Tuesday March 10th 2009

Obama’s New York Times interview: Military aggression and attacks on democratic rights to continue
Special Note - Obama™ Update -- A quote...."In an extensive interview conducted last Friday with the New York Times and published on Sunday, President Barack Obama outlined policies on national security and foreign affairs that underscore the essential continuity between his administration and that of his predecessor, George W. Bush." -- also posted at GlobRsrch

Further U.S. withdrawal from Iraq unlikely this year: U.S. general
A quote...."Washington - Further withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq after the planned departure of 12,000 troops by September is unlikely this year, a U.S. general said on Monday, Xinhua News Agency informed. -- Lt. Gen. Lloyd Austin, the second-in-command of U.S. forces in Iraq, told a Pentagon conference via live video-link from Iraq that the expected withdrawal of those troops is what the U.S. military is planning "for the foreseeable future."

Obama administration backs immunity for author of Bush torture memos
Obama™ Update -- A quote...."In legal arguments before a federal court in San Francisco Friday, the Obama administration stepped in to defend one of most notorious figures in the Bush administration, John Yoo, author of legal memoranda used to justify torture and indefinite detention without trial as part of the "war on terror."

ACLU demands Obama administration release prisoner abuse photos
Obama™ Update -- A quote...."The ACLU has sought the release of additional prisoner abuse photos since 2003, when it filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the government. The Bush administration repeatedly stonewalled the request, refusing to disclose the images "by attempting to radically expand the exemptions allowed under the FOIA for withholding records," according to the ACLU." -- also posted at Uruknet

UN to investigate CIA gulag archipelago
A quote...."Two UN special rapporteurs say that they plan to investigate secret detention centers used by the CIA in its counter-terrorism campaign."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Scott Horton Interviews Jim Lobe
Audio Interview - A quote...."Jim Lobe, Washington Bureau Chief for Inter Press Service, discusses the balance of power between different foreign policy factions, the work record of Dennis Ross from Oslo Accord negotiator to WINEP associate, the centrality of uranium refining in U.S./Iran relations, the resurgence of the Arab League and the National Intelligence Council appointment saga of Chas Freeman."

UN report condemns Britain over torture cases
A quote...."Britain is condemned today in a highly critical UN report for breaching basic human rights and "trying to conceal illegal acts" in the fight against terrorism."

Official: Iran doesn't have fuel for nuke warhead
A quote...."WASHINGTON – A top U.S. intelligence official says Iran does not have any highly enriched uranium, the fuel used to power a nuclear warhead."

China: The Next Big Enemy? The domestic politics of the new Sinophobia
Photos - It's sort'a funny. - mpg -- A quote...."Those Chinese sailors who "harassed" a U.S. military vessel lingering perilously close to a Chinese base on Hainan Island, in the South China Sea, reportedly stripped down to their underwear when our sailors turned water hoses on them. Maybe the shower facilities on Chinese fishing vessels – it was fishing trawlers, not military gunboats, that met the Americans on China's doorstep – are insufficient, or maybe the Chinese were mooning us. I'm inclined to think the latter. In any case, Sunday's incident ratchets up tensions with China – which have been roiled in recent weeks, not only by a series of similar incidents, but also on account of issues broader than China's claims to virtually the whole of the South China Sea."

South America Integrating Defense
Good idea!!  Regional blocks should be created, nations should band together against a certain rogue "hyper power" (which shall remain nameless) that's been going around the world attacking countries in an attempt to seize their natural resources and in the process devastating these countries while killing, injuring, and making homeless millions of their citizens. – mpg -- A quote...."Santiago, Chile, Mar 9 (Prensa Latina) Defense ministers from 12 Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) are to analyze cooperation issues here on Monday and Tuesday in the first South American Defense Council (SADC)." -- also posted at BLN

Western military forces turning inward in anticipation of domestic unrest
A quote...."As the growing world-wide economic crisis deepens, military forces from Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom are preparing to meet angry citizens on the street. The economic crisis - and the public outrage it is causing - is at the forefront of intelligence agencies and military forces in the western world." -- also posted at BLN

Canadian Military Units To Undertake “Domestic Security”
Related Article - A quote...."The Canadian military is reorganizing its priorities to suit a “post 9/11-world,” by creating reservist units for each area of the country that would be tasked with providing “domestic security,” and involve roles such as the mass internment of citizens in the event of a terrorist attack."

Bernanke To CFR: New Financial Authority Is Needed
a.k.a The EHSA (Economic Homeland Security Administration) perhaps?  Headed by Bernanke of course?  Folks, this is getting ridiculous and it's getting totally out of hand! – mpg -- A quote...."Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has told an elite gathering that a new overarching financial authority should be created by the government and empowered with sweeping new regulatory responsibilities. -- Bernanke also coyly indicted to the renowned globalist group that he believes a new international order could be fomented out of the crisis."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Charles Freeman fails the loyalty test
A quote...."Obviously, John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt are rabid, hateful paranoids -- total bigots and anti-Semites -- for having suggested that there are powerful domestic political forces in the U.S. which enforce Israel-centric orthodoxies and make it politically impossible to question America's blind loyalty to Israel.  What irrational lunacy on their part...." -- also posted at AmericanEveryman

Chas Freeman Slams "Israel Lobby"
Related Article - A quote...."Below is Chas Freeman's full statement following his decision not to serve as National Intelligence Council chairman."

"I have concluded that the barrage of libelous distortions of my record would not cease upon my entry into office. The effort to smear me and to destroy my credibility would instead continue. I do not believe the National Intelligence Council could function effectively while its chair was under constant attack by unscrupulous people with a passionate attachment to the views of a political faction in a foreign country. I agreed to chair the NIC to strengthen it and protect it against politicization, not to introduce it to efforts by a special interest group to assert control over it through a protracted political campaign..." - *Charles Freeman*

Freeman Withdrawal Marks Victory for Israel Lobby
Related Article - A quote...."Amb. Chas Freeman withdrew from consideration for a top intelligence post in the Obama administration on Tuesday, following a vitriolic battle that pitted Republican lawmakers and pro-Israel hardliners opposed to his appointment against liberals and members of the intelligence and diplomatic communities who had come to his defense." -- also posted at ICH

For more on the three articles shown above see....Judeo-Christian C/C & US
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

ICC prosecutor mulls 'Gaza war crimes' probe - Alt
A quote...."Luis Moreno-Ocampo tells Argentinean newspaper he is considering launching investigation into Israel's alleged use of white phosphorus shells in densely-populated areas during recent offensive "

Interpol mulls Iran`s request for 25 Israeli officials over Gaza op
A quote...."Interpol says it is studying a request from Iran for 25 Israeli officials to be placed on its most-wanted list over Israel's offensive in Gaza. The international police agency says it took the unusual step of confirming the request publicly, as Iranian government officials have made their request public."

Day 24: Breaking the Siege - The Beginning of the End (updated: The Angels are in Town)
Special Note - A quote...."The Viva Palestina convoy drove slowly along the Salah Eddine road leading to Gaza City taking in the atmosphere around them and savouring the moment of history they had just created. -- Along the way, thousands of Palestinians, the other heroes of this beautiful story of resistance, defiance and hope approached every vehicle kissing, touching, hugging the bravest of Britain. They handed their babies, their young children, to the convoy members so that they could be embraced, as if the angels were in town. Drenched in flowers, tears were flowing on both sides."

British MP kisses Gaza ground
Some quotes...."Convoy of vehicles carrying food, medicine, and toys travels 12,000 km to enter Gaza through Rafah." -- "British MP George Galloway, who was among those entering Gaza, said the convoy was only the beginning of his battle, and reinforced his comment with a flamboyant kiss to the Gazan ground."

The F Word: Anti-Palestinian Amendments Fail - (Grit TV - YouTube - 2 min 22 sec - March 10, 2009)
Video

Destroyed farms in Gaza spark meat shortage
A quote...."According to the UN Development Programme’s agricultural officer Jihad Al Khatib, 250,000 chickens were killed by Israel during the war. A 25-per cent shortage of food supplies in now expected."

Situation at Gaza border crossings “intolerable,” UN chief says
A quote...."UNITED NATIONS, Mar 11 (APP): A lasting ceasefire is urgently needed to keep Gaza crossings open, which will allow the Palestinian economy to recover, Secretary‑General Ban Ki‑moon said Tuesday. In a message to a UN seminar on assistance to the Palestinian people in Cairo, Ban called for a ‘proper and durable’ end of hostilities to ‘allow for a return of calm’ to the areal. “The situation at the crossings is intolerable,” he said, stressing the need for Israel, which controls them, to ease the closure."

The Settler Question - What Israeli Peace Process?
A quote...."On March 2, 2009, the Israeli advocacy group Peace Now issued a report saying that the Israeli housing ministry plans to build 73,ooo housing units in the West Bank. Peace Now said 15,ooo of these units had already been approved, with another 58,000 awaiting approval. On March 7, 2009, the Guardian reported that a confidential report issued by the EU said Israel continues to annex property in East Jerusalem. It said Israeli housing authorities had submitted plans for 5,500 new housing units (3,000 of which have already been approved) since the Annapolis "peace" conference in November 2007."

Palestinian Villages Become Israel’s Playground
A quote...."Canada Park: As spring sets in early, Israelis have been pouring into one of the country’s most popular leisure spots. Visitors to Canada Park, a few kilometres north-west of Jerusalem, enjoy its spectacular panaromas, woodland paths, mountain-bike trails, caves and idyllic picnic areas. -- A series of signs describe the historical significance of the landscape, as well as that of a handful of ancient buildings, in terms of their Biblical, Roman, Hellenic and Ottoman pasts. Few, if any, visitors take notice of the stone blocks that litter sections of the park." -- also posted at PalestineChronicle & CounterPunch
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

US Recession Could Last Up to 36 Months: Roubini - If the Fed succeeds!  If not, it'll be much worse. - mpg
Special Note - Video - A quote...."The man who predicted the current financial crisis said the US recession could drag on for years without drastic action." -- also posted at ICH

The Federal Reserve is Bankrupt - How Did It Happen and What are the Ugly Consequences?
Special Note - A quote...."But some things are known: Goldman's Lloyd Blankfein was the only CEO of a Wall Street firm who was present at the New York Fed meeting when the AIG bailout was discussed. So let us not kid each other: The $162 billion bailout of AIG is a nontransparent, opaque and shady bailout of the AIG counter-parties: Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch and other domestic and foreign financial institutions. -- "So for the Treasury to hide behind the "systemic risk" excuse to fork out another $30 billion to AIG is a polite way to say that without such a bailout (and another half-dozen government bailout programs such as TAF, TSLF, PDCF, TARP, TALF and a program that allowed $170 billion of additional debt borrowing by banks and other broker-dealers, with a full government guarantee), Goldman Sachs and every other broker-dealer and major U.S. bank would already be fully insolvent today."

Three-Month Libor for Dollars Increases for 11th Day (Update2)
Financial Alert - A quote...."March 10 (Bloomberg) -- The cost of borrowing in dollars for three months in London rose for an 11th day as banks sought cash to cover their commitments through the end of the first quarter."

