Yesterday, a group of American Jews called on U.S. President-elect Barack Obama to transfer the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in a move so far declined by many American presidents in light of the controversy still present regarding the status of the holy city.
In West Jerusalem, a gathering of about 100 Jewish extremists were spotted in the area chosen by the U.S. Congress in 1995 for the future U.S. embassy establishment.
The participants sang the American national anthem and waved banners reading: "President Obama: the capital of Israel is where the U.S. embassy should be."
A resolution was passed by Congress in 1995 to transfer the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem in 1999 but successive American administrations have delayed its implementation.
Source
12.01.2008
Iran to UK: Time to get on the life boat
TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said that Britain is still on board the doomed ship of US politics. |  | |
"British officials' remarks show that they have learned no lessons from the past, and apparently they do not intend to correct their wrong policies," Mottaki told reporters following a cabinet meeting on Wednesday.
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband gave a speech in Abu Dhabi on Monday claiming that the prospect of a nuclear-armed Iran is "the most immediate threat" to Middle East stability."
"The British government has not properly recognized the Iranian nation over the past 30 years," adding, "Iran will never yield to unfair policies," MNA quoted Mottaki as saying.
The Iranian foreign minister expressed hope that British officials would correct their wrong policies and change their approach toward the Middle East.
Read full story
Sad News: Calculated Risk Ace, Tanta, Passes
I read Calculated Risk from time to time. She was a great blogger and teacher, and she knew her stuff. Tanta was the Steve Gilliard of Economics. - Ed.
More information here.
More information here.
'Hundreds dead' in Nigeria riots
Hundreds of people have been killed in the central Nigerian city of Jos after Christians and Muslims clashed over the results of a local election, a senior Red Cross official has said.
The official, who asked not to be named, said on Saturday that 218 bodies were lying in the main mosque in Jos, awaiting burial.
Sheikh Khalid Abubakar, the imam at the mosque, claimed that more than 400 dead bodies were brought to the mosque.
Secret Citibank Memo: Civil Disorder in 2009 or 2010
An internal memo from a top Citibank analyst reveals what the banks really think about the global financial situation, and the outlook is grim.
“The world is not going back to normal after the magnitude of what they have done. When the dust settles this will either work, and the money they have pushed into the system will feed through into an inflation shock,” wrote Tom Fitzpatrick, Citibank’s chief technical strategist.
He goes on to explain that the massive money creation efforts by the Federal Reserve and other central banks will end with one of two things: A resurgence of inflation, or a fall into “depression, civil disorder and possibly wars.” Either outcome, he says, will cause the price of gold to skyrocket. Gold will push to well over $2,000 per ounce, he explains.
The 'Patriot Act Effect' kicks in immediately
Summary of Tom Heneghan report:
Israelis disguised at Indian paramilitary terrorists, six killed.
Ten phone calls between Nariman House and Taj Mahal in day before attacks.
Somali pirates connected to Canadian government, smuggling nuclear materials.
Terrorist event (nuclear?) planned for South Florida or DC.
Right on cue: NYC preparing for Mumbai-style attacks, rushing to protect Jewish centers
The terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India, have prompted authorities in New York City to beef up security at large hotels and Jewish centers, including the Lubavitch headquarters.
Israelis disguised at Indian paramilitary terrorists, six killed.
Ten phone calls between Nariman House and Taj Mahal in day before attacks.
Somali pirates connected to Canadian government, smuggling nuclear materials.
Terrorist event (nuclear?) planned for South Florida or DC.
Right on cue: NYC preparing for Mumbai-style attacks, rushing to protect Jewish centers
The terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India, have prompted authorities in New York City to beef up security at large hotels and Jewish centers, including the Lubavitch headquarters.
Accrording to WCBSTV.com, the New York City Police Department had already been on high alert over concerns of a possible strike over the Thanksgiving holiday. But the attacks in India, which claimed about 200 lives, prompted enhanced security.
According to The Associated Press, victims of the Mumbai attacks include New York Rabbi Gavriel Noach Holtzberg and his wife, Rivkah, who were found at a Chabad Lubavitch Jewish center attacked by Muslim militants. Their son, Moshe, was saved.
Pentagon plans to station 20,000 troops for 'domestic security'
AFP — The US Department of Defense plans to deploy 20,000 troops nationwide by 2011 to help state and local officials respond to terror or nuclear attacks and emergencies, The Washington Post said Monday.
Citing Pentagon officials, the newspaper said the plan calls for three rapid-reaction forces.
The first 4,700-strong unit, built around an active-duty combat brigade, is based at Fort Stewart, Georgia, and is already available for deployment, according to General Victor Renuart, commander of the US Northern Command, it said.
