He may yet turn out to be the avatar of Iranian democracy, but three decades ago Mir-Hossein Mousavi was waging a terrorist war on the United States that included bloody attacks on the U.S. embassy and Marine Corps barracks in Beirut.
Mousavi, prime minister for most of the 1980s, personally selected his point man for the Beirut terror campaign, Ali Akbar Mohtashemi-pur, and dispatched him to Damascus as Iran's ambassador, according to former CIA and military officials.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
The "Pod People" And The Plane That Crashed Into the Pentagon
Check this link ..... http://whatreallyhappened.com/WRHARTICLES/ppfinal.html?q=ppfinal.html
New Front Sets Sights On Toppling Iran Regime
A budding coalition of conservative hawks, Jewish organizations and Iranian monarchists is pressing the White House to step up American efforts to bring about regime change in Iran.
For now, President Bush’s official stance is to encourage the Iranian people to push the mullah regime aside themselves, but observers believe that the policy is not yet firm, and that has created an opportunity for activists. Neoconservatives advocating regime change in Tehran through diplomatic pressure — and even covert action — appear to be winning the debate within the administration, several knowledgeable observers said.
“There is a pact emerging between hawks in the administration, Jewish groups and Iranian supporters of Reza Pahlavi [the exiled son of the former shah of Iran] to push for regime change,” said Pooya Dayanim, president of the Iranian-Jewish Public Affairs Committee in Los Angeles and a hawk on Iran.
The emerging coalition is reminiscent of the buildup to the invasion of Iraq, with Pahlavi possibly assuming the role of Iraqi exile opposition leader Ahmed Chalabi, a favorite of neoconservatives. Like Chalabi, Pahlavi has good relations with several Jewish groups. He has addressed the board of the hawkish Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs and gave a public speech at the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles, and met with Jewish communal leaders.
Pahlavi also has had quiet contacts with top Israeli officials. During the last two years, according to a knowledgeable source, he has met privately with Prime Minister Sharon and former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as Israel’s Iranian-born president, Moshe Katsav.
In another parallel to the pre-invasion debate over Iraq, an intense policy battle is heating up between the State and Defense departments over what to do in Iran.
“The president, the vice president and, even more so, the Pentagon support regime change,” said a source who follows the internal debate closely. “But State does not want to meddle in Iran, so you have a big fight right now within the administration.”
As was the case during the Iraq debate, Weekly Standard editor William Kristol is leading the charge for a more aggressive policy on Iran. In the magazine’s May 12 issue, he wrote an editorial pushing for covert action and other steps to trigger regime change in Tehran.
Advocates of a more restrained policy note that American and Iranian officials meet regularly, but say that the disappointing performance of the reformist camp in Iran has undercut their efforts to promote American engagement with Iran.
“Some people at the Pentagon have concluded that the reformists are just mullahs with smiling faces and that regime change is the only way,” said Gary Sick, director of the Middle East Institute at Columbia University and an advocate of engaging Iran. “They believe that Iran is ripe for revolution, but I think this is highly questionable.”
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and his deputies Paul Wolfowitz and Douglas Feith are known to support regime change, although they have been much less vocal about Iran than Iraq.
At a lower level, two sources said, Iran expert Michael Rubin is now working for the Pentagon’s “special plans” office, a small unit set up to gather intelligence on Iraq, but apparently also working on Iran. Previously a researcher at the Washington Institute for Near East policy, Rubin has vocally advocated regime change in Tehran. He did respond to e-mails seeking comment.
Intelligence sources have complained about what they describe as the tendency of the secretive office to color intelligence on Iraq according to its hard line. “The office of special plans has been interviewing people and gathering intelligence on Iran in order to be ready to support democracy,” a hawkish source said. “They have spent much more time doing that than the State experts on Iran.”
Meanwhile, in Congress, Democrat Rep. Tom Lantos of California is sponsoring a resolution supporting the people of Iran against the regime. Republican Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas has introduced an amendment that would set aside $50 million to fund Iranian opposition television and radio stations in Los Angeles — most of which promote a restoration of the shah’s monarchy — as well as human rights and pro-democracy groups.
Supporters of the shah’s son, Pahlavi, have been supporting Brownback’s amendment, know as the Iran Democracy Act. So has the main pro-Israel lobby, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
“We support efforts to encourage the people of Iran to cut the regime’s ties to terrorism and its pursuit of nuclear weapons,” said Rebecca Dinar, a spokeswoman for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. While Morris Amitay, a former Aipac director and active hawk on Iran, told the Forward that it would only be natural for Jewish groups to openly back regime change in Iran, most prefer to keep a low profile on this issue.
For example, Pahlavi was slated to meet Iranian Jewish members of Aipac at the group’s annual conference this spring. But Aipac officials, worried that it could be seen as inappropriate, scuttled the plan, two sources said.
“The Jewish groups are telling Reza that they will give him private support and help arrange meetings with U.S. officials,” one of the sources said.
Iranian Jewish groups are playing a key role in forging the relationship. The Iranian Jewish Public Affairs Committee’s Dayanim, a regular contributor to the National Review Online, has been one of the most active hawks. He argued that support for Pahlavi among Iranian Americans may have less to do with deep pro-monarchist feelings than with his status as the most recognizable opposition figure among immigrants.
Still, Dayanim acknowledged that many Iranian Jews were “in love with Pahlavi” because they see his father’s reign as a golden era for Jews. Pahlavi has expressed support for democracy while calling for a referendum restoring the monarchy.
One key Pahlavi supporter who has become popular in Iranian American circles is former Reagan administration official Michael Ledeen, now a fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute.
In numerous addresses and articles, Ledeen has been arguing that the mullah regime is on the brink of collapse and that the time has come for Washington to push it over the edge. He has joined with Amitay, ex-CIA head James Woolsey, former Reagan administration official Frank Gaffney, former Senator Paul Simon and oil consultant Rob Sobhani to set up a group called the Coalition for Democracy in Iran. Several of them took part May 6 in a one-day American Enterprise Institute conference titled “The Future of Iran.” During the event, Ledeen argued that help from outside actors was needed to help ignite revolutionary changes in Iran.
While Ledeen has not called for military action, some of his declarations appear to suggest that aggressive action could be taken.
Last month, Ledeen gave a speech to a pro-monarchist crowd in Los Angeles. In the question-and-answer session, he reportedly said that with $20 million, there could be a “free Iran” — and that he knew how best to use the money.
Ledeen, who was involved in the Iran-contra scandal but never charged, declined comment.
Asked about the possibility of covert action, a member of the Pentagon-linked Defense Policy Board answered with one word: “maybe.” He refused to elaborate.
