The CIA apparently recovered an extensive porn stash during the raid on Bin Laden's compound. Sounds like they've got him literally by the balls. I wonder who it could have belonged to? Him? Son? Courier? Wives? They should sell the whole collection to TMZ.
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Yes, he could. Or, he could have avoided involvement in political arenas so dramatically benefiting Halliburton. Do the relevant arithmetic: Cheney's net worth before and after his Vice Presidency. I never said this kind of corruption was uncommon. Although under FDR in WWII it was much more rigorously discouraged. Yes it was. How big? By how much did they fall short of capping out? Lots of lawsuits like that were decided in favor of certain corporations - or any corporations - during Cheney's tenure as VP. That doesn't change the situation in 1999.
http://www.galacticempiretimes.com/...r-rim/obi-wan-kenobi-is-killed.html#idc-cover I laughed a little too hard at this. Even the comments are pretty great.
Nice, this is just too good for words. Is there such a thing as jihadi porn? And where did he get it if he didn't have the internet?
For all its mistakes and inanities, sometimes the media can be truly prophetic. Check this clip out, for example. Assange, you've got the dirt, you've got the charisma, make it happen!
None of that holds up if you just review Cheney's income tax filings. His big bucks came before he was elected. Vice President and Mrs. Cheney Release 2000 Income Tax Return Private attorneys for Vice President Dick Cheney and Mrs. Cheney announced today that the Vice President and Mrs. Cheney filed their federal income tax return for 2000 today. The income tax return shows that for 2000, the Cheneys owe federal taxes of $14,295,058 on an adjusted gross income of $36,086,635. $9,644,701 had been previously withheld or otherwise paid, and the Cheneys paid the remaining balance due of $4,650,357 with their filing. Included in the wage and salary income reported on the tax return is $806,332 in salary and $4,333,500 in deferred compensation and bonuses from Halliburton Company, where Mr. Cheney served as chief executive officer until he resigned on August 16, 2000. As previously reported in Halliburton's proxy statement, Mr. Cheney received a cash bonus of $1,451,398 from Halliburton in January of this year, which will be included in the 2001 tax return. The overwhelming balance of the remaining wage and salary income reported on the Cheneys? tax return was from the exercise of stock options and from the sale of restricted stock of Halliburton that Mr. Cheney received as compensation. Mr. Cheney had earned these options and restricted shares over the course of a number of years pursuant to executive compensation plans in place before Mr. Cheney was nominated. The Vice President and Mrs. Cheney reported $1,943,948 in short-term capital losses. The bulk of these losses were incurred because the Vice President sold stocks that he and Mrs. Cheney owned in order to avoid conflicts of interest. Not all of those short-term losses are deductible against 2000 income. $1,117,439 of these losses are not useable in 2000 and have to be carried forward to future tax years. The Cheneys also reported $823,509 in long-term capital gains. In addition to $41,646 contributed by the Cheneys to charities, they gifted the benefit of all their remaining stock options, having a value of approximately $7,800,000, to three charities. The charities chosen by the Cheneys are Capital Partners for Education, which provides educational assistance to low-income high school-age children in the Washington, D.C. area, George Washington University Medical Faculty Associates, also in Washington, D.C., and the University of Wyoming in their home state. Because the options themselves were not transferable, the gift was made through a gift administration agreement. The gift administrator is to exercise the options and donate all proceeds, after payment of taxes payable because of the exercise of the options, to the charities. The options contributed were certain options in Halliburton Company and other companies that the Cheneys had received as compensation for employment or for service on boards of directors. The estimated value of the options is reached by using valuation methods approved by the Internal Revenue Service for valuing options when given away as gifts. Vice President Dick Cheney and Mrs. Cheney announced today that they have filed their federal income tax return for 2001 today. The income tax return shows that for 2001, the Cheneys owe federal taxes of $1,720,271 on a taxable income of $4,308,142. $1,740,798 had been previously withheld or otherwise paid, and the Cheneys elected to apply the resulting overpayment to their 2002 estimated tax payments. Included in the wage and salary income reported on the tax