Wednesday February 3rd 2010
Amid
media blackout - Congressional hearing reveals US intelligence agencies
shielded Flight 253 bomber
Must Read - A quote...."
The testimony at the January 27 hearing
also blows apart the line promulgated by the establishment media, which
universally echoed the administration’s hackneyed phrase to explain the
Flight 253 incident—a “failure to connect the dots” on the part of US
intelligence agencies. This, of course, is the same phrase used in the
official cover-up of the 9/11 attacks. -- Thus, in a January 2
editorial entitled “Why Didn’t They See It?” the New York Times wrote:
“No doubt sorting through heaps of information and determining what is
urgent or even worthy of follow-up is daunting. Still, it is
incredible, and frightening, that the government cannot do at least as
good a job at swiftly updating and correlating information as Google.”
-- The Times itself, in a subsequent article published January 18,
reported the results of its own investigation, based on interviews with
senior White House and intelligence officials. The newspaper revealed
more “missed clues,” including the fact that intelligence authorities
learned in early November from a communications intercept of Al Qaeda
followers in Yemen that a man named “Umar Farouk” had volunteered for a
coming operation. Despite such evidence of an official cover-up, the
Times maintained the line that the near-disaster was the result of
mistakes, omissions and an inability to “connect the dots.” -
bold by website editor -
also posted
at ICH --
For more
on this issue see....US-False
Flag
Ops
-
Detroit's
"Lap-Bomber"
Freedom
Rider:
Show
Trial -
posted at BAR
Must Read - A
quote...."In
order that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed be denied even the formalities of
American justice as we once knew it, the system itself must be
eviscerated. “Phony concerns about security costs and whipped up fears
of impending terror attacks are used to subvert the legal system that
was once held up as a model for the rest of the world to follow.”
Mossadegh
and
Ahmadinejad
--
Iran
faces
almost
the
same
dilemma
as
1953
Must Read - A
quote...."There is a stark similarity between some aspects of the
political atmosphere dominant over Iran today and those under Prime
Minister Mohammad Mossadegh right before the U.S.-led coup of 1953 that
resulted in the overthrow of the legitimate government of Iran and the
establishment of a U.S.-puppet government of the Shah. In the period
between 1951-53, the U.S. in a close collaboration with the British
colonial power through their channels within Iran's military and
political apparatus, particularly the Shah’s court, was able to
contrive division within the ruling circle and as a result the society
at large." -
also posted at ICH
& GlobalRsrch
& DProgram
The
defense
industry
is pleased with Obama -
posted
at Online
Journal
Some quotes...."Who says the president is failing to show leadership?
In one area at least, there’s no sign of flag or falter. If anything,
the administration’s only becoming more forthright. Sad to say, that
area is military build-up." -- "The quote of the day comes from the CEO
of a military contractor-funded policy group called the Lexington
Institute. Loren Thompson tells Tuesday’s New York Times, “The defense
industry is pleased but bemused . . . It’s been telling itself for
years that when the Democrats got control it would be bad news for
weapons programs. But the spending keeps going on.” - Take that you
Nobel committee! - And to think some whiners complain about Democrats
suffering from a lack of direction."
Continuing
US Torture in Afghanistan - (YouTube - 9 min 48 sec - February 02,
2010)
Video - A quote...."An
ever increasing number of U.S. troops are fighting for peace in
Afghanistan. But an investigative journalist claims to have revealed
the shocking truth about surprise night raids by American forces and
secret prisons where detainees are routinely tortured. In an exclusive
interview to RT, Anand Gopal says Obama’s mission in Afghanistan is not
much different from Bush’s in Iraq."
Canada
Supreme
Court
-
Omar
Khadr's
Rights
Violated
A quote...."Montreal - The Supreme Court of Canada released its
decision today in the Omar Khadr case, confirming that the
constitutional rights of the young man from Toronto, protected by the
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, have been violated. The
highest court in the country has not however forced the repatriation of
Omar Khadr to Canada, contrary to what had been ruled by the Federal
Court and the Federal Court of Appeal a few months earlier. The judges
have indeed said the government must "decide how best to respond to
this judgment" because the information available to the Court was
"necessarily incomplete". -- The decision's findings, however, are
unequivocal. The judges conclude that the rights of Omar Khadr have
been breached since his capture in Afghanistan by U.S. troops in 2002
at the age of fifteen, and they continue to be. Referring in its news
release to the conduct of Canadian officials in the course of
interrogations in 2003 and 2004, the Court concluded that Canada had
"actively participated in a process contrary to its international human
rights obligations."
========= ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Bush
and
Blair
did
strike
Iraq
deal,
says
Welsh
MP -
And
millions of people paid the price. -
mpg
Special Note -
(another memo!) A quote...."A SENIOR Welsh MP
said last night he knew “for certain” Tony Blair and George Bush struck
a deal to invade Iraq at their notorious Crawford Ranch meeting in 2002
– a year before war was declared. -
Elfyn
Llwyd,
Plaid
Cymru’s
parliamentary
leader,
said
he
had
seen
a
confidential
memo
to
that
effect,
although
he
would
not
divulge
its
exact
contents." - bold by website editor - also posted at
AftrDwngSt
The Iraqi
Oil Conundrum - Energy and Power in the Middle East
Special Note - A
quote...."How the mighty have fallen. Just a few years ago, an
overconfident Bush administration expected to oust Iraqi dictator
Saddam Hussein, pacify the country, install a compliant client
government, privatize the economy, and establish Iraq as the political
and military headquarters for a dominating U.S. presence in the Middle
East. These successes were, in turn, expected to pave the way for
ambitious goals, enshrined in the 2001 report of Vice President Dick
Cheney’s secretive task force on energy. That report focused on
exploiting Iraq’s monstrous, largely untapped energy reserves -- more
than any country other than Saudi Arabia and Iran -- including the
quadrupling of Iraq’s capacity to pump oil and the privatization of the
production process." --
also posted
at CommonDreams
Iraq
court
delays
ban
on
hundreds
of
candidates -
Good
for Iraq. - mpg
Special Note - A
quote...."An Iraqi appeals court Wednesday suspended a ban imposed on
hundreds of candidates for suspected ties to Saddam Hussein's regime,
allowing them to run in next month's election, an official said. -- The
move could temporarily defuse a major source of tension ahead of key
March elections, but leaves the ultimate issue of a political blacklist
unresolved. -- The list — which has more than 450 names — was widely
criticized by Sunni political leaders who claimed it was being used as
a political tool to marginalize them by the Shiite-led government."
Iraq
to
sue
US,
Britain
over
depleted
uranium
bombs
Good for Iraq again, true costs
of a clean-up like this would run into the hundreds of billions of
dollars. So they should sue the HECK
out of Britain and the US-NRE for what they CASUALLY did to their country. - mpg
-- A quote...."Iraq’s Ministry for Human Rights will file a lawsuit
against Britain and the US over their use of depleted uranium bombs in
Iraq, an Iraqi minister says. - Iraq’s Minister of Human Rights, Wijdan
Mikhail Salim, told Assabah newspaper that the lawsuit will be launched
based on reports from the Iraqi ministries of science and the
environment."
George
Galloway:
Out
of
Iraq,
Out
of
Afghanistan. - Alt - (YouTube -
10 min 56 sec - February 01, 2010)
Must View Video -
The ever irrepressible Galloway telling it
like it is. - mpg
The open
and shut case against Tony Blair
A quote...."If Blair cannot give satisfactory answers to the questions
below, there is only one conclusion: he should stand trial for war
crimes."
========= ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Iran
sanctions
talk
will
derail
diplomacy:
China
A quote...."PARIS: Discussions amongst world powers over imposing
possible sanctions on Iran will complicate the situation and might make
it harder to find a diplomatic solution, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang
Jiechi said on Thursday."
Israel
pushing
Middle
East
to
war:
Syria's
Assad
A quote...."All the facts point that Israel is driving the region
toward war, not peace," the official Syrian news agency quoted Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad as saying during a meeting with Spanish
Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos."
"US
picks
veteran
envoy....."
[for
Syria]
Special Note - A
quote...."In a new effort to loosen the gridlock that is blocking
progress towards peace in the Middle East, the US State Department has
appointed one of its foremost Arabists as its new Ambassador to Syria.
-- Robert Ford, whose appointment has yet to be confirmed by the Syrian
Government, would be the first US Ambassador to Damascus since his
predecessor was withdrawn in 2005 because of apparent Syrian
involvement in the assassination of Rafik Hariri, the former Lebanese
Prime Minister."
Bahrain
official
wary
of
claims
about
Al
Qaida
threats
in
Yemen
Hey Folks!! This is one
of the US-NRE's and Britain's "friends" talking. - mpg -- A
quote...."Manama: A leading Bahraini lawmaker has expressed "tremendous
concerns" that claims about Al Qaida in Yemen threats to world security
would turn out to be as baseless as the ones made about Iraq's alleged
weapons of mass destruction. - "Al Qaida in Yemen has been given
incredibly impressive proportions which it does not deserve," Adel Al
Mouawda, an MP representing Al Asala, said. - "It seems that the new
dimension is being used by the US and subsequently by Britain to
achieve their hegemony over the region, including regional and
international waters. I am singularly afraid that the whole Al Qaida
issue and threats would end up like the alleged Iraqi weapons of mass
destruction," the Salafi leader said in a statement on Tuesday."
Saudi
Arabia
vs.
the
Houthis:
A
senseless
war
winds
down
A quote...."It has been nearly three months since the Saudi military
directly inserted itself in the conflict between Zaidi rebels and the
government of President Ali Abdullah Saleh in Yemen’s mountainous
northwest governorate of Saada. After two of its border guards were
killed last November by the rebels, known as Houthis (named after their
erstwhile leader, Hussein Badr al-Din al-Houthi) and claims made that
they had crossed into Saudi territory, a massive aerial assault was
unleashed." --
also posted at
AlethoNews
China
cancels
80%
of
Iraq
debt
A quote...."BAGHDAD — China has agreed to cancel 80 percent of the
8.5-billion-dollar debt it is owed by Iraq, the finance ministry in
Baghdad said in an official statement on Tuesday. -- It said a
bilateral agreement was signed in Beijing, without specifying the date,
and that China's ambassador to Iraq had met officials in Baghdad to
confirm the agreement. -- The statement added that the two countries
entered into trade deals valued at 3.8 billion dollars in 2009."
So, Where
Is The Peace Movement?
A quote...."Our Neighbors for Peace and Justice, San Fernando Valley
weekly peace vigil has been running continuously in Studio City,
California, since November of 2002, which makes it one of the oldest in
the Los Angeles area, if not the country. But as a vigil, it is not
unique, rather one of thousands that rose up spontaneously during the
lead up to the Iraq war, as average people from all walks of life came
together on the local level to protest. In the process, the people at
our vigil who kept coming formed bonds of friendship and camaraderie
that have sustained us through thick and thin."
[Cynthia]
McKinney To Receive Munich American Peace Committee Peace Prize;
Counters NATO War Meeting 2/5 & 6 in Munich; Protest Call
--
Special Note -
Hip Hip Hooray
--
Quote of the Day...."
Clearly,
the MAPC gave more thought to the significance of those whose struggle
for peace is based on principle . . . than did the Nobel Peace
Committee that rewarded our President for war." - bold by website editor
========= ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
"Would
you
like
a
little
Anthrax
to
go
with
your
False-Flag?"
Videos - Special Note - A
quote...."List of Dead Bio Weapon Scientists and Microbiologists --
This is a list of Scientists who were involved in Bio weapon research
and who's testimony would open many doors for any investigation into
bio weapons used against civilization as a population reduction."
Judge
Andrew
Napolitano
on
The
Alex
Jones
Show
–
False
Flag
Event
To
Save
Obama’s
Presidency
Videos -
Alt/Vid#1 -
Alt/Vid#2 -
(YouTube - aprox. 10 min each - Feb. 03, 2010) -- A quote...."Alex
welcomes back to the show former New Jersey Superior Court Judge and
political and legal analyst for Fox News Channel, Andrew Napolitano.
Judge Napolitano is the author of Constitutional Chaos: What Happens
When the Government Breaks its Own Laws, The Constitution in Exile: How
the Federal Government Has Seized Power by Rewriting the Supreme Law of
the Land, and A Nation of Sheep."
"
Expect al Qaeda attack soon: CIA [
Ok,
thanks for letting us know. Hey, Panetta: Can you schedule the attack
in the late morning, so that I can update the CLG site in a
timely fashion? I'm kind of a night owl. Thanks.] 04 Feb 2010 Al
Qaeda [al-CIAduh] can be expected to attempt an attack on the United
States in the next three to six months, senior intelligence officials
told Congress yesterday. CIA Director Leon Panetta said the terror
organisation was deploying operatives to the US to carry out new
attacks from inside the country, including "clean" recruits with a
negligible trail of terrorist contacts. Al Qaeda was also inspiring
homegrown extremists [!] to trigger violence on their own, he said." --
Paragraph quoted from CLG
Beware:
Miranda
Rights
Restricted
A quote...."The words we hear in so many movies and television shows
when someone is arrested, “Read him his Miranda rights,” no longer have
meaning. These rights are dead because the courts have “interpreted”
them out of existence. -- Throughout our country, if you don’t say the
right words during police interrogations, your rights to remain silent
and to a lawyer don’t kick in. This leads to unfettered police power
when any arrestee tries to protect herself in a powerless situation
when confronted by the police. And in a courtroom, all your statements
are admissible against you."
Time
Magazine
Pushes
Draconian
Internet
Licensing
Plan
Web Censorship Alert - A
quote...."Time Magazine has enthusiastically jumped on the bandwagon to
back Microsoft executive Craig Mundie’s call for Internet licensing, as
authorities push for a system even more stifling than in Communist
China, where only people with government permission would be allowed to
express free speech." -
also posted
at DProgram
-
For more on this isue see....Attempts to Control the Internet
Siddiqui
convicted
in
US,
blames
Israel
A quote...."Pakistani neuroscientist Aafia Siddiqui has been found
guilty of trying to kill US military personnel and FBI agents in
Afghanistan two years ago."
Powell
Favors
Repeal
of
‘Don’t
Ask,
Don’t
Tell’
Well if Powell's "pushing it",
it must be a good thing hey folks? Gives a WHOLE new meaning to
the phrase "be all that you can be, join the army". This way when
they rape their little brown prisoners they can take their videos back
home to Ma and Pa and make them proud. Heck if "gay" marriage (no
such
thing
as
"gay"
by
the
way) gets rammed down the throats
of California voters by the courts, they could even marry the little
suckers (assuming they don't torture them to death first) What a
proud day it is for the New Roman Empire folks....all of you Neo-Romans
(and you all know who you are) must be sooooooo happy right about now.
So break out your leathers and chaps, your chains and your whips, your
cattle prods and paddles, and have a gay old time of it. - mpg
========= ========== ========== ========== ==========
==========
========== ====
More On The
Palestinian Situation....
A Review of
Shahid Alam's "Israeli Exceptionalism" -- Zionism Laid Bare
Must Read -
Book Review - A quote...."The
essential point of M. Shahid Alam’s book, "
Israeli
Exceptionalism:
The
Destabilizing
Logic
of
Zionism",
[GoglBkSrch]* comes clear upon opening the
book to the inscription in the frontispiece. From the Persian
poet and philosopher Rumi, the quote reads, “You have the light, but
you have no humanity. Seek humanity, for that is the goal.”
Alam, professor of economics at Northeastern University in Boston and a
CounterPunch contributor, follows this with an explicit statement of
his aims in the first paragraph of the preface. Asking and
answering the obvious question, “Why is an economist writing a book on
the geopolitics of Zionism?” he says that he “could have written a book
about the economics of Zionism, the Israeli economy, or the economy of
the West Bank and Gaza, but how would any of that have helped me to
understand the cold logic and the deep passions that have driven
Zionism?” - *links added -
also
posted at AlethoNews
Blair:
Gaza's
great
betrayer -
No one
should EVER forget "Bombs
Away
O-Bomb-a's"
participation
in
this. mpg
A quote...."It's more than a year since Israel launched its immoral
attack on Gaza and Palestinians are still living on the verge of a
humanitarian disaster. So what has Tony Blair done to further peace in
the region? Virtually nothing, argues the historian Avi Shlaim."
