Tuesday, January 06, 2009

PRESIDENT BUSH APPEARS TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT MEXICAN OPINIONS

Last week, Pennsylvania Republican Congressman Charlie Dent became another influential voice calling on President Bush to pardon two former border patrol agents convicted of shooting an unarmed drug smuggler who was trying to escape across the US-Mexico border. Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean are serving more than 10 years each for shooting Osvaldo Davila in the buttocks while he was fleeing from an abandoned van loaded with 750 pounds of marijuana.

So far President Bush has granted 29 pardons for felons. Conspicuous for their absence are two border guards, Compean and Ramos! These are two men who along with hundreds of other men and women who put their lives on the line every time they go on duty. The people who smuggle illegal aliens and DRUGS into the USA across the borders of our border States with Mexico, are dangerous people who carry automatic weapons. They have even been alleged to be accompanied on some occasions with army troops. Even if this is not true, they do not give up easily when cornered by the border agents, and are willing to shoot if challenged.

There is no good reason other than to placate the Mexican authorities and government that president Bush has been cosing up to throughout his term in office to solidify the NAFTA agreements. And only he knows why he allowed these two brave men to be jailed in the first place. If he fails to pardon them before he leaves office he will show his disdain for the protection of our borders, and give further credence to the conspiracy theory that he is more of an Internationalist who dreams of a united USA, Mexico and Canada in a single nation!

He purports to be a devout Christian, and I have no doubt he is. Well the Christian thing to do is to pardon these unjustly jailed border guards, and right a wrong that is a scar on this nations concern for those who wear a police uniform.He does not have a problem with pardoning a member of the mineworkers union who was convicted for his role in bombings at a West Virginia coal mine, a counterfeiter and a bootlegger. Why not pardon two border guards who were doing their job!

Thursday, January 01, 2009

THE CONGRESS CONSERVATIVE 24!!!

Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.” —Ronald Reagan

In action reminiscent of the Ronald Reagan years, 24 of the 128 members of the Republican minority Congressional delegation, have signed on to a Proposal to the Republican party by James Bopp vice-Chairman of the Republican National Committee.
The Congresional Proposal argues that the financial bailout effectively nationalized the banking system, and that the rescue packages are "moving our free-market based economy another dangerous step closer to Socialism"!
If introduced as a Bill and approved, it would put the party on record as opposing the bailouts of the financial and automotive industries, and that no more bail outs would be voted for by Republican members of Congress.

Although this bill has little chance of passing in Congress much less in the Senate where the "Rich and Famous" Senators spend taxpayers money like they are playing monopoly. This action might just be the beginning of a resurgence of the Conservative principles that the Republican used to be noted for.

Although the White House insists Bush does not personally like the idea of government intervening in private business but that he backed the rescues out of necessity."This was the necessary and responsible thing to do to prevent a collapse of the American economy," White House spokesman Tony Fratto said in a written statement.

In this blogger opinion he does not want his legacy to include the failure of many banks and the Big 3 auto makers in Detroit. He would rather that debacle be passed on to the incoming President, as it certainly must happen sooner or later.
Band Aid bail outs only delay the bottom that must be reached before the economy can begin it's gradual climb to economic stability, unless we embrace total Socialism and stagflation as seen in places like Argentina.

But the eight years of the Bush administration illustrates the gradual abandoning,by most Republicans of Conservative economic principles in favor of "bringing home the pork" to Congressional members districts. Bush had the option to veto any and all bills that contained the billions of dollars that contributed to a multi-trillion dollar deficit, but seldom used the pen. Now the taxpayer will have to pay the bill!

I believe what is needed to fix the banking industry is not a bailout, but rather a commitment to fiscal responsibility, and the Bopp resolution says just that. "Members of the Republican National Committee call for all members of Congress to oppose any and all future bailouts that might come before the Congress, including President-elect Obama's public works program." Source:Fox News

Posted by BILL

Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it."  —Ronald Reagan

An administration official, who spoke late Tuesday on condition of anonymity because no decision has been made, said the $700 billion rescue package passed by Congress last week allows the Treasury Department to inject fresh capital into financial institutions and get ownership shares in return.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson told reporters that Treasury was moving quickly to implement the $700 billion rescue effort and he specifically mentioned reviewing ways to bolster the capital of banks.

