I’ve written numerous posts showing that the war on terror is really a religious crusade, at least for troops on the ground (I’ve pointed out that the officials ordering the troops into battle may not be religious at all, but may be faking religious sentiment to rally the troops). Now, an official Pentagon spokesman is making it clear that the U.S.

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U.S. Military Officially Endorses Crusade

ABC News is reporting that U.S. military weapons are inscribed with secret ‘Jesus’ Bible codes: Coded references to New Testament Bible passages about Jesus Christ are inscribed on high-powered rifle sights provided to the United States military by a Michigan company, an ABC News investigation has found.

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The Crusade Continues in Iraq

The President of the North American Securities Administrators Association, in testimony before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission last week, continued to blast the SEC and FINRA for dropping the ball. Denise Voigt Crawford said there is an “oversight gap” resulting from Congress stripping away substantial state regulatory oversight of brokers and advisors when it enacted the National Securities Markets Improvements Act in 1996. She urged Congress to return to the states all of the authority taken away by that law

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State Securities Commissioners Need More Authority to Fight Investment Fraud

The Wall Street Journal reported on January 15th that the major US banks are set to pay their employees record bonuses of approximately $145 billion for 2009. This staggering amount represents an 18% increase over bankers’ 2008 salaries

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Does the Proposed Bank Tax Adequately Compensate Taxpayers for the Risks?

The downside of the credit bubble continues to impact the UK’s Premier League , and the blog’s own soccer club, Manchester United. Today’s Guardian notes that United were bought by the US Glazer family for £810m ($1.3bn) in 2005, using £540m of debt. Since then, it says this debt has ” cost United £340m in cash ” in interest/fees.

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Manchester United plans 2nd refinancing

We wish to extend our warmest thanks and utmost gratitude for all of you who donated or became a sustainer during our 2009 fund raising campaign. We surpassed our goal of raising $10,000! This means we will be able to fund and even perhaps expand our operations throughout the year 2010.

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[news] Thank You for Helping Us Surpass Our $10,000 Fund Raising Goal!

Caracas, January 19, 2009 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Venezuela’s Superintendency of Banks and Other Financial Institutions (SUDEBAN) announced that it has taken over three small private banks, InverUnion, Banco Del Sol and Mi Casa due to “serious” administrative problems on Monday. “The three entities have been subject to administrative action by the Supervisory Authority and their intervention has become necessary and urgent as their required recovery plans are not considered to be viable,” a SUDEBAN statement said

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[news] Venezuelan Government Takes Over Three Banks, Sanctions Ten More

For the Sixth Year, LEGOLAND® California is Awarded “Best Children’s Park” For the sixth year in a row, park enthusiasts from around the world have voted LEGOLAND® California as the “Best Children’s Park.” Amusement Today, a monthly trade newspaper, awarded the 128-acre family theme park the esteemed Golden Ticket Award on Sept. 10, 2009. LEGOLAND California hosted the ceremony for the first time, bringing representatives from all over the country to Carlsbad.

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More Info on Legoland California …

This news item certainly raised some eyebrows.Senegal is offering free land to Haitians wishing to “return to their origins” following this week’s devastating earthquake, which has destroyed the capital and buried thousands of people beneath rubble.Senegal’s octogenarian President Abdoulaye Wade told a meeting of his advisers that Haitians are the sons and daughters of Africa, because the country

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Why Haitians are not going to go to Senegal

I was recently driving down the Loop 101 while listening to the news on the radio.  It was reported that, due to the devastating earthquake in Haiti, the Red Cross was in desperate need of supplies.  Monetary donations were being requested. The skeptical auditor in me immediately thought of all of the potential charity scams that will unfortunately pop up at a time like this.  We’ve seen it too many times in the past – with 9/11 or Hurricane Katrina, for instance.  Sure enough, I got back to my office, turned on my computer, and had this online article in the Phoenix Business Journal practically jump in my lap

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Avoiding Relief Scams

VeteranOwnedBusiness.com is proud to welcome Minnesota Veterans Research Institute of Minneapolis , Minnesota ( Hennepin County MN ) to the Veteran Owned Business Directory Non Profit Section .

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VeteranOwnedBusiness.com Welcomes Minnesota Veterans Research Institute Non-Profit Organization

Almost unnoticed, the EU became the largest regional auto market last year. Thanks to the support of scrappage programmes (particularly Germany’s €5bn scheme) it sold 14.4 million autos, compared to just 10.4m in the USA and 13.6m in China. W Europe continued to see higher sales than Central Europe, due to greater government support.

