The Nukes of October: Richard Nixon's Secret Plan to Bring Peace to Vietnam
A quote...."On the morning of October 27, 1969, a squadron of 18 B-52s — massive bombers with eight turbo engines and 185-foot wingspans — began racing from the western US toward the eastern border of the Soviet Union. The pilots flew for 18 hours without rest, hurtling toward their targets at more than 500 miles per hour. Each plane was loaded with nuclear weapons hundreds of times more powerful than the ones that had obliterated Hiroshima and Nagasaki." -- For a more modern version of this idea see....Barksdale / Minot / B-52 "Loose Nukes Incident
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>>>  Making the Victim Pay  <<<

Senators Demand Audit Of Iraq Oil Revenue
A quote...."We believe that it has been overwhelmingly U.S. taxpayer money that has funded Iraq reconstruction over the last five years, despite Iraq earnings billions of dollars in oil revenue over that time period that have ended up in non-Iraqi banks," Sens. Carl Levin, a Democrat, and John Warner, a Republican, said Friday in a letter to the head of the U.S. Government Accountability Office. "

OH MY GAWD!!  Think of that!! How utterly awful!!  The US lies about Iraq's WMDs, it's connection to al Qaeda and 9/11 (There weren't any -- Period -- End of story) violates the Nuremburg principals against aggressive war, refuses to get UN sanction for it's actions, lies to the entire UN body, lies about the cost of the war to everyone, than goes and bombs a country to smithereens for five years and spends more money doing so than any other war it has been engaged in since WWII.

Then demands an investigation as to what the Iraqis are doing with their oil money (why....we left them some?) and if they're using their money to repair our damage.

To Masseurs Levin and Warner....you are sick, you are twisted, and you're not funny.  It was a sad day, a tragedy actually, when you two ethically challenged morons were elected to represent this nation.

Let this be a lesson and a stern warning to every person, organization or country out there contemplating any business dealings or activity with the United States.   These morally degenerate, diseased, pieces of human offal who comport themselves like they're human beings, sadly, but truly, do represent the debased cultural and moral character of the United States as it now stands.

This country does not honor its commitments, its contracts, its constitution, or international law.

It is the only nation in the world where you could be mugged and the mugger could ask you for damages because you ruined his fancy suit when you got some of your blood on it.  The only place on earth where a thug could demand you pay the medical bills because you repeatedly smashed your face against his fist. The only  place on the planet where someone could break into your apartment, wreck the place, take up squatters rights, and then demand that you not only pay all of the rent, but complain you aren’t fixing the damage he caused.  The only possible spot in the universe where a thief could demand more money from you, so he could steal more stuff from you.....and than be morally offended that you wouldn’t give it to him.

No one should ever forget the favor these two "gentleman" have done for all of us by their actions, to clearly expose the moral rot that lies at the heart of this country in Washington DC. – mpg
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Echoes of Empire: Patterns of Evil Play Out in New Guises
A quote...."Whenever Rome was threatened by internal usurpers, or Germanic incursions to the north, or by the rise of the Persian superpower under the Sasanians, Roman leaders would offer generous terms to the Gothic refugees, employ Gothic troops in Roman armies, and assign lands where the tribes could live and farm as an intact community -- as opposed to the usual Roman practice of scattering any barbarian tribes allowed to live within the Empire's borders. But whenever the threat of the moment had passed, Rome reneged on the deals, came down hard on the tribes, launching -- and provoking -- armed conflict."

Exhaustive review finds no link between Saddam and al Qaida
Special Note - A quote...."WASHINGTON — An exhaustive review of more than 600,000 Iraqi documents that were captured after the 2003 U.S. invasion has found no evidence that Saddam Hussein's regime had any operational links with Osama bin Laden's al Qaida terrorist network."

America: Lying Politicians, Gullible Voters and the Long Slide Ahead
A quote..Several decades of foolishly voting for charlatan politicians, who assured us we could rule the world as we saw fit with a military whose costs were greater than the rest of the world’s armies combined, and who assured us we didn’t need to pay for our wars and our military might because we could just borrow money to keep the government running, have finally run us up against a wall. Nobody wants to hold those dollar debts anymore...Would you?"

Poll: Americans lose faith in media
A quote...."A new opinion poll suggests that over 54 percent of Americans do not trust mainstream media and consider news websites more reliable."

Where the People Don't Rule
A quote...."Common delusions notwithstanding, the United States, I submit, is not a democracy – by which is meant a system in which the will of the people prevails. Rather it is a curious mechanism artfully designed to circumvent the will of the people while appearing to be democratic. Several mechanisms accomplish this."

Land of the free is world’s top jailer
A quote...."Don’t let the anthem fool you. The land of the free says “Go to Jail” to more than one in every 100 adult Americans, actually 99.1. What’s scarier is that one out of every 34 of the 230 million adult Americans are under the correctional system’s “guidance,” in jail or out on probation. This makes the US el numero uno jailer in the world, ahead of China, Russia, Brazil, India, Mexico, South Africa, England and Japan."

Sordid Details on 'Black Site' on Diego Garcia Island Come to Light
A quote...."British Foreign Secretary David Miliband issued an embarrassing apology to members of Parliament last month. Despite "earlier explicit assurances" to the contrary, he admitted, two planes carrying prisoners of the U.S. "war on terror" had landed on the British-owned island of Diego Garcia in 2002 before flying to foreign territory as part of the American extraordinary rendition program."

Many Iranians, rich and poor, want real change
A quote...."The women will vote for the same group of candidates in Iran's parliamentary election on Friday, but for different reasons. What unites them, and many others, is their disillusionment -- either with hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad or his reformist opponents." -- It's disgusting isn't it?  Every single year those pathetic "rag heads" hold elections without the US occupying their country.  How dare they.  Exactly who the hell do they think they are?  Just wait till we do to them what we as a nation have already done to Iraq....that will show them what "freedom and democracy" truly is. - mpg

Iran fomenting violence in Iraq, U.S. says
This is just stupid.  Why do they even bother with this bullsh-t....why?  Nobody believes them anymore, yet they go through the same tired old routine day after day after miserable day.  They have no imagination, no pride, all they can do is take out that falling apart, beat up, coffee stained, dusty old play book, open it up to page one and repeat the same dammed lies all over again.  What is their problem?  It's tedious, it's predictable, it's boring as hell....and it's really getting EMBARRASSING.  For more on this issue see....The Slow Play Option - 12-11-07 - mpg

The UnderReported: Kosovo’s independence a matter of Western oil interests, not democracy
Must Read - A quote...."Kosovo, a small territory where primarily ethnic Albanians reside, announced its independence from Serbia last month. While Western leaders have celebrated this unilateral secession as a great moment for democracy, the actual details of the secession paint a different picture."

Fifth Anniversary of the Illegal Invasion and Occupation of Iraq - Statement by the Spanish Campaign against the Occupation and for the Sovereignty of Iraq -- A quote...."For international recognition of the Iraqi resistance as the sole legitimate and legal representative of the Iraqi people - This March, the fifth anniversary of the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq — an occupation that stands defeated, unable to achieve its goals, and yet continues to rain violence down on the Iraqi people — will be commemorated with demonstrations in numerous cities around the globe. The war on Iraq continues with horrific brutality:"

Czechs Want Referendum on U.S. Missile Shield
A quote...."(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - The vast majority of people in the Czech Republic believe their government should call a referendum on the country’s engagement in a United States defence plan, according to a poll by CVVM. 76 per cent of respondents think people should be consulted on this matter, up three points since December."

India awards MiG-29 upgrade to Russia
A quote...."NEW DELHI: India has awarded Russia a $965 million contract to upgrade its multi-role MiG-29 warplanes, officials said on Monday. The two post-Cold War allies on Saturday signed the deal to extend the life of India’s fleet of 70 MiG-29 jets another 15 years from their current 25 years, an air force official said."

Ukrainian Speaker confirms Parliamentary Crisis in Kiev over NATO
A quote...."Ukrainian Parliament Speaker Arseniy Yatsenyuk confirmed Wednesday that there is a parliamentary crisis in the country. - "The parliament has been blocked since mid-January, therefore Ukraine is in a parliamentary crisis now," Yatsenyuk told a news conference."

At last, we take a stand against the dark side
A quote...."There is a line in Alex Gibney's Oscar-winning documentary Taxi To The Dark Side, aired here by SBS, which stayed with me after I watched the film for the first time last week. - One of the young American soldiers prosecuted over the death in 2002 of the Afghan taxi driver, Dilawar, at Bagram Air Base, tells the camera: "Sometimes I feel that I should have gone with my own morality, more than what was common."

BTW, What Do the Iraqis Want?
A quote...."You’ve got to hand it to the Quakers. They never quit. They are steadfast in their devotion to peace. And they continue to seek ways of informing Americans about the Iraq War, even when that war has become passé in the media and a largely avoided topic in the presidential debates."

Gang Members Get Trained in the Army
A quote...."The numbers speak for themselves: In 2003 there were just 16 incidents of gang members in the U.S. Armed Forces, while in 2006 the total was 10,309, according to the study, "Gang-Related Activity in the U.S. Armed Forces Increasing," released in 2007 by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). -- One suggestion for all these "gang members" --- keep "it" out of your neighborhoods, away from your sons and daughters, your schools, and your families.  After all, it was the wealthy elites who started this war, it was the wealthy elites who trashed this economy to keep it going, and it was the wealthy elites who sent you over there and said it was OK to kill people for booty and bling, they even gave you the training to do so.  So why not give them the "benefit" of your training?  It seems like a just and reasonable thing to do. - mpg

Brazilian protesters destroy GM crops
A quote...."Around 300 women rural residents in Brazil burst into a property owned by the US company Monsanto and destroyed a plant nursery and crops containing genetically modified corn, their organization said."

