Tuesday April 8th 2008

Losing the War for Reality
A quote..."When future historians look back at the sharp decline of the United States in the early 21st Century, they might identify the Achilles heel of this seemingly omnipotent nation as its lost ability to recognize reality and to fashion policies to face the real world." -- It's called TV....stop watching it. - mpg

If America Declines, Don't Expect Anyone to Talk About It
A quote...."Rarely in U.S. history has a president, especially a two-term president, been so unpopular at a time when the Congress, captured in the midterm elections by the opposition, is held in no greater regard. In such a case, the norm is for the two to fight, with one side gaining the edge. But that has not been true of George W. Bush and the Democratic Congress elected by running against him in 2006."

Röpke on the Subprime Mess
A quote...."In my personal reading time, which is just a very few minutes a day, I’m reading Wilhelm Röpke’s A Humane Economy, having only become aware of his writings in the last few months. As I read, I’m having one of those Yogi Berra moments in that it feels like "déjà vu all over again." I’ll explain why in just a bit, but first let me set the stage."

Oh, What a Lovely War! So?
A quote...."So?"  --  Vice President Cheney, March 19, when asked about the American public's disapproval of the Iraq War"

Endless Enemies
A quote...." First it was the 'dead enders,' then it was al-Qaeda in Iraq, now it's the 'Special Groups' – but when will it end?" -- Never. That's why they call it the hundred years war, it's also why they keep supporting the "other side", so they can create endless numbers of "enemy/friends".  Playing both sides, or supplying both sides against the middle has ALWAYS been the most profitable method when starting and maintaining wars.  However for the first time, the US is actually fighting someone (Moqtada al-Sadr) who has never received any money or support from the US. - mpg

Activist's Memoir of the Iraq War: It Goes Back to 1990
A quote...."After five years of slaughter and destruction at the hands of the invasion led by the US and Britain (perpetrators of this "supreme international crime," as defined by the Nuremberg Principles), Amnesty International has described Iraq as in a state of "carnage and despair." In modern history, this act of near-unequalled criminality is in danger of eclipsing earlier wickednesses at the hands of these two countries."

Once again, McCain confuses Sunnis with Shiites
A quote...."John McCain isn't quite sure of himself on Iraq. -- Last month, the Arizona senator got a whisper in his ear from Sen. Joe Lieberman, after he said that Iran was providing aid to Al Qaeda in Iraq, a Sunni group. Iran, however, is actually a Shiite nation. On Fox News Sunday, McCain also got wrong the details of an Iraqi ceasefire."

This article  provides absolute proof that John McCain is going to be selected as this nation's next president, because he truly does represent the "American" people.   He truly understands, just as the "American" people do, that everyone in the Middle East is just a bunch of @#$%^&* "towel heads" so who cares what tribe, sectarian group, or nation they come from.....just bomb them all. - mpg
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"Whenever the Washington press corps goes gaga over some government functionary as being a "widely-respected" "straight-shooter" with tons of "integrity," you can be sure they're an especially odious political hack. As with Colin Powell, so with David Petraeus, and many more to come."  --  *A Tiny Revolution*

For more on this see....Petraeus is an AKLCS

Petraeus and Presidential politics - Setting the stage for a war with Iran
A quote...."From 1964 until 1968, General William Westmoreland presented a constant stream of shining, buoyant and uplifting assessments of the potential for American victory in Vietnam.  When Westmoreland became Commander of US forces in Vietnam, there were a mere 15,000 troops with boots on the ground.  After four years of Westmoreland’s misguided optimism, 535,000 troops had their boots ankle deep in the quagmire of the Vietnamese jungles.  In an age long before the internet, Westmoreland’s positive messaging for increasing America’s commitment to military intervention in Vietnam received massive media attention and bolstered public support for what would become an abysmally depressing war."

Why is General Petraeus Helping Iran?
A quote...."Someone should ask General Petraeus today why he is working so hard to help Iran. This is not to suggest he is some sort of enemy of the state. I suppose he is following orders, but why doesn't he question his wildly counterproductive and conflicting orders?"

Is David Petraeus Dirty? Ted Westhusing Said So, and Then He Shot Himself
A quote...."Ted Westhusing, was a champion basketball player at Jenks High School in Tulsa Oklahoma. A driven kid with a strong work ethic, he would show up at the gym at 7AM to throw 100 practice shots before school. He was driven academically too, becoming a National Merritt Scholarship finalist. His career through West Point and straight into overseas service was sterling, and by 2000 he had enrolled in Emory University to earn his doctorate in Philosophy."

Remember: They Are Liars
A quote...."George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Condoleezza Rice, along with a slew of administration underlings and a revolving-door cavalcade of brass hats from the Pentagon, have been making claims regarding Iraq for many years now."
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Cheney's and Maliki's new war in Iraq - Tuesday round-up - 10 articles - [ Day 15 ]
 
Basra Battles: What Reporters Omitted, Fabricated
Must Read - A quote...."The latest battles in Basra, Iraq's second largest city and a vital oil port, provide ample examples of misleading and manipulative practice in corporate journalism today. One commonly used tactic is to describe events using self-styled or "official" terminology, which deliberately confuses the reader by giving no real indication or analysis of what is actually happening."  --  See also....Paltry result of Iraqi [Nouri al-Maliki's and Cheney's] offensive quiets U.S. withdrawal talk - A Satirical Edit

US Ignores Iraqis' Views
Must Read - A quote...."Once again, in reporting to Congress, Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker highlighted "progress" in Iraq without discussing the price Iraqis are paying for the occupation of their country. -- Reports from Iraq indicate that nearly 500 Iraqis died in the first three days of fighting against the Sadr organization in Baghdad, Basra, Hilla, Diwaniya, and Kut at the end of March. Hundreds more have been wounded. U.S. forces are bombing the militia from the air even in the densely populated area of Sadr City."

Are the US and Iran backing the same horse?
Must View - Video - A quote...."Raed Jarrar on why both Iran and the US are supporting the same players in Iraq."

THE BATTLE FOR BASRA TIMELINE: Footsteps to U.S. War in Iran?
Special Note - Timeline Resource - A quote...."The War for oil in Basra appears to be metastasizing into Cheney’s U.S. War on Iran."

Sadr will disarm Mahdi Army if U.S. leaves
Video - A quote...."As Petraeus talks to Congress, families flee Basra and Sadr calls off million man march"

Riding the Tiger - Muqtada al-Sadr and the American Dilemma in Iraq
A quote...."Muqtada al-Sadr is the most important and surprising figure to emerge in Iraq since the U.S. invasion. He is the Messianic leader of the religious and political movement of the impoverished Shia underclass whose lives were ruined by a quarter of a century of war, repression, and sanctions."

The occupation has frozen Iraq. All else is tinkering
A quote...."The British troops encamped outside Basra resemble Davy Crockett's colleagues in the Alamo. Nobody will come to their rescue. Their position is hopeless. They cannot win. They cannot escape. Their boss, the defence secretary Des Browne, has emphasised their political entombment by reneging on Gordon Brown's pledge to reduce their numbers by a half this spring. The American general, David Petraeus, yesterday said the same of his troops. He wants 140,000 of them to remain at the end of the current surge, dashing hopes that their numbers might come down. The occupation of Iraq is now officially indefinite. Too many politicians have too much to lose by contemplating retreat."

Iraq Shiite radical leader threatens to end truce
A quote...."NAJAF, Iraq (AFP) — Iraqi Shiite radical leader Moqtada al-Sadr on Tuesday threatened to end the ceasefire of his feared Mahdi Army militia which he announced last August. -- Sadr also cancelled a massive anti-US demonstration he had called in Baghdad for Wednesday, the fifth anniversary of the toppling of Saddam Hussein's regime."

So How Is Muqtada Al-Sadr Really Doing?
A  quote...."(Political Animal) Iraqi politics is pretty opaque. That's not because they play a deeper game than anyone else, just that they play a game that few Westerners are privy to. This means that there's an awful lot of guesswork about who's up, who's down, and what's really going on behind the scenes."

Iraqi rogues and a false proxy war
A quote...."The idea of Iranian-backed "rogue" Shi'ite militia groups undermining Muqtada's efforts to pursue a more moderate course was introduced by the US military command in early 2007. These alleged Iranian proxies were called "special groups" - a term that came not from Iran or the Shi'ites themselves but from the Bush administration. "

Cheney's and Maliki's new war in Iraq - Tuesday round-up - [ Day 15 ]
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Swiss reject terror sponsor charge by US Jewish group
Special Note - A quote...."GENEVA, April 8 (Reuters) - Switzerland rejected accusations on Tuesday by the U.S.-based Anti-Defamation League (ADL) that it could be financing terrorism after a Swiss company clinched a multi-billion euro (dollar) deal to buy natural gas from Iran. - The Swiss Foreign Ministry reiterated that the purchase did not violate U.N. Security Council resolutions imposing sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme or U.S. domestic law."

For more on this issue see....The US is After Europe Too! - 03-23-08 - mpg
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Token Troops to a Token War
A quote...."PARIS – In one of the more bizarre meetings NATO has ever held, the military alliance decided this week to approve a US plan to build an anti-missile system in Poland and the Czech Republic against a threat that does not exist. Then, in a quid pro quo, the NATO members turned down US demands to admit the Black Sea nations of Ukraine and Georgia to the North Atlantic alliance."

Lessons for Bush in the Afghan War
A quote...."War, goes a Russian joke, is a means by which Americans learn geography. Funny -- but also very much on target. Having discovered the location of Afghanistan and Iraq, President George W. Bush seems eager to learn more about Iran."

New York Times Explains Winter Soldier Blackout - Public editor responds to concerns raised by FAIR
A quote...."New York Times public editor Clark Hoyt has offered a response to media activists who wrote to the paper about its non-coverage of last month's Winter Soldier hearings. Hoyt's explanation is that reporters at the Times had "not been aware of the group or its meeting," but likely wouldn't have covered it if they had been aware of the event."

Moscow to host Mideast summit soon
A  quote...."Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has declared that Moscow hopes to host a Middle East peace conference in the next three months."

Iran to Install 6,000 more Centrifuges
A quote...." TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran has begun installing 6,000 new centrifuges at its uranium enrichment plant, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced on Tuesday."
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Vice chair of 9/11 panel: We have no record of Mukasey's 'warning'
A quote...."The vice chair of the prominent 9/11 Commission is denying Attorney General Michael Mukasey's claim that the US received a warning before the attacks of Sep. 11, 2001, Salon reports. -- "I am unfamiliar with the telephone call that Attorney General Mukasey cited in his appearance in San Francisco on March 27. The 9/11 Commission did not receive any information pertaining to its occurrence," said former Rep. Lee Hamilton in a statement received by Salon's Glenn Greenwald, who has closely followed the Mukasey revelation.

The Assassination of Robert Kennedy
A quote...."Highlights from a History Channel show on RFK's assassination and Sirhan Sirhan's C.I.A. ties and the F.B.I's supression of evidence of another gun since Sirhan had a eight shot and there were many more bullet hole but was never brought out in trial."

FBI Data Transfers Via Telecoms Questioned
A quote....."Since a 1994 law required telecoms to build electronic interception capabilities into their systems, the FBI has created a network of links between the nation's largest telephone and Internet firms and about 40 FBI offices and Quantico, according to interviews and documents describing the agency's Digital Collection System. The documents were obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit advocacy group in San Francisco that specializes in digital-rights issues."

FBI Has Spy Program Tracking IM, Emails, and Cell Phones
A quote...."FBI also spies on home soil for military, documents show; Much information acquired without court order -- The Federal Bureau of Investigation has been routinely monitoring the e-mails, instant messages and cell phone calls of suspects across the United States — and has done so, in many cases, without the approval of a court."
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Musings on the Fed
Must Read - A quote...."The creation of money does not imply the creation of value. --  The public is ultimately defrauded of its birthright---a stable currency, of which the Fed was to be the guarantor. In this case, however, the American taxpayer is not the only victim. As the custodian of the world currency, the Fed has an implicit obligation to all the foreign holders of dollars as well. The casual, unlamented debauchery of our currency that we are now witnessing proves that there aren't any rules any more, no standards or points of reference. No heads are rolling, or even under threat of disgrace. Nothing is left but for tactics to keep the game going. This does not bode well for the future when this fraud on the public is finally exposed. It will, of course, only be discerned clearly in retrospect. On nearly every issue of national import in recent years, we have a history of avoiding prudent, prospective, and preventive action."

Liquidation is only solution to crisis
A quote...."Regrettably, all the best efforts by the Federal Reserve and Washington politicians to sustain the US bubble economy are doomed to failure. It’s not that they are necessarily the wrong policies. More to the point, the basic premise that our economy is sound and growth sustainable is misguided. We’ve experienced a protracted and historic credit inflation and it will simply be impossible to keep asset prices, incomes, corporate cash flows, and spending levitated at current levels. The type and scope of credit growth required today has become infeasible. The risk intermediation requirements are too daunting. Sustaining housing inflation and consumption levels has become unachievable. And the underpinnings of our currency have turned too fragile."

Capitalists will be Capitalists
A quote...."Opes Prime was what is known as a leverage broking firm, one based on a high level of debt. Clients of Opes could borrow against the shares they purchased — the shares would be used as security, in a somewhat similar fashion to a home loan where the home is used as security in the event that the borrower fails to make repayments. "

IMF to sell gold as it faces budget deficit
A quote...."WASHINGTON: The International Monetary Fund's executive board has approved a broad financial overhaul plan that could lead to the eventual sale of a little over 400 tons of its substantial gold supplies."  -- Maybe it's because the IMF (Loan Sharks Inc.) got caught up in that sub-prime crisis.  That would be just great....hopefully those blood sucking bastards get put out of business. - mpg

Germany to warn against intervention in favour of U.S. dollar
A quote...."It said interventions on the international capital markets to back the U.S. dollar could not be financed if they are to reach a volume that has an impact. The ministry also sees a cut in interest rates in the euro zone as "highly unlikely" given the current high levels of inflation in the region."

U.K. Consumer Confidence Falls to Lowest Since 2004 (Update3)
A quote...."April 9 (Bloomberg) -- U.K. consumer confidence fell to the lowest in almost four years in March as the housing-market downturn worsened, and former Chancellor of the Exchequer Nigel Lawson said the economy is heading for a recession."

Pending home sales index off 1.9% in February: NAR
A quote...."WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- In a sign that the U.S. housing market may weaken further, an index of sales contracts on previously owned homes fell 1.9% in February from the prior month, the National Association of Realtors reported Tuesday."

Monday April 7th 2008

Saving the American Left -  The Case for a New Progressive Creed
Must Read - A quote...." 07/04/08 "ICH " -- -- The American left is in the throes of an existential crisis. Some say it's a failure of nerve, others a loss of belief. It is the latter. Neoliberalism has sucked the oxygen out of the left by deflating the political sphere to the economic one. The left must articulate a new creed around three principles: empowerment (the economic is ancillary to the political); social justice (the disadvantaged have an unconditional claim upon the collectivity); and decency (the state may not humiliate anyone). To make its case, the left must redefine that most exalted form of self-interest, patriotism, as pride in a society that grants all of its members the means to belong."

Channeling Hoover at Home, Tet Abroad
Must Read - A quote...."  07/04/08 "ICH" -- - One of the most astonishing facts about the Bush presidency is simply that it continues to exist. --  Only a combination of certain critical conditions have kept the man and his government from suffering the same fate as Mussolini or Ceaucesceu.  A politically naive public, a neutered opposition, a compliant press, a Constitutionally-fixed term of office, a truckload of fear, a moderately sufficient economy and a remotely plausible victory in an unpopular war have all conspired to encourage a surly public to simply wait out the clock for the demise of the Creature from Crawford."

Breaking Through the News Filter
Must Read - A quote...." 07/04/08 "ICH" -- --- If it is true that the power belongs to the people in America, and Congress still answers to the people, then what force prevents the people from rising up to demand that Congress answer to the people's will?  The answer to that question is that the "silent majority" is only silent because they have been kept in the dark; they do not know the truth about the dire predicament we are in."
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The Iraq War, for $100 Month
A quote...."Sen. Barack Obama says the war costs each household about $100 per month. We do the math and find he's right."

Secret US plan for military future in Iraq
A quote...."A confidential draft agreement covering the future of US forces in Iraq, passed to the Guardian, shows that provision is being made for an open-ended military presence in the country." -- NO!  You’re kidding?!?!  You know what folks... eventually the whole thing just achieves some sort of blackly macabre form of high parody. -- mpg

Bush Lied, People Died
Video - Video of various anti-war demonstrations. - mpg
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Cheney's and Maliki's new war in Iraq - Monday round-up - 8 articles - [ Day 14 ]

Sadr City assault strains cease-fire
Must Read - A quote...."A week after a truce calmed clashes between Moqtada al-Sadr's militia and Iraqi forces, fighting resumed in his Baghdad stronghold Sunday."

Crackdown on Militias May Add to Instability in Iraq
A quote...."BAGHDAD — A crackdown on the Mahdi Army militia is creating potentially destabilizing political and military tensions in Iraq, pitting a stronger government alliance against the force that has won past showdowns: the street power wielded by the radical cleric Moktada al-Sadr."

Religious leaders tell al-Sadr to keep militia intact
A quote...."BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraq's top Shiite religious leaders have told anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr not to disband his Mehdi Army, an al-Sadr spokesman said Monday amid fresh fighting in the militia's Baghdad strongholds."

'Mahdi Army resists occupiers'
A quote...."Sadr movement, loyal to anti-US cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, says the Mahdi Army is a force with an aim to resist occupation forces in Iraq."

Iran signals backing for Iraqi PM in crackdown
A quote...."TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran voiced support on Monday for Iraq's prime minister in a crackdown on a Shi'ite militia but blamed U.S. forces for civilian deaths in the fighting."  --  For those who didn't know (which includes just about every single "American" who watches that mindless crap called mass-faux-infotainment in this country), Iran has supported Maliki since he became Prime Minister....as has Cheney. -- Surprise!! - mpg

On eve of Petraeus testimony, US launches raids on Baghdad’s Sadr City
A quote...."On the eve of congressional testimony by the top US military commander in Iraq and Washington’s ambassador to the country, US military forces launched bloody raids in Sadr City, the crowded Shia slum in northeast Baghdad. At the same time, the Iraqi puppet regime threatened to bar the Sadrists, the only mass political movement in the country, from participation in upcoming provincial elections."

Petraeus Testimony Next Week Will Signal Iran Attack
A quote...."06/04/08 "ICH' -- - April 5, 2008.  Today the London Telegraph reported that “British officials gave warning yesterday that America’s commander in Iraq will declare that Iran is waging war against the US-backed Baghdad government.  A strong statement from General David Petraeus about Iran’s intervention in Iraq could set the stage for a US attack on Iranian militiary facilities, according to a Whitehall assessment.”   --  Petraeus's testimony next week has already been classified as a "Red War Warning". - mpg

Spin One for the Gipper
A quote...."It was not too long after Dick Cheney’s surprise visit to Baghdad on March 17 that Maliki launched his offensive against the Mahdi Army in Baghdad and in the southern city of Basra. The big media were strangely silent about the implications of the timing of the two events. Sadr’s people responded to Maliki’s push with a rocket and mortar attack on the Green Zone in Baghdad."

For more on this issue see....Petraeus is an AKLCS

Cheney's and Maliki's new war in Iraq - Monday round-up - [ Day 14 ]
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Iraqi leader wants answers for Blackwater 'massacre' - see article below - mpg
A quote...."BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki blasted the U.S. State Department for renewing its contract with the Blackwater security firm, saying the company has yet to answer for what he called a "massacre" last year." -- Cheney's little pet dog, Maliki, is barking again, pretending that Iraq has some national sovereignty when it comes to anything being done about Blackwater's snuffing out a few dozen  "rag heads" who used to live there.  And even more laughably, trying to make people believe he'll force one of his master's friends out of Iraq....who does Maliki think he's kidding.  Nobody believes him anymore, not after he launched his unprovoked and unwarranted attacks against the cities of Basra and Baghdad's Sadr City under Cheney's orders.

US defends decision to renew Blackwater deal in Iraq
Hey all you Iraqis out there....here's your "answer" from the US State Department - learn how to run faster. - mpg

Blackwater Bulks Up Air Power Using Little-Known Company
A quote...."Private security contractor Blackwater Worldwide has purchased a light attack counterinsurgency aircraft, and over two dozen other aircraft, under the name of a little-known aviation company."

A Hopeful Time - America Must Respect Pakistan's Democracy
A quote...."The result of the 2008 Pakistani election flies in the face of both Zakaria and Kissinger's rationale. The over-exaggerated threat that if democracy were to flourish in Pakistan, the influence of Islamic radicals would strengthen has been proven conclusively false. In fact, in Pakistan's history, the only time the Islamic parties gained any significant votes was in the rigged election of 2002, when Musharraf ensured their victory in large numbers by taking measures to facilitate their candidatures. The religious alliance, for their part, ensured Musharraf of their tacit support in passing constitutional amendments to greatly strengthen Musharraf's powers as President. Simultaneously, the victory of the religious party also sent a convenient signal to the outside world that Musharraf is the west's best bet against the growing tide of extremism."

Musharraf's worst fear: US will strike if I quit
A quote...." ISLAMABAD: President Pervez Musharraf believes that if he steps down, the US will launch direct military attacks on Pakistan's restive tribal areas and take away disgraced nuclear scientist AQ Khan for interrogation about his proliferation activities, a daily reported on Monday."

Egypt votes as blocked Brotherhood boycotts
A quote...."Egyptians vote Tuesday in a lackluster municipal poll boycotted by the main opposition group the Muslim Brotherhood following a stifling government crackdown on political dissent."  --  "[only] 21 of 4,000 Islamist candidates allowed to run."

No international support for attack on Iran
Video - A quote...."Aijaz Ahmad: Iran stands firm on nuclear issue, brokered peace agreement in Iraq"

Iran proposes missile shield against U.S., Israel
A quote...."TEHRAN, April 7 (RIA Novosti) - Iran's defense minister said on Monday the world needs a missile shield to protect against threats from Israel and the United States. -- Tehran has joined Russia in opposing U.S. plans to deploy elements of its missile defense system in Central Europe to counter possible strikes from "rogue states," specifically Iran."

Iran Receives Official US Request on Iraq Talks
A quote...." TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran said on Monday it was considering a "request" it had recently received from the United States for a new round of talks on ways to improve security in Iraq."

New Zealand breaks ground signing free trade pact with China
A quote...."New Zealand became on Monday the first developed nation to sign a free-trade agreement with China. Prime Minister Helen Clark and her Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao, witnessed the signing of the pact in Beijing's Great Hall of the People."

The US Corporate Role - Ensuring the Success of Fascism in Spain
A quote...."As part of my upbringing, I was taught that the men and women who fought against the fascists in the Spanish Civil War were giants. As a child eating in Ratner's restaurant on New York's Lower East Side, I remember being told in reverential tones that a person I just met had fought in Spain with the Abraham Lincoln Brigade."

George Bush empty-handed as last summit with Vladimir Putin ends in failure
A quote...."President George W Bush's last ever summit with Vladimir Putin ended in failure last night when the Russian president stood firm in his opposition to Washington's controversial missile defence shield. -- Mr Bush left the Black Sea resort of Sochi empty-handed and the two men glossed over their failure to achieve a breakthrough by exchanging words of personal flattery."

Don Siegelman and the 'New Assassins' - posted at The Smirking Chimp
A quote...."There was an article I saw in the last couple of days, The New Assassins Don't Use Guns. It's a remarkable article only in that it touches on something really important - character assassination - but stays mired in the whole Democratic candidate thing.  --  In it there was no mention of Don Siegelman but he's a fabulous example of character assassination and plain old-fashioned judicial railroading."

A Conversation With Dennis Kucinich
Interview - Chris Hedges interviews Dennis Kucinich - A quote...."Chris Hedges:  Why has the Democratic Party not done what it should do?  ---  Rep. Dennis Kucinich:  Lack of commitment to Democratic principles. No understanding of the period of history we’re in. Failure to appreciate the necessity of the coequality of Congress. Unwillingness to assert Congressional authority in key areas which makes the people’s House paramount to protecting democracy. The institutionalized influence of corporate America through the Democratic leadership council. Those are just a few."

