George Bush Delivers the Horse's Head
Must Read - A quote...."04/02/08 "ICH" -- - Two weeks ago George Bush was sent on a mission to the Middle East to deliver a horse's head. We all remember the disturbing scene in Francis Ford Coppola's “The Godfather” where Lucca Brassi goes to Hollywood to convince a recalcitrant movie producer to use Don Corleone's nephew in his next film. The “Big shot” producer is finally persuaded to hire the young actor after he wakes up in bed next to the severed head of his prize thoroughbred. I expect that Bush made a similar “offer they could not refuse” to the various leaders of the Gulf States when he met with them earlier this month."

Reflation contemplation
A quote...."Analytical evidence strongly supports the view that the current reflation will disappoint on the asset inflation front, while undermining the fragile household sector with a double-whammy of reduced income and higher costs. Indeed - and despite the overwhelming view otherwise - rising consumer prices will likely prove a prevailing consequence of the current monetary and fiscal reflation, only worsening the backdrop and compounding the policy predicament over time."

UAE likely to revalue dollar-pegged currency
A quote...."DUBAI - The United Arab Emirates is likely to revalue its currency against the flagging dollar in a bid to bring down inflation and meet criteria for a single Gulf currency, an industry report said on Monday."  --  Looks like despite George's threats, the UAE just can't take the dollar's decline and resultant inflation. - mpg

Bush budget sees bigger deficits as economy sags
A quote...."With the economy teetering on the brink of a recession, Bush said the deficit would reach $410 billion for the budget year 2008 that ends on September 30 and $407 billion for fiscal 2009 that begins on October 1. - The budget makes military spending and the Iraq war its centerpiece, proposing a 7.5 percent increase for the Pentagon to $515 billion. - On top of that Bush also sought another $70 billion for the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan but that money is only expected to cover those costs for part of 2009. The administration said it would ask for more Iraq money later."

Neo-Roman Empires can be sooooooooo expensive, can't they? - mpg
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PJB: Tapped Out Nation
A quote...."It was to be the year of change, of new ideas, a new politics. - Yet, as of today, it appears the Republican Party will be led into the future by a Beltway favorite of the media and Washington insider who has spent the last quarter of a century on Capitol Hill. - And the Democratic Party appears about to build a bridge to the past by nominating the spouse of the last Democratic president who has herself been a Washington insider for almost 20 years. - With two-thirds of the nation saying the country is on the wrong course, the two parties are offering candidates both of whom played major roles in setting that course. And neither probable nominee has advanced ideas to deal with the crises America faces, nor even shown any great awareness that the country is in crisis."

The Bush/Cheney Genocide
Special Note - A good comprehensive list of their crimes. - mpg - A quote...."It is way past the time for us to face reality and take action!  --  The Bush/Cheney "crowd," past and present, have committed high crimes against the US Constitution, humanity, and the planet at the level of genocide. They have misused the powers that the US citizenry faithfully gave to them and paralyzed the economy and quality of life in the US. As such it is my firm belief that ALL of those who perpetrated these crimes against the US Constitution should be arrested and indicted. Impeachment is not enough!"

G.W. Bush Is a Criminal, Like His Dad
A quote...."Watching Attorney General Michael Mukasey evade the obvious fact that waterboarding is torture – and the reluctance of Democrats to press him – I was reminded of how the first President Bush got away with an earlier batch of national security crimes."

In this great meritocracy, only one thing matters: who is your daddy?
A quote...."To change the political sclerosis gripping their country, Americans need a president distinguished by his lack of pedigree -- While running for Congress in West Texas in 1978, a young George W Bush attended a training school for Republican candidates. In a class on fundraising he was struck by inspiration. "I've got the greatest idea of how to raise money for the campaign," he told David Dreier, now a California congressman. "Have your mother send a letter to your family's Christmas card list! I just did, and I got $350,000."

Abracadabra! Bush Makes Privacy Board Vanish
A quote...."The Bush administration has failed to nominate any candidates to a newly empowered privacy and civil-liberties commission. This leaves the board without any members, even as Congress prepares to give the Bush administration extraordinary powers to wiretap without warrants inside the United States."

Iraqi scientist gave CIA information that should have prevented war
A quote...."AMMAN: When Saad Tawfiq watched then-US Secretary of state Colin Powell's presentation to the United Nations on February 5, 2003, he shed bitter tears as he realized he had risked his life and those of his loved ones for nothing. As one of Saddam Hussein's most gifted engineers, Tawfiq knew that the Iraqi dictator had shut down his nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programs in 1995 - and he had told his handlers in US intelligence just that."

For more on this issue see....Fake Intel
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Sibel Edmonds Must be Heard
A quote...."Sibel Edmonds is the FBI translator turned whistleblower who decided to go public late in 2002 and has been seeking to tell her story about high level corruption in the United States government involving Turkey and Israel. What makes her story particularly compelling is that the corruption relates to the theft and sale of United States defense secrets, most particularly nuclear technology. Sibel obtained her information while translating Turkish language telephone intercepts directed against several Turkish lobbying groups who had contact with senior officials in the Bush Administration, both at the Pentagon and in the State Department. Many of the officials involved are apparently the same neoconservatives who cooked the books to enable the rush to war against Iraq and who are continuing to urge more wars in the Middle East, most notably against Iran and Syria. Several of them are close allies of leading Republican presidential candidate John McCain."

