Life in OUR America, The Livyjr Files Volume 7 Options

[Livyjr]

AND IN THE MEANTIME, ON THE FLIP-SIDE BACK HERE IN AMERICA, WE HAVE ...

"WHO NEEDS THIS FRILLY **** ANYWAY, THAT STUFF IS FOR CHICKEN-HEARTED LIB-RAWLS" ...

And so ...

"Home furnishings retailer Linens 'n Things files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection"

By MAE ANDERSON, Associated Press

Last updated: 8:22 a.m., Friday, May 2, 2008

NEW YORK -- Linens 'n Things is filing for bankruptcy protection, the latest major retailer to succumb to the difficult retail environment.

The bedding- and home-furnishings retailer's parent, Linens Holding Co., has filed a petition for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Delaware.

In March the company said its fiscal fourth-quarter loss widened.

It has said it was planning to cut costs and reduce staff to turn around results in a "highly leveraged" situation.

The Clifton, N.J.-based company was acquired by investment firm Apollo Management in 2006.

It is the latest retailer to be hit by the weakening retail environment as consumers cut back.

Sharper Image Corp. and Lillian Vernon Corp. filed for bankruptcy protection in February.

[Livyjr]

"Home furnishings retailer Linens 'n Things files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection"

By MAE ANDERSON, Associated Press

Last updated: 8:22 a.m., Friday, May 2, 2008

NEW YORK -- Linens 'n Things is filing for bankruptcy protection, the latest major retailer to succumb to the difficult retail environment.

The Clifton, N.J.-based company was acquired by investment firm Apollo Management in 2006.

About Apollo

Apollo Investment Corporation (NASDAQ: AINV) is a leading provider of subordinated debt and equity capital to middle-market companies.

We generate both current income and capital appreciation through debt and equity investments.

Apollo Investment Corporation is managed by Apollo Investment Management and its corporate governance is provided by an independent board of directors.

The company is registered with the SEC as a business development company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, which provides the company with structural advantages, including public liquidity and an advantageous tax structure.

Our portfolio is comprised primarily of investments in subordinated loans and senior secured loans of private middle-market companies with equity interests such as warrants or equity co-investments.

The value of our portfolio is determined by independent, third-party firms.

http://www.apolloic.com/public/about_template.asp?pageid=2

[Livyjr]

"Consumer spending up in March mainly because of sharp price gains for a variety of products"

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, Associated Press

Last updated: 6:02 p.m., Thursday, May 1, 2008

WASHINGTON -- Don't be fooled by a larger-than-expected increase in consumer spending.

People aren't buying more -- they're just paying more for what they buy.

That is raising doubts about whether the 130 million stimulus payments the government began sending out this week will be enough to lift consumers' sagging spirits.

The Commerce Department reported Thursday that consumer spending was up 0.4 percent, double the increase economists had forecast.

However, once inflation was removed, spending edged up a much slower 0.1 percent.

The March reading was the fourth straight lackluster performance and did nothing to alleviate worries that consumer spending, which accounts for two-thirds of total economic activity, remains under severe strains, reflecting an economy beset by multiple problems.

"HEY, WOW, THEY'RE NOT SINKING AS FAST AS WE THOUGHT THEY WOULD, LET'S PARTY!"

"Dollar rises against yen on better-than-expected US data"

Associated Press

Last updated: 6:52 a.m., Friday, May 2, 2008

TOKYO -- The dollar rose against the yen Friday in Asia as sentiment turned upbeat after the release of better-than-expected data on U.S. consumer spending and manufacturing activity.

The dollar edged up to 104.61 yen midafternoon in Tokyo from 104.50 yen late Thursday in New York.

The euro stood at $1.5470, up from $1.5461.

"The U.S. currency seems to have a relatively positive bias now, and I personally feel that sentiment toward the dollar is changing," said Osao Iizuka, head of foreign exchange trading in Tokyo at Sumitomo Trust & Banking Co.

The Commerce Department said Thursday U.S. consumer spending rose 0.4 percent in March, more than predicted, while the Institute for Supply Management said U.S. manufacturing contracted in April less than anticipated.

But traders said the greenback's movements were limited because investors were cautious ahead of the release later in the day of U.S. jobs data for April.

In other Asian currencies, the dollar was quoted at 31.70 to the Thai baht, up from 31.62 in New York.

Against the Singapore dollar, the U.S. unit stood at 1.3628 compared with 1.3618.

[Livyjr]

OUTSIDE OF SAYING THAT YOU ARE AN EXPERT ...

AND HAVING A BUSINESS CARD PROCLAIMING THAT YOU ARE ONE ...

WHAT DO YOU REALLY HAVE TO DO IN TODAY'S SOCIETY DOWN ON WALL STREET TO ACTUALLY BE ONE?

"Stock futures little changed ahead of jobs report - Wall Street waits for Labor Department's snapshot of employment for clues about the economy"

By JOE BEL BRUNO, Associated Press

Last updated: 8:12 a.m., Friday, May 2, 2008

NEW YORK -- In corporate news, Sun Microsystems Inc. shares slid 16 percent to $13.70 in premarket trading after the company stunned investors late Thursday by reporting a loss for the third quarter.

The server and software maker blamed the loss on sagging sales to U.S. consumer-oriented companies that are delaying big-ticket spending.

"HEY, WOW, THEY'RE NOT SINKING AS FAST AS WE THOUGHT THEY WOULD, LET'S PARTY!"

"Dollar rises against yen on better-than-expected US data"

Associated Press

Last updated: 6:52 a.m., Friday, May 2, 2008

TOKYO -- The dollar rose against the yen Friday in Asia as sentiment turned upbeat after the release of better-than-expected data on U.S. consumer spending and manufacturing activity.

The Commerce Department said Thursday U.S. consumer spending rose 0.4 percent in March, more than predicted, while the Institute for Supply Management said U.S. manufacturing contracted in April less than anticipated.

"Economists predict employers will cut jobs again in April; would be 4th straight month"

By JEANNINE AVERSA, Associated Press

Last updated: 6:42 a.m., Friday, May 2, 2008

WASHINGTON -- The country is bracing for more bad news on the jobs front.

In advance of Friday's employment snapshot from the Labor Department, economists were predicting that employers cut jobs yet again in April.

That would mark the fourth straight month of job losses.

The unemployment rate, now at 5.1 percent, is expected to edge up a notch.

Businesses are handing out more and more pink slips as they cope with an economy that is teetering on the edge of a recession, or possibly in one already.

A severe housing slump, harder-to-get credit and financial turmoil have forced people and businesses to be more cautious in their spending.

And that has hurt the economy.

The economy grew at a feeble 0.6 percent pace in the first three months of this year.

A growing number of analysts believe the economy is shrinking now, one of the signals of recession.

[Livyjr]

AND FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF "YEAH, OKAY, WHATEVER YOU SAY", WE HAVE ....

"Japan stock index hits 4-month high; Nikkei above 14,000 - Japanese shares rise; Nikkei closes at 4-month high on Wall Street gain, US economic data"

Associated Press

Last updated: 6:22 a.m., Friday, May 2, 2008

TOKYO -- Japanese shares rose Friday as sentiment turned upbeat following strong gains on Wall Street and better-than-expected U.S. consumption data.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 index jumped 282.40 points, or 2.1 percent, to 14,049.26, closing above 14,000 for the first time in two months and at its highest level since mid-January.

Investors chased gains in exporters and real estate stocks.

Analysts said the Nikkei could rise further next week on easing worries over the outlook of the U.S. economy.

Among real estate stocks, Mitsubishi Estate was up 4.5 percent at 2,995 yen and Mitsui Fudosan rose 5 percent to 2,715 yen.

Shares in major printer and copier maker Canon rose 3.1 percent to 5,400 yen after the company announced its plan to invest $600 million to boost laser printer cartridge production in the United States.

Sony rose 2.9 percent to 4,920 yen after the Nikkei reported the consumer electronics company will likely post a sharp increase in group operating profit this fiscal year on brisk demand for digital cameras and other electronics.

Apart from a 1.5 percent rise in the Dow Jones industrial average Thursday, investors took heart from a 0.4 percent increase in U.S. consumer spending in March, double what was expected.

Shares in Japan Tobacco Inc. fell 4.1 percent to 490,000 yen after earnings of the world's third-largest tobacco company fell 2.3 percent in the January-March quarter due to higher costs for investments and operations outside Japan.

In currency trading, the dollar was quoted at 104.61 in midafternoon in Tokyo, up from 104.50 yen late Thursday in New York.

The euro was quoted at $1.5470, up from $1.5461.

