Right-Wingers Can't Cover Up Iraq's Death Toll Catastrophe
Must Read - A quote...."Now I know what Hillary Clinton meant, first hand, by that "vast right-wing conspiracy." When the Wall Street Journal editorial page and the Sunday Times in London are going after you -- along with about 100 right-wing bloggers -- rest assured you've hit a nerve.  --  Or is it just Soros Derangement Syndrome at work?  --  More than two years ago, I commissioned a household survey of Iraq to learn how many people had died in the war. This topic had been virtually ignored by the news media and the U.S. government."

Economic Tsunami: A Perfect Storm Threatens US Economy
Must Read - A quote...."Highly leveraged US expansion, growth and empire are about to be swept away like a bamboo hut. As China leads the world in dumping dollars, the US appears to have exhausted the means by which it can continue to leverage or finance expansion and imperialism."
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Crime Without Punishment: A News Roundup
Chris Floyd's round-up of today's interesting web action, especially this gem of an observation. - A quote...."Patrick Cockburn on the recent emergence of opium-growing in Iraq, where warlords and militias in the pay of the United States and the oh-so-sovereign Iraqi "government" are turning Diyala province into a mini-narcostate, with the attendant murder, corruption, and violence. Isn't it very, very strange that America's oh-so-humanitarian interventions seem to spawn vast expansions in the drug trade, as in Vietnam and southeast Asia, Latin America, Afghanistan and now Iraq? Isn't it odd that the drug trade has been used so often to fund and help run covert ops by American intelligence agencies? Isn't it just weird how this keeps happening over and over? Quite a coincidence, isn't it?

Quite. - mpg
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King: War Cannot Achieve Even a Negative Good
A quote...."King critiqued the typical use of "peace" by politicians as a distant ideal toward which they are working, even while they bomb and massacre and slaughter. In his Christmas Sermon, December 24, 1967, King made this point:"

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Never against! European collusion in Israel's slow genocide
A quote...."The European Union, Israel's largest trade partner in the world, is watching by as Israel tightens its barbaric siege on Gaza, collectively punishing 1.5 million Palestinian civilians, condemning them to devastation, and visiting imminent death upon hundreds of kidney dialysis and heart patients, prematurely born babies, and all others dependent on electric power for their very survival."

The Lessons of Violence
A quote...."The Gaza Strip is rapidly becoming one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the world. Israel has cordoned off the entire area, home to some 1.4 million Palestinians, blocking commercial goods, food, fuel and even humanitarian aid. At least 36 people have been killed in Israeli strikes since Tuesday and many more wounded. Hamas, which took control of Gaza in June, has launched about 200 rockets into southern Israel in the same period in retaliation, injuring more than 10 people. Israel announced the draconian closure and collective punishment Thursday in order to halt the rocket attacks, begun on Tuesday, when 18 Palestinians, including the son of a Hamas leader, were killed by Israeli forces."

Regarding the two articles shown above ....

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Ex-Israeli army officer arrested in Brazil charged with illegal organ trafficking
A quote...."SAO PAULO, Brazil (AFP) — A retired Israeli army officer under arrest in Brazil on suspicion of belonging to an international human kidney trafficking ring has told a court the Israeli government financed organ transplants, press reports here said."

See also....
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Jordan urges Russian pressure on Israel to end Gaza siege
A quote...."Amman (dpa) - Jordanian Foreign Minister Salah Bashir conferred Monday with the Russian Middle East envoy, Alexander Saltanov, and urged Moscow to pressure Israel into halting its blockade of the Gaza Strip, according to an official statement."

Challenging a Unipolar World
A quote...."One of the more interesting phenomena to emerge from the U.S. debacle in Iraq is the demise of the unipolar world that rose from the ashes of the Cold War. A short decade ago the United States was the most powerful political, economic, and military force on the planet. Today its army is straining under the weight of an unpopular occupation, its economy is careening toward recession, and the only “allies” we can absolutely depend on in the United Nations are Israel, Palau, and the Marshall Islands."

Bill Moyers interviews Craig Unger
Video - Interview - A quote...."Bill Moyers sits down with journalist Craig Unger, contributing editor of VANITY FAIR and author of the bestselling HOUSE OF BUSH, HOUSE OF SAUD and, most recently, THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF BUSH, who offers analysis on President Bush's recent trip to the Middle East."

Papers Paint New Portrait of Iraq's Foreign Insurgents
A quote...."Analyzed and made public last month by the Army's Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, the documents have led the U.S. military in Iraq to reassess some of its earlier assumptions about the insurgent group and those who carry out most of the suicide missions that are its signature method of attack.  --  Suicide attacks by the Sunni group against Shiite targets sparked the sectarian violence that swept Iraq in 2006 and the first half of last year. Al-Qaeda in Iraq carried out more than 4,500 attacks against civilians in 2007, killing 3,870 and wounding nearly 18,000, the military announced yesterday.  --  Based on the Sinjar records, U.S. military officials in Iraq said they now think that nine out of 10 suicide bombers have been foreigners, compared with earlier estimates of 75 percent. Similarly, they assess that 90 percent of foreign fighters entering Iraq during the one-year period ending in August came via Syria, a greater proportion than previously believed." - bold/italics by website author

Conservative Blind Eye on Empire
A quote...."Moreover, while it’s true that the U.S. government goes much further than the Chinese government in expanding its overseas empire, such as with assassinations, murders, kidnappings, coups, invasions, and occupations, a core element of U.S. foreign policy has long been the installation or purchase of puppets in charge of foreign regimes."