For more on this issue see....US - Nukes for Everyone
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Editorial Pages Report the News
A quote...."Increasingly, all the news that's fit to print does not include the news that editorial writers deem significant. The New York Times and many other newspapers have developed the habit of writing lengthy editorials about news stories that never make it into the news section. One example of this trend is the story of last Monday's presidential signing statement. If you don't know what a signing statement is, you should consider flipping first to the editorial page to get your news."

Russia's ambassador to NATO warns of confrontation with Poland
A quote...."Moscow (dpa) - Russia's ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on Sunday warned of a new confrontation between Warsaw and Moscow in connection with plans by the United States to base a missile shield in Eastern Europe."

Iran Opens Space Center
A quote...."TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran on Monday fired a rocket into space to mark the opening of its first space centre, triggering swift condemnation from the United States amid continued tensions over the Iranian nuclear drive."

US anti-missile ship to dock in Haifa
War Alert - A quote...."An American missile ship set to dock at Haifa Port on Monday is equipped with an anti-missile defense system that could be deployed in the region in the event of an Iranian missile attack against Israel."
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Bogus Terror: Feds Wage War Against The Rule Of Law
A quote...."Shahawar Matin Siraj [photo] was a young man when his family moved from Pakistan to the United States. The family had been persecuted in Pakistan because they were "too secular", and they came to the US looking for religious freedom. But they found something else again."

Lie After Lie: What Colin Powell Knew Five Years Ago Today, And What He Told The World
Special Note - A quote...."Colin Powell made his Iraq presentation at the UN five years ago, on February 5, 2003.  --  As much criticism as Powell has received for this—he calls it "painful" and something that will "always be a part of my record"—it hasn't been close to what's justified. Powell was far more than just horribly mistaken: the evidence is conclusive that he fabricated evidence and ignored repeated warnings that what he was saying was false."

War by Accident?
Special Note - A quote...."Cheney lives, and he wants more war. According to former CIA officer Phil Giraldi, Cheney remains hard at work fomenting some kind of attack or even war with Iran – and beyond that, he and George W. Bush don’t believe their own CIA’s latest intelligence assessment on Iran, indicating, in short that when it comes to Iran, we have little to fear but fear itself."

The Tenacity of American Militarism
A quote...."Recent polls suggest that Americans trust the military roughly three times as much as the president and five times as much as their elected representatives in Congress. The tenacity of this trust is both striking and disturbing. It's striking because it comes despite widespread media coverage of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib, the friendly-fire cover-up in the case of Pat Tillman's death, and alleged retribution killings by Marines at Haditha. It's disturbing because our country is founded on civilian control of the military. It's debatable whether our less-than-resolute civilian leaders can now exercise the necessary level of oversight of the military and the Pentagon when they are distrusted by so many Americans."

U.S. Troops Asked If They Would Shoot American Citizens
A quote...."Scott writes that his company hired a soldier who had recently returned from Iraq, who told him that U.S. troops were being quizzed on whether or not they would be prepared to shoot their own friends and family members during a national state of emergency in America."

U.S. Says It Accidentally Killed 9 Iraqi Civilians
A quote...."BAGHDAD — American forces said Sunday that they had accidentally killed nine Iraqi civilians and wounded three in a strike aimed at militants of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia south of Baghdad, acknowledging what appeared to be one of the deadliest cases of mistaken identity in recent weeks."

U.S. says no one too young for Guantanamo court
A quote...."Navy Lt. William Kuebler asked a military judge to throw out the charges against Canadian defendant Omar Khadr, who was shot and captured at age 15 in a firefight at a suspected al Qaeda compound in Afghanistan in 2002."  --  bold/italics by website author

Thuy's Dream of Peace - Winter in America
Must Read - A quote...."Thuy's diary is not a literary account of combat. The language is simple, at times redundant. It contains few compelling tales of gallantry or heroism. Instead, over the three years she fought against the Americans and treated badly wounded soldiers, starting at the age of twenty-four, Dr. Dang Thuy Tram recorded how she longed for friends and family, pined for the love of an NVA officer, and wrote of her complete devotion to the Communist Party. She recorded almost daily self-criticism, expressed deep insights into herself and others, praised her comrades, rallied against physical hardships and secret sorrows. Here and there, she pens brief accounts of ambushes, harrowing close calls, and her beloved soldier's self-sacrifice. Numerous times she invokes the ultimate victory against the foreign invaders. The 'Yankee bandits', she calls them."
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Zogby Poll: Obama Soars Past Hillary in CA,
A quote...."Polls are looking good for Obama as Hillary loses the big lead she's held for most of the primary season. Is Bill Clinton Hillary's biggest liability, instead of the asset most assumed? Sure looks that way as Hillary falls while Obama rises."