[Livyjr]

AND FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF "WHAT ELSE DID ANYONE EXPECT", WE HAVE ....

"HEY, THE BID-NESSMEN AND SPECULATORS HAVE TO MAKE SOME PROFITS, YOU KNOW" ....

AND BESIDES, ALL THE MONEY NEEDS TO KEEP GOING INTO GEORGE W. BUSH'S WAR OF AGGRESION OVER THERE ...

AND WHO GIVES A DAMN IF SOME "COLLATERAL DAMAGE" ARE STARVING, ANYWAY ...

SAVES KILLING THEM LATER WITH ARTILLERY OR AIR STRIKES ...

And so ...

"Food crisis leaves many Afghans desperate - Afghans pay for leftovers as global crisis sends bread price skyrocketing"

By MATTHEW PENNINGTON, Associated Press

Last updated: 6:22 a.m., Friday, May 2, 2008

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Hungry Afghans looking for their next meal eye bread scraps piled up like heaps of trash at a Kabul market as a vendor weighs out fistfuls of the stale crusts on a scale.

A Pashtun woman waits with an empty plastic sack.

She isn't scavenging -- she's paying for leftovers that in better times were sold for feeding to sheep and cows.

The woman said her household of 14 people had to give up fresh bread a month ago as the price spiraled out of reach.

Rising global food prices have hit few places as hard as Afghanistan, where the cost of wheat flour has shot up 75 percent in three months, fueling anger against the U.S.-backed government of President Hamid Karzai.

In the volatile south, officials fear it could boost recruitment for the Taliban insurgency.

"Karzai is the king and this is my life," wailed the Pashtun woman, who declined to give her name because of her conservative social code.

"Since the Americans came here, nothing is cheap."

The U.N. World Food Program, or WFP, warns that the situation for the poorest in Afghanistan is dire and deaths from malnutrition are likely to increase.

Protests have broken out in at least one city.

Even middle-income professionals are struggling.

"People are not dying of starvation, per se, but that's very rare these days."

"Usually people die from diseases they never should have died from but their bodies are weakened by hunger," he said.

Even before the food crisis, U.N. data showed 54 percent of children under five in Afghanistan are stunted.

An estimated 10,400 people die of nutritional deficiencies each year.

In two of the poorest provinces, Ghor and Badghis, communities are buckling under the double impact of the global food crisis and a drought that wiped out 70 percent of last year's crop, said Mary Kate MacIsaac of the aid group World Vision.

"If they did have assets, they have been forced to sell them off," she said.

"People are desperate and living in greater fear of what's to come if this year's crop fails."

Reliable statistics are hard to come by, but Commerce Minister Amin Farhang estimated that in 2007 Afghanistan produced 1.3 million tons less grain than the 6.6 million tons it requires each year.

Deputy Agriculture Minister Pir Mohammad Azizi said initial signs show the 2008 harvest will be worse because of insufficient rains in the early spring.

Because of its reliance on aid and imports to help fill its food deficit, Afghanistan is particularly vulnerable to rising international prices driven by growing demand from China and India and the use of grain to make bio-fuel.

The main source of Afghan food imports, Pakistan, is suffering its own wheat shortages and has imposed stiff controls on exports to Afghanistan, forcing prices higher.

Traders at Mandawi market, the main center for flour sellers in Kabul, blame ruthless businessmen for capitalizing on the shortages.

They look back with some nostalgia on the Soviet-backed communist regime of the 1980s.

"In the past we had shortages but there were silos."

"The government had several months supply to cope with a food crisis."

"Now the government can't even cope for a day," said flour seller Sayed Hassan Agha, 64.

"We are at the mercy of businessmen."

With elections due next year and its popularity at rock bottom, the food crisis has political and security repercussions for Karzai's government.

"There are lots of young men who are jobless, they have no income in their families and this economic situation makes them join the Taliban," said Niaz Mohammad Sarhadi, chief of Zhari district, near the main southern city of Kandahar.

For the first time since the fall of the Islamist regime six years ago, the WFP has begun food distributions in Afghan cities, rather than just to rural areas.

That, and a government plan to use $50 million to buy flour for government employees and the poor, has helped reduce the price of a 110-pound sack of flour imported from Pakistan from $50 to $40 this week, Kabul traders say.

Farhang predicted that after the May harvest prices would drop further.

But even if those hopes are realized, the economic realities in post-Taliban Afghanistan will remain harsh, a source of growing bitterness across the social spectrum.

Teachers have been staging strikes at the top high state schools in Kabul, demanding a hike in their $50 monthly salary, while desperate villagers migrate to the city seeking elusive work as laborers that pays $3 a day.

"Look at all these people here," said Fateh Mohammed, 35, gesturing to a crowd of jobless, hollow-cheeked men in grimy prayer caps, outside a Kabul bakery.

"They are here because their children are hungry."

------------

Associated Press writers Amir Shah in Kabul and Noor Khan in Kandahar contributed to this report.

[Livyjr]

"We are not this story’s author, who fills time and eternity with His purpose."

"Yet His purpose is achieved in our duty...."

"This work continues."

"This story goes on."

"And an angel still rides in the whirlwind and directs this storm."

- George W. Bush, January 20, 2001

http://www.publiceye.org/apocalyptic/bush-...providence.html

I THINK al-QAIDA MIGHT HAVE BEEN TRYING TO GET INTO MY GARBAGE CAN THIS MORNING ...

OR MAYBE IT WAS JUST A RACCOON ...

AS TO IRAQINAM ...

GEORGE W. BUSH HAS TURNED THAT PLACE INTO HELL ...

AND THE HORSEMEN NOW RIDE ...

ALONG WITH THE REAPER OF SOULS ...

WHEN THE PANTHEON OF MONSTERS WHO HAVE BROUGHT DEATH, DESTRUCTION AND DEVASTATION TO THE PEOPLES OF THE EARTH IS ASSEMBLED IN THE FUTURE ...

THE NAME OF GEORGE W. BUSH WILL BE CHIEF AMONG THEM ...

And so ..

"US military blames al-Qaida for double suicide attack on wedding party in Iraq"

By SELCAN HACAOGLU, Associated Press

Last updated: 7:42 a.m., Friday, May 2, 2008

BAGHDAD -- The U.S. military on Friday blamed al-Qaida in Iraq for a double suicide bombing that killed at least 36 people during a wedding procession through a crowd of people cheering the bride and groom in a town northeast of Baghdad.

The attack Thursday evening came amid heightened worries that al-Qaida militants are regrouping, despite recent security gains by U.S.-led forces.

The terror network announced April 19 that it was launching a one-month offensive against U.S. troops and U.S.-allied Sunnis.

"Al-Qaida in Iraq continues their malicious tactics against the people of Iraq and their way of life," the military said in a statement.

"They seek violence and chaos in Iraq."

Thursday's blasts occurred in Balad Ruz, a predominantly Shiite Muslim town 45 miles northeast of Baghdad.

An Iraqi female suicide bomber imitating pregnancy detonated the first bomb, the military said.

A male bomber also blew himself up.

The woman bomber blew herself up as people were dancing and clapping while members of the passing wedding party played music.

The male bomber attacked minutes later as police and ambulances arrived at the scene, said Maj. Gen. Abdul-Karim al-Rubaie, head of the Diyala provincial operations center that oversees Balad Ruz.

The two explosions tore through the stalls and stores that lined the area.

Al-Rubaie said at least 35 people were killed and 65 were wounded, including the bride and groom.

One of the injured died at a hospital overnight, increasing the death toll to 36, police said Friday.

The U.S. military gave a lower casualty toll, however, of 31 dead and 52 wounded, including children.

AP Television News footage showed mourners Friday, including a man crying and kissing the face of a dead relative on a stretcher.

Blood still pooled on a dirt road littered with victims' sandals and slippers.

Diyala has been a flashpoint in the battle against al-Qaida in Iraq, which the U.S. military says has been increasingly using women as suicide bombers.

Explosive belts are easier to conceal under female clothing and women are often not treated with the same suspicion as men.

Two suicide bombings staged by women last week in Diyala killed a dozen people.

Lt. Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, the No. 2 U.S. commander, said last week that al-Qaida in Iraq was trying to regroup after suffering a devastating blow last year when thousands of Sunni tribesmen turned against the terrorist group blamed for most of Iraq's car bombings and suicide attacks.

Thursday's suicide attacks came hours after a bomb-rigged parked car exploded in the capital when a U.S. patrol went by in a crowded area, killing a U.S. soldier and at least nine Iraqis.

The attack also wounded 26 Iraqis and two American soldiers.