Pentagon considers moving 'surge' architect out of Iraq: report
A quote...."The US Department of Defense is considering moving the main architect of a troop "surge" strategy, General David Petraeus, out of Iraq and giving him a top NATO command job, The New York Times reported on its website late Sunday."

The "surge" is less then a year old and they're already moving Petraeus out?  This is not a good sign. - mpg
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Venezuelan Legislature Supports Belligerent Status for Colombian Rebels
A quote...."Caracas, January 18, 2008 (venezuelanalysis.com) - The Venezuelan National Assembly voted yesterday to support President Chavez's call for Colombia to recognize the "belligerent status" of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the National Liberation Army (ELN). It also rejected the "unilateral lists imposed by the government of the United States," which classifies these groups as "terrorist organizations."

EUROPE:  U.S. Base Nears Moment of Truth
Some quotes...."PRAGUE, Jan 21 (IPS) - U.S. diplomatic and business representatives have stepped up their lobbying activities to secure a deal for the construction of a military base in Central-Eastern Europe ahead of the U.S. presidential vote."  --  "A two-day seminar held Jan. 16-17 in Prague brought together representatives of 40 Czech businesses and 10 U.S. arms producers, among them giants such as Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, Boeing and Lockheed Martin, to discuss the construction of the missile defence system." -- italics by website author.

The American and Czech people themselves were not invited. - mpg
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DANIEL ELLSBERG: Covering Up the Coverage - The American Media's Complicit Failure to Investigate and Report on the Sibel Edmonds Case  --  A quote...."For the second time in two weeks, the entire U.S. press has let itself be scooped by Rupert Murdoch's London Sunday Times on a dynamite story of criminal activities by corrupt U.S. officials promoting nuclear proliferation. But there is a worse journalistic sin than being scooped, and that is participating in a cover-up of information that demands urgent attention from the public, the U.S. Congress and the courts."

Just as with 9/11 "our" media is again engaged in a whitewash of anything that might embarrass those in power.

They rarely talk about the Saudi Royals and their relationship to the Bush family.  They never talk about PNAC, a plan which has so far been followed to the letter.  They never talk about the ten year economic cycle and war.  And they have never, ever, investigated 9/11....and they never will.

They are all accessories after the fact.  – mpg
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Email missing from Cheney's office on day White House told to preserve documents in CIA leak
A quote...."Among the sixteen days for which email are missing from Vice President Cheney's office is Sept. 30, 2003, the same day the day the Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced they were investigating who outed former CIA officer Valerie Plame Wilson. -- bold/italics by website author

Cheney Impeachment Gains Traction in House Judiciary Committee
A quote...."Articles I and II of H.R. 799 accuse Cheney of purposely manipulating intelligence to deceive Congress and the American people about a fabricated threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, and about an alleged relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda, respectively. Article III charges Cheney with openly threatening aggression against Iran absent any real threat to the United States. All three articles say Cheney’s actions have damaged our national security interests."

US Among Harshest for Sentencing Children
A quote...."To many in the United States, the country of Somalia conjures up images of a primitive Third World country. So it may come as a surprise to learn that Somalia and the United States share an unfortunate commonality - they are the only countries in the world that refuse to sign the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child because of its ban on sentencing children to die in prison."
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Pakistan roiled by flour and electricity shortages, food price rises
A quote...."Pakistan’s US-backed military dictatorship has mobilized more than six thousand paramilitary troops to guard flour mills and distribution points and escort supply-trucks, as it seeks to staunch a flour shortage that has resulted in breadlines and spiraling prices."

Overseas Investors Buy Aggressively in U.S.
A quote...."Last May, a Saudi Arabian conglomerate bought a Massachusetts plastics maker. In November, a French company established a new factory in Adrian, Mich., adding 189 automotive jobs to an area accustomed to layoffs. In December, a British company bought a New Jersey maker of cough syrup."

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Bill Moyers interviews David Cay Johnston
Video - Interview - A quote...."Bill Moyers interviews NEW YORK TIMES investigative reporter and Pulitzer Prize-winner David Cay Johnston [regarding his new book Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (And Stick You with the Bill).] who says America's system has been rigged to benefit the super-rich.

Richonomics 101 in Post-Bush America
A quote...."I used to feel like a fool for not being rich.  --  I’d see friends taking great vacations, hiring nannies, buying fabulous cars and wearing expensive jewelry.  --  And I’d wonder, what’s wrong with me that I’m not rich? During the dot.com bubble in the ’90s, especially, it seemed like everyone else knew a money secret.  --  But not now.  --  Right now, I’m feeling rich - not so much for what I have but for what I don’t have."

