Free Republic

Capital-starved airlines worldwide are turning to Asian lenders to fund their ambitious fleet upgrades as the industry’s traditional streams of financing in the West dry up, experts say. In another sign of the world’s shifting economic fortunes, Asian banks, capital markets and leasing firms are stepping in to help airlines cope with rapid growth in travel, according to industry executives and analysts. “In this part of the world there is a lot of financing,” Jim Albaugh, chief executive of Boeing Commercial Airlines, told reporters during a visit to Singapore last month. “If you talk to the leasing companies ... they...

The Pentagon has mothballed a laser-equipped jumbo jet after 15 years and $5 billion worth of research to develop an airborne missile defense system. Budget cuts shot down the Airborne Laser Test Bed but some research into anti-missile lasers will continue, according to the U.S. Missile Defense Agency. "We didn't have the funding to continue flying the aircraft," agency spokeswoman Debra Christman told the Los Angeles Times (http://lat.ms/xEnw3z ). The plane, a Boeing 747 mounted with a high-energy chemical laser, has been sent into storage at Davis Monthan Air Force Base, the agency said. The base near Tucson, Ariz., serves...

North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un has inspected the country's military control center for nuclear weapons and missiles. North Korea's state-run central news agency carried a report with photos of Kim visiting the Strategic Rocket Force Command with the chief of the Korean People's Army General Staff Ri Yong Ho and other officials on Friday. This is the first time the center has been shown in the North Korean media. The photos show Kim checking meters and conical-shaped objects that looked like warheads. The report said he told his commanders to attack North Korea's enemies without mercy if they show...

Most drivers are familiar with the nagging refrain of "Are we there yet?" But with gasoline heading back to $4 a gallon on average, it takes on more urgency: Oil can't go much higher without derailing the economy. Brent crude oil is back above $120 a barrel. Looked at on a 12-month rolling average, it is now 6% above its prior 2008 peak. U.S. gasoline demand is down almost 7% year-on-year. This year, Europe is forecast to consume 10% less oil than it did in 2008. Global demand is still forecast to rise, but only in emerging markets. Oil's high...

A few days before Russia's presidential election, Sergei Smirnov received a phone call from a man who called himself Mikhail and told him the terms of the deal: you will vote for Vladimir Putin four times and receive 2,000 roubles ($70) in return. The sum was promised to dozens of other young men and women who met on Sunday outside a popular fast food joint on the southwest fringe of Moscow, waiting to be taken to various polling stations in the province that rings the capital. Smirnov, a journalist, said he found the group a few weeks prior to the...

“We can be certain that those who are unable to put an end to the shelling in the south will not dare to attack Iran's nuclear program. Never, ever will the Barak-Netanyahu government be able to attack Iran.”

Vladimir Putin: 'We Have Won. Glory to Russia' Putin claims resounding election win as opposition activists allege widespread fraud 4 March 2012 Vladimir Putin, with Dmitry Medvedev, sheds a tear as he addresses supporters. Putin has claimed a resounding election victory. Photograph: Mikhail Voskresensky /Reuters Vladimir Putin has claimed a resounding victory in Russia's presidential election, provoking a furious response from opposition activists who alleged that the vote was marred by widespread fraud. At a rally in front of the Kremlin an emotional Putin, with tears running down his face and flanked by the outgoing president, Dmitry Medvedev, said: "I...

Legislator Tubagus Hasanuddin raised questions on Friday about a recent Defense Ministry purchase of six Russian fighter jets, claiming the deal might have been unduly marked up by $50 million. Tubagus, deputy chairman of House of Representatives Commission I overseeing defense and foreign affairs, pointed out the high price of the planes compared to previous purchases of the same aircraft. Planes already acquired by Indonesia, he said, only cost $55 million each. Indonesia bought six of the Sukhoi jets from Russia in 2007 for $355 million. There was also a discrepancy with the published list price, he added. The latest...

Recent satellite images show that China is setting up launch units for its newest road-mobile Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) in central China. Several launchers of the new DF-31/31A appeared at two sites in the eastern part of the Qinghai province in June 2011. This is part of China’s slow modernization of its small (compared with Russia and the United States) nuclear arsenal. An image taken on June 27, 2011 , shows two DF-31/31A launchers on the launch pads of a small launch unit near Haiyan (36°49’37.12″N, 101° 6’22.97″E). One is positioned in a circular pad with support vehicles surrounding it....

The Pentagon last month relaxed the performance requirements for the Joint Strike Fighter, allowing the Air Force F-35A variant to exceed its previous combat radius -- a benchmark it previously missed -- and granting the Marine Corps F-35B nearly 10 percent additional runway length for short take-offs, according to Defense Department sources. On Feb. 14, the Joint Requirements Oversight Council -- in a previously unreported development -- agreed to loosen select key performance parameters (KPPs) for the JSF during a review of the program convened in advance of a high-level Feb. 21 Defense Acquisition Board meeting last month, at which...

"Senate Hs Committee Report Finds Online Jihadist 'Activity' Leads To Violent Islamist Extremism" by Anthony Kimery 02/28/2012 ( 9:12am) SNIPPET: "Violent Islamist extremists use the Internet to recruit, radicalize and mobilize individuals -- including Americans -- and “the threat of violent Islamist extremism has become increasingly decentralized and its messaging has followed that same trajectory,” according to a report issued Monday by both the majority and minority staff of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs." SNIPPET: "The report concluded that “the United States currently has a haphazard approach to dealing with global Internet radicalization and propaganda,” and...