return is the Vice President's $174,475 government salary and $1,598,977 in bonus or deferred compensation earned by Mr. Cheney from Halliburton Company where Mr. Cheney served as chief executive officer until he resigned on August 16, 2000. As previously reported in Halliburton's 2001 proxy statement, in the Vice President's filings with the Office of Government Ethics, and in the press release accompanying the Cheneys 2000 tax return, in January 2001 Mr. Cheney received from Halliburton a cash bonus of $1,451,398 based on calendar year 2000 results. An additional $1,184,597 in income resulted from the exercise of stock options and receipt of deferred compensation in January, 2001as Mr. Cheney disposed of holdings and terminated relationships with companies on whose boards of directors he had served before becoming Vice President. Likewise, in January 2001 Mrs. Cheney received lump sum payments of deferred compensation from several companies from whose boards she has resigned. Mrs. Cheney reported wage and salary income from her continuing work at the American Enterprise Institute, as well as compensation from Reader's Digest and American Express Mutual Funds (Board Services Corporation) on whose boards of directors she serves. Mrs. Cheney also received $50,000 from Simon and Schuster as an advance on royalties from her upcoming book, America: A Patriotic Primer. This amount was donated to the American Red Cross. The total donated to charitable organizations by the Cheneys in 2001 was $79,275. The Vice President and Mrs. Cheney reported $136,446 in short-term capital gains, which were off-set by short-term capital losses that were carried over from previous tax years. The Cheneys also reported$929,010 in long-term capital gains, including $310,839 from the sale of a residence in McLean, Virginia. The majority of the transactions that resulted in both the short-term and long-term gains and losses occurred before January 20, 2001. http://www.taxanalysts.com/thp/presreturns.nsf/Returns/EFA38DE69480678385256E4400794B42/$file/R_Cheney_2002.pdf Vice President and Mrs. Cheney filed their federal income tax return for 2003 today. The income tax return shows that the Cheneys owe federal taxes for 2003 of $253,067 on taxable income of $813,226. During the course of 2003 the Cheneys paid $258,779 in taxes through withholding and estimated tax payments. The Cheneys elected to apply the resulting $5,712 tax overpayment to their 2004 estimated tax payments. The wage and salary income reported on the tax return includes the Vice President's $198,600 government salary. In addition, the tax return reports the payment of deferred compensation from Halliburton Company, in the amount of $178,437. In December 1998, the Vice President elected to defer compensation earned in calendar year 1999 for his services as chief executive officer of Halliburton. This amount is to be paid in fixed annual installments (with interest) in the five years after the Vice President's retirement from Halliburton. That election to defer income became final and unalterable before Mr. Cheney left Halliburton. The amount of deferred compensation received by the Vice President is fixed and is not affected by Halliburton's current economic performance or earnings in any way. In addition, the Vice President purchased, with his personal funds, an insurance policy that guarantees that he will receive the amount that is owed to him even if Halliburton is unable to make the deferred compensation payments. The tax return also reports Mrs. Cheney's wage and salary income from her continuing work at the American Enterprise Institute and compensation from Reader's Digest, on whose board of directors she served in 2003. The Cheneys donated $321,141 to charity in 2003, primarily from donations of Mrs. Cheney's royalties from Simon & Schuster on her books America: A Patriotic Primer and A is for Abigail, as well as her forthcoming book titled Fifty States. Vice President and Mrs. Cheney filed their federal income tax return for 2004 today. The income tax return shows that the Cheneys owe federal taxes for 2004 of $393,518 on taxable income of $1,328,678. During the course of 2004 the Cheneys paid $290,855 in taxes through withholding and estimated tax payments. The Cheneys paid $102,663 upon filing their tax return. The wage and salary income reported on the tax return includes the Vice President's $203,000 government salary. In addition, the tax return reports the payment of deferred compensation from Halliburton Company in the amount of $194,852. In December 1998, the Vice President elected to defer compensation earned in calendar year 1999 for his services as chief executive officer of Halliburton. This amount was required be paid in fixed annual installments (with interest) in the five years after the Vice President's retirement from Halliburton. That