The Grim Recover of Air France 447

The grim task of recovering the passengers from doomed Air France flight 447 continues. 17 bodies have been recovered, and search and rescue has come across the debris field. They are not only trying to recover the remains of the passengers but are seeking the flight data recorder and cockpit voice records so that investigators can figure out what happened to the place to cause it to crash.

Working theories on the cause of the crash include faulty speed sensors that caused the plane to fly too fast or too slow - too fast and the plane breaks up at altitude and too slow, and the plane crashes because it can't maintain lift. Throw in the severe weather in the vicinity of the crash at the time the plane lost contact, and the ever-present consideration for terrorism, and the need to obtain that information is crucial to rule out problems that might affect other planes in use today.

The exact location of the crash has not been determined, since ocean currents likely caused the bodies and debris to drift in the six days since the crash. And two key pieces of evidence -- the flight data and cockpit voice recorders -- remain missing, and could lay on the ocean floor. Map of Flight 447's flight path »

The part of the ocean where the debris and bodies have been found ranges between 19,685 and 26,247 feet (6,000 and 8,000 meters) deep. The search area covers 77,220 square miles (200,000 square km), an area nearly as big as the country of Romania.

Fourteen aircraft -- 12 Brazilian and two French -- were participating in the recovery efforts, along with five Brazilian ships and one French frigate. In Washington, a U.S. defense official told CNN the U.S. Navy will contribute two high-tech acoustic devices to listen for emergency beacons still operating in deep water.
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The "towed pinger locators" help search for emergency beacons on downed aircraft to a maximum depth of 20,000 feet, and will be placed aboard two French tugs that are part of the search efforts, the official said.

Recovery of bodies and debris is significant not only for families, but for crash investigators, said Mary Schiavo, a former inspector general for the U.S. Department of Transportation.

"Even if they don't find anything else they can get some very important clues from the pieces that they do find and from the human remains," Schiavo told CNN Saturday.

She said investigators would be able to discern if there was an explosion from possible residue on the bodies or other items. Or, if water is found in the lungs of victims, investigators would know the plane went down intact, she said.

Investigators in Paris said Saturday that the Air France flight sent out 24 automated error messages lasting about four minutes before it crashed. The error messages suggest the plane may have been flying too fast or too slow through severe thunderstorms it encountered before the crash, officials said.

Lebanon Displays Common Sense; Europe, Not So Much

When you get up close and personal with fascism, you're not inclined to see it again. Lebanon has seen how Hizbullah has tried to take over the country by force and intimidation, circumventing the electoral process.

They voted and the results are in. Hizbullah didn't win. In fact, while most experts thought it would be a tight race, the March 14 parties look like they're heading to a major win. Out of the 128 seats in the Legislature, they're on the verge of winning 70. That's a major win no matter how you cut it.

Lebanon's ruling pro-Western coalition appeared headed for a decisive political victory over its Iranian-backed Hezbollah rivals early Monday in the Middle East nation's most fiercely contested parliamentary election in decades.

Fireworks echoed through Beirut neighborhoods as unofficial results indicated that Hezbollah and its Christian allies were dealt a surprising setback at the polls.

With soldiers looking on, jubilant supporters of the ruling coalition poured into the streets, waving flags, honking car horns and chanting political slogans.

We "will return as the majority," Samir Geagea , head of the powerful Lebanese Forces party that is part of the pro-Western ruling coalition known as March 14 , told LBC television.

Both sides had predicted no more than a narrow victory. But unofficial results, which were expected to be made final later Monday, showed March 14 politicians winning most of the close races. Analysts projected that they would secure at least 70 seats in the 128-seat parliament. The coalition held 70 seats in the outgoing parliament while Hezbollah and its allies had 58.

Unofficial results showed March 14 politicians winning most of the close races. Local analysts projected that they would secure at least 70 seats in the 128-seat parliament. The coalition held 70 seats in the outgoing parliament while Hezbollah and its allies had 58.

Meanwhile, Europe looks like they're willing to give the fascists another go. History has not taught people the right lessons, as the BNP looks like they're going to win at least one seat, if not two.

Charles Johnson at LGF has done tremendous work showing just how insidious the BNP and its allied parties are in hiding their true intentions from the public. They are not the saviors for Europe and while they may claim that they're trying to stem the tide of Islamists in Europe, they're substituting their own fascism for that of the Islamists.

That's a bargain that Europeans should want no part of.

This Is What Google Wanted To Commemorate Today?

Today marks the 65th anniversary of the D-Day invasion to liberate Europe from Nazi tyranny, and what does Google do? Instead of putting up an image to honor the sacrifices made and the triumph of good over evil, they honor Tetris? Tetris? It's a game for heaven's sake. The world owes a debt of honor to the brave men who stormed ashore at Normandy and parachuted in to roll the Nazi conquest of Europe. This is what they came up with for today?



This is what they chose to honor?

For shame.

Feds Probing Bovis Lend Lease For Padding Bills

Bovis Lend Lease, which is one of the largest construction firms in the nation, and has worked on numerous high profile jobs in New York City, including Citifield and the 9/11 Memorial and was part of the consortium of companies that helped clear the debris from Ground Zero is being investigated by the feds for padding bills.

Federal prosecutors are investigating whether a contractor doing billions of dollars in business in the city overbilled for work on projects including the Sept. 11 memorial and the New York Mets' new stadium, officials familiar with the probe said Friday.

Prosecutors are looking into whether Bovis Lend Lease padded its billing reports with expenses for unworked hours, the two officials told The Associated Press. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is in its early stages.

The projects include the memorial, the $800 million Citi Field stadium that opened in April, a New York University hospital project, a mall in Queens and a former bank tower being dismantled across from ground zero, one of the officials said.

Bovis said in a statement Friday it's "fully cooperating" with the investigation by Brooklyn's U.S. Attorney's office and declined comment.

"We were unaware of any investigation or wrongdoing," the Mets said in a statement. "We take these allegations seriously and are looking into the matter."

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the World Trade Center site and is in charge of building the memorial, said its inspector general's office "is actively engaged in the investigation.

Bovis worked on projects whose worth was in the billions, and these investigations may seriously put a crimp in construction at Ground Zero if Bovis is found to have engaged in wrongdoing.

Bovis is also engaged in the deconstruction of the former Deutsche Bank building, which is now scheduled to occur by the end of the year, long after it was originally scheduled to be demolished because of a deadly fire and multiple safety violations at the site.

65 Years Later - Operation Overlord Still Shapes World Events

On this day 65 years ago, the Allies opened a Western front against Nazi Germany. set the United States on a course with destiny as the defender of freedom. It wasn't guaranteed, and Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower had written two versions of a statement on what happened this fateful day 63 years ago - one if the landings succeeded and another if the landings failed. The version for if the landings failed read:

Our landings have failed to gain a satisfactory foothold and I have withdrawn the troops.

"My decision to attack at this time and place was based on the best information available.

"The troops, the air and the Navy did all that bravery and devotion to duty could do.

"If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt it is mine alone."

Thankfully for all involved, Eisenhower would never have to give that version.



That's the view that many young men saw as they waded ashore under murderous German gunfire. For many, it was the last thing they saw. For the survivors, it was just the first step of many such steps into freeing Western Europe from the murderous grip of the Germans.

