:: NEWS COCKTAIL aka BlahBlahBlog ::

:: 12.29.2009 ::

:: President Obama pledges to scour world for terror cells ::

Times Online UK

President Obama vowed to track down and destroy terror cells all over the world last night as he finally ended his silence over a failed Christmas Day plot to blow up an American passenger jet.

The White House said that Mr Obama’s reticence to speak out was designed to reduce the attention focused on an extremist group based in Yemen calling itself al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

The Islamist organisation led by a former personal secretary to Osama bin Laden claimed responsibility for the botched attack in a statement yesterday.

The President took a few minutes out of his holiday in Hawaii to pledge that he would work to keep America safe from attack with further foreign interventions where necessary.

“We will continue to use every element of our national power to disrupt, to dismantle and defeat the violent extremists who threaten us,” Mr Obama said.

“Whether they are from Afghanistan or Pakistan, Yemen or Somalia, or anywhere where they are plotting attacks against the US homeland."

A new front in the battle against extremists has already been opened in Yemen, where Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a former student in London, spent three months earlier this year.

Yemeni government forces, acting on US intelligence and using what officials have admitted was American military hardware, launched air raids on suspected militants in the east of the country on December 17 and again on December 24. At least 60 people were understood to have been killed.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula claimed that the Christmas Day plot was a response to those raids but plans are believed to have pre-dated the US-backed assaults.

Mr Obama has proved willing to sanction military intervention but appears to be less tough than his predecessor in terms of rhetoric.

George W. Bush, who was elected in 2000, responded to the September 11 2001 attacks by pledging to seize bin Laden “dead or alive”. He said would “smoke” extremists out, and taunted “bring ’em on” when asked about insurgents in Iraq.

Despite the potentially devastating impact of Mr Abdulmutallab’s attempt to bring down Northwest Airlines Flight 253, Mr Obama was measured in his response.

“The American people should be assured that we are doing everything in our power to keep you and your family safe and secure during this busy holiday season,” he said.

The incident prompted stiffer airport boarding measures and authorities warned travellers to expect extra delays in the coming weeks.

Read more here.

A L S O

Obama blames 'systemic failures' in US security
Reuters

A N D

An Obama Christmas
ABC News (blog) - Jon Garcia

posted by me

:: 8:09:00 PM [+] ::
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For your consideration. Froehliche Weihnachten!

:: Jesus Hated War -- Why Do Christians Love It So Much? ::

Gary G. Kohls, Consortium News
via Alternet

Belief: There are no "blessed wars". Yet virtually all evangelical, conservative and many mainstream church leaders were active supporters of the Bush wars.

A L S O

Christian Story of Jesus's Birth Is a Myth Born of Politics
Rev. Howard Bess, Consortium News
Belief: Beautiful as it is, the story of the birth of Jesus is a myth born of the political needs of early Christians.

Most of Us Hate X-mas: Let's End That Holiday As We Know It
By Bill McKibben, Grist.org
Environment: If you poll Americans this time of year, far more regard the approaching holidays with dread than anticipation. How can we make Christmas worthwhile again.

Senate Passes Health-Care Reform Bill; Feingold, Rockefeller Issue Appeals to Progressives
Adele Stan, AlterNet
Politics: With no public option or Medicare buy-in, the Senate's health-care reform bill passes in the early hours of Christmas Eve.


Rep. Keith Ellison: Public Option Still Possible If We Get Loud
AlterNet Staff

New Year's Resolutions To Help Make Corporate Fat Cats and Our Politicians Human Again
Jim Hightower, AlterNet
I was working on my list of New Year's resolutions when it occurred to me that some of the people running our country could benefit from my suggestions.

Let's start, then, with those proud-and-loud members of Congress who've adamantly opposed real health insurance reform for workaday Americans. Not only do I include the entire block of Republican lawmakers whose vocabulary is limited to the word "no," but also those pathetic Democrats who've compromised the reform idea into corporate mush. It would be neat (and only fair) for each of these stalwarts of the status quo to make this vow for 2010: "Since I helped kill reform, I will give up the excellent government-paid, socialized health coverage that I get so that I am in the same leaky boat as my constituents."