This
Time
We
Went Too Far -
Alt
- (YouTube -
4 min 19 sec - February 01, 2010)
Video -
Regarding Norman G Finkelstein's new book "This Time We
Went To Far" -- A
quote...."For the Palestinians who live in the narrow coastal strip of
Gaza, the December 2008 Israeli invasion was a nightmare of
unimaginable proportions: in the 22-day-long action 1,400 Gazans were
killed, several hundred on the first day alone. More than 6,000 homes
were destroyed or badly damaged. The cost of the destruction and
disruption of economic life, in one of the worlds poorest areas, is
estimated at more than $3 billion."
Palestinian
red
crescent
society
(PRCS):
We
were
the
target
of
455
Israeli
attacks
in
2009
By the Numbers - A
quote...."EL-BIREH, (PIC)-- The Palestinian red crescent society (PRCS)
announced on Tuesday that its medical teams were the targets of 455
Israeli attacks in 2009 including shooting and physical assaults. -- A
PRCS report said that the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) fired 15
times at its ambulance vehicles in the West Bank and Gaza Strip killing
one of the volunteers in Gaza and wounding ten others in addition to
damaging 22 ambulance vehicles." --
also
posted
at Uruknet
Latest
Israeli
response
to
Gaza
investigations
totally
inadequate
A quote...."Amnesty International -- Israel’s latest response to the UN
on its investigations into alleged violations of international law by
its forces in Gaza a year ago is totally inadequate, Amnesty
International said today. -- Crucial questions about the conduct of
attacks in which hundreds of civilians were killed and thousands were
made homeless are not credibly addressed in Israel’s update to UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon."
Harvard
Law
student
detained,
deported
by
Israel
A quote...."A warm smile and easy laugh reveal Hebah Ismail’s
unthreatening, gentle personality. An American citizen, this 3L of
Egyptian descent works with the International Human Rights Clinic on
projects related to Bedouin land rights. Hebah wears a hijab. She still
does not know which of one, or combination, of these characteristics
prompted the immigration personnel at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion
International Airport deny her entry to Israel." --
also posted at AlethoNews
Israel
to
raze
200
Palestinian
homes
in
E
Jerusalem
A quote...."Israeli authorities plan to seal 200 Palestinians homes in
East Jerusalem Al-Quds to counter what they call "discriminatory
enforcement" against Israeli settlers."
Constant
Israeli
attacks
on
graves
and
shrines
--
"The
Case
of
Awarta
village"
Photo Gallery - A
quote...."The village of Awarta, Nablus district, is known for its
green plains and high hills and long history of Maqamat ( religious
shrines and monuments) indicating its ancient history and
authenticity. Awarta village was on the new date of the serial attacks
by colonizers on its land and people when a dozen of military vehicles
accompanied by 8 bus boarded by at least 350 colonizers from several
colonies moved into the village after midnight, 20 January, 2010."
All
factions
meet
in
Gaza
for
talks
on
unity
A quote...."Gaza – Ma'an – Representatives of all Palestinian factions
met in Gaza City late Wednesday at the headquarters of the
independents, Yasser Al-Wadiyeh said Thursday morning."
========= ========== ========== ========== ==========
==========
========== ====
It's
Just
Not
Right
Must Read - A
quote...."Ten years into a new century, (a mere two-
hundred and thirty- four years for the U.S. of A.) using history as our
guide, we have, in the last thirty years, chosen for President a
B-actor, an elitist whose father’s and grandfather's patriotism was
highly suspect, a morally impotent boy/man, a village idiot posing as a
regular guy, and now, as we hang by a thread, we wait to see if hope
floats. As if we would have learned by now that it’s pure insanity to
expect a different outcome from the repetition of this four-year
ritual, all these men were offered up as our choices by the latest
Master's of the Universe, known as "Inc.", all powerful, all knowing:
"Inc", running the world with the fanaticism of a corporate mindset."
--
also posted at OnlineJournal
Faber Lashes
Out – Again
Must Read - A
quote...."After his recent and widely disseminated quip on CNBC that
“Obama makes Bush look like a genius”, Marc Faber is now offering some
insights into how the US can get out of its “debt trap”. -- In his
latest GloomBoomDoom market commentary, the irrepressible pundit
concludes that
the US has basically
two choices: default on obligations -- or
--
massively monetize US debts
and reduce the debt through inflation. -- “In my opinion,” he
declares, “additional massive monetization of debts is the most likely
outcome”. And yet, “frantic monetization” lies at the root of the
banking system’s ills, in Faber’s view (his emphasis in the
following):" bold and (--) by website editor --
For more on this issue see....On
Inflation,
Deflation
&
The
Fed
-
08-17-09
-
mpg
Global
Insolvency,
How
will
the
U.S.
Service
its
Debt?
Must Read - A
quote...."What we
have experienced over the past several years has been an orgy of
securitization and leverage not previously experienced in modern times.
That was accommodated by ridiculously low Fed interest rates. These
conditions along with unregulated derivative creation led us to our
present state of affairs along with mammoth consumption of mortgages by
Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Ginnie Mae and the FHA. We were subjected to
unbridled monetary and fiscal abandon. -- Such unbridled greed came
close to bringing down the entire financial system, which American
taxpayers have been allowed to pick up the bill for. After all this we
see absolutely no regulation in sight and the SEC and the CFTC continue
to protect the titans of Wall Street as government looks on in total
disinterest. This, of course, omits the Executive Order borne
criminality, which has turned our free markets into controlled and
manipulated fascist markets. People say what can I do? You can start by
throwing almost every incumbent out of office and buy pressing the
Senate relentlessly to pass the bill that includes an audit and
investigation of the Fed. If you do not do these things you will end up
living on your knees enslaved, as will generations to follow. Too big
to fail has to be stopped along with moral hazard. Limits have to be
put on leverage. The world of derivatives has to be unraveled. If we do
not have serious financial reform the markets will continue to
self-destruct." -- also posted at
GlobalRsrch
& BLN
& DProgram
The
Crisis Is Not Over
Must Read - A
quote...."February 03, 2010 "Information Clearing House" -- Readers ask
if the financial crisis is over, if the recovery is for real and, if
not, what are Americans’ prospects. The short answer is that the
financial crisis is not over, the recovery is not real, and the U.S.
faces a far worse crisis than the financial one. Here is the situation
as I understand it:" --
also posted
at AlethoNews
& OnlineJournal
There’s
No
U
in
Recovery
Must Read - A
quote...."I’m sure that you’ve seen the headlines, Ford racks up $2.7
billion in profits for the year. That’s great news, that’s wonderful
news, see, the economy is turning around. Ain’t that great? That’s the
headlines, good news, it’s all getting so much better now. Only how did
Ford become so profitable? They did it by reducing their North American
workforce by 47%. -- So good news for Ford doesn’t necessarily mean
good news for the economy or for you. If Microsoft were to cut their
North American employees by 50% their profits would look great for a
while, but sooner or later the company would begin to suffer."
Exposed:
Bernanke's
"Skimming
Operation"
Must Read - A
quote...."February 03, 2010 "Information Clearing House" -- The
reappointment of Fed chairman Ben Bernanke means that the opportunity
for change has passed and the reform movement is dead. It means that
and that derivatives trading, off-balance sheet operations,
securitization, dark pools and high frequency trading will go on much
as they have before. It means that the public will continue to be
gouged so that a handful of Wall Street sharpies can rake in obscene
profits using complex "financial innovations" and over-leveraged debt
instruments. It means that the entire system will continue to be put at
risk to protect the interests of investment banks and hedge funds. It
means that the subsidies, the preferential treatment, and the bailouts
will continue to fuel populist rage and exacerbate deepening divisions
in society. It means that the status quo has been preserved and that
it's "business as usual"."
Move
Over
Doctor
Doom;
Mohamed
El-Erian
Ascends
To
The
"King
Of
Skeptics"
Throne
Contains Video -
Alt - A
quote...."
Earlier
we
presented a Bloomberg op-ed by an increasingly pessimistic
Mohamed El-Erian. For those too lazy to read it, we recommend the
following 4 minute interview by Bloomberg's Tom Keene of the Pimco
skeptic. In a response to what policy recommendation El-Erian would
suggest, the humble ex-Havard endowment head (who sure got out when the
getting was good) who prefaces his response by saying he is not smart
enough to propose policy (so who is - Tim Geithner?), says America
should expect a bumpy journey as the economy resets "There is no silver
bullet." Those mid-term elections are looking uglier by the minute."
Bankers
defiant
at
Davos
World
Economic
Forum
A quote...."Two years on from the biggest financial crisis to strike
world capitalism since the 1930s, leading international bankers made
clear at last week’s World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland that
they will resist any attempts to reign in the speculative practices
that have led to governments running up unprecedented levels of debt
and the loss of tens of millions of jobs."
AIG
pays out $100 million in bonuses
A quote...."The giant insurance firm AIG (American International Group)
paid out $100 million in year-end bonuses to traders in its financial
products division on Wednesday, according to company sources.
Elsewhere, it was reported that Bank of America and Morgan Stanley
awarded their top personnel record or near-record pay for 2009. Bank of
America paid out $4.4 billion and Morgan Stanley dispensed $14.4
billion." -
For more on this issue
see....Having
Fun
With
Your
Tax
Dollars
U.S.
May
Lose
824,000
Jobs
as
Employment
Data
Revised:
Analysis
A quote...."Feb. 3 (Bloomberg Multimedia) -- The U.S. may lose 824,000
jobs when the government releases its annual revision to employment
data on Feb. 5, showing the labor market was in worse shape during the
recession than known at the time."
No
help
in
sight,
more
homeowners
walk
away
A quote...."In 2006, Benjamin Koellmann bought a condominium in Miami
Beach. By his calculation, it will be about the year 2025 before he can
sell his modest home for what he paid. Or maybe 2040. -- “People like
me are beginning to feel like suckers,” Mr. Koellmann said. “Why not
let it go in default and rent a better place for less?” --
He absolutely should.....it's called
"capitalism", if he doesn't sell and walk away he'll be practicing
"socialism"...for the banks. What's really bad about the whole deal is
if he stays and pays, he'll be paying the banks twice for their highly
profitable (at
least
for
the
owners) particpation in the world's largest
"derivatives ponzi" scheme. Once
by having his tax dollars go to the banks to help them out of their own
self-inflicted financial hole while he and his children go deeper into
debt, and once again if he
continues to pay on the mortgage. A sucker play by anybody's
measure. - mpg
Tuesday February 2nd 2010
Budgets,
War
and
Blind
Ambition:
The
Limited
Minds
of
the
American
Elite
Must Read - A
quote...."The American elite's unbounded, unquestioned, indeed
unconscious sense of imperial entitlement and dominance -- based
ultimately on war, the threat of war and the profit from war -- is one
of the defining characteristics of our age. And if you would like to
see a glaring example of this attitude in action, look no further than
the front page of Tuesday's New York Times, where one David Sanger
gives us his penetrating "news analysis" of the Administration's
just-announced $3.8 trillion budget." -- also posted at ICH
& CounterPunch
Obama
budget: War, debt and cuts in social services
Must Read - A
quote...."The Obama administration’s budget for the 2011 fiscal year,
unveiled Monday, projects massive US government deficits for the next
decade, fueled by gargantuan military spending and the impact of the
financial and economic crisis of American and world capitalism. The US
national debt is projected to more than double over the coming decade,
increasing by $8.5 trillion. -- Administration officials also revealed
that for the current fiscal year, which ends September 30, 2010, the
federal deficit will approach $1.6 trillion, by far the largest ever,
and nearly 11 percent of total US gross domestic product. This is up
sharply from the $1.35 trillion estimate last week by the Congressional
Budget Office." -- also posted at
Uruknet
Obama's
Wild
Weekend:
A
Worldwide
Surge
in
Warmongering
Must Read - A
quote...."Even as progressives were savoring Barack Obama's "masterful"
– indeed, "brain-searing" – performance at the House Republicans'
retreat last Friday, their dazzling champion was busy applying himself
with renewed and reckless vigor to that most un-progressive of
occupations: saber-rattling around the world. The last few days
have certainly seen a remarkable display of bellicosity by the Obama
Administration, putting almost every tool in the militarist kit to use:
nukes, ships, missiles, money, proxies and war-profiteering. With just
a few flicks of the imperial wrist, Obama sent waves of destabilization
through some of the most volatile regions on earth."
1 Year of
Obama.... Change You Still Believe In?
Must Read - A quote...."A
little over a year ago this week, millions of people in the U.S.
greeted the inauguration of Obama with hope. For years people had
watched in revulsion as Bush overrode massive public opposition to
launch totally unjustified war against Iraq. They watched as he
occupied Afghanistan and declared that the U.S. had the right to go to
war against anyone it perceived to be even possibly “threatening” it.
They saw the pictures from Abu Ghraib and some heard the tales out of
Guantánamo... they watched the basic rights that are supposed to
be guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution shredded... and they saw a
country rapidly heading in a direction that revolted them
Why
Not
Kill
a
Million
for
a
Ratings
Boost?
Chimpy
Did
Must Read - A
quote...."How do you think Obama should try and improve his slumping
approval rating? You think he should scrap the mandatory insurance scam
and support the single-payer idea that most Americans want? Do you
think maybe he should stop running interference for the most criminally
corrupt and undemocratic administration we ever had in this country,
the Bush administration? Do you think perhaps he could actually close
gitmo or try and scale back the CIA death-drone attacks on civilian
populations in Pakistan? Maybe he should stop cow-towing to Wall Street
and the bankers from the Federal Reserve, the IMF, and the World Bank?
-- Any of those might be a good idea but neocon Daniel Pipes has an
even better one; Obama should bomb Iran."
Flashback:
The
'War
on
Terror'
was
going
to
start
in
1993 - Alt
- (Google Vid - 33 min 38 sec - 3 yrs ago)
Video - Special Note - A quote...."What you
are about to see has been BANNED, and never to be re-aired or sold. Not
even a copy of the transcripts. While the Sheeple were busy with the
O.J. Simson Trials, The Cabals were planning the New World
Order... J. A. Calhoun, a Research Consultant was very lucky to
record these two programs, one was on British ITN Report, and the other
was ABC's Day One back in July 93." -- For more on this issue
see....Effective
Fed
Funds
Rate
&
Total
Non-Farm
Payrolls
03-24-07
-
mpg
Afghans
call
Bagram
US
Air
Force
base
“Obama’s
Gitmo
Contains Video - A quote...."A quote...."By detaining people during
night raids and torturing them in Afghan field prisons, the US military
officials are not battling the insurgency, but actually creating it,
believes investigative journalist Anand Gopal" -- also posted at PrisonPlanet
Children
Prisoners
of
the
U.S.
War
of
Terror
A quote...."Many people in this country are aware of the atrocious
conditions and treatment of adult prisoners in the U.S. war of terror.
These prisoners have been held at Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, Bagram, and
other hellholes run by the U.S. But few are aware that thousands of
children have also been taken by the U.S. and its allies in this war of
terror."
“America’s
Secret
Afghan
Prisons”:
Investigation
Unearths
New
US
Torture
Site,
Abuse
Allegations
in
Afghanistan
A quote...."A new investigation by journalist Anand Gopal reveals
harrowing details about US secret prisons in Afghanistan, under both
the Bush and Obama administrations. Gopal interviewed Afghans who were
detained and abused at several disclosed and undisclosed sites at US
and Afghan military bases across the country. He also reveals the
existence of another secret prison on Bagram Air Base that even the Red
Cross does not have access to. It is dubbed the Black Jail and is
reportedly run by US Special Forces. [includes rush transcript]"
-- || Real Video Stream || Real Audio Stream || MP3 Download || More…
||
"Shock,
Horror,
Drama"
That
You
Won't
Read
In
The
New
York
Times
A quote...."February 02, 2010 "Information Clearing House" -- Dr Aafia
Siddiqui is a bright, intelligent woman who has been through hell
having being kidnapped, tortured in secret prisons, gunned down by US
soldiers and renditioned to America where she is now facing attempted
murder charges against those who shot her . -- Only in the cock-eyed
crosshairs of George W Bush's War on Terror could this happen and I
hope to God that the jurors who will go through the evidence during the
next few hours, if not days, see through this rotten legacy and
recognise the case for what it is ... a tissue of lies enveloped in a
web of deceit."
