Archive for May 29th, 2009
Editor’s note from Infowars: It is now common knowledge the U.S. funds terrorists inside Iran. Covert activities include support for the minority Ahwazi Arab and Baluchi groups and other dissident organizations.United States Special Operations Forces have been conducting cross-border operations from southern Iraq, with Bush’s authorization, since 2007 (see CNN clip of Hersh below). See Hersh’s Preparing the Battlefield.
Iranian officials Friday accused the US of hiring those behind a suicide bombing of a Shiite mosque in southeastern Iran that killed 23 people and linked the attack to next month’s presidential vote.
‘Three people involved with the terrorist incident were arrested,’ Jalal Sayah, deputy provincial governor of the Sistan-Baluchistan province that borders Pakistan and Afghanistan, told Fars news agency.
And killing worshippers in a mosque has somthing to do with Iran’s alleged nuclear program?
‘According to the information obtained they were hired by America and the agents of the arrogance,’ Sayah said. Iranian officials usually use the term ‘global arrogance’ in reference to Iran’s arch-foe the United States.
The suicide attack during Thursday evening prayers at the Shiite Amir al-Momenin mosque in Zahedan, the restive capital of Sistan-Baluchistan, killed 23 people and wounded 125 others.
‘This catastrophe was a suicide terrorist attack,’ Zahedan MP Payman Foroozesh told ILNA news agency.
Provincial justice chief Ebrahim Hamidi said the attacker ‘had stood in the last line of male worshippers during the evening prayer, carried out the bombing and died.’
Hamidi told ISNA news agency that one person had been arrested for the bombing and ‘charged with armed opposition and acting against national security. But his motive cannot be presented for the moment.’
He said most attacks in the restive province were carried out by a Sunni rebel group headed by ring leader Abdolmalek Rigi, but he could not confirm whether the group could be blamed for Thursday’s bombing.
Iran’s former premier and presidential hopeful Mir Hossein Mousavi too blamed ‘foreign forces’ for Thursday’s attack.
Mousavi at a media conference with journalists from international news networks said incidents such as the mosque bombing ‘have either been influenced or supported by foreign forces.’
‘The fewer foreign forces in the region, the more security there is. They provoke extremism in the region such as the incident in Zahedan,’ said Mousavi, one of four candidates standing in the June 12 presidential election.
Found on Cryptogon
Via: USA Today:
Taxpayers are on the hook for an extra $55,000 a household to cover rising federal commitments made just in the past year for retirement benefits, the national debt and other government promises, a USA TODAY analysis shows.
The 12% rise in red ink in 2008 stems from an explosion of federal borrowing during the recession, plus an aging population driving up the costs of Medicare and Social Security.
That’s the biggest leap in the long-term burden on taxpayers since a Medicare prescription drug benefit was added in 2003.
The latest increase raises federal obligations to a record $546,668 per household in 2008, according to the USA TODAY analysis. That’s quadruple what the average U.S. household owes for all mortgages, car loans, credit cards and other debt combined.
“We have a huge implicit mortgage on every household in America — except, unlike a real mortgage, it’s not backed up by a house,” says David Walker, former U.S. comptroller general, the government’s top auditor.
USA TODAY used federal data to compute all government liabilities, from Treasury bonds to Medicare to military pensions.
Bottom line: The government took on $6.8 trillion in new obligations in 2008, pushing the total owed to a record $63.8 trillion.
The numbers measure what’s needed today — set aside in a lump sum, earning interest — to pay benefits that won’t be covered by future taxes.
Congress can reduce or increase the burden by changing laws that determine taxes and benefits for programs such as Medicare and Social Security.
Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn., says exploding debt has focused attention on the government’s financial challenges. “More and more, people are worried about our fiscal future,” he says.
Key federal obligations:
* Social Security. It will grow by 1 million to 2 million beneficiaries a year from 2008 through 2032, up from 500,000 a year in the 1990s, its actuaries say. Average benefit: $12,089 in 2008.
* Medicare. More than 1 million a year will enroll starting in 2011 when the first Baby Boomer turns 65. Average 2008 benefit: $11,018.
* Retirement programs. Congress has not set aside money to pay military and civil servant pensions or health care for retirees. These unfunded obligations have increased an average of $300 billion a year since 2003 and now stand at $5.3 trillion.
Rhode Island: House members overwhelmingly approved legislation last week regulating the establishment of state-licensed ‘compassion centers’ to manufacture and provide medical marijuana to authorized patients. Rhode Island’s legislature is the first state on the east coast to move forward with such legislation, which was approved by a vote of 63 to 5 in the House and 35 to 2 in the Senate. The margins are large enough to override a veto from Republican Gov. Donald Carcieri, who has voiced opposition to the measure. If you live in Rhode Island and want to learn more about this effort, please visit: http://ripatients.org.
Illinois: On Wednesday members of the Illinois Senate passed SB 1381, the Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Pilot Program Act.UPDATE! On Thursday, members of the House Human Services Committee also passed the bill, and the full House is expected to act on it imminently. If you live in Illinois, you can voice your support in favor this legislation by going here and here.
New Hampshire: As we reported yesterday, lawmakers are still trying to negotiate a compromise with Democrat Gov. John Lynch, who has threatened to veto medical marijuana legislation recently passed by the House and Senate. Our allies on the ground, NH Compassion, are encouraging voters to contact Gov. Lynch and urge him not to stand in the way of medical marijuana law reform. You can contact the governor by going here and here.
New Jersey: Members of the state assembly Health and Senior Services Committee are scheduled to hear testimony in favor of A 804, the New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act, onThursday, June 4. A companion bill, S 119, has already beenapproved by the Senate, and Democrat Gov. John Corzine haspromised to sign medical marijuana legislation into law if it reaches his desk. You can help support this campaign by going here and by contacting your member of the assembly here.
Delaware: Members of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee are considering legislation, SB 94, to allow for patients with a debilitating medical condition to grow and possess cannabis. The proposal is the first marijuana law reform bill to be before lawmakers in recent memory. Proponents can contact their senate members in support of the measure here.
For information on additional state and federal marijuana law reform legislation,please visit NORML’s Take Action page here.
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