NSA's Domestic Spying Grows - As Agency Sweeps Up Data
Special Note - A quote...."WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Five years ago, Congress killed an experimental Pentagon antiterrorism program meant to vacuum up electronic data about people in the U.S. to search for suspicious patterns. Opponents called it too broad an intrusion on Americans' privacy, even after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks."

NSA quietly expands domestic spying program, even as Congress balks
Related article - A quote...."The central role the NSA has come to occupy in domestic intelligence gathering has never been publicly disclosed," The Wall Street Journal's Siobhan Gorman reports on Monday page ones. "But an inquiry reveals that its efforts have evolved to reach more broadly into data about people's communications, travel and finances in the U.S. than the domestic surveillance programs brought to light since the 2001 terrorist attacks."

Blivot Politics in the Blivot States of America
A quote...."She has no idea.  --  She has no idea how many times I defended her. How many right-leaning friends and relatives I battled with. How many times I played down her shady business deals and penchant for scandals -- whether it was Whitewater, Travelgate, Vince Foster, Cattle Futures, Web Hubbell, or Norman Hsu. She has no idea how frequently I dismissed her husband's serial adultery as an unfortunate trait of an otherwise brilliant man. For sixteen years, I was a proud soldier in the legion of "Clinton apologists" -- who believed that peace and prosperity were more important than regrettable personality traits.  --  And then she ran for president."
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The Face-Slap Theory
A quote...."A report released last Friday by JPMorgan Chase was even blunter. It described what’s happening as a “systemic margin call,” in which the whole financial system is facing demands to come up with cash it doesn’t have. (A financial joke making the rounds, via the blog Calculated Risk: “Who is this guy Margin that keeps calling me?”)" -- bold by website editor. -- The problem with the Fed pumping more liquidity into the financial system is it won't help that much.  This is not a liquidity crisis, this is an insolvency crisis....people don't have the money to pay back what they owe. - mpg

Carlyle Capital margin calls soar past $400 million
A quote...."LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Carlyle Capital said Monday that margin calls from its lenders soared past $400 million, leading it to request a standstill agreement to prevent any further forced sales of its investments."

Oil spike to last through 2008: OPEC president
A quote...."ALGIERS (Reuters) - Oil prices will stay at current high levels for the rest of this year due to speculation and geopolitical tensions, Algerian state media on Monday reported OPEC President Chakib Khelil as saying."

Dollar Falls as Traders Bet Fed to Accelerate Rate Reductions
A quote...."March 10 (Bloomberg) -- The dollar weakened against the euro and approached an eight-year low versus the yen as traders bet the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates by at least 75 basis points to avert a recession."

Mortgage lenders see more borrowers give up
A quote...."On the front lines in the mortgage foreclosure crisis, lender and loan servicer Dennis Lauria says his deepest losses are from borrowers who owe more than their homes are worth and simply mail in the keys, rather than try to work out a new payment plan."

Countrywide Falls to 13-Yr Low on FBI Probe Reports
A quote...."NEW YORK (Reuters) - Countrywide Financial Corp (CFC.N: Quote, Profile, Research) shares dropped 14 percent to a 13-year low on Monday following reports the largest U.S. mortgage lender was being investigated by the FBI for possible securities fraud." --  There's only one thing that should come to mind gentle reader when you read this article....The Time Warner AOL merger - got the picture? - mpg

Gas Prices Near Records, Following Oil
A quote...."On Monday, crude prices surged to yet another record after the Commerce Department said wholesale sales jumped by 2.7 percent in January, their biggest increase in four years, according to Dow Jones Newswires. - The strong sales report suggested to oil traders that the struggling economy may be doing better than thought."

CIA Holocaust Claims Twenty Million Victims
Must Read - A quote...." In 1934 Senator Gerald Nye, (R, N.D.) held hearings on the profiteering during the First War, by the Rockefeller’s, the Harriman’s and Samuel Bush. The phrase used to describe them collectively, and which became a public label, was the, "Merchants of Death." Nye accused the cabal of "Deliberately starting wars from which they, and their companies would profit regardless of the consequences." Nearly all of the records compiled by the Federal government in the investigation of the Rockefellers, Harriman’s, and of Samuel Bush were inexplicably destroyed at some point following the hearings. The destruction of these records would begin an unseemly history of the destruction of incriminating evidence of Bush family unsavory conduct going mysteriously missing."

Bush Family Chronicle
Must Read - A quote...."The Bush family did not have a distinguished history before Samuel Bush ingratiated himself to the wealthy and powerful. Although they appear to have been present in this country from the early Colonial period, they had gained no distinction. There were no records of a passionate commitment to the American Revolution, nor was there a record that any member of the family served in the ranks of the Continental Army, or in the War of 1812, or the Civil War. They made no great fortunes, nor did they show merit in any endeavor. The Bush family did not prosper, but endured."

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Al Qaeda - Always There for the US Elites
03-09-08
mpg

Losing Iraq and Afghanistan
A quote...."America is an amazing place—one of the wealthiest and freest nations on earth. Yet because Europe has so many more cultures and languages in one contained area, Americans, compared to their European brethren, seem like country bumpkins in their knowledge and understanding of what is happening in the world."

Although this is a great article, the error in this paragraph must be addressed to avoid any misconceptions about US policy in Iraq and this nation's elites' relationships to al Qaeda.  The US did NOT pay off the insurgents (ex-army Bathists, Sunni guerrillas, and Iraqi nationalists) primarily to attack "al Qaeda", instead the US paid off the insurgents primarily so they wouldn't attack US forces and also to set-up and maintain a counter weight to the growing Shi'a (read Iranian) influence in Iraq.

All of this was arranged when Cheney went to Saudi Arabia to speak to the "Royals" back in November '06.   They both lied to each other of course.  The Saudi Royals probably assured Cheney they'd reduce funding to al Qaeda but only if he could come up with something better to curtail Iranian influence in Iraq (the awakening councils perhaps) and hopefully reduce Iran's influence as a "nation state" (a US and/or Israeli inspired attack).  Cheney probably dropped a hint that the Royals could better help out by "redirecting" their funding to extremists groups in Lebanon and Pakistan so these groups could serve as an excuse for future US intervention in both of those countries.

Please note: Six months later in May of '07 during the hight (read heavy US casualties) of the Iraq occupation they met again to finalize their collective approach against Iran and Syria. Coincidently, while Cheney was meeting with the Saudis a group practicing a radical form of Salafist ideology (Note: not Hezbollah) based in several Palestinian refugee camps in Beirut Lebanon, proceeded to engage Lebanon's army units for several weeks destabilizing that country and laying the ground work for a request by the US to establish an Airbase at Kaleiaat, Lebanon.

Please note: Also within months of Cheney's May '07 meeting, major turmoil erupted along Pakistan's north west frontier province as Murshurraf, under US pressure, violated Pakistan's long standing policy of leaving the Pushton's alone (again with al Qaeda being used as the proximate excuse) whereupon al Qaeda (note: not the Pushtuns and rarely the Taliban) began a series of suicide attacks against regular Pakistani army units.  A few months later Benazir Bhutto, who returned to Pakistan with US encouragement, was assassinated Dec. 27th '07, supposedly by elements of al Qaeda according to Scotland Yard's finest.  Her assassination has granted Nawaz Sharif, a Saudi supported ally, a golden opportunity to possibly take the reigns of power in Pakistan.

Cheney however failed to hold up his end of the bargain for the planned attack against Iran, although this wasn't for lack of trying.  His first attempt to help facilitate an attack against Iran in August of '07, the "Barksdale / Minot / B-52 "Loose Nukes Incident", was nixed, probably because the US elites thought it was too dangerous.  His second attempt in Jan '08, the ridiculous and laughable Gulf of Tonkin in the Straights of Hormuz replay didn't go over very well either, so it's beginning to look like the Neocon Cabal is going to have to give up on the less risky "they attacked our forces" approach and go with the false flag "they attacked our homeland approach" if they want to get anything done at all while they're still in office."

Al Qaeda has rarely - if ever - directly attacked US forces in Iraq, they spend almost all of their time recruiting suicide bombers so they can blow up innocent Shi'a civilians, or in some cases Shi'a dominated regular army or police units.  Surprisingly they rarely go after the command and control elements of the Shi'a death squads or the government.  Possibly because these elements receive heavy American support and protection.

The policies and operations of al Qaeda and the continuous funding they still receive from the Gulf States, specifically Saudi Arabia, are in full conformity, and continue to support, the ongoing plans of the US elites. Plans such as Constructive Instability, the Shock Doctrine, P2OG, PNAC, Divide and Conquer (specifically to play off the Sunni Gulf states plus Egypt against Syria and Shi'a Iran) and other well articulated, well documented US plans of mayhem and murder throughout the Middle East.

Al Qaeda in other words has served our elites interests along with those of the Saudi Royals extremely well, including that event called 9/11, and as far as this editor can tell, they will continue to serve these interests for the foreseeable future. - mpg
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US fails a fourth time to hit al-Qa'ida suspect in Somalia
A quote...."A US missile strike in Somalia, aimed at a man described by the Pentagon as a "known al-Qa'ida terrorist", succeeded only in hurting six civilians and killing three cows and a calf, the IoS has learned."

Hezbollah accuses U.S. of declaring war on Lebanese opposition
A quote...."BEIRUT, March 8 (Xinhua) -- A Hezbollah official for international affairs Nawaf Moussawi on Friday accused the United States of declaring war on the Lebanese opposition, vowing to defeat any aggression, state-run National News Agency reported on Saturday."

