Apr 2009 02:21:12 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=745_1239861979 ShadowankerdogKGB An old article I saved. John Kass November 13, 2008 Political tolerance Catherine Vogt, 14, conducted an experiment in political tolerance at her Oak Park middle school and learned some valuable lessons. As the media keeps gushing on about how America has finally adopted tolerance as the great virtue, and that we're all united now, let's consider the Brave Catherine Vogt Experiment. Catherine Vogt, 14, is an Illinois 8th grader, the daughter of a liberal mom and a conservative dad. She wanted to conduct an experiment in political tolerance and diversity of opinion at her school in the liberal suburb of Oak Park. She noticed that fellow students at Gwendolyn Brooks Middle School overwhelmingly supported Barack Obama for president. His campaign kept preaching "inclusion," and she decided to see how included she could be. So just before the election, Catherine consulted with her history teacher, then bravely wore a unique T-shirt to school and recorded the comments of teachers and students in her journal. The T-shirt bore the simple yet quite subversive words drawn with a red marker: "McCain Girl." "I was just really curious how they'd react to something that different, because a lot of people at my school wore Obama shirts and they are big Obama supporters," Catherine told us. "I just really wanted to see what their reaction would be." Immediately, Catherine learned she was stupid for wearing a shirt with Republican John McCain's name. Not merely stupid. Very stupid. "People were upset. But they started saying things, calling me very stupid, telling me my shirt was stupid and I shouldn't be wearing it," Catherine said. Then it got worse. "One person told me to go die. It was a lot of dying. A lot of comments about how I should be killed," Catherine said, of the tolerance in Oak Park. But students weren't the only ones surprised that she wore a shirt supporting McCain. "In one class, I had one teacher say she will not judge me for my choice, but that she was surprised that I supported McCain," Catherine said. If Catherine was shocked by such passive-aggressive threats from instructors, just wait until she goes to college. "Later, that teacher found out about the experiment and said she was embarrassed because she knew I was writing down what she said," Catherine said. One student suggested that she be put up on a cross for her political beliefs. "He said, 'You should be crucifixed.' It was kind of funny because, I was like, don't you mean 'crucified?' " Catherine said. Other entries in her notebook involved suggestions by classmates that she be "burned with her shirt on" for "being a filthy-rich Republican." Some said that because she supported McCain, by extension she supported a plan by deranged skinheads to kill Obama before the election. And I thought such politicized logic was confined to American newsrooms. Yet Catherine refused to argue with her peers. She didn't want to jeopardize her experiment. "I couldn't show people really what it was for. I really kind of wanted to laugh because they had no idea what I was doing," she said. Only a few times did anyone say anything remotely positive about her McCain shirt. One girl pulled her aside in a corner, out of earshot of other students, and whispered, "I really like your shirt." That's when you know America is truly supportive of diversity of opinion, when children must whisper for fear of being ostracized, heckled and crucifixed. The next day, in part 2 of The Brave Catherine Vogt Experiment, she wore another T-shirt, this one with "Obama Girl" written in blue. And an amazing thing happened. Catherine wasn't very stupid anymore. She grew brains. "People liked my shirt. They said things like my brain had come back, and I had put the right shirt on today," Catherine said. Some students accused her of playing both sides. "A lot of people liked it. But some people told me I was a flip-flopper," she said. "They said, 'You can't make up your mind. You can't wear a McCain shirt one day and an Obama shirt the next day.' " But she sure did, and she turned her journal into a report for her history teacher, earning Catherine extra credit. We asked the teacher, Norma Cassin-Pountney, whether it was ironic that Catherine would be subject to such intolerance from pro-Obama supporters in a community that prides itself on its liberal outlook. "That's what we discussed," Cassin-Pountney said about the debate in the classroom when the experiment was revealed. "I said, here you are, promoting this person that believes we are all equal and included, and look what you've done? The students were kind of like, 'Oh, yeah.' I think they got it." Catherine never told us which candidate she would have voted for if she weren't an 8th grader. But she said she learned what it was like to be in the minority. "Just being on the outside, how it felt, it was not fun at all," she said. Don't ever feel as if you must conform, Catherine. Being on the outside isn't so bad. Trust me. jskass@tribune.com http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=745_1239861979 ShadowankerdogKGB Tolerance fails T-shirt test obama, fail, diveristy, tolerance Sun, 12 Apr 2009 12:24:57 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=e58_1239552944 ShadowankerdogKGB NAILED A Bad Week: Big Eddie's Funny Money, Low Ratings *** UPDATED WITH NEW RATINGS BELOW *** For Ed Schultz, it should have been a week to celebrate. After all, his longtime desire to become a cable pundit had finally been realized, with a 6pm slot on far-left outlet MSNBC. Unfortunately, the syndicated radio libtalker may have succeeded only in calling a bit too much attention to himself. With a higher profile comes added scrutiny, even if the mainstream media is asleep at the switch. Initial viewership figures haven't provided reason to cheer, at least not yet. Debuting on Monday to an average audience of 247,000 in the 25-54 demographic and 725,000 overall, by Wednesday that figure had dropped to 119,000 and 406,000, respectively. Though MSNBC's ratings are down across the board, there appears to be little buzz about the addition of Schultz. In an attempt to fix the situation, NBC suits plugged Schultz into Keith Olbermann's slot Thursday, hoping the one-day airing would salvage the new program. During yesterday's radio program, Schultz himself had this to say: SCHULTZ (43:40): Appreciate all your emails and your support. The, ah, early numbers that have come in for ratings have not been bad, I might say. I wouldn't say we knocked it out of the park, but we're, we're getting there, we're getting there. Over the past several weeks, your Radio Equalizer has examined Big Ed's background, including his volatile temper and direct ties to Democratic Party funding, which made even fellow libtalker Randi Rhodes uncomfortable. Today, however, the ultimate smoking gun has been discovered by Jeff Poor at NewsBusters, citing research performed by J Justin Wilson at the Center For Union Facts: Leo Gerard, president of the United Steelworkers, was even Schultz's first guest. On his second show on April 7, Schultz's opening "OpEd" segment was firmly for the Employee Free Choice Act, also known as card check. And, on his third show on April 8, he invited Mary Beth Maxwell, executive director of the pro-union, pro-card check American Rights at Work organization. However, there's one detail Schultz hasn't revealed to his audience - a potential conflict of interest. As recently as 2008, Schultz received more than $20,000 from three separate AFL-CIO affiliated labor unions. According to documents posted on the U.S. Department of Labor Web site, Schultz received $22,304 for his services - a fact picked up by J. Justin Wilson, managing director, Center for Union Facts. Those include: * Steelworkers - "Publicity/Advertising" - $10,000 * Air Traffic Controllers - "Broadcasting Services" - $7,304 * Plumbers Local 189 - "Event" - $5,000 In his piece, Poor includes images of the union filings and documents how Schultz subsequently pushed for specific elements of their political agenda, including the highly controversial Employee Free Choice Act. To those in both politics and broadcasting, the only real surprise is that it took this long to catch Schultz in the act. There have long been questions about his funding sources and real motivations. In particular, some have wondered how he was able to afford an expensive personal cable studio setup in his Fargo home, which was remotely operated by a Boston-based firm. With a bit more digging, one can only wonder what else might be found. UPDATE: in new ratings just released, Schultz continued to pull in tiny numbers, even when inserted into Olbermann's slot, where his ratings were about half of normal. At 6pm, he generated just 132,000 (25-54) and 498,000 overall. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=e58_1239552944 ShadowankerdogKGB Ed Schultz tanks liberal, fail, msnbc, God bless America Fri, 10 Apr 2009 21:39:45 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=ee7_1239413411 ShadowankerdogKGB I knew this was going to happen. RUSH'S RATINGS BONANZA Surge As White House Campaign Began, Could Go Higher Will the White House ever learn its lesson? A combination of several powerful forces has resulted in explosive talk radio ratings growth, with indications of much more to come in the months ahead. Primary factor driving the upward move? You guessed it: Rush Limbaugh. That's in contrast to declining support for Rush's arch-rival Obama. With Limbaugh at the top of his game, including a more deeply loyal audience than ever, the numbers were expected to be strong. The beginning of the Obamist era, combined with a direct White House campaign targeting the talk titan, however, provided rocket fuel for El Rushbo's ratings. Even to seasoned industry veterans, this data should prove stunning. Finally, implementation of the new, far more accurate electronic Portable People Meter (PPM) ratings system has benefited talk radio, as the manual diary-based "phantom cume" problems of the past disappear. For years, programmers complained that the old system cost them listenership and are now armed with the proof they'd long sought. That may be why Obama and his supporters have fought implementation of PPM, as we originally reported in October of last year. While these numbers reflect February's results, they could go even higher in March, as the White House anti-Rush effort was still in high gear going into this month. Some specifics: In New York City, WABC has experienced huge gains during Rush's noon- 3pm timeslot: from 4.6 to 6.7 overall (12 and older) share, good for first place overall in the nation's largest market. Rush's Big Apple listenership