WASHINGTON, Dec. 29 (UPI) — The United States plans to go ahead with a nearly $11 billion sale of arms and training to Iraq despite concerns about the country’s future, officials said.
The sale is also seen as a message to Iran.
Under the agreement signed by the governments of each country, the United States will provide advanced F-15SA combat aircraft to the Royal Saudi Air Force.
The sale comes amid U.S. and Saudi concern about the military intentions of Iran.
The Saudis are concerned about Iranian efforts to influence events in Iraq, which is on the Saudi border; the U.S., meanwhile, has warned Iran against any effort to close the Strait of Hormuz to oil transport traffic, saying “any disruption will not be tolerated.”
Iran’s government warned this week it might restrict the Strait of Hormuz if Washington levies new sanctions targeting Iran’s crude exports over concerns about its nuclear program.
In announcing the new arms deal with Saudi Arabia, White House spokesman Josh Earnet said: “Valued at $29.4 billion, this agreement includes production of 84 new aircraft and the modernization of 70 existing aircraft as well as munitions, spare parts, training, maintenance and logistics.”
“These F-15SA aircraft, manufactured by the Boeing Company, are among the most sophisticated and capable aircraft in the world,” Earnest said.
Some are calling this a ‘publicity stunt’, but the mayor of New Haven is calling for new legislation to allow illegal immigrants in the area to be able to vote in local elections. Do you think this is fair or appropriate? Does the fact that a person pays taxes outweigh the fact that they are not actual citizens of a country?
New Haven Mayor John DeStefano, a Democrat, said on Tuesday that illegal immigrants pay taxes indirectly through rent and send their children to local schools — and therefore should be able to vote. The proposal would also lead to a more engaged community, he said.
Under the plan, immigrants who are in the U.S. legally or illegally, and may not vote now, would still be unable to vote in state or federal elections.
Elizabeth Benton, a spokeswoman for DeStefano, said the proposal is “nothing new,” nothing more than two dozen states that have seen similar legislation.
“We’re not seeking to apply this to any other city, this is about New Haven and what we think makes sense for New Haven,” Benton told FoxNews.com. “New Haven prides itself on being a diverse, welcoming community and part of what makes New Haven such a interesting place to live is our international residents.”
Benton said the proposal will be delivered to the state Legislature early next year.
“We want every adult in our community … to be able to vote in local elections that affect their families and futures,” she said. “This is not an immigration issue so much as it a New Haven resident issue around participation in our community.”
Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy, meanwhile, said on Wednesday he was not “particularly comfortable” with the idea.
“I think there are obligations that run with citizenship and there are privileges that run with citizenship,” Malloy said.
Malloy, also a Democrat, said he was willing to “hear the mayor out” on his proposal, which follows the lead of other cities.
Labriola, however, was not as open-minded.
“Mayor DeStefano presides over a city in decline and one that already has a dubious record of voting integrity,” he said. “The citizens of New Haven would be better served by a mayor who focused on jobs and economic development rather than a publicity stunt.”
New Haven made national headlines in 2007 when the city approved a program providing municipal identification cards for all residents — including illegal immigrants — to provide services such as banking and using the library.
In the face all of the recent sexual allegations, Herman Cain has just announced in Atlanta that he will suspend his campaign for the president of the United States. In spite of this decision to suspend his campaign, he will continue to push his agenda.
Herman tried to bolster support in his speech by commenting;
“The voice of the people is more powerful than the voice of the media…”
“If you look at the top 3 candidates, I am in the final 4…”
“As false accusations about me continue, they have sidetracked my mission for the American people…”
FoxNews.com noted;
While campaign aides have given the impression of a campaign in full swing, scheduling a slew of rallies in key battleground states in the run-up to his announcement, the candidate’s numbers have taken a dive.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has soared in the polls, while Cain has fallen back into the territory now occupied by other former frontrunners who lost their luster among primary voters.
“Polls suggest his popularity has taken a deep hit.
A Des Moines Register poll released Friday showed Cain’s support plummeting, with backing from 8 percent of Republican caucusgoers in Iowa, down from 23 percent a month ago.
Fundraising has also fallen off. He issued an email appeal to supporters on Friday asking for donations, in an attempt to gauge whether his financial support has dried up.