Mumbai Sampler: Theories
Brother Nathanael Kapner in the Pakistan Daily: The Israeli Mossad False Flag Operation Strikes in Mumbai
The Anti Defamation Leauge expressed outrage at the Mumbai ‘terrorist’ attacks that “targeted innocent victims because they were Jews.” Abraham Foxman, ADL Director, issued the following statement: “This brutal attack once again shows that terrorists single out Jews. The attack is a reminder that the world must stand up against all terrorism, because in the end no one is safe until terrorism is combated in all its manifestations.” View Entire Story Here.
Well of course Jews like Foxman use the Mumbai incident as an opportunity to promote the ‘war on terror.’ Once again, Muslims are made the ‘enemies’ of all mankind, rather than the Zionist Jews, who are engaged in ethnic cleansing of Arab Muslims & Christians in Palestine and responsible for world wide chaos since the inception of their rogue state of Israel.
Also - the ‘terrorist’ attacks in Mumbai will be used by Zionist Jews as justification for a US invasion of Pakistan, yet another ‘enemy’ of Israel.
Read full story
Dictatorship Watch: The Real Beneficiaries are Extremists in Israel and India
Was this India’s 9/11? The best way of answer that is to try and imagine if this had happened in Pakistan, Iraq or Afghanistan, where this many people die on weekly basis if not as a daily routine. Of course, in New York this owuld have been another 9/11. Controlled media would have made a three-ays carnage like this even more deeply traumatic for New Yorkers than the actual 9/11 attacks. Like Operation 9/11, media would have played its role in helping hte planners achieve their objectives. The 24-hour cable network news coverage would have been breathtakingly sensational. As we will see, it was not a 9/11 as such but the coincidences, the lies and deceptions, the pre-conceived conclusions before any real investigations, promotion of anti-Muslim sentiments and associated lies tell us that this is being turned into another 9/11: this time to target Pakistan.
Read full story
Signs of an attempted coup in New Delhi: Secular Rightwing Ideologues and Hindu Nationalists use Mumbai attacks to seize power
Preliminary signs emerging fromIndia New Delhi New Delhi India India United States India China Pakistan Pakistan U.S. Afghanistan
Read full story
Drugs & Money Laundering: India nails British Dope, Inc. hand behind Mumbai attacks
Related: LeT denies link to Mumbai attacks
WASHINGTON: The banned Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LT) denied its involvement in the Mumbai terror attacks even as US media and intelligence speculated about the group’s possible role in the attacks that left over 200 people, including several foreigners, dead in India’s financial capital, Mumbai.
The New York Times reported on its website there was mounting evidence implicating the Kashmir-based LT.
Citing unnamed intelligence and counterterrorism officials, the newspaper said US intelligence agencies had not so far reached any firm conclusions about the perpetrators of the attacks. However, they said evidence gathered in the past two days pointed to LT or possibly another group based in Kashmir, the Jaish-e-Muhammad, according to the report.
A US counterterrorism official told AFP the LT might have been responsible.
“Some of the things that have been learnt thus far do point in the direction of a Kashmiri connection,” the counter-terrorism official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity. “But it’s still too early for definitive conclusions. That does go beyond the fact that some of the features of the attacks are consistent with the sorts of things that we have seen from Kashmiri groups in the past,” the official said. afp
Source
The Anti Defamation Leauge expressed outrage at the Mumbai ‘terrorist’ attacks that “targeted innocent victims because they were Jews.” Abraham Foxman, ADL Director, issued the following statement: “This brutal attack once again shows that terrorists single out Jews. The attack is a reminder that the world must stand up against all terrorism, because in the end no one is safe until terrorism is combated in all its manifestations.” View Entire Story Here.
Well of course Jews like Foxman use the Mumbai incident as an opportunity to promote the ‘war on terror.’ Once again, Muslims are made the ‘enemies’ of all mankind, rather than the Zionist Jews, who are engaged in ethnic cleansing of Arab Muslims & Christians in Palestine and responsible for world wide chaos since the inception of their rogue state of Israel.
Also - the ‘terrorist’ attacks in Mumbai will be used by Zionist Jews as justification for a US invasion of Pakistan, yet another ‘enemy’ of Israel.
Read full story
Dictatorship Watch: The Real Beneficiaries are Extremists in Israel and India
Was this India’s 9/11? The best way of answer that is to try and imagine if this had happened in Pakistan, Iraq or Afghanistan, where this many people die on weekly basis if not as a daily routine. Of course, in New York this owuld have been another 9/11. Controlled media would have made a three-ays carnage like this even more deeply traumatic for New Yorkers than the actual 9/11 attacks. Like Operation 9/11, media would have played its role in helping hte planners achieve their objectives. The 24-hour cable network news coverage would have been breathtakingly sensational. As we will see, it was not a 9/11 as such but the coincidences, the lies and deceptions, the pre-conceived conclusions before any real investigations, promotion of anti-Muslim sentiments and associated lies tell us that this is being turned into another 9/11: this time to target Pakistan.
