KhanSerai » USA

Blackwater (Xe) Founder Officially Charged

serai — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 04:42:53 +0000

The founder of Blackwater, Erik Prince was officially charged in court on Friday, Aug 29, 2009 with intent to kill .

The plaintiffs hold Erik Prince responsible for 20+ Iraqi deaths, and the defense wants the motion to be dismissed. The Judge, T.S. Ellis III has not issued a ruling yet, however as the Washington Post reports:

Judge T.S. Ellis III expressed deep skepticism about the claims. "Are you accusing Mr. Prince of saying ‘I want our boys to go out and shoot innocent civilians?’ ” he asked the attorneys."These are certainly allegations of not engaging in very nice conduct, but where are the elements that meet the elements of murder? I don’t have any doubt that you can infer malice. What you can’t infer, as far as I can tell, is intent to kill these people.”

It sounds like he has already made up his mind.

Blackwater (wiki link and official Xe website link) is the CIA contractor that was hired to assassinate al-Qaeda leaders in Afghanistan; and also transfer Guantanamo detainees to secret prisons in Asia for interrogations.

There is finally talk of charging Blackwater with war crimes by the Justice Department. Their subsidiaries and them are also currently charged with kidnapping, weapons smuggling, money laundering, tax evasion, child prostitution, illegal drug use and destruction of evidence in the Virginia Eastern Federal District Court under the Alien Tort Claims Act.

Declunkerize- it’s time to clean out your garage

serai — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 02:48:02 +0000

The US cash for clunkers program has been given new life by the approval of an additional $2 billion. Environmentalists are complaining that there is nothing in the legislature that encourages people to purchase fuel efficient vehicles (just better than what they previously had). However the objective was to give new life to the automobile industry with the environment being a distant secondary benefit.

That being said, similar programs previously enacted in UK and Germany have had their own problems. In UK, car sales have improved slightly however they are still more than 20% lower than last year. In Germany, the law is being abused as clunkers are being shipped to Africa and other European countries rather than being scrapped! Dealers are being reimbursed by the government and also getting money for selling the cars.

In the US now is exactly the right time if you want to get government money to buy a gas guzzler like an H3T with a combined gas mileage of 16mpg!

2009 Gloom & Doom Update: Suicide Rates on the Rise

ruhsa — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 19:21:57 +0000

One of the side effects of the worsening global economy and unemployment is the increase in suicides and suicide attempts. The numbers of cases (high profile and of “normal people“) being reported has increased significantly.

Asian economies like South Korea, Japan and Hong Kong have all reported increases and are planning for more. South Korea and Japan are installing blockades for railway tracks so people do not jump in front of trains. Hong Kong has increased the numbers of operators for its suicide hotlines.

The US is also experiencing an increase in calls to suicide hotlines in places like New York, Tampa, Dallas, Washington DC metro area and California. What is far more worrying is the increase in suicide attempts at universities like the University of California, Santa Barbara. Europe is not spared either with countries like Serbia reporting the highest suicide rates in Europe and 55% of the population shows signs of depression.

The global economy is going to get worse over the upcoming months. If anyone you know is showing signs of depression make sure they get help.

off-topic: Transit

ruhsa — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 21:48:02 +0000

We took off before the election results were declared however our pilot was good enough to keep us updated. He gave us the electoral count right after takeoff and about 30mins later when the results were declared. Nothing quite like staying connected.

Sitting at Heathrow Airport right now, it’s quite amazing to see the actual electoral spread. Obama didn’t just win, he really really WON!! The results were much better than anyone could possibly have imagined.

All the newspapers and TV channels (European ones too) only seem to be covering one news item: Obama! This immense interest in the politics of the US is a testament to the current strength of US and to globalization. The world is ready for change, not just America

GOBAMA!!

off topic: Go VOTE!!!

ruhsa — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 05:00:22 +0000

vote vote vote

It’s a right that is considered a luxury in many (most?) countries of the world. Exercise your rights. The consequences are profound and impact the WHOLE world.

Obama is speaking in VA right now to a crowd of 90,000+ people.

I’m trying to figure out what time to go to the polls- very early morning or late morning? I have a flight to catch at the end of the day so after lunch is really not an option. I guess I will be watching the early results at the airport.

off topic: election mania

ruhsa — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 04:14:03 +0000

It’s quite interesting to be in the US right now around election time- the campaign frenzy is EVERYWHERE!!

The Obama campaign clearly has more money as we’ve received 4 or 5 mailers and/or postcards (one each day) left at our front door. We’ve had door-to-door campaigners come by 4 times in the past few days telling us to vote Obama. Surprisingly there is NOTHING from the McCain campaign. Obama was in Leesburg last week and will be in Manassas tomorrow. VA is def a battleground state this year!

Makes one wonder how long the lines will be on Tuesday…