“I need to know that you are behind me 100 percent,” Cain told backers. “In today’s political environment, the only way we can gauge true support is by the willingness of our supporters to invest in this effort.”
With all of the recent unwarranted ‘sprayings’ many citizens are calling for a broad outlaw of pepper spray all together. Would this keep us safer, or infringe on our God-given rights as Americans? Have we proven ourselves to be incapable of using pepper spray in a responsible manner, or should that have any bearing on whether or not a protective device is legal or not?
“An Army study concluded that pepper spray’s active ingredient, “is capable of producing carcinogenic effects, sensitization, cardiovascular toxicity, as well as possible human fatalities.”
For those with asthma, taking other drugs, or subject to restraining techniques which restrict the breathing passages, there is a risk of death. The Los Angeles Times has reported at least 61 deaths associated with police use of pepper spray since 1990 in the USA. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) documented 27 people in police custody who died after exposure to pepper spray in California since 1993. However, the ACLU report counts any death occurring within hours of exposure to pepper spray. In all 27 cases, the coroners’ report listed other factors as the primary cause of death, though in some cases the use of pepper spray may have been a contributing factor.
The US Army concluded in a 1993 Aberdeen Proving Ground study that pepper spray could cause “[m]utagenic effects, carcinogenic effects, sensitization, cardiovascular and pulmonary toxicity, neurotoxicity, as well as possible human fatalities. There is a risk in using this product on a large and varied population”. However, the pepper spray was widely approved in the US despite the reservations of the US military scientists after it passed FBI tests in 1991. As of 1999, it was in use by more than 2000 public safety agencies.
The head of the FBI’s Less-Than-Lethal Weapons Program at the time of the 1991 study, Special Agent Thomas W. W. Ward, was fired by the FBI and was sentenced to two months in prison for receiving payments from a peppergas manufacturer while conducting and authoring the FBI study that eventually approved pepper spray for FBI use. Prosecutors said that from December 1989 through 1990, Ward received about $5,000 a month for a total of $57,500, from Luckey Police Products, a Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based company that was a major producer and supplier of pepper spray. The payments were paid through a Florida company owned by Ward’s wife.
Pepper spray has been associated with positional asphyxiation of individuals in police custody. There is much debate over the actual “cause” of death in these cases. There have been few controlled clinical studies of the human health effects of pepper spray marketed for police use, and those studies are contradictory. Some studies have found no harmful effects beyond the effects described above.
Direct close-range spray can cause more serious eye irritation by attacking the cornea with a concentrated stream of liquid (the so-called “hydraulic needle” effect).
The American political system in the last decades nurtured a system where the bubbles seen over the years have exploded on the Wall Streets recently. The accumulated grievance borne from the system would now be difficult to be redressed through the usual political system. In other words, to redress the problem would need drastic change than mere advocacy for reforms on the superstructure without overhauling the system to benefit everyone on the national wealth.
The decline in income distribution is a result of the broad inequality created by the 1% versus the 99%. The past trend on income growth in the last 30 years reveals increased in income for the top rich by 275% while the bottom 20% income grew only by 18 %. The sharp distinction of the top and bottom level is attributed to the declining productive force at the bottom 20% whose jobs have been taken away elsewhere around the world for accessing cheaper labor while productivity remained intact for the middle class. Further, the jobless situation is created by the corporate self-interest whose pursuit for profit compelled for retrenchment without social responsibility rendering millions jobless. The super rich control the system for increased investment abroad that enrich them more and more and the bottom level got reduced to poverty condition overtime.
It is argued that the top 1% super rich in a 15 trillion dollar economy equalized the economy through tax contribution whereby the super rich pay 29% (in Reagan’s era) to 38% in the present time. It is felt that the wealth acquired from overseas investment does not exploit domestic source and therefore, the slogan on ‘income inequality’ in a world of glaring inequality everywhere is a media ploy to distract. Besides, the general income does not indicate much difference from the 1990s to the 2000s except that the rich gets much richer now. The Tea Party and the Wall Street occupiers consisting of only 20 % against the super rich 1% cannot be considered to be representing the entire American society or looked upon as a threat to the system.
