President-elect Barack Obama met with Republican presidential nominee John McCain to discuss ways that the two can cooperate in the coming year to move the country forward, according to the UK Guardian. Meanwhile, the Guardian reports that President-elect Obama is prepared to select Sen Hillary Clinton as his Secretary of State, replacing Condoleezza Rice -- and Clinton is prepared to accept the post.
The two former rivals met in a formal setting at the Kluczynski Federal Building in Chicago.
Although the two clashed during the election campaign over tax policy and withdrawal from Iraq, they have more in common than they have differences. They both favour the closure of the Guantánamo Bay detention centre, an increase in US troops to Afghanistan, immigration reform, stem cell research and measures to tackle climate change, and oppose torture and the widespread use of wire-tapping.
It is little secret that Sen Clinton still harbors ambition to be President of the United States. and so she must weigh the benefits of remaining in a leadership position in the Senate or whether a cabinet position in the Obama Administration would provide her better executive credentials.
Of some concern to the Obama Administration are the activities of former President Bill Clinton, as Obama advisors look into his numerous speaking engagements throughout the Mideast, paid for by wealthy Arab governments, and the philanthropy of the Clinton Foundation in Africa.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed securities fraud insider-trading charges against internet billionaire and Dallas Mavericks Basketball Team owner Mark Cuban. The charges stem from his dumping of the internet stock mamma.com in 2004, after talking with the president of the company, and shortly before the stock tanked. Reading directly from the complaint:
The Commission charges Defendant Mark Cuban (“Cuban”) with committing
securities fraud by engaging in illegal insider trading. Despite agreeing in June 2004 to keep material, non-public information about an impending stock offering by Mamma.com Inc. confidential, Cuban sold his entire stake in the company – 600,000 shares – prior to the public announcement of the offering. By selling when he did, Cuban avoided losses in excess of $750,000.
"We're shocked. We find it incredible that given all the important issues that the SEC has to address with regard to today's economy they've sought to bring a $750,000 case relating to a he-said, she-said about one trade against a person whose integrity has never been questioned before with regard to the securities markets," said Christopher Clark, Cuban's lawyer.
In 1999, at the height of the internet dot-com bubble, Cuban became an instant billionaire when he sold his company broadcast.com to Yahoo for $5.9 billion in Yahoo stock. He then bought the Dallas Mavericks.
Cuban wrote on his blog: "Is there anything more fun than sitting around, growing your hair, drinking a Bud while listening to Jethro Tull and pondering how to change the balance of power in the search world and unseat Google?"
In addition to growing his hair and listening to Jethro Tull, Cuban has also amassed more than $2 million in fines from the National Basketball Association for his criticisms of the referees, other owners and the league.
Somalia has effectively been without a government for nearly two decades, making it a haven for pirates and lawlessness. In the first nine months of 2008 alone there have been 63 incidents of piracy off the African coast in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden.
The latest victim, the South Korean-built Saudi-owned oil tanker The Sirius Star, was boarded by pirates Monday, and taken to the Somali port of Eyl. The fully laden tanker was filled will more than 2 million barrels of oil, bound for the United States. The estimated value of that oil is more than $100 million.
Once pirates have taken control of a ship they typically hold the crew and cargo for ransom. Most countries are more willing to pay the pirates demands than take the chance of death to the crews or the loss of the cargo.
US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Michael Mullen said, "...Once they get to a point where they can board, it becomes very difficult to get them off, because, clearly, now they hold hostages. The question then becomes, well, what do you do about the hostages? And that's where the standoff is. That's a national question to ask based on the flag of the vessel. And the countries by and large have been paying the ransom that the pirates have asked."
More than a dozen ships are presently being held in Somali ports while the owners negotiate with the pirates. More than 250 crew members are being held.
According to an article in the Asian Times penned by the editor-in-chief of Forward Magazine in Syria, the agreement between the United States and Iraq whereby the US agrees to withdraw combat troops from Iraq by 2011 also calls for the United States to position bases in that country for up to 50 years.
Writes Sami Moubayed:
The full text of the agreement has not been published, but the general parameters include a 10-year mandate for the US to guarantee the security of Iraq, in exchange for the right to use Iraqi land, waters and skies to base and train troops and store military equipment. In addition to 50 US bases, the deal calls for long-term American supervision of the Iraqi Ministry of Interior and Defense.
Quoting both named and unnamed sources Moubayed claims that there is widespread opposition to the agreement from both Sunni and Shiite leaders throughout the country. He claims that Nuri al-Maliki only signed the agreement after the United States threatened to freeze more than $50 billion of Iraqi assets if the agreement wasn't reached before the UN mandate expires in December.
An unnamed source makes the unsubstantiated charge that the United States bribed the entire cabinet in order to get them to agree to the measure. "I never trusted Nuri al-Maliki. I would count my fingers after shaking his hands. Although we have no proof at this stage, it is clear that plenty of money was handsomely distributed last week in Baghdad, to make sure that the entire cabinet - with no exceptions - ratified the agreement draft with the United States. One day this will come out in the classified archives of the US, perhaps 30 years from now," the source his quoted as saying.
Although the United States has had similar agreements in place with Qatar since 1992 and with the United Arab emirates since 1994, Moubayed claims that all Iraqis agree that the United States is an occupying force, and so there is widespread opposition to the agreement.
The entire Iraqi Parliament must approve the agreement on November 24, or the pact is not ratified.
Seven Time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong says that he fears for his safety if he attempts a comeback at the 2009 TdF. The inspirational cyclist who battled back from brain cancer to win an unprecedented seven tour victories has been receiving threats against his safety should he continue with his plans to mount a comeback in 2009.
Returning from a three-year retirement, Armstrong has reunited with his coach Johann Bruyneel by joining Team Astana, a team that comprises many of his former teammates during his seven year reign as champion.
Armstrong has always suffered his severest criticism from the French press, and now some French team directors have been urging spectators to prevent another Armstrong victory.
"I don't want to enter an unsafe situation but you see this stuff coming out of France," he told the UK Guardian. "There're some aggressive, angry emotions. If you believe what you read, my personal safety could be in jeopardy. Cycling is a sport of the open road and spectators are lining the road. I try to believe that people, even if they don't like me, will let the race unfold."
Armstrong is reportedly yet undecided on whether to compete in the TdF in 2009, but is scheduled to attempt his first ever Giro d'Italia in May. The Giro, the first of the three Grand Tours will be celebrating its 100th Anniversary. The rigors of the three-week Grand Tours makes it extremely difficult to compete in both the Giro and the Tour, which starts in early July. The third Grand Tour, the Vuelta a Espana begins in September. Armstrong has always concentrated on the TdF, the most prestigeous of the three.
Throughout his career he has had to deal with doping charges, but he has never failed a drug test. "The level of scrutiny I've had throughout my career from the press and the anti-doping authorities is unmatched. I'm not afraid of anything. I've got nothing to hide. I won seven Tours through hard work," he said.
While no cyclist has ever won all three Grand Tours in the same year, seven riders in history have won the Giro and then the TdF.
... got me to thinking yesterday. And here's the conclusion I came to:
I am sorry George Bush beat John Kerry in 2004.
No. Seriously. I am.
More later.
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Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock.