Finishing up our letters
I helped out during fifth to present alot more info to the school. Tommorw be prepare just case if we have to present
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Tuesday
Our group did a amazing job on the prestations
Our next step is finish our letter to show the support
Our next step is finish our letter to show the support
Monday work
Finished our signs and going to get ready for prestations.
Gather our group and resheral for the classes
Gather our group and resheral for the classes
Thursday, December 2, 2010
PREPARING FOR THE LETTER!
What did you do today for the betterment of the project? And, What are you going to do to prepare for tomorrow?
ME AND MY PARTNER JOHN STARTED TO MAKE A BRIGHT POSTER TO STAND OUT FOR OTHER STUDENTS TO CONTRIBUTE LETTERS TO OUR TROOPS SO THEY CAN GIVE THEM THE THANKS FOR PROTECTING OUR COUNTRY!
KEEP FINDING HOW MUCH HELP WE NEED OR MAKE A STATEMENT TO SOME CLASSES
DEC.2,2010
ME AND MY PARTNER JOHN STARTED TO MAKE A BRIGHT POSTER TO STAND OUT FOR OTHER STUDENTS TO CONTRIBUTE LETTERS TO OUR TROOPS SO THEY CAN GIVE THEM THE THANKS FOR PROTECTING OUR COUNTRY!
KEEP FINDING HOW MUCH HELP WE NEED OR MAKE A STATEMENT TO SOME CLASSES
DEC.2,2010
Child of 1994 U.S. World Cup devastated by failed bid By Richard Allen Greene, CNN December 2, 2010 8:37 p.m. EST
American soccer fan David Baker said he was devastated by FIFA's decision.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
We really wanted it for this country, fans tell CNN
Bill Clinton and Morgan Freeman made the case for the United States
World soccer's governing body chose Qatar instead to host the 2022 tournament
"I'm disappointed," U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati says
(CNN) -- David Baker was 10 years old when the World Cup came to the United States in 1994, and he still has the blue soccer jersey he bought back then.
"That's when I 'caught soccer' and became a fan. That's when I said, 'Soccer is a great sport,'" he said.
So he was devastated, he said, when the sport's governing body awarded the 2022 tournament to Qatar rather than the United States on Thursday.
Not only would winning the bid have boosted the U.S. economy, he argued, it would have been great for the development of soccer in arguably the largest sports market in the world.
"It would have been fantastic for the growth of soccer in our country" at a time "when it's primed to take the next step forward -- or the next step back," the North Carolina pastor said.
Soccer opened up a whole new world for him, he said.
"As a 10-year-old kid, I said these countries [that play soccer] are awesome," he remembered. "For me, that was so neat -- to think that when you kick a soccer ball, you can do that with somebody from any country, any religion, any language."
He doesn't expect the United States to have another chance to host the global tournament anytime soon.
"That's why today was so devastating," he said.
The president of U.S. Soccer, Sunil Gulati, echoed Baker's thoughts.
"There's no way around it: I am disappointed," he said minutes after the U.S. bid was defeated.
"Millions of U.S. soccer fans worked hard to bring the World Cup to our country," he said.
Some of those fans were very big names indeed.
Overlooked nations react to World Cup pick FIFA's political decision Social media on World Cup hosts
Former President Bill Clinton and actor Morgan Freeman made the case for the United States in Zurich, Switzerland, where FIFA executives voted Thursday.
"Maybe America's best claim to this World Cup is that we have the only nation you can put the World Cup that can guarantee that no matter who makes the finals, we can fill a stadium with home-nation rooters," Clinton told FIFA executives before the voting.
When Ghana knocked the United States out of the World Cup this summer, Clinton said Ghanian-Americans celebrated in Miami and Philadelphia, wrapped in the African nation's flag.
American soccer stars Landon Donovan and Mia Hamm, and Attorney General Eric Holder also came out to support the bid alongside Gulati.
But it was not to be. Qatar, which promised a carbon-neutral World Cup, complete with air-conditioned stadiums, will become the first Middle Eastern nation to host the tournament, the largest sporting event in the world each time it is held.
"We really wanted this for the country. It would have been great for the sport," New York Red Bulls season ticket holder Sebastian Ostolaza told CNN's Richard Roth minutes after the announcement.
"It would have been a lot of fun for everyone and we're extremely disappointed to have heard what happened," he said at the team's stadium, where he heard the announcement with friends.
But he was gracious to Qatar in defeat.
"I think it's great because soccer is a worldwide sport, and to bring the game back to Asia is going bring fans from over there back into it," he said.
The United States last hosted it in 1994, when Clinton was president.
Team USA acquitted itself well at the World Cup this year, finishing at the top of its group in South Africa before its loss to Ghana.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
We really wanted it for this country, fans tell CNN
Bill Clinton and Morgan Freeman made the case for the United States
World soccer's governing body chose Qatar instead to host the 2022 tournament
"I'm disappointed," U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati says
(CNN) -- David Baker was 10 years old when the World Cup came to the United States in 1994, and he still has the blue soccer jersey he bought back then.
"That's when I 'caught soccer' and became a fan. That's when I said, 'Soccer is a great sport,'" he said.
So he was devastated, he said, when the sport's governing body awarded the 2022 tournament to Qatar rather than the United States on Thursday.
Not only would winning the bid have boosted the U.S. economy, he argued, it would have been great for the development of soccer in arguably the largest sports market in the world.
"It would have been fantastic for the growth of soccer in our country" at a time "when it's primed to take the next step forward -- or the next step back," the North Carolina pastor said.
Soccer opened up a whole new world for him, he said.
"As a 10-year-old kid, I said these countries [that play soccer] are awesome," he remembered. "For me, that was so neat -- to think that when you kick a soccer ball, you can do that with somebody from any country, any religion, any language."
He doesn't expect the United States to have another chance to host the global tournament anytime soon.
"That's why today was so devastating," he said.
The president of U.S. Soccer, Sunil Gulati, echoed Baker's thoughts.
"There's no way around it: I am disappointed," he said minutes after the U.S. bid was defeated.
"Millions of U.S. soccer fans worked hard to bring the World Cup to our country," he said.
Some of those fans were very big names indeed.
Overlooked nations react to World Cup pick FIFA's political decision Social media on World Cup hosts
Former President Bill Clinton and actor Morgan Freeman made the case for the United States in Zurich, Switzerland, where FIFA executives voted Thursday.
"Maybe America's best claim to this World Cup is that we have the only nation you can put the World Cup that can guarantee that no matter who makes the finals, we can fill a stadium with home-nation rooters," Clinton told FIFA executives before the voting.
When Ghana knocked the United States out of the World Cup this summer, Clinton said Ghanian-Americans celebrated in Miami and Philadelphia, wrapped in the African nation's flag.
American soccer stars Landon Donovan and Mia Hamm, and Attorney General Eric Holder also came out to support the bid alongside Gulati.
But it was not to be. Qatar, which promised a carbon-neutral World Cup, complete with air-conditioned stadiums, will become the first Middle Eastern nation to host the tournament, the largest sporting event in the world each time it is held.
"We really wanted this for the country. It would have been great for the sport," New York Red Bulls season ticket holder Sebastian Ostolaza told CNN's Richard Roth minutes after the announcement.
"It would have been a lot of fun for everyone and we're extremely disappointed to have heard what happened," he said at the team's stadium, where he heard the announcement with friends.
But he was gracious to Qatar in defeat.
"I think it's great because soccer is a worldwide sport, and to bring the game back to Asia is going bring fans from over there back into it," he said.
The United States last hosted it in 1994, when Clinton was president.
Team USA acquitted itself well at the World Cup this year, finishing at the top of its group in South Africa before its loss to Ghana.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
North Korea's military aging but sizeable
North Korea's military aging but sizeable
By Tim Lister, CNN
November 24, 2010 4:18 p.m. EST
Missiles were prominently displayed during a Workers Party parade in Pyongyang, North Korea, in October.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
A massive military parade in October gave a rare window on North Korea's hardware
Its nuclear capability and ballistic missile technology are its trump card
Most analysts doubt North Korea would want to launch a direct assault on the South
But recent developments show it has enough in its arsenal to cause damage and death
RELATED TOPICS
North Korea
South Korea
Nuclear Weapons
(CNN) -- It's a bit like train-spotting but rather more serious. On October 10, Korea-watchers pored over live televised coverage of a massive military parade in Pyongyang, held to mark the 65th anniversary of North Korea's ruling party. Just like the Soviet parades of yore, it was a chance to see what military hardware the North might be showing off.
The official news agency said the parade showed "the will and might of Songun Korea to wipe out the enemy." The hardware was accompanied by slogans such as "Defeat the U.S. Military. U.S. soldiers are the Korean People's Army's enemy." And besides the incredible synchronized goose-stepping, there were tanks and new missiles.
Analysts paid special attention to the first public appearance of a road-mobile ballistic missile with a projected range of between 3,000 and 4,000 kilometers (roughly 1,900 to 2,400 miles), though reports of its existence had circulated for several years. There was also a new version of the No-dong ballistic missile, with a tri-conic nosecone, on show. That led Aviation Weekly and others to observe design similarities to Iran's Shahab missiles, suggesting further military cooperation between the two governments.
North Korea's nuclear capability and ballistic missile technology are its trump card, to make up for its aging conventional forces and as a bargaining chip in negotiations. So that's what receives the bulk of funding and expertise. But despite economic stagnation, technological limitations and international sanctions, its conventional forces can't be discounted, if only because of their size.
According to South Korean analysts, the North scraped together what little foreign exchange it had to buy $65 million of weapons from China, Russia and eastern Europe between 2002 and 2008. One example: It appears to have bought Chinese-made ZM-87 anti-personnel lasers, using one to "illuminate" two U.S. Army Apache helicopters flying along the southern side of the Demilitarized Zone in 2003. None of the crew members was injured.
China says it continues to be open to military collaboration with Pyongyang and last month welcomed a senior North Korean official to Beijing to "enhance coordination of the two militaries." China is thought to have supplied the North with multiple rocket launchers and spare parts for planes, among other equipment. Pyongyang has also turned to Iran and Egypt for military transfers.
Much of the North's hardware is locally built using Chinese and Russian templates. It has begun deploying a new tank, called the P'okpoong (Storm), which is modeled on the Russian T-62 tank but hardly a match for modern U.S. battle tanks. It's not clear how many of these are in service, but Jane's Armed Forces Editor Alexander von Rosenbach says it is thought that only a few have been delivered -- and they lack devices like thermal imaging sights.
Also on show at the October parade: a new surface-to-air missile similar to a Chinese model. Jane's concluded that it represented "a major expansion in North Korea's air defense potential," with a radar/guidance system that would be harder to jam. And although little is known about the size and scope of the North's artillery, the barrage fired this week at Yeonpyeong Island suggests that it can't be ignored.
The North Korean regime has also devoted great resources to developing its navy, not with battleships but fast-attack vessels and an array of submarines. Jane's estimates that it has more than 400 surface vessels. And it is not hesitant to use its maritime forces, as demonstrated by the sinking of the 1,200-ton South Korean corvette Cheonan by a torpedo in March. But in a confrontation, the South Korean navy is likely to come off best, as happened in a firefight in 1999.
The main weakness of the North's military is a chronic shortage of computers, modern command and control and electronic warfare assets -- in other words, much of what makes up the 21st-century battlefield. At the same time, South Korea has used its economic strength to modernize its armed forces: for example, building three $1 billion Aegis-class destroyers to counter ballistic missiles.
The same applies in the air. North Korea's air force largely comprises aging Soviet MiG fighters (though it has some MiG 29s) that would be unable to compete with South Korean F-15 jets or the F-16 fighters of the U.S. 7th Air Force, based in South Korea. In addition, the North's air force has suffered fuel shortages, and Jane's estimated that the North's fighter pilots may get as little as 25 flying hours per year. The North Koreans also have a large fleet of Russian-design biplanes that would be better suited to crop-spraying but could be used to drop special forces behind enemy lines in the event of conflict.
To compensate for obsolescence, the North deploys boots on the ground in great numbers. Jane's estimates that its standing army numbers just over 1 million personnel, with reserves estimated at more than 7 million. But North Korean soldiers are poorly fed, according to analysts and reports from defectors, and rarely train due to scarcity of fuel and ammunition
Despite the size of its armed forces, few analysts expect that the regime in the North would want to launch a general assault on the South, knowing that it would probably be repulsed and that in turn would imperil the regime. It might also ignite dissent.
"With the ongoing leadership transition in North Korea, there have been rumors of discontent within the military, and the current actions may reflect miscommunications or worse within the North's command-and-control structure," geopolitical risk analysis firm Stratfor says.
There is another practical reason why a land invasion would be difficult. South Korea has built an array of obstructions on roads from the North that would force an invader's tanks off the pavement and into rice fields. Only in the winter would those fields be hard enough to allow the tanks to cross them.