US
terror
suspects
allege
FBI
torture
A quote...."SARGODHA: Five Americans accused by Pakistan of links to Al
Qaeda-linked groups pleaded their innocence on Tuesday, saying they
were being “set up” and tortured by the Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI) and the Pakistani police. -- As they arrived for a remand hearing
at a high-security court in Sargodha, one of the suspects tossed a
scrap of toilet paper scrawled with writing from the window of the
police van, an AFP reporter said."
Obama
seeks
power
to
Assassinate
“US
Citizens”
they
label
as
terrorist - Alt
- (RTYuTb -
4m45s - Jan. 31, 2010)
RT-Video - A
quote...."They want the power to assassinate US citizens the call
terrorist, when they cannot even get the names right to begin with. 5
year olds on no fly list as terrorist "
Ron
Paul
on
Obama
seeking
to
assassinate
“US
citizens”
he
labels
as
terrorist - Alt
- (YuTb 3m40s Jan. 31, 2010)
Video - A quote...."On
the evening of Jan. 27, 2010, Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) spoke, in Baltimore
City, before a capacity audience at Loyola University Maryland."
Pentagon Black Budget
Sees Year Over Year Record Funding; Tops $56 Billion
A quote...."Last year, that budget grew to more than $50 billion – ”the
largest-ever sum,” according to Aviation Week’s Bill Sweetman, a
longtime black-budget seer. A few more billion were added for wartime
operations, for a total of $54 billion. This year’total would be $2
billion higher, a 3.7 percent increase." -- For more on this issue see....US
Support
of
Terror
MIDEAST:
Corrupt Arab Regimes - Who is to Blame?
Must Read - A
quote...."RAMALLAH, Feb 2, 2010 (IPS) - The Mideast continues to be
plagued by autocratic Arab regimes where human rights, democracy and
freedom of speech are a pipe dream for the average citizen. But who is
to blame and what can be done to amend this situation?"
Clare
Short:
Tony
Blair
lied
and
misled
parliament
in
build-up
to
Iraq
war
A quote...."Clare Short, the former international development
secretary, today accused Tony Blair of lying to her and misleading
parliament in the build-up to the Iraq invasion. -- Short, giving
evidence to the Chilcot inquiry into the war, also said that the 2003
conflict had put the world in greater danger of international
terrorism. -- Declassified letters between Short and Blair released
today show she believed that invading Iraq without a second UN
resolution would be illegal and there was a significant risk of a
humanitarian catastrophe. -- She told the inquiry that she had a
conversation with Blair in 2002. He told her that he was not planning
for war against Iraq and that the evidence has since revealed that he
was not telling the truth at that point, she said."
Taliban
take
on
the
US's
surge
Special Note - A
quote...."ISLAMABAD - At the major international conference on
Afghanistan in London last Thursday, Afghan President Hamid Karzai
called on the Taliban to take part in a loya jirga (assembly of elders)
- as a start to peace talks. -- The Taliban are widely reported as
having responded that first they want all of the more than 110,000
foreign troops in Afghanistan to leave the country by 2011. -- Asia
Times Online, however, has learned from well-connected sources in
Afghanistan who have been directly involved in backchannel negotiations
with the Taliban that there is an important nuance to the Taliban
demand. That is, the United States must put an immediate halt to its
plans to send a further 30,000 troops to Afghanistan before withdrawal
begins in 2011. -- In return, the Taliban would be prepared to open up
a channel of dialogue with the Americans, through Saudi Arabia, while
at the same time taking measures to reduce the level of hostilities in
the country."
"Ahmadinejad: West survives on sowing discord
02 Feb 2010 President Ahmadinejad warns against divisive policies that
seek to destabilize the region, as reports circulate that Washington is
ramping up its military hardware in the Persian Gulf,. In a Tuesday
meeting with Qatar's crown prince Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani in Tehran,
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Western countries have
always played a destabilizing role in the region. "The Westerners
cannot bear the thought of security and solidarity among regional
countries," said the Iranian president. "They
have survived largely by sowing discord and inciting instability in the
region."[You know you're
in trouble when... the
President of Iran perfectly articulates your sentiments.]" -- Paragraph quoted from CLG
'Iranian
weapon
ends
Apache
copters'
air
supremacy'
Weapons Tech Alert - Special Note - A quote...."A senior
Iranian military official says Iran has developed a special weapon that
can bring down Apache helicopters. -- Col. Nasser Arab-Beigi, the
director of the self-sufficiency organization of the Islamic Revolution
Guards Corps (IRGC), told the Fars news agency on Tuesday that the
“special weapon” can also target advanced tanks. -- He noted that the
new weapon will put an end to the battlefield supremacy of the United
States' Apache helicopters." -- also
posted at PressTV
- Obviously if Iran decides to
stockpile man-portable anti-aircraft and anti-amour weapons and
distribute them into Iraq and Afghanistan, or perhaps other
places, in the event they’re attacked, it will make it completely
impossible for the US-NRE to occupy these countries. This appears to be
a warning by them to that affect. Think of what would happen if
they distributed them in Lebanon or the Gaza strip. The people in those
places who are constantly being bombarded from the air would finally
have the chance to actually defend themselves. - mpg
Qatar's
crown
prince
arrives
in
Iran
A quote...."Qatar's crown prince Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani is in Tehran
to discuss matters of mutual interest with Iranian officials. -- Talks
on bilateral relations between the two Persian Gulf States will be high
on the agenda. -- The two countries are also expected to sign
agreements in several areas including military, energy and economy."
Yemen
rebels
pledge
not
to
attack
Saudi
Arabia
A quote...."SANAA — Yemeni Shiite rebels pledged on Tuesday not to
attack neighbouring Saudi Arabia, a key condition laid down by the
Sanaa government to end its nearly-six-month military campaign against
them. -- "As long as no one attacks us, we would not target any party,"
the office of rebel leader Abdul Malak al-Huthi said in a statement
posted on the rebels' website. -- It said the rebels, known also as
Huthis, had already made this position clear last week when they
announced a "withdrawal from Saudi territory and ending the war." -- also posted at Yahoo
Lebanon's
AK-47
index
may
be
pointing
to
war - Who
knew? Maybe someone should make a
chart. - mpg
Special Note - A
quote...."BEIRUT // Abu Mahdi spends most of his day sitting in a
plastic chair in front of a dilapidated concrete block shack on the
outskirts of Beirut’s southern suburbs puffing on a water pipe and
pouring coffee for a steady stream of visitors and customers that have
come to examine his inventory. -- Two of his first customers on a cold
winter morning are young fighters in their late teens from the militant
Shiite movement Hizbollah who are enraptured with a selection of
gleaming new 9mm handguns from Belgium, the United States and the Czech
Republic."
The
Arab International Forum for the Support of the Resistance - Beirut
Lebanon 15-17 Jan 2010 (english version)
A quote...."February 02, 2010 "Information Clearing House" -- The
conference concerning the resistance, held in Beirut from the 15th to
17th January 2010, was an overwhelming experience for me personally
with its almost 10 000 delegates from all over the Arab world and a
small number from Europe and the US."
India
hints at resumption of talks with Pakistan
Full quote...."Updated at: 2255 PST, Tuesday, February 02, 2010
-- ISLAMABAD: India has hinted at resumption of composite dialogue
process with Pakistan, diplomatic sources told Geo on Tuesday. --
According to diplomatic sources, India wants to resume the
comprehensive talks that have been stalled after the 26/11 Mumbai
terror attacks. -- When contacted Shah Mahmood Qureshi told Geo
Pakistan has always maintained that dialogue is the only way forward
for both countries. -- He confirmed there were some indications from
India about resumption of stalled peace talks."
US-CHINA:
Taiwan
Arms
Sale
Heats
up
Simmering
Row
A quote...."WASHINGTON, Feb 2, 2010 (IPS) - Trade relations between the
U.S. and China appear to be hitting a rough patch, with China publicly
threatening to impose sanctions on U.S. companies participating in the
arms sales to Taiwan, leading some observers to express concern over
the growing war of words between Washington and Beijing."
China
mulls
setting
up
military
base
in
Pakistan
A quote...."BEIJING: China has signaled it wants to go the US way and
set up military bases in overseas locations that would possibly include
Pakistan. The obvious purpose would be to exert pressure on India as
well as counter US influence in Pakistan and Afghanistan."
Russian-Venezuelan
Joint
Venture
to
Invest
$20
bln
in
Oilfield
A quote...."MOSCOW -- A total of $20 billion will be invested in the
development of Junin 6, a major oilfield in Venezuela's Orinoco oil
belt, a Russian deputy prime minister said on Monday. Igor Sechin, who
oversees the fuel and energy sector in the cabinet, put the timeframe
on the implementation of the joint Russian-Venezuelan project at 40
years, adding that development work would start later this year."
Russia
launches
cargo
spaceship
to
ISS
A quote...."MOSCOW, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Russia launched a cargo
spaceship from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan early Wednesday,
the Mission Control Center outside Moscow said. -- The Progress M-04M
freighter atop a Soyuz-U carrier rocket blasted off at 06:45 a.m.
Moscow time (0345 GMT), said spokesman for the Mission Control Valery
Lyndin."
Kremlin
shocked
as
Kaliningrad
stages
huge
anti-government
protest
A quote...."Although opposition rallies have taken place throughout the
Vladimir Putin era, the scale of the Kaliningrad protest appeared to
have caught the Kremlin off guard. -- The region – the former German
city of Königsberg, which was seized by Stalin during the second
world war – is separated from the rest of Russia and bordered by EU
member states Poland and Lithuania. -- Medvedev sent his
plenipotentiary envoy, Ilya Klebanov, to Kaliningrad to investigate.
Sources suggested that the Kremlin-appointed governor, Georgy Boos, was
also likely to be summoned back to Moscow for a dressing down."
I
Call It Murder
A quote...."By Cynthia McKinney -- February 02, 2010 "Information
Clearing House" -- They shot this Black man in his genitals and in his
back. It sounds like a hate crime to me. How else could one describe
it? -- Well, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, it was
self-defense. But how many times have we heard self-defense by cops
used as a cop out?"
Autopsy:
FBI Agents Shot Detroit Imam 21 Times
Related Article - A quote...."In Michigan, explosive details have
emerged from the long-awaited release of the autopsy report for a
Detroit-area Muslim imam slain by the FBI in October. The imam, Luqman
Ameen Abdullah, headed a Sunni Muslim group called the Ummah. He was
shot dead during an FBI raid shortly after being indicted on charges of
conspiracy to commit federal crimes. Local Muslim leaders have
questioned if authorities are trying to cover up facts surrounding his
death. The autopsy report was finally released Monday after a lengthy
delay. It shows Abdullah died from twenty-one gunshot wounds and was
found with his wrists handcuffed behind his back. House Judiciary Chair
John Conyers is expected to join a coalition of civil rights and Muslim
groups today to call for a Justice Department probe."
========= ========== ========== ========== ==========
==========
========== ====
More On The
Palestinian Situation....
Israeli
Occupation
Supportive
Companies
to
Boycott
Action Alert - Boycott, Divest and Sanction - Bacause if we don't, an entire
people will die. -- A quote...."In July 2005, a coalition of
171 Palestinian Civil Society organizations created the global BDS
movement for "Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel Until it
Complies with International Law and Universal Principles of Human
Rights" for Occupied Palestinians, Israeli Arabs, and Palestinian
diaspora refugees."
-- For
more on how
to
Boycott, Divest and Sanction the state of Israel see the
upper-left-corner of the "Front Page" of this website. - mpg
Palestinian
East
Jerusalem
Residents
Languish
Beyond
the
Apartheid
Wall
Video - A quote...."More
than 50,000 Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem live beyond the
separation barrier -- areas which are officially part of the city but
cut off from its daily life. AFPTV visited the isolated suburb of Kfar
Aqeb, where Palestinians are deprived of most municipal services.
Duration: 01:50"
Wanna
Visit
Jerusalem
with
a
Multi-Millionaire
Adulterer?
A quote...."You're in luck! MegaBucks Hagee is taking his snake oil act
to Jerusalem, why not join John as he picks up some pointers--and a few
shekels in Occupied Jerusalem, March 9-10! -- Don't have some of that
'prosperity' gospel money to jet over to Apartheid Israel? No problem,
get your Muslim hatred on at one of John Boy's "Night to Honor Israel."
-- John can certainly do better than that other rabid Christian Zionist
bible-thumper Jerry Falwell, who was given a private jet by Israel. --
When all else fails, John Boy can always pray and hope for a New World
Order, led by Jesus Christ?? Will Jesus descend on a mushroom cloud or
is he already in the ME, embedded with some Blackwater/Xe assassins?"
-- Let's be utterly clear about this
folks....these are NOT
Christians, they are Armageddon Cultists who have sold themselves into
slavery. - mpg
Hamas
Leader
Survives
Attempt
on
Life
A quote...."A local Hamas leader in the southern Gaza Strip has escaped
an attempt on his life which damaged nearby homes and left two children
wounded. -- The incident happened on Monday night when a car belonging
to Yussef Sarsur exploded overnight, leaving its apparent target
unscathed, AFP quoted witnesses as saying. -- The car was reportedly
parked in front of the Sarsur home in the southern town of Khan Yunis
when it detonated, ripping into nearby houses. -- Two children were
wounded by broken glass, hospital officials said. -- No group has yet
claimed responsibility for the explosion."
Palestinian
politicians
face
tide
of
persecution
in
Israel
A quote...."Leaders of the Palestinian Arab minority in Israel warned
this week that they were facing an unprecedented campaign of
persecution, backed by the right-wing government of Benjamin Netanyahu,
designed to stop their political activities."
Trees
Against
A quote...."Planting trees against occupation, settlement expansion and
land expropriation – this is the symbolic action carried out by popular
committees of resistance who joined a tree-planting action in Aboud,
North-West of Ramallah, last Sunday." -- also posted at Uruknet
International
activists
accompany
Gazan
farmers
A quote...."Farmers form the villages of Faraheen and Khuza’a , near
Gaza’s second biggest city of Khan Younis, reported to the ISM that
routine ’sweeps’ which Israelis carry out along the the border ,
disrupted the sowing of the wheat in the last few days available after
the recent rainfall."
Gathering to
rebuild Gawi tent creates air of solidarity and support in the face of
police repression and settler violence
A quote...."50 Israeli and international supporters gathered today in
Sheikh Jarrah to help Palestinian residents rebuild the Gawi family
tent after it was demolished by police earlier in the day. The event,
called by neighborhood residents and ISM activists, created a sense of
support, solidarity and community in the face of high tension and
repression by authorities."
Israeli
jets
strike
southern
Gaza
A quote...."Bethlehem – Ma'an – Israeli warplanes carried out
airstrikes on at least two targets in the southern Gaza Strip
overnight, witnesses said and the Israeli military confirmed."
========= ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
FED
GAVE
Banks
Access
to
23.7
TRILLION
DOLLARS
NOT
$700
Billion! - Alt
- (YuTb -
4m41s - 01/30/10)
Video - Special Note - A
quote...."The president continues to say in public that banks have
almost paid America back....that is a lie!"
Obama's
Budget
Has
One
Small,
Missing
Piece....