Bush The Torturer, The Tyrant, The Disgrace
A quote...."On Saturday, Mr. Bush vetoed a bill that would have outlawed the CIA’s use of torture in interrogations (a bill, it should be noted, John McCain, alleged opponent of torture, voted against). He had the temerity, our Dear Leader, to begin his official endorsement of torture in his radio address this morning with these words: “Good morning.” Good for him and his kind of delusional sadists, maybe. Not so good for this country, whose reputation today takes one more plunk toward the abyss of rogue and less than ordinary nations. Not so good for the rest of the world, either, whose nations have been disbelievingly howling, in Babels of translations, that most American of plaints: “Say it ain’t so.” This spring training for terrorist-interrogators (for torture is terrorism at its distilled worst), it very much is so. The United States is officially, proudly, the land of torturers"

Bush, Colombia & Narco-Politics
A quote...."George W. Bush’s strategy of countering Venezuela’s leftist president Hugo Chávez by strengthening ties to Colombia’s rightist government has been undercut by fresh evidence of high-level drug corruption and human rights violations implicating President Alvaro Uribe’s inner circle."

How Israel Taught Hamas All It Knows
A quote...." 08/03/08 "ICH" -- -- Once more, as Israel continues its ruthless attacks on the Palestinian population (against both civilians and resistance fighters), mainstream media outlets direct the blame on the victims. This time the villain is none other than the democratically elected Palestinian resistance movement Hamas."

'Abbas accomplice to Israeli crimes'
A quote...."Hamas has strongly criticized the PA chief for continuing talks with the Israelis, while children and women in Gaza are being massacred."

France: political crisis destabilizes Sarkozy
A quote...."Barely nine months into a five-year term, French President Nicolas Sarkozy is encountering widespread opposition that threatens to grow into a full-scale crisis. His approval rating is collapsing, amid the discrediting of his campaign promises and growing popular resentment of his policies, as well as his ostentatious personal style. Bourgeois politicians and the press are increasingly criticizing his demeanor and questioning his fitness to rule."  --  And replacing Blair as Bush's "pet poodle" probably didn't help very much either. - mpg

Russian President Accuses NATO of Attempting to Replace UN
A quote...."Russian President Vladimir Putin says NATO's continued enlargement creates the impression that the alliance is trying to replace the United Nations. -- He made his remarks on Saturday at a joint press conference in Moscow with German Chancellor Angela Merkel who is visiting Russia."

In Peru's high plains, Chavez is exalted
A quote...."PUNO, PERU -- His private office features a life-size photo of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. He dons bright red shirts, mimicking Chavez's trademark hue. He calls himself a proud foot soldier in Chavez's Bolivarian Revolution. - But the top elected official of this stunning but destitute wind-swept corner of southern Peru flatly denies that Chavez is bankrolling his leftist leadership. - "I wish Venezuela could help us out," said Hernan Fuentes, regional president, or governor, of Puno province. "We could use their gasoline for our trucks. . . . We could use more teachers, doctors."

India ready to muscle in - Purpose of military buildup soon apparent
A quote...." The Pentagon has just warned that China's 17.6% increase in its 2008 military budget "threatens the stability of Asia." - China's official military budget is $58.8 billion, but the real figure is estimated at around $110 billion. Even so, Washington's warning was pretty rich coming from the sole superpower that spends 10 times more on its military than China -- a nation with four times the U.S. population."

Carlyle Group May Buy Major CIA Contractor: Booz Allen Hamilton
A quote...."The Carlyle Group, one of the world’s largest private equity funds, may soon acquire the $2 billion government contracting business of consulting giant Booz Allen Hamilton, one of the biggest suppliers of technology and personnel to the U.S. government’s spy agencies. Carlyle manages more than $75 billion in assets and has bought and sold a long string of military contractors since the early 1990s. But in recent years it has significantly reduced its investments in that industry. If it goes ahead with the widely reported plan to buy Booz Allen, it will re-emerge as the owner of one of America’s largest private intelligence armies."

Jews Are The Genetic Brothers Of Palestinians, Syrians, And Lebanese
A quote...."ScienceDaily (May 9, 2000) — If a common heritage conferred peace, then perhaps the long history of conflict in the Middle East would have been resolved years ago. For, according to a new scientific study, Jews are the genetic brothers of Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese, and they all share a common genetic lineage that stretches back thousands of years."  --  Yes....to Cain and Able. - mpg
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Subprime Lending's Smartest Guys in the Room
Special Note: - A quote...."Corporations "restating" earnings; fawning business media; chief executives diverting the blame; Securities and Exchange Commission probes initiated after the damage is done. This Enron-WorldCom déjà vu is brought to us courtesy of America's housing industry, and the standard narrative is that irrationally exuberant buyers drove up home values while banks made too many loans to the wrong people. The truth, however, is that this latest boom-and-bust is about stock prices as much as housing prices—and that's where the real scandal lurks."  --  An analysis by the numbers from someone who knows. - mpg

FBI starts criminal probe into Countrywide, reports NY Times
A quote...."NEW YORK (Reuters) - The FBI has begun a criminal inquiry into the largest U.S. mortgage lender, Countrywide Financial Corp (CFC.N: Quote, Profile, Research), for suspected securities fraud as part of investigations into the mortgage crisis, The New York Times reported on Sunday."

The Bush family's budget legacy lives on - Commentary: George II leaves his successor with few options
A quote...."NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- George W. Bush reportedly thinks he can rally conservatives to the presidential campaign of GOP maverick Sen. John McCain. But looking at budget trends in the Bush years, it's hard to see what his conservative credentials are."

Surging costs of groceries hit home
A quote...."After nearly two decades of low food inflation, prices for staples such as bread, milk, eggs, and flour are rising sharply, surging in the past year at double-digit rates, according to the Labor Department. Milk prices, for example, increased 26 percent over the year. Egg prices jumped 40 percent."


Zelikow ‘Made It Clear’ To 9/11 Commission That Richard Clarke ‘Should Not Be Believed’
Editor's note: "Also known as obstruction of justice, cover-up and acting as an accessory after the fact in the murder of almost 3,000 Americans.  Yes it's true many will say he was just protecting Rice, his lifelong bosom buddy, in fact that's what many people will say each and every time one of these little items pops up, that "they" just wanted to avoid "embarrassment"....and they will say it a thousand times if necessary, which it certainly will be considering the mountains of evidence implicating many members of this administration in the events of 9/11.  This is the way America works, the "rich really are different than you or me", they get a free pass on murder. - mpg
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U.S. Commander Warns Of Al Qaeda Plotting; Coincidence, Or GOP Politics Of Fear?
False Flag Alert - A quote...."Now that John McCain has virtually cinched the GOP Presidential nomination, almost if it were on cue, the chief of the US Northern Command, Air Force General Gene Renuart has warned that “Al Qaeda terrorists may be plotting more urgently to attack the United States.” The timing of the warning is perfect, allowing McCain to continue with his campaign of fear and harping on the danger of terrorism. If he doesn’t have a viable plan to salvage the economy, secure the southern border, and a host of issues the GOP refuses to address, then only one path is left, and that’s to use the tactics of fear and intimidation. "

US Soldiers Allegedly Mishandled Workers at German Embassy in Iraq
A quote...."Germany's top diplomat in Baghdad claims in a classified report that American soldiers mishandled three workers at the German embassy in the Iraqi capital. The incident has created new tensions in Berlin-Washington relations."

Israel Plots Another Palestinian Exodus - The Meaning of Gaza's 'Shoah'
A quote...."Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai’s much publicized remark last week about Gaza facing a “shoah” -- the Hebrew word for the Holocaust -- was widely assumed to be unpleasant hyperbole about the army’s plans for an imminent full-scale invasion of the Strip.  --  More significantly, however, his comment offers a disturbing indication of the Israeli army’s longer-term strategy towards the Palestinians in the occupied territories.  --  For more on this see....Israel plans to exile Gazans in north - posted 06-06-08

Translating Leviathanspeak
A quote...."Yesterday at 3:45 in the morning, some juvenile-minded idiot on a bicycle placed a military surplus ammo box containing a small explosive device in front of the Armed Services Recruitment office at 43rd Street in Times Square. This exploded causing the glass door to the office to break. There was no other damage except to the door. No one was hurt, but the noise was loud enough to get people’s attention; one British tourist described it as "a loud bang."  --  This one is a lot of fun!! - mpg

Vermont towns vote to arrest Bush and Cheney
A quote...."WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Voters in two Vermont towns on Tuesday approved a measure that would instruct police to arrest President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney for "crimes against our Constitution," local media reported."

U.S. withdraws from Iraq talks with Iran
A quote...."TEHRAN, Mar. 8 (MNA) – The United States said on Wednesday it was not prepared for the fourth round of talks with Iran over the security situation in Iraq after an Iranian delegation arrived in Baghdad for the meeting scheduled for Thursday."

Three petrochemical projects inaugurated in southern Iran
A quote...."TEHRAN, Mar. 8 (MNA) – Three huge petrochemical projects at Razi, Laleh, and Shahid Tondguyan petrochemical complexes in Mahshahr, southern Iran, came on stream on Thursday in a ceremony attended by President Mahmud Ahmadinejad."

Italian businessmen keen to invest in Iran
A quote...."TEHRAN, Mar. 8 (MNA) – Over 200 Italian industry owners, bankers and traders announced their preparedness for making investment and broadening their trade with Iranian counterparts, Islamic Republic of Iran News Network reported on Friday."

Iran sees pre-election US bid to reduce oil price
A quote...."TEHERAN - A senior Iranian oil official [Hojjatollah Ghanimifard] said on Saturday he expected the oil price to fall ahead of November’s US presidential election, suggesting Washington would seek to push it down for political reasons."

This quote demonstrates a lack of knowledge by some Iranians on just how devious the American elites really are.  Mr. Ghanimifard is both right and wrong in his statement, he's partly correct because in the past what he described is exactly what would happen, the oil companies who favored Bush and his Republican cronies would drop the price of gasoline and oil absorbing the loss (or less profit) before the elections in expectation of recouping the losses when Bush and his buddies got back into power and arranged another fracas in the Middle East, start buying oil for the strategic petroleum reserve (thus driving the price up), or threaten to nuke everybody.

