Thy hand, great Anarch! lets the curtain fall; And universal Darkness buries All.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Mission creep - US bombing consolidates in AFPAK with O'Bomber's new plan - with no end in sight
President Obama gave a speech this morning outlining his new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, (AFPAK) as a taster for a (slightly) more detailed white paper [PDF].
The plan outlined what O'Bomber cals "realistic and achievable objectives."
- Disrupting terrorist networks in Afghanistan and especially Pakistan to degrade any ability they have to plan and launch international terrorist attacks.
- Promoting a more capable, accountable, and effective government in Afghanistan that serves the Afghan people and can eventually function, especially regarding internal security, with limited international support.
- Developing increasingly self-reliant Afghan security forces that can lead the counterinsurgency and counterterrorism fight with reduced U.S. assistance.
- Assisting efforts to enhance civilian control and stable constitutional government in Pakistan and a vibrant economy that provides opportunity for the people of Pakistan.
- Involving the international community to actively assist in addressing these objectives for Afghanistan and Pakistan, with an important leadership role for the UN.
Friday, March 27, 2009
US has 12 months stock of new homes for sale.
The median sales price of new houses sold in February 2009 was US $200,900; the average sales price was US$251,000. The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of February was 330,000. This represents a supply of 12.2 months in the market at the current sales rate.
More Predator strikes by US in Pakistan - More rewards for Justice bonuses for Taliban / al Quaeda phantom leaders
The US conducted another 2 Predator airstrikes with Helfire misiles in Pakistan's tribal areas in the last 2 days.
Five people were reported killed and four wounded hitting what is said to be a Taliban compound in North Waziristan - a compund run by Malik Gulab Khan in the Sokhel region just outside Mir Ali.
Unusually the CIA did not report any senior al Qaeda or Taliban leaders killed.
Mir Ali is a known stronghold of al Qaeda leader Abu Kasha al Iraqi said at one time to have links both with al Qaeda and the Taliban. Kasha is said to be an Iraqi national who operates in the Mir Ali region and serves as the key link between al Qaeda's Shura Majlis, or executive council, and the Taliban.
Abu Kasha was thought to have been killed in an attack in North Waziristan in October 2008, but survives yet.
Kasha commands two local Pakistani commanders, Imanullah and Haq Nawaz Dawar. These men administer al Qaeda's network in Mir Ali. Kasha has a working relationship and close communication with the Uzbek terror groups, including the Islamic Jihad Group run by Najimuddin al Uzbeki, who also operates out of North Waziristan.
The last attack that targeted Abu Kasha's network took place on Feb. 23, 2009. Ten Taliban and al Qaeda fighters were killed after Predators targeted a compound run by a local named Khalil.
Second strike in 24 hours signals an end to a brief pause in attacks
A further Predator attack today is the eleventh inside Pakistan this calendar year and follows yesterday's strike against a Taliban convoy in South Waziristan. Eight were killed, including "foreigners,"( CIA speak al Qaeda operatives). The attack took place in Makeen, the hometown (?) of Baitullah Mehsud, the leader of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, or the Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan. On New years day Taliban kidnapped four Pakistani paramilitary soldiers of the South Waziristan Scouts after the Taliban attacked the Ladha Fort near the town of Makeen.
These latest attacks coincided with the US Department of State's placing a bounty on the heads of two senior Pakistan-based Taliban leaders. Up to US$5 Mn dollars has been offered "for information leading to the location and/or capture" of Pakistani Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud (Pakistani authorities believe that the January 2007 suicide attack against the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad was staged by militants loyal to Mehsud. Press reports also have linked Mehsud to the assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and the deaths of other innocent civilians.) and al Qaeda ally Sirajuddin Haqqani.
Additionally, a US $1 MN. bounty has been offered for information leading to the capture or conviction of al Qaeda propagandist and ideologue Abu Yahya al Libi.
More information about all three is located on the Rewards for Justice website (www.rewardsforjustice.net/abuyahya).
Barclays - it's Double your money time Folks!
Lord Patel invested last Monday in Barclays at 82 p and sold out on Wednesday am @ 118p.
