I'm not going to be drawn into it, and I'm not going to bash firefighters today -- not when all our tax loot is being wasted on banks and well-connected corporations.
Trading the call of duty for a call of convenience
When a Boston firefighter can't make his shift, a colleague steps in, on condition the favor will be returned. But there are scores of Boston firefighters whose shifts have been covered by others for weeks or months at a time, with no record they have ever reciprocated and worked off the debt.
Just the kind of thing that would make one angry at his coworker, huh?
Related: Millbury firefighter charged in thefts
Also see: Brothers in crime, bound for brutal end
Marblehead board cuts salary for police chief
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Slow Saturday Special: Oil Prices Goin' Up!
Thermostat going down!
"Prices heat up; As Massachusetts copes with a punishing winter, oil prices are on the rise" by Erin Ailworth, Globe Staff / January 29, 2011
The cost of heating oil in Massachusetts is on the rise, moving past levels of three years ago, when prices were climbing to record highs well above $4 a gallon and panicking consumers....
Several factors are driving heating oil costs, including strong crude oil prices and a cold winter in the Northeast....
And a weak buck.
And those prices are likely to rise more in the coming days, as antigovernment riots in Egypt and unrest in other parts of the Middle East, send crude prices even higher over fears of possible supply disruptions in this major oil producing region.
Yeah, right, blame the oppressed masses yearning for freedom for an oil crisis (sigh).
“The concern that it could spread to other countries [in the Middle East] could have an impact,’’ Phil Flynn, an energy analyst with PFGBest in Chicago, said. “It’s really becoming a powder keg.’’
Just waiting for an Israeli false flag to light the match?
*********
New England’s recent cold winter weather hasn’t helped, said Chris Lafakis, an economist with Moody’s Analytics, a forecasting firm in West Chester, Pa.
“Demand for heating oil has been pretty strong,’’ he said, “and that has allowed refineries to charge more for a gallon of heating oil than they otherwise would have.’’
The oil companies are really freezing you out of your wallets.
***********
“I have people calling me and they start crying on the phone,’’ said Chris Simonelli, whose company C. Simonelli & Sons Inc., provides oil to about 1,000 customers in Roxbury, Dorchester, Jamaica Plain, and several South Shore communities. “I can’t stand having an older person tell me they’re going to have to choose between oil and their meals, [but] this is what every oil dealer is up against.’’
Yeah, what a drag that must be.
Maybe the guys who got that oil to you could help out, huh?
You know, the BILLIONS in PROFITS per QUARTER oil companies.
Heating assistance advocates have been pushing for government aid to help low-income families pay their heating bills. The poorest families in Massachusetts can qualify for a maximum of $1,050 in federal aid for the winter, but advocates say more is needed.
Yes, the government is so generous with your tax dollars, dear U.S. citizen.
Too bad you were not a war profiteer, Wall Street bank, or Israel.
Last winter, more than 200,000 households qualified for heating assistance through the federal government’s Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program.
--more--"
Related:
"Oil prices slide on hint of supply rise" by Associated Press / January 25, 2011
NEW YORK — The price of oil fell yesterday after the Saudi oil minister hinted that his country, the world’s biggest oil producer, may raise supplies to put the brakes on higher oil prices.
Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said he expected world oil demand will increase this year....
--more--"
"Exxon expects fall in gasoline demand" by Associated Press, January 28, 2011
NEW YORK — There will be 400 million more cars on the world’s roads 20 years from now, yet gasoline consumption will decline, according to a projection from Exxon Mobil Corp. in its long-term energy outlook released yesterday.
That is one of those billions in profits companies I was talking about.
The world’s biggest investor-owned oil and gas company expects energy use overall will grow 35 percent by 2030, But that growth would be three times higher if people used as much energy per capita as they do now.
Nowhere is that more apparent than in projections of gasoline demand. People in developing countries, especially China, will drive millions of more cars and gas demand will grow, but the cars will be more efficient than those of the past.
Meanwhile, improvements in fuel efficiency in the United States and Europe will create a drop in demand that more than matches Asia’s growth. Demand for passenger vehicles will decline by 20 percent in the United States and by one-third in Europe by 2030.
Exxon’s long-term energy analysis, updated and released to the public every year, paints a picture of what Bill Colton, a vice president, called a “tale of two worlds.’’
In developed countries like the United States, Japan, and the nations of Europe, demand for energy will stay flat even as economic activity increases by 60 percent. In developing countries like China, India, and Brazil, demand for energy will rise more than 70 percent as more and more people gain access to electricity and transportation.
That's why you gotta pick up the bike, American.
Exxon’s annual analysis differs from similar projections done by the Energy Information Administration in that it incorporates expected policy changes in its forecasts.
“The degree of analysis that goes into their projections is as rigorous as you get from any other institution,’’ says Lawrence Eagles, an analyst at JPMorgan, of the Exxon report. “It provides a good framework to look into the future.’’
U.S. living standards going down according to the fraud-foreclosing banksters.
--more--"
And how came that price at the pump keeps rising a couple of cents every day?
"Prices heat up; As Massachusetts copes with a punishing winter, oil prices are on the rise" by Erin Ailworth, Globe Staff / January 29, 2011
The cost of heating oil in Massachusetts is on the rise, moving past levels of three years ago, when prices were climbing to record highs well above $4 a gallon and panicking consumers....
Several factors are driving heating oil costs, including strong crude oil prices and a cold winter in the Northeast....
And a weak buck.
And those prices are likely to rise more in the coming days, as antigovernment riots in Egypt and unrest in other parts of the Middle East, send crude prices even higher over fears of possible supply disruptions in this major oil producing region.
Yeah, right, blame the oppressed masses yearning for freedom for an oil crisis (sigh).
“The concern that it could spread to other countries [in the Middle East] could have an impact,’’ Phil Flynn, an energy analyst with PFGBest in Chicago, said. “It’s really becoming a powder keg.’’
Just waiting for an Israeli false flag to light the match?
*********
New England’s recent cold winter weather hasn’t helped, said Chris Lafakis, an economist with Moody’s Analytics, a forecasting firm in West Chester, Pa.
“Demand for heating oil has been pretty strong,’’ he said, “and that has allowed refineries to charge more for a gallon of heating oil than they otherwise would have.’’
The oil companies are really freezing you out of your wallets.
***********
“I have people calling me and they start crying on the phone,’’ said Chris Simonelli, whose company C. Simonelli & Sons Inc., provides oil to about 1,000 customers in Roxbury, Dorchester, Jamaica Plain, and several South Shore communities. “I can’t stand having an older person tell me they’re going to have to choose between oil and their meals, [but] this is what every oil dealer is up against.’’
Yeah, what a drag that must be.
Maybe the guys who got that oil to you could help out, huh?
You know, the BILLIONS in PROFITS per QUARTER oil companies.
Heating assistance advocates have been pushing for government aid to help low-income families pay their heating bills. The poorest families in Massachusetts can qualify for a maximum of $1,050 in federal aid for the winter, but advocates say more is needed.
Yes, the government is so generous with your tax dollars, dear U.S. citizen.
Too bad you were not a war profiteer, Wall Street bank, or Israel.
Last winter, more than 200,000 households qualified for heating assistance through the federal government’s Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program.
--more--"
Related:
"Oil prices slide on hint of supply rise" by Associated Press / January 25, 2011
NEW YORK — The price of oil fell yesterday after the Saudi oil minister hinted that his country, the world’s biggest oil producer, may raise supplies to put the brakes on higher oil prices.
Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said he expected world oil demand will increase this year....
--more--"
"Exxon expects fall in gasoline demand" by Associated Press, January 28, 2011
NEW YORK — There will be 400 million more cars on the world’s roads 20 years from now, yet gasoline consumption will decline, according to a projection from Exxon Mobil Corp. in its long-term energy outlook released yesterday.
That is one of those billions in profits companies I was talking about.
The world’s biggest investor-owned oil and gas company expects energy use overall will grow 35 percent by 2030, But that growth would be three times higher if people used as much energy per capita as they do now.
Nowhere is that more apparent than in projections of gasoline demand. People in developing countries, especially China, will drive millions of more cars and gas demand will grow, but the cars will be more efficient than those of the past.
Meanwhile, improvements in fuel efficiency in the United States and Europe will create a drop in demand that more than matches Asia’s growth. Demand for passenger vehicles will decline by 20 percent in the United States and by one-third in Europe by 2030.
Exxon’s long-term energy analysis, updated and released to the public every year, paints a picture of what Bill Colton, a vice president, called a “tale of two worlds.’’
In developed countries like the United States, Japan, and the nations of Europe, demand for energy will stay flat even as economic activity increases by 60 percent. In developing countries like China, India, and Brazil, demand for energy will rise more than 70 percent as more and more people gain access to electricity and transportation.
That's why you gotta pick up the bike, American.
Exxon’s annual analysis differs from similar projections done by the Energy Information Administration in that it incorporates expected policy changes in its forecasts.
“The degree of analysis that goes into their projections is as rigorous as you get from any other institution,’’ says Lawrence Eagles, an analyst at JPMorgan, of the Exxon report. “It provides a good framework to look into the future.’’
U.S. living standards going down according to the fraud-foreclosing banksters.
--more--"
And how came that price at the pump keeps rising a couple of cents every day?
Slow Saturday Special: Drumming Up Business at the Bank
"Regulators ban former bank CEO; Onetime leader of Randolph Savings in ethics scandal" by Todd Wallack, Globe Staff / January 29, 2011
Federal regulators have banned the former chief executive of Randolph Savings Bank from the banking industry, three years after he was caught up in an ethics scandal on Beacon Hill.
In an order made public yesterday, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. accused Thomas H. Drummey of violating industry rules involving “personal dishonesty’’ or acting in disregard for the soundness of the Randolph community bank.
Oh, you're kidding.
Not here in sanctimonious Massachusetts.
The FDIC did not specify what Drummey did wrong or how it affected the bank. But Drummey made headlines in 2008 after state election officials found that he had made monthly mortgage payments for a Cape Cod vacation home owned by state Representative John H. Rogers, a Norwood Democrat who also was House majority leader from 2005 to 2009.
While Drummey was paying the mortgage, Rogers’s campaign paid him as much as $6,000 a month in consulting fees — raising the question of whether Drummey helped Rogers use campaign funds to pay Rogers’s personal expenses in violation of state campaign finance regulations. Public records show that Rogers and his wife bought the Falmouth home in July 2004 and took out a $351,000 loan from Randolph Savings Bank. They sold the home in 2008.
At the time, Rogers and Drummey argued that Drummey co-owned the home, making the mortgage payments legitimate. But they refused to publicly release any documents proving Drummey’s ownership interest. As part of a settlement with the state, Rogers’s campaign committee agreed to pay $30,000 to cover the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance’s legal expenses to investigate the matter....
--more--"
Also see: Drumgold arrested in Roxbury drug raid
Federal regulators have banned the former chief executive of Randolph Savings Bank from the banking industry, three years after he was caught up in an ethics scandal on Beacon Hill.
In an order made public yesterday, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. accused Thomas H. Drummey of violating industry rules involving “personal dishonesty’’ or acting in disregard for the soundness of the Randolph community bank.
Oh, you're kidding.
Not here in sanctimonious Massachusetts.
The FDIC did not specify what Drummey did wrong or how it affected the bank. But Drummey made headlines in 2008 after state election officials found that he had made monthly mortgage payments for a Cape Cod vacation home owned by state Representative John H. Rogers, a Norwood Democrat who also was House majority leader from 2005 to 2009.
While Drummey was paying the mortgage, Rogers’s campaign paid him as much as $6,000 a month in consulting fees — raising the question of whether Drummey helped Rogers use campaign funds to pay Rogers’s personal expenses in violation of state campaign finance regulations. Public records show that Rogers and his wife bought the Falmouth home in July 2004 and took out a $351,000 loan from Randolph Savings Bank. They sold the home in 2008.
At the time, Rogers and Drummey argued that Drummey co-owned the home, making the mortgage payments legitimate. But they refused to publicly release any documents proving Drummey’s ownership interest. As part of a settlement with the state, Rogers’s campaign committee agreed to pay $30,000 to cover the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance’s legal expenses to investigate the matter....
--more--"
Also see: Drumgold arrested in Roxbury drug raid
Cholera Comes to Massachusetts
You will never guess where it came from:
"Massachusetts man is diagnosed with cholera" by Stephen Smith, Globe Staff / January 28, 2011
A 30-year-old Massachusetts man who traveled to the Dominican Republic for a wedding has been diagnosed with cholera after returning to Boston, state disease trackers confirmed last night. The man is recovering, and doctors said there is no evidence he spread the intestinal infection to anyone in the state....
The man had attended an extravagant wedding from Jan. 20 to Sunday at a resort in the Dominican Republic, where more than 400 guests feasted on lobster. Dozens, including some who had returned to Venezuela, fell violently sick in the days after the celebration. The man’s wife accompanied him to the wedding but has remained healthy.
Tests show that the ill are infected with the same strain of cholera that has killed more than 3,000 in Haiti since October and spread to the Dominican Republic, said Dr. Larry Madoff, director of the Division of Epidemiology and Immunization at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health....
You know, the one the U.N. brought in and that the media will no longer mention because the globalist pukes told them not to.
--more--"
"2d cholera case confirmed; 4 others in Bay State suspected of having disease" by Stephen Smith, Globe Staff / January 29, 2011
The destination was shimmering: a five-star, palm tree-studded resort in the Caribbean. The occasion was joyous: a lavish wedding with a guest roster stretching more than 400 names long.
But attendees left the fete in the Dominican Republic with an unwanted reminder of the nuptials: the germ that causes cholera.
At least two of those who became ill hail from Massachusetts. First, there was a 30-year-old man who sought treatment Tuesday in the emergency room at Massachusetts General Hospital. Then there were more: Disease trackers said yesterday that a second Massachusetts resident had been diagnosed with the intestinal ailment and four others in the state are suspected of having it.
They all at the glitzy wedding? What are the odds on that?
All are recovering, and there is no evidence the disease is spreading in Massachusetts, said Dr. Larry Madoff, a top epidemiologist at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
More people have it, but... (sigh).
The emergence of cholera in Boston, 1,700 miles from the origin of an outbreak moving across the island of Hispaniola, illustrates the swift, relentless migration of infectious diseases in an era of widespread jet traffic.
There is your agenda-pushing reason to feature the coming cholera epidemic in Massachusetts!
“We fully expected this,’’ said Dr. Jordan Tappero, incident manager for the cholera outbreak response at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. “We’re not at all surprised that this would happen, given all the travel.’’
Related:
"Dr. Jordan Tappero, a medical epidemiologist at the CDC, recommended that if travelers are destined for remote parts of the island of Hispaniola, shared by the Dominican Republic and Haiti, they should take packets of oral rehydration solution, which consist of salts and sugars. It’s used to treat dehydration. Tappero also suggested that visitors to far-flung areas bring kits used for chlorinating water."
Guests flew to the Dominican Republic from distant points for the extravagant wedding last weekend. There were visitors from Venezuela and Spain — and Boston. By the dozens, they became sick after returning home, stricken with the hallmark symptoms of cholera: diarrhea and vomiting.
The man treated at Mass. General endured multiple bowel movements for a day and a half, although he had neither a fever nor bloody stool, both symptoms of more severe infection....
The source of the outbreak is unknown. It has been reported that guests dined on lobster, and shellfish can harbor the germs. But if food is cooked thoroughly, the risk of infection should be mitigated. Cholera most often spreads through tainted water or sewage but can be conveyed by contaminated food.
Yes, I DOUBT VERY MUCH this was caused by BAD COOKING in a FIVE-STAR RESORT!
So WHO is SPREADING CHOLERA around the CARIBBEAN, readers?
We KNOW WHO BROUGHT IT THERE!
The resort issued a statement saying that while it “deeply regrets the food poisoning/cholera cases that recently occurred during an exclusive wedding party in a private villa residence within our resort,’’ the food, drinks, and ice were provided by an outside catering company hired by the party’s hosts.
Well... ?
Shouldn't somebody be checking them out?
The cholera strain circulating in the Dominican Republic has been linked to an epidemic in Haiti that has killed more than 3,000 since October....
Hey, just don't eat lobster or shellfish -- especially if it comes from the U.S. Gulf Coast.
--more--"
Related: Boston boy hasn’t forgotten Haiti
No, but the Boston Globe sure as hell has as the death toll soars.
Also see: French rail station to be Holocaust memorial
Holocaust memorial launches Web project
Hungarian’s comments lead to charges
Holocaust survivors laud global effort to preserve Auschwitz
So I get Holocaust™every day, but no Haiti.
See why I'm no longer thrilled about reading the Boston Globe?
"Massachusetts man is diagnosed with cholera" by Stephen Smith, Globe Staff / January 28, 2011
A 30-year-old Massachusetts man who traveled to the Dominican Republic for a wedding has been diagnosed with cholera after returning to Boston, state disease trackers confirmed last night. The man is recovering, and doctors said there is no evidence he spread the intestinal infection to anyone in the state....
The man had attended an extravagant wedding from Jan. 20 to Sunday at a resort in the Dominican Republic, where more than 400 guests feasted on lobster. Dozens, including some who had returned to Venezuela, fell violently sick in the days after the celebration. The man’s wife accompanied him to the wedding but has remained healthy.