63 years ago, elements of the American, British and Canadian forces landed in France, opening up the Western Front against Nazi Germany. It was D-Day for Operation Overlord - the invasion to liberate Europe from the Nazis:

A great invasion force stood off the Normandy coast of France as dawn broke on 6 June 1944: 9 battleships, 23 cruisers, 104 destroyers, and 71 large landing craft of various descriptions as well as troop transports, mine sweepers, and merchantmen—in all, nearly 5,000 ships of every type, the largest armada ever assembled. The naval bombardment that began at 0550 that morning detonated large minefields along the shoreline and destroyed a number of the enemy’s defensive positions. To one correspondent, reporting from the deck of the cruiser HMS Hillary, it sounded like “the rhythmic beating of a gigantic drum” all along the coast. In the hours following the bombardment, more than 100,000 fighting men swept ashore to begin one of the epic assaults of history, a “mighty endeavor,” as President Franklin D. Roosevelt described it to the American people, “to preserve … our civilization and to set free a suffering humanity.”

The attack had been long in coming. From the moment British forces had been forced to withdraw from France in 1940 in the face of an overwhelming German onslaught, planners had plotted a return to the Continent. Only in that way would the Allies be able to confront the enemy’s power on the ground, liberate northwestern Europe, and put an end to the Nazi regime.

The outcome of the landings was in doubt until the beachheads were able to be established and reinforcements could be landed.

While the landings at Sword, Juno, Utah, and Gold beaches were largely successful, Omaha Beach nearly became a fiasco of monumental proportions that could threaten the landings at the other beaches. The Sherman DD tanks were launched too far out in the choppy waters and 27 of the 32 tanks sank, leaving the infantry without the needed support. German forces were able to pin the troops that did make it ashore in a killing field that turned the ocean red.

The military briefly considered shifting assets from Omaha Beach to Utah in order to exploit the landing there, but the survivors at Omaha managed to open up pathways to behind the German lines, where they could be attacked, cut off and destroyed by follow up attacks.

In the hours and days after the landings, tens of thousands of Allied troops would come ashore and link up with the remnants of the Airborne units that landed inland to help prevent reinforcements from heading to the beaches. Those units suffered serious casualties for several reasons including being dropped immediately on top of St. Mere Egliese, flooded fields, and were dispersed over such a wide area that it made it difficult to link up the individual Airborne units.

The following is a special video that includes footage recreating the events of the fateful hours of D-Day:


d-day

Eisenhower's speech as it was delivered.

Today, President Barack Obama, French President Nicholas Sarkozy and other national leaders will pay their respects to the bravery of the US, Canadian, British, and Free French forces that came ashore to liberate the European continent from Nazi tyranny. In addition to paying his respects to those forces, Obama also used the opportunity to criticize another odious regime of today - North Korea.

Also present will be one of the last living members of the only African-American batallion to come ashore in the invasion, Cpl. William G. Dabney, who was a member of the 320th Antiaircraft Barrage Balloon Battalion, whose job was to come ashore and then unfurl helium balloons to prevent Nazi planes from strafing the beachhead.

Meanwhile, in its coverage of the D-Day events MSNBC couldn't help but take a swipe at President Bush, claiming that Obama and Sarkozy have improved relations between France and the US, which ignores the fact that Sarkozy was pro-American and overcame the anti-American sentiment that swept Europe after the Iraq invasion (and who wasn't alone as the Italians also elected a pro-American leader). Facts are a stubborn thing, and it was a fact that it took the stubborn determination of those forces on D-Day to liberate the continent and to show that the Americans carried the mantle of freedom and liberty wherever they went.

That's true, even to this day, despite what MSNBC may claim. Liberating 50 million people from the yoke of tyranny in Iraq and Afghanistan was not the easy thing to do, but it was the right thing.

UPDATE:
Ed Morissey has a post commemorating D-Day, and includes video of President Reagan's speech on the 40th anniversary. I will add President Obama's speech when it is available.

Developing: All PATH Service Suspended Due To Fire

A fire at Journal Square has shut down all service on the PATH system. The building houses PATH's control center. There's no word on whether service will be restored by the evening rush hour.

UPDATE:
WCBS 880 reports that the fire broke out in the control room, where all the system's switches are located.

UPDATE:
It looks like service is screwed for the evening rush hour and NJ Transit will be cross honoring PATH passes.

UPDATE:
Moments ago, PATH sent out a notice stating that service has been restored with residual delays. No word on what residual delays means, but it probably means that there will be in-route delays that will throw off the schedules of those trying to catch some trains.

Obama Challenges Ahmadinejad On Holocaust Denial

Kudos to President Obama for issuing the challenge to Holocaust deniers, including Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, saying that he has no patience for those who deny history.

President Barack Obama witnessed the Nazi ovens of the Buchenwald concentration camp Friday, its clock tower frozen at the time of liberation, and said the leaders of today must not rest against the spread of evil.

The president called the camp where an estimated 56,000 people died the "ultimate rebuke" to Holocaust deniers and skeptics. And he bluntly challenged one of them, Iranian President Ahmadinejad, to visit Buchenwald.

"These sites have not lost their horror with the passage of time," Obama said after seeing crematory ovens, barbed-wire fences, guard towers and the clock set at 3:15, marking the camp's liberation in the afternoon of April 11, 1945. "More than half a century later, our grief and our outrage over what happened have not diminished."

Buchenwald "teaches us that we must be ever-vigilant about the spread of evil in our own time, that we must reject the false comfort that others' suffering is not our problem, and commit ourselves to resisting those who would subjugate others to serve their own interests," Obama said.

I don't expect Ahmadinejad or any of the others, including Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas, to change their tune about Holocaust denial anytime soon. It's ingrained in their rhetoric that the Holocaust didn't happen, that it was wildly overblown, and invented by the Jews to demand and obtain what would later become the state of Israel.

What remains bothersome is that Obama downplays the fact that Ahmadinejad is using genocidal language in relation to Israel's existence, all while Iran pursues nuclear technologies in conjunction with missile technologies that are highly suggestive that Iran seeks to obliterate Israel with nuclear weapons and to threaten the rest of the region with a similar fate.

It's an existential threat, and Iran uses the Holocaust denial to continue undermining Israel's sovereignty in international organizations like the United Nations and other international confabs.

UPDATE:
Video of the speech:

Penske Races To Save Saturn From GM's Scrap Heap

Roger Penske, who made his name in auto racing and has built a considerable auto empire, is expected to buy Saturn and the dealer network from General Motors.

The deal is expected to be announced later today.

It's a risky move on Penske's part, but one that I think will pay dividends down the road. Penske is more apt to take the racing experience and put it into the cars than General Motors.

A sale also would free Saturn from speculation about the brand's future that dealers complain has depressed sales since GM announced it would be either sold or phased out later this year.

"We're pretty excited to get that cloud removed," said Dan Jonuska, a Saturn dealer in Scottsdale, Ariz. "The cloud can go away and park anywhere it wants but right here."

GM would not confirm that a sale is imminent, nor that Penske is the likely buyer. A Penske spokesman did not return calls seeking comment.

"Negotiations are literally going around the clock and we hope to have something to announce soon," Saturn spokesman Steve Janisse said.

It was unclear whether Saturn's leadership team, including General Manager Jill Lajdziak, would be part of the deal.

The Saturn negotiations involve pairing parties interested in Saturn's network of about 380 dealerships with one or more auto manufacturers interested in supplying vehicles that could be sold under the Saturn name.

Saturn had narrowed the list of potential bidders from about 12 to "two or three," according to a source familiar with the talks. At least one of the finalists is considering using Mitsubishi, and possibly other manufacturers, to provide vehicles, a source said.

GM hopes to conclude a deal by the end of September.

Penske has confirmed he is interested in acquiring Saturn's dealer network. Penske is the head of Bloomfield Hills-based Penske Automotive Group Inc., which operates more than 300 franchises in the United States and internationally, selling 40 brands. He has hired former Chrysler Vice Chairman and President Tom LaSorda as a consultant and could form a venture with Nissan Motor Co., the Japanese affiliate of Renault SA, according to a source familiar with talks. Penske reportedly plans on importing vehicles made in South Korea by Renault Samsung Motors and selling them through the Saturn dealership network, according to The Automotive News.