McCain is Now the Neo-Con Candidate
A quote...."With the elimination of both Rudy Giuliani last week and Fred Thompson the week before, neo-conservatives who were not already in his camp will be rushing to support Sen. John McCain. Of course, McCain was the early favorite of Bill Kristol and the Weekly Standard back in 2000...."

Who are the troops supporting for president? Ron Paul!? What???
A quote...."The most shocking aspect is that Clinton and Obama together have raised nearly 8 times what Paul has, an astounding $217 million! And yet with no celebrity endorsements like Oprah or former president Clinton, only 13% of their fundraising power, and not even a tenth of their press coverage, he manages to crush their combined military numbers by over double."

Former Democratic Rep. Cynthia McKinney Seeks Presidency as Green Party Nominee
Interview - A quote...."Former Democratic Rep. Cynthia McKinney is now seeking the Green Party presidential nomination. McKinney is among the most outspoken critics of the Bush administration, and one of her last measures in office was to introduce a bill for the impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Cheney. She joins us to talk about her new campaign and why she left the Democratic Party after more than a decade in public office. [includes rush transcript]  ||  Real Video Stream  ||  Real Audio Stream  ||  MP3 Download  ||  More...  ||
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ICBC Deposes Citigroup as Chinese Banks Rule in New World Order
A quote...."Feb. 4 (Bloomberg) -- There's a new world order for banks, and the Chinese, for the first time, are the biggest, with a market capitalization that has made perennial No. 1 Citigroup Inc. a distant also-ran behind Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., China Construction Bank Corp. and Bank of China Ltd."

The Commission: The Uncensored History of the 9/11 Investigation
Book Review - A quote...."Michael Isikoff writes in  Newsweek: "In the summer of 2003, Warren Bass, an investigator for the 9/11 Commission, was digging through highly classified National Security Council documents when he came across a trove of material that startled him. Buried in the files of former White House counterterrorism czar Richard Clarke, the documents seemed to confirm charges that the Bush White House had ignored repeated warnings about the threat posed by Osama bin Laden."


Iraq as Stepchild of the American Empire
A quote...."A recent report in the New York Times outlines new U.S. demands being made on Iraq. The article states, in part, the following: "the Bush administration will insist that the government in Baghdad give the United States broad authority to conduct combat operations and guarantee civilian contractors specific legal protections from Iraqi law." So much for Mr. Bush's vision of a democratic Iraq."

Democracy Is a Beautiful Thing
A quote...."03/02/08 "ICH" -- -- Why was the primary vote for former presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich so small when anti-Iraq war sentiment in the United States is supposedly so high, and Kucinich was easily the leading anti-war candidate in the Democratic race, indeed the only genuine one after former Senator Mike Gravel withdrew? Even allowing for his being cut out of several debates, Kucinich's showing was remarkably poor. In Michigan, on January 15, it was only Kucinich and Clinton running. Clinton got 56% of the vote, the "uncommitted" vote (for candidates who had withdrawn but whose names were still on the ballot) was 39%, and Kucinich received but 4%. And Clinton, remember, has been the leading pro-war hawk of all the Democratic candidates. "

Election theft 2008, the perfect crime: 300 million witnesses and nobody saw nuttin'
A quote...."nly six states had a chance to make their selections known before Edwards ended his campaign; residents in the other 44 have no progressive alternative on the ballot. With "super Tuesday" coming up, millions of voters will be asked to choose among candidates from the moderate right, the corporate right, the religiously insane right or the Curtis LeMay right."

Hamas explodes a giant hole in Egypt's political cover
A quote...."You'd almost think the leaders of Hamas had hired a brilliant political consultant before they blew down the Egyptian-border fence 10 days ago.  --  Hamas didn't just bulldoze the border wall. The extremist group's leaders also laid bare the hollow nature of Israel's collective-punishment policy, openly supported by the United States - and the hypocrisy of Egypt's historic support of the Palestinian cause. At the same time, they shored up their own support among Gaza's 1.5 million restive residents."

Germany Leaves the USA Stranded
A quote...."[Robert] Gates’ demands showed "that the Bush administration has learned nothing," said Greens leader Claudia Roth in Berlin, adding that the United States is relying on a "false and failed strategy" in Afghanistan. "

CIA places controls on inspector general
A quote...."WASHINGTON -- The CIA's internal investigative branch will be subjected to a series of new checks and controls designed to give targets of in-house probes greater ability to defend themselves, CIA Director Michael V. Hayden said in a statement to the agency's employees."

Revealed: British plan to build training camp for Taliban fighters in Afghanistan
Special Note - A quote...."Britain planned to build a Taliban training camp for 2,000 fighters in southern Afghanistan, as part of a top-secret deal to make them swap sides, intelligence sources in Kabul have revealed. The plans were discovered on a memory stick seized by Afghan secret police in December."