Read full story
Signs of an attempted coup in New Delhi: Secular Rightwing Ideologues and Hindu Nationalists use Mumbai attacks to seize power
Preliminary signs emerging from
Exploiting the fears of a traumatized nation and a government caught sleeping at the wheel, a core group of rightwing ideologues within
Read full story
Drugs & Money Laundering: India nails British Dope, Inc. hand behind Mumbai attacks
November 29, 2008 (LPAC)--Early today, the Indian Express published a headline article, "Dawood Gave Logistical Support to Mumbai Attackers,'' identifying a leading figure in South Asian Dope, Inc. smuggling operations, Dawood Ibrahim, as a key logistical figure behind the asymmetric warfare attack on the Indian city of Mumbai over the past days.
Although currently based in Karachi, Pakistan and Dubai, Dawood Ibrahim for years was the central mafia figure in Mumbai, and in the Indian Bihar region, bordering with Nepal, smuggling gold in and out of India, and establishing links with South Asia's major opium smuggling networks. In 1999, and again in 2001, Dawood Ibrahim was linked to major terrorist incidents, including the hijacking of an Air India commercial flight, rerouted to Taliban-controlled Kandahar, Afghanistan (1999), and the assault on the Indian parliament in New Delhi (2001). Since 2003, Dawood Ibrahim has been on the U.S. State Department's list of international terrorists, for his links to Al Qaeda and to the Indian and Pakistan-based Lashkar e-Taiba (LeT). He has been identified as an asset of MI6-linked elements of Pakistan's ISI.
Read full storyRelated: LeT denies link to Mumbai attacks
WASHINGTON: The banned Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LT) denied its involvement in the Mumbai terror attacks even as US media and intelligence speculated about the group’s possible role in the attacks that left over 200 people, including several foreigners, dead in India’s financial capital, Mumbai.
The New York Times reported on its website there was mounting evidence implicating the Kashmir-based LT.
Citing unnamed intelligence and counterterrorism officials, the newspaper said US intelligence agencies had not so far reached any firm conclusions about the perpetrators of the attacks. However, they said evidence gathered in the past two days pointed to LT or possibly another group based in Kashmir, the Jaish-e-Muhammad, according to the report.
A US counterterrorism official told AFP the LT might have been responsible.
“Some of the things that have been learnt thus far do point in the direction of a Kashmiri connection,” the counter-terrorism official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity. “But it’s still too early for definitive conclusions. That does go beyond the fact that some of the features of the attacks are consistent with the sorts of things that we have seen from Kashmiri groups in the past,” the official said. afp
Source
Other Curious Angles
Britons are among those detained, official claims
Britons were among the militants arrested for the Bombay attacks, a senior Indian official said yesterday.
Indian Police Complicity? Armed police would not fire back.
Excerpt:
"The handwriting and character of the Mumbai events demonstrates that they were not ordinary terrorists," said Vladimir Klyukin, an Afghan war veteran.
"Behind this terrorist attack there are 'Green Flag' special operations forces, which were created by the Americans in Pakistan, just an year before the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, and in the initial period were under full US control," stressed Klyukin, a veteran of the special "Vympel" commando group of the former Soviet KGB.
Read full story
Britons were among the militants arrested for the Bombay attacks, a senior Indian official said yesterday.
Vilasrao Deshmukh, the chief minister of Maharashtra state, in which Bombay lies, made the claim on an Indian television station.
Patrick Mercer, MP, a former Conservative security spokesman, told The Times that he had been given information that at least two of the terrorists had credit cards and other identifying documents that linked them to Dewsbury, West Yorkshire. Other reports last night claimed that men from Leeds and Bradford were among the terrorists.
Read full storyIndian Police Complicity? Armed police would not fire back.
Excerpt:
But what angered Mr D'Souza almost as much were the masses of armed police hiding in the area who simply refused to shoot back. "There were armed policemen hiding all around the station but none of them did anything," he said. "At one point, I ran up to them and told them to use their weapons. I said, 'Shoot them, they're sitting ducks!' but they just didn't shoot back."
As the gunmen fired at policemen taking cover across the street, Mr D'Souza realised a train was pulling into the station unaware of the horror within. "I couldn't believe it. We rushed to the platform and told everyone to head towards the back of the station. Those who were older and couldn't run, we told them to stay put."
The militants returned inside the station and headed towards a rear exit towards Chowpatty Beach. Mr D'Souza added: "I told some policemen the gunmen had moved towards the rear of the station but they refused to follow them. What is the point if having policemen with guns if they refuse to use them? I only wish I had a gun rather than a camera."
Russian expert says attackers trained by special forces
"The handwriting and character of the Mumbai events demonstrates that they were not ordinary terrorists," said Vladimir Klyukin, an Afghan war veteran.
"Behind this terrorist attack there are 'Green Flag' special operations forces, which were created by the Americans in Pakistan, just an year before the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, and in the initial period were under full US control," stressed Klyukin, a veteran of the special "Vympel" commando group of the former Soviet KGB.