Short of a general assault, the North clearly has enough in its arsenal to cause damage and death to its adversary, as the torpedo attack in March and the barrage this week have shown. And it has thousands of artillery pieces close to the Demilitarized Zone, which is just 30 kilometers (18 miles) from Seoul. Recent events show that it is also quite ready to exploit the element of surprise.
There remains the great unanswered question about intentions. There's plenty of what one expert calls "echo chamber analysis." But as former President Carter wrote with a hint of understatement in the Washington Post on Wednesday: "No one can completely understand the motivations of the North Koreans."
By Tim Lister, CNN
November 24, 2010 4:18 p.m. EST
Missiles were prominently displayed during a Workers Party parade in Pyongyang, North Korea, in October.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
A massive military parade in October gave a rare window on North Korea's hardware
Its nuclear capability and ballistic missile technology are its trump card
Most analysts doubt North Korea would want to launch a direct assault on the South
But recent developments show it has enough in its arsenal to cause damage and death
RELATED TOPICS
North Korea
South Korea
Nuclear Weapons
(CNN) -- It's a bit like train-spotting but rather more serious. On October 10, Korea-watchers pored over live televised coverage of a massive military parade in Pyongyang, held to mark the 65th anniversary of North Korea's ruling party. Just like the Soviet parades of yore, it was a chance to see what military hardware the North might be showing off.
The official news agency said the parade showed "the will and might of Songun Korea to wipe out the enemy." The hardware was accompanied by slogans such as "Defeat the U.S. Military. U.S. soldiers are the Korean People's Army's enemy." And besides the incredible synchronized goose-stepping, there were tanks and new missiles.
Analysts paid special attention to the first public appearance of a road-mobile ballistic missile with a projected range of between 3,000 and 4,000 kilometers (roughly 1,900 to 2,400 miles), though reports of its existence had circulated for several years. There was also a new version of the No-dong ballistic missile, with a tri-conic nosecone, on show. That led Aviation Weekly and others to observe design similarities to Iran's Shahab missiles, suggesting further military cooperation between the two governments.
North Korea's nuclear capability and ballistic missile technology are its trump card, to make up for its aging conventional forces and as a bargaining chip in negotiations. So that's what receives the bulk of funding and expertise. But despite economic stagnation, technological limitations and international sanctions, its conventional forces can't be discounted, if only because of their size.
According to South Korean analysts, the North scraped together what little foreign exchange it had to buy $65 million of weapons from China, Russia and eastern Europe between 2002 and 2008. One example: It appears to have bought Chinese-made ZM-87 anti-personnel lasers, using one to "illuminate" two U.S. Army Apache helicopters flying along the southern side of the Demilitarized Zone in 2003. None of the crew members was injured.
China says it continues to be open to military collaboration with Pyongyang and last month welcomed a senior North Korean official to Beijing to "enhance coordination of the two militaries." China is thought to have supplied the North with multiple rocket launchers and spare parts for planes, among other equipment. Pyongyang has also turned to Iran and Egypt for military transfers.
Much of the North's hardware is locally built using Chinese and Russian templates. It has begun deploying a new tank, called the P'okpoong (Storm), which is modeled on the Russian T-62 tank but hardly a match for modern U.S. battle tanks. It's not clear how many of these are in service, but Jane's Armed Forces Editor Alexander von Rosenbach says it is thought that only a few have been delivered -- and they lack devices like thermal imaging sights.
Also on show at the October parade: a new surface-to-air missile similar to a Chinese model. Jane's concluded that it represented "a major expansion in North Korea's air defense potential," with a radar/guidance system that would be harder to jam. And although little is known about the size and scope of the North's artillery, the barrage fired this week at Yeonpyeong Island suggests that it can't be ignored.
The North Korean regime has also devoted great resources to developing its navy, not with battleships but fast-attack vessels and an array of submarines. Jane's estimates that it has more than 400 surface vessels. And it is not hesitant to use its maritime forces, as demonstrated by the sinking of the 1,200-ton South Korean corvette Cheonan by a torpedo in March. But in a confrontation, the South Korean navy is likely to come off best, as happened in a firefight in 1999.
The main weakness of the North's military is a chronic shortage of computers, modern command and control and electronic warfare assets -- in other words, much of what makes up the 21st-century battlefield. At the same time, South Korea has used its economic strength to modernize its armed forces: for example, building three $1 billion Aegis-class destroyers to counter ballistic missiles.
The same applies in the air. North Korea's air force largely comprises aging Soviet MiG fighters (though it has some MiG 29s) that would be unable to compete with South Korean F-15 jets or the F-16 fighters of the U.S. 7th Air Force, based in South Korea. In addition, the North's air force has suffered fuel shortages, and Jane's estimated that the North's fighter pilots may get as little as 25 flying hours per year. The North Koreans also have a large fleet of Russian-design biplanes that would be better suited to crop-spraying but could be used to drop special forces behind enemy lines in the event of conflict.
To compensate for obsolescence, the North deploys boots on the ground in great numbers. Jane's estimates that its standing army numbers just over 1 million personnel, with reserves estimated at more than 7 million. But North Korean soldiers are poorly fed, according to analysts and reports from defectors, and rarely train due to scarcity of fuel and ammunition
Despite the size of its armed forces, few analysts expect that the regime in the North would want to launch a general assault on the South, knowing that it would probably be repulsed and that in turn would imperil the regime. It might also ignite dissent.
"With the ongoing leadership transition in North Korea, there have been rumors of discontent within the military, and the current actions may reflect miscommunications or worse within the North's command-and-control structure," geopolitical risk analysis firm Stratfor says.
There is another practical reason why a land invasion would be difficult. South Korea has built an array of obstructions on roads from the North that would force an invader's tanks off the pavement and into rice fields. Only in the winter would those fields be hard enough to allow the tanks to cross them.
Short of a general assault, the North clearly has enough in its arsenal to cause damage and death to its adversary, as the torpedo attack in March and the barrage this week have shown. And it has thousands of artillery pieces close to the Demilitarized Zone, which is just 30 kilometers (18 miles) from Seoul. Recent events show that it is also quite ready to exploit the element of surprise.
There remains the great unanswered question about intentions. There's plenty of what one expert calls "echo chamber analysis." But as former President Carter wrote with a hint of understatement in the Washington Post on Wednesday: "No one can completely understand the motivations of the North Koreans."
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Jerry Brown's TV Ad Tells The Truth
IN MY VIEW OF THIS VIEDO MEGAN WHITMAN I PORTIONED AS HORRIBLE LIAR THAT HATES THE TRUTH.
THAT SHE HIDES ALL YUR MONEY INTO THE OTHER INVESTMENTS.
I SAW INSTERING THAT JERRY BROWN HAD GOOD PONTS ON HOW SHE USE CYNICLAL PLOYS INTEDNED TO MANIPULATE VOTERS.
ANOTHER FACT WAS SHE FUNDING THAT COULD POSE CONFLCTS.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
My teacher interview
sorry palo i put it now it got deleted before and got my blog running
i interviewd mr.peterson biology teacher.
i interviewd mr.peterson biology teacher.
President Obama, Jon Stewart square off on 'The Daily Show' in DC
Washington (CNN) -- With just days to go before the midterm elections, President Barack Obama joined comedian Jon Stewart for a taping of "The Daily Show" in Washington.
Wednesday's show marked the first time a sitting president accepted an invitation to appear on the program.
The taping at Washington's Harman Center for the Arts took place before a packed house, with all 550 seats filled after hundreds waited in line outside for up to four hours. The Comedy Central network show is taping all week in Washington prior to Stewart's planned "Rally to Restore Sanity" on the National Mall Saturday.
One of the first questions Stewart asked, referring to Obama's presidential campaign two years ago, was, "Are we the people we were waiting for, or does it turn out those people are still out there -- and we don't have their number?"
The rhetoric Obama campaigned on two years ago when running for president was an area Stewart and Obama returned to often during the nearly 30-minute taping.
"You ran on the idea that this system needed basic reform... feels like some reform was done in a political manner that has papered over a system that is corrupt," said Stewart.
Obama replied saying, "Over the last two years in emergency situations our basic attitude was we have to get things done, in some cases quicker. They worked within the process instead of transforming the process."
At one point, the president also referred to his campaign theme of change, saying, "When we promised change you can believe in, it wasn't in 18 months. It was change we were going to have to work on." The audience responded with applause.
At one point, Stewart confronted the president about his fellow Democrats' currently facing tough re-elections saying, "Democrats are now running on, 'Please, baby, one more chance."
Obama responded by saying, "Folks are going to be frustrated," and continued by listing his recent accomplishments as stabilizing the economy and restoring financial regulatory reform.
"When you look at what we've done... over and over again we have moved forward an agenda," Obama said.
The president made a point of defending his push for health care reform and efforts to stimulate the economy, saying it is his hope that fellow Democrats will be rewarded in the coming election for standing up for their beliefs.
Later, "The Daily Show" host was rebutted by the president after Stewart commented that after Obama ran with , "You ran with "audacity," legislation "has felt timid at times."
"Jon, I love your show, but this is something where I have a profound disagreement with you," Obama said, "This notion that health care was timid."
At the end of the interview, Obama returned to his famous campaign phrase saying, "Yes we can," and Stewart laughed.
Obama continued, adding, "But it's not going to happen overnight."
"I thank you for being here," Stewart told Obama before wrapping up the interview.
The president referring to the upcoming "Rally to Restore Sanity" then joked with Stewart saying, "The one thing that might have made a difference is if you held a 'Rally to Restore Sanity' two years ago... and can I just make a plug," the president said before leaving, "...To go out and vote."
The show was scheduled to air Wednesday night at 11 p.m. ET on Comedy Central.
Wednesday's show marked the first time a sitting president accepted an invitation to appear on the program.
The taping at Washington's Harman Center for the Arts took place before a packed house, with all 550 seats filled after hundreds waited in line outside for up to four hours. The Comedy Central network show is taping all week in Washington prior to Stewart's planned "Rally to Restore Sanity" on the National Mall Saturday.
One of the first questions Stewart asked, referring to Obama's presidential campaign two years ago, was, "Are we the people we were waiting for, or does it turn out those people are still out there -- and we don't have their number?"
The rhetoric Obama campaigned on two years ago when running for president was an area Stewart and Obama returned to often during the nearly 30-minute taping.
"You ran on the idea that this system needed basic reform... feels like some reform was done in a political manner that has papered over a system that is corrupt," said Stewart.
Obama replied saying, "Over the last two years in emergency situations our basic attitude was we have to get things done, in some cases quicker. They worked within the process instead of transforming the process."
At one point, the president also referred to his campaign theme of change, saying, "When we promised change you can believe in, it wasn't in 18 months. It was change we were going to have to work on." The audience responded with applause.
At one point, Stewart confronted the president about his fellow Democrats' currently facing tough re-elections saying, "Democrats are now running on, 'Please, baby, one more chance."
Obama responded by saying, "Folks are going to be frustrated," and continued by listing his recent accomplishments as stabilizing the economy and restoring financial regulatory reform.
"When you look at what we've done... over and over again we have moved forward an agenda," Obama said.
The president made a point of defending his push for health care reform and efforts to stimulate the economy, saying it is his hope that fellow Democrats will be rewarded in the coming election for standing up for their beliefs.
Later, "The Daily Show" host was rebutted by the president after Stewart commented that after Obama ran with , "You ran with "audacity," legislation "has felt timid at times."
"Jon, I love your show, but this is something where I have a profound disagreement with you," Obama said, "This notion that health care was timid."
At the end of the interview, Obama returned to his famous campaign phrase saying, "Yes we can," and Stewart laughed.
Obama continued, adding, "But it's not going to happen overnight."
"I thank you for being here," Stewart told Obama before wrapping up the interview.
The president referring to the upcoming "Rally to Restore Sanity" then joked with Stewart saying, "The one thing that might have made a difference is if you held a 'Rally to Restore Sanity' two years ago... and can I just make a plug," the president said before leaving, "...To go out and vote."
The show was scheduled to air Wednesday night at 11 p.m. ET on Comedy Central.
Batmen sequal
The Next 'Batman' Movie Has a Title, but No Riddler
299 comments
email
Buzz up!
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by: Tim Grierson
Nolan at Spike TV's "Scream Awards"
Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic Christopher Nolan has been very smart the last few weeks with how he's slowly been teasing out information for the maniacally awaited next installment in the Batman franchise: It's going to shoot this summer! Tom Hardy's gonna play a bad guy! Today, Nolan was nice enough to actually reveal three whole new tidbits about the movie, although even those clues have their own mysteries attached.