Boom, Bust, Dust
A quote...."Boom, bust and dust: That was the story of what my parents always referred to as the "dirty thirties," or the Dust Bowl. The Great American Dust Bowl steeled the resolve of a generation of Midwesterners. The hard-earned lessons they learned have been passed on to their baby-boomer prodigy but have been forgotten. Unlike the New Orleans floods, there was no FEMA to house the victims in trailer cities: only days on end of coating ones nostrils with Vaseline to filter the dust and try to breathe. "

Grains Gone Wild
A quote...."These days you hear a lot about the world financial crisis. But there's another world crisis under way - and it's hurting a lot more people. --     I'm talking about the food crisis. Over the past few years the prices of wheat, corn, rice and other basic foodstuffs have doubled or tripled, with much of the increase taking place just in the last few months. High food prices dismay even relatively well-off Americans - but they're truly devastating in poor countries, where food often accounts for more than half a family's spending."
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Batten down the hatches: this is the big one
A quote...."Whole cities of pain. A continent of pain," said the great, if eccentric, Wall Street money dealer Jim Cramer recently. He was talking about the economic pain spreading across the United States, of course. - Until recently, the pain of the US housing market had not spread to our own fair land. Much of the economic data here has been, if anything, surprisingly healthy. But such figures are generally backward-looking and often look fine until suddenly they don't"

Buddy, Can You Spare a Billion?
A quote...."As the chief executive of Bear Stearns, he's getting rather more public assistance than your typical welfare mom -- specifically, $30 billion in federal loan guarantees to help J.P. Morgan Chase take over his firm. But then, Schwartz has had rather more than his share of suffering of late. -- As his firm collapsed, he was forced to forgo his entire 2007 bonus, leaving his compensation for the past five years at a paltry $141 million, according to Business Week. Things have become so bad that, the Wall Street Journal discovered, Schwartz has had to rent out his 7,850-square-foot home on the ninth green of a suburban New York golf course -- leaving the poor fellow with only his 17-room, seven-acre home in Greenwich, his condo in Colorado and the athletic center he built for Duke University."

Food riots fear after rice price hits a high
A quote...."A global rice shortage that has seen prices of one of the world's most important staple foods increase by 50 per cent in the past two weeks alone is triggering an international crisis, with countries banning export and threatening serious punishment for hoarders."

Egyptian workers riot over rising prices - Egypt's Workers Battle Police Amid Rising Economic Discontent
A quote...."Thousands of demonstrators angry about rising prices and stagnant salaries torched buildings, looted shops and hurled bricks at police who responded with tear gas Sunday in a northern industrial town as Egyptians staged a nationwide strike."

Gasoline prices add to record gains
A quote...."NEW YORK - Gas prices rose further into record territory Monday, pulled higher by resurgent oil futures and a growing belief that gasoline supplies are falling as the summer driving season approaches."

Sunday April 6th 2008

Bush Arms Buildup Rivals Hitler and Stalin
A quote...."The relentless increases in Pentagon spending President Bush has pushed through since taking office recall the actions of Hitler and Stalin prior to the outbreak of World War Two.  --   Both European dictators escalated their war machines and both dictators showed little concern when their domestic economies and workers’ incomes suffered as a result."

Ninety-Five Years to Go
A quote...."Although U.S. troops have been in Iraq for five years now, we have only just begun. We can expect the great grandchildren of the current U.S. soldiers in Iraq to be there as well – if John McCain has his way. This assumes, of course, that these soldiers make it back to the United States breathing and in one piece so that they can have children."

$3 trillion may be too low
A quote...."Notwithstanding President Bush's response, our original estimate of the cost of the Iraq war was too conservative: in reality, it will be much higher.  --  President Bush has tried to give the impression that the $3 trillion dollar estimate of the total cost of the war that we provide in our new book may be exaggerated.  --  We believe that it is, in fact, conservative. Even the president would have to admit that the $50 to $60 billion estimate given by the administration before the war was wildly off the mark; there is little reason to have confidence in their arithmetic. They admit to a cost so far of $600 billion."
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Cheney's and Maliki's new war in Iraq - Sunday round-up - 8 articles - [ Day 13 ]

Tomgram: Ira Chernus, The General and the Trap
A quote...."They came, they saw, they… deserted. -- That, in short form, is the story of the Iraqi government "offensive" in Basra (and Baghdad). It took a few days, but the headlines on stories out of Iraq ("Can Iraq's Soldiers Fight?") are now telling a grim tale and the information in them is worse yet. Stephen Farrell and James Glanz of the New York Times estimate that at least 1,000 Iraqi soldiers and policemen, or more than 4% of the force sent into Basra, "abandoned their posts" during the fighting, including "dozens of officers" and "at least two senior field commanders."

Heavy Fighting in Sadr City Kills 22, Wounds 78; Blockade Threatens Humanitarian Crisis
A quote...."The US military attacked the Mahdi Army militia in Sadr City on Sunday, alongside Iraqi Army troops. The fighting left 22 dead and 78 wounded, at least. It was not clear what the purpose of the attack was, since the US clearly cannot intensively occupy the labyrinthine Shiite slum and therefore cannot actually disarm the Mahdi Army. Were they attempting to impress on the Sadrists that rocket attacks on the Green Zone (see below) would bring retaliation?"

IRAQ:  Shia Battles Spread to Baquba
A quote...."BAQUBA, Apr 7 (IPS) - Battles between rival Shia groups have spread from Basra in the south to Baquba in the north. -- Clashes between the Mehdi Army of Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and the Badr Organisation militia of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC) have been reported in the predominantly Shia district of Hwaider in Baquba, the capital city of Diyala province located 40 km northeast of Baghdad."

3 US troops killed, 31 wounded in Iraq clashes with Shi'ite militia
A quote...."Suspected Shiite militants lobbed rockets and mortar shells into the U.S.-protected Green Zone and a military base elsewhere in Baghdad on Sunday, killing three American troops and wounding 31, officials said. The attacks occured as United States forces fought Shi'ite militiamen yesterday in Baghdad's Sadr City, as fierce fighting claimed at least 20 lives."

British troops go back into Basra
A quote...."British troops have been sent back into Basra just months after control of the southern city was placed in the hands of the Iraqis, The Sunday Telegraph can reveal. - Up to 150 British soldiers are now "embedded" with Iraqi army units in Basra, fighting insurgent groups which now hold power in large areas of the city."

Iraq's Maliki threatens to bar Sadr from vote
A quote...."BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's prime minister raised the stakes in his showdown with followers of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, saying in an interview broadcast on Monday they would be barred from elections unless their militia disbands." - bold by website author. -- Well that didn't take very long at all, just thirteen days.  For several months Maliki schemed with Cheney on how to eliminate Moqtada al-Sadr as a political force in Iraq, Cheney visits him and finally gives the go-ahead and a few days later without any "arranged pretexts" (very unusual for Cheney and shows he's either slipping or he's simply panicking for some reason.  Probably because he's running out of time) Maliki attacks ONLY al-Sadr's militia.  The whole thing's pathetic, Cheney and Maliki have made it way to obvious to the ENTIRE WORLD that they cooked this fiasco up between them.  They should quit while they're behind, but they won't, and as a result Iraq's going to be in for a long bloody couple of months. – mpg

Fire erupts in Sadr-City because of the fights, Iran ignores the U.S. talk offer
A quote...."....at a meeting of a parliamentary committee (Political Council on National Security), the Green Zone parties (except for the Sadrists) backed Maliki's "crime-fighting" initiatives and approved the continuation of "operations under special laws", in effect giving him the green light to carry on against the Sadrists. (See the prior post here). Maliki stressed, implicitly or explicitly, the idea that the Basra "outlaw" groups represent a clear and present Iranian threat in Iraq. The Sadrist representative said this was a political attack on the Sadrists, and he said the US presence in the Green Zone, with night-time raids and mass arrests, constitutes collective punishment for having defended themselves (and naturally for opposing the US occupation). "

Fighting erupts in Baghdad after week of calm
A quote...."BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi troops backed by U.S. forces battled gunmen in Baghdad's Sadr City on Sunday, a return to heavy fighting in the capital after Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr pulled his militiamen off the streets a week ago." -- "U.S. and Iraqi forces have imposed a blockade on vehicle traffic in and out of Sadr City for two weeks. Residents of the besieged district describe skyrocketing food prices, rubbish piling up and claustrophobia from being trapped indoors." -- bold/underline by website editor -- Heck why don't we all just call Sadr City "Gaza Strip #2" - mpg

Cheney's and Maliki's new war in Iraq - Sunday round-up - [ Day 13 ]
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Speaking of which....MIDEAST:  Gaza Running on Near Empty
A quote...."GAZA CITY, Apr 5 (IPS) - Ayman Eid stands as motionless as his orange Hyundai taxi. Never mind taking a passenger somewhere, Ayman has no idea how he will ever get home. -- The queue at the petrol station seems endless. Drivers have run out of petrol even to queue up in their cars; they just queue up themselves, empty cans in hand. Only the lucky leave with a full can by the end of a day."
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Iran joined militias in battle for Basra
War Warning - Presstitute Alert - A quote...."IRANIAN forces were involved in the recent battle for Basra, General David Petraeus, the US commander in Iraq, is expected to tell Congress this week. -- Military and intelligence sources believe Iranians were operating at a tactical command level with the Shi’ite militias fighting Iraqi security forces; some were directing operations on the ground, they think." -- Their lies just keep getting bigger and bigger....and no one seems to care. - mpg -- For more on this issue see....Petraeus is an AKLCS

Fed Up: Bernanke joins G-7 to Stem Global Financial Meltdown
War Warning - Special Note - A quote...."Bernanke's myriad auction facilities (four, so far) are ostensibly designed to remove these mortgage-backed stinkers from the banks' balance sheets so they can start lending again. But there's another reason, too. The Fed thinks they can simply put these MBSs in cold-storage for a while and then re-thaw them when the market bounces back. But the market for MBSs won't bounce back. This is biggest housing bust in US history and prices have a long way to go. Who is going to invest in mortgage-backed bonds when the underlying asset is losing value every day?"

Ahmadinejad offers OPEC bank
Red War Warning  - Attack on the Dollar - A quote...." TEHRAN – Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad on Sunday proposed launching a bank for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and urged OPEC states to adopt a single currency in oil deals. -- “OPEC should prepare a clear plan to fully exercise the rights of petroleum exporting countries… OPEC members should set up a common bank and adopt a single currency,” Ahmadinejad told visiting OPEC Secretary General Abdullah Salem al-Badri on Sunday."

Why are the three articles shown above War Warnings? -- See....Standard Disclaimer
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Stagflationary Abyssal Part II - More Evidence and Suggestions for What to Do
A quote...."Little in journalism evokes more critical or sarcastic responses than dire economic predictions. I expected no less when I wrote my article “It's not a Recession or even a Depression that is coming, it is a Stagflationary Abyssal” http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_steven_l_080402_it_s_not_a_recession.htm. I was surprised that I received almost no dismissive or pedantic responses. While I was pondering the mystery of this, the New York Times/CBS poll came out that showed that “81% of Americans believe that the US is on the wrong track” [1], mystery solved. --  More Evidence"

Wall St banks 'hooked on emergency funds scheme'
A quote...."Fears are mounting that Wall Street banks are relying too heavily on tens of billions of dollars in loans made available by the US Federal Reserve. Their borrowing levels have rocketed by almost 200 per cent to $38bn (£19bn) a day in just three weeks. -- The latest loan data released by the Fed shows that Wall Street banks and investment firms borrowed an average of $38.4bn every day last week, a big jump from the $32.9bn borrowed the week before, but almost three times the $13.4bn borrowed when the emergency scheme was launched on 17 March."

Chile cuts taxes to [help people cope with] fight highest inflation in decade - Editor’s note - cutting taxes results in more spending (although it might be more "efficient" spending) and usually higher government deficits and therefore, eventually higher inflation. - mpg  --  A quote...."Chile’s consumer price index rose 0.8% in March, up from 0.4% in February, according to the latest release from the country’s National Statistics Institute (INE). The March figure pushed 12-month inflation to 8.5%, up from the February 8.1%."
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Video Review: 9/11 Contradictions
A quote...."David Ray Griffin provides more food for thought with the release of his 5th single-author book on the events of September the 11th... 9/11 Contradictions."

WTC 7 Not Mentioned in Official 9-11 Report
A quote...."Please carefully consider that WTC 7 was not hit by an aircraft on 9-11, was not attacked by terrorists, and only small fires that were not spreading and were contained  on only one side of the building on the 12th floor were observed, yet the entire 47 story tall concrete and steel skyscraper building "buckled" in the center, penthouse first, then came straight down very quickly in a mere 6.5 seconds at free fall, not impeded in any manner whatsoever by any of the numerous floors below, imploding from within precisely into it's own footprints, the concrete pulverized and vaporized into toxic dust and powder, resulting in huge, billowing, pyroclastic clouds, and the massive steel core columns (18) cut and hurled horizontally, a truly perfect, classic example of a building brought down with deliberate purpose, and with a very high degree of advanced professional skills and substantial expert experience in a controlled fashion."  -- The really interesting thing to note is that the fires were on the twelfth floor in WTC7, and unlike the twin towers which collapsed on the floors with the fires, the videos seem to show WTC7's collapse appeared to have started in the basement…. twelve floors below the fires. - mpg

Did the Elites Want MLK Dead--If So, Why?
A quote...."I believe Oswald killed JFK and Sirhan killed Bobby. Lone gunmen both. With MLK, it could be a different matter. And with the infinitely more radical Malcom X it certainly was. The Kennedys were no threat to ruling power. They were part of the ruling power. Whatever his actual function--and King was given a hard time as an Uncle Tom by radicals in the later Sixties--the ruling power construed him as a threat."

John F Kennedy Assassination Secret Service Stand Down - (Google Video - 2 min 55 sec - Mar 31, 2006)
From the history file - A quote...."This video shows showing the Secret Service officer ordering JFK’s bodyguards away from JFK before entering the Grassy Knolls area when he gets shot."

Saturday April 5th 2008

Robert Fisk: The fearful lives in a land of the free
Must Read - A quote...."I was given the chance to talk to 600 Muslim Canadians a few days ago. The dinner was in an Ottawa banqueting room and the guests also included the imam of the Ottawa mosque, the Ottawa chief of police and sundry uniformed Canadian army officers."

Through Iraqi Eyes - More Clips of "Liberation"
Must Read - Video - A quote...."Did I ever tell you about my trip to the USA ? But that was ages ago... That was when I still considered you somewhat (and do underline somewhat) of human beings...of course that has changed drastically, since..." -- This piece is quite emotional, but it's also an accurate observation of a good portion of this society's less savory aspects.  The author calls those she observes "Americans", this website editor would emphatically disagree with that term....for these people are not "Americans", they are and have always been Neo-Romans. - mpg

Permissible Assaults Cited in Graphic Detail
A quote...."Having 81 pages of legal analysis with its footnotes and respectable-sounding language makes the reader lose sight of what this is all about," said Dawn Johnsen, an OLC chief during the Clinton administration who is now a law professor at Indiana University. "He is saying that poking people's eyes out and pouring acid on them is beyond Congress's ability to limit a president. It is an unconscionable document."

Torturing the Geneva Convention
A quote...."THERE must be a growing chill in the US Congress as the recent release of the full text of a March 14, 2003 memo confirms that the assault on prized US principles, international humanitarian laws and the Geneva Convention found sanction from the highest echelons of the neocon White House."

Evidence Grows of Drug Use on Detainees
A quote...."There can be little doubt now that the government has used drugs on terrorist suspects that are designed to weaken their resistance to interrogation. All that’s missing is the syringes and videotapes."

[British] Army faces new torture claims over arrest of Shia leader
A quote...."The testament of a respected Shia elder, aged 70, suggests brutal treatment of civilians is still continuing, writes Robert Verkaik" -- "The British Army faces new allegations of torture and abuse over the arrest and detention of a Shia tribal leader and his family who claim they were hooded and beaten by soldiers based at Basra airport last year."

George Bush rules out further Iraq troop cuts
A quote...."President George W. Bush will signal next week that he will pull no more troops out of Iraq while he is president, once his troop surge ends in the summer. - His senior Iraq commander General David Petraeus will use his testimony to congress on Tuesday and Wednesday to argue for continuing political support for the tactics of the surge strategy even after a planned drawdown of troops." --  They will never leave, they're there forever, and that will be Bush's enduring legacy. - mpg
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Cheney's and Maliki's new war in Iraq - Saturday round-up - 3 articles - [ Day 12 ]

Maliki Gives Up the Fight
A quote...."Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, just a day after some tough talk, has caved on his promise to disarm militant Iraqis. The news that the Iraqi government would no longer pursue “people who carry weapons” comes on the heels of an Iran-backed truce with rival Shiite leader Moqtada al-Sadr."

Sadrists allege collective punishment by the American forces against the residents of Sadr City
A quote...." The official spokesman for the Sadrist bloc (in parliament), Saleh alAkili told AlHayat, "The announcement issued by Maliki about stopping the [arbitrary] searches and arrests was an attempt to throw sand in our eyes", explaining: "The arrests have not stopped, in spite of Maliki's announcement to that effect. And the American forces continue to spread terror among the people of Sadr City, stationing themselves in force at the entrances of local streets, carrying out nighttime raids, arresting hundreds of Sadr City youths, without warrants."

IRAQ WRAPUP 2-Iraqi leaders call for militias to disband
A quote...."BAGHDAD, April 5 (Reuters) - Iraq's political leadership on Saturday called on all parties to disband their militias before provincial elections this year, an apparent attempt to isolate the populist Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr."  --  Exactly what is Iraq's "political council of national security" going to do with the eighty five thousand strong Awakening Councils?  The Badra Brigade?  The Kurdish militia? This could all get really interesting. - mpg

END -- Cheney's and Maliki's new war in Iraq - Saturday round-up - [ Day 12 ]
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Lebanon, Hezbollah on full alert
War Warning - A quote...."Lebanon's army and resistance movement of Hezbollah are on high alert in southern Lebanon to be ready for any Israeli hostile moves. - The Lebanese army Commander Michel Suleiman put all military units in southern Lebanon on full alert, Lebanese daily as-Safir reported. - "Suleiman ordered the army to be ready to prevent any possible violation of the Lebanese coastal waters and targeting civilians by the Israeli army," the paper quoted informed sources speaking on condition of anonymity."

Israel: Full-scale War-Drill on April 6-10, 2008
War Warning - A quote...."A drill-siren will be heard across the country as part of a national home-front exercise at 10:00 am, Tuesday, April 8, 2008. - The siren will be part of a national drill taking place involving all of the national emergency services, the IDF Home-Front Command, the Israel Police, Magen David Adom, Israel Fire Department, government offices and local authorities. - immediately after the drill-siren, a special home-front broadcast will be shown on channel 33 during which explanatory videos will be broadcasted guiding the general public on safeguard areas as well as special explanatory videos for children."

US defence chief meets Oman's ruler
War Alert - A quote...."US Defence Secretary Robert Gates on Saturday held talks with Oman's Sultan Qaboos, the ruler of the key Gulf Arab state which faces Iran across the strategic Strait of Hormuz."

Rice misses the obvious in peace-making
A quote...."Rice said in Amman Monday that, "Settlement activity should stop, and expansion should stop; it is not consistent with road map obligations ... My strong view is that the best thing we can do is focus on getting this agreement," she said, referring to Abbas-Olmert negotiations to achieve a broad framework for peace by the end of this year. She argued that "it's all moving in the right direction." -- Well, yes, like the man who was walking down the street unaware of the refrigerator that was about to land on him from the skyscraper. It is difficult to understand why an otherwise sensible and learned American secretary of state can live in a fantasy world when it comes to understanding the real significance of Israeli settlements built on occupied Palestinian land. Soft rhetorical criticism of the settlements simply does no good to anyone." -- "Calamity Condi" does it again, wherever she goes she leaves a trail of dead bodies in her wake....see the three articles shown above.  - mpg
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The U.S. establishment media in a nutshell
A quote...."Here are the number of times, according to NEXIS, that various topics have been mentioned in the media over the past thirty days:

"Yoo and torture" - 102
"Mukasey and 9/11" -- 73
"Yoo and Fourth Amendment" -- 16
"Obama and bowling" -- 1,043
"Obama and Wright" -- More than 3,000 (too many to be counted)
"Obama and patriotism" - 1,607
"Clinton and Lewinsky" -- 1,079
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When Media Spread 'Lie' About Jessica Lynch Rescue 
A quote...."NEW YORK Precisely five years ago the U.S. media were transfixed on the heroic rescue of a captured U.S. Army Pfc. named Jessica Lynch, who supposedly had emerged from her hellhole in Iraq, guns blazing, in a daring operation to save her. The invasion of Iraq had just started to run into some difficulties – amid signs that Americans might not be greeted with flowers after all – and the Lynch rescue helped rally the country and had significant propaganda value. "
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First....Admiral: Iraq has troops, Afghanistan waits
A quote...."updated 8:05 p.m. EDT, Wed April 2, 2008 -- There are force requirements there [in Afghanistan] that we can't currently meet," Adm. Mike Mullen said. "Having forces in Iraq at the level they're at doesn't allow us to fill the need that we have in Afghanistan."

And second....Bush pledges to send more troops to Afghanistan
A quote...."ZAGREB, CROATIA -- Fri April 5, 2008 -- President Bush told a NATO summit that the United States would increase its number of troops in Afghanistan, administration officials said Friday, as the president sought to assure partners of Washington's long-term commitment to the campaign."

Either Bush is lying to his allies, doesn't care about what his Admiral said (boy that sounds so familiar) or he's too stupid to know better. -- It's probably all three - mpg
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NATO Summit Fails to Heal Deep Divisions
Special Note - A quote...."The smiles in Bucharest were little more than show. Politically, the NATO summit was a fiasco. The Western alliance remains deeply divided and faces an identity crisis -- with Russian relations just one of the alliance's many points of dispute." -- Thank God they're not going to make a second mistake like Afghanistan is all this editor can say. - mpg
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Does NATO Want Out of Afghanistan?
Special Note - A quote...."In public, NATO is demanding that all allies contribute their fair share to the ongoing effort in Afghanistan. But behind closed doors, a paper has been circulated that may provide the beginnings of an exit strategy. Germany is pushing the plan." -- NATO should have seen this coming from a mile away but they didn't, they went ahead and choose to believe Bush and commit their forces.  Goes to show you these highly educated, highly paid, cream of Europe's political class are about as bright as a bunch of wooden posts. They also obviously don't read their history either. - mpg

Nato fails on Afghan troops plea
Now how could that happen? -- A quote from the article....."Speaking in Canada, she [Condi Rice] explained that the US should learn its lessons from Afghanistan."If you allow that kind of vacuum, if you allow a failed state in that strategic location, you're going to pay for it," she said. -- Last month, Nato commanders took over from US-led coalition forces but there has been a resurgence of Taleban attacks, above all in the south" -- When Rice states "If you allow that kind of vacuum," is she referring to Bushy's decision to take many of the U.S.'s best troops out of Afghanistan before the country had been stabilized and send them off to go invade Iraq? -- Or is she referring to the U.S.'s complete abandonment of Afghanistan last month?  Statements from this administration's officials are just so confusing. -- Hey instead of putting more NATO troops in Afghanistan or planning to leave half a billion dollars of small arms in that country as was considered by the U.S, why not leave a billion dollars worth, why not two? -  mpg -- posted 09-16-2006

Nato names Afghan expansion date
Yep, give the whole mess Bushy & Co. have created to NATO so they can be blamed for this fiasco.  See  "Afghan Deal"  You poor Europeans, I guess you're not that bright after all. - mpg - posted 10-03-2006

Insurgent activity rising in Afghanistan
Luckily the "pacification" of Afghanistan has been turned over to NATO and the Europeans who were actually dumb enough to except responsibility for it. -- So this lets Bush off the hook?  He's only  responsible for the disaster called Iraq?  Nah...he took the troops out of Afghanistan before the US had established control so he and his Texas Cabal cronies could make a ton'ol money in Iraq and take their oil. So he's got two catastrophes he's responsible for, three if you count Lebanon, four if you blame him for winking at the Israelis when they went after the Palestinians and five if this moronic jerk and his friends decide to go after Iran. -- And he gets paid over $200,000.00 a year for this?   He's way overpaid. - mpg  -- posted 11-12-2006
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Iraqis angered by renewal of Blackwater contract
A quote...."BAGHDAD, April 5 (Reuters) - Iraqis expressed anger on Saturday at news the United States had renewed the contract of Blackwater, a private security firm blamed for killing up to 17 people in a shooting incident last year." -- As Cheney would say....So?  Or more specifically as he would say, "what, they still think it's their country"?  - mpg

How the other fifth lives
A quote...."WHETHER you call it Shafa Amr, as the residents do, or Shfaram, its name in Hebrew, is already a political statement. This sleepy, hilly Arab town of 33,000 people in northern Israel was where a 19-year-old Jewish soldier, Eden Natan-Zada, boarded a bus in August 2005 and shot dead four people before being overpowered and lynched."

Riyadh: Pressure Israel to sign NPT
A quote...."Saudi Arabia has called for international pressure to compel Israel to accept the international monitoring over its nuclear activities."

Iran Lashes at British Nuke Hypocrisy
A quote...." TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran accused Britain of being a major violator of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) while urging others to strictly observe the same world treaty."

Russia to Continue N[uke] Cooperation with Iran
A quote...." TEHRAN (FNA)- Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia would honor all its contractual commitments to develop peaceful nuclear programs in Iran."

Iran Dismisses N[uke] Concession
A quote...." TEHRAN (FNA)- A senior Iranian official said here on Saturday that the country would not trade its rights [under the NPT] in return for a package of incentives offered by the West, reiterating that Tehran would press ahead with plans to expand its nuclear program."