He’s incorrect in that the key part of the sentence shown above is "when Bush and his buddies got back into power".  And that’s the big rub....they ain't getting back into power anytime soon and although the Demo's are just as beholden to the MIOC elites as the Repubs are and intend to follow the PNAC protocols to the letter, it's not going to do anything for them or the oil companies to lower prices this year.

So everyone should just sit back, relax, and don't panic when gas hits five dollars a gallon. (assuming we don't have a major recession or depression) - mpg
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Turkish army refuses to close bases in northern Iraq
A quote..."The Turkish military leadership has rejected a request by Iraq's largely autonomous Kurdish region to shut down several military bases in northern Iraq, the Turkish daily Vatan reported yesterday, citing a statement by the Turkish General Staff. "  --  Remember all those articles recently put out there by this nation's illustrious mass-media stating Turkey had withdrawn from Iraq? - mpg

Muqtada in Occultation;
Editor's note: The Iraqi Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr has taken himself off the board of the "Great Game", Juan Cole thinks he'll be back. - A quote...."My guess is that Muqtada's absence from the national political scene is intended to pave the way to big Sadrist victories in the southern provinces on March . By letting the Marines purge his cadres of the disloyal and the gratuitously violent, he will create a more favorable image of his movement and attact more votes. He seems to be intent on taking over the Shiite provincial governments in the south."

China to develop Iraqi oil field following assurances of security
A quote...."China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) has agreed to start developing the Ahdab oil field with proven reserves estimated at 1.4 billion barrels, Governor of Wasit Province said. --  A delegation led by the governor, Latif Tarfah, and CNPC officials last week reached an agreement to develop the field during talks in the Jordanian capital Amman."

Moscow Warns against NATO Membership for Georgia, Ukraine
A quote...."Moscow's ambassador to NATO is calling efforts to make Georgia and Ukraine members of the military alliance "a provocation." He argues it would permanently divide Georgia and that the majority of Ukranians are opposed to membership. He also has strong words for the US' planned missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic."

Nord Stream pipeline to be built in line with schedule - Putin
A quote...."NOVO-OGARYOVO, March 8 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said Saturday the construction of the Nord Stream gas pipeline will proceed in line with the schedule."

Russia to recognize Kosovo only if Serbia agrees - Putin
A quote...."NOVO-OGARYOVO, March 8 (RIA Novosti) - President Vladimir Putin said Saturday Russia could recognize Kosovo's independence only in line with international law, and if Serbia agrees to that."

Tucker Carlson unintentionally reveals the role of the American press
A quote...."The most interesting part of the controversy over Obama advisor Samantha Power's referring to Hillary Clinton as a "monster" -- one might say the only interesting part -- is that immediately after Power said it, she tried to proclaim that it was "off the record." Here was Power's exact quote:"

Breaking the Nuremberg Code: The US Military's Human-Testing Program Returns
A quote...."The Pentagon is slated to release a suspected toxicant in Crystal City, Virginia this week, ostensibly to test air sensors. - The operation is just the latest example of the Defense Department's long history of using service members and civilians as human test subjects, often without their consent or awareness."

US Catholic church paid 615 mln dlrs for abuse cases in 2007: report
A quote...."The Roman Catholic church in the United States paid out 615 million dollars (400 million euros) last year for child sex abuse cases involving members of the clergy, or 54 percent more than the previous year, a report showed Friday."  --  Now this is going to offend an awful lot of people, but it can't be helped. -- Six hundred and fifteen MILLION dollars in payouts in ONE YEAR for having sex with minors makes the Catholic Church one of the biggest, nastiest and most expensive houses of ill-repute in the world.  It is about TIME for them to change their policies and allow their priests to marry, raise a family and PRACTISE WHAT THEY PREACH !!! - mpg
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Let the Bankruptcies Roll
Must Read - A quote..."The stocks of a heap of banks and mortgage companies are now falling in price drastically, the main reason being that they are holding bad loans. Washington Mutual (WM), a bank known for its mortgage loans in overheated markets in California and Florida, is down to $11 from $47. Citibank (C) is down to $21 from $55. They, not I or you or the taxpayer, made these bad loans, and they (and their suppliers of capital) should suffer the consequences. If those who took the loans walk away, and that is their choice, so be it. If the lenders have to deal with the costs of foreclosures, that is how it should be. Why should you or I bail them out? If we do, they will give us a repeat performance (this is called moral hazard)."

Carlyle Capital’s Lenders Liquidating Securities
A quote...."LONDON — Carlyle Capital, the investment fund linked to the private equity firm Carlyle Group, said Friday that it was “considering all available options” after it received further margin calls, prompting some analysts to warn that more funds could struggle to meet increasingly tighter margin requirements."

Doom and Gloom' has just begun - Bearish newsletter editor finds little cheer in most assets
War Alert - A quote...."He heaps much of the blame for global troubles on years of expansionary U.S. monetary policy that had a flawed fixation on U.S. consumption rather than boosting capital infrastructure and spending. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues are clearly backed into a corner now as they cannot tighten money policy without causing a collapse of the entire financial system, he said."  --  Regarding the stock market, see....Standard Disclaimer  --  see also....The Slow Play Option - 12-11-07 - mpg  - mpg

Fed opens cash spigot to ease tightening credit squeeze
A quote...."The US Federal Reserve on Friday announced moves to pump 200 billion dollars into the cash-strapped banking system amid tightening credit from the worst housing slump in decades. - The central bank said it had coordinated closely with foreign central banks to take action "to address heightened liquidity pressures in term funding markets."

Consumer Increase Borrowing in January
A quote...."WASHINGTON (AP) — Consumers increased their borrowing in January, especially relying on credit cards to finance their purchases. - The Federal Reserve reported Friday that consumer credit increased at an annual rate of 3.3 percent in January. That was up from a 1.8 percent growth rate in December and marked the fastest pace since November."

Already we have riots, hoarding, panic: the sign of things to come?
A quote...."The spectre of food shortages is casting a shadow across the globe, causing riots in Africa, consumer protests in Europe and panic in food-importing countries. In a world of increasing affluence, the hoarding of rice and wheat has begun. The President of the Philippines made an unprecedented call last week to the Vietnamese Prime Minister, requesting that he promise to supply a quantity of rice."


India Under New Pressure on Iran
War Warning - Special Note - A quote...."The latest pressure has come in the form of a demand for New Delhi signing a US-India Logistics Support Agreement (LSA), and amid discussion for quite a while, without any further delay. On February 27, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates, one of the many American emissaries to descend on New Delhi over the recent period, reportedly pressed for early conclusion of the LSA, under which the two countries would provide logistic support to each other's military. New Delhi, according to official accounts, is said to have asked for "more time to consider all aspects of the matter."

Winter Soldier Hearings
A quote...."Get ready for the horrible, honest reality of the American occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan like you haven’t heard it before. For four days, from March 13 through March 16, hundreds of U.S. veterans of the two wars will descend on Washington and testify in the “Winter Soldier” hearings about what they really did while they were serving their country in Iraq. And their experiences aren’t pretty."

Hard Evidence of U.S. Torturing Prisoners to Death Ignored by Corporate Media - PDF file
Special Note - A quote....Military autopsy reports provide indisputable proof that detainees are being tortured to death while in US military custody. Yet the US corporate media are covering it with the seriousness of a garage sale for the local Baptist Church."

Like pornography, torture doesn't require a definition; you know it when you see it or feel it
Special Note - A quote...."With all the media coverage of "waterboarding" and all the congressional questioning of government officials about their views on the subject, I imagine that by now many people think that waterboarding must be the worst kind of torture that the United States has engaged in, and that if waterboarding is in fact not torture then the idiot king is correct when he says: "We don't torture." This is the way myths are born, so let's try and squash this particular one while it's still young."

Amen!!!  Americans either  1) Deliberately hide the truth from themselves by creating their own little fantasy worlds, (the coward's approach).  For example, there are many Americans who would think "water boarding" is a perfectly polite and acceptable euphemism or newspeak to cover up electrocution, blunt force trauma, or drilling someone to death.  2) Know the truth and could care less about it, (what one would call a hardened indifference to "someone else's" suffering approach).  3) Actually approve of it all. (heck they get a kick out of it and would buy the snuff movies if they could).

Despite all the "pretense" you'll see trotted out by our "mass-media" regarding this issue, the sad truth is that most Americans are well aware that thousands of people have been tortured to death by American personnel....the only question is, how many, and into which of the three categories, do most Americans fit into. - mpg  - For more on this issue see....Living Next Door to the Crazies - 03-06-08 - mpg
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$300 Million From Chavez To Farc A Fake - Here’s the written evidence
Special Note - A quote...."This past weekend, Colombia invaded Ecuador, killed a guerrilla chief in the jungle, opened his laptop – and what did the Colombians find? A message to Hugo Chavez that he sent the FARC guerrillas $300 million – which they’re using to obtain uranium to make a dirty bomb!" -- Again to repeat for those who might not know, or might have forgotten....everything you see from the "mass-media" in this country is a LIE....
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Uribe Learns that the Internet Makes Everyone's Laptop Magic
07/03/08 "Borev" -- What a relief! Latin America's littlest strongman decided to “revise” his pledge bring Hugo Chavez up on charges of “genocide” and/or “terrorism” before the International Criminal Court. Venezuelan newspapers chalk it up to Uribe’s “democratic spirit,” but it probably had a bit more to do with “lawyers” and “dictionaries” and "a super dubious past."

Colombians march against state, paramilitary violence
A quote...."Some 40,000 people took part in a Bogotá march for victims of Colombia's paramilitary and armed forces. Organized by the State Crimes Victims Movement (MOVICE), the march was a direct response to last month's mobilization against the FARC guerillas."