is now estimated at 693,000. In the second-largest market, Los Angeles, KFI-AM has surged into the number one position (all listeners 12 and older) from 9am to noon, with 618,000 listeners, a 4.6 to 6.0 audience share increase over three months and an even bigger males 35-64 (4.6 to 6.3) move, to take first place there as well. Chicago, saw another huge move, with Rush affiliate WLS also taking first place during his timeslot (12 and older), from 5.2 share to 6.9 and a total local listenership of 396,700 in the third-largest market. KSFO / San Francisco saw similar results, despite the extreme-left bent of the Bay Area: 4.7 to 6.0 share, now ranking second overall and with men aged 35-64. Total audience: 346,000. In Dallas - Fort Worth, 4.8 to 6.4 men 35-64 and fourth overall (12+), 3.5 to 4.5. Cumulative audience: 250,000. Houston's results were truly blockbuster: 6.0 to 9.8 overall, ranking number one with a bullet and audience of 382,300. Men 35-64: number one again, from 8.6 to 12.2 over three months. Adults 25-54: first place, 4.6 to 8.7. Women 25-54: 3.7 to 8.3 again good for a top ranking. DC's WMAL also saw Rush-related growth: 4.1 to 6.7, good for third overall and an audience of 155,300. Men 35-64: number one with a staggering 6.4 to 13.4 move. In Atlanta, Rush has helped WGST fend off an enormous competitor, WSB-AM, with a similar 4.0 to 6.2 upward move, good for fifth place overall and a total audience of 473,500. The results are better in the male 35-64 demographic, surging from 5.5 to 8.0 share. Bucking Detroit's recent Democratic voting trend, Rush's performance on WJR-AM has been more significant than ever, moving into first place with a 5.8 to 9.6 jump. Men 35-64: number one and 11.6 share. Total audience: 253,000. Given this blockbuster data, will the White House think twice before targeting Rush again? Keep in mind that these numbers don't even include Limbaugh's strongest markets, medium-sized cities such as Reno, Albuquerque, Boise, Fresno, Bakersfield and hundreds of others where his program dominates local radio. UPDATE: Rush's surge has also led to overall, full-day gains at most of these stations, with WABC/ New York moving into fifth place overall, ahead of many music stations. That's its best showing in at least a year. KSFO/ San Francisco also rose overall, grabbing sixth place, while WLS/ Chicago now ranks second, a stunning feat. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=ee7_1239413411 ShadowankerdogKGB RUSH'S RATINGS BONANZA Rush, conservative, God bless America, Thu, 09 Apr 2009 02:12:51 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=368_1239256546 ShadowankerdogKGB Remember what the Black Caucus said about Fidel Castro, then read this. What a stark contrast. August 2008 Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs OFFICIAL NAME: Republic of Cuba Geography Area: 110,860 sq. km. (44,200 sq. mi.); about the size of Pennsylvania. Cities: Capital--Havana (pop. 2 million). Other major cities--Santiago de Cuba, Camaguey, Santa Clara, Holguin, Guantanamo, Matanzas, Cienfuegos, Pinar del Rio. Terrain: Flat or gently rolling plains, hills; mountains up to 2,000 meters (6,000 ft.) in the southeast. Climate: Tropical, moderated by trade winds; dry season (November-April); rainy season (May-October). People Population: 11.2 million; 70% urban, 30% rural. Ethnic groups: 51% mulatto, 37% white, 11% black, 1% Chinese (according to Cuban census data). Language: Spanish. Literacy--97% (according to Cuban government sources). Work force (4.87 million): Services--4%; industry--13%; agriculture--20%; science and technology--1%; construction--5%; education--12%; health and social services--12%. Government Type: Totalitarian communist state; current government assumed power by force January 1, 1959. Independence: May 20, 1902. Political party: Cuban Communist Party (PCC); only one party allowed. Administrative subdivisions: 14 provinces, including the city of Havana, and one special municipality (Isle of Youth). Economy GDP (2007 est., based on constant 1997 prices): $47.35 billion. Real annual growth rate: 3.0% (2001); 1.5% (2002); 2.9% (2003); 3.0% (2004 est.); 7.8% (2005 est.); 9.5% (2006 est.); 5.8% (2007 est.). GDP per capita income (2007 est., based on constant 1997 prices): $4,200. Average monthly salary: $17. Natural resources: Nickel, cobalt, iron ore, copper, manganese, salt, timber, oil, natural gas. Agriculture: Products--sugar, citrus and tropical fruits, tobacco, coffee, rice, beans, meat, vegetables. Industry: Types--sugar and food processing, oil refining, cement, electric power, light consumer and industrial products, pharmaceutical and biotech products. Trade: Exports (2007)--$3.701 billion f.o.b.: nickel/cobalt, pharmaceutical and biotech products, sugar and its byproducts, tobacco, seafood, citrus, tropical fruits, coffee. Major export markets (2006)--Netherlands $774 million (28%); Canada $546 million (20%); Venezuela $296 million (11%); China $246 million (9%); Spain $149 million (5%); Russia $137 million (5%); Singapore $79 million (3%); France $51 million (2%); Bolivia $40 million (1%); Mexico $39 million (1%); others $402 million (15%). Imports (2007)--$10.083 billion f.o.b.: petroleum, food, machinery, chemicals. Major import suppliers (2006)--Venezuela $2.209 billion (24%); China $1.569 billion (17%); Spain $846 million (9%); Germany $616 million (7%);United States $484 (5%); Brazil $429 million (5%); Italy $409 million (4%); Canada $340 million (4%); Mexico $234 million (3%); Algeria $228 million (2%); France $197 million (2%); Vietnam $190 million (2%); Japan $175 million (2%); Russia $152 million (2%); Argentina $115 million (1%); others $1.227 billion (13%). Official exchange rate: Convertible pesos per U.S.$1 = 0.93. Cuba has two currencies in circulation: the Cuban peso (CUP), and the convertible peso (CUC). In April 2005, the official exchange rate changed from $1 per CUC to $1.08 per CUC (0.93 CUC per $1), both for individuals and enterprises. Individuals can buy 24 Cuban pesos (CUP) for each CUC sold, or sell 25 Cuban pesos for each CUC bought; enterprises, however, must exchange CUP and CUC at a 1:1 ratio. The Cuban Government taxes and receives approximately 10% of each conversion of U.S. dollars into CUCs. PEOPLE AND RELIGION Cuba is a multiracial society with a population of mainly Spanish and African origins. The largest organized religion is the Roman Catholic Church, but evangelical protestant denominations continue to grow rapidly. Afro-Cuban religions, a blend of native African religions and Roman Catholicism, are widely practiced in Cuba. Officially, Cuba has been an atheist state for most of the Castro era. In 1962, the government of Fidel Castro seized and shut down more than 400 Catholic schools, charging that they spread dangerous beliefs among the people. In 1991, however, the Communist Party lifted its prohibition against religious believers seeking membership, and a year later the constitution was amended to characterize the state as secular instead of atheist. While the Cuban constitution recognizes the right of citizens to freedom of religion, the government de facto restricts that freedom. Twenty-five denominations, including Presbyterians, Episcopalians, and Methodists, are members of the Cuban Council of Churches (CCC). Most CCC members are officially recognized by the state, though several, including the Evangelical Lutheran Church, are not registered and are recognized only through their membership in the CCC. Another 31 officially recognized denominations, including Jehovah's Witnesses and the small Jewish community, do not belong to the CCC. The government does not favor any one particular religion or church; however, the government appears to be most tolerant of those churches that maintain close relations to the state through the CCC. Unregistered religious groups experience various degrees of official interference, harassment, and repression. The Ministry of Interior engages in active efforts to control and monitor the country's religious institutions, including through surveillance, infiltration, and harassment of religious professionals and practitioners. The most independent religious organizations--including the Catholic Church, the largest independent institution in Cuba today--continue to operate under significant restrictions and pressure imposed on them by the Cuban regime. The Cuban Government continues to refuse to allow the church to have independent printing press capabilities; full access to the media; to train enough priests for its needs or allow adequate numbers of foreign priests to work in the country; or to establish socially useful institutions, including schools and universities, hospitals and clinics, and nursing homes. All registered denominations must report to the Ministry of Interior's Office of Religious Affairs. The visit of Pope John Paul II in January 1998 was seen as an important, positive event for bringing a message of hope and the need for respect of human rights. Unfortunately, these improvements did not continue once the Pope left the island. While some visas were issued for additional priests to enter Cuba around the time of the visit, the regime has again sharply restricted issuance of visas. Moreover, despite explicit regime guarantees and repeated follow-up requests, the regime has refused to permit the Catholic Church to establish Internet connections or an intranet among dioceses on the Island. In a pastoral letter entitled "There is No Country Without Virtue" ("No Hay Patria Sin Virtud"), the Cuban Conference of Catholic Bishops in February 2003 openly criticized the government's strict control over the activities of the Catholic Church, especially state restrictions on religious education and Church access to mass media, as well as the increasingly amoral and irreligious character of Cuban society under Communist rule. In 2007-2008 the government permitted the Catholic Church to broadcast Christmas and Holy Week messages. The Vatican and the Catholic Church are still pressing for more access to the media. The Cuban Government in 2007, for the first time since the revolution, declared Christmas Day a holiday. Other Cuban religious groups--including evangelical Christians, whose numbers continue to grow rapidly--also have benefited from the relative relaxation of official restrictions on religious organizations and activities. Although particularly hard hit by emigration, Cuba's small Jewish community continues to hold services in Havana and has members in Santiago, Camaguey, and other parts of the island. See also the Department's report on international religious freedom for further information. HISTORY Spanish settlers established the raising of cattle, sugarcane, and tobacco as Cuba's primary economic