AIG has insured $1.6 trillion in derivatives
Financial Update - A quote...."And you thought AIG's $62 billion quarterly loss last month was bad -- turns out that the company has a further $1.6 trillion in outstanding derivatives exposure, according to this leaked memo that AIG sent to the US Treasury in order to beg for another $30 billion. Aig Systemic 090309 (via The Dynamics of Cats)

Statician says US joblessness near Depression highs
A quote...."NEW YORK, March 9 (Reuters) - The U.S. unemployment rate would be 19.1 percent, close to the level during the Great Depression, using the methodology that prevailed 80 years ago, according to Shadowstats.com."

Morgan Stanley predicts economic collapse worse than depression
A quote...."Morgan Stanley’s UK equity strategist Graham Secker painted a bleak economic picture for the United Kingdom. In his morning forecast, Mr. Secker warned that UK profits could fall by 60% in the current downturn - a worse performance than the great depression of the 1930s."

US Stocks Close Higher; DJIA Has Biggest Gain Since November
A quote...."NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Stocks finally broke out of their doldrums Tuesday as hopes that banks were finding their feet took the Dow Jones Industrial Average up more than 375 points for its biggest gain since November." - bold by website editor -- For more on this issue see....What Ben Bernanke Said - 03-18-08 - mpg

US companies slash thousands more jobs in early March
A quote...."The first ten days of March have seen no let-up in the destruction of jobs in the US. Large and small corporations, as well as state and local governments, school districts, public libraries and universities, are laying off workers in the most devastating slump since the Great Depression."

Retirement Living in Elkhart, Indiana
A quote...."In early February, President Obama was looking for a place to symbolize the recession. He wanted to rally support for his proposed $800 billion bailout of the economy, a bailout that he admitted would send the Federal government's annual deficit to $1.7 trillion in fiscal 2010."

Happy Days For Prophets Of Doom
A quote...."It's like Cinderella's fairy godmother, in reverse. -- According to the experts, Latvia, Romania, Hungary, the Ukraine, and 11 other countries may also go belly up, financially. -- Less than a year ago, many of these countries were praised for their economic miracles. They had emerged from Soviet repression. They had embraced democracy and free market ideology – often treated as synonymous – and they had been welcomed into the European Union."

Monday March 9th 2009

Killing the Song: Unholy Alliances and Hate-Spawning Surges in the Terror War
Must Read - A quote...."William Dalrymple has been one of the more insightful Western historians of South Asia -- especially when it comes to the region's centuries-long encounter and enmeshing with Islam. In the light of the recent terror attack in Pakistan, Dalrymple has penned two articles in the UK press which draw attention to one of the most neglected aspects of the rise of Islamic extremism in the modern era: the vast resources and ceaseless energy applied by the Saudi royals to propagate the harsh, unbending sect of Wahhabi Islam around the world." -- Just think about it this way folks, for every dollar the US-NRE / Military Industrial Complex gives to support terrorist groups throughout the Middle East, it generates for itself about two hundred dollars in funding for the "war on terror".  That's a pretty good rate of return, and a very well designed, highly profitable business model. - mpg

Britain's bizarre [as apposed to the US's] reaction to war crimes allegations: investigations [are] needed
Must Read - Obama™ Update -- A quote...."Notice what is missing from these accounts.  There is nobody arguing that the dreary past should simply be forgotten in order to focus on the important and challenging future.  There's no snide suggestion that demands to investigate serious allegations of criminality are driven by petty vengeance or partisan score-settling.  Nobody suggests that it's perfectly permissible for government officials to commit serious crimes -- including war crimes -- as long as they had nice motives or were told that it was OK to do these things by their underlings, or that the financial crisis (which Britain has, too) precludes any investigations, or that whether to torture is a mere "policy dispute."  Also missing is any claim that these crimes are State Secrets that must be kept concealed in order to protect British national security." -- also posted at CommonDreams

Why the U.S. Under Obama Is Still a Dictatorship
Special Note - A quote...."When the Obama administration announced its decision to move al-Marri to the federal court system, Justice Department officials also asked the Supreme Court to dismiss the pending case as “moot,” and on Friday the justices agreed, although, to their great credit, they also made a point of vacating the horrendous decision made by the Fourth Circuit Appeals Court last summer. -- As a result, you may be thinking that the president no longer has the power to hold Americans without charge or trial as “enemy combatants,” but if this is the case then you may be — and should be — dismayed to learn that a previous ruling to this effect still stands, which was not addressed by the Supreme Court, and which has not been addressed by the Obama administration either."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Video: FINALLY, AFTER 35-YEARS IN EXILE FTA IS BACK!
Video - Special Note - A quote...."1971, a massive GI Movement to end the Vietnam war was sweeping through troops, wreaking havoc on the U.S. military. Into that mix came the FTA Show, a caustic, electrifying, sharply antiwar comedy…" - "Ultra-Rare! F.T.A. (aka FREE THE ARMY aka FUN, TRAVEL, ADVENTURE), 1972, Displaced Films, 97 min. Dir. Francine Parker. F.T.A. was originally released by American-International but pulled from distribution after only one week, with rumors of pressure from the Pentagon."

POLITICS:  Legitimacy of Global Court Questioned Over Sudan
Special Note - Some quotes...."UNITED NATIONS, Mar 9 (IPS) - The ongoing political crisis in Sudan is expected to worsen in the face of a rash of threats and warnings following the indictment last week of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague." -- "At the same time, there is considerable speculation that some, or all, of the 30 African countries who are state parties (of a total of 108) to the Rome Statute that created the ICC, may decide to pull out, threatening the virtual collapse of the world's key criminal court." -- also posted at CommonDreams

Nothing international about ICC
Related Article - A quote...."IN 1998, 120 countries signed a treaty establishing a permanent international criminal court so that "no ruler, no state, no junta and no army anywhere will be able to abuse human rights with impunity". The principle is great and honorable. A truly international court that protects ordinary citizens from abuse by their own governments and foreign nations is something we should all welcome. But wait...there’s just one problem."

Iraqi Massacre Ignored by Media
Special Note - Obama™ Update -- A quote...."The core messages from the WW2 Jewish Holocaust are surely “zero tolerance for racism”, “never again to anyone”, “bear witness” and “zero tolerance for lying”, injunctions ignored by Mainstream media and by Obama in relation to the ongoing Palestinian, Iraqi and Afghan Genocides." -- For more on this issue see....Fake Intel / Propaganda - Iraq Deaths

12000 US Troops Withdrawn from Iraq; 32 Killed in Police Academy Bombing
A Juan Cole Round-Up - A quote...."The security challenges remaining in Iraq were demonstrated by the nine bombings over the weekend, including a major attack by a suicide bomber wearing an explosive vest at a police training facility in central Baghdad."

Cluster Ammunition Use in Afghanistan
A quote...."According to this  Marine Corp Times report, the U.S. has now stationed HIMARS artillery systems in Afghanistan."

IED attacks soar in Afghanistan - Jump in coalition deaths could portend fierce spring
A quote...."WASHINGTON — Makeshift bomb attacks in Afghanistan killed three times as many coalition troops in the first two months of 2009 compared with the same period last year. The increase points to a strengthening insurgency and potentially more violence as warmer weather arrives along with intensified fighting."

"Abu Ghraib Torturer Dies in Afghanistan --Cardona was honorably [!] discharged on Sept. 29, 2007, according to Army records. 06 Mar 2009 Santos A. Cardona, an Army dog handler involved in the abuse torture of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib, had traveled to Afghanistan in 2008 as a government contractor mercenary, using a German shepherd to search for improvised explosive devices and weapons stockpiles. On Saturday, Cardona and his dog, Zomie, were killed when his military convoy hit a roadside bomb, according to Cardona's employer and his family. Cardona and his tan Belgian Malinois were shown in photographs of detainee abuse that surfaced publicly in 2004. The most notable image showed the dog growling at a cowering, naked prisoner." -- Paragraph quoted from CLG

Here We Go Again With the Iranian Nuclear Scare
War Update - A quote...."While the United States was fighting for its economic life, Obama administration officials and the media issued a blizzard of contradictory claims over Iran’s alleged nuclear threat, leaving one wondering who is really charge of US 
foreign policy? -- Much of the uproar over Iran’s so-far non-existent nuclear weapons must be seen as part of efforts by the Israeli lobby to block President Barack Obama’s proposed opening to Teheran, and to keep pressing the US to attack Iran’s nuclear infrastructure." - also posted at ICH

US Missile Attacks On Pakistan To "Dramatically Increase": Report
A quote...."A British newspaper says that officials in contact with the US State Department have been briefed on plans to intensify military attacks on Pakistan, despite strong objections to the policy from the Pakistani government. "

Baku disgruntled with US meddling
A quote...."The Pentagon's interference in Azerbaijan's defense issues has hit a nerve in the former Soviet Republic's parliament, an Azeri lawmaker says." -- also posted at WarInIraq

Egyptian Journalist jailed by Kafkaesque court
A quote...."Egypt is part of the American “axis of the rightful” and is usually praised by Washington for upholding all the goodies of democracy. On 1 February 2009, Magdi Hussein, a journalist and former editor of the Al Shaab newspaper, was arrested for having crossed into Gaza. He was held up on silly charges, and then sentenced by a military tribunal to two years in jail… Obviously, Hussein’s greater crime was criticizing the Egyptian collaborationist role with Israel in the December 2008 on Gaza. Even voicing the slightest support for the Palestinians or criticism of the Mubarak dictatorship can land journalists or solidarity activists in jail. It is worth reading Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani’s, Electronic Intifada article:"

Ecuador beefs up border with Colombia
A quote...."Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa said Saturday he was sending more troops to the border with Colombia to stop paramilitaries from crossing and unsettling the area, and called on Bogota to better patrol its side of the border."

Chavez warns Colombia against military incursion
A quote...."President Hugo Chavez warned Colombia that he would hit back hard militarily if Colombian troops were to stray into Venezuelan territory as they did in Ecuador."

Bolivia expels US diplomat
A quote...."Evo Morales, Bolivia's president, has ordered a senior US diplomat to leave the country, accusing him of siding with opposition groups in a "conspiracy" against the government in La Paz."

Q&A:  "Campaign of Fear Is Atrocious" Ahead of Salvadoran Vote - One of the US-NRE's proud legacies. - mpg
A quote...."SAN SALVADOR, Mar 9 (IPS) - "I would not say that the media in Latin America contribute to fomenting civic culture, overall. They generally head in the opposite direction," says Rafael Roncagliolo, a Peruvian sociologist, journalist and election consultant."

Georgian opposition continues calls for Saakashvili to step down
A quote...."TBILISI, March 10 (RIA Novosti) - Nine Georgian opposition parties have begun collecting signatures across the country to demand the resignation of President Mikheil Saakashvili, the Novosti-Georgia news agency said on Tuesday."

RUSSIA:  In a New Gas War with Ukraine
Special Note - A quote...."MOSCOW, Mar 5 (IPS) - The Ukraine-Russia gas dispute has boosted plans for construction of the South Stream and North Stream gas pipelines that would eventually divert Russian gas supplies through the Black Sea and the Baltic seabed respectively to European consumers."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Masterful Masters on Our Masters
A quote...."Meet Tim Masters, an American of superior insight. After DNA evidence forced the State of Colorado to overturn his conviction for murder and free him from its cage, Mr. Masters knew precisely whom to blame for his ruined, stunted life. When CNN asked, "Any hard feelings toward the Fort Collins Police Department or the prosecutors in the case?", Mr. Masters responded, "Oh, absolutely. They locked me up for a decade for something I didn't do." -- Yeah, take a moment to recover from such stunning brilliance. I, too, sat thunderstruck as I thought, Wow, someone finally gets it! But the perspicacious Mr. Masters wasn’t done:...."