For
$6.3
Trillion
Dollars
A quote...."Today, to much fanfare, the administration released its
ridiculous $3+ trillion budget (we say + because at that size the one
thing certain is that the budget will certainly never hit the target
and while we wish it would be lower, we are certain it will end up
materially higher), which consists of a "short" 192-page summary
section and a 1420 page appendix. -- We are confident that
not one politician will read the whole thing from cover to cover. We
won't either. Not because we don't care about what's in it, but because
we are much more concerned with what is not included, namely $2.8
Trillion and $1.9 Trillion of MBS guaranteed portfolios at Fannie and
Freddie, and an additional $782 billion and $809 billion in company
debt outstanding for the two GSEs, respectively. -- This amounts to a total of $6.3 trillion in
liabilities which should be counted toward the budget. And yet,
oddly, the error-checker somehow made this rather justifiable omission:
after all if we were to look at a number which written out looks as
follows $6,264,000,000,000.00,
we would also probably just avoid it - it is somewhat difficult to hide
a number that big even in the 1,420 pages of the budget's appendix.
That's ok, we are here to remind them about the omission, and also to
remind Mr. Orszag, who himself, in that long ago 2008, espoused that
these companies should be put on the Federal Budget. " -- also posted at PrisonPlanet
The
Next
Leg
Of
The
Housing
Crisis
In
Five
Simple
Charts
Charts - A
quote...."Everything that the government has done so far, with a few
minor detours, has been almost exclusively focused on maintaining home
prices high, by tweaking either the supply or the demand side of the
housing equation. As the bulk of consumer net wealth is concentrated in
the housing sector, and a wealthy and confident consumer, much more so
than the banking system, is critical to the recovery of America's
economy, the Administration will do everything in its power to achieve
its goal of artificially manipulating the housing market, thereby not
causing an incremental loss of wealth to those still stuck with
overpriced houses, while the real
intersection of actual supply and demand curves would indicate a
materially lower equilibrium price." - bold by website editor
MSM:
Backdoor
taxes
to
hit
middle
class
(Reuters) – The Obama administration’s plan to cut more than $1
trillion from the deficit over the next decade relies heavily on
so-called backdoor tax increases that will result in a bigger tax bill
for middle-class families."
ABC
Consumer
Index
Drops
To
Lowest
Reading
Since
Fall,
Divergence
From
UMich
Propaganda
Reading
At
Record -- Chart
- A quote...."The most recent
ABC Confidence index came in at -49, just five points higher than the
all time low of -54 set last January and is now at the lowest level
since last fall. The prior week reading was -48, and the consensus for
this week was -45, implying a substantial miss from expectations. The
persistent deterioration in this index is increasingly at odds with
other consumer readings...."
US
trade union membership at lowest level in more than a century
A quote...."Union membership in the United States fell another 10
percent in 2009, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, with the
number of workers belonging to unions falling 771,000 to 15.3 million.
Overall, the percentage of union members continued to fall to 12.3
percent, from 12.4 percent in 2008. -- The decline was in large part
due to the loss of hundreds of thousands of manufacturing and
construction jobs last year due to the economic recession. This is,
however, part of a decades-long trend, which has seen the percentage of
private sector workers in unions fall to 7.2 percent last year, the
lowest level since 1901."
Greece
"Discovers"
$40
Billion
Of
Previously
Unknown
Debt,
CDS
Gaps
A quote...."It appears not even one day can pass without some new and
improved indication of Greece's economic collapse. The latest comes
from website Kathimerini.gr which discloses that the recently appointed
"Committee on the Reliability Of Statistics" has uncovered $40 billion of previously hidden debt
(one wonders when America will get a comparable commission: no question
we are in dire need of one)"
Monday February 1st 2010
Iran’s
Neoliberal
Green
Revolution
is
Over
–
Send
in
the
Dogs
of
War
Must Read -
War Warning - A quote...."There’s
a good
article on WSWS about a new development within the leadership of
Iran’s neoliberal PR campaign aka the ”Green Revolution”. The big three
are playing kiss and make up with the legitimate leadership of Iran.
Curious timing, wouldn’t you say? This past October, 5 Republican
Guard leaders and 37 others were killed by a suicide bomber in southern
Iran. The attack has been claimed by the Jundallah terrorists in Iran
who are working for “regime change”. Robert Baer gives us a little
insight into Jundallah." --
For more
on this issue see....US
Support
of
Terror
-
MEK-PKK-Others
An
Ugly Week For The Human Race And Other Living Things
Must Read - A
quote...."January 31, 2010 "Information Clearing House" -- You could
almost feel bad for Barack Nothingburger, having to deliver the
exquisitely badly timed State of the Union address to the world this
week. He, his signature legislative initiative, and his presidency
itself were already toast, but he still had to walk in the room and
pretend otherwise. -- There could hardly have been a worse week for it.
The days preceding his speech just brought one disaster after another
for the president. -- But, since he has decided to be part of the
problem, while masquerading as its solution, who cares? As long as he
continues to adhere to that position, I'd just as soon see his
presidency wrecked and his name humiliated anyhow. Considering that
treason is a capital offense, I'd say the guy is getting off easy
anyhow."
War
spending
surges
in
President
Obama's
budget
Those Neo-Roman Empires are
just so Gawd-darned expensive ain't they folks? So for all you
Neo-Romans out there who perchance might be reading this
blog....anytime you want this country to go back to being just a plain
old "nation state", you know, the one they used to call the USofA, and
give up your vain glorious and extremely expensive dreams of empire,
you be this website editor's guest....anytime you want to go back to
the way it was before that false-flag
event
you
folks
arranged
called
9/11, you just let everyone else
know....OK? - mpg -- A quote...."President Barack Obama’s
new budget, to be released Monday, forecasts two consecutive years of
near $160 billion in war funding, far more than he hoped when elected
and only modestly less than the last years of the Bush Administration.
--
In 2011 alone, the revised numbers
are triple what the president included in his spending plan a year ago.
And
the
strain
shows
itself
in
new
deficit
projections,
already
hobbled
by
lagging
revenues
due
to
the
weak
economy." - bold by website editor
-
also posted at ICH
UPDATE
1-Obama
seeks
record
$708
bln
in
2011
defense
budget
A quote...."WASHINGTON, Feb 1 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama asked
Congress to approve a record $708 billion in defense spending for
fiscal 2011...."
========= ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Blair’s
Monstrous
Consistency
Special Note - A
quote..."One of the reasons why I keep revisiting the illegality and
immorality of the intervention in Kosovo long after most people have
forgotten about it is precisely because so many opponents of the Iraq
war don’t want to acknowledge that Kosovo was every bit as
unjustifiable and wrong as Iraq was. By endorsing the war in Kosovo
even now, as Obama did again in Oslo, many opponents of the Iraq war
have opened themselves up to the attack that Iraq hawks were using from
the beginning. If someone pointed out that invading Iraq would violate
international law and not have U.N. sanction, the hawks would throw the
precedent of Kosovo in his face. Unless he was a principled progressive
or antiwar conservative, the opponent of the invasion was always at a
loss to respond. If invading Iraq was based on phony or exaggerated
intelligence about WMDs, Kosovo was based on lies about preventing
genocide and protecting human rights. Unless you are among the fairly
small percentage that opposed both, the odds are that you are outraged
over invading Iraq in inverse proportion to how outraged you were over
bombing Serbia." --
also posted at
AlethoNews
Call
for
Blair
to
face
trial
in
Scotland
A quote...."TONY Blair should be tried in a Scottish court for his
decision to take the country to war in Iraq, according to a group of
SNP MSPs.-- The Crown Office, which leads prosecutions, is examining
their arguments following the former prime minister's appearance at the
Chilcot Inquiry last week, in which he expressed "no regrets" over
deposing Saddam Hussein." --
also
posted at AlethoNews
Corporations
are
not
people
and
money
is
not
speech
A quote...."In Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the U.S.
Supreme Court overturned century-old restrictions on corporate spending
in elections under the guise of protecting First Amendment free speech
rights. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, writing for the majority, said, “If
the First Amendment has any force, it prohibits Congress from fining or
jailing citizens, or associations of citizens, for simply engaging in
political speech.” This argument of the majority decision rests on the
notions that corporations are covered by the same free speech
protections as individual citizens and that campaign donations or
financing are the same as speech." --
also
posted
at DProgram
Welcoming
the
Taliban
with
Open
Arms:
Defectors
and
Deception
in
Afghanistan
A quote...."This billion dollar buyout may, indeed, seem a bizarre
reversal of fortunes, but only if one believes the U.S. genuinely wants
reconciliation with the Taliban. In reality, defectors programs like
the one proposed for Afghanistan are an essential part of the
traditional U.S. pacification policy. For example, the so-called Chieu
Hoi "Open Arms" program is touted by military historians as having
produced positive results throughout the Vietnam War by offering
"clemency to insurgents." -- Make no mistake about it: this too is
propaganda. Defector "amnesty" or "clemency" or "open arms" programs
are aggressive CIA intelligence operations and have nothing to do
with." --
also posted at ICH
US kills baby, 4
other civilians in Afghanistan
A quote...."Baku – APA. US forces have killed at least five people,
including a baby, during a night raid which they say has been aimed at
targeting militants in central Afghanistan. APA reports quoting Al
Jazeera. -- Afghan officials say the foreign forces killed the
civilians in an attack on a village house in Uruzgan province on
Saturday night. -- US-led forces in the war-weary country claim the
casualties occurred when the joint forces came under fire from several
locations as they approached a compound in the region." --
also posted at Uruknet
US
frame-up of Aafia Siddiqui begins to unravel - Pakistani victim of
rendition and torture
A quote...."Pakistani neuroscientist Aafia Siddiqui went on trial in a
federal courtroom in New York City on January 19, charged with the
attempted murder of US personnel in Afghanistan’s Ghazni Province in
2008. The case against Dr. Siddiqui, 37, is rapidly unraveling due to
lack of evidence and discordant testimony from witnesses." --
also posted at ICH
Israeli
soldiers
abduct
Lebanese
teen
shepherd
from
south
A quote...."BEIRUT: Lebanon has lodged a complaint against Israel to
the United Nations Security Council to protest the kidnapping of a
citizen in South Lebanon by an Israeli patrol Sunday afternoon. Israeli
troops abducted a Lebanese boy in South Lebanon on Sunday, the National
News Agency (NNA) reported. The 17-year old shepherd, Rabih Zahra, was
tending a flock of sheep near Kfar Shouba when he was abducted.
According to NNA, Zahra is being detained at the Zebdine military
compound."
========= ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
The
Vancouver False
Flag
Red
Warning
& Red
War
Warning
(to be updated when needed)
02-01-10
mpg
Iran’s
Neoliberal
Green
Revolution
is
Over
–
Send
in
the
Dogs
of
War
Must Read - War Warning -
A quote...."There’s
a good
article on WSWS
about a new development within the leadership of Iran’s neoliberal PR
campaign aka the ”Green Revolution”. The big three are playing kiss and
make up with the legitimate leadership of Iran. Curious timing,
wouldn’t you say? This past October, 5 Republican Guard leaders
and 37
others were killed by a suicide bomber in southern Iran. The attack has
been claimed by the Jundallah terrorists in Iran who are working for
“regime change”. Robert Baer gives us a little insight into Jundallah."
-- For more on this issue see....
US
Support
of
Terror
-
MEK-PKK-Others
Strengthening
US 'Defense' In - Gulf A Step To War
War Warning - A
quote...."An
article in the New York Times by David E. Sanger and Eric Schmitt
states: "The Obama administration is accelerating the deployment of new
defenses against possible Iranian missile attacks in the Persian Gulf."
It continues that this move "appears to be part of a coordinated
administration strategy to increase pressure on Iran." Since there is
about a zero chance that Iran would dare to launch a first strike on
the US or its Arab allies, the US would only need to strengthen its
missile defenses in order to deal with an Iranian counterattack after
the US had first bombed Iran. This is a very dangerous development. It
will likely cause Iran, in expectation of a possible attack, to
increase its defenses. The US will then claim that Iran is threatening
its neighbors and increase its military force even more. The mutual
increases in military forces will mean a spiraling arms race." -- also
posted at
DProgram
U.S.
missile
test
mimicking
Iran strike fails
War Warning - Related
Article -
A quote...."WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A U.S. attempt to shoot down a
ballistic missile mimicking an attack from Iran failed after a
malfunction in a radar built by Raytheon Co, the Defense Department
said. -- The abortive test over the Pacific Ocean coincided with a
Pentagon report that Iran had expanded its ballistic missile
capabilities and posed a "significant" threat to U.S. and allied forces
in the Middle East region."
Secret
CIA-Mossad
meeting,
preparation
for
new
war?
War Warning - A
quote...."A
secret meeting between the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency
(CIA) Leon Panetta and Israeli officials has reportedly centered on
Iran's nuclear program. -- In a secret flying visit to Israel on
Thursday, the head of the CIA reportedly discussed Iran's nuclear issue
in a sit-down with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister
Ehud Barak and Mossad Chief Meir Dagan."
For more on this issue see
also....
US
accelerating
missile
defenses
in
Gulf:
report
--
War
Warning -
posted 01-31-10
U.S.
speeds
up
arms
buildup
with
Gulf
allies --
War
Warning -
posted 01-31-10
US
beefs
up
military
presence
off
Iranian
shores --
War
Warning -
posted 01-31-10
Clinton
Threatens
China
With
Isolation
Over
Iran
Sanctions --
War
Warning -
posted 01-31-10
Could
Vancouver
2010
be
the
next
9/11?
(UPDATED
9:00AM
EST
1-31-10)
False
Flag Red Warning - (per the article's author) &
War Warning
- possible related article -- A quote...."I now believe I have
reasonable grounds to suspect there could be a “false flag” operation
carried out somewhere in the Vancouver area during the Olympics in
Canada. Yes, this is purely speculation, but I feel the mention of it
is justified in the interest of our national security to keep an eye on
potentially dangerous overlapping occurrences. The games will take
place in Vancouver and Whistler from Feb. 12th until Feb. 28th. Below,
I have compiled the following suspicious activity and coincidences by
searching and analyzing the news from various media sources and by
speaking with my own contacts."
Stephen
Harper Suspends Canadian Parliament Till After The Olympics -
(YouTube - 4 min 56 sec - Dec 31, 2009
Video - Possible Related
Article - A quote...."December 30, 2009 CBC The National"
PM
shuts
down
Parliament
until
March
Possible Related Article - A quote...."
By
the
time
Parliament
resumes,
Harper
would
have had time to ask Jean to name five new senators,
which would give the Conservatives a majority on the newly formed
Senate committees and greater control for passing their own
legislation." - bold by website editor
Harper
poised
to
announce
5
new
Senators,
giving
Tories
a
plurality
Possible Related Article - A quote...."
Prime
Minister
Stephen
Harper
will
pad
the
five
vacancies
in
the
Senate
today
with
Conservative
appointees,
tilting
the balance of power towards his
party and gaining an upper hand in upcoming legislative battles. --
Given that Parliament is prorogued, Senate committees will have to be
reconfigured at the start of the new session in March, at which point
the Tories will have more seats and be more likely to win key votes."
--
bold
by
website
editor
At this point, given the
articles shown above, this website editor will
have to concur with the author's "Red False Flag Warning" regarding his
article "Could Vancouver 2010 be the next 9/11?"
Also, all the articles taken
together should be considered as a "Red
War
Warning" regarding the
future outbreak of hostilities against Iran. This "Red
War
Warning" will remain in
effect until March 15th 2010 and the entire matter will be closely
monitored.
Should a false-flag attack be
attempted at any time during this period,
Prime Minister Stephen Harper and members of his government should be
considered as the prime suspects. Should the Prime minister use
any
terrorist incident that takes place during, or soon after his
well-timed prorogation of Parliament, in an attempt take over the
Canadian government, he should be considered a traitor and appropriate
steps should be taken against him and members of his party.
Any US-NRE security personnel
involved in this activity should be
considered as accessories before or after the fact depending on the
circumstances and should be treated as any other terrorist under the
law. They should be handed over to the responsible Canadian
authorities as quickly as possible.
Any news service, Canadian or
US-NRE, that spreads false or misleading information as they did
regarding the recent "Flight
253
incident" should be
considered as an accessory after the fact regarding any attack and held
accountable. - mpg
Given the gravity of the
information shown above the following steps
should be taken immediately to protect yourself and your families for
anyone living in, or those intending to visit, the Vancouver area and
all investors worldwide.