pursuits. As the native Indian population died out, African slaves were imported to work the ranches and plantations. Slavery was abolished in 1886. Cuba was the last major Spanish colony to gain independence, following a lengthy struggle begun in 1868. Jose Marti, Cuba's national hero, helped initiate the final push for independence in 1895. In 1898, the United States entered the conflict after the USS Maine sank in Havana Harbor on February 15 due to an explosion of undetermined origin. In December of that year, Spain relinquished control of Cuba to the United States with the Treaty of Paris. On May 20, 1902, the United States granted Cuba its independence but retained the right to intervene to preserve Cuban independence and stability in accordance with the Platt Amendment. In 1934, the Platt Amendment was repealed. The United States and Cuba concluded a Treaty of Relations in 1934 which, among other things, continued the 1903 agreements that leased the Guantanamo Bay naval base to the United States. Independent Cuba was often ruled by authoritarian political and military figures who either obtained or remained in power by force. Fulgencio Batista, an army sergeant, organized a non-commissioned officer revolt in September 1933 and wielded significant power behind the scenes until he was elected president in 1940. Batista was voted out of office in 1944 and did not run in 1948. Both those elections were won by civilian political figures with the support of party organizations. Running for president again in 1952, Batista seized power in a bloodless coup 3 months before the election was to take place, suspended the balloting, and began ruling by decree. Many political figures and movements that wanted a return to the government according to the constitution of 1940 disputed Batista's undemocratic rule. On July 26, 1953, Fidel Castro, who had been involved in increasingly violent political activity before Batista's coup, led a failed attack on the Moncada army barracks in Santiago de Cuba in which more than 100 died. After defending himself in a trial open to national and international media, he was convicted and jailed, and subsequently was freed in an act of clemency, before going into exile in Mexico. There he organized the "26th of July Movement" with the goal of overthrowing Batista, and the group sailed to Cuba on board the yacht Granma, landing in the eastern part of the island in December 1956. Batista's dictatorial rule fueled increasing popular discontent and the rise of many active urban and rural resistance groups, a fertile political environment for Castro's 26th of July Movement. Faced with a corrupt and ineffective military--itself dispirited by a U.S. Government embargo on weapons sales to Cuba--and public indignation and revulsion at his brutality toward opponents, Batista fled on January 1, 1959. Although he had promised a return to constitutional rule and democratic elections along with social reforms, Castro used his control of the military to consolidate his power by repressing all dissent from his decisions, marginalizing other resistance figures, and imprisoning or executing thousands of opponents. An estimated 3,200 people were executed by the Castro regime between 1959-62 alone. As the revolution became more radical, hundreds of thousands of Cubans fled the island. Castro declared Cuba a socialist state on April 16, 1961. For the next 30 years, Castro pursued close relations with the Soviet Union and worked in concert with the geopolitical goals of Soviet communism, funding and fomenting violent subversive and insurrectional activities, as well as military adventurism, until the demise of the U.S.S.R. in 1991. Relations between the United States and Cuba deteriorated rapidly as the Cuban regime expropriated U.S. properties and moved toward adoption of a one-party communist system. In response, the United States imposed an embargo on Cuba in October 1960, and, in response to Castro's provocations, broke diplomatic relations on January 3, 1961. Tensions between the two governments peaked during the October 1962 missile crisis. GOVERNMENT Cuba is a totalitarian communist state controlled by General Raul Castro and a cadre of party loyalists. Raul Castro replaced his brother Fidel Castro as chief of state, president of Cuba, and commander-in-chief of the armed forces on February 24, 2008. In March 2003, Fidel Castro had announced his intention to remain in power for life, but he became incapacitated on July 31, 2006. While Fidel Castro is still nominally the First Secretary of the Cuban Communist Party (PCC), Raul Castro, as its Second Secretary, is fully in charge of this political body and has announced that a new party congress will be held toward the end of 2009, the first to be held since 1997. The Ministry of Interior is the principal organ of state security and control. The Castro regime seeks to control most aspects of Cuban life through the Communist Party and its affiliated mass organizations, the government bureaucracy, and the state security apparatus. According to the Soviet-style Cuban constitution of 1976, the National Assembly of People's Power, and its Council of State when the body is not in session, has supreme authority in the Cuban system. Since the National Assembly meets only twice a year for a few days each time, the 31-member Council of State wields power. The Council of Ministers, through its 9-member executive committee, handles the administration of the economy, which is state-controlled except for a tiny open-market sector. Raul Castro is President of the Council of State and Council of Ministers, and Jose Ramon Machado Ventura serves as First Vice President of both bodies. Although the constitution theoretically provides for independent courts, it explicitly subordinates them to the National Assembly and to the Council of State. The People's Supreme Court is the highest judicial body. Due process is routinely denied to Cuban citizens, particularly in cases involving political offenses. The constitution states that all legally recognized civil liberties can be denied to anyone who opposes the "decision of the Cuban people to build socialism." Citizens can be and have been jailed for terms of 3 years or more for simply criticizing the communist system or Fidel Castro. Under the law of "dangerousness," citizens can be jailed for up to 4 years if a police official thinks that they show "anti-social behavior." The Communist Party is constitutionally recognized as Cuba's only legal political party. The party monopolizes all government positions, including judicial offices. Though not a formal requirement, party membership is a de facto prerequisite for high-level official positions and professional advancement in most areas. A small number of non-party members have been permitted by the controlling Communist authorities to serve in the National Assembly. The Communist Party or one of its front organizations approves candidates for all elected offices. Citizens do not have the right to change their government. In March 2003, the government carried out one of the most brutal crackdowns on peaceful opposition in the history of Cuba when it arrested 75 human rights activists, independent journalists and opposition figures on various charges, ranging from aiding a foreign power to violating national security laws. Authorities subjected the detainees to summary trials and sentenced them to prison terms ranging from 6 to 28 years. Amnesty International identified all 75 as "prisoners of conscience." As of August 2008, 55 of the original 75 prisoners remained incarcerated. See also the Department's Country Report on Human Rights Practices for Cuba. Although the constitution allows legislative proposals backed by at least 10,000 citizens to be submitted directly to the National Assembly, in 2002 the government rejected a petition known as the Varela Project, supporters of which submitted 11,000 signatures calling for a national referendum on political and economic reforms. Many of the 75 activists arrested in March 2003 participated in the Varela Project. In October 2003, Project Varela organizers submitted a second petition to the National Assembly with an additional 14,000 signatures. Since April 2004, some prisoners of conscience have been released, 20 of whom were in the group of 75 and four of whom along with their families were exiled to Spain. All suffered from moderate to severe medical conditions and many of them continue to be harassed by state security even after their release from prison. In April 2008, a government-sponsored mob assaulted a group of Damas de Blanco (Women in White) who were peacefully demanding the release of political prisoners. The following month, the government broke up a dissident-led, symbolic funeral honoring the death Pedro Luis Boitel, a student activist. NATIONAL SECURITY Cuba is a highly militarized society. From 1975 until the late 1980s, massive Soviet military assistance enabled Cuba to upgrade its military capabilities and project power abroad. The tonnage of Soviet military deliveries to Cuba throughout most of the 1980s exceeded deliveries in any year since the military build-up during the 1962 missile crisis. With the loss of Soviet-era subsidies in the early 1990s, Cuba's armed forces have shrunk considerably, both in terms of numbers and assets. Combined active duty troop strength for all three services is estimated at 50,000 to 55,000 personnel (compared to some 235,000 on active duty 10 years ago) and much of Cuba's weaponry appears to be in storage. Cuba's air force, once considered among the best equipped in Latin America, no longer merits that distinction, though it still possesses advanced aircraft and weapons systems; the navy has become primarily a coastal defense force with no blue water capability. The Cuban army is still one of the region's more formidable, but it also is much reduced and no longer has the considerable resources necessary to project power abroad. The military plays a dominant role in the economy and manages a number of hotels in the tourist sector. The country's two paramilitary organizations, the Territorial Militia Troops and the Youth Labor Army, have a reduced training capability. Cuba also adopted a "war of the people" strategy that highlights the defensive nature of its capabilities. The government continues to maintain a large state security apparatus under the Ministry of Interior to repress dissent within Cuba, and in the last decade has formed special forces units to confront indications of popular unrest. ECONOMY The Cuban Government continues to adhere to socialist principles in organizing its state-controlled economy. Most of the means of production are owned and run by the government and, according to Cuban Government