Oil spikes usually metastasize once energy costs reach 9pc of global GDP. The longer they stay there, the greater the damage. Rush hour in Beijing: the battle for oil will intensify as China alone adds 125m cars to its roads over the next five years That proved to be the pain barrier in the 1970s and again in 2008, and we are just shy of that level right now. “Oil is already capturing a higher level of European GDP than in 2008,” said Francisco Blanch from Bank of America. The rule of thumb is that a 10pc rise in crude...

The prime minister of Israel is angry with Barack Obama and is coming here to force a hardening of U.S. policy toward Iran. “Bibi” Netanyahu had his anger on display at a meeting in Israel with Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham. Ads by Google A 9mm is False Protection Discover What Survivalist Masters & The Army Don't Want You To Know www.CloseCombatTraining.comMcCain emerged saying he had never seen an Israeli prime minister “that unhappy.” “He was angry,” said McCain. “I’ve never seen U.S.-Israel relations at this point.” “The Israelis are unnerved,” said Graham. “They think the administration is sending...

Youtube Video Linky Here A furious mob has desecrated dozens of Commonwealth War Graves in a Libyan cemetery amid continuing fury in the Middle East over the burning of the Koran by U.S. soldiers. Headstones commemorating British and Allied servicemen, killed during World War II campaigns in the Western Desert, lay smashed and strewn across Benghazi Military Cemetery. Protesters rampaged through site on Friday, despite efforts by America to calm tensions sparked when it emerged U.S. soldiers had burned Muslim holy books in a pile of rubbish at a military base in Afghanistan.

US-VISIT About to Be Another Obama Casualty March 2nd, 2012 - by Janice Kephart As the Obama administration continues to try to convince the American people they are securing the borders, their most recent budget request makes clear that “Amnesty by Any Means” remains the consistent mission. The latest installment is buried in the president’s homeland security budget, which includes provisions dotted throughout that, put together, would result in the dismantling of arguably the best border-related program that exists in federal government, US-VISIT, burying its capabilities in two of the most politicized of all government agencies, Immigration and Customs Enforcement...

<p>The country of Israel is missing from at least part of ESPN’s website, while Palestine is included throughout, raising the eyebrows of some sports fans, since Israel is an existing country and Palestine is not. The portion where Israel is missing is in the TV-listing section of ESPNAmerica.com. A drop-down menu at the top right of the page has countries listed in alphabetical order. On the list are Hungary, Iceland, Iran and Ireland, immediately followed by Italy, Jordan and Kazakhstan. Though Israel should appear between Ireland and Italy, it’s not found anywhere on the list, though Palestine is included, between Oman and Poland. Despite Israel’s absence from that portion of ESPN’s site, the country is found in other places where it’s included in other drop-down menus, including here. Israel also appears on ESPN’s contact page, in a long list of countries. Ironically, in that contact-page list, ESPN lists “Palestinian Territories,” and not “Palestine” as it does elsewhere on the site. A spokeswoman for ESPN told WND she was looking into the issue. Meanwhile, some online messageboards have been discussing the situation. One commenter wrote: “I emailed a complaint with a few angry words. I’m sure they will get right on it. But, seriously, this is pathetic on their part.”</p>

Much of the coverage of a controversial new law winding its way through the Italian Parliament has portrayed the measure as a Nixon-to-China moment. It takes somebody like Prime Minister Mario Monti, the thinking goes, who is not only a practicing Catholic but also a graduate of a Jesuit school, to take on the Catholic Church in Italy and make it pay taxes on its commercial property. In truth, however, the proposed law would do very little to change the existing legal situation. While the current legislation is muddled in many ways, one thing is clear: religious organizations have been...

China said Sunday that it would boost its defense spending by 11.2% in 2012, the latest in a nearly two-decade string of double-digit increases. Although the planned figure is less than last year's 12.7% increase, China's military leaders have said they are unhappy with recent moves by the Obama administration to increase the US military presence in the Asia-Pacific region. Only twice since the early 1990s has the increase been less than double digits. National People's Congress spokesman, Li Zhaoxing, said China's defense spending would increase by 11.2 percent over actual spending last year to hit 670.2 billion yuan ($106.4...

Concern is sinking in over the long-term effects of President Barack Obama's proposed budget cuts to military health care spending. Critics say that by taking aim at the military health care program by adding additional fees and increasing required payments, the President is dishonoring troops and hurting the military's recruiting power. The budget put forth by Mr Obama- which still needs to be approved by Congress before being enacted- would create $487billion in cuts over the next 10 years. One of the biggest areas of contention is the increases of health care fees that specifically target military retirees by boosting...

Vladimir Putin, set to win a third presidential term, declared his victory and thanked his voters for their support. Polling at over 64 percent with over half of the votes counted, victory seems assured. "We have won in an open and fair struggle," Putin said addressing 110,000 people, who gathered on Manezhnaya Square outside the Kremlin walls. He stressed that this victory signals a defeat for those who want to destroy Russia. “This was more than just a presidential election this was a very important test for us – a test for political maturity of our people and independence. We...