- Do not attend the Olympics
- If you live in Vancouver, take a vacation....somewhere else.
- Watch everything the Harper government does very closely at
least until March 15th 2010.
- Find out if any "enabling legislation" has been secretly
written by Harper's party during the last twelve months.
- Find out if Harper or any of his cronies own any property
in Vancouver, and monitor it closely.
- Find out what Harper's actual relationships are with Israel
or any Israeli owned companies or lobbies.
- Monitor any Israeli consulates or companies located in
Vancouver.
- Monitor any known Mossad agents, fronts or assets in
Vancouver.
- Watch the short interest on all of the World's exchanges.
Specifically for any companies based in Vancouver.
- Watch the price of crude, any upward spike till March 15th
would indicate a possible attack.
- If a Vancouver resident, pay close attention to any of the
US-NRE's security services in your city.
- Obama may be a target of these services (his usefulness to
them has already expired) so don't attend anything he does.
- Sell your Canadain and US-NRE stocks and bonds immediately.
========= ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Court
Tosses
NSA
Spy
Suits, Sides with White House Over Illegal Surveillance
A quote....."February 01, 2010 "Information Clearing House" -- In
late January, the Justice Department's Office of the Inspector General
released a report that provided startling new details on illegal
operations by the FBI's Communications Analysis Unit (CAU) and
America's grifting telecoms. -- For years, AT&T, Verizon, MCI and
others fed the Bureau phone records of journalists and citizens under
the guise of America's endless, and highly profitable, "War on Terror."
US
softens
stance
on
Japan
base
A quote...."Washington strikes a softer tone on its controversial
military base in Japan, saying is ready to negotiate the relocation of
the US forces on Okinawa Island. -- US Assistant Secretary of Defense
Wallace Gregson said the White House was not after an
“American-imposed” solution to the months-long dispute with Tokyo. --
“Our plan is based on our alliance relationships, and if we have to go
back to negotiating, we’ll go back to negotiating,” Gregson said in a
Tokyo speech on Monday." -
From PressTV
'Trafficked'
Haitian
children
not
orphans
A quote...."A young girl allegedly targeted by an American church group
engaged in a child trafficking operation in quake-hit Haiti says she
thought she was being taken to a summer camp." -- also posted at
AlethoNews
The
US
game
in
Latin
America
A quote...."When I write about US foreign policy in places such as
Haiti or Honduras, I often get responses from people who find it
difficult to believe that the US government would care enough about
these countries to try and control or topple their governments. These
are small, poor countries with little in the way of resources or
markets. Why should Washington policymakers care who runs them? --
Unfortunately they do care. A lot. They care enough about Haiti to have
overthrown the elected president Jean-Bertrand Aristide not once, but
twice. The first time, in 1991, it was done covertly. We only found out
after the fact that the people who led the coup were
paid
by
the
US
Central
Intelligence
Agency. And then Emmanuel Constant,
the leader of the most notorious death squad there – which killed
thousands of Aristide's supporters after the coup – told CBS News that
he, too,
was
funded
by
the
CIA." --
also
posted at ICH
Arab
politicians
'facing
increased
persecution’
in
Israel
A quote...."NAZARETH // Leaders of the Arab minority in Israel warned
this week that they were facing an unprecedented campaign of
persecution, backed by the right-wing government of Benjamin Netanyahu,
designed to stop their political activities. -- The warning came after
Said Nafaa, a Druze member of the Israeli parliament was stripped of
his immunity last week, clearing the way for him to be tried for a
visit to Syria three years ago." -
also
posted
at Uruknet
========= ========== ========== ========== ==========
==========
========== ====
More On The
Palestinian Situation....
Israeli
response
to
Goldstone
admits use of white phosphorus
A quote...."Bethlehem - Ma'an - Israeli findings delivered to the UN in
response to the Goldstone report compound allegations that white
phosphorus munitions were deployed toward an UNRWA compound in Gaza
during last year's devastating offensive, Israeli media reported on
Monday." --
also posted at AlethoNews
Israeli
police
who
put
US
man
in
coma
get
off
scot-free
A quote...."Israeli authorities have cleared the police of the charge
of inflicting coma-inducing head injury to an American during a protest
against the erection of an Israeli barrier. -- The officials claimed
that there was no criminal intent on the part of the police, said The
Washington Post, reporting on the follow-up to the March 2009 incident
in the West Bank in which the 38-year-old Tristan Anderson was hit in
the head with a high-velocity tear gas canister."
========= ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ========== ====
Jim
Rogers
–
Federal
Reserve
is
worsening
the
depression -
Alt
- (YuTb -
10m22s -
Aired
March 11, 2008)
Must View Video - From the History File (and a good call) -
March 11th 2008 -- A
quote...."CNBC: "What would be the first two things you would do if you
were in Mr Ben Bernanke's seat"? -- Jim Rogers: "I would
Abolish the Federal Reserve and Resign". - "Recessions are good, they
clean out the excesses, you start again from a sound foundation and
then you go again". - "Spending all this money trying to prevent a
recession is making it worse, and we're going to have a worse recession
in the end"." -- *
Jim Rogers*
Sunday January 31st 2010
No posts. - mpg
Saturday January 30th 2010
Obama's
Outreach to Americans: Empty Rhetoric, Business As Usual
Must Read - A
quote...."As a candidate, Obama promised change, a new course, sweeping
government reforms, addressing people needs, and "ensur(ing) that the
hopes and concerns of average Americans speak louder in Washington than
the hallway whispers of high-priced lobbyists...." -- A year later,
hope is disillusion, frustration, and anger over promises made, then
broken with a growing awareness that Obama represents business as
usual, a reality rhetoric can't change. -- His top political, economic
and national security officials are former administration members -
from Wall Street, the military, and other key power centers for
continuity, not promised change. -- He presides over a bogus democracy
under a homeland police state apparatus, embraces torture and political
persecution like his predecessor, and continues unbridled militarism,
imperial wars, and a shocking disregard for the law." --
also posted at DProgram
Your
Disappointment In Obama Is Your Teaching Moment
Must Read - A
quote...."What we all must ask ourselves at the end of a relationship
that turned out badly-a relationship at the end of which we felt
betrayed and disappointed is quite simply: What is my part? Why did I
make this choice? What did I not wish to see? What were the red flags I
chose to ignore? -- This week, Michael Moore was interviewed by
Democracy Now and confessed his sense of betrayal and disappointment
with Obama's first year. What I heard from him and hear from almost
every progressive liberal who expresses similar sentiments is a
jaw-dropping naïveté regarding the nomination of candidate
Obama and the system he represents. It is the epitome of the definition
of insanity: repeating a behavior proven erroneous without exception,
time after time, yet expecting that the next time, the result will be
different."
'Nobel
Peace
Prize-winner
Barack
Obama
ups
spending
on
nuclear
weapons
to
even
more
than
George
Bush
A quote...."President Obama is planning to increase spending on
America's nuclear weapons stockpile just days after pledging to try to
rid the world of them. -- In his budget to be announced on Monday, Mr
Obama has allocated £4.3billion to maintain the U.S.
arsenal - £370million more than George Bush spent on nuclear
weapons in his final year. -- The Obama administration also plans to
spend a further £3.1billion over the next five years on nuclear
security." --
also posted at WarInIraq
Congressman
Payne:
I
Won't
Oppose
War
Money
Because
Obama's
President
A quote...."Congressman Donald Payne (D., N.J.) has voted against war
funding bills for years. Last summer he was one of 32 heroes to vote No
under intense pressure from the White House to vote Yes. When I asked
him a couple of years ago to sign onto impeaching Bush he immediately
said "Sure!" and he did it. - Today I asked him if he would commit to
voting No on the next $33 billion for war. I asked him privately, just
after he'd given a long speech to a Progressive Democrats of America
conference in New Jersey, a speech about how much he opposes the wars.
- Payne told me that he didn't want to commit to voting No on the next
"emergency war supplemental" because Obama is president" -
Ya'gotta stop voting for DemoRepubs folks,
it's the only way you'll stop the parasitic class from robbing you and
possibly even killing you. - mpg
Podcast
Show
#21
--
Friday,
29.
January
2010
Audio Interview - A
quote...."The Boiling Frogs Presents Chris Hedges -- Chris Hedges gives
us a quick sketch of his latest book “
Empire
of
Illusion:
The
End
of
Literacy
and
the
Triumph
of
Spectacle”
[GoglBkSrch]*. He discusses the real role of
the US media as one of the main culprits in promoting a sense of
exceptionalism by disseminating fantasy, and poisoning civil and
political discourse with entertainment and trivia. He talks about the
spectacle surrounding Barrack Obama’s presidential campaign and his
function as a brand just like any other commercial commodity brand
advertised and promoted by corporations, the last decade’s coup
d’état in slow motion, and much more!" - *links added
Inside
the
mind
of
a
psychopath
and
the
Chilcot
‘Inquiry’
Special Note - A
quote...."Reams have been written about the appearance of Tony Blair at
the so-called inquiry. Very few if any have even come close to
identifying the real nature of the beast called Tony Blair. -- Were he
a working class man, head of a crime gang for example, Blair’s
‘pathology’ would have been central to most mainstream media coverage,
revealing the class bias in how the the media treat the ruling elites.
His judgment, even his arrogance maybe questioned but not his mental
state. -- There seems to be some disagreement over what constitutes a
sociopath or psychopath but in trawling the web I came across all kinds
of definitions....."
ISRAEL
&
TONY
BLAIR'S
SECRET
MEETING
WITH
BUSH
A quote...."Looks like that "secret meeting" at Crawford, was not so
secret after all.....And Oh surprise, there were "Discussions" with
Israelis....I am just watching the live questioning of the War Criminal
Tony Blair. He was just asked about the Crawford secret meeting he had
with Bush, no advisers were present at this meeting and it took place
approximately 6 months after 9-11. He said, and this is a direct quote
:"
”The Israel issue was a big, big
thing at that time. In fact, I think I remember actually there may have
been conversations we had with Israelis, the two of us, whilst we were
there. So that was a major part of all this.”
"So there you go, the Israelis were in fact part and parcel of what was
behind the illegal war in Iraq."
Spanish
judge
to
probe
Gitmo
torture
claims:
Report
A quote...."MADRID: Spain’s top investigating judge Baltasar Garzon is
to probe suspected torture and ill-treatment of inmates at the US
prison of Guantanamo Bay, the daily El Pais reported yesterday. -- The
paper gave no sources and the report could not be immediately confirmed
officially." --
also posted at
WarInIraq
========= ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Alex
Jones
TV
–
Potential
False
Flag
Attack
To
Be
Blamed
On
Muslims
Foiled
-
Alt - (YuTb
4m48s Jan. 28, 2010)
Video - Special Note - A
quote...."A possible false flag terror attack to be blamed on Muslims
has been foiled after a Navy vet was busted with a grenade launcher,
assault rifles and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, as well as Arab
headdress, in New Jersey yesterday. Initial media reports speculated
that the man was planning a terrorist attack on a U.S. military base in
the area."
The
Sharp
Dressed
Man
Who
Aided
Mutallab
Onto
Flight
253
Was
U.S.
Government
Agent - Alt - Alt
Must Read/View (for the outrage!) - Contains Video
-
This is an astonishingly
outrageous expose, one truly wonders if every single person in the
US-NRE’s security-industrial-complex actively supports
“terrorism”? None of them can be trusted....absolutely none of
them. - mpg -- A quote...."Since our flight landed on Christmas
Day, Lori and I have been doing everything in our power to uncover the
truth about why we were almost blown up in the air over Detroit. The
truth is now finally out after the publication of the following Detroit
News article." --
For more
on this issue see....US-False
Flag
Ops
-
Detroit's
"Lap-Bomber"
More was hidden than
a bomb in some underpants
Related Article - A quote...."So effectively, the latest twist is that
American security agents knew about Abdulmutallab and let him enter the
United States unhindered, or even helped him enter the United States,
so that he could lead them to other members of his terrorist network.
Haskell quotes the Director -- of the National Counter-terrorism Center
(NCTC), Michael E. Leiter, admitting that: "I will tell you, that when
people come to the country and they are on the watch list, it is
because we have generally made the choice that we want them here in the
country for some reason or another." --
Right....and the reason they let him try
to blow himself up? Given
the
amount
of
explosive
he
possessed, had it gone off, it would
have made a gory mess of him and perhaps injured the passengers next to
him, but that would have been that, it would not have brought down the
plane. Such an outcome would not have done much for his "budding"
career as an informant. No, this incident like all the other FBI
agent inspired or assisted events, including
9/11, was simply designed to promote a police state in this country
and a state of war across the rest of the world. - mpg
========= ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
US
accelerating
missile
defenses
in
Gulf:
report
War Warning -
They're getting ready to attack
Iran. This is an OFFENSIVE
move, NOT defensive. - mpg
-- A quote...."The US administration is speeding up deployment of
defenses against potential Iranian missile attacks in the Gulf to heed
off any possible retaliation, The New York Times reported Saturday. --
The move involves placing specialized ships off the Iranian coast and
anti-missile systems in at least four Arab countries -- Qatar, the
United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait -- the Times said, citing
administration and military officials." --
also posted at DProgram
U.S.
speeds
up
arms
buildup
with
Gulf
allies
War Warning - A
quote...."The Obama administration is quietly working with Saudi Arabia
and other Persian Gulf allies to speed up arms sales and rapidly
upgrade defenses for oil terminals and other key infrastructure in a
bid to thwart future military attacks by Iran, according to former and
current U.S. and Middle Eastern government officials."
US
beefs
up
military
presence
off
Iranian
shores
War Warning - A
quote...."In addition to imposing new sanctions on the Tehran
government, the US has reportedly begun beefing up its military
presence and war paraphernalia off the Iranian coast. -- US military
officials told AP on condition of anonymity that Washington has taken
silent steps to increase the capability of land-based Patriot missiles
on the territory of some of its Arab allies in the Persian Gulf region."
Clinton
Threatens
China
With
Isolation
Over
Iran
Sanctions
War Warning - A
quote...."Chinese officials again stressed their support for additional
talks with Iran and objection to sanctions, sparking a surprising
condemnation from US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. -- In a long
diatribe against both Iran and China, Clinton declared that it was time
to “move away from the engagement track” and apply more sanctions
against Iran. She warned that China would face diplomatic isolation and
disruptions to its energy supply." --
also
posted
at AmericanEveryman
Editor's
Note: This is about the fifth, sixth or even seventh
"ratcheting up" of pressure against Iran. It’s only notable
because the US-NRE is headed into another -- and what appears to be
final -- down-leg in the "ten
year
cycle". It is more likely they’ll wait till the bottom
of the cycle in 2011 before they launch their long planned war against
Iran, but they do appear to be getting rather impatient, hence the "war
warnings". – mpg --
For more
on this issue see also....Standard
Disclaimer
and
the
Ten
Year
Cycle
========= ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Enough
is
Enough
A quote...."The UK Jewish Chronicle is apparently stupid enough to
unveil the ferocity of Zionist lobbying within the British Government
and its corridors of power. The Jewish weekly is happy to outline the
relentless measures that are being taken by Jewish lobbyists in order
to Zionise the British legal system and its value system." --
also posted at Uruknet
& T
hePeoplesVoice
'Hezbollah
prepared
for
any
surprise'
A quote...."Hezbollah Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem has
said that the Lebanese resistance movement is ready for any surprise
from Israel."
NATO-led
air
strike
kills
20
in
Afghanistan
A quote...."A NATO-led air strike in Afghanistan's northern province of
Baghlan has killed up to 20 people. -- The Western military alliance
claimed in a statement that the dead were all militants. -- NATO forces
had to call in air support after coming under attack from what they
allege was a large number of militants."
AFGHANISTAN:
US
Night
Raids
and
Secret
Prisons
Anger
Civilians
A quote...."WASHINGTON, Jan 29, 2010 (IPS) - An investigative report
published on TomDispatch.com about U.S. forces' operations in
Afghanistan paints a gruesome picture of surprise night raids,
indiscriminate killing and random detention of civilians during those
raids, as well as what appears to be widespread use of torture of
Afghan detainees."