The Economy: Recession, Depression, Crash or Collapse?
A quote...."What is Really Happening to America's Economy? - As a layman, I don't know more than anybody else, but in the interest of speaking out for lots of Americans, here is my assessment of the immediate challenges facing our nation:"

Bloody Tuesday? Global Markets See Worst Day since 9/11.. US to Follow?
A quote...."Will presidential primary candidates deal with the REAL news that is happening as the worthless, corpstream MSM media almost ignore it. Today, global markets saw their worst day since 9/11. NINE ELEVEN!. And we hear about minutiae about the Florida Primary, about Rudy Giuliani's failing campaign. Wake Up America!! We are in dire economic danger."

If the main-stream faux-news networks are NOT hyping what's happened to foreign markets this Monday.....it would be a bad sign of things to come.  It means they've been given their marching orders and our wealthy elites are in full panic mode (at least until they can get out). - mpg
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Is This The Big One?
A quote...."  21/01/08 "ICH" --- - On  Monday, fears of a US recession spilled over into Asian markets sending stocks tumbling. Indexes were hammered across the board in what turned out to be the worst day of trading since 2001. In India, the Bombay Sensitive Index plunged 1408 points, to 17,605. In China, the Shanghai Composite dropped 266 points (or 5.5%) to 23,818, while in Japan, the Nikkei fell 535 points, to 13,325 points. The bloodletting stretched across the continent and into Europe where shares nosedived by more than 4% by mid-morning “putting them on track for their biggest one-day fall in more than four and a half years.”

Editor's caution:  Everyone knows Bernanke is going to do something on Tuesday morning before the markets open, drop interest rates a point, offer five hundred billion to the Banksters and others....something appropriately stupid and ridiculous.

The question is - what exactly is he going to do? - mpg.
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$100 Billion and Counting - How Wall Street Blew Itself Up
A quote...."The massive losses by big Wall Street firms, now topping those of the Great Depression in relative terms, have yet to be adequately explained. Wall Street power players are obfuscating and Congress is too embarrassed or frightened to ask, preferring to just throw money at the problem and hope it goes away. But as job losses and foreclosures mount and pensions and 401(k)s shrink, public policy measures to address the economic stresses require a full set of unembellished facts."

Amid record losses, Wall Street awarded itself $39 billion
A quote...."The five largest Wall Street banks doled out a record $39 billion in bonuses last year, according to data collected by the Bloomberg news service. After driving hundreds of thousands of families into foreclosure, causing a financial crisis affecting hundreds of millions, and pushing the US and world economies closer to recession, it appears Wall Street is rewarding itself for a job well done."

How Much Is That Superpower in the Window?
A quote...."New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg is “still trying to decide” whether to buy the U.S. presidency, aides to Bloomberg confirmed today, with the sticking point reportedly being the steep price of such an acquisition.  --  In recent weeks, Bloomberg had been sending out positive signals about his interest in buying the highest office in the land, raising hopes among supporters that he might be preparing to throw his wallet in the ring."


There Is No “War on Terror”
Must Read - A quote...." One of the most telling signs of the political naiveté of liberals and the Left in the United States has been their steadfast faith in much of the worldview that blankets the imperial state they call home.  Nowhere has this critical failure been more evident than in their acceptance of the premise that there really is something called a "war on terror" or “terrorism”[1]"

The American War Upon the World
Must Read - A quote...."In researching the events leading to America's downfall, I have had to continually readjust my understanding of the situation as new information surfaced. Throughout the entire learning process it has proven especially difficult to determine whether the CIA determines the secret policies it carries out, or if the agency merely serve as a loyal tool to the moneymen who control the world from behind the scenes. It is very difficult to sort out the facts from the fabrication about an ongoing disinformation campaign while immersed in it."

US Weapons Sales: President Bush Arming Fellow Tyrants Globally
A quote....“In the last six years, Washington has stepped up its sales and transfers of high-technology weapons, military training, and other military assistance to governments regardless of their respect for human rights, democratic principles, or nonproliferation,” according to a report in the current(Jan.-Feb.) “Arms Control Today,” published online by the Arms Control Association (ACA). “All that matters is that they have pledged their assistance in the global war on terrorism.”

Muslim Women… The Real Oppression
A quote...." 20/01/08 "ICH" -- -- I find it really outrageous and inconceivable to watch this fierce campaign rallying in “defence” of “our rights”, the rights of Muslim women, such as the recent staging of the Islamo-fascist Awareness Week in USA sponsored by David Horowitz."

Israeli Atrocity on Gaza Civilians
A quote...."It is a perfect time for the Israeli government to commit a war crime on the miserable civilians of the Gaza Strip. The US primary season has created a news blackout on US television about foreign news (apparently the public of the world's sole superpower is not estimated by corporate news executives to be able to handle more than one story). So most Americans will never even know that  the Israelis have cut off fuel to Gaza's power plant, depriving tens of thousands of people of electricity."