Package proposes clipping [Pakistan's] president’s powers
Some quotes...."LAHORE, April 5: The new constitutional package to be introduced during the next session of the National Assembly will take away many crucial powers of the president, smoothen the functioning of the Council of Common Interests (CCI) and ensure that autonomy granted to provinces by the basic law is not violated by anyone on any ground." -- "The sources said the power of the president to dissolve the National Assembly under Article 58(2)-b of the Constitution, appoint provincial governors and services chiefs, impose governor’s rule in any province or declare a state of emergency would be withdrawn."

The Russophobia Card
From the Russian point of view - A quote...."The U.S. presidential candidates are increasingly playing the Russophobia card in their campaigns. In addressing Russia, Senators John McCain and Hillary Clinton have resorted to insulting President Vladimir Putin as a KGB spy who has no soul. Russophobia is truly back into fashion, as Senator Joseph Biden admitted last week in a comment published in The Wall Street Journal."

Divide and Rule: Driving a Wedge Between Brazil and Venezuela
Some quotes...."When you can't stamp out progressive social change, the next step is to try to desperately derail it or otherwise water it down. That's exactly the kind of strategy being pursued right now by the likes of Condoleezza Rice, who recently concluded a South American tour designed to ostracize the bad countries, namely Venezuela, Bolivia, and increasingly Argentina, and to cultivate ties with the good countries such as Brazil and Chile." -- "The vehicle for closer integration could well be Mercosur, a trading bloc of South American countries. At present the bloc's members include Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. Venezuela is in the process of joining the bloc, and a number of countries including Bolivia and Chile are associate members. Mercosur nations have declared their intention of forming a South American Community of Nations modeled after the European Union."

South America must immediately join and integrate, they can argue about the mix of economic structures later, but if they don't join they won't be able to compete on the world stage, especially with that thug-o-cratic, extortionist, loan-shark collection of whacked-out psychos called the United States*.  They'll be toast, and the US will literally eat their lunch.

*PS some readers may think the above statement is "anti-US", let's stop being childish folks and get real, you don't count, your opinion doesn’t count, your vote doesn't count, everything you see in the mass-media has already been proven to be lies, this isn't a country, this isn't even the "United States" anymore and it hasn't been for at least sixty years.

This is a shell corporation which operates like the mafia and happens to be completely controlled, and run, by ten to twenty thousand people tops.  End of story.  - mpg
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Civil Liberties Destroyed Well Before Previously Thought
A quote...."Three rather unsettling news pieces from today, the anniversary of Dr. King's assassination . . . wow."

1) "Exactly what domestic military action was covered by the October memo is unclear" . . . (Remember when the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 was still in force?)
2) "The October 2001 memo arguing for unregulated military searches on U.S. soil has not been formally withdrawn and remains a secret but unclassified document."
3) 2003 Justice Department memo justifies torture, presidential dictatorship

"Thanks to Lori Price of Citizens for Legitimate Government for bringing these items to our attention. Almost seems important enough the corporate media would cover it, too, eh?!"
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Analysts now anxiously await first-quarter results from US regional banks
A quote...."Matt Kelley, analyst at stockbrokers Sterne Agee in Maine, said investors will focus on which banks – and how many – might be at risk. "Investors will immediately go right to the balance sheet, to the capital ratios, to the write-downs. It's about capital and credit this quarter."

Chertkow, Once a Dollar Bull, Sees Long-Term Decline
A quote...."The dollar will fall in coming years as the U.S. seeks a weak currency to boost exports and cut its trade and current-account deficits, said Paul Chertkow, the former head of currency strategy at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd."  --  Website Editor's caution: obviously Bernanke has received his marching orders from the MIOC elites and he'll try to hold interest rates down while hiding the severity of this nation’s increasing inflation till after the elections, at which point sooner, rather than later, the Fed will have to do something about inflation in this country.- mpg

Friday April 4th 2008

Toward Monarchy
A quote...."As if we didn't already know, we have yet another piece of evidence that one of the major "accomplishments" of the Bush administration (and you didn't think there were any) has been a relentless push for more executive power."

America is Headed Downhill
A quote...."With all due skepticism about pollsters: if 81% of polled Americans believe their nation is fundamentally headed in the wrong direction, this is more significant than just an internal domestic problem. We in Europe should also be concerned. Washington appears to be more and more divorced from reality. Just as the War in Iraq was based on lies and faked documents, just as the dimensions of the Katrina disaster were underestimated and the response poorly managed, now the US mortgage crisis, which has global repercussions, is based on irrational and delusional assumptions. A world power has been deceiving itself for years – driven by fear of terror, a culture of greed and consumption and fantasies of saving the world."

Hersh: children raped at Abu Ghraib, Pentagon has videos
A quote...."From Daily Kos' partial transcript of a video (link to REAL stream) of Seymour Hersh speaking at an ACLU event. He says the US government has videotapes of children being raped at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq." -- And don't kid yourselves, there are millions of Neo-Romans living in this country who like this sort of stuff.  Even the Wall Street Journal said so. - mpg

Didn't They Already Get Saddam? - Was Killing Iraqi Children Worth It?
A quote...."A  snapshot of the opening scene in the U.S. invasion of Iraq provides an excellent insight into the immorality and horror of the entire operation, from start to whenever it finally finishes."

Israel's Tehran connection
Special Note - Some quotes...."If you've ever wondered about the definition of hypocrisy you'll find the answer right here." -- "Israel imports Iranian oil on a large scale even though contacts with Iran and purchasing of its products are officially boycotted by Israel. Israel gets around the boycott by having the oil delivered via Europe. A reliable Israeli energy newsletter, EnergiaNews, reported this last week [March 18] ... " -- Ha, ha, ha, haaaaaa, it's all just so hilarious! -- To all you Americans out there (the real Americans, not those Neo-Romans) you've been duped, and you've sacrificed your sons and daughters for a bunch of MIOC elites, PNAC'ing Likud's from Israel and AIPAC....it's all just sooooo funny.

For more on this see issue....The US is After Europe Too! - 03-23-08 - mpg
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Al Qaeda #2: We'll Attack Iran
A quote...."Recently, Senator John McCain has repeatedly indicated that Iran and al-Qaeda are in cahoots.  The terror group's number two, Ayman al-Zawahiri, would beg to differ.  In a long-promised online Q&A session, Zawahiri says it would be "in the interest" of Al-Qaeda to see Iran "sap[ped]" by a fight with the United States.  Moreover, he seems to promise that the extremist collective will "battle" whoever wins that U.S.-Iran struggle."  --  Let's put it this way, the US has given absolutely NO money to Iran.  On the other hand the US has given directly, or encouraged others to give indirectly on behalf of the US, BILLIONS of dollars to al Qaeda.

Does everyone get the point....or is it too obvious?? - mpg
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>>>  Petraeus is an AKLCS  <<<

British fear US commander is beating the drum for Iran strikes
Red War Warning -- A quote...."A strong statement from General David Petraeus about Iran's intervention in Iraq could set the stage for a US attack on Iranian military facilities, according to a Whitehall assessment. In closely watched testimony in Washington next week, Gen Petraeus will state that the Iranian threat has risen as Tehran has supplied and directed attacks by militia fighters against the Iraqi state and its US allies."

OH MY GAWD.....what a bunch of little, whining, crying, snot-nosed, chicken-hawk, frat-boy, babies.  Whaugh, Whaugh....Muqtada al-Sadr showed the whole world how stupid we are.....Whaugh, Whaugh, sniffle, sniffle....well we'll show them, we're gonna start World War III, that'll teach them.

Petraeus should get it through his sick, twisted, tiny, pin-sized head that....IT'S THE IRAQIS' OIL, IT BELONGS TO THE IRAQI PEOPLE, NOT TO HIM, OR CHENEY, OR THE US OIL COMPANIES.!!

What is it that Admiral Wiliam Fallon once said about Petraeus....oh that's right -- to quote the Admiral -  Petraeus is an "ass-kissing little chicken sh-t.".

Never were truer words spoken. - mpg

For more on this issue see....Go Build Your Neo-Roman Empire - Just Leave Us Out Of It - 10-14-07 - mpg
See also....Paltry result of Iraqi [Nouri al-Maliki's and Cheney's] offensive quiets U.S. withdrawal talk - A Satirical Edit
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Cheney's and Maliki's new war in Iraq - Friday round-up - 9 articles - [ Day 11 ]

Green Zone Defeat? 'Handed Over' to a Government Called Sadr
A quote...."BAGHDAD, Apr 2 (IPS) - Despite the huge media campaign led by U.S. officials and a complicit corporate-controlled media to convince the world of U.S. success in Iraq, emerging facts on the ground show massive failure."

Al-Maliki Freezes anti-Militia Operations;  Al-Sadr Calls Million Man March
A quote...."Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki suddenly reversed himself on Friday, pledging a freeze on attacks on militias. Just a day before he had been saying that he would send the Iraqi military in after the Mahdi Army in Baghdad. Given what happened to the army in Basra, where the Sadr Movement isn't all that strong, I wouldn't have advised him to do that. Apparently someone with some sense got al-Maliki's ear." -- *Juan Cole*

Iraq's Maliki breaks off deadly offensive
A quote...."AMMAN - Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has broken off a nationwide military offensive against armed militiamen that left hundreds of people dead in fierce fighting after serious cracks appeared in the ranks of his freshly-trained government forces with as many as 1,000 desertions."

Thousands protest Iraqi government raids
Video - A quote...."Pepe Escobar: Sadr calls for massive demonstrations against occupation on April 9th"

Massive Shiite protest planned in Iraq; more battles possible
A quote...."BAGHDAD — Firebrand Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al Sadr on Thursday called for a massive demonstration against the "occupation" of Iraq on April 9, which would coincide with the fifth anniversary of the fall of Baghdad and come just after U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker are to testify to Congress about progress in Iraq."

Levin: Bush backs 'corrupt and incompetent' Iraqi government
A quote...."The Bush administration is backing a corrupt and incompetent government in Iraq, Sen. Carl Levin told reporters Friday, setting a tough tone for next week's hearings with the top U.S. commander in Iraq. -- Leveling harsh new charges at Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki, Levin said he will make questions about last week's failed Iraqi military offensive a major part of the hearings. "The Bush administration has put all of our eggs in Maliki's basket," Levin said in a conference call with reporters. "And he's shown himself to be a political leader who is excessively sectarian, who's incompetent and who runs a corrupt administration."

Attrition Rates
A quote...."Via Kevin Drum, I see that there are reports of considerable Iraqi Army desertion problems during the recent politically-motivated assault in Basra. The New York Times says a "senior American military official said that he understood that 1,000 to 1,500 Iraqi forces had deserted or underperformed" while the WaPo puts the figure even higher - "A senior official in Iraq's Defense Ministry...said he estimated that 30 percent of the Iraqi troops abandoned the fight before a cease-fire was reached."

UN says 700 killed in Iraq Shi'ite clashes
A quote...."A UN official says an estimated 700 people were killed in the fighting between Iraqi government forces and Shi'ite militiamen last week."

Muqtada out of step in Shi'ite dance
A quote...."DAMASCUS - Two years ago, Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr was interviewed by La Republica, explaining his relationship with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. Then, the two men were firmly allied in a friendship that was frowned on by almost everybody; the Americans, the Iranians, Arab states and Iraqi Sunnis. Muqtada's supporters were critical, claiming that by working with Maliki, their boss was legitimizing a US-backed prime minister."

END -- Cheney's and Maliki's new war in Iraq - Friday round-up - [ Day 11]
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US renews Blackwater contract in Iraq
A quote...."Despite the fact that investigations of the incident in which the company’s guards killed 17 Iraqi civilians are still underway, the U.S. State Department said it is extending its diplomat protection contract for private security firm Blackwater USA"

Suez Canal Affair: Bush Apologizes to Egypt
A quote...."Washington had initially denied that shots had been fired, later admitting that they had been fired into the water. The Egyptian foreign minister, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, criticized the behavior of the Americans, noting that the shots were unacceptable and that ports are not open for firing on people, according to his remarks in the national newspaper Al-Ahram."

Just remember this one very important, salient fact when reading about anything the US government has to say.  Every single incident of malfeasance perpatrated by the US government uncovered so far, has always been  preceded by an attempted cover-up. 

Every single incident has been preceded by lies. -- Every single one. -- Never every forget that fact. - mpg
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Bush Lies About 911: A Primer
Must Read - A quote...."As FBI Director Robert Mueller had said, there is no evidence to connect the 'said' 19 'hijackers' with the events of 911. That's 'no' as in 'none', 'nada' and 'zip'! And there is STILL no evidence to connect the 'Arab hijackers' with the crime of mass murder called '911'. Those who assert must prove. Bush asserted a theory in which the 19 hijackers crashed US buildings and all died. Show me the bodies! Show me a valid and verifiable autopsy report."

9/11 Contradictions: Bush in the Classroom
A quote...."The official story of 9/11 is riddled with internal contradictions. One of these contradictions involves the question of how long President Bush remained in classroom in Sarasota, Florida, on the morning of 9/11."

911 Truth Gets Media Boost
A quote...."Time is short. The next 9/11 (American Hiroshima? -- read about it!) is on its way. George Bush, the next 9/11 will make the first 9/11 "pale by comparison" (11-11/07 & 2-13/08) and "wreak havoc through death." (08-03/07) Hint: Just like the first 9/11, the next 9/11 WILL NOT be carried out by al Qaeda. It will again come from the "inside."

The DOJ comments on the Mukasey controversy
A quote...."In response to the growing controversy over plainly misleading comments by Attorney General Michael Mukasey last week in San Francisco, and in response to the questions I submitted, the DOJ's Peter Carr, its Principal Deputy Director of Public Affairs, sent me the following email:"
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Hagel: McCain Facing Electoral Buzzsaw Over Iraq
A quote....""I am concerned about the [party still holding on to Iraq as an issue]," said Hagel. "If for no other reason than the political factors here are quite obvious. This country has made a decision on Iraq, and as you see now in any poll, even a minimum of 25 percent of the registered Republicans cannot support the president's policy in Iraq. You take that with the independents and Democrats and you have anywhere between 60 and 70 percent who want out."  --  Totally and utterly NOT TRUE.  All you'll need is one nice, fat, juicy, false flag incident, like an American city being nuked, and presto!!  All them dumb, drooling, morons out there will vote Republican.  It's as simple as that. - mpg

Somalia: The Open Secret Horror Show Continues
A quote...."In other words, we started out fighting "terrorists of global reach", or the Taliban, or Afghanistan, or Islam, or Islamists, or the rest of the world, or something, because of the alleged "act of war" that was "declared against the United States" on September 11, 2001. -- Never mind that the official story of 9/11 and all its official variants have been packs of lies. The "news" media were never going to expose the fiction -- not after 50 years of being secretly groomed to produce fiction -- and a huge propaganda army could be mobilized against anyone who dared to raise any questions."

(The Late) M.L. King Still Silenced
A quote...."Soon after Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday became a federal holiday in 1986, I began prodding mainstream media to cover the dramatic story of King’s last year as he campaigned militantly against U.S. foreign and economic policy."

Rabbi Eliyahu: Life of one yeshiva boy worth more than 1,000 Arabs
A quote...."The Talmud states that if gentiles rob Israel of silver they will pay it back in gold, and all that is taken will be paid back in folds, but in cases like these there is nothing to pay back, since as I said – the life of one yeshiva boy is worth more than the lives of 1,000 Arabs," added Rabbi Eliyahu."

No Checkpoints in Heaven
Must Read - A quote...."I still vividly remember my father’s face - wrinkled, apprehensive, warm - as he last wished me farewell fourteen years ago. He stood outside the rusty door of my family’s home in a Gaza refugee camp wearing old yellow pyjamas and a seemingly ancient robe. As I hauled my one small suitcase into a taxi that would take me to an Israeli airport an hour away, my father stood still. I wished he would go back inside; it was cold and the soldiers could pop up at any moment."

Should the U.S. End Aid to Israel? - Funding Our Decline
A quote...."April 1st I participated in a debate in San Francisco that raised the question of US aid to Israel. -- It was highly appropriate that this debate was held two weeks before tax day, since in Israel's sixty years of existence, it has received more US tax money than any other nation on earth."

New study shows US lawmakers have as much as $196 million invested in defense companies
If you include their off-shore accounts, it'll probably run into the billions. - mpg

Bad Samaritans – The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism
Book Review - A quote...."Every now and then a ‘prize’ of a book comes along that includes all the elements of good writing.  "Bad Samaritans"* is one of them." -- "The main underlying position that demolishes the myth of capitalist free trade and its supposed successes with globalization is that all the current wealthy countries achieved their wealth not through free trade, but through the use of highly protective tariffs and effective use of subsidies and laws that regulated foreign business within their own country.   He starts with his own country, Korea...." -- *link added by websit author.
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Chavez nationalises cement industry
A quote...."Venezuela's president has announced that he has ordered the nationalisation of cement companies operating in the country, in a nationally televised address."

Chavez is getting a case of the stupids, big time.  Well controlled and well regulated  free markets within a nation state. (something the US does NOT have) almost always work better than governments at running consumer demand-driven services.

Governments that are actually controlled by the "people" (i.e. transparent, democratic, law abiding and not corrupt) are good at delivering only a few basic services; divvying up the benefits from fixed resources - land, rivers, oil and gas. Setting up national grid systems, because their capital costs and outputs are well known, long term and are easily calculated --  roads, dams, water, canals, harbors, air ports, electricity.

Establishing systems that work best when delivered to everyone equally - educational systems and also risk systems like health insurance and retirement insurance. And finally, delivering services which should never ever be privatized - police, courts, prisons, parks and national defense.

That's about it.  If you try to deliver any other type of service through the government, you are just asking for trouble. Governments, i.e. command structures do not work very well when they attempt to deliver consumer demand-driven services.  Even if these services involve the heavy, capital intensive, sectors of the economy.

Chavez is going down the wrong road.  It's going to be very expensive for him and Venezuela and not just in terms of money, but in terms of national pride and lost opportunity.
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Is an International Financial Conspiracy Driving World Events?
Special Note - A quote...."Was Alan Greenspan really as dumb as he looks in creating the late housing bubble that threatens to bring the entire Western debt-based economy crashing down?"

Diversified markets have cut Brazil’s exposure to US crisis
Special Note - A quote....Brazil’s Foreign Secretary Celso Amorim said that those countries which have signed free trade agreement with United States are the most vulnerable to the consequences of the US housing and banking crisis, contrary to Brazil that has “diversified markets”." --  There's still time for all those other countries out there, they should de-couple themselves from the US economy immeadiatly, or they will suffer the economic consequences for their lack of foresight. - mpg

Fed's interest rate games could destroy the dollar
A quote...."Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has reduced the key federal funds rate six times in as many months -- reducing the cost for major borrowers significantly. This combines with providing $270 million in funding, plus $30 billion in additional guarantees, for JP Morgan Chase to buy Bear Stearns Cos."

Wall Street brokerages borrowing $38.1 billion a day from Federal Reserve
Special Note - A quote...."The Federal Reserve reports Thursday that those firms averaged $38.1 billion in daily borrowing over the past week from the new lending program. That compared with $32.9 billion in the previous week and $13.4 billion in the first week the lending facility opened." -- Here that sound folks?  That roaring, rumbling, thumping sound is the sound of Bernanke's money helicopter, tossing bales of green stuff out the door....you're not going to get any though, you're just going to get the bill. - mpg

Perils in The Price Of Rice
A quote...."You may have missed the front-page article in the New York Times last Saturday, with the one-column headline written in clipped newspaperese: "High Rice Cost Creating Fears of Asia Unrest." But this little story could be an early warning of another big economic problem that's sneaking up on us.  --  The new danger is global inflation -- most worryingly in food prices, but also in prices for commodities, raw materials and products that require petroleum energy, which includes almost everything. Prices for these goods have been skyrocketing in international markets -- at the same time the Federal Reserve and other central banks have been hosing the world with new money in their efforts to avoid a financial crisis. "

Corn Hits $6 a Bushel on Tight Supplies
A quote...."Corn prices jumped to a record $6 a bushel Thursday, driven up by an expected supply shortfall that will only add to Americans' growing grocery bill and further squeeze struggling ethanol producers.

Home farm foreclosure rate goes up
Video - A quote...."AP: Merced, California faces among the highest foreclosure rates in the country"  -- If they've got all these foreclosures now with food prices screaming upwards.....what the heck is going to happen when this country goes into a deep recession?? - mpg

Gas Prices Rise to New National Record
A quote...."     NEW YORK (AP) - The cost of filling up the family car climbed to a record high Tuesday, adding to the challenges consumers already face with falling home values and rising food prices."

March U.S. nonfarm payrolls down 80,000, jobless rate up to 5.1%+
A quote...."AP -  The U.S. economy lost 80,000 nonfarm jobs in March for the third straight monthly fall, and the unemployment rate crept up to 5.1 percent, the worst in about two and a half years, the Labor Department said Friday.

Thursday April 3rd 2008

American Grand Delusions - Why the Testimony of General Petraeus Will Be Delusional
Must Read - A quote...."Yes, their defensive zone is the planet and they patrol it regularly. As ever, their planes and drones have been in the skies these last weeks. They struck a village in Somalia, tribal areas in Pakistan, rural areas in Afghanistan, and urban neighborhoods in Iraq. Their troops are training and advising the Iraqi army and police as well as the new Afghan army, while their Special Operations forces are planning to train Pakistan's paramilitary Frontier Corps in that country's wild, mountainous borderlands."
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The American Form of Government and the Paulson Plan
Must Read - A quote...."I have difficulty briefly describing America’s form of national government. -- According to the CIA, the U.S.A., which is the Federal government, is a constitutional federal republic with a strong democratic tradition (representative democracy). On paper, this is correct. -- But these terms do not describe our national government. If they did we’d see, which we do not, the government establishing justice, promoting the general welfare and securing the blessings of liberty to the sovereign people and its posterity. The government would obey the U.S. Constitution, which it does not."

Charles Goyette Interviews Lew Rockwell
Audio - Interview - Special Note - A quote...."Lew Rockwell, president of the Ludwig von Mises Institute, discusses, the connection between central banking and the modern warfare state, the Fed’s responsibility for the current global financial crisis, their new power grabs in the name of fixing the problems they’ve created, who benefits, the status of the Ron Paul campaign and his predictions for future consequences of Fed policy."

Paul Lectures Bernanke: U.S. Moving Towards Fascism
Special Note - Related article - A quote...."There's a political philosophy that advocates merging together the interests of business and government at the same time with a loss of civil liberties of the people and I'm afraid we're moving in that direction," said the Congressman, citing warrantless searches, lack of medical, Internet and financial privacy as well as the loss of habeas corpus since 9/11. - "I see....the proposal by the Treasury as a massive move to a lot closer association of business and government," said Paul, adding that a military-industrial complex, a medical-industrial complex and a media-industrial complex were already in place."

Federal Reserve staff move into offices of investment banks to monitor activities
Related article - A quote...."The US Federal Reserve has sent staff into some of Wall Street’s biggest firms and its New York branch is gathering evidence on key traders’ activities as America’s central bank raises its scrutiny of risk to an unprecedented level. -- Fed staff have set up shop in Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, and Bear Stearns to monitor their financial condition just days after Henry Paulson, the US Treasury Secretary, proposed that the Fed become the financial industry’s “risk czar”. -- a.k.a. the "Financial Decider" - mpg

Carlyle Group's Plan to Takeover the Banking System
Related article - A quote...."So what's Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's call for changes in regulation of the financial markets all about? A clue may have been revealed today by Randal Quarles, former Under Secretary of the Treasury who led the Treasury Department's effort in the coordination of the President's Working Group on Financial Markets and is a current Managing Director at Carlyle Group."
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Key Pakistani official says U.S. must end attacks on militants
A quote...."ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — The new top official in Pakistan's terrorism-racked northwest frontier has demanded that the United States end missile strikes in the country and called for negotiations with militants — an approach that would dramatically alter the American-inspired war on terror there." -- For more on this issue see....It Will Happen Every Single Time

India, Russia, China form regional cooperation forum
A quote...."Move over BRIC. RIC or the troika of Russia, India and China are taking over. A regional formation will take up international issues like the reform of the UN and the Security Council, according to Konstantin V Vnukov, director, first Asia department, Russian foreign ministry, and head of delegation for trilateral cooperation between India, Russia and China, on a visit to the capital for the seventh ministerial of the troika."

Globalist Agenda: U.S. Must Embrace Obligations of Global Citizenship and Ratify and Apply International Treaties
A quote...."The recent United States Supreme Court decision in Medellin v. Texas, allowing the State of Texas to ignore a judgment of the International Court of Justice, highlights the country’s shameful failure to live up to its obligations as a global citizen, according to the Center for Inquiry, a leading humanist organization."

Taliban welcome back an old friend
A quote...."KARACHI - Like a voice from the grave, legendary Afghan mujahideen leader Jalaluddin Haqqani has emerged from years of silence to boldly launch the Taliban-led spring offensive in Afghanistan, at the same time burying any doubts of a split between his coalition of resistance groups and Mullah Omar's Taliban."