UN
removes
Taliban
officials
from
blacklist
A quote...."The United Nations has removed five former Taliban
officials from its blacklist as part of reconciliation efforts in
war-weary Afghanistan. -- The de-listing, which came on Wednesday, was
approved by a special Security Council committee. -- The UN said in a
statement that the five Afghan nationals would no longer be subject to
a freeze on their assets and a travel ban."
Talk Now
with the Taliban (We're Going to Have to Talk with Them Later Anyhow)
Special Note - A
quote...."You had to love the headline the Philadelphia Inquirer put on
the jump page of columnist Trudy Rubin’s Sunday commentary about word
that the Obama administration is hoping to talk with at least some
mid-level Taliban leaders about giving up the fight and “coming over”
to the “government” side. -- “Relax--No deal with Taliban is Imminent,”
the headline read. “I suggest everyone take a deep breath,” Rubin
wrote. “The US position toward talks with the Taliban has shifted
somewhat, but no deal with top Taliban leaders is imminent, or even
likely.” -- Phew! Thank god for that! Imagine Americans actually
sitting down and discussing peace just as we’re getting a good war on!"
Iraqi
sheik
threatens
boycott
over
ballot
purge
A quote...."RAMADI, Iraq -- A prominent sheik and U.S. ally is weighing
whether to urge fellow Sunnis to boycott upcoming elections in protest
of the government's ballot purge of hundreds of candidates suspected of
links to Saddam Hussein's regime."
EXCLUSIVE…Blackwater’s
Youngest
Victim:
Father
of
9
Year-Old
Killed
in
Nisour
Square
Gives
Most
Detailed
Account
of
Massacre
to
Date -- A quote...."Today a
Democracy Now! exclusive report from Jeremy Scahill about a nine year
old boy, shot in the head and killed by Blackwater in the infamous
Nisour Squre massacre. His father, who is suing the private military
contractor, provides the most detailed eyewitness account of the
massacre to date. Scahill has conducted an in-depth investigation of
the massacre and of nine-year old Ali Kinani’s death. He files an
exclusive report with Rick Rowley of Big Noise Films.[includes rush
transcript]" -- ||
Real Video Stream ||
Real Audio Stream
||
MP3 Download ||
More…
||
Text of Mr. Abdel
Malik al-Houthi "fourth initiative" to stop the war and bloodshed.
A quote...."At the dawn of the 6th month of the 6th war waged by the
Yemeni regime against its people in the northern governorates, any fair
observer of the events on the ground will come to only one conclusion:
this aggression has achieved nothing. No political outcome in favour of
the regime was achieved, nor did it achieve its objective to eliminate
a large segment of the Yemeni people."
Yemen
rejects
Houthi
truce
offer
A quote...."The Yemeni government has turned down a truce offer from
the country's Houthi fighters. - A government official said on Sunday
that the ceasefire deal should have included a pledge by the group not
to attack neighbouring Saudi Arabia."
Iran's
nuclear
program
"irreversible":
official
A quote...."TEHRAN, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- An influential Iranian cleric
said Sunday that the West must know Iran's nuclear program is "
irreversible," the state-run IRNA news agency reported. -- Akbar
Hashemi Rafsanjani, Chairman of Iran's Assembly of Experts and Chairman
of the Expediency Council, said that "they (the West) must know that
Iran is very serious about its nuclear program, both on enrichment and
uranium swap, and our way is irreversible."
Russia
set
to
sell
$2B
in
arms
to
Libya
A quote...."MOSCOW, Jan. 27 (UPI) -- Libya is poised to pick up more
than $2 billion worth of Russian arms, focusing mainly on a fleet of
200 fighter planes, Russia's Interfax news agency reports. -- The
report comes hot on the heels of a key visit to Russia by Libya's
defense minister, Gen. Abu-Bakr Yunis Jaber. The visit signals the
latest show of renewed cooperation between Russia and the once pariah
state of North Africa."
Russia
unveils
stealth
fighter
to
rival
F-22
Raptor
A quote...."MOSCOW: Russia on Friday unveiled a new fighter aircraft
touted as a rival of the US F-22 stealth jet and developed amid the
highest secrecy as part of a plan to modernise the armed forces."
Arms
sale
causes
severe
damage
to
overall
China-U.S.
cooperation
A quote...."WASHINGTON, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- Ignoring repeated solemn
representations made by China, the U.S. government on Friday notified
Congress of its nearly 6.4 billion-U.S.-dollar arms sale package to
Taiwan. -- The sale is a wrong decision, which not only undermines
China's national security interests and her national unification cause,
but also once again hurts the national feelings of the Chinese people.
-- Moreover, it also will cause serious damage to the overall
cooperation and relationship between China and the United States."
--
Yep, they're really ticked
about the whole thing. There they were, resuming their massive
purchases of US-NRE debt, ignoring Russia's snide suggestions not to,
and now for all their largess they're becoming encircled just like
Russia. Let's state it again folks.....no agreement, treaty,
promise, oath, affirmation, understanding, bond or settlement will ever
be honored by the US-NRE's parasitic class. In other words the
world should just grow-up and simply not make any agreements with these
jokers at all, what would be the point? – mpg
China
hits
back
at
U.S.
arms
sale
to
Taiwan
A quote...."BEIJING - China's foreign minister warned that U.S. plans
to sell $6.4 billion of arms to Taiwan will harm Chinese efforts to
unify peacefully with the island, the ministry said Sunday, after China
suspended U.S. military exchanges and threatened unprecedented
sanctions against American defense companies."
MSM:
China
suspends
military
exchanges
with
US
Related Article - A quote...."(Yahoo) – China suspended military
exchanges with the United States, threatened unprecedented sanctions
against American defense companies and warned Saturday that cooperation
would suffer after Washington announced $6.4 billion in planned arms
sales to Taiwan." --
From Yahoo
Thousands
protest
in
Tokyo
against
U.S.
military
presence
in
Japan
A quote...."Thousands of protesters from across Japan marched today in
Tokyo to protest against U.S. military presence on Okinawa, while a
Cabinet minister said she would fight to get rid of a marine base
Washington considers crucial. -- Some 47,000 U.S. troops are stationed
in Japan, with more than half on the southern island of Okinawa. --
Residents have complained for years about noise, pollution and crime
around the bases."
India
For Selective Assassination Of It's Own Citizens?
A quote...."Recent statements from Indian leaders and police officers
gives away the new strategy on the war on Naxalism. To make the
movement "headless" by carrying out selective assassination of its
leaders with the help of Israeli operatives." --
Has anyone noticed....Israel is COMPLETELY out-of-control? - mpg
URGENT
UPDATE
:
Iraqi
Female
Writer/Blogger
Hiba
A quote...."Following my previous post here, I just received this fresh
information regarding Hiba Al-Shamaree this fellow Iraqi woman
writer/blogger who has been kidnapped/arrested by the Iraqi forces on
the 20th of January 2010 in the Sayyediya neighborhood in Baghdad."
========= ========== ========== ========== ==========
==========
========== ====
More On The
Palestinian Situation....
Did
Hamas
Carry
Out
a
Coup
in
Gaza
in
2007?
Testimony
of
an
Eye
Witness
A quote...."Ellen Rosser, Professor of English and a veteran peace
activist, maintained an office in downtown Gaza from September 2006 to
June 2007. During that period she was an eyewitness to the events which
eventually culminated in the violent clashes between Fatah and Hamas in
the summer of 2007, ending with Hamas routing Fatah’s American- armed
militias and ousting them from the Gaza Strip. -- In a recent testimony
on her experience in Gaza, Rosser asked herself the following question:
Did Hamas stage a coup, a planned overthrow of the Palestinian
Authority (PA) in the Gaza Strip? She gave a straightforward answer:
“Definitely no.” --
For more on this
issue see....US
Sponsored
Civil
Wars
-
Palestine
"Hamas
accepts
existence
of
Israel
within
1967
borders"
A quote...."Palestinian politics are at an impasse. The four-year term
of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) ended on Jan. 25 with no
new elections planned. Presidential elections, meant to be held last
year, were also postponed indefinitely."
Why
does
the
US
turn
a
blind
eye
to
Israeli
bulldozers?
Special Note - A
quote....""Palestine" is no more. Call it a "peace process" or a "road
map"; blame it on Barack Obama's weakness, his pathetic, childish
admission – like an optimistic doctor returning a sick child to its
parents without hope of recovery – that a Middle East peace was "more
difficult" to reach than he imagined. -- But the dream of a "two-state"
Israeli-Palestinian solution, a security-drenched but noble settlement
to decades of warfare between Israelis and Palestinians is as good as
dead." --
also posted at CounterCurrents
Settlers target
Palestinian car in arson attack for the second time
A quote...."Settlers torched a car in the northern West Bank village of
Asira Al-Qabliya in the early hours of Thursday morning, January 28.
The attack was launched from the notorious Shalhevit Yam outpost of
Yitzhar settlement, that lies a short distance from the village and has
been waging a continuous campaign of intimidation on the village."
Eight
Children
Hospitalised
in
Nabi Saleh Siege
A quote...."Around twenty residents of Nabi Salah village were injured
during Friday’s demonstration, directed mainly at the Hallamish
settlement which occupies the village’s farmland and primary water
source. Most of those injured were children not participating in the
protest, tear gassed and fired upon with rubber bullets as they
sheltered in a nearby house."
Military uses
live ammunition on Burin demonstration
A quote...."A demonstration against the Israeli order to halt
construction of a nearly-completed mosque today, on threat of
demolition, drew local, regional and international supporters in
addition to attendance by the Palestinian Authority Minister of
Religion. The demonstration was met with violent resistance by Israeli
occupation forces, including the use of tear gas, rubber-coated steel
bullets and .22 ammunition. One local protester was removed from the
area by ambulance when he was shot with a rubber-coated steel bullet.
The demonstration follows yesterday’s incursion, in which Israeli
soldiers fired tear gas and a sound grenade at villagers as they
attempted to plant olive trees on village land close to the nearby
settlement of Yitzhar."
Jerusalem
Is
Burning
A quote...."Rabbis for Human Rights (RHR) is one of several
organisations working to bring the violations occurring in East
Jerusalem to the attention of the world. Their Chief Executive, Rabbi
Asherman reports, “I see Jerusalem in flames, and know than my words
will not succeed in conveying the horror of what I see or the dread in
my heart…”
In
the
West
Bank's
stony
hills,
Palestine
is
slowly
dying
A quote...."Area C doesn't sound very ominous. A land of
stone-sprinkled grey hills and soft green valleys, it's part of the
wreckage of the equally wrecked Oslo Agreement, accounting for 60 per
cent of the Israeli-occupied West Bank that was eventually supposed to
be handed over to its Palestinian inhabitants. -- But look at the
statistics and leaf through the pile of demolition orders lying on the
table in front of Abed Kasab, head of the village council in Jiftlik,
and it all looks like ethnic cleansing via bureaucracy. Perverse might
be the word for the paperwork involved. Obscene appear to be the
results." --
also posted at Uruknet
Murder
of
Hamas
commander
in
Dubai
may
enlarge
confrontation
with
Israel -
That's
the idea. - mpg
A quote...."GAZA, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- Hamas officials as well as
observers expected on Saturday that the assassination of Mahmoud
al-Mabhouh, a senior Islamic Hamas movement commander in Dubai on Jan.
20, " would sooner or later move the battle between Hamas and Israel
outside the Palestinian territories." -- also posted at
AlethoNews
& WarInIraq
=========
==========
==========
========== ==========
==========
========== ====
More on the
US-NRE's Honduran Coup....
Honduras
ex-leader
Manuel
Zelaya
begins
exile
A quote...."Deposed Honduran leader Manuel Zelaya has arrived in the
Dominican Republic, beginning his exile and ending seven months of
turmoil in Honduras. - Hundreds of supporters, many waving flags,
watched him leave the airport in the Honduran capital, Tegucigalpa. -
His departure marks the end of efforts to return to office after
soldiers forced him into exile at gunpoint on 28 June over a
constitutional dispute."
Honduras,
U.S.
normalize
diplomatic
ties
A quote...."TEGUCIGALPA, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) –- Honduras and the United
States normalized on Friday their diplomatic ties which were affected
by the political crisis caused by the coup against then president
Manuel Zelaya in June last year."
The
Unified
Campesino
Movement
of
Aguan
attacked
A quote...."While Pepe Lobo, the new de-facto president, assumed office
with pomp and ceremony; the real face of the “reconciliation” coming to
Honduras on January 27th was revealed again as repression in northern
Honduras left 3 campesinos seriously injured - one in critical
condition."
========= ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Ron
Paul
tells
Ben
Bernake
“Fiat
Currency
Always
Ends”
-
Alt -
(YouTube
-
6
min
23
sec
-
January
29,
2010)
Video -
Ron Paul tells Bernanke excess dollars
cause inflation. - mpg.
If
you liked bovine growth hormone, you’ll love beta agonists
A quote...."While researchers and scientists investigate the cause of
our diabetes, obesity, asthma and ADHD epidemics, they should ask why
the FDA approved a livestock drug banned in 160 nations and responsible
for hyperactivity, muscle breakdown and 10 percent mortality in pigs,
according to angry farmers who phoned the manufacturer." --
Libertarians should pay attention to these
sorts of things; this is what happens when you effectively have no
regulation. Our entire food supply is becoming poisoned. - mpg
Friday January 29th 2010
George
"W"
Bush:
The
Legacy
of
an
American
"Caligula"
Must Read -
Quote of the Day - (in bold)....."Ask
any American, or, in fact prettymuch anyone around the world what
President Obama’s biggest failing is and they will always say the same
thing. Bush is out of prison, proof Obama is a coward or part of
the same gang. All any of us wanted was our country back.
It isn’t like there weren’t crimes any prosecutor could prove. We
spend billions trying to convict children and mental defectives we
kidnap off the street of terrorism and we have a gang here, still
running their mouths, running free that is responsible for the deaths
of 10,000 Americans, destroying the lives of 400,000 more, killing
between 1 and 2 million around the world, 98% innocent civilians, and
robbing America blind." -- "
Simply
put, there isn’t a single terrorist act, failure of proper management
or oversight, political stumble or strategic blunder done during the
Bush years that didn’t generate billions in no bid contracts, oil
rights, arms deals or in the backroom restructuring of the American
financial system that led to the biggest world financial collapse in
history. Never in history has so much “stupid” been so very
good for so very few at the cost of so many."
Blood
is
His
Argument:
Tony
Blair's
Gentle
Cuddling
at
Iraq
"Inquiry"
Must Read - A
quote...."On Friday, Tony Blair appeared before the "Chilcot Inquiry,"
the panel of hoary, lugubrious Establishment worthies set up to
"examine" -- with extreme circumspection, exquisite politeness, and all
due reverence to authority -- the "origins" of Britain's involvement in
the mass-murder spree known as the invasion and occupation of Iraq. The
event could be summed up entirely in a single headline:
Tony Blair to a million dead Iraqis, and
the grieving survivors of British soldiers: F-ck you." --
also posted at Uruknet
& Creative-i
We've Been
Neo-Conned
Must Read - A
quote...."By Ron Paul -- The modern-day, limited-government movement
has been co-opted. The conservatives have failed in their effort to
shrink the size of government. There has not been, nor will there soon
be, a conservative revolution in Washington. Political party control of
the federal government has changed, but the inexorable growth in the
size and scope of government has continued unabated. The liberal
arguments for limited government in personal affairs and foreign
military adventurism were never seriously considered as part of this
revolution."
========= ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
American
History
101:
We
Are
Devo
Special Note -
It makes you think....mpg -- A
quote...."
Entertain
conjecture of a remarkable scenario. An American president – born at
the margins of society, raised by a pacifist mother – takes office at a
time of national turmoil. He inherits a deeply unpopular, highly
divisive war from his predecessor and must also deal with a burgeoning,
worldwide financial crisis. Yet despite the fractured, fractious
political atmosphere, he doesn't dither, doesn't waffle, but
immediately launches the most far-reaching program of government
activism in half a century."
