Internet "Kill" switch; gloves are off in Egypt; obscene Wall Street payroll

Notes 46

Timing terrible for trying to get public support for this after affairs in Egypt. Or are the people going to lay down for this like they did for eavesdropping in the Patriot Act? And TSA feeling up their bodies at the airport? Seems like people in government are preparing to protect themselves from public.

Internet 'Kill Switch' Approved By Senate Homeland Security Committee
Bianca Bosker, Huffington Post
The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs has approved a cybersecurity bill, Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act (PCNAA), that would give the president far-reaching authority over the Internet in the case of emergency.
As The Hill explains, the bill, sponsored by Sens. Joe Lieberman, Susan Collins, and Tom Carper, would give the president "emergency authority to shut down private sector or government networks in the event of a cyber attack capable of causing massive damage or loss of life."
[or a fed up populace saying they won’t take it anymore]

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This is not Health Care negotiation. Obama’s going to have to get his hands dirty, show proof of life

US condemns violence in Egypt, chides government
Bradley Klapper And Matthew Lee, Associated Press –
WASHINGTON – The United States criticized the government of President Hosni Mubarak and condemned violence in Egypt's capital as clashes between protesters and pro-government supporters demonstrated there would be no easy resolution to the unrest destabilizing America's closest ally in the Arab world.
A day after President Barack Obama pressed Mubarak to loosen his grip on power immediately, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the U.S. "deplores and condemns the violence that is taking place in Egypt."
"We are deeply concerned about attacks on the media and peaceful demonstrators," he added in a statement. "We repeat our strong call for restraint."

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Clearly there is a difference between “backers” and hired guns. If the media is not sure, they should use words that do not appear to show Mubarak has public support.

Mubarak backers attack foes with firebombs, bricks

CAIRO – Thousands of supporters and opponents of President Hosni Mubarak battled in Cairo's main square Wednesday, raining stones, bottles and firebombs on each other in scenes of uncontrolled violence as soldiers stood by without intervening. Government backers galloped in on horses and camels, only to be dragged to the ground and beaten bloody.

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People abandoned once. No gold the second time. Maybe we’ll get a bike-riding, Mandarin-speaking ambassador to China who has done his mission and believes in service

Dems choose Charlotte for 2012 convention

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – President Barack Obama's selection of this Southern city for the 2012 Democratic convention signals he will try to reassemble his diverse coalition of 2008 supporters and fight for the conservative-leaning states that helped him win the White House
The convention's apparent theme — The People's Convention — indicates that the president will try to rekindle the grass-roots flavor of his groundbreaking 2008 bid.

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If they’d sunk or swam on their own, perhaps their obscene compensation might be bearable. But the continuing free money from the Fed makes this unbearable.

Wall Street pay hits new record
By Zachary Roth
For most Americans, wage growth has been sluggish, to say the least, ever since the Great Recession began in late 2007. But that's not the case for Wall Street, the sector that helped cause the downturn. In fact, it looks like for the financial industry, the good times are well and truly back.
Less than two years after a massive government bailout, total Wall Street compensation hit a new record of $135 billion, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis. The rise is in part the result of increased revenue, which also spiked to a record high of $417 billion.
The average Wall Streeter is now paid $141,000 -- up 3 percent from last year.

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Israel at center of GOP early hopefuls’ search for international credentials

The GOP Line on Egypt -- and Obama
By Michael Crowley, TIME
This is a tricky place for the GOP candidates, and the way this debate plays out with tell us interesting things about how the Republican Party has changed on foreign policy since George W. Bush left office. Republicans have spent most of the post-9/11 era positioning themselves as the champions of freedom and democracy abroad. The GOP has also positioned itself as the true defender of Israel against a Democratic Party which, in this telling, obsesses over Israeli settlements and wants to negotiate with Israel's mortal foes, Iran and Hezbollah. Consider the way leading GOP 2012 contenders - Romney, Pawlenty, and soon Haley Barbour - have been visiting Israel to kiss Bibi Netanyahu's ring. If they're looking to impress Netanyahu and emphasize their pro-Israel bona fides, then, the Republicans will couch their enthusiasm about Cairo's revolution.

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So the gloves are off. Obama’s made his final deal with the devil and the people get screwed again. Reminiscent of the Soviet Spring of ‘68, Tiannemen Square in China, Shia in southern Iraq, Intafada in Israel.

Mubarak supporters, protesters clash in Egypt
Violence comes as country's military calls for end to demonstrations

CAIRO — Hundreds of pro-government supporters attacked protesters Wednesday in Cairo's central square, where thousands were pushing ahead with demonstrations demanding the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak.
Mubarak supporters were out in the streets for the first time Wednesday in large numbers, with thousands demanding an end to the anti-government movement a day after the president went on national television and rejected demands for him to step down.
"We saw rocks flying in all directions … it was total mayhem," an Al-Jazeera correspondent in the area of Tahrir Square told the TV station.

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The dominoes are falling--but not in Far East. An unholy alliance made in midst of turmoil with Iran in ’79 and built on buying Egypt for Israel is coming unglued

Yemen's President to retire in 2013
BEIJING, Jan. 24 (Xinhuanet) -- Yemen's President, Ali Abdullah Saleh, is pledging to step down, after his second term expires in 2013.
Sunday's announcement, follows eight days of popular protests, demanding his ouster, as thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of the capital, Sanaa, and other major cities.
They expressed outrage, at potential Constitutional amendments, which could make Saleh, the country's President for life.

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More original plotters in 911--but no attack on Qatar OR Saudi. All pressure on Pakistan/Afghanistan
WikiLeaks cable shows three Qataris in September 11 plot
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A classified U.S. document obtained by the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks shows three previously undisclosed participants in the September 11, 2001 plot, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday.
"There is no manhunt," the official was quoted as saying. "There is no active case. They were looked at, but it washed out," he was quoted as saying, downplaying a report by Britain's The Daily Telegraph, which said the FBI has launched a manhunt for the previously unknown team of men suspected to be part of the attacks.

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Uncertainty not stopping health insurers like the media is fond of saying about business managers. Uncertainty all a smokescreen. Business is a gamble always filled with uncertainty.

Too big to stop? Obama's overhaul lumbers on

By Ricardo Alonso-zaldivar, Associated Press --
WASHINGTON – It has too much momentum for one judge to stop it.
Most insurers, hospital executives and state officials expect they'll keep carrying out President Barack Obama's health care overhaul even after a federal judge cast its fate in doubt by declaring all of it unconstitutional.
"I don't think people are going to hit the stop button," said Paul Keckley, executive director of the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions, a research arm of the consulting firm. "You probably don't make the big bets right now, but you make the incremental investments in case you have to make the big bets 6 or 12 or 18 months down the road. Everyone proceeds with an informed approach."
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Associated Press writer Bill Kaczor in Tallahassee contributed to this report.