United States — Headline Digest

Chinese Firm Seeks Halt of iPad Sales in Shanghai – Asia Business News – CNBC

February 22, 2012 By D. Acheson Leave a Comment

Chinese Firm Seeks Halt of iPad Sales in Shanghai

A Chinese technology firm sought to halt the sale of Apple’s iPads across the affluent city of Shanghai, arguing at a local court hearing on Wednesday that the U.S. firm had infringed on its trademark.

Previous court rulings in favor of Proview Technology (Shenzhen) have covered specific retailers in smaller cities, but a Shanghai order, if imposed, would eat into one of Apple’s biggest markets in China.

Proview lawyers argued, at times emotionally, that an immediate halt of iPad sales be implemented in China’s commercial hub, which is the home to three of the country’s five Apple stores.

Apple defended its right to use the trademark in China and said Proview had no ability to produce or sell its own device under the same name.

“Proview has no product, no markets, no customers and no suppliers. It has nothing,” Hu Jinnan, a partner at Guangdong Shendadi law firm, which is representing Apple in the case, told [Continue reading in new window...]

Filed Under: China, Country, Economy, Rotating, United States, World News

Immigration enforcement program to be shut down – USATODAY.com

February 22, 2012 By D. Acheson Leave a Comment

WASHINGTON–The Obama administration is starting to shut down a program that deputized local police officers to act as immigration agents.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have trained local officers around the country to act as their agencies’ immigration officers. Working either in jails or in the field, the officers can check the immigration status of suspects and place immigration holds on them.

The program, known as 287(g), reached its peak under President George W. Bush, when 60 local agencies signed contracts with ICE to implement it. But that trend slowed significantly under President Obama— only eight agencies have signed up since he took office, and none has done so since August 2010.

STORY: Arizona sheriff’s officers turn in federal credentials

Now, in their proposed budget for the upcoming year, Department of Homeland Security officials say they will not sign new contracts for [Continue reading in new window...]

Filed Under: Politics, United States Tagged With: 2012 Presidential Election, Barack Obama, Immigration

Americans’ Satisfaction Almost as Low as It Was Under Carter – Washington Whispers (usnews.com)

February 22, 2012 By D. Acheson Leave a Comment

Americans’ Satisfaction Almost as Low as It Was Under Carter

It’s February, nine months before a presidential election, and only 22 percent of Americans say they are satisfied with the way things are going. Voters haven’t been this unhappy with the country since George H.W. Bush’s presidency, when only 21 percent of Americans reported being happy with the country’s direction. And before that, the lowest approval rating was 19 percent during Jimmy Carter’s first term.

What do the two presidencies have in [Continue reading in new window...]

Filed Under: Economy, Politics, United States Tagged With: 2012 Presidential Election, Barack Obama

How the U.S.-Iran Standoff Looks From Iran: Hossein Mousavian – Bloomberg

February 17, 2012 By D. Acheson Leave a Comment

The past six U.S. presidents have employed a policy of sanctions, containment and deterrence against Iran. Earlier in his tenure, President Barack Obamatried to change course by offering instead to engage, stressing“diplomacy without preconditions.” Two years later, however, the talk in Washington is of an inevitable coming war.

This is entirely the wrong direction for the U.S. to be taking. The consequences of a military strike on Iran would be catastrophic for the U.S., Iran and Israel.

Whether Iran should be able to build its nuclear program cannot be dealt with separately from the larger issue of the confrontational relationship that Iran and the U.S. have had since the 1979 Iranian Revolution. In his recent memoir, former International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Mohamed ElBaradei said he doubted policy makers in Washington were ever truly interested in resolving the Iranian nuclear issue, but that they sought instead to achieve isolation and regime change in Iran.

Regardless of whether ElBaradei was right about that — and having sat at the other side of the table as an Iranian nuclear negotiator, it seemed that he was — it’s safe to say there won’t be a solution to the Iranian nuclear dispute as long as [Continue reading in new window…]

Filed Under: Analysis & Opinion, Rotating, United States, World Affairs, World News Tagged With: Iran, United States

Police ‘Tank’ Purchase Riles New Hampshire Town

February 16, 2012 By W. R. Wallace Leave a Comment

“We’re going to have our own tank.”

That’s what Keene, N.H., Mayor Kendall Lane whispered to Councilman Mitch Greenwood during a December city council meeting.

It’s not quite a tank. But the quaint town of 23,000 — scene of just two murders since 1999 — had just accepted a $285,933 grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to purchase a Bearcat, an eight-ton armored personnel vehicle made by Lenco Industries Inc.