How Western media backs green revolution in Iran
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新加坡‧女性接受老妻少夫‧只介意男方薪水低
（新加坡）新加坡女性不介意“老妻少夫”，但介意男方薪水比自己低！
由紅娘公司Lunch Actually對600人進行的調查顯示，與2005年相比，新加坡單身人士已逐漸打破男性必須娶比自己年紀小的女性，或女性一定要嫁比自己年長的男性的觀念，人們更能接受“老妻少夫配”。
2005年的調查顯示，只有32.5%的男性能接受與年齡比自己大的女性約會，而39.4%的女性能接受與自己小的男性約會。然而，這個數據在今年的調查中分別激增至51%和59%。
另外，調查也顯示，大約三分之二的單身男性不介意女方收入比自己多，但只有少過三分之一的單身女性願意與收入比自己少的男性約會。不願意與收入比自己少的男性約會的女性更從2005年的34.5%增加至今年的53%。
新加坡女性也不願意“下嫁”給學歷和身高比自己低的男性。
根據調查，71%的男性願意與學歷比自己高的女性約會，但只有25%的女性願意與學歷比自己低的男性約會。不過，這與2005年的分別67.5%和17%調查結果相比，都有明顯的進步。
另外，在身高方面，約半數男性願意和比自己高的女性約會，但願意與比自己矮的男性約會的女性只佔受訪者的11%。
泰國‧員工抗議私營化‧鐵道大罷工‧困數十萬人
泰國鐵路局罷工今日（週二，6月23日）進入第二天，火車罷駛，上班族受影響，遊客的行程也亂了套。外國遊客來到曼谷華南蓬火車站後，發現火車停駛，由於不清楚火車何時復駛，只好坐在自己的行囊上發呆。（圖：法新社）
（泰國‧曼谷）泰國鐵道員工大罷工，導致數十萬乘客滯留，行程受阻。
泰國國家鐵道局（SRT）今日（週二，6月23日）表示，鐵道員工連續第二天進行罷工抗議，導致全國鐵道服務癱瘓，導致大約20萬乘客的行程受到干擾。
SRT表示，由於員工不滿政府欲重組負債纍纍的泰國國家鐵道局，於週一（6月22日）展開罷工抗議行動。
交長稱願意談判
鐵道工會抗議政府企圖將鐵道私營化，因此員工要求參與每一個階段的計劃實施。
但泰國交通部長索蓬否認有關重組計劃涉及私營概念，他也指責工會在毫無預警的情況下，加劇罷工行動。
他向記者說：“在沒有經過談判的情況下罷工是非常不適當的……我願意跟他們談判。”
他表示，政府將負擔720億泰銖（約馬幣75億令吉）的融資以資助有關計劃。他說：“這是重組工作，不是私營計劃。不會有私營化。”
首相阿比希將主持週二的會議，決定該如何應對工會的要求。
泰南暴力8人受傷
另一方面，一名軍官表示，疑似回教反叛份子週一在泰南向一間寺廟開火，造成8人受傷。
陸軍中校匹亞瓦特表示，至少4名攻擊者開鎗掃射陶公府的寺廟院落，當時廟里有大約30人在進行健美操。泰國的佛教寺廟經常成為社區中心。
匹亞瓦特透露，傷者包括一名1歲女童和一名回教徒。
中國‧中藥助24小時退燒‧廣東3患者康復
（中國‧廣東）中國廣東省以中藥治療A（H1N1）型流感，發現可以在24小時內讓患者退燒，72小時內令症狀消失。
《南方日報》報導，廣州繼中國首例純中藥治療的A型流患者徐先生上週出院後，另外2名22歲女患者週一（6月22日）也在廣東省中醫院大學城分院康復出院。這是廣東省首批3名純中藥治療的A型流感患者，療效明顯，醫藥費低廉。
省中醫院院長呂玉波表示，中藥治療以“清熱祛濕”為主，僅用了24小時，就使這3名A型流感患者全部退熱；僅用了72小時，包括咳嗽在內的全部症狀都已消除。
經過這次收治A型流感患者，證明了中醫藥對於治療A型流感同樣具有顯著的臨床療效。建議在防治A型流感的過程中應當充份發揮中醫藥的作用。
但《南方日報》的報導並沒有提及治療所使用的中藥的種類。
旅遊業者：鮮少退票退團‧多數顧客選擇延後行程
（吉隆坡）A（H1N1）型流感日益嚴重，一些旅客已挪後出國行程，尤其是被列為嚴重疫區的國家令本地旅客卻步，前來本地的外國遊客也有下滑的跡象。
部份旅遊社業者表示，近來公司出現退團和退票的情況，但情況不嚴重，他們不會抱著悲觀的態度看待此次事件。
他們說，大多數的顧客選擇把機票和參團的日期延至年底，鮮少人選擇退票或退團。
“列為嚴重疫區國家的旅客人數明顯下滑，但依然有少數人會前往，全在於顧客的個人意願。”
他們也表示，前來本地旅遊的外國遊客人數有下滑的跡象，但影響不大。
此外，大部份旅遊業業者表示，公司暫時沒有採取任何的應對措施，因為目前旅遊業還不至於陷入危機。
另一方面，他們也說，雖然此次的疫情比預期中嚴重，但他們認為這只是暫時性的反應，並相信今年底會有緩和的跡象。
蔡伍：旅遊淡季影響不大
馬來西亞華人旅遊業公會榮譽會長蔡伍表示，雖然國內A（H1N1）型流感趨向嚴重化，但在即將來臨的七、八月傳統上是旅遊淡季，所以旅遊公司不會受到太大的影響。
“我們反而擔心前來本地的外國旅客人數減少，會使本地餐飲、酒店、購物等行業的業績下滑，並帶來負面的經濟連鎖反應。”
詢及特價機票會否緩和旅遊業面對的困境時，他表示，這不會有太大的幫助，畢竟政府有效的處理此次的流感問題，才是最佳方案。
他也說，此次流感不比非典帶來的後果嚴重，只要旅遊公司處理得好，還不至於造成旅行公司倒閉的問題。
Officials Look for Clues and Victims in Train Crash
WASHINGTON — A day after the worst Metro subway train accident in the history of the city’s system, emergency officials continued to comb through the wreckage, searching for additional victims and indications as to what could have caused the crash, officials said.
By Tuesday morning, seven people were confirmed killed and 76 wounded, Mayor Adrian M. Fenty said at a news conference. City officials, speaking on background to reporters, had earlier Tuesday put the death toll at nine. Two of the wounded were in critical condition, and there may still be other bodies entombed in the wreckage, Mr. Fenty said.
“Our first thoughts and efforts are with the families and friends of the victims,” he said.
Investigators were still treating the accident scene as a rescue operation, bringing in a crane and other heavy equipment, emergency officials said. Cadaver dogs and search and rescue dogs were being used in the hunt for any additional survivors or fatalities, both on the track and in the surrounding wooded area. Two minor firefighter injuries were reported.
In the accident, one train on the system’s heavily used Red Line rear-ended a stopped train at considerable speed at about 5 p.m. between the Takoma and Fort Totten stations, leaving the rear train atop the forward train in a mangled cluster of metal and glass. The driver of the rear train, Jeanice McMillan, 42, was among those killed, officials said.
Initial signs pointed to a mixture of technical failures and possible driver error.
On Tuesday, National Transportation Safety Board member Debbie Hersman said that the agency had raised concerns about the crash-readiness of the older trains used by the city. The striking train was one of these older trains — Metro’s 1000 series.
The agency had in the past several years recommended that the city’s older trains be retrofitted with greater safety devices or that they be phased out. The officials also recommended that all of the older trains be fitted with “event recorders.” Those recommendations were not addressed, she said.
To prevent trains from colliding, Metro designed a computerized system that controls speed and braking. If trains get too close to each other, the computers are supposed to automatically apply the brakes.
“We need to see if that system actually what was being used at the time and if there were any faults,” Ms. Hersman said. “We’re going to be looking at the tracks, at the signal system and at the train operation to understand what happened.”
The investigation will include a “sight distance test” to judge whether the operator could see the train in front of her, as well an effort to determine how fast the moving train was going. Ms. McMillan had been a train operator since 2007, officials said.
Nine data recorders were being carried by the train that was struck, which was made of newer 3000 and 5000-series train cars. All are expected to be recovered and analyzed. The Safety Board had recommended that all older cars also be fitted with data recorders, and that recommendation was also not addressed, Ms. Hersman said.
Cathy Lanier, the city’s police chief, said that officials were in the process of identifying the dead and that family notifications would begin later Tuesday. Metro officials warned that they were running limited service on the Red Line and advised commuters to find another way to work.
In a statement, President Obama said: “Michelle and I were saddened by the terrible accident in Northeast Washington, D.C., today. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families and friends affected by this tragedy. I want to thank the brave first responders who arrived immediately to save lives.”
The general manager of the Metro system, John B. Catoe Jr., said Monday, that the crash occurred when one train headed into the center of the city stopped near a platform and was waiting for permission to proceed. The second train came from behind and hit it, he said.
Between the Takoma and Fort Totten stations where the crash occurred, there is a long stretch of track, meaning trains often reach high speeds.
“It was a huge impact,” said Maya Maroto, 31, of Burtonsville, Md., who was in the third car of the moving train as she headed into the city to see a movie. “Our first inclination was that we hit another train or car.”
An elderly woman sitting near them flew out of her seat and landed sprawled on the floor.
Ms. Maroto said she did not realize the seriousness of the accident until she looked out the door and saw the front of her train wedged on top of the other one. Minutes later she looked again and saw a body on the tracks.
Passengers said about 15 minutes passed before officials showed up or any announcements were made.
“It was kind of scary that no one was there,” said Allison Miner, 49, a nutritionist from Silver Spring, Md., who was in the same car as Ms. Maroto.
Suzanne Motta, who was riding in the fourth car of the moving train, said, “Anybody standing up got knocked down.”
“A gentleman came in carrying a girl with a laceration on her foot,” Ms. Motta added. “He had a laceration on his head. Everybody was pretty shook up.”
Jervis Bryant, 39, who lives about two blocks from the crash site, arrived at the scene soon after he heard a loud boom. He said he saw people inside the bottom train car. “It was a scene I never thought I’d see,” he said.
After the accident, one subway car sat fully on top of a car from the other train. The car on top had part of its floor sheared off, and the wreckage was a jumble of twisted metal. Seats from the smashed cars had spilled onto the tracks.
Several passengers were carried off on stretchers, and rescue crews used ladders and heavy equipment to cut into the wreckage and reach passengers stuck inside. Helicopters buzzed overhead. The police scrambled to coordinate traffic, onlookers and the rescue workers.
Emergency medical personnel set up a triage site at the nearby Jarboe Printing Company. Rescue officials said about 75 passengers were treated for injuries. At least three people were seriously injured and the rest had only minor injuries. Numerous people walked away from the crash site wearing bandages, slings and in at least one case, a neck brace.
Much of the Metrorail system, which opened in 1976, runs below ground. Both trains involved in the accident were above ground.
“This is an aging system and one that needs to be looked at very closely,” said Peter Goelz, former managing director of the National Transportation Safety Board.
The accident was the second involving passenger fatalities in the system. In 1982, three people died after a train derailed between the Federal Triangle and Smithsonian stations.Air France jet's black boxes may have been found
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Signals from the black boxes of the Air France jet that crashed in the Atlantic on June 1 may have been located, French newspaper Le Monde reported on Tuesday. According to the report, a mini submarine has located a very low signal and investigators believe it could be from the flight data recorders of the A330. However, a spokesperson from the BEA, France's air accident investigation body, told Le Monde that the black boxes haven't been "precisely located."