statistics, about 75% of the labor force is employed by the state. The actual figure is closer to 93%, with some 150,000 small farmers and another 150,000 "cuentapropistas," or holders of licenses for self-employment, representing a mere 2.1% of the nearly 4.87 million-person workforce. The Cuban economy is still recovering from a decline in gross domestic product of at least 35% between 1989 and 1993 as the loss of Soviet subsidies laid bare the economy's fundamental weaknesses. To alleviate the economic crisis, in 1993 and 1994 the government introduced a few market-oriented reforms, including opening to tourism, allowing foreign investment, legalizing the dollar, and authorizing self-employment for some 150 occupations. These measures resulted in modest economic growth; the official statistics, however, are deficient and as a result provide an incomplete measure of Cuba's real economic situation. Living conditions at the end of the decade remained well below the 1989 level. Lower sugar and nickel prices, increases in petroleum costs, a post-September 11, 2001 decline in tourism, devastating hurricanes in November 2001 and August 2004, and a major drought in the eastern half of the island caused severe economic disruptions. Growth rates continued to stagnate in 2002 and 2003, while 2004 and 2005 showed some renewed growth. Moreover, the gap in the standard of living has widened between those with access to dollars and those without. Jobs that can earn dollar salaries or tips from foreign businesses and tourists have become highly desirable. It is not uncommon to see doctors, engineers, scientists, and other professionals working in restaurants or as taxi drivers. The government of Raul Castro announced several initiatives designed to increase revenues to the Cuban state by formalizing some business activities which were previously conducted in informal and illegal markets. Even in doing so, the Cuban Government is seeking tighter state control over the economy. The Cuban Government is aggressively pursuing a policy of recentralization, making it increasingly difficult for foreigners to conduct business on the island. Likewise, Cuban citizens are adversely affected by reversion to a peso economy and the dual currency regime in which Cubans are paid in pesos, but many goods are sold in "convertible pesos," worth approximately 23 times the regular peso. In his February 24, 2008, inaugural address, Raul Castro said the Cuban Government would "advance in an articulate, sound and well-thought out manner" a series of measures that would raise the Cuban standard of living and tie individual prosperity to individual initiative and work performance. Castro also referred to excess "prohibitions and regulations," the simplest of which the Cuban Government would start removing "in the next few weeks." More complex "reforms," he said, could only be introduced after changes to certain legal regulations. This followed Castro's July 26, 2007, speech on economic development, in which he asserted that tackling problems in milk production would address some of Cuba's main economic challenges. On July 12, 2008, Raul Castro placed caveats on many of these initiatives by noting that global economic factors may delay implementation, including for wage increases for Cubans. In his speech marking the 55th anniversary of the start of the Cuban revolution on July 26, 2008, Raul Castro further tamped down expectations for change by warning that the global economy could delay his economic adjustments. Since February 24, Raul Castro's government has announced it would pursue the following initiatives: Expanding access to public land for private farmers; permitting some Cubans to own their homes, increasing wages and retirement pensions; raising the retirement age; upgrading public transportation systems and infrastructure; licensing private taxis to operate; limited deregulation of the construction industry; expanding access to certain previously restricted consumer goods (like cell phones, computers, microwaves, toasters, DVD players, motorcycles, air conditioners, electric ovens, and agricultural supplies and tools), consolidation and modernization of Cuba's family doctor program, and launching a new 24-hour television station to include mostly foreign-produced content. Many of these initiatives, if implemented, would authorize activities that are already underway in Cuba's informal economy. Prolonged austerity and the state-controlled economy's inefficiency in providing adequate goods and services have created conditions for a flourishing informal economy in Cuba. As the variety and amount of goods available in state-run peso stores has declined, Cubans have turned increasingly to the black market to obtain needed food, clothing, and household items. Pilferage of items from the work place to sell on the black market or illegally offering services on the sidelines of official employment is common, and Cuban companies regularly figure 15% in losses into their production plans to cover this. Recognizing that Cubans must engage in such activity to make ends meet and that attempts to shut the informal economy down would be futile, the government concentrates its control efforts on ideological appeals against theft and shutting down large organized operations. A report by an independent economist and opposition leader speculates that more than 40% of the Cuban economy operates in the informal sector. Since 2005, the government has carried out a large anti-corruption campaign as it continues efforts to recentralize much of the economy under the regime's control. Sugar, which has been the mainstay of the island's economy for most of its history, has fallen upon troubled times. In 1989, production was more than 8 million tons, but by the mid-1990s, it had fallen to around 3.5 million tons. Inefficient planting and cultivation methods, poor management, shortages of spare parts, and poor transportation infrastructure combined to deter the recovery of the sector. In June 2002, the government announced its intention to implement a "comprehensive transformation" of this declining sector. Almost half the existing sugar mills were closed, and more than 100,000 workers were laid off. The government has promised that these workers will be "retrained" in other fields, though it is unlikely they will find new jobs in Cuba's stagnant economy. Moreover, despite such efforts, the sugar harvest continued to decline, falling to 2.1 million tons in 2003, the smallest since 1933. According to government reports, the harvest was not much better in 2004 (2.3 million tons), and continued to slide in 2005 (1.3 million tons), 2006 (1.2 million tons), and 2007 (approximately 1 million tons). According to government projections, Cuba expects to meet domestic sugar demand in 2009 for the first time after a major restructuring in 2002. Tourism figures prominently in the Cuban Government's plans for development, and a top official cast it as at the "heart of the economy." Havana devotes significant resources to building new tourist facilities and renovating historic structures for use in the tourism sector. Roughly 1.7 million tourists visited Cuba in 2001, generating about $1.85 billion in gross revenues; in 2003, the number rose to 1.9 million tourists, predominantly from Canada and the European Union (EU), generating revenue of $2.1 billion. In 2004, the number of tourists to Cuba crossed the 2 million mark (2.05 million), including the so-called "medical tourists" from other Latin American countries seeking medical treatment at Cuban facilities. Since 2004, the volume of tourists has remained relatively consistent, at 2.32 million (2005), 2.2 million (2006), and 2.1 million (2007). During the first quarter of 2008 there was a 15% increase in tourists compared to the first quarter of 2007, according to the Caribbean Tourism Organization. According to the Cuban Ministry of the Basic Industry (MINBAS), nickel became the leading export and the top foreign exchange earner in 2007, valued at approximately $2.7 billion. Nickel extraction in 2007 was 2.2% higher than in 2006. The main market for nickel exports is China. Cuba produced between 75,000 and 76,000 tons of nickel in 2007. The Cuban Government predicted that nickel and cobalt production would reach a record 80,000 tons in 2008. Cuba's pharmaceutical industry generated $350 million in exports in 2007, ranking second in foreign sales behind nickel and ahead of traditional products such as tobacco, rum, and sugar. Remittances also play a large role in Cuba's economy. Cuba does not publish accurate economic statistics, but academic sources estimate that remittances total from $600 million to $1 billion per year, with most coming from families in the United States. U.S. regulation changes announced in June 2004 allow remittances to be sent only to the remitter's immediate family; they cannot be remitted to certain Cuban Government officials and members of the Cuban Communist Party; and the total amount of family remittances that an authorized traveler may carry to Cuba is now $300, reduced from $3,000. (See also the Commission on Assistance to a Free Cuba report at http://www.cafc.gov, cited below.) The Cuban Government captures these dollar remittances by allowing Cuban citizens to shop in state-run "dollar stores," which sell food, household, and clothing items at a high mark-up averaging over 240% of face value. Beginning in November 2004, the government mandated that U.S. dollars be exchanged for "convertible pesos"--a local currency that can be used in special shops on the island but has no value internationally--for a 10% charge. The 10% conversion fee disproportionately affects Cubans who receive remittances from relatives in the U.S. To help keep the economy afloat, Cuba has actively courted foreign investment, which often takes the form of joint ventures with the Cuban Government holding half of the equity, management contracts for tourism facilities, or financing for the sugar harvest. A new legal framework laid out in 1995 allowed for majority foreign ownership in joint ventures with the Cuban Government. In practice, majority ownership by the foreign partner is nonexistent. Of the 540 joint ventures formed since the Cuban Government issued the first legislation on foreign investment in 1982, 397 remained at the end of 2002, and 287 at the close of 2005. Due in large part to the government's recentralization efforts, it is estimated that one joint venture and two small cooperative production ventures have closed each week since 2000. Responding to this decline in the number of joint ventures, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Investment explained that foreign investment is not a pillar of development in and of itself. Moreover, the hostile investment climate, characterized by inefficient and overpriced labor imposed by the Communist government, dense regulations, and an impenetrable bureaucracy, continue to deter foreign investment. Foreign direct investment flows decreased from $448 million in 2000 to $39 million in 2001 and were at zero in 2002. In July 2002, the European Union, through its embassies in Havana, transmitted to the Cuban Government a document that outlined the problems encountered in operating joint ventures in Cuba. Titled "The Legal and Administrative Framework for Foreign Trade and Investment by European Companies in Cuba," the paper noted the difficulty in obtaining such basic necessities as work and residence permits for foreign employees--even exit visas and drivers licenses. It complained that the Government of Cuba gave EU joint venture partners little or no say in hiring Cuban staff, often forced the joint venture to contract employees who were not professionally suitable, and yet reserved to itself the right to fire any worker at any time without cause. It noted administrative difficulties in securing financing and warned that "the difficulties of state firms in meeting their payment obligations are seriously threatening some firms and increasing the risk premium which all operators have to pay for their operations with Cuba." The Cuban Government offered no response. Investors are also constrained by the U.S.-Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (Libertad) Act that provides sanctions for those who "traffic" in property expropriated from U.S. citizens. More than a dozen companies have pulled out of Cuba or altered their plans to invest there due to the threat of action under the Libertad Act. In an attempt to provide jobs for workers laid off due to the economic crisis and bring some forms of black market activity into more controllable channels, the Cuban Government in 1993 legalized self-employment for some 150 occupations. This small private sector is tightly controlled and regulated. Set monthly fees must be paid regardless of income earned, and frequent inspections yield stiff fines when any of the many self-employment regulations are violated. Rather than expanding private sector opportunities, in recent years, the government has been attempting to squeeze more of these private sector entrepreneurs out of business and back to the public sector. Many have opted to enter the informal economy or black market, and others have closed. These measures reduced private sector employment from a peak of 209,000 to less than 100,000. Moreover, a large number of those people who nominally are self-employed in reality are well-connected fronts for military officials. No recent figures have been made available, but the Government of Cuba reported at the end of 2001 that tax receipts from the self-employed fell 8.1% due to the decrease in the number of these taxpayers. Since October 1, 2004, the Cuban Government no longer issues new licenses for 40 of the approximately 150 categories of self-employment, including for the most popular ones, such as private restaurants. In June 2005, 2,000 more licenses were revoked from self-employed workers as a means to reassert government control over the economy and to stem growing inequalities associated with self-employment. The licenses for self-employed workers were typically for service-oriented work, allowing the Cuban people to eke out a small living in an otherwise impoverished state. Moreover, workers in Cuba's tourist sector--at resorts where native Cubans are prohibited unless they are on the job--have been prohibited by a Ministry of Tourism regulation from accepting gifts, tips, or even food from foreigners, in a further attempt at increasing the tourist apartheid that exists on the island. A 2004 UN Economic Commission on Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) report recommended that Cuba "redesign the parameters of competition in the public, private and cooperative sectors redefine the role of the state in the economy." It recommended more flexibility in self-employment regulations, property diversification, economic decentralization, and a role for the market. The Cuban Government, however, is today reversing the economic liberalization of the 1990s and re-centralizing its economy. Evidence of this is found in the decline in the number of firms participating in the perfeccionamiento empresarial, or entrepreneurial improvement (EI), program, which is based on capitalist management techniques. EI was instituted in the 1980s as a military-led pilot project, and in 1998, the Cuban Government extended it from military to civilian "parastatals," reportedly to foster capitalist competitiveness. At first, the government highlighted participating companies' achievements in cutting costs and boosting profitability and quality and suggested that the increased autonomy of state managers under EI was producing an efficient form of socialism with a strong link between pay and performance. However, many in the Communist Party, even Fidel Castro himself, resisted EI. Many of the original participants have since left the program and participating firms have seen little growth in revenue. The EI program has fallen far short of expectations and the Cuban Government no longer heralds its successes or its future prospects. In 2003 the Cuban Government also tightened foreign exchange controls, requiring that state companies hold money in convertible pesos and obtain special authorization from the central bank before making hard currency transactions. Practically speaking, this restricted companies from using the dollar for internal trade. Following this, in 2004 the government announced that all state entities must stop charging in U.S. dollars and charge only in pesos for any products and services not considered a part of a company's "fundamental social objective." It also recently implemented new requirements to channel imports through monopolistic Soviet-style wholesale distribution companies. Cuba's precarious economic position is complicated by the high price it must pay for foreign financing. The Cuban Government defaulted on most of its international debt in 1986 and does not have access to credit from international financial institutions like the World Bank, which means Havana must rely heavily on short-term loans to finance imports, chiefly food and fuel. Because of its poor credit rating, an $11 billion hard currency debt, and the risks associated with Cuban investment, interest rates have reportedly been as high as 22%. In 2002, citing chronic delinquencies and mounting short-term debts, Moody's lowered Cuba's credit rating to Caa1--"speculative grade, very poor." Dunn and Bradstreet rate Cuba as one of the riskiest economies in the world. HUMAN RIGHTS Cuba's totalitarian regime controls all aspects of life through the Communist Party and its affiliated mass organizations, the government bureaucracy, and State Security Department. The latter is tasked with monitoring, infiltrating, and controlling the country's beleaguered human rights community. Despite having signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights in February 2008, Cuba ignores the obligations assumed in these treaties, continuing to commit serious abuses and denying its citizens the right to change their government. Cuba is also a signatory of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and sits on the UN Human Rights Council, yet routinely arrests citizens who seek to exercise internationally recognized fundamental freedoms. The government incarcerates people for their peaceful political beliefs or activities. The total number of political prisoners and detainees is unknown, because the government does not disclose such information and keeps its prisons off-limits to human rights organizations and international human rights monitors. There are an estimated 225 prisoners of conscience currently detained in Cuba in addition to as many as 5,000 people sentenced for "dangerousness." The government places severe limitations on freedom of speech and press, as noted by international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) such as Reporters Without Borders. The constitution provides for freedom of speech and press insofar as views "conform to the aims of a socialist society." In March 2008, demonstrators distributing copies of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights were attacked by an orchestrated mob and later detained. Despite the government's decision to permit Cubans to purchase personal computers, access to the Internet is strictly controlled and given only to those deemed ideologically trustworthy; Internet restrictions were tightened further in March and April 2008 to block access by Cuban citizens to certain independent websites. Freedom of assembly is not constitutionally guaranteed in Cuba. The law punishes unauthorized assembly of more than three persons. The government also restricts freedom of movement and prevents some citizens from emigrating because of their political views. Cubans need explicit "exit permission" from their government to leave their country, and many people are denied exit permission by the Cuban Government, despite the fact that they have received travel documents issued by other countries. Although Raul Castro has encouraged controlled forms of "constructive criticism," the Cuban Government continues to show little tolerance for unauthorized dissent. It often utilizes short-term detentions to break up peaceful marches and demonstrations. It sometimes harasses dissidents by directing militants from the Communist Party, the Communist Youth League, Committees for the Defense of the Revolution, the Federation of Cuban Women, the Association of Veterans of the Cuban Revolution, and other groups to stage public protests against the dissident, usually in front of his/her residence. These protests, called "acts of repudiation," involve the shouting of insults and the occasional use of violence. The events generate intense fear and are aimed at ostracizing and intimidating those who challenge the government's policies. Prison conditions are harsh and life-threatening. Although physical torture is rare, cruel treatment of prisoners--particularly political prisoners and detainees--is common. Prison authorities frequently beat, neglect, isolate, and deny medical treatment to inmates. Authorities often deny family visits, adequate nutrition, exposure to sunshine, and pay for work. Overcrowding is rife. The Cuban Government routinely violates international core labor standards. The law does not allow Cuban workers to form and join unions of their choice. The government-approved unions do not act as trade unions, promote worker rights or protect the right