Saudi Arabia is prime source of terror funds, U.S. says
Special Note - A quote...."WASHINGTON -- Saudi Arabia remains the world's leading source of money for Al Qaeda and other extremist networks and has failed to take key steps requested by U.S. officials to stem the flow, the Bush administration's top financial counter-terrorism official said Tuesday.

Editor's note: This article does not exist.  You may think you're reading it gentle reader but that is an impossibility.  This article purports to be about Saudi Arabia supporting terrorism and we ALL know that can not possibly be true.

Since the entire mass-media-faux-news industry in this country have hardly mentioned Saudi Arabia's connection to terrorism EVER, or Bush's and the Neocons support for terror , and considering Bush has repeatedly stated the Saudi Royals are our "friends"....this article simply has to be A FIGMENT OF YOUR IMAGINATION ! 

So again....you are not reading this article, you're just having a temporary delusion, it's important for your own sanity (and safety) that you realize this fact.  You must immediately take some medication, lie down, relax, be calm and repeat to yourself over and over again, the official conspiracy theory regarding 9/11 is true, the official conspiracy theory regarding 9/11 is true..... – mpg
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Cheney's and Maliki's new war in Iraq - Thursday round-up - 8 articles - [ Day 10 ]

Misreading Sadr, Again
Must Read - A quote...."Rulers of Iraq usually overplay their hand. Saddam Hussein did so when he invaded Kuwait in 1990, and George W. Bush did it when he announced he had won a complete military victory in 2003. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki made the same mistake by launching a direct assault on Basra on March 25. He swore he would crush the militiamen who ruled the city, force them to hand over their weapons within seventy-two hours and make each gunman pledge to forswear violence."

More Than 1,000 in Iraq’s Forces Quit Basra Fight
A quote...."BAGHDAD — More than 1,000 Iraqi soldiers and policemen either refused to fight or simply abandoned their posts during the inconclusive assault against Shiite militias in Basra last week, a senior Iraqi government official said Thursday. Iraqi military officials said the group included dozens of officers, including at least two senior field commanders in the battle."

General William Odom Tells Senate Rapid Withdrawal Is Only Solution
Special Note - A quote...."More disturbing, Prime Minister Maliki has initiated military action and then dragged in US forces to help his own troops destroy his Shiite competitors. This is a political setback, not a political solution. Such is the result of the surge tactic. --  No less disturbing has been the steady violence in the Mosul area, and the tensions in Kirkuk between Kurds, Arabs, and Turkomen. A showdown over control of the oil fields there surely awaits us." -- *General William Odom*  --  For more on this issue see....Paltry result of Iraqi [Nouri al-Maliki's and Cheney's] offensive quiets U.S. withdrawal talk - A Satirical Edit

Al-Sadr stronghold brims with confidence
A quote...."Black banners announcing the deaths of Mahdi Army fighters plaster the streets. Scores of Shiite militiamen gather at the funeral of a fallen comrade as a U.S. helicopter gunship hovers above."

Sadr loyalists warn of end to cease-fire
A quote...."BAGHDAD -- Loyalists of Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr today accused government forces of breaching a cease-fire with continued raids in the southern city of Basra and threatened a "return to conflict." -- The warning came just a day after Basra and Baghdad felt the full effect of the cease-fire, which Sadr called late Sunday following five days of clashes between Shiite militiamen and Iraqi and U.S. forces."

Official: U.S. to send more troops to Basra
A quote...."BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A senior U.S. military official say 400 U.S. military personnel are being sent to Basra, Iraq, to bolster the operation there. - Within 24 hours of the latest round of fighting in Basra, the U.S. began moving dozens of military personnel to the city as Iraqi forces were becoming overwhelmed, CNN has confirmed with the senior military official. The move included senior American officers."

The US Military just doesn't get it....It's the Iraqi's oil, it belongs to them, it does not belong to Maliki, Dick's American investors or Dick Cheney himself.  When the US Military finally understands that and leaves Iraq alone, the violence will end.

After seeing how Maliki is willing to kill hundreds of his "own" Shi'a brethren, how he's willing to become Cheney's pet, and how he's going to give all of that lovely oil to Cheney's friends in the petroleum business, after taking his own cut of course, it's highly unlikely that the Sunnis or even the Kurds will just sit idly by while this new "Saddam" is created.

The US military is now paying eighty five thousand former Sunni insurgents (they were all called al Qaida by our wonderful mass-media until they started getting money from us,) ten dollars a day to not attack them.  The Sunnis are NOT stupid however, whatever "share" Maliki promises them of the oil doesn't mean squat to them.  Five percent, or seven percent, or ten percent of nothing is still....you guessed it....NOTHING !  And that's exactly what will remain after Cheney and his boys take the lions share and Maliki divides up whatever is left among DAWA members....absolutely nothing.

And it won't take long for the Kurds, Muqtada Sadr's Shi'as and the Sunnis to realize that they don't want a Cheney puppet like Maliki giving "their" oil away, that it might be best if they put a stop to all of this right now.

Congratulations to the US military, they just let Cheney buy them another five more years of war. - mpg

Iraq's Sadr calls million-strong march against U.S
A quote...."BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr called on Thursday for 1 million Iraqis to march against U.S. "occupation" next week after his Mehdi Army militia battled U.S. and government troops."

A Block in Baghdad Mourns Its Own Sudden U.S. Gunfire Claims Child, Her Grandfather and a Neighbor, Residents Say -- A quote...."BAGHDAD, March 31 -- Abdul Qader, his chest and leg wrapped in white bandages, began to cry -- not out of pain, but loss. He remembered seeing the American Humvees, then a hail of bullets. He remembered seeing his close friend and neighbor, Abbas Ramadan, shot as he clutched his 2-year-old granddaughter, blood oozing from her head. Abdul Qader ran and ran until he collapsed from the bullets that pierced his own body."

END -- Cheney's and Maliki's new war in Iraq - Thursday round-up - [ Day 10 ]
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Hamas Accepts State Within 1967 Borders: Meshaal
Special Note - A quote...."RAMALLAH, 3 April 2008 — Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal said that his movement supports the united Palestinian position that calls for the establishment of a fully sovereign state within the 1967 borders, including Jerusalem, and refugees’ right to return." -- This is a de-facto recognition of the State of Israel by Hamas, Israel will of course ignore it, as they have always ignored opportunities for peace. - mpg

Video: Al Dhameer Al Arabi (The Arab Conscience )
Must View - Video - From the Arab perspective - A quote...."The Arab Conscience (Al Dameer Al Arabi, directed by Ahmad Al Arian), a sequel to The Arab Dream (Al Hilm Al Arabi, 1998), premiered on Zoom TV on 27 February 2008. -- After the opening credits, the songs by Wadee'a Al Safi and Mohammad Al Azabi, and an excerpt from The Arab Dream, The Arab Conscience proper begins 6:07 minutes into the video. It features 106 Arab singers, including Latifa, Hani Shaker, Nancy Ajram, Khaled, Sherine, Saber Al Rebai, Redha Al Abdullah, Amal Maher, Khaled Selim, Ahlam, Diana Karazon, Abdullah Al Rowaished, Wa'ad, Ehab Tawfeeq, Mostafa Mahfooth, Amal Hejazi, Wa'el Jassar, Omniyah, Ammar Hassan, Asalah, Jailani, Nancy Za'abalawi, Majid Al Muhandis, Amnah, Lotfi Boshnaq, Yara, Omar Al-Abdullat, Nawal, Noor Mhna, Fatin Helal Baik, and Mo'amin.

Is The “Israel Lobby” Losing Its Grip?
A quote...." 02/04/08 "ICH" --- - In an perceptive piece for The American Conservative under the headline OBAMA’S ISRAEL TEST, Scott McConnell asked,  “Is the lobby losing its grip?” It seems so, but I think it’s important to understand the choice that will exist for the Jews of the world, and Jewish Americans especially, if American politicians (many if not all) and the mainstream media do stop being frightened of offending the lobby. "

Israel hosts NATO naval drill
War Alert - Complete quote...."Israel is hosting a NATO naval exercise. - Six NATO frigates commanded by a Turkish admiral arrived Monday in Haifa for a joint drill with Israeli Navy missile boats. - "During the visit, a demonstration of naval capabilities took place, as well as an exchange of information on a range of topics," the Israeli military said in a statement. - Israel has been shoring up ties recently with NATO as part of preparations for any future showdown with Iran. - For the first time, Israel this year posted a naval liaison at NATO headquarters in Napoli, Italy."

Israel sends jets to Syrian border
War Alert - A quote...."Israel has increased the number of times it scrambles jets to the Syrian border, reportedly in preparation for possible confrontation."

Syrian reservists called up for fear of Israeli strike
Red War Warning - A quote...."Roee Nahmias Published: 04.02.08, 08:47 / Israel News -- Syrian reservists called up for fear of Israeli strike -- London-based al-Quds al-Arabi newspaper quotes sources in Damascus as saying Syria views Israeli media reports, IDF commanders' statements as incitement, attempt to prepare public opinion for war. According to report, Syrian army on heightened alert, conducting wide-scale drills -- Syria is preparing for a comprehensive Israeli strike which will be combined with an attack on Hizbullah, sources in Damascus have told the London-based Arabic-language al-Quds al-Arabi newspaper." -- The sources, which refused to reveal their identity, reported that Syria was closely monitoring the movement of Israeli forces along the northern border."
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'Iran would reject nuclear incentives'
A quote...."Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said he would reject any new incentives offered by world powers to suspend uranium enrichment. "

[Iranian] Envoy Calls for Increased People Contact to Strengthen Iran-Pak Ties
A quote...." TEHRAN (FNA)- People-to-people contacts are necessary to strengthen Iran-Pakistan relations, Tehran's Cultural Counselor to Islamabad said, adding that exchanges of delegations can also play pivotal role in enhancing and boosting economic, cultural, social and educational contacts between the two Muslim countries."

Iran-Pakistan Bus Service to Launch Operation
A quote...." TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran-Pakistan bus service will start operation on April 22, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry said."
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Why doesn't the 9/11 Commission know about Mukasey's 9/11 story?
Special Note - A quote...."Last week, during a question-and-answer session following a speech he delivered in San Francisco, Attorney General Michael Mukasey revealed a startling and extremely newsworthy fact. As I wrote last Saturday, Mukasey claimed that, prior to 9/11, the Bush administration was aware of a telephone call being made by an Al Qaeda Terrorist from what he called a "safe house in Afghanistan" into the U.S., but failed to eavesdrop on that call. Some help is needed from readers here to generate the attention for this story that it requires."

The Reflecting Pool
A quote...."02/04/08 "ICH" -- -- Whether you see yourself as a truth seeker, patriotic American, independent thinker or voter, or just someone with bad memories of 9/11, you should make an effort to view The Reflecting Pool, a new independent movie.  It is not about 9/11.  It is about the credibility of the official government story about 9/11.  Though a drama, it is based on meticulously researched facts about 9/11 as revealed in the bonus material on the DVD."
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Protests against Ukraine joining NATO
Must View - Related Video - A quote...."VOICE OF ZAA NKWETA, PRESENTER: US President George W. Bush is in Romania for meetings with leaders of 26 NATO member states, ahead of Thursday's conference in Bucharest. The US leader is strongly supporting the NATO entry bids of former Soviet bloc countries Ukraine and Georgia. But the push for NATO expansion faces strong opposition from Russia and resistance from some NATO partners, including France, Germany, Italy, and Spain."

EU allies unite against Bush over Nato membership for Georgia and Ukraine
Related article - A quote...."Gordon Brown has sided with more cautious EU allies against President George Bush over US support for the admission of the former Soviet republics of Georgia and Ukraine being admitted to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation."

An Undiplomatic President
Related article - A quote...."President Bush’s demand for a rapid assimilation of Georgia and the Ukraine into NATO has failed. He was prepared to deceive important allies, but now must feel beaten. Not even that means anything to him."

Bush snubbed at NATO summit - This article is about much more than the NATO summit. - mpg
Must Read - A quote...."At this week’s NATO summit in the Romanian capital of Bucharest, US President George W. Bush has faced concerted European opposition to his plans for a further eastward expansion of the alliance. Only a last minute compromise allowed the American president to save face. German politicians in particular were reported to be angry and disconcerted at the insistence by the American president on the speedy inclusion of Georgia and the Ukraine into the ranks of the NATO."

Putin says Russia will support Abkhazia and S. Ossetia
A quote...."MOSCOW, April 3 (RIA Novosti) - Russia will provide all the necessary support and assistance to Georgia's breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the Russian Foreign Ministry said quoting President Vladimir Putin." -- Putin repeatedly warned everyone within shouting distance that if the US encouraged Kosovo to succeed and tried to MAP Georgia and the Ukraine into NATO membership, this is what would happen.  This event should surprise no one.- mpg
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Venezuela diverts Exxon oil to China
A quote...."Venezuela is sending to China all the oil it previously shipped to a US refinery jointly owned with Exxon Mobil amid a legal battle between the OPEC nation and the US oil giant, Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez said on Friday."