U.S. capital shocked by deadly subway train collision
WASHINGTON, June 22 (Xinhua) -- Against the light darkness of twilight, the wrecks of two crashed light-rail trains stood still on an elevated track as rescuers cut through the cars to pull survivors out
"I thought it was a thunder, but then I heard some screamings and saw corpses," Timbly Brown who lives across the street on a small slope in northeastern Washington.
"I thought it was a thunder, but then I heard some screamings and saw corpses," Timbly Brown who lives across the street on a small slope in northeastern Washington.
Apparently, a transit train smashed into the rear of another at the height of the capital city's Monday evening rush hour. Several cars of the first train ended up on top of the other train.
Walking around the tragic site, Mayor of Washington DC Adrian Fenty told reporters that accident is the "deadliest crash in the 33-year history of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, known as Metro.
The latest figure show at least six people were killed and 76 others injured, among them six in critical conditions.
"The scene is as horrific as you can imagine," Fenty said, "One car was almost squeezed completely together."
He told Xinhua that there will be more press conferences and briefings to keep the public updated about what happened.
At the time, both trains were on the same track, and one of them was stationary when the crash happened, said John Catoe, the Metro Authority's general manager.
The impact was so severe that rescuers had to cut through the trains to get people out from the wreckage. The Metro Red Line has ceased operation for at least Monday night.
Officials suspect there may be other corpses trapped inside the wrecks so the final death tally will probably grow.
But they said they do not know the cause of the collision yet and are not likely to know the cause for days as the investigation unfolds.
The National Transportation Safety Board said it will take part in the investigation and FBI agents were at the scene Preliminary investigations by the Department of Homeland Security show there was no indication of anything other than an accidental collision, though more details need to be sorted out.
It was the second Metro crash that involves fatalities in the 33-year history of the transit authority.
"We are extremely saddened that there are fatalities as a result of this accident, which has touched our Metro family," the Metro Authority said in a statement.
"Our safety officials are investigating, and will continue to investigate until we determine why this happened and what must be done to ensure it never happens again."
U.S., China in Talks Over Web Filters
The U.S. government has recently begun talks with the Chinese government over a controversial rule requiring computer makers to install Web-filtering software on computers sold in China, according to a U.S. administration official close to the talks.
In meetings with Chinese officials, representatives from the U.S. have expressed concern that the rule would be burdensome for computer makers and that it would set a dangerous precedent. The official said that talks were "in the initial phases," and that the U.S. could ramp up its efforts between now and the July 1 deadline for computer companies to comply with the order. The official added that the U.S. would like to see the requirement revoked.
U.S. Keeps Close Eye On North Korean Ship
The Pentagon continues to trail a North Korean cargo ship believed headed toward Myanmar, in part because U.S. officials worry that Pyongyang plans to transfer major weapons systems and possibly nuclear technologies to the repressive Southeast Asian country, current and former U.S. officials said.
North Korea has used Myanmar ports and airstrips to transfer arms and contraband to third countries, including Iran, these officials said. Myanmar's military government also has purchased on the open market technologies that are potentially usable in a nuclear program, and North Korean arms companies involved in the nuclear trade have become active in Myanmar, said U.S., Asian and United Nations officials.
North Korean workers, meanwhile, have aided Myanmar's military junta in building underground tunnels near the new capital city of Naypyitaw that could have military applications, say U.S. officials.
Associated Press The U.S. suspects the Kang Nam, shown here in 2006, is ferrying weapons or nuclear materials from North Korea to Myanmar.
U.S. and U.N. officials said there could be nonmilitary reasons to explain Myanmar's actions, and they acknowledge there is no "smoking gun" to back fears of nuclear proliferation inside the Southeast Asian country. But U.S. and Asian diplomats draw strong similarities between the military governments in Pyongyang and Naypyitaw and their efforts to develop weapons of mass destruction as deterrents against U.S. power.
"Given North Korea's nuclear trade to Syria, its attempts to sell Scuds to Myanmar, and its ongoing sales of conventional arms, there's reason to be worried about a WMD relationship," said Michael Green, who tracked Myanmar as a top adviser to former President George W. Bush. In 2004, Myanmar's military junta was in negotiations to buy Scud missile parts from Pyongyang, but the Bush administration convinced Myanmar to back off.
Pentagon officials said Monday that the U.S. Navy continues to track a North Korean cargo ship, in an operation that could serve as a test case for U.N. sanctions enacted last month to try to choke off Pyongyang's weapons trade.
The cargo ship Kang Nam left North Korea on Wednesday and has been trailed by the USS John S. McCain heading south toward the Myanmar coast, according to Pentagon officials. A second U.S. destroyer, the USS McCampbell, is set to pick up the trail with the aid of a P-3 reconnaissance plane.
Pentagon officials said the guided-missile destroyers haven't been given orders to intercept the Kang Nam and hadn't requested permission to do so. "Right now, we're just watching," a Pentagon official said.
North Korea analysts said the cat-and-mouse game highlights a potential weakness in last month's U.N. Security Council resolution concerning North Korea. The measure only allows U.N. member states to inspect vessels with the consent of the nation whose flag the ship is flying. Since North Korea is unlikely to give such permission, U.S. officials acknowledge that they are largely powerless to stop and search the Kang Nam. The resolution also calls for ships seeking port services from U.N. member countries to be refused, but that is unlikely to come up in this case.
U.S. and Asian diplomats have voiced alarm about the growing military and trade relationship between North Korea and Myanmar. The two countries severed diplomatic ties in the 1980s after North Korean agents assassinated South Korean ministers on a state visit. But Myanmar formally opened an embassy in Pyongyang last year.
In August 2008, Washington worked with the Indian government to deny flyover rights to a North Korean Air Koryo jet, which Washington believed was moving missile components to Iran from Myanmar. Officials from one of North Korea's principal arms companies, Nomchongang Trading Co., have also become active inside Myanmar in recent months, former U.S. officials said.
Officials at Myanmar's embassies in Bangkok and Washington, D.C., and at the Ministry of Information in Myanmar didn't respond to questions about the country's alleged nuclear ambitions. North Korea has denied selling nuclear equipment.
Earlier this month, an online magazine of Yale University's Center for the Study of Globalization published photos believed to show tunnels being built under Myanmar's new capital of Naypyitaw with the help of North Korean technicians, ostensibly for military purposes. The accuracy of the photos couldn't be verified.
Several Myanmar citizens, some of them expatriates, have claimed direct knowledge of a nuclear-weapons program, including a reactor under construction near Maymyo, according to Myanmar experts. But the remote area is off-limits to outsiders without government permission and the reports haven't been independently confirmed.
Residents in the area say foreign technicians, including from Russia, have visited the town recently. Russia has acknowledged an agreement with Myanmar to help build a nuclear reactor and do civilian nuclear research, but says no projects have materialized.
Myanmar is a party to the international Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty that went into effect in 1970, and thus has committed not to develop nuclear weapons. It also has reached agreements with the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency to verify that Myanmar isn't diverting nuclear research, material, or technology to make nuclear weapons. Still IAEA officials have privately voiced their concerns about Myanmar's recent purchases of dual-use technologies.
By JAY SOLOMON and YOCHI J. DREAZEN
Asian Markets Slide on Concerns About Recovery
Asian share markets closed broadly lower Tuesday, with major indexes posting their biggest one-day losses in weeks on renewed concerns that markets have climbed too much and too fast against a backdrop of uncertainty about the global economic recovery.
Japan's Nikkei 225 finished 2.8% lower with Australia's S&P/ASX 200 off 3.1%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index down 2.9%, South Korea's Kospi Composite 2.8% lower and New Zealand's NZX-50 down 1.2%. In late trading, Singapore's Straits Times Index was off 1%.
"Asian investors are connecting the dots – with the World Bank's help – that the U.S. economy is nowhere near turning around," said Tony Sagami, editor of Asia Stock Alert. "Any Asian companies that depend on Americans for a big chunk of their sales need to prepare for lots of red ink."
The declines in Asia came after the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 2.4% Monday in the wake of a World Bank forecast that the global economy will shrink 2.9% this year, a steeper decline than the 1.7% contraction it predicted in March.
"The World Bank's lower GDP forecast is a timely reminder, though well known, that recovery is not a V-shaped trajectory, but a slow gradual process," said Gabriel Yap, senior dealing director at DMG & Partners.
Asian markets "seem to have overshot themselves – up 60% from the lows in the short term," he said. "What we are entering into is an 'information vacuum' period where the [Asian] markets await the next quarter earnings [and] confirmation of how strong the economic data points are coming out to affirm or contravene the conventional acceptance of a global recovery next year."
In the meantime, the "current correction is healthy for the market in the longer term," Mr. Yap said.
Oil and metals shares were among the biggest losers in Asia Tuesday. "The rally in commodity prices went too far, too soon," said Craig James, chief economist at CommSec. "Fund managers are urgently trying to lock in gains."
