Here at NewChicagoCPA.com, I’ve posted a lot of material from various sources about this sort of historical record over the years, but this is the most comprehensive I’ve found yet.

As this material becomes more public, we will all have to answer the difficult questions of whether we should have this policy of overthrowing all sorts of foreign governments.

From Iran to Guatemala, from Vietnam to Brazil, from Bosnia to South Korea, the brutal dictators that we’ve installed have slaughtered millions in bloody coups, wars and insurgency for decades.

The record of their atrocities should be publicized by as many people as possible.  That way, maybe good folks like Saddam Hussein and Augusto Pinochet (both among our rogues gallery of former allies), will not be chosen next time.

http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/CIAtimeline.html

The proposal, which does not require the approval of Congress, would reduce the mandatory, independent reviews that government scientists have been performing for 35 years. Developers welcomed the plan, while environmentalists derided it.

Russia seems to have attacked Georgia (!)… :

Georgia: Russia has invaded and we are under attack

Vladimir Putin: the war has started

By Gary Fennelly
Friday, 8 August 2008

Russian First Channel claims these are burning Georgian armored vehicles are seen in Tskhinvali in the South Ossetian breakaway region of Georgia on Friday, Aug. 8, 2008.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/georgia-russia-has-invaded-and-we-are-under-attack-13934899.html?a=13934899
Youtube video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uqfh8CEf0cg&feature=user

The former commando, Gen. Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan, who took power in 1999 through a military coup, looks to be finished:

Analysts wonder whether Mr Musharraf would risk sacking his government

The decision by Pakistan’s new ruling alliance to impeach the country’s President, Pervez Musharraf, has sparked jubilation as well as fears across the country.

If current opinion polls are anything to go by, Mr Musharraf has become the most unpopular leader in the country’s history.

His public standing suffered a setback in March 2007 when he sacked Pakistan’s chief justice.

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iVDjfCSBad8udQBJ7i_yS7W-M3cQ

France decides that it will close up to 83 of its military bases and reduce it’s estimated 350,000-member military force by approx. 54,000.

"Everyone understands that we don’t need as many tanks when we’re not facing an invasion." — Prime Minister Francoise Fillon

…So, France decides (like other nations), that it will cut its military and invest at home to help out its economy… What a concept!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080724/ap_on_re_eu/france_military_restructuring

Well, here’s the latest and greatest:  The Sony Classics film, "Who Killed the Electric Car? ":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_Killed_the_Electric_Car%3F

The film covers the GM car called the EV1, of which about 1000 were sold and driven from 1997 to 2003… They were owned by many VIP’s including Mel Gibson, Tom Hanks and Alexandra Paul of Baywatch fame.

In 2003, they were repossessed by GM and crushed .   …The vehicles had plenty of power and would drive 110 - 160 miles on a charge… for the equivalent of of $0.60 / gallon (!!!)

http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=who%20killed%20the%20electric%20car&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&sa=N&tab=wv#

As a CPA, let’s take a look at some numerical comparisons:

Enlarge Image President-elect Bush vows that "together, we can put the triumphs of the recent past behind us."

"My fellow Americans," Bush said, "at long last, we have reached the end of the dark period in American history that will come to be known as the Clinton Era, eight long years characterized by unprecedented economic expansion, a sharp decrease in crime, and sustained peace overseas. The time has come to put all of that behind us."

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/28784

In this case, $19 Billion of its deposits are insured by FDIC and will be recoverable by depositors… About 5%, however was not.  Those investors are out of luck on about $1 Billion of their deposits.
(CNN) — IndyMac Bank, closed Friday by federal regulators, will reopen Monday with a new charter and a new name — IndyMac Federal Bank.

Analysts fear thousands of IndyMac customers could lose as much as $500 million.

Customers who found locked doors and armed guards Friday afternoon could use ATM cards over the weekend to get to their money, but an estimated 5 percent of the $19 billion deposited in the bank was not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

Indymac’s failure, which the FDIC chairman said could add up to be the most expensive U.S. bank failure ever, came as the FDIC’s list of "problem" institutions is on the rise.

The FDIC disclosed last month that it was closely watching 90 financial institutions on its "problem list," up from 76 in the first quarter of 2008. The total assets of "problem" institutions rose from $22.2 billion to $26.3 billion, the FDIC said.

The number of troubled institutions monitored by the FDIC has grown in each of the last six quarters, starting in the fall of 2006 when there were just 47 on the list, the agency said. The last time it approached this level was in the fall of 2004 when the number was 95.

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/US/07/13/indymac/

Medical staff help a boy injured in Sunday’s attack

A US air strike in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday killed 47 civilians, 39 of them women and children, an Afghan government investigating team says.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7501538.stm