Paul Ryan sold shares on same day as private briefing of banking crisis !

Paul Ryan sold shares on same day as private briefing of banking crisis 13 Aug 2012 Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney's vice-presidential running mate, sold stock in US banks on the same day he attended a confidential meeting where top level officials disclosed the sector was heading for a deep crisis. The congressman on Monday denied profiting from information gleaned from the meeting on 18 September 2008 when Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, then treasury secretary Hank Paulson and others outlined their fears for the banking sector... Public records show that on the same day as the meeting, Ryan sold stock in troubled banks including Wachovia and Citigroup and bought shares in Goldman Sachs, Paulson's old employer and a bank that had been disclosed to be stronger than many of its rivals.

Britain 'threatened to storm Ecuador's London embassy' to arrest Julian Assange 16 Aug 2012 Ecuador's foreign minister is alleging that Britain threatened to storm his country's London embassy to arrest WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. The accusation comes ahead of an imminent decision on whether Ecuador will grant asylum to Mr Assange, who has been taking refuge in its London embassy since June, Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino says. Mr Patino said on Wednesday that Ecuador "has made a decision" and will announce it on Thursday at 7.00am (2200 AEST). Meanwhile Britain has said it was "determined" to extradite Mr Assange to Sweden where he faces sexual assault claims.

Israel sees monthlong war after Iran strike 15 Aug 2012 An Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear program could trigger a bloody monthlong war on multiple fronts, killing hundreds of Israelis or more, the Israeli Cabinet's civil defense chief warned in an interview published Wednesday. It was the most explicit assessment yet of how the government sees events unfolding in the aftermath of an Israeli attack. Matan Vilnai, who is stepping down as the "home front" Cabinet minister to become Israel's ambassador to China, described the scenarios to Israel's Maariv daily at a time of heightened debate about the Iranian nuclear threat.

US uses Iraq consulate to smuggle arms to anti-Iran terrorist cell 16 Aug 2012 The US Consulate in the Iraqi city of Basra has reportedly prepared a shipment of weapons to smuggle for a terrorist cell operating inside Iran. The cargo, including light and heavy guns, was shipped into Iraq's southern city of Basra through the Turkish soil, according to an informed security source, who asked not to be identified. The US mission in the city used its diplomatic immunity to take the shipment into the consulate's building without bothering to answer to Iraqi security officials.

Families of assassinated Iranian scientists sue Israel, US, UK 16 Aug 2012 The families of Iranian nuclear scientists assassinated by foreign-backed terrorists have filed a lawsuit against Israel, the United States and the United Kingdom, for their involvement in the murders. Rahim Ahmadi Roshan, father of Iranian scientist Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, who was killed in a terrorist attack in January, told a press conference in Tehran on Wednesday, that the families have asked Iran's Judiciary to pursue their complaints and bring those responsible for the assassinations to justice.

Taliban attack US base in Afghanistan's Khost 15 Aug 2012 Afghan Taliban say they have attacked a US military base in Afghanistan's eastern city of Khost as foreign forces are suffering more casualties in the war-torn country. The high number of military casualties in Afghanistan has intensified opposition in the United States and other members of the Western military alliance against the protracted war in the country.

Afghan suicide bombers kill 28 people, wound more than 70 14 Aug 2012 Three suicide bombers killed at least 28 people and wounded more than 70 when they blew themselves up in a busy market in southwestern Afghanistan in one of the worst such attacks this year, provincial officials said on Tuesday.

'Severe abnormalities' found in Fukushima butterflies 13 Aug 2012 Exposure to radioactive material released into the environment has caused mutations in butterflies found in Japan, a study suggests. Scientists found an increase in leg, antennae and wing shape mutations among butterflies collected following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. The link between the mutations and the radioactive material was shown by laboratory experiments, they report. The work has been published in the journal Scientific Reports.

Michigan gets 1st case of swine flu related to fairs 16 Aug 2012 The first case of the flu virus H3N2, also known as H3N2v, has been detected in Michigan, adding to the national spike in cases. The Michigan case is believed to have been transmitted by an Ingham County fair pig to a Washtenaw County child. The case was mild, and the child didn't require hospitalization, said Angela Minicuci, spokeswoman for the Michigan Department of Community Health. State lab tests will be sent to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for final confirmation.

U.S. government is secretly spying on EVERYONE using civilian security cameras, say Wikileaks --Disturbing echoes of CIA officials in hit film 'The Bourne Identity' 14 Aug 2012 Anyone who takes a photograph at high-risk locations is logged as a suspected terrorist on a vast network of secret spy cameras linked to the U.S. Government, according to leaked emails. People pointing cameras in New York are regarded as suspicious and the facial recognition images of them from the civilian CCTV are fed into a data centre run by U.S. firm Abraxas. It has disturbing echoes of the film, 'The Bourne Identity' starring Matt Damon, in which CIA officials use a network of spy cameras to track around the world someone they thought they had assassinated. TrapWire is used by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in a bid to deter terrorist attacks - or catch those responsible once an incident has happened.