The first big takeaway from his interview with Hero Complex's Geoff Boucher is that the film will be called "The Dark Knight Rises." Count us among the people who think it's pretty cool, connecting the new film to the last movie's unresolved Batman-on-the-run ending.
Related: Superman gets a hip new makeover >>
The other big headline-grabbing revelation is that the Riddler won't be the bad guy. Since Nolan had previously eliminated Mr. Freeze as a possible villain, that leaves the Penguin and Catwoman as the most famous baddies left in the Batman universe. (And depending on who you trust, those options may have been rejected too.) As close to a hint as Nolan would offer in his interview with Boucher is "We'll use many of the same characters as we have all along, and we'll be introducing some new ones," although Moviehole seems pretty convinced that a love-interest/Catwoman character might be one of those new faces.
Video: Pug sings 'Batman' theme song >>
But while those first two items will get the most attention, we humbly submit that the most exciting news to come out of today's Nolan Proclamation is that "The Dark Knight Rises" won't be 3-D. Instead, it'll be shot on high-def and IMAX cameras, which are less about visual gimmicks and more about sharpening already superb images. (Our friends who saw "The Dark Knight" in IMAX still won't shut up about how amazing the mid-film car chase sequence was.) Beyond the fact that Nolan wasn't seduced by the dark side of 3-D, the decision is fantastic because it shows that he's a filmmaker with enough clout to tell Warner Bros. "no" to something that would have been sure to add another $300 million or so to the film's grosses. How many blockbuster directors have the stature or integrity to do that?
Watch clips from "The Dark Knight":
299 comments
Buzz up!
digg
by: Tim Grierson
Nolan at Spike TV's "Scream Awards"
Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic Christopher Nolan has been very smart the last few weeks with how he's slowly been teasing out information for the maniacally awaited next installment in the Batman franchise: It's going to shoot this summer! Tom Hardy's gonna play a bad guy! Today, Nolan was nice enough to actually reveal three whole new tidbits about the movie, although even those clues have their own mysteries attached.
The first big takeaway from his interview with Hero Complex's Geoff Boucher is that the film will be called "The Dark Knight Rises." Count us among the people who think it's pretty cool, connecting the new film to the last movie's unresolved Batman-on-the-run ending.
Related: Superman gets a hip new makeover >>
The other big headline-grabbing revelation is that the Riddler won't be the bad guy. Since Nolan had previously eliminated Mr. Freeze as a possible villain, that leaves the Penguin and Catwoman as the most famous baddies left in the Batman universe. (And depending on who you trust, those options may have been rejected too.) As close to a hint as Nolan would offer in his interview with Boucher is "We'll use many of the same characters as we have all along, and we'll be introducing some new ones," although Moviehole seems pretty convinced that a love-interest/Catwoman character might be one of those new faces.
Video: Pug sings 'Batman' theme song >>
But while those first two items will get the most attention, we humbly submit that the most exciting news to come out of today's Nolan Proclamation is that "The Dark Knight Rises" won't be 3-D. Instead, it'll be shot on high-def and IMAX cameras, which are less about visual gimmicks and more about sharpening already superb images. (Our friends who saw "The Dark Knight" in IMAX still won't shut up about how amazing the mid-film car chase sequence was.) Beyond the fact that Nolan wasn't seduced by the dark side of 3-D, the decision is fantastic because it shows that he's a filmmaker with enough clout to tell Warner Bros. "no" to something that would have been sure to add another $300 million or so to the film's grosses. How many blockbuster directors have the stature or integrity to do that?
Watch clips from "The Dark Knight":
Monday, October 18, 2010
Bank of America resumes foreclosures in 23 states
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Bank of America reviewed 102,000 foreclosures in the 23 states where a court must sign off on the proceedings, and it is now restarting the process on those cases, the company said Monday.
The company said the first of the new affidavits will be submitted by Oct. 25, and that it will continue its review in 27 other states.
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According to a spokeswoman for the bank, no errors were found during the review, and fewer than 30,000 foreclosure sales across all 50 states will be delayed as a result of the investigation.
The announcement comes one day before the bank's third quarter earnings report, and might ease investor concerns over the scale and timeframe of the bank's review process.
"This is an even better outcome than we previously thought," said Paul Miller, an analyst at FBR Capital Markets. "We thought January was a more likely time to restart the [foreclosure] process."
The news sent Bank of America shares up 36 cents to $12.34, or 3.01%.
The bank said in a statement that the review process "has been an important step to give customers confidence they are being treated fairly."
State attorneys general have stepped up pressure on banks in recent weeks after it was revealed that some bank employees had signed foreclosure affidavits without verifying that the documents were accurate, a process known as "robo-signing."
Foreclosures: Next to hit banks?
Bank of America launched its initial review on Oct.1, and said on Oct. 18 that it was expanding its document probe to all 50 states.
The company maintained that initial assessments in the remaining 27 states show the basis for foreclosure decisions were accurate.
At least five other major mortgage servicers have announced their own document reviews.
All told, 1.8 million loans are in foreclosure in the 23 so-called judicial states, while 1.3 million are pending elsewhere in the country, according to a Morgan Stanley analyst report.
The company said the first of the new affidavits will be submitted by Oct. 25, and that it will continue its review in 27 other states.
36
EmailPrintComment
According to a spokeswoman for the bank, no errors were found during the review, and fewer than 30,000 foreclosure sales across all 50 states will be delayed as a result of the investigation.
The announcement comes one day before the bank's third quarter earnings report, and might ease investor concerns over the scale and timeframe of the bank's review process.
"This is an even better outcome than we previously thought," said Paul Miller, an analyst at FBR Capital Markets. "We thought January was a more likely time to restart the [foreclosure] process."
The news sent Bank of America shares up 36 cents to $12.34, or 3.01%.
The bank said in a statement that the review process "has been an important step to give customers confidence they are being treated fairly."
State attorneys general have stepped up pressure on banks in recent weeks after it was revealed that some bank employees had signed foreclosure affidavits without verifying that the documents were accurate, a process known as "robo-signing."
Foreclosures: Next to hit banks?
Bank of America launched its initial review on Oct.1, and said on Oct. 18 that it was expanding its document probe to all 50 states.
The company maintained that initial assessments in the remaining 27 states show the basis for foreclosure decisions were accurate.
At least five other major mortgage servicers have announced their own document reviews.
All told, 1.8 million loans are in foreclosure in the 23 so-called judicial states, while 1.3 million are pending elsewhere in the country, according to a Morgan Stanley analyst report.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama called Monday for Congress to approve a $50 billion plan to begin upgrading the nation's crumbling infrastructure, saying such an investment is vital to creating much-needed construction jobs and keeping the nation competitive in the global economy.
In a Rose Garden statement at the White House, Obama called for bipartisan support when Congress returns after the November 2 mid-term elections so that the first phase of a proposed six-year infrastructure development plan can begin.
"We've always had the best infrastructure," Obama said, noting that one in five construction workers are unemployed right now. "This is work that needs to be done. There are workers ready to do it. All we need is political will."
The president first announced the plan on Labor Day, and present and former Cabinet members as well as some governors and mayors around the nation joined him to support the initiative.
Despite their call, it remains uncertain if the issue can overcome the deep partisan divide in Congress, especially after an election expected to erode Democratic majorities in both chambers or even return Republicans to control.
The main Republican campaign theme for the upcoming election has been excessive government spending under Obama and the Democratic-controlled Congress that has failed to lower the unemployment rate below 9 percent. In particular, Republicans say the $787 billion economic stimulus bill passed last year has failed to bring promised jobs and other economic benefits.
Obama and Democrats say the stimulus bill prevented the recession that began in the previous administration from worsening into a full economic depression.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood responded sharply on that topic when questioned by reporters Monday about whether new infrastructure spending would provide better results than the stimulus bill.
Noting that the $48 billion in stimulus money for the transportation sector funded 14,000 projects that employed thousands of people, LaHood said that Americans know the bill worked "because they see their friends and neighbors working on roads and bridges and transit systems."
"The idea that our stimulus didn't work is nonsense," he said.
Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, a Democrat and strong Obama supporter, called stimulus spending on infrastructure "the single best job creator we can do in this country."
"It created well-paying jobs that can't be outsourced," Rendell said. "It's just what the economy needs."
A study by the Department of Treasury and the Council of Economic Advisers shows a majority of infrastructure-related jobs would come in the construction field, followed by manufacturing and retail.
LaHood added that Congress has traditionally passed transportation bills containing infrastructure investment with strong bipartisan support.
"There are no Democratic or Republicans bridges or roads," he said, adding that Democratic Rep. Jim Oberstar of Minnesota, the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, told him there is Republican support for new infrastructure investment.
Obama and LaHood said the cost of new investment would be paid for, rather than adding to the debt. However, LaHood stopped short of offering specific ways to do so, saying only that a number of options were being considered.
Senior administration officials say private funds also would be used for the infrastructure overhaul. They suggested the $50 billion from Congress could be paid for by closing loopholes in the tax code related to oil and gas production or through other cost-cutting measures.
CNN's Rachel Streitfeld contributed to this story.
In a Rose Garden statement at the White House, Obama called for bipartisan support when Congress returns after the November 2 mid-term elections so that the first phase of a proposed six-year infrastructure development plan can begin.
"We've always had the best infrastructure," Obama said, noting that one in five construction workers are unemployed right now. "This is work that needs to be done. There are workers ready to do it. All we need is political will."
The president first announced the plan on Labor Day, and present and former Cabinet members as well as some governors and mayors around the nation joined him to support the initiative.
Despite their call, it remains uncertain if the issue can overcome the deep partisan divide in Congress, especially after an election expected to erode Democratic majorities in both chambers or even return Republicans to control.
The main Republican campaign theme for the upcoming election has been excessive government spending under Obama and the Democratic-controlled Congress that has failed to lower the unemployment rate below 9 percent. In particular, Republicans say the $787 billion economic stimulus bill passed last year has failed to bring promised jobs and other economic benefits.
Obama and Democrats say the stimulus bill prevented the recession that began in the previous administration from worsening into a full economic depression.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood responded sharply on that topic when questioned by reporters Monday about whether new infrastructure spending would provide better results than the stimulus bill.
Noting that the $48 billion in stimulus money for the transportation sector funded 14,000 projects that employed thousands of people, LaHood said that Americans know the bill worked "because they see their friends and neighbors working on roads and bridges and transit systems."
"The idea that our stimulus didn't work is nonsense," he said.
Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, a Democrat and strong Obama supporter, called stimulus spending on infrastructure "the single best job creator we can do in this country."
"It created well-paying jobs that can't be outsourced," Rendell said. "It's just what the economy needs."
A study by the Department of Treasury and the Council of Economic Advisers shows a majority of infrastructure-related jobs would come in the construction field, followed by manufacturing and retail.
LaHood added that Congress has traditionally passed transportation bills containing infrastructure investment with strong bipartisan support.
"There are no Democratic or Republicans bridges or roads," he said, adding that Democratic Rep. Jim Oberstar of Minnesota, the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, told him there is Republican support for new infrastructure investment.
Obama and LaHood said the cost of new investment would be paid for, rather than adding to the debt. However, LaHood stopped short of offering specific ways to do so, saying only that a number of options were being considered.
Senior administration officials say private funds also would be used for the infrastructure overhaul. They suggested the $50 billion from Congress could be paid for by closing loopholes in the tax code related to oil and gas production or through other cost-cutting measures.
CNN's Rachel Streitfeld contributed to this story.
01:10 PM ET
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CNN Poll: Was Bush better president than Obama?
Americans are divided over whether President Barack Obama or his predecessor has performed better in the White House, according to a new national poll.
And a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Friday also indicates in the battle for Congress, Republicans hold large advantages over the Democrats among independents, men and blue-collar whites. The poll also indicates that Republicans are much more enthusiastic than Democrats to vote.
By 47 to 45 percent, Americans say Obama is a better president than George W. Bush. But that two point margin is down from a 23 point advantage one year ago.
"Democrats may want to think twice about bringing up former President George W. Bush's name while campaigning this year," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.
"But that doesn't mean that Americans regret their decision to put Obama in the White House in 2008. By a 50 to 42 percent margin, the public says that Obama has done a better job than Sen. John McCain would have done if he had won. And by a 10-point margin, Americans also say that Joe Biden has done a better job than Sarah Palin would have done as vice president," adds Holland.
Post by: The CNN Wire Staff
Filed under: Barack Obama • Latest news • Politics
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CNN Poll: Was Bush better president than Obama?
Americans are divided over whether President Barack Obama or his predecessor has performed better in the White House, according to a new national poll.
And a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Friday also indicates in the battle for Congress, Republicans hold large advantages over the Democrats among independents, men and blue-collar whites. The poll also indicates that Republicans are much more enthusiastic than Democrats to vote.