The Murky Toll of the Iraq War
A quote...."ONCE AGAIN, a controversy has erupted over how many people are being killed in Iraq. It’s an important debate, not only for beleaguered Iraqis, but for Americans seeking stability and a timely exit.  --  Mortality figures alone can tell a compelling story. Add to that other numbers that fill in our understanding even more - such as the scale of the flow of refugees or the women widowed by the war - and we have useful information."

The Bush Debacle: One Year to Go?
A quote...."The political calendar indicates that in one more year – on Jan. 20, 2009 – the presidency of George W. Bush will come to an end. However, the worst consequences of his disastrous reign, including the Iraq War, may be nowhere near ending."

Iraq: Seeking Victory in Defeat
A quote...."It has come to this after seven years; the venerable New York Times, without acknowledging its own culpability in fermenting the President’s drive to war with its front page declarations of imminent threats from Saddam Hussein against America as reported by Judith Miller, finally acknowledges that this war "should never have been fought" and places the responsibility for its "repair" on the President that succeeds Bush. How righteous. How simply stated -- "to repair the profound damage he has wrought."

Bread and Circuses
A quote...." 20/01/08 "ICH" -- -- The Roman emperors provided bread and circuses for their people. The American empire does the same, though lately with less bread. They’re making up for it in the circuses department. I’m talking about the election charade.  --  It’s so sad to see otherwise intelligent people falling prey to this circus."

The Eternal Underdog
A quote...."I am coming to you. You will explode after a few minutes.”  --  Ladies and gentlemen, it’s none other than “the Filipino Monkey,” now doing voiceovers for the Pentagon!  --  More bad melodrama in the Gulf, I’m afraid. And war with Iran is still a no-go, but the bellicose among us keep trying. It’s nothing new. The recent bizarre non-incident between U.S. warships and Iranian speedboats in the Strait of Hormuz — apparently Pentagon-edited for media consumption to create the illusion of provocation — has been justifiably compared to the bogus 1964 Tonkin Gulf incident, which became the pretext for 10 years of war in Vietnam, but it evokes historical patterns that run deeper than four decades."

For more on this see....Why do you even bother?
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Is US on Brink of War with Iran?
War Warning - A quote...."FERNDALE- Scott Ritter, one of the former United Nations inspectors who didn’t find any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, denounced the Bush administration for going to war with WMDs as the primary rationale in March 2003."

Congress Dismisses Iran NIE - Declares Iran a Nuclear Threat
War Warning - A quote...."Iran poses a nuclear weapons threat to the United States and its allies, according to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 H R 4986 passed 369-46 by the US House of Representative yesterday, even though the National Intelligence Estimate concluded that that Tehran abandoned its atomic weaponry ambitions in 2003."

This is all in accordance with the Ten Year Cycle, see....Effective Fed Funds Rate
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Canada removes U.S., Israel from torture watchlist
A quote...."OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's foreign ministry, responding to pressure from close allies, said on Saturday it would remove the United States and Israel from a watch list of countries where prisoners risk being tortured."

So Canada's brave stand for TRUTH lasted less than 48 hours.  At least they tried. - mpg
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War of ideas' claims neo-con casualty
A quote...."WASHINGTON - Neo-conservative hawks lamented the latest casualty in the "war on terror" last Friday, as the ax fell on Stephen Coughlin's job. The Pentagon decided not to renew the contract of its "foremost" specialist on Islamic law and Islamic extremism when it ends in March, citing budget cuts.  --  But Coughlin's supporters say the jihad maven was unjustly fired because his message was too politically hot and far too inconvenient for government bureaucrats eager to make nice with Muslim groups that - so decry right-wing hawks - merely serve as front organizations for more nefarious "Islamo-fascists".

The test is REAL SIMPLE folks.  Fifteen out of the nineteen hijackers on 9/11 came from Saudi Arabia and the US continues to support EVERY "terrorist" group in the world....including al Qaeda.  Only on the day the Neocons address the Saudi Royal Family's complicity regarding 9/11 and the US's on-going, non-stop, direct and indirect support for "terrorist" organizations worldwide....only on that day can they be believed.

This editor is glad that lying sack of mendacity can no longer be in an official position to support these policies of mayhem and murder. – mpg
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Settlements Continue to Fuel the Conflict and Prevent any Possibility of Real Peace Negotiations
A quote...."Peace conferences and negotiations will not be able to stop Israel’s expansion policy in the West Bank. Despite the request of the international community at the Annapolis Conference to freeze settlement activities, they continue today. Since Annapolis, the Israeli government announced its plan to expand some of the settlements in the south of the Palestinian territories, such as Har Homa, near Bethlehem, with the intention to construct another 307 new housing units."

In 2 hours all Gaza strip will sink into darkness completely
A quote...."in a hurry i am writing to let you know that in less than 2 hours the last turbine of the Gaza power plant , will stop working , the power plant fuel , is to finish in 2 hours , i hurried to recharge my laptop , mobile and to wash the cloths , i checked my candles and rechargable lights....."

America-Egypt relation grow cooler
A quote...."Their presidents hugged on the tarmac but the talks were kept brief another sign, perhaps, of the fact that relations between Egypt and America have rarely been cooler."