The Army's Civilian Inmate Labor Program
A quote...."Recently there has been much rumbling about FEMA camps being readied around the Nation to house a civilian population in the event of "turmoil" or "unrest" due to either a natural disaster or, more likely, civilian unrest due to an economic collapse. Now we see that the rumors have a basis in reality.  Click on the link to download your own copy of the 34 page pdf. entitled CIVILIAN INMATE LABOR PROGRAM."

'Voice your appreciation for those in quarantine.' --Heads up! This is how the US government might bail out the bailouts. By Lori Price 09 Mar 2009 'Be prepared to be quarantined for months at a time.When you're talking to people, voice your appreciation for those in quarantine. Talk about how they're hometown heroes and doing what they need to be doing in order to protect the community... ' --P.J. Havice-Cover, a mental health professional and program coordinator, State of Colorado - Scientists say pandemic is certain --Expert panel tells emergency managers it's just a matter of when the avian flu will spark a pandemic. By Stephanie Backus 07 Mar 2009 Many scientists are now sure that a version of H5N1, or the avian flu, will cause a pandemic in the future. While speaking to health officials at the National Emergency Management Summit Thursday, several experts said the issue was no longer an "if" issue, it was now "when." -- Paragraph quoted from CLG

Change We Can Believe In: How About the End of Farmers Markets? Say Hello to H.R. 875: Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 -- Obama™ Update -- A quote...."What this will do is force anyone who produces food of any kind, and then transports it to a different location for sale, to register with a new federal agency called the “Food Safety Administration.” Even growers who only sell only fruit and/or vegetables at farmers markets would not only have to register, but they would be subject inspections by federal agents of their property and all records related to food production. The frequency of these inspections will be determined by the whim of the Food Safety Administration. Mandatory “safety” records would have to be kept. Anyone who fails to register and comply with all of this nonsense could be facing a fine of up to $1,000,000 per violation."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

MIDEAST:  Israeli Settlers Terrorise Palestinian Villagers
Must Read - A quote...."AT TUWANI, West Bank, Mar 9 (IPS) - "I couldn't run. My pregnancy was too far advanced and there was nowhere to hide," said Amna Salman Rabaye, 31, as she recalled the terrifying incident several months ago."

“Two States” - Sanctimonious Hypocrisy
A quote...."March 09, 2009 "Information Clearing House" -- -THIS WEEK I had a nostalgic experience. I met a parliamentary delegation from one of the European countries. What turned this meeting into a special occasion for me was its location."

Five arrested as Israeli forces cut down olive trees in Rastira
A quote...."Palestinian farmer has heart attack while Israeli forces cut down his olive trees. Three international and two Israeli activists arrested from demonstration."

Gaza Or Bust
A quote...."March 09, 2009 "Information Clearing House" -- The last 24 hours have probably been the blackest since the Viva Palestina convoy set off from London. -- Yesterday the convoy members became the target of an orchestrated wave of violence first started by Egyptian police and then culminating in vicious attacks by unknown thugs. -- The end result was a number of peace activists whose only aim is to take humanitarian aid into war torn Gaza were treated in hospital for head injuries."

'Viva Palestina' breaks Gaza siege
A quote...."Despite efforts to prevent 'Viva Palestina' from breaking a long-term blocked on the Gaza Strip the aid convoy has entered the costal sliver."

Wadi Rasha 8 Mar 09 - Daylight Theft of Land and Kidnapping of Solidarity Activists
Video - A quote....""5 people, 2 Israelis and 3 internationals, were arrested today in wadi rasha.
several olive trees were uprooted"

If Palestine elections today, Hamas would beat Abbas: Survey
A quote...."Hamas's popularity among Palestinians has risen sharply since a three-week Israeli war in January hit the Gaza Strip, an opinion poll showed."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Debt Relief and Regulation
Must Read - A quote...."There’s a growing sense of frustration, even panic, over Mr. Obama’s failure to match his words with deeds. The reality is that when it comes to dealing with the banks, the Obama administration is dithering. Policy is stuck in a holding pattern.... -- Why do officials keep offering plans that nobody else finds credible? Because somehow, top officials in the Obama administration and at the Federal Reserve have convinced themselves that troubled assets ... are really worth much more than anyone is actually willing to pay for them — and that if these assets were properly priced, all our troubles would go away. ..." - also posted at CounterPunch -- For more on this issue see....Enforcing the Rules -- Too Little, Too Late - 02-27-09 - mpg

Part Two: The Lazy Man’s Guide to the Economic Crisis
Must Read - A quote...."In the first installment of the Lazy Man’s Guide to the Economic Crisis, we explored how a combination of factors led us to the unprecedented economic cataclysm we are experiencing today. There are even more spokes off the wheel that the lazy man needs to understand about the economic crisis. Here in Part Two, we’ll touch on additional key aspects that many mainstream economic pundits tend to overlook."

The Truth About Blogs
A quote...."Obama is dissing economic blogs, saying they are unreliable. -- The editor of the Aurora Sentinel says that there is "very little real news on blogs". -- Time magazine asks "Does the News Industry Deserve a Bailout?", and trumpets the heroic work of mainstream newspapers...."

Tim Geithner, CNBC, and the Second Coming of Known Unknowns
A quote...."While we're rewarding the risk-taking shareholders of various zombie banks -- not to mention the mysterious, unconfirmed counterparties to AIG's serial recklessness -- how about rewarding the taxpayers, if not with an actual return on our bailout investment then at least with information about what exactly is being done with our money? It's time to call in all the unknowns. -- Instead, we're greeted with a wall of manufactured complexity by the people whose job it is to make known unknowns into known knowns. There is nothing complex about the way CEOs like John Thain, Ed Liddy, Lloyd Blankfein, John Mack, Vikram Pandit, and Ken Lewis turned bailout billions into Wall Street bonus money -- and no justification for keeping taxpayers in the dark about the giveaways (Vanity Fair's Michael Shnayerson breaks down the jaw-dropping and blood-boiling numbers)."

Wall Street’s $18.4 Billion Bonus
A quote...."After getting $125 billion in taxpayer bailouts, the top officers at Citigroup, Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, and three other banks agreed to forgo their 2008 bonuses. Now they’re awarding billions to their troops. Can government “claw back” that money?" -- For more on this issue see....Having Fun With Your Tax Dollars

World Bank: Economy worst since Depression
A quote...."World Bank says global economy to shrink for first time since World War II, dragged down by sharp decline in industry, trade."

China Consumer Prices Fall for First Time Since 2002 (Update2) - a.k.a. Deflation. - mpg
A quote...."March 10 (Bloomberg) -- China’s consumer prices fell for the first time since 2002 as food, clothing and fuel costs declined, threatening growth in the world’s third-largest economy. -- Consumer prices dropped 1.6 percent in February from a year earlier, when they reached an 11-year high, the statistics bureau said today. The median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of 10 economists was for a 1 percent decline. Producer prices fell 4.5 percent, the most in a decade." - bold by website editor

The Dollar is Living on Borrowed Time, No Pun Intended
A quote...."Strapped for funds because of huge debts incurred by spending for World War I, the Weimar Republic experienced a deflationary collapse in the early 1920s.  As the German government printed new money to stimulate the economy, the mark actually appreciated against other foreign currencies for a while.  However, as additional debt mounted and the economy refused to improve, the German people lost faith in their currency and began spending billions of hoarded marks in the marketplace making for one of the most severe episodes of hyperinflation in modern economic history.  Sound familiar?"

Global Financial Assets Lost $50 Trillion Last Year, ADB Says
A quote...."March 9 (Bloomberg) -- The value of global financial assets including stocks, bonds and currencies probably fell by more than $50 trillion in 2008, equivalent to a year of world gross domestic product, according to an Asian Development Bank report." -- also posted at BLN

Civil Unrest in America?
A quote...."The full magnitude of the financial tsunami is clearly reflected in a piece written by Barry Ritholtz, who states that the bailout plan promoted by former US Secretary of the Treasury Henry "Hank" Paulson amounts to a sum of money that is superior to the Louisiana Purchase, the New Deal, the Marshall Plan, the Apollo Lunar Project, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the invasion of Iraq and other large government expenditures - combined (!). This illustrates that America's top policymakers (both Democratic and Republican) hold serious concerns about the health of the American financial system and the American economy."

"Tent City" Rapidly Growing in Sacramento, CA
A quote...."SACRAMENTO (CBS13) ―Sacramento's homeless rate is rising fast. With more foreclosures, jobs lost and full shelters, all you have to do is walk downtown or cruise the American River and you'll meet people who are homeless for the first time. -- The sea of tents along the American River is hard to miss, and their number is growing."

British same-store retail sales fall [1.8%] in February: BRC
A quote...."These are disappointing figures. It's now clear we were right to fear January's surprise year-on-year sales rise was just a discount-driven blip," said Stephen Robertson, the BRC's director general. "The short burst of spending unleashed by January clearances has largely vanished, replaced by sales as weak as most of last year."

Iceland nationalises Straumur-Burdaras
A quote...."The global financial crisis claimed a clean sweep of Iceland’s largest banks on Monday after Straumur-Burdaras, the last of the four biggest banks in the country to remain independent, succumbed to mounting pressure and was nationalised."

Sunday March 8th 2009

No posts. - mpg

Saturday March 7th 2009

The U.S. Financial System Is Effectively Insolvent
Must Read - Financial Warning - A quote...."By Nouriel Roubini - [a.k.a. Dr. Doom] -- There is, in fact, a rising risk of a global L-shaped depression that would be even worse than the current, painful U-shaped global recession. Here's why: -- First, note that most indicators suggest that the second derivative of economic activity is still sharply negative in Europe and Japan and close to negative in the U.S. and China. Some signals that the second derivative was turning positive for the U.S. and China turned out to be fake starts. For the U.S., the Empire State and Philly Fed indexes of manufacturing are still in free fall; initial claims for unemployment benefits are up to scary levels, suggesting accelerating job losses; and January's sales increase is a fluke--more of a rebound from a very depressed December, after aggressive post-holiday sales, than a sustainable recovery." -- also posted at ICH

Regression is not progress
Must Read - A quote...."Further problems are being created by the proposed solutions to an economic crisis more serious than the Great Depression. As in the 1930s, government employees of great wealth are attempting to bail out the failing system at public expense, thereby making things worse and avoiding what is for the good of humanity. -- Capitalism has achieved massive private profits for a minority only by generating staggering loss for a majority burdened with unpayable debt. Perpetuation of this system could lead to total disaster...." -- also posted at ICH

AIG: Billions Dished Out in the Dark
Must Read - A quote...."This is crazy! Forget the bleating of Rush Limbaugh; the problem is not with the quite reasonable and, if anything, underfunded stimulus package, which in any case will be debated long and hard in Congress. The problem is with what is not being debated: the far more expensive Wall Street bailout that is being pushed through--as in the case of the latest AIG rescue--in secret, hurried deal-making primarily by the unelected secretary of the treasury and the chairman of the Federal Reserve." -- also posted at ICH

"Outlaw the Shadow Banking System!" - Guess Who Said It?
A quote...."It is clear something is definitely amiss within the ruling elites and President Obama has thrown the gauntlet to his adversaries. The skeptics may say that we should not read too much into this above quoted paragraph, as it could be mere spin to rally the troops in times of crisis. Time will tell. -- I take the view that it is inevitable that the members of the ruling elites would go for each other’s throats because those who were given the charge to ensure that the money-machine keeps running have screwed up big time. Someone must answer for the fiasco."