Read full story
The Pakistan angle: News stories connecting Pakistan to Mumbai attacks
Pakistan offers full co-op in probe of Mumbai terror attacks
ISLAMABAD, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan will stand by India in the difficult times after the Mumbai terrorist attacks and would like to offer India full cooperation in the probe of the incident, the foreign office said in a statement on Saturday.
ISLAMABAD, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan will stand by India in the difficult times after the Mumbai terrorist attacks and would like to offer India full cooperation in the probe of the incident, the foreign office said in a statement on Saturday.
Addressing a news conference here, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that the Pakistani government was unanimous in condemnation of the barbaric acts of terrorism and offered condolences to the government of India and the bereaved families.
Pakistan is prepared to offer unconditional support and assistance to unearth who was behind this attack, Qureshi said adding that Pakistani government attached the great importance to the friendly and good neighborly relations with India. Qureshi clarified that India had not blamed the Pakistani government for involvement in the incident. He also urged Indian media to act responsibly, with a clear reference to some Indian media reports pointing fingers at Pakistan for the attacks in Mumbai.
Qureshi said that no evidence had been offered to Pakistan by India. Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, when talking to CNN-IBN TV on Saturday, said Pakistan would take quick action in front of the world if any evidence indicated the involvement of any individual or group in any part of Pakistan.
Pakistan may relocate 100,000 army personnel to border
Pakistan may relocate around 100,000 military personnel from its restive border area with Afghanistan if there is an escalation in tension with India,which has hinted at the involvement of Pakistani elements in the Mumbai carnage, a media report said today.
Private channel Geo News reported that Pakistan's military and intelligence sources told a select group of journalists today that NATO and American command had been told
that Islamabad [Images] would be forced to relocate its military from the borders with Afghanistan if there is escalation in tension with India, where nearly 200 people were killed in the multiple terror attacks on the Indian financial capital.
India: Mumbai Gunmen were Pakistani
India's deputy home minister has said that all the gunmen behind the Mumbai attacks that left nearly 200 people dead were from Pakistan.
“The terrorists who have been killed in these encounters in Mumbai in the last few days were of Pakistani origin," Shakeel Ahmad told the BBC in an interview on Monday.
Islamabad has rejected Indian accusations that openly blamed Pakistani-based 'elements' of involvement in the terror attacks, citing lack of concrete evidence and warning New Delhi against 'over-reaction'.
...The minister also shrugged off Islamabad's fury over the allegations, stressing that he was “not saying that it is sponsored by the Pakistan government," but Pakistan has become a base for anti-India activities."
The Israeli angle: New stories connecting terrorists with Nariman House
Terrorists camped out at Neriman House for up to two weeks?
Two of the hostages killed were identified as Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife, Rivka, the couple who ran the centre, said a spokesman for the Chabad-Lubavitch movement. Their 18-month-old son had been one of three people rescued from the centre on Thursday.
In a telephone interview with CBC News from outside the centre, freelance journalist Arun Asthhana said there are reports that some of the militants had stayed at a guest house there for up to 15 days before the attacks.
"They had a huge mass of ammunition, arms and food there," Asthhana said.
Was Nariman House the terror hub?Mumbai: India's financial capital, Mumbai seems to be going through its longest night for the last two days. Wednesday, 9.40 pm,the affluent south Mumbai was struck by terrorists, at 12 different locations, including the VT station, a hub for all railway trains, to two of the most luxurious hotels, Taj Mahal and Oberoi Trident.
24 hours later, the attention has riveted to these hotels, and a tiny nondescript building, barely a few meters away from the Taj Mahal hotel. Housing a five-storied guest house for Israeli nationals, this building is turning out to be the 'den' for the militants.
"I saw 6 to 7 boats coming in on Wednesday evening and about ten people unloaded many bags from these boats and then gradually took them into the building, Nariman House', Vitthal Tandel, a fisherman in the area said. "The building has many rooms and these are used a s guest houses by travelers, largely Israeli residents. None of us know what their names are", he said.
Read full story
More links at Wake Up From Your Slumber
Several tidbits from various news reports support the theory that Mumbai's Chabad House may have been the hub of the recent terrorist attacks in India.
From the Pakistan Daily:
The initial firing began at the Chabad/Nariman House, an easy access for Mossad operatives. Hindus of the Nariman area spoke live on several TV channels saying that for two years suspicious activities were taking place in the Chabad/Nariman House, raising concern regarding Israel’s involvement in the Hindutva Revolution, the current opposition government.
The “Middle” Class
The Origins of the “Middle Class”
There is a reason that this article has quotations around Middle. If one speaks of a middle it usually denotes “in between,” but in this case in between what?
There was a time when the term “middle class” had a definite economic and sociological meaning. Back in the Middle Ages about 500 years ago, the middle class meant in between the upper class of nobleman and lower class of serfs. Feudalism had several classes: feudal lords , theologians, artisans, and finally the lowest rung of the ladder-the serfs that went with the land owned by the feudal lords Each class was clearly defined into law that reflected feudal society.