Fortescue Metals closed down 9.8% in Sydney with Bluescope Steel off 6.1%, Alumina down 9.7%, Sims Metal down 3.4%, Rio Tinto falling 2.8% and BHP Billiton off 4.1%. Korea's Posco shed 3.8%, while in Japan, Nippon Steel fell 3.6% and Nippon Light Metal shed 5.1%.
In Hong Kong, PetroChina shed 4.4%, while Jiangxi Copper's H-shares dropped 6%.
Barclays Capital said the main reason for the declines was "speculation surrounding the possibility of a slowdown in Chinese import buying of commodities. (We feel) this poses the single biggest downside risk, especially for metal and agricultural prices. There are already some early signals that Chinese demand is beginning to ebb."
On Globex, gold for August delivery shed $1.20 to $919.80 an ounce from New York levels. August crude was 23 cents lower at $67.27 a barrel after touching a fresh three-week low of $66.37.
"Speculators are moving from one target to another, seeking quick profits, (but) they will eventually come back to the crude market" as long as liquidity is maintained, said Tokai Tokyo Research Center analyst Katsumi Hosoi.
Markets were also cautious before a two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee.
"There are a lot of nuances to communicate to the market: The Fed thinks they are more or less done, but aren't about to take away the punch bowl. The potential for misinterpretation and market mishap in the aftermath of this meeting is substantial," said Rabobank International.
Meanwhile, a rising yen hurt exporter shares in Tokyo, with Nikon off 6.6% and Advantest down 5.6%.
Financial stocks were sold in Korea, with Shinhan Financial ending down 1.6%. There were also losses among Australian banks, with Westpac off 4.5%. Hong Kong heavyweight HSBC dropped 2.7% and in late afternoon trading, Singapore's DBS shed 1.9%.
Most China shares edged lower on continued liquidity concerns, given the recent resumption of initial public offerings after a nine-month moratorium. The Shanghai Composite Index finished down 0.1%.
"The biggest concern is when the government will launch big IPOs and how many large companies will initially be allowed to raise funds from the capital market," said Simon Wang at Guoyuan Securities.
Gome Electrical Appliances Holdings was a standout in Hong Kong, though, closing 68.8% higher after sealing a deal with Bain Capital to raise at least 3.24 billion Hong Kong dollars ($413 million).
Taiwan's main index fell 2.3%, Thai shares were off 3.4%, and Philippine shares fell 1.7%. In late trading, Indonesian shares were down 2.5%, Malaysian shares were off 0.5% and India's Sensex declined by 0.9%.
In currency trading, the U.S. dollar was at ¥95.17, down from ¥95.99 late in New York, with the euro at $1.3890, from $1.3865, and at ¥132.21, from ¥133.12.
Analysts at Calyon said Asian currencies looked vulnerable to an increase in risk aversion. Equity capital "outflows from Asia last week totaled $1.25 billion and the trend appears to have continued this week, pointing to further downside risks to Asian currencies."
Still, Kazuaki Oh'e, executive director of debt capital markets at CIBC World Markets in Tokyo, said gains may fade given the hefty auction slate this week, and before the Fed meeting. "This is not such good timing to buy. The first reaction (to expected equity weakness) is to buy, but at some point we'll see some profit-taking. If you're already long, you must be nervous."
By MYRA P. SAEFONG, ROSALIND MATHIESON and LESLIE SHAFFER
The rise of Hate 2.0
The number of hate and terrorist websites has increased by a third in the past year, according to the Simon Wiesenthal Center.
It is estimated that more than a million people died at Auschwitz
The Los Angeles-based Jewish human rights organisation put the figure at more than 8,000 in its 2008 report Hate 2.0. It said the presence of such sites "demeans and threatens African Americans, Jews, immigrants, gays and virtually every religious denomination".
And the number of so-called hate sites is growing fast, while the use of social networks to push controversial messages is also on the rise.
In May this year, Facebook became embroiled in a row after a number of Holocaust denial groups were set up on the site.
Critics said Facebook was propagating anti-Semitism, others said that free speech was a cornerstone of society and Facebook should keep its hands off.
At the time, Barry Schnitt, a spokesman for Facebook, said it should be "a place where controversial ideas can be discussed".
"The bottom line is that, of course, we abhor Nazi ideals and find Holocaust denial repulsive and ignorant," he said.
"However, we believe people have a right to discuss these ideas."
A few days later, the site had closed two of the groups, Holocaust is a Holohoax and Based on the facts... there was no Holocaust. It said they had breached the firm's terms of service.
But there are still plenty of other Holocaust denial groups on Facebook: Holocaust is a Myth, 6,000,000 for the TRUTH about the Holocaust, The problem of forged Holocaust photos, and Holocaust Deniers, to name just four.
Denial outlawed
In a visit to the Buchenwald concentration camp in June this year, President Barack Obama criticised Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who had called the Holocaust a "great deception".
"To this day we know there are those who insist the Holocaust never happened, a denial of a fact or truth that is baseless, ignorant and hateful," Mr Obama said in a brief address.
Holocaust denial is illegal in 13 countries, including France, Germany and Israel. It was also a crime in Slovakia, although this law was repealed in May 2005.
The Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Italy, and the United Kingdom have all rejected Holocaust denial legislation.
In Europe, citizens are covered by the European Convention on Human Rights which states: "Everyone has the right to freedom of expression."
But it adds that governments can restrict free speech, among other reasons, in the interests of national security, to preserve public safety and for the prevention of disorder or crime.
Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, told the BBC that it was not a freedom of speech issue.
"Holocaust denial is a perfect example of how a hateful idea was incubated on the internet. It promotes hatred, it promotes violence and it's a kind of precursor to genocide.
"It's not the idea that needs to be scrubbed; it's fact that the internet elevates crackpot theories to a level it doesn't deserve.
"These sites aren't about the discussion of ideas; they are about getting people to subscribe to the ideal of hate."
But speaking to the BBC, Douglas Murray, director of think tank The Centre for Social Cohesion, said that society should be able to accept any point of view, even if that view was proven to be false.
"You have to allow different opinions, even lies, as long as they don't incite violence. Otherwise what is true becomes dogma and then becomes incapable of being defended," he said.
White power
In 1995 Don Black founded Stormfront - a white supremacist website seen by many as the internet's first "major hate site", although it had existed as a bulletin board for a number of years prior to that.
In May he was one of 22 individuals excluded from the United Kingdom by the Home Office for "promoting serious criminal activity and fostering hatred that might lead to inter-community violence".
He told the BBC that - in America - people could say and think whatever they liked.
"We believe anyone has the right to discuss the issue [of Holocaust denial] without being censored and, in many cases in Europe, prosecuted and sent to jail.
"It goes beyond censorship on Facebook. We're moving into a new dark age with an orthodoxy in which individuals hold the wrong opinion are prosecuted and in some cases, sent to jail.
"My getting banned from Britain - even though I haven't even tried to visit Britain - is an example," he said.
While the views espoused by Mr Black and others may be offensive to many, in most countries they are perfectly legal.
Mr Murray holds a view that they should remain legal because "in a free society it isn't hard to prove that their point of view is wrong".
Rabbi Cooper disagrees, saying that while you will never keep any idea off the internet, there was no obligation for private companies - such as Facebook, MySpace etc - to carry so-called hate groups; failing that the centre advocates more "direct action".
"We've gone from one problem group back in 1995, Stormfront, to over 10,000," he said.
Direct action
One group that does carry out direct action on occasion is the Jewish Internet Defense Force, a group that claims it "leads the fight against anti-Semitism and terrorism on the web". It is said that the JIDF has seized control of and deleted Facebook groups deemed to be anti-Semetic or anti-Israel.
In an e-mail exchange with the group's spokesman, "David", the BBC asked why they took such issue with Holocaust denial.
"Holocaust denial is hate speech. It is an attempt by anti-Semites to make Jews appear to be liars and manipulators, those who accept the historical truth of the Holocaust to be dupes, absolve Nazis and their active and passive accomplices of guilt, and so rehabilitate anti-Semitic ideologies," he wrote.
"Facebook staff themselves seem very torn about these issues and wish to consider a lot of hateful ideologies as 'legitimate political discourse'.
"However, if they are going to take down KKK (Ku Klux Klan) pages and pages which promote Islamic terrorism, then they should also take down hateful Holocaust denial pages and stop pushing the myth that they are for 'free speech'."
He added the group would "do everything in our power" to convince Facebook to "do the right thing".
But Mr Murray said that the grounds for freedom of speech were already laid out.
"If someone thinks they are better because of the colour of their skin, their religion or where they were born, well it's irrational and deeply hateful, but unless they say you should do violence, then I'm afraid we have to accept there are people who have unpleasant opinions."
Unemployment crisis grips US states
The unemployment rate increased in 48 of 50 states and Washington, DC, in May, according to US Department of Labor statistics. For the year as a whole, the jobless rate has increased in every state, and in eight states it is now at its highest level since 1976, when monthly state-level statistics were first issued by the federal government. The national jobless rate in May rose to 9.4 percent.
