Waving
Goodbye to Hegemony
Must Read - A
quote...."Turn on
the TV today, and you could be forgiven for thinking it’s 1999.
Democrats and Republicans are bickering about where and how to
intervene, whether to do it alone or with allies and what kind of world
America should lead. Democrats believe they can hit a reset button, and
Republicans believe muscular moralism is the way to go. It’s as if the
first decade of the 21st century didn’t happen — and almost as if
history itself doesn’t happen. But the distribution of power in the
world has fundamentally altered over the two presidential terms of
George W. Bush, both because of his policies and, more significant,
despite them. Maybe the best way to understand how quickly history
happens is to look just a bit ahead."
Bulletins from
the Ministry for Torture
Must Read - Some
quotes...."Harry Reid made a stirring appeal on Friday. Bush, he said,
should use his State of the Union Address to renounce torture and all
its works and put an end to policies that have brought disgrace and
infamy upon the country:" -- "Bush may very well say that
“we do not torture.” He said it in the teeth of the photographs from
Abu Ghraib, the gruesome scenes of Guantánamo, the deaths in
Bagram and the scandalous reports from the system of CIA blacksites. It
is one of Bush’s most practiced, most artfully delivered and least
believed lies. But we know he is wedded to torture. It is, for the Bush
years, the surest evidence of the morally corrosive wielding of power
for the sake of power, of power untamed by accountability, of power
placed beyond the hold of Law."
Lame
duck nation
Must Read - A
quote...."Continued ranting about the alleged menace from Iran, and
saturation of consciousness with presidential primaries and other
corporate commercials, cannot fully distract from an economy that grows
worse every day. The public suffers information denial syndrome,
inflicted by corporate mind management. But its experience is far more
practical than the theories of economic fundamentalists, who might
better pray for a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow than create
policy that might get us out of our fix. -- We are under a
domain of capitalism that has created a multi-trillion dollar debt that
can never be repaid, and should be canceled. The credit organs of our
commercially diseased anatomy won’t respond to the puny stimulus
proposed by Wall Street clergy."
Manley
panel gets it wrong - Report on Afghanistan the latest example of
Ottawa hiding the truth from Canadians --
Must Read - A quote...."The report
on Afghanistan delivered Monday by the Manley
panel was deeply disappointing. Its totally predictable findings could
have been written without the panel of instant Afghan experts wasting
millions of tax dollars."
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America's
most important, still unanswereed question: Who is the noecon cabal
answering to?
A quote...."
During the Bush years we have learned:
(1.) The ultimate conflict among human beings isn't "political"
(indeed, that least of all!).
(2.) The ultimate conflict among human beings isn't nationalism.
(3.) The ultimate conflict among human beings isn't "religious"
(in spite of the buffoonery of religious fanatics).
(4.) The above three conflicts are in essence symptomatic by
products
of what IS the ultimate conflict among humans beings. Said one way,
it's the ancient conflict between the "Have's" and "Have Not's".
In
contemporary terms, the ultimate conflict of human existence is between
the 0.5% vampire elites and 99.5% (at least!) of the human race.
This the total explanation of the gutless Democratic Congress, since
these traitors have sold their souls to the elite hog trough -- as do
nearly all politicians in every county on the planet.
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What
A Great Freakin’ War!!
A quote...." For months –
nay, years! – I’ve been ranting about how screwed up the war in Iraq
has been, and how disastrous have been its consequences. --
What a fool I’ve been! In reality, it’s actually turned out pretty
great. -- That’s what I learned when I read William
Kristol’s recent New York Times piece, “The Democrats’ Fairy Tale”. In
a stroke of thoughtfulness, generosity and uncanny prescience, the
Times was kind enough recently to hire Kristol to write a regular
column for their op-ed page. I guess that’s because Ariel Sharon was
unavailable and David Duke was on vacation."