Presently this number has been drastically altered.
continue reading
There is a reason that this article has quotations around Middle. If one speaks of a middle it usually denotes “in between,” but in this case in between what?
There was a time when the term “middle class” had a definite economic and sociological meaning. Back in the Middle Ages about 500 years ago, the middle class meant in between the upper class of nobleman and lower class of serfs. Feudalism had several classes: feudal lords , theologians, artisans, and finally the lowest rung of the ladder-the serfs that went with the land owned by the feudal lords Each class was clearly defined into law that reflected feudal society.
Presently this number has been drastically altered.
continue reading
New device harnesses energy from slow currents
“If we could harness 0.1 per cent of the energy in the ocean, we could support the energy needs of 15 billion people. In the English Channel, for example, there is a very strong current, so you produce a lot of power.”
There’s plenty of energy out there that’s just waiting to be harassed. As usual, however, Peak Soil is the problem.
Via: Telegraph:
A revolutionary device that can harness energy from slow-moving rivers and ocean currents could provide enough power for the entire world, scientists claim.
The War Against Toys and Pharma-ganda
The only way outta town tonight is Santa Claus. Kris Kringle. The Man in the Red Suit.
Couldn’t think anything but bad thoughts Sunday when I heard it in the other room: “Santa Clause is Coming To Town.” Clay-mation or stop-action-mation or however they made those cool Christmas specials featuring lights and snow and joyous elfin jesters back in the day.
This was the original, the story of how it all began, the story of the Revolution in Somberville and the War Against Toys.
continue reading
Couldn’t think anything but bad thoughts Sunday when I heard it in the other room: “Santa Clause is Coming To Town.” Clay-mation or stop-action-mation or however they made those cool Christmas specials featuring lights and snow and joyous elfin jesters back in the day.
This was the original, the story of how it all began, the story of the Revolution in Somberville and the War Against Toys.
continue reading
A Thanksgiving Fast For Peace
The holiday season is upon us.
The preposition is apt. We are not in the season, not even in the spirit of the season, but we feel it upon us, like a nightmare chimera. Many feel oppressed and depressed by it. We struggle for more light.
Perhaps it’s better to call it the shopping season. It starts with softening up the kids on Halloween — sending them out to beg, threaten or run “tricks” for sugar. A day that used to acknowledge the dead and the chthonic forces that help shape our lives, ends with kids computing who had the most money to buy the best costume.
Meantime, their parents gear up for Thanksgiving gorging. They may remember their own school daze — that it has something to do with the pilgrims and getting through the first hard winters — but nobody really cares. Few remember the “Indians” who got us through those winters, whom we summarily rewarded with slaughter and expropriation. Yet it is precisely to remember, to commemorate, that holidays are declared.
continue reading
The preposition is apt. We are not in the season, not even in the spirit of the season, but we feel it upon us, like a nightmare chimera. Many feel oppressed and depressed by it. We struggle for more light.
Perhaps it’s better to call it the shopping season. It starts with softening up the kids on Halloween — sending them out to beg, threaten or run “tricks” for sugar. A day that used to acknowledge the dead and the chthonic forces that help shape our lives, ends with kids computing who had the most money to buy the best costume.
Meantime, their parents gear up for Thanksgiving gorging. They may remember their own school daze — that it has something to do with the pilgrims and getting through the first hard winters — but nobody really cares. Few remember the “Indians” who got us through those winters, whom we summarily rewarded with slaughter and expropriation. Yet it is precisely to remember, to commemorate, that holidays are declared.
continue reading
11.30.2008
Benefits for poor facing big cuts
How typical - so much for "trickle-down economics"!
As more families seek aid, Ohio is scraping the bottom of its federal welfare money stash
By Catherine Candisky
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
For Ohio's neediest families, a bad situation is about to get worse.
The state is about to run out of extra federal welfare money, forcing spending cuts of more than $300 million next year unless new revenues are found.
The Strickland administration is working on the upcoming state budget and isn't ready to talk about what will be cut.
"There are certainly tough decisions ahead," said Keith Dailey, spokesman for the governor.
The crisis comes as the number of Ohioans seeking job training, cash assistance, food stamps, subsidized health care and emergency help is climbing. The state rolls for Medicaid, food stamps and the Women, Infants and Children aid program are at all-time highs.
"At a time when our economy is the worst and people have the most need, we have the least to help them," said Jack Frech, director of the Athens County Department of Job and Family Services.
Shrinking state revenues have forced two rounds of budget cuts this year, and Gov. Ted Strickland is likely to order a third in early 2009.
Advocates for the poor and the county agencies serving them say they are bracing for an additional 10 percent cut on top of all that in the 2010-11 state budget Strickland will unveil early next year.
Officials stress that the financial crunch will not stop eligible Ohioans from receiving mandated benefits such as food stamps and health coverage, but they are likely to wait longer for help.
State budget cuts are forcing county agencies across the state to lay off workers and slash discretionary services such as job-training and work-support programs that have helped thousands find and keep employment.