Chavez: Uribe fit to be mafia boss, not president of Colombia
A quote...."CARACAS, Venezuela: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called Colombia's president a "pawn" of the U.S. government and compared him to a mafia boss on Sunday, raising tensions in a dispute that erupted during mediation efforts to free rebel-held hostages."

Russia delivers fourth fuel shipment to Iran nuclear plant
A quote...."TEHRAN, January 20 (RIA Novosti) - Russia delivered on Sunday the fourth fuel shipment to the Bushehr nuclear power plant it is building in southern Iran, the country's mass media said, citing officials."

Russia's UES commissions 1st unit of power plant in Tajikistan
A quote...."DUSHANBE, January 20 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's electricity monopoly Unified Energy System (UES) commissioned on Sunday the first unit of a major hydropower plant it is building in Tajikistan."

US rejects Japan request over fuel use in 'war on terror': report
A quote...."US Navy and Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force ships cruise in formation in the Pacific Ocean, in this file photo. warfare. The United States has rejected a request by Japan that it verify Tokyo's contribution to the US-led "war on terror" in Afghanistan is not used for military operations in Iraq, a report said Sunday.
(AFP/HO/File)"

Iran: Pressure on India, Pak to Delay Pipeline Project
A quote...."TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran on Friday said there may be some pressure on India and Pakistan to delay the tri-nation gas pipeline, also projected as a peace pipeline, but was confident of getting Islamabad and New Delhi to sign the contract soon."

Syria to repay debt to Russia in euros - government
Special Note - A quote...."MOSCOW. Jan 17 (Interfax) - Syria will repay its Soviet era debt to Russia in euros, the Russian government said on Thursday. "

FBI denies file exposing nuclear secrets theft
A quote...."THE FBI has been accused of covering up a key case file detailing evidence against corrupt government officials and their dealings with a network stealing nuclear secrets. - The assertion follows allegations made in The Sunday Times two weeks ago by Sibel Edmonds, an FBI whistleblower, who worked on the agency’s investigation of the network."

Progressive" Censorship: Banned Again For Telling It Like It Is
A quote...."My ideas about the corruption of the alternative media by foundation funding grants seems to irk a few lib-censors however. That is where the rubber and road meet. They wanna get paid, homes. And they don't want readers to know by whom."

Spychief Plan To Police Internet Is Likely Tied To S 1959, Thought Crime Prevention Bill
A quote...."Would Americans be outraged if the government decided to read every piece of our personal mail? Think about it, letters and notes which are sent to a lover, things we all say in anger, regret later, and never follow-through on? What about confidential financial information, plans to trump your competitor with a new product or service, and a host of personal issues that are too numerous to mention?"

Japanese MP Questions 9/11 - Videos with English Subtitles
Special Note - A quote...."Yukihisa is a member of the House of Councillors in the Diet, that is to say the national legislature of Japan, and his questions about the transparent sham that is the official version of events is indeed a big deal — but not as important in America as the travails of Britney. Yukihisa’s presentation was all the more important due to the fact he was the Chief Cabinet Secretary under former PM Junichiro Koizumi in 2001. READ MORE....
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9/11 - From The History File...WTC7.net
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Democracy that Works: Citizen Oversight, Checks and Balances, Hand Counts
A quote...."The New Hampshire recount is revealing many significant flaws in ballot security in the Granite State. We wouldn't even be here if not for the state's shameful disposition of vote counting to a private corporation using secret vote counting software for 81% of New Hampshire votes."

Unions go all-out for Kucinich re-election
A quote...."CLEVELAND — At a rally here this month with hundreds of labor leaders, public officials and community supporters, Dennis Kucinich kicked off his campaign for a seventh term in Congress, defiantly blasting corporate interests seeking to unseat him."

Ron Paul finishes 2nd  in Nevada Caucus
A quote...."January 19, 2008 – To the chagrin of the corporate news media, especially Fox News, Republican presidential hopeful Ron Paul finished in 2nd place in today’s Nevada Republican Caucus."
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The Fraud of Bushenomics: They’re Looting the Country
Must Read - A quote...."A more realistic -- and less idealistic -- view of Bushenomics is that the Bush administration and its cronies came at the economy with the attitude of oilmen."
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Mortgage Company Exec Jumps to Death
A quote...."An executive of a collapsed subprime mortgage lender jumped to his death from a bridge Friday, shortly after his wife's body was found inside their New Jersey home."

L.A. Times Editor Is Forced Out
A quote...."The top editor of The Los Angeles Times has been forced out for resisting newsroom budget cuts, executives at the paper say, marking the fourth time in less than three years that the highest-ranking editor or the publisher has left for that reason."

The Week The [British] Economy Turned Nasty
A quote...."Retail sales plummet; gas and electricity prices soar, further eating into already squeezed disposable incomes; Citigroup and Merrill Lynch, two of the great symbols of American capitalism, forced to hand round the begging bowl among Asian and Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds after massive write-downs on US sub-prime mortgage lending."