to strike; rather, they are geared toward ensuring that production goals are met. Some workers lose their jobs because of their political beliefs. Salaries are not high enough to meet food and clothing costs; consequently, many Cubans resort to small-scale embezzlement or pilfering from their employers. FOREIGN RELATIONS Cuba's once-ambitious foreign policy has been scaled back and redirected as a result of economic hardship and the end of the Cold War. Cuba aims to find new sources of trade, aid, and foreign investment and to promote opposition to U.S. policy, especially the trade embargo and the 1996 Libertad Act. Cuba has relations with over 160 countries and has civilian assistance workers--principally physicians and nurses--in more than 20 nations. Since the end of Soviet backing, Cuba appears to have largely abandoned monetary support for guerrilla movements that typified its involvement in regional politics in Latin America and Africa, though it maintains relations with several guerrilla and terrorist groups and provides refuge for some of their members in Cuba. Cuba's support for Latin guerrilla movements, its Marxist-Leninist government, and its alignment with the U.S.S.R. led to its isolation in the hemisphere. Cuba is a member of the Organization of American States (OAS), although its present government has been excluded from participation since 1962 for incompatibility with the principles of the inter-American system. Cuba hosted the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in September 2006 and will hold the NAM presidency until 2009. In the context of the NAM and its ordinary diplomacy, Cuba has developed friendly relations with North Korea and rogue states like Iran. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Cuba expanded its military presence abroad, spending millions of dollars in exporting revolutions; deployments reached 50,000 troops in Angola, 24,000 in Ethiopia, 1,500 in Nicaragua, and hundreds more elsewhere. In Angola, Cuban troops, supported logistically by the U.S.S.R., backed the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) in its effort to take power after Portugal granted Angola its independence. Cuban forces played a key role in Ethiopia's war against Somalia and remained there in substantial numbers as a garrison force for a decade. Cubans served in a non-combat advisory role in Mozambique and the Congo. Cuba also used the Congo as a logistical support center for Cuba's Angola mission. In the late 1980s, Cuba began to pull back militarily. Cuba unilaterally removed its forces from Ethiopia, met the timetable of the 1988 Angola-Namibia accords by completing the withdrawal of its forces from Angola before July 1991, and ended military assistance to Nicaragua following the Sandinistas' 1990 electoral defeat. EU-Cuban diplomatic relations have suffered as a result of the March 2003 crackdown on dissidents. In June 2004, EU members imposed restrictive measures on Cuba including inviting dissidents to national day celebrations and suspending high-level meetings between EU members and the Cuban Government. In January 2005, though, the restrictions were suspended in an effort to re-engage the regime as a means of advancing the EU's policy of encouraging reform while preparing for the transition. The restrictive measures were formally dropped in June 2008, but the EU established a set of benchmarks to track the Cuban Government's performance on human rights. Canada maintains a robust trade and investment relationship with Cuba, with a large presence by the Sherritt Corp. in nickel mining. Some Sherritt operations take place on property confiscated from American investors, subjecting officers of Sherritt to Libertad Act sanctions. Canada is also the source of the largest number of foreign tourists who visit Cuba each year. Spain is among the most important foreign investors in Cuba. The ruling Zapatero government continues Spain's longstanding policy of encouraging further investment and trade with Cuba. Cuba imports more goods from Spain (almost 13% of total imports) than from any other country. Spanish economic involvement with Cuba is exclusively centered on joint venture enterprises that provide financial benefit to the Cuban Government through state-owned firms. Spain's desire to provide support to its business community often impedes its willingness to pressure the Cuban Government on political reform and human rights issues. Cuba's bilateral relationship with Venezuela has helped keep the Cuban economy afloat. The "Integral Cooperation Accord" signed by Fidel Castro and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in October 2000 laid the groundwork for a quasi-barter exchange of Venezuelan oil for Cuban goods and services that has since become a lifeline for Cuba. For Cuba, the benefits of the cooperation accord are subsidized petroleum and increased hard currency flows. The original agreement allowed for the sale, at market prices, of up to 53,000 barrels per day of crude oil and derivatives (diesel, gasoline, jet fuel, etc.) by PDVSA, Venezuela's state-owned petroleum company, to its Cuban counterpart, CUPET. The number of barrels of oil Venezuela began selling to Cuba has risen to over 90,000 barrels daily. Under the accord, PDVSA extended preferential payment terms to CUPET, including 90-day short-term financing instead of the 30 days offered to its other customers and, in lieu of a standard letter of credit backed by an international bank, PDVSA accepted IOUs from Cuba's Banco Nacional, the central banking entity responsible for servicing Havana's foreign debt. In August 2001, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez amended the 2000 accord to allow Venezuela to compensate the Cuban Government in hard currency for any and all Cuban products and services originally intended as in-kind payment for Venezuelan oil. As a result, Cuban exports of goods and services to Venezuela climbed from $34 million in 2001 to more than $150 million in 2003. Venezuelan ministries are contracting with Cuba for everything from generic pharmaceuticals to pre-fabricated housing and dismantled sugar mill equipment. On April 28, 2005, Chavez and Castro signed 49 economic agreements in Havana, covering areas as diverse as oil, nickel, agriculture, furniture, shoes, textiles, toys, lingerie, tires, construction materials, electricity, transportation, health, and education. Venezuela is also committed to sending more than $400 million in various products duty-free to Cuba and plans to open an office of state-owned commercial Venezuelan Industrial Bank (BIV) in Havana to finance imports and exports between the two countries, while Cuba will open an official Banco Exterior de Cuba in Caracas. Increased economic engagement along with the rapid growth in Cuban sales to Caracas has established Venezuela as one of the island's largest export markets. A series of recent economic agreements between Cuba and China have strengthened trade between the two countries. Sino-Cuban trade totaled more than $525 million in 2004, according to China Customs statistics. This represents an increase of more than 47% over 2003. Most of China's aid involves in-kind supply of goods or technical assistance. During President Hu-Jintao's visit to Cuba in November 2004, China signed investment-related memorandums of understanding (MOUs) estimated at more than $500 million, according to press reports. If these MOUs are fully realized, they would represent a sharp increase in known Chinese investments in Cuba. In addition to these MOUs, a number of commercial accords were signed at the first-ever Cuba-China Investment and Trade Forum. China also plans to invest approximately $500 million in a nickel operation in Moa in the eastern province of Holguin. According to the MOU, Cuba will own 51% of the enterprise and Chinese-owned Minmetals the remaining 49%. Chinese and Venezuelan economic support, including investment and direct aid, have given Cuba the space to eliminate many of the tentative open market reforms Cuba put in place during the depth of its mid-1990s economic crisis. The Russian prime minister visited Cuba in October 2006, signaling a new effort to expand trade and investment, albeit financed by Russian credit. Russia set aside, for the moment, more than U.S. $20 billion in Soviet-era debt, restructured post-1991 debt, and extended a new credit line to Cuba. The new credit line is for U.S. $355 million repayable over 10 years at an interest rate of 5%. The new credit is conditioned in that it must be used to purchase Russian cars, trucks, and planes, as well as to finance Cuban energy and transport infrastructure projects, including air navigation systems. Russia further agreed to restructure U.S. $166 million in debt accumulated since 1993. Both nations also signed an agreement on military equipment and technical services. U.S.-CUBAN RELATIONS On May 20, 2002, President Bush announced the Initiative for a New Cuba that called on the Cuban Government to undertake political and economic reforms and conduct free and fair elections for the National Assembly. The initiative challenged the Cuban Government to open its economy, allow independent trade unions, and end discriminatory practices against Cuban workers. President Bush made clear that his response to such concrete reforms would be to work with the U.S. Congress to ease the restrictions on trade and travel between the United States and Cuba. The Cuban Government did not enact any such reforms. Instead, elections for the National Assembly were held in January 2003, with 609 government-approved candidates running for 609 seats. That was followed by the March crackdown on members of civil society. In October 2003, President Bush created the Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba to help the Cuban people achieve the goal of a rapid, peaceful transition to democracy that is strongly supportive of fundamental political and economic freedoms. Its mandate is to identify additional measures to help bring an end to the dictatorship and to lay out a plan for effective and decisive U.S. assistance to a post-dictatorship Cuba, should such be requested by a free Cuba. The commission report outlines how the United States would be prepared to help a free Cuba improve infrastructure and the environment; consolidate the transition and help build democracy; meet the basic needs of the Cuban people in health, education, housing, and social services; and create the core institutions of a free economy. These recommendations are not a prescription for Cuba's future, but an indication of the kind of assistance the United States and the international community should be prepared to offer a free Cuba. The commission also sought a more proactive, integrated, and disciplined