News of an imminent Penske deal was welcomed by Taylor Brown, general sales manager of Saturn of Raleigh and Saturn of Cary in North Carolina.

"Penske is synonymous with quality and value," he said Thursday. "That's what we're expecting him to bring to us."

A conference call was scheduled for this morning to discuss the sale.

Also, GM is set to sell the Delphi manufacturing group to a private equity group.

Separately, GM is set to provide more than $2.5 billion to finance the buyout of Delphi /quotes/comstock/11i!dphiq (DPHIQ 0.09, +0.00, +5.39%) by private-equity firm Platinum Equity, the Journal reported, citing an unnamed source.

Terms of the deal include an investment by Platinum of up to $750 million and GM's purchase of four Delphi plants and its global steering division based in Saginaw, Mich., the paper reported.

UPDATE:
Penske currently operates a truck leasing business, so adding car rentals to his portfolio isn't a stretch. It could open up a built in network that could expand the customer base if they see the vehicles as reliable and worthy of purchase after renting.

The Timing of It All

It is indeed quite curious why President Obama is rushing headlong into yet another attempt to create a peace process between Israel and the Palestinians.

While some might think that it's unheard of a President engaging in Arab-Israel relations this early in their presidencies, President Clinton was able to take advantage of the Oslo talks in 1993, which had begun in the wake of the Madrid talks under President Bush in the previous administration.

The problem here is that there's nothing to discuss. The Palestinians are split in two camps - Hamas, which engages in an ongoing war against Israel and the current hudna is in place so as to allow Hamas to regroup and rearm in Gaza, while Fatah operates out of the West Bank and whose residents remain under Palestinian civil administrative control, just as they've been since 1993's Oslo Accords and the succession of documents, like the Gaza-Jericho Accords, the Wye Accords, and various other agreements expanding Palestinian civil administrative control on the West Bank. Fatah can't speak for all Palestinians, and Hamas has a point about the legitimacy of the Palestinian Authority.

Until the Palestinians themselves can figure out what they want - and that it includes a true two-state solution with a Jewish state of Israel peacefully coexisting alongside a Palestinian state (or as many commenters will point out - another Palestinian state with Jordan being the first), Israel can do nothing except sit and watch and hope that the terrorists don't get itchy trigger fingers, as they always seem to do.

More to the point, Fatah can't operate in Gaza because Hamas threw them out in a civil war, and the tensions between the two terror groups remains to this day, spilling into open bloodshed on a periodic basis.

All the while, Israel awaits a true partner in peace, who is willing to provide concessions instead of demanding Israel make still more concessions before rejecting them out of hand without so much as a counter proposal, just as Abbas did last week.

So, for anyone to claim that serious progress is possible is engaging in nothing more than wishful thinking. It's pseudoreality, where the diplomats attempt to substitute their own reality for the facts as they are. A real sustained peace process requires that both sides engage in concessions, and none have been forthcoming from the Palestinians.

After all, this is who Israel has to negotiate with when dealing with the Gazans.

Then, there's the whole notion that the peace process hinges on Palestinians and Israelis coming to a peace deal. There's nothing stopping Israel's Arab neighbors from making their own peace deals. Jordan did it. Egypt did it. What does it take for anyone else in the region to do it?

There is nothing stopping these regimes from doing so, except the fact that these regimes have sustained themselves for generations on anti-Israel hatred, and to turnaround and make a peace deal now would show just how empty and vacuous these regimes truly are. It would mean that these regimes, like Saudi Arabia or the UAE or Kuwait or Iraq have to accept the region as it is - not as they have wished it to be for generations - a region without a Jewish state in Israel. It would mean treating those displaced persons from the Arab-Israeli wars as citizens of their states, instead of pawns in a war against Israel. Surely, there's enough oil money to go around and provide incentives for this to happen, but the obstacles - the Islamists and long ingrained beliefs in Israel's destruction - would not allow it come to pass.

State of the New Orleans Levees

Hurricane season is upon us, and the levees in and around New Orleans aren't quite up to where they need to be, but they're in an improved situation from just a few years ago. There are still areas that are insufficient to handle a Category 3 storm and work is progressing in and around the city.

Despite the money that the Army Corps of Engineers is spending on construction -- $2.5 billion since Hurricane Katrina and another $8 billion at the ready -- the federal protection system of enhanced levees, floodwalls, pumps, ramps and gates won't be finished until June 1, 2011, at the earliest.

"There are improvements over last year, yes," levee board executive Bob Turner said. "But even when it's finished, it will only be a system to protect property. It's evacuations that save people.

"So please don't stay home because you read about this or that improvement that's been finished and think it's safe to stay."

Evacuation is a tall order for southeast Louisiana residents weary of the grueling and expensive process of fleeing storms only to see them fizzle onshore or veer away. But it remains the only real protection from the potentially deadly storm surge of a hurricane, according to emergency officials, engineers, geologists and water managers throughout government and academia.

These analysts have been studying the levee system ever since it failed so catastrophically during Katrina. Some of them still are.

This map shows the key details.

The expectation is that the new and upgraded levees will be able to protect the City and surrounding areas behind the levees from a 100 year storm. The Army Corps of Engineers expects to have the system in place in 2011.

David Carradine Found Dead In Bangkok Hotel Room

David Carradine, who was the kung-fu master in so many of the martial arts movies of my youth, and who was the sinister Bill in the Kill Bill movies, was found dead in a Bangkok hotel room. This particular report says he was found hanging inside his hotel room and may have committed suicide. TMZ says that he died of natural causes.

The man had a voice that projected in turns a serenity and an unearthly danger, depending on the situation. He will be missed.

UPDATE:
Carradine in Kill Bill, Vol. 2:



My thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends.

Tienanmen Square Twenty Years Later

Today marks the 20th Anniversary of the Tienanmen Square crackdown by the Chinese against protesters. That bloody crackdown included thousands of arrests, with many never to be heard from ever again. The Chinese government has made an ongoing effort of making it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for the Chinese to learn about what happened at Tienanmen Square. They've blocked searches on the subject and do not teach it in school. Repression of the events are the name of the game.

China aggressively deterred dissent in the capital on Thursday's 20th anniversary of the crackdown on democracy activists in Tiananmen Square. But tens of thousands turned out for a candlelight vigil in Hong Kong to mourn the hundreds, possibly thousands, of demonstrators killed.

The central government ignored calls from U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and even Taiwan's China-friendly president for Beijing to face up to the 1989 violence.

In Beijing, foreign journalists were barred from the vast square as uniformed and plainclothes police stood guard across the area, which was the epicenter of the student-led movement that was crushed by the military on the night of June 3-4, 1989.

Security officials checking passports also blocked foreign TV camera operators and photographers from entering the square to cover the raising of China's national flag, which happens at dawn every day. Plainclothes officers confronted journalists on the streets surrounding the square, cursing and threatening violence against them.

The repression on the mainland contrasted starkly with Hong Kong, where organizers said 150,000 people gathered in the city's famous Victoria Park in the largest commemoration on Chinese soil. Police had no immediate crowd estimate.

The situation today is unchanged from past years, including last year, the year before that or three years ago, as the Chinese government regularly conducts surveillance to thwart demonstrations commemorating the crackdown and had police and security out in force to thwart any kind of remembrance in the Square itself.



That man's identity has never been conclusively determined. His whereabouts are likewise unknown, but most human rights groups believe he was imprisoned and killed.

This video shows the violent crackdown in action:





UPDATE:
The NY Times has published a never-before seen photo of the man who stood up to the tanks. Even in this view, taken from street level behind him, you could see him calmly awaiting the encounter with the tanks. It's an amazing photo.

