ThinkFast: August 13, 2007
ThinkFast: August 13, 2007
“A chance discovery at Rome’s busy Fiumicino Airport led anti-Mafia investigators to a huge black-market transaction in which Iraqi and Italian partners haggled over shipping more than 100,000 Russian-made automatic weapons into Iraq.” Iraqi government officials were involved in the deal, apparently without the knowledge of the U.S. Baghdad command.
According to new court documents, former Rep. Bob Ney’s (R-OH) chief of staff Will Heaton was secretly recording conversations with his boss in order to facilitate a federal investigation. “Heaton taped numerous phone calls and wore a hidden wire to a 2 1/2 -hour, face-to-face meeting with Ney that provided ‘exceptionally important’ help to the FBI’s investigation of Abramoff.”
Roll Call reports that a fight has been averted over Bush’s recess appointments. “Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has quietly shelved plans to hold the Senate in pro forma session this month after the White House agreed to refrain from making any executive appointments during the Senators’ August break.”
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-CT) said he is drawing up legislation to strengthen subprime mortgage lending standards amid a credit crunch that has shaken financial markets around the world. “Clearly, the brokers need to be regulated,” he said.
A committee of British members of Parliament warned the escalation in Iraq is likely to fail. A report by the Commons foreign affairs committee delivered a pessimistic verdict on Washington’s bid to restore peace by committing 30,000 extra troops. “It is too early to provide a definitive assessment of the US ’surge’ but it does not look likely to succeed,” the MPs concluded.
The number of truck bombs and other large al-Qaeda-style attacks in Iraq have declined nearly 50% since the United States started increasing troop levels in Iraq about six months ago. The number of daily attacks, however, have reached new highs.
“Deutsche Bank AG, Germany’s biggest bank, said it hired former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan as a consultant for its securities unit. Greenspan, 81, will provide ‘advice and insight‘ to the company’s corporate and investment banking unit and its clients, the Frankfurt-based bank said today.”
To avert an FCC violation, NBC announced that it will not run Law & Order if Fred Thompson announces his presidential run. “If Fred Thompson formally announces his intention to run for president, NBC will not schedule any further repeats of ‘Law & Order’ featuring Mr. Thompson beyond those already scheduled,” which conclude on Sept. 1, NBC said in a statement.
And finally: Sen. Charles Grassley asked a couple of anti-war activists from the “Iraq summer” campaign who were tracking him if they planned on trailing him all day. When they answered in the affirmative, Grassley surprised the two by suggesting that they all go out for burgers afterward. “Grassley made good on his word, and the unlikely party adjourned to Sue’s Roadside Café” where they had a “cordial, down-home conversation about Iraq.” AAEI spokesman Jeremy Funk said, “I think he figured that … if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em — for burgers.”
What did we miss? Let us know in the comments section.
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Apologize for not having the comments section up for a few minutes. I’ve been making some badly-need changes.
August 13th, 2007 at 9:31 amNo problem, thank you for your efforts, Faiz
August 13th, 2007 at 9:32 amThank you Faiz and the TP staff for fixing the mess of the past few week’s….My computer is getting back to normal….
Good Morning Raven and all…Blessings
August 13th, 2007 at 9:41 amthank you, faiz!
will be so glad to see those changes!
hope you had a good weekend…
August 13th, 2007 at 9:43 amnow, nurse this baby back to health!
…
Can’t say I blame the Iraqi government for buying weapons on the black market and not informing the U.S. military. The Iraqis just want to make sure the weapons don’t get “lost” this time.
August 13th, 2007 at 9:44 amKarl Rove resigns, wonder if who’s presidential campaign he will work for?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/rove_resigning
August 13th, 2007 at 9:46 ammy apologies, didn’t realize Rove’s resignation was already listed.
August 13th, 2007 at 9:50 amAny Chance of a registration system and tighter control of disruptive comments?
August 13th, 2007 at 9:55 amIraqi government officials were involved in the deal, apparently without the knowledge of the U.S. Baghdad command.
now why would a “sovereign” government
August 13th, 2007 at 9:59 amneed to tell u.s. command anything?
“Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has quietly shelved plans to hold the Senate in pro forma session this month after the White House agreed to refrain from making any executive appointments during the Senators’ August break.â€
AND HE BELIVIEVED IT???!!!
oh crap…
August 13th, 2007 at 10:02 am“Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has quietly shelved plans to hold the Senate in pro forma session this month after the White House agreed to refrain from making any executive appointments during the Senators’ August break.â€
August 13th, 2007 at 10:05 amI’ll laugh my ass off when Bush double-crosses Reid. Some people just do not learn… think of Charlie Brown trying to make a kick with Lucy holding the ball.