The soldier's death in the attack raised to at least 4,064 the number of U.S. military personnel who have died since the Iraq war started in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

U.S. soldiers also find themselves facing intensified fighting with Shiite extremists, particularly in Baghdad's militia stronghold of Sadr City.

Twelve people were wounded in overnight clashes in Sadr City, police and health officials said.

The U.S. military charges that Iranian-backed special forces are leading the attacks against U.S.-led forces in Sadr City.

Iraq's government has sent a delegation of five Shiite politicians to Iran carrying documents and other material they claim indicates Tehran is supplying weapons and training for Shiite militiamen who are fighting U.S. and Iraqi troops.

Iran denies it is fueling violence in Iraq, saying it trying to promote stability in the neighboring country.

Fighting in Sadr City -- a base for the Mahdi Army militia -- intensified after anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr threatened last week to wage "open war" on U.S.-led troops.

Meanwhile, an Air Force MQ-1 Predator unmanned drone crashed early Friday northwest of Balad, about 50 miles north of Baghdad, the military said.

It said mechanical failure was suspected in the crash.

The U.S. military has several unmanned MQ-1 Predators doing surveillance over Iraq.

They have become mainstays of the U.S. war effort, offering round-the-clock surveillance of road convoys, nighttime insurgent movements via infrared sensors, and occasionally unleashing one of their two Hellfire missiles on a target.

[Livyjr]

FIVE YEARS OR SO AGO, BACK IN 2003 ...

Still, Garner thought Frank's admonition about risk-taking on the way out was plain crazy.

Garner did not relish the prospect of watching U.S. forces leave just as he was setting up shop.

Frank's embrace of audacity was fine for the invasion, since a U.S. victory had been all but pre-ordained, but Garner thought it was reckless to take risks in postwar Iraq.

Holding the country together and installing a democratic government in the heart of the Arab world would be hard enough without removing forces from the field.

"There was no doubt we would win the war," Garner recalled telling McKiernan, " but there can be doubt we will win the peace."

AS UNSETTLING AS FRANK'S COMMENTS WERE, IT WAS NOT THE FIRST TIME THAT GARNER'S TEAM HAD HEARD THAT THE U.S. MIGHT DIMINISH THE NUMBER OF ITS TROOPS IN IRAQ.

In mid-April, Lawrence Di Rita, one of Rumsfeld's closest aides, had arrived in Kuwait to join Garner's team.

Speaking to a group of Garner's aides, Di Rita outlined Rumsfeld's vision.

THE PENTAGON WAS DETERMINED TO AVOID OPEN-ENDED MILITARY COMMITMENTS LIKE THOSE IN BOSNIA AND KOSOVO, AND TO WITHDRAW THE VAST MAJORITY OF THE AMERICAN FORCES IN THREE TO FOUR MONTHS.

THE STATE DEPARTMENT HAD MISMANAGED THE POSTWAR EFFORTS IN THE BALKANS, AND AFGHANISTAN WAS HEADED THE SAME WAY.

WITH THE DEFENSE DEPARTMENT NOW IN CHARGE OF IRAQ AFTER THE FALL OF SADDAM THINGS WOULD RUN MORE SMOOTHLY.

"The main theme was that DOD would be in charge, and this would be totally different than in the past," said Tom gross, who was also at the session.

"WE WOULD BE OUT VERY QUICKLY."

"WE WERE VERY CONFUSED."

"WE DID NOT SEE IT AS A SHORT-TERM PROCESS."

IN ANOTHER MEETING WITH GARNER'S TEAM, DI RITA HAD ALSO REJECTED THE NOTION THAT THE UNITED STATES WOULD SUPERVISE A LENGTHY AND COSTLY RECONSTRUCTION OF THE COUNTRY.

Paul Wolfowitz had initially suggested that much of the long-needed repair and upgrading of Iraq's infrastructure would be paid for by its oil proceeds.

DI RITA STRESSED THIS WITH MORE PASSION.

Garner's team had projected no more than $3 billion in reconstruction costs over three years at the February Rock Drill, but as the reconstruction plan was being laid out ....

DI RITA SLAMMED HIS HAND ON THE TABLE AND ERUPTED:

"WE DON'T OWE THESE PEOPLE A THING!"

"WE GAVE THEM THEIR FREEDOM!"

- page 464, Cobra II: The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq by Michael R. Gordon and General Bernard E. Trainor ......

AND FIVE YEARS LATER IN 2008 ...

"Senate panel votes to block money for Iraq reconstruction projects worth more than $2 million"

By ANNE FLAHERTY, Associated Press

Last updated: 6:22 p.m., Thursday, May 1, 2008

WASHINGTON -- A Senate panel has agreed unanimously to block the Defense Department from funding Iraq reconstruction projects worth more than $2 million and to begin to force Baghdad to cover the costs of training and equipping its security forces.

The provision, included in a 2009 defense policy bill approved this week by the Senate Armed Services Committee, comes as Democrats draft a similar provision within separate legislation that would cover this year's war spending.

The efforts are part of the latest push on Capitol Hill to get Iraq to spend more of its own money and spare U.S. taxpayers.

Democrats and many Republicans say it is unfair that Iraq is looking at pulling in as much as $70 billion in oil revenues this year while Americans grapple with soaring fuel prices at the pump.

"We want to send a very powerful message to the Iraqis and to the administration as to the cost of this war and the absurdity that a country which is exporting 2 million barrels a day of oil, for which we are paying when it gets to the pump now $3.50 a gallon" is not fully paying to rebuild itself, said Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., chairman of the Armed Services Committee.

The White House said Thursday that for American troops to be withdrawn eventually from Iraq, money must be spent to help rebuild the country and train Iraqi troops.

"I think it's important that the Iraqis actually are spending a lot more on their reconstruction than maybe is commonly understood out there," said White House deputy press secretary Tony Fratto.

"In their most recent budget, they'll outspend the United States 10 to 1 on reconstruction."

"... We are pretty much out of the business of very large reconstruction projects in Iraq."

Fratto did not say whether the administration would threaten to veto the legislation.

Lawmakers involved in drafting the bill said it was unlikely, particularly because of the bipartisan support it attracted.

"They didn't reject it," said Sen. Ben Nelson of closed-door negotiations this week with the National Security Council.

Nelson, D-Neb., sponsored the provision along with Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Evan Bayh, D-Ind.

The defense policy bill, which will be considered by the full Senate later this month, would only affect Defense Department spending in 2009, which is estimated at $612.5 billion.

It is unclear how much of that money could potentially be used for reconstruction and therefore might be affected by the proposed restriction.

Levin said an attempt will be made on the Senate floor to expand to the State Department the prohibition on using taxpayer money for major Iraqi reconstruction.

The State Department handles most of the large rebuilding efforts.

"The intention here is to stop the funding of infrastructure by whatever department," he said.

The defense authorization legislation specifically supports smaller rebuilding projects, but would require the administration to work with Baghdad to obligate its own money first.

It also says the U.S. must initiate negotiations with Iraq on a broader agreement to share the costs of combat operations in Iraq.

Instead of flatly prohibiting aid to the Iraqi security forces, the bill says the U.S. "shall take actions to ensure that Iraqi funds are used" to cover those costs, including the salaries of the forces and any payments to Sunnis who are part of the Awakening Movement.

Overall, the defense policy bill would authorize $542.5 billion in annual defense spending, as well as $70 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Besides the reconstruction provision, the authorization bill would ban all private security contractors from working in "highly hazardous public areas where the risks are uncertain and could reasonably be expected to require deadly force," according to a committee summary.

Levin said the Defense Department already imposes such a rule on its contractors, but the State Department "was the problem."

He said he did not know how many contractors the new law would affect if enacted, but said he thought the number would be fairly small.

Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., chairman of the House Defense Appropriations subcommittee, said Thursday that this year's war spending bill will likely include a provision restricting U.S. money on Iraq reconstruction as well.

He said he is recommending that the bill include $170 billion for combat operations -- money that would cover the war until the next administration takes over in January.

His proposal also would ban permanent bases in Iraq, set limits on aggressive interrogations and require that service members sent to Iraq be fully trained and equipped, he said.

Congressional officials said the administration this week pushed the Senate Armed Services Committee to let the president waive any restrictions on reconstruction funds if he determined it was necessary to protect national security.

Despite support for the idea by the committee's No. 2 Republican, Sen. John Warner of Virginia, Collins and the panel's Democrats said allowing such waivers would have made the legislation too soft.

Warner told reporters Thursday that he supports the authorization bill as it is written, which sends a "loud message" that "the American people expect no less than an increased sharing of the responsibilities and the financial burdens."