Obama's Vaunted Middle East Speech Not So Vaunted

I'm sure this is going to go over real well with the Islamists.

Once again, President Obama is playing apologist for the woes of the region, which has lagged the rest of the world despite sitting on top of one of the most precious natural resources that the world relies upon for its economic sustenance. All the revenues from oil have not meant a productive and stable society, but rather spawned Islamists who seek to overthrow existing monarchies and totalitarian regimes to institute Islamist states. Those regimes deflect the conflict onto Israel - and jihad.

Yet, the President wants the world to think that this is solely due to colonialism and it's our fault that we're concerned about the spread of Islam by the sword - imposing sharia as it goes?

Violent extremists have exploited these tensions in a small but potent minority of Muslims. The attacks of September 11th, 2001 and the continued efforts of these extremists to engage in violence against civilians has led some in my country to view Islam as inevitably hostile not only to America and Western countries, but also to human rights. This has bred more fear and mistrust.

So long as our relationship is defined by our differences, we will empower those who sow hatred rather than peace, and who promote conflict rather than the cooperation that can help all of our people achieve justice and prosperity. This cycle of suspicion and discord must end.

I have come here to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world; one based upon mutual interest and mutual respect; and one based upon the truth that America and Islam are not exclusive, and need not be in competition. Instead, they overlap, and share common principles - principles of justice and progress; tolerance and the dignity of all human beings.

Apparently the President hasn't gotten the message about the misogynistic nature of Islam, where women are stoned and killed for being found in the presence of men who are unrelated to them. The President hasn't noted the multiple reports of girls' schools attacked by Islamist Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan who murder teachers and intimidate families to not allow their girls to learn and be educated.

This speech was designed with a specific audience in mind, so phrases like "As the Holy Koran tells us, "Be conscious of God and speak always the truth."" are meant for their ears, but it makes me wonder if the President would say "Holy Bible" when talking to a Christian or Jewish audience, even though the Bible is indeed holy to Christians and Jews. There are some phrases that can be avoided, but this President is imprecisely precise with his use of language, and throwing these code-words into the speech are only going to increase the fodder for the fringe wings of both parties - who do not see the President as legitimate and who subsumed his Muslim heritage so as to win the election.

Meanwhile, his talk about Darfur and Bosnia ignore the fact that the US has gone to war to save Muslims, and that in the case of Darfur, it was Muslims who were busy engaging in genocide and ethnic cleansing.

In Ankara, I made clear that America is not - and never will be - at war with Islam. We will, however, relentlessly confront violent extremists who pose a grave threat to our security. Because we reject the same thing that people of all faiths reject: the killing of innocent men, women, and children. And it is my first duty as President to protect the American people.

American is not at war with Islam, but Islamists are at war with the US, and that's the crux of the whole relationship, which the President seeks to deemphasize.

The talk about the second major strain on American-Muslim relations is predictably the Arab-Israeli conflict, but here again, until the President recognizes that the Arab regimes and the Palestinians themselves have perpetuated the conflict for their own ends, and note the complete inability of Palestinian leaders, whether it was Arafat or Abbas to accept generous comprehensive peace deals (2000 at Camp David or in 2008), that the ongoing misery in Gaza is the fault of no one but the Palestinians and the extremists in their midst. Hamas is to blame for the ongoing mess in Gaza - Israel unilaterally withdrew in 2005. The Palestinian Authority has been in civil administrative control of much of the West Bank since Oslo was signed, and many of those areas are now no-go areas for Israeli Jews - they are Jew-free. Yet, that isn't enough. Abbas is a Holocaust denier, and refused to bother with a counterproposal to former Israeli Prime Minister's offer to provide nearly all of the West Bank to the Palestinians and a limited right of return. It wasn't enough.

Nothing short of the destruction of Israel will be enough for a Palestinian people that has been indoctrinated for generations that Israel's destruction will come and is a necessary predicate for forming a Palestinian state on its ruins.

No matter how many concessions are given, it will never be enough, and the Palestinian leaders are not brave enough to go for peace when it means that the Islamists and the extremists in their midst will murder them at the first opportunity.

As for the whole notion of settlements, I will remind everyone that Israel has repeatedly abandoned communities in the pursuit of peace. It could do so again, if there was a committed partner in peace, but the Palestinians are no such partner. Gaza shows the folly of providing land to those who do not want peace. Palestinians had the opportunity to turn Gaza into an economic and tourist destination. Instead, they turned it into an armed camp and base of operations for the rocket war against Israel.

So, when the President talks of concessions, what are the Palestinians going to concede in the name of peace? This is indeed a two-way street, but the way the President presents matters, it is up to the US to provide concessions and to demand concessions in pursuit of a peaceful accommodation with the Muslim world.

Then, there's the matter of nuclear Iran. The President glosses over the fact that the Islamic regime took power by not only overthrowing the government of the Shah, but holding Americans hostage for more than a year - an act of war that went unpunished. Since then, Iran has backed Hamas and Hizbullah, who have both engaged in mass casaulty attacks against the US and our allies. Indeed, Hizbullah started a devastating war in South Lebanon against Israel, and Iran continues down a path to nuclear weapons.

Ignoring the genocidal rhetoric by the regime - going back to its founding - is a major omission and undermines the urgency of dealing with a nuclearized Iran and its intentions to obtain nuclear weapons. We simply cannot trust this regime when it says that they intend to pursue nuclear technologies in order to build nuclear reactors solely, as the enrichment equipment isn't being built to merely provide electricity to Iranians, but to secure the means to annihilate Israel in fulfillment of ideological and theological aims.

So, when it boils down to it, this speech is all so many words that gloss over the realities of the region, and presents so much wishful thinking while putting demands on the Israelis to make still more concessions in pursuit of a peace process that lacks an actual partner in peace.

UPDATE:
Elder of Ziyon has additional analysis, and notes that Obama makes reference to Palestine as though it already exists.

This speech has so many issues, that it's going to take time to analyze the whole thing. It's a pandering mess that does little to advance American national interests and putting responsibility on those in the region for what has happened. It's an apologia in effect saying that the current situation is the result of colonial meddling, even though the current regimes have been in power largely uninterrupted since their founding in the breakup of the Ottoman Empire after World War I.

UPDATE:
Former Ambassador to the UN John Bolton notes the flawed premises on which the speech rests and that President Obama focused on tension with Muslim regimes in the Middle East all while ignoring the US close ties with the Saudi monarchy. I'd add that the US went to save Kuwait from Saddam Hussein's clutches in 1990 and US military bases situated in Qatar and our ongoing commitment to providing billions in aid to Egypt.

UPDATE:
MSNBC omits the entire section referring to Obama calling on Israel to cease settlement activities. Curious. Here's the FoxNews transcript (and the NYT also contains the relevant passages):

Now is the time for Palestinians to focus on what they can build. The Palestinian Authority must develop its capacity to govern, with institutions that serve the needs of its people. Hamas does have support among some Palestinians, but they also have responsibilities. To play a role in fulfilling Palestinian aspirations, and to unify the Palestinian people, Hamas must put an end to violence, recognize past agreements, and recognize Israel's right to exist.

At the same time, Israelis must acknowledge that just as Israel's right to exist cannot be denied, neither can Palestine's. The United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements. This construction violates previous agreements and undermines efforts to achieve peace. It is time for these settlements to stop.

Israel must also live up to its obligations to ensure that Palestinians can live, and work, and develop their society. And just as it devastates Palestinian families, the continuing humanitarian crisis in Gaza does not serve Israel's security; neither does the continuing lack of opportunity in the West Bank. Progress in the daily lives of the Palestinian people must be part of a road to peace, and Israel must take concrete steps to enable such progress.

Curious omission.