CNBC Gives Financial Advice
Must View Video - Jon Stewart takes on Rick Santelli, along with the ENTIRE financial industry. - mpg -- For more on this issue see....Enforcing the Rules -- Too Little, Too Late - 02-27-09 - mpg

America loses 23,000 jobs every day and output suffers biggest slump in 25 years
A quote...."American businesses were forced to shed more than 23,000 jobs every day last month as recession tightened its grip on the economy, pushing the unemployment rate to a 25-year high." -- "Job losses in January were revised sharply [higher] to 655,000 from 598,000, while revised estimates for unemployment in December showed that 681,000 workers were laid off, the worst month on record since October 1949." - bold by website editor -- also posted at ICH

Continuing Job Losses May Signal Broad Economic Shift
A quote...."The acceleration has convinced some economists that, far from an ordinary downturn after which jobs will return, the contraction under way reflects a fundamental restructuring of the American economy. In crucial industries - particularly manufacturing, financial services and retail - many companies have opted to abandon whole areas of business."

'Run on UK' sees foreign investors pull $1 trillion out of the City
Financial Alert -- A quote...."A silent $1 trillion "Run on Britain" by foreign investors was revealed yesterday in the latest statistical releases from the Bank of England. The external liabilities of banks operating in the UK – that is monies held in the UK on behalf of foreign investors – fell by $1 trillion (£700bn) between the spring and the end of 2008, representing a huge loss of funds and of confidence in the City of London."

Merrill Lynch probes $400m trader loss
A quote...."A Merrill Lynch currency trader has been suspended after racking up more than $400m in undisclosed losses in recent months, raising further questions about the financial health of the investment bank bought by Bank of America last September." -- What they call "petty cash" nowadays. - mpg

FDIC warns US bank deposit insurance fund may tank
A quote...."WASHINGTON (AFP) — The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is warning banks that its deposit insurance fund could dry up this year amid rising bank failures although the deposits would remain fully backed by the government."

This Is What A Financial Collapse Looks Like - Argentina's Economic Collapse
Videos - A quote...."Documentary on the events that led to the economic collapse of Argentina in 2001 which wiped out the middle class and raised the level of poverty to 57.5%. Central to the collapse was the implementation of neo-liberal policies which enabled the swindle of billions of dollars by foreign banks and corporations."

Our Hidden Insurgents
A quote...."The fact that Moodys or Standard and Poors can dictate social policy for a government is not easy to digest. It's pretty ridiculous that Canadian politicians must listen to what Moodys might say about their governance and abide by the credit raters directives. -- It is similar to the IMF/World Banks power over developing countries where they demand privatization of vital necessities such as water."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

LaVena Johnson: Raped and Murdered on a Military Base in Iraq
Special Note - (for the horror) - Items like this are rarely posted.  But this is a special case.  If the US Army is willing to cover-up something likeTHIS, something so obvious, something that was done to ONE OF THEIR OWN, does ANYONE out there actually believe, even for a second, that they have told the truth about ANY of the horrific things they've done to the people in the countries they're currently occupying? - mpg --  A quote...."Have you heard the story about LaVena Johnson? -- LaVena Johnson, a high school honor student, decided to enlist in the Army to pay for college. On July 19, 2005, after serving eight weeks in Iraq, she was killed, eight days short of her 20th birthday." --  For more on this sort of issue see....Sen. Whitehouse Prepares the Nation for Torture Horrors - contains video

Why Did So Few Americans Give a Damn?
A quote...."The documents currently being released by the Justice Department that demonstrate the Bush administration’s view of the president’s constitutional power in a “state of war” tell us things we suspected but didn’t want to know. -- The first seven of these official memorandums issued last week dealt with claimed presidential powers to unilaterally abrogate international treaties; suspend constitutional guarantees of freedom of speech and press; and order warrant-less searches, wiretaps and seizures of documents and indefinite imprisonment inside the U.S. without trial or criminal charges. The memorandums claimed that Congress has no overriding authority in these matters." -- also posted at ICH

Taliban Truce and the Coming Storm in South Asia
A quote...."With growing instability and political turmoil inside Afghanistan and Pakistan, due in no small measure to American efforts on both sides of the "Afpak" divide to "stabilize" the region for multinational energy companies, this spring will see the rise of combat operations inside both countries. -- Pakistan is already feeling the heat generated by the imperialist Dracula and the jihadi Frankenstein."

Pakistan militants shoot down drone: officials
They claim to have shot it down with ground fire.  However If popular, civilian supported tribal or insurgent groups in the Middle East ever acquire effective anti-aircraft and/or anti-armor missiles, the US-NRE along with NATO will immediately cease and desist all Neo-Colonization operations in that entire region and de-camp forthwith. - mpg -- A quote...."MIRANSHAH, Pakistan (AFP) – Taliban militants on Saturday shot down a suspected drone aircraft in a Pakistani tribal area bordering Afghanistan, officials said. - Residents and a local police official said two drones were flying low over a village in the South Waziristan tribal district when one of them was hit by militant fire."

Iran deploys 10,000 soldiers on Pak-Iran border
A quote...."GAWADAR: Iran deployed Ten-Thousand reserve commandoes carrying sophisticated weapons and armed vehicles along the 300km Pak- Iran border to patrol the borders adjacent to Jeweni round the clock." -- For more on this issue see....US Support of Terror - MEK - PKK - Others

China, Russia should strengthen cooperation - Chinese FM
A quote...."BEIJING, March 7 (RIA Novosti) - China and Russia should strengthen cooperation to ensure stability and multi-polarity in the world, the Chinese foreign minister said Saturday." -- also posted at WarInIraq

Russian renews threats despite 'reset'
A quote...."Russia has again warned the US against posing risks to its 'strategic interests' by deploying anti-missile elements in Eastern Europe."

Sukhoi SuperJet 100 ready for delivery this year
A quote...."The first Sukhoi SuperJet 100 regional airliner will be delivered to Russia’s Aeroflot by December 2009, with the company already having orders for 98 of the aircraft."

Africom's Covert War in Sudan...
A quote...."I recently received a phone call from an Australian man who identified himself as an investigator for the prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC) at the Hague, Netherlands. The investigator and his colleague had read my story, “Merchant’s of Death: Exposing Corporate Financed Holocaust in Africa,” and they wanted my cooperation to provide more detailed evidence about the warlords behind the massacres at Bogoro, Congo, described briefly in my story."

Hell Hath No Fury Like an Imperialist Scorned
Must Read - A quote...."March 05, 2009 "Information Clearing House" --- Hugo Chávez's greatest sin is that he has shown disrespect for the American Empire. Or as they would say in America's inner cities — He's dissed the Man. Such behavior of course cannot go unpunished lest it give other national leaders the wrong idea. Over the years, the United States has gotten along just fine with brutal dictators, mass murderers, torturers, and leaders who did nothing to relieve the poverty of their population — Augusto Pinochet, Pol Pot, the Greek Junta, Ferdinand Marcos, Suharto, Duvalier, Mobutu, the Brazil Junta, Somoza, Saddam Hussein, South African apartheid leaders, Portuguese fascists, etc., etc., terrible guys all, all seriously supported by Washington at one time or another; for none made it a regular habit, if ever, to diss the Man."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Revealed: [British] police databank on thousands of protesters
Video - A quote...."Police are targeting thousands of political campaigners in surveillance operations and storing their details on a database for at least seven years, an investigation by the Guardian can reveal.-- Photographs, names and video ­footage of people attending protests are ­routinely obtained by surveillance units and stored on an "intelligence system". "

Bush detainee policy loses key legal basis after Supreme Court decision
Obama™ Update -- A quote...."While opponents of former President Bush may find some cause to rejoice at the news, the Obama administration's "moot" argument effectively prevented the court from directly taking up the constitutional issue of Bush's detention policies. Salon writer Glenn Greenwald called the [Obama] administration's course of action "a virtual repeat of what the U.S. Government did in the Jose Padilla case." - bold by website editor

Obama Seeks Dismissal of Case Against John Yoo, Author of 'Torture Memo'
Related Article -- Obama™ Update -- A quote...."In a California federal court, President Obama's Justice Department is defending former Bush official John Yoo, author of the so-called "torture memo." -- Yoo is being sued by Jose Padilla, currently serving 17 years in prison for conspiring to provide support to Islamist extremists. Padilla's lawyers say that Yoo's memos on interrogation policies led to his detention and torture."

Remembering the anthrax attack
A quote...."One of the best and smartest members in the U.S. Congress, Rep. Rush Holt, has rejected the "look to the future - not the past" Orwellian mantra, at least when it comes to the highly consequential though still unresolved anthrax attack:" -- For more on this issue see....

Congressman Holt Introduces Anthrax Comm. Legislation - Modeled After 9/11 Commission - posted 03-04-09
Anthrax investigation still yielding findings - posted 02-25-09
Sandia National Laboratories Test Exonerates Ivins - posted 02-25-09
9/11 the Sequel - Return of the Jihadi™ -- 08-23-08  - mpg.

Ex-UN prosecutor: Bush may be next up for International Criminal Court
A quote...."An ex-UN prosecutor has said that following the issuance of an arrest warrant for the president of Sudan, former US President George W. Bush could -- and should -- be next on the International Criminal Court's list." -- also posted at AfterDowningStreet
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

9/11 - From The History File...What Caused the Core of WTC 1 to Fail? - photos
The Core Structures - The Structural System of the Twin Towers - database
WTC Core Construction - photos
The 9/11 WTC Collapses:  An Audio-Video Analysis - database
The Mystery of the WTC Collapse - photos - floor plans
How Strong Is The Evidence For A Controlled Demolition? - database - photos
9-11 and the IMPOSSIBLE - World Trade Center Collapse - database
NIST Core Column Data - core column database
WTC Blueprints Leaked by Whistleblower
WTC 1 COLLAPSE - THE FIRST MOMENTS
The Achilles' Heel of the Official 9/11 Conspiracy Theory
Tower Blueprints - Surviving Evidence of the World Trade Center Attack
9-11 - Re: WTC Exterior wall plans - multiple articles
Evidence of Explosives In The Twin Tower Collapses - photos
Evidence of Thermite on Core Columns at WTC - photos
Scientific Analysis Proves Towers Brought Down By Incendiaries
Thermite and the WTC Collapses - database
Steel Facts and WTC Collapse (Part One) - video - (YuTb - 3m36s -  Feb 14, 07)
WTC Ground Zero Molten Steel (Part One) - video - (YuTb - 4m - Oct 28, 2006)
Molten Steel at WTC 1,2,7.  - video - (Google - 03:07  - Oct 15, 2006)
Roaring Bright Red-Orange 1500°F Core in WTC Ruins 6 Weeks Later - video
WTC1 and WTC2 - video - (YouTube - 7 min 51 sec - August 06, 2006)

For more on this issue see....9/11 - WTC-1&2
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Resisting the Real Rejectionists
Special Note - A quote...."17:34 03/06/2009 -- Recent developments in the aftermath of Israel's attack on Gaza have once again called into question basic definitions of words and categories used to describe and/or hide events, conditions, demands, and agendas. The preponderance of political players ought not to disguise that there is one very lopsided dominating side. Major states (and their quislings) purportedly represent the weight and gravitas of an international “consensus” regarding a “peaceful resolution” to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But the picture is different at the level of those who resist oppression and aspire to liberation, be they actively fighting or simply persisting -- by their very presence (sumoud) -- and maintaining their aspirations for liberation. From their perspective, that oppressive weight of international leaders’ “help”/diktats is illusory, unfair, and unacceptable."