The British were only thinking of doing what the US has done for the last thirty years. - mpg

For more on this issue see....US Support of Terror
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9/11 Commissioner: 'We had to go through Karl Rove'
A quote...."Two recent segments delve into a new book that accuses the head of the ostensibly independent 9/11 Commission, Philip Zelikow, of being beholden to the Bush Administration during his tenure."

Ties between White House, Sept 11 chief
A quote...."The Sept. 11 commission's executive director had closer ties with the White House than publicly disclosed and tried to influence the final report in ways that the staff often perceived as limiting the Bush administration's responsibility, a new book says."

You have to understand gentle reader, when "George the Ripper" is standing over a disemboweled corpse with a bloody knife in his hand, it's called "embarrassing" or as some people would have it...."it's an unfortunate chain of events."

When you or I are caught standing over a disemboweled corpse with a bloody knife in our hands it's called "death by lethal injection." – mpg
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9/11 - From The History File...9/11 Commission: Opposition and Obfuscation ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Fears over jury ban in [British] 'secrecy' inquests
A quote...."A dispute has broken out over government plans to remove juries from some inquests. - Provisions buried in last month's Counter-Terrorism Bill would also allow home secretaries to replace coroners with their own officers."

Follow the Money? God forbid.
A quote...."It's been over six years since 9/11, but U.S. regulatory entities have been slow to follow through with reports about the complex financial transactions that occurred just prior to and following the attacks. Such research could shed light on such questions as who was behind them—and who benefited—and could help lay to rest the rumors that have been festering."

Proposed Military Spending Is Highest Since WWII
A quote...."The Pentagon on Monday will unveil its proposed 2009 budget of $515.4 billion. If it is approved in full, annual military spending, when adjusted for inflation, will have reached its highest level since World War II."

Top-secret Livermore anti-germ [actually pro-germ] lab opens
A quote...."The facility is known as a Biosafety-level 3 laboratory where highly trained workers, high-tech airlocks and extremely rigorous safety measures are required by federal rules in order to contain any of more than 40 potentially lethal disease-causing bacteria, viruses and fungi stored inside."

Gitmo ruling a setback for Bush administration
A quote...."WASHINGTON -- A federal appeals court refused Friday to reconsider a ruling broadening its own authority to scrutinize evidence against detainees at Guantanamo Bay.  --  The decision is a setback for the Bush administration, which was displeased by the court's three-judge ruling in July and had urged all 10 judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to review it."

The Senate's FISA agreement
A quote...."In the Senate, Democratic and Republican leaders have, according to Congressional Quarterly and others sources, reached an agreement as to how to proceed on the FISA vote this Monday."  --  Senate DemoRepubs caved COMPLETELY! - mpg
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Ships did not cause Internet cable damage
A quote...."CAIRO - Damage to undersea Internet cables in the Mediterranean that hit business across the Middle East and South Asia was not caused by ships, Egypt’s communications ministry said on Sunday, ruling out earlier reports. - The transport ministry added that footage recorded by onshore video cameras of the location of the cables showed no maritime traffic in the area when the cables were damaged."

Internet problems continue with fourth cable break (Quatar)
A quote...."Internet services in Qatar have been seriously disrupted because of damage to an undersea telecoms cable linking the Gulf state to the UAE, the fourth such incident in less than a week."

Fiber-Octic Cables Not Easy To Break
Graphic - A quote...."Cross-section of a submarine communications cable."

Editor's note, all traffic on the "repaired cables" can no longer be considered secure from this point foward.  just FYI. --  Also this activity should be considered a War Alert.- mpg
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Does John ‘100 Years’ McCain Agree With Bush’s Signing Statement On Iraq?
A quote...."Earlier this week, when President Bush signed the 2008 National Defense Authorization Act, he issued a little-noticed signing statement, claiming that provisions in the law — including the barring of funds for permanent bases in Iraq — could be disregarded."

Liberalpro-Interview with Senator Mike Gravel
Program Note: - A quote...."UPCOMING SHOW: 2/3/2008 9:00 PM -  Host Name Tim Gatto - 2 hours - An Interview with the only Progressive Candidate left on the Democratic Ticket. This could be Senator Gravel's last chance to address the people nationally before "Super Tuesday"."

Ron Paul Gets A VERY Close Third in Maine
A quote...." Former Gov. Mitt Romney convincingly won the Maine Republican caucus tonight with about 52% of the vote.  --  The current GOP front-runner, Arizona Sen. John McCain, is running a distant second with 22% and Rep. Ron Paul, the libertarian-minded longshot, is in a very close third with 19% of the vote. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is trailing badly with only 5%."

US political establishment lines up behind Barack Obama
A quote...."As the contests for the presidential nominations of the Democratic and Republican parties head into the potentially decisive primary voting on February 5, there has been a pronounced shift in favor of the campaign of Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, reflected in a surge in opinion polls, large turnouts at campaign rallies, a flood of campaign contributions, and a series of high-profile political and media endorsements."