You know, the one the U.N. brought in and that the media will no longer mention because the globalist pukes told them not to.
--more--"
"2d cholera case confirmed; 4 others in Bay State suspected of having disease" by Stephen Smith, Globe Staff / January 29, 2011
The destination was shimmering: a five-star, palm tree-studded resort in the Caribbean. The occasion was joyous: a lavish wedding with a guest roster stretching more than 400 names long.
But attendees left the fete in the Dominican Republic with an unwanted reminder of the nuptials: the germ that causes cholera.
At least two of those who became ill hail from Massachusetts. First, there was a 30-year-old man who sought treatment Tuesday in the emergency room at Massachusetts General Hospital. Then there were more: Disease trackers said yesterday that a second Massachusetts resident had been diagnosed with the intestinal ailment and four others in the state are suspected of having it.
They all at the glitzy wedding? What are the odds on that?
All are recovering, and there is no evidence the disease is spreading in Massachusetts, said Dr. Larry Madoff, a top epidemiologist at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
More people have it, but... (sigh).
The emergence of cholera in Boston, 1,700 miles from the origin of an outbreak moving across the island of Hispaniola, illustrates the swift, relentless migration of infectious diseases in an era of widespread jet traffic.
There is your agenda-pushing reason to feature the coming cholera epidemic in Massachusetts!
“We fully expected this,’’ said Dr. Jordan Tappero, incident manager for the cholera outbreak response at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. “We’re not at all surprised that this would happen, given all the travel.’’
Related:
"Dr. Jordan Tappero, a medical epidemiologist at the CDC, recommended that if travelers are destined for remote parts of the island of Hispaniola, shared by the Dominican Republic and Haiti, they should take packets of oral rehydration solution, which consist of salts and sugars. It’s used to treat dehydration. Tappero also suggested that visitors to far-flung areas bring kits used for chlorinating water."
Guests flew to the Dominican Republic from distant points for the extravagant wedding last weekend. There were visitors from Venezuela and Spain — and Boston. By the dozens, they became sick after returning home, stricken with the hallmark symptoms of cholera: diarrhea and vomiting.
The man treated at Mass. General endured multiple bowel movements for a day and a half, although he had neither a fever nor bloody stool, both symptoms of more severe infection....
The source of the outbreak is unknown. It has been reported that guests dined on lobster, and shellfish can harbor the germs. But if food is cooked thoroughly, the risk of infection should be mitigated. Cholera most often spreads through tainted water or sewage but can be conveyed by contaminated food.
Yes, I DOUBT VERY MUCH this was caused by BAD COOKING in a FIVE-STAR RESORT!
So WHO is SPREADING CHOLERA around the CARIBBEAN, readers?
We KNOW WHO BROUGHT IT THERE!
The resort issued a statement saying that while it “deeply regrets the food poisoning/cholera cases that recently occurred during an exclusive wedding party in a private villa residence within our resort,’’ the food, drinks, and ice were provided by an outside catering company hired by the party’s hosts.
Well... ?
Shouldn't somebody be checking them out?
The cholera strain circulating in the Dominican Republic has been linked to an epidemic in Haiti that has killed more than 3,000 since October....
Hey, just don't eat lobster or shellfish -- especially if it comes from the U.S. Gulf Coast.
--more--"
Related: Boston boy hasn’t forgotten Haiti
No, but the Boston Globe sure as hell has as the death toll soars.
Also see: French rail station to be Holocaust memorial
Holocaust memorial launches Web project
Hungarian’s comments lead to charges
Holocaust survivors laud global effort to preserve Auschwitz
So I get Holocaust™every day, but no Haiti.
See why I'm no longer thrilled about reading the Boston Globe?
Slow Saturday Special: DeLeo's Dictatorship
“I serve at the pleasure of the speaker.’’
Gee, I was raised to believe it was at the pleasure of the voter. Silly me!
"DeLeo, facing fire, tightens grip on power; 2 potential rivals in House sidelined" by Michael Levenson, Globe Staff / January 29, 2011
House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo, under fire for a patronage scandal at the state Probation Department and facing two ambitious deputies jostling for their own power, tightened his grip on the House yesterday, sidelining would-be successors and promoting loyalists who had helped advance his gambling agenda....
Related: Nothing Has Changed in Massachusetts
You deserve it, Massachusetts.
DeLeo’s shake-up adds to a palpable sense of unease in the corridors of the State House....
Well, which is it, Globe?
The anger and uncertainty back again, or has it just been there all along and getting worse by the day?
House members said privately that DeLeo was sending a message that he intends to remain in power and will not tolerate back-room jockeying for his seat.
And not one person in that chamber will defy him.
But DeLeo, emerging from a closed-door caucus where he announced his leadership changes, denied that....
Like all dictators, DeLeo also a LIAR!
--more--"
Do you really care who is out and who is in, readers?
Let's add a Sunday Globe Special to the mix:
"The speaker’s words — and his ways; DeLeo vows to battle patronage, but he sponsored many for probation jobs" by Andrea Estes and Scott Allen, Globe Staff / January 23, 2011
Now, after a devastating independent counsel’s report that portrays the Probation Department as a bastion of politically wired hiring and promotions, the speaker has emerged as an antipatronage reformer....
But DeLeo is an unlikely antipatronage crusader.
Marisa Cogliandro-Vaughan is one of at least 12 job candidates DeLeo’s office recommended to Probation Commissioner John J. O’Brien between 2004 and 2007, according to Probation Department records, including seven campaign contributors and DeLeo’s godson, now the state’s youngest chief probation officer.
Yeah, didn't you know state government was a jobs program for family and friends while the tax loot is given to well-connected corporations, banks, and other agenda-pushing causes (like a bike program)?
A Spotlight Team review found that seven other major DeLeo campaign donors have been hired or promoted in the Probation Department since 2005, though there is no record that DeLeo actively promoted them.
And DeLeo showed no appetite for reform as recently as Nov. 1, when he testified that he had done “nothing’’ to investigate whether legislators violated ethical standards in the five months since O’Brien was suspended amid allegations that he systematically hired politically connected job candidates even when they were unqualified. DeLeo recalled only one brief conversation with his then-deputy, State Representative Thomas M. Petrolati, regarding revelations that more than 100 of Petrolati’s campaign contributors work at Probation.
Also see: Slow Saturday Special: Boston Globe Probation Violation
Yeah, I shouldn't even be reading them.
“I didn’t look at it so much as an ethical issue,’’ DeLeo told independent counsel Paul F. Ware Jr., according to a transcript obtained by the Spotlight Team....
--more--"
"Revere hired DeLeo cousin despite no-shows" by Andrea Estes and Scott Allen, Globe Staff / January 23, 2011
YOUR TAX DOLLARS at WORK!
Joseph DeLeo struggled with a basic requirement of his job: showing up. Twice in 2003, he missed weeks of work as a Boston Municipal Police officer due to what he said were workplace injuries, returning only when doctors determined he was fit to work and his insurance benefits were cut off. Four years later, in 2007, the city terminated DeLeo from a security guard position for excessive absenteeism.
So when the Revere Police Department had a job opening in 2007, the officer who oversees applicant background checks, Captain Michael Murphy, recommended against hiring him.
But DeLeo liked to talk about his not-so-secret weapon: his cousin was state Representative Robert A. DeLeo — then chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee — whose district includes part of Revere.
Joe DeLeo’s immediate family donated $1,000 to Representative DeLeo’s campaign just weeks before he was fired from his Boston job on May 4, 2007. By May 18, Revere Mayor Thomas G. Ambrosino had hired Joe DeLeo, saying no one else applied for the job.
“It’s curious, and I’m sure it’s galling,’’ said Murphy. “These are highly coveted jobs, and we should always look for the best candidate . . . I didn’t think [Joe DeLeo] was an ideal candidate.’’
Ambrosino insists that Robert A. DeLeo, now speaker of the House, did not contact him about Joe DeLeo. The mayor said he was just following civil service procedures, which required him to give laid-off police officers the first chance. His office notified 29 laid-off Boston Municipal police officers about the job, he said, and Joe DeLeo was the only one who came to Revere to formally apply.
“It wasn’t a matter of me considering other candidates,’’ Ambrosino said in an interview. “We have one opening, there was one guy on the list, we’re hiring him.’’
But several laid-off police officers who were notified about the job said they would have applied — if they didn’t think the job was wired for DeLeo. Many of them were doing low-paying work as security guards while the Revere job paid DeLeo $71,000 in 2009.
“Even Joe knew who was going to get hired. It was like, ‘Don’t waste your time filling out a 22 to 30 page application,’ ’’ said former Boston Municipal police officer Ulric “Rick’’ Alfred Jr., who said he got a postcard notifying him about the Revere job but chose not to apply because Joe DeLeo had the inside track. Alfred is still looking for a police job almost four years later.
Speaker DeLeo declined to comment on his cousin. Joe DeLeo did not respond to three requests for comment.
DeLeo’s hiring hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing for the city. Revere police said DeLeo has been suspended from the force twice for disciplinary reasons. He has been banned from working security details at the local International House of Pancakes after an argument with another police officer in the parking lot. And the police chief of the town where Joe DeLeo lives, Mattapoisett, said she twice asked Revere Police Chief Terence Reardon to speak to DeLeo after neighbors complained to her that he was verbally harassing them.
Hey, he's above the law because his cousin Bobby is speaker, so there!
--more--"
Related: DeLeo and His Dad
Yeah, (boo-hoo) Deleo takes care of family.
Thank you, taxpayers.
A look back at the last guy:
"Judge upholds charges against DiMasi; Defense cited Enron case in bid for dismissal" by Andrea Estes, Globe Staff / January 29, 2011
Former House speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi and his codefendants will stand trial in late April on a slew of charges, including wire and mail fraud, extortion, and conspiracy. They are accused of colluding to steer two multimillion-dollar software contracts to Cognos, a Burlington company, in exchange for cash, including $57,000 allegedly funneled to DiMasi through a middleman.
See: The Three Stooges of Massachusetts
Not funny, readers.
Defense lawyers said they were disappointed but predicted they will prevail when the case goes before a jury.
“The judge has ruled,’’ said DiMasi’s lawyer, Thomas R. Kiley. “I disagree with the judge, but that’s for later.’’
He added, “I’m planning to win at trial.’’
If convicted, DiMasi faces up to 20 years in prison for eight of the nine charges against him....
--more--"
Related: DiMasi, codefendants to seek dismissal of charges
DiMasi trial to proceed after judge refuses to toss key charge
The reason Sal the Scum is gone is because he opposed gambling.
Also see: DiMasi's Leftovers
You See DeLeo, I See DiMasi
The Perils of One-Party Politics: Speaker's Shoes
The Perils of One-Party Politics: The Ruling Party
The Perils of One-Party Politics: Massachusetts' Democracy
Gee, I was raised to believe it was at the pleasure of the voter. Silly me!
"DeLeo, facing fire, tightens grip on power; 2 potential rivals in House sidelined" by Michael Levenson, Globe Staff / January 29, 2011
House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo, under fire for a patronage scandal at the state Probation Department and facing two ambitious deputies jostling for their own power, tightened his grip on the House yesterday, sidelining would-be successors and promoting loyalists who had helped advance his gambling agenda....
Related: Nothing Has Changed in Massachusetts
You deserve it, Massachusetts.
DeLeo’s shake-up adds to a palpable sense of unease in the corridors of the State House....
Well, which is it, Globe?
The anger and uncertainty back again, or has it just been there all along and getting worse by the day?
House members said privately that DeLeo was sending a message that he intends to remain in power and will not tolerate back-room jockeying for his seat.
And not one person in that chamber will defy him.
But DeLeo, emerging from a closed-door caucus where he announced his leadership changes, denied that....
Like all dictators, DeLeo also a LIAR!
--more--"
Do you really care who is out and who is in, readers?
Let's add a Sunday Globe Special to the mix:
"The speaker’s words — and his ways; DeLeo vows to battle patronage, but he sponsored many for probation jobs" by Andrea Estes and Scott Allen, Globe Staff / January 23, 2011
Now, after a devastating independent counsel’s report that portrays the Probation Department as a bastion of politically wired hiring and promotions, the speaker has emerged as an antipatronage reformer....
But DeLeo is an unlikely antipatronage crusader.
Marisa Cogliandro-Vaughan is one of at least 12 job candidates DeLeo’s office recommended to Probation Commissioner John J. O’Brien between 2004 and 2007, according to Probation Department records, including seven campaign contributors and DeLeo’s godson, now the state’s youngest chief probation officer.
Yeah, didn't you know state government was a jobs program for family and friends while the tax loot is given to well-connected corporations, banks, and other agenda-pushing causes (like a bike program)?
A Spotlight Team review found that seven other major DeLeo campaign donors have been hired or promoted in the Probation Department since 2005, though there is no record that DeLeo actively promoted them.
And DeLeo showed no appetite for reform as recently as Nov. 1, when he testified that he had done “nothing’’ to investigate whether legislators violated ethical standards in the five months since O’Brien was suspended amid allegations that he systematically hired politically connected job candidates even when they were unqualified. DeLeo recalled only one brief conversation with his then-deputy, State Representative Thomas M. Petrolati, regarding revelations that more than 100 of Petrolati’s campaign contributors work at Probation.
Also see: Slow Saturday Special: Boston Globe Probation Violation
Yeah, I shouldn't even be reading them.
“I didn’t look at it so much as an ethical issue,’’ DeLeo told independent counsel Paul F. Ware Jr., according to a transcript obtained by the Spotlight Team....
“What I looked at it was an issue wherein a representative, again in terms of trying to help a constituent, you know, made a recommendation for a job . . . I’m not sure if that falls under any of our ethical rules as being not proper.’’
In the same interview, DeLeo said he considered O’Brien a friend, though they did not socialize, and that he enjoyed bantering with him about football at Boston College, where O’Brien played in the late 1970s....
Sigh.
Who gives a f*** about the banter over football at BC?!!!!!!!!!
From 2005 to 2009, DeLeo’s committee consistently gave the Probation Department more funding than the Administrative Office of the Trial Court requested, Ware found, a total of $25 million in extra funding over the four years.
Good thing you didn't need that money for cops, firefighters, teachers, and schools, taxpayers.
Now you know why Massachusetts has so many stupid laws; it's a way to keep family and friends employed!
In 2008, the extra money fueled the hiring of 60 new probation officers, including the daughter of a leading DeLeo campaign donor as well as people connected to DeLeo’s legislative allies.
But he knew nothing, nothing! A Sergeant Schultz for a Speaker!
In his testimony to Ware, DeLeo said he did not recall approving the extra funding, and he had no specific explanation for why his committee approved additional money above what the court system requested. “Budgetary matters are very fluid,’’ he said, noting that commissioners frequently want more money than their superiors request....
As if they always get it.
In the same interview, DeLeo said he considered O’Brien a friend, though they did not socialize, and that he enjoyed bantering with him about football at Boston College, where O’Brien played in the late 1970s....
Sigh.
Who gives a f*** about the banter over football at BC?!!!!!!!!!
From 2005 to 2009, DeLeo’s committee consistently gave the Probation Department more funding than the Administrative Office of the Trial Court requested, Ware found, a total of $25 million in extra funding over the four years.
Good thing you didn't need that money for cops, firefighters, teachers, and schools, taxpayers.
Now you know why Massachusetts has so many stupid laws; it's a way to keep family and friends employed!
In 2008, the extra money fueled the hiring of 60 new probation officers, including the daughter of a leading DeLeo campaign donor as well as people connected to DeLeo’s legislative allies.
But he knew nothing, nothing! A Sergeant Schultz for a Speaker!
In his testimony to Ware, DeLeo said he did not recall approving the extra funding, and he had no specific explanation for why his committee approved additional money above what the court system requested. “Budgetary matters are very fluid,’’ he said, noting that commissioners frequently want more money than their superiors request....
As if they always get it.
--more--"
"Revere hired DeLeo cousin despite no-shows" by Andrea Estes and Scott Allen, Globe Staff / January 23, 2011
YOUR TAX DOLLARS at WORK!
Joseph DeLeo struggled with a basic requirement of his job: showing up. Twice in 2003, he missed weeks of work as a Boston Municipal Police officer due to what he said were workplace injuries, returning only when doctors determined he was fit to work and his insurance benefits were cut off. Four years later, in 2007, the city terminated DeLeo from a security guard position for excessive absenteeism.
So when the Revere Police Department had a job opening in 2007, the officer who oversees applicant background checks, Captain Michael Murphy, recommended against hiring him.
But DeLeo liked to talk about his not-so-secret weapon: his cousin was state Representative Robert A. DeLeo — then chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee — whose district includes part of Revere.
Joe DeLeo’s immediate family donated $1,000 to Representative DeLeo’s campaign just weeks before he was fired from his Boston job on May 4, 2007. By May 18, Revere Mayor Thomas G. Ambrosino had hired Joe DeLeo, saying no one else applied for the job.
“It’s curious, and I’m sure it’s galling,’’ said Murphy. “These are highly coveted jobs, and we should always look for the best candidate . . . I didn’t think [Joe DeLeo] was an ideal candidate.’’