August 13th, 2007 at 10:09 amoops…sorry for post 11. I accidentally hit the enter key and that apparently posed before I had written my comment.
August 13th, 2007 at 10:10 amNow HERE is a relevant thinkfast that you wont hear at TP:
Looking past the presidential nomination fight, Democratic leaders quietly fret that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton at the top of their 2008 ticket could hurt candidates at the bottom.
They say the former first lady may be too polarizing for much of the country.
She wins the nomination, you lose the presidency again and the far-left (which is more and more of the DFL base these days) flies into a rage the likes of which we havent seen. Yeppers, the fog is rolling in.
August 13th, 2007 at 10:25 amI accidentally hit the enter key and that apparently posed before I had written my comment.
Comment by bilbobaggins
(I hate when that happens……….)
August 13th, 2007 at 10:25 amCheck out this new Bush Comic
Say Hi To The Insurgents
August 13th, 2007 at 10:26 am“Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has quietly shelved plans to hold the Senate in pro forma session this month after the White House agreed to refrain from making any executive appointments during the Senators’ August break.â€
So the Democrat leadership gives Bush something for nothing once again. Selling away their power for an empty promise. I won’t hold my breath.
Sounds like Bush just got a green light to nominate anyone he wants during the recess…
August 13th, 2007 at 10:31 amIf the Italians only caught this shipment of 100,000 automatic weapons into Iraq BY CHANCE, how many other shipments have gone undetected?
How can our troops possibly maintain order in a region when this sort of fire power is coming in under the table? We don’t need to explain the instability or Iraq by having Al Qaeda in the area; there is ample instability with just the historical ethnic tensions and an excess of lethal force supplied by the mob.
We’d have a much greater positive influence on the area by pulling out our troops and cracking down hard on the global trade in weapons. We have little chance at achieving sectarian reconcilliation when the rival factions are armed to the teeth and both sides feel we are an illegitimate invading power who is actively arming their foes.
August 13th, 2007 at 10:33 amThanks for the troll whacking Faiz. I used four cans of troll repellent spray to clean out my PC.
August 13th, 2007 at 10:39 amHow many other scams are being pulled off by the Iraqi government agents? We pretend to be in control, but we are just cannon fodder, caught up in forces that we loosed, but can’t control. Out Now.
The Gonzales visits Iraq to offer advice on legal system thread, which had 1200+ comments is now down to 730… interesting…
August 13th, 2007 at 10:50 am“A chance discovery at Rome’s busy Fiumicino Airport led anti-Mafia investigators to a huge black-market transaction in which Iraqi and Italian partners haggled over shipping more than 100,000 Russian-made automatic weapons into Iraq.†Iraqi government officials were involved in the deal, apparently without the knowledge of the U.S. Baghdad command.
Huh? I thought it was a Middle East vs West civilization battle!!!
August 13th, 2007 at 10:58 amWe’d have a much greater positive influence on the area by pulling out our troops and cracking down hard on the global trade in weapons.
Comment by Peter
HUmanity´s rule number one: You dont f*ck with weapon companies.
August 13th, 2007 at 11:00 amHuh? I thought it was a Middle East vs West civilization battle!!!
Comment by Juan C — August 13, 2007 @ 10:58 am
Haven’t you been fed the “good vs evil” tripe?
August 13th, 2007 at 11:00 amgood morning, juan -
August 13th, 2007 at 11:09 amhow’s the tummy? … and the nerves?
Huh? I thought it was a Middle East vs West civilization battle!!!
Comment by Juan C — August 13, 2007 @ 10:58 am
Well, if they have to “fight them over there so they don’t have to fight them over here”, you’ve got to give them something to fight with, otherwise they wouldn’t want to play, and where’s the fun in that?
I’m amazed they didn’t twist these facts to blame Iran or Syria…
August 13th, 2007 at 11:12 amI’d be real interested to see who was brokering this, Sunni or Shiia????
August 13th, 2007 at 11:20 amI’d be real interested to see who was brokering this, Sunni or Shiia????
Comment by RUCerious — August 13, 2007 @ 11:20 am
I’d guess Shi’a, considering Sunnis are mostly quitting the government these days.