Yankees Head Home
A quote...." While visiting Italy last October, Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa made a modest proposal: if the United States allows his country to set up a military base in Miami, his government would renew the lease for a U.S. base in the coast city of Manta. Otherwise, U.S. troops and operations will have to leave the when the base lease ends next year. -- Less than a month later, Correa passed through Miami on his way to China, and U.S. Customs police treated the president as an ordinary foreigner. It wasn’t the first time Correa and his vice-president had been denied diplomatic treatment. Ecuador’s foreign minister called the incident a “humiliation of a head of state, from arrogance by a country that believes itself above all others.”

Plan Colombia: Mixing Monsanto’s Roundup With Bush’s Sulfur
A quote...."President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, who called George W. Bush “the devil” at the UN General Assembly in 2006, and said the podium still smelled of sulfur after Bush spoke there,* claimed that Colombian policies are made in Washington.  --  The US is hip deep in this mess since it has taken the Colombian government under its wing in 1999 with what has been called “Plan Colombia”- a way to give the Colombian government $1.3 billion dollar a year to fight the war on drugs, the lion’s share of which goes to the Colombian army to fight the FARC guerrillas."  -- *link added by website editor.

Latin American nations end crisis with handshake
A quote...." The dispute erupted last Saturday when Colombia raided inside Ecuador to kill a rebel leader. It resolution brought the summit to a surprise ending after bitter exchanges, including Correa calling Uribe a liar. - The accord came after Uribe apologized to Correa under pressure from governments across the region, which worked to prevent the crisis escalating into Latin America's first armed conflict among states in more than a decade." -- bold by website editor.
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UPDATE--Video 2--9/11 Presentation to European Parliament
Special Note - A quote...."We have just received the first video of this historic presentation from Mark Dermul in Belgium, and will post more as we get them! Thanks to Mr. Chiesa, the participants, and everyone who helped make this happen. Particular thanks to the few courageous parliamentarians who showed up. Trailer for the film shown at this gathering, "Zero, [trailer]" is available here: http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=crexHTut23c&feature=related

A Harbinger of Fascist America
A quote...."The current pace of outsourcing and downsizing nearly everything in our economy from manufacturing, to services, to military functions, video-security, and street policing, will result in a fascistic state the world has never seen. A review of recent global history, coupled with a superficial glimpse of daily practices in the U.S. tells nothing less."

We have a F--- Constitutional Crisis!
A quote...."President Bush quietly has claimed sweeping new powers to open Americans' mail without a judge's warrant. --  Bush asserted the new authority Dec. 20 after signing legislation that overhauls some postal regulations. He then issued a "signing statement" that declared his right to open mail under emergency conditions, contrary to existing law and contradicting the bill he had just signed, according to experts who have reviewed it."

PJB: The Second Battle of NAFTA
A quote...."If Canada and Mexico do not renegotiate NAFTA, said Hillary Clinton in the Cleveland debate, she would “opt out” of the trade treaty that was the legislative altarpiece of Bill Clinton’s presidency. Barack agreed. NAFTA is renegotiated, or NAFTA is gone."

Clinton Says She Would Commit More U.S. Troops to Afghanistan
A quote...."March 6 (Bloomberg) -- Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said she would commit more U.S. troops to the war in Afghanistan and urge other countries to do so as well."  --  Boy is she ever loyal to the MIOC elites.  When you're running for office you're supposed to say you'll support endless war (that's essentially what she did) only after you're elected....not before.  After all there's still a majority of people in this country who still do not support the Neo-Roman Empire." - mpg

Hillary Clinton, Not So Good on Genocide
A quote...."The Barack Obama campaign is about to pay a very high price for the inopportune words of one of its most distinguished foreign policy advisors. The dazzlingly brilliant journalist, Pulitzer-prize winning author, and Harvard professor, Samantha Power, has been forced to resign from the campaign after she recklessly told a reporter that Hillary Clinton is a "monster."  --  Ms. Powers should go, comparing monsters to Hillary is simply uncalled for, an unfair and totally egregious slur upon monsters across the world.  Don't believe this editor, take a look at this photo. - mpg

No Kidding: Candidates For PEACE!!
A quote...."One of the most vexing questions on the American political landscape, now and as far back as I can remember, is: "Can we ever hope to change the system from within?" - Some people believe it is possible to do so while others do not; I encourage open discussion and I'm not about to discourage any legitimate point of view. -
Personally, I would love to see it happen...."

March 19th: Massive Day of Action Against Iraq War in Washington, D.C.
Action Alert - A quote...."On Wednesday, March 19, 2008, the U.S. occupation in Iraq will enter its 6th year.  --  To mark this tragic anniversary, over 30 peace and justice organizations are uniting their efforts, under the umbrella of United for Peace and Justice, in an unprecedented day of coordinated nonviolent direct action and civil disobedience against the “Pillars of War” that sustain the illegal U.S. occupation. Details about the plans for the day can be found at 5yearstoomany.org. - bold by website editor

Officials Lean Toward Keeping Next Iraq Assessment Secret
A quote...."A new National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq is scheduled to be completed this month, according to U.S. intelligence officials. But leaders of the intelligence community have not decided whether to make its key judgments public, a step that caused an uproar when key judgments in an NIE about Iran were released in November."  --  One would guess the Neocons, unable to control the outcome of this report, didn't want a repeat of what happened with the last report....the truth. - mpg
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Responsibility for Jerusalem attack still ambiguous
A quote...."Palestinian Authority, various Gaza groups still baffled as to who ordered Jerusalem shooting. Hamas reneges on responsibility claim; PA believes Hizbullah may have ordered attack"

Report: Hamas backtracks on claim of responsibility for Jerusalem attack
A quote...."Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip on Friday backtracked on their claim of responsibility for a deadly attack on a Jerusalem rabbinical seminary that killed eight Israelis. - Ibrahim Daher, head of Hamas' al-Aqsa radio, said his station put out an earlier claim of responsibility prematurely, based on confused information. Abu Obeida, a spokesman for Hamas' military wing, confirmed the group was not taking credit for the attack - at least yet. "There may be a later announcement ... But we don't claim this honor yet," He said. (AP)  --  Hamas will only win a "just peace" when they learn there's no "honor" in these sorts of attacks, besides this could have been a false flag operation. -- See articles below

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Egypt Targets Moderate Muslim Brothers
A quote...."The way to prevent an Islamist victory in Egypt isn’t to imprison Muslim Brothers who believe in pluralism. That will guarantee the stranglehold of the most hardline leaders on the movement."  --  Exactly!!!   Capital idea!!! - mpg

Iran will one day seek reparations, Tehran tells IAEA
Special Note - A quote...."Soltanieh told the board members: “Be sure that the day will come when we request compensation for all these damages inflicted on Iran and its peoples through these unsubstantiated allegations and unlawful actions elsewhere."  -- Why wait?  One wonders why Iran didn't think of this before?  It's a brilliant idea.  Sue every country involved with imposing the sanctions right now, Iran has the legal right to process uranium under the NPT, and the IAEA has already said they're fully complying with the NPT regime.  At the very least by launching the law suits Iran would show the whole world what a bunch of quivering, sanctimonious, hypocritical, liars the US and some of it's European gang bangers really are.- mpg

The Politics Of Non-Proliferation
Related article - A quote...."If there was a time when Iranian analysts and decision makers would question the benefits of continuing to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency, it would be now. The IAEA has allowed systematic US intervention in Iran's nuclear file paving the way to a third round of sanctions against Iran's nuclear programme. But while US pressure on Iran in the knowledge that the IAEA has found no evidence of a covert weapons programme, is perhaps in the hope that it will finally force the country to leave the NPT in protest, Iran it seems is one step ahead and does exactly the opposite."

US Steps Up Pressure On India - To Wrap-Up Indo-US Nuclear Treaty
Related article - A quote...."The UPA government has encountered many obstacles in negotiating a “safeguard” agreement with the IAEA. For months, the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Front, which has been sustaining the UPA government in power since May 2004, opposed the opening of talks with the IAEA. And while last November the Stalinists did finally allow the UPA government to initiate negotiations with the IAEA, they continue to say that they will bring down the government should it implement the treaty, because the treaty would entangle India in Washington’s predatory foreign policy." -- India should take heed of what happens to countries that become "entangled" with the US, many,  if not most, usually do not survive the experience. - mpg

Medvedev wins 70.28% at Russian presidential elections - results
A quote...."MOSCOW, March 7 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's Central Election Commission (CEC) announced the official results Friday of the March 2 presidential elections with Kremlin-backed Dmitry Medvedev gaining 70.28% of the vote."

Ukraine and Georgia: what are their chances with NATO?
A quote...."MOSCOW. (Fyodor Lukyanov for RIA Novosti) - As the NATO summit in Bucharest draws nearer it is becoming ever more evident that Tbilisi and Kiev's hopes to be put on the NATO Membership Action Plan are not going to come true."

New rifle kills from mile away
Complete quote...."A “WIDOW-maker” sniper rifle that can kill from a MILE away will be issued to troops in Afghanistan and Iraq this spring. A “WIDOW-maker” sniper rifle that can kill from a MILE away will be issued to troops in Afghanistan and Iraq this spring. The Long Range Rifle L115A3 has a telescopic sight which magnifies targets by 25 times. And it fires heavier bullets to give it more accuracy and allow it to penetrate body armour. An Army sniper who tested one called it “a killing machine”. He added: “There’ll be a crack and the target will drop. They won’t see or hear anything.” Nearly 580 will be supplied to sniper units. The weapon, unveiled yesterday by defence chiefs, was made by British firm Accuracy International in a £4million contract."  And when the "insurgents" (of the many countries the US will soon be occupying) get their hands on copies of this rifle....what then? - mpg

Wiretapping focus shifts to email, as firms move data overseas
A quote...."Microsoft, Google don't deny participation in NSA program"

Whistle-Blower: Feds Have a High-Speed Backdoor Into Wireless Carrier
A quote...."A U.S. government office in Quantico, Virginia, has direct, high-speed access to a major wireless carrier's systems, exposing customers' voice calls, data packets and physical movements to uncontrolled surveillance...."