Israeli forces shoot four with live ammunition at Ni’lin demonstration
A quote...."Posted on: March 7, 2009 -- On the 6th March Israeli forces attacked the weekly protest against the construction of the Apartheid Wall in the village of Ni’lin, shooting four protesters with live ammunition. Three other people were injured after being hit by tear-gas canisters."

Army shells agricultural structure in Gaza
A quote...."Sunday March 08, 2009 02:47 -- The agency said that an F-16 Israeli fighter-jet fired two missiles at the structure located in farmlands in Yaffa Street, located in Al Tuffah neighborhood north east of Gaza City. Damage to the structure and some surrounding homes and properties was reported. Rescue teams and fire-fighters rushed to the shelled area.  No injuries were reported in the shelling until the time of this report."

Gaza man witnesses soldiers executing his father
A quote...."They fired at him… then a number of soldiers approached his wounded body and fired again to make sure he was dead".

The Difference Between Lieberman, Livni and Netanyahu
Cartoon

[Help] by Osama
Cartoon

Galloway arrives in Egypt to join Gaza aid convoy
A quote...."Controversial British MP George Galloway arrived in Cairo on Saturday to join a convoy that had set out from London last month carrying relief for war-torn Gaza, an airport official said." -- also posted at WarInIraq

Alice Walker holds US liable for Gaza war
A quote...."Sun, 08 Mar 2009 06:22:34 GMT  -- Award-winning author Alice Walker says US administrations should be held accountable for Israeli aggression against the people of Gaza."

Pots of urine, feces on the walls - how IDF troops vandalized Gaza homes
A quote...."Last update - 20:04 06/03/2009 -- GAZA - We had already visited this house, belonging to the Abu Eida family. It is the only one of the family's nine large houses that remained standing at the eastern edge of the city of Jabalya following Operation Cast Lead. The demolition of the family's houses and its four cement factories spells the loss of 40 years of hard work."

Friday March 6th 2009

Top U.N. Official Accuses U.S. of Inhuman Atrocities in Iraq, Afghanistan
A quote...."March 05, 2009 "Fox News" -- - A top U.N. official accused the United States of committing inhuman "atrocities" in Iraq and Afghanistan during a speech Wednesday to the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva. -- "The aggressions against Iraq and Afghanistan and their occupations constitute atrocities that must be condemned and repudiated by all who believe in the rule of law in international relations," said U.N. General Assembly President Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann."

South Ossetia says Georgia building new firing positions near border
A quote...."Georgia's armed forces are building fortified structures near the border with South Ossetia, as well as new firing positions, the South Ossetian president said on Friday. -- "As of now, there are 35 Georgian armed checkpoints in the zone of European observers' responsibility. Overall, there are about 2,500 armed people on the Georgian side in the conflict zone," Eduard Kokoity said." -- See also....'Israel still arming Georgia' - posted 03-05-09

Call to 'Resist and Deter' Nuclear Iran Gains Key Support
Obama™ Update -- A quote...."A new report on how the United States should "resist and deter" Iran's alleged ambitions to acquire a nuclear-weapons capability by a think tank closely tied to the so-called "Israel Lobby" has been endorsed by two key officials who are expected to exercise major influence on Iran policy in the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama." -- Good ol'Bombs Away O-Bomb-a is still following the PNAC/AIPAC schedule. - mpg -- For more on this issue see the article shown below and....Fake Intel / Propaganda

Neocons Wage War on a 'Realist'
A quote...." In a normal world, people in Washington might welcome the hiring of a “realist” to oversee the production of U.S. intelligence analyses, with the hope that even if the truth doesn’t set you free, it at least might be the foundation for sound policies. - -But that is not the world in which the United States finds itself. In today’s Washington, the city’s preeminent newspaper publishes a neoconservative attack on President Barack Obama’s choice to oversee intelligence analyses because the person is a “realist.”

[US-NRE] will not follow UK on Hezbollah
Obama™ Update -- Can anyone say "a certified lackey of AIPAC"? - mpg -- A quote...."Obama's administration 'is not ready' to join Britain in contacting the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah, says the US State Department."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Protest tent against home demolition in Jerusalem
A quote...."Saturday March 07, 2009 09:12 -- Palestinian residents of Al Sahl area, in Mout Olive – Al Tour area in East Jerusalem installed a protest tent on the rubble of a home that was demolished by Israel two weeks ago."

Israel Annexing East Jerusalem, Says EU
A quote...."Sat, 2009-03-07 04:26. -- A confidential EU report accuses the Israeli government of using settlement expansion, house demolitions, discriminatory housing policies and the West Bank barrier as a way of "actively pursuing the illegal annexation" of East Jerusalem."

Palestinians Need Help, Not Charity
NO! NO! NO! Palestinians certainly don't need any more Neo-Roman, US-NRE, AIPAC/Israeli, styled "help", they've received WAY to much already.  What they need is their land back and to be left ALONE! - mpg -- A quote...."17:54 03/06/2009  -- This is a strange world. All those who stood around and stared while Israel pounded Gaza for three weeks [a.k.a. "help"] have now come together apparently to rebuild it. From UN chief Ban ki-Moon to the so-called Middle East Quartet’s so-called envoy Tony Blair to new US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, all the global movers and shakers turned up for the international donors’ conference in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt this week." -- For more on all the "help" the US-NRE, Israel, and the Saudi Royals have given Palestine see....US Sponsored Civil Wars - Palestine & Gaza Invasion of 12/27/08

Gaza homes destruction 'wanton'
A quote...."last updated at 10:55 GMT, Friday, 6 March 2009 -- Human rights investigators say Israeli forces engaged in "wanton destruction" of Palestinian homes during the recent conflict in Gaza."

Audio slideshow: Homeless in Gaza
Slide Show - A quote...."Publication date 6 March 2009. -- Raed al-Atamna's family's six houses were destroyed in the recent Gaza conflict, as well as the cars he uses to earn his living as a taxi driver."

Rising Beyond Bullets
A quote...."17:44 03/06/2009 -- There is a limit to the sea, and there is a limit to the land. To a Palestinian's life in Gaza, there is a limit that is not determined by natural death or an unfortunate accident. The harvest seasons forcibly altered, and the fishing boats from their routes blocked. Tanks and bulldozers have plucked the roots of citrus fruits and olive trees kilometers away from the northern and eastern borders of the strip, pushing the borderlines further in, and forcing the inhabitants around these areas out of their homes and into other areas within."

The United States of Israel
A quote...."It seems that one doesn’t have to wait four years to find out that Hillary Clinton is just a fraud, very much like her predecessor in the job, Condoleezza Rice."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Tangled Up in Karl: The Hidden Connections Behind the Rove-Obama Deal
Special Note - Obama™ Update -- A quote...."There has been a flutter of congratulatory noise in some quarters about the recent "compromise" brokered by the White House regarding Karl Rove's criminal refusal to heed Congressional subpoenas requiring his testimony on the Bush Administration's transformation of the Justice Department into a goon squad targeting -- and imprisoning -- political opponents. -- Whereas mere mortals can go to prison for ignoring a Congressional summons, Rove has been allowed to roam free, appearing on national television, writing for national publications, and carrying on his life's work of polluting and degrading the nation's political culture. This unelected, porcine bullsh-t-slinger is apparently so powerful that the new President [That's Obama for those who are still in denial] of the United States felt compelled to step in and negotiate the very gentle terms under which said porcine polluter would deign to appear before Congress." -- also posted at CounterPunch

Siegelman ruling and update... - Obama is now part of the cover-up in the Siegelman case. - mpg
Related Article - Obama™ Update -- A quote...."Before you read the bad news - and it is bad news - remember that none of the evidence that was uncovered after the Siegelman trial was allowed to be part of this appeal. So what we know of Karl Rove's alleged involvement and his friendship with Billy Canary and Canary's wife - the US Attorney for the Middle District of Alabama, Leura Canary - was not allowed as part of this appeal. And the Rove-Canary angle is just one example in a case surrounded by serious problems and questions."

9/11: Explaining the Project for a New American Century
-- A quote...."Under the leadership of Paul Wolfowitz, the plans were laid for the attack on New York and Washington D.C., the psychological attack on the American people, and the diversion of billions of dollars from the American people to the defense industry, under the capable leadership of Halliburton (Cheney), Bechtel, etc. The group was called the Project for a New American Century. PNAC's ideology can be found in a White Paper produced in September of 2000 entitled "Rebuilding America's Defenses: Strategy, Forces and Resources for a New Century." In it, PNAC outlines what is required of America to create the global empire they envision.
 This video describes the plan: The Planning of 9/11 - The New Pearl Harbor." -- For more on this issue see....  ||  9/11 - NORAD  ||  9/11 - WTC7  ||  9/11 - Commission  ||  Flights 9/11  ||  9/11 - Punish or Reward  ||  9/11 - WTC-1&2  ||

Truth Commission” proposal on Bush crimes reveals precarious state of US democracy
Special Note - Obama™ Update -- A quote...."The controversy generated by Senator Patrick Leahy's effort to organize a "truth commission" to probe the illegal activities carried out by the Bush administration underscores the fragility of social relations in the US and the real threat of police-state dictatorship. The Vermont Democrat, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, presided over a hearing March 4 in Washington at which a number of witnesses discussed the pros and cons of the truth commission proposal. The Obama administration has signaled its hostility to the idea. At a February 9 press conference the new president commented, "Generally speaking, I'm more interested in looking forward than I am in looking backwards." - bold by website editor --  Obama needs a lesson in history, so this website editor will repeat what's being said by tens of thousands of people every single day and MILLIONS of web bloggers.

"Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it." - But considering his actions during the first forty days of his administration, that appears to be exactly his intention. - mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

What Obama Must Do To Have Any Hope of Fixing the Economy  - Resign?? - mpg
A quote...."Geithner will never be willing to face the facts. Bernanke will never change his discredited Milton Friedmanite perspective. Similarly, Larry Summers, the head of Obama's council of economic advisors - the most powerful economic advisor on Obama's team - will never change his ways. -- They are too wedded to an overly-leveraged, highly-securitized, derivatives-based, bubble-blown financial system. They are too entrenched in outdated economic theories."

Bank of England Ignites Quantitative Inflation - They hope. The jury is still out on if it will happen. - mpg
A quote...."The government and Bank of England talking heads call it a powerful tool to kick start the british economy. However this is in effect the LAST RESORT, something that has not been undertaken during the 300+ years of the Bank of England because it is akin to detonating a nuclear bomb without worrying about the fallout. As mentioned earlier the £75 billion will eventually result in an increase in the amount of credit in the economy of some £750 billion."