Job Data Passes Threshold Where Recessions Dwell
A quote...."The Labor Department reported that in December some 7,655,000 people were unemployed, meaning they were both without a job and looking for one. That figure was 13.2 percent higher than the 6,760,000 figure in the previous December. In the past, a 13 percent annual rise has been the sign of a recession every time."

Good Jobs Are Where the Money Is
Must Read - A quote...."From 1980 to 2005 the national economy, adjusted for inflation, more than doubled. (Because of population growth, the actual increase per capita was about 66 percent.) But the average income for the vast majority of Americans actually declined during that period. The standard of living for the average family has improved not because incomes have grown, but because women have gone into the workplace in droves.  --  The peak income year for the bottom 90 percent of Americans was way back in 1973 — when the average income per taxpayer (adjusted for inflation) was $33,001. That is nearly $4,000 higher than the average in 2005.  --  It’s incredible but true: 90 percent of the population missed out on the income gains during that long period."

When the Big Boys Get in Trouble, the Little Taxpayer Pays the Bill
A quote...."It was at a large wedding reception in New York City that I saw Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan, sitting down to dinner one spring evening in 2000. Having heard on the grapevine that the Federal Reserve was finally going to do something about predatory lending-an area of enforcement under their jurisdiction-I went over to his table and asked him this question:”Mr. Chairman, I hear that you are going to crack down on predatory lending practices.” He nodded and said quite firmly, “Yes, Enough is Enough.”

The False US Economy Versus Nature’s Expansion-Contraction Cycle
A quote...."While tending berry vines on my small farm this fall and winter, I’ve observed the sharp decline of the US’s artificial economy. Nature has a seasonal cycle of expansion and contraction. Now contracting, the US’s manufactured economy has been built on a growth-always fiction."

I'm surprised the author didn't also compare the US economy to a farm that's using unsustainable methods.

The use of expensive and destructive fertilizers (Fed pumping and priming)

The leaching of the top soil, (spending beyond our means, massive trade, federal, mortgage and consumer deficits)

The destructive use of mono-culture techniques, (tearing down the fire walls between insurance, banking, and brokerage firms, transforming our economy into one seamless financial colossus, all of which has lead to our present financial instabilities.)

The massive and uncontrolled use of pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, antibiotics and other industrial farming techniques all of which destroy the organic balance on farms (the use of the government by the small financial elite to enact and enforce regulations that solely benefit them, putting at a disadvantage millions of smaller businesses. The destruction of the small retail businesses in thousands of cities and towns across the country be the mega-malls or mega-outlets.  All of these actions destroy the organic balance in an economy)

The analogy could be taken much, much, further. – mpg
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Honeybees may be wiped out in 10 years
Case in point. - mpg

Nationalists Stirring in Iraq
Special Note - A quote...."On January 13 an emerging Sunni-Shiite nationalist bloc in Iraq signed a groundbreaking agreement aimed at ending Iraq's civil war, blocking the privatization of Iraq's oil industry and checkmating the breakaway Kurdish state. It's a big step forward, and it could change the face of Iraqi politics in 2008."

Bush orders “mini-surge” of US troops to Afghanistan
A quote...."The Bush administration announced on Tuesday that it is sending an additional 3,200 marines to Afghanistan over the coming months, amid growing concerns over the extent and endurance of Afghan resistance to the US-NATO occupation of the country. The deployment is essentially a small-scale version of the Iraq “surge” in the first half of 2007."

“Don’t Mess With Us,” - Pakistan’s Nukes Are Here To Stay, Get Used To It
A quote...."The ‘real’ Pakistani officials in charge of the nation’s vast nuclear and strategic arsenal have spent the past few months quietly laughing at the doomsday scenarios that American politicians and media organizations have been spinning for months now. These Pakistani officials say they are calm because of their confidence in their capabilities. However, this Pakistani calm should not be mistaken for weakness. “My message is: Don’t mess with us,” says Air Commodore Khalid Banuri, with pride."

US: number of Iran bombs in Iraq already equals December
A quote...."US soldiers have already been targeted in the first two weeks of January by as many suspected Iranian explosives as in all of December, the US defense chief said Friday."

For more on this garbage see....Fake Intel - IED's & EFP's
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Sadr warns that Mahdi Army may not extend cease-fire
A quote...."NAJAf, Iraq: Radical Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr put the United States and the Iraqi government on notice Friday that he may not extend a six-month cease-fire by his militia."

The proof of a foreign policy that has failed
A quote...."Cosy relations between the Saudi royal family and the Bush clan preceded Mr Bush's arrival at the White House by many a year. The oil industry was at the heart of those relations. Yet America's growing dependency on Saudi oil has contributed to – if not dictated – its aggressive policies in the region. George Bush had a chance to bring consistency to his sermons about democracy and start a move away from US oil dependency on a near-medieval kingdom. His fawning visit to Riyadh is a measure of how grievously he failed."