election to defer income became final and unalterable before Mr. Cheney left Halliburton. The amount of deferred compensation received by the Vice President is fixed and is not affected in any way by Halliburton's current economic performance or earnings. The tax return also reports Mrs. Cheney's wage and salary income from the American Enterprise Institute and compensation from Reader's Digest, on whose board of directors she served until her retirement in 2003. The Cheneys donated $303,354 to charity in 2004, primarily from Mrs. Cheney's book royalties from Simon & Schuster on her books America: A Patriotic Primer, A is for Abigail: An Almanac of Amazing American Woman, and When Washington Crossed the Delaware: A Wintertime Story for Young Patriots, and the exercise of stock options dedicated to charity pursuant to the Gift Administration Agreement which the Cheneys entered into in January of 2001. The book royalties and the proceeds from the stock options were donated to designated charities on a tax neutral basis. The White House also released the 2005 tax return filed by the Cheneys. They reported adjusted gross income of nearly $8.82 million, which was largely the result of exercising stock options that had been set aside in 2001 for charity. According to the return, they have overpaid their taxes this year and are entitled to a refund of about $1.9 million. The couple contributed $75,560 to churches and charitable organizations, about $2,200 less than last year. Those included the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army’s funds for hurricane relief in the United States and Pakistan; Martha’s Table, which provides food and services to the underprivileged in the Washington area; the Archdiocese of New Orleans Catholic Charities; and the Mississippi Food Network. The Bushes paid $26,172 in state property taxes on their ranch near Crawford, Texas, up about $4,000 from the year before. The Cheneys donated just under $6.87 million to charity from the stock options and royalties from Mrs. Cheney’s books. That left about $1.9 million in income on which the Cheney’s owed $529,636 in taxes. Vice President and Mrs. Cheney filed their federal income tax return for 2006 today. The income tax return shows that the Cheneys owe federal taxes for 2006 of $413,326 on taxable income of $1,614,862. During the course of 2006 the Cheneys paid $464,789 in taxes through withholding and estimated tax payments. The Cheneys elected to apply the resulting $51,463 tax overpayment to their 2007 estimated tax payments. The wage and salary income reported on the tax return includes the Vice President’s $208,575 government salary. In addition, the tax return reports a pension benefit of $27,500, which the Vice President received as a former director of Union Pacific Corporation. The Vice President became eligible for this benefit in 2006 when he turned 65. The tax return also reports Mrs. Cheney’s book royalty income, which includes a partial royalty advance on a book she is writing about growing up in Wyoming. It also reports wage and salary income from her continuing work at the American Enterprise Institute and a pension benefit of $32,000, which she received as a former director of Reader’s Digest. The amounts of the pension benefits received by the Vice President and by Mrs. Cheney are fixed and will not increase or decrease based on changes in the earnings or revenues of either company. The Cheneys donated $104,425 to charity in 2006. This brings the Cheneys’ total charitable contributions during his Vice Presidency to $7,800,019. Vice President and Mrs. Cheney filed their federal income tax return for 2007 today. The income tax return shows that the Cheneys owe federal taxes for 2007of $602,651 on taxable income of $2,528,068. During the course of 2007 the Cheneys paid $466,165 in taxes through withholding and estimated tax payments, and will pay the remaining $136,486 upon filing their tax return. The wage and salary income reported on the tax return includes the Vice President's $212,208 government salary. In addition, the tax return reports a pension benefit of $32,500, which the Vice President received as a former director of Union Pacific Corporation. The Vice President became eligible for this benefit in 2006 when he turned 65. The tax return also reports Mrs. Cheney's book royalty income, a salary from her continuing work at the American Enterprise Institute, and a pension benefit of $32,000, which she received as a former director of Reader's Digest. The amounts of the pension benefits received by the Vice President and by Mrs. Cheney are fixed and will not increase or decrease regardless of changes in the earnings or revenues of either company. The Cheneys donated $166,547 to charity in 2007. This brings the Cheneys' total charitable contributions during his Vice Presidency to $7,966,566.