Ambrosino insists that Robert A. DeLeo, now speaker of the House, did not contact him about Joe DeLeo. The mayor said he was just following civil service procedures, which required him to give laid-off police officers the first chance. His office notified 29 laid-off Boston Municipal police officers about the job, he said, and Joe DeLeo was the only one who came to Revere to formally apply.
“It wasn’t a matter of me considering other candidates,’’ Ambrosino said in an interview. “We have one opening, there was one guy on the list, we’re hiring him.’’
But several laid-off police officers who were notified about the job said they would have applied — if they didn’t think the job was wired for DeLeo. Many of them were doing low-paying work as security guards while the Revere job paid DeLeo $71,000 in 2009.
“Even Joe knew who was going to get hired. It was like, ‘Don’t waste your time filling out a 22 to 30 page application,’ ’’ said former Boston Municipal police officer Ulric “Rick’’ Alfred Jr., who said he got a postcard notifying him about the Revere job but chose not to apply because Joe DeLeo had the inside track. Alfred is still looking for a police job almost four years later.
Speaker DeLeo declined to comment on his cousin. Joe DeLeo did not respond to three requests for comment.
DeLeo’s hiring hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing for the city. Revere police said DeLeo has been suspended from the force twice for disciplinary reasons. He has been banned from working security details at the local International House of Pancakes after an argument with another police officer in the parking lot. And the police chief of the town where Joe DeLeo lives, Mattapoisett, said she twice asked Revere Police Chief Terence Reardon to speak to DeLeo after neighbors complained to her that he was verbally harassing them.
Hey, he's above the law because his cousin Bobby is speaker, so there!
--more--"
Related: DeLeo and His Dad
Yeah, (boo-hoo) Deleo takes care of family.
Thank you, taxpayers.
A look back at the last guy:
"Judge upholds charges against DiMasi; Defense cited Enron case in bid for dismissal" by Andrea Estes, Globe Staff / January 29, 2011
Former House speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi and his codefendants will stand trial in late April on a slew of charges, including wire and mail fraud, extortion, and conspiracy. They are accused of colluding to steer two multimillion-dollar software contracts to Cognos, a Burlington company, in exchange for cash, including $57,000 allegedly funneled to DiMasi through a middleman.
See: The Three Stooges of Massachusetts
Not funny, readers.
Defense lawyers said they were disappointed but predicted they will prevail when the case goes before a jury.
“The judge has ruled,’’ said DiMasi’s lawyer, Thomas R. Kiley. “I disagree with the judge, but that’s for later.’’
He added, “I’m planning to win at trial.’’
If convicted, DiMasi faces up to 20 years in prison for eight of the nine charges against him....
--more--"
Related: DiMasi, codefendants to seek dismissal of charges
DiMasi trial to proceed after judge refuses to toss key charge
The reason Sal the Scum is gone is because he opposed gambling.
Also see: DiMasi's Leftovers
You See DeLeo, I See DiMasi
The Perils of One-Party Politics: Speaker's Shoes
The Perils of One-Party Politics: The Ruling Party
The Perils of One-Party Politics: Massachusetts' Democracy
Slow Saturday Special: Sandbagging It in Massachusetts
"Key state highway official is fired; Snow, ice removal spur investigation" by Eric Moskowitz, Globe Staff / January 29, 2011
A high-ranking state highway official was fired yesterday and two employees were placed on leave as a result of an internal investigation into the state’s snow and ice removal operations. The Department of Transportation has turned over the investigation to the attorney general’s office for a possible criminal investigation, and Secretary of Transportation Jeffrey B. Mullan has hired an outside firm to review snow and ice practices, a source familiar with the investigation said.
Thomas Waruzila, who was in charge of state highway operations in a 77-town district anchored by Worcester and Framingham, was “terminated for failure to adhere to MassDOT’s policies and procedures,’’ Department of Transportation spokesman Adam Hurtubise said.
Hurtubise would say only that the issue came to the department’s attention from a third party, and that the internal inves tigation has been turned over to Attorney General Martha Coakley’s office. A spokesman for Coakley declined to comment, citing the ongoing investigation.
But the source familiar with the matter said the investigation related to highway snow and ice contracts, and that Mullan had hired the international auditing firm KPMG to review the state’s snow-removal operations....
Waruzila, who had worked for the state for decades, served in 2005 as acting commissioner of an agency then known as the Massachusetts Highway Department, and he had hoped to be named to the position on a permanent basis. But he lost out on the promotion to former deputy commissioner Luisa Paiewonsky, with the Boston Herald reporting at the time that Governor Mitt Romney was pressured by women’s organizations as an aspiring presidential candidate to select a woman....
The Globe quoting the Herald, huh?
Maybe I'm reading the wrong paper.
--more--"
Also see: Threat of roof collapse weighs heavily on region
Boston Globe Raises the Roof
A high-ranking state highway official was fired yesterday and two employees were placed on leave as a result of an internal investigation into the state’s snow and ice removal operations. The Department of Transportation has turned over the investigation to the attorney general’s office for a possible criminal investigation, and Secretary of Transportation Jeffrey B. Mullan has hired an outside firm to review snow and ice practices, a source familiar with the investigation said.
Thomas Waruzila, who was in charge of state highway operations in a 77-town district anchored by Worcester and Framingham, was “terminated for failure to adhere to MassDOT’s policies and procedures,’’ Department of Transportation spokesman Adam Hurtubise said.
Hurtubise would say only that the issue came to the department’s attention from a third party, and that the internal inves tigation has been turned over to Attorney General Martha Coakley’s office. A spokesman for Coakley declined to comment, citing the ongoing investigation.
But the source familiar with the matter said the investigation related to highway snow and ice contracts, and that Mullan had hired the international auditing firm KPMG to review the state’s snow-removal operations....
Waruzila, who had worked for the state for decades, served in 2005 as acting commissioner of an agency then known as the Massachusetts Highway Department, and he had hoped to be named to the position on a permanent basis. But he lost out on the promotion to former deputy commissioner Luisa Paiewonsky, with the Boston Herald reporting at the time that Governor Mitt Romney was pressured by women’s organizations as an aspiring presidential candidate to select a woman....
The Globe quoting the Herald, huh?
Maybe I'm reading the wrong paper.
--more--"
Also see: Threat of roof collapse weighs heavily on region
Boston Globe Raises the Roof
Boston Globe Hit in the Head
You would think it would knock some sense into them, right?
Rules offered to curb youth head injuries
Massachusetts health authorities are expected to propose today stringent regulations aimed at reducing head injuries in adolescent athletes — and assuring that injured players don’t return to the field until their brains have recovered.
Also see: Massachusetts Public Health Council voices support for head injury rules
I'd just say ban football; however, that gets a whole lot of people riled up (never mind the Wall Street and Washington looting and lies).
And ever notice the interests behind football?
The advertisers during the game (big beer, big oil, Wall Street banks, etc)?
Ever notice all the parks, stadiums, and fields are named after banks?
Just your bailout tax dollars at work, America.
No more War Memorial Stadium, huh?
It almost makes one want to get out of the house:
"Cyclists found a friendlier Boston in 2010; Hub added lanes, safety programs; sharing on the way" by Eric Moskowitz, Globe Staff / January 27, 2011
As a part of a long-term plan to dislodge Boston from its historic standing among the nation’s least-friendly places for bicycling, the city installed a record number of bike lanes last year, expanded safety efforts, and advanced a bike share program that could debut this summer.
Bike lanes still occupy only a small fraction of city streets, and safety remains an ongoing concern in a city with cramped roads and no shortage of aggressive drivers. But 2010 was a watershed year for biking in Boston, said Nicole Freedman, director of the city’s Boston Bikes program, who will release an annual report on the state of biking in Boston at a forum tonight.
“It was really a breakout year,’’ said Freedman, the urban planner and former Olympic cyclist hired by Mayor Thomas M. Menino to establish Boston Bikes in 2007.
Are you a former Olympic cyclist, tourist?
Think that is a good use of tax dollars, Bostonians?
Freedman will detail recent achievements and upcoming goals — including the potential summer 2011 introduction of the bike share program, once envisioned for 2010 — and seek public feedback at a forum at the Boston Public Library’s Rabb Lecture Hall, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
I'll give you mine right now: Morning Bike Accident in Boston
Yeah, just RISK YOUR LIFE for some agenda-pushing bulls***!
Just hope your chain doesn't fall off.
The bike share program would include 600 bikes and 60 rental stations, to encourage more bike trips for reasons of public health and reducing automobile congestion....
Is it not odd that countries like China and India -- that are moving away from bicycles and towards cars -- are touted as the GROWING ECONOMIC POWERS?
Better WAKE UP, America, because AFTER the BANKS STEAL YOUR HOMES they are going to STEAL YOUR CARS!!
In a sign of improvement, the League of American Bicyclists last year ranked Boston 10th out of the 70 largest cities for bike ridership among commuters, based on annual data compiled by the US Census Bureau; in 2009, 2.1 percent of Bostonians regularly biked to work, more than double the percent in the average city and a 118 percent increase since 2000.
Also, last year the Alliance for Biking & Walking found fewer fatalities per 10,000 bicyclists in Boston than in most peer cities. But the potential danger was underscored earlier this week, when a 74-year-old bicyclist was killed on Monday near the corner of Tremont and Arlington streets.
Related: Bicyclist, 74, killed in South End collision
My question is WTF is an OLD MAN DOING BIKING the streets of BOSTON in the DEAD of WINTER with SNOW MOUNDS EVERYWHERE?!!!
“Every fatality is a tragedy, and statistics don’t matter to an individual,’’ Freedman said. “We can always do better — and we will.’’
What is TRAGIC are the PREVENTABLE DEATHS that are brought about by agenda-pushing self-promoters like Freedman here.
The total number of bicyclists in Boston is difficult to estimate, but the city last year engaged more than 35,000 riders in a variety of programs, such as Hub on Wheels and Bike Friday. The Hub program is a charity bike ride across the city, and Bike Friday is a convoy program that encourages new riders to bike to work with the help of experienced cyclists and police.
I did it for ten years. Never again.
And I'm sorry, dear readers; however, I distrust any government programs pushed by the mouthpiece media here in Massachusetts.
Then again, it's not (thankfully) my city.
The event, the third annual forum since the creation of Boston Bikes, provides an opportunity for residents and commuters to share their thoughts about the city’s progress and their future goals, said Jackie Douglas, director of the LivableStreets Alliance
Related: Lynn man sentenced in MBTA attack case
MBTA terminates bus driver charged with drunken driving
Yeah, maybe you better stay off the T, too.
And better not take a taxi.
Rules offered to curb youth head injuries
Massachusetts health authorities are expected to propose today stringent regulations aimed at reducing head injuries in adolescent athletes — and assuring that injured players don’t return to the field until their brains have recovered.
Also see: Massachusetts Public Health Council voices support for head injury rules
I'd just say ban football; however, that gets a whole lot of people riled up (never mind the Wall Street and Washington looting and lies).
And ever notice the interests behind football?
The advertisers during the game (big beer, big oil, Wall Street banks, etc)?
Ever notice all the parks, stadiums, and fields are named after banks?
Just your bailout tax dollars at work, America.
No more War Memorial Stadium, huh?
It almost makes one want to get out of the house:
"Cyclists found a friendlier Boston in 2010; Hub added lanes, safety programs; sharing on the way" by Eric Moskowitz, Globe Staff / January 27, 2011
As a part of a long-term plan to dislodge Boston from its historic standing among the nation’s least-friendly places for bicycling, the city installed a record number of bike lanes last year, expanded safety efforts, and advanced a bike share program that could debut this summer.
Bike lanes still occupy only a small fraction of city streets, and safety remains an ongoing concern in a city with cramped roads and no shortage of aggressive drivers. But 2010 was a watershed year for biking in Boston, said Nicole Freedman, director of the city’s Boston Bikes program, who will release an annual report on the state of biking in Boston at a forum tonight.
“It was really a breakout year,’’ said Freedman, the urban planner and former Olympic cyclist hired by Mayor Thomas M. Menino to establish Boston Bikes in 2007.
Are you a former Olympic cyclist, tourist?
Think that is a good use of tax dollars, Bostonians?
Freedman will detail recent achievements and upcoming goals — including the potential summer 2011 introduction of the bike share program, once envisioned for 2010 — and seek public feedback at a forum at the Boston Public Library’s Rabb Lecture Hall, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
I'll give you mine right now: Morning Bike Accident in Boston
Yeah, just RISK YOUR LIFE for some agenda-pushing bulls***!
Just hope your chain doesn't fall off.
The bike share program would include 600 bikes and 60 rental stations, to encourage more bike trips for reasons of public health and reducing automobile congestion....
Is it not odd that countries like China and India -- that are moving away from bicycles and towards cars -- are touted as the GROWING ECONOMIC POWERS?
Better WAKE UP, America, because AFTER the BANKS STEAL YOUR HOMES they are going to STEAL YOUR CARS!!
In a sign of improvement, the League of American Bicyclists last year ranked Boston 10th out of the 70 largest cities for bike ridership among commuters, based on annual data compiled by the US Census Bureau; in 2009, 2.1 percent of Bostonians regularly biked to work, more than double the percent in the average city and a 118 percent increase since 2000.
Also, last year the Alliance for Biking & Walking found fewer fatalities per 10,000 bicyclists in Boston than in most peer cities. But the potential danger was underscored earlier this week, when a 74-year-old bicyclist was killed on Monday near the corner of Tremont and Arlington streets.
Related: Bicyclist, 74, killed in South End collision
My question is WTF is an OLD MAN DOING BIKING the streets of BOSTON in the DEAD of WINTER with SNOW MOUNDS EVERYWHERE?!!!
“Every fatality is a tragedy, and statistics don’t matter to an individual,’’ Freedman said. “We can always do better — and we will.’’
What is TRAGIC are the PREVENTABLE DEATHS that are brought about by agenda-pushing self-promoters like Freedman here.
The total number of bicyclists in Boston is difficult to estimate, but the city last year engaged more than 35,000 riders in a variety of programs, such as Hub on Wheels and Bike Friday. The Hub program is a charity bike ride across the city, and Bike Friday is a convoy program that encourages new riders to bike to work with the help of experienced cyclists and police.
I did it for ten years. Never again.
And I'm sorry, dear readers; however, I distrust any government programs pushed by the mouthpiece media here in Massachusetts.
Then again, it's not (thankfully) my city.
The event, the third annual forum since the creation of Boston Bikes, provides an opportunity for residents and commuters to share their thoughts about the city’s progress and their future goals, said Jackie Douglas, director of the LivableStreets Alliance
Related: Lynn man sentenced in MBTA attack case
MBTA terminates bus driver charged with drunken driving
Yeah, maybe you better stay off the T, too.
And better not take a taxi.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Slow Saturday Special: Massachusetts Missed Christmas
Certainly felt and looked that way to me based on my anecdotal observations.
"Headwinds at year’s end slowed state economy; But faster growth expected to return" by Megan Woolhouse, Globe Staff / January 29, 2011
The Massachusetts economy slowed significantly in the fourth quarter of 2010, lagging behind the US economy for the first time in a year, the University of Massachusetts reported yesterday.
During the profit-making holiday season we were told was a big winner?
After a burst of growth in the first half of last year, the recent slowdown reflected a state economy that has “paused to catch its breath, rather than one that is about to slow to a stop,’’ analysts said in the report. Still, the weak performance was another reminder of what has been a difficult and sluggish economic recovery....
And that there NEVER WAS A RECOVERY except for the ELITE CRUST that has MADE OUT on this whole thing.
History will record this period as the GRAND DEPRESSION for Amerika and the END of her EMPIRE!
Alan Clayton-Matthews, an economics professor at Northeastern University who prepared the estimates of state economic growth for the UMass report: “.... The economy still has a long way to go before it is in a sense ‘normal.’ ’’
Related: Boston Globe Business Pages Are Nothing But Bulls***!
I thought I smelled something familiar.
*********
The UMass analysis estimates spending based on state sales tax collections, but did not include December holiday collections, so the decline in spending may have been less, Clayton-Matthews said.
I don't like the sound of "estimates," do you?
He's saying they didn't count Christmas, huh?
Getting that SAME FAMILIAR Boston Globe SCENT in my NOSTRILS again!
The US consumer spending figure includes December activity....
For much of the past year, Massachusetts has recovered faster than the nation as a whole, in large part because the state economy relies more on business spending and technology, and less on consumer spending and housing. The state has a high concentration of firms that sell goods and services, particularly technology products, to other companies.
This is one of the reasons I no longer want to read the Globe. I'm so sick of shit-shoveling garbage passing itself off as news.
Massachusetts’ burst of growth in the first half of 2010 was fueled by an international spike in demand for technology products, including semiconductors and semiconductor equipment, the UMass analysts said.
Meaning NOT HERE, American.
And yeah, that SEMICONDUCTOR INDUSTRY is a JOBS GOLD MINE (sigh).
US business spending on technology products increased dramatically over most of last year, growing at annual rates above 20 percent in the first two quarters, and more than 15 percent in the third quarter, according to the Commerce Department.
Then WHERE are the F***ING JOBS?