But those plans are on hold for now, thanks to a backlash from feisty residents. Resistance began with Mike Clark, a 27-year-old handyman. Clark, who said he’s had a couple encounters with Keene police and currently faces a charge of criminal mischief, read about the Homeland Security grant in the newspaper. “The police are already pretty brutal,” Clark said, claiming he was roughed up in both his encounters with local police. “The last thing they need is this big piece of military equipment to [Continue reading in new window…]

Filed Under: Country, Economy, United States

Nuking our Nukes | Washington Free Beacon

February 15, 2012 By D. Acheson Leave a Comment

Nuking our Nukes

Lowest level of strategic review would leave Pentagon with fewer warheads than China

BY: Bill Gertz – The Washington Free Beacon

President Obama has ordered the Pentagon to consider cutting U.S. strategic nuclear forces to as low as 300 deployed warheads—below the number believed to be in China’s arsenal and far fewer than current Russian strategic warhead stocks.

Pentagon and military planners were asked to develop three force levels for the U.S. arsenal of deployed strategic nuclear warheads: a force of 1,100 to 1,000 warheads; a second scenario of between 700 and 800 warheads; and the lowest level of between 300 and 400 warheads.

A congressional official said no president in the past ever told the Pentagon to conduct a review based on specific numbers of warheads.

“In the past, the way it worked was, ‘tell me what the world is like and then tell me what the force should be,’” the official said. “That is not happening in this review.”

The plan for a radical cut in warheads is contained in a review of nuclear weapons ordered by the president in an August directive. The review called the Nuclear Posture Review Implementation Study is nearing completion and could be presented to the president as early as next month.

The plan has come under fire from senior military officers in charge of maintaining nuclear deterrence against Russia, China, and future nuclear rogue states. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Analysis & Opinion, China, Country, Featured, Politics, United States, World Affairs, World News Tagged With: Barack Obama

GOP pushes back against any further cuts in nukes | The Associated Press

February 15, 2012 By D. Acheson Leave a Comment

GOP pushes back against any further cuts in nukes

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congressional Republicans on Wednesday vowed to block the Obama administration from sharply cutting the U.S. nuclear force, calling potential reductions of as much as 80 percent in the number of deployed weapons “reckless lunacy.”

Pointing to the growing number of trouble spots, from Iran to Syria to Egypt, members of the House Armed Services Committee said any significant cuts would undermine the U.S. ability to deter aggression. The Associated Press reported on Tuesday that the administration is weighing several options for new reductions from the current treaty limit of 1,550 deployed strategic warheads.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the committee that [Continue reading in new window…]

Filed Under: Analysis & Opinion, Politics, United States Tagged With: Barack Obama

US, Europe Eye Risky, Unprecedented Penalty For Iran Over Pursuit Of Nuclear Weapons | Fox News

February 15, 2012 By W. R. Wallace Leave a Comment

WASHINGTON – The United States and Europe are considering unprecedented punishment against Iran that could immediately cripple the country’s financial lifeline. But it’s an extreme option in the banking world that would come with its own costs.

The Obama administration wants Iran evicted from SWIFT, an independent financial clearinghouse that is crucial to the country’s overseas oil sales. That would leapfrog the current slow-pressure campaign of sanctions aimed at persuading Iran to drop what the U.S. and its allies contend is a drive toward developing and building nuclear weapons. It also perhaps would buy time for the U.S. to persuade Israel not to launch a pre-emptive military strike on Iran this spring.

The last-resort financial effort suggests the U.S. and Europe are grasping for ways to show immediate results because economic sanctions have so far failed to force Iran back to nuclear talks.

But such a penalty could send oil prices soaring when many of the world’s economies are still frail. It also could hurt ordinary Iranians and undercut the reputation of SWIFT, a banking hub used by virtually every nation and corporation around the world. The organization’s full name is the Society for [Continue reading in new window…]

Filed Under: Country, EU, United States, World Affairs, World News Tagged With: EU, Iran, United States

BBC News – China’s Xi Jinping in closely-watched visit to the US

February 14, 2012 By D. Acheson Leave a Comment

China’s Xi Jinping in closely-watched visit to the US

The man likely to become China’s next leader, Vice-President Xi Jinping, has begun a closely watched visit to the United States.

In comments to a US newspaper ahead of his trip, Mr Xi sounded a note of warning to the US over its military stance in the Pacific.

He said scaling up military activity was not what countries in the region wanted to see.

He is due to meet President Barack Obama at the White House on Tuesday.

“This will be an opportunity for the leaders of both countries to really sit down and talk about our differences,” said US Ambassador to China Gary Locke after greeting Mr Xi.

He added that the presidents would also be able to “really focus on the common interests that both the US and China have”.

Mr Xi, 58, is widely expected to succeed President Hu Jintao, who must retire as head of the Communist Party later this year and from the presidency [Continue reading in new window....]