The
Sensible
Party
Special Note - A
quote...."The blogs are congested as the various “heel” or “face”
worshiping factions of the Grand Politico WWE breathlessly
debate the stated or unstated, implied or ignored, tit-for-tat of last
night’s pay-per-view broadcast; the Rhetorical One’s State of the
Union Infomercial/ Monster Truck Show Extravaganza. -- Did Obama go too
far to the right? Did Obama improvise a line about Iran to appease
Israel? Did Judge Alito mouth something to the Great One? Did Obama
omit mentioning the healthcare bill’s “pre-existing conditions clause”
on purpose? Did he lie about having lobbyists in his administration?
What exactly was Nancy Pelosi wiping off the edges of her mouth? Why
was I watching Nancy Pelosi’s mouth? What’s wrong with me? -- All truly
fascinating, time and attention consuming questions (especially the
last one), which, in the end, amount to exactly “Jack” and “Squat” to
the square root of “Sh-t”."
The
State
of
the
Empire
--
Not
so
good
Special Note - A
quote...."The very lack of attention paid to foreign policy in the
president’s peroration, at a time when we’re fighting two wars (and
threatening a third), was itself a significant comment on the state of
the American hegemon. In the Imperial metropolis, they’re too consumed
with their own internal problems to care much about the far frontiers
of the empire. This turning inward presages a radical contraction,
similar in scope and origins to the one currently squeezing the life
out of the US economy. -- The American sphere of influence – the
structure of which is comprised an "empire of bases," in Chalmers
Johnson’s phrase – has reached the outer limits of its possible
expansion. We now preside over a network of 737 known US bases that
rings the globe, each a possible launching pad for the projection of
American military power anywhere in the world at a moment’s notice. The
sustainability of this project, however, has always been challenged by
anti-interventionists on the right as well as the left, and today we
are seeing the direst of their predictions fulfilled on a daily basis."
The
real
state
of
the
union
in
2010
Special Note - A
quote...."In his State of the Union speech Wednesday night, President
Barack Obama avoided any direct and concrete presentation of the actual
state of US society. Given the enormity of the economic crisis and its
destructive impact on tens of millions of Americans, Obama’s recourse
to evasions and platitudes was all the more extraordinary." --
Not really, after all....he's Obama -- he
comes from a land where bullsh-t is sublime and "following the money"
is considered a crime. - mpg
Johann
Hari:
This
corruption
in
Washington
is
smothering
America's
future
Special Note - A
quote...."For more than a century, the US has slowly put some limits –
too few, too feeble – on how much corporations can bribe, bully or
intimidate politicians. On Tuesday, they were burned away in one
whoosh. The Supreme Court ruled that corporations can suddenly run
political adverts during an election campaign – and there is absolutely
no limit on how many, or how much they can spend. So if you anger the
investment bankers by supporting legislation to break up the
too-big-to-fail banks, you will smack into a wall of 24/7 ads exposing
your every flaw. If you displease oil companies by supporting
legislation to deal with global warming, you will now be hit by a
tsunami of advertising saying you are opposed to jobs and the American
Way. If you rile the defence contractors by opposing the gargantuan war
budget, you will face a smear-campaign calling you Soft on Terror." --
also posted at CommonDreams
Baffle
Them
with
Bull
Feathers
Special Note - A
quote...."Much of the war mafia’s conquest of the narrative has been
its success in promoting our four-star generals into five star
deities. Otherwise hard-nosed media pundits and moderators across
the political spectrum turn into blubbering idolaters in the presence
of a Petraeus or a Stanley McChrystal. Congressional testimony
from these guys should be X-rated: lipstick neocon Joe Lieberman and
his hawkish buddies go into states of full blown estrous, and everybody
else, mainly the Democrats, are afraid to ask the generals any tough
questions for fear of being called a pack of limp-wristed peace
pansies."
========= ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Brian
Ross
spread
the
same
falsehoods
about
the
Khalid
Sheik
Mohammed
interrogation
Special Note - A
quote...."In The New York Times this morning, Brian Stelter documents
how a widely-cited 2007 report by ABC News' Brian Ross -- amplifying
the claim by former CIA agent John Kiriakou that Abu Zubaydah lasted
only 30-35 seconds on the waterboard before confessing numerous
Terrorist plots to the CIA -- permeated media discussions and was
uncritically repeated over and over, even though we know now the claim
was absolutely false, as Zubaydah was waterboarded at least 83
times. Below I document (a) just how pervasive that
"Zubaydah-confessed-after-30-seconds" myth became and -- more
importantly -- (b) how obvious it was to real journalists that
Kiriakou's claim required serious skepticism and doubt."
CIA
&
Friendly
Hacks
Pro-Torture
Propaganda
Special Note - A
quote...."The
thing is a journo is meant to be a cynical sceptical mofo but in the
corporate mode they are yes men climbing the greasy pole, hence their
journalism becomes the antithesis of the role we expect, yet for many
people they have not twigged this dynamic. Just as they covered up
their role in war pimping they happily believed what Bush regime and
CIA officials fed them, to call them saps would be extremely
charitable, shills is nearer the mark. And at base we have to conclude
it reflected their personal beliefs and politics, they too believe in
Empire Americana and the war crimes it commits to instil fear and
maintain dominance. Anyway Glenn Greenwald has it all"
CIA
Man
Retracts
Claim
on
Waterboarding
Special Note - Related
Article - A quote...."Well, it's official now: John Kiriakou, the
former CIA operative who affirmed claims that waterboarding quickly
unloosed the tongues of hard-core terrorists, says he didn't know what
he was talking about. - Kiriakou, a 15-year veteran of the agency's
intelligence analysis and operations directorates, electrified the
hand-wringing national debate over torture in December 2007 when he
told ABC's Brian Ross and Richard Esposito in a much ballyhooed,
exclusive interview that senior al Qaeda commando Abu Zubaydah cracked
after only one application of the face cloth and water."
For more on the three articles
shown above see...US
Fake
Intel
/
Propaganda
-
Brian
Ross -
Updated
========= ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
U.S. can't confirm
'bin Laden' tape authentic
Special Note - A
quote...."A new audio message purportedly made by Osama bin Laden has
the al-Qaeda leader claiming responsibility for the plot to bomb a
Detroit-bound airliner last month on Christmas Day. -- The man speaking
on the tape, broadcast Sunday, also vows further attacks on the United
States. -- A White House adviser said he could not confirm whether the
voice was actually that of bin Laden. David Axelrod told CNN's State of
the Union that whatever the source, the message "contains the same
hollow justification for the mass slaughter of innocents."
Israel,
Please,
No
More
bin
Laden
Tapes,
Nobody
is
Buying
It!
Special Note - A
quote...."The new audio tape from “Osama bin Laden” taking
responsibility for the idiotic and childish incident in Detroit where
moronic Nigerian armed with a useless “bomb” is simply too much.
Now
using audio tapes because, supposedly, nobody in Al Qaeda got a flash
drive video recorder for Christmas is even more of a joke.
Please,
with the hundreds of millions our Saudi allies have given to
terrorists, a video camera the size of an Ipod might have been a nice
touch. Even funnier was releasing the audio, using
algorithm software
probably illegally downloaded off the internet, and giving it to Al
Jazeera."
For more on the two articles
shown above see....Judeo-Christian
C/C
&
US
-
Rita
Katz
========= ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Pentagon
Time
--
Tick…Tick…Tick…
A quote...."It’s worth noting, however, that they’re not angry about
everything -- and that the Washington clock, barely moving on a wide
range of issues, is still ticking away when it comes to one
institution. The good citizens of Massachusetts may be against
free rides and bailouts for many types, but not for everybody.
I’m speaking, of course, about the Pentagon, for which Congress has
just passed a record new budget of $708 billion (with an Afghan
war-fighting supplemental request of $33 billion, essentially a
bail-out payment, still pending but sure to pass). This happened
without real debate, much public notice, or even a touch of anger in
Washington or Massachusetts. And keep in mind that the Pentagon’s
real budget is undoubtedly close to a trillion dollars, without even
including the full panoply of our national security state." --
also posted at CommonDreams
The CIA,
Assassination, and the War on Terrorism
A quote...."While government officials have chafed against the
restrictions in the Bill of Rights ever since it was adopted, they have
never been able to ignore them, thanks to criminal defense attorneys
and an independent federal judiciary willing to enforce such provisions
... until, that is, federal officials figured out a way to do so under
the regime of George W. Bush. By simply declaring a “war on terrorism”
and announcing that this federal crime would now also be treated as an
act of war, the executive branch has been able to completely ignore the
Bill of Rights where this particular crime — terrorism — is concerned.
It would be difficult to find a more perfect and ingenious scheme for
circumventing the Bill of Rights for what everyone acknowledges is a
federal criminal offense."
Historian
Zinn
Said
“Largest
Lie”
Was
U.S.
“War
On
Terrorism”
A quote...."The “largest lie,” wrote hisorian Howard Zinn who died
yesterday at age 87, is that “everything the United States does is to
be pardoned because we are engaged in a ‘war on terrorism.’ -- “This
ignores the fact that war is itself terrorism, that the barging into
people’s homes and taking away family members and subjecting them to
torture, that is terrorism, that invading and bombing other countries
does not give us more security but less security.” --
also posted at DProgram
& AftrDwngSt
An
Illegal War is State-Terrorism
A quote...."We were convinced that all the fissile material that could
be used for any weapons purposes had been taken out of Iraq, and we
knew that we had eliminated and destroyed the whole infrastructure that
Iraq had built up for the enrichment of uranium.” -- *
Hans Blix*, in a BBC Interview, Jan
2003
Remember
the
illegal
destruction
of
Iraq?
A quote...."British political news has been consumed for the last
several weeks by a formal inquiry into the
illegality
and
deceit
behind Tony Blair's decision to join the U.S. in invading Iraq.
Today, Blair himself is
publicly
testifying before the investigative commission and is being grilled
about
numerous
false
claims
he
made in the run-up to the war, not only about Iraqi
weapons programs (his
taxi-cab-derived
"45-minutes-to-launch!!" warning) and
Saddam's ties to Al Qaeda, but also about secret commitments he made to
join the U.S. at a time when he and Bush were still pretending that
they were undecided and awaiting the outcome of the U.N.
negotiations
and the inspection process."
Remembering
“Suicides” in the Rotunda
A quote...."In the absence of an intact corpse, families often gather
for memorial services rather than funerals. -- The families of Salah
Ahmed Al-Salami, Mani Shaman Al-Utaybi, and Yasser Talal Al-Zahrani -
three Guantánamo prisoners whose earlier purported suicides were
declared "asymmetrical warfare" by the Bush Justice Administration -
received Salah's, Mani's and Yasser's broken and lifeless bodies.
Previously the families had gathered to wake their loved ones, after
authorities in their countries informed them that their sons had died
in Guantánamo."
Speech
Therapy:
Reality
Bleeds
Through
the
SOTU
Circus
A quote...."As the overflow of pundit effluent after the State
of the Union speech continues to sulfurize the political air, Glenn
Greenwald
brings up a background point that we have
been
hammering on about here
for years: i.e., the fact that the President of the United States
claims the arbitrary right to kill anyone on earth -- including U.S.
citizens -- without charges, without trial, without warning."
Obama’s
Secret
Prisons
A quote...."One quiet, wintry night last year in the eastern Afghan
town of Khost, a young government employee named Ismatullah simply
vanished. He had last been seen in the town’s bazaar with a group
of friends. Family members scoured Khost’s dust-doused streets for
days. Village elders contacted Taliban commanders in the area who were
wont to kidnap government workers, but they had never heard of the
young man. Even the governor got involved, ordering his police to round
up nettlesome criminal gangs that sometimes preyed on young
bazaar-goers for ransom. -- But the hunt turned up nothing. Spring and
summer came and went with no sign of Ismatullah. Then one day, long
after the police and village elders had abandoned their search, a
courier delivered a neat, handwritten note on Red Cross stationary to
the family. In it, Ismatullah informed them that he was in
Bagram, an American prison more than 200 miles away. U.S. forces had
picked him up while he was on his way home from the bazaar, the terse
letter stated, and he didn’t know when he would be freed." --
also posted at CommonDreams
Globalised
Torture
Inc.
A quote...."What the CIA and the FBI understand as an acquisition
solution, however, others see as a human-rights debacle. Just as
thousands of political dissidents, suspected criminals, and enemies of
the state were “disappeared” from Latin America over the course of
several decades of CIA-funded dirty wars, so too have hundreds of
“persons of interest” around the world begun to disappear as a
consequence of the global war on terror, which in many ways has become
a globalized version of those earlier, regional failures of democracy."
Blackwater's
Youngest
Victim
A quote...."Every detail of September 16, 2007, is burned in Mohammed
Kinani's memory. Shortly after 9 am he was preparing to leave his house
for work at his family's auto parts business in Baghdad when he got a
call from his sister, Jenan, who asked him to pick her and her children
up across town and bring them back to his home for a visit. The Kinanis
are a tightknit Shiite family, and Mohammed often served as a chauffeur
through Baghdad's dangerous streets to make such family gatherings
possible." --
also posted at CommonDreams
UN Secret
Detention Report Asks, “Where Are The CIA Ghost Prisoners?”
A quote...." These sections contain valuable
summaries, explaining how, in many cases, terrorism is used as a cover
for secret detention policies of a political nature. However, the heart
of the report is a detailed analysis of the Bush administration’s “War
on Terror” policies. -- A major new report on secret detention policies
around the world, conducted by four independent UN human rights
experts, concludes that, “On a global scale, secret detention in
connection with counter-terrorist policies remains a serious problem,”
and that, “If resorted to in a widespread and systematic manner, secret
detention might reach the threshold of a crime against humanity.”
UN
Asks
U.S.
To
'Stop Secret Detention and Abuse'
A quote...."The UN has called on U.S. and other countries to put an end
to their secret detention policies and human rights abuses in their
so-called global war on terrorism. It has failed, however, to demand
the immediate closure of two major U.S. "public" detention centres --
Guantanamo and Bagram, where human rights have been systematically
violated, reaching the threshold of 'crimes against humanity'."
Official
US
policy:
kill
American
citizens
when
President/Fuhrer
declares
them
"terrorists"
Special Note - A
quote...."I had previously reported that US citizens are being tortured
by our own government when the executive branch says the magic word:
"terrorist." Under the 2006 Military Commissions Act (MCA), such
Americans can be detained forever without legal right of habeas corpus.
If those Americans are brought to trial rather than detained and
tortured at the whim of the tyrants, the US government has created an
unconstitutional system of judgment and execution: the
President/dictator slurring the American as “terrorist” also says who
the judges are to determine guilt with available penalty of execution.
These three military tribunal judges are allowed to accept “secret
evidence” from the government that is unavailable for the defendant to
view or challenge if two other words are said: “national security.” --
We know MCA was intended for American citizens because the US
government has applied it to American citizens and argued for its use
rather than the US Constitution's provisions through the first two
levels of federal court. The current legal standing through federal
court decision is that MCA is applicable to US citizens upon the
dictate of the executive branch."
Accused
Louisiana
Co-Conspirator
Helped
Run
Academic
Program
Funded
by
U.S.
Intelligence
A quote...."One of four men arrested on Tuesday for attempting to
interfere with the telephones at the New Orleans office of Sen. Mary
Landrieu previously worked for a U.S. intelligence-funded program to
train would-be American spies, Declassified has learned. -- Between
August 2007 and October 2008, Stanley Dai served as assistant director
of a program called the Intelligence Community Center of Academic
Excellence at Trinity Washington University, a small Catholic college
in Washington D.C., according to a school official. The official,
university vice president Ann Pauley, said that the program was
completely funded by the Office of the Director of National
Intelligence. She said the purpose of the program was to expose both
undergraduates and graduate students at the university to the work of
the intelligence community and to prepare them for possible careers in
intelligence. As a result of the program, Pauley said, the university
established a master's degree program in intelligence and security
studies. She added that the government grant funding the program ended
in 2008."
========= ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Iraq
snapshot
-
Friday,
January
29,
2010
A
saterical
analysis
of
recent
events. - mpg -- A
quote...."Friday, January 29, 2010. Chaos and violence continue,
the US military announces another death, Tony Blair -- a liar -- offers
testimony on Iraq, protesters turn out calling for Blair to be tried
for War Crimes, a gaggle of idiots appear on The Diane Rehm Show, and
more." --
also posted at Uruknet
Family Guy -
Undecided Voters - (YouTube - 1 min 36 sec - September 10, 2008)
Video -
A video posted at the site shown above,
it's along the same lines. - mpg
No
sight of drones in NWA after ‘crash’
Combat Tactics Alert -
It appears "somebody" might know how to
knock down the drones. If true, the US-NRE's occupations of
Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan will be over very shortly. - mpg
-- A quote...."PESHAWAR: Following the crash of two US drones in North
Waziristan in just one week, the tribesmen were surprised on Wednesday
when they could not see any spy aircraft during the past two days. --
“We have not seen any US drone during the past two days, which is a
surprising news for us,” remarked Haji Syed Halim, a tribesman of
Danday Darpakhel village, five kms west of Miramshah, the main town of
militancy-stricken North Waziristan."
'Israel,
US
spread
Iranophobia
to
divide
ME
states'
A quote...."Iran's Parliament (Majlis) Speaker Ali Larijani says the US
and Israel are attempting to spread Iranophobia in the region to create
division in the Middle East. -- "It is necessary to recognize that, by
creating a non-realistic sense of fear and dread towards Iran, the US
and Israel are seeking to expand their military bases in the region,"
the top Iranian official said on Friday in a visit to Kuwait."
--
Sometimes you just want to
wax sarcastic when you see statements like this, but to be blunt, after
thirty years of playing off the Middle Eastern states against each
other and spending trillions of dollars bombing, invading, occupying
and sanctioning many of them, killing millions in the process....yeah,
they're gonna keep right on doing it. It's just the way it is. -
mpg
UN
says
Yemen
humanitarian
crisis
deepening -
A
case in point, wherever the US-NRE
goes....mpg
A quote...."The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) warns of
Yemen's ever-increasing humanitarian crisis as the war in the northern
front between the army and Houthi fighters flares."
'Attack
on
Hezbollah
is
Attack
on
Lebanon'
A quote...."Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak (R) meets with Lebanese
Prime Minister Saad Hariri at the Presidential palace in Cairo, Egypt,
Thursday, January 28. -- Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad Hariri said on
Thursday that Israel's threats against Hezbollah are perceived as
threats against Lebanon. -- "We consider the Israeli threats on Lebanon
to be a threat to the Lebanese government as a whole, rather than to
one particular person," said Hariri during a joint news conference with
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo, Reuters reported. -- He
added that in his country, "everywhere is under the authority of the
Lebanese government."
Britain`s Emerging
Police State
A quote...."The Equalities Bill must be regarded as one of the most
important measures in the consolidation of what can only be described
as the British police state, which has been emerging since the election
of Tony Blair and his ``New Labor`` allies in 1997"
Shouldn’t
need
to
be
said,
but
Israelis
weren’t
the
only
ones
helping
in
Haiti
A quote...."One terrible consequence of Israeli (and Western) racism
toward Arabs is that a number of what should be unnecessary defenses of
Arab behavior must be made. I don’t want to be in the position of
defending Hamas, for example, and yet the absurd caricature of that
complex organization must be countered."
"JA
Abe,
we've
got
those
Goy
by
the
Balls!"
- Alt(1/3) - Alt(2/3) - Alt(3/3)
Must View Videos - (RT-YouTube - aprox 10 min each -
January 27, 2010) -- A thousand speeches against anti-Semitism will not
extinguish the flames ignited by Operation Cast Lead, flames that
threaten not only Israel but the entire Jewish world. As long as Gaza
is under blockade and Israel sinks into its institutionalized
xenophobia, Holocaust speeches will remain hollow. As long as evil is
rampant here at home, neither the world nor we will be able to accept
our preaching to others, even if they deserve it." -- *
Gideon Levy* in a Haaretz article
========= ========== ========== ========== ==========
==========
========== ====
More On The
Palestinian Situation....
L-SARRAJ:
Gaza’s
agony
Special Note - A
quote...."One year later, anticipation has turned to disappointment.
The U.S. president's first State of the Union address coincides roughly
with the anniversary of the end of Operation Cast Lead, the devastating
Israeli military offensive on Gaza last winter. And yet Obama said
nothing. During that assault, shuddering under ordnance dropped or
fired by American-made F-16s, we Palestinians felt abandoned by the
soon-to-be president. We recalled the words of Martin Luther King Jr.,
who maintained, "History will have to record that the greatest tragedy
of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the
bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people." --
also posted at Aussies4Palestine
Occupation
by
the
numbers
By The Numbers -- A
quote...."Sometimes numbers are worth a thousand words. And if the
numbers aren’t enough, the selection of maps on this website (which can
be found under the Resources tab) can provide another couple thousand
words worth of images."
Humanitarianism:
Prolonging
the
Palestinian
Political
Plight? -
Alt
- (BlipTV - 44 min 11 sec)
Video - A quote....""Dr.
Ilana Feldman came to the Palestine Center in Washington DC on 27
January to give a lecture on Humanitarianism and Politics."
54
US
House
Democrats
call
on
Israel
to
end
siege
of
Gaza
Action Alert/Update - A
quote...."Democratic U.S. Reps. Keith Ellison, Betty McCollum, and
James Oberstar sent a letter urging President Obama late last week
urging him to use diplomatic pressure to resolve the blockade affecting
Gaza. Spearheaded by Ellison and Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., the
letter acknowledges the difficult position facing Israel and notes that
the blockade is strengthening Hamas. Fifty members of Congress, as well
as a number of religious groups and denominations, have signed on to
Ellison’s letter." --
also posted at
Aussies4Palestine
Goldstone
member
to
EI:
Gaza
ambulance
shelled
"point
blank"
A quote...."I write concerning your report and photograph describing an
attack on an ambulance by means of a "dart bomb" (Eva Bartlett, "Gaza's
thin red line one year later," 22 January 2010). As a member of the
United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict led by Judge
Richard Goldstone, I examined this incident and offer a more precise
term and also some analyses on the nature of the attack on the
ambulance in question:"
"Together
we
can
end
this
occupation"
Interview - A
quote...."The Israeli military recently dropped hundreds of leaflets
warning Palestinian residents from the village of Beit Hanoun in the
northern Gaza Strip not to travel within 300 meters of the border --
the distance of Israel's so-called "buffer zone." In response, local
activists marched to and nonviolently demonstrated inside the "buffer
zone" against the illegal action. The Electronic Intifada contributor
Jody McIntyre recently spoke with demonstration organizer Saber Zanin."
Israeli
Tanks
Target
Gaza
Homes,
Farmlands
A quote...."Israeli army tanks have opened fire on houses and farmlands
in the eastern parts of the Gaza Strip, according to a report by the
International Middle East Media Center (IMEMC). -- A number of Israeli
tanks invaded lands located near al-Shojayia district and fired at
Palestinian farmers near the northern Gaza-Israeli borders on Thursday
afternoon, reported IMEMC."
Medics:
Gaza
fisherman
seriously
hurt
by
naval
fire
A quote...."Gaza – Ma'an – A Palestinian fisherman was injured
overnight by Israeli warships, when they opened fire on a cluster of
small fishing boats of the Rafah coast before sunrise on Friday, medics
said." --
also posted at Uruknet
Gaza
fishermen
risk
lives
for
survival
A quote...."
Seventy per cent of Gaza's
annual sardine catch, which is about 1,800 metric tonnes, is found
outside the Israeli-imposed fishing zone, says the International
Committee of the Red Cross. -- The other side of the barrier, patrolled
heavily by Israeli warships, is also home to at least a dozen other
varieties of fish and seafood, including octopus, shrimp, tuna and
crab." - bold by website editor
Researcher:
Israel
destroyed
Palestinian
books
A quote...."Israel plundered and destroyed tens of thousands of
Palestinian books in the years after the State's establishment,
according to a doctoral thesis to be submitted next month by a
Ben-Gurion University researcher. -- In an interview with the
researcher published on al-Jazeera's website Thursday, he claimed that
Israel destroyed the Palestinian books in the framework of its plan to
"Judaize the country"
and cut off its
Arab residents from their nation and culture." - bold by websit
editor
Israeli
court
forces
Palestinian
family
out
of
home;
gives
it
to
Jewish
settlers
A quote...."OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- An Israeli court in the
occupied city of Jerusalem has forced Thursday a Palestinian
Jerusalemite family out of their home and gave it to Israeli settlers
alleging they own “half” of the house. -- The court also fined the true
owners of the house, Palestinian citizen Fatima Al-Dahoodi 5,000 US
dollars in addition to paying 1,750 US dollars for alleged contempt
charges instead of putting her in jail." --
also posted at Uruknet
Barhoum:
Abbas
should
focus
on
national
reconciliation
not
on
futile
negotiation
A quote...."GAZA, (PIC)-- Seventy per cent of Gaza's annual sardine
catch, which is about 1,800 metric tonnes, is found outside the
Israeli-imposed fishing zone, says the International Committee of the
Red Cross. -- The other side of the barrier, patrolled heavily by
Israeli warships, is also home to at least a dozen other varieties of
fish and seafood, including octopus, shrimp, tuna and crab."
========= ========== ========== ========== ========== ==========
========== ====
Economic
Black
Hole:
20
Reasons
Why
The
U.S.
Economy
Is
Dying
And
Is
Simply
Not
Going
To
Recover
Special Note - Charts - A
quote...."Even though the U.S. financial system nearly experienced a
total meltdown in late 2008, the truth is that most Americans simply
have no idea what is happening to the U.S. economy. Most people
seem to think that the nasty little recession that we have just been
through is almost over and that we will be experiencing another time of
economic growth and prosperity very shortly. But this time around
that is not the case. The reality is that we are being sucked
into an economic black hole from which the U.S. economy will never
fully recover."
Secret
Banking
Cabal
Emerges
From
AIG
Shadows:
A quote...." Jan. 29 (Bloomberg) -- The idea of secret banking cabals
that control the country and global economy are a given among
conspiracy theorists who stockpile ammo, bottled water and peanut
butter. After this week’s congressional hearing into the bailout of
American International Group Inc., you have to wonder if those folks
are crazy after all. -- Wednesday’s hearing described a secretive group
deploying billions of dollars to favored banks, operating with little
oversight by the public or elected officials."
Senate
permits
gov't
to
borrow
an
additional
$1.9T
A quote...."WASHINGTON (AP) - The Democratic-controlled Senate has
muscled through a plan to allow the government to go a whopping $1.9
trillion deeper in debt. -- The party-line 60-40 vote was successful
only because Republican Sen.-elect Scott Brown has yet to be seated.
Sixty votes were required to approve the increase. The measure would
lift the debt ceiling to $14.3 trillion. That's about $45,000 for every
American."
Federal
Reserve
Balance
Sheet
Update:
Week
Of
January
28
-
New
Record
Chart - A quote...."The
Federal Reserve's balance sheet hit a new all time record of $2.273
Trillion in assets, after a $13 billion increase in MBS and Agency
purchases week over week."
CMBS
Delinquencies
Surge
To
$42
Billion,
Or
5.2%
Of
Total;
Average
Loss
Severity
Hits
All
Time
High
Of
52.7%
Charts - A quote...."The
most disturbing observation from this month's RealPoint CMBS analysis,
aside from the surge in delinquencies to an all time high of $42
billion, is that the average loss severity on CMBS liquidation has just
hit a record of 52.7%. That means that on average less than half the
loan is recovered in liquidation. Surely, this is not the kind of news
that REITs are looking for as they perch from atop 52 week highs."
Regulators
shut
down
banks
in
5
states
A quote...."WASHINGTON (AP) -- Regulators shut down a big bank in
California on Friday, along with two banks in Georgia and one each in
Florida, Minnesota and Washington. That brought to 15 the number of
bank failures so far in 2010 atop the 140 shuttered last year in the
punishing economic climate."
Record
foreclosure
filings
threaten
housing
recovery
A quote...."The total of outstanding foreclosure auction notices on
Orange County homes hit 10,513 at the end of December, the highest in
this housing downturn, reports ForeclosureRadar.com. -- The total has
more than doubled in the nine months since March, when it was 4,573."
Foreclosures
new
hot
spots
A quote...."The new foreclosure plague is tied more to the economy than
bad mortgages. Here are 10 cities where defaults grew the fastest in
2009."
Wages
and
benefits
rise
weak
1.5
percent
in
[all
of]
2009
A quote...."Wages and benefits paid to U.S. workers posted a modest
gain in the fourth quarter, ending a year in which recession-battered
workers saw their compensation rise by the
smallest amount on records going back more than a quarter-century."
-
bold
by
website
editor
Jobless
claims,
durable
goods
point
to
weak
growth
A quote...."WASHINGTON – Evidence that the economic rebound remains
sluggish emerged from reports Thursday on new claims for unemployment
aid and orders to U.S. factories."
US
economic indices and layoff announcements point to protracted slump
A quote...."A series of worse-than-expected economic reports and job
cut announcements this week underscore that, despite official claims of
an economic recovery, the prospects for working people in the US are
likely to worsen. -- Over the past two weeks, a number of major
companies have announced layoffs and job cuts for the coming year that
together number in the tens of thousands."
GDP
surges
5.7%
on
inventory
slowdown
-
Fastest
growth
in
6
years,
but
spending,
investment
still
weak
Before celebrating, everyone
should remember the last
set
of
GDP
numbers
for
Q3
initially came out at 3.5% was later
revised downward to 2.8% and was finally re-revised downward to 2.2%.
No doubt we can expect a similar "shrinkage" to occur for this
estimate. Obviously, even re-revised downward such growth would have to
be considered non-deflationary. - mpg -- A quote...."Real gross
domestic product increased at a 5.7% seasonally adjusted annual rate in
the final three months of the year, the best quarterly growth since
late 2003, the government estimated. The economy grew 2.2% in the third
quarter. A year ago, the economy fell at a 5.4% pace." --
See also article shown below....
A
Skeptical
Rosenberg
On
The
GDP
Number:
The
Inventory-Imports
Dichotomy
And
The
Productivity
Paradox
Related Article - A quote...."It was a tad strange to have had
inventories contribute half to the GDP tally, and at the same time see
import growth cut in half last quarter. Normally, inventory adds are at
least partly fuelled by purchases of foreign-made inputs. Not this
time. Strip out inventories and the foreign trade sector, we see that
domestic demand growth in the fourth quarter actually slowed to a
paltry 1.7% annual rate from 2.3% in the third quarter. Some recovery.
Based on some simulations we ran, demand growth with all the massive
doses of fiscal and monetary stimulus should already be running in
excess of a 10% annual rate. So, the real question that nobody seems to
ask is why it is that underlying demand conditions are still so benign
more than two years after the greatest stimulus of all time. The answer
is that this epic credit collapse is a pervasive drain on spending and
very likely has another five years to play out."
UK
banks
downgraded
by
credit
rating
agency
A quote...."Britain's banking industry was downgraded by the
international credit rating agency, Standard & Poor's, as a result
of the country's "weak economic environment" and the banks' "high"
dependence on state support. -- In its second major intervention in
Britain in the past year, the agency announced that it was demoting
Britain's banking industry by one tier to its Group 3 out of 10. Banks
in Canada, France and Germany are in the first and second groups.
"
Japan
economic
data
mixed;
deflationary
pressure
rises
Deflation Alert - A
quote...."TOKYO (MarketWatch) -- Japanese economic data Friday painted
a mixed picture of a country struggling to keep its nascent recovery on
track, with deflationary pressure increasing, employment and spending
data showing signs of improvement, and industrial output increasing but
falling short of expectations."
Thursday January 28th 2010
No posts. - mpg
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