UK to take majority stake in Lloyds - It never ends. - mpg
A quote...."The British government has reportedly struck a deal that will increase its stake in Lloyds Banking Group to around 60 percent. Under the agreement, which is expected to be confirmed on Saturday, the government will insure some 260 billion pounds ($366 billion) of toxic assets, the BBC has reported." - bold by website editor

AIG “Was Going to Bring Down Europe”: Lawmaker - It already has. - mpg
A quote...."One of the reasons we had to rescue AIG was the fact that it was going to bring down Europe,” Pennsylvania Rep. Paul Kanjorski told reporters after his subcommittee held a hearing on systemic risk." -- Than the question would be, why are the Europeans letting their banks buy all that crap US-NRE paper and allowing their banking system to be destroyed? -- For more on this issue see....Debt Doesn't Matter When the Rubes Pay 02-29-08 - mpg

Commentary: There's been a change in newsletters' long-term rankings - And the winner is.....Cash!! - mpg
Must Read - (For the sheer surprise) - Market Tech Note -- A quote...."February's results are now in, and there has been a shift at the top of the rankings. In first place for risk-adjusted performance is now Growth Stock Outlook, edited by Charles Allmon." -- "Allmon has been almost completely out of stocks for more than 20 years. It was in late 1986, in fact, that he became convinced that stocks were becoming overpriced, a belief that in turn led him to sell almost all of the stocks in his newsletter model portfolio and put the proceeds in cash." -- "One virtue of our continued tracking is that it provides an ongoing scoreboard for the notion that slow and steady really can win the race. The Dow was below 2,000 when Allmon built up his high cash position. Given the strength of the ensuing bull market, his overabundance of caution would seemingly have buried him in a hole so deep he could never emerge." -- Which means anybody who put almost all their capital into cash a few years after 1986, is even more ahead, now that's truly funny, and to be quite honest....shocking. - mpg

U.S. jobless rate hits 25-year high
A quote...."WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. unemployment rate rose to a 25-year high of 8.1 percent in February as employers, buckling under the strain of a severe recession, axed 651,000 jobs, government data showed on Friday."

Georgia bank closed in 17th failure of 2009
A quote...."SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Commerce, Freedom Bank of Georgia is the 17th failure of this year and 42nd of the recession."

Europe is Failing
A quote...."Europe, as you already know or suspect, is not like the United States. First of all, it is not united, even though there is a common currency to which you can get your country to subscribe, if it wants. Second, half of Europe is about 20 years old—the eastern half—having emerged from captive servitude to the USSR less than a generation ago. Young means inexperienced and poorly capitalized. So, what happened was that western European banks lent money to eastern European borrowers, and they borrowed like twenty-year-olds. Now that the eastern countries are running out of credit to spend on lifestyle and keep up with westerners, now that these immature economies are on the rocks, so are the western European banks."

Thursday March 5th 2009

Obama's War - Liberal interventionism in the age of Obama
Must Read - Obama™ Update -- A quote...."Illusions die hard. Especially the ideological kind. When the illusion of Barack Obama, the peacemaker, is finally dispelled, we are going to wake up and find ourselves waist-deep in a war that will soon threaten to dwarf the disastrous invasion of Iraq, both in human and material cost."

US Military Dominance in Mideast Proven a Costly Myth
Must Read - A quote...." The arguments for maintaining a major U.S. combat force in Iraq at least through 2011, escalating U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan and assuming a confrontational stance toward Iran appear to assume that the United States remains the dominant military power in the region. -- But the pattern of recent history and current developments in the region has not supported that assumption. Not only has the United States been unable to prevail over stubborn nationalist and sectarian forces determined to resist U.S. influence, but it has not been able to use its military supremacy to wage successful coercive diplomacy against Iran." -- also posted at CommonDreams & IPS & WarInIraq

The Vanishing Booksellers of Baghdad
Must Read - A quote...."Mutannabi Street, in Central Baghdad, has had many names. In the second Abbasid period, it was the "Paper Market." Under the Ottomans it was "Military Bakery Street." Under the British it was Hassan Pasha Street. The current name dates from 1932, when the Ministry of the Interior renamed much of the city. In all its guises, the street has been famous for booksellers, and much beloved. Informally, it is often called the "artery of Baghdad." On March 5, 2007, it was largely destroyed by a car bomb." -- For more on this issue see....The Method - 05-07-07 - mpg

Suffering Post-Traumatic Stress for Having Killed Them In Their Own Home Country
Must Read - A quote...."Hi brother and sister veterans and friends! There is a new free treatment for veterans suffering Post Traumatic Stress, who have children. If the Veterans Hospitals could cure the mental problems of their post-combat soldiers, returned from having engaged in immoral actions in defenseless populations, their children would certainly benefit."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Tomgram: Karen Greenberg, The Missing Prison - a.k.a. "The Obama Prison", heck, he owns it now. - mpg
Obama™ Update -- A quote...."Today is a good moment to give some thought to one of the worst remaining legacies of the Bush era, the prison where that administration's grotesque offshore detention policies -- the beatings, the torture, the works -- were first put into play, the prison that has yet to go away." - bold by website editor - also posted at AfterDowningStreet

Actually good ol'Obama's gonna expand it! Not to mention already stating in court that anyone sent there has no rights whatsoever. Just thought all you Obamatrolls out there would like to know.

Think of it this way, you're one of the many innocent prisoners kept in Guantanamo Bay Cuba without any charges being filed, any evidence presented to you or having your day in court.  You were turned over for a few thousand American dollars by someone who didn't like you or just wanted the money, and for the last five years your life has been one unmitigated hell.  Your prison guard comes over to you one day and says "good news, Obama says he's going to close down Gitmo in about a year." and then he pauses and says with a smirk, "But the bad news is you'll still be mine for that year", whereupon the guard starts to beat you because he's a sadistic thug.

After he's done beating you he says with a little cold smile...."but the really bad news is Obama's going to transfer you to Baghram" and after beating you some more he says with an even bigger smile...."and the really, really bad news is Obama says you'll have no rights there." and after beating you once again he finally says grinning from ear to ear "and the really, awful, terrible news -- for you that is -- is they're transferring me there too...." and than as he casually walks out of your cell he says with a smirk and a wink, "now don't you just love good news, don't you feel so much better now"? - mpg

For more on this issue see....The Convenient Silence of Guantanamo Bay - 05-31-08 - mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Bush next ICC target over torture?
A quote...."US ex-president George W. Bush could be the next target of the ICC after an arrest warrant for Sudan's president, a former UN prosecutor says."

See also....War Crime Shock: ICC Charges Leader With Mass Murder  - [Satire]
See also....War Crimes and Double Standards
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Who will be held to account for the torture policy of the US? - Obama says "no one". - mpg
Obama™ Update -- A quote...."So, the DCI says that "I would not support, obviously, an investigation or a prosecution of those individuals" involved in the interrogation program...They did their job, they did it pursuant to the guidance that was provided them, whether you agreed or disagreed with it."

Is It Now Okay to Talk about Hitler’s Assumption of Dictatorial Power?
A quote...."I know that it’s been considered improper to bring up Hitler in the context of what the Bush administration did for the past 7 years, but I wish someone would explain to me how Bush’s powers, as now revealed by those secret legal memos, were different from the dictatorial powers exercised by Hitler after the terrorist attack on the Reichstag in 1933, soon after Hitler became chancellor."

Leviathan’s Plan for Emergency: No Thanks!
Obama™ Update -- A quote...."While the concept of government-run, military-style detention centers is not a new idea, another and new step toward this end has recently taken place. Should we be worried and watchful? I think we all should be very worried, and that without a doubt this plan should be stopped in its tracks before it goes any further! These are the united States after all, not communist Russia or Nazi Germany of old."

Pictured: The moment two police officers assault a 15-year-old girl in a cell
A quote...."US prosecutors have released video footage of a sheriff's deputy kicking a 15-year-old girl, pulling her hair and throwing her onto a cell floor. -- The surveillance video was released in the assault case against Deputy Paul Schene, who is accused of using excessive force on the girl."

CEO of Mercenary Firm 'Blackwater' Resigns
A quote...."Erik Prince, the founder of Blackwater, has announced his resignation as the company’s CEO. The move comes weeks after the company changed its name to Xe in an attempt to rebrand the firm. Jeremy Scahill, author of Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army, assesses the latest developments."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

'This was infected with a bird flu virus.' Viral Pandemic H5N1 flu threat: Illinois-based Baxter contaminates European labs by error 25 Feb 2009 According to the scientific network PROMED, Baxter International Inc. in Austria "unintentionally contaminated samples with the bird flu virus that were used in laboratories in 3 neighboring countries, raising concern about the potential spread of the deadly disease". As PROMED reports, the contamination has been discovered when ferrets at a laboratory in the Czech Republic died after being inoculated with vaccine made from the samples early this month. "The material came from Deerfield, Illinois-based Baxter, which reported the incident to the Austrian Ministry of Health, Sigrid Rosenberger, a ministry spokeswoman, said today in a telephone interview", the network-alert-system is quoting. "This was infected with a bird flu virus," Rosenberger said. "There were some people from the company who handled it." -- Paragraph quoted from CLG

'That mixing process, called reassortment, is one of two ways pandemic viruses are created.'Baxter admits sending live avian flu viruses to subcontrator --People familiar with biosecurity rules are dismayed by evidence that human H3N2 and avian H5N1 viruses somehow co-mingled [!] in the Orth-Donau facility. 27 Feb 2009 The company that released contaminated flu virus material from a plant in Austria confirmed Friday that the experimental product contained live H5N1 avian flu viruses. And an official of the World Health Organization's European operation said the body is closely monitoring the investigation into the events that took place at Baxter International's research facility in Orth-Donau, Austria. [See: Flu 'Oddities'.] -- Paragraph quoted from CLG
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

As Hillary Clinton ratchets up rhetoric against Iran - Obama-linked think tank calls for US “nuclear umbrella” in Middle East -- A quote...."US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ratcheted up bellicose US rhetoric against Iran Wednesday, accusing the country of funding "terrorism" and interfering in the internal affairs of states throughout the Middle East. Her statements coincided with the release of a report by a Washington think tank with ties to the Obama administration suggesting that the US should establish a "nuclear umbrella" over the region."

Kyrgyzstan: No U-turn on US base closure
A quote...."Kyrgyzstan rejects reports of plans for more talks over its decision to shut down a vital US airbase that backs operations in Afghanistan."

China readies military space station – launch coincides with shuttle phaseout
A quote...."China is aggressively accelerating the pace of its manned space program by developing a 17,000 lb. man-tended military space laboratory planned for launch by late 2010. The mission will coincide with a halt in U.S. manned flight with phase-out of the shuttle." -- also posted at BLN

WRAPUP 2-China restates growth goal, silent on extra stimulus
A quote...."BEIJING, March 5 (Reuters) - Premier Wen Jiabao said China would ramp up its budget deficit to hit the government's coveted 8 percent growth target but did not make the announcement markets had craved of an increase in its 4 trillion yuan ($585 billion) economic stimulus plan."
    
China on buying and lending spree
Special Note - A quote...."MONTREAL - The agreement announced late last month between Russia and China for construction of a pipeline branch to China from the East Siberia-Pacific Ocean (ESPO) oil pipeline is only one aspect of a relatively new strategic policy direction from Beijing to acquire foreign assets during the ongoing global economic downturn."