"When people come to us, they are in crisis," said Joel Potts, a senior policy analyst with the Ohio Job and Family Services Directors' Association. "We are the safety net, the last stop people turn to. If we don't have the people to provide the service or the programs to meet the need, then we're not filling that need.
"These are deep cuts, and they will be painful."
The Hamilton County Department of Job and Family Services in Cincinnati will cut 350 positions by the end of next year.
This month, Hocking County in southeastern Ohio abolished most of its job-training programs and other services aimed at helping low-income residents find and retain work.
And Franklin County is eliminating about 65 jobs through attrition and scaling back job-readiness, youth, and alcohol- and drug-prevention programs.
"There's never a good time for cuts, but at this time, we have to serve much greater numbers with less resources," said Douglas Lumpkin, director of the Franklin County Department of Job and Family Services.
Countywide enrollment in food stamps and Medicaid has risen about 10 percent in the past year, he said.
The federal government provides Ohio a $728 million block grant each year to assist low-income families; the state is required to add about $400 million to that.
Since the landmark 1996 Welfare Reform Act, the goal has been to help the poor finish high school, get job training, find work and keep it.
For about a decade, Ohio underspent its welfare money, building up a reserve that once reached nearly $1 billion. But in the past three years, the state has spent down that surplus and projections show it will be gone by the end of the year.
In fact, state officials now estimate that Ohio's Temporary Assistance to Needy Families budget will be at least $5.2 million in the red by June 30, the end of the fiscal year.
Rising costs from the state's subsidized child-care program are squeezing money from other efforts to make Ohioans self-sufficient, such as job training. State figures show Ohio is spending 132 percent more on its child-care program this year than it did a decade ago; the number of children served is up 41 percent.
Michelle Albast, chief of the Bureau of Child Care and Development for the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, said costs are higher because the program is serving more children and provider fees are up.
"The good news is we're serving more families and the cost of care is increasing, and we've been able to keep up with that," she said.
But it's at the expense of other programs, county officials say.
Among the Hocking County cuts was a truck-driving training school with a 100 percent placement rate.
"We cut job training, car repairs, work clothing, assistance for car insurance, tuition for training programs -- what we have left is a winter clothes program for kids and some services for individuals who are in some type of disaster," said Robert Smith, director of that county's Job and Family Services agency.
Hamilton County is coping with the loss of about $8 million over three years.
"We've already started laying off and we have had to reduce some services like welfare diversion, early childhood intervention services, job services and summer youth employment," said Brian Gregg, spokesman for the county's Department of Job and Family Services.
Across the state, county agencies say requests for assistance are growing and a good chunk of those asking for help have never sought it before.
A recent survey of Hamilton County applicants revealed that more than a third were either new to the system or had not asked for assistance in several years.
"I don't think folks realize how quickly things got this bad, and I think the system is going to be overwhelmed for a long time," Potts said.
As more families seek aid, Ohio is scraping the bottom of its federal welfare money stash
By Catherine Candisky
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
For Ohio's neediest families, a bad situation is about to get worse.
The state is about to run out of extra federal welfare money, forcing spending cuts of more than $300 million next year unless new revenues are found.
The Strickland administration is working on the upcoming state budget and isn't ready to talk about what will be cut.
"There are certainly tough decisions ahead," said Keith Dailey, spokesman for the governor.
The crisis comes as the number of Ohioans seeking job training, cash assistance, food stamps, subsidized health care and emergency help is climbing. The state rolls for Medicaid, food stamps and the Women, Infants and Children aid program are at all-time highs.
"At a time when our economy is the worst and people have the most need, we have the least to help them," said Jack Frech, director of the Athens County Department of Job and Family Services.
Shrinking state revenues have forced two rounds of budget cuts this year, and Gov. Ted Strickland is likely to order a third in early 2009.
Advocates for the poor and the county agencies serving them say they are bracing for an additional 10 percent cut on top of all that in the 2010-11 state budget Strickland will unveil early next year.
Officials stress that the financial crunch will not stop eligible Ohioans from receiving mandated benefits such as food stamps and health coverage, but they are likely to wait longer for help.
State budget cuts are forcing county agencies across the state to lay off workers and slash discretionary services such as job-training and work-support programs that have helped thousands find and keep employment.
"When people come to us, they are in crisis," said Joel Potts, a senior policy analyst with the Ohio Job and Family Services Directors' Association. "We are the safety net, the last stop people turn to. If we don't have the people to provide the service or the programs to meet the need, then we're not filling that need.
"These are deep cuts, and they will be painful."
The Hamilton County Department of Job and Family Services in Cincinnati will cut 350 positions by the end of next year.
This month, Hocking County in southeastern Ohio abolished most of its job-training programs and other services aimed at helping low-income residents find and retain work.
And Franklin County is eliminating about 65 jobs through attrition and scaling back job-readiness, youth, and alcohol- and drug-prevention programs.