The PDB's Future
A quote...."People have begun to ask what I intend to do with the Progressive Daily Beacon, so I guess it is time to address the site's future. In a nutshell there isn't one ... that is to say there isn't a future for the PDB. If we, as a progressive community, are honest with ourselves, it is plainly obvious that the blogosphere has become an extension of corporate-owned media. Well, with a twist: It now serves the corporate interests of either the Republican or Democratic Party. I don't want to be associated with that. I want to be part of something that is about the people and their interest, so I will probably start a blog with that simple objective."

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Bailout package won't help much
Video - Interview - Zaa Nkwetta of Real News Network interviews Doug Henwood - A quote...."The economic outlook for the average American gets bleaker"

Train in Spain sets out to beat the plane
A quote...."Madrid-Barcelona link is part of 220mph network taking on the airlines "


New World Order: Unimaginable Intentional Human Suffering
Must Read - A quote...."Perhaps one day we shall know the truth about being, and being alive on planet earth, whether life on every living planet is as messed-up as it is here. Earth's problems must be unique, as they are of man's own creation, man-made disasters caused by ambitious men who are allowed to rise to the top, where they dominate us for self-gain. We allow our leaders to take the positions of power that they desire, instead of actually choosing who shall lead us. Humans tend to submit to those who claim authority, since it is easier to believe in symbols of power, than it is to personally submit to the tedium of the reasoning process. As a people, we tend to follow the natural order of things along the path of least resistance. By taking the easy way out, we give our blessing to the law of the jungle."

Hold that Thought, I've got to go to the Al Qaeda
A quote...."The first thing I want to say is that there is no al-Qaeda; not in the way we understand it to be. The only al-Qaeda ever found is this one and given the fact that there are now more Al Qaeda outlets than there are McDonald's makes it all the more absurd. On Friday, unknown gunman attacked the Israeli Embassy in Mauritania and once again it was Al Qaeda. A bystander said the colors were melting from the flag flying from the getaway car."

States Consider Calling Back Nat’l Guards from Iraq
Special Note - Action Alert - A quote...."SAN FRANCISCO — State legislators in Vermont introduced legislation Wednesday demanding the state’s National Guard troops return from Iraq. Lawmakers in Minnesota, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania are poised to push similar legislation. - At the heart of the matter is a contention that President George W. Bush’s legal authority to deploy the National Guard to Iraq has expired.

Defiant Hamas bulldozes Rafah crossing wider
A quote...."RAFAH, Gaza Strip, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Hamas used a bulldozer to widen a breach in the Gaza-Egypt border on Friday so trucks could pass out of the Israeli-blockaded Palestinian territory despite Egypt's efforts to seal the crossing, witnesses said."

Iran Oil Bourse to deal blow to dollar
War Alert - A quote...."The long-awaited Iranian Oil Bourse, a place for trading oil, petrochemicals and gas in various non-dollar currencies, will soon open. - Iran's Finance Minister Davoud Danesh-Jafari told reporters the bourse will be inaugurated during the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution (February 1-11) at the latest."

Iraq of '08 eerily like Vietnam of '68
Must Read - A quote...."The last time the United States lulled itself into thinking that a military surge was working was January 1968, just before the Tet lunar New Year ushered in the Year of the Monkey. Gen. William Westmoreland, commanding America's half million troops in Vietnam, assured President Johnson that 65 percent of the South Vietnamese population was living in secure areas, with "victory in sight."
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The Madness of John McCain
A quote...."A militarist suffering from acute narcissism and armed with the Bush Doctrine is not fit to be commander in chief."

PJB: The Great Betrayal
A quote...."Offering more “straight talk” on the Sunday before the Florida primary, John McCain made an arresting prediction: “It’s a tough war we’re in. It’s not going to be over right away. There’s going to be other wars. I’m sorry to tell you, there’s going to be other wars. We will never surrender but there will be other wars.”  --  Ike promised to “go to Korea” and ended that war. Nixon pledged to end Vietnam with honor. McCain says we may be in Iraq a hundred years and warns, “there’s going to be other wars.” Take the man at his word.  --  Mimicking the Beach Boys’ “Barbara Ann,” McCain has joked about “Bomb, bomb, bomb—bomb, bomb Iran”....."

The American Presidency and the Transformation of Arab Defeatism
A quote...."The heat from the American presidency is causing sleeplessness and fever in the entire international community.  As the American presidential race divides up its constituencies and with international transformations and flare-ups hanging over their heads, the candidates compete with all their might, twisting and turning, until it appears to observers that the American elections are a fantastical political film – not one produced by Hollywood, but rather by the American campaign with all of its contradictions and dissimulations. Because the candidates have no real knowledge of the world outside of America, sometimes push the limit of foolishness."

Anti-Russian Policy Will Not Change with New President
A quote...."The Anti-Russian policy of the United States will remain, in any case, irrespective of who came to power - the Democrats or the Republicans,” he told RIA Novosti, commenting on the decision by former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani to withdraw from the presidential race in the United States and to endorse Senator John McCain, who is known for his rigid stance against Russia."