The state of Michigan again had both the highest unemployment rate in the nation at 14.1 percent, and its biggest monthly increase, up 1.3 percentage points from 12.9 percent in April. Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio have been devastated by the shutdown of auto plants and their suppliers, orchestrated by President Barack Obama's Auto Task Force. In Ohio, unemployment increased to 10.8 percent, and in Indiana it rose to 10.6 percent. The Midwest as a whole had an unemployment rate of 9.8 percent. Kentucky, whose economy is also tied to the auto industry, saw its unemployment rate increase to 10.6 percent.
California, the nation's most populous state with about 37 million residents, lost the largest number of jobs, and its unemployment rate rose to 11.5 percent, the highest level on record and an enormous increase over May 2008, when the rate stood at 6.8 percent. There are now 2.1 million officially unemployed in the state, 885,000 more than last May. California has been hammered by a near-bankruptcy of the state government (14,000 public sector jobs were lost in May), the housing crisis (10,000 construction jobs lost) and a sharp fall-off in manufacturing (10,000 factory jobs lost.)
Among the regions, the West Coast had the highest jobless rate at 10.1 percent. Oregon, the state with the second highest unemployment rate, saw an increase to 12.4 percent from 12 percent in April. The state's wood products industry has lost tens of thousands of jobs in the past year. Washington state's unemployment rate rose to 9.4 percent in May. In Nevada, unemployment rose to its highest recorded level ever, at 11.3 percent.
The rapid increase in unemployment in the Southeast took economists by surprise. South Carolina's unemployment rate surged to 12.1 percent. The state has been hard-hit by layoffs in manufacturing, purging about 30,000 jobs since last May. In one South Carolina county, Allendale, unemployment is over 22 percent. In neighboring North Carolina, the jobless rate rose to 11.1 percent, nearly double the level of a year ago, largely owing to layoffs in banking, furniture manufacture, and metal fabrication industries. In Georgia the unemployment rate climbed to a record high of 9.7 percent. Georgia has been particularly hard hit by the financial crisis, with several regional banks collapsing so far this year. In Alabama, the unemployment rate increased rapidly from 9 percent to 9.8 percent in one month.
In Florida, the fourth most populous American state, the jobless rate vaulted to 10.2 percent, its highest level in 34 years. Florida lost 61,000 jobs in May, only slightly fewer than California. Arizona joined Florida as the states with the most rapid increase in unemployment. In Texas, the second most populous state, the unemployment rate increased for the seventh consecutive month and now stands at 7.4 percent.
Of the regions, the Northeast had the lowest unemployment rate, at 8.3 percent. Rhode Island paced the area in joblessness, with its rate increasing a full percentage point from April to 12.1 percent in May.
Major metropolitan areas are experiencing drastic increases in unemployment, as well. Metro Los Angeles now has an unemployment rate of 11.6 percent. In New York City there were about 360,000 officially unemployed in May, or nine percent of the workforce. In Washington, DC, unemployment rose to 10.7 percent, and in Chicago it climbed to 9.9 percent. The Detroit metropolitan area had the highest unemployment rate of any major US city, increasing to 15.4 percent. It is much higher—close to 25 percent—in the city proper.
Only in the sparsely populated states of Nebraska and Vermont did the unemployment rate hold steady. The agricultural states of Nebraska and nearby North Dakota share the lowest unemployment rate, both at 4.4 percent. This may reverse itself as the decline in agricultural commodity prices ripples through the plains states' economies.
As always, the official rate belies the true scope of unemployment by removing from the workforce count a large number of workers who are inactive or “discouraged” in seeking work, and by counting as employed those who are only able to get part-time hours. While state-by-state statistics for this expanded definition of unemployment are not available, it is very likely that the real unemployment rate in Michigan is now approaching 25 percent, and that in a number of states, including California, it is around 20 percent. On a national level, this broader rate of unemployment and underemployment stood at 16.4 percent in May. These are near-depression-level figures.
Layoff announcements continue. Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. on June 16 announced that it would cut the workforce of its social networking division, MySpace, by 30 percent, dismissing 420 workers. On June 12, Textron announced it would lay off 1,300 workers from its Cessna Aircraft plants in Kansas. Lockheed Martin will lay off 750 workers from its Owego, New York, factory. The Broward County public school system in South Florida is going forward with plans to lay off 400 teachers. Metalcraft, a machine fabricating plant located in the town of Mayville, Wisconsin, said it would indefinitely extend the layoffs of 375 workers who have been out of work since April. This will devastate the small town, which has fewer than 5,000 residents.
In one revealing layoff announcement, Hartford County, Maryland, carried forward plans to lay off over 35 employees from its public libraries. It will also likely close a branch, reduce library hours and services, even as patron use reaches an all-time high. “I am distressed that the library, which is seeing increased usage due to the economy, will have to limit its hours, services and maybe locations just when the community needs those services the most,” local resident Patricia H. Fisher told the Baltimore Sun.
The first quarter of 2009 has also witnessed a fall-off in personal income. According to data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), personal income fell 0.5 percent nationally. In California and Michigan, it tumbled by 0.8 percent. Meanwhile, private sector earnings fell in the first quarter by 1.4 percent nationally, and dropped in all 50 states.
The declines in private sector earnings and personal income spell disaster for state and local budgets, already in dire straits in much of the country due to the twin economic and financial crises. According to a recently-released analysis by the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government, state-level income tax collections fell a staggering 26 percent in the first quarter of 2009 compared to the previous year.
The fall-off was most pronounced in the states that have been hardest hit by the collapse in real estate and manufacturing. In Arizona, first quarter personal income tax revenue fell by 55 percent from the previous year; in South Carolina the decline was 38.6 percent; in Michigan, 34.4 percent. California, which is already teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, saw a decline of 33.8 percent in personal income tax receipts. The data bodes ill for the largest US state, which collects nearly half of its state revenues from income taxes, one of the highest proportions in the nation.
The drop in personal income tax revenue results from layoffs, wage cuts, and reductions in hours worked. The budget crisis in the states will be aggravated by declining revenue from real estate and sales taxes. The Rockefeller Institute predicted declining revenue will require a new round of austerity measures. It “will punch still deeper holes in the budgets of many states [and] increases the risk that state budget agreements for 2009-10 will not close budget gaps completely, and that states will need to make midyear budget cuts,” the report notes.
Some analysts tried to find a silver lining in the latest spate of dismal economic data, latching on to a Labor Department report that found that the total number of unemployed workers collecting benefits fell last week for the first time since January, by 148,000. Now, a total of 6.69 million workers are receiving unemployment benefits. However, as Forbes pointed out, the drop came after 21 consecutive weeks of increases, and about “half of the unemployed have been reaching the end of their 26 weeks of unemployment payments without finding jobs—so they disappear from that unemployment statistic without actually being employed.” The number of US workers filing for new jobless benefits claims also rose last week by 3,000 to 608,000.
Obama's economic advisers predicted in January that with passage of the economic stimulus package, the US unemployment rate this year would not exceed 8 percent in 2009. It has already hit 9.4 percent, rendering meaningless the stimulus package's modest promises of job creation. Most economists now believe that the US unemployment rate will top 10 percent by year’s end, and that it could rise to 11 percent at some point in 2011.
There is general agreement, moreover, that employment levels and conditions of labor will not return to those that prevailed prior to the financial crisis. This is no accident. The ruling elite, led by the Obama administration, has seized on the crisis as a long-awaited chance to restructure class relations to its advantage for decades to come.
Housing Market Disaster Worsens
The brief moment of hope that housing had hit a bottom and that both the rate of home sales and prices would improve is slipping away. The pressures that will push prices down, by another 20% in some markets, are rising interest rates and an unemployment rate that will almost certainly go over 10% and stay there for several quarters.
The new Reuters/University of Michigan survey reports that the value of homes when adjusted for inflation will drop for at least another half a decade based on current conditions. The survey also raises the concern that consumer spending cannot resume to any normal level while people believe that the value of what is in many cases their largest asset continues to fall.
Home prices may actually increase on an absolute basis and could begin rising very rapidly if inflation begins to increase as the economy comes out of the recession. A number of economists see inflation as the next large challenge that the Fed faces. They see the vast ocean of cash that central banks have pumped into the global markets as a natural start to rising prices due to too much capital chasing too few goods. Worldwide production levels are low and it may take them several quarters of demand to get some industries back “online.”
The 1973 to 1975 recession was severe, although not as severe as the current one. As the economy emerged from the downturn, inflation was in the double digits and in 1981 Treasury bond yields topped 15%. Oil prices were an important contributor to the increase. Crude has doubled since the beginning of this year, even in the face of a poor economy, and shows some signs of rising higher.
