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Saturday, October 16, 2004 |
 Boston Globe. This doesn't look good. About half of the roughly $5 billion in Iraq reconstruction funds disbursed by the US government in the first half of this year cannot be accounted for, according to an audit commissioned by the United Nations, which could not find records for numerous rebuilding projects and other payments. One chunk of the money -- $1.4 billion -- was deposited into a local bank by Kurdish leaders in northern Iraq but could be tracked no further: The auditors reported that they were shown a deposit slip but could find no additional records to explain how the money was used or to prove that it remains in the bank... The auditors said they were told by US officials that all discrepancies were ''under investigation."
11:32:02 PM 
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Jamestown.org does a wrap up of news on Shukrijumah. If he shifted to GG methods by paying gangs for infrastructure/market disruption in Mexico and the US (if he became a violence capitalist), we would be in much tougher position.
Shukrijumah's connections with radioactive material is not fresh news. Early last year he was identified as having been present at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, which is the site of a 5,000-watt research reactor. The university has since made strenuous efforts to dispel persistent rumors of missing nuclear material, amounting to some 82 or 86 kilos' [180 or 189 pounds], or of missing irradiated material taken either from the reactor itself, or from stores at other areas of the campus such as the hospital.
With or without this material, his status as one of the few top-ranking al-Qaeda members still at large is exercising security forces across Central America. Early this year Shukrijumah was spotted in Guyana, then at an internet café in May in Honduras, where he was identified during surveillance of a meeting of Mara Salvatrucha gang leaders in the capital Tegucigalpa. These are a violent Salvadorean crime syndicate originating in Los Angeles and specializing in the smuggling of illegal immigrants across the Mexican border. The implication of this is that Shukrijumah may be negotiating a deal to infiltrate himself, and perhaps other al-Qaeda members, into the United States. The latest sighting of Shukrijumah was in August in the Sonoro province of northern Mexico...
If Shukrijumah has indeed succeeded in linking up with criminal syndicates such as the Mara Salvatrucha gang, it is a sobering thought. The gang has some form of presence in virtually every Hispanic community across the United States, and can thus offer al-Qaeda unparalleled infiltration into any city in the country.
11:18:46 AM
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I have to say that the iPod is fantastic (thanks again). The music quality is great. Also, the interface, after a couple minutes spent learning it, is very easy to use. Old news for all of you that have one.
10:39:36 AM
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BW. The US employment machine is in low gear and likely to stay that way. Another problem that's not well understood, a widespread employment downshift: the vast number of Amercian families that have found employment, but at a much lower level of income than they used to enjoy. Too bad part time employment or downshifting isn't measured in the unemployment surveys.
9:32:32 AM
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The Scotsman. ISRAEL is set on a collision course with the European Union and could turn into a pariah state, like South Africa during the apartheid years, if the Middle East conflict is not resolved, Israel’s foreign ministry has warned in a confidential ten-year forecast. The reason: Islamic immigration is changing the EU as Hispanic immigration is chainging the US.
9:23:33 AM
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WP. Netflix warned investors this week that it is taking drastic steps to prepare for a new era of competition from Amazon.com Inc. Netflix executives told analysts during a conference call Thursday that the company will cut monthly fees by 18 percent and postpone its plans to expand in Europe so it can focus on meeting the threat from Amazon.
9:14:34 AM
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BBC. Breakdown in morale among reserve transportation units. Given the lack of secure LOS, the convoy troops are now at the FEBA.
8:52:45 AM
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© Copyright 2004 John Robb.
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