As we speak the shares are trading at 162.9 (and rising) with 107 MN shares changing hands.
That means those who got in at the right time and hung on have doubled their money in 2 weeks. This rise is attributed to the news that Barclays is set to receive bids for iShares, its exchange traded funds business, over this weekend, and will agree a deal by Monday, in a move that could further appease its shareholders, who were today reassured by the financial regulator about the UK bank's capital position.
So no question of any insider trading going on there then as the shares rose strongly ahead of the announcement today about iShares.
Having missed the extra profit on Barclays the shares Lord Patel bought in Lloyds have risen from 57p on Tuesday. They have traded as high as 78 today and setled down at about 73p (up 28%).
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Kissinger still giving orders
Obama National Security Advisor says he takes marching orders from Henry Kissinger
March 26, 2009 — Stefan Fobes
Remarks by National Security Adviser Jones at 45th Munich Conference on Security Policy
From CFR.org
U.S. National Security Adviser Jones gave these remarks at the 45th Munich Conference on Security Policy at the Hotel Bayerischer Hof on February 8, 2009.
“Thank you for that wonderful tribute to Henry Kissinger yesterday. Congratulations. As the most recent National Security Advisor of the United States, I take my daily orders from Dr. Kissinger, filtered down through Generaal Brent Scowcroft and Sandy Berger, who is also here. We have a chain of command in the National Security Council that exists today.
IBM continue outsourcing and "letting" US staff go"
A bird whispers in Lord Patel's transatlantic listening post that report IBM is planning to layff 6,000 U.S. employees. THis will lead to transferring jobs and functions to India. Wat is calld the global business-services unit is the core of the change , and is a major part of IBM's efforts to steadily build up their foreign based workforce.
Figures supplied show that foreign based employes accounted for 71% of IBM's employees at the start of the year, up from 65% in 2006.
It's already started see memo ..
“Starting next week several Hartford delivery teams will be working directly with fellow IBM team members from India to begin the second phase of our Global delivery solution planned for the Hartford account. The teams will be engaged in a multi-week effort to facilitate knowledge transfer to prepare for migration of specific work activities to global delivery counterparts later in 2009. Your continued support and leadership is critical to ensure our overall success and to ensure we continue to deliver high quality cost effective solutions that IBM committed to the Hartford. Please ensure you and your teams actively support this effort.”
Computer World in January had a report , "IBM won't disclose plan, but union fears as many as 16,000 may lose their jobs"
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
UK Gilts auction fails - ther IS a limit to what the market will buy .....
Storms can be presaged by the blowing of straw in the wind"of . Well the market landed a hefty bale of the stuff on Gordon Brown and Alastair Darling's desk today.
Today, in the normal way of things the Treasury Debt Management Office - auctioned £1.75bn of a 40 year bond ( of interest principally to annuity issuers - insueres pensions etc.,).
The market picked up 93% or only £163 Mn. of the issue.
The Debt Management Office has a Herculean task of borrowing at least £147.9bn of gilts in the next 12 months - there are many who say uncontrolled public expenditure might mean they could be looking for £200Bn.
There must be some sweaty palms in the Treasury this evening.
Repairing the old wallet.
Stock picking is gambling so Lord Patel to salve his financial wounds invested last Monday in Barclays at 82 p and sold out this am @ 118p. (UPDATE Wed opnend at 127 )A modest return relying on the venality of bankers / hedge funds etc., who have been ramping the share to buggary. (Ditto LLoyds)
This is going into ING (now with sensible management in place and clear stated goals) which he confidently expects to run up to 10 Euros from the current 4.74 Euros (closd at 4.89)
Some is also going (counter cyclical and prolly very unwise) into Lloyds Bank at 57p which has run from 40 p in the last 2 weeks.(closed at 61.7) UPDATE Wed opened at 64.5
The proceeds will eventually ne used to swallow up some more Drax and Tesco.
To err is human ...
John Kennedy was a charmer but his halting delivery "The .er...er...President ..err...err.of..er..The...United ...er....States ...err" brought out the above riposte.