Home prices could start to move up by 10% a year again, but, if so, that will almost certainly be accompanied by interest rates that are moving up at about the same pace. The housing price disaster might disappear but it will not be in a way that will increase demand. Owning a house that appreciates in price does not have much attraction when it is tethered to a 12% fixed mortgage rate.
by Douglas A. McIntyre
台湾失業率可能破6% 但已在掌控之中
行政院長劉兆玄今天表示，由於畢業季來臨，使得失業率升高，目前出口衰退情形已減緩，預期企業僱用人力將增加，勞委會大學生媒合工作計畫已展開，失業率已在掌控之中。
劉兆玄是在出席工商協進會第22屆第4次會員大會時，接受媒體訪問作以上表示。
由於行政院主計處發布5月失業率達5.82%，劉兆玄出席工商協進會會員大會時表示，失業率升高，政府各項救失業的方案將陸續展開。
劉兆玄指出，畢業季來臨，5月份有畢業生提前找工作，使得5月失業率達5.82%，已在經建會預期中。依據經建會估算，失業率在6月至9月可能達6%。
他預期，政府救失業的各項方案陸續展開，包括勞委會的大學生媒合工作計畫、加上外銷接單情況改善，出口衰退情形減緩，企業僱佣人力逐漸增加，同時下半年四年5000億公共工程陸續發包，失業情形將會逐漸改善。
少女斃命撼全球 以學者：伊朗恐現六四屠殺
（中央社記者曹宇帆特拉維夫23日專電）伊朗16歲少女街頭抗爭遭擊斃震撼全球。以色列中東問題專家分析，由於伊朗是獨裁政權，加上內部權力鬥爭加劇，伊朗恐難避免發生類似中國六四天安門事件的屠殺慘劇。
專家指出，這次伊朗大選的弊端、疑點重重，爆發近30年來最嚴重的群眾抗爭。一名16歲少女走上街頭卻遭擊斃，鮮血直流的畫面透過網路傳至全球，令人回想起20年前，中國大陸當局也曾調派軍隊鎮壓年輕學生的往事。
以色列海法大學（University of Haifa） 政治學系專研伊斯蘭教基本教義派與阿拉伯政治文化的柏卡（David Bukay） 博士答覆中央社詢問時說，他深信類似天安門屠殺的慘劇也會在伊朗發生。
他分析，當前伊朗爆發的衝突，主因為伊朗前總統拉夫桑雅尼（Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani）、以及伊朗最高宗教領袖哈米尼（ Hojatoesam Sayed AliKhameini）的兩股勢力，因政治與意識型態對立而相互角力所致。
柏卡表示，伊朗當前爆發的衝突，絕對不是民眾走上街頭這麼單純，其中包含了政治菁英結構權力鬥爭的因素，再加上伊朗政權是獨裁專政體制，鎮壓反對勢力的聲浪高漲，恐難避免。
他在分析伊朗的群眾抗爭是否會演變為導致政權輪替的革命時指出，若時機與條件成熟，伊朗不無可能爆發反政府革命，但若無外國勢力積極協助，抗爭演變為革命的機會恐怕不大。
美國‧華盛頓40年來最嚴重交通意外‧地鐵相撞‧6死76傷
（美國‧華盛頓）美國華盛頓週一（6月22日）傍晚交通繁忙時間發生2列地鐵相撞事故，造成至少6人死亡，76人受傷。其中數人傷勢嚴重，死亡人數可能繼續上升。
地鐵列車是來往華盛頓的重要交通工具，這亦是當地地鐵約40年歷史以來，最嚴重的交通意外。當局已排除恐怖襲擊的可能，現正調查意外的原因。
事故發生在美國東部時間下午5時零2分（大馬時間今日（週二，6月23日）清晨5時零2分），地點位於首都華盛頓哥倫比亞特區東北部的地鐵托頓堡站和塔科馬公園站之間。
數百人在現場搜救
華盛頓市長芬蒂證實6人死亡，他稱“這是我們的地鐵系統（33年）來最致命的意外事故”。
數百名搜救人員在現場搶救，他們將地鐵車廂外殼切斷，用擔架將受傷乘客從地鐵內抬出。
芬蒂說：“目前，我們將持續展開救援行動。”
華盛頓剛邁入夏至，救援人員借助白天時光長，搜尋受困的死傷乘客。
華盛頓地鐵管理局經理卡圖指出，其中一名死者為其中一列地鐵的女駕駛員。
後至地鐵撞停著地鐵
他補充：“一列地鐵到來，在不清楚的原因下，撞向前一列已停下正等候前進指令的地鐵後部。我們將展開調查，以確認事件如何發生、須採取何措施，以確保類似事故不再發生。”
全國交通安全委員會官員也在現場進行調查。
芬蒂形容事發現場恐怖，並假設後至地鐵是以相當快的速度行駛。
他警告，死亡人數可能上升。
數百名救援人員從殘骸中搜尋死、傷者。一些安全獲救的乘客呆站在現場附近，一些乘客傷勢明顯。
受到經濟衰退影響，華盛頓地鐵今年削減了10%的營運開支，並暫停聘請員工。
地鐵相撞
奧巴馬難過
美國總統奧巴馬發表聲明，對華盛頓地鐵列車相撞事故表示難過。
聲明中表達了對在這次事故中死傷者及他們親屬的同情，並對第一時間趕到現場參與救援的人員表示欽佩。奧巴馬透露，白宮官員正在密切關注事態發展，並隨時向他匯報。
這是華府地鐵開通以來最嚴重的一起意外事故。1982年1月曾發生列車碰撞事件，造成3人死亡。
中國‧為求職組團整容‧上海大學生搞“面子工程
中國‧上海）職場競爭大，除了學歷，還要顧“門面”，中國社會新鮮人近來時興“面子工程”。 
來自上海名牌大學的30名學生，包括被喻為“系花”的美女，自組整容團，集體到醫院整容。
有女生說：“現在整容很平常，就像每天化妝一樣。”據統計，過去1個多月整容的大學生，較去年同期激增1倍。
上海時光整形醫院前日舉辦了1場名為“美麗援助──大學生就業整體形象設計及整容”諮詢會，吸引不少大學生前來參加，當中有學生組成30人整容團到來，希望以團體參與整容的方式，獲得優惠價錢，當中以女生為主，但也有兩三名男生。
他們都來自名牌大校，包括復旦大學、華東師範大學、上海戲劇學院、上海外國語大學等，主要是割雙眼皮、隆鼻、瘦臉、局部抽脂等。目前，上海隆鼻市價約1500元（人民幣、下同，約750令吉），割雙眼皮約800元。
現場不少打算整容的女生外貌均不俗，其中系花玲玲身材高佻、大眼、皮膚白皙，她說：“我要找的工作對外貌有很高要求，所以希望變得更好看。”
英國‧內臟大兜亂‧女郎吃不胖‧腸胃肝膽長在肩與胸
（英國‧倫敦）她怎麼大吃大喝都不會肥，原來她的腸胃並不長在腹部！
英國1名22歲女郎即使大吃大喝也從沒肚腩，讓朋友羨慕又妒忌，她不胖原來有原因──她的腸、胃、肝、膽囊竟然不是生在腹部，而是長在肩膊和胸部。
內臟亂龍的威利絲任職銀行職員。無論吃多少朱古力和垃圾食物，她的腰腹始終非常纖瘦。
她沒有肚腩之謎，一天被未婚夫惠勒擁抱她時發現了，他大叫：“為甚麼你的肩膊會發出隆隆聲？”
威利絲說她也不知道，她自小就是那樣。其實2人都不知道，那原來是在肩膊內的胃部蠕動。
每12.5萬人有1人患上1年半前，問題來了。威利絲不斷嘔吐，到威爾斯南部一間醫院檢查。醫生為她照超聲波，但找不到膽囊，再進行電腦斷層掃描等檢查。才發現威利絲患上罕見的“先天性胸骨後膈疝症”，每12.5萬人便有1人患上。
醫生後來為她動手術，將各器官歸回原位，威利絲首次有個小小的肚腩，她說：“未婚夫說我的新曲線比以前更性感。”
The Alex Jones Show : Ron Paul Exposes Obama’s Regulatory Fed Plan!
Check this link ........ http://revolutionarypolitics.com/?p=1290
Glenn Beck's Fake Crying Photoshoot
Check this link ...... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9j_SWbpOH0
Slain Neda is 'one of my daughters', shah's son says
WASHINGTON (AFP) — The son of the late shah of Iran, Reza Pahlavi, was Monday carrying in his breastpocket a photograph of the slain protester known as Neda said to have been killed in the Tehran protests.
"I have added her (Neda) to the list of my daughters. She is now forever in my pocket," Pahlavi told AFP fighting back tears, after calling at a press conference for Western media and governments to stand strongly alongside the protest movement in Iran.
The former crown prince of Iran took from his left breastpocket photographs of his wife, Yasmine, and three daughters, Noor, Iman and Farah, and, in the same clutch of images, one of a veiled Neda.
He held them up silently, and stammered an apology for having tears in his eyes.
A video of a blood-drenched young woman, purportedly killed in protests in Tehran, has been flashed around the world via the Internet since it was posted Saturday.
The woman, known only as Neda, has become a symbol of Iranian defiance of the country's Islamic rulers and their insistence that hardline incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won this month's presidential election.
In a speech at the packed National Press Club in Washington, Pahlavi slammed the "brutal violence of the regime's plain-clothes thugs against unarmed people" and urged global media to continue to be "the international artery" of the Iranian protest movement.