Slay That Green Dragon
Check out the comments.  There's already eighty-five as of Saturday 6:20 pm pst, within a few days there'll be thousands.  Unlike the author of this article, but like many others who've left their comments, this website editor believes if you vote for the "lesser of two evils" all you'll get is a little less....EVIL.  Many people in this country have been hoping for a better choice than that. - mpg

For more on this issue see....You Can STILL Vote to Stop the Madness 10-07-07 - mpg
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Keith Olbermann Special Comment FISA - (YouTube - 9 min 42 sec -  Added:  January 31, 2008)
Must View - A quote...."In a Presidency of hypocrisy, an Administration of exploitation, a labyrinth of leadership, in which every vital fact is a puzzle inside a riddle wrapped in an enigma hidden under a claim of executive privilege supervised by an idiot, this one is surprisingly easy....."

Pentagon: The internet needs to be dealt with as if it were an enemy "weapons system".
A quote...."The Pentagon's Information Operations Roadmap is blunt about the fact that an internet, with the potential for free speech, is in direct opposition to their goals. The internet needs to be dealt with as if it were an enemy "weapons system"."

Third undersea cable cut in Middle East
A quote...."MUMBAI (Reuters) - A third undersea cable was cut on Friday, just two days after two breaks near Egypt disrupted Web access in parts of the Middle East and Asia, Indian-owned cable network operator FLAG Telecom said."  --  Editor's note, all traffic on the "repaired cables" is no longer secure from now on,  just FYI. - mpg

Phones tapped at the rate of 1,000 a day [in Britian]
A quote...."Britain is in danger of becoming a "surveillance state" as authorities including councils launch bugging operations against 1,000 people a day. - Councils, police and intelligence services are tapping and intercepting the phone calls, emails and letters of hundreds of thousands of people every year, an official report said."
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Bankers Gone Bonkers - Global Finance and the Insanity Defense
Special Note - A quote...."With Wall Street capital disappearing as fast as foreclosures are climbing, one foreign head of state had an epiphany. French President Nicholas Sarkozy advanced the idea recently that the global financial system is "out of its mind." - To develop this theory further, I've reconstructed below some of the mileposts on our journey to this financial loony bin."  --  Some of the examples are hilarious....and disgusting. - mpg

ExxonMobil posts record 40.6-bln-dlr profit in 2007
A quote...."ExxonMobil reported Friday the largest US corporate annual profit in history at 40.6 billion dollars, benefiting from surging crude oil prices on strong demand, particularly in China and India"

To the men and women in the US armed forces....so far so good.  But remember if oil prices start to slip because of the upcoming recession, you'll have to attack Iran as planned to pop them back up.

Like the old Con-Ed motto, "dig we must"....yours is "kill we must".  Keep up the good work, you're making the MIOC elites very, very, rich. - mpg


Looking Up - Normalizing Air War from Guernica to Arab Jabour
A quote...."Note that both pieces started with bombing news -- in one case a suicide bombing that killed several Iraqis; in another a roadside bombing that killed an American soldier and wounded others. But the major bombing story of these last days -- those 100,000 pounds of explosives that U.S. planes dropped in a small area south of Baghdad -- simply dangled unexplained off the far end of the Los Angeles Times piece; while, in the New York Times, it was buried inside a single sentence."

British soldiers accused of torturing and abusing Iraqi prisoners who were captured in firefight
A quote...."The scene was close to Majar al-Kabir, where a year earlier an Iraqi mob overwhelmed and killed six British military policemen. - It is alleged that corpses were removed from the battlefield and showed signs of mutilation when they were left at a local hospital. It is also claimed that a prisoner died in custody and others were abused. - Lawyers say testimonies of five witnesses "combine to give a harrowing account of what took place".

Thousands of cases just like this have also occurred within the US military.  Considering EVERY SINGLE case similar to the one above that has been exposed so far, has began with an attempted cover-up, it is highly unlikely most of these cases will ever see the light of day. – mpg
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Testimony of a US ex-marine
A quote...."31/01/08 "ACN" -- -- "I'm 32 and I am a trained psychopathic murderer. The only things I can do are to sell youths the idea of joining the marines and kill. I am not able to keep a job. For me civilians are despicable people, mentally retarded and weak persons, a flock of sheep. I am their sheepdog. I am a predator. In the army they used to call me Jimmy, the Shark".

Shell's 'obscene' £13.9billion profit is biggest ever by British company
A quote...."Shell smashed all-time British company profit records today, posting 2007 earnings of $27.5billion (£13.9billion), and immediately ran into a storm with union leaders, who are demanding the Government hits the oil giant with a windfall tax."

To all the men and woman in the armed forces of the United States, thanks again for your sacrifice and support of the Project for a New American Century.  Big Oil and Big Defense (M.I.O.C.) couldn't have done it without your unquestioning and utterly blind loyalty to our nation's corporate elites.