The
Doctrine of Blatancy
A quote...." 27/01/08
"ICH" -- -- For those of you who haven’t caught on yet, there is
a new doctrine of success. It is called the ‘Doctrine of Blatancy’. My
coinage admittedly, but one that in my view defines the strategy of the
New World Order. -- The Doctrine of Blatancy works
something like this: -- First identify our (US of A) area
of benefit (where can we maximize our power and wealth?) --
Next look for locals who will collaborate with us to help achieve our
ends. Of course there are always scraps from the table to be thrown to
them. And most dogs are satisfied with that."
Tip-off
thwarted nuclear spy ring probe
A quote...."AN investigation into the illicit sale of American nuclear
secrets was compromised by a senior official in the State Department, a
former FBI employee has claimed. -- The official is said to
have tipped off a foreign contact about a bogus CIA company used to
investigate the sale of nuclear secrets. -- The firm,
Brewster Jennings & Associates, was a front for Valerie Plame, the
former CIA agent. Her public outing two years later in 2003 by White
House officials became a cause célèbre."
The
ominous lesson of Tet
A quote...."Next week marks the 40th anniversary of an event that
seemed to turn the world upside down. In the early hours of January 31
1968, soldiers of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam and
the army of North Vietnam launched what came to be known as the Tet
offensive (it coincided with Tet Nguyen Dan, the lunar new year)
against the US military and its local allies."
'If there is no
change in three months, there will be war again'
Special Note: - A
quote...."If there is no change in three months there will be war
again," said Abu Marouf, the commander of 13,000 fighters who formerly
fought the Americans. He and his men switched sides last year to battle
al-Qa'ida and defeated it in its main stronghold in and around
Fallujah. -- "If the Americans think they can use us to
crush al-Qa'ida and then push us to one side, they are mistaken," Abu
Marouf told The Independent in an interview in a scantily furnished
villa beside an abandoned cemetery near the village of Khandari outside
Fallujah."
Return to
Fallujah - Three years after the devastating US assault, our
correspondent enters besieged Iraqi city...
A quote...."The last time I tried to drive to Fallujah, several years
ago, I was caught in the ambush of an American fuel convoy and had to
crawl out of the car and lie beside the road with the driver while US
soldiers and guerrillas exchanged gunfire. The road is now much safer
but nobody is allowed to enter Fallujah who does not come from there
and can prove it through elaborate identity documents."
Overstretch
'driving troops away', say UK MPs
A quote...."Overstretch within the armed forces is driving away
experienced personnel and damaging morale, MPs have warned.
-- The strain of operating at full capacity in Afghanistan and
Iraq has left the services "deteriorating", a defence select committee
report says. -- Personnel do not get enough rest time, and
budgets are spiralling out of control, its annual MoD report adds."
The
Blockade of Gaza - Worse Than a Crime
A quote...."It looked like the fall of the Berlin wall. And not only
did it look like it. For a moment, the Rafah crossing was the
Brandenburg Gate. -- It is impossible not to feel
exhilaration when masses of oppressed and hungry people break down the
wall that is shutting them in, their eyes radiant, embracing everybody
they meet - to feel so even when it is your own government that erected
the wall in the first place. -- The Gaza Strip is the
largest prison on earth. The breaking of the Rafah wall was an act of
liberation. It proves that an inhuman policy is always a stupid policy:
no power can stand up against a mass of people that has crossed the
border of despair. -- That is the lesson of Gaza, January,
2008."
Egyptian troops
pull back,Gazans pour over border
A quote...." RAFAH, Egypt, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Egyptian troops pulled
back overnight from the breached Gaza border after a security guard was
shot in the foot, allowing thousands of Palestinians to stream across
unhindered. --
Witnesses said Palestinian taxis drove passengers across the border
three days after Palestinian militants blasted it open in defiance of
an Israeli blockade, and Gaza-plated cars and trucks entered Egypt to
bring back supplies of food and fuel."
Egypt
says will keep border open and help Gazans restock
A quote...."Egypt said on Saturday it would continue to allow Gazans to
cross the breached border and help them stock up on supplies on the
fourth day of unfettered access, the official MENA news agency
reported."