Britain threatens to storm Ecuador embassy to get Assange --Quito says it would see a raid as 'hostile and intolerable act' --UK says obliged by law to extradite Assange to Sweden 15 Aug 2012 The diplomatic standoff over WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange escalated on Wednesday after Britain threatened to raid Ecuador's embassy in London if Quito did not hand over Assange, who has been taking refuge there for two months. The Ecuadorean government said such an action would be considered a "hostile and intolerable act" as well as a violation of its sovereignty.

Ecuador 'Shocked' By UK Threats Over Assange 15 Aug 2012 Ecuadorian authorities say they are "deeply shocked" by "threats" from the UK Government to enter its London embassy and arrest Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. Ecuador's foreign minister has alleged that Britain threatened to storm his country's London embassy to arrest Mr Assange. Ricardo Patino told a news conference that Ecuador had received a written threat from Britain that "it could assault our embassy" if Mr Assange was not handed over.

Julian Assange will be granted asylum, says official 14 Aug 2012 Ecuador's president, Rafael Correa, has agreed to grant Julian Assange asylum, officials within Ecuador's government have said. The WikiLeaks founder has been holed up at Ecuador's London embassy since 19 June, when he officially requested political asylum. "Ecuador will grant asylum to Julian Assange," said an official in the Ecuadorean capital, Quito, who is familiar with the government discussions.

WikiLeaks endures a lengthy DDoS attack 13 Aug 2012 According to the WikiLeaks Twitter feed, the organization has sustained a several-day Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack that has left its Web site effectually inoperable. "The attack is well over 10Gbits/second sustained on the main WikiLeaks domains," read one of several tweets the organization posted on Friday. "The range of IPs used is huge. Whoever is running it controls thousands of machines or is able to simulate them." Apparently WikiLeaks' Web site has been slow moving or inaccessible since the beginning of August, according to the Associated Press.

Judge won't stop controversial Pennsylvania voter ID law --Voters will have to show photo ID at polls in November 15 Aug 2012 A Pennsylvania judge on Wednesday refused to stop a tough new voter identification law from going into effect, which Democrats said will suppress votes among President Barack Obama's supporters. Commonwealth Court Judge Robert Simpson said he wouldn't grant an injunction that would have halted the law requiring each voter to show a valid photo ID. [That's why RMoney and Paul Ryan know that they can say whatever they want and they'll still 'win.' They know that Coup 2012 -- backed by the corporate-pwned Supreme Court -- will assure them a 'victory.' Under cover of false complaints of 'vote fraud,' they are busy little bees enacting Jim Crow-style laws all over the country, to ensure theft of the entire 'election.' --LRP]

At Ryan-Adelson Gathering, Budget Talk Trumps Israel 15 Aug 2012 At a private gathering with Representative Paul D. Ryan, Sheldon Adelson, the billionaire casino owner and Republican super-donor, offered no public remarks and, somewhat surprisingly, his pet cause of Israel was not part of the conversation, according to an attendee. Mr. Adelson, who has pledged up to $100 million to defeat President Obama, invited about three dozen wealthy potential donors to a meeting with Mr. Ryan in a luxury suite with a guarded elevator at his Venetian hotel here on Tuesday evening. Outside, several hundred members of the A.F.L.-C.I.O. chanted and waved signs reading "Paul Ryan: Hustling for the 1 percent."

The Ryan Choice By Michael Rectenwald, Ph.D. 13 Aug 2012 The parties not only kick each other when they are down, but they also pick each other back up, because each needs its opponent in order to continue the farcical show of difference in order to contain real opposition within their bifurcated fraudulence. The object is to contain all differences within the party system in order to keep real opposition from mounting from without.

Chris Christie to give keynote at Republican convention 14 Aug 2012 Chris Christie, the sometimes abrasive but always entertaining governor of New Jersey, is set to be announced Tuesday as the keynote speaker for the Republicans' national convention later this month. Christie, who considered a 2012 presidential bid of his own before endorsing former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, is already at work on his speech to the convention in Tampa, Fla.

Google cutting 4,000 jobs at Motorola unit 14 Aug 2012 Google Inc. announced Monday that it is cutting some 4,000 jobs in its Motorola Mobility cell phone business and will close or consolidate about a third of the unit's 90 locations. The job cuts represent 20 percent of Motorola Mobility's 20,000 employees and 7 percent of Google's overall workforce. Two-thirds of the cuts will we made outside the US.

Riot engulfs troubled French district in north 15 Aug 2012 Months of tension between police and young people in a troubled district of northern France exploded on Tuesday, with dozens of youths facing off against riot officers in a night of violence. Sixteen officers were injured, a pre-school and public gym were torched, and at least three passing drivers in Amiens were dragged from their cars.