Wednesday April 21st 2010

More hype about Iran? - Article also posted at ICH
War Update - A quote...."Back when I started writing this blog, I warned that the idea of preventive war against Iran wasn't going to go away just because Barack Obama was president. The topic got another little burst of oxygen over the past few days, in response to what seems to have been an over-hyped memorandum from Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and some remarks by the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, Adm. Michael Mullen, following a speech at Columbia University. In particular, Mullen noted that military action against Iran could "go a long way" toward delaying Iran's acquisition of a weapons capability, though he also noted this could only be a "last resort" and made it clear it was not an option he favored."

Iran begins major military drill in PG - Iran's getting ready. - mpg
War Update - A quote...."Iran has begun a massive military exercise in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz to show off the country's defensive capabilities and its determination to maintain security in the region."

Iran to produce systems similar to S-300 - Ditto. - mpg
War Update - A quote...."Iranian Defense Minister Brig. Gen. Ahmad Vahidi says Iran plans to produce missile defense systems similar to Russia's S-300 system."

Lib Dems Leader Clegg: Britain Must Stop Doing US Bidding
A quote...."With the United Kingdom stepping boldly into the latter half of the 20th century and holding its first televised political debates, the face of the normally staid British political seems to be changing rapidly."

Aoun defends Hezbollah rights to arm - Hezbollah's getting ready - mpg
A quote...."A senior Lebanese politician says Hezbollah cannot be disarmed as it is the only viable option in confronting a possible Israeli aggression."

The Afghan War: "No Blood for Opium" The Hidden Military Agenda is to Protect the Drug Trade
Special Note - A quote...."It was common during the opening of the Iraq war to see slogans proclaiming “No blood for oil!” The cover story for the war – Saddam’s links with Al Qaida and his weapons of mass destruction – were obvious mass deceptions, hiding a far less palatable imperial agenda. The truth was that Iraq was a major producer of oil and, in our age, the Age of Oil, oil is the most strategic resource of all. For many it was obvious that the real agenda of the war was an imperialistic grab for Iraqi oil. This was confirmed when Iraq’s state-owned oil company was privatised to western interests in the aftermath of the invasion." - also posted at Uruknet

The Anatomy of America's US-NRE's Defeat in Afghanistan
Special Note - A quote...."With the long awaited decision by the Obama Administration in regards to the new strategy for Afghanistan, the situation in Afghanistan has deteriorated to the point that the US commanders started using the word 'defeat’ in their report to Washington. The word defeat has rarely been uttered by military; however, Afghanistan is the exception, where defeat is a realistic outcome. There, defeat is a reality that all invaders have faced since the beginning when Pashtuns have inhabited this region. The Pashtuns’ resistance is one of multiple factors characterizing the Anatomy of US’s Defeat in Afghanistan, where the inevitability of defeat for the US and NATO appears to be a certainty."

Deputy mayor of Afghanistan's Kandahar shot dead
A quote...."KABUL (Reuters) - The deputy mayor of Kandahar was shot dead while going to pray at a mosque, Afghanistan's Interior Ministry said on Tuesday, the latest act of violence in the southern city where NATO troops plan their next major offensive."

NATO says 4 killed in Afghanistan were civilians, not 'known insurgents - link posted at ICH
Oh they finally "admit" what they did, guess there were just too many witnesses this time hey boys? - mpg -- A quote...."Western military officials on Wednesday acknowledged a case of mistaken identity [What, you mean like (DWM) driving while Muslim??]  in the killings of four civilians in eastern Afghanistan, the second such lethal episode in just over a week. - [Oh this website editor understands now, our military is just being pro-active, incinerating those intramural sports kids before they have the chance to become terrorists.  After all, isn't that what the US-NRE military's motto states....to "get'em while their young". - mpg]

"The CIA Hit List": Muslim Men to be Murdered as "Threats to the US"
A quote...."The CIA Hit List" is a media term for selected Muslim men to be murdered as threats to the United States. As President, Bush used the phrase for his list of "terrorist" suspects when the policy was first made public mid-December 2002. Names on the “hit list” surface, then recede so it is hard to be sure who is current. (1)" -- Anybody who dealt with the CIA in the past, that's for sure. - mpg

World poll: Only 19% see Israel in positive light - link posted at ICH
And it's dropping by the day - mpg -- A quote...."Survey conducted in 28 countries on 29,000 respondents reveals that only Iran, Pakistan, North Korea have more negative perception than Israel. Most 'loved' country is Germany. 'Obama effect' has resulted in improvement in relations towards US for first time since 2005."

Western mainstream media distorting realities: Fisk - link posted at ICH
A quote...."DOHA: Veteran British journalist Robert Fisk struck a chord with the audience at the Four Seasons Hotel yesterday when he pleaded to western journalists to be fair and unbiased towards the sufferings of the people in the Middle East, particularly the Palestinians."

Google's New Transparency Tool: A Window Into Government Surveillance
Web Tool Alert - A quote...."We've known for a long time that electronic privacy law is woefully outdated. But what we haven't known is how often the government is taking advantage of this fact to engage in a shopping spree in the treasure trove of personal information being collected by companies like Google. -- So we're happy to see Google's just-released Government Requests tool, which is the company's attempt to shine some light on how often governments around the world request user information (and content removal) from Google."
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More On The Palestinian Situation....