"There's never a good time for cuts, but at this time, we have to serve much greater numbers with less resources," said Douglas Lumpkin, director of the Franklin County Department of Job and Family Services.
Countywide enrollment in food stamps and Medicaid has risen about 10 percent in the past year, he said.
The federal government provides Ohio a $728 million block grant each year to assist low-income families; the state is required to add about $400 million to that.
Since the landmark 1996 Welfare Reform Act, the goal has been to help the poor finish high school, get job training, find work and keep it.
For about a decade, Ohio underspent its welfare money, building up a reserve that once reached nearly $1 billion. But in the past three years, the state has spent down that surplus and projections show it will be gone by the end of the year.
In fact, state officials now estimate that Ohio's Temporary Assistance to Needy Families budget will be at least $5.2 million in the red by June 30, the end of the fiscal year.
Rising costs from the state's subsidized child-care program are squeezing money from other efforts to make Ohioans self-sufficient, such as job training. State figures show Ohio is spending 132 percent more on its child-care program this year than it did a decade ago; the number of children served is up 41 percent.
Michelle Albast, chief of the Bureau of Child Care and Development for the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, said costs are higher because the program is serving more children and provider fees are up.
"The good news is we're serving more families and the cost of care is increasing, and we've been able to keep up with that," she said.
But it's at the expense of other programs, county officials say.
Among the Hocking County cuts was a truck-driving training school with a 100 percent placement rate.
"We cut job training, car repairs, work clothing, assistance for car insurance, tuition for training programs -- what we have left is a winter clothes program for kids and some services for individuals who are in some type of disaster," said Robert Smith, director of that county's Job and Family Services agency.
Hamilton County is coping with the loss of about $8 million over three years.
"We've already started laying off and we have had to reduce some services like welfare diversion, early childhood intervention services, job services and summer youth employment," said Brian Gregg, spokesman for the county's Department of Job and Family Services.
Across the state, county agencies say requests for assistance are growing and a good chunk of those asking for help have never sought it before.
A recent survey of Hamilton County applicants revealed that more than a third were either new to the system or had not asked for assistance in several years.
"I don't think folks realize how quickly things got this bad, and I think the system is going to be overwhelmed for a long time," Potts said.
11.28.2008
Look how the pros do it.
Here it is: the anatomy of how a false flag drive events in a certain direction. Look at the starting assumption. "We begin by assuming the attackers are Islamist militant groups."
Excuse me?? Why??? Why do we begin with that assumption?? Because that is the assumption that drives the events in a certain direction, you dummy.
What happens if we start with a different assumption? [crickets]
Well, who does that? Do you think the corporate media would ever start with a different assumption, an assumption implicating Mossad or the CIA? Surely you jest.
Don't miss the end of this piece. This whole thing hinges on the accused not being able to "demonstrate categorically" that they were not involved. Do you see? The accusation does not have to be true, it merely needs to stick. This is PURE PONEROLOGY.
About Stratfor:
http://www.stratfor.com/about_stratforStratfor is the world’s leading online publisher of geopolitical intelligence. Our global team of intelligence professionals provides our Members with insights into political, economic, and military developments to reduce risks, to identify opportunities, and to stay aware of happenings around the globe.
Stratfor provides three types of intelligence products:
- Situational Awareness - News is a commodity that you can get anywhere on the Internet. Situational Awareness is knowing what matters, and an intelligence professional’s responsibility - Stratfor’s responsibility - is to keep you apprised of what matters without wasting your time with clutter. We provide near real-time developments from street revolutionary movements to military invasions. OJ’s latest arrest and mudslinging in Washington and Brussels don’t make the cut.
- Analyses - Stratfor tells its Members what events in the world actually mean. We also tell you when events are much ado about nothing. Oftentimes the seemingly momentous is geopolitically irrelevant and vice versa. We discern what’s important objectively - without ideology, a partisan agenda, or a policy prescription.
- Forecasts - Knowing what happened yesterday is helpful; knowing what’s going to happen tomorrow is critical. Stratfor’s intelligence team makes definitive calls about what’s next. These aren’t opinions about what should happen; they’re analytically rigorous predictions of what will happen.
Stratfor provides published intelligence and customized intelligence service for private individuals, global corporations, and divisions of the US and foreign governments around the world. Stratfor intelligence professionals routinely appear at conferences and as subject-matter experts in mainstream media. Stratfor was the subject of a cover-story article in Barron’s entitled The Shadow CIA.
Stratfor was founded by Dr. George Friedman in 1996. Stratfor is privately owned and has its headquarters in Austin, TX.
- Ed.
Stratfor Analysis: Red Alert: Possible Geopolitical Consequences of Mumbai Attacks (via S O S)
Summary
If the Nov. 26 attacks in Mumbai were carried out by Islamist militants as it appears, the Indian government will have little choice, politically speaking, but to blame them on Pakistan. That will in turn spark a crisis between the two nuclear rivals that will draw the United States into the fray.