[Livyjr]

WAS al-QAIDA INVOLVED IN THIS?

IT SURE DOES SOUND LIKE THEIR TACTICS, ALRIGHT ....

And so ...

"Report: Last-known member of 1944 failed plot to kill Hitler dies"

Associated Press

Last updated: 7:32 a.m., Friday, May 2, 2008

BERLIN -- A family employee says the last-known member of the inner circle that failed in a 1944 attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler has died.

Family cook Margrith Schmitz confirmed a report Friday in Germany's Frankfurter Allgmeine Zeitung newspaper that Philipp Freiherr von Boeselager died May 1.

He was 90 years old.

Von Boeselager was one of a group of officers who tried to kill Hitler on July 20, 1944, supplying the explosives for the attack.

The group's leader, Col. Claus Graf Schenk von Stauffenberg, and others were captured and executed shortly after the briefcase bomb plot failed.

Boeselager's name was never divulged and he survived.

[Livyjr]

AND LOOKING IN ON OUR ALLEGED ALLY PAKISTAN ...

WHERE GEORGE W. BUSH'S THUG BUDDY MUSHARAFF WAS THE MILITARY DICTATOR ...

WE HAVE ....

"Sharif says judges ousted by Musharraf will return with 'dignity, respect and honor'

By ASIF SHAHZAD, Associated Press

Last updated: 5:32 a.m., Friday, May 2, 2008

LAHORE, Pakistan -- Judges purged by Pervez Musharraf to protect his disputed presidency will return to their posts "with dignity, respect and honor," a leader of Pakistan's new government said Friday.

Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's forecast came a day after Pakistani leaders reported progress in talks on how to restore the judges, signaling they had fended off a crisis that threatened to break up the month-old coalition government.

They did not announce a final accord on the matter, but details of the talks were promised by Friday.

Musharraf ousted some 60 senior judges -- including then Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry -- when he imposed a state of emergency in November to stop legal challenges to his re-election as president.

But the crackdown only deepened his unpopularity, and his allies were routed in February parliamentary elections that propelled his opponents to power.

The issue is critical to the survival of Pakistan's month-old civilian government, which has begun to ease the U.S.-backed president's military confrontation with militants.

It could also determine Musharraf's ability to cling to his already diminished powers, more than eight years after he ousted Sharif's government in a military coup.

Leaders of the two biggest parties in the coalition emerged from marathon negotiations in the Persian Gulf state of Dubai late Thursday.

Both sides insisted they had made progress on the judges issue and that the coalition would survive.

However, they did not announce a final accord and said Sharif would only give details of their discussions after a party meeting in his home city of Lahore on Friday.

"We have decided to restore the judges" through a resolution in parliament, Sharif told reporters on his arrival in the early morning at Lahore airport.

The justices will "go back to the courts with dignity, respect and honor," he said.

Before meeting his colleagues, Sharif met with U.S. Ambassador Anne Patterson.

A U.S. Embassy spokeswoman would not provide details about their talks.

American officials hailed the country's return to a democratic government after eight years under Musharraf, a key ally in the U.S. war on terror who retired as Pakistan's army chief in November.

But Washington worries that efforts by the new administration to strike peace deals along the Afghan border could ease the pressure on Taliban and al-Qaida militants and allow them to plan more attacks in Afghanistan and against the West.

Sharif has pushed particularly hard for the reinstatement of the judges, stirring speculation that he sees Chaudhry as an ally in a drive to oust Musharraf.

The judges could re-examine complaints that Musharraf was ineligible for another five-year term.

But the party of assassinated ex-leader Benazir Bhutto, which leads the coalition government, has sought to link their return to broader reforms that could crimp Chaudhry's tenure and powers.

Chaudhry had shown an unusual degree of independence, investigating complaints that the government's spy agencies were holding opposition activists secretly under the cover of fighting terrorism.

Musharraf accused the chief justice of corruption and conspiring against him.

Asif Ali Zardari, the widower and political successor of assassinated former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, meanwhile, said Chaudhry and other judges were "playing politics" and had failed to deliver justice to him during the years he spent in jail on unproven corruption charges.

The coalition was founded on the promise of restoring the judges through a parliamentary resolution by the end of April.

Its leaders sought Thursday to play down the significance of the missed deadline.

The Dubai talks "sorted out many issues and the alliance partners are on the same wavelength and on the same page," said Farhatullah Babar, a spokesman for Zardari's party.

Reports of a split between Zardari and Sharif "to the point of endangering their alliance are exaggerated and untrue," he said.

------

Associated Press writers Barbara Surk in Dubai and Munir Ahmad in Islamabad contributed to this report.

[Livyjr]

MONEY FOR NOTHING ...

AND THE CHICKS FOR FREE ...

THAT'S THE WAY YOU DO IT ...

And so ...

"Japanese official demoted for logging more than 780,000 hits on porn sites"

Associated Press

Last updated: 8:12 a.m., Friday, May 2, 2008

TOKYO -- A Japanese civil servant was demoted for logging more than 780,000 hits on pornographic Web sites on his office computer over nine months, an official said Friday.

The man, a Kinokawa city government employee in western Japan, visited porn sites from June 2007 to February 2008, city official Tomiko Waki said.

The man's name was withheld.

City officials said the number of hits discovered on his computer's internal log was so high in part because one click on certain types of pornographic sites registers multiple hits.

Despite his frequent porn viewing, none of his colleagues noticed his activities, which he apparently conducted throughout the workday.

"Each desk is set apart from each other," Waki said, adding that the man logged 170,000 hits on porn sites in July alone.

The man's supervisors discovered his extensive porn site visits after his computer became infected with a virus, prompting officials to examine his Web browser's history.

Along with the demotion, he received a 20,000 yen ($190) monthly pay cut, Waki said.

[Livyjr]

AND THEN, THERE IS THIS, OF COURSE ...

"Woman arrested after pulling into parking lot with a 'No Parking' sign, post on car"

Associated Press

Last updated: 4:52 p.m., Thursday, May 1, 2008

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- The first clue that something might have been wrong was when a car pulled into a parking lot in with a "No Parking" sign and post stuck to the front end.

A Cumberland Farms clerk called around dawn on Thursday to report the car.

When officers showed up, the sign had fallen off, and they found a sleeping driver inside.

The 23-year-old Manchester woman was arrested on marijuana charges, and officers were trying to figure out where she hit the sign.

[Livyjr]

"Drought could force nuke-plant shutdowns"

By MITCH WEISS, Associated Press

Last updated: 12:52 p.m., Wednesday, January 23, 2008

LAKE NORMAN, N.C. -- Nuclear reactors across the Southeast could be forced to throttle back or temporarily shut down later this year because drought is drying up the rivers and lakes that supply power plants with the awesome amounts of cooling water they need to operate.

"Water is the nuclear industry's Achilles' heel," said Jim Warren, executive director of N.C. Waste Awareness and Reduction Network, an environmental group critical of nuclear power.

"You need a lot of water to operate nuclear plants."

An Associated Press analysis of the nation's 104 nuclear reactors found that 24 are in areas experiencing the most severe levels of drought.

All but two are built on the shores of lakes and rivers and rely on submerged intake pipes to draw billions of gallons of water for use in cooling and condensing steam after it has turned the plants' turbines.

Because of the yearlong dry spell gripping the region, the water levels on those lakes and rivers are getting close to the minimums set by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Over the next several months, the water could drop below the intake pipes altogether.

Or the shallow water could become too hot under the sun to use as coolant.

Most of the severely affected area would need more than a foot of rain in the next three months -- an unusually large amount -- to ease the drought and relieve pressure on the nuclear plants.

At a nuclear plant, water is also used to cool the reactor core and to create the steam that drives the electricity-generating turbines.

But those are comparatively small amounts of water, circulating in what are known as closed systems -- that is, the water is constantly reused.

Water for those two purposes is not threatened by the drought.

Instead, the drought could choke off the billions of gallons of water that pass through the region's reactors every day to cool used steam.

At some plants -- those with tall, Three Mile Island-style cooling towers -- a lot of the water travels up the tower and is lost to evaporation.

At other plants, almost all of the water is returned to the lake or river, though significantly hotter because of the heat absorbed from the steam.

Progress spokeswoman Julie Hahn said the Harris reactor, for example, sucks up 33 million gallons a day, with 17 million gallons lost to evaporation via its big cooling towers.

Duke's McGuire plant draws in more than 2 billion gallons a day, but most of it is pumped back to its source.

Nuclear plants are subject to restrictions on the temperature of the discharged coolant, because hot water can kill fish or plants or otherwise disrupt the environment.