Blackwater pulls application for Potrero training center
A quote...."Blackwater Worldwide officials have announced they are pulling their application to build a training center on an 842-acre site in the East County community of Potrero."  -- So they finally threw in the towel....hip hip hooray! - mpg
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Sorting Through The Rubble in Post-Bubble America
Must Read - A quote...."07/03/08 "ICH" - - - “Market conditions are the worst anyone in this industry can ever remember. I don't think anyone has a recollection of a total disappearance in liquidity...There are billion of dollars worth of assets out there for which there is just no market.” Alain Grisay, chief executive officer of London-based F&C Asset Management Plc; Bloomberg News" 

Mortgage market needs $1 trillion, FBR estimates - Without that, prices of securities will fall, raising interest rates on home loans -- A quote...."SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - Why are interest rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages rising even as the Federal Reserve slashes interest rates and yields on Treasury bonds fall?
The answer is that the mortgage market is short of roughly $1 trillion in capital, according to Paul Miller, an analyst at Friedman, Billings, Ramsey. "

Thornburg says it can't meet $610M in margin calls
A quote...."Thornburg, a jumbo mortgage lender and real estate investment trust, said it has $610 million outstanding in margin calls, which "significantly exceeded its available liquidity." It has already met $1.17 billion in margin calls since the beginning of the year."

Credit Bubble Bulletin - No simple repeat of LTCM fiasco
A quote...."After hubris comes nemesis," warns the Economist on February 29. "On January 24th more than 1,000 leading figures in the European hedge-fund industry gathered for a dinner at the swanky Grosvenor House hotel on London’s Park Lane to witness the EuroHedge awards for 2007. Out of the 20 awards, two - credit fund of the year and new fund of the year (for non-equity strategies) - were awarded to Peloton Partners, a credit manager set up by ex-Goldman Sachs employees in 2005."

Recession fears rise on more job cuts - [63,000]
A quote...."WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Employers unexpectedly cut jobs in February at the steepest rate in nearly five years, a second straight month of employment losses that heightened fears the world's largest economy has skidded into recession."

The American way of default: James Saft
A quote...."LONDON (Reuters) - The way Americans go bust has changed fundamentally, and the implications for financial markets are both important and negative."

Economic growth unlikely this quarter
A quote...."President Bush's top economic adviser said Friday the nation's economic growth could dip into negative territory for the current quarter, an assessment that tracks with many outside experts but is the most pessimistic to come so far from the White House."

The Iraq War Is Wrong. Why Can't Candidates Admit It?
Must Read - A quote...."The only way for Democrats to challenge U.S. militarism is to condemn the Iraq war as inherently immoral." -- And since they're all in the pay of the Military Industrial Oil Complex (MIOC), that's never going to happen. - mpg

The two winners of the 2008 presidential election: fear and war
Must Read - A quote...."The 2008 US presidential charade has already been decided. Come November, the next White House occupant (who will be installed via political malfeasance, computer vote theft and other election “irregularities”) will be the puppet who proves to be the most effective in echoing Bush-Cheney’s “war on terrorism” lies, and expanding the Bush-Cheney “national security” agenda.  --  The American populace will bow to the “next Bush” who will “keep them safe” from “Islamic jihadists." Facing a new and increasingly brutal regime (probably under McCain), many brain-addled Americans will be stunned that “it is happening all over again," oblivious to the fact that their own acquiescence helped make it possible."

Cancel the Presidential Election!
A quote...."....we should propose the unthinkable: cancel the election. This has never before been so urgent. Neither party will cut government in a way that is desperately needed. Instead, they offer a left- or right-tinged Americanized socialism or fascism. One promises domestic expansion and foreign reduction; the other promises foreign expansion and domestic reduction. The inevitable compromise: expand both domestically and internationally."  -- This website editor doesn't take this proposal seriously, primarily because if the elections were canceled, they'd probably be canceled by Bush & Co's second attempt at a "false flag operation"....at which point the sham democracy we're currently experiencing would be dead and buried anyway. - mpg

Are Corporate Media Attacks on French Actress, Marion Cotillard, for 9/11 Comments, a Result of 9/11 Commissioner's Call  --  Are Corporate Media Attacks on French Actress, Marion Cotillard, for 9/11 Comments, a Result of 9/11 Commissioner's Call for new 9/11 Investigation?"

Bush officials: Congress irrelevant on Iraq
The statement shown above is a classic example of "truth by accident", it's similar to the concept of a thousand chimpanzees banging away on a thousand typewriters....occasionally, once in a great while, what is produced not only makes sense, it actually corresponds with reality. - mpg

Sahwa [awakening] Forces Challenge Govt, and Win
A quote...."BAQUBA - The conflict between Sahwa forces and the Iraqi government in Diyala has resulted in more power for the Sahwa."

Iraqis linked to death squads freed
A quote...."The decision could anger Sunnis and set back US-led efforts at national reconciliation AFP  --  Two former Iraqi health ministry officials accused of helping Shia death squads have been released from US custody, drawing condemnation from Sunni politicians.  --  Hakim al-Zamili, a former deputy health minister, and General Hameed al-Shimmari, who was in charge of the ministry's security force, were released on Wednesday."  --  Oh look, some more of the US's "friends" released from jail. - mpg - For more on this see....US support Death Sqds

Carnage in Gaza: To blame the victims for this killing spree defies both morality and sense
A quote...."Washington's covert attempts to overturn an election result lie behind the crisis in Gaza, as leaked papers show -- The attempt by western politicians and media to present this week's carnage in the Gaza Strip as a legitimate act of Israeli self-defence - or at best the latest phase of a wearisome conflict between two somehow equivalent sides - has reached Alice-in-Wonderland proportions."

Where there's no will, there's no way for Middle East peace
A quote...."DAILY bloodshed, tears, public agitations, incarceration, collective punishment and talk of peace have once again returned to characterise the Israeli-Palestinian conflict."

Gaza residents tell of sniper attacks
A quote...."Palestinians described yesterday how civilians were killed while hiding in their homes as Israeli ground troops stormed through northern Gaza suburbs this weekend searching for Hamas militants."

Jerusalem official: Peace talks may resume as early as Thursday
A quote...."Earlier Wednesday, Abbas agreed to resume peace talks with Israel, only hours after he conditioned talks on a cease-fire with Israel in the Gaza Strip. - Abbas announced his change of heart [degeneration of spinal column] in a statement from his West Bank headquarters."  --  See article below....


Medical Update: Ladies and gentleman we are saddened to inform all of you that the "Abbas miracle" appears to have ended in tragedy.  Although we are still confident that our initial examination of Mr. Abbas's lower torso, which occurred less then twenty four hours ago, did indeed show tentative evidence of the development of a back bone, upon further examination we can find absolutely no traces of any skeletal structures whatsoever in Mr. Abbas.  We therefore deeply regret to inform all of you that Mr. Abbas is what he has always appeared to be....a spineless jellyfish - mpg
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Who leaked the details of a CIA-Mossad plot against Iran?
A quote...."The Bush administration is prolonging the hunting season against journalists. The latest victim is James Risen, The New York Times reporter for national security and intelligence affairs. About three months ago, a federal grand jury issued a subpoena against him, ordering Risen to give evidence in court. A heavy blackout has been imposed on the affair, with the only hint being that it has to do with sensitive matters of "national security."

EU, US say onus on Iran to disprove nuclear allegations
For God’s sake this is just totally ridiculous! It’s the exact same IDENTICAL SH-T ALL OVER AGAIN.  It proves beyond any doubt that the US and some of its European lackeys (who should know better by the way) have absolutely no imagination.

To use the exact same playbook with Iran that they used with Iraq, asking them to prove a negative is beyond stupid, it smacks of complete contempt for the entire international community, not to mention their own populations.  How could they be so egregiously, unbelievably, obtuse?

Our nations are led by drooling morons; we're all stuck in some nightmarish version of "Ground Hog Day", playing the same scene over and over and over and we can’t get out. 

It's just unbelievable that they're trying to pull this crap all over again. - mpg

For more on this issue see....The Slow Play Option - 12-11-07 - mpg
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Iran minister says no new nuclear talks after sanctions
A quote...."GENEVA (AFP) - Iran will not hold new talks on its nuclear programme after the imposition of fresh sanctions by the UN Security Council, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told AFP on Wednesday."  --  Something they've been saying they would do for about a year now. - mpg
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US Makes Show of Force at Sea in Mideast - Editor's note: USS Cole is headed toward the red sea - mpg
A quote...."The USS Cole guided missile destroyer and support ships passed through the Suez Canal at midday Wednesday, heading from the Mediterranean Sea into the Red Sea, canal officials said. In Washington, a Navy official said the Cole had been relieved by the guided missile destroyer USS Ors and the guided missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea."

Cole replaced off Lebanon by two US warships: official
Related article - A quote....""The USS Cole was relieved by the USS Ross and the USS Philippine Sea in the eastern Mediterranean," the navy official said."

USS Philippine Sea (CG-58) & CG 58 Philippine Sea
USS Ross (DDG-71) & DDG 71 Ross
USS Ors - no data found - mpg
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Ecuador ready for 'ultimate consequences' in regional crisis
A quote...."Venezuela was today completing a big military buildup on its border with Colombia as the president of Ecuador, the other player in the region's most perilous crisis for years, said his country would risk the "ultimate consequences" to defend itself."