I don't see much there to contradict it - some partial and fragmentary accounts of his dealings, involving less than 15% of his wealth? Cheney's net worth rose during those years, until the crash in '08. The guy was CEO of Halliburton - a post he gained through some kind of influence trading possibilities of his governmental posts, rather than rose to through corporate ranks and proven abilities - and then he oversaw extraordinarily favorable treatment of Halliburton while VP. Halliburton was profiteering on war started and overseen by Cheney - something that used to be shameful, and at times has been borderline illegal in itself even without the gross fraud and padded accounts. As VP, it would have been easy for him to avoid such conflicts of interest - they aren't part of the ordinary job description.
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/05/14/pakistan.bin.laden/?hpt=T2 The Pakistanis have really painted themselves into a corner with this one. Domestic issues prevent them from really acting as a partner with the US with respect to raids and UCAV airstrikes, but the US gives a huge amount of money to Pakistan that they absolutely need. Both the civilian government and military are tethered to the US for support and neither wants to lose it. If the US decides they're not getting what they want for their money and pulls the plug, there's a whole bunch of Pakistani military hardware that would quickly fall into disrepair if the flow of replacement parts and tech support were cut off. The resultant instability could trigger any number of things. I don't know if we'd see something like a military coup or a popular uprising, but Pakistan could get ugly and get ugly fast. And if there is something like a coup or an uprising in Pakistan, what are they going to do two days later when India finishes spraying coffee all over its monitor and decides to invade? Without US aid Pakistan is fucked six ways from Sunday.
I have been saying for years that we need to do something serious about Pakistan. They created the Taliban, it's their fault we had to enter Afghanistan in the first place and it continues to be their fault that we remain there. Maybe they need to be grabbed by the moustache and slapped around a bit, so they can spend less time slaughtering infidels and more time worrying about their manliness (yeah they're already obsessed over their manliness, but clearly not enough if they still have the time to reach out and kill). I'm tired of them thinking they can hold us hostage just because they have nukes, it's time we set a new precedent for what happens to countries who try to do that to us.
I think you are forgetting (or don't know?) Pakistan has more than 100 atomic bombs. Selling a few each year could keep them going for quite some time.* Pakistan as a failed state is a BIG PROBLEM. --------------- * I hear they bring a high price if delivery takes place in / from a small boat near where the Hudson River joins the ocean.
It already is a failed state, they've been a big fail since the day that whole POS country was created. I'd rather we grab them by the balls now, than wait for them to slip their nukes to someone and have to squash their collective testicles to the point of infertility as punishment.
the "elected" government yes, but not the real power - the army.* That has been quite stable and is what Echo3Romeo was threating in his post: "military are tethered to the US for support" Rather than collapse, lose their powers, the Generals will sell bombs, I think. --------------- * The army is the real state, and far from "failed." - Failed states are not able to build even non-global reach ICBMs and atomic war heads for them.
The only reason the army hasn't failed is because the US funds it to "fight terror", and China funds it to be a general nuissance to the West (I think tariffs on Chinese goods are an appropriate retaliation, but that's for another discussion some other time). The Chinese practically spoonfed them their nukes and missiles from a silver platter. Regardless, I think it's time for the US to set a strict deadline for Pakistani cooperation, after which they will lose all funding, will be treated as a rogue terror state and will be held financially and militarily accountable for any further troubles they attempt to cause. If their nukes are a threat now, they won't be any less of a threat if we make concessions to the Islamic militants who run that toilet.
