Raids conducted in the past week have met with stirring success..... but you'd never learn that from the mainstream media. The story points out several positives from Iraq that the general public will never learn about. A shame indeed. The reporting is only what we've come to expect each and every day. The negatives which only keep a total pull out to the forefront.

Three U.S. Senators stand up for milblogs.

technorati tag: iraq 

Derivatives are counterparty vehicles. We know close to nothing about derivatives, but there is a weak counterparty that could be a hidden time bomb. These are the sub-prime mortgage lenders.

At what point is saturation where risk has been parcelled out to a maximum level? The credit manufacturers will tell you that the credit has been carefully distributed. But is $400 trillion enough? So should we say $600 trillion? The 600 trillion number is not out of the question given the rate of growth. Is everyone believing that the underlying real value of the global financial system has grown as fast as the credit piled on top of it?

Just about everywhere you hear private equity has to keep rising and equity markets must keep rising.  The main driver behind these notions are stronger growth rates and low interest rates. In the background we are seeing concerns that a major correction of global asset markets is not far off. Some predict that is will happen in 2007 or in Q1 of 2008. The key to the concern is liquidity. There still is plenty of money floating around the global markets. But markets have become highly leveraged. Many investors have borrowed more money than they initially planned to so as to take advantage of the bull markets. This situation sets up so that a slight change in liquidity can tip the balance and force liquidation of the major players. They rush for the exits ate the same time.

my del.icio.us bookmarks 

Bloomberg has repeatedly said he will not enter the race for President. Some pundits have suggested that he may run as an independent candidate with a mostly self-funded effort. There have been some who have said he would jump in the race late without going through the Iowa and New Hampshire tests. With a packed field, one would have to say that if he'll run, an independent candidacy might be the way to run.

Recently in Houston, Bloomberg praised President Bush for his energy policies, especially for the bio-fuel growth and the plan signed with Brazil to promote "sugar- based" fuels.   

technorati tag: politics 

physorg.com source story 

slashdot.com entry: The Human Mutation 

technorati tag: science

The raid in which Mr. Jubouri was killed with four other people was conducted on four buildings in a town north of Baghdad and four miles west of the Taji air base. Six people were detained. In April, American forces conducted 139 operations specifically aimed at Al Qaeda in Iraq, killing 87 and detaining 465.

technorati tag: iraq 

Iran is governed by a repressive regime and likes to make mischief for the west. The Iranian president was most likely involved in capturing the U.S. Embassy back in 1979. He therefore knows something about hostage taking. Will this play out like that episode? So far, on the Iranian end, it just might be. There is possibly the argument going on in the Iranian leadership of what next to do with the hostages. But that's another story.

For now, the U.S. and its allies must duck and weave their way through this situation. The Iraq War has drained even the hardest line drawer. A showdown with Iran is not hardly mentioned and Hastings mentions that people around the world are more fearful of George W. Bush than Iran with nuclear weapons. But this hasn't changed the mindset of Iran. They are still committed to terrorism and a worldview of the U.S. being the big thug on the block isn't going to change that.

technorati tag: war on terror

President Bush wasn't the only one denouncing the bill. Iraqi Vice-President Tareq al-Hashemi said the troop withdrawal would create a security vacuum. The U.S. Senate is expected to vote on the Senate version of the bill within the week.  

14 Democrats voted against the bill.  

technorati tag: iraq 

The Obama campaign does not know who is responsible for the re-made ad. Bill Burton, a spokesman for the Obama campaign said he has received inquiries about the ad. Burton did say that the Internet has given much energy to politics through a variety of communities.

This is frankly a new era in politics in which the general community is contributing ads and ideas. New campaigners have the medium to contribute to the message or create a whole new theme. Bob Gardner, a campaign aid to former President Gerald Ford, says the ad is powerful and calls for a generational change in politics.

Perhaps you had heard that the Clintons are coming across as old. The "new" generation calls out for a new voice and that voice is Obama. There is bound to be more ads of this type as the campaign progresses. We are going down new avenues in politics.

view on the ad on YouTube 

technorati tag: youtube 

Insurgents began combining explosives and chlorine gas in January. This new campaign is likely an Al Qaeda operation to intimidate moderate tribes who have waged an opposition effort against Al Qaeda factions.  

Iraq's Shi'ite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki had been in the region less than a week prior to the attacks. His mission was to to persuade Sunni clan chiefs to halt support for the insurgency. The gas attacks have prompted the U.S. military to warn of new tactics being used by the insurgents. This new wave of violence has shown that Al Qaeda has a priority in the Anbar area. These attacks show that Sunnis are being targeted. Sunni tribal leaders have recently cooperated with Iraqi police and U.S. military authorities by remaining non-violent recently.

technorati tag: war on terror 

technorati tag: iraq 

Ty Andros writes on commodity trader.com that ethanol isn't that economical to produce and isn't the best btu fuel. Not the "bang for the buck" that we assume.  Potential investors be wary as the train is on the track heading right for you and its picking up steam for the consumer that gets in the way.

economy