By 47 to 45 percent, Americans say Obama is a better president than George W. Bush. But that two point margin is down from a 23 point advantage one year ago.
"Democrats may want to think twice about bringing up former President George W. Bush's name while campaigning this year," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.
"But that doesn't mean that Americans regret their decision to put Obama in the White House in 2008. By a 50 to 42 percent margin, the public says that Obama has done a better job than Sen. John McCain would have done if he had won. And by a 10-point margin, Americans also say that Joe Biden has done a better job than Sarah Palin would have done as vice president," adds Holland.
Post by: The CNN Wire Staff
Filed under: Barack Obama • Latest news • Politics
Editor's note: CNN.com will be streaming live from beginning to end the rescue attempts at a Chilean mine where 33 men have been trapped since August 5. Also, watch live coverage on CNN TV. Click here for full coverage on the Chile mine disaster.
[Updated at 11:28 p.m. ET] The descent of the second rescuer, Roberto Rios, has begun, 17 minutes after the first miner, Florencio Avalos, was rescued.
[Updated at 11:24 p.m. ET] With one miner out and 32 to go, a second rescuer, Roberto Rios, will be lowered into the miners' refuge. Workers are helping Rios into the capsule - which can carry only one person at a time - right now.
Rios presumably will help the rescuer who already is in the refuge, Manuel Gonzalez, assess the remaining miners and manage the rest of the rescue process.
[Updated at 11:13 p.m. ET] Rescuers clap and cheer as the first miner to be rescued, Florencio Avalos, 31, leaves the capsule and steps onto the surface for the first time in about 68 days. After hugging several people, he is put on a stretcher and wheeled into a nearby triage center.
[Updated at 11:11 p.m. ET] The first of 33 miners who were trapped in the mine more than two months ago has been rescued.
The rescue capsule carrying Florencio Avalos reached the surface about 16 minutes after the ascent from the miners' refuge 2,300 feet below the surface began. Avalos is the first miner to be rescued.
[Updated at 11:28 p.m. ET] The descent of the second rescuer, Roberto Rios, has begun, 17 minutes after the first miner, Florencio Avalos, was rescued.
[Updated at 11:24 p.m. ET] With one miner out and 32 to go, a second rescuer, Roberto Rios, will be lowered into the miners' refuge. Workers are helping Rios into the capsule - which can carry only one person at a time - right now.
Rios presumably will help the rescuer who already is in the refuge, Manuel Gonzalez, assess the remaining miners and manage the rest of the rescue process.
[Updated at 11:13 p.m. ET] Rescuers clap and cheer as the first miner to be rescued, Florencio Avalos, 31, leaves the capsule and steps onto the surface for the first time in about 68 days. After hugging several people, he is put on a stretcher and wheeled into a nearby triage center.
[Updated at 11:11 p.m. ET] The first of 33 miners who were trapped in the mine more than two months ago has been rescued.
The rescue capsule carrying Florencio Avalos reached the surface about 16 minutes after the ascent from the miners' refuge 2,300 feet below the surface began. Avalos is the first miner to be rescued.
Friday, September 24, 2010
class disscution
In this disscution I felt that this sb1070 is runing peoples lifes.
Sure some classmates have arguing point but that's what it is.
In my own opioni I felt that this law is cruel n unfaithful to the adments n the constioin
And so far it runins lifes such as inocent immrgirants and families trying to make a decent living.
I notice just that the mexican cartles ruined the rights for mexican immgriants and many more.
The rancher that died might of not know that his land was half own by cartels or maybe he had something to join in them with money.
The american govement should try to stop this cartles first instead of targting immrigrants.
I feel arizona should have this right and obama should put a stop to it before this law hits big huge states.
If it hits califorina then all hell goes loose.
I felt like I was one of the main speakers for this class disscuion.
Bring it on third class disscuiion
Sure some classmates have arguing point but that's what it is.
In my own opioni I felt that this law is cruel n unfaithful to the adments n the constioin
And so far it runins lifes such as inocent immrgirants and families trying to make a decent living.
I notice just that the mexican cartles ruined the rights for mexican immgriants and many more.
The rancher that died might of not know that his land was half own by cartels or maybe he had something to join in them with money.
The american govement should try to stop this cartles first instead of targting immrigrants.
I feel arizona should have this right and obama should put a stop to it before this law hits big huge states.
If it hits califorina then all hell goes loose.
I felt like I was one of the main speakers for this class disscuion.
Bring it on third class disscuiion
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Mexico Says Drug Lord 'The Barbie' Captured
(MEXICO CITY) — Federal police on Monday captured a long-sought, alleged Texas-born gang kingpin who faces drug trafficking charges in the U.S. and has been blamed for a vicious turf war that has included bodies hung from bridges and shootouts in central Mexico.
The announcement came just hours after the government said nearly 10 percent of the federal police force has been fired this year as part of a campaign to root out corruption.
The arrest of Edgar Valdez Villarreal, alias "the Barbie," was the culmination of a yearlong intelligence operation, the Public Safety Department said in a statement.
(See pictures of a mass quinceañera in Ciudad Juárez.)
The department said Valdez was captured in the state of Mexico, which borders the capital of Mexico City. The statement offered no other details, but included a photograph of Valdez sporting stubble as he kneels on the ground, a police officer's hand on his shoulder.
Valdez — the third major drug lord brought down by Mexico's security forces in less than a year — was charged in May in U.S. District Court in Atlanta with distributing thousands of pounds of cocaine from Mexico to the eastern U.S. from 2004 to 2006.
U.S. authorities had offered a reward of up to $2 million for information leading to his capture, and the Mexican government offered a similar amount.
There was no word from Mexican authorities on any extradition plans.
Mexican authorities say Valdez has been battling for control of the Beltran Leyva cartel since its leader, Arturo Beltran Leyva, was killed in a December shootout with marines in Cuernavaca, a favorite weekend getaway south of the Mexican capital.
(See pictures of Mexico's drug wars.)
The fight against Hector Beltran Leyva — a brother of Arturo — has made a battleground of what was once a relatively peaceful pocket of the country and brought the drug war ever closer to Mexico City. Their fight has spread westward toward the resort city of Acapulco.
Valdez's capture is the government's latest victory against the crumbling Beltran Leyva cartel. Two other Beltran Leyva brothers have been arrested under President Felipe Calderon, who in 2006 deployed thousands of federal police and soldiers to fight drug traffickers in their strongholds.
That offensive has brought down several major traffickers.
Aside from the Beltran Leyvas, drug lord Ignacio "Nacho" Coronel was killed in a gunbattle last month when soldiers raided his home in Guadalajara. Coronel was the No. 3 in the Sinaloa cartel, one of the world's most powerful drug trafficking gangs.
The Sinaloa cartel was aligned with the Beltran Leyvas until they split in 2008, one of the many divisions among Mexican cartels in recent years that have fueled the country's gruesome gang violence.
Valdez, 37, was born in the border city of Laredo, Texas, and belonged to the Sinaloa cartel before its split from the Beltran Leyvas. Much of the most recent violence in central Mexico has been directed at his allies.
The decapitated bodies of four men were hung from a bridge in Cuernavaca last week, along with a message threatening allies of "La Barbie" and signed by the gang led by Hector Beltran Leyva. Two more bodies later were hung from bridges near Acapulco later in the week, although no gang claimed responsibility.
U.S. prosecutors say they used a federal wiretap of a related case in Atlanta in January 2008 to identify Valdez as the source of thousands of kilograms of cocaine that were imported into the U.S. from 2004 to 2006.
Witnesses said some truckloads traveling from Laredo to Atlanta carried more than 650 pounds of cocaine. The workers made shipments of money, often containing several million dollars in cash, back to Mexico in tractor-trailer trucks, according to the court records.
Mexican authorities had been closing in La Barbie's allies in recent weeks. On July 10, marines raided a house in Acapulco and captured Gamaliel Aguirre Tavira, suspected regional chief of the Valdez faction.
Despite the major arrests, Mexico's drug gang violence has only grown bloodier since Calderon launched his crackdown in 2006, claiming more than 28,000 lives.
In the latest violence, a 12-hour battle between troops and gunmen left killed seven people in the eastern town of Panuco.
The gunmen opened fire and launched grenades at a government electricity station as they tried to escape the soldiers, causing a power outage in a large part of town, said Salvador Mikel Rivera, attorney general in the Gulf coast state of Veracruz, where Panuco is located.
The battle started Sunday night when gunmen in six cars ignored orders to stop from soldiers at a checkpoint, Rivera said. Soldiers, along with state and local police, started a chase that ended at two houses where the gunmen tried to hide, he said. The shootout at the houses lasted until Monday morning.
One soldier and six gunmen were killed.
Panuco is just south of the northern border state of Tamaulipas, where marines discovered the bodies of 72 Central and South American migrants believed to have been gunned down by the Zetas drug gang after refusing to smuggle drugs, in what may be the deadliest cartel massacre to date.
The lone survivor, an 18-year-old Ecuadorean, returned to his home country over the weekend after declining a humanitarian visa that would have let him stay in Mexico, the Foreign Relations Department announced Monday.
The dead migrants were discovered at a ranch about 100 miles (160 kilometers) from the U.S. border in Tamaulipas.
Violence has surged in northeastern Mexico this year since the Zetas broke ranks with their former employer, the Gulf cartel.
Also on Monday, Mexico's government announced that it has fired nearly 10 percent of its federal police force this year for failing checks designed to detect possible corruption.
Mexico's approximately 35,000 federal police are required to undergo periodic lie detector, psychological and drug examinations, and the government routinely investigates their finances and personal life.
Federal Police Commissioner Facundo Rosas said 3,200 officers have been dismissed this year for failing to meet the agency's standards. He did not give more details.
The fired agents are barred from taking jobs in any other security force — a recurring problem that Mexican governments have vowed to solve for many years. Another 1,020 federal police are facing unspecified disciplinary measures.
Meanwhile, for the first time in its history, the border city of Ciudad Juarez is canceling its traditional Sept. 15 celebration of Mexico's Independence from Spain, Mayor Jose Reyes announced Monday.
Reyes said authorities had not received any specific threat surrounding the event but decided it would be too dangerous for large crowds to gather in the city, which has become one of the world's most dangerous amid a turf war between the Sinaloa and Juarez cartels.
As in other Mexico cities, residents in Ciudad Juarez gather each year at the main plaza to hear the mayor give the "grito," or shout of independence, at 11 p.m. Reyes said the city would instead launch fireworks at different points in the city so people could celebrate from their own backyards.
The cancellation was especially a blow this year because Mexico is celebrating its bicentennial independence anniversary.
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2014644,00.html#ixzz0zlDlpIUm
The announcement came just hours after the government said nearly 10 percent of the federal police force has been fired this year as part of a campaign to root out corruption.
The arrest of Edgar Valdez Villarreal, alias "the Barbie," was the culmination of a yearlong intelligence operation, the Public Safety Department said in a statement.
(See pictures of a mass quinceañera in Ciudad Juárez.)
The department said Valdez was captured in the state of Mexico, which borders the capital of Mexico City. The statement offered no other details, but included a photograph of Valdez sporting stubble as he kneels on the ground, a police officer's hand on his shoulder.
Valdez — the third major drug lord brought down by Mexico's security forces in less than a year — was charged in May in U.S. District Court in Atlanta with distributing thousands of pounds of cocaine from Mexico to the eastern U.S. from 2004 to 2006.
U.S. authorities had offered a reward of up to $2 million for information leading to his capture, and the Mexican government offered a similar amount.
There was no word from Mexican authorities on any extradition plans.
Mexican authorities say Valdez has been battling for control of the Beltran Leyva cartel since its leader, Arturo Beltran Leyva, was killed in a December shootout with marines in Cuernavaca, a favorite weekend getaway south of the Mexican capital.
(See pictures of Mexico's drug wars.)
The fight against Hector Beltran Leyva — a brother of Arturo — has made a battleground of what was once a relatively peaceful pocket of the country and brought the drug war ever closer to Mexico City. Their fight has spread westward toward the resort city of Acapulco.
Valdez's capture is the government's latest victory against the crumbling Beltran Leyva cartel. Two other Beltran Leyva brothers have been arrested under President Felipe Calderon, who in 2006 deployed thousands of federal police and soldiers to fight drug traffickers in their strongholds.
That offensive has brought down several major traffickers.
Aside from the Beltran Leyvas, drug lord Ignacio "Nacho" Coronel was killed in a gunbattle last month when soldiers raided his home in Guadalajara. Coronel was the No. 3 in the Sinaloa cartel, one of the world's most powerful drug trafficking gangs.
The Sinaloa cartel was aligned with the Beltran Leyvas until they split in 2008, one of the many divisions among Mexican cartels in recent years that have fueled the country's gruesome gang violence.