Crisis at Colombia Border Spills Into Diplomatic Realm
Related article - A quote...."CARACAS, Venezuela — The three-way crisis in the Andes escalated Monday as Ecuador broke off diplomatic relations with Colombia, and Venezuela expelled Colombia’s ambassador and other diplomats."

Obama Glosses Over Colombian Attack in Ecuador; Clinton Calls for Escalation Against Venezuela
Related article - A quote...."The Clinton and Obama forces have asked us to consider who we want answering the phone at the White House at 3 AM. There is little need to speculate. We have a lot of evidence about how they will respond."
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Georgia's breakaway republics aim for recognition
A quote...."TBILISI, March 5 (RIA Novosti) - Governments in Georgia's breakaway republics, South Ossetia and Abkhazia, are stepping up efforts to get their claims for independence recognized by the international community." -- Also known as Kosovo "blow back", in other circles it's known as "hoisted by your own petard"....Well??? "International community", what exactly are you going to do now? - mpg

To leave and stay at the same time
Special Note - A quote...."As expected, the Russian presidential elections went smoothly, with Dmitri Medvedev reaping a comfortable 70 percent of the vote, and a robust turnout of 70 percent, virtually tied with President Vladimir Putin’s 71 percent in 2004. The Communists garnered a surprising 18 percent, despite what both they and foreign observers claimed were clear violations of procedure in some districts. However, even the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe concluded the vote reflected the will of the people."

Medvedev, Hillary, and 'Media Bias'
Related article - A quote...."If Hillary Clinton is right about being a victim of "media bias," will the Council denounce the Democratic primary elections? As for the failure to register "some candidates" – does the Council know how hard it is to get on the ballot when you're a so-called third party candidate in the United States? I doubt it. There are more choices on the ballot in Russia than there are in the U.S., which restricts the parties, for all practical purposes, to just two. Russia's recent tightening up of ballot requirements brings it closer to the U.S., in practice, as even liberal critics of Putin admit – although they still have more choices than we do. If Russia's democratic potential has yet to be tapped, then – by the Council's standards – America's is buried even deeper."

Moscow becomes world's billionaire capital - Forbes
A quote...."NEW YORK, March 6 (RIA Novosti) - Moscow now has 74 billionaires with average wealth of $5.9 bln, placing it above New York, Forbes Magazine said in its annual rich list published on Thursday."

MiGs for NATO
A quote....."MOSCOW. (Military commentator Nikita Petrov for RIA Novosti) - On February 29, the Slovakian aircraft repair and manufacturing company Letecke Opravovne Trencin (LOT) returned 12 revamped MiG-29 Fulcrum fighters to the national air force at Sliac air base."
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PAKISTAN: Lawyer's movement is the 'vanguard of democracy'
A quote...."The lawyer’s movement in Pakistan will complete its first year on March 9, the day on which, in 2007 the Chief Justice of the country was illegally and unconstitutionally deposed by the then General Musharraf. There was an immediate response from the lawyers throughout the country with peaceful demonstrations, protests and boycotts of the courts in solidarity with the Chief Justice Mr. Iftekhar Choudhry. The movement has been maintained and is as strong today as it was from day one."

The U.S. will send a squad of military advisers to Pakistan to train soldiers fighting militants in the country's restive tribal areas.  -- A quote...."After weeks of negotiations between the US and Pakistan’s new army chief of staff, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, President Pervez Musharraf has agreed to accept troops to train soldiers in counter-insurgency operations." -- The Camel's nose has just slipped underneath the tent flap, poor Pakistan....it used to be a country once upon a time.  Maybe a more fitting name for what used to be called Pakistan should be "New Iraq"? - mpg

Tainted Evidence - Canada tosses CIA terror testimony obtained through waterboarding.
A quote...."The Canadian government is no longer using evidence gained from CIA interrogations of a top Al Qaeda detainee who was waterboarded."

Canada: Liberals and Conservatives join forces to extend intervention in Afghan war
A quote...."Responding to repeated demands from the Canadian establishment, the minority Conservative government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the official opposition Liberals have agreed to extend the Canadian Armed Forces’ (CAF) mission in southern Afghanistan for another two-and-a-half years."  --  And so it goes, endlessly, relentlessly, inevitably, the death, the destruction, the occupations....always hungry, the beast must constantly be fed. - mpg

Soldiers and Democracy: Know Your Rights!
Action Alert - civil rights resource - A quote...."We wanted to build a movement where service members could express their dissent in a legal, constructive way. I began researching the rights and responsibilities of active-duty service members."

FCC official wants probe of "60 Minutes" black-out [of the Siegelman piece] - posted at BuzzFlash
A quote...."WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Federal Communications Commission official is seeking an inquiry into the blacking out of a politically charged segment of the CBS News magazine "60 Minutes" by a local television station in Alabama."

Alabama prosecutor continues the Siegelman hunt...
A quote...."Louis Franklin, who works for the corrupt Alabama prosecutors office (See here) is arguing that Don Siegelman should stay in prison during his appeal. Franklin argues that Siegelman has no chance of winning the appeal, so therefor, no point in letting Siegelman out of prison during the appeal process."

Kucinich wins Ohio primary
A quote...."Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) prevailed in the Democratic primary against a insurgent primary campaign from a well-funded Cleveland city councilor, Joe Cimperman and three other Democratic challengers."
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Subprime Iceburg a Year later - And the band played on
A quote...."It was one year ago, on March 6, 2007, that I first wrote about the phenomenon on this site, in my article, Rocking the subprime house of cards. The appropriateness of paper to celebrate this milestone is, of course, that the subprime mortgages, indeed, the entire subprime industry, once thought to be solid and substantial, possessing real worth for both borrowers and lenders, is proving to be made of less actual value than the scraps of paper handed out by sidewalk street hawkers and then promptly thrown into the gutter."

OPEC freezes oil output and blames US for high crude prices
A quote...."OPEC accused the United States on Wednesday of economic "mismanagement", which it said is pushing oil prices to new record highs and rejected calls to increase output. Oil prices surged for the first time past 104 US dollars a barrel after OPEC’s announcement and a US government release showing a surprise drop in crude stockpiles."

Economy has slowed since start of year, Fed finds
A quote...."WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The Federal Reserve confirmed that economic growth has slowed since the beginning of the year."
 
Dead dollar sketch
A quote...."Most people of a certain age who have spent time in Europe and the United States will remember the legendary Monty Python Dead Parrot sketch, *(Ggl 3m24s) which involves an irate customer bringing back a parrot that the pet shop owner has sold him, only the bird is actually dead and was nailed to the perch." -- *link added by website editor.


This war on terrorism is bogus - The 9/11 attacks gave the US an ideal pretext to use force to secure its global domination  --  Must Read - A quote...."We now know that a blueprint for the creation of a global Pax Americana was drawn up for Dick Cheney (now vice-president), Donald Rumsfeld (defence secretary), Paul Wolfowitz (Rumsfeld's deputy), Jeb Bush (George Bush's younger brother) and Lewis Libby (Cheney's chief of staff). The document, entitled Rebuilding America's Defences, was written in September 2000 by the neoconservative think tank, Project for the New American Century (PNAC)."

House Democratic leadership: not just complicit but also self-destructive
Must Read - A quote...."The signs are unmistakably clear that what was always inevitable -- full compliance by the House Democratic leadership with Bush's demands on warrantless eavesdropping and telecom amnesty -- is now imminent. House leaders spent the week floating their specific proposals for how they intend to comply in full, and yesterday, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Silvestre Reyes went on CNN with Wolf Blitzer, refused to criticize the President or the Senate FISA bill, and repeatedly and meekly expressed his willingness "this week" to give what he called full "blanket immunity" to telecoms (C&L has the video of Reyes' astoundingly weak and incoherent answers in response to Blitzer's Bush-mimicking questions).  --  This is, of course, everything except surprising. No rational person who has watched Congressional Democrats since they took over Congress could possibly have expected them to do anything but what they always do: namely, whatever they're told to do by the White House. The last thing they were ever going to do was stand their ground over Americans' basic liberties and the rule of law, concepts about which they couldn't possibly care less."

Spying on Us, U.S. Citizens, Prior to September 11, 2001
Related article - A quote...."Bush and his telecom company friends were spying on us prior to September 11, 2001."

Better Buckle Up! -- CheneyBush's Final 10 Months
A quote...."If anyone still harbors any illusions that the lame-duck CheneyBush Administration will taxi relatively harmlessly to its departure gate in January 2009, recent events suggest otherwise. It's been made abundantly clear that in the next ten months, these guys are going to behave even more brutishly in amassing and misusing their power, and in screwing things up, than they've already done in the past seven-plus years."  --  Cravenly aided and abetted by the DemoRepubs of course. – mpg

The War Election
A quote...."Maybe it sounded good when politicians, pundits and online fundraisers talked about American deaths as though they were the deaths that mattered most.Maybe it sounded good to taunt the Bush administration as a bunch of screw-ups who didn’t know how to run a proper occupation.  --  And maybe it sounded good to condemn Donald Rumsfeld and George Bush for ignoring predictions that several hundred thousand troops would be needed to effectively occupy Iraq after an invasion."


Lebanon: The Unknown Crisis - What is the USS Cole doing off the Lebanese coast? - [along with two other ships.]
Special Note: A quote...."The USS Cole isn't engaged in a sightseeing tour of the Eastern Mediterranean: its sudden deployment just "over the horizon" near Lebanon – in tandem with two other warships – is a clear sign that the Americans are preparing for something big. That's what the Arab world seems to believe, anyway, if you listen to al-Jazeera and the chatter coming from other Arab news outlets. The Saudis, the Kuwaitis, and the government of Bahrain have all warned their citizens to get out of Lebanon, pronto. What's curious, however, is that, while it's big news in the Arab world, this "visit" by a guided-missile destroyer and accompanying flotilla has received scant attention in the U.S. news media. What's going on?"  --  Two out of three ships have been identified so far. - mpg

See also....NASSAU ESG Enters 6th Fleet Area of Operations
See also....USS Nassau (LHA-4) & Nassau Expeditionary Strike Group MED 06 Deployment - LHA-4 Nassau
See also....USS Cole (DDG-67) & DDG 67 Cole "Determined Warrior"
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The Iraq Quagmire
By The Numbers - Stats. - A quote...."Editor's note: Since 2004, IPS has been tracking the costs of the Iraq War in human and financial costs to the United States, Iraq, and the rest of the world. This latest fact sheet is designed to help bring a full understanding of the devastation of the war. The PDF link for this article provides the following information in an easy to read format designed for duplication and popular education."

