http://www.americankestrel.com/blog/index.php/site/index/ en kestrel@americankestrel.com Copyright 2010 2010-09-07T22:53:47+00:00 http://www.americankestrel.com/blog/index.php/site/huge_protest_in_france/ http://www.americankestrel.com/blog/index.php/site/huge_protest_in_france/#When:22:53:47Z More than one million French workers have taken to the streets to protest against austerity measures planned by President Nicolas Sarkozy’s government. The rallies came as a 24-hour national strike disrupted flight and rail services, and closed schools. Activists are angry at government plans to overhaul pensions and raise the retirement age from 60 to 62. Union leaders say more strikes and protests are possible if the government fails to give an adequate response. “If they don’t respond and they don’t pay heed, there’ll be a follow up, and nothing is ruled out at this stage,” Bernard Thibault, leader of the large CGT union, told a rally in Paris. 2010-09-07T22:53:47+00:00 http://www.americankestrel.com/blog/index.php/site/attempted_overthrow_in_bahrain/ http://www.americankestrel.com/blog/index.php/site/attempted_overthrow_in_bahrain/#When:19:55:29Z Bahrain’s National Security Agency has announced the arrest and charging of 23 people over the weekend for allegedly planning terrorist activities and plotting to overthrow the government. The NSA said those arrested were members of illegal organizations such as the Haq, Al Wafa, Objection and the Bahrain Freedom Movement based in London. They were also charged with destabilizing the government for inciting rioting, organizing rallies, committing arson and defying laws. The Interior Ministry identified Shiite Muslim activist Ali Abdulemam as among those arrested. The others, according to prosecutors, were academics, taxi drivers, civil servants, dentists and administrators. More here: ritain has been urged to intervene with the government of Bahrain to demand an end to the alleged torture of 23 “terrorists” – one of them a UK citizen – who insist they are a legitimate opposition movement in the western-backed Gulf state. 2010-09-07T19:55:29+00:00 http://www.americankestrel.com/blog/index.php/site/the_president_proposes_and_congress_disposes1/ http://www.americankestrel.com/blog/index.php/site/the_president_proposes_and_congress_disposes1/#When:19:51:58Z President Barack Obama boldly proclaims, “The buck stops here!” But, whenever his policies are criticized, he acts as if the buck stopped with George W. Bush. The party line that we are likely to be hearing from now until the November elections is that Obama “inherited” the big federal budget deficits and that he has to “clean up the mess” left in the economy by the Republicans. This may convince those who want to be convinced, but it will not stand up under scrutiny. No President of the United States can create either a budget deficit or a budget surplus. All spending bills originate in the House of Representatives and all taxes are voted into law by Congress. Democrats controlled both houses of Congress before Barack Obama became president. The deficit he inherited was created by the Congressional Democrats, including Senator Barack Obama, who did absolutely nothing to oppose the runaway spending. He was one of the biggest of the big spenders. 2010-09-07T19:51:58+00:00 http://www.americankestrel.com/blog/index.php/site/i_thought_that_we_did_this_with_social_security/ http://www.americankestrel.com/blog/index.php/site/i_thought_that_we_did_this_with_social_security/#When:19:45:45Z If not then what is Social Security? If it passes will the congress have access to it for future spending? “This legislation will force Americans into a government-mandated, ‘one size fits all’ retirement account,” Wilson said, adding that it would “disproportionately impact younger and lower-income workers, who will now have less ability to save for new home purchases or pay off college expenses and debt, all of which occurs earlier in a worker’s career.” “This is another attempt by government to tell individuals what they have to do with their own money, stripping them of the right to make their own personal investment and life decisions,” Wilson added. Wilson noted that the “investment ‘options’ that are offered will be defined arbitrarily by the Department of Labor in regulation.” 2010-09-07T19:45:45+00:00 http://www.americankestrel.com/blog/index.php/site/they_could_use_the_money/ http://www.americankestrel.com/blog/index.php/site/they_could_use_the_money/#When:06:06:50Z Legend has it that almost a century ago a series of railway wagons stuffed with gold sank into the depths of a lake in Siberia. This week, researchers, exploring the depths by submarine, may have found the Russian royals’ lost gold. 2010-09-06T06:06:50+00:00 http://www.americankestrel.com/blog/index.php/site/mosque_approved_here_in_copenhagen/ http://www.americankestrel.com/blog/index.php/site/mosque_approved_here_in_copenhagen/#When:06:04:06Z By an overwhelming majority of 45 votes to three at the Copenhagen City Council, the construction of a new mosque has been pre-approved as part of a new local plan for the city’s Amager district, reports Politiken newspaper. 2010-09-06T06:04:06+00:00 http://www.americankestrel.com/blog/index.php/site/i_havnt_posted_on_this_much_/ http://www.americankestrel.com/blog/index.php/site/i_havnt_posted_on_this_much_/#When:06:00:16Z ... mainly because I have no interest in cricket but ... A British newspaper said Sunday that a top Pakistani cricket player confirmed its allegations of corruption on the Pakistani national cricket team. The News of the World, a tabloid known for using undercover video and other unorthodox methods, says it secretly filmed cricket player Yasir Hameed on Tuesday, two days after it claimed three players had been involved in a scam run by gamblers. 2010-09-06T06:00:16+00:00 http://www.americankestrel.com/blog/index.php/site/this_doesnt_seem_to_be_going_as_well_as_planned/ http://www.americankestrel.com/blog/index.php/site/this_doesnt_seem_to_be_going_as_well_as_planned/#When:05:59:09Z Days after the U.S. officially ended combat operations and touted Iraq’s ability to defend itself, American troops found themselves battling heavily armed militants assaulting an Iraqi military headquarters in the center of Baghdad on Sunday. The fighting killed 12 people and wounded dozens. 2010-09-06T05:59:09+00:00 http://www.americankestrel.com/blog/index.php/site/good_decision/ http://www.americankestrel.com/blog/index.php/site/good_decision/#When:05:57:34Z Germany’s coalition government has decided to extend the life span of the country’s nuclear power plants by an average of 12 years, officials say. Under the agreement, some plants will now remain in production until the 2030s, instead of being phased out by 2021 as the previous government wanted. There will also be new fees on utility companies to fund renewable energy. 2010-09-06T05:57:34+00:00 http://www.americankestrel.com/blog/index.php/site/landslides_in_guatemala/ http://www.americankestrel.com/blog/index.php/site/landslides_in_guatemala/#When:05:53:16Z An overnight landslide caused by flooding may have buried around 100 people trying to rescue victims of a previous landslide along the Inter-American Highway in the Guatemalan highlands. Al Jazeera’s Martin Asturias, reporting from the scene of the incident near the town of Santa Maria Ixtaguacan, said that 23 bodies have been pulled from the mud so far. Those buried Sunday were working to rescue victims of a previous landslide, which swept over a bus on Saturday and killed at least 12 people. The government estimates that 38 people have died in the past two days of flood-triggered landslides, but the 12 people killed Saturday combined with the 23 bodies recovered from the second landslide amounts to a death toll of 45 - a number that is likely to rise as more bodies are found. 2010-09-06T05:53:16+00:00