UPDATE:
Ed at Hot Air thinks this was a surprisingly good speech, and thinks the speech was on par with what President Bush has said previously. Of course, I disagreed with Bush on the mistaken notion about settlements being the impediment to peace as well.

Ed misses the point that selectively pointing out various historical events while ignoring certain other ones continues the longstanding problems in the region, and that it was the Arabs own fault for not creating a Palestinian state alongside Israel in 1948. They've had the opportunity to speak out against the calls to genocide and destruction of Israel, but have chosen not to. The historical references only add fuel to that fire - it's what the Arab audience wanted to hear, and this speech does little to change that.

UPDATE:
Peter Daou also notes Obama's acceptance of the hijab and the misogynistic attitudes of Muslims and finds the speech sorely lacking. In fact, he says that it exposes his naivete on how the Middle East works and ignores human rights and women's rights.

Most Presidents come into the White House with a limited understanding of how the region works, but this President is more naive than most. In fact, you could say that Obama hopes that his sheer force of personality is enough to change things. He's not offering a plan, only himself. Let's just say that the Iranians aren't exactly going to change their aspirations for nuclear weapons anytime soon.

America is deeply hated because the regimes sustain themselves because of the hatred - projecting it outwards towards Israel and the US rather than dwelling on the failings of the various regimes throughout the region.

The Baltimore Experience

This past weekend, I went down to Baltimore to get away from the NYC metro area for a bit and to take in Orioles Park at Camden Yards. We managed to see a bit of the city, including the Washington Monument, Fort McHenry, the Inner Harbor, and the area around Camden Yards.

The area around the Inner Harbor was full of life and the place was packed on this perfect spring day. The weather was just amazing, and I have the sunburn to prove it (wear your sunscreen and hats folks).

Parts of the city remind me of Brooklyn and the new ballpark fits in nicely with the downtown area. There's a reason that so many other teams have tried to replicate the feeling, ambiance, and intimacy that Camden Yards affords fans.

Our seats were awesome and had I tried to spend that kind of money at the new Yankee Stadium, I would have been in the terrace level in the outfield. For roughly $50, we had prime seats behind home plate just rows from the field. Eutaw Street is a thriving area just past the right field fence, and they've even got home runs out on the street immortalized with little plaques.

 

Inside the stadium, the Orioles mascot did his best to keep the crowd interested, and he brought kids out on to the field before the game started to play around. It was quite cute.

 

The first pitch was thrown out by none other than former Bush and Clinton Administration member Norman Mineta, who was introduced as the first Asian American mayor in the country and someone who had lived through the FDR internment of Japanese during World War II.

The outcome of the game didn't particularly matter to me, but the Tigers won 6-3 over the Orioles. However, Oriole fans have a lot to look forward to as Matt Wienters got his first major league hits in the game - a triple followed by a single. Congrats to him, and I expect we'll be hearing lots more about him in coming years. He's got quite the pretty swing.

 

All in all, we had a great time down in Baltimore and I can see going to more games. On that front, Baltimore definitely has a lot to offer, although that is a double edged sword. At times, it sounded like there were more Tigers fans in the stands than Orioles fans, and that's despite the fact that the Red Wings are in the Stanley Cup. I can also see why so many New York fans go down there to catch games - it's cheaper and it's a great ballpark.

UPDATE:
This photo panorama doesn't quite do the park justice. It's a combination of a dozen separate photos.

 

A Disturbing Trend Continues

Congress didn't bother to read the porkfest they passed. Now, Sen. Harry Reid is on the record as saying he doesn't intend to read any of the opinions written by Judge Sonia Sotomayor in preparation for the confirmation hearings that will be taking place during the summer.

Virtually every Senator who's asked about Sonia Sotomayor defaults to a riff about how they're withholding judgment until they have an opportunity to nest in leather-bound chairs read to her writings in scholarly solitude for hours and hours.

Not Harry, he's good to go.

"I understand that during her career, she's written hundreds and hundreds of opinions. I haven't read a single one of them, and if I'm fortunate before we end this, I won't have to read one of them,” the majority leader told reporters at the Capitol on Tuesday.

Aren't you glad we send these guys to Washington to look after the affairs of the nation?

Is he not the slightest bit interested in knowing whether Sotomayor might turn out to be something that the Democrats don't want to happen? Is he that sure what someone who will spend the rest of their life (or at least until they retire) is thinking about on the key issues of the day - and on her legal approach to handling cases going forward based on incomplete news reports and captions of various legal decisions?

I have no doubt that if it was a GOP nominee, he would be searching tooth and nail for any dicta that might be cause for concern and he and his staff would be burning the midnight oil looking for that gotcha moment for use in the hearings.

In any event, confirmation isn't a rubber stamping procedure, but one that is supposed to make sure that the candidate is qualified. Reid makes a mockery of that process.

The Order of the Domestic Policy Battle

Rep Charles Rangel (D-NY-Tax Cheat) wants to get to the climate change bill done before the health policy reform bill is taken up.

There's no word on how the higher costs associated with imposing the climate change plan will be offset for low and middle income families - yet another hidden tax on all Americans that will increase costs and reduce the amount of money in the pockets of all Americans.

Meanwhile, the health care reform bill may include items that remove "tax preferences" for employer-sponsored health insurance.

Given that the Democrats control both the House and the Senate, whatever plan is ultimately adopted on both fronts will be done regardless of what Republicans are able to do. They don't have the numbers to filibuster, and while they might be able to win some concessions on the fringes, these massive spending bills (and make no mistake, but they are spending bills) will impose new and onerous regulations on American businesses at a time when they can least afford it.

UPDATE:
Let's call it what it is - the Administration isn't going to stand in the way of massively taxing private health insurance so as to increase the percentage of Americans who have health insurance.

This is sending the health care delivery system down the same path to ruin that the government imposition of affordable housing on the nation has wrought. This will result in further market distortions and reduce in worse health care delivery - and the number of people covered will be a worthless statistic when the actual care being delivered is reduced from its current levels (where anyone can obtain care, but the cost is what people worry about).

The Obama Middle East Tour

So, President Obama is on his way to Saudi Arabia and Osama bin Laden has made another audio tape from the great beyond to commemorate the event. Osama claims that Obama is doing nothing but following in President Bush's footsteps, and I'd take that to be yet another da'wa.

It's a challenge to do what the Islamists want, or else face jihad.

It is also curious that the tape was sent to al Jazeera and not released to the Internet, as has typically been done in the past because al Qaeda routinely accused al Jazeera of editing and distorting the messages. Howie at the Jawa Report has more.

In the meantime, the Administration is going to apologize for the mistakes of the Bush administration to soothe bad feelings by Muslims around the world. This Administration continues its apologia tour, and the end result is an America that looks weaker to its enemies and gets our allies thinking twice about stepping up to assist going forward. It also raises doubts in the minds of those who might seek our assistance or look for alliances going forward because the Administration is doing more to cozy up to bad regimes than they are keeping good relations with existing friends and allies.

What does an apology get the United States here? It isn't going to stop the Islamists. Instead, it will have the opposite effect - encouraging further depravities because they think the US is unwilling to do what is necessary to stop them. The murder, mayhem, and bloodshed will continue at a greater rate because the jihadis sense weakness from the White House.

So, how to reconcile the fact that al Qaeda thinks that President Obama is continuing President Bush's policies, while Obama is changing the rhetoric? Well, that's it, isn't it? Obama is changing the rhetoric, while keeping the Bush era framework for fighting against the jihad. The names and phrases used might change, but the goals are substantively the same for the moment.

This administration's motives are mercurial and the President will say what he must based on the situation and the crowd, each with an expiration date. Pushing for a peace deal between Israel and its Arab neighbors is a fool's errand when those neighbors continue agitating for Israel's destruction and making no effort to hide their intentions.

