Al-Qaida-linked American terrorist unveiled

(Fox News) A week after the 9/11 attacks, a young Muslim at South Alabama University told the school's newspaper it was "difficult to believe a Muslim could have done this. Now, eight years later ...

Official confirms oil 'very big part' of Lockerbie bomber negotiations

(Associated Press) Oil considerations played a major role in the decision to include the Lockerbie bomber in a prisoner transfer agreement between Britain and Libya, a senior British official said ...

Appeals court opens Ashcroft to lawsuits over 9/11 actions

(Associated Press) A federal appeals court has ruled that former Attorney General John Ashcroft can be sued by people who claim they were wrongfully detained as material witnesses after 9/11 ...

Patterns of recovery: Economist Roubini on the shapes of things to come

by Melly Alazraki

After predicting our current global financial crisis, New York University professor of economics Nouriel Roubini earned himself the nickname Dr. Doom. Roubini's words have the power to move markets; when he talks, people listen.

And lately, Roubini seems to have changed his tune somewhat, albeit with many caveats. He anticipates a possible "U-shaped" recovery, with leading economies undeperforming for as many as three years, but also warns of the increased risk of a "double-dip" scenario. "U-shaped," "L-shaped," "double-dip," "V-shaped" -- what do these terms mean?

Economic activity is measured by several indicators that grow sustainably over time, during a normal economy. Economic growth is most often measured by gross domestic product, which grew an average of 3 percent annually during the last boom, between 2004 and 2006. Production, housing, and financial markets enjoyed robust activity; the labor market was healthy, as U.S. unemployment averaged 5 percent.

The souring economy was marked by declining activity. GDP fell as much as 6.4 percent at the height of the recession, in the first quarter this year. If the recession -- the longest since the Great Depression -- is indeed in recovery mode, one question is how the recovery will take shape.

The ideal is a "V-shaped" recovery, when an economic decline is followed by robust economic growth, when activity rises as sharply as it's declined. That's the least likely scenario now, unfortunately; the economy still needs to overcome a housing glut, subdued consumer spending, and the still-alarming pace of job losses.

The more likely scenario, which Roubini supports, is a "U-shaped" recovery, in which the economy takes much longer to regain its healthy growth. In this scenario, the recession stabilizes as the decline in economic activity slows. We've had a mixed bag of economic news lately; hopefully, we're starting to see the bottom of the U. The question is how long it would take the economy not only to stabilize -- slogging along the bottom curve of the U -- but to start growing again, and start climbing up the right arm of the U.

In a news conference, Roubini said he believes that once growth begins, it will "remain below trend ... especially for the advanced economies, for at least two or three years," Reuters reports. It depends on the exit strategy, he says -- and if we don't get it right, he warns, we might get a "double-dip" or "W-shaped" scenario.

Roubini warned of this scenario last week, in which the beginning of the recovery would be followed by a relapse. This outcome could arise from the wrong exit strategy. Roubini warns the Federal Reserve to watch out for asset prices. He also says that global recovery efforts will suffer if savings-prone economies don't start spending more, compensating for current slower spending by countries like the U.S. and Britain, both overspenders.

The worst-case scenario: the "L-shaped" recovery, with an economy remaining stagnant for an extended period, with no real catalysts to propel it to growth, as with Japan's long stagnation in the 90s. No economists view the L-shaped scenario as currently plausible. But from all that, Roubini, the Federal Reserve, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the European Central Bank, and many other economists, officials and organizations are saying, it seems the global economy will most like find itself on a bumpy road. So let's add a shape -- and hope this road is going uphill.

2,000 Sickened With Swine Flu – Washington State University WSU

from National Terror Alert

More than 2,000 Washington State University students have been sickened by swine flu during the first two weeks of classes, school health officials said.The outbreak of H1N1 influenza prompted concerns about Saturday’s football matchup against Stanford at Martin Stadium.

While school and health officials stressed that attending the game poses little risk of infection, they urged people sick with the flu to stay home and encouraged fans to wash their hands, to avoid sharing food and drink, and to cover their mouths when coughing or sneezing. Pregnant women and people with underlying health risks such as diabetics, asthma or heart or lung disease should consider skipping the game, health officials said.

Far more than 2,000 students could be ill, said Dr. Dennis Garcia, although the number of students seeking care and calling nurses at WSU’s Health and Wellness Services fell for the first time Thursday since classes started. ....

'Preppers' get ready for the worst Movement to stockpile for emergency at all-time high

from WorldNetDaily

.... Theirs is not an extremist community holed up in underground shelters teaching bizarre or cultic ideas.

These "preppers" (as they are called) are regular folks that saw what happened on 9/11, experienced their 401(k)s falling apart as the economy soured, witnessed the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and decided to take the future into their own hands.