August 13th, 2007 at 11:23 amOh, just some fuel to anyone’s fire on the economy: Remember how last week, the US fed had to pump 62 billion dollars over Thursday and Friday into the US’ financial sector? Another 2bn dollars today.
Anyone who tells me Bush’s economy is great is clearly insane.
August 13th, 2007 at 11:34 amFinancial System. Sorry, long day.
August 13th, 2007 at 11:41 amLong day? Good God, Bruce, what time do you start work??
August 13th, 2007 at 11:49 ambruce is posting from south africa…
…
check this out… on the other end of the honor spectrum…
China Toy Boss Kills Himself Amid Recall
August 13th, 2007 at 12:11 pmForbes – 44 minutes ago
By AUDRA ANG 08.13.07, 11:10 AM ET The head of a Chinese manufacturing company accused of shipping hundreds of thousands of lead-tainted toys later recalled in the United States has committed suicide, a state-run newspaper said Monday.
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/08/13/ap4013656.html
…
RUCerious
Not that early, but today has been a heavy news day and I didn’t take lunch.
August 13th, 2007 at 12:19 pmThe brokers do not need to be regulated. The free market is regulating them as we speak. Lending requirements have regressed to the mean in recent weeks.
Go try to buy a house with no money down, falsified loan documents, and a negatively amortized mortgage.
Good luck!
Things are going back to they way they were before the housing bubble. Without Congress passing any legislation.
August 13th, 2007 at 12:36 pmAlgeria Looks to the Sun
It’s a vision that has long enticed energy planners: solar panels stretching out over vast swaths of the Sahara desert, soaking up sun to generate clean, green power.
Now Algeria, aware that its oil and gas riches will one day run dry, is gearing up to tap its sunshine on an industrial scale for itself and even Europe.
Work on its first plant began late last month at Hassi R’mel, 420 kilometers south of Algiers, the capital. The plant will be a hybrid, using both sun and natural gas to generate 150 megawatts. Of that, 25 megawatts will come from giant parabolic mirrors stretching over 180,000 square meters— roughly 45 football fields.
Experts say it’s the first project of its kind to combine gas and steam turbines with solar thermal input in a hybrid plant. The plant should be ready in 2010, and the longer-term goal is to export 6,000 megawatts of solar-generated power to Europe by 2020, about a tenth of current electricity consumption in Germany.
“Our potential in thermal solar power is four times the world’s energy consumption so you can have all the ambitions you want with that,†said Tewfik Hasni, managing director of New Energy Algeria, or NEAL, a company created by the Algerian government in 2002 to develop renewable energy.
The Algerian program is part of a broader reassessment of green technologies by countries that owe their wealth to oil and gas. Algeria, population 33 million, remains heavily dependent on oil and gas exports, which earned it about US$54 billion (€39 billion) last year.
“Until now all the oil-producing countries under the lead of Saudi Arabia did everything to torpedo renewable energies,†said Wolfgang Palz, chairman of the independent World Council for Renewable Energy, speaking on the sidelines of an international conference on renewable energy in Algiers in June.
“This is really a big change now because with all this talking about the limitations of conventional resources,†oil-producing countries “feel obliged to do something,†he said.
http://www.priceofoil.org/
August 13th, 2007 at 12:48 pmhow’s the tummy? … and the nerves?
Comment by katy
Sorry, katy. I was running inside the University.
ONe good, one still other to go. Lets see how that goes.
August 13th, 2007 at 12:49 pmFred would probably do well to avoid announcing any run for president as long as he is getting free advertising from L&O (I’m assuming that TNT will abide by the “No Fred” rule as NBC will).
August 13th, 2007 at 1:11 pmWhere is kindasleazy lice? I have seen nothing from her or about her for quite a long while. Is she on some kind of undercover mission?
August 13th, 2007 at 1:16 pmWhy hasn’t this little gem made these threads?
August 13th, 2007 at 3:49 pmYou can’t have justice when there is this much disorder:
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/13/africa/ME-GEN-Iraq-Judges.php
August 13th, 2007 at 6:03 pmThis British committee’s conclusion is accurate. The entire premise of the surge is flawed. Bush can no longer make progress militarily.
August 13th, 2007 at 10:46 pmNBC made the right decision to not run episodes with Thompson. ABC radio must also take the same step. Thompson can’t be on the airwaves, it would be in violation of FCC rules.
August 13th, 2007 at 10:50 pm