“We will use all the tools we’ve been given to maximum effectiveness, including strengthening the capitalization of financial institutions of every size,??  Paulson said at a Wednesday news conference.

His statements came on the heels of Britain’s move to pour cash into troubled banks in exchange for stakes in them — a partial nationalization.

Asked whether he would try something like the British plan, Paulson said: “We have a broad range of authorities and tools. ... We’ve emphasized the purchase of liquid assets, but we have a broad range of authorities. And I’m confident we have the authorities we need to work with going forward.?? SOURCE:AP NEWS

"Corporations employ accounting practices promulgated by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) that established Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP).

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and government agencies have accounting practices that don't come close to, and never did, the honesty of private accounting practices. Accounting fraud and deception are the dominant features of government agencies. If a private business kept and cooked the books, like government agencies do,(example is the non-existent Social Security Trust Fund) the top executives would go to jail. Shouldn't the accounting standards businesses have to meet be applied to Washington? My answer is yes and if a congressman says no, I'd like for him to tell us why?" SOURCE; WALTER WILLIAMS

The dictionary describes Socialism thus:
1: any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods
2 a: a system of society or group living in which there is no private property b: a system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state
3: a stage of society in Marxist theory transitional between capitalism and communism and distinguished by unequal distribution of goods and pay according to work done.

WE have entered the first stage of socialism with he so called "bail-out", and we are moving even deeper into the beginning of item two above, by the Federal government announcing that IT will put money into banks.
Since the government makes no money! What this announcement means, is they will make more worthless paper available, and the tax payers will have to pay for it in higher taxes. All this is nothing more than taking control of the banking system, with incumbent regulations and demands that ran the Freddie and Fannie into the ground!

In the 1930's Roosevelt called in all the privately held gold and closed the banks, and now we have a sitting President who is reacting to the fear tactics and politics of the moment to push the USA further down the road to Socialism!

An example of the road map we are following is the small country of Iceland, where people and corporations did the same thing as Americans. Over extended their liabilities via cheap loans, and the consequences are so dire that the government took complete control, as this following excerpt indicates.


People go bankrupt all the time. Companies do, too. But countries?

The global financial crisis has laid waste to some major banks and other financial institutions in the United States and Europe, but Iceland may be the first country to face the prospect of going bust along with them.

After a decade-long binge in which Iceland's banks, and some of its citizens, expanded beyond their means, the bill has come due. While the full effects of the potential crash have not hit yet, some Icelanders like Bubbi Morthens are already feeling the pain.

"There is a lot of fear in society and there are people who are losing everything," Morthens said Wednesday after singing at an impromptu midday concert in central Reykjavik intended to lift people's spirits.

Morthens is a former fish industry worker turned rock singer who is now known as the Elvis of Iceland. Like many of his compatriots, he did well when Iceland was riding high, accumulating considerable wealth.
Then, the financial crisis gripping his country intensified last month. The government seized control of Iceland's third-largest bank. Morthens said he lost his life savings, which he had invested mostly in the bank's stock.

Government attempts to get ahead of the problems cascading through its financial system have not restored confidence. In just 24 hours, for instance, it abandoned an effort to peg its currency to a basket of others.

And on Thursday, the government seized Kaupthing Bank, the country's largest lender, effectively completing the nationalization of the banking system.

Meanwhile the prime minister,Mr. Haarde, was drawing some practical conclusions, as Fitch Ratings downgraded the country's debt and Iceland awaited a possible loan from Russia! source :Reuters News

It is not unusual to learn of government intrusion into private industry in Europe and Great Britain. Most of the Countries in the EU and Britain have or have had Socialist governments for years. The situation at this time, in England, is a radical shift to the left for the present government.
The British government's plan to inject capital into its ailing banks has been embraced by a European continent with a long tradition of encouraging a state role in the economy. And it is rapidly being seen here as an improvement - philosophical as well as functional - over America's $700 billion fund to purchase defunct mortgage assets from troubled financial institutions.In announcing his take over, Prime Minister Gordon Brown had this to say.
"Brown pointed out that time for buying toxic assets had passed - a not so subtle dig at the plan sponsored by the U.S. Treasury secretary, Henry Paulson Jr. Many analysts agree that the U.S. government will have to move beyond its own $700 billion fund to ultimately stabilize the housing market and recapitalize American banks". source: International Herald Tribune

