Sunday, September 30, 2012

Obama blocks Chinese purchase of E. Oregon wind farms

by Associated Press

kgw.com

Posted on September 28, 2012 at 12:32 PM

Updated yesterday at 12:51 PM

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Citing national security risks, President Barack Obama on Friday blocked a Chinese company from owning four wind farm projects in northern Oregon near a Navy base where the U.S. military flies unmanned drones and electronic-warfare planes on training missions.

It was the first time in 22 years that a U.S. president blocked such a foreign business deal.

Obama's decision was likely to be another irritant in the increasingly tense economic relationship between the U.S. and China. It also comes against an election-year backdrop of intense criticism from Republican presidential challenger Mitt Romney, who accuses Obama of not being tough enough with China.

In his decision, Obama ordered Ralls Corporation, a company owned by Chinese nationals, to divest its interest in the wind farms it purchased earlier this year near the Naval Weapons Systems Training Facility in Boardman, Ore.

The case reached the president's desk after the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States, known as CFIUS, determined there was no way to address the national security risks posed by the Chinese company's purchases. Only the president has final authority to prohibit a transaction.

The administration would not say what risks the wind farm purchases presented. The Treasury Department said CFIUS made its recommendation to Obama after receiving an analysis of the potential threats from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

The military has acknowledged that it used the Oregon Naval facility to test unmanned drones and the EA-18G "Growler." The electronic warfare aircraft accompanies U.S. fighter bombers on missions and protectively jams enemy radar, destroying them with missiles along the way.

At the Oregon site, the planes fly as low as 200 feet and nearly 300 miles per hour.

The last time a president used the law to block a transaction was 1990, when President George H.W. Bush voided the sale of Mamco Manufacturing to a Chinese agency.

In 2006, President George W. Bush approved a CFIUS case involving the merger of Alcatel and Lucent Technologies.

The Treasury Department said in a statement that Obama's decision is specific to this transaction and does not set a precedent for other foreign direct investment in the U.S. by China or any other country.

China's trade advantage over the U.S. has emerged as a key issue in the final weeks of the presidential campaign. Romney accuses Obama of failing to stand up to Beijing, while the president criticizes the GOP nominee for investing part of his personal fortune in China and outsourcing jobs there while he ran the private equity firm Bain Capital.

Both campaigns are running ads on China in battleground states, especially Ohio, where workers in the manufacturing industry have been hard-hit by outsourcing.

Obama has the power to void foreign transactions under the Defense Production Act. It authorizes the president to suspend or prohibit certain acquisitions of U.S. businesses if there is credible evidence that the foreign purchaser might take action that threatens to impair national security.

CFIUS is chaired by the Treasury secretary. The secretaries of state, defense, commerce, energy and homeland security are also on the committee. The Director of National Intelligence is also a non-voting member.

Earlier this month, Ralls sued the national security panel, alleging CFIUS exceeded its authority when it ordered the company to cease operations and withdraw from the wind-farm developments it bought. Ralls asked for a restraining order and a preliminary injunction to allow construction at the wind farms to continue. The firm said it would lose the chance for a $25 million investment tax if the farms were not operable by Dec. 31.

But Ralls dropped the lawsuit this week after CFIUS allowed the firm to resume some pre-construction work.

Ralls' legal team includes Paul Clement and Viet Dinh, two top law veterans of President George W. Bush's administration. Both men were key players in Bush's aggressive national security operation.

Clement, who was solicitor-general and argued administration positions before the Supreme Court, has since opposed the Obama administration's health care plan and defended the Defense of Marriage Act before the top court.

Dinh, a former assistant attorney general who was the main architect of the Bush administration's anti-terror USA Patriot Act, has lately served as a director and legal adviser to Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation.

A second Chinese firm stymied by CFIUS urged U.S. authorizes this week to investigate their firm to quell fears of ties to China's military. Huawei Technologies Ltd. announced in early September that it would unwind its purchase of U.S.-based computer firm 3Leaf Systems after the deal was rejected by CFIUS.

Huawei, one of the world's largest producers of computer network switching gear, has repeatedly struggled to convince U.S. authorities that they can be trusted to oversee sensitive technology sometimes used in national security work.

Source: http://www.kgw.com/news/Obama-blocks-Chinese-purchase-of-E-Oregon-wind-farms-171831421.html

jason wu for target collection jason wu jason wu the patriot nick diaz vs carlos condit hall of fame occupy dc

Libya, Egypt riots: Can anti-Islam speech be shut down?

An attack on the US consulate in Libya has drawn widespread attention to an anti-Islam film that enraged rioters. But can ? and should ? the circulation of this type of material be stopped?

By Arthur Bright,?Staff writer / September 12, 2012

Tuesday's deadly attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that ended with the death of US Ambassador J.?Christopher Stevens?has drawn widespread attention to an anti-Islam film that enraged rioters on the scene. As the Monitor's Dan Murphy notes, the situation is reminiscent of the riots over the Muhammad cartoons published in 2005 by Denmark's Jyllands-Posten newspaper. He writes:

Skip to next paragraph Arthur Bright

Europe Editor

Arthur Bright is the Europe Editor at The Christian Science Monitor.? He has worked for the Monitor in various capacities since 2004, including as the Online News Editor and a regular contributor to the Monitor's Terrorism & Security blog.? He is also a licensed Massachusetts attorney.

Recent posts

' + google_ads[0].line2 + '
' + google_ads[0].line3 + '

'; } else if (google_ads.length > 1) { ad_unit += ''; } } document.getElementById("ad_unit").innerHTML += ad_unit; google_adnum += google_ads.length; return; } var google_adnum = 0; google_ad_client = "pub-6743622525202572"; google_ad_output = 'js'; google_max_num_ads = '1'; google_feedback = "on"; google_ad_type = "text"; google_adtest = "on"; google_image_size = '230x105'; google_skip = '0'; // -->

In some ways, it was the beginning of an era of manufactured outrage, with a group of fringe hate-mongers in the West developing a symbiotic relationship with radical clerics across the East. The Westerners deliberately cause offense by describing Islam as a fundamentally violent religion, and all too often mobs in Muslim-majority states oblige by engaging in violence.

He correctly notes that the film's authors "cannot be blamed for the violence ? that blame goes to the perpetrators." Still, some may?argue that the best way to end this vicious cycle of hateful message-and-response is to stifle the message. But ? putting aside the question of whether this is the best course of action ? is it even a legal option? Can the US government act to stop the circulation of offensive material like this? Can someone else?

The answer in the American system of government is simple: no. Any attempt by the federal government or a US state government to silence speakers like the filmmakers ? regardless of how repellant their message might be ? would be a restraint on their freedom of speech and a violation of the First Amendment.? Even were the government to pass a law against hate speech, the First Amendment would still trump such a law and render it unconstitutional.?

But while the Bill of Rights prohibits the countenance of a hate speech law in the US, the situation is quite different in Europe. While free speech is indeed protected in Europe both by the European Union and national governments, generally speaking those protections do not extend to hate speech. Many European nations, including France, Germany, and Britain, forbid expressions of hatred against a person or group of people based on their race, religion, gender, nationality, sexual orientation, and the like. As such, much of Europe would be able to crack down on messages like the film at issue now, based on its clear anti-Muslim agenda.

There is another set of entities that could act to stymie circulation of these hate messages, and indeed are well placed to do so: the websites hosting the offensive content. The First Amendment and other free speech protections generally apply only to state actors, and have no effect on private actors like Google, for example, which owns YouTube, where clips of the offending film have been posted. Should Google or other Web hosts be so inclined, they are free to decide which content they publish and which they remove without fear of running afoul of free speech protections.

A hosting website may be constrained in what they can do with a user's content under the site's terms of use, which is a kind of contract between the host and the user. But host sites often explicitly warn in their terms of use that users are not allowed to post certain kinds of content: see, for example, YouTube's express prohibition of hate speech. And many sites reserve the right to remove any user content at all, for any reason. So YouTube could remove the offending film clips from its website if the company so desired, and the filmmaker would have no recourse.