And here's one for the barons of Wall Street, who continue to float on billions of dollars in government bailout money, yet are grabbing bonus payments for themselves, while pouting that the public is not showing them the love they deserve: "I hereby pledge to go through the 12-step detox program of Greedheads Anonymous to cure my narcissism and become a human being again."

Let's not forget the Obamacans, either! They came into office on an antiwar, anti-fat cat, pro-middle-class program, yet they've expanded their war, catered to fat cats and offered the middle class nothing but "a jobless recovery." Here's the resolution we need from Obama: "In year two of my term, I promise to Democrat-up by getting some economic advisors who've actually met a real worker and downloading some recordings of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt to my iPod. I'll also require top officials in my administration to volunteer at least one loved one to go to war in Afghanistan." If only we can get those in charge to make these pledges, we'll all have a happier New Year!

Top 10 Ethics Scandals of 2009
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington
Politics: Madoff, Sanford and Murtha are just a few who made it onto the top 10 list of the nation's most ethically challenged players of the year.


The Ten Worst Nightmares Bush Inflicted on America
Juan Cole, Informed Comment
Politics: Here are my picks for the top ten worst things about the wretched period, which will continue to follow us until citizens stand up to fix them.

Will Dur$t's Xma$ Gift Wi$h Li$t
By Will Durst, AlterNet

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Just ask anybody. Oh, they’ll tell you. Over and over and over again. On the radio, they’ve been pounding it into our heads ever since November 1st. That’s when a lot of stations went 24/7 Christmas. And every single one of them went 24/7 Christmas ads nauseum. A sixth of a year. Longer than the lifespan of 4 generations of drone ants. More protracted than an entire Minneapolis summer. Double the playoff contention duration of the Detroit Lions.

The problem is, this particular most wonderful time of the year is proving to be a bit less than. More like the most semi- wonderful time of the year or the most not too bad time of the year. Mainly because people like you and me (mostly you) selfishly refuse to stop whining and go out there and do their patriotic duty by sinking deeply into debt to honor the birth of that Jewish hippie kid by buying more stuff than anybody in their right mind really needs. The worst holiday season in recent memory. Except for last year. So, things are looking up. But it’s an odd up.

It is fair to say that a great many of us are not going to find everything we want under the tree. So, making sure that we don’t throw a perfectly good premise out with the financial bath water, let me offer up my annual scathingly incisive yet curiously refreshing, WILL DUR$T’$ 2009 XMA$ GIFT WI$H LI$T. These are the presents that folks may not receive wrapped up with bows this year but certainly deserve.

For Bernie Madoff. A sudden illness that causes him to die peacefully in his sleep.
For Joe Biden. Since his foot spends so much time in his mouth, mint flavored shoelaces.
For Tiger Woods. A marriage mulligan.
For Hall & Oates. Another 500 or so casinos in Las Vegas so Cirque du Soleil finally gets around to doing a show based on them.
For Barack Obama. A reset switch for his Presidency.
For Sarah Palin’s Publisher. More best sellers targeted to people who don’t read. Maybe an “audio book for the deaf” division. Cookbooks for Supermodels.
For the US Economy. A bit more stimulus to goose that whole stimulus thing into action.
For the Mitt Romney and the Rest of the Republican National Committee Looking at 2012. Something else on Sarah. Then again, maybe the Mayans were right.
For Newspaper Headline Writers Everywhere. Something else to write other than “Recession Appears to be Over.”
For Mexican President Calderon. A wall on the border to control our immigration.
For the Imposters Who Crashed the White House. An endorsement deal with Butterfingers.
For the Democrats in Congress. A year’s supply of whole milk to put a little calcium into their spine.
For Medical Science to Study. Dick Cheney’s heart. George Bush’s brain. And Howard Dean's mouth.
For Granny. Someone to ask, if maybe she might not like her plug to be pulled.
For Those 3 Hikers Facing Trial in Iran. Bill Clinton’s attention.
For Glenn Beck. A one way ticket on the clue train.
For South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford. See Tiger Woods.
For Joe Lieberman. A diamond-studded collar to befit his position as GOP lap dog.
The State of Texas. A time out, so they stop executing people with IQs of 62. And stop electing them governor as well.

P R O S T !

posted by me

:: 1:51:00 AM [+] ::
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