Say Anything Blog

ANCHORAGE — Governor Sarah Palin responded today to the announcement that the U.S. Supreme Court has handed down its decision in the Exxon Valdez case. The Court awarded no more than $507.5 million in punitive damages to the plaintiffs, or about 10 percent of the jury’s original award.

“I am extremely disappointed with today’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court,” Palin said. “While the decision brings some degree of closure to Alaskans suffering from 19 years of litigation and delay, the Court gutted the jury’s decision on punitive damages.”

She added, “It is tragic that so many Alaska fishermen and their families have had their lives put on hold waiting for this decision. My heart goes out to those affected, especially the families of the thousands of Alaskans who passed away while waiting for justice.”

Palin noted that the decision today undercut one of the principal legs of deterrence for those engaged in maritime shipping in Alaska waters. She called on state and federal agencies to be vigilant and firm in regulating such activities.

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Outraged Iraqi officials demanded an investigation into an early morning U.S. military raid Friday near the birthplace of Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki, saying the operation violated the terms of the handover of Karbala province to Iraqi security forces.

Karbala Gov. Oqeil al Khazaali said U.S. forces killed an unarmed civilian and arrested at least one person in the raid in the southern town of Janaja. The governor’s brother, Hassanein al Khazaali, said late Friday that the Iraqi killed in the operation was a relative of the U.S.-backed prime minister.

The U.S. military command in Baghdad had no comment.

...Khazaali, the U.S.-allied governor, denounced the operation at a news conference, saying the U.S. military hadn’t coordinated in advance with Iraqi forces, who assumed control of Karbala security in October 2007. The governor said the raid set “a dangerous precedent” for areas ostensibly under full Iraqi control.

“The airdrop confuses the agreements, and America should answer for this violation,” Khazaali said.

Khazaali said the raid was based on false intelligence and that the U.S. military should “submit a report to clarify all the circumstances and to point out the killers and hand over the names of everyone who participated in the military operation in order for them to appear before the Iraqi judicial system.”

At the time of the Karbala security handover, a joint statement from U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker and Army Gen. David Petraeus, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, praised Iraqi security forces in Karbala for “operating independently.”

US central bank accused of unleashing an inflation shock that will rock financial markets, reports Ambrose Evans-Pritchard

Barclays Capital has advised clients to batten down the hatches for a worldwide financial storm, warning that the US Federal Reserve has allowed the inflation genie out of the bottle and let its credibility fall "below zero". "Barclays Capital has advised clients to batten down the hatches for a worldwide financial storm, warning that the US Federal Reserve has allowed the inflation genie out of the bottle and let its credibility fall "below zero".

"We're in a nasty environment," said Tim Bond, the bank's chief equity strategist. "There is an inflation shock underway. This is going to be very negative for financial assets. We are going into tortoise mood and are retreating into our shell. Investors will do well if they can preserve their wealth."

Barclays Capital said in its closely-watched Global Outlook that US headline inflation would hit 5.5pc by August and the Fed will have to raise interest rates six times by the end of next year to prevent a wage-spiral. If it hesitates, the bond markets will take matters into their own hands. "This is the first test for central banks in 30 years and they have fluffed it. They have zero credibility, and the Fed is negative if that's possible. It has lost all credibility," said Mr Bond.

The Federal Marriage Amendment is back

RALEIGH, N.C. - Federal agents raided Blackwater Worldwide this week as part of an investigation into whether the private security company sidestepped federal laws prohibiting the private purchase of automatic assault rifles, the company said Thursday.

Blackwater spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell said investigators with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives searched Blackwater’s armory at its corporate headquarters in Moyock on Tuesday as part of the investigation. Court documents show that agents seized 22 guns as evidence from a vault dedicated to county authorities.

The company signed agreements in 2005 in which Blackwater financed the purchase of 34 automatic weapons for the Camden County Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff Tony Perry became the official owner of the weapons, but Blackwater was allowed to keep most of the guns at its armory.

Federal laws prohibit private parties from buying automatic weapons, but allows law enforcement agencies to have them.

ALBANY — Joseph L. Bruno, the Senate majority leader and New York State’s highest-ranking Republican, said Monday evening that he would not seek re-election in November, after a 32-year career in the Senate.

His announcement startled people in the Capitol, many of whom have come to view Mr. Bruno, a former Army regimental boxing champion who still spars for the cameras, as almost indestructible at the age of 79.

...His decision did not appear to be related to a federal investigation of his outside business interests, according to people with knowledge of the investigation.

...The news will be a major political blow to the Albany area, which has benefited from Mr. Bruno’s ability to shower the region with pork. He represents Rensselaer County and most of Saratoga County.