"No one will benefit from closing his or her eyes to knives and cables cutting into faces and mouths of our young and old, or from bullets piercing our beloved 'Neda' whose only sin was the quest for freedom -- no one but tyrants and their thugs," Pahlavi said, breaking off his speech as he was overcome by emotion.
According to Iranian state radio, at least 457 people were detained in street clashes in Tehran on Saturday that left 10 people dead, bringing the overall toll from a week of violence to at least 17.
Pahlavi said the toll was probably higher than reported, but added it was hard to come up with an exact number because, sources inside Iran have told him, victims "are often dragged to places where even their own families can't recover them."
6 Die When DC Metro Trains Collide
WASHINGTON -- One Metro transit train smashed into the rear of another at the height of the capital city's Monday evening rush hour, killing at least six people and injuring scores of others as the front end of the trailing train jackknifed violently into the air and fell atop the first. Cars of both trains were ripped open and smashed together in the worst accident in the Metrorail system's 33-year history. District of Columbia fire spokesman Alan Etter said crews had to cut some people out of what he described as a "mass casualty event." Rescue workers propped steel ladders up to the upper train cars to help survivors scramble to safety. Seats from the smashed cars spilled out onto the track. D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty said six were dead. Fire Chief Dennis Rubin said rescue workers treated 76 people at the scene and sent some of them to local hospitals, six with critical injuries. A Metro official said the dead included the female operator of the trailing train. Her name was not immediately released. The crash around 5 p.m. EDT took place on the system's red line, Metro's busiest, which runs below ground for much of its length but is at ground level at the accident site near the Maryland border in northeast Washington.
Metro chief John Catoe said the first train was stopped on the tracks, waiting for another to clear the station ahead, when the trailing train plowed into it from behind. Officials had no explanation for the accident. The National Transportation Safety Board took charge of the investigation and sent a team to the site of the worst accident in the Metro system's 33-year history. DC police and the FBI also had investigators at the scene to help search the wreckage for any overlooked injured or dead passengers and evidence. Each train had six cars and was capable of holding as many as 1,200 people. Safety Board member Debbie Hersman said the trains were bound for downtown. That would mean they were less likely to be filled during the afternoon rush hour. More than 200 firefighters from D.C., Maryland and Virginia eventually converged on the scene. Sabrina Webber, a 45-year-old Real estate agent who lives in the neighborhood, said the first rescuers to arrive had to use the "jaws of life" to pry open a wire fence along rail line to get to the train. Webber raced to the scene after hearing a loud boom like a "thunder crash" and then sirens. She said there was no panic among the survivors. Passenger Jodie Wickett, a nurse, told CNN she was seated on one train, sending text messages on her phone, when she felt the impact. She said she sent a message to someone that it felt like the train had hit a bump. "From that point on, it happened so fast, I flew out of the seat and hit my head." Wickett said she stayed at the scene and tried to help. She said "people are just in very bad shape." "The people that were hurt, the ones that could speak, were calling back as we called out to them," she said. "Lots of people were upset and crying, but there were no screams." One man said he was riding a bicycle across a bridge over the Metro tracks when the sound of the crash got his attention. "I didn't see any panic," Barry Student said. "The whole situation was so surreal." Homeland Security Department spokeswoman Amy Kudwa said less than two hours after the crash that federal authorities had no indication of any terrorism connection. "I don't know the reason for this accident," Metro's Catoe said. "I would still say the system is safe, but we've had an incident." The only other time in Metrorail's 33-year history that there were passenger fatalities was on Jan. 13, 1982, when three people died as a result of a derailment underneath downtown. That was a day of disaster in the capital -- shortly before the subway crash, an Air Florida plane slammed into the 14th Street Bridge immediately after takeoff in a severe snowstorm from Washington National Airport across the Potomac River. The plane crash killed 78 people. ___ Associated Press Writers Eileen Sullivan, Richard Lardner and Jim Kuhnhenn contributed to this report.
Metro chief John Catoe said the first train was stopped on the tracks, waiting for another to clear the station ahead, when the trailing train plowed into it from behind. Officials had no explanation for the accident. The National Transportation Safety Board took charge of the investigation and sent a team to the site of the worst accident in the Metro system's 33-year history. DC police and the FBI also had investigators at the scene to help search the wreckage for any overlooked injured or dead passengers and evidence. Each train had six cars and was capable of holding as many as 1,200 people. Safety Board member Debbie Hersman said the trains were bound for downtown. That would mean they were less likely to be filled during the afternoon rush hour. More than 200 firefighters from D.C., Maryland and Virginia eventually converged on the scene. Sabrina Webber, a 45-year-old Real estate agent who lives in the neighborhood, said the first rescuers to arrive had to use the "jaws of life" to pry open a wire fence along rail line to get to the train. Webber raced to the scene after hearing a loud boom like a "thunder crash" and then sirens. She said there was no panic among the survivors. Passenger Jodie Wickett, a nurse, told CNN she was seated on one train, sending text messages on her phone, when she felt the impact. She said she sent a message to someone that it felt like the train had hit a bump. "From that point on, it happened so fast, I flew out of the seat and hit my head." Wickett said she stayed at the scene and tried to help. She said "people are just in very bad shape." "The people that were hurt, the ones that could speak, were calling back as we called out to them," she said. "Lots of people were upset and crying, but there were no screams." One man said he was riding a bicycle across a bridge over the Metro tracks when the sound of the crash got his attention. "I didn't see any panic," Barry Student said. "The whole situation was so surreal." Homeland Security Department spokeswoman Amy Kudwa said less than two hours after the crash that federal authorities had no indication of any terrorism connection. "I don't know the reason for this accident," Metro's Catoe said. "I would still say the system is safe, but we've had an incident." The only other time in Metrorail's 33-year history that there were passenger fatalities was on Jan. 13, 1982, when three people died as a result of a derailment underneath downtown. That was a day of disaster in the capital -- shortly before the subway crash, an Air Florida plane slammed into the 14th Street Bridge immediately after takeoff in a severe snowstorm from Washington National Airport across the Potomac River. The plane crash killed 78 people. ___ Associated Press Writers Eileen Sullivan, Richard Lardner and Jim Kuhnhenn contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON MIGHT HAVE PICKED IRAN’S FUTURE KING AND PREMIER
Check this link .......... http://tinyurl.com/l2bovy
Mousavi, Celebrated in Iranian Protests, Was the Butcher of Beirut
The ambassador in turn hosted several meetings of the cell that would carry out the Beirut attacks, which were overheard by the National Security Agency.
"We had a tap on the Iranian ambassador to Lebanon," retired Navy Admiral James "Ace" Lyons related by telephone Monday. In 1983 Lyons was deputy chief of Naval Operations, and deeply involved in the events in Lebanon.
"The Iranian ambassador received instructions from the foreign minister to have various groups target U.S. personnel in Lebanon, but in particular to carry out a 'spectacular action' against the Marines," said Lyons.
"He was prime minister," Lyons said of Mousavi, "so he didn't get down to the details at the lowest levels. "But he was in a principal position and had to be aware of what was going on."
Lyons, sometimes called "the father" of the Navy SEALs' Red Cell counter-terror unit, also fingered Mousavi for the 1988 truck bombing of the U.S. Navy's Fleet Center in Naples, Italy, that killed five persons, including the first Navy woman to die in a terrorist attack.
Bob Baer agrees that Mousawi, who has been celebrated in the West for sparking street demonstrations against the Teheran regime since he lost the elections, was directing the overall 1980s terror campaign.
But Baer, a former CIA Middle East field officer whose exploits were dramatized in the George Clooney movie "Syriana," places Mousavi even closer to the Beirut bombings.
"He dealt directly with Imad Mughniyah," who ran the Beirut terrorist campaign and was "the man largely held responsible for both attacks," Baer wrote in TIME over the weekend.
"When Mousavi was Prime Minister, he oversaw an office that ran operatives abroad, from Lebanon to Kuwait to Iraq," Baer continued.
"This was the heyday of [Ayatollah] Khomeini's theocratic vision, when Iran thought it really could export its revolution across the Middle East, providing money and arms to anyone who claimed he could upend the old order."
Baer added: "Mousavi was not only swept up into this delusion but also actively pursued it."
Retired Adm. Lyons maintained that he could have destroyed the terrorists at a hideout U.S. intelligence had pinpointed, but he was outmaneuvered by others in the cabinet of President Ronald Reagan.
"I was going to take them apart," Lyons said, "but the secretary of defense," Caspar Weinberger, "sabotaged it."
American Airlines Exposes Bush's Big Lie: Flight 11 DID NOT FLY on 911!
American Airlines itself is the source for information that AA Flights 11 (North Tower) and 77 (Pentagon) did not fly on 911. These flights are critical to the the government's crumbling cover up! Without those flights, Bush and his murderous co-conspirators will have to revise the big lie. They will have to concoct yet another cover story from the ground up! A cover up is on the brink of collapse when those guilty of capital crimes and high treason either turn on one another or are forced to revise the lie!Already several demonstrable lies (many referenced in previous EC articles) are probable cause to begin a Federal Grand Jury investigation of George W. Bush's role in 911. Bush should be compelled by subpoena and Federal Marshals to testify under oath before an independent Federal Grand Jury. The AA revelations demand it!