Putin: Russia could cut gas to Ukraine on Saturday
A quote...."Prime Minister Vladimir Putin warned that Russia would cut natural gas to Ukraine if it wasn't paid by Saturday, a threat that revived worries about supply cuts to Europe."

War Comes Home to Britain By John Pilger
A quote...."Freedom is being lost in Britain. The land of Magna Carta is now the land of secret gagging orders, secret trials and imprisonment. The government will soon know about every phone call, every e-mail, every text message. Police can willfully shoot to death an innocent man, lie and expect to get away with it. Whole communities now fear the state. The foreign secretary routinely covers up allegations of torture; the justice secretary routinely prevents the release of critical cabinet minutes taken when Iraq was illegally invaded. The litany is cursory; there is much more."

'Israel still arming Georgia'
A quote...."South Ossetian President Eduard Kokoity says Georgia has started to boost its military might, importing weapons from Israel and France." - also posted at WarInIraq -- For more on this sort of issue see....American Selective Attention Deficit Disorder (ASADD) - 08-16-08 - mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Obama and Israel's Military: Still Arm-in-Arm
Must Read - Obama™ Update -- A quote...."In the wake of Israel's massive assault on heavily populated civilian areas of the Gaza Strip earlier this year, Amnesty International called for the United States to suspend military aid to Israel on human rights grounds. Amnesty has also called for the United Nations to impose a mandatory arms embargo on both Hamas and the Israeli government. Unfortunately, it appears that President Barack Obama won't be heeding Amnesty's call." - also posted at CommonDreams - For more on this issue see....No Leadership From Obama. - Oh Contraire! - 12-28-08 - mpg & Gaza Invasion of 12/27/08

The Ultimate Earmark - U.S. Military Aid to Israel
A quote...."March 5 , 2009 -- In these days of economic crisis, budget overruns, earmarks, and multi-billion dollar bailouts, when Americans are being forced to tighten their own belts, one of the most automatic earmarks—a bailout by any measure—goes to a foreign government but is little understood by most Americans.  U.S. military aid to Israel is doled out in annual increments of billions of dollars but remains virtually unchallenged while other fiscal outlays are drastically cut."

Did Clinton sabotage a Palestinian reconciliation?
Obama™ Update -- A quote...."4 March 2009 -- Still reeling from the Israeli massacres in the occupied Gaza Strip, Palestinians have lately had little to celebrate. So the strong start to intra-Palestinian reconciliation talks in Cairo last week provided a glimmer of hope." -- also posted at CounterCurrents

One More Farcical Tour of the Middle East by a Secretary of State - This Time It's Mrs. Clinton's Turn
A quote...."March 5 , 2009 -- It was almost dreamlike, watching Secretary of State Clinton make her visit to Israel, one that can be called the first of many trips pretending to encourage peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.  It’s a dream I’ve had several times over; one needs only to simply fill in the names of the various U.S. Secretaries of State, say that they’ve met with the Israeli leadership and with Mahmoud Abbas, (who is about as popular with the Palestinians as Rush Limbaugh is with Democrats), and that no progress was made."

On a low simmer "Bomb, bomb, bomb Gaza" [and Iran] is the extent of Israeli strategic thinking these days
A quote...."March 5, 2009 -- The hopes of Zareb and his neighbours for calm following the declaration of a ceasefire and an end to the war were dashed at the end of last week when the Israeli government announced that it cannot agree to the Egyptian truce proposal that Hamas has agreed to. Many Palestinian families who live in the Egyptian border area have begun to search for other apartments to rent since it has become difficult for them to remain in their homes. "

Iqbal Tamimi - Palestinian Women are Israel's Demographic Nightmare
A quote...." Mar 5th, 2009 at 11:30 -- No condolences to apartheid Israel….yes, it has killed 1,300 Palestinians in Gaza because its fears are of a demographic nature, its army never cared what age or gender it killed, Israel’s machine was harvesting Palestinians of all ages and sizes…young and old, disabled and healthy, pregnant women and young girls, the ones resisting the occupation and the ones who are still too young to understand such expressions….. Israel’s nightmare is of a demographic scale, it is frightened to be outnumbered…so the answer was to starve people to death, stop them from receiving medication so that they would die of ‘natural causes’ then bar the media from investigating that and then knit a freshly made lie to suit its new tailored fib. Israel’s actions mean there was a terrorist in every cradle, there were tunnels turning bread to arms."

PCHR Weekly Report: Three Palestinians killed, including a child; 9 injured by Israeli forces
A quote...."Friday March 06, 2009 05:45 -- According to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, during the week of 26 Feb. - 04 Mar. 2009, one Palestinian child was killed. In addition, one Palestinian resistance fighter was killed by Israeli forces.  A Palestinian civilian died of injuries sustained during the latest Israeli forces offensive on the Gaza Strip.  Israeli troops injured 9 Palestinians, including 5 children and a journalist, in the West Bank and Gaza Strip."

The PNI is outraged regarding the current Israeli campaign of ethnic cleansing carried out in East Jerusalem
A quote...."4 March 2009 -- Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi, the Secretary General of the Palestinian National Initiative, expressed outrage at the recent Israeli announcements to demolish 55 more Palestinian homes in and around East Jerusalem."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Hammer Hank - Commentary: Greenberg's AIG lawsuit is a travesty
Special Note - This one has to be saved, it's truly, utterly, hilarious. - mpg -- A quote...."NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Maurice "Hank" Greenberg always seemed to have a big chip on his shoulder. -- Looks as if it's still there. In the believe-it-or-not category, Greenberg is suing the company he built, American International Group Inc. (AIG: American International Group Inc AIG 0.35, -0.08, -18.6%) because he lost money in its implosion. Imagine the precedent if he wins: All scoundrels could sue their victims. Bernie Madoff could sue his clients."

There's an old apocryphal fable that's told as an example of chutzpa or hubris or sheer arrogance, a fable about a person who after murdering both his parents, promptly throws himself on the mercy of the court due to the fact he's now made himself an orphan.  Greenberg takes this fable one step further....the person's now going to sue his parents' estates because his parents are no longer able to take care of him or offer any further financial support.  Only in a place like Wall Street would you see a case like this being brought to trial. - mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Recession and Recovery - Six Fundamental Errors of the Current Orthodoxy
Must Read - A quote...."As the recession has deepened and the financial debacle has passed from one flare-up to another during the past seven or eight months, commentary on the economy's troubles has swelled tremendously. Pundits have pontificated; journalists and editors have reported and opined; talk-radio jocks have huffed and puffed; public officials have spewed out even more double-talk than usual; awkward academic experts, caught in the camera's glare like deer in the headlights, have blinked and stumbled through their brief stints as talking heads on TV. We've been deluged by an enormous outpouring of diagnosis, prognosis, and prescription, at least ninety-five percent of which has been appallingly bad."

The Big Lie Of Recession Politics: 'Shared Sacrifice'
Must Read - A quote...."It’s everywhere you look and in every speech you listen to. Every time a politician or businessmen talks about the recession, an almost in-synch, repetitive mantra can be heard: “Shared sacrifice, equality of sacrifice, hard choices.” Oh my. -- There must be something to it, since EVERYBODY seems to be regurgitating the phrase in harmony. Even union bureaucrats have caught the shared sacrifice fever, using it to subdue their members in contract negotiations."

Karl Marx, The Prophet by ~Latuff2
Cartoon - Click on the image to make it larger. - mpg

How tinkering with inflation measurements may have led to the current financial crisis
Special Note - A quote...."Last February 20, the U.S. Department Of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that, on a seasonally adjusted basis, the U. S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased by 0.3 percent during the month of January. Some independent economists, however, think that the real inflation rate is much higher, possibly as high as 7.52 percent. Why is that so?"

The $700 trillion elephant
Special Note - It's probably more than that, estimates range between 1.3 to 1.5 Quadrillion, but the $700 trillion figure is from the BIS. - mpg -- A quote...."SANTA MONICA, Calif. (MarketWatch) -- There's a $700 trillion elephant in the room and it's time we found out how much it really weighs on the economy." --  For more regarding this issue see....Enforcing the Rules -- Too Little, Too Late - 02-27-09 - mpg

Josh Asks Why Geithner Doesn't Tell
Pssssst....one of the BIG beneficiaries is Goldman Sachs, just go ask Paulson. - mpg -- A quote...."Josh Marshall wants to know why Secretary Geithner can not tell us who the beneficiaries of the AIG bailout are. -- We are now several month into this and some people still do not 'get it'. I'll try to give a slow but simple answer to Josh's question."

Bill Seeks to Let FDIC Borrow up to $500 Billion
Financial Alert - A quote...."WASHINGTON -- Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd is moving to allow the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to temporarily borrow as much as $500 billion from the Treasury Department."

Off the scales
Financial Alert - A quote...."Bloomberg's Mark Pittman and Bob Ivrya reported last Tuesday: " ... the US government has pledged more than US$11.6 trillion on behalf of American taxpayers over the past 19 months, according to data compiled by Bloomberg." - bold by website editor -- That might have gone up by another $500 Billion, see article shown above. - mpg

Bailout Money - Instead of Being Used to Stabilize the Economy or Even the Bailed-Out Companies - is Just Going to Line the Pockets of the Wealthy -- A quote...."The bailout money is just going to line the pocket of the wealthy, instead of helping to stabilize the economy or even the companies receiving the bailouts...." - also posted at OpEdNews -- For more on this issue see....Having Fun With Your Tax Dollars

Worst job losses [in nominal numbers] in 60 years expected
A quote...."WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Based on the old rule of thumb that a recession is when you lose your job and a depression is when I lose mine, 650,000 families fell into a depression in February, according to the latest forecasts." -- Bare in mind that the statistics are currently correlating with those of the Great Depression, which means we should be seeing much larger job losses in nominal numbers to match the same percentages as occurred during that downturn. So cheer up, if losses for Feb. are only 600k or even 800k, that's good news.  Of course it's just the beginning, if current trends continue this website editor fully expects to see a million jobs lost in some future month, or even for several months, before this downturn is finally over. - mpg

GM and Chrysler to shed 50,000 jobs
Just keep in mind folks, trillions of dollars (soon to be tens of trillions) for the Banksters, and so far only a little over seventeen billion  for the entire auto industry. Take a guess who counts more in the new "Obama™ Change™" administration, the three million of you, or the three thousand of them? Get the picture?- mpg -- A quote...."US car giants General Motors and Chrysler have unveiled plans to axe 50,000 jobs and seek almost $20bn in additional bailout funds, on top of the $17.4bn they have already borrowed."

GM: 'Substantial doubt' about survival
A quote...."NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- General Motors Corp. said in a government filing Thursday that its accounting firm has found there is "substantial doubt" about the automaker's ability to survive."

One in 8 U.S. Households Late Paying or in Foreclosure
A quote...."NEW YORK - About one in eight U.S. households, a record share, ended 2008 behind on their mortgage payments or in the foreclosure process as job losses intensified a housing crisis spawned by lax lending practices, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Thursday."

In past 2 years, 87 million in U.S. went uninsured
A quote...."WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A third of Americans under age 65 -- 86.7 million people -- went without health insurance at some point during the past two years, according to a report released Wednesday."