Still, web hosts are under no obligation to police their users' content, and indeed, were they to do so it could impair the ability of individuals to express themselves. Again, take YouTube: The company is the largest streaming-video host in the world. If YouTube began aggressively censoring content according to what its board or management thought was morally right, those users with different views would be left without an outlet to publish their content. And while that may be acceptable to the general public in cases of hate speech, it might not be quite so acceptable if YouTube decided that speech on a topic with larger support ? say, gay marriage ? ought to be censored.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/csmonitor/globalnews/~3/8-LJZWSYrD8/Libya-Egypt-riots-Can-anti-Islam-speech-be-shut-down

kony 2012 jim irsay the new ipad apple announcement indianapolis colts joseph kony joseph kony

Debt or alive? Deficit hawks hope debate finally turns to borrowing

As Barack Obama and Mitt Romney gather Wednesday at the University of Denver for the first presidential debate, organizers of a new national campaign are making a push in Colorado to address an issue they say can't be ignored any longer ? the national debt.

At $16 trillion, the nation's debt is on a path to exceed 100 percent of the U.S. economy in the next decade and 200 percent by 2040, says the Campaign to Fix the Debt, a national effort with bipartisan support that hopes policymakers will finally summon the courage to deal with the country's out-of-whack finances.

The campaign was founded by former U.S. Sen. Alan Simpson, a Republican, and Erskine Bowles, a Democrat and a former Clinton administration official, and

is partners with the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Budget. The two were co-chairmen of Obama's National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, which produced a set of recommendations that were never sent to Congress because of division on the commission.

But now, the pair's Fix the Debt campaign has been trying to drum up support for the effort at the state level, hoping respected names locally can light a fire under congressional delegations and provide them with moral support.

"I personally believe that this debt is nation-threatening," says former Gov. Dick Lamm, a Democrat who's backing the campaign in Colorado. "The only way I can see to do this (solve the problem) is to try to get the political establishment some backbone and courage."

He's joined by former state Sen. Norma Anderson, a Republican.

"I'm concerned not for myself ? I'll be dead before it affects me ? but for my children and grandchildren," Anderson said.

Her message to politicians: "You need to do something about it, and we will help you."

Organizers hope to get even more of Colorado's noted statesmen involved in the effort.

Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget and an organizer of Fix the Debt, said she has gone to dinner parties for years where people's eyes glazed over as soon as she told them her work involved the federal debt. But that's changing, she said.

"People are coming to us and asking, 'How can we help?' " MacGuineas said. "It used to be that people who called me were people who'd seen me on C-Span.

"It feels like this is one of those moments in our country's history where you're going to do the right thing or you're not."

Fix the Debt says unchecked debt will slow the nation's economic growth, limiting the budget flexibility of future generations to respond to crises ranging from natural disasters to security threats.

Lamm says a question he would like to ask the presidential candidates is: "Be honest with the American public: Is there any way out of this without pain?"

There are multiple reasons for the country's staggering debt, including the fact that it has fought two wars for a decade, cut taxes at the same time and then entered the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression ? and then spent more trying to save the economy through government bailouts and stimulus packages.

Romney has criticized Obama for not cutting the deficit in half, as the president said he would do in early 2009.

Obama's plan would allow the Bush-era tax cuts to expire for households making more than $250,000 a year and would impose other tax increases on wealthier Americans to the tune of about $1.5 trillion. The conservative-leaning Tax Foundation says Obama's plan is out of step "with any commonly held notion of tax reform," including the Simpson-Bowles recommendations.

The group said the president's plan "fails to spur the economy, ultimately resulting in insufficient tax revenue and perpetual deficits."

But critics say Romney's plan for dealing with spending deficits is bereft of critical details on what programs or "tax loopholes" he would specifically cut. The left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities says Romney's proposal to cap total federal spending at 20 percent of GDP would "necessitate very large cuts in Medicaid, education, health research and other programs."

And an analysis from online publication Business Insider says, "The idea that the Romney plan will ease our debt and deficit problem is laughable. Under almost any realistic scenario, it will make the problem worse."