Valdez, 37, was born in the border city of Laredo, Texas, and belonged to the Sinaloa cartel before its split from the Beltran Leyvas. Much of the most recent violence in central Mexico has been directed at his allies.
The decapitated bodies of four men were hung from a bridge in Cuernavaca last week, along with a message threatening allies of "La Barbie" and signed by the gang led by Hector Beltran Leyva. Two more bodies later were hung from bridges near Acapulco later in the week, although no gang claimed responsibility.
U.S. prosecutors say they used a federal wiretap of a related case in Atlanta in January 2008 to identify Valdez as the source of thousands of kilograms of cocaine that were imported into the U.S. from 2004 to 2006.
Witnesses said some truckloads traveling from Laredo to Atlanta carried more than 650 pounds of cocaine. The workers made shipments of money, often containing several million dollars in cash, back to Mexico in tractor-trailer trucks, according to the court records.
Mexican authorities had been closing in La Barbie's allies in recent weeks. On July 10, marines raided a house in Acapulco and captured Gamaliel Aguirre Tavira, suspected regional chief of the Valdez faction.
Despite the major arrests, Mexico's drug gang violence has only grown bloodier since Calderon launched his crackdown in 2006, claiming more than 28,000 lives.
In the latest violence, a 12-hour battle between troops and gunmen left killed seven people in the eastern town of Panuco.
The gunmen opened fire and launched grenades at a government electricity station as they tried to escape the soldiers, causing a power outage in a large part of town, said Salvador Mikel Rivera, attorney general in the Gulf coast state of Veracruz, where Panuco is located.
The battle started Sunday night when gunmen in six cars ignored orders to stop from soldiers at a checkpoint, Rivera said. Soldiers, along with state and local police, started a chase that ended at two houses where the gunmen tried to hide, he said. The shootout at the houses lasted until Monday morning.
One soldier and six gunmen were killed.
Panuco is just south of the northern border state of Tamaulipas, where marines discovered the bodies of 72 Central and South American migrants believed to have been gunned down by the Zetas drug gang after refusing to smuggle drugs, in what may be the deadliest cartel massacre to date.
The lone survivor, an 18-year-old Ecuadorean, returned to his home country over the weekend after declining a humanitarian visa that would have let him stay in Mexico, the Foreign Relations Department announced Monday.
The dead migrants were discovered at a ranch about 100 miles (160 kilometers) from the U.S. border in Tamaulipas.
Violence has surged in northeastern Mexico this year since the Zetas broke ranks with their former employer, the Gulf cartel.
Also on Monday, Mexico's government announced that it has fired nearly 10 percent of its federal police force this year for failing checks designed to detect possible corruption.
Mexico's approximately 35,000 federal police are required to undergo periodic lie detector, psychological and drug examinations, and the government routinely investigates their finances and personal life.
Federal Police Commissioner Facundo Rosas said 3,200 officers have been dismissed this year for failing to meet the agency's standards. He did not give more details.
The fired agents are barred from taking jobs in any other security force — a recurring problem that Mexican governments have vowed to solve for many years. Another 1,020 federal police are facing unspecified disciplinary measures.
Meanwhile, for the first time in its history, the border city of Ciudad Juarez is canceling its traditional Sept. 15 celebration of Mexico's Independence from Spain, Mayor Jose Reyes announced Monday.
Reyes said authorities had not received any specific threat surrounding the event but decided it would be too dangerous for large crowds to gather in the city, which has become one of the world's most dangerous amid a turf war between the Sinaloa and Juarez cartels.
As in other Mexico cities, residents in Ciudad Juarez gather each year at the main plaza to hear the mayor give the "grito," or shout of independence, at 11 p.m. Reyes said the city would instead launch fireworks at different points in the city so people could celebrate from their own backyards.
The cancellation was especially a blow this year because Mexico is celebrating its bicentennial independence anniversary.
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2014644,00.html#ixzz0zlDlpIUm
the famous cartelJoaquín Guzmán
Alias: Chapo (Shorty)
Affiliation: Sinaloa cartel
Born: April 4, 1957, in La Tuna, Sinaloa
Bounty: $5 million (U.S.), 30 million pesos (Mexico)
What We Know: Guzmán stands just 5 ft. 6 in. tall. He escaped from a high-security prison in a laundry cart in 2001 and has since been blamed for starting bloody turf wars all over Mexico. He reportedly got married to an 18-year-old beauty queen in 2007; in 2008, his son was shot dead and Guzmán reportedly had 50,000 red roses sent to the funeral.
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2019221_2019202_2019147,00.html#ixzz0zlAZG5yC
Affiliation: Sinaloa cartel
Born: April 4, 1957, in La Tuna, Sinaloa
Bounty: $5 million (U.S.), 30 million pesos (Mexico)
What We Know: Guzmán stands just 5 ft. 6 in. tall. He escaped from a high-security prison in a laundry cart in 2001 and has since been blamed for starting bloody turf wars all over Mexico. He reportedly got married to an 18-year-old beauty queen in 2007; in 2008, his son was shot dead and Guzmán reportedly had 50,000 red roses sent to the funeral.
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2019221_2019202_2019147,00.html#ixzz0zlAZG5yC
Monday, September 13, 2010
Editor's note: Michael Hethmon is a public interest lawyer and general counsel for the Immigration Reform Law Institute, the legal affiliate of the Federation for American Immigration Reform. He helped draft Arizona's SB 1070, the Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act.
Washington (CNN) -- A district judge on Wednesday preliminarily barred the enforcement of two sections and two subsections of Arizona's new immigration law, SB 1070.
As was the case with the public reaction after Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed the law on April 23, we are again seeing wild claims about the matter -- in this case, about Judge Susan Bolton's order.
Commentators are making overblown statements about the judge's order without having actually read it. As a lawyer who supports the enactment of state laws that promote comprehensive immigration enforcement, I offer this initial analysis to the beleaguered voters of Arizona:
First: The judge lives in Arizona, likes Arizona and its people and sympathizes with your struggle to fight "rampant immigration, escalating drug and human trafficking crimes, and serious safety concerns." That's from the first sentence of her order.
Video: Battle over Arizona's law Video: 'Repeal...or enforce the laws' Video: The anger in Arizona Video: Brewer 'relentless' about SB 1070
Second: The judge agrees that Arizona has a right to express its intent that "attrition [of the number of illegal immigrants entering the state] though enforcement" be the state policy. The judge rejected the administration's request that she find that SB 1070 is unconstitutional as a whole.
She clearly didn't buy into the claim that states are barred from enforcing our nation's immigration law. Bolton wrote that SB 1070 is not a "unified statutory scheme" that contradicts federal law and let it stand.
Third: Bolton upheld the anti-sanctuary provisions, including the provision allowing citizens to sue local governments (but not their police officers) that harbor and encourage illegal immigration. Bolton also approved of the tough new state felony laws that "mirror" federal immigration crimes such as smuggling, transporting, sheltering, harboring and inducing illegal aliens to remain, even if they do not follow the federal statute word-for-word.
This is bad news for cities such as Los Angeles or New Haven, Connecticut, that claim they can pick and chose which federal laws they will observe.
Notably, Bolton tossed two far-left theories advanced by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. One is that the Arizona criminal "mirror" statutes were a pre-empted "regulation of immigration," the theory used to sabotage California's Proposition 187 back in 1996. The other is that prosecuting alien smugglers in state courts somehow interferes with interstate commerce.
Fourth: Bolton zeroed in on the second sentence of Section 2 and held that the sentence should be broadly read to require that "every single person arrested" must be detained until federal agents definitively determine their immigration status.
That state policy, she wrote, would "burden" lawfully present aliens with prolonged detentions. Outside of sanctuary cities, police officers nationwide already have discretion to query a person's immigration status during a traffic stop or similar scenario, if the officer reasonably suspects the person is unlawfully present.
However, Bolton wrote Arizona couldn't require such queries by police by statute, taking at face value administration claims it would overload the federal government with requests for verification.
This reasoning has at least two problems.
Congress clearly required Homeland Security to respond to police requests for the immigration status of legal as well as suspected illegal aliens. The federal anti-sanctuary statute, 8 U.S.C. 1373(c), requires the federal government to verify state and local police requests regarding "the citizenship or immigration status, lawful or unlawful, of any person ..."
Moreover, in constitutional challenges brought before a law is implemented, the Supreme Court expects federal judges to uphold state laws unless they would be unconstitutional in every case. These are important points for appeal.
Fifth: Bolton preliminarily blocked enforcement of the new state misdemeanor of failure by aliens to register with the federal government (as in sneaking over the border) or to carry their registration documents in their personal possession.
The judge relied on a 1940 Supreme Court case, Hines v. Davidowitz, to conclude that Congress had "completely occupied the field" of alien registration. The problem with that theory is that the federal statute behind the Arizona law wasn't enacted until 13 years later, in 1952.
Even if the judge's theory survives appellate review, the easy fix is to drop the state penalties and instead simply prohibit restrictions on state police enforcing the federal alien registration law, a procedure that has been upheld in every federal appellate court to consider the question.
Sixth: Bolton upheld the constitutionality of punishing aliens who stand in public streets to solicit day labor. She had no choice. Several weeks ago, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a similar law from California, finding it was a reasonable public safety measure that didn't infringe on the First Amendment right to free association.
Bolton did block the related provision making it a state crime for an illegal alien to solicit or perform work. I think this is the one area where there is an arguable legal dispute. What did Congress intend when it enacted the employer sanctions laws in 1986? But that important question is already before the U.S. Supreme Court, which just weeks ago agreed to review Arizona's 2007 law requiring statewide use of the E-Verify online work authorization verification system.
Seventh: Bolton also delayed implementation of the section of SB 1070 that confirms police authority to arrest without warrant aliens who are deportable under federal law. The judge said that if the provision were given the broadest possible interpretation, legal immigrants might be wrongly arrested by local officers. Only federal immigration judges can decide to remove legal immigrants.
Here again, the judge hinted that if the law were amended to clarify that the narrow interpretation was the proper one -- that local officers can detain criminal aliens convicted or wanted for deportable crimes in other states -- it would pass muster.
All the other provisions of the SB 1070, including the improved evidentiary standards for Arizona's E-Verify law, and the provision authorizing the impoundment of vehicles belonging to illegal aliens, passed muster and will be implemented.
When the order was issued, I was in a meeting with East Coast legislators from one of many states considering SB-1070 laws. They were concerned by the first news reports. But after we read the order together, their confidence was restored.
They resolved to include Bolton's technical corrections in the bill they're drafting and go forward with this vital program for protecting citizens' rights and the rule of law.
The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Michael Hethmon.
Washington (CNN) -- A district judge on Wednesday preliminarily barred the enforcement of two sections and two subsections of Arizona's new immigration law, SB 1070.
As was the case with the public reaction after Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed the law on April 23, we are again seeing wild claims about the matter -- in this case, about Judge Susan Bolton's order.
Commentators are making overblown statements about the judge's order without having actually read it. As a lawyer who supports the enactment of state laws that promote comprehensive immigration enforcement, I offer this initial analysis to the beleaguered voters of Arizona:
First: The judge lives in Arizona, likes Arizona and its people and sympathizes with your struggle to fight "rampant immigration, escalating drug and human trafficking crimes, and serious safety concerns." That's from the first sentence of her order.
Video: Battle over Arizona's law Video: 'Repeal...or enforce the laws' Video: The anger in Arizona Video: Brewer 'relentless' about SB 1070
Second: The judge agrees that Arizona has a right to express its intent that "attrition [of the number of illegal immigrants entering the state] though enforcement" be the state policy. The judge rejected the administration's request that she find that SB 1070 is unconstitutional as a whole.
She clearly didn't buy into the claim that states are barred from enforcing our nation's immigration law. Bolton wrote that SB 1070 is not a "unified statutory scheme" that contradicts federal law and let it stand.
Third: Bolton upheld the anti-sanctuary provisions, including the provision allowing citizens to sue local governments (but not their police officers) that harbor and encourage illegal immigration. Bolton also approved of the tough new state felony laws that "mirror" federal immigration crimes such as smuggling, transporting, sheltering, harboring and inducing illegal aliens to remain, even if they do not follow the federal statute word-for-word.
This is bad news for cities such as Los Angeles or New Haven, Connecticut, that claim they can pick and chose which federal laws they will observe.
Notably, Bolton tossed two far-left theories advanced by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. One is that the Arizona criminal "mirror" statutes were a pre-empted "regulation of immigration," the theory used to sabotage California's Proposition 187 back in 1996. The other is that prosecuting alien smugglers in state courts somehow interferes with interstate commerce.
Fourth: Bolton zeroed in on the second sentence of Section 2 and held that the sentence should be broadly read to require that "every single person arrested" must be detained until federal agents definitively determine their immigration status.