Remember it's just the start of their thirty year campaign to control the Middle East, you've got at least another million people to kill.  So keep up the good work! – mpg
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NYT's Reporter Claims Rove Influenced 9/11 Commission Report
A quote...."In a revelation bound to cast a pall over the 9/11 Commission, Philip Shenon will report in a forthcoming book that the panel's executive director, Philip Zelikow, engaged in "surreptitious" communications with presidential adviser Karl Rove and other Bush administration officials during the commission's 20-month investigation into the 9/11 attacks."

Key 9/11 Commission Staffer Held Secret Meetings With Rove, Scaled Back Criticisms of White House
A quote...."A forthcoming book by NYT reporter Philip Shenon — “The Commission: The Uncensored History of the 9/11 Investigation” — asserts that former 9/11 Commission executive director Philip Zelikow interfered with the 9/11 report."  --  Check out the comments - mpg

9/11 - From The History File...Is Fix in at 9/11 Commission?
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Listen Up, Eye Rollers! - Part II
A quote...."Eye Rollers who read the daily papers assume they are well informed. Thomas Jefferson warned: “The man who never looks into a newspaper is better informed than he who reads them; inasmuch as he who knows nothing is nearer to the truth than he whose mind is filled with falsehoods and errors. It is a melancholy truth that a suppression of the press could not more completely deprive the nation of its benefits than is done by its abandoned prostitution to falsehood.” It is currently legal to falsify or fabricate “news.” “Media propaganda tactics include blackouts, misdirections, expert opinions to echo the Establishment line, smears, defining popular opinions, mass entertainment distractions,” and the proliferation of the so-called conservative and liberal positions. [i]"

Silence
Special Note - A quote...."The dumbest question on earth turned out to be the only pertinent one.  --  I was sitting at the anchor desk in San Francisco when President Bush delivered the State of the Union of 2003. We all expected an update on Afghanistan and instead the president pulled the now famous bait and switch. Magically, with no Democratic consensus, Osama became Saddam, and Afghanistan became Iraq. As the president was speaking, I called out to the camera people and the floor director in the studio. "I don't believe this, are you guys listening to this? Bush is preparing to go to war on another front without congressional approval." The president likened Saddam to Hitler and said Iraq had nuclear (Nuke-you-lure) weapons, biological weapons and chemical weapons. He used his 86 percent approval rating at the time to buy silence from the press and here's how that occurred in my life."
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'West seeking to partition Pakistan'
A quote...."Chief of Pakistan's Muttahida Qaumi Movement Altaf Hussain has warned that the United States is planning to partition the country.  -  "We want to save Pakistan. The big powers are casting evil eyes over the country," the MQM leader said in London."

For more on this see....It Will Happen Every Single Time
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'Half-trained' British troops being rushed to fight the Taliban
A quote...."A massive shortfall in troops ready for the battlefield in Afghanistan could mean that new Army recruits face having their combat training halved to meet demand.  -  Nearly 1,000 new soldiers would spend just 14 weeks on a combat infantry course instead of the usual 28 weeks, under plans being considered by the Army."

Porton Down victims awarded £3m
A quote...."The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is to award £3m in compensation to 360 veterans of Cold War experiments at the Porton Down research centre." -- Just keep in mind the American "Government" has done the same sort of experiments to "our" troops. - mpg

Turkey rejects US bank request on Iran
A quote...."A Turkish official has refused a US request to scrutinize and then suspend the activities of the Turkey-based Iran's Bank Mellat."

Israel 'planning another Lebanon war'
A quote...."The Lebanese Premier says the Winograd Report on the 2006 war against Lebanon confirms that Israel plans to attack his country again. "

Secret CIA flights to Greenland reported
A quote...."COPENHAGEN, Denmark - Denmark will investigate claims that the CIA secretly used an airport on the Nordic country's remote Arctic territory of Greenland to transport prisoners in the U.S. war on terror, the prime minister said Thursday."

S.Africa hints at Iran nuclear resolution delay
A quote...."PRETORIA, Jan 31 (Reuters) - A one-month delay to consider a new U.N. Security Council draft resolution that would punish Iran for moving ahead with its nuclear programme would not be a disaster, a South African official said on Thursday."

Iranian rapprochement
A quote...."Recent months have brought signs of a growing rapprochement between Iran and Egypt. There have been exchanges of diplomatic visits and last Thursday saw President Hosni Mubarak for the first time speaking with the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad by telephone."

Iraqi PM reaches out to Sadr
A quote...."Maliki said in an interview with the Iraqi television network al-Sumaria Thursday he sent proposals to Moqtada Sadr's Sadrist Movement to discuss their return to the central government amid broader reconciliation measures.  --  The Sadrist Movement withdrew from the Iraqi government in April 2007 citing the government's refusal to set a timetable for U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq."

Russian turbulence for Indian airbase
A quote...."BANGALORE - It does seem that India will have to downsize its big-power dreams in Central Asia. Its plan to deploy aircraft at the base at Ayni in Tajikistan is facing opposition from an unexpected quarter - Russia."