Tim Hoover: 303-954-1626, thoover@denverpost.com or twitter.com/timhoover

Source: http://www.denverpost.com/politics/ci_21663785/debt-or-alive-deficit-hawks-hope-debate-finally?source=rss

red velvet cake recipe josh krajcik porphyria cinnamon rolls krampus robert de niro winner of x factor

22 armed men killed by Syrian troops in Aleppo

DAMASCUS, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- A total of 22 gunmen were killed Saturday in clashes with government troops in Syria's northern province of Aleppo, the state-run SANA news agency said.

The clashes took place at Tal Zarazir in Aleppo, SANA reported, adding that the troops also dealt deadly blows to armed insurgents at Wadihi and Kafr Dael in Aleppo, once a bastion of support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Aleppo, a city of three million, has emerged as a key battleground in Syria's civil war.

The clashes there hit a new high after rebels announced Thursday the start of "decisive battle."

SANA said the army has been dealing deadly blows to the armed militias in Aleppo, adding that scores are being killed on daily basis.

Source: http://english.sina.com/world/2012/0929/511832.html

kingdom of heaven

Afghan forces also suffer from insider attacks

FILE - In this July 9, 2010 file photograph, an Afghan National Army soldier wears an ammunition belt around his neck during a joint patrol with United States Army soldiers from Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion of the 508 Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne, in the volatile Arghandab Valley, outside Kandahar City. U.S. military officials have noted that Afghan security forces are dying in insider attacks along with foreign troops, but so far, the Afghan government has not provided statistics on the number killed. (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer, File)

FILE - In this July 9, 2010 file photograph, an Afghan National Army soldier wears an ammunition belt around his neck during a joint patrol with United States Army soldiers from Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion of the 508 Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne, in the volatile Arghandab Valley, outside Kandahar City. U.S. military officials have noted that Afghan security forces are dying in insider attacks along with foreign troops, but so far, the Afghan government has not provided statistics on the number killed. (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer, File)

FILE - In this Oct. 3, 2009 file photo, U.S. Marine squad leader Sgt. Matthew Duquette, left, of Warrenville, Ill., with Bravo Company, 1st Battalion 5th Marines walks with Afghan National Army Lt. Hussein, during in a joint patrol in Nawa district, Helmand province, southern Afghanistan. U.S. military officials have noted that Afghan security forces are dying in insider attacks along with foreign troops, but so far, the Afghan government has not provided statistics on the number killed. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley, File)

(AP) ? Afghan Army Sgt. Habibullah Hayar didn't know it, but he had been sleeping with his enemy for weeks.

Twenty days ago, one of his roommates was arrested for allegedly plotting an insider attack against their unit, which is partnered with NATO forces in eastern Paktia province.

Afghan soldiers and policemen ? or militants in their uniforms ? have gunned down more than 50 foreign troops so far this year, eroding the trust between coalition forces and their Afghan partners. An equal number of Afghan policemen and soldiers also died in these attacks, giving them reason as well to be suspicious of possible infiltrators within their ranks.

"It's not only foreigners. They are targeting Afghan security forces too," said the 21-year-old Hayar, who was in Kabul on leave. "Sometimes, I think what kind of situation is this that a Muslim cannot trust a Muslim ? even a brother cannot trust a brother. It's so confused. Nobody knows what's going on."

The U.S.-led coalition said a NATO service member and an international civilian contractor were killed on Saturday in the latest such insider attack. The coalition said in a statement on Sunday that Afghan soldiers were also killed or wounded, but provided no other details about the attack in eastern Afghanistan.

Insider attacks are taking a toll on the partnership, prompting the U.S. military to restrict operations with small-sized Afghan units earlier this month.

The close contact ? with coalition forces working side by side with Afghan troops as advisers, mentors and trainers ? is a key part of the U.S. strategy for putting the Afghans in the lead as the U.S. and other nations prepare to pull out their last combat troops at the end of 2014, just 27 months away.

The U.S. military also has shown increasing anger over the attacks.