US Government Accidentally Releases Sensitive Nuclear Data

Just how sensitive was this information? Well, the Obama Administration is playing down the contents, but a 266 page document that included sensitive information warnings was made public yesterday, and included data on whereabouts of enriched uranium at some of the nation's nuclear weapons facilities.

The government accidentally posted on the Internet a list of government and civilian nuclear facilities and their activities in the United States, but a U.S. official said Wednesday the posting included no information that compromised national security.

The 266-page document was published on May 6 as a transmission from President Barack Obama to Congress. According to the document, the list was required by law and will be provided to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Some of the pages are marked "highly confidential safeguards sensitive."

Damien LaVera, a spokesman for the National Nuclear Security Administration, said the document had been reviewed by a number of U.S. agencies and that disclosure of the information did not jeopardize national security. He said the document is part of an agreement on nuclear material inspection under the IAEA's nuclear nonproliferation effort.

Information included details on storage locations for enriched uranium at the Y-12 facility at Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

When It's Convenient

The Obama Administration and President Barack Obama are nothing if not calculating.

The media avoided asking questions before the election. Obama purposefully lied and obfuscated the truth to get elected by minimizing his Muslim heritage. The Administration is now suddenly inflating or proffering the fact that he's got Muslim roots.

This stinks to high heaven, and the media failed the American people in a big way.

This is going to give all those birth certificate conspiracy nuts and others who question Obama's legitimacy as President more kindling for their theories.

And the Administration is willingly pushing this because they're now trying to appear more friendly to the Middle East regimes. Obama will say and do anything for any purpose - and yet the purposes aren't exactly clear.

ABC News' Jake Tapper and Sunlen Miller report: The other day we heard a comment from a White House aide that never would have been uttered during the primaries or general election campaign.

During a conference call in preparation for President Obama's trip to Cairo, Egypt, where he will address the Muslim world, deputy National Security Adviser for Strategic Communications Denis McDonough said "the President himself experienced Islam on three continents before he was able to -- or before he's been able to visit, really, the heart of the Islamic world -- you know, growing up in Indonesia, having a Muslim father -- obviously Muslim Americans (are) a key part of Illinois and Chicago."

Given widespread unease and prejudice against Muslims among Americans, especially in the wake of 9/11, the Obama campaign was perhaps understandably very sensitive during the primaries and general election to downplay the candidate's Muslim roots.

The candidate was even offended when referred to by his initials "BHO," because he considered the use of his middle name, "Hussein," an attempt to frighten voters.

With insane rumors suggesting he was some sort of Muslim Manchurian candidate, then-Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and his campaign did everything they could to emphasize his Christianity and de-emphasize the fact that his father, Barack Obama Sr., was born Muslim.

My head hurts from all this. I'm severely pissed that our nation's media was so intent upon getting rid of President Bush that they latched on to anything but - and didn't want to address any of the nagging issues that were raised from the outset.

They didn't do their due diligence, and their multiple failures to follow stories affecting the outcome of the 2008 election have been chronicled here including the New York Times running bogus stories about John McCain's relationship with a lobbyist, and minimizing Obama's ties to radicals and racists and unrepentant terrorists.

This is on them.

New Jersey Goes To The Polls

Today marks the day that New Jersey goes to the polls to determine the candidates to run for Governor. On the GOP side, it is a two man race - between Chris Christie and Steve Lonegan.

I expect that Christie will pull it out and win the race fairly handily, even though Lonegan conservatives will flock to him. The GOP is going to want someone who can actually have a chance of winning in November, and Christie is better suited for winning that race.

Over on the Democrats' side, it's a one-man race, even though there are four guys on the ballot. Gov. Jon Corzine, with all his millions is going to crush his competition, even though Corzine has done an awful job and the motley crew of alternatives isn't much better. The Democrats allowed Jeff Boss on the ballot, and haven't spoken out against his conspiracy mongering claiming that the government was behind the 9/11 attacks. That is to their everlasting shame.

If you're a Democrat who wants to choose someone other than Corzine, your best bet is to go with Carl Bergmanson, whose political platform includes calling for a constitutional convention to eliminate the Supreme Court's meddling with COAH and school funding. Part of his platform has been overtaken by the events last week relating to the Abbott School funding, but he's at least pushing a fiscally responsible approach, as compared to Corzine.

Even if Corzine wins the primary, he's not a lock to win the election in November as his approval numbers remain pretty bad, and his economic policies include trying to further undermine the stability of the underfunded state pension system while maintaining all the perks for the unions.

UPDATE:
Went to the polls a short time ago, and the turnout was very light. Whereas there were more than 100 people who had voted by this point of the day in the November 2008 election, 15 voted in this election.

UPDATE:
Christie has won in a big way. 55-42 Christie over Lonegan despite light turnout. Corzine won handily.

Pakistani Military Rescues Kidnapped Pakistani Students

This episode isn't quite over, but this is good news. Hundreds of Pakistani students and teachers were kidnapped by Taliban groups yesterday, and the Pakistani military set up checkpoints and stopped the group. A firefight ensued and a number of students were freed.

The Taliban were taking the kidnapped students to South Waziristan when soldiers challenged them on a road and a clash erupted, said military spokesman Major-General Athar Abbas.

"Under cover of the firing the militants escaped and we have recovered them all," Abbas said.

Abbas said 71 students and nine members of staff had been rescued.

Taliban fighters with hand grenades seized the students' convoy heading home for the summer holiday from the North Waziristan ethnic Pashtun region, on the Afghan border, to the town of Bannu, 240 km (150 miles) southwest of Islamabad.

Bannu police chief Iqbal Marwat said on Monday that Taliban had seized up to 400 people in 28 vehicles but scores had escaped.

The vice principal of the college, Javed Alam, later told Reuters about 200 had managed to slip away and had arrived at Bannu.

Given there were perhaps 400 students and teachers captured, we have an accounting for perhaps 280 people in total. There's perhaps another 120 people who remain unaccounted for.

Not Quite Sudden Jihad Syndrome

The man alleged to have murdered a US soldier, William Long, and wounded another outside a Little Rock, Arkansas recruiting center apparently visited Yemen recently and was under investigation by the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force.

The investigation was in its preliminary stages, authorities said, and was based on the suspect's travel to Yemen and his arrest there for using a Somali passport.

The suspect, Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, 24, had changed his name from Carlos Leon Bledsoe after converting to the Muslim faith.

Law enforcement sources said he offered no resistance when Little Rock police arrested him today.

This doesn't appear to be an example of sudden jihad syndrome, where someone appears to snap and engage in jihad, but rather appears to have been premeditated action. Muhammad converted to Islam recently, and made his way to Yemen, which isn't exactly a tourist destination for Americans, but is a hot spot for jihadis. That's what probably got the attention of the FBI.

Kim Picks North Korean Successor

Of course, it stays in the family. The surprise is that he chose his youngest son, Kim Jong-un, who is age 26.

Kim Jong-un is the third son of Kim Jong Il, the "Dear Leader" who suffered a stroke last summer and who has since appeared thin and frail. He is the grandson of the late Kim Il Sung, the "Great Leader" and founding dictator of North Korea.

If Kim Jong-un does become the new leader -- and there are analysts who doubt the decision is final -- this second consecutive father-to-son hand off would be unique among nations that call themselves communist. There was no indication, however, that Kim Jong Il would be handing over power any time soon.

Kim Jong-un attended the International School of Berne, which is about 15 minutes outside the Swiss capital and a few hundred yards from the North Korean embassy. While Kim was at the English-language school, which has about 280 students from 40 countries, he befriended the children of American diplomats and learned French and German, according to the Swiss weekly, L'Hebdo.