According to Wikiscaner Americans Airliners changed their Wikipedia entry which now states that 'Flights 11 and 77 never flew on 9/11'.
But --if Flight 11 did not fly that day, that's all a deliberate, criminal lie! If neither Flight 11 or 77 was in the air that day, then nothing in the 'official statements' with regard to the Twin Towers of the WTC can is true.
This information is not compatible with previous EC articles in which it was revealed that NTSB data placed Flight 77 at an altitude of 273, some 200 feet ABOVE the Pentagon at the time of impact, give or take a couple of seconds or less! Moreover, it's trajectory was such that those 'eyewitnesses' who claimed to have seen it could not possibly have done so. Neither scenario is good news for Bush. Both support the statement that absolutely no wreckage traceable to a 757 was ever found at the Pentagon. Moreover, photos of an engine rotor appear to depict a Rolls-Royce engine that is used in the Global Hawk, a payload carrying missile that was, in fact, flown from the US to Australia completely by remote control. It is certainly a much better candidate for what Rumsfeld called '...the missile that struck this building' than a 757. Here's what you need to know about the Pentagon.
WikiScanner discovered that American Airlines changed their Wikipedia entry to state that Flights 11 and 77 never flew on 9/11.Original entry was:911 did not happen as we have been told. That AA claims that the two aircraft that are absolutely essential to the Bush administration's official theory were not, in fact, scheduled for flight and were, in fact, not in the air that day, is a big hole from which Bush may not escape.Two American Airlines aircraft were hijacked and crashed during the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack: American Airlines Flight 77 (a Boeing 757) and American Airlines Flight 11 (a Boeing 767).New entry is:Two American Airlines aircraft were hijacked and crashed during the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack: Flight 77 (a Boeing 757) and Flight 11 (a Boeing 767). Although these flights were daily departures before and a month after September 11, 2001. Neither flight 11 nor 77 were scheduled on September 11, 2001. The records kept by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (www.bts.gov/gis/) do not list either flight that day.A Google search of the IP address that made the change - 144.9.8.21 - is located at American Airlines.Why the change American airlines? Did the flights actually operate or did we just imagine all of that?--LiveLeak
According to Wikiscaner Americans Airliners changed their Wikipedia entry which now states that 'Flights 11 and 77 never flew on 9/11'.
Two American Airlines aircraft were hijacked and crashed during the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack: Flight 77 (a Boeing 757) and Flight 11 (a Boeing 767). Although these flights were daily departures before and a month after September 11, 2001. Neither flight 11 nor 77 were scheduled on September 11, 2001. The records kept by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (www.bts.gov/gis/) do not list either flight that day.The entry had stated:
Two American Airlines aircraft were hijacked and crashed during the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack: American Airlines Flight 77 (a Boeing 757) and American Airlines Flight 11 (a Boeing 767).A Google search of the IP address - 144.9.8.21 - confirmed that the 'change' was made at American Airlines.
User talk: 144.9.8.21This IP address is registered to American AirlinesFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to: navigation, searchMy WHOIS lookup of the above IP address returned the following:
If neither flight was in the air as American Airlines itself has so stated, then numerous 'official versions' of the 'official conspiracy theory' are all a pack of malicious lies. That includes almost every statement made by Bush. These lies are especially pernicious because they have the effect of covering up the truth, protecting the guilty and obstructing justice. These lies are an insult to the families of everyone who died as a result of the event and the subsequent cover up. These lies aggravate the crimes of mass murder, terrorism and high treason for which the penalty must surely be death. The official story is familiar by now.WHOIS - 144.9.8.21
Location: United States [City: Ft. Worth, Texas]
OrgName: American Airlines Incorporated
OrgID: AMERIC-112
Address: P.O.Box 619616
Address: MD 5308
City: DFW Airport
StateProv: TX
PostalCode: 75261
Country: US
NetRange: 144.9.0.0 - 144.9.255.255
CIDR: 144.9.0.0/16
NetName: AANET
NetHandle: NET-144-9-0-0-1
Parent: NET-144-0-0-0-0
NetType: Direct Assignment
NameServer: DNS-P1.SABRE.COM
NameServer: DNS-P2.SABRE.COM
NameServer: DNS-P3.SABRE.COM
NameServer: DNS-P4.SABRE.COM
Comment:
RegDate: 1990-10-31
Updated: 2002-06-27
RTechHandle: OG60-ARIN
RTechName: Gelbrich, Orf
RTechPhone: +1-817-931-3145
RTechEmail: ************@aa.com
OrgTechHandle: ZW72-ARIN
OrgTechName: WARIS, ZISHAN
OrgTechPhone: +1-817-967-1242
OrgTechEmail: ************@aa.com
# ARIN WHOIS database, last updated 2008-06-29 19:10
# Enter ? for additional hints on searching ARIN's WHOIS database.
At 8:20, Flight 11 stopped transmitting its transponder signal, and veered northward and departed dramatically from the westward heading of its planned route. The controllers concluded that the plane had probably been hijacked. 4 5 At 8:24, the following transmission was reportedly received from Flight 11: We have some planes. Just stay quiet and you'll be okay .. we are returning to the airport...Nobody move. Everything will be okay. If you try to make any moves, you'll endanger yourself and the airplane. Just stay quiet. Nobody move please we are going back to the airport .. don't try to make any stupid moves. 6 Neither of the pilots pressed the distress call button. At 8:28 controllers reportedly watched the plane make a 100-degree turn toward the south. 7 Presumably, Flight 11 continued south along the Hudson River until it reached the World Trade Center, though documentation of this is sparse given the lack of public information.According to NORAD's September 18 timeline, the FAA did not notify NORAD of the signs that Flight 11 was hijacked until 8:40, 25 minutes after the first signs of trouble. 8 --Flight 11, The First Jet Commandeered on September 11th, 911 Research
But --if Flight 11 did not fly that day, that's all a deliberate, criminal lie! If neither Flight 11 or 77 was in the air that day, then nothing in the 'official statements' with regard to the Twin Towers of the WTC can is true.
This information is not compatible with previous EC articles in which it was revealed that NTSB data placed Flight 77 at an altitude of 273, some 200 feet ABOVE the Pentagon at the time of impact, give or take a couple of seconds or less! Moreover, it's trajectory was such that those 'eyewitnesses' who claimed to have seen it could not possibly have done so. Neither scenario is good news for Bush. Both support the statement that absolutely no wreckage traceable to a 757 was ever found at the Pentagon. Moreover, photos of an engine rotor appear to depict a Rolls-Royce engine that is used in the Global Hawk, a payload carrying missile that was, in fact, flown from the US to Australia completely by remote control. It is certainly a much better candidate for what Rumsfeld called '...the missile that struck this building' than a 757. Here's what you need to know about the Pentagon.
- No wreckage traceable to a 757 was ever recovered.
- Only ONE engine rotor (seen in photos) was recovered! This rotor is about one third the diameter of a 757 rotor.
- A 757 has two rotors, each of which are nearly three times the size of the SINGLE rotor located at the Pentagon
- Engine rotors are made of a Steel/Titanium alloy to withstand high temps inside jet engines.
- Flight 77 could not have crashed into the Pentagon
By Donald Rumsfeld's own admission, he was unaware of any threats to the Pentagon -- the building where he was located during the September 11th attacks -- until an aircraft crashed into the side of it, and he ran out "into the smoke" to see if it might be a "A bomb? I had no idea." (ABC News This Week, Interview 9/16/01).Well, that's a pretty tall tale by any standard. The New York Times reported that by 8:13am, the FAA was aware of the first hijacking out of Boston. The Pentagon explosion, which Donald Rumsfeld claimed he had "no idea," did not occur until approximately 9:37am, nearly an hour and a half later, this after two of the tallest buildings in the world were devastated. Note that a plane hijacked out of Boston can reach Washington D.C. as easily as it can reach New York City. It was widely reported that Pentagon personnel were indeed aware of the threats to their security, and they took security measures on that morning. But not the "Secretary of Defense." Why should the man charged with defending the United States of America concern himself with hijacked aircraft?There is a set of procedures for responding to hijackings. In particular, these procedures were changed on June 1, 2001 while Rumsfeld was in power as our Secretary of Defense, in a document called: "CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF INSTRUCTION, J-3 CJCSI 3610.01A"Additional resources:
- 'Lucky Larry' Silverstein Makes a Killing With 9/11 Terrorism!
- Explosives Found in 9/11 Dust
- Dutch TV show exonerates Osama bin Laden
- French professor sacked over 9/11 'conspiracy' theory
- 911 Security Courtesy Marvin Bush
- Marvin Bush: connections to 9/11
- 9/11 Commission Memo: 'Executive Branch Minders' Intimidation of Witnesses'
- Security, Secrecy and a Bush Brother
- Thermite
- Pentacon
- KS" I make up stories
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