Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke:
“My concern about the legislation is that if the GAO is auditing not only the operational aspects of the programs and the details of the programs but making judgments about our policy decisions would effectively be a takeover of policy by the Congress and a repudiation of the Federal Reserve would be highly destructive to the stability of the financial system, the Dollar and our national economic situation.”
Bloomberg via Yahoo – June 24, 2009:
David F. Wherley Jr., the head of the Washington National Guard who scrambled jets over the city during the 9/11 terrorist attacks, was among those killed in the worst commuter train crash in the city’s history, officials said.
Wherley’s wife, Ann, was also among the nine people killed when a train plowed into the rear of a stopped train during rush hour on June 22, Quintin Peterson, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Police Department, said in a telephone interview. Both were 62 and lived in southeast Washington.
Wherley was commander of the 113th Fighter Wing at Andrews Air Force base in Maryland during the September 2001 terrorist attacks and sent up aircraft with orders to protect the White House and the Capitol, according to the 9/11 Commission report.
He commanded the District of Columbia National Guard from 2003 to 2008, the unit said in a statement.
So you thought the derivative bubble that burst in late 2008 was big? Wait for the carbon credit derivative bubble that grows up around this scheme should it pass and be implemented.
NY Daily News – June 24, 2009: Former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein bluffed about WMDs fearing Iranian arsenal, secret FBI files show
UK Daily Mail: June 25, 2009: ‘If I didn’t confess to 7/7 bombings MI5 officers would rape my wife,’ claims torture victim
A British man spoke publicly for the first time yesterday to accuse MI5 officers of forcing him to confess to masterminding the July 7 bombings.
Jamil Rahman claims UK security officers were behind his arrest in 2005 in Bangladesh.
He says he was beaten repeatedly by local officials who also threatened to rape him and his wife.
Mr Rahman, who is suing the Home Office, said a pair of MI5 officers who attended his torture and interrogation would leave the room while he was beaten.
“My concern about the legislation is that if the GAO is auditing not only the operational aspects of the programs and the details of the programs but making judgments about our policy decisions would effectively be a takeover of policy by the Congress and a repudiation of the Federal Reserve would be highly destructive to the stability of the financial system, the Dollar and our national economic situation.” – Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board
Al-Jazeera: Isn’t it naive to think that the US doesn’t have some kind of intelligence operatives on the ground inside Iran?
Brent Scowcroft: Of course we do.
But of course, they would never agitate for regime change in Iran.
Courier-Journal: June 3, 2009:
A Valley Station Road church is sponsoring an “Open Carry Church Service” in late June, encouraging people to wear unloaded guns in their holsters, enter a raffle to win a free handgun, hear patriotic music and listen to talks by operators of gun stores and firing ranges.
Pastor Ken Pagano of New Bethel Church said the first-time event is “basically trying to think a little bit outside the box” to promote “responsible gun ownership and 2nd Amendment rights.”
A Chicago police officer was sentenced to two years probation Tuesday for pummeling a woman who was tending bar, even though prosecutors produced a previously unseen video showing him beating someone else at the bar hours earlier.
Anthony Abbate — who declined to say anything to the judge before he was sentenced — could have gotten up to five years for beating Karolina Obrycka in February of 2007. The attack was captured by the bar’s security camera and the video was shown around the world.
Judge John Fleming said he decided against jail time, explaining he did not believe the crime was serious enough and that throwing Abbate in prison would not be a deterrent to others.
AP via Yahoo News: June 22, 2009:
Hundreds of New York City public school teachers accused of offenses ranging from insubordination to sexual misconduct are being paid their full salaries to sit around all day playing Scrabble, surfing the Internet or just staring at the wall, if that’s what they want to do.
May 27, 2007 – London Telegraph: Bush sanctions ‘black ops’ against Iran
Obama also blasted allegations of some in the Iranian government that the United States is “instigating protests” as “patently false and absurd.”
A buck-a-day — that’s the incentive being offered to young girls to keep them from getting pregnant, WXII-TV reported.
The group College-Bound Sisters was founded at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro by Hazel Brown, a maternity nurse who thought too many teens were having babies.
Brown said she hopes the program, which pays $1 each day to 12-to-18-year-old girls, will keep them from getting pregnant. In addition to remaining pregnancy-free, the girls must also attend weekly meetings.
The program is funded by a four-year grant from the state.
Twenty-eight girls and women died in 2008 soon after taking Gardasil, a vaccine meant to prevent human papillomavirus infections and fight cervical cancer, according to a group that analyzed FDA records.
Judicial Watch press release – June 22, 2009
As Maine’s strawberry season gets underway, growers are voicing concerns about the effects recent wet weather will have on their crop.
Jodie Jordan from Alewives Brook Farm in Cape Elizabeth said too much rain makes the berries mushy and susceptible to mold.
Birds have also been a problem for Jordan. He said the cedar waxwings have been tearing up his field, and there is nothing he can do about it because the birds are federally protected.