But that spending downshifted dramatically in the fourth quarter, to an annual rate of less than 6 percent, the Commerce Department reported yesterday.
Related: Business spending climbs again
I guess there are two ways of shoveling.
With technology equipment sales at or near prerecession peaks, growth rates have leveled off, according to UMass analysts. As a result, so has the Massachusetts economy.
Yup, leveled off in a bog of shit, great.
“The technology sector has been driving our growth since the end of the recession and in the fourth quarter it continued to grow, but not as fast,’’ said Michael D. Goodman, an economic analyst and professor at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. “It’s pulling us forward but not as strongly.’’
Whatever.
Just because the Boston Globe says it doesn't make it true.
If anything, the OPPOSITE is LIKELY the TRUTH!
Related: Wealthy bolstering US consumer spending
I knew it had to be something because it's no one I know.
Despite slowing recently, the UMass report noted, demand for information technology remains at high levels and will help technology-based sectors, such as professional and technical services, to add jobs.
Yeah, when?
The state economy should begin to pick up and accelerate over the next several months, matching national economic growth rates, the report said.
I have been READING THAT for TWO FUCKING YEARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sorry, readers, but GOD DAMN IT, Globe!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The slowing of the Massachusetts economy was reflected in several areas, according to the report. The official unemployment rate fell to 8.2 percent in the fourth quarter from 8.7 percent in the third.
Related: Mass. employers cut 2000 jobs in Dec.
But SOMEHOW the UNEMPLOYMENT RATE went DOWN during the MAKE-or-BREAK HOLIDAY SEASON where extra help is needed!
But a broader measure of unemployment that includes workers who have taken part-time jobs because they can’t find full-time positions, and people who have dropped out of the labor force, rose to 14.2 percent last quarter from 13 percent in the previous three months.
Yeah, HI, READERS!!!
Btw, I AM DOING my OWN SWABBING of SHIT, if you know what I mean!
Jobs Americans won't do, huh?
That was still lower than the US rate of 16.9 percent in the fourth quarter.
Yeah, so DON'T WORRY, BE HAPPY, Bay-Stater!
Meanwhile, income growth in Massachusetts slowed, and consumer spending declined slightly as households reined in spending on computers, furniture, and appliances, according the UMass report....
I didn't buy any of that crap for Christmas. I can't afford any of those things now.
And it now occurs to me that most of my fellow citizens were the same way.
There may have been a lot of people out there shopping; however, they WERE ONLY LOOKING, NOT BUYING!
There are signs that the state economy will strengthen in coming months, according to the UMass report.
There they go again!
Stock prices of Massachusetts companies are up, rising 13 percent in the fourth quarter, according to the Bloomberg Massachusetts Index. Consumer confidence also increased, while first-time claims for unemployment benefits have declined.
Oh, stock prices are up. We are all saved.
“This is the slowest quarter I expect,’’ Clayton-Matthews said.
The CHRISTMAS SPENDING QUARTER the SLOWEST?
Next thing he'll be saying is up is down, black is white, war is peace.... sigh.
--more--"
Related: Rising Unemployment Not a Recession
Can you see why I'm skipping over the business section bulls*** these days, readers?
"Headwinds at year’s end slowed state economy; But faster growth expected to return" by Megan Woolhouse, Globe Staff / January 29, 2011
The Massachusetts economy slowed significantly in the fourth quarter of 2010, lagging behind the US economy for the first time in a year, the University of Massachusetts reported yesterday.
During the profit-making holiday season we were told was a big winner?
After a burst of growth in the first half of last year, the recent slowdown reflected a state economy that has “paused to catch its breath, rather than one that is about to slow to a stop,’’ analysts said in the report. Still, the weak performance was another reminder of what has been a difficult and sluggish economic recovery....
And that there NEVER WAS A RECOVERY except for the ELITE CRUST that has MADE OUT on this whole thing.
History will record this period as the GRAND DEPRESSION for Amerika and the END of her EMPIRE!
Alan Clayton-Matthews, an economics professor at Northeastern University who prepared the estimates of state economic growth for the UMass report: “.... The economy still has a long way to go before it is in a sense ‘normal.’ ’’
Related: Boston Globe Business Pages Are Nothing But Bulls***!
I thought I smelled something familiar.
*********
The UMass analysis estimates spending based on state sales tax collections, but did not include December holiday collections, so the decline in spending may have been less, Clayton-Matthews said.
I don't like the sound of "estimates," do you?
He's saying they didn't count Christmas, huh?
Getting that SAME FAMILIAR Boston Globe SCENT in my NOSTRILS again!
The US consumer spending figure includes December activity....
For much of the past year, Massachusetts has recovered faster than the nation as a whole, in large part because the state economy relies more on business spending and technology, and less on consumer spending and housing. The state has a high concentration of firms that sell goods and services, particularly technology products, to other companies.
This is one of the reasons I no longer want to read the Globe. I'm so sick of shit-shoveling garbage passing itself off as news.
Massachusetts’ burst of growth in the first half of 2010 was fueled by an international spike in demand for technology products, including semiconductors and semiconductor equipment, the UMass analysts said.
Meaning NOT HERE, American.
And yeah, that SEMICONDUCTOR INDUSTRY is a JOBS GOLD MINE (sigh).
US business spending on technology products increased dramatically over most of last year, growing at annual rates above 20 percent in the first two quarters, and more than 15 percent in the third quarter, according to the Commerce Department.
Then WHERE are the F***ING JOBS?
But that spending downshifted dramatically in the fourth quarter, to an annual rate of less than 6 percent, the Commerce Department reported yesterday.
Related: Business spending climbs again
I guess there are two ways of shoveling.
With technology equipment sales at or near prerecession peaks, growth rates have leveled off, according to UMass analysts. As a result, so has the Massachusetts economy.
Yup, leveled off in a bog of shit, great.
“The technology sector has been driving our growth since the end of the recession and in the fourth quarter it continued to grow, but not as fast,’’ said Michael D. Goodman, an economic analyst and professor at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. “It’s pulling us forward but not as strongly.’’
Whatever.
Just because the Boston Globe says it doesn't make it true.
If anything, the OPPOSITE is LIKELY the TRUTH!
Related: Wealthy bolstering US consumer spending
I knew it had to be something because it's no one I know.
Despite slowing recently, the UMass report noted, demand for information technology remains at high levels and will help technology-based sectors, such as professional and technical services, to add jobs.
Yeah, when?
The state economy should begin to pick up and accelerate over the next several months, matching national economic growth rates, the report said.
I have been READING THAT for TWO FUCKING YEARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sorry, readers, but GOD DAMN IT, Globe!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The slowing of the Massachusetts economy was reflected in several areas, according to the report. The official unemployment rate fell to 8.2 percent in the fourth quarter from 8.7 percent in the third.
Related: Mass. employers cut 2000 jobs in Dec.
But SOMEHOW the UNEMPLOYMENT RATE went DOWN during the MAKE-or-BREAK HOLIDAY SEASON where extra help is needed!
But a broader measure of unemployment that includes workers who have taken part-time jobs because they can’t find full-time positions, and people who have dropped out of the labor force, rose to 14.2 percent last quarter from 13 percent in the previous three months.
Yeah, HI, READERS!!!
Btw, I AM DOING my OWN SWABBING of SHIT, if you know what I mean!
Jobs Americans won't do, huh?
That was still lower than the US rate of 16.9 percent in the fourth quarter.
Yeah, so DON'T WORRY, BE HAPPY, Bay-Stater!
Meanwhile, income growth in Massachusetts slowed, and consumer spending declined slightly as households reined in spending on computers, furniture, and appliances, according the UMass report....
I didn't buy any of that crap for Christmas. I can't afford any of those things now.
And it now occurs to me that most of my fellow citizens were the same way.
There may have been a lot of people out there shopping; however, they WERE ONLY LOOKING, NOT BUYING!
There are signs that the state economy will strengthen in coming months, according to the UMass report.
There they go again!
Stock prices of Massachusetts companies are up, rising 13 percent in the fourth quarter, according to the Bloomberg Massachusetts Index. Consumer confidence also increased, while first-time claims for unemployment benefits have declined.
Oh, stock prices are up. We are all saved.
“This is the slowest quarter I expect,’’ Clayton-Matthews said.
The CHRISTMAS SPENDING QUARTER the SLOWEST?
Next thing he'll be saying is up is down, black is white, war is peace.... sigh.
--more--"
Related: Rising Unemployment Not a Recession
Can you see why I'm skipping over the business section bulls*** these days, readers?
Slow Saturday Special: Boston Globe Stuck in a Snowbank
What a horrible city.
It's trains don't work, parking is a problem, and now this:
"Trapped by walls of white' For the disabled and for seniors, an unshoveled walk is more than an annoyance — it is a barrier to life" by Billy Baker, Globe Staff / January 29, 2011
As snowstorm has chased snowstorm through the winter, the smallest details have made the difference between mobility and entrapment for many seniors and the disabled....
The able-bodied, and they often make the incorrect assumption that what is passable for them is passable for all....
I'm also tired of the Boston Globe guilt trips.
Another perennial problem lies in the curb ramps, which are often covered by snowplows....
Other times, a pond of slush covers a ramp....
With the challenge to mobility comes the danger that many elderly and disabled will simply choose to stay home, advocates say....
That's dangerous now?
Wendy Landman, executive director of the advocacy group WalkBoston, thinks thorough shoveling can become the norm if we look to the lessons learned from a past sidewalk issue: dog owners failing to clean up after their pets.
You are more than welcome to do mine, lady.
What changed, Landman said, was peer pressure, neighbors policing neighbors.
How far is the fascism going to go, fellow AmeriKans?
“It just became something you didn’t do,’’ she said. “And we can do the same with shoveling, create a new social norm.’’
Too bad that couldn't be applied to bank looting or mass-murdering wars based on lies, huh?
--more--"
I do the best I can at clearing the slop, readers.
Somehow we don't seem to have this problem out here in Sticksville.
It's trains don't work, parking is a problem, and now this:
"Trapped by walls of white' For the disabled and for seniors, an unshoveled walk is more than an annoyance — it is a barrier to life" by Billy Baker, Globe Staff / January 29, 2011
As snowstorm has chased snowstorm through the winter, the smallest details have made the difference between mobility and entrapment for many seniors and the disabled....
The able-bodied, and they often make the incorrect assumption that what is passable for them is passable for all....
I'm also tired of the Boston Globe guilt trips.
Another perennial problem lies in the curb ramps, which are often covered by snowplows....
Other times, a pond of slush covers a ramp....
With the challenge to mobility comes the danger that many elderly and disabled will simply choose to stay home, advocates say....
That's dangerous now?
Wendy Landman, executive director of the advocacy group WalkBoston, thinks thorough shoveling can become the norm if we look to the lessons learned from a past sidewalk issue: dog owners failing to clean up after their pets.
You are more than welcome to do mine, lady.
What changed, Landman said, was peer pressure, neighbors policing neighbors.
How far is the fascism going to go, fellow AmeriKans?
“It just became something you didn’t do,’’ she said. “And we can do the same with shoveling, create a new social norm.’’
Too bad that couldn't be applied to bank looting or mass-murdering wars based on lies, huh?
--more--"
I do the best I can at clearing the slop, readers.
Somehow we don't seem to have this problem out here in Sticksville.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Boston Globe Tooth Brush
Then I need to get to bed, dear readers.
"US plans to lower recommended fluoride levels; Cites spotting of teeth, bone abnormalities" by Mike Stobbe, Associated Press / January 8, 2011
ATLANTA — Fluoride in drinking water — credited with dramatically cutting cavities and tooth decay — may now be too much of a good thing. Getting too much of it causes spots on some children’s teeth....
And that is not all.
Related: Fluoride in Water Linked to Lower IQ in Children
That explains a lot of what has happened in the society over the last 30 years.
About 2 out of 5 adolescents have tooth streaking or spottiness because of too much fluoride, a surprising government study found recently. In some extreme cases, teeth can even be pitted by the mineral — though many cases are so mild only dentists notice it. The problem is generally considered cosmetic.
Health officials note that most communities have fluoride in their water supplies, and toothpaste has it too. Some children are even given fluoride supplements....
But there are other concerns, too. A scientific report five years ago said that people who consume a lifetime of too much fluoride can lead to crippling bone abnormalities and brittleness.
That and other research issued yesterday by the EPA about health effects of fluoride are sure to reenergize groups that still oppose adding it to water supplies....
Fluoridation has been fought for decades by people who worried about its effects, including conspiracy theorists who thought it was a plot to make people submissive to government power.
No, they have the corporate media for that.
Related: De Plane! De Plane!
Plot or not, it explains the lethargic American public.
And when the lying, agenda-pushing, war-promoting media starts tossing around "conspiracy theorists" you know you have struck a nerve.
Good thing drugs are in the water, 'eh?
Those battles continue.
“It’s amazing that people have been so convinced that this is an OK thing to do,’’ Deborah Catrow said yesterday.
Yes, it is.
She successfully fought a ballot proposal in 2005 that would have added fluoride to drinking water in Springfield, Ohio.
Reducing fluoride would be a good start, but she hopes it will be eliminated altogether from municipal water supplies.
Catrow said it was hard standing up to City Hall, the American Dental Association, and the state health department. “Anybody who was antifluoride was considered crazy at the time,’’ she said.
You know what is crazy? Thinking three steel skyscrapers fell into their own footprints due to fire in contravention of the immutable laws of physics.
In New York, the village of Cobleskill in Schoharie County — west of Albany — stopped adding fluoride to its drinking water in 2007 after the longtime water superintendent became convinced the additive was contributing to his knee problems. Two years later, the village reversed the move after dentists and doctors complained....
--more--"
Time to rinse my mouth. I always have a bad taste after reading the newspaper.
"US plans to lower recommended fluoride levels; Cites spotting of teeth, bone abnormalities" by Mike Stobbe, Associated Press / January 8, 2011
ATLANTA — Fluoride in drinking water — credited with dramatically cutting cavities and tooth decay — may now be too much of a good thing. Getting too much of it causes spots on some children’s teeth....
And that is not all.
Related: Fluoride in Water Linked to Lower IQ in Children
That explains a lot of what has happened in the society over the last 30 years.
About 2 out of 5 adolescents have tooth streaking or spottiness because of too much fluoride, a surprising government study found recently. In some extreme cases, teeth can even be pitted by the mineral — though many cases are so mild only dentists notice it. The problem is generally considered cosmetic.
Health officials note that most communities have fluoride in their water supplies, and toothpaste has it too. Some children are even given fluoride supplements....
But there are other concerns, too. A scientific report five years ago said that people who consume a lifetime of too much fluoride can lead to crippling bone abnormalities and brittleness.
That and other research issued yesterday by the EPA about health effects of fluoride are sure to reenergize groups that still oppose adding it to water supplies....
Fluoridation has been fought for decades by people who worried about its effects, including conspiracy theorists who thought it was a plot to make people submissive to government power.
No, they have the corporate media for that.
Related: De Plane! De Plane!
Plot or not, it explains the lethargic American public.
And when the lying, agenda-pushing, war-promoting media starts tossing around "conspiracy theorists" you know you have struck a nerve.
Good thing drugs are in the water, 'eh?
Those battles continue.
“It’s amazing that people have been so convinced that this is an OK thing to do,’’ Deborah Catrow said yesterday.
Yes, it is.
She successfully fought a ballot proposal in 2005 that would have added fluoride to drinking water in Springfield, Ohio.
Reducing fluoride would be a good start, but she hopes it will be eliminated altogether from municipal water supplies.
Catrow said it was hard standing up to City Hall, the American Dental Association, and the state health department. “Anybody who was antifluoride was considered crazy at the time,’’ she said.
You know what is crazy? Thinking three steel skyscrapers fell into their own footprints due to fire in contravention of the immutable laws of physics.
In New York, the village of Cobleskill in Schoharie County — west of Albany — stopped adding fluoride to its drinking water in 2007 after the longtime water superintendent became convinced the additive was contributing to his knee problems. Two years later, the village reversed the move after dentists and doctors complained....
--more--"
Time to rinse my mouth. I always have a bad taste after reading the newspaper.
Home of the Hoosiers
They sure are competitive out there:
"Ex-candidate for Congress arrested
INDIANAPOLIS — An Indiana woman who ran unsuccessfully for US Congress last year was being held yesterday on charges that she made threats against judges and other officials on her Facebook account. Cheryl Allen, 51, of Martinsville, was arrested on eight felony counts of intimidation on Thursday, the same day authorities discovered the postings, which were apparently published on her page three days earlier. Morgan County Prosecutor Steve Sonnega — who said he was among those targeted — said that after discovering the threats, he decided to move quickly in part due to the Jan. 8 shootings in Arizona that wounded Representative Gabrielle Giffords and killed six others (AP)."
Be careful driving home:
"Officer charged again in fatal accident" by Associated Press / January 17, 2011
INDIANAPOLIS — The handling of an accident in which a police cruiser struck and killed a motorcyclist rocked Indianapolis and led to emotional allegations of a coverup. The case has been revived now that a new prosecutor has refiled drunken driving charges against the police officer driving the cruiser.
The question for families and victims is whether the charges filed last week will stick despite what police admit was a bungled investigation....