The Annapolis
spirit in action
A quote...."If we put aside diplomatic niceties and self-serving
proclamations of an urgent need for peace and Israeli readiness to
"make painful sacrifices" to achieve it, the Annapolis conference in
fact confirmed the logic of war. The current Israeli assault on and
collective punishment of the Palestinians in Gaza prove it."
Dozens killed in
Pakistan violence
A quote...."Fighting spread in Pakistan's volatile borderlands on
Friday as the military pounded hideouts of Taliban militants who had
hijacked ammunition supply trucks, killing up to 30 suspected rebels,
the army said."
Chavez
claims US and Colombia planning war provocation
A quote...."Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez claimed that United States
and Colombia were plotting an incident that would spark a war with
Venezuela. The charges, supported by alleged troop movements in the
border area caused fear among the civilian population of the
neighboring countries."
BALKANS:
Serbia Signs Controversial Energy Deal with Russia
A quote...."Serbia will become a key hub in the prospective network of
Russian energy supplies to southern Europe," Russian President Vladimir
Putin said after the signing ceremony in Moscow."
The
West no longer understands Lavrov
A quote...."MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti political commentator Yelena
Shesternina) - Sergei Lavrov said that he would be "maximally open to
the media," after being appointed foreign minister in March 2004. - A
man of his word, he holds a briefing at the beginning of each year to
speak about the results of the past year and make forecasts for the
current one. - Last Wednesday, Lavrov held a 90-minute news conference
at the Foreign Ministry's Press Center, answering 28 questions from
Russian and foreign journalists."
RIGHTS-AUSTRALIA:
Apology, No Compensation For Lost Generations
A quote...."The seminal ‘Bringing Them Home’ report, released in 1997,
from the ‘National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander Children from Their Families’ acknowledged that
indigenous children were "forcibly separated from their families and
communities from the very first days of the European occupation of
Australia." - Among the 54 recommendations contained in the report is a
call for monetary compensation, as a part of reparations, "in
recognition of the history of gross violations of human rights".
The
Highjacking of a Nation - Part I &
The Highjacking
of a Nation - Part II
Special Note -Basically
summarizes the Saudi Royals, Pakistan's elites support of "terrorists"
and Turkey's role in illegal arms and drug trafficking in the
Fertile Crescent….with the full knowledge and protection of elements
within the US government. - mpg
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How
I Came To Distrust the Official 9/11 Conspiracy Theory
A quote...."I have since learned there have been no complete,
catastrophic collapses of steel-framed buildings due to fire recorded,
ever, like these. There have been partial collapses, involving a few
floors, and considerable damage due to fire, but no complete collapses
ever of steel-framed buildings. On 9/11, we are given to believe there
were three."
"The
Shell Game" is Rattling Some Powerful Nerves!
A quote...."In the 1960s government agencies developed a program called
“COINTELPRO,” which was designed to divide and destroy anti-war and
civil rights movements through infiltration, harassment, and various
dirty tricks. This is public record."
Know
Your Rights: What to Do If You're Stopped by the Police
A quote...."To fight police abuse effectively you need to know your
rights. There are some things you should do, some things you must do
and some things you cannot do. If you are in the middle of a police
encounter, you need a handy and quick reference to remind you what your
rights and obligations are. -- Print this page and carry it
in your wallet, pocket, or glove compartment to give you quick access
to your rights and obligations concerning police encounters.
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The
worst market crisis in 60 years
Special Note: - A
quote...."T he current financial crisis was precipitated by a bubble in
the US housing market. In some ways it resembles other crises that have
occurred since the end of the second world war at intervals ranging
from four to 10 years. -- However, there is a profound
difference: the current crisis marks the end of an era of credit
expansion based on the dollar as the international reserve currency.
The periodic crises were part of a larger boom-bust process. The
current crisis is the culmination of a super-boom that has lasted for
more than 60 years."
For more on this see....
Effective
Fed Funds Rate
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The
black box economy
A quote...."Behind the recent bad news lurks a much deeper concern: The
world economy is now being driven by a vast, secretive web of
investments that might be out of anyone's control.