There is plenty of blame for this financial crisis to go around. Congress with the leadership of Senator Dodd and Congressman Frank over looked or ignored the facts that government mandates on Banking and Mortgage companies to accomplish ideological,and Social/welfare aims were bad business!
But also some blame has to be laid at the feet of the Economic "guru" Greenspan. It was he that promoted and supported HEDGE Funds that helped make billionaires like George Sorros richer, and when they were adversely affected by the housing slow down, they were the tipping point for the "house of cards" that is our Economy!

Greenspan's credentials and confidence reinforced his reputation — helping him to persuade Congress to repeal Depression-era laws that separated commercial and investment banking in order to reduce overall risk in the financial system.

"He had a way of speaking that made you think he knew exactly what he was talking about at all times," said Senator Tom Harkin, a Democrat from Iowa. "He was able to say things in a way that made people not want to question him on anything, like he knew it all. He was the Oracle, and who were you to question him?"

In 2000, Harkin asked what might happen if Congress weakened the CFTC's authority.

"If you have this exclusion and something unforeseen happens, who does something about it?" he asked Greenspan in a hearing.

Greenspan said that Wall Street could be trusted. "There is a very fundamental trade-off of what type of economy you wish to have," he said. "You can have huge amounts of regulation and I will guarantee nothing will go wrong, but nothing will go right either," he said. It would seem that the "worm has turned"!



Brown's political salvo could well serve as a model across Europe, as well as other emerging economies where the idea of the state taking supervisory stakes in strategic economic entities is an accepted one. Already, governments in France and Italy have said they would consider buying stakes in their banks if it would improve their financial conditions.


Britain's decision to effectively nationalize any bank that accepts public funds to rebuild its shrunken capital base rolls back more than 20 years of accepted political and economic thought. That view held that financial institutions, charged with the responsibility of protecting a nation's savings, should do so with minimal supervision and aid from the government.

Look for the USA banks to follow the path of the Iceland and Banks in England toward more decimation of the Constitutional rights of Americans, in the ruse of saving US from financial disaster.

Thursday, October 09, 2008

Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.” —Ronald Reagan

An administration official, who spoke late Tuesday on condition of anonymity because no decision has been made, said the $700 billion rescue package passed by Congress last week allows the Treasury Department to inject fresh capital into financial institutions and get ownership shares in return.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson told reporters that Treasury was moving quickly to implement the $700 billion rescue effort and he specifically mentioned reviewing ways to bolster the capital of banks.

“We will use all the tools we’ve been given to maximum effectiveness, including strengthening the capitalization of financial institutions of every size,” Paulson said at a Wednesday news conference.

His statements came on the heels of Britain’s move to pour cash into troubled banks in exchange for stakes in them — a partial nationalization.

Asked whether he would try something like the British plan, Paulson said: “We have a broad range of authorities and tools. ... We’ve emphasized the purchase of liquid assets, but we have a broad range of authorities. And I’m confident we have the authorities we need to work with going forward.”SOURCE:AP NEWS

"Corporations employ accounting practices promulgated by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) that established Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP).

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and government agencies have accounting practices that don't come close to, and never did, the honesty of private accounting practices. Accounting fraud and deception are the dominant features of government agencies. If a private business kept and cooked the books, like government agencies do,(example is the non-existent Social Security Trust Fund) the top executives would go to jail. Shouldn't the accounting standards businesses have to meet be applied to Washington? My answer is yes and if a congressman says no, I'd like for him to tell us why?" SOURCE; WALTER WILLIAMS

The dictionary describes Socialism thus:
1: any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods
2 a: a system of society or group living in which there is no private property b: a system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state
3: a stage of society in Marxist theory transitional between capitalism and communism and distinguished by unequal distribution of goods and pay according to work done.