In other words, a cover-up.
--more--"
And there is a reason they say no horseplay:
"Teen gets life for killing 10-year-old brother" by Associated Press / October 16, 2010
RISING SUN, Ind. — An Indiana teenager who admitted he strangled his 10-year-old brother and told police he identified with a TV serial killer was sentenced yesterday to life in prison without parole....
--more--"
"Ex-candidate for Congress arrested
INDIANAPOLIS — An Indiana woman who ran unsuccessfully for US Congress last year was being held yesterday on charges that she made threats against judges and other officials on her Facebook account. Cheryl Allen, 51, of Martinsville, was arrested on eight felony counts of intimidation on Thursday, the same day authorities discovered the postings, which were apparently published on her page three days earlier. Morgan County Prosecutor Steve Sonnega — who said he was among those targeted — said that after discovering the threats, he decided to move quickly in part due to the Jan. 8 shootings in Arizona that wounded Representative Gabrielle Giffords and killed six others (AP)."
Be careful driving home:
"Officer charged again in fatal accident" by Associated Press / January 17, 2011
INDIANAPOLIS — The handling of an accident in which a police cruiser struck and killed a motorcyclist rocked Indianapolis and led to emotional allegations of a coverup. The case has been revived now that a new prosecutor has refiled drunken driving charges against the police officer driving the cruiser.
The question for families and victims is whether the charges filed last week will stick despite what police admit was a bungled investigation....
In other words, a cover-up.
--more--"
And there is a reason they say no horseplay:
"Teen gets life for killing 10-year-old brother" by Associated Press / October 16, 2010
RISING SUN, Ind. — An Indiana teenager who admitted he strangled his 10-year-old brother and told police he identified with a TV serial killer was sentenced yesterday to life in prison without parole....
--more--"
Mayhem in Michigan
It's everywhere, readers.
In the municipalities:
"Strapped Michigan city considers radical plan: bankruptcy; More cities could follow example as cash dwindles" by Monica Davey, New York Times / December 28, 2010
HAMTRAMCK, Mich. — The political leaders of this old working-class city perched on the edge of Detroit are pleading with the state to let them declare bankruptcy — a desperate move the state is not even willing to admit as an option.
States have a say in whether a municipality may pursue bankruptcy at all, and they have every reason to avoid such an outcome, not least of all for fear of a creating a ripple effect that could cripple the municipal bond market and drive up the cost of borrowing....
--more--"
Related: Municipal bonds set for worst quarter since 1994
Also see: Municipal Bond Milking
"Woman accused of faking son’s cancer" by Associated Press | October 2, 2010
ROSEVILLE, Mich. — An unemployed Detroit-area mother accused of drugging and shaving her healthy 12-year-old son so he appeared to have cancer, then accepting thousands of dollars in donations for his treatment, was arraigned yesterday on charges of fraud and child abuse....
--more--"
I want to know when some looting bankers or lying war promoters are going to be charged.
In the malls:
"Two critically hurt in mall shooting
HARPER WOODS — A dispute between two rival groups of teenagers escalated into gunfire yesterday when members of one of the groups opened fire inside a shopping mall, critically injuring one teenager and a clothing store worker as holiday shoppers dashed for cover, police said. The shooting happened around 6 p.m. at Eastland Mall, east of Detroit. The mall was closed as police searched for suspects, said Harper Woods deputy police chief Jim Burke (AP)."
In manufacturing:
"GM reportedly adding shift, jobs" by Associated Press / January 23, 2011
DETROIT — General Motors Co. will add a shift and more than 650 jobs at its cab-truck assembly plant in Flint, according to a person familiar with the plan. The person spoke yesterday on the condition of anonymity because the announcement had not yet been publicly made. An announcement is scheduled for tomorrow. Flint is the birthplace of GM and once was a powerful auto manufacturing town, but its economy and population have steadily declined over the past few decades.
--more--"
Also see: Blog targeting gay student roils Mich.
Rape charge dropped after Mich. suicide
Autopsy clears wife in Mich. man’s death
Police doubt father of missing Michigan boys
Search continues for 3 Mich. boys after father’s attempted suicide
Missing boys’ father fights extradition
Father of missing boys returned to Mich.
Father of missing boys waives hearing
Furniture store owner survives explosion that kills 2 employees in Michigan
Mich. man gets 4 years for spy effort
Mascoma snags funding for Mich. ethanol plant
Mich. health insurer sued over price deals
Officers kill gunman who opens fire, wounds four inside Detroit police station
Detroit police hunting for serial rapist
In the municipalities:
"Strapped Michigan city considers radical plan: bankruptcy; More cities could follow example as cash dwindles" by Monica Davey, New York Times / December 28, 2010
HAMTRAMCK, Mich. — The political leaders of this old working-class city perched on the edge of Detroit are pleading with the state to let them declare bankruptcy — a desperate move the state is not even willing to admit as an option.
States have a say in whether a municipality may pursue bankruptcy at all, and they have every reason to avoid such an outcome, not least of all for fear of a creating a ripple effect that could cripple the municipal bond market and drive up the cost of borrowing....
--more--"
Related: Municipal bonds set for worst quarter since 1994
Also see: Municipal Bond Milking
"Woman accused of faking son’s cancer" by Associated Press | October 2, 2010
ROSEVILLE, Mich. — An unemployed Detroit-area mother accused of drugging and shaving her healthy 12-year-old son so he appeared to have cancer, then accepting thousands of dollars in donations for his treatment, was arraigned yesterday on charges of fraud and child abuse....
--more--"
I want to know when some looting bankers or lying war promoters are going to be charged.
In the malls:
"Two critically hurt in mall shooting
HARPER WOODS — A dispute between two rival groups of teenagers escalated into gunfire yesterday when members of one of the groups opened fire inside a shopping mall, critically injuring one teenager and a clothing store worker as holiday shoppers dashed for cover, police said. The shooting happened around 6 p.m. at Eastland Mall, east of Detroit. The mall was closed as police searched for suspects, said Harper Woods deputy police chief Jim Burke (AP)."
In manufacturing:
"GM reportedly adding shift, jobs" by Associated Press / January 23, 2011
DETROIT — General Motors Co. will add a shift and more than 650 jobs at its cab-truck assembly plant in Flint, according to a person familiar with the plan. The person spoke yesterday on the condition of anonymity because the announcement had not yet been publicly made. An announcement is scheduled for tomorrow. Flint is the birthplace of GM and once was a powerful auto manufacturing town, but its economy and population have steadily declined over the past few decades.
--more--"
Also see: Blog targeting gay student roils Mich.
Rape charge dropped after Mich. suicide
Autopsy clears wife in Mich. man’s death
Police doubt father of missing Michigan boys
Search continues for 3 Mich. boys after father’s attempted suicide
Missing boys’ father fights extradition
Father of missing boys returned to Mich.
Father of missing boys waives hearing
Furniture store owner survives explosion that kills 2 employees in Michigan
Mich. man gets 4 years for spy effort
Mascoma snags funding for Mich. ethanol plant
Mich. health insurer sued over price deals
Officers kill gunman who opens fire, wounds four inside Detroit police station
Detroit police hunting for serial rapist
Boston Globe Baby Talk
I can't understand them.
"Size matters to babies, too, a study suggests" by Carolyn Y. Johnson, Globe Staff / January 28, 2011
Long before they learn about popular kids or bullies — much less how to walk or talk — infants already understand social hierarchies and the fact that size is a key factor in determining who will yield when paths cross, according to a new study by Harvard researchers.
Far from being something children learn on the playground, from pop culture, or in lessons from parents, the importance of size in social hierarchies may be innate or develop very early in life, the research suggests.
And when they grow into adulthood it becomes a matter of the penis and which world leader can lie his way into mass-murdering wars.
The study published yesterday by the journal Science describes an experiment in which babies watched animated cartoons in which big and small blocks bound toward one another, bump against each other, and bow deferentially.
I stopped believing in the journal Science when they said all the oil disappeared.
If the big block bowed to the small one, infants as young as 10 months old stared for a long time, indicating to researchers that this bit of social choreography defied their expectations.
I notice I lose a lot of time doing that at the Globe.
The new work adds to a growing body of research revealing the powerful social tool kit that babies use to make sense of the world and suggests that they understand some basic rules of social interaction before they have had to use them....
As if I'm going to believe this social science garbage.
Sorry, but studies featured by the agenda-pushing media are always called into question now.
Too much BS over too long a time, folks.
Research into how people first perceive social hierarchies is more than just a fascinating question about early childhood. Our ability to navigate complex social situations is crucial for success in life, and also shapes our behavior, attitudes, and opinions.
All about putting you in your place, kiddo.
Preschoolers, researchers have found, calibrate their social interactions with a playmate depending on whether the other child is of higher or lower social rank. There has been growing concern about the role social hierarchy plays in adolescence, because of bullying in schools.
Why? According to this study kids have been figuring this out for a long time.
As for adults, research shows that people who say they prefer an abstract symbol that is a hierarchical pyramid — instead of one that shows a more egalitarian arrangement of overlapping circles — are more likely to be racist, ethnocentric, or tolerant of the persecution of others.
That explains Israel.
In the animal kingdom and across human culture, size is an important factor in establishing social hierarchies, from an animal that puffs itself up to show its dominance to kings or popes who wear big hats or sit up high....
Yeah, I always thought that crap was silly.
I must be pretty well-adjusted, huh?
Infants who are still learning their first words cannot describe their thoughts....
So these guys who did the study are mind readers, huh?
Yeah, I am smelling something, readers.
"The more we understand about how social hierarchy and dominance hierarchies work and how we recognize them and how we manipulate them, that should ultimately also make us able to intervene and shape them in ways that are less harmful," said Lotte Thomsen, a postdoctoral researcher at Harvard University and assistant professor of psychology at the University of Copenhagen, who led the study.
Then HOW COME MILLIONS were UNABLE to STOP the WARS?!!
--more--"
Yeah, just BABY BABBLE passing as "news," readers!
Related: Study questions timing of human migration out of Africa
"Size matters to babies, too, a study suggests" by Carolyn Y. Johnson, Globe Staff / January 28, 2011
Long before they learn about popular kids or bullies — much less how to walk or talk — infants already understand social hierarchies and the fact that size is a key factor in determining who will yield when paths cross, according to a new study by Harvard researchers.
Far from being something children learn on the playground, from pop culture, or in lessons from parents, the importance of size in social hierarchies may be innate or develop very early in life, the research suggests.
And when they grow into adulthood it becomes a matter of the penis and which world leader can lie his way into mass-murdering wars.
The study published yesterday by the journal Science describes an experiment in which babies watched animated cartoons in which big and small blocks bound toward one another, bump against each other, and bow deferentially.
I stopped believing in the journal Science when they said all the oil disappeared.
If the big block bowed to the small one, infants as young as 10 months old stared for a long time, indicating to researchers that this bit of social choreography defied their expectations.
I notice I lose a lot of time doing that at the Globe.
The new work adds to a growing body of research revealing the powerful social tool kit that babies use to make sense of the world and suggests that they understand some basic rules of social interaction before they have had to use them....
As if I'm going to believe this social science garbage.
Sorry, but studies featured by the agenda-pushing media are always called into question now.
Too much BS over too long a time, folks.
Research into how people first perceive social hierarchies is more than just a fascinating question about early childhood. Our ability to navigate complex social situations is crucial for success in life, and also shapes our behavior, attitudes, and opinions.
All about putting you in your place, kiddo.
Preschoolers, researchers have found, calibrate their social interactions with a playmate depending on whether the other child is of higher or lower social rank. There has been growing concern about the role social hierarchy plays in adolescence, because of bullying in schools.
Why? According to this study kids have been figuring this out for a long time.
As for adults, research shows that people who say they prefer an abstract symbol that is a hierarchical pyramid — instead of one that shows a more egalitarian arrangement of overlapping circles — are more likely to be racist, ethnocentric, or tolerant of the persecution of others.
That explains Israel.
In the animal kingdom and across human culture, size is an important factor in establishing social hierarchies, from an animal that puffs itself up to show its dominance to kings or popes who wear big hats or sit up high....
Yeah, I always thought that crap was silly.
I must be pretty well-adjusted, huh?
Infants who are still learning their first words cannot describe their thoughts....
So these guys who did the study are mind readers, huh?
Yeah, I am smelling something, readers.
"The more we understand about how social hierarchy and dominance hierarchies work and how we recognize them and how we manipulate them, that should ultimately also make us able to intervene and shape them in ways that are less harmful," said Lotte Thomsen, a postdoctoral researcher at Harvard University and assistant professor of psychology at the University of Copenhagen, who led the study.
Then HOW COME MILLIONS were UNABLE to STOP the WARS?!!
--more--"
Yeah, just BABY BABBLE passing as "news," readers!
Related: Study questions timing of human migration out of Africa
Boston Globe Raises the Roof
Actually, the thing collapsed as quickly as their circulation.
"The main hazards of this winter’s unusually copious amount of snow have been mainly on the road. But yesterday’s heavy snowfall brought a new menace: the risk of roofs collapsing....
--more--"
"Heavy burden won’t be lifted soon; Region isn’t taking massive snow accumulation lightly" by Eric Moskowitz, Globe Staff / January 28, 2011
A snow-weary region awoke yesterday to the month’s third major storm, with snowfall in Boston challenging the record for January and potentially rivaling the all-time mark for one winter. Though the snow tapered off during the morning, the 9.9 inches measured at Logan and the foot or more that hit parts of the state continued to torment motorists, pedestrians, and public works crews.
Even after the plows went through, massive snowbanks and piles from a multitude of storms and a scarcity of warm days encroached on city streets and obscured sight lines for those on foot and in cars. On the commuter rail system, the MBTA experienced its most difficult morning in a trying week, with just 20 percent of trains on time, while customers who tried to check service alerts on the T’s website found an error message, overloaded by traffic.
I'm just wondering where your taxes are going, Boston. Not into the trains, obviously.
The storm knocked out power for thousands, and hospitals saw several snow-related emergencies. Brigham and Women’s reported multiple slip-and-fall injuries, as well as a heart attack from shoveling and a man who lost several fingers trying to clear a snowblower.
In Boston, officials asked residents not to be fooled by the sun and to continue respecting a snow emergency that remained in place until the evening....
Virtually all all of the snow this winter has fallen since Christmas, and only that first storm was followed by warm days....
And yet I will still see global warming garbage in my agenda-pushing paper.
--more--"
Related: Airline travel in Northeast slowed again by snowstorm
Weather threatens students’ vacations
Parents struggle to cope with snow days
Climate good at many of the region’s hardware stores
"The main hazards of this winter’s unusually copious amount of snow have been mainly on the road. But yesterday’s heavy snowfall brought a new menace: the risk of roofs collapsing....
--more--"
"Heavy burden won’t be lifted soon; Region isn’t taking massive snow accumulation lightly" by Eric Moskowitz, Globe Staff / January 28, 2011
A snow-weary region awoke yesterday to the month’s third major storm, with snowfall in Boston challenging the record for January and potentially rivaling the all-time mark for one winter. Though the snow tapered off during the morning, the 9.9 inches measured at Logan and the foot or more that hit parts of the state continued to torment motorists, pedestrians, and public works crews.
Even after the plows went through, massive snowbanks and piles from a multitude of storms and a scarcity of warm days encroached on city streets and obscured sight lines for those on foot and in cars. On the commuter rail system, the MBTA experienced its most difficult morning in a trying week, with just 20 percent of trains on time, while customers who tried to check service alerts on the T’s website found an error message, overloaded by traffic.
I'm just wondering where your taxes are going, Boston. Not into the trains, obviously.
The storm knocked out power for thousands, and hospitals saw several snow-related emergencies. Brigham and Women’s reported multiple slip-and-fall injuries, as well as a heart attack from shoveling and a man who lost several fingers trying to clear a snowblower.
In Boston, officials asked residents not to be fooled by the sun and to continue respecting a snow emergency that remained in place until the evening....
Virtually all all of the snow this winter has fallen since Christmas, and only that first storm was followed by warm days....
And yet I will still see global warming garbage in my agenda-pushing paper.
--more--"
Related: Airline travel in Northeast slowed again by snowstorm
Weather threatens students’ vacations
Parents struggle to cope with snow days
Climate good at many of the region’s hardware stores
It's a Challenge Reading the Boston Globe
I'm struggling to make it through the first section these days, dear readers.
Challenger still resonates
As the nation marks the 25th anniversary of the doomed Challenger shuttle mission, tens of thousands of letters from across the country are reminders of the sorrow that remained after the disaster and the powerful symbol of hope and aspiration that Christa McAuliffe has become.
NASA pays homage to its fallen astronauts
Related:
Trump bids to revive landmark NYC restaurant
Miami’s mystery piano is removed from bay
Senators OK deal on filibusters, nominations
Biden aide picked as next White House press secretary
Letters to friend reveal a social side of enigmatic J.D. Salinger
A lost masterpiece yields quite a markup
Challenger still resonates
As the nation marks the 25th anniversary of the doomed Challenger shuttle mission, tens of thousands of letters from across the country are reminders of the sorrow that remained after the disaster and the powerful symbol of hope and aspiration that Christa McAuliffe has become.