"These are average people holding down regular jobs who understand the world is not the idealistic place they might have once thought," Horn said. "The proliferation of weapons technology in the hands of terrorists and recent unusual weather patterns have made them aware how things can suddenly go wrong. They are preparing to survive whatever may come." ....

U.S. website for U.N. restores flag Change follows 'scrubbing' of emblem, archives

UNITED NATIONS – Less than 48 hours after WND reported that under the Obama administration the website for the United States mission to the United Nations had been scrubbed of its flag emblem and archives, those apparently have been restored.

The new site had brought howls and criticisms from previous US/UN officials.

"I think the loss of the American flag (from the home page) is a very telling symbol, that they still have the U.N. seal up there. They had that flag up there when I arrived (as ambassador). It was there when I got there and to replace it with the U.N. seal I think is more symbolic perhaps than the Obama administration realizes. It says a lot to the American public what their priorities are," former Ambassador John Bolton said. ....

White House to fly Red Chinese flag People's Republic marking anniversary at White House

By Bob Unruh

The administration of President Barack Obama, whose official blogger while Obama was a candidate came under attack for hanging a Communist Party flag in his Harvard apartment, apparently has given permission to raise the emblem of Communist China over the south lawn of the White House.

The plan, reported by several English-language Chinese media outlets

, has raised concern among those who are working to guard the United States from outside influences that could be threats.

According to the Global Times English-language edition, the national flag of the communist People's Republic of China on Sept. 20 will be raised for the first time on the White House's south lawn – a secured area seldom available for public events – in recognition of the Chinese anniversary.

"The ceremony has gotten official approval," Xiao Shuigen, secretary of the Union of Chinese American Professional Organizations, told the Times. ....

North Korea Says in Final Stage of Uranium Enrichment ; U.S. Expresses 'Concern'

from FoxNews

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea said Friday it is on the threshold of mastering a new way of building atomic bombs, pressuring the United States to agree to direct negotiations or see the communist regime become a greater nuclear risk. ....

Obama May Need Sense of Crisis to Revive Health-Care Overhaul

(Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama returns to Washington next week in search of one thing that can revive his health-care overhaul: a sense of crisis. ....

Afghanistan Is Not 'Obama's War'

By DAN SENOR AND PETER WEHNER

In his column for the Washington Post on Tuesday, the influential conservative George Will provided intellectual fodder for the campaign among some Republicans to hang the Afghanistan war around the Obama administration’s neck. Washington, he wrote, should “keep faith” with our fighting men and women by “rapidly reversing the trajectory of America’s involvement in Afghanistan.” “Obama’s war,” a locution one is now beginning to hear from other conservatives, is an expression of discontent that has been smoldering beneath the surface for several months.

The weakening public support for continuing the counterinsurgency campaign is not surprising. In the midst of an economic crisis people are tempted to draw inward. Add to that a general war weariness in the U.S. and the fact that the Afghanistan war is not going well right now—violence in Afghanistan is already far worse this year than last—and you have the makings of an unpopular conflict.

But the case of conservative opposition to the war in Afghanistan—as well as increasingly in Iraq—is symptomatic of something larger: the long history of political parties out of power advancing a neo-isolationist outlook. For example, Democrats were vocal opponents of President Reagan's support for the Nicaraguan contras and the democratic government in El Salvador, the U.S. invasion of Grenada, the deployment of cruise and Pershing missiles in Europe, and the forceful stand against the Soviet Union generally. ....

US Funds into Afghanistan Provide 'Protection Money' to the Taliban

(Analyst's note: This is a very troubling report.)

The GlobalPost reported tonight on PBS about their insider investigation by Jean MacKenzie that US finds earmarked for road and bridge construction in Afghanistan are ending up in the hands of the Taliban, through a protection racket for contractors.

US funds into Afghanistan provide “protection money” to the TalibanThe United States Agency for International Development has opened an investigation into a situation that has been an open secret in Afghanistan for years among members of international aid organizations.

The report exposed that the Taliban takes a percentage of the billions of dollars in aid from U.S. and other international coalition members that goes to large organizations and their subcontractors for development projects, in exchange for protection in remote areas controlled by the insurgency.

Here is the original report by Jean MacKenzie: Funding the Afghan Taliban

White House to fly Red Chinese flag

[Analyst's Note: Yep, you read it right.]

Obamanomics: Here Come the Food Shortages

[Analyst's Note: Alarming article with some comparison between Obamanomics and how Stalin took over farms in Russia. It predicts a severe food shortage.]

While all eyes are on Wall Street, watching for even the faintest signal that the economy will recover as promised by Barack Obama, no one is paying attention to what is happening on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT). Here's a clue. It doesn't matter what happens on Wall Street. The big players and the big money have abandoned stocks in favor of commodities. Commodities aren't something the average American understands, let alone associates with wealth. But it is commodities, the tack and trade of big agribusiness and big Government, that are the backbone of the economy. And what is happening there is beyond alarming. There's a food shortage coming to America.
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