approach to undermine the survival strategies of the Castro regime and contribute to conditions that will help the Cuban people hasten the dictatorship's end. The recommendations focus on actions available to the United States Government, allowing it to establish a strong foundation on which to build supportive international efforts. This comprehensive framework is composed of six interrelated tasks considered central to hastening change: empowering Cuban civil society; breaking the Cuban Government's information blockade on the Cuban people; denying resources to the regime; illuminating the reality of Castro's Cuba to the rest of the world; encouraging international diplomatic efforts to support Cuban civil society and challenge the Castro regime; and finally, undermining the regime's "succession strategy." The Commission released its latest report in July 2006 (www.cafc.gov) as well as the "Compact with the Cuban People." The Compact with the Cuban People is a message of hope from the United States to the people of Cuba and a clear statement of principles to reassure Cubans that the U.S. stands with them in their desire for freedom. The Second Report of the Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba (CAFC II) sets forth specific assistance and programs the United States can offer to advance freedom and democracy in Cuba. The recommendations include $80 million over the following two fiscal years to support these activities. Over the past decade, the regime has built an apparatus designed to exploit humanitarian aspects of U.S. policy, specifically to siphon off hundreds of millions of dollars for itself. To deny resources to the regime, U.S. law enforcement authorities have been directed to conduct "sting" operations against "mule" networks and others who illegally carry money and to offer rewards to those who report on illegal remittances that lead to enforcement actions; family visits to Cuba have been limited to one trip every 3 years under a specific license (individuals are eligible to apply for a specific license 3 years after their last visit to Cuba); and the current authorized per diem amount (the authorized amount allowed for food and lodging expenses for travel in Cuba) has been reduced from $164 per day to $50 per day (i.e., approximately eight times what a Cuban national would expect to earn during a 14-day visit) for all family visits to Cuba, based on the presumption that travelers will stay with family in Cuba. U.S. policy also pursues a multilateral effort to press for democratic change by urging its friends and allies to actively promote a democratic transition and respect for human rights. The United States opposes consideration of Cuba's return to the OAS or inclusion in the Summit of the Americas process until there is a democratic Cuban Government. The United States has repeatedly made clear, however, that it is prepared to respond reciprocally if the Cuban Government initiates fundamental, systematic, democratic change and respect for human rights. Cuba is on the State Department's worldwide list of state sponsors of terrorism, and as a result is subject to additional sanctions. All U.S. travel to Cuba must be licensed by the Department of Treasury's Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC), and must fall into one of ten categories. Further information on the licensing process can be obtained from OFAC or at their website. All exports to Cuba must also be licensed by the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS). Further information on exports to Cuba can be found at the BIS website. Principal U.S. Interests Section Officials Chief of Mission--Jonathan Farrar Deputy Chief of Mission--James (Buddy) Williams Political/Economic Counselor--James Benson Consul General--Sean Murphy Public Affairs Officer--Greg Adams Management Officer--Karen Sullivan The U.S. Interests Section is located at Calzada between L & M Streets, Vedado, Havana, switchboard: (53-7) 33-3551-3559, fax/general: 33-3700. U.S. Information Service: 33-3967 fax: 33-3869, hours: 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Emergencies/after hours: 33-3026. TRAVEL AND BUSINESS INFORMATION The U.S. Department of State's Consular Information Program advises Americans traveling and residing abroad through Country Specific Information, Travel Alerts, and Travel Warnings. Country Specific Information exists for all countries and includes information on entry and exit requirements, currency regulations, health conditions, safety and security, crime, political disturbances, and the addresses of the U.S. embassies and consulates abroad. Travel Alerts are issued to disseminate information quickly about terrorist threats and other relatively short-term conditions overseas that pose significant risks to the security of American travelers. Travel Warnings are issued when the State Department recommends that Americans avoid travel to a certain country because the situation is dangerous or unstable. For the latest security information, Americans living and traveling abroad should regularly monitor the Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs Internet web site at http://www.travel.state.gov, where the current Worldwide Caution, Travel Alerts, and Travel Warnings can be found. Consular Affairs Publications, which contain information on obtaining passports and planning a safe trip abroad, are also available at http://www.travel.state.gov. For additional information on international travel, see http://www.usa.gov/Citizen/Topics/Travel/International.shtml. The Department of State encourages all U.S. citizens traveling or residing abroad to register via the State Department's travel registration website or at the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate abroad. Registration will make your presence and whereabouts known in case it is necessary to contact you in an emergency and will enable you to receive up-to-date information on security conditions. Emergency information concerning Americans traveling abroad may be obtained by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll free in the U.S. and Canada or the regular toll line 1-202-501-4444 for callers outside the U.S. and Canada. The National Passport Information Center (NPIC) is the U.S. Department of State's single, centralized public contact center for U.S. passport information. Telephone: 1-877-4-USA-PPT (1-877-487-2778); TDD/TTY: 1-888-874-7793. Passport information is available 24 hours, 7 days a week. You may speak with a representative Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., Eastern Time, excluding federal holidays. Travelers can check the latest health information with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia. A hotline at 800-CDC-INFO (800-232-4636) and a web site at http://wwwn.cdc.gov/travel/default.aspx give the most recent health advisories, immunization recommendations or requirements, and advice on food and drinking water safety for regions and countries. The CDC publication "Health Information for International Travel" can be found at http://wwwn.cdc.gov/travel/contentYellowBook.aspx. Further Electronic Information Department of State Web Site. Available on the Internet at http://www.state.gov, the Department of State web site provides timely, global access to official U.S. foreign policy information, including Background Notes and daily press briefings along with the directory of key officers of Foreign Service posts and more. The Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC) provides security information and regional news that impact U.S. companies working abroad through its website http://www.osac.gov Export.gov provides a portal to all export-related assistance and market information offered by the federal government and provides trade leads, free export counseling, help with the export process, and more. STAT-USA/Internet, a service of the U.S. Department of Commerce, provides authoritative economic, business, and international trade information from the Federal government. The site includes current and historical trade-related releases, international market research, trade opportunities, and country analysis and provides access to the National Trade Data Bank. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=368_1239256546 ShadowankerdogKGB Cuba facts from State Dept. fantasy, alternate reality, lies, fraud, obama, black caucus, Wed, 01 Apr 2009 14:58:56 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=094_1238612019 ShadowankerdogKGB More than 100 scientists rebuke Obama as 'simply incorrect' on global warming "Few challenges facing America and the world are more urgent than combating climate change. The science is beyond dispute and the facts are clear." - President-elect Barack Obama, 19 Nov 08 With all due respect Mr. President, that is not true. We, the undersigned scientists, maintain that the case for alarm regarding climate change is grossly overstated. Surface temperature changes over the past century have been episodic and modest and there has been no net global warming for over a decade now.1,2 After controlling for population growth and property values, there has been no increase in damages from severe weather-related events.3 The computer models forecasting rapid temperature change abjectly fail to explain recent climate behavior.4 Mr. President, your characterization of the scientific facts regarding climate change and the degree of certainty informing the scientific debate is simply incorrect. Note: Many of the scientists are current and former UN IPCC reviewers and some have reversed their views on man-made warming and are now skeptical. Also note Nobel Laureate for Physics Dr. Ivar Giaever signed. Giaever endorsed Obama for President in an October 29, 2008 letter. See: http://www.portfolio.com/views/blogs/the-tech-observer/2008/10/29/over-70-nobel-science-laureates-endorse-obama * Yun Akusofu, Ph.D University Of Alaska * Arthur G. Anderson, Ph.D, Director Of Research, IBM (retired) * Charles R. Anderson, Ph.D Anderson Materials Evaluation * J. Scott Armstrong, Ph.D, University Of Pennsylvania * Robert Ashworth, Clearstack LLC * Ismail Baht, Ph.D, University Of Kashmir * Colin Barton Csiro (retired) * David J. Bellamy, OBE, The British Natural Association * John Blaylock, Los Alamos National Laboratory (retired) * Edward F. Blick, Ph.D, University Of Oklahoma (emeritus) * Sonja Boehmer-Christiansen, Ph.D, University Of Hull * Bob Breck Ams, Broadcaster Of The Year 2008 * John Brignell, University Of Southampton (emeritus) * Mark Campbell, Ph.D, U.S. Naval Academy * Robert M. Carter, Ph.D, James Cook University * Ian Clark, Ph.D, Professor, Earth Sciences University Of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada * Roger Cohen, Ph.D Fellow, American