NASA pays homage to its fallen astronauts
Related:
Trump bids to revive landmark NYC restaurant
Miami’s mystery piano is removed from bay
Senators OK deal on filibusters, nominations
Biden aide picked as next White House press secretary
Letters to friend reveal a social side of enigmatic J.D. Salinger
A lost masterpiece yields quite a markup
Locking Away a Lincoln Lie
Just put it in the pile with all the other lies my state-sponsored and -sanctioned version taught me.
"The document, which the agency says was changed by a Woodbridge history buff to amplify its significance and promote the man’s career, will be kept in a locked vault at the agency’s downtown Washington headquarters, officials said Wednesday....
--more--"
"The document, which the agency says was changed by a Woodbridge history buff to amplify its significance and promote the man’s career, will be kept in a locked vault at the agency’s downtown Washington headquarters, officials said Wednesday....
--more--"
Globe Evasive on Egyptian Unrest
I really don't understand the shell game shuffling, folks.
My printed paper:
"Protests spread against Mubarak" by Sherine Bayoumi and Leila Fadel, Washington Post, January 26, 2011
CAIRO - In the largest protest in Egypt in years, thousands of anti-government demonstratorscalled Tuesday for the end of President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule, a cry inspired by the fall of an Arab dictator in Tunisia.
Also see: Tunisian Trickle (and related links).
By late Tuesday, about 15,000 protesters were encamped in Cairo's Tahrir Square, saying they had no plans to leave, as supporters brought blankets, food and water to sustain them. Among their demands, posted online and circulated by activists on Twitter, was a call for Mubarak's immediate "abdication of power."
According to the Associated Press, a large security force moved in about 1 a.m. Wednesday, arresting people, beating some, chasing others into side streets and filling the square with clouds of tear gas in an effort to clear it of protesters.
Many of the demonstrators said they were publicly denouncing Mubarak's rule for the first time, inspired by the images of young people in Tunisia effecting change in a region where most Arab countries are led by autocratic rulers and freedom of speech is limited....
But these guys are ALL our ALLIES!
The day's protests began downtown and spread to the port city of Alexandria and on to the northeastern city of Suez, where violent clashes with police left two demonstrators dead. A police officer was killed in Cairo, where Arabic satellite news channels broadcast images of police dragging demonstrators through the streets.
For much of the day, Egyptian authorities had demonstrated unusual tolerance in allowing the demonstrations to take place. Organizers said they were seeking to emulate the events in Tunisia, where a popular revolt over unemployment, lack of opportunity and hopelessness in young people ended the rule of Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali.
Similar discontent has long pervaded Egypt, a country of about 86 million, where a small, wealthy elite has thrived under the autocratic government headed by Mubarak since 1981, but where nearly half the population lives at or under the U.N. poverty line.
The mood turned sour in Cairo late Tuesday when demonstrators clashed with police outside the Egyptian Museum, throwing rocks and bringing down a police kiosk before backing away with appeals for nonviolence.
Yes, violence only discredits the movement (cui bono?).
Later, police attacked the crowd with water cannons and tear gas and, in some cases, beat protesters after demonstrators hurled stones, the Associated Press reported.
If you keep reading you will find it was not only protesters throwing rocks.
Apart from Mubarak's ouster, the demonstrators called for the removal of the government headed by Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif and the disbanding of Egypt's parliament.
These CIA-inspired coups are getting out of control.
In Washington, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Egypt's government, a key U.S. ally in the Middle East, is stable despite the protests. She urged the government and protesters to avoid violence.
Lies and hypocrisy all in one sentence.
Egyptian security authorities have a reputation for heavy-handedness that is a source of simmering anger among Egyptians. It was not clear Tuesday night whether the authorities would permit the demonstrators to remain in Tahrir Square, a large downtown plaza whose name means "liberation" in Arabic.
The protest started off small in downtown Cairo with a few hundred activists who had heard about it through social-networking sites....
The demonstrations in Egypt are the latest and largest in the Arab world to follow the fall of Tunisia's government. Other protests have occurred in Algeria, Yemen and Jordan, and they have included repeated cases in which demonstrators set themselves afire...
That, too, is violence. Please don't do that.
Notice that the reporting on the protests in those three nations has been near non-existent in the AmeriKan media?
Regime change not part of the agenda-pushing plan for them?
Also see: Yemen Yakety Yak
Middle East Elections
Africa On Edge
More evasion, 'eh?
In her public appearance in Washington on Tuesday, Clinton acknowledged that Egypt, "like many countries in the region," has been experiencing demonstrations.
"We support the fundamental right of expression and assembly for all people, and we urge that all parties exercise restraint and refrain from violence," she said. "But our assessment is that the Egyptian government is stable and is looking for ways to respond to the legitimate needs and interests of the Egyptian people.''
She's still backing Mubarak -- meaning the plan has gotten out of control.
And because of the shell game I forgot to grab the link.
Oh well.
What you webbers received:
"Antigovernment protesters, police clash in Cairo; Thousands call for resignation of Mubarak" by Kareem Fahim and Mona El-Naggar, New York Times / January 26, 2011
CAIRO — Thousands of people demanding an end to the 30-year rule of President Hosni Mubarak filled the streets of several Egyptian cities yesterday, in an unusually large and sometimes violent burst of civil unrest that appeared to threaten the stability of a crucial Arab ally of the United States.
The protests, at least partly inspired by the toppling of the authoritarian government in Tunisia, began small but grew all day, with protesters occupying one of Cairo’s central squares. Security forces, which normally prevent major public displays of dissent, initially struggled to suppress the demonstrations.
But early this morning, firing rubber bullets, tear gas, and concussion grenades, the police finally drove groups of demonstrators from the square, as the sit-in was transformed into a spreading battle involving thousands of people and little restraint. Plainclothes officers beat several demonstrators, and protesters flipped over a police car and set it on fire.
Protests also flared in Alexandria, Suez, Mansura, and Beni Suef. There were reports of three deaths and many injuries.
Photographers in Alexandria documented people tearing up a large portrait of Mubarak. A video posted on the Internet of demonstrations in Mahalla el-Kubra showed the same, while a crowd snapped cellphone photos and cheered. The acts — rare, and bold here — underscored the anger coursing through the protests and the challenge they might pose to the aging and ailing Egyptian leader.
Related: Odds and Ends of Egypt
Several observers said the protests represented the largest display of popular dissatisfaction with the government in recent memory, perhaps since 1977, when people across Egypt protested the elimination of subsidies for food and other basic goods.
It was not clear whether the size and intensity of the demonstrations — which seemed to shock even the protesters — would or could be sustained.
The government quickly placed blame for the protests on the country’s largest opposition movement, the Muslim Brotherhood, which is tolerated but officially banned. In a statement, the Interior Ministry said the protests were the work of “instigators’’ led by the Muslim Brotherhood, while the Islamic movement declared that it had little to do with them.
The reality that emerged from interviews with protesters — many of whom said they were independents — was more complicated and reflected one of the Egyptian government’s deepest fears: that the opposition to Mubarak’s rule now spreads across ideological lines and includes many people angered by corruption and economic hardship as well as secular and Islamist opponents. That broad base of support could make it harder for the government to co-opt or crush those demanding change.
“The big, grand ideological narratives were not seen today,’’ said Amr Hamzawy, research director of the Carnegie Middle East Center. “This was not about ‘Islam is the solution’ or anything else.’’
Remember, dumb newspaper readers out here in the sticks of New England are reading none of this in their newspaper.
*****************
There were mixed signals about how the authorities planned to handle the unrest.
Along with the MIXED MESSAGES provided by my selective mouthpiece media.
Related: CIA TO TOPPLE MUBARAK AND SPLIT UP EGYPT?
The use of the Muslim Brotherhood by MI6 and the CIA in Egypt, Syria, and Iran
I'm really starting to wonder because I never saw mention of the Brotherhood in print.
In contrast with other recent political demonstrations in Cairo, thousands of security officers seemed content at times to contain rather than engage the protesters — especially when it became clear that the demonstrators would not retreat from Tahrir Square. In a statement, the Interior Ministry said its policy had been “securing and not confronting these gatherings.’’
But there were signs of other containment tactics: Several times, cellphone networks appeared to be blocked or otherwise unavailable for people calling from Tahrir — or Liberation — Square. Many had trouble accessing Twitter, the social networking tool that helped spread news of the protests.
That makes me suspicious because of how Twitter was used against Iran.
Twitter confirmed that its site had been blocked in Egypt, Reuters reported. For much of the day, state television made no mention of the demonstrations....
I wouldn't know about my state news take because I never watch television news anymore.
--more--"
Related:
"Egyptians denounce Mubarak, clash with riot police" by Hamza Hendawi Associated Press / January 25, 2011
CAIRO—Egyptian police fired tear gas and rubber bullets and beat protesters to clear thousands of people from a central Cairo square Wednesday after the biggest demonstrations in years against President Hosni Mubarak's authoritarian rule.
Two protesters and a police officer were killed in the nationwide demonstrations inspired by Tunisia's uprising, which also demanded a solution to Egypt's grinding poverty and were likely to fuel growing dissent in a presidential election year.
Mobilized largely on the Internet, the waves of protesters filled Cairo's central Tahrir -- or Liberation -- Square on Tuesday, some hurling rocks and climbing atop armored police trucks.
"Down with Hosni Mubarak, down with the tyrant," chanted the crowds. "We don't want you!" they screamed as thousands of riot police deployed in a massive security operation that failed to quell the protests.
As night fell, thousands of demonstrators stood their ground for what they vowed would be an all-night sit-in in Tahrir Square just steps away from parliament and other government buildings -- blocking the streets and setting the stage for even more dramatic confrontations.
A large security force moved in around 1 a.m. Wednesday, arresting people, chasing others into side streets and filling the square with clouds of tear gas. Protesters collapsed on the ground with breathing problems amid the heavy volleys of tear gas.
The sound of what appeared to be automatic weapons fire could be heard as riot police and plainclothes officers chased several hundred protesters who scrambled onto the main road along the Nile in downtown Cairo. Some 20 officers were seen brutally beating one protester with truncheons.
"It got broken up ugly with everything, shooting, water cannon and (police) running with the sticks," said Gigi Ibrahim, who was among the last protesters to leave the square. "It was a field of tear gas. The square emptied out so fast."
Ibrahim said she was hit in her back with something that felt like a rock. "Some people were hit in their faces."
Some protesters turned violent amid the crackdown. They knocked down an empty white police booth and dragged it for several yards before setting it on fire, chanting that they want to oust the regime. A police pickup truck was overturned and set ablaze behind the famed Egyptian Museum. Protesters also set fire to a metal barricade and blocked traffic on a major bridge over the Nile.
Police at the bridge fired tear gas and protesters mounted a charge, forcing officers to retreat, though they quickly regrouped. Two protesters with bleeding head wounds were carried off in ambulances.
Well after midnight, the smell of tear gas drifted throughout central Cairo and riot police remained deployed in large numbers. Tahrir Square looked like a battlefield covered with rocks and debris. The gates of the ruling party headquarters near the square were smashed.
Scattered groups of protesters were holding out in several areas. Many were chased by police vehicles into the Shubra neighborhood, where the streets were strewn with rocks in a sign of a heavy confrontation.
Discontent with life in Egypt's authoritarian police state has simmered under the surface for years. However, it is Tunisia's popular uprising, which forced that nation's autocratic ruler from power, that appears to have pushed young Egyptians into the streets, many for the first time.
"This is the first time I am protesting, but we have been a cowardly nation. We have to finally say no," said Ismail Syed, a hotel worker who struggles to live on a salary of $50 a month.
"We want to see change, just like in Tunisia," said 24-year-old Lamia Rayan.
Dubbed a "day of revolution against torture, poverty, corruption and unemployment," Tuesday's protests in cities across Egypt began peacefully, with police at first showing unusual restraint in what appeared to be a calculated strategy to avoid further sullying the image of a security apparatus widely criticized as corrupt and violent.
With discontent growing over economic woes and the toppling of Tunisia's president resonating in the region, it was an acknowledgment of the need to tread softly by an Egyptian government that normally responds with swift retribution to any dissent.
But as crowds filled Tahrir Square -- waving Egyptian and Tunisian flags and adopting the same protest chants that rang out in the streets of Tunis -- security personnel changed tactics and the protest turned violent.
At one point, demonstrators attacked a water cannon truck, opening the driver's door and forcing the man out of the vehicle. As protesters hurled rocks and dragged metal barricades, officers beat them back with batons.
Protesters emerged stumbling amid clouds of acrid tear gas, coughing and covering their faces with scarves. Some had blood streaming down their faces. One man fainted. Police dragged some away and clubbed a journalist, smashing her glasses and seizing her camera.
The sight of officers beating demonstrators had particular resonance because Tuesday was a national holiday honoring the much-feared police.
Like the Tunisian protests, the calls to rally in Egypt went out on Facebook and Twitter, with 90,000 people voicing their support. Throughout the day organizers used Twitter to give minute-by-minute instructions about where to gather in an attempt to outmaneuver the police, until the government blocked it in the late afternoon....
Nearly half of Egypt's 80 million people live under or just above the poverty line, set by the U.N. at $2 a day. The widespread poverty, high unemployment and rising food prices pose a threat to Mubarak's regime at a time when tensions between Muslims and Christians are adding to the nation's woes....
I think they are on the same side on this one.
Adding to the uncertainty is that Mubarak, 82 and ailing, has yet to say whether he plans to run for another six-year term in office.
Actually, one of my links above said he was; however, who is counting AmeriKan media lies anymore?
Mubarak has not appointed a deputy since he became president in 1981 and is widely thought to be grooming his son Gamal to succeed him....
Related: Egypt president's son, family flee to Britain
I guess the old guard won.
Have not seen a word of the escape in print, either.
Why am I even bothering to buy a Boston Globe anymore?
In another parallel with Tunisia, the protests drew energy from the death of a single young man: a young Egyptian named Khaled Said whose family and witnesses say was beaten to death by two policemen in Alexandria last year. His slaying has become a rallying point for Egypt's opposition.
See: Egyptian Cops
Tunisia's protests were also sparked by a single death, that of a poor Tunisian vegetable vendor who set himself on fire to protest corruption. That act has been copied by at least six people in Egypt....
Please do not burn yourselves.
Some passers-by dismissed the protests, saying a few thousand of Cairo's 18 million people coming out on the streets was not nearly enough to force change.
"This is all just a waste of time," said Ali Mustafa Ibrahim, who works at a cigarette stand. "These are a bunch of kids playing cat and mouse. ... It's just going to create more problems and more traffic in the city."
At least SOMEONE is OUT THERE!
Among the protesters in Cairo was Alaa al-Aswany, author of the best-selling "Yacoubian Building," which portrays corrupt politicians, police brutality and terrorism in Egypt.
A keen observer of Egyptian society, al-Aswany said the demonstrations were an important opening for the government's opponents.
"They broke the barrier of fear," he said. "The writers of the regime were saying Egypt is not Tunisia and Egyptians are less educated than Tunisians. But here is the thing: these young people proved they can take their rights forcefully."
Setting an example for 'murkn kids?
--more--"
Let's stay with AP since they appear in my printed paper the next day:
"Egypt's protests enter 2nd day, ominous for regime" by Hamza Hendawi Associated Press / January 26, 2011
Appearing as print the morning of January 27 out here.
CAIRO—Thousands of Egyptians vented their rage against President Hosni Mubarak's autocratic government in a second day of protests Wednesday that defied a ban on public gatherings. Baton-wielding police responded with tear gas and beatings in a crackdown that showed zero tolerance for dissent.
Now I expect the U.S. government to be forcefully out in front with condemnations like what happened in Iran.
Egypt's largest anti-government protests in years echoed the uprising in Tunisia, threatening to destabilize the leadership of the most important U.S. ally in the Arab world. The ability of the protesters to sustain the momentum for two days in the face of such a heavy-handed police response was a rare feat in this country.
One protester and a policeman were killed Wednesday, bringing the two-day death toll to six.
Remarkable when you think about it.
Some 860 people have been rounded up, and Facebook, Twitter and cell phones -- key to organizing protests -- have been disrupted.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called on Egypt to adopt broad reforms and not crack down on the anti-government crowds. She urged the Mubarak regime to "take this opportunity to implement political, economic and social reforms that will answer the legitimate interests of the Egyptian people."
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
After over 30 years of support for Mubarak and his oppression the U.S. finally cares about the Egyptian people?
Still, there was no indication that Mubarak, who has ruled with an iron fist for nearly 30 years, intends to relinquish power or make democratic or economic concessions, and no sign he would rein in his security forces.
The defiant demonstrations continued late into the night. In Cairo, dozens of riot police with helmets and shields charged more than 2,000 marchers on a downtown boulevard along the Nile. Smaller clashes broke out across the capital. In one, protesters stoned police, who responded with a volley of tear gas from a bridge over the Nile.
One protester, businessman Said Abdel-Motalib, called the civil unrest "a red light to the regime. This is a warning."
In cities across Egypt, protesters incensed by Egypt's grinding poverty, rising prices and high unemployment hurled rocks and firebombs at police and smashed the windows of military vehicles.