That state policy, she wrote, would "burden" lawfully present aliens with prolonged detentions. Outside of sanctuary cities, police officers nationwide already have discretion to query a person's immigration status during a traffic stop or similar scenario, if the officer reasonably suspects the person is unlawfully present.
However, Bolton wrote Arizona couldn't require such queries by police by statute, taking at face value administration claims it would overload the federal government with requests for verification.
This reasoning has at least two problems.
Congress clearly required Homeland Security to respond to police requests for the immigration status of legal as well as suspected illegal aliens. The federal anti-sanctuary statute, 8 U.S.C. 1373(c), requires the federal government to verify state and local police requests regarding "the citizenship or immigration status, lawful or unlawful, of any person ..."
Moreover, in constitutional challenges brought before a law is implemented, the Supreme Court expects federal judges to uphold state laws unless they would be unconstitutional in every case. These are important points for appeal.
Fifth: Bolton preliminarily blocked enforcement of the new state misdemeanor of failure by aliens to register with the federal government (as in sneaking over the border) or to carry their registration documents in their personal possession.
The judge relied on a 1940 Supreme Court case, Hines v. Davidowitz, to conclude that Congress had "completely occupied the field" of alien registration. The problem with that theory is that the federal statute behind the Arizona law wasn't enacted until 13 years later, in 1952.
Even if the judge's theory survives appellate review, the easy fix is to drop the state penalties and instead simply prohibit restrictions on state police enforcing the federal alien registration law, a procedure that has been upheld in every federal appellate court to consider the question.
Sixth: Bolton upheld the constitutionality of punishing aliens who stand in public streets to solicit day labor. She had no choice. Several weeks ago, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a similar law from California, finding it was a reasonable public safety measure that didn't infringe on the First Amendment right to free association.
Bolton did block the related provision making it a state crime for an illegal alien to solicit or perform work. I think this is the one area where there is an arguable legal dispute. What did Congress intend when it enacted the employer sanctions laws in 1986? But that important question is already before the U.S. Supreme Court, which just weeks ago agreed to review Arizona's 2007 law requiring statewide use of the E-Verify online work authorization verification system.
Seventh: Bolton also delayed implementation of the section of SB 1070 that confirms police authority to arrest without warrant aliens who are deportable under federal law. The judge said that if the provision were given the broadest possible interpretation, legal immigrants might be wrongly arrested by local officers. Only federal immigration judges can decide to remove legal immigrants.
Here again, the judge hinted that if the law were amended to clarify that the narrow interpretation was the proper one -- that local officers can detain criminal aliens convicted or wanted for deportable crimes in other states -- it would pass muster.
All the other provisions of the SB 1070, including the improved evidentiary standards for Arizona's E-Verify law, and the provision authorizing the impoundment of vehicles belonging to illegal aliens, passed muster and will be implemented.
When the order was issued, I was in a meeting with East Coast legislators from one of many states considering SB-1070 laws. They were concerned by the first news reports. But after we read the order together, their confidence was restored.
They resolved to include Bolton's technical corrections in the bill they're drafting and go forward with this vital program for protecting citizens' rights and the rule of law.
The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Michael Hethmon.
Terror babies': The new immigration scare tactic
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Two Texas Republicans claim the 14th Amendment could aid terrorist goals to attack U.S.
Ruben Navarrette says the "terror babies" fear is groundless
He says it's the latest scare tactic being used to whip up a frenzy over immigration
Navarrette: Let's have a debate about immigration on the merits, not on fantasy
Editor's note: Ruben Navarrette Jr. is a nationally syndicated columnist, an NPR commentator and a regular contributor to CNN.com
Phoenix, Arizona (CNN) -- By spending a few days here in America's fifth-largest city -- which also happens to be at the heart of the nation's immigration debate -- I had the chance to see this volatile issue from many different vantage points.
But as far I know, I didn't see any terror babies.
Regular viewers of CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360" will recognize that term as referring to children born on U.S. soil to illegal immigrants. The children are automatically granted U.S. citizenship under the 14th Amendment and then are smuggled back to their home countries to be raised as pint-sized, America-hating terrorists. Then decades later, when the children have grown into adults, they could easily -- because of their U.S. citizenship -- re-enter the United States to attack it from within.
So terror babies are sort of like a sleeper cell, one that has to be put down for a nap every few hours or it gets fussy.
Video: Debating 'terror babies' Video: Terror babies 'absurd' Video: 'Little terrorists' born in U.S.?
RELATED TOPICS
Immigration
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Arizona Immigration
Drug Trafficking
Is this a scary scenario? You bet. Is it anything close to reality? It doesn't look like it. In fact, what's really scary are opportunistic lawmakers out there who will sink to new depths to scare the Dickens out of people in order to drum up support for the radical idea of changing the 14th Amendment or scrapping it altogether.
That's what this story is really about. It's an elaborate pitch to that constituency who believes that illegal immigrants are unfairly taking advantage of a constitutional provision that makes anyone born on U.S. soil an American citizen.
The two Texas Republicans who are actively spinning this yarn -- State Representative Debbie Riddle and U.S. Congressman Louie Gohmert -- both appeared on Cooper's show this week, and neither could provide any evidence of the existence of these mythical terror babies. In fact, in the face of questioning by Cooper, both got extremely defensive. You might say these GOP fear mongers were acting in a way that could be accurately described as infantile.
Riddle and Gohmert claimed they got the information from conversations with "former FBI officials." So Cooper interviewed CNN contributor Tom Fuentes, who served as the FBI's assistant director in the office of international operations from 2004 to 2008.
"The FBI has 75 offices overseas, including offices in Jordan, Turkey, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Pakistan," Fuentes said. "There was never a credible report -- or any report, for that matter -- coming across through all the various mechanisms of communication to indicate that there was such a plan for these terror babies to be born."
The FBI has also done everything it can to knock down the story as simply not credible.
Of course, this tall tale isn't credible; it's probably nothing more than a figment of politicians' imaginations. But it is valuable since it helps illustrate a disturbing phenomenon here in Arizona, where supporters of the state's new immigration law seem to feel as if they have to justify the measure not only by scaring people, but also by doing extreme makeovers. They take things that are familiar and try to make them sinister.
Those aren't U.S. citizen babies, they say; they're future terrorists. Those aren't run-of-the-mill illegal immigrants who come to Arizona to work and feed their families; they're drug mules for the Mexican cartels, says Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer. And those aren't coyotes, immigrant smugglers bringing people in the United States as they have for generations; they're drug cartels, which -- according to Brewer -- now control all the immigrant smuggling operations into the United States.
The Border Patrol was just as quick to knockdown those stories as untrue as the FBI was in refuting the story about terror babies using the 14th Amendment to do us harm.
I was glad to see that. There is already enough dishonesty in the immigration debate; we certainly don't need any more coming from the state of Arizona. Yet, there is a steady trickle of deceptions and half-truths.
The three big fibs -- repeated by top Republican officials -- are that the federal government isn't doing its job to protect the borders, that the law is an attempt to crack down on drug cartels, and that race isn't part of the discussion. None of that is true. So why repeat it?
Those who believe in the state's immigration law and consider it a good idea to empower local police and sheriff's deputies to enforce federal immigration law should stand by the legislation as it is written. They shouldn't have to try to create an alternate reality to win over more supporters.
A prominent Mexican-American attorney, who has long been a visible and vocal member of Phoenix's Latino community, warned me against trying to make sense of the opposition.
For instance, I asked him, how could people continue to argue that the Obama administration isn't doing enough to secure the border when all the evidence suggests otherwise?
"You'll never be able to convince people of that," he said. "Because their motivation is political. It's not based in reality."
I'm afraid that's not good enough. If the supporters of SB1070 really believe in the merits of their cause, they should be able to win the argument on the natural, without relying on hocus-pocus or scare tactics or radical makeovers. And if they can't do that, if they have to portray babies as terrorists and immigrants as drug mules in order to win support for their side, then this should tell them loud and clear that they're on the wrong side of this issue -- not to mention, on the wrong side of history.
No amount of spin can change that.
The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Ruben Navarrette Jr
http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/08/13/navarrette.terror.babies/index.html?iref=allsearch
Two Texas Republicans claim the 14th Amendment could aid terrorist goals to attack U.S.
Ruben Navarrette says the "terror babies" fear is groundless
He says it's the latest scare tactic being used to whip up a frenzy over immigration
Navarrette: Let's have a debate about immigration on the merits, not on fantasy
Editor's note: Ruben Navarrette Jr. is a nationally syndicated columnist, an NPR commentator and a regular contributor to CNN.com
Phoenix, Arizona (CNN) -- By spending a few days here in America's fifth-largest city -- which also happens to be at the heart of the nation's immigration debate -- I had the chance to see this volatile issue from many different vantage points.
But as far I know, I didn't see any terror babies.
Regular viewers of CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360" will recognize that term as referring to children born on U.S. soil to illegal immigrants. The children are automatically granted U.S. citizenship under the 14th Amendment and then are smuggled back to their home countries to be raised as pint-sized, America-hating terrorists. Then decades later, when the children have grown into adults, they could easily -- because of their U.S. citizenship -- re-enter the United States to attack it from within.
So terror babies are sort of like a sleeper cell, one that has to be put down for a nap every few hours or it gets fussy.
Video: Debating 'terror babies' Video: Terror babies 'absurd' Video: 'Little terrorists' born in U.S.?
RELATED TOPICS
Immigration
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Arizona Immigration
Drug Trafficking
Is this a scary scenario? You bet. Is it anything close to reality? It doesn't look like it. In fact, what's really scary are opportunistic lawmakers out there who will sink to new depths to scare the Dickens out of people in order to drum up support for the radical idea of changing the 14th Amendment or scrapping it altogether.
That's what this story is really about. It's an elaborate pitch to that constituency who believes that illegal immigrants are unfairly taking advantage of a constitutional provision that makes anyone born on U.S. soil an American citizen.
The two Texas Republicans who are actively spinning this yarn -- State Representative Debbie Riddle and U.S. Congressman Louie Gohmert -- both appeared on Cooper's show this week, and neither could provide any evidence of the existence of these mythical terror babies. In fact, in the face of questioning by Cooper, both got extremely defensive. You might say these GOP fear mongers were acting in a way that could be accurately described as infantile.
Riddle and Gohmert claimed they got the information from conversations with "former FBI officials." So Cooper interviewed CNN contributor Tom Fuentes, who served as the FBI's assistant director in the office of international operations from 2004 to 2008.
"The FBI has 75 offices overseas, including offices in Jordan, Turkey, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Pakistan," Fuentes said. "There was never a credible report -- or any report, for that matter -- coming across through all the various mechanisms of communication to indicate that there was such a plan for these terror babies to be born."
The FBI has also done everything it can to knock down the story as simply not credible.
Of course, this tall tale isn't credible; it's probably nothing more than a figment of politicians' imaginations. But it is valuable since it helps illustrate a disturbing phenomenon here in Arizona, where supporters of the state's new immigration law seem to feel as if they have to justify the measure not only by scaring people, but also by doing extreme makeovers. They take things that are familiar and try to make them sinister.
Those aren't U.S. citizen babies, they say; they're future terrorists. Those aren't run-of-the-mill illegal immigrants who come to Arizona to work and feed their families; they're drug mules for the Mexican cartels, says Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer. And those aren't coyotes, immigrant smugglers bringing people in the United States as they have for generations; they're drug cartels, which -- according to Brewer -- now control all the immigrant smuggling operations into the United States.
The Border Patrol was just as quick to knockdown those stories as untrue as the FBI was in refuting the story about terror babies using the 14th Amendment to do us harm.
I was glad to see that. There is already enough dishonesty in the immigration debate; we certainly don't need any more coming from the state of Arizona. Yet, there is a steady trickle of deceptions and half-truths.
The three big fibs -- repeated by top Republican officials -- are that the federal government isn't doing its job to protect the borders, that the law is an attempt to crack down on drug cartels, and that race isn't part of the discussion. None of that is true. So why repeat it?
Those who believe in the state's immigration law and consider it a good idea to empower local police and sheriff's deputies to enforce federal immigration law should stand by the legislation as it is written. They shouldn't have to try to create an alternate reality to win over more supporters.
A prominent Mexican-American attorney, who has long been a visible and vocal member of Phoenix's Latino community, warned me against trying to make sense of the opposition.
For instance, I asked him, how could people continue to argue that the Obama administration isn't doing enough to secure the border when all the evidence suggests otherwise?
"You'll never be able to convince people of that," he said. "Because their motivation is political. It's not based in reality."
I'm afraid that's not good enough. If the supporters of SB1070 really believe in the merits of their cause, they should be able to win the argument on the natural, without relying on hocus-pocus or scare tactics or radical makeovers. And if they can't do that, if they have to portray babies as terrorists and immigrants as drug mules in order to win support for their side, then this should tell them loud and clear that they're on the wrong side of this issue -- not to mention, on the wrong side of history.