WE have entered the first stage of socialism with he so called "bail-out", and we are moving even deeper into the beginning of item two above, by the Federal government announcing that IT will put money into banks.
Since the government makes no money! What this announcement means, is they will make more worthless paper available, and the tax payers will have to pay for it in higher taxes. All this is nothing more than taking control of the banking system, with incumbent regulations and demands that ran the Freddie and Fannie into the ground!

In the 1930's Roosevelt called in all the privately held gold and closed the banks, and now we have a sitting President who is reacting to the fear tactics and politics of the moment to push the USA further down the road to Socialism!

An example of the road map we are following is the small country of Iceland, where people and corporations did the same thing as Americans. Over extended their liabilities via cheap loans, and the consequences are so dire that the government took complete control, as this following excerpt indicates.


People go bankrupt all the time. Companies do, too. But countries?

The global financial crisis has laid waste to some major banks and other financial institutions in the United States and Europe, but Iceland may be the first country to face the prospect of going bust along with them.

After a decade-long binge in which Iceland's banks, and some of its citizens, expanded beyond their means, the bill has come due. While the full effects of the potential crash have not hit yet, some Icelanders like Bubbi Morthens are already feeling the pain.

"There is a lot of fear in society and there are people who are losing everything," Morthens said Wednesday after singing at an impromptu midday concert in central Reykjavik intended to lift people's spirits.

Morthens is a former fish industry worker turned rock singer who is now known as the Elvis of Iceland. Like many of his compatriots, he did well when Iceland was riding high, accumulating considerable wealth.
Then, the financial crisis gripping his country intensified last month. The government seized control of Iceland's third-largest bank. Morthens said he lost his life savings, which he had invested mostly in the bank's stock.

Government attempts to get ahead of the problems cascading through its financial system have not restored confidence. In just 24 hours, for instance, it abandoned an effort to peg its currency to a basket of others.

And on Thursday, the government seized Kaupthing Bank, the country's largest lender, effectively completing the nationalization of the banking system.

Meanwhile the prime minister,Mr. Haarde, was drawing some practical conclusions, as Fitch Ratings downgraded the country's debt and Iceland awaited a possible loan from Russia! source :Reuters News

It is not unusual to learn of government intrusion into private industry in Europe and Great Britain. Most of the Countries in the EU and Britain have or have had Socialist governments for years. The situation at this time, in England, is a radical shift to the left for the present government.
The British government's plan to inject capital into its ailing banks has been embraced by a European continent with a long tradition of encouraging a state role in the economy. And it is rapidly being seen here as an improvement - philosophical as well as functional - over America's $700 billion fund to purchase defunct mortgage assets from troubled financial institutions.In announcing his take over, Prime Minister Gordon Brown had this to say.
"Brown pointed out that time for buying toxic assets had passed - a not so subtle dig at the plan sponsored by the U.S. Treasury secretary, Henry Paulson Jr. Many analysts agree that the U.S. government will have to move beyond its own $700 billion fund to ultimately stabilize the housing market and recapitalize American banks". source: International Herald Tribune

There is plenty of blame for this financial crisis to go around. Congress with the leadership of Senator Dodd and Congressman Frank over looked or ignored the facts that government mandates on Banking and Mortgage companies to accomplish ideological,and Social/welfare aims were bad business!
But also some blame has to be laid at the feet of the Economic "guru" Greenspan. It was he that promoted and supported HEDGE Funds that helped make billionaires like George Sorros richer, and when they were adversely affected by the housing slow down, they were the tipping point for the "house of cards" that is our Economy!

Greenspan's credentials and confidence reinforced his reputation — helping him to persuade Congress to repeal Depression-era laws that separated commercial and investment banking in order to reduce overall risk in the financial system.

"He had a way of speaking that made you think he knew exactly what he was talking about at all times," said Senator Tom Harkin, a Democrat from Iowa. "He was able to say things in a way that made people not want to question him on anything, like he knew it all. He was the Oracle, and who were you to question him?"

In 2000, Harkin asked what might happen if Congress weakened the CFTC's authority.

"If you have this exclusion and something unforeseen happens, who does something about it?" he asked Greenspan in a hearing.

Greenspan said that Wall Street could be trusted. "There is a very fundamental trade-off of what type of economy you wish to have," he said. "You can have huge amounts of regulation and I will guarantee nothing will go wrong, but nothing will go right either," he said. It would seem that the "worm has turned"!