The Interior Ministry warned Wednesday that police would not tolerate any gatherings, and thousands of security forces were out on the streets poised to move quickly against any unrest. Many were plainclothes officers whose leather jackets and casual sweat shirts allowed them to blend in easily with protesters.
We call them AGENT PROVOCATEURS in this part of the world.
Now you know where the VIOLENCE is coming from.
Thousands of policemen in riot gear and backed by armored vehicles also took up posts in Cairo, on bridges across the Nile, at major intersections and squares, as well as outside key installations, including the state TV building and the headquarters of Mubarak's ruling National Democratic Party.
Police fired tear gas to disperse a crowd of several hundred activists on a main thoroughfare, chasing them through side streets as both sides pelted each other with rocks while hundreds of onlookers watched. Plainclothes officers shoved some into waiting vans, slapping them in the face....
Then the COPS were THROWING THEM, too!
The latest unrest follows repeated public outcries in recent months over police brutality, food prices, corruption and, more recently, sectarian strife between Christians and Muslims.
I think we just found something that will bring them together.
Parliamentary elections in November were widely decried as fraudulent, rigged to allow candidates from Mubarak's ruling National Democratic Party to win all but a small fraction of the chamber's 318 seats....
There is speculation the 82-year-old Mubarak, who recently experienced serious health problems, may be setting his son Gamal up for hereditary succession....
Where print cut it, and I begin to wonder why the escape has not been reported.
There is considerable public opposition to a father-son succession and, according to leaked U.S. diplomatic memos, such a scenario does not meet with the approval of the powerful military.
Translation: the military has taken over the country. Mubarak is a figurehead, and that is why the kid fled.
Still, the regime's tight hold on power has made it virtually impossible for any serious alternative to Mubarak to emerge....
A persistent rumor that Mubarak's family has fled the country was denied Wednesday as "baseless" by a senior ruling party official.
Then it must be true.
However, the fact that such a rumor found legs speaks to the widely held perception that Mubarak could follow the example of Tunisia's longtime authoritarian ruler, who fled the country with his family in the face of that country's popular uprising.
We have newspapers for such things here in AmeriKa.
While that is unlikely, failure to rein in the unrest could tempt the military to intervene to take charge of the streets and restore order, or even realign the political order and put forward one if its own as a presidential candidate.
I think we are seeing that now.
Amr Moussa, the outspoken head of the Arab League once seen as a viable successor to Mubarak, painted a picture of an Arab world that is in turmoil when asked about events in Egypt.
Related: ElBaradei says time for Egypt leader Mubarak to go
Also see: Egypt: The More Things Change....
Not the guy the PTB want.
"The Arab citizen is angry, is frustrated. That is the point. So the name of the game is reform," he said at Davos, where he is attending the World Economic Forum meetings.
The agenda-pushing globalist's pick for president.
No wonder I feel a kinship with the Arab masses; we feel the same way.
Many Egyptian protesters say they have been inspired by the uprising in Tunisia -- even invoking the same slogans heard in the north African nation....
Yeah, this whole regional game plan may be backfiring on the globe-kicking neo-con intelligence agencies.
--more--"
What found on web version:
"Police push back against Egyptian protests; Marches small but determined on second day" by Kareem Fahim and Liam Stack, New York Times / January 27, 2011
CAIRO — The Egyptian government intensified efforts to crush a fresh wave of protests yesterday, banning public gatherings, detaining hundreds of people, and sending police officers to scatter protesters who defied the ban to demand an end to the government of President Hosni Mubarak.
The skirmishes started early in the afternoon, and soon, small fires illuminated large clashes under an overpass. Riot police officers using batons, tear gas, and rubber-coated bullets cleared busy avenues; other officers set upon fleeing protesters, beating them with bamboo staves.
Egypt has an extensive and widely feared security apparatus, and it deployed its might in an effort to crush the protests. But it was not clear whether the security forces were succeeding in intimidating protesters or instead inciting them to further defiance.
In contrast to the thousands who marched through Cairo and other cities on Tuesday, the groups of protesters were relatively small. Armored troop carriers rumbled throughout Cairo’s downtown yesterday to the thud of tear-gas guns. There were signs that the crackdown was being carefully calibrated, with security forces using their cudgels and sometimes throwing rocks, rather than opening fire.
Like I said, AGENT PROVOCATEURS!
But again and again, despite the efforts of the police, the protesters in Cairo regrouped and at one point even forced security officers, sitting in the safety of two troop carriers, to retreat.
It is called PEOPLE POWER and WOE to those who TRY to STAND AGAINST IT!
“This is do or die,’’ said Mustafa Youssef, 22, a student who marched from skirmish to skirmish with friends, including one nursing a rubber-bullet wound. “The most important thing to do is to keep confronting them.’’
Late yesterday, Reuters reported, protesters in Suez set a government building on fire, according to security officials and witnesses; the fire spread through parts of the provincial administration office but was put out before the flames engulfed the entire building.
Dozens of protesters also threw gasoline bombs at the office of the ruling party in Suez, Reuters reported, but they did not set it on fire. Police officers fired tear gas to push back the demonstrators.
Elsewhere, the authorities had better success smothering the unrest. A significant police presence in Alexandria, where protesters tore down a large portrait of Mubarak on Tuesday, managed to contain demonstrations quickly when they began yesterday. Several dozen young men tried to gather on the Corniche, a boulevard along the Mediterranean, but the gathering was quickly broken up by more than 100 police officers in riot gear assisted by plainclothes security personnel. Baton-wielding officers arrested several protesters as the rest scattered.
In the poor Alexandria neighborhood of Abu Suleiman, a demonstration lasted for more than half an hour before it was shut down by the police. Nearly 100 people wended their way through narrow back streets, chanting, “Come down, come down, Egyptians,’’ to neighbors, who peered down on them from windows on the higher floors.
The Associated Press, quoting witnesses, reported that riot police officers with batons attacked about 100 protesters in the central Egyptian city of Asyut, arresting nearly half of them.
The government said about 800 people had been arrested throughout the country since Tuesday morning, but human rights groups said there had been more than 2,000 arrests.
Abroad, there were growing expressions of concern from Egypt’s allies.
The US ambassador in Cairo, Margaret Scobey, called on the government “to allow peaceful public demonstrations.’’
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called on Egypt to adopt broad reforms and not crack down on the crowds, Associated Press reported.
She urged the Mubarak regime to “take this opportunity to implement political, economic, and social reforms that will answer the legitimate interests of the Egyptian people.’’
The German foreign minister, Guido Westerwelle told reporters, “We are very worried about how the situation in Egypt is developing.’’
But despite signs that the protests were taking a domestic toll — the country’s benchmark stock index fell more than 6 percent — Egyptian officials, at least publicly, were mostly dismissive.
Now THAT is IMPORTANT!
When people begin to PULL THEIR MONEY OUT of a country that government is living off BORROWED TIME!
Mubarak’s National Democratic Party reiterated the government’s assertion that the protests were engineered by the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt’s largest opposition movement.
Again, the MB never makes my printed BG.
Why?
--more--"
And lost in the shuffle?
"Egypt blames Gaza militants in church attack" by Associated Press / January 24, 2011
CAIRO — Egypt’s top security official yesterday accused an Al Qaeda-inspired group in the Gaza Strip of being behind the New Year’s Day suicide bombing that killed 21 people outside a Coptic Christian church in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria.
Must have been inspired by"Al-CIA-Duh."
Interior Minister Habib al-Adly said conclusive evidence showed the shadowy Army of Islam in the Palestinian territory was behind the planning and execution of the attack....
Uh-huh.
There has been no claim of responsibility for the bombing, which added to years of strained relations between Egypt’s sizable Coptic minority and the country’s Muslims. The government, eager to keep the sectarian tension under control, almost immediately blamed foreign elements for the attack.
Well, they are right about that.
The Army of Islam dismissed the accusations on an extremist website, and the Hamas militants who control Gaza and who have battled with the smaller group were also skeptical of the Egyptian claim....
As is the rest of the world.
--more--"
Related: Cryptic Attack on Coptic Church
Yeah, it stinks of Israel.
"The violence has raised fears of a deepening and potentially explosive Muslim-Christian divide in this key US ally, which is already beset by a widening income gap and frustration over government corruption and a lack of democratic reform....
And CUI BONO?
--more--"
"Officer kills Christian on train in Egypt" by Associated Press / January 12, 2011
CAIRO — An off-duty policeman boarded a train and opened fire yesterday, killing a 71-year-old Christian man and wounding five other Christians, mostly women, the Interior Ministry said in a statement, sparking new demonstrations in southern Egypt.
There are fears that the attack could ignite a new wave of Christian protests by a community still traumatized by a New Year’s suicide attack on a church that killed at least 21 worshipers as they were leaving Mass....
No motive was immediately known for the shooting, which came less than two weeks after a suicide bomber blew himself up outside the church in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, sparking three days of fierce riots by Christians....
Please do not fall for the false flag and respond with violence.
It is certainly not the Christian thing to do.
--more--"
Update: Youthful protests gain momentum in Mideast (By Anthony Shadid, Nada Bakri, and Kareem Fahim, New York Times)
Will that be the article I find in my printed paper -- if I bother to buy one today?
My printed paper:
"Protests spread against Mubarak" by Sherine Bayoumi and Leila Fadel, Washington Post, January 26, 2011
CAIRO - In the largest protest in Egypt in years, thousands of anti-government demonstratorscalled Tuesday for the end of President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule, a cry inspired by the fall of an Arab dictator in Tunisia.
Also see: Tunisian Trickle (and related links).
By late Tuesday, about 15,000 protesters were encamped in Cairo's Tahrir Square, saying they had no plans to leave, as supporters brought blankets, food and water to sustain them. Among their demands, posted online and circulated by activists on Twitter, was a call for Mubarak's immediate "abdication of power."
According to the Associated Press, a large security force moved in about 1 a.m. Wednesday, arresting people, beating some, chasing others into side streets and filling the square with clouds of tear gas in an effort to clear it of protesters.
Many of the demonstrators said they were publicly denouncing Mubarak's rule for the first time, inspired by the images of young people in Tunisia effecting change in a region where most Arab countries are led by autocratic rulers and freedom of speech is limited....
But these guys are ALL our ALLIES!
The day's protests began downtown and spread to the port city of Alexandria and on to the northeastern city of Suez, where violent clashes with police left two demonstrators dead. A police officer was killed in Cairo, where Arabic satellite news channels broadcast images of police dragging demonstrators through the streets.
For much of the day, Egyptian authorities had demonstrated unusual tolerance in allowing the demonstrations to take place. Organizers said they were seeking to emulate the events in Tunisia, where a popular revolt over unemployment, lack of opportunity and hopelessness in young people ended the rule of Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali.
Similar discontent has long pervaded Egypt, a country of about 86 million, where a small, wealthy elite has thrived under the autocratic government headed by Mubarak since 1981, but where nearly half the population lives at or under the U.N. poverty line.
The mood turned sour in Cairo late Tuesday when demonstrators clashed with police outside the Egyptian Museum, throwing rocks and bringing down a police kiosk before backing away with appeals for nonviolence.
Yes, violence only discredits the movement (cui bono?).
Later, police attacked the crowd with water cannons and tear gas and, in some cases, beat protesters after demonstrators hurled stones, the Associated Press reported.
If you keep reading you will find it was not only protesters throwing rocks.
Apart from Mubarak's ouster, the demonstrators called for the removal of the government headed by Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif and the disbanding of Egypt's parliament.
These CIA-inspired coups are getting out of control.
In Washington, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Egypt's government, a key U.S. ally in the Middle East, is stable despite the protests. She urged the government and protesters to avoid violence.
Lies and hypocrisy all in one sentence.
Egyptian security authorities have a reputation for heavy-handedness that is a source of simmering anger among Egyptians. It was not clear Tuesday night whether the authorities would permit the demonstrators to remain in Tahrir Square, a large downtown plaza whose name means "liberation" in Arabic.
The protest started off small in downtown Cairo with a few hundred activists who had heard about it through social-networking sites....
The demonstrations in Egypt are the latest and largest in the Arab world to follow the fall of Tunisia's government. Other protests have occurred in Algeria, Yemen and Jordan, and they have included repeated cases in which demonstrators set themselves afire...
That, too, is violence. Please don't do that.
Notice that the reporting on the protests in those three nations has been near non-existent in the AmeriKan media?
Regime change not part of the agenda-pushing plan for them?
Also see: Yemen Yakety Yak
Middle East Elections
Africa On Edge
More evasion, 'eh?
In her public appearance in Washington on Tuesday, Clinton acknowledged that Egypt, "like many countries in the region," has been experiencing demonstrations.
"We support the fundamental right of expression and assembly for all people, and we urge that all parties exercise restraint and refrain from violence," she said. "But our assessment is that the Egyptian government is stable and is looking for ways to respond to the legitimate needs and interests of the Egyptian people.''
She's still backing Mubarak -- meaning the plan has gotten out of control.
And because of the shell game I forgot to grab the link.
Oh well.
What you webbers received:
"Antigovernment protesters, police clash in Cairo; Thousands call for resignation of Mubarak" by Kareem Fahim and Mona El-Naggar, New York Times / January 26, 2011
CAIRO — Thousands of people demanding an end to the 30-year rule of President Hosni Mubarak filled the streets of several Egyptian cities yesterday, in an unusually large and sometimes violent burst of civil unrest that appeared to threaten the stability of a crucial Arab ally of the United States.
The protests, at least partly inspired by the toppling of the authoritarian government in Tunisia, began small but grew all day, with protesters occupying one of Cairo’s central squares. Security forces, which normally prevent major public displays of dissent, initially struggled to suppress the demonstrations.
But early this morning, firing rubber bullets, tear gas, and concussion grenades, the police finally drove groups of demonstrators from the square, as the sit-in was transformed into a spreading battle involving thousands of people and little restraint. Plainclothes officers beat several demonstrators, and protesters flipped over a police car and set it on fire.
Protests also flared in Alexandria, Suez, Mansura, and Beni Suef. There were reports of three deaths and many injuries.
Photographers in Alexandria documented people tearing up a large portrait of Mubarak. A video posted on the Internet of demonstrations in Mahalla el-Kubra showed the same, while a crowd snapped cellphone photos and cheered. The acts — rare, and bold here — underscored the anger coursing through the protests and the challenge they might pose to the aging and ailing Egyptian leader.
Related: Odds and Ends of Egypt
Several observers said the protests represented the largest display of popular dissatisfaction with the government in recent memory, perhaps since 1977, when people across Egypt protested the elimination of subsidies for food and other basic goods.
It was not clear whether the size and intensity of the demonstrations — which seemed to shock even the protesters — would or could be sustained.
The government quickly placed blame for the protests on the country’s largest opposition movement, the Muslim Brotherhood, which is tolerated but officially banned. In a statement, the Interior Ministry said the protests were the work of “instigators’’ led by the Muslim Brotherhood, while the Islamic movement declared that it had little to do with them.
The reality that emerged from interviews with protesters — many of whom said they were independents — was more complicated and reflected one of the Egyptian government’s deepest fears: that the opposition to Mubarak’s rule now spreads across ideological lines and includes many people angered by corruption and economic hardship as well as secular and Islamist opponents. That broad base of support could make it harder for the government to co-opt or crush those demanding change.
“The big, grand ideological narratives were not seen today,’’ said Amr Hamzawy, research director of the Carnegie Middle East Center. “This was not about ‘Islam is the solution’ or anything else.’’
Remember, dumb newspaper readers out here in the sticks of New England are reading none of this in their newspaper.
*****************
There were mixed signals about how the authorities planned to handle the unrest.
Along with the MIXED MESSAGES provided by my selective mouthpiece media.
Related: CIA TO TOPPLE MUBARAK AND SPLIT UP EGYPT?
The use of the Muslim Brotherhood by MI6 and the CIA in Egypt, Syria, and Iran
I'm really starting to wonder because I never saw mention of the Brotherhood in print.
In contrast with other recent political demonstrations in Cairo, thousands of security officers seemed content at times to contain rather than engage the protesters — especially when it became clear that the demonstrators would not retreat from Tahrir Square. In a statement, the Interior Ministry said its policy had been “securing and not confronting these gatherings.’’
But there were signs of other containment tactics: Several times, cellphone networks appeared to be blocked or otherwise unavailable for people calling from Tahrir — or Liberation — Square. Many had trouble accessing Twitter, the social networking tool that helped spread news of the protests.
That makes me suspicious because of how Twitter was used against Iran.
Twitter confirmed that its site had been blocked in Egypt, Reuters reported. For much of the day, state television made no mention of the demonstrations....
I wouldn't know about my state news take because I never watch television news anymore.
--more--"
Related:
"Egyptians denounce Mubarak, clash with riot police" by Hamza Hendawi Associated Press / January 25, 2011
CAIRO—Egyptian police fired tear gas and rubber bullets and beat protesters to clear thousands of people from a central Cairo square Wednesday after the biggest demonstrations in years against President Hosni Mubarak's authoritarian rule.
Two protesters and a police officer were killed in the nationwide demonstrations inspired by Tunisia's uprising, which also demanded a solution to Egypt's grinding poverty and were likely to fuel growing dissent in a presidential election year.
