In The News: Thanks this morning to ChrisM, my MP3Angel, for supplying the news and commentary audio files. [After the commentary Iris Dement takes us on a trip to the "Wasteland of the Free". Courtesy of the respective artists and KPIG radio Freedom California, Earth] » A cargo container at the port of Long Beach California with a note saying "There's a bomb inside" is probably only the beginning of the disturbances in the US over the killing of Osama bin-Laden. The LAPD bomb squad found the container did not contain any explosives or even hazardous materials. » Revenge is the motive in Pakistan according to the Taliban as they double suicide bomb a Frontier Police paramilitary academy. There are at least 80 dead. More from Foreign Policy Magazine:

Bloody revenge The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for a pair of suicide bombings on a Frontier Constabulary training center in Charsadda that left at least 80 dead in what the militant group said was in revenge for the "Abbottabad incident," referring to the death of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden (Reuters, AFP, AP, Dawn, NYT, Guardian, WSJ, Post). Pakistani police officials, however, were skeptical that the attack, the deadliest in Pakistan since November, was the work of the TTP, and suggested it may have been orchestrated by Omar Khalid's group, which is currently fighting the Pakistani Army in Mohmand. At least 140 were wounded (BBC, CNN). Yesterday in Karachi, Pakistani police said they arrested four TTP militants who were also affiliated with a Punjabi Taliban group (DT, AFP). And a suspected U.S. drone strike in North Waziristan has just killed at least three (AP, AFP). Pakistani Army chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani is briefing the Pakistani parliament later today on bin Laden's presence in Abbottabad and the May 2 U.S. raid that killed him, and some who have met with Kayani recently say he is unlikely to respond to U.S. demands to go after other militant leaders in Pakistan (Dawn, NYT, Reuters). Pakistan said it is launching an inter-agency review to "clearly define the parameters of our cooperation with the U.S. in counterterrorism," as Pakistani prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani suggested, for the first time in public, that he is open to the possibility of U.S. drone strikes in the tribal areas, given more Pakistani control of the program (AFP, AFP, Time). Declan Walsh has today's must-read, asking, "Whose side is Pakistan's ISI [intelligence service] really on?" (Guardian). Even More @ FP's AfPak Channel

Meanwhile, as the Pakistanis wait to see whether they have any control over what the US does in their country:

U.S. intensifies drone aircraft attacks in Pakistan By Kamran Haider and Missy Ryan Thu May 12, 2011 ISLAMABAD/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. drone aircraft fired missiles at militants in Pakistan on Thursday, killing eight of them, Pakistani officials said, as American officials vowed to press forward with such attacks after U.S. forces killed Osama bin Laden in his Pakistani hideout. The third such strike since bin Laden's killing on May 2 indicated an intensification of the attacks compared with the weeks before the al Qaeda chief was shot dead in the U.S. raid on a compound in the Pakistani garrison town of Abbottabad. The U.S. bin Laden raid has embarrassed and enraged Pakistan's military and worsened already strained U.S. ties. [Reuters]

» The Libyan rebel council will travel from Benghazi (on a US military airplane no doubt) to the White House, but there's no word whether the president will see them to discuss their 'sovereignty'. 90% of Libya is still in the hands of the Gadaffi government... which pretty much matches the 90% of the country's citizens that are tribal, not industrialized. »The Gulf state group that was trying hammer together a deal for Yemen where the country's president is refusing to step down is coming apart as a couple of the negotiating partners drop out. »President Obama is objecting to a bill in the House of Representatives that would cut intelligence funds by a significant amount as the congressmembers make cuts entailed by the passed-by-the-House-only Ryan budget. » The president is also asking for an employment term extension of Robert Mueller, director of the FBI. The normal term for an FBI director is ten years. » Resigned Senator Ensign of Nevada was "handed his head" yesterday by the Ethics committee in regard to a number of issues arising from an affair with his chief of staff's wife. The Ethics committee accused him of criminal activity as well. In OTHER News: The Federal Reserve Bank is trying to figure out what to do with the money they've managed to recover from the US banking system... Money I might add, that was garnered using taxpayers bailout dollars, and it's complicated:

Wide array of exit options complicates Fed path By Pedro Nicolaci da Costa WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When the Federal Reserve finally decides to begin draining cash from a flush U.S. banking system, policymakers may find themselves armed with more tools than they know what to do with. In an effort to ensure its unprecedented monetary stimulus during the financial crisis would not create the risk of future inflation, the Fed has developed a broad range of measures to ensure an orderly retreat. The Fed's exit toolkit is jam-packed with awkwardly-dubbed concoctions like reverse repurchase agreements and term deposits, along with more straightforward companions like asset sales and conventional interest rate hikes. Even rate increases are more complex than before, since the Fed now has authority to pay interest on bank reserves parked at the central bank. That rate looks to supplant the overnight federal funds rate for a time as the one to watch. With so many avenues before the central bank, the emergency exit lighting appears to have dimmed. "We haven't really settled on a roadmap," Richmond Federal Reserve Bank President Jeffrey Lacker told Reuters in an interview. "The permutations are many..." [More]

In case you're wondering about "Permutations" such as "large-scale reverse repurchase agreements", Reuters has a "FactBox":

Factbox: The Fed's exit strategy toolkit o o o ...large-scale reverse repurchase agreements (reverse repos), with financial market participants. This would temporarily drain reserves from the banking system and reduce excess liquidity at other institutions. [In Full]

Isn't THAT Special! This is Razer Raygun saying 'Happy Motoring America...' Enjoy it while you can. (...and try not to let your government kill too many 'dusky natives' in the process OK?) -30-
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