No amount of spin can change that.
The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Ruben Navarrette Jr
http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/08/13/navarrette.terror.babies/index.html?iref=allsearch
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/08/24/arizona-senate-theres-a-democratic-race-too/
From CNN National Political Correspondent Jessica Yellin
Phoenix, Arizona (CNN) - There's been so much coverage of the heated Arizona Senate race between Republican Senator John McCain and Republican challenger J.D. Hayworth, you might think the race ends with the primary today. Or as Arizona Democratic candidate Randy Parraz asked CNN, "Do you guys know there's a Democratic race in Arizona today too?"
Parraz is one of four Democrats vying for a spot on the November ticket. A community organizer, Parraz is the only Latino in the race and he's gained buzz lately, particularly among the online progressive community. He jumped into the contest largely in response to Arizona's controversial anti-illegal immigration law: SB1070.
Parraz tells CNN, "SB1070 and the right wing's infatuation with border security and deporting immigrants hasn't solved our problems, in fact that's made things worse. I'm interested in moving the state in the right direction when it comes to job creation, education and renewable energy."
He believes that McCain will be vulnerable in the general election because his new embrace of tough anti-illegal immigration policies will alienate the state's independent and Latino voters. Of McCain Parraz tells CNN, "Any time a four term incumbent has to spend more than twenty million dollars to get out of his own primary that's weakness."
There are three other Democrats in the race. They are former Tucson City Councilman Rodney Glassman, former investigative journalist John Dougherty, and former State Representative Cathy Eden. Glassman is considered the front runner in this contest but trails McCain in polls that present a head-to-head matchup.
Phoenix, Arizona (CNN) - There's been so much coverage of the heated Arizona Senate race between Republican Senator John McCain and Republican challenger J.D. Hayworth, you might think the race ends with the primary today. Or as Arizona Democratic candidate Randy Parraz asked CNN, "Do you guys know there's a Democratic race in Arizona today too?"
Parraz is one of four Democrats vying for a spot on the November ticket. A community organizer, Parraz is the only Latino in the race and he's gained buzz lately, particularly among the online progressive community. He jumped into the contest largely in response to Arizona's controversial anti-illegal immigration law: SB1070.
Parraz tells CNN, "SB1070 and the right wing's infatuation with border security and deporting immigrants hasn't solved our problems, in fact that's made things worse. I'm interested in moving the state in the right direction when it comes to job creation, education and renewable energy."
He believes that McCain will be vulnerable in the general election because his new embrace of tough anti-illegal immigration policies will alienate the state's independent and Latino voters. Of McCain Parraz tells CNN, "Any time a four term incumbent has to spend more than twenty million dollars to get out of his own primary that's weakness."
There are three other Democrats in the race. They are former Tucson City Councilman Rodney Glassman, former investigative journalist John Dougherty, and former State Representative Cathy Eden. Glassman is considered the front runner in this contest but trails McCain in polls that present a head-to-head matchup.
Iker Casillas pide más paciencia
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EFE
MADRID -- Iker Casillas, capitán del Real Madrid, recordó los silbidos que en fases del estreno oficial en el Santiago Bernabéu recibió su equipo ante Osasuna, y pidió a su propia afición "algo más de paciencia".
Getty Images
Casillas es un referente dentro del vestuario
Casillas compareció en rueda de prensa en Valdebebas, horas después de que el Real Madrid certificase su primer triunfo liguero (1-0), para lanzar dos mensajes claros a sus seguidores, que sean pacientes con un equipo en construcción y que no se les compare permanentemente con el Barcelona.
"El aficionado del Bernabéu es soberano y en cualquier momento puede mostrar su parecer con el equipo. Si algo tengo que pedir al público es algo más de paciencia. Es un equipo nuevo y joven, vamos a ir haciéndonos más fuertes. A lo que a otros equipos se le pide en dos temporadas al Real Madrid se le pide en dos meses. Necesitamos un poquito más de paciencia", manifestó.
El triunfo del Real Madrid y la sorprendente derrota del Barcelona en el Camp Nou, ante el Hércules, pone por delante en la clasificación al conjunto blanco. Para Casillas no es un alivio superar a su gran rival sin estar aún al cien por cien.
"Mal haríamos, hablo por todo el equipo, en pensar que tenemos que estar por encima del Barcelona y siempre estar en competencia con ellos. Todo lo contrario, cada partido lo planteamos como el más importante. Es nuestra realidad", dijo.
"De esta forma, cuando te quieras dar cuenta, a lo mejor estamos cerca de conseguir algo muy bonito, pero nuestro objetivo no es estar por encima del Barcelona ahora, sino construir un equipo, un bloque, y que lleguen los resultados", prosiguió.
Casillas elogió al autor del gol de la primera victoria del Real Madrid en Liga, el portugués Carvalho. "Es un jugador necesario para un equipo. Es positivo tener gente con tanta experiencia y con nombre en el fútbol europeo y mundial. Sus características le vienen bien al equipo. Viene a sumar y es necesario en una plantilla", opinó.
Destacó además el portero madrileño, la solidez que está mostrando el Real Madrid desde la llegada de José Mourinho. En dos partidos no a encajado ningún gol y además no ha tenido que intervenir en ocasiones.
"Este año apenas hemos dejado que el rival nos haga ocasiones de gol y en acciones a balón parado, en faltas o córners, estamos solidos. Esperamos seguir así. Es un paso importante. Además, tanto Mallorca como Osasuna el mejor de ellos ha sido el portero rival, eso quiere decir mucho", analizó.
El miércoles el Real Madrid inicia una nueva andadura en Liga de Campeones. El capitán destacó la importancia de arrancar con triunfo ante el Ajax en el Santiago Bernabéu y la importante baja del goleador uruguayo Luis Suárez.
"Tenemos que empezar con buen pie en Champions en casa, consiguiendo los tres puntos porque va a ser un año complicado. La baja de Luis Suárez es importante porque es un jugador que lleva un alto índice de goles del Ajax. Esperamos aprovechar su ausencia", señaló.
Por último, dedicó buenas palabras al actual líder de Primera división, el Atlético de Madrid. "Les veo como candidatos al título. Están jugando un buen fútbol y me alegro. Se merecen estar peleando por grandes metas. Va a hacer que la Liga sea más emocionante y que aumente la competitividad", concluyó.
REAL MADRID COMIENZA A PREPARAR EL ESTRENO EUROPEO
La plantilla del Real Madrid comenzó a preparar el estreno en Liga de Campeones del próximo miércoles, ante el Ajax en el estadio Santiago Bernabéu, con un entrenamiento suave unas horas después de cosechar su primer triunfo liguero ante Osasuna.
Desde las 11.00 horas en la ciudad deportiva de Valdebebas, a metros de donde se celebraba la asamblea general del club, la plantilla blanca completó un entrenamiento de recuperación para los jugadores que fueron titulares ante Osasuna y de mayor intensidad para suplentes.
Comenzaron todos sobre el césped, pero a los minutos se quedaron tan sólo los defensas Arbeloa y Mateos junto a los centrocampistas Mahamadou Diarra, Granero, Lass, Pedro León, Canales y Di María.
Los titulares que vencieron 1-0 a Osasuna se ejercitaron con el preparador físico. Tras el calentamiento realizaron ejercicios con balón antes de retirarse al interior de las instalaciones para recibir masaje.
El único titular que entrenó al mismo ritmo que el resto fue Iker Casillas, que tuvo que completar una sesión específica para porteros, junto a Jerzy Dudek y Antonio Adán, que trabajaron junto al técnico de guardametas Silvino Louro.
El lunes, desde las 10.30 horas -media hora más tarde del horario habitual- José Mourinho juntará a todos sus jugadores para comenzar a ensayar a puerta cerrada los detalles tácticos del estreno europeo ante el Ajax.
ComentariosEnviar a un amigo Imprimir
EFE
MADRID -- Iker Casillas, capitán del Real Madrid, recordó los silbidos que en fases del estreno oficial en el Santiago Bernabéu recibió su equipo ante Osasuna, y pidió a su propia afición "algo más de paciencia".
Getty Images
Casillas es un referente dentro del vestuario
Casillas compareció en rueda de prensa en Valdebebas, horas después de que el Real Madrid certificase su primer triunfo liguero (1-0), para lanzar dos mensajes claros a sus seguidores, que sean pacientes con un equipo en construcción y que no se les compare permanentemente con el Barcelona.
"El aficionado del Bernabéu es soberano y en cualquier momento puede mostrar su parecer con el equipo. Si algo tengo que pedir al público es algo más de paciencia. Es un equipo nuevo y joven, vamos a ir haciéndonos más fuertes. A lo que a otros equipos se le pide en dos temporadas al Real Madrid se le pide en dos meses. Necesitamos un poquito más de paciencia", manifestó.
El triunfo del Real Madrid y la sorprendente derrota del Barcelona en el Camp Nou, ante el Hércules, pone por delante en la clasificación al conjunto blanco. Para Casillas no es un alivio superar a su gran rival sin estar aún al cien por cien.
"Mal haríamos, hablo por todo el equipo, en pensar que tenemos que estar por encima del Barcelona y siempre estar en competencia con ellos. Todo lo contrario, cada partido lo planteamos como el más importante. Es nuestra realidad", dijo.
"De esta forma, cuando te quieras dar cuenta, a lo mejor estamos cerca de conseguir algo muy bonito, pero nuestro objetivo no es estar por encima del Barcelona ahora, sino construir un equipo, un bloque, y que lleguen los resultados", prosiguió.
Casillas elogió al autor del gol de la primera victoria del Real Madrid en Liga, el portugués Carvalho. "Es un jugador necesario para un equipo. Es positivo tener gente con tanta experiencia y con nombre en el fútbol europeo y mundial. Sus características le vienen bien al equipo. Viene a sumar y es necesario en una plantilla", opinó.
Destacó además el portero madrileño, la solidez que está mostrando el Real Madrid desde la llegada de José Mourinho. En dos partidos no a encajado ningún gol y además no ha tenido que intervenir en ocasiones.
"Este año apenas hemos dejado que el rival nos haga ocasiones de gol y en acciones a balón parado, en faltas o córners, estamos solidos. Esperamos seguir así. Es un paso importante. Además, tanto Mallorca como Osasuna el mejor de ellos ha sido el portero rival, eso quiere decir mucho", analizó.
El miércoles el Real Madrid inicia una nueva andadura en Liga de Campeones. El capitán destacó la importancia de arrancar con triunfo ante el Ajax en el Santiago Bernabéu y la importante baja del goleador uruguayo Luis Suárez.
"Tenemos que empezar con buen pie en Champions en casa, consiguiendo los tres puntos porque va a ser un año complicado. La baja de Luis Suárez es importante porque es un jugador que lleva un alto índice de goles del Ajax. Esperamos aprovechar su ausencia", señaló.
Por último, dedicó buenas palabras al actual líder de Primera división, el Atlético de Madrid. "Les veo como candidatos al título. Están jugando un buen fútbol y me alegro. Se merecen estar peleando por grandes metas. Va a hacer que la Liga sea más emocionante y que aumente la competitividad", concluyó.
REAL MADRID COMIENZA A PREPARAR EL ESTRENO EUROPEO
La plantilla del Real Madrid comenzó a preparar el estreno en Liga de Campeones del próximo miércoles, ante el Ajax en el estadio Santiago Bernabéu, con un entrenamiento suave unas horas después de cosechar su primer triunfo liguero ante Osasuna.
Desde las 11.00 horas en la ciudad deportiva de Valdebebas, a metros de donde se celebraba la asamblea general del club, la plantilla blanca completó un entrenamiento de recuperación para los jugadores que fueron titulares ante Osasuna y de mayor intensidad para suplentes.
Comenzaron todos sobre el césped, pero a los minutos se quedaron tan sólo los defensas Arbeloa y Mateos junto a los centrocampistas Mahamadou Diarra, Granero, Lass, Pedro León, Canales y Di María.
Los titulares que vencieron 1-0 a Osasuna se ejercitaron con el preparador físico. Tras el calentamiento realizaron ejercicios con balón antes de retirarse al interior de las instalaciones para recibir masaje.
El único titular que entrenó al mismo ritmo que el resto fue Iker Casillas, que tuvo que completar una sesión específica para porteros, junto a Jerzy Dudek y Antonio Adán, que trabajaron junto al técnico de guardametas Silvino Louro.
El lunes, desde las 10.30 horas -media hora más tarde del horario habitual- José Mourinho juntará a todos sus jugadores para comenzar a ensayar a puerta cerrada los detalles tácticos del estreno europeo ante el Ajax.