The North Korean regime may practice communism, but it is a totalitarian dictatorship. It is also a cult of personality, where all power is centered on the leader. Kim Il Sung founded this regime, and modeled it after his own personality, accumulating the power and his word was final. When he died, his son assumed the mantle, and Kim Jong Il has ruled with an iron fist ever since, and has greatly expanded the regime's military capabilities, including missile technologies and nuclear technologies. That came at a terrible price, as the country has been repeatedly hit with famine and an inability to feed itself or provide power for its inhabitants.

While Jong may have had the Western influences, it remains to be seen whether he carries on his family's disastrous legacy or charts a new path. Even more important, it remains to be seen whether the military follows along with Kim's wishes and allows his son to take power.

I suspect that the past few weeks of missile tests and nuclear test were a way to prepare the diplomatic front for the new leadership. By repeatedly testing the West and the US in specific, North Korea was trying to see what it could get away with without incurring any actual penalties. Claiming the 1953 armistice was at an end is further evidence that the regime wants to see what it can get away with.

Soldier Murdered; Second Injured At Arkansas Recruiting Center Shooting

One soldier was killed, and a second injured when a man opened fire on a Little Rock, Arkansas recruiting station. The two soldiers were involved in the hometown recruiting program. The soldier murdered was William Long of Little Rock. Quenton Ezeagwula was injured.

The suspect was apprehended after a short police chase and has been identified as Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, who appears to have been a convert to Islam. Law enforcement also believes that there was a religious intent in the shooting, which is a roundabout way of saying that Muhammad was engaging in jihad.

Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad -- a 24-year-old Little Rock resident formerly known as Carlos Bledsoe -- faces a first-degree murder charge and 15 counts of engaging in a terrorist act, Little Rock Police Chief Stuart Thomas said. The terrorist counts stem from the shots fired at an occupied building.

The soldier who was killed was identified as Pvt. William Long, 24, of Conway, and the wounded soldier is Pvt. Quinton Ezeagwula, 18, of Jacksonville, Thomas said.

Ezeagwula is in stable condition and expected to recover, the police chief said.

Although military officials initially believed that the shooting was a random act, Thomas said police think the shooter acted alone "with the specific purpose of targeting military personnel."

"I'm relieved there's a suspect in custody," said Capt. Matthew Feehan, commander of the center.

Feehan said seven other recruiters were in the building, but nobody else was injured.

Thomas said police recovered three guns from Muhammad's black Ford SUV: an SKS semi-automatic rifle, a .22-caliber rifle and a pistol.

The victims were just out of basic training and had not been deployed, said Lt. Col. Thomas F. Artis, commander of the Oklahoma recruiting battalion that oversees the Little Rock recruiting center.

Law enforcement believes that the shooter disagreed with US military operations.

Icahn Buys Atlantic City's Tropicana Casino For Bargain

Before the collapse of the markets, it was expected to fetch over $1 billion. Instead, Carl Icahn and his investment group snatched up the Tropicana Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City for $200 million. They were able to do so by offering up a portion of the debt from their $1.4 billion mortgage on the property:

The Icahn group was the only one to submit a bid for one of Atlantic City's largest casinos by the Friday deadline. Sean Mack, the attorney for the conservator who has been overseeing the sale process, said the investors group could be approved as the new owners by a bankruptcy judge by June 12.

It would then need to get temporary approval from New Jersey casino regulators, and apply for a full casino license, which could take a year to get. The new owners would apply for interim casino authorization, which typically lasts nine months, and can be extended for another 3 months beyond that, said Dan Heneghan, a spokesman for the state Casino Control Commission.

The investors, including Icahn, hold a $1.4 billion mortgage on the Tropicana. That enabled them to craft their offer in a way that competitors were unable to match.

They agreed to act as a so-called "stalking horse," laying down a minimum offer in bankruptcy court that sets the floor for bids. If no one else exceeds it, the stalking horse gets the casino.

The investors offered $200 million of their debt for the casino. That required other parties to offer more than $200 million in cash or securities -- something no one else was willing to do.

What's surprising is that there were no other offers, despite the low bid. The property has value based on its location on the Boardwalk and yet it received only one bid, which is perhaps a testament to the ongoing tight credit problems facing most American businesses despite the government's attempts to free up more credit. It remains to be seen if Icahn can turn around the casino's fortunes.

The Conspiracy/Setup Smear

I get to see Ground Zero every workday, from both riding the PATH and having a bird's eye view of the former Deutsche Bank building and Ground Zero out my office window (and folks wonder why I'm constantly reporting on the Rebuilding of Ground Zero in my multipart series).

That's the hard reality - the missing towers, interminably slow rebuilding, and conspiracy nutters dishonoring the memories of all those who were murdered not only on 9/11, but the six people murdered by the terrorists in February 1993 and the more than 1,000 injured in those attacks.

And yet, there are people who are trying to claim that the four men in the synagogue bomb plot and the Stewart Airport missile attack plot are just dupes who were conned into going along - that this is part of some ginned up government operation to show that they're cracking down on terrorists and improving security.

That was the headline on today's NY Metro.

Are ‘Bronx bombers’ FBI’s hapless dupes?
Critics charge gov’t with setting up witless men for slam dunk cases

The media is quick to get quotes from civil liberties groups and other supporters who think that these men were setup, but more often than not, the evidence has shown itself to be overwhelming in these kinds of cases. The evidence shows that these men were predisposed to jihad, and were more than willing to make statements calling for jihad and wished that the WTC was present so as to carry out an attack to blow them up. So, let's just say that I am not predisposed to smearing law enforcement doing the unenviable job of protecting the nation from another terrorist attack.

The FBI and NYPD stopped this particular attack by managing to infiltrate the terror cell, and for this they get smeared and claims of a setup become the norm. Yet, had the terror cell succeeded in carrying out the attacks, these are the same people who would have demanded heads roll because of the failure of law enforcement to stop the attack.

Taliban Assault School; 400+ Students Held Hostage

Shades of Beslan.

Suspected militants armed with rockets, grenades and automatic weapons abducted some 400 students, staff and relatives driving away from a boy's school in a troubled tribal region in northwest Pakistan on Monday, police and a witness said.

The brazen abduction came amid rising militant violence in Pakistan's tribal belt — actions the military says are aimed at distracting it from its offensive against the Taliban in the nearby Swat Valley.

Details were still emerging Monday about the nature of the attack. No group immediately claimed responsibility.

Police official Meer Sardar said the abduction occurred about 20 miles from Razmak Cadet College in North Waziristan tribal area. The people were leaving the school area after they were warned to get out in a phone call from a man they believed to be a political official, Sardar said, citing accounts from a group of 17 who managed to get away.

Around 30 buses, cars and other vehicles were carrying the students, staff and others when they were stopped along the road by a large group of alleged militants in their own vehicles.

The details were confirmed by a staff member at the school who was among those who escaped. He requested anonymity out of fear of Taliban reprisal but said the school's principal was among those abducted. His vehicle happened to be behind a truck on the road, and it was less visible, so the driver slipped away.

So far, there's no word on what the terrorists hope to accomplish from this mass abduction, but none of it can be good. This comes as the Pakistani military continues going after Taliban groups in the frontier provinces and claims that they've beaten back the Taliban in some areas.

What Green Do You See?

Teaneck, New Jersey is the latest Northern New Jersey community looking to install solar power systems to offset energy costs.

But do they actually save money? I think that's debatable. Here's the Record's rundown:

BY THE NUMBERS

Teaneck will install solar panels atop the community center and Fire Station 3 this fall. Here are the financial basics:

$615,000: Project cost

$204,944: State grant money available

$160,700: Federal stimulus money available

$9,200: Annual energy cost savings

$30,000: Annual revenue from selling solar energy certificates to public utilities

Teaneck will be getting $365,644 of the costs picked up by taxpayers at both the state and federal level in the form of grant money and stimulus money. The cost to Teaneck itself is $249,365. Teaneck hopes to save $9,200 each year and make $30,000 in selling solar certificates.