Venezuela passes 'windfall' oil tax
A quote...."The Venezuelan parliament has approved a "windfall" tax on oil firms to boost its revenues from record world prices. - The tax would take 50 per cent of oil revenues above $70 per barrel and an additional 60 per cent of revenues over $100 per barrel."
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Randi Rhodes Suspended by Air America: Censoring Talent When They're NOT On-Air???
A quote...."Sam Seder has been subbing for Randi Rhodes since Tuesday. She was suspended for "inappropriate remarks." Nothing on Google. Anybody know any details?" -- It's a bit over the top, and so....ah...was Randi, but so what?  See video....Randi Rhodes calls Ferraro and Clinton- Whores - (You Tube - 5 min 38 sec -  Added:  April 01, 2008) - Actually she calls them a bunch of @#$%^&*! Whores....you've been warned. - mpg

Bill Clinton's tirade stunned some delegates
A quote...."The Bill Clinton who met privately with California's superdelegates at last weekend's state convention was a far cry from the congenial former president who afterward publicly urged fellow Democrats to "chill out" over the race between his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Barack Obama. -- In fact, before his speech Clinton had one of his famous meltdowns Sunday, blasting away at former presidential contender Bill Richardson for having endorsed Obama, the media and the entire nomination process. -- "It was one of the worst political meetings I have ever attended," one superdelegate said."

Why Americans Never Vote for What They Really Want
A quote...."American voters are a contradictory bunch: They say they want social welfare, but don't want to pay for it. They claim they are left-leaning, but vote for center-right candidates. Only candidates who can appeal to both sides stand a chance."

The Toys of War - The Militarization of America
A quote...."A necessary aspect of armies--or even of a military style police force--is that they carry weapons. Even in Great Britain, except for the local "Bobbie" on the beat, it seems as if more and more special police armed units are being created to fight criminal enterprises. Meeting the need for compact, powerful pistols and other small arms is a vast industry, one that, in the United States, started in the three decades prior to the U.S. Civil War."

House, Senate launch crusade against media consolidation
A quote...."A bipartisan group of five House members has filed a measure aimed at nullifying a controversial Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rule that would end a 32-year-old ban on radio and television broadcasters owning newspapers in Seattle and other of the nation's largest media markets. It is the House companion to legislation offered in the Senate last week."

World take note: Chris Coverdale (Make War History, Blair/war crimes) arrested for non-payment of fines imposed for demonstration outside Parliament -- A quote...."Chris Coverdale was arrested earlier today at his home in wimbledon for non-payment of fines imposed for a previous SOCPA unauthorised demonstration offence. he is being held overnight at wimbledon police station and will apear at the local court tomorrow morning."

Building a Legal Framework for Torture
A quote...."On Jan. 17, 2003, Mary Walker, the Air Force general counsel, received an urgent memo from the Pentagon's top attorney. Attached to the classified document was a set of directives drafted two days earlier by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld."

Guantánamo Endgame
A quote...."Authoritarian madness, strategic disaster, a national disgrace: the Bush Administration's Guantánamo experiment has been justly called all these things. Lately, it was condemned by five former Secretaries of State--Colin Powell, Madeleine Albright, Warren Christopher, James Baker and Henry Kissinger (a man whose own extravagant abuses of executive power suggest just how far beyond the pale Guantánamo really is)--as well as the nonpartisan American Bar Association, which expressed grave concern about the possibility of fair trials."

Documents show Pentagon now using FBI to spy on Americans
A quote...."The military is using the FBI to skirt legal restrictions on domestic surveillance to obtain private records of Americans' Internet service providers, financial institutions and telephone companies, according to Pentagon documents."

California: Bay Area Population to be Sprayed with New Unregistered Pesticide
A quote...."The people of the Bay area of California are about to be sprayed with a new pesticide not registered with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in a pre-emptive strive against a perceived threat from the Light Brown Apple Moth."
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Current crisis is worst since Great Depression: Soros
A quote...." The billionaire investor says that global equity markets will fall more this year after a brief rebound and that the credit crunch is probably far from over -- The current financial crisis across the world is the worst since the Great Depression and the credit crunch is probably far from over, according to billionaire investor George Soros. He also says that global equity markets will fall more this year after a brief rebound."

Slump in services sector moderates in March
A quote...."SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Conditions in the nation's services sector improved in March, though lackluster employment and a faster rate of supplier deliveries -- indicating that business is slow -- continued to keep more firms in contraction mode, the Institute for Supply Management reported Thursday."

Jobless claims jump to highest since 2005
A quote...."WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of U.S. workers applying for unemployment benefits soared by 38,000 last week, posting the highest reading since September 2005 and reinforcing fears that the U.S. economy has stalled, government data on Thursday showed."

Individual bankruptcy filings up 27%
A quote...."NEW YORK - The number of individuals filing for bankruptcy surged during the first-quarter as American households struggled to stay on top of debt, according to a report released Wednesday."

Market Tumbles on News That Bush Is Still President
Satire - A quote...."Mr. Bush began his remarks about the economy at 10:30 a.m. EST, and by 10:31 markets around the world had already gone into a perilous free-fall. -- According to Wall Street insiders, the markets were responding to the news that Mr. Bush was still president. -- "Over the last few weeks, the markets have absorbed the news of the subprime crisis, the housing meltdown, and the Bear Stearns failure," said Logan Teasdale of Citigroup. "But the news that President Bush is still president was too much for the markets to shrug off."

Wednesday April 2nd 2008
The Abandonment of the Rule of Law
A quote...."Ahmed Khalfan Ghailana, a citizen of Tanzania, is learning first-hand what it’s like to be the victim of the U.S. government’s post-9/11 regime of the “rule of men,” as compared to the “rule of law.”  --  Some people believe, incorrectly, that the term “rule of law” means that people are expected to obey the law. What it actually means is that people should have to answer to a well-defined law for their conduct rather than the arbitrary whims of government officials."

Our Leaders Don’t Care: ‘So?’
A quote...."Do you know who I’m hands-down the most impressed with in the entire nation? I am most proud of 52 percent of the population that thought the president and his cronies were the best thing since sliced bread, and who now have the guts to admit they were wrong. Comparisons drawn between the American Research Group, an economist think tank, and various CNN news polls show that the president’s approval rating has dropped from 71 percent at the start of the Iraq war to just 19 percent this past February."
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Barbarossa Revisited: Bush Goes Bear-Baiting in the East
A quote...."Justin Raimondo has the goods on George Bush's bear-baiting in Ukraine this week in his column, Nato Marches Eastward. Raimondo goes behind all the rhetorical "high politics" hokum of mainstream commentary and identifies the three main fronts of this diplomatic (so far) Barbarossa. They are -- as anyone who follows American foreign policy with even one half-open eye would know -- oil, weapons and hegemony."

NATO Marches Eastward
A quote...." We're on a dangerous collision course with Russia, no matter who wins the White House.  --  The relentless march of NATO, decades after the implosion of the Soviet Union and the death knell of the Leninist project, is surely an object lesson in the real motivations and character of "democratic" imperialism, here and in Europe. The Communist enemy may be long gone, but NATO soldiers ever onward, and ever eastward. Suddenly we're back in the heyday of the Cold War: once again we hear the War Party's clarion call – "The Russians are coming!"

The Wrong MAP for Ukraine and Georgia
A quote...."Much ink has been spilled over whether NATO will give Ukraine and Georgia a "membership action plan," or MAP, at its upcoming summit. The U.S. administration supports it; Angela Merkel of Germany, America's best friend in Europe, opposes it."
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Cheney's and Maliki's new war in Iraq - Wednesday round-up - 4 articles - [ Day 9 ]

Iran torpedoes US plans for Iraqi oil
Must Read - A quote...."In the highly competitive world of international politics, nation states very rarely miss an opportunity to crow about success stories. The opportunity comes rare, mostly by default, and seldom enduring. By any standards of showmanship, therefore, Tehran has set a new benchmark of reticence. -- By all accounts, Iran played a decisive role in hammering out the peace deal among the Shi'ite factions in Iraq. A bloody week of human killing on the Tigris River ended on Sunday. Details are sketchy, however, since they must come from non-Iranian sources. Tehran keeps silent about its role."

Who Is Iraq's "Firebrand Cleric"?
Interview - Mother Jones interviews Patrick Cockburn about "Muqtada al-Sadr, the Shia Revival, and the Struggle for Iraq" -- A quote...."As the U.K. Independent's correspondent, Cockburn has spent about half of the last five years reporting, unembedded, around Iraq, a country he's been visiting since 1977. His subject is the real Iraq, and Iraqi voices predominate in his work. British and American officials rarely appear in the book. (He assiduously avoids the U.S. military's Green Zone press briefings.) When Cockburn does give airtime to the official line, he's usually debunking it...."  - Also posted at ICH

IRAQ:  'Handed Over' to a Government Called Sadr
A quote...."BAGHDAD, Apr 2 (IPS) - Despite the huge media campaign led by U.S. officials and a complicit corporate-controlled media to convince the world of U.S. success in Iraq, emerging facts on the ground show massive failure."

Paltry result of Iraqi [Nouri al-Maliki's and Cheney's] offensive quiets U.S. withdrawal talk - A Satirical Edit
A quote...."WASHINGTON — The Bush administration was caught off-guard by the first [US initiated and coerced] Iraqi [Maliki]-led military offensive since the fall of Saddam Hussien [he was selected by Cheney as Big Oil's representative in Iraq], a weeklong thrust in southern Iraq whose paltry results have silenced talk [by the totally uninformed] at the Pentagon of further U.S. troop withdrawals any time soon."

END -- Cheney's and Maliki's new war in Iraq - Wednesday round-up - [ Day 9 ]
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Ted Olson's Report of Phone Calls from Barbara Olson on 9/11: Three Official Denials
A quote...."Olson’s Self-Contradictions - American Airlines Contradicts Olson’s Second Version - Olson’s Story Contradicted by the FBI - Olson’s Story Also Rejected by Pentagon Historians."

Mukasey hints US had attack warning before 9/11
Special Note - A quote...."When Attorney General Mukasey delivered a speech last week demanding that Congress grant the president warrantless eavesdropping powers and telecom immunity, the question and answer session afterwards included one extraordinary but little-noticed claim."

Is CIA Using Rendition Aircraft to Haul Drugs?
A quote...."The Central Intelligence Agency, also known as the "Cocaine Import Agency," is suspected by aviation experts of running cocaine and other drugs on its fleet of small passenger jets used to ferry prisoners to and from American gulags like Guantanamo Bay and Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan."
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It's not a Recession or even a Depression that is coming, it is a Stagflationary Abyssal
A quote...."When I look at past economic downturns, I look at five key components to determine how bad they were and what the capabilities and challenges were in terms of getting the country out of the negative cycle. Those five key components are:"

The Fed and the stagflation specter
A quote...."Recent economic indicators are frightening and raise serious concerns about the world economy in a globalizing world. Since August 2007, the US dollar has depreciated to 1.55 per euro from 1.37; oil prices have jumped to US$110 per barrel from $65, to translate into higher prices of final goods and services; gold prices, though now receding, jumped to $1,000 from $670, and most other commodities and food prices have risen around the globe at rates unprecedented in recent history."

Hey, Fed: Stop robbing my savings and stop the inflation
A quote...."CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- All the actions the Federal Reserve has taken in recent months to fuel the economy with cash and credit haven't impressed many MarketWatch readers, who instead lament the fall of interest rates and the value of the dollar at a time when everyday household expenses are on a steady rise."

Fed eyes Nordic-style nationalisation of US banks
A quote...."While the responses varied in each Nordic country, there a was major effort to avoid the sort of "moral hazard" that has bedevilled efforts by the Fed and the Bank of England in trying to stabilise their banking systems. -- Norway ensured that shareholders of insolvent lenders received nothing and the senior management was entirely purged. Two of the country's top four banks - Christiania Bank and Fokus - were seized by force majeure. -- Nationalization is something that will never happen in this country, nor should it, considering this government is so corrupt such a move would only make this crisis even worse.  Some of the shareholders will get hurt (especially the "little guys") in the coming crunch, but the CEO's will ALWAYS walk away with big fat severance packages. - mpg

Peak credit and a flight to simplicity
A quote...."Peak Oil - the theory that we may be at or near a peak level of oil production - while remaining controversial is at least now respectable. But is the continuing credit crash masking another inconvenient truth? Might banks now be experiencing the aftermath of peak credit?"

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040208-040808 - links page

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