Palestinians break
out from Gaza siege - (YouTube - 5 min 14 sec - Added:
January 23, 2008)
Must View - A
quote...."Palestinians have poured into the Egyptian side of the Rafah
crossing through holes blown along the border wall between the Gaza
Strip and Egypt. -- Al Jazeera's Jacky Rowland reports from
Gaza, where, due to the border breach, she is joined by Amr el-Kahky,
Al Jazeera's Cairo correspondent."
Hip Hip
Hooray!! Wasn't
it Ronald Reagan who once said "tear down this wall....."? - mpg
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The
Untermensch Syndrome: Israel's Moral Decay
A quote...."07/20/06 "Information Clearing House" -- -- The labeling as
anti-Semitic of anyone critical of the state of Israel's policies in
the continued destruction of Palestinian identity, and now Lebanese
society and infrastructure, and the increasing domination into American
foreign policy no longer has the sting of threat or intimidation it
once mastered. For too long this masquerade has been used to silence
those opposing anything Israel, shouted at anyone disseminating truth
and seeking justice. Like the boy who cried wolf, this charade has lost
its power or hypnotic control, and today only serves to breed more
anger and resentment against the apologists and smear mongers
protecting the cancerous tentacles of Zionism and the crimes against
humanity it spawns."
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The
“Brutal World” - How did Western Civilization get a monopoly on “moral
conscience” when it has no morality?
A quote...."
“The first use of nuclear weapons must
remain in the quiver of escalation as the ultimate instrument to
prevent the use of weapons of mass destruction.” --- Five Western military leaders.
"23/01/08
--ICH--
-- I read the statement three times trying to
figure out the typo. Then it hit me, the West has now
out-Owellled Orwell: The West must nuke other countries in order
to prevent the use of weapons of mass destruction! In
Westernspeak, the West nuking other countries does not qualify as the
use of weapons of mass destruction."
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One
Day of the Iraq War=720 Million Dollars (video)
Video - A quote...."About this video: Visit http://www.afsc.org/cost
to tell Congress how you want your tax dollars spent. The Iraq war has
taken the lives of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and thousands of
U.S. military personnel. It is also costing $720 Million dollars each
day - dollars that could be spent in much more constructive ways. It is
time to DEFUND the war and RE-FUND human needs in the U.S. and Iraq.
Sign our petition at http://www.afsc.org/cost
- and send this video to ten friends."
U.S.
war costs in Iraq up-budget report
Special Note - A quote...."Funding for U.S. operations in Iraq and
Afghanistan and other activities in the war on terrorism expanded
significantly in 2007," the Congressional Budget Office said in a
report released Wednesday. -- War funding, which averaged about
$93 billion a year from 2003 through 2005, rose to $120 billion in 2006
and $171 billion in 2007 and President Bush has asked for $193 billion
in 2008, the nonpartisan office wrote."
More
than 72,043 battlefield casualties from Iraq and Afghanistan
A quote...."Wish the Presidential candidates would talk more about
ending the War in Iraq. -- The Pentagon officially reported
72,043 battlefield casualties from Iraq and Afghanistan through Jan. 5,
2008. In addition, VA hospitals and clinics have treated 263,909
unplanned patients from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars."
Russian FM urges
timetable for foreign troop withdrawal from Iraq
A quote...."MOSCOW, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) — Russian Foreign Minister Sergei
Lavrov on Wednesday appealed for a timetable for the pullout of foreign
troops from Iraq, saying national unity was the key to settling
conflicts in the war-torn country."
George
Bush and White House issued 935 false statements after September 11
A quote...."US President George W Bush and other top officials issued
almost one thousand false statements about the national security threat
from Iraq following the September 11 attacks, according to a study by
two not-for-profit organisations." --
More on Bush's lies - mpg
False
Pretenses: Orchestrated Deception on The Path to War
A quote...."President George W. Bush and seven of his administration’s
top officials, including Vice President Dick Cheney, National Security
Adviser Condoleezza Rice, and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, made
at least 935 false statements in the two years following September 11,
2001, about the national security threat posed by Saddam Hussein’s
Iraq. Nearly five years after the U.S. invasion of Iraq, an exhaustive
examination of the record shows that the statements were part of an
orchestrated campaign that effectively galvanized public opinion and,
in the process, led the nation to war under decidedly false
pretenses." --
This one
has a nifty little chart. - mpg
Justices
Broaden Immunity for Officers
A quote...."WASHINGTON — Federal law enforcement officers are immune
from lawsuits for mishandling, losing
or even stealing
personal property that comes under their control in the course of their
official duties, the Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday in a 5-to-4
decision." -- bold/italics by website author
There it is in black and white.