"I'm mad as hell about them, to be honest with you," Gen. John Allen, the top commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, told CBS' "60 Minutes" in an interview scheduled to be broadcast on Sunday. "It reverberates everywhere across the United States. You know, we're willing to sacrifice a lot for this campaign, but we're not willing to be murdered for it."

So far this year, at least 52 foreign troops ? about half of them Americans ? have been killed in insider attacks. The Afghan government has not provided statistics on the number of its forces killed in insider attacks. However, U.S. military statistics obtained by The Associated Press show at least 53 members of the Afghan security forces had been killed as of the end of August.

A U.S. military official disclosed the numbers on condition of anonymity because he said it was up to Afghan officials to formally release the figures. An Afghan defense official who was shown the statistics said he had no reason to doubt their accuracy.

Overall, the statistics show that at least 135 Afghan policemen and soldiers have been killed in insider attacks since 2007. That's more than the 119 foreign service members ? mostly Americans ? killed in such attacks since then, according to NATO.

Typically, foreign troops are the main targets, but Afghan forces also have been killed by comrades angry over their collaboration with Westerners and many more get killed in the crossfire, Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Zahir Azimi said. He said the ministry did not have a breakdown of how many had been targeted or killed in gunbattles during the attacks.

In at least one instance, an Afghan police officer with alleged ties to militants, killed 10 of his fellow officers on Aug. 11 at a checkpoint in southwestern Nimroz province. An Afghan soldier also was killed on April 25 when a fellow soldier opened fire on a U.S. service member and his translator in Kandahar province, the southern birthplace of the Taliban.

Last year, a suicide bomber in an Afghan police uniform blew himself up May 28 in Takhar province, killing two NATO service members and four Afghans, including a senior police commander. And just a week before that, four Taliban fighters wearing suicide vests under police uniforms attacked a government building in Khost province, triggering a gunbattle that left three Afghan policemen and two Afghan soldiers dead. On April 16, an Afghan soldier walked into a meeting of NATO trainers and Afghan troops in Laghman province, blew himself up, killing five U.S. troops, four Afghan soldiers and an interpreter.

"It's difficult to know an attacker from a non-attacker when everybody is wearing a uniform, Hayar said.

The attacker was one of seven people rounded up earlier this month from various units within the Afghan National Army Corps 203, Hayar said. The corps covers the eastern Afghan provinces of Paktia, Paktika, Ghazni, Wardak, Logar and Khost.

"He was together with me in my room with some of my other colleagues. He had a long beard. We didn't know anything about him. We were living together, sleeping together," said Hayar, who has been in the Afghan army for 2 1/2 years.

He said the suspected infiltrator was identified after a Taliban militant arrested in Logar told his Afghan interrogators that members of the fundamentalist Islamic movement had infiltrated the corps and were planning imminent attacks. That prompted Hayar's superiors to start questioning soldiers in various units.

Hayar said his roommate's uneasy reaction raised suspicion, and investigators found Taliban songs saved to the memory card of his cell phone. He was then detained by Afghan intelligence officials and confessed he was a member of the Taliban and planned to stage attacks.

Hayar says he assumes his former bunkmate was probably going after foreign forces, but it makes him uncomfortable nevertheless.

"It's very hard to trust anybody ? even a roommate," he said. "Whenever I'm not on duty, I lock my weapon and keep the key myself. I don't put my weapon under my pillow to sleep because maybe someone will grab it and shoot me with my own weapon."

To counter such attacks, the U.S. military earlier this year stopped training about 1,000 members of the Afghan Local Police, a controversial network of village-defense units. U.S. commanders have assigned some troops to be "guardian angels" who watch over their comrades even as they sleep. U.S. officials also recently ordered American troops to carry loaded weapons at all time, even when they are on their bases.

Then, after a string of insider attacks, Allen this month restricted operations carried out alongside with small-sized Afghan units. Coalition troops have routinely conducted patrols or manned outposts with small groups of Afghan counterparts, but Allen's directive said such operations would no longer be considered routine and required the approval of the regional commander.