Bush Flunked It!
A quote...."President Bush got 'F' in his latest Middle East peace initiative exam.  --  Bush ended his run of embarrassing bad grades as US President with another 'F' in Abu Dhabi yesterday and barely able to contain his frustration, once again took it all out on Iran."  --  This one was fun. - mpg

Q&A:  'US Missile System Could Re-Start Cold War, or Worse'
Interview - IPS interviews Philip Coyle from the Centre for Defence Information - A quote...."PRAGUE, Jan 18 (IPS) - The U.S. project to enlarge its missile defence system to Eastern Europe is a wasteful enterprise that will make the world unstable, says Philip Coyle, senior advisor to the independent Centre for Defence Information in Washington, and expert on worldwide military research, defence and security policy."

Russia, Bulgaria sign $5.9 billion nuclear power plant deal
A quote...."SOFIA, January 18 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's state-owned nuclear equipment monopoly Atomstroyexport signed a 3.9 billion euro ($5.9 billion) contract in Bulgaria on Friday to build a nuclear power plant in the north of the Balkan state."

Russia delivers third fuel shipment to Iran's nuclear plant -2
A quote...."TEHRAN, January 18 (RIA Novosti) - Russia delivered on Friday the third fuel shipment to the Bushehr nuclear power plant it is building in southern Iran, the country's official news agency said, citing officials.

Iran warns US over hampering N-talks
A quote...."Iran has warned the US not to pursue 'wickedness' in an upcoming meeting of the 5+1 Group to discuss the country's nuclear program."

Venezuela Strengthens Ties with Central America
A quote...."Caracas, January 16, 2008 (venezuelanalysis.com) -- Following a three-day whirlwind tour of Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua, Venezuela's President Chavez returned today with strengthened ties between Venezuela and these Central American countries."

Sibel Edmonds Case: Nukes for sale (Pt 2)
A quote...."In a blockbuster article two weeks ago, the UK's Sunday Times described how a criminal network of Turkish, Israeli, Pakistani and American diplomats and officials conspired to steal nuclear secrets and sell them to the highest bidder in the nuclear black market."

Runnin' Scared: NYPD Seeks an Air Monitor Crackdown for New Yorkers
Special Note - False Flag Warning - A quote...."That's why he [Richard Falkenrath, the NYPD's deputy commissioner for counterterrorism] and Mayor Michael Bloomberg have asked the City Council to pass a law requiring anyone who wants to own such detectors [for biological, chemical, and radiological weapons detection] to get a permit from the police first. And it's not just devices to detect weaponized anthrax that they want the power to control, but those that detect everything from industrial pollutants to asbestos in shoddy apartments. Want to test for pollution in low-income neighborhoods with high rates of childhood asthma? Gotta ask the cops for permission. Why? So you "will not lead to excessive false alarms and unwarranted anxiety," the first draft of the law states.

That's right folks, as amazing as it may seem, the NYC Government is going to require people to get a permit before they can protect themselves from biological, chemical, or radiological weapons.  It's almost as if they're getting ready for something, heh?  What about that economy folks, and that ten year cycle of war every time there's a recession....you know like the one that's coming up real soon?

 Don't you just love coincidences? - mpg
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Intelligence officials on both sides of the Atlantic question al Qaeda role in Bhutto killing
A quote...."However, when asked about the allegations that Mehsud, and thus al Qaeda, is behind the assassination, one former high-ranking CIA case officer replied, “That is total bullshit.”  --  “Mehsud is an ISI [Inter-Services Intelligence] asset. It is ridiculous to think he acted unilaterally. What [the Pakistanis] have [as evidence] is an intercepted conversation, but it is not conclusive that Mehsud is speaking or that he is admitting a role in the assassination. There is some sort of congratulations, but that call could have been made at any time about any topic.”

Bulgaria backs South Stream gas pipe project with Russia
A quote...."SOFIA, January 18 (RIA Novosti) - Bulgaria approved on Friday a $15 billion project to build a pipeline to pump Russian natural gas to southern Europe via the Black Sea, the country's prime minister announced."

Condoleezza Rice’s Right-Hand Man Is Retiring For Personal Reasons
A quote...."R. Nicholas Burns, the country’s third-ranking diplomat and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s right-hand man, is retiring for personal reasons, the State Department said Friday." -- Yipee! - mpg

Judge May Question CIA Agents About Tapes
A quote...."A federal judge in New York said Thursday that he was "disappointed" in how investigators from the Central Intelligence Agency had handled videotapes documenting the harsh interrogation of detainees from Al Qaeda, adding that he was considering questioning agency officials who had watched the tapes about why they had made no record of them in their files."

Government’s Proposed Cyber Security Policy Would Police All Internet Activity
A quote...."Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell is proposing a plan that would give the government complete access to the content of any international or domestic email, file transfer, or web search, without probable cause or any warrants — in direct opposition to the Fourth Amendment."