Welcome
to "Thugs-R-Us" - mpg
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Missing
White House Emails Match Plame Time Frames
A quote...."At 8 PM on September 29, 2003, former White House counsel
Alberto Gonzales received a phone call from the Department of Justice
(DOJ). -- Gonzales received formal notification that
evening that the DOJ had launched a criminal investigation into the
leak of covert CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson."
Cheney
calls for permanent warrantless wiretapping
A quote...."Vice President Cheney called on Congress today to
permanently extend the Protect America Act as the White House launched
a drive to secure the tools it says are needed to fight a continuing
terrorist threat beyond the law’s Feb. 1 expiration."
Kucinich
Starts New Impeachment Drive
A quote...."And today Mr. Kucinich took to the floor to fire off his
latest salvo at the Bush administration: his plans to introduce
Articles of Impeachment against President Bush on Jan. 28 — the day of
Mr. Bush’s State of the Union speech. -- Accusing the
administration of lying about the need for the war in Iraq, Mr.
Kucinich said he did not need to hear the president’s assessment. “We
know the State of the Union,” he declared. “It’s a lie.” --
He also fired a volley at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California who
has maintained that impeaching Mr. Bush is not on the table for
Congressional Democrats. “If impeachment is off the table,” Mr.
Kucinich said, “truth is off the table. If truth is off the table then
this body is living a lie.”
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Serbia
approves sale of NIS to Gazprom
A quote...."MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti economic commentator Oleg Mityayev) -
Last night the government of Serbia approved the sale of the
state-owned oil-refining monopoly Naftna Industrija Srbije (NIS) to
Russia's Gazprom and the construction of the South Stream gas pipeline
across Serbia. On January 25, the two countries are to sign an
intergovernmental agreement on oil and gas cooperation."
US
STOCKS-Dow soars near 300 points as banks, insurers rally
A quote...."NEW YORK, Jan 23 (Reuters) - U.S. stocks snapped a five-day
losing streak on Wednesday, with the Dow surging nearly 300 points on
optimism that a government plan to rescue ailing bond insurers is
taking shape and could prevent billions more in credit losses."
Editor's caution: - Do
not believe all that you read. "On January 14, 2000, the DJIA
reached a record high of 11,750.28 in trading before settling at a
record closing price of 11,722.98; these two records would not be
broken until October 3, 2006."
Today’s session opened at 11,733.83, the high was 12,339.10, the low
was 11,530.12, the close was 12,270.17, about 70 points off the high.
Volume unofficially was the second highest on record. The
advance/decline was weak --"Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones
by a ratio of [only] 3 to 1 on the NYSE and by about 3 to 2 on Nasdaq."
Nasdaq was up only 24 points.
It appears this rally might have been given a
little
help after the "headline" DOW crashed through its 11-14-2000
high. That doesn't mean the DOW won't continue on upwards to test
the
one year 200 day moving average, it just means on a slow news day,
despite all the blather about "rumors", this sudden turnabout was
highly "
fortuitous."
– mpg
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U.S. deficit
estimated at $250 billion
A quote...."The deficit for the current budget year will jump to about
$250 billion, the Congressional Budget Office estimated Wednesday,
citing the weakening economy.
And that figure does
not reflect at least $100 billion in red ink from an economic stimulus
measure in the works."
-- bold/italics by website author
Chinese
economy sees record growth amid fears of global recession
A quote...."MOSCOW, January 24 (RIA Novosti) - The Chinese economy grew
by 11.2% in the fourth quarter of 2007 as annual growth hit a 13-year
peak, the country's government said on Thursday."