Brown's political salvo could well serve as a model across Europe, as well as other emerging economies where the idea of the state taking supervisory stakes in strategic economic entities is an accepted one. Already, governments in France and Italy have said they would consider buying stakes in their banks if it would improve their financial conditions.


Britain's decision to effectively nationalize any bank that accepts public funds to rebuild its shrunken capital base rolls back more than 20 years of accepted political and economic thought. That view held that financial institutions, charged with the responsibility of protecting a nation's savings, should do so with minimal supervision and aid from the government.

Look for the USA banks to follow the path of the Iceland and Banks in England toward more decimation of the Constitutional rights of Americans, in the ruse of saving US from financial disaster.

President Bush once again gave a talking point to the Democrats with his decision to bail out Freddie Mack and Freddie Mae.
The whole world gave a sigh of relief while thinking Americans cursed under their collective breath, "not again:!

Our government will guarantee the debt held by foreign creditors but for the American worker who paid into Social Security for forty years will have to take "reductions" in benefits, and face an already insolvent program that will only get worse if the recipients are not culled! This is insane!

The bail out appears to be for the benefit of two Countries that are if not enemies, at least a threat to our way of life. China and Russia. Japan and of all places, the Cayman Islands. Home to more bank laundering than the Swiss!

Since 1994 when the Chinese had 197 million invested in our mortgage giants. They have increased their investment to 1.3 TRILLION dollars. They practically own the "FREDDIES"!

Being a life long hater of Communism, I have the inclination to let the chips fall where they will, and if the Chinese Communists and the quasi- Communist Russians take a financial bath. So be it!
And without efforts to keep up with China and India, some countries, including the USA, may see further erosion of their export shares and high-tech manufacturing sectors.Why help their quest for world power?

Many Americans lost a considerable amount of money in the 2002 stock market "mini"-crash, caused by a bear market correction and the accounting manipulation scandals, and no one in the government made good on their loses.
My children are all paying into the social security fund(it is not a trust fund). and they will probably never see any benefits from it, because their are too many free loaders and illegals dipping into it via medicaid and other corrupt welfare programs.

In a news conference today, Secretary Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said the government has three objectives: "market stability, mortgage availability and taxpayer protection." That's another signal that the government wants mortgages to remain available, at good rates, to borrowers with a low risk of default.

Tell me how he is protecting the taxpayer, please. The federal government is not a revenue producing machine. It is a profligate spending machine that has been out of control far too long. The taxpayers will get the bill for this bail out in some manner. All so we protect foreign investments in a mortgage scheme that continues to lend to people who want something beyond their ability to pay for it!

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Obama backs Bush-Iran engagement
CHICAGO (RTRS): US presidential candidate Barack Obama said President George W. Bush’s decision to send a senior diplomat to nuclear talks with Iran was a substantive move and should be taken seriously by Tehran. Obama, a Democrat, has been highly critical in the past of Bush’s policies toward Iran and has promised that if elected he would pursue a policy of greater engagement aimed at persuading Tehran to abandon its nuclear enrichment program. But in a rare signal of solidarity with the current Republican administration, Obama told a news conference in Paris on Friday that Iran should not wait for the next US president to try to reach a deal over its nuclear program. He also praised Bush’s decision to send senior US diplomat William Burns to talks in Geneva with Iranian officials.


Then this news made both Bush and Obama look stupid! from the Kuwait News the following quote was published today,
"‘Secret N-plant discovered at Al-Zarqan area’
KUWAIT CITY : A secret nuclear bomb manufacturing center at Al-Zarqan Area in Al-Ahwaziya Region, which was first established in 2000, was discovered recently, highly reliable sources told Al-Seyassah. Sources from Al-Ahwaziya claimed Tehran has started building a secret nuclear plant for manufacturing atomic bombs in Al-Zarqan Area near Al-Ahwaz City in southwest Iran and its border with Iraq. Sources said the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is not aware of this plant since it was not included in negotiations with Iran held in Geneva at the beginning of this month. Sources revealed Iran started implementing the project some time between 2000 and 2003, which led to the evacuation of a large number of Arab tribes from the area to Al-Zarqan. Sources added the Tehran administration vacated the location, destroyed all the houses, wells and farms, and started full implementation of the project in 2007"

This facility has been constructed during the period 2000 and 2003 unbeknown to the International Atomic Energy Inspectors, who were directed to other sites where nuclear centrifuges and apparent peaceful use of atomic energy was taking place.