For their part, Afghan authorities have detained or removed hundreds of soldiers as part of its effort to re-screen its security forces. The Ministry of Defense also released a 28-page training booklet this month that advises soldiers not to be personally offended when foreign troops do things Afghans view as deeply insulting.

The booklet urges them not to take revenge for foreign troops' social blunders, such as blowing their noses in public, stepping into a mosque with their shoes on, walking in front of a soldier who is praying or asking about their wives.

"Most of the coalition members are interested to share pictures of their families. It is not a big deal for them. If someone asks you about your family, especially the females in your family, don't think they are disrespecting you or trying to insult you," the booklet says.

"That is not the case. By asking such questions, they are trying to show that they want to learn more about you. You can very easily explain to them that nobody in Afghanistan would ask, especially about wives or females in the family."

___

Associated Press writers Amir Shah and Rahim Faiez in Kabul contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-09-30-Afghan-Insider%20Attacks/id-e65bbd96bca4407ebbcd9b90e8adf413

Avalanna Gigi Chao Jimmy Hoffa Ed Hochuli Opie modern family george strait

Campbell?s Soup and Comcast Leave California

Home > News >
Campbell?s Soup and Comcast Leave California


?

?

CALIFORNIA?? Campbell?s Soup and Comcast have both announced this week that they are leaving California and continuing operations elsewhere.?Their migration will uproot nearly 2,000 jobs that support California families. Dr. Lin has issued the following statement:?

?"Over-regulation and high tax rates have driven hundreds of businesses to pack their bags and leave to other states. ?Over the past decade we have seen a multitude of companies who have had just?enough?with California's unfriendly business environment. ?Every time a?company?closes its doors in California, we have another set of families whose lives are placed in jeopardy.?California needs change, and it needs it now.?

?

###

Source: http://www.votedrlin.com/news/campbells_soup_and_comcast_leave_california

detroit red wings

Buying Children Clothes Online Without Breaking Your Piggybank

While children?s clothing is the latest trend in the modern society, buying children clothing does not have to be very expensive. There are many online options available that make children?s clothes affordable for parents who are looking for cheap children clothes online.

It is very important for parents to learn important tips and tricks to build a nice wardrobe for children without breaking their piggybanks. The following are some useful tips for parents who are looking to buy affordable clothes for children.

End of Season Sale Online

It is easy to find clothes for children at affordable prices for a season that has passed at sale price where parents can save up to 75% cost on the clothes. By buying children clothes online at the end of the season, parents can take advantage of lower prices and easily stock up their wardrobe with quality clothes without spending a lot of money. By making wise choices at the end of a season, parents can avoid paying high prices for the same clothes the next season. This is especially great for collecting accessories and outerwear, as they are usually the most costly clothing piece of winder wardrobe and most of these outfits can be worn throughout the year.

Coupon Codes

Parents can also take advantage of coupon codes to buy children clothes online at cheaper rates. These coupon codes can be found in email lists where parents can sign up. It is easy to sign up for such emails in order to find out about children?s items in sales available in online stores.

Using coupon codes, parents can purchase cheap children?s clothing that can help them save up to 60% on the total cost.

Online Auctions

There are various websites offering online auctions. These are a feasible option for parents looking for cheap clothing for children. Popular auction websites usually offer affordable clothes from the clearance rack of renowned department stores and brand names. The advantage of buying from these online websites is that parents are able to fill their children?s wardrobe with clothes and accessories of famous brand names with started prices as low as $1.

However, do not ignore the cost of shipment when ordering clothes from online auction websites. Adding the cost of shipping to the price of clothes will determine the actual price and the real deal parents are opting for.

These are some easy and popular ways to find affordable and cheap children clothes online that will not only help you fill your children?s wardrobe with nice and quality clothes but will save you diving into your savings.

For more info regarding buy clothes online and cheap clothes visit website thepennyshop.com.sg

Source: http://toddsblogs.com/shoppingandproductreviews/2012/09/28/buying-children-clothes-online-without-breaking-your-piggybank/

quirky

calcuttanews: Justice Altamas Kabir sworn in as new Chief Justice of India Update Kabir http://t.co/7F2kqY7I