JUST WHAT WE ALL NEED TO GET THE ENVIRONMENT EVEN MORE SCREWED UP THAN IT ALREADY IS ...

MORE NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS ...

AND ALL OF THE WASTE HEAT FROM THEM THAT GOES OUT INTO THE ENVIRONMENT TO HEAT IT UP SOME MORE ...

And so ...

"Possible groundbreaking by year's end for nuclear reactor - Constellation could break ground by end of year for 3rd Md. nuclear reactor at Calvert Cliffs"

By BRIAN WITTE, Associated Press

Last updated: 6:32 p.m., Thursday, May 1, 2008

LUSBY, Md. -- Constellation Energy Group Inc. could break ground for a third nuclear reactor in southern Maryland by the end of this year, if financial and regulatory hurdles are cleared, CEO Mayo Shattuck said Thursday.

Shattuck gave Gov. Martin O'Malley a tour of the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant in Lusby to show security improvements at the facility made since the Sept. 11 attacks.

O'Malley spoke on a platform overlooking the power plant that once was open to visitors but has been closed because of security concerns.

The governor said he supports the expansion of nuclear energy in the state, because Maryland needs more generation capacity to address an energy crunch that could come as soon as 2011.

"I certainly would like to see more nuclear plants built in our country, and I would support more generation capacity and more nuclear capacity here in the state of Maryland," O'Malley said.

"I think that would be a good thing not only for the environment, but also for consumers as well."

O'Malley brokered a settlement with Constellation that was approved last month by the Maryland General Assembly.

The settlement includes rate relief for consumers and puts the third reactor back on track for development in Maryland.

Constellation had threatened to build the reactor in New York instead, saying Maryland's regulatory environment had shown signs of hostility toward utilities.

But Shattuck said the settlement eased his concerns and that the company wants to build the reactor in Maryland.

The challenge for expanding Calvert Cliffs now, Shattuck said, is getting the federal government to issue loan guarantees for the hugely expensive project.

Constellation has been working on getting the financial backing for a couple of years, and Shattuck said the Baltimore-based company has made "an awful lot of progress, but it's complicated."

"We believe that the Department of Energy is going to come out with a solicitation soon to help us essentially borrow the money with a government-backed guarantee that we can get this off the ground," Shattuck said.

If that happens later this year, Shattuck said, he hopes: "We could be breaking ground here at Calvert Cliffs by the end of the year."

It would then take between an estimated eight to 10 years to build the reactor.

"We have a lot of hurdles ahead of us, but we've also made a lot of progress," Shattuck said.

Shattuck said the company also wants to build a reactor at Nine Mile Point nuclear power station in Scriba, N.Y., about 90 miles east of Rochester.

However, he said the company is "doing everything now with respect to our licensing process that would signal that this is the plant that we want to build first."

"This is the one that's first on the docket," Shattuck said of Calvert Cliffs.

"You never know, in this world, you can run into a burrowing squirrel when you break ground and the whole game changes, so there are little issues like that."

Shattuck also said he was happy with the settlement approved by lawmakers and signed into law by O'Malley.

"I do think the regulatory environment is vastly improved and it really has mostly to do with the fact that we've put the past behind us," Shattuck said.

O'Malley said he believes the settlement created an "opportunity greater than it would have been otherwise" for a new reactor to be built.

"There are so many hurdles that need to be crossed, including the capitalization of such a project, but we're hopeful," O'Malley said.

Meanwhile, a rally was scheduled for Friday in Baltimore against the idea of building a third reactor, which is less than 70 miles from the city.

On the other side of the debate, Roy Innis, chairman of the New York-based Congress of Racial Equality, called for expanding nuclear power to keep the cost of electricity as low as possible for low-income families and the working poor.

[Livyjr]

"Turkey launches intensive air strikes in north Iraq"

2 MAY 2008

ARBIL, Iraq (Reuters) - Turkish warplanes launched intensive bombing raids on Kurdish rebel targets in northern Iraq overnight but there were no reports of any casualties, a rebel spokesman said on Friday.

The air strikes began at 11.30 p.m. and lasted for three hours, targeting bases belonging to the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK), an off-shoot of the PKK fighting against Iran.

"There has been heavy bombing and many Turkish planes were involved."

"So far, we have no word of any casualties," PKK spokesman Ahmed Danees told Reuters by telephone.

The PKK uses northern Iraq as a base to stage attacks on Turkish territory.

Turkey blames the PKK, which is fighting for an ethnic homeland in southeastern Turkey, for the deaths of more than 40,000 people.

Turkish state news agency Anatolian had earlier reported that air strikes began just before midnight and continued into Friday.

Military sources told Reuters that at least 30 planes were involved in the raids, which they said targeted senior PKK members in Iraq's remote Qandil mountains.

Turkish forces have stepped up strikes in the past week against PKK bases in northern Iraq and have launched operations against the rebels inside Turkey.

Turkish troops conducted a large-scale incursion across the border in February.

The United States and the European Union consider the PKK a terrorist organization.

(Reporting by Shamal Aqrawi in Arbil, Sherko Raouf in Sulaimaniya and Selcuk Gokoluk in Ankara, writing by Ross Colvin; editing by Keith Weir)

This post has been edited by Livyjr: May 8 2008, 12:54 PM

[Livyjr]

"Stocks surrender steep gains that followed better-than-expected payroll report to finish mixed"

By TIM PARADIS, Associated Press

Last updated: 5:52 p.m., Friday, May 2, 2008

NEW YORK -- Wall Street turned in a mixed performance Friday as investors set aside some initial enthusiasm over a stronger-than-expected jobs report to lock in some of their recent gains.

Blue chip stocks logged their third weekly advance in a row as investors grew more confident about the economy's ability to outrun a deep downturn.

The reports on employment and the pace of orders at factories offered the market fresh evidence that the economy might not be in as worrisome a state as many had feared.

But a surprise quarterly loss from Sun Microsystems Inc. weighed on the tech-laden Nasdaq composite index.

Still, buyers outnumbered sellers after a government report showed the nation's employers cut far fewer jobs than expected last month, stirring optimism about the buoyancy of the economy.

Dave Rovelli, managing director of U.S. equity trading at Canaccord Adams, said stocks pulled back from the day's highs because many investors opted to hold on to gains following a decent run-up, including a 190-point surge in the Dow Jones industrials on Thursday.

"This is just normal profit-taking," he said, adding:

"Sun Microsystem's earnings today didn't help the cause."

The employment report Friday came at the end of a critical week for Wall Street.

While corporate results dominated in previous weeks, investors focused this week on the Federal Reserve's decision Wednesday to lower interest rates and on reports on the nation's gross domestic product, personal spending and factory orders.

The Fed's decision to lower the benchmark fed funds rate by a quarter point to 2 percent and widespread speculation that it will stand pat at future meetings boosted investors' confidence.

The Fed's comments helped shore up an anemic dollar and calmed some fears about inflation.

On Friday, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 48.20, or 0.37 percent, to 13,058.20 after being up more than 100 points early in the session.

Broader stock indicators ended mixed.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 4.56, or 0.32 percent, to 1,413.90, while the Nasdaq slipped 3.72, or 0.15 percent, to 2,476.99.

The moves Friday came a day after a rising dollar and falling oil prices emerged as promising signs for the economy.

The Dow closed above 13,000 for the first time since Jan. 3.

For the week, the Dow gained 1.29 percent, while the S&P 500 added 1.15 percent and the Nasdaq rose 2.23 percent.

It was the third straight weekly advance for the Dow and the S&P 500.

Richard Sparks, a senior equity analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research, noted that on Thursday and Friday the S&P 500 closed over the 1,400 mark for the first time since January.

"If we're able to continue above it, or if the S&P 500 is able to hold onto that level, that's going to be a big positive for the market," he said.

"We've had several good weeks running here so it doesn't surprise me at all to see a little bit of a sell-off," he said of Friday's session.

Bond prices declined Friday as some investors moved into stocks from the safety of government debt.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 3.86 percent from 3.77 percent late Thursday.

Light, sweet crude rose $3.80 to settle at $116.32 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices rose.

Recent months have brought spikes in food and energy costs that have made it harder for many consumers.

Wall Street is concerned that rising prices and a weak housing market would force consumers, who account for about 70 percent of U.S. economic activity, to curtail spending.

But with oil prices pulling back sharply Thursday, stocks took off, and they continued their run into Friday's session before the rally stalled.

Rovelli said investors apparently felt the recent run-up had occurred too quickly.

"The environment is not that great," he said, referring to energy prices that remain elevated even off their highest levels.

"We're overbought."