Analysis
At this point the situation on the ground in Mumbai remains unclear following the militant attacks of Nov. 26. But in order to understand the geopolitical significance of what is going on, it is necessary to begin looking beyond this event at what will follow. Though the situation is still in motion, the likely consequences of the attack are less murky.
We will begin by assuming that the attackers are Islamist militant groups operating in India, possibly with some level of outside support from Pakistan. We can also see quite clearly that this was a carefully planned, well-executed attack.
And who are these Chabad Lubavitch people?
To make it look good and provide a little cover...
It happens on a major holiday. People are busy doing other things besides digging around on the computer. The news they get is most likely from TV. CNN? Yes. Pesky bloggers? No.
The targeted site: the Taj Mahal. Think Las Vegas.
The perpetrators are young, and they ask for British and American guests.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/as_india_shooting;_ylt=AnkQ4KHZrKdJNsO9K2j_F4as0NUE
But they're not very effective in killing the actual targets. Despite their bags of almond snacks, the terrorists kill mostly innocent bystanders. Confusion reigns about whether or not the high-value (ie: British, American and Jewish) hostages have been released. Keep on worrying everyone.
Naturally, Al Qaeda immediately rises to the top of the suspects list. The responsible group, however, has never been heard of before. Somehow these terrorist cells always miraculously escape intelligence and burst onto the scene completely unexpectedly. Which is weird, you know, that they're so good at avoiding surveillance but yet they suck at the nuts and bolts of carrying out an effective terrorist attack. Hmm.
But we know that these terrorists are vicious young Islamic extremists and Muslim militants. What other explanation can there possibly be?
-- blink blink blink --
Look up Chabad Lubavitch. The Chabad Lubavitch is a Jewish Supremacist group whose leaders regularly enjoy audiences with world leaders.
Read full story
It happens on a major holiday. People are busy doing other things besides digging around on the computer. The news they get is most likely from TV. CNN? Yes. Pesky bloggers? No.
The targeted site: the Taj Mahal. Think Las Vegas.
The perpetrators are young, and they ask for British and American guests.
"They were very young, like boys really, wearing jeans and T-shirts," he said, adding that he and another hostage managed to escape on the 18th floor.Really. And they targeted Jews. Specifically the Chabad Lubavitch headquarters.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/as_india_shooting;_ylt=AnkQ4KHZrKdJNsO9K2j_F4as0NUE
But they're not very effective in killing the actual targets. Despite their bags of almond snacks, the terrorists kill mostly innocent bystanders. Confusion reigns about whether or not the high-value (ie: British, American and Jewish) hostages have been released. Keep on worrying everyone.
Naturally, Al Qaeda immediately rises to the top of the suspects list. The responsible group, however, has never been heard of before. Somehow these terrorist cells always miraculously escape intelligence and burst onto the scene completely unexpectedly. Which is weird, you know, that they're so good at avoiding surveillance but yet they suck at the nuts and bolts of carrying out an effective terrorist attack. Hmm.
But we know that these terrorists are vicious young Islamic extremists and Muslim militants. What other explanation can there possibly be?
-- blink blink blink --
Look up Chabad Lubavitch. The Chabad Lubavitch is a Jewish Supremacist group whose leaders regularly enjoy audiences with world leaders.
Read full story
Hold on there fella...Experts not certain Al Qaeda to blame
SPY agencies around the world had little warning of the terrorist attack in Mumbai, which bore some al-Qaeda hallmarks but appears unlikely to be linked to the group’s core leadership.
Westerners in India’s financial centre were targeted in the spectacular attack comprised of multiple simultaneous assaults — a signature of past al-Qaeda actions, including the September 11, 2001, attacks.
But the Indian attack was carried out by gunmen, not the suicide bombers frequently employed by al-Qaeda and its affiliates.
“We have been actively monitoring plots in Britain and abroad and there was nothing to indicate something like this was about to happen,” a British security official said.
Is Mossad hand behind Mumbai train blasts?
MOSSAD, an Israeli intelligence agency, is cited as possible organiser of Mumbai train bomb blasts. Immediately after the blast, Mossad was reportedly engaged by Sai Baba Mandir trust to provide security to the famous religious shrine.
The newspaper clarifies that till now the Mumbai authorities have not confirmed as to why the Sai Baba Trust had to employ a foreign intelligence agency for its protection or if Maharashtra Government and Central Government have cleared the hiring of Mossad intelligence agency?
Neocon lobby group loses its "angel"
HONG KONG - The right-wing US advocacy group Freedom's Watch is reportedly shutting down as its main funder, Casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, becomes one of the high-profile casualties of the global economic downturn.
Freedom's Watch, which according to the Las Vegas Review Journal, has scheduled huge staff layoffs for the end of December, was one of the most prominent advocacy groups aligned with the Republican Party.
Adelson contributed over 30 million dollars to Freedom's Watch in 2007 and 2008, but has had to cut back on his philanthropy as his net worth – estimated at 36 billion dollars in 2007 – shrunk by 13 billion dollars.
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