Mobilized largely on the Internet, the waves of protesters filled Cairo's central Tahrir -- or Liberation -- Square on Tuesday, some hurling rocks and climbing atop armored police trucks.
"Down with Hosni Mubarak, down with the tyrant," chanted the crowds. "We don't want you!" they screamed as thousands of riot police deployed in a massive security operation that failed to quell the protests.
As night fell, thousands of demonstrators stood their ground for what they vowed would be an all-night sit-in in Tahrir Square just steps away from parliament and other government buildings -- blocking the streets and setting the stage for even more dramatic confrontations.
A large security force moved in around 1 a.m. Wednesday, arresting people, chasing others into side streets and filling the square with clouds of tear gas. Protesters collapsed on the ground with breathing problems amid the heavy volleys of tear gas.
The sound of what appeared to be automatic weapons fire could be heard as riot police and plainclothes officers chased several hundred protesters who scrambled onto the main road along the Nile in downtown Cairo. Some 20 officers were seen brutally beating one protester with truncheons.
"It got broken up ugly with everything, shooting, water cannon and (police) running with the sticks," said Gigi Ibrahim, who was among the last protesters to leave the square. "It was a field of tear gas. The square emptied out so fast."
Ibrahim said she was hit in her back with something that felt like a rock. "Some people were hit in their faces."
Some protesters turned violent amid the crackdown. They knocked down an empty white police booth and dragged it for several yards before setting it on fire, chanting that they want to oust the regime. A police pickup truck was overturned and set ablaze behind the famed Egyptian Museum. Protesters also set fire to a metal barricade and blocked traffic on a major bridge over the Nile.
Police at the bridge fired tear gas and protesters mounted a charge, forcing officers to retreat, though they quickly regrouped. Two protesters with bleeding head wounds were carried off in ambulances.
Well after midnight, the smell of tear gas drifted throughout central Cairo and riot police remained deployed in large numbers. Tahrir Square looked like a battlefield covered with rocks and debris. The gates of the ruling party headquarters near the square were smashed.
Scattered groups of protesters were holding out in several areas. Many were chased by police vehicles into the Shubra neighborhood, where the streets were strewn with rocks in a sign of a heavy confrontation.
Discontent with life in Egypt's authoritarian police state has simmered under the surface for years. However, it is Tunisia's popular uprising, which forced that nation's autocratic ruler from power, that appears to have pushed young Egyptians into the streets, many for the first time.
"This is the first time I am protesting, but we have been a cowardly nation. We have to finally say no," said Ismail Syed, a hotel worker who struggles to live on a salary of $50 a month.
"We want to see change, just like in Tunisia," said 24-year-old Lamia Rayan.
Dubbed a "day of revolution against torture, poverty, corruption and unemployment," Tuesday's protests in cities across Egypt began peacefully, with police at first showing unusual restraint in what appeared to be a calculated strategy to avoid further sullying the image of a security apparatus widely criticized as corrupt and violent.
With discontent growing over economic woes and the toppling of Tunisia's president resonating in the region, it was an acknowledgment of the need to tread softly by an Egyptian government that normally responds with swift retribution to any dissent.
But as crowds filled Tahrir Square -- waving Egyptian and Tunisian flags and adopting the same protest chants that rang out in the streets of Tunis -- security personnel changed tactics and the protest turned violent.
At one point, demonstrators attacked a water cannon truck, opening the driver's door and forcing the man out of the vehicle. As protesters hurled rocks and dragged metal barricades, officers beat them back with batons.
Protesters emerged stumbling amid clouds of acrid tear gas, coughing and covering their faces with scarves. Some had blood streaming down their faces. One man fainted. Police dragged some away and clubbed a journalist, smashing her glasses and seizing her camera.
The sight of officers beating demonstrators had particular resonance because Tuesday was a national holiday honoring the much-feared police.
Like the Tunisian protests, the calls to rally in Egypt went out on Facebook and Twitter, with 90,000 people voicing their support. Throughout the day organizers used Twitter to give minute-by-minute instructions about where to gather in an attempt to outmaneuver the police, until the government blocked it in the late afternoon....
Nearly half of Egypt's 80 million people live under or just above the poverty line, set by the U.N. at $2 a day. The widespread poverty, high unemployment and rising food prices pose a threat to Mubarak's regime at a time when tensions between Muslims and Christians are adding to the nation's woes....
I think they are on the same side on this one.
Adding to the uncertainty is that Mubarak, 82 and ailing, has yet to say whether he plans to run for another six-year term in office.
Actually, one of my links above said he was; however, who is counting AmeriKan media lies anymore?
Mubarak has not appointed a deputy since he became president in 1981 and is widely thought to be grooming his son Gamal to succeed him....
Related: Egypt president's son, family flee to Britain
I guess the old guard won.
Have not seen a word of the escape in print, either.
Why am I even bothering to buy a Boston Globe anymore?
In another parallel with Tunisia, the protests drew energy from the death of a single young man: a young Egyptian named Khaled Said whose family and witnesses say was beaten to death by two policemen in Alexandria last year. His slaying has become a rallying point for Egypt's opposition.
See: Egyptian Cops
Tunisia's protests were also sparked by a single death, that of a poor Tunisian vegetable vendor who set himself on fire to protest corruption. That act has been copied by at least six people in Egypt....
Please do not burn yourselves.
Some passers-by dismissed the protests, saying a few thousand of Cairo's 18 million people coming out on the streets was not nearly enough to force change.
"This is all just a waste of time," said Ali Mustafa Ibrahim, who works at a cigarette stand. "These are a bunch of kids playing cat and mouse. ... It's just going to create more problems and more traffic in the city."
At least SOMEONE is OUT THERE!
Among the protesters in Cairo was Alaa al-Aswany, author of the best-selling "Yacoubian Building," which portrays corrupt politicians, police brutality and terrorism in Egypt.
A keen observer of Egyptian society, al-Aswany said the demonstrations were an important opening for the government's opponents.
"They broke the barrier of fear," he said. "The writers of the regime were saying Egypt is not Tunisia and Egyptians are less educated than Tunisians. But here is the thing: these young people proved they can take their rights forcefully."
Setting an example for 'murkn kids?
--more--"
Let's stay with AP since they appear in my printed paper the next day:
"Egypt's protests enter 2nd day, ominous for regime" by Hamza Hendawi Associated Press / January 26, 2011
Appearing as print the morning of January 27 out here.
CAIRO—Thousands of Egyptians vented their rage against President Hosni Mubarak's autocratic government in a second day of protests Wednesday that defied a ban on public gatherings. Baton-wielding police responded with tear gas and beatings in a crackdown that showed zero tolerance for dissent.
Now I expect the U.S. government to be forcefully out in front with condemnations like what happened in Iran.
Egypt's largest anti-government protests in years echoed the uprising in Tunisia, threatening to destabilize the leadership of the most important U.S. ally in the Arab world. The ability of the protesters to sustain the momentum for two days in the face of such a heavy-handed police response was a rare feat in this country.
One protester and a policeman were killed Wednesday, bringing the two-day death toll to six.
Remarkable when you think about it.
Some 860 people have been rounded up, and Facebook, Twitter and cell phones -- key to organizing protests -- have been disrupted.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called on Egypt to adopt broad reforms and not crack down on the anti-government crowds. She urged the Mubarak regime to "take this opportunity to implement political, economic and social reforms that will answer the legitimate interests of the Egyptian people."
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
After over 30 years of support for Mubarak and his oppression the U.S. finally cares about the Egyptian people?
Still, there was no indication that Mubarak, who has ruled with an iron fist for nearly 30 years, intends to relinquish power or make democratic or economic concessions, and no sign he would rein in his security forces.
The defiant demonstrations continued late into the night. In Cairo, dozens of riot police with helmets and shields charged more than 2,000 marchers on a downtown boulevard along the Nile. Smaller clashes broke out across the capital. In one, protesters stoned police, who responded with a volley of tear gas from a bridge over the Nile.
One protester, businessman Said Abdel-Motalib, called the civil unrest "a red light to the regime. This is a warning."
In cities across Egypt, protesters incensed by Egypt's grinding poverty, rising prices and high unemployment hurled rocks and firebombs at police and smashed the windows of military vehicles.
The Interior Ministry warned Wednesday that police would not tolerate any gatherings, and thousands of security forces were out on the streets poised to move quickly against any unrest. Many were plainclothes officers whose leather jackets and casual sweat shirts allowed them to blend in easily with protesters.
We call them AGENT PROVOCATEURS in this part of the world.
Now you know where the VIOLENCE is coming from.
Thousands of policemen in riot gear and backed by armored vehicles also took up posts in Cairo, on bridges across the Nile, at major intersections and squares, as well as outside key installations, including the state TV building and the headquarters of Mubarak's ruling National Democratic Party.
Police fired tear gas to disperse a crowd of several hundred activists on a main thoroughfare, chasing them through side streets as both sides pelted each other with rocks while hundreds of onlookers watched. Plainclothes officers shoved some into waiting vans, slapping them in the face....
Then the COPS were THROWING THEM, too!
The latest unrest follows repeated public outcries in recent months over police brutality, food prices, corruption and, more recently, sectarian strife between Christians and Muslims.
I think we just found something that will bring them together.
Parliamentary elections in November were widely decried as fraudulent, rigged to allow candidates from Mubarak's ruling National Democratic Party to win all but a small fraction of the chamber's 318 seats....
There is speculation the 82-year-old Mubarak, who recently experienced serious health problems, may be setting his son Gamal up for hereditary succession....
Where print cut it, and I begin to wonder why the escape has not been reported.
There is considerable public opposition to a father-son succession and, according to leaked U.S. diplomatic memos, such a scenario does not meet with the approval of the powerful military.
Translation: the military has taken over the country. Mubarak is a figurehead, and that is why the kid fled.
Still, the regime's tight hold on power has made it virtually impossible for any serious alternative to Mubarak to emerge....
A persistent rumor that Mubarak's family has fled the country was denied Wednesday as "baseless" by a senior ruling party official.
Then it must be true.
However, the fact that such a rumor found legs speaks to the widely held perception that Mubarak could follow the example of Tunisia's longtime authoritarian ruler, who fled the country with his family in the face of that country's popular uprising.
We have newspapers for such things here in AmeriKa.
While that is unlikely, failure to rein in the unrest could tempt the military to intervene to take charge of the streets and restore order, or even realign the political order and put forward one if its own as a presidential candidate.
I think we are seeing that now.
Amr Moussa, the outspoken head of the Arab League once seen as a viable successor to Mubarak, painted a picture of an Arab world that is in turmoil when asked about events in Egypt.
Related: ElBaradei says time for Egypt leader Mubarak to go
Also see: Egypt: The More Things Change....
Not the guy the PTB want.
"The Arab citizen is angry, is frustrated. That is the point. So the name of the game is reform," he said at Davos, where he is attending the World Economic Forum meetings.
The agenda-pushing globalist's pick for president.
No wonder I feel a kinship with the Arab masses; we feel the same way.
Many Egyptian protesters say they have been inspired by the uprising in Tunisia -- even invoking the same slogans heard in the north African nation....
Yeah, this whole regional game plan may be backfiring on the globe-kicking neo-con intelligence agencies.
--more--"
What found on web version:
"Police push back against Egyptian protests; Marches small but determined on second day" by Kareem Fahim and Liam Stack, New York Times / January 27, 2011
CAIRO — The Egyptian government intensified efforts to crush a fresh wave of protests yesterday, banning public gatherings, detaining hundreds of people, and sending police officers to scatter protesters who defied the ban to demand an end to the government of President Hosni Mubarak.
The skirmishes started early in the afternoon, and soon, small fires illuminated large clashes under an overpass. Riot police officers using batons, tear gas, and rubber-coated bullets cleared busy avenues; other officers set upon fleeing protesters, beating them with bamboo staves.
Egypt has an extensive and widely feared security apparatus, and it deployed its might in an effort to crush the protests. But it was not clear whether the security forces were succeeding in intimidating protesters or instead inciting them to further defiance.
In contrast to the thousands who marched through Cairo and other cities on Tuesday, the groups of protesters were relatively small. Armored troop carriers rumbled throughout Cairo’s downtown yesterday to the thud of tear-gas guns. There were signs that the crackdown was being carefully calibrated, with security forces using their cudgels and sometimes throwing rocks, rather than opening fire.
Like I said, AGENT PROVOCATEURS!
But again and again, despite the efforts of the police, the protesters in Cairo regrouped and at one point even forced security officers, sitting in the safety of two troop carriers, to retreat.
It is called PEOPLE POWER and WOE to those who TRY to STAND AGAINST IT!
“This is do or die,’’ said Mustafa Youssef, 22, a student who marched from skirmish to skirmish with friends, including one nursing a rubber-bullet wound. “The most important thing to do is to keep confronting them.’’
Late yesterday, Reuters reported, protesters in Suez set a government building on fire, according to security officials and witnesses; the fire spread through parts of the provincial administration office but was put out before the flames engulfed the entire building.
Dozens of protesters also threw gasoline bombs at the office of the ruling party in Suez, Reuters reported, but they did not set it on fire. Police officers fired tear gas to push back the demonstrators.
Elsewhere, the authorities had better success smothering the unrest. A significant police presence in Alexandria, where protesters tore down a large portrait of Mubarak on Tuesday, managed to contain demonstrations quickly when they began yesterday. Several dozen young men tried to gather on the Corniche, a boulevard along the Mediterranean, but the gathering was quickly broken up by more than 100 police officers in riot gear assisted by plainclothes security personnel. Baton-wielding officers arrested several protesters as the rest scattered.
In the poor Alexandria neighborhood of Abu Suleiman, a demonstration lasted for more than half an hour before it was shut down by the police. Nearly 100 people wended their way through narrow back streets, chanting, “Come down, come down, Egyptians,’’ to neighbors, who peered down on them from windows on the higher floors.
The Associated Press, quoting witnesses, reported that riot police officers with batons attacked about 100 protesters in the central Egyptian city of Asyut, arresting nearly half of them.
The government said about 800 people had been arrested throughout the country since Tuesday morning, but human rights groups said there had been more than 2,000 arrests.
Abroad, there were growing expressions of concern from Egypt’s allies.
The US ambassador in Cairo, Margaret Scobey, called on the government “to allow peaceful public demonstrations.’’
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called on Egypt to adopt broad reforms and not crack down on the crowds, Associated Press reported.
She urged the Mubarak regime to “take this opportunity to implement political, economic, and social reforms that will answer the legitimate interests of the Egyptian people.’’
The German foreign minister, Guido Westerwelle told reporters, “We are very worried about how the situation in Egypt is developing.’’
But despite signs that the protests were taking a domestic toll — the country’s benchmark stock index fell more than 6 percent — Egyptian officials, at least publicly, were mostly dismissive.
Now THAT is IMPORTANT!
When people begin to PULL THEIR MONEY OUT of a country that government is living off BORROWED TIME!
Mubarak’s National Democratic Party reiterated the government’s assertion that the protests were engineered by the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt’s largest opposition movement.
Again, the MB never makes my printed BG.
Why?
--more--"
And lost in the shuffle?
"Egypt blames Gaza militants in church attack" by Associated Press / January 24, 2011
CAIRO — Egypt’s top security official yesterday accused an Al Qaeda-inspired group in the Gaza Strip of being behind the New Year’s Day suicide bombing that killed 21 people outside a Coptic Christian church in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria.
Must have been inspired by"Al-CIA-Duh."
Interior Minister Habib al-Adly said conclusive evidence showed the shadowy Army of Islam in the Palestinian territory was behind the planning and execution of the attack....
Uh-huh.
There has been no claim of responsibility for the bombing, which added to years of strained relations between Egypt’s sizable Coptic minority and the country’s Muslims. The government, eager to keep the sectarian tension under control, almost immediately blamed foreign elements for the attack.
Well, they are right about that.
The Army of Islam dismissed the accusations on an extremist website, and the Hamas militants who control Gaza and who have battled with the smaller group were also skeptical of the Egyptian claim....
As is the rest of the world.
--more--"
Related: Cryptic Attack on Coptic Church
Yeah, it stinks of Israel.
"The violence has raised fears of a deepening and potentially explosive Muslim-Christian divide in this key US ally, which is already beset by a widening income gap and frustration over government corruption and a lack of democratic reform....
And CUI BONO?
--more--"
"Officer kills Christian on train in Egypt" by Associated Press / January 12, 2011
CAIRO — An off-duty policeman boarded a train and opened fire yesterday, killing a 71-year-old Christian man and wounding five other Christians, mostly women, the Interior Ministry said in a statement, sparking new demonstrations in southern Egypt.
There are fears that the attack could ignite a new wave of Christian protests by a community still traumatized by a New Year’s suicide attack on a church that killed at least 21 worshipers as they were leaving Mass....
No motive was immediately known for the shooting, which came less than two weeks after a suicide bomber blew himself up outside the church in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, sparking three days of fierce riots by Christians....
Please do not fall for the false flag and respond with violence.
It is certainly not the Christian thing to do.
--more--"
Update: Youthful protests gain momentum in Mideast (By Anthony Shadid, Nada Bakri, and Kareem Fahim, New York Times)
Will that be the article I find in my printed paper -- if I bother to buy one today?
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