The new from the "Arab Times" indicates that hundreds of tribal people were removed from their home, and the homes destroyed to make room for the construction which is near the Iran/Iraq border in a remote location.

The Kuwait News Disclosed that Tehran directed international A-bomb inspectors to other places, sources warned the project poses a very serious threat to international security. Sources affirmed the Iranian authorities built a three-meter high wall around the project site, which allegedly measures thousands of kilometers.
Sources added, "IAEA inspectors focused on other Iranian nuclear plants, such as Dour Khawain in Al-Ahwaz and Bu Shahri reactor, because the Iranian government diverted the international media’s attention from the secret nuclear plant. Sources asserted the Iranian government is currently working on another nuclear program touted to be more dangerous than Bu Shahri".


This should be a clear indication that something other than talk, talk, talk, must be done before the first nuclear bomb goes off in a U.S. city! If not a military action, at least a total embargo by all free nations( cannot expect Russia or Communist China to co-operate) of all goods and services should be immediately implemented. And the envoys designated as diplomatic negotiators should be recalled immediately.

If Iran gets their nuclear weapons. The Cuban missile crisis would look like a tea party compared with the peril that would pose to the USA and all of Europe!

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Despite the fact that a poll taken by Pollster.com, shows that President Bush has a popular rating similar to that of the US Congress. Neither has a rating higher than 35%, meaning that the Country views both sides of the political spectrum with disdain. In fact "Wake Up America" shows that Bush's approval rating is 33% and Congress is 28%!

The Left wing Media is still leading off articles that have content that is favorable to the President, with negative statements like the following post from Reuters columnist Barry Moody;

"DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - Unpopular at home and in much of the world during the last year of his presidency, George W. Bush is basking in rare adulation on his African tour.
Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete poured praise on Bush in Dar es Salaam on Sunday, the second day of his five-nation African tour, each compliment applauded warmly by members of the east African country's cabinet.
Although around 2,000 Muslim demonstrators protested against Bush on the eve of his visit, many thousands more cheering, waving people lined his road from the airport on Saturday.
Banners across the route, decorated with Bush's image against a backdrop of Tanzania's Mt. Kilimanjaro, read: "We cherish democracy. Karibu (welcome) to President and Mrs Bush".


While President Bush reaches out the hand of friendship in Africa, a land that comprises 20% of the Worlds total land mass and comprises over 18% of the Worlds population.

Obama and Hillary are complicit in an act that some would consider treason and at the very least, giving aid and comfort to an avowed enemy of the US.

Yet, no place in the Major news outlets, only on the Internet, do you find this piece of demaogogic news. Why? Because it is bad news for the opposition, not President Bush!


"Right in the middle of the hottest presidential primary in decades, both Obama and Hillary are sending their foreign policy honchos to Damascus. These advisors are people who have a chance of running US foreign policy in the next administration. They aren't shy. They are taking over our foreign affairs right now, because they are entitled to. They know better than our elected officials". Says who!

This despite the fact that US military leaders have said the Iranians have been supplying arms and aid to the terrorists in Iraq. At least this has been reported by the print media as divulged in a featured article in the Los Angeles Times:

"U.S. commanders had said there were signs that Iranian authorities were keeping a vow made to Iraqi leaders last summer to help stem the flow of support across the notoriously porous border. Lately, however, U.S. officials have reported a rising number of attacks that use the kind of sophisticated armor-piercing explosives that they allege come from Iran".

In a reference to Bush's domestic problems, Prme Minister Kikwete added: "Different people may have different views about you and your administration and your legacy.
"But we in Tanzania, if we are to speak for ourselves and for Africa, we know for sure that you, Mr. President, and your administration have been good friends of our country and have been good friends of Africa."

Apparently the Media believes Africa is not a major part of what they call "much of the rest of the World"!