"We were overdue for some profit-taking."

The Labor Department's report that employers cut 20,000 jobs in April was a relief to Wall Street, which had been expecting payrolls to fall by 75,000 jobs.

The unemployment rate fell to 5 percent from 5.1 percent.

This marked the fourth straight month of job losses, but the data signaled that perhaps the economy might be resisting falling into recession.

A separate report showing that factory orders increased in March following two months of declines added to an upbeat mood.

The Commerce Department said U.S. manufacturers saw orders increase 1.4 percent in March.

Economists expected a 0.2 percent increase after declines in January and February.

Sun Microsystems fell $3.69, or 23 percent, to $12.64 after the company stunned investors late Thursday by reporting a loss for the third quarter.

The server and software maker blamed the loss on sagging sales to U.S. companies focused on consumers, which Sun said are delaying big-ticket spending.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about 3 to 2 on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume came to 3.86 billion shares compared with 4.32 billion shares traded Thursday.

Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average rose 2.05 percent.

Britain's FTSE 100 finished up 2.11 percent, Germany's DAX index added 1.36 percent, and France's CAC-40 rose 1.46 percent.

------

The Dow Jones industrial average ended the week up 166.34, or 1.29 percent, at 13,058.20.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index finished up 16.06, or 1.15 percent, at 1,413.90.

The Nasdaq composite index ended the week up 54.06, or 2.23 percent, at 2,476.99.

The Russell 2000 index finished the week up 3.86, or 0.53 percent, at 725.74.

The Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 Composite Index -- a free-float weighted index that measures 5,000 U.S. based companies -- ended Friday at 14,251.06, up 161.85 points, or 1.15 percent, for the week.

A year ago, the index was at 15,102.16.

------

On the Net:

New York Stock Exchange: http://www.nyse.com

Nasdaq Stock Market: http://www.nasdaq.com

[Livyjr]

"Economy shows unexpected bounce: Jobless rate declines, dollar shows a bit of muscle"

By JEANNINE AVERSA, Associated Press

Last updated: 4:52 p.m., Friday, May 2, 2008

WASHINGTON -- The economy showed off unexpected signs of resilience Friday as job losses slowed, the dollar gained a bit of muscle for a change and there were even indications that food prices may be easing.

The unemployment rate dipped, though that may not last.

The latest barometers flashed encouraging signs that the economic slowdown may not be as pronounced as some had feared.

Still, there's much caution -- about housing, credit and other problems.

"Economic or financial conditions could take an unexpected stumble at any time," warned Stephen Stanley, chief economist at RBS Greenwich Capital.

Employers eliminated 20,000 jobs in April -- not nearly as many as the 81,000 in March, and the fewest monthly losses so far this year, the Labor Department reported.

The unemployment rate dropped to 5 percent, from 5.1 percent.

Stresses were still evident.

It was the fourth straight month that employers cut jobs -- bringing total losses to 260,000.

Many analysts were bracing for much more carnage.

Yet, the new figures "can't be taken as a signal that the economy is out of the recession woods," said Nigel Gault, of Global Insight.

On Wall Street, investors initially responded enthusiastically to the employment news, with the Dow Jones industrial average rising more than 100 points, but the market gave back part of that gain and closed up 48.20 points.

Investors were keeping their euphoria in check, especially since stocks had already shot nearly 190 points higher on Thursday.

Still, the tone in the market was clearly more upbeat.

Thursday's advance came on a growing sense that the economy isn't as wounded from the credit crisis as many people have feared.

Investors were also reassured by the dollar's show of strength this week.

The greenback's latest gains have come on expectations that the Federal Reserve is likely to hold interest rates steady -- a trend that makes U.S. assets more attractive to overseas buyers.

The U.S. currency rose this week to a five-week high against the euro.

In turn, the dollar's advance has had an impact in the commodities market.

Food prices -- such as for wheat and soybeans -- eased.

And while oil did rise Friday, that was because of supply concerns rather than moves in the dollar.

"Things are a little brighter," Ken Mayland, president of ClearView Economics, said of all the developments.

"The economy is seen as doing a little bit better" and that's contributing to the stronger dollar and calmer food prices, he said.

Another report out Friday showed orders to U.S. factories rose a bigger-than-expected 1.4 percent in March after two straight months of declines.

Higher prices, though, accounted for part of the gain.

Businesses are handing out pink slips as they cope with an economy that is teetering on the edge of a recession, or possibly in one already.

A severe housing slump, harder-to-get credit and financial turmoil have forced people and businesses to be more cautious in their spending.

And that has hurt the economy.

To help relieve credit problems, the Federal Reserve announced Friday it would boost the availability of short-term loans to commercial banks to $150 billion in May from the $100 billion supplied in April.

The goal is to supply a source of cash to squeezed banks so that they'll keep lending.

On the employment front, construction companies, manufacturers, retailers, mortgage brokers and temporary help firms were among those shedding jobs in April.

Those losses eclipsed gains elsewhere, including education, health, hotels and motels, bars and restaurants, and the government.

All told, there were 7.6 million people unemployed as of April, up from 6.8 million a year earlier.

Voters are keenly worried about the country's economic problems and so are politicians -- in Congress, in the White House and on the campaign trail.

President Bush expressed hope Friday that the economic-stimulus rebates beginning to reach taxpayers this week will help lift activity.

"This economy is going to come on."

"I'm confident it will," Bush said.

Workers with jobs saw scant wage gains.

Average hourly earnings for jobholders rose to $17.88 in April, a tiny 0.1 percent rise from the previous month.

Over the past 12 months, wages have grown by 3.4 percent.

If the job market weakens in the months ahead, wage growth probably will slow, too, making people even less inclined to spend.

That would spell further trouble for the economy.

The new jobs figures come from two different statistical surveys, which can provide -- as in Friday's case -- a somewhat conflicting picture.

The seasonally adjusted overall civilian unemployment rate -- 5 percent in April -- is based on a survey of 60,000 households.

It showed that 362,000 people said they found employment last month, outpacing the number of new people who couldn't find work.

Economists tend to put more stock, however, in the much broader business survey of 400,000 work sites that was used to calculate the job loss figure.

To help bolster the economy, the Fed lowered interest rates on Wednesday, but signaled that its rate-cutting campaign could be drawing to a close.

Fed officials and the Bush administration are hoping that the Fed's aggressive rate cuts since September plus the government's $168 billion stimulus package will lift the country out of its slump in the second half of the year.

Even if that happens, economists predict the unemployment rate will climb higher, hitting 6 percent early next year.

Employers often are reluctant to beef up hiring until they feel certain that a recovery has staying power.

The economy advanced at a snail's pace of just 0.6 percent in the first three months of this year as people and businesses clamped down on their spending.

That marked the second quarter in a row of such feeble growth.

"I think we are in a recession," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com.

Even thought the employment news was "encouraging ... it is much too premature to signal that the economic coast is clear."

[Livyjr]

"Wall Street mixed with investors hesitant ahead of Fed decision; consumer sentiment slides"

By JOE BEL BRUNO, Associated Press

Last updated: 5:52 p.m., Tuesday, April 29, 2008

NEW YORK -- Wall Street turned in a mixed performance Tuesday as investors traded cautiously ahead of the Federal Reserve's Wednesday decision on interest rates.

A pullback in oil prices Tuesday eased inflationary concerns a bit, and helped keep the stock market from tumbling sharply.

But some analysts say the market has been deceptively calm in recent weeks given the weakness of the economy and how consumers are struggling not only with a slumping housing and job market but also high prices.

"So far, investors have bought into the notion that the Federal Reserve has staved off a wider calamity, when in fact what they've done is allow financial system to stay afloat as they work down, write down, a tremendous amount of bad debt," said Joseph V. Battipaglia, chief investment officer at Ryan Beck & Co.

"Wall Street heads to higher on optimism about credit crisis - Stocks head to higher open on hope credit crisis might be nearing an end"

By JOE BEL BRUNO, Associated Press

Last updated: 7:42 a.m., Thursday, May 1, 2008

NEW YORK -- Wall Street headed toward a higher open Thursday amid growing optimism that the credit crisis that pummeled global markets might be nearing an end.

Investors, one day after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates by a quarter point, are more confident about the financial system's recovery.

Fresh comments from Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and the Bank of England only helped to bolster that point.

The BOE issued a report Thursday that said credit markets will gradually recover in coming months amid an eventual realization that risks from the subprime crisis have been exaggerated.

Meanwhile, Paulson said in an interview Wednesday with business news program Nightly Business Report that the U.S. is "closer to the end of this period of turmoil."

AND FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF "LIFE THROUGH ROSE-COLORED GLASSES", WE HAVE .....

"Stocks rise and Dow crosses 13,000 as dollar advances - The Dow Jones industrials cross 13,000 as dollar soars and optimism rises about economy"

By MADLEN READ, Associated Press

Last updated: 6:22 p.m., Thursday, May 1, 2008

NEW YORK -- Wall Street shot higher Thursday as investors, while anticipating another dismal jobs report Friday, viewed the rising dollar and falling oil prices as promising signs for the economy.

Meanwhile, spreads between rates on riskier securities and rates on safer issues have been narrowing, indicating that the credit markets are getting back to normal.

AND AS THE BEARDED BUSHIAN BEN BERNANKE AND THE FED CONTINUE TO VACUUM UP THE TOXIC WASTE THESE INVESTMENT BANKS ARE HOLDING TO CREATE AN ILLUSION OF FINANCIAL STABILITY HERE IN AMERICA, WE HAVE ...

"Fed announces new moves Friday with European banks to battle ongoing credit crisis"

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, Associated Press

Last updated: 9:22 a.m., Friday, May 2, 2008

WASHINGTON -- The Federal Reserve announced Friday that it will expand a series of efforts to deal with the global credit crisis, in coordination with European central banks.

The Fed said it was boosting the amount of emergency reserves it supplies to U.S. banks to $150 billion in May, from the $100 billion it supplied in April.

The Fed took this action and several other moves to boost credit in coordination with the European Central Bank and the Swiss National Bank.

The latest moves are part of a series of actions the Fed has made since the credit crisis struck in August.

The efforts are designed to increase reserves so that banks don't become hesitant about lending to consumers and businesses, which would make the current economic slowdown even more severe.

The Fed's decision to boost the amount of loans it makes to banks every two weeks, in a process known as a Term Auction Facility, was aimed at sending a strong signal that the central bank is prepared to supply as much in reserves as U.S. banks need.

The latest move was made in coordination with the European central banks' efforts to bolster their financial systems as well.

The Fed said it was also expanding the types of assets that investment banks can use as collateral to receive loans from the central bank.

In March, the Fed used powers it obtained during the Great Depression to begin making loans to investment banks.

Previously, the Fed only made direct lends to commercial banks.

The European Central Bank said it will increase the amount of dollars offered to $25 billion in the latest series of tenders, with the auctions to come every two weeks.

The tenders' maturity will be 28 days.

Previously, the ECB has auctioned off amounts that have ranged from $10 billion to $15 billion per tender but without a set schedule.

"It is intended to continue the provision of U.S. dollar liquidity for as long as the governing council considers it to be needed in view of the prevailing market conditions," the bank said in a statement.

Switzerland's central bank also said it would increase the scheduled frequency of its own auctions to every 14 days, with a maximum allocation of $6 billion per auction.

Its next auction is scheduled for May 6 with a settlement on May 8.

Like the ECB, the term would be 28 days.

------

AP Business Writer Matt Moore contributed to this story from Frankfurt, Germany.

------

On the Net:

ECB: http://www.ecb.int

Swiss National Bank: http://www.snb.ch

[Livyjr]

"Fed OKs plan to rein in unfair, deceptive credit cards - Federal agencies put out plan to end unfair credit card practices that frustrate borrowers"

By JIM ABRAMS, Associated Press

Last updated: 4:52 p.m., Friday, May 2, 2008

WASHINGTON -- The Federal Reserve and other regulators initiated steps Friday to end "unfair and deceptive" credit card industry practices assailing consumers who are already struggling to cope in a bad economy.

The proposed rules would be the biggest clampdown on the industry in decades, aiming at protecting people from credit card companies that arbitrarily raise interest rates or don't give borrowers adequate time to pay their bills.

The proposals would also restrict such lender practices as allocating all payments to balances with lower interest rates when a borrower has balances with different rates.

The Fed board voted Friday to approve the recommendations.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the proposed rules "are intended to establish a new baseline for fairness in how credit card plans operate."

Consumers using credit cards "should be better able to predict how their decisions and actions will affect their costs," he said.

Lawmakers who have demanded tougher controls on the credit card industry were generally positive about the proposed rules, as were consumer groups.

But some questioned whether the changes would be strong enough and soon enough to help the millions of households struggling with credit card debt.

The Fed drew considerable criticism for its slow response to abuses that contributed to the subprime mortgage crisis.

"These steps are a significant improvement," said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., a member of the Banking Committee and a leader in legislative efforts to make credit card companies more forthcoming about the interest rates they charge.

"While they can still go further, the Fed deserves credit for acting, particularly for banning some awful practices rather than relying solely on disclosure."

Last year the Fed proposed rules that would make credit card bills and solicitations easier to understand, but Friday's proposals go well beyond those in tightening interactions between the industry and consumers.

"At first blush, this does seem to be good news for credit card holders," said Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., author of pending legislation addressing some of the same credit card abuse issues.

"However, it remains to be seen if these proposals will go far enough."

"The problems are mounting and the last thing consumers need is to have credit card companies ripping them off with late fees and charges through no fault of the consumer at all," said Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., who is also pushing reform legislation.

The banking industry opposes the changes, and says they could lead to higher interest rates.

The rules could be finalized by the end of the year.

The proposed new rules would prohibit:

--Placing unfair time constraints on payments.

A payment could not be deemed late unless the borrower is given a reasonable period of time, such as 21 days, to pay;

--Unfairly allocating payments among balances with different interest rates, with lenders crediting payments to balances with lower rates so they can continue to charge interest for balances at higher rates;

--Retroactively raising interest rates on pre-existing balances;

--Placing too-high fees for exceeding the credit limit solely because of a hold placed on the account;

--Unfairly computing balances in a computing tactic known as double-cycle billing;

--Unfairly adding security deposits and fees for issuing credit or making credit available;

--Making deceptive offers of credit.

The agencies said the proposed rules also would require federal credit unions to give consumers a chance to opt out of an overdraft protection program.

And they would prohibit those institutions from charging a fee for an overdraft caused by a hold placed on consumer's funds when a person uses a debit card.

Ken Clayton, senior vice president of card policy for the American Bankers Association, described the proposed changes as "aggressive regulatory intervention in the marketplace that will result in higher prices and less consumer credit."

"If card companies cannot fully reflect risk, then millions of consumers with good credit histories will end up with higher rates," the ABA's president and CEO, Edward L. Yingling, said in a statement.

"It's unfortunate that the industry continues to buck the immense groundswell of support that is building for credit card reform," said Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., who has introduced consumer protection legislation in the House.

She said the Fed endorsement of provisions in her bill "puts to rest the credit card companies' assertion that reform will somehow harm consumers or the economy."

The Consumer Federation of America estimates that credit card debt held by consumers is about $850 billion, some four times what it was in 1990.

The group says the average debt for those 58 percent of card-holding households that do not pay their balance in full every month is about $17,000.

Travis Plunkett, legislative director for the federation, said the rules were a "good-faith effort by the Federal Reserve to curb some of the most significant abuses that have been hurting credit care users for over a decade."

He singled out the practice of lenders increasing interest rates on a borrower because of a supposed problem with another creditor or a drop in the borrower's credit score.

But the CFA and other consumer groups also complained that the "opt-out" proposals for overdraft plans were insufficient and there should be an affirmative "opt-in" right for such plans.

Banks routinely allow consumers to overdraw their accounts and then charge overdraft fees, the groups said.

The Fed is acting in conjunction with the National Credit Union Administration and the Office of Thrift Supervision.

------

Associated Press writer Laurie Kellman contributed to this report.

------

On the Net:

Federal Reserve: http://www.federalreserve.gov/

National Credit Union Administration: http://www.ncua.gov/RegulationsOpinionsLaw...osed--regs.html

[Livyjr]

YES ...

THE BEARDED BUSHIAN BEN BERNANKE'S MOUTH HAS BEEN VERY GOOD TO "BIG OIL" ...

AS HE HAS PUSHED THE VALUE OF THE GREENBACK DOLLAR DOWN INTO THE DEPTHS OF THE TOILET BOWL IN THE WORLD MARKET ...

"BIG OIL'S" PROFITS HAVE SOARED ....

And so ...

"Chevron's 1Q profit of $5.17B marks Big Oil's latest gusher - Chevron's first-quarter profit of $5.17B caps another big round of earnings for Big Oil"

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE, Associated Press

Last updated: 5:22 p.m., Friday, May 2, 2008

SAN RAMON, Calif. -- Astounding profits in the oil industry are becoming as routine as the anguished looks of motorists filling up their gas tanks.