Food stamp enrollment jumps to record 31.8 million
A quote...."WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A record 31.8 million Americans received food stamps at the latest count, an increase of 700,000 people in one month with the United States in recession, government figures showed on Thursday."

Europe’s banks face a $2 trillion dollar shortage
Special Note - A quote...."European banks face a US dollar “funding gap” of almost $2 trillion as a result of aggressive expansion around the world and may have difficulties rolling over debts, according to a report by the Bank for International Settlements." - also posted at BLN -- Well, that would explain why the dollar is going up while the US economy is going down.  By doing this, by irrevocably tying the European economy to the US-NRE's failed attempt at Empire, the European elites have guaranteed that all of the Euro-Zone , at best, enters into a massive recession, or, at worst, a great depression. – mpg

Wednesday March 4th 2009

When Securitization Blew Up; So Did the Economy
Must Read - A quote...."March 04, 2009 "Information Clearing House" - --- One thing is certain, this isn't a normal recession. In a normal recession aggregate demand declines, economic activity slows, and GDP shrinks. While those things are taking place now, the reasons are quite different. The present slump wasn't brought on by a downturn in the business cycle or a mismatch in supply and demand. It was caused by a meltdown in the credit system's central core. That's the main difference. Wall Street's credit-generating mechanism, securitization, has broken down cutting off roughly 40 percent of the credit that had been flowing into the economy. As a result, consumer demand has collapsed, inventories are growing, and manufacturing has contracted for the 13th consecutive month. The equities markets are in freefall and all the economic indicators are pointed south. The so called "shadow banking system" which provided wholesale funding for mortgages, car loans, student loans, and credit card debt, has stopped functioning entirely."

CORRUPTION-US:  How Wall Street Paid For Its Own Funeral
Must Read - A quote...."WASHINGTON, Mar 4 (IPS) - A new report says that Wall Street has only itself to blame for the misguided deregulation that led to the current deepening financial crisis. -- Issued Wednesday by Essential Information and the Consumer Education Foundation, the report documents billions of dollars spent by the financial sector on what would eventually be their own downfall." -- also posted at ICH

Wall Street's Best Investment: Paying for Policy in Washington
Must Read - A quote...."Financial deregulatory mania over the last three decades led directly to the current financial meltdown. - Were the deregulators acting out of principle? Perhaps. - But it couldn't have hurt that the financial sector invested a staggering $5.1 billion in political influence purchasing in the United States over the last decade. - The money flows are laid out in gruesome detail in "Sold Out: How Wall Street and Washington Betrayed America," a report that my colleague Jim Donahue and I wrote, along with a team of contributors from the Consumer Education Foundation and my organization, Essential Information. The report is available at: www.wallstreetwatch.org/soldoutreport.htm.

Kiss the Banks Goodbye and Refocus on Rebuilding the American People
Must Read - A quote...." The futility and stupidity of the Fed’s and the Obama administration’s policy of pumping ever more money into failing banks and insurance companies in a vain effort to get them lending again was demonstrated—if anyone was paying attention—by the collapse in auto sales this past month, with all the leading companies, Ford, GM and Toyota, reporting sales down by about 40%. -- This fall off in car buying was despite record discounting by the auto industry, and offers of 0% financing. -- Clearly, obtaining financing is not the reason people are not buying cars. -- People are not buying cars because they are worried about having a job to enable them to pay back the loan."

For more regarding the four articles shown above see....Enforcing the Rules -- Too Little, Too Late - 02-27-09 - mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Fed: Downward spiral continues
A quote...."Only drug and food sectors seem recession-proof, says Beige Book -- The Fed's latest regional survey on the economy doesn't see a significant pickup until late 2009 or early 2010, and prospects for any nearterm improvement are rated poor." - bold by website editor

U.S. private sector cuts 697,000 jobs in February
A quote...."NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. private sector job losses accelerated in February, according to a report by ADP Employer Services that suggests hefty employment declines are on the way in the government's payrolls report due on Friday." - bold by website editor

A sinking feeling - 20% of home mortgages were underwater in December: report
A quote...."CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- Twenty percent of all U.S. residential properties that had a mortgage on them were underwater at the end of December, with mortgage debt greater than what the homes were worth, according to a report released Wednesday by First American CoreLogic. -- That's more than 8.3 million mortgages that were upside down at the end of the year, compared with 7.6 million three months earlier. It's a problem that is expected to get worse as home prices continue to fall." - bold by website editor
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

"We Will Remain a Pariah in the Middle East" - (YouTube - 4 min 15 sec - March 04, 2009)
Must View Video - A quote...."Ron Paul on the house floor Wednesday 04 march 2009 -- A US puppet government protected by 50,000 American soldiers is not the road to peace."

Why is Obama leaving 50,000 troops in Iraq? - [Part I] - Alt/p1 - Part II - Alt/p2
(RN-YouTube - aprox 13 min each - March 3 2009)
Real News Videos - Obama™ Update -- A quote...."Gareth Porter says Obama's speech at Camp Lejeaune, which was supposed to explain the President's plan to end the war in Iraq is "not doing what it said it's doing." Porter says the speech creates the, "rationale for a longer term US engagement in Iraq." Responding to Obama pledging a residual force of 35,000-50,000 non-combat troops, Porter says that, "they are combat troops to a great extent... What we're really talking about is what has been referred to as a "rapid reaction force," says Porter, explaining it will consist of, "one, maybe two or more combat brigade teams."

Sunni Guerrillas at Mosul Kill a US Soldier; Kirkuk Council Member Predicts Permanent US Base in Kirkuk
A quote...."Guerrillas in the northern city of Mosul on Tuesday  subjected a US military base to a barrage of mortar fire, killing a US soldier. The guerrillas successfully targeted a mililtary counter-insurgency office intended to deal with the guerrillas. That move shows that they have infiltrated the base and have someone on the inside telling them where key offices are."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

The Obama-Medvedev turbo shuffle
Must Read - Obama™ Update -- A quote...."The President Barack Obama administration urgently needs to do a couple of things: learn to play chess; and watch the DVD of the Godfather saga, especially larger-than-life parts I and II. -- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev didn't even have to be a good chess player to figure out he was not exactly being presented by Obama with a famous "offer he can't refuse"." -- also posted at ICH

Neocontinuity: Obama Following War Plan for Iran
War Alert - Obama™ Update -- A quote...."Moon of Alabama brings the disturbing -- if unsurprising -- news that the Obama Administration appears to be closely following a "neocon strategy against Iran" devised by many of the same good folks who brought us the war in Iraq. -- Several recent policy moves -- and strategic media leaks -- by the Obama White House line up in lock-step with plans laid out by the aptly named "Bipartisan Policy Institute" to bring on a war with Iran. MoA rightly likens the BPI to our old friends at The Project for a New American Century, who openly yearned -- back in September 2000 -- for a "new Pearl Harbor" that would "catalyze" the American people into supporting their militarist agenda (which included imposing a U.S. military presence in Iraq -- whether Saddam Hussein was still in power there or not)."

Report: Israel nears attacking Iran
War Alert - A quote...."Top US politicians have reportedly said that Israel is seriously considering taking unilateral military action against Iran."

Iran: Israeli nuclear sites within missile range
War Alert - A quote...."Iran's military chief warned Israel Wednesday that its nuclear facilities are within range of Iranian missiles, the latest message from Tehran that it will strike back if attacked."

Clinton Declares Iran a Threat
War Alert - A quote...."Secretary of State Hillary Clinton lashed out at the Iranian government today, declaring them a threat to the Middle East, Europe and Russia. Clinton also claimed that “it is clear that Iran intends to interfere with the internal affairs of all of these people.”

It must clearly be understood that one of this nation's politicians currently carrying out our elites policies in Washington DC's beltway, is either a deranged psycho or lying murderer.  After having fully participated in this government's ongoing plans to support almost every single radical Jihaddist, Wahhabist, Salfist group throughout the Middle East for the last thirty years, while whole heartedly supporting various programs of invading, bombing and occupying many of the nations throughout that region, some of them twice, killing, injuring or making homeless millions of innocent Muslims, Ms Clinton turns around and declares that Iran "intends to interfere" with other countries in the Middle East.  She is a sick, twisted, morally degenerate, war mongering, depraved, diseased, disgusting, old carcass of a woman who is hell bent to continue the policies of the Neocons and AIPAC and drive this nation to utter wreck and ruin.  May she rot in hell for what she is doing. – mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

The Right to No Right in Gaza
A quote...."Can we take more massacres? Answer me! Can we?" demanded Fadi, an 18 year old student at Palestine University in Gaza. The hall was packed with students in a two-hour seminar entitled "Still Alive" organized by student committees. Many pupils consecutively took the stage and narrated the events in their own subjective way, speaking about their realities from day one, aligning their confrontations with the human slaughtering, displacement, apprehension, shelling, destruction and incomprehensible chaos."

Iran Plans War Crimes Trials for Israelis
A quote...."On the same day that the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued an arrest warrant for the president of Sudan on war crimes charges, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, opened an international conference in Tehran that will press Interpol to help Iranian prosecutors arrest 15 Israeli leaders on war crimes charges related to the recent war in Gaza." -- For more on this issue see....Gaza Invasion of 12/27/08 - under construction
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Supreme Court urged to drop enemy combatant case
Obama™ Update -- A quote...."WASHINGTON – The Obama administration on Wednesday renewed its request that the Supreme Court drop the case of a suspected al-Qaida sleeper agent and not rule on whether a president can indefinitely detain terror suspects in the United States."

Obama to Single Payer Advocates: Drop Dead - This one's for all you Obamatrolls out there. - mpg
Special Note - Obama™ Update -- A quote...."President Obama’s White House made crystal clear this week: a Canadian-style, Medicare-for-all, single payer health insurance system is off the table. -- Obama doesn’t even want to discuss it." -- Are you Obamatrolls waking up yet?  If not perhaps you should re-review AViDD "believer" Type-1 and Type-2 Syndromes - 11-04-08 - mpg

Why Israel Doesn’t Want the U.S. to Attend the World Conference on Racism
Obama™ Update -- A quote...."So I wonder why it is, that Israel pressured the Obama administration, to go even further than the Bush administration did in 2001 and boycott the World Conference on Racism altogether."

Justice Department to Reveal More Bush Administration Legal Memos
A quote...."Justice Department officials intend to release more secret legal memos that underpinned the Bush administration's approach to national security issues, responding to pressure from Democratic lawmakers and interest groups that have sued for access to the sensitive materials, sources said yesterday."

Report: Diebold Voting System Has 'Delete' Button for Erasing Audit Logs
A quote...."It's unclear how many previous versions of the software had the button, or why it was included in the first place." -- Wow! That is just soooo confusing!  Just why would they want to erase audit logs?  Gee, that's a real stumper. - mpg -- also posted at BLN

Congressman Holt Introduces Anthrax Commission Legislation - Modeled After 9/11 Commission
A quote...."Congressman Holt wants an anthrax investigation modeled on the 9/11 Commission. Senators Leahy and White house want a torture investigation modeled on the 9/11 Commission. But - according to the 9/11 Commission itself - the whole thing was a joke:...."  ---  "Are we going to fall for yet another whitewash?" -- Yep! - mpg -- For more on this issue see....9/11 - Commission

========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

030409-031009 - links page

========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====