The argument in the defence of the system seems to have forgotten ”inclusion’ and have ignored the overall decline in the socio-economy of America. The statistics against the global trend revealed the sinking American life in terms of infrastructure, education, health (obesity over 30%), the huge national deficit hung on the mercy of China and that too with the burden of a mandatory responsibility towards social security expenditure.
Defending national interest entails adopting an approach of a ‘constructive dissent’. Such a posture postulates for an honest solution to exploring the possibilities to increase revenue, may be by deploying Robin Hood’s tax and broadening the tax base as 51 percent of Americans do not pay tax, reduced military expenditure but earn from defence technical cooperation, deploying Americans in American owned corporate and practice austerity. It is important for America not to ignore the implication of the 20% discontentment as a significant prelude to the future and contemplate on modifying the capitalist structure rather than glossing it with superstructure reforms for a possible catastrophe. The internal arrangement will then guide the foreign policy suitably.
Ms. Margaret Gangte is an author of Journal articles.
The White House and NASCAR are downplaying a Sunday incident in which some race fans booed first lady Michelle Obama and Jill Biden, the wife of Vice President Biden.
Obama and Biden served as grand marshals for the race at Homestead-Miami Speedway to promote their Joining Forces project on behalf of military families.
Listening to the video, it is hard to gauge the intensity of the critics, as much of the crowd was drowned out by a military flyover and other pre-race noise.
“The NASCAR community and the vast majority of those attending our race Sunday welcomed the first lady and Dr. Jill Biden and the military families in attendance,” said Marcus Jadotte, NASCAR vice president of public affairs. “We are proud to support military families across the country and proud to support the Joining Forces initiative.”
so I’m sitting in coffee shop and there is a blogger interviewing an ‘occupier’ at the table next to me, the conversation is starting to get loud and angry….this is interesting….
Blogger – “last night there were people dancing in the streets, no other city had people dancing in the streets”
Occupier – “you don’t know what is going on down there because you are not there all the time…”
Blogger – “I can’t be down there all the time because I have a job and I have to work…”
Today, Congress holds hearings on the first American Internet censorship system.
This bill can pass. If it does the Internet and free speech will never be the same.
Join all of us to stop this bill.
Website Blocking
The government can order service providers to block websites for infringing links posted by any users.
Risk of Jail for Ordinary Users
It becomes a felony with a potential 5 year sentence to stream a copyrighted work that would cost more than $2,500 to license, even if you are a totally noncommercial user, e.g. singing a pop song on Facebook
.
Chaos for the Internet
Thousands of sites that are legal under the DMCA would face new legal threats. People trying to keep the internet more secure wouldn’t be able to rely on the integrity of the DNS system.
We just received word that the Senate vote on whether to kill Net Neutrality could come as early as Tuesday.
If the “resolution of disapproval” (S.J. Res 6) passes it would remove all existing protections for Internet users and hand control of your ability to choose online to companies like AT&T, Comcast and Verizon.
Your senator has not yet indicated support of or opposition to this resolution.
Please pick up the phone and urge your senator to oppose the “resolution of disapproval.”
Share this with your friends and spread the word!!
My question to you is, do you think there’s a way to improve this process so that people are more likely to make better, more rational decisions, when they vote?
We have to stop giving our citizens improper incentives. We have to increase the “skin” voters have in the game by spreading the burden of government more equally. And we have to ensure the government doesn’t have the power to destroy our currency. Americans now owe $56 trillion in total debt, much of it held by foreign investors. We must spend $3.5 trillion each year on interest. That is already more than the federal government spends, in total.
We will never be able to repay these debts – already equal to roughly four times our country’s GDP. The largest components of the debts we owe are government debts… and they are growing rapidly and show no signs of stopping.
Do you think it’s more likely we’ll find a way to actually pay down these debts… or simply choose to print more money to pay these debts? That’s what we’re doing right now. So far, the Federal Reserve has printed more than $2 trillion of new money and used it to finance our government’s borrowing binge.
So the question is, what can we do to change the direction in which we are headed?
We have to fundamentally restructure our system. There must be more balance between rights and responsibilities. There must be some fundamental limit on spending and on taxes. And we need sound money to prohibit the government from taxing us silently via inflation and from devaluing our savings.
“An Army study concluded that pepper spray’s active ingredient, “is capable of producing carcinogenic effects, sensitization, cardiovascular toxicity, as well as possible human fatalities.”