POLAND:  Slowly Coming to Terms with Russia
A quote...."PRAGUE, Jan 31 (IPS) - The upcoming visit of newly elected Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk to Russia signals a new sense of pragmatism in Poland's policies."

RIGHTS-GUATEMALA:  Still Waiting for Justice, 28 Years On
A quote...."GUATEMALA CITY, Jan 31 (IPS) - "I suffer because three of my kids were murdered. One of them, who was just 17, was killed when the Spanish embassy was burnt down. I am sad because in Guatemala there is no justice," Catarina Lux, a 68-year-old indigenous woman from the northwestern province of El Quiché, told IPS Thursday."

Summit of the Bolivarian Alternative (ALBA) Concludes in Venezuela
A quote...."The 6th Summit of the Bolivarian Alternative for Latin America (ALBA), a joint Venezuelan-Cuban initiative based on fair trade as an alternative to the U.S.-sponsored Free Trade Area of the Americas, concluded in Caracas on Saturday with the founding of a new Bank of ALBA and the signing of a series of economic and social agreements between the member nations. The Dominica also became the newest country to join the regional fair trade bloc."

On the Edge of a Cliff
A quote...."Things in the presidential horse race are lining up pretty much as one might expect - from a corporate perspective anyway.  --  The decks are being cleared to limit debate and blur focus. The remaining "viable" candidates now include John McCain who says we will be in Iraq for 100 years, Hillary who I once saw on "Face the Nation" saying "The American people need to relax, we are going to be in Iraq for a long time," and Mr. Obama who is now being "sold" to the public as the change agent. I still maintain that Hillary will be the Democratic party nominee and her choice for vice-president will be Obama. Don't expect anything from them. This thing is being scripted."

Mine Your Business: Subterranean Bush-Clinton Blues
A quote...."I must admit that when I first saw this headline in Thursday's New York Times -- An Ex-President, a Mining Deal and a Big Donor -- I thought the paper had exhumed one of the sleazier stories from the Bush Family past, perhaps in expiation for having left so many filth-encrusted Bush rocks unturned for so many years -- especially during L'il Dimbulb's presidential campaign in 2000.  --  In the end, of course, the story turned out to be the shocking revelation that Bill Clinton is a money-grubbing manwhore eager to service brutal dictators to line his own pockets and funnel backroom pork to his cronies. Wow, who knew?"

Five more Republicans join exodus from House of Representatives
A quote...."Five more long-serving Republican congressmen have confirmed they will not run for reelection this year, in a week of retirements capped by the announcement Wednesday by Representative Tom Davis, a former top leader in the House of Representatives when it was under Republican control."  --  Rats leaving the sinking ship. - mpg

Ron Paul's Revolutionary Manifesto
Book Review - A quote...."Ron Paul has written The Revolution: A Manifesto, to be released by Grand Central Publishing. It covers everything establishment politicians lie about or ignore: war, sound money, terrorism, the economy, the IRS, civil liberties – you name it. It’s written to be understood by ordinary people – and to wake them up."
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Stagflation is Here
Some quotes....

        War—after all, what is it that the people get?  Why—widows, taxes, wooden legs and debt.
          -- *Samuel B. Pettengill*

        "Armies, and debts, and taxes are the known instruments for bringing the many under the domination of the few.
          --  *James Madison*, 4th U.S. President (April 20, 1795)

        "Let me issue and control a nation's currency and I care not who makes its laws".
          --  *Nathan Rothschild*, 1791
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America's Teetering Banking System: - "Where did all our deposits go?"
Must Read - A quote...." 31/01/08 "ICH" -- - Somebody goofed. When Fed chairman Ben Bernanke cut interest rates to 3% yesterday, the price of a new mortgage went up. How does that help the flagging housing industry?  --  About an hour after Bernanke made the announcement that the Fed Funds rate would be cut by 50 basis points the yield on the 30-year Treasury nudged up a tenth of a percent to 4.42%. The same thing happened to the 10 year Treasury which surged from a low of 3.28% to 3.73% in less than a week. That means that mortgageswhich are priced off long-term government bonds---will be going up, too."
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Why doesn’t Bush get economic credit?
A quote...."Today’s Times asserts as fact:....

"Mr. Bush has spent years presiding over an economic climate of growth that would be the envy of most presidents. Yet much to the consternation of his political advisers, he has had trouble getting credit for it, in large part because Americans were consumed by the war in Iraq."

"OK, I don’t want to make too big a deal of this, but although many people say this, it’s a theory, not a fact. And the evidence suggests that this theory is wrong."

For more on this see....Effective Fed Funds Rate
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World chokes on bad spell on Wall St
A quote...."The recent meltdown in global stock markets is the first truly global financial crisis since the word "globalization" became widely used. While Latin America and Asia suffered in the 1990s, this crisis marks a wider, possibly deeper set of problems underlining how vulnerable the integrated world economy has become to failures in one part of the globe. What began as worry over tremors in the US mortgage market has become a full-blown confidence crisis."