CONNECTING THE DOTS
Page Two
CONNECTING THE DOTS
Troubles Hit Real Estate at High End
• NY TimesUntil now, deep-pocketed Wall Street tycoons and foreign investors benefiting from a weak dollar seemed to be holding up the luxury real estate market even as the low-end fractured. But there are signs that some high-end real estate developers are al
China Forming Fund to Invest Reserves
• Washington PostThe aim is to make more profitable use of its $1 trillion in foreign currency reserves that have piled up. Most of those funds are now parked in safe, but relatively low-yielding U.S. Treasury securities and other dollar-denominated assets.
Getting Out of a 2-Year Cellphone Contract Alive
• NY TimesTwo years is a long time, and few other marketers can get away with demanding it, much less adding to it. Every time you walk back into the cellphone store or call the customer service operators, it seems, the contract is extended. Lose the phone or
Bush sends CIA into Pakastan to light Osama's 50 B-day candles
• Daily TelegraphUS officials said that the mission is intended to intensify the pressure on the terrorist leader, who turned 50 yesterday, and perhaps force him into making a mistake. He is widely believed to be hiding in the region bordering Afghanistan.
On war costs, Bush is master of disguise
• Boston GlobeTHE BUSH ADMINISTRATION has asked Congress to approve $93.4 billion in emergency funding for Iraq and Afghanistan for the rest of 2007 and another $141.7 billion for next year. This, on top of a proposed 2008 defense budget of $481.4 billion.
Iraq: the hidden cost of the war
• The New StatesmanAmerica won't simply be paying with its dead. The Pentagon is trying to silence economists who predict that several decades of care for the wounded will amount to an unbelievable $2.5 trillion.
Wolfowitz under fire at World Bank
• AFP (RawStory)Debate among World Bank members is intensifying as the International Development Association (IDA) -- the group's arm for lending to the poorest countries -- seeks to replenish its coffers to help fund debt-relief promises.
ACLU fires back at FBI domestic spying
• ACLUOn March 9, 2007, as mandated by law, the Department of Justice’s Office of Inspector General issued a report on the FBI’s use of National Security Letters (NSLs). The FBI used these NSLs to obtain phone and financial records without a court order.
Variety of Interrogation Techniques Said to Be Authorized by CIA
• ABC News blogWhile President Bush today would not divulge the details of the interrogation techniques that have been used on high-value detainees, such as the 9/11 attacks architect Khalid Sheikh Mohamed, current and former CIA officers had previously described
US General: They're smarter than we are
• The ObserverIn a bleak analysis, senior officers described the fighters they were facing in Iraq and Afghanistan 'as smart, agile and cunning'. The world's only superpower is in danger of being driven back by a few tens of thousands of lightly armed
Congress Targets Pretexting
• IDG NewsU.S. lawmakers promised to push ahead legislation aimed at cracking down on pretexting, despite some objections from telecom carriers and the U.S. Department of Justice. Nearly all the members of the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Co
Intel Readies Power-Saving Quad-Core Xeons
• IDG NewsIntel Corp. quad-core microprocessors that work at an energy-efficient 50 watts per processor will officially be on the market starting today.
Mouse tests show stem cells treat brain disease
• ReutersHuman stem cells taken from both embryos and fetuses delayed a fatal brain and nerve disease in mice, moving throughout the brain to take on the jobs of damaged neurons, scientists reported.
Exhibit tells of human life in Americas
• APBut a new exhibit called "The Ancient Americas" shows that the Western Hemisphere was home to hundreds of diverse societies established long before European explorers arrived in the late 15th and early 16th centuries.
New York town defies U.S. on Hispanic voting rights
• ReutersA dispute over voting rights reminiscent of the U.S. civil rights era has broken out in this New York town, where the federal government has thrust itself into the debate and a judge suspended an election.
Germans asked to surrender freedom for global warming
• APAn EU official called on Germany to give up the famous freedom of its highways and impose speed limits on the autobahn to fight global warming — a demand that drew angry responses in a country that cherishes what it calls "free driving for free
Experts divided on whether housing market will improve
• Arizona RepublicSome observers think the market is at or near bottom. Others say several months of uncertain times lie ahead. Still others have split opinions about the health of the new and resale markets. "The prices have to pull back," said Debbie
Lawmakers consider lessening crack penalties
• USA TodayFederal prison sentences for possessing or selling crack have far exceeded those for powder cocaine for two decades. House Crime Subcommittee chairman Robert Scott, D-Va., a longtime critic of such sentencing policies, plans to hold hearings on crack
White House says Rove relayed complaints about prosecutors
• McCarthy NewsThe White House acknowledged that presidential adviser Karl Rove served as a conduit for complaints to the Justice Department about federal prosecutors who were later fired for what critics charge were partisan political reasons.
NASA Describes Quantum Chip
• IDG NewsThe U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration confirmed Thursday that it built a special chip used in a disputed demonstration of quantum computing in February. NASA engineers used their experience with sub-micrometer dimensions and ultra-lo
Exhibit considers Nazis' eugenics
• AP"Deadly Medicine: Creating the Master Race" uses 200 photographs, videotaped survivor stories and several dozen artifacts to trace eugenics' development as a perversion of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution to its Nazi justificati
Chavez gets a cool reception in Bolivia
• APVenezuelan President Hugo Chavez visited flood-ravaged Bolivia to show off his country has pledged 10 times more aid than the Bush administration. But local leaders gave him a cool reception, accusing him of meddling in Bolivian politics.
GOP, business at odds on migrant reform
• Arizona Republic[Heck, I enjoy paying more of the few dollars I am left with.] Arizona business leaders are increasingly at odds with Republican Party leadership over immigration issues, particularly leaders who aim to crack down on employers who hire undocumented w
Bush seeks 8,200 more troops for wars
• APPresident Bush asked Congress on Saturday for $3.2 billion to pay for 8,200 more U.S. troops needed in Afghanistan and Iraq on top of the 21,500-troop buildup he announced in January. Bush wants Congress to fund 3,500 new U.S. troops to expand traini
Maricopa breaks the law...again - by Wendy McElroy
• Wendy McElroy for Lew Rockwell Blog(Maricopa County is getting nationally infamous as an ugly authoritarian regime :)
Motorists Illegally Prosecuted by Speed Camera
• thenewspaper.comThe Southampton, UK Crown Court ruled last week that a speed camera trap that raised £330,000 (US $640,000) in revenue over four months had illegally prosecuted motorists. Barrie Wells, 62, and Michael Halliwell, 63, were both acquitted of speeding o
Reflexiones Libertarias
LA OTRA HISTORIA DE MEXICO II
Ricardo ValenzuelaHacia finales de los años 50, transitando de la niñez a mi adolescencia y con el arribo de la televisión, en un viaje a California que hice con mis padres quedé profundamente impresionado frente mi primer contacto con esa maravillosa tecnología.
Halliburton will move HQ to Dubai
• APOil services giant Halliburton Co. will soon shift its corporate headquarters from Houston to the Mideast financial powerhouse of Dubai, chief executive Dave Lesar announced Sunday. "Halliburton is opening its corporate headquarters in Dubai
A catalogue of errors in Afghanistan
• Asia Times(Michael Scheuer)Afghanistan is again being lost to the West, even as a coalition force of more than 5,000 troops launches a major spring offensive in the south of the country. The insurgency may drag on for many months or several years, but the tide has turned.
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