Is it worth it? Under these terms, Teaneck's spending roughly $250,000 to save $39,200 a year. It would take just about six years to make back their investment, but that obscures the fact that the real cost to taxpayers is $615,000, not $250,000. It would take nearly 15.5 years to make back the cost of the solar installation based on the actual cost - not the cost after figuring all the state aid and federal funds.

That's still better than some of the other costs relating to solar power installations seen around the nation. On the whole, this is a better use of funds for solar power as the breakeven point is much sooner than some programs, which may never break even because the number of years taken to break even would come long after the useful life of the solar power installations has ended.

Still, this is a best case scenario, and it is possible that Teaneck might not realize the cost savings anticipated.

It's Official: GM Declares Bankruptcy; Chrysler Sold to Fiat

So, where does the company go from here?

General Motors Corp., the world’s largest carmaker until its 77-year reign ended last year, filed for bankruptcy protection in the U.S. with a plan to create a 21st-century company that can compete in world markets.

GM reported $82.29 billion in assets and $172.81 billion in debt. The U.S. government will bankroll the transformation of the 100-year-old automaker, a victim of tumbling sales and higher gas prices. The U.S. plans to convert much of its $50 billion of loans to a 60 percent stake in the new entity, administration officials said. Today’s filing coincides with a deadline for GM to convince a government auto task force that it could reorganize out of court through debt and cost cutting.

“It’s been a long time coming, but the reality of a GM bankruptcy is still a bitter pill to swallow -- it’s a bit like the Titanic sinking,” said Stephen Pope, chief global strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald in London. “This is a step they should have taken more than a year ago, which could have put them in much better shape before the economy went down.”

Detroit-based GM is the largest manufacturer to file for bankruptcy, surpassing Chrysler LLC. The carmaker plans to launch a new company in 60 to 90 days, armed with vehicles from its Cadillac, Chevrolet, Buick and GMC units for the U.S. market. A federal bankruptcy judge would supervise the sale or liquidation of unprofitable brands, such as Saturn and Hummer, and at least 11 unwanted factories.

We own the company - by we, I mean the federal government, which continues pouring billions into the company while the company reorganizes, but will not get the money back. Instead, the government is buying a significant stake in the company.

I don't have anything good to say about this particular arrangement. The government continues to do an awful job of predicting winners and losers, and to suggest that the government can figure out what vehicles the public wants is going to be entertaining to watch. Of course, the government could simply dictate that the public has to buy those fuel miser vehicles, but that's going to lead to significant backlash. They'll have a quick opportunity when they decide the fate of the Chevy Volt, which is one of those expensive loss-leaders that GM was going to rely upon to help improve its CAFE figures, but which wouldn't help improve its solvency issues. The government will have to figure out which is more important - getting the company on solid fiscal footing or pushing it's eco-agenda. Shareholders responsibility is to get the company on solid fiscal footing, so if the company holds onto the Volt, they'll have to run serious contortions on why this makes fiscal sense (then again, it's the government, which means fiscal responsibility is out the window).

Thousands of dealerships will be let go, and that means that tens of thousands more people will be laid off. It was long overdue, but it doesn't make the situation any better. Factories will be shuttered and the nation's industrial base will shrink further. Again, these changes are necessary, but that doesn't reduce the pain that will be felt throughout the industrial centers around the nation. It also means that tens of thousands more jobs are at risk as suppliers find product lines coming to an end.

Magna is buying General Motor's European division, Opel, and it's expected that the brand will focus on electrification. Unless you have a power generation and distribution system that can handle increased loads, and charging stations for those vehicles, the electric vehicles will continue to suffer from image problems.
GM will also apparently retool a factory that is currently idle so as to produce new smaller more efficient cars. It remains to be seen if anyone will actually go ahead and buy them.

Separate from all this is the fact that the government is shredding traditional bankruptcy policy by putting junior creditors ahead of senior creditors. Bondholders are getting shafted, which has long term credit implications since they'll be less likely to invest in other entities when they know that the government will simply shove them aside in favor of the unions. The unions make out like bandits under this proposal, getting 17.5% of the company, while the bondholders and other unsecured creditors get 10% (their actual share was much higher, and they will get warrants to buy another 15%).

Meanwhile, the Chrysler sale has been cleared to Fiat. CNBC also reports that the unions finally made concessions to help bring the costs in line with that of Japanese automakers operating in the US. That's going to save the new GM more than $1.3 billion annually.

In the U.S., the United Auto Workers' ratification of concessions, announced Friday, will save GM $1.3 billion per year and bring its labor costs close to those of its Japanese competitors. The new UAW deal freezes wages, ends bonuses and eliminates some noncompetitive work rules.

It also moves billions in retiree health care costs off GM's books. In exchange for its ownership stake, $6.5 billion of interest-bearing preferred shares, and a $2.5 billion note, the trust will take on responsibility for all health care costs for retirees starting next year. Higher health care costs alone accounted for a $1,500-per-car cost gap between GM and Japanese vehicles.

GM will offer buyouts and early retirement packages to all of its 61,000 hourly workers as it plans to shrink overall employment. The company also has about 27,000 white collar employees. In contrast, GM employed 618,000 Americans in 1979, more than any other company.

If this new company can't get its act together, those concessions wont mean a whole lot, nor will the ownership of the company.

UPDATE (Legalbgl):
In related news, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has replaced GM with Cisco.

The Dow Jones industrial average is adding Travelers and Cisco Systems, dropping Citigroup and General Motors.

The announcement Monday of the changes to the 30 stocks that make up the best-known barometer of Wall Street comes as GM enters bankruptcy protection, a move that was widely expected.

Dow Jones said in a statement that Travelers, the property and casualty insurer and one-time division of Citigroup, would replace its former parent. Cisco , which makes computer networking gear, is filling the role left by GM after 83 years as part of the Dow.

The changes take effect June 8.

GM and Citigroup's place on the DJIA has been tenuous at best as of late. The DJIA has strict rules regarding keeping your stock price over $1.00, and both of these companies have dipped below that level recently (although Citigroup has rebounded to over $3.85 as of late.)

Developing: Air France Airliner Disappeared Over Atlantic Ocean Between Rio and Paris

Say a prayer. The plane apparently lost contact with air traffic controllers about 190 miles off the coast of Brazil. The Airbus A330 with 216 passengers and 12 crew may have been struck by lightning after encountering heavy turbulence:

Four hours after the flight took off at 7 p.m. local time on Sunday, the plane encountered a storm with “very heavy turbulence,” an Air France spokeswoman, Brigitte Barrand, said. The plane disappeared from radar screens four hours and 10 minutes later, 10 minutes after the turbulence was reported.

The plane automatically sent a message informing air traffic control of electrical-system malfunction, Air France officials said in a press conference in Paris. They said there was no further communication.

All jets are built to withstand severe turbulence, especially at upper flying levels, and Ms. Barrand said that the pilot was very experienced, having clocked 11,000 flying hours, including 1,100 hours on Airbus 330 jets. Officials said the plane might have been struck by lightning.

A Brazilian Air Force spokesman said the plane disappeared over the Atlantic near the Brazilian island of Fernando de Noronha, a 7-square-mile island about 186 miles northeast of the coastal Brazilian city of Natal. Search efforts in the area were under way, the spokesman said, according to The Associated Press.

The message about the electrical problem was automatically generated, and there was no further contact after the message was received. The Brazilian air force was conducting a rescue operation and scrambled planes from airfields closest to the last known location to try and locate the plane's wreckage.