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EU auto sales top USA and China in 2009

On January 3, Fed chairman Ben Bernanke gave a long speech entitled “Monetary Policy and the Housing Bubble,” in which he argued that the Fed’s low interest rate policy in the early 2000s, which he supported, was not a significant factor in the housing bubble and resultant financial collapse. His arguments are unsound, self-serving, and harmful to economic recovery and financial regulatory reform

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Bernanke, Angelides, and the Bank Tax: Part I

VeteranOwnedBusiness.com is proud to welcome Southwest Veterans’ Business Resource Center of Fallbrook , California ( San Diego County CA to the Veteran Owned Business Directory Non Profit Section . Southwest Veterans’ Business Resource Center Details: The Southwest Veterans’ Business Resource Center, Inc., (SWVBRC) in concert with the support of communities will serve Veterans and active duty members that have served in any military component, and with exception, spouses through outreach and education programs

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Welcome Southwest Veterans’ Business Resource Center Non-Profit Organization

Haiti opportunism, everybody’s catching the wave! Sure, we all shared a collective groan this week when we heard the medieval philosophy ooze from Pat Robertson’s pustuled piehole, or the casually repulsive xenophobia from shitbags like Steve King or Fox News , but let’s be honest. Those assholes are amateurs

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We Are Going to Freaking Own Haiti, Man

This is one of three interview videos with the Head of Procurement at Northumberland County Council. See the others and many more exclusive interviews in the spotlearn Suppliers Academy at www.spotlearn.com.

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SU3000 Helen Lisle Video1.flv

Mike Munger of Duke University talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about many things. Listeners sent in questions for Mike and Russ to talk about and they chose ten of the most interesting questions with the idea of talking about each for six minutes

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Munger on Many Things

by Edward Hugh: Barcelona “If we look at public-sector debt and interest payments, Greece isn’t doing particularly worse than Italy,” Peter Westaway,Chief Economist Europe at Nomura International To everyone’s relief, Italy’s economy returned to growth in the third quarter of 2009, following five consecutive quarters of contraction. But that doesn’t make the future look or feel any more secure than the recent past, and while an immediate return to a sharp recession isn’t likely, it still isn’t clear whether the Q3 performance was repeated over the last three months of last year, or whether output remained more or less flat

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The Italian Lion Sleeps Tonight, And Yet Awhile……….

From the Economist : FRENCH internet executives, bloggers and web users cringed in early January when an independent report for the ministry of culture proposed a tax on online advertising revenues, aimed at American firms such as Google, Microsoft, AOL, Yahoo! and Facebook, to pay for new subsidies for the music, film and publishing industries.

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Google’s Troubles in Foreign Markets: First China, Now France?

And that’s important: It tells us that as Congress and the administration try to reform the financial system, they should ignore advice coming from the supposed wise men of Wall Street, who have no wisdom to offer. …

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New Brazil Economy/ Paul Krugman on Bankers « The Marin Progressive

Ichiro Ozawa, the No. 2 official in the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, said he will stay in the position after Tokyo prosecutors arrested two of his former aides amid reports of financial irregularities.

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Ozawa Says He Won’t Resign From No. 2 Position of Ruling Party

Financial Services Accountants are focused on saving, protecting and generating money, mostly for individuals or private clients. This substance that the range of clients that Financial Services Accountants could work with varies …

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Accountancy and its areas of work | Kpmg Accounting Firm

$2 Trillion dollars is the amount that travels across the different continents in the business of Global forex trading . GFT is unique because the business is open around the clock, 24/7 daily. Commodity , shares or stock trading will …

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Wealth Creation Thru Global Forex Trading | Internet Marketing …

Coming to India, MSMEs play a very crucial role in the overall industrial development of the country. MSMEs, in spite of being the major contributors to the Indian economy , they still are still facing some challenges that are resisting …

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MSMEs-Being Major Contributors, Struggling to Survive and Sustain …

Announcing the dividend Mr. Naresh Kumar Garg, CEO mentioned that Indian economy is on the high growth path and Indian banking & financial system has proven its robustness in the economic crisis faced by economies across the globe over …

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Sahara Banking & Financial Services Fund declares dividend …