He lived in an age without teleprompters and the apparatus of Hollywood technology which helps bolster O'Bomber' s facile delivery and shallow thoughts. eg "It took many years and many failures to lead us here. And it will take many months and many different solutions to lead us out." .well hey, Mr Prez Elect as was , why didn't you tell us when it was all happening ?
"They're assuming a growth rate of 2.2 %; we're assuming a growth rate of 2.6%. Those small differences end up adding up to a lot of money." Doh ! Zat so !
Listening to his limp, slow, awkwards response about his role as the first Black (?) President he came across as a dumb, tongue tied, non reflexive person.Worthy, maybe. Dull yes.
He is after all the glove puppet of the Zionist cabal and the Old Establishment and has, as predicted here been consigend to out of down, and downtown Palookaville.
What with his unscripted performance yesterday (text) and his dodgy jokes about cripples he had better watch it before he is seen as the Bush Redux.
US Unemployment swells claimants as Government payrolls soar.
America's heartlands are hurting, figures for Ohio show how the trend is steadily downwards for employment - but as ever, Government employment increases.
Ohio and U.S. Employment Services in cooperation with the U. S. Department of Labor released numbers today for uneployment at end Februarywhich show rates at 9.4% ( a 25 yesar high - March 1984 ) up from 8.8 %ercent in January. Ohio's nonfarm wage and salary employment decreased 7,600 over the month, from 5,208,000 in January, to 5,200,400 in February.
The U.S. total unemployment rate for February was 8.1 %, up from 7.6 % in January.
The manufacturing, retail, professional services and financial sectors all fell, while government services was the only major sector to climb.
Big Job cuts take their toll in Ohio.
The Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics monthly report for Ohio shows 91 companies cut 50 or more workers in February, up from 42 companies in February 2008. The figures are seasonally unadjusted.
Resulting first-time unemployment claims from those cuts more than doubled in turn, hitting 9,065 filings compared with 4,387 a year earlier.
That’s the seventh-highest share of unemployment insurance filings in the nation, with California topping the list with 45,557 filings last month.
Nationally In February, employers took 2,769 mass layoff actions involving 295,477 workers. Mass layoff events increased by 542 (20%) from January, and initial claims increased by 57,575. Layoff events for all industries and for the manufacturing sector rose to their highest levels on record.
(Press release)
Thirteen of the 19 major industry sectors reported program (ie since 1996) highs in terms of average weekly initial claimants for the month of February--mining; construction; manufacturing; wholesale trade; retail trade; transportation and warehousing; finance and insurance; real estate and rental and leasing; professional and technical services; management of companies and enterprises; educational services; accommodation and food services; and other services, (surpise , surprise) except public administration.
Louisiana and Mississippi were the only states to experience over-the-year decreases in initial claimants.
These figures must give some bankers niht sweats - who the hell are they going to stuff with loans now ?
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Southwark, London SE15 3BT Google Street view etc.,
Some 60,000 people, from shopping centre security guards to hotel workers, are being trained to respond to the threat of terrorism, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said.
Her comments came two days ahead of the publication of a counter-terrorism strategy which ministers are billing as the most comprehensive approach to tackling the threat issued by any government in the world.
Google Earth Street view
Nearly EX PM Gorfom Brown Observer today "We know that terrorists will keep on trying to strike and that protecting Britain against this threat remains our most important job."
The Sunday Telegraph "Around 60,000 British workers, from shop staff to hotel employees, are being trained to spot the terror threat and respond to attacks, under Government plans. "
Dead Palestinian babies and bombed mosques - IDF fashion 2009
"Dead babies, mothers weeping on their children's graves, a gun aimed at a child and bombed-out mosques - these are a few examples of the images Israel Defense Forces soldiers design these days to print on shirts they order to mark the end of training, or of field duty. The slogans accompanying the drawings are not exactly anemic either: A T-shirt for infantry snipers bears the inscription "Better use Durex," next to a picture of a dead Palestinian baby, with his weeping mother and a teddy bear beside him....."
More at Haaretz ...
Dead Palestinian babies and bombed mosques - IDF fashion 2009
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