Chevron Corp. put yet another exclamation point on the oil patch's long run of prosperity Friday with a first-quarter profit of $5.17 billion, or $2.48 per share.

That was up 10 percent from net income of $4.72 billion, or $2.18 per share, last year.

The performance exceeded the lofty expectations of analysts, helping lift Chevron shares 38 cents to $95.32.

It was the second-highest quarterly profit in the company's 129-year history and marked the most money that it has ever made during the January-March period.

That puts the No. 2 U.S. oil company on track for its fifth straight year of record earnings.

About the only downside to the quarter was that Chevron earned relatively little from gasoline sales because it couldn't raise its prices fast enough to recover its own rising costs for oil.

Like its peers, Chevron doesn't produce enough oil on its own to feed its refineries, forcing it to buy some on the open market.

The company's division that refines and sells gasoline earned $252 million during the first quarter, plunging 84 percent from $1.6 billion at the same time last year.

But Chevron still pumped out plenty of oil to cash in on prices that recently approached $120 per barrel before retreating slightly.

In the United States, the San Ramon-based company pocketed an average of nearly $90 per barrel for crude oil sold in the first quarter, more than doubling the $38.03 per barrel at the same time last year.

Soaring oil prices provided a similar first-quarter lift to four of Chevron's biggest rivals -- Exxon Mobil Corp., ConocoPhillips, BP PLC and Royal Dutch Shell PLC.

Collectively, Chevron and those four companies earned $36.9 billion in the first quarter, a 25 percent increase from last year.

By comparison, five of the world's most influential technology companies -- Microsoft Corp., IBM Corp., Intel Corp., Google Inc. and Apple Inc. -- earned $10.5 billion in the same period, up just 3 percent from last year.

While good news for the oil companies' shareholders, the industry's latest earnings gusher may provide more fodder for U.S. lawmakers who have been threatening to impose a windfall tax on the sector or adopt other measures aimed at increasing energy supplies.

The political backlash could become even more acute as the price of gasoline rises above $4 per gallon in many parts of the country.

"President Bush and Congress must act immediately and take the obvious steps to end the crisis that threatens not only every consumer but our entire economy," said John Simpson, an advocate for Consumer Watchdog, a frequent industry critic.

Oil industry executives insist they have little control over prices that have been driven up amid concerns about diminishing supplies and the weakening dollar.

If the sentiments of speculative investors who have helped increase oil prices suddenly swing in the other direction, Chevron and other big oil companies will suffer -- particularly if the feeble U.S. economy weakens any further, Oppenheimer & Co. analyst Fadel Gheit wrote in a note Friday.

Chevron's first-quarter earnings improvement was even more impressive than the reported number indicated because last year's results were boosted $700 million by a one time-gain.

If not for last year's windfall and foreign exchange losses that shaved $45 million from this year's bottom line, Chevron's first-quarter profit would have been up by 31 percent, Citigroup analyst Doug Leggate estimated in a Friday research note.

As it was, the company's earnings were 7 cents above the average estimate among analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.

But revenue of $65.95 billion fell well below analysts' forecast of $75.64 billion.

Nevertheless, it still surged 37 percent from last year's $48.23 billion.

Chevron's revenue would have been higher if its oil production hadn't slipped by about 44,000 barrels per day from last year.

The company's production averaged 2.6 million barrels of oil per day in the first quarter.

------

AP Business Writer Adam Schreck in New York contributed to this report.

[Livyjr]

"The Cracks in Wall Street's Hall of Mirrors - Time for the Banks to Face the Hangman"

By MIKE WHITNEY

"Structured finance" has transformed US markets into a carnival sideshow.

Productivity and real growth have been replaced with never-ending credit expansion and speculative abuses.

Reckless monetary policies and the behemoth current account deficit have destabilized the global economy and set the stage for a fiscal Armageddon.

The subprime mortgage crisis and subsequent shrinking of asset-backed commercial paper (ABCP) has thrown a wrench in the funding of daily corporate operations.

These are the harbingers of an impending recession.

As mortgages continue to default at a record pace; the aftershocks will continue to rumble through the credit markets where subprime loans have been "securitized" into bonds and leveraged at maximum levels.

It's just one domino knocking down the next.

The financial system is at greater risk now than any time in the last 80 years.

Regrettably, the only remedies coming from the Fed are more currency-destroying rate cuts or hundreds of billions of dollars in repos to remove mortgage-backed bonds from the banks' balance sheets.

Neither of these solutions addresses the critical issues; they do not stabilize the market, reinvigorate lending, or restore investor confidence.

They are merely band aids on a sucking chest-wound.

They won't stop the bleeding.

The Fed's monetary policies promote financial speculation which inevitably leads to equity bubbles.

Under Greenspan's stewardship, the country has lurched from the 1990's bond bubble, to the dot.com bubble, to the subprime meltdown, to the liquidity crisis, to the credit crunch---all engineered at the Federal Reserve with ancillary assistance from the charlatans in the banking industry.

An article in China Worker, "Credit Crunch threatens Global Downturn" summarizes our present predicament it like this:

"Financial globalization has rebounded on the system."

"Capitalist leaders boasted that the near total integration of financial markets across the globe would provide lenders and borrowers everywhere with instant access to a completely liquid money market."

"New types of financial securities and sophisticated derivatives would spread the risk of borrowing so widely that it would eliminate risk entirely."

"While economies were growing and bubbles inflating, it appeared that---through derivatives trading--- losses would be widely diffused among speculators, reducing risk to very low levels."

"Not even the most astute financial analysts could predict what would happen in the event of recession."

"The unanswerable question was: Who would ultimately bear the risks arising from widespread defaults or bankruptcies?"

"The veteran investor, Warren Buffet, warned that derivatives would prove to be 'weapons of mass destruction'."

"The fantasy of financial alchemy transforming high risk gambling into low risk money-making has now been shattered."

The author is right.

"Structured finance" is a fraud.

Risk has not been eliminated.

In fact, it has exploded and become a system-wide problem.

The dead wood is everywhere.

The banks are being crushed by a debt-load they generated through "securitization".

They need to accept responsibility for their poor judgment (or greed?) and report their losses.

The Super-Conduit is just a dodge to put off the unavoidable day of reckoning.

The whole wretched plan should be scrapped.

No amount of financial chicanery will eradicate billions of dollars in bad bets.

It's time for the banks to face the hangman.

Mike Whitney lives in Washington state.

He can be reached at: fergiewhitney@msn.com

AND AS REALITY COMES TRUE, WE HAVE FROM WARREN BUFFET'S BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY AS FOLLOWS ...

"Berkshire net income falls 64 percent because of derivatives - Unrealized derivative losses send Berkshire's 1Q profit 64 percent lower"

By JOSH FUNK, Associated Press

Last updated: 7:22 p.m., Friday, May 2, 2008

OMAHA, Neb. -- Berkshire Hathaway Inc. said Friday its first-quarter profit fell 64 percent because it recorded an unrealized $1.6 billion loss on its derivative contracts, and its insurance businesses generated lower profits.

Berkshire reported net income of $940 million, or $607 per share, in the quarter ended March 31.

That's down significantly from the net income of $2.6 billion Berkshire generated a year ago.

Berkshire's chairman and CEO Warren Buffett warned shareholders in his annual letter that the derivatives could make the company's earnings volatile.

But he predicted the derivatives will ultimately be profitable.

The four analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expected earnings per share of $1,476.99 on average.

Including the derivative losses, Berkshire's net investment losses in the quarter totaled $991 million.

A year ago, the Omaha-based company recorded a $382 million investment gain.

Berkshire said its operating earnings are a better measure of how the company is performing in any given period because those figures exclude derivatives and investment gains or losses.

Berkshire reported $1.93 billion in operating earnings during the first quarter, which was down from $2.21 billion in operating earnings a year ago.

Berkshire's insurance group, which includes Geico, reinsurance giant General Re and several other firms, contributed $181 million to net income from underwriting new policies.

A year ago, Berkshire's insurance companies generated a $601 million underwriting profit.

Berkshire generated $25.2 billion in revenue during the first quarter, down from the $32.9 billion it generated in 2007's first quarter.

Berkshire had $35.6 billion cash on hand at the end of the quarter, which is down from the $44.3 billion the company held at the end of 2007.

Berkshire owns more than 60 subsidiaries that range from insurance to clothing, furniture, and candy companies, restaurants, natural gas and corporate jet firms.

Berkshire also has major investments in such companies as Coca-Cola Co., Anheuser-Busch Cos. and Wells Fargo & Co.

------

On the Net:

Berkshire Hathaway Inc.: http://www.berkshirehathaway.com