Tomgram: William Hartung, The Cost of a Week in Hell
A quote...."Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz championed the $60 billion figure, but added that much of the cost might well be covered by Iraqi oil revenues; the country was, after all, floating on a "sea of oil." ("To assume we're going to pay for it all is just wrong," he told a congressional hearing.) Still, let's take that $60 billion figure as the Bush baseline. If economists Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes are right in their recent calculations and this will turn out to be more than a $3 trillion war (or even a $5-7 trillion one), then the Bush administration was at least $2,940,000,000,000 off in its calculations."

UN deepens the Iran nuclear crisis
A quote...."On Monday, the United Nations Security Council adopted a third round of sanctions on Iran [1] that will likely escalate the nuclear crisis, given Tehran's stated promise to resist "unlawful" pressures and demands. This may well mean resisting a key aspect of the UN resolution that calls for the interdiction of ships and airplanes carrying suspected nuclear cargo to and from Iran."  --  For more on this issue see.....The Slow Play Option - 12-11-07 - mpg

Russia, China scuttle resolution plans
A quote...."Russia and China on Tuesday scuttled a Western attempt to introduce a resolution on Iran's nuclear defiance at a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency, diplomats said. - The decision appeared to be the result of lingering unhappiness by the two world powers about not being informed earlier of plans for such a resolution. - It came a day after the U.N. Security Council imposed another round of sanctions on Iran for refusing to suspend uranium enrichment. Iran defiantly vowed to continue its nuclear program, which it insists is aimed only at generating power."

Sunnis make merry on US's dime
A quote...."....mainstream Sunni insurgents who have been fighting al-Qaeda appear to have outmaneuvered US strategists by using the councils to pursue their interests in weakening their most immediate enemy, reducing pressures from the US military and establishing new political bases, while continuing to mount attacks on US and Iraqi government forces."  --  Well.....all the other "terrorists", "bad boys", "militias" and even "death squads" are on the "US's dime", why should the insurgents be an exception?  Besides, al Qaeda never got off the "US's dime". --  See....US Support of Terror - mpg
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Israel’s moral compass is flawed
A quote...."Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says he doesn’t want lessons in morality. He’s right. He and his Cabinet are a lost cause on that front. Any attempts to appeal to their sense of right and wrong would be akin to pouring mineral water onto stones hoping for flowers."

US plotted to overthrow Hamas after election victory
A quote...."The Bush administration, caught out by the rise of Hamas, embarked on a secret project for the armed overthrow of the Islamist government in Gaza, it emerged yesterday. -- Vanity Fair reports in its April edition that President George Bush and the secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, signed off on a plan for the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, to remove the Hamas authorities in Gaza. The plan called for Washington's allies in the region to funnel arms and salaries to Fatah fighters who would lead a rising against Hamas."  -- bold by website editor.  --  See below for the Vanity Fair article....

The Gaza Bombshell
A quote...."After failing to anticipate Hamas’s victory over Fatah in the 2006 Palestinian election, the White House cooked up yet another scandalously covert and self-defeating Middle East debacle: part Iran-contra, part Bay of Pigs. With confidential documents, corroborated by outraged former and current U.S. officials, David Rose reveals how President Bush, Condoleezza Rice, and Deputy National-Security Adviser Elliott Abrams backed an armed force under Fatah strongman Muhammad Dahlan, touching off a bloody civil war in Gaza and leaving Hamas stronger than ever." --  For more on this issue see....US Sponsored Civil Wars - Palestine

The Rabbi of hate
Some quotes...."


Israel: The Time For Worldwide Boycott Is Now
Action Alert - A quote...."Without American partnership, expressed in immeasurable military, economic and diplomatic aid, Israel could not have committed all its racist and colonial crimes with such impunity."

Rice fails to get Middle East peace talks restarted
A quote...."....US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in the region in the hope of helping restart the stalled Palestinian peace talks.  --  She was rebuffed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas who said the talks could not progress without a truce."  --   Abbas "rebuffed" Rice?  Can it be true?  Yes, it's becoming visible to the naked eye now, there are definitely faint traces of bony matter or skeletal structures behind Mahmoud Abbas's lower torso right beneath the skin, hold on folks....yes, it's finally been confirmed ladies and gentleman.....Mahmoud Abbasis is in the early stages of actually developing a backbone. - mpg

Hamas looking like Hezbollah as Israel leaves Gaza - 'Victory' rally held, promises made for help in rebuilding
A quote...."As Israel withdrew its forces from the northern Gaza Strip on Monday after a two-day assault on Hamas militants, and as Palestinians emerged from their houses to inspect the damage, Hamas leaders seemed to be following the playbook of their Lebanese ally, Hezbollah, in its 2006 war with Israel.  --   Fawzi Barhoum, a spokesman for Hamas in Gaza, said that like Hezbollah, Hamas had "gone from the stone to the rocket."  --  "What we learned from Hezbollah," he said, "is that resistance is a choice that can work."
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Russia’s economy under Vladimir Putin: achievements and failures
A quote...."Achievements: --- 1. A rapid economic growth.- 2. Russia has become an energy superpower - 3. An efficient management of oil revenues. - 4. A growth of industrial production.  - 5. A growth of incomes.
Failures: --- 1. A high inflation. - 2. A commodities-based economy.  - 3. High dependence on food imports. - 4. A growing gap between rich and poor. - 5. People have not learned to invest in the stock market."

Iran to buy 100 airliners from Russia
A quote...."Iran is slated to sign an agreement with Russia's United Aircraft Building Corporation to buy 100 Tu-204 and Tu-214 passenger planes."

Bolivia: Morales is checked
A quote...."After two years in power, President Evo Morales has a nation dividing into city and country, into the old Andean Altiplano and the rich oil and agro-industrial heartlands, and into indigenous peoples and mixed background people. And they won’t let him have the consensus he needs."

Latin American governments condemn Colombian attacks, defend territorial sovereignty
A quote...."Caracas, March 3, 2008 (venezuelanalyisis.com) - Latin American governments and regional organizations declared support for Ecuadorian national sovereignty and regional unity, and widely condemned the assault by Colombian armed forces on the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in Ecuadorian territory early Saturday morning, which resulted in the deaths of 16 insurgents, among them Raúl Reyes, a top level FARC leader and diplomat." 
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Senate candidate calls for Bush’s arrest
A quote...."KENNEBUNKPORT — Calling President George Bush "the worst president in the history of the United States," Independent U.S. Senate candidate Laurie Dobson stood on the steps of Town Hall Tuesday and called upon the town to indict Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney as war criminals."

An Open Letter to Powerline (And Others): For the Love of Karl Rove?
A quote...."Dear Powerline (and others by association): - In your open letter to CBS News about their 60 Minutes broadcast on the Don Siegelman case, you begin by readily admitting that you are a late-comer to the story. Yet despite not having the facts or apparently seen the investigative reports done well before the CBS broadcast aired, you feel capable enough to issue an opinion and demand your questions be answered. Why not actually read the wealth of information already provided to see, if by chance, your questions have already been answered? Or better still, simply read the wealth of information already in the public sphere to see if you even know what you are opining about? (some links at bottom of this post)"  --  Larisa Alexandrovna reviews the facts of the case for the "non-reality" based community.  After seven years watching these guys you gotta know by now most of them don't care, and for those that do....they care deeply, and they've spent their entire adult lives trying to distort, twist, and bury any "facts" that aren't helpful, useful or might incriminate them. - mpg
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Letting 100.000 Homes Fall to Pieces
A quote...."It's actually kind of poetic--in the justice department, that is.  --  The 'investors' are finding out what it's like to become invisible. The poor have been invisible for decades, perhaps even centuries. Now, because their investments are invisible (they couldn't find their assets with both hands) and they themselves are invisible (bobbing about in the rough waters of pension and hedge funds) they have not yet grasped the true meaning of invisibility."  -- See also....


Citigroup May Need Cash as Losses Mount, Dubai Says (Update3)
A quote...."March 4 (Bloomberg) -- Citigroup Inc., the biggest U.S. bank, may need additional capital from outside investors as losses stemming from the collapse of the U.S. subprime mortgage market increase, the head of Dubai International Capital LLC said."  -- The phrase for what Dubai is about to do is...."throwing good money after bad." - mpg - See....The Green Light 01-16-08 - mpg

Oil-linked inflation destabilizes Africa, Middle East
A quote...."The economic instability and social struggles breaking out in large parts of Africa and the Middle East over price inflation bear out this famous analysis. The financial shockwaves spread by the crisis of US imperialism—the fall of the dollar amid the US mortgage crisis, and the explosion of the world market price of a barrel of oil from $23 in 2002 to the present $103, after the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq—are shaking the entire region.”

India's Tata Group goes global, one buy at a time - Tato Nano a.k.a. The little car that could? - mpg
A quote.... India's oldest and best-known industrial house is the biggest software exporter via its Tata Consultancy Services, the largest private-sector steelmaker thanks to Tata Steel and the leading hotelier with its Indian Hotels Co.
Tata Motors (TTM) , meanwhile, is turning heads with the Nano, a three-meter long, four-seater minicar that'll have a top speed of 65 miles per hour and sell for about $2,500 when it hits the home market later this year."