Speaking to the BBC from Haiphong, Tran Trong Duyet also insisted that McCain’s assertions that he was tortured during his time at the prison were lies, and that no one held there was ever subjected to torture.

Describing McCain as his “friend”, Duyet told the broadcaster: “If I was American, I would vote for him.”

...“Of course the Americans started the war in Vietnam and killed so many people—but now we want to leave the past behind.

“So now I consider John McCain my friend because he did much to mend relations between our two countries. And if he becomes president he will do more to improve those ties.”

He also told the BBC that McCain’s assertions that he was tortured were false. “We never tortured him,” he was quoted as saying.

“We never tortured any prisoners ... He did not tell the truth.

“But I can somehow sympathise with him. He lies to American voters in order to get their support for his presidential election.”

Sound familiar:

“We never tortured any prisoners ... He did not tell the truth.

WASHINGTON (Map, News) - More than 400 real estate industry players have been indicted since March - including dozens over the last two days - in a Justice Department crackdown on incidents of mortgage fraud nationwide that have contributed to the country’s housing crisis.

The FBI put the losses to homeowners and other borrowers who were victims in the schemes at over $1 billion.

“Mortgage fraud and related securities fraud pose a significant threat to our economy, to the stability of our nation’s housing market and to the peace of mind to millions of Americans,” Deputy Attorney General Mark Filip said in a statement Thursday. The Justice Department and FBI planed to announce the cases at an afternoon news conference in Washington.

Since March 1, 406 people have been arrested in the sting dubbed “Operation Malicious Mortgage” that saw 144 cases across the country. Sixty people were arrested on Wednesday alone, including in Chicago, Miami, Houston and a dozen other regions policed by the FBI.

Two former managers at investment bank Bear Stearns have been arrested in New York over the collapse of the bank’s hedge fund last year.

Ralph Cioffi and Matthew Tannin face charges in connection with their management of hedge funds that collapsed in June 2007.

The bank’s hedge funds bet on the high-risk sub-prime mortgage market in the US before it collapsed.

Authorities in Brooklyn are due to give details about the case later.

FBI spokesman Jim Margolis told the BBC the men faced criminal charges of “securities fraud related to their management of two Bear Stearns hedge funds”.

According to papers filed with a US District Court in New York, the two men are charged with running what is described as “a fraudulent scheme”. Mr Cioffi and Tannin believed that two of the funds they ran were in “grave condition and at risk of collapse”, the charges st

The Italian government approved a so-called “Robin Hood” tax on oil companies to fund aid for low-income households hit hard by increased food and energy prices.

Premier Silvio Berlusconi’s government has included the measure in a three-year budget plan approved Wednesday in a Cabinet meeting.

Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti told reporters that the money gained from the tax will be used in part to help senior citizens buy food and pay less for electricity. The association of Italy’s oil companies denounced the measure as “punitive.”

The budget plan must be approved by both houses of Parliament. It features cuts to reduce Italy’s public spending as well as development measures, including a plan to restart the country’s nuclear power program.

The rest of the world gets it; we can only hope that our electorate is as smart as the Italians.

By robert108 on April 15, 2008 at 12:54 pm

Despite a $6 billion U.S. effort to recruit and train police in Afghanistan, the country’s national police force does not currently have a single unit that is “fully capable” of carrying out its mission, according to a new government report.

In fact, three-quarters of all Afghan police units were totally incapable of carrying out their mission, the report by the Government Accountability Office said; only three percent were judged to be capable, with help, of doing their jobs.

“Nearly seven years after the invasion of Afghanistan, I don’t think anyone can take a whole lot of pride in the answer to the question, ‘how are we doing,’” said Rep. John Tierney, D-Mass., at a hearing on the topic Wednesday before his panel on oversight of national security and foreign affairs.

The US military cannot locate hundreds of sensitive nuclear missile components, according to several government officials familiar with a Pentagon report on nuclear safeguards.

Robert Gates, US defence secretary, recently fired both the US Air Force chief of staff and air force secretary after an investigation blamed the air force for the inadvertent shipment of nuclear missile nose cones to Taiwan.

According to previously undisclosed details obtained by the FT, the investigation also concluded that the air force could not account for many sensitive components previously included in its nuclear inventory.

One official said the number of missing components was more than 1,000.

The disclosure is the latest embarrassing episode for the air force, which last year had to explain how a bomber mistakenly carried six nuclear missiles across the US. The incidents have raised concerns about US nuclear safeguards as Washington presses other countries to bolster counter-proliferation measures.