Twitter This Commentary In The News: There has been a 7.0 earthquake in Indonesia this morning. It appears that three dozen people have been killed and reports are still coming in. The rebel forces in Afghanistan 'hit' the opening of a new Mosque in Paktia province, killing 23 people including the #2 national military intelligence officer (that after they assassinated the 'main man' last week), the provincial governor and many of his council members (RFI: "The insurgents said that the province's Governor and Police Chief were unhurt."), essentially wiping out the governmental leadership for the province. There are now 305 dead US soldiers in our attempt to subjugate Afghanistan and rape it's extractive resources for Western interests under the guise and rubric of a "War on Terrorism" even as 'contractors' now outnumber troops in theatre (and it's also the highest ratio of 'contractor'/US soldier in ANY war in US history). Bad ideas for state government revenue... The plan to close California State Parks would revert the land for 6 of them given by the federal government for that purpose back to the national domain. (In California, that WOULD be a boon for the massive numbers of homeless living in urban areas bordering on semi-rural or rural areas, as the feds would most likely pay as much attention to homeless 'cold-campers' (no fire... sleep & leave in the morning) in their forests as they pay to nickel bag pot deals.) Meanwhile, in Sacramento:

"...police this morning were citing and moving homeless people from a downtown lot where a Sacramento attorney has allowed them to camp. . . About a dozen homeless people were on the site when police arrive, but police counted 33 tents on the lot. Sacramento attorney Mark Merin has been leasing the land to a group of advocates who want the city to establish a legal "safe ground" where homeless people can sleep without police interference. Mayor Kevin Johnson said the new camp threatens to become "a negative distraction" to efforts by the city to establish a sanctioned "safe ground." [In Full]

The new US jet fighter, the F-35, is up for approval with the largest military purchasing contract in history, costing approximately half the allocation for the F-22 which was scratched from the Pentagon's budget (because turkeys can't fly...) On a similar note, the Pentagon (along with almost all the other government agencies) is apparently ignoring the new rules regarding "transparency in lobbying"... The Washington Post reports:

U.S. Meetings With Lobbyists Go Unreported By Rita Beamish Associated Press Monday, August 31, 2009 President Obama ordered federal officials to disclose their contacts with lobbyists trying to influence how the government doles out money to jump-start the economy. Yet few such communications have been reported even though lobbyists say they are busier than ever with the multibillion-dollar stimulus. Since the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act passed in February, federal agencies have reported 197 contacts with lobbyists about stimulus grants. In August, the entire government reported only eight such lobbying contacts. The Pentagon, which controls about $7.4 billion in stimulus spending, reported just one lobbying contact so far this year. The Homeland Security Department, with at least $3 billion to spend, reported none. Yet the paucity of reporting masks activities by lobbyists and clients eager to obtain stimulus money for their projects. Lobbyists have separately reported work related to stimulus projects, and in many cases have operated in new ways to skirt restrictions on their efforts to influence stimulus spending. [In Full]

In Britain there's word that the release of the "Lockerbie Bomber" may have been due to desired oil contracts from Libya. Libya's foreign office denies it (Interview). The fellow in question is due to die from Cancer in 48 hours anyway. In more news of the California budget... The prisoner release is apparently not happening (the state has requested a 'stay' of the federal court order) perhaps forcing the federal government to take over operations of the state's prison system. ...and in the realm of fire fighting, the state budget allocation, only two months old, is already half-exhausted, with multiple large fires burning. But in the 'good news', there's a Category 2 hurricane (Jimena) off the coast of Baja that MIGHT bring rain, and relief for weary fire fighting crews in Southern California. The "Station Fire" in the Southland has burned 127,000 acres so far and is only 22% contained. -30-
Creative Commons Copyright Courtesy of Cabale News Service, KPIG Radio, and KVMR Radio. Listen to KPIG, Listen to KVMR Recorded & transcribed by The Buffalo Amongst Wolves @ Razed By Wolves

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