Feeling Good? Take a Ride on the Taser!
A quote...."While we weren’t looking, the brutality of torture and preemptive war propounded by our national government has steadily seeped ever deeper into the consciousness of state and local bureaucrats, especially those armed with deadly weapons. I notice especially the emergence of an increasingly non-random pattern of preemptive government torture, this time by Taser.   --  Spend a couple of minutes on the web, and you can find numerous such incidents – in, Ohio, Florida, Florida, and South Carolina (in the South Carolina case, a 75-year-old infirm woman was actually Tased in a nursing home).  --  Apparently, this "harmless" little device is a favorite among domestic police forces."

1-17-08: Ballot boxes found slit; NH stops putting ballots in vault;
A quote...."Black Box Voting has been doing a chain of custody exam for the New Hampshire Primary's recount. On Wednesday night, Election Defense Alliance's Sally Castleman mentioned a troubling observation: After following the ballots back to the ballot vault following Wednesday's recount, she had the opportunity to enter the ballot vault, and noticed what looked like cuts, or slits, in the side of many ballot boxes."

1-16-08: How New Hampshire is sizing up
A quote...."We are finding in New Hampshire: the best of the best in MOST situations, but considerable naivete and in some areas, and an alarming and wilfull negligence.
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Stimulate This: Why the Talk of Economic Stimulus Will Remain Talk
Must Read - A quote...."This crisis may seem brand new. It isn’t. And please dump that word “recession” because it doesn’t do justice to what we are talking about here. The highest inflation rate in 17 years and the biggest housing crisis in a quarter of a century didn’t just happen. Major banks writing down billions of dollars practically every week is not normal. Wall Street going from boom to gloom almost overnight was not caused by somebody making a mistake.  --  The political causes of this are deep and long standing. Writer Robert Kuttner calls this “the most serious downturn since the Great Depression.” He blames the rise of right-wing ideology, and “the domination of our politics by a financial elite, and the lack of a true opposition party.”  --  You can’t fix that with pathetic stimulus packages and minor tinkering."

"This is a structural crisis that’s been spawned by decades of shifting our economy from making things to buying things, from production to consumption. It has spawned “financialization’ a well heeled credit and loan complex powered by legal and illegal shenanigans in an unregulated market-driven environment. Both parties have benefited from it and are complicit in its consequences. All of our biggest banks were part of the subprime/subcrime-led credit collapse which enriched so many before bringing so many down. This crisis is still unfolding, rippling, and infecting more sectors of the economy. It is a “contagion” that has yet to be contained."
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Stagflation Returning to the US Economy after 30 years
Special note - A quote...." So what IS to be done in a situation of stagflation? We have to look back to 1970s, to the last instance of stagflation to see what was done to bring the economy to recovery. When you do that research, you immediately come upon one Paul Volcker. Volcker was chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1979 to 1987. Volcker correctly deduced in 1979 that the remedy was to limit the growth of the money supply and allow interest rates to rise. This solution, which is the only one that will work in a serious stagflation situation, will result in several years of massive unemployment and even deeper negative GDP growth." - italics/underline by website author

Think of it.  After Bush does his little stimulus thing, making everything even worse and of course delaying any corrective action untill the next administration (fancy that!), the Federal Reserve may have to raise interest rates....probably substantially....impacting the most overvalued, over extended, over leveraged, housing market in US history.

Things are going to get very ugly. – mpg
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The coming economic meltdown
A quote...."IN THE last five years the world economy has grown at almost 5 percent a year, its fastest rate since the end of the long post-Second World War boom in 1973. The boom has been centered in the “emerging economies” of China, India, Brazil, and Russia. That boom is now threatened by the bursting of the housing and financial bubbles in the advanced countries, particularly the United States, where a recession now looms."

Bush's “Stimulus” Cash Giveaway; “Gentlemen, Start The Helicopters”
A quote...."18/01/08 "ICH" --- - The White House is now in full-panic mode. In fact, the falling stock market has the administration so worried that Bush will deliver a speech later today that will lay out the details of a “stimulus package” designed to rev-up flagging consumer spending. The desperation is palpable. Fed chairman Bernanke's appearance on Capital Hill on Thursday turned out to be a total bust. Bernanke was supposed to calm jittery investors with promises of rates cuts and easy credit. Instead, his gloomy predictions put the market into a tailspin sending the Dow Jone's down 306 points by day's end. Now it's up to Bush and Co. to pick up the pieces and try to restore confidence in Wall Street."

New inflation data explain middle-class squeeze
A quote...."The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday that the price of food and beverages rose 4.8 percent. At the same time, real weekly earnings failed to keep pace, rising 0.9 percent for the year. In the simplest of terms, a dollar earned bought less."
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Taunting a factor in tiger attack
A quote...."The tiger "may have been taunted/agitated by its eventual victims," Inspector Valerie Matthews wrote in the affidavit. Police believe "this factor contributed to the tiger escaping from its enclosure and attacking its victims," she wrote.  --  All three victims had marijuana in their systems, and Paul Dhaliwal's blood alcohol level was 0.16 — twice the legal limit for driving, according to the affidavit.  --  "Clearly there's the lesson to be learned here," said zoo spokesman Sam Singer. "The lesson is that it's not a good idea to drink, it's not a good idea to be high on dope, and it's not a good idea to taunt a man-eating tiger."