Physical Society * Paul Copper, Ph.D, Laurentian University (emeritus) * Piers Corbyn, MS, Weather Action * Richard S. Courtney, Ph.D, Reviewer, Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change * Uberto Crescenti, Ph.D Past-President, Italian Geological Society * Susan Crockford, Ph.D University Of Victoria * Joseph S. D'aleo, Fellow, American Meteorological Society * James Demeo, Ph.D, University Of Kansas (retired) * David Deming, Ph.D, University Of Oklahoma * Diane Douglas, Ph.D, Paleoclimatologist * David Douglass, Ph.D, University Of Rochester * Robert H. Essenhigh, E.G. Bailey Emeritus, Professor Of Energy Conversion The Ohio State University * Christopher Essex, Ph.D, University Of Western Ontario * John Ferguson, Ph.D, University Of Newcastle * Upon Tyne (retired) * Eduardo Ferreyra, Argentinian Foundation For A Scientific Ecology * Michael Fox, Ph.D, American Nuclear Society * Gordon Fulks, Ph.D, Gordon Fulks And Associates * Lee Gerhard, Ph.D, State Geologist, Kansas (retired) * Gerhard Gerlich, Ph.D, Technische Universitat Braunschweig * Ivar Giaever, Ph.D, Nobel Laureate, Physics * Albrecht Glatzle, Ph.D, Scientific Direc tor, Inttas (Paraguay) * Wayne Goodfellow, Ph.D, University Of Ottawa * James Goodridge, California State Climatologist (retired) * Laurence Gould, Ph.D, University Of Hartford * Vincent Gray, Ph.D, New Zealand=2 0Climate Coalition * William M. Gray, Ph.D, Colorado State University * Kenneth E. Green, D.En v., American Enterprise Institute * Kesten Green, Ph.D, Monash University * Will Happer, Ph.D, Princeton University * Howard C. Hayden, Ph.D, University Of Connecticut (emeritus) * Ben Herman, Ph.D, University Of Arizona (emeritus) * Martin Hertzberg, Ph.D, U.S. Navy (retired) * Doug Hoffman, Ph.D, Author, The Resilient Earth * Bernd Huettner, Ph.D * Ole Humlum, Ph.D, University Of Oslo * A. Neil Hutton, Past President, Canadian Society Of Petroleum Geologists * Craig D. Idso, Ph.D, Center For The Study Of Carbon Dioxide And Global Change * Sherwood B. Idso, Ph.D, U.S. Department Of Agriculture (retired) * Kiminori Itoh, Ph.D, Yokohama National University * Steve Japar, Ph.D, Reviewer, Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change * Sten Kaijser, Ph.D, Uppsala University (emeritus) * Wibjorn Karlen, Ph.D, University Of Stockholm20(emeritus) Joel Kauffman, Ph.D, University Of The Sciences, Philadelphia (emeritus) * David Kear, Ph.D, Former Director-General, Nz Dept. Scientific And Industrial Research * Richard Keen, Ph.D, University Of Colorado * Dr. Kelvin Kemm, Ph.D, Lifetime Achievers Award, National Science And Technology Forum, South Africa * Madhav Khandekar, Ph.D, Former Editor, Climate Research * Robert S. Knox, Ph.D, University Of Rochester (emeritus) * James P. Koermer, Ph.D, Plymouth State University * Gerhard Kramm, Ph.D, University Of Alaska Fairbanks * Wayne Kraus, Ph.D, Kraus Consulting * Olav M. Kvalheim, Ph.D, Univ. Of Bergen * Roar Larson, Ph.D, Norwegia n University Of Science And Technology * James F. Lea, Ph.D * Douglas Leahy, Ph.D, Meteorologist * Peter R.=2 0Leavitt, Certified Consulting Meteorologist * David R. Legates, Ph.D, University of Delaware * Richard S. Lindzen, Ph.D, Massachusetts Institute Of Technology * Harry F. Lins, Ph.D. Co-Chair, IPCC Hydrology and Water Resources Working Group * Anthony R. Lupo, Ph.D, University Of Missouri * Howard Maccabee, Ph.D, MD Clinical Faculty, Stanford Medical School * Horst Malberg, Ph.D, Free University of Berlin * Bjorn Malmgren, Ph.D, Goteburg University (emeritus) * Jennifer Marohasy, Ph.D, Australian Environment Foundation * James A Marusek, U.S. Navy (retired) * Ross Mckitrick, Ph.D, University Of Guelph * Patrick J. Michaels, Ph.D, University Of Virginia * Timmothy R. Minnich, MS, Minnich And Scotto, Inc. * Asmunn Moene, Ph.D, Former Head, Forecasting Center, Meteorological Institute, Norway * Michael Monce, Ph.D, Connecticut College * Dick Morgan, Ph.D, Exeter University (emeritus) * Nils-axel Morner, Ph.D, Stockholm University (emeritus) * David Nowell, D.I.C., Former Chairman, Nato Meteorology Canada * Cliff Ollier, D.Sc., University Of Western Au stralia * Garth W. Paltridge, Ph.D, University Of Tasmania * Alfred Peckare k, Ph.D, St. Cloud State University * Dr. Robert A. Perkins, P.E. University Of Alaska * Ian Pilmer, Ph.D, University Of Melbourne (emeritus) * Brian R. Pratt, Ph.D, University Of Saskatchewan * John Reinhard, Ph.D, Ore Pharm aceuticals * Peter Ridd, Ph.D, James Cook University * Curt Rose, Ph.D, Bishop's University (emeritus) * Peter Salonius, M.Sc., Canadian Forest Service * Gary Sharp, Ph.D, Center For Climate/Ocean Resources Study * Thomas P. Sheahan, Ph.D, Western Technologies, Inc. * Alan Simmons, Author, The Resilient Earth * Roy N. Spencer, Ph.D, University Of Alabama-Huntsville * Arlin Super, Ph.D, Retired Research Meteorologist, U.S. Dept. Of Reclamation * George H. Taylor,MS, Applied Climate Services * Eduardo P. Tonni, Ph.D, Museo De La Plata (Argentina) * Ralf D. Tscheuschner, Ph.D * Dr. Anton Uriarte,Ph.D, Universidad Del Pais Vasco * Brian Valentine, Ph.D, U.S. Department Of Energy * Gosta Walin, Ph.D, University Of Gothenburg (emeritus) * Gerd-Rainer Weber,Ph.D, Reviewer, Intergovernmenal Panel On Climate Change * Forese-Carlo Wezel, Ph.D, Urbino University * Edward T. Wimberley, Ph.D, Florida Gulf Coast University * Miklos Zagoni,Ph.D Reviewer, Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change * Antonio Zichichi,Ph.D President, World Federation Of Scientists Footnotes 1. Swanson, K.L., and A. A. Tsonis. Geophysical Research Letters, in press: DOI:10.1029/2008GL037022. 2. Brohan, P., et al. Journal of Geophysical Research, 2006: DOI: 10.1029/2005JD006548. Updates at http://www.cru.uea.ac.uk/cru/data/temperature. 3. Pielke, R. A. Jr., et al. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 2005: DOI: 10.1175/BAMS-86-10-1481. 4. Douglass, D. H., et al. International Journal of Climatology, 2007: DOI: 10.1002/joc.1651. http://ilovecarbondioxide.com/2009/03/breaking-news-100-plus-scientists.html Thanks to Justin Credible for this link http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=094_1238612019 ShadowankerdogKGB More than 100 scientists rebuke Obama as 'simply incorrect' on global warming global warming, hoax, scam, lies, green Wed, 01 Apr 2009 11:08:33 -0400 http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=02a_1238598394 ShadowankerdogKGB HAPPY APRIL FOOLS' DAY! With their racing budgets deemed "unnecessary expenditures," GM and Chrysler are ordered to cease racing operations at the end of the season. BY JARED GALL, ILLUSTRATION BY ERIC WOODWARD April 2009 In a move sure to spark outrage, the White House announced today that GM and Chrysler must cease participation in NASCAR at the end of the 2009 season if they hope to receive any additional financial aid from the government. Companies around the globe-Honda and Audi, to name two-have drawn down racing operations, and NASCAR itself has already felt the pinch in the form of reduced team spending. A complete withdrawal from America's premier racing series is expected to save more than $250 million between GM and Chrysler, a substantial amount considering the drastic measures being implemented elsewhere. "Automakers used to operate on the principle of 'win on Sunday, sell on Monday,' but the Auto Task Force's research just doesn't validate that as true," said the statement from President Obama. While fans have decried the Car of Tomorrow for heavily limiting what little personalization the cookie-cutter series had previously allowed to participating manufacturers, and drivers have slammed its brick-like aerodynamics and unpredictable handling, even the governmental oversight committee sees that the full-scale regulation of the cars leaves the manufacturers very little space for research and development. "NASCAR is a racing series that regulates down to the smallest detail of the cars, where a car badged a Chevrolet or Dodge differs only marginally from a Ford or a Toyota. There's no technological development to speak of." The statement goes on further to say the same demand will be made of Ford if it asks for government assistance. "In order to receive this money, corporations must demonstrate they will spend it wisely. Racing has been said to improve on-road technology, but frankly, NASCAR almost flaunts its standing among the lowest-tech forms of motorsport. NASCAR is not proven to drive advancements that transfer from the racetrack to the road, and this nation's way forward does not hinge on decades-old technology. We need new, and we need innovation." The President realizes this will be an unpopular call, but stands behind the decision, saying, "This is an obvious cut to make, but it is not an easy one. This administration is not ignoring the tremendous sentimental value and emotional appeal NASCAR holds for so many Americans. But now is not the time for sentiment and nostalgia; now is a time for decisive financial action. If our automotive industry is to emerge from this recession intact, then these difficult decisions must be made." Both Chevrolet and Dodge see the move as only temporary, and fully expect to resume racing in NASCAR as soon as they have stabilized and the government's hand in their operations is minimized. "There is nothing really to say at this point," said one representative, who wished to remain anonymous. "We've been doing this since the beginning, and we always assumed we'd be doing this until the end. Heck, nobody ever thought to think that there would be an end. But we ain't done. As soon as this is over, we're taking back our spot at the top." NASCAR officials remain tight-lipped about the call, but sources say series president Mike Helton and team managers are exploring several options, including other manufacturers to fill Chevrolet and Dodge's vacated positions. Given the company's recent interest in motorsport and the steady cash-flow and V-8 engine provided by its new Genesis sedan, sources indicate that NASCAR is pinging Hyundai to gauge the Korean company's interest in occupying a spot in NASCAR. "Toyota was not well-received their first year in the sport, nor was their first season an easy one," the source says. "But they learned, they applied the lessons, and they have proven very competitive this year." If Hyundai does indeed join the series, there will no doubt be a steep learning curve, and the move would leave Ford the lone domestic battling a pair of Asian makes in America's most popular racing series. We wonder, however, how long NASCAR could hold that title without two of its most storied participants. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=02a_1238598394 ShadowankerdogKGB Obama Orders Chevrolet and Dodge Out Of NASCAR - Car News obama, fail, nascar