Japan's ruling party set for leadership vote
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/09/13/japan.prime.minister/index.html
By Kyung Lah, CNN
September 13, 2010 10:15 p.m. EDT
Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan at a press conference at his official residence in Tokyo on August 10.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
The country could have its third prime minister this year
Party power-broker challenges current prime minister Kan, who won his seat three months ago
Kan, Ozawa are former allies
Many in party owe their careers to Ozawa
RELATED TOPICS
Naoto Kan
Ichiro Ozawa
Tokyo, Japan (CNN) -- When Japan's ruling party finishes its vote later Tuesday, the Asian island nation could have its third prime minister in a year.
Ichiro Ozawa, a political heavy-weight in the ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), challenged Naoto Kan for the leadership role just three months into Kan's tenure.
National poll after poll shows Kan is the public's preferred choice as the nation's leader. Opinion polls show 65 to 70 percent of the voters favor Kan versus Ozawa's support, which lingers in the teens.
But the public doesn't vote in the DPJ party-leader election. It's up to the politicians.
Ozawa says he is challenging Kan because he thinks the prime minister has been ineffective and lacks determination. Kan has been unable to wrest power from the government's powerful bureaucrats, he says.
Within the DPJ, many politicians owe their current jobs to Ozawa's deals. Yukio Hatoyama, the prime minister before Kan, said of Ozawa, "I became prime minister, thanks to Mr. Ichiro Ozawa's gracious guidance. I must repay him." It suggests that political payback may reign supreme to the direction of the country.
The two men worked together to bring the DPJ into power more than a year ago, booting out the Liberal Democratic Party, which had ruled Japan continuously for almost 50 years. A political funding scandal forced Ozawa to resign as party leader late last year and Kan publicly distanced himself from his ally.
The prime minister has, at every recent opportunity, reminded the public of Ozawa's controversial past and repeated that the top job should be one of trust.
"Mr. Ozawa should tell Japan what kind of prime minister he would like to be," Kan said at a recent campaigning event, insinuating that Ozawa is a political wheeler-dealer, not a statesman.
"I have to be myself," Ozawa said in response. "I will implement polices as the prime minister in a sincere manner. We have to put our priorities on improving the lives of the people."
A public investigation into the funding scandal continues against Ozawa, with an indictment still possible. Yet Ozawa, who has been a political operative in Japan for four decades, remains a formidable candidate against Kan.
The political skirmishes have been fodder for the nightly news in Japan, but the revolving door at the top job in Tokyo has meant a lack of policy for the world's third-largest economy, wracked with deflation, a surging currency and an exploding elderly population.
On the economy, Ozawa favors stimulus spending. He unveiled his proposal for a 2-trillion-yen ($24 billion) stimulus plan, more than twice that of Kan's proposal. Ozawa has also suggested the government may have to issue more bonds, even issuing zero-interest national bonds, to boost the economy in the face of deflation.
On the currency, Ozawa has said the Bank of Japan should intervene and curb the yen's advance by selling the yen. The yen is at a 15-year high versus the U.S. dollar, eroding the value of overseas earnings for exporters like Toyota.
The prime minister has also said Japan should yet again revisit the issue of moving U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma off the island of Okinawa. In May, Japan and the U.S. agreed to move the air station within Okinawa, after months of back-and-forth debate that strained relations between the two allies. The issue torpedoed then-Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's approval ratings and ultimately cost him his job. Yet Ozawa has maintained that the issue merits more negotiations with Washington.
Kan has opposed any further dispute over the base. Kan also favors reining in Japan's debt, the developed world's largest. More stimulus spending will eventually lead to a crisis similar to the one experienced in Greece, he says.
By Kyung Lah, CNN
September 13, 2010 10:15 p.m. EDT
Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan at a press conference at his official residence in Tokyo on August 10.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
The country could have its third prime minister this year
Party power-broker challenges current prime minister Kan, who won his seat three months ago
Kan, Ozawa are former allies
Many in party owe their careers to Ozawa
RELATED TOPICS
Naoto Kan
Ichiro Ozawa
Tokyo, Japan (CNN) -- When Japan's ruling party finishes its vote later Tuesday, the Asian island nation could have its third prime minister in a year.
Ichiro Ozawa, a political heavy-weight in the ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), challenged Naoto Kan for the leadership role just three months into Kan's tenure.
National poll after poll shows Kan is the public's preferred choice as the nation's leader. Opinion polls show 65 to 70 percent of the voters favor Kan versus Ozawa's support, which lingers in the teens.
But the public doesn't vote in the DPJ party-leader election. It's up to the politicians.
Ozawa says he is challenging Kan because he thinks the prime minister has been ineffective and lacks determination. Kan has been unable to wrest power from the government's powerful bureaucrats, he says.
Within the DPJ, many politicians owe their current jobs to Ozawa's deals. Yukio Hatoyama, the prime minister before Kan, said of Ozawa, "I became prime minister, thanks to Mr. Ichiro Ozawa's gracious guidance. I must repay him." It suggests that political payback may reign supreme to the direction of the country.
The two men worked together to bring the DPJ into power more than a year ago, booting out the Liberal Democratic Party, which had ruled Japan continuously for almost 50 years. A political funding scandal forced Ozawa to resign as party leader late last year and Kan publicly distanced himself from his ally.
The prime minister has, at every recent opportunity, reminded the public of Ozawa's controversial past and repeated that the top job should be one of trust.
"Mr. Ozawa should tell Japan what kind of prime minister he would like to be," Kan said at a recent campaigning event, insinuating that Ozawa is a political wheeler-dealer, not a statesman.
"I have to be myself," Ozawa said in response. "I will implement polices as the prime minister in a sincere manner. We have to put our priorities on improving the lives of the people."
A public investigation into the funding scandal continues against Ozawa, with an indictment still possible. Yet Ozawa, who has been a political operative in Japan for four decades, remains a formidable candidate against Kan.
The political skirmishes have been fodder for the nightly news in Japan, but the revolving door at the top job in Tokyo has meant a lack of policy for the world's third-largest economy, wracked with deflation, a surging currency and an exploding elderly population.
On the economy, Ozawa favors stimulus spending. He unveiled his proposal for a 2-trillion-yen ($24 billion) stimulus plan, more than twice that of Kan's proposal. Ozawa has also suggested the government may have to issue more bonds, even issuing zero-interest national bonds, to boost the economy in the face of deflation.
On the currency, Ozawa has said the Bank of Japan should intervene and curb the yen's advance by selling the yen. The yen is at a 15-year high versus the U.S. dollar, eroding the value of overseas earnings for exporters like Toyota.
The prime minister has also said Japan should yet again revisit the issue of moving U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma off the island of Okinawa. In May, Japan and the U.S. agreed to move the air station within Okinawa, after months of back-and-forth debate that strained relations between the two allies. The issue torpedoed then-Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's approval ratings and ultimately cost him his job. Yet Ozawa has maintained that the issue merits more negotiations with Washington.
Kan has opposed any further dispute over the base. Kan also favors reining in Japan's debt, the developed world's largest. More stimulus spending will eventually lead to a crisis similar to the one experienced in Greece, he says.
U.S. preparing massive arms deal for Saudi Arabia, defense official says
http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/09/13/us.saudi.arms.deal/index.html?hpt=T2
By Barbara Starr, CNN Pentagon Correspondent
September 13, 2010 8:46 p.m. EDT
The proposed package includes 70 Apache helicopters.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
The $60 billion deal would include fighter planes, helicopters and high-tech bombs
A large aim of such sales is to provide capability against Iran, the official says
The deal must go before Congress before being finalized
RELATED TOPICS
Military Weapons
Saudi Arabia
U.S. Department of State
Washington ((CNN) -- The Obama administration is preparing to notify Congress of plans to sell $60 billion of military equipment to Saudi Arabia, according to a U.S. defense official.
The official, who would not be identified because the proposal has not yet been sent to Congress, described the deal as "enormous."
"We believe this is the largest of its kind in history," the official said.
Congress would have to approve the deal.
The proposed package includes 84 newly manufactured F-15/SA fighter aircraft; 70 upgraded aircraft, 70 Apache helicopters, 72 Black Hawk helicopters, and 36 AH-6 Little Bird helicopters. A number of bombs and missiles also are in the deal, including the Joint Direct Attack Munition, a satellite-guided bomb, as well as a laser-guided Hellfire missile variant and some advanced targeting technology.
The Saudi arms effort is in large part directed at providing a modernized capability against Iran.
"This gives them a whole host of defensive and deterrent capabilities," the official explained.
The official emphasized that nothing in the sale would change the qualitative edge that Israel seeks to maintain. A point reiterated by State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley.
"Suffice it to say that at the core of our policy is making sure that, you know, there is stability in the region and part of that stability is making sure that Israel has what it needs ... to be able to provide for its own security," Crowley said Monday. "So the United States would do nothing that would upset that -- the current ... balance in the region."
The Obama administration hopes to send the proposed package to Capitol Hill no later than next week. The official emphasized it's not clear yet whether the Saudis would follow through to buy all of the weapons and aircraft in the package because they are continuing to evaluate their own financial concerns.
Boeing Corp. has told the administration that if the entire package is sold, 77,000 company jobs would be "involved," but there was no calculation on how many new jobs might be created over the five- to 10-year period of potential delivery, according to the official.
The official also indicated the United States is discussing with the Saudi government additional sales of a ballistic missile defense system and more modern warships.
By Barbara Starr, CNN Pentagon Correspondent
September 13, 2010 8:46 p.m. EDT
The proposed package includes 70 Apache helicopters.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
The $60 billion deal would include fighter planes, helicopters and high-tech bombs
A large aim of such sales is to provide capability against Iran, the official says
The deal must go before Congress before being finalized
RELATED TOPICS
Military Weapons
Saudi Arabia
U.S. Department of State
Washington ((CNN) -- The Obama administration is preparing to notify Congress of plans to sell $60 billion of military equipment to Saudi Arabia, according to a U.S. defense official.
The official, who would not be identified because the proposal has not yet been sent to Congress, described the deal as "enormous."
"We believe this is the largest of its kind in history," the official said.
Congress would have to approve the deal.
The proposed package includes 84 newly manufactured F-15/SA fighter aircraft; 70 upgraded aircraft, 70 Apache helicopters, 72 Black Hawk helicopters, and 36 AH-6 Little Bird helicopters. A number of bombs and missiles also are in the deal, including the Joint Direct Attack Munition, a satellite-guided bomb, as well as a laser-guided Hellfire missile variant and some advanced targeting technology.
The Saudi arms effort is in large part directed at providing a modernized capability against Iran.
"This gives them a whole host of defensive and deterrent capabilities," the official explained.
The official emphasized that nothing in the sale would change the qualitative edge that Israel seeks to maintain. A point reiterated by State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley.
"Suffice it to say that at the core of our policy is making sure that, you know, there is stability in the region and part of that stability is making sure that Israel has what it needs ... to be able to provide for its own security," Crowley said Monday. "So the United States would do nothing that would upset that -- the current ... balance in the region."
The Obama administration hopes to send the proposed package to Capitol Hill no later than next week. The official emphasized it's not clear yet whether the Saudis would follow through to buy all of the weapons and aircraft in the package because they are continuing to evaluate their own financial concerns.
Boeing Corp. has told the administration that if the entire package is sold, 77,000 company jobs would be "involved," but there was no calculation on how many new jobs might be created over the five- to 10-year period of potential delivery, according to the official.
The official also indicated the United States is discussing with the Saudi government additional sales of a ballistic missile defense system and more modern warships.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Class Room Discusion
In 2period today we learned new and old facts about the mosque being build near ground zero. Alot of the majority of the class spliced the for and against 50/50 and either way we couldn't find a solution to solve anything. I go either way because in some case its a freedom of religion and some parts its a slap to the face and most hate crimes are gonna raise all because of this mosque so we as Americans need a solution to solve this before out of control.
As Rae and most of the other girls said that we cant judge all of them just because of a couple of people mistakes and wrong doing so we can give them this opportunity to see them as better indivals and better human beings.
In a concern of me and chris had towards the end if they want to build it shouldn't the fbi or the cia motor the building and if something suspicious were to happen then couldn't we take actions but what if this is all just to make peace how can you view this either way really hard .
my other concern is why not worry about the sb1070 and immigrants dying all around d Mexico and other parts isn't that more important first in order to allow the mosque being build.
As Rae and most of the other girls said that we cant judge all of them just because of a couple of people mistakes and wrong doing so we can give them this opportunity to see them as better indivals and better human beings.
In a concern of me and chris had towards the end if they want to build it shouldn't the fbi or the cia motor the building and if something suspicious were to happen then couldn't we take actions but what if this is all just to make peace how can you view this either way really hard .
my other concern is why not worry about the sb1070 and immigrants dying all around d Mexico and other parts isn't that more important first in order to allow the mosque being build.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
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