US Tax Dollars at Work, Murdering the Indigenous Palestinians -- Gaza in Plain Language
Must View Video - From the History File - 02/07/10 -- Alt/Vodpod - (VodPod - 9 min 41 sec - Feb 7, 2010) - Alt - Alt -- It's a must view video, not only for the pictures of Gaza's suffering, but most importantly for the clear, precise and eloquent language used to describe Israel's barbarity. - mpg - (previously posted 02/08/10)

A quote...."The article "Gaza in Plain Language", by Joe Mowrey, first published by Dissident Voicehttp://dissidentvoice.org/2010/01/gaz...was brought to my attention by Robert H. Stiver, and I immediately agreed to do a video treatment of it. Joe and I shared the research effort, and we would like to thank all of those whose video and photographic work is included in this chilling [video] -- It really is time that the story of what is being done to the oppressed people of Gaza gets as wide a coverage as possible, in these days of overt and blatant mainstream-media bias for Zionist Israel.If it arouses your anger and compassion as much as it did mine, when reading Joe Mowrey's fine essay and editing this video, please share it with as many people as you can."

Website Editor's Note: The 9 min and 41 sec video shown above contains only about 20 seconds of footage regarding civilian casualties in Gaza.  Yet YouTube has restricted it for the following reasons....


Considering this video is one of the MOST effective ever made because of its clinical and precise description of what Israel deliberately did to the Gazan People, and considering there are literally tens of thousands of videos currently on YouTube that contain much worse scenes of graphic violence or explicit sex...most of them gratuitous, that are NOT restricted, this website editor can only conclude that YouTube is pandering to the interests of a particular foreign nation by restricting this video.  If YouTube continues this policy of deliberate political censorship they'll soon be considered an unreliable provider of video services.

Such a perception of bias, especially pandering to tiny minority groups or foreign nation states, will eventually result in a negative impact to YouTube's business model.  Or to put it another way, trust and credibility, once lost, can be very difficult to recover. That being the case, this website editor has no doubt YouTube will reconsider its decision and repost this video for general access. - mpg

Israeli settlers set fire to historic Petra hotel in Occupied Jerusalem
A quote...."The Petra hotel is one of the oldest Palestinian hotels dating back to 1830. it also consists of 26 luxury classic rooms and is located in a sensitive site in front of the “castle of David.”

10,000 Palestinians homes razed by Israel in 10 years
A quote...."OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- Al-Maqdesi foundation for society development said that Israel demolished more than 10,000 Palestinian homes in the neighborhoods of occupied Jerusalem during the past 10 years." -- also posted at Uruknet

Imprisoning Palestinian Women
A quote...."A July 2008 Fact Sheet Series titled, "Behind the Bars: Palestinian Women in Israeli Prisons" was jointly prepared by the Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, the Palestinian Counseling Center (PCC), and Mandela Institute. Along with background information, it covered Israel's obligations under international law, prison conditions where they're held, medical neglect, and their educational rights restricted or denied."

Israeli Tanks Invade And Destroy Farm Lands In Southern Gaza Strip
A quote...."Israeli tanks and bulldozers stormed on Thursday the village of Abassan Al Mubra in southern Gaza Strip and destroyed farm lands. Witnesses told local media that tanks opened fire at residents’ homes as bulldozers uprooted trees and destroyed farm lands owned by local farmers."

Vineyard flooded with settlement sewage
A quote...."Hebron – Ma'an – Israeli settlers opened a sewage pipe running toward the Hebron-area town of Beit Ummar on Wednesday night, flooding a Palestinian vineyard with wastewater, local officials said." - also posted at AlethoNews & Uurknet

Palestinian fisherman wounded in IOF shooting, other youth detained in OJ
A quote...."GAZA, (PIC)-- A Palestinian fisherman was wounded off the Rafah coast when Israeli occupation forces (IOF) aboard navy boats fired at him on Wednesday, medical sources reported. -- Dr. Muawiya Hansanein, the director of ambulance and emergency in the health ministry, told the PIC that the IOF fired at the Palestinian fisherman without prior notice." -- also posted at UprootedPalestinian

For more on the three articles shown abvoe see....Israel's Scorched Earth

Weekly Report on Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (15-21 April 2010)
Every single day, day in day out, week in week out....for seventy years. - mpg -- also posted at Uruknet

• A member of the Palestinian resistance was killed by IOF in the Gaza Strip.
• 3 Palestinian civilians, including a child, were wounded by Israeli gunfire in the West Bank.
• IOF continued to fire at Palestinian farmers and workers in border areas of the Gaza Strip.
• IOF continued to use force against peaceful protests in the West Bank.
• IOF conducted 15 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank, and a limited one into the Gaza Strip.
• IOF arrested 22 civilians, including 4 children, in the West Bank.
• Israel has continued to impose a total siege on the OPT and has isolated the Gaza Strip from the outside world.
• Israeli troops stationed at military checkpoints in the West Bank arrested 3 Palestinian civilians.
• Israel has continued its settlement activities in the West Bank and Israeli settlers have continued to attack Palestinian civilians and property.
• IOF seized a 7-donum[1] area of Palestinian land in the vicinity of the "Ramat Yishai" settlement outpost in the center of Hebron.
• Israeli settlers burnt two cars belonging to Palestinian civilians in Jainsafout village, east of Qalqilya.

Right of return not negotiable
A quote...."Washington insiders are now touting a misguided Obama-dictated plan to solve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Most recently, Zbigniew Brzezinski and Stephen Solarz took to the pages of The Washington Post to float the idea of an imposed peace, which largely undermines non-negotiable historic Palestinian rights. The authors call for the annulment of the Palestinian right of return, and the creation of a "demilitarized Palestinian state."
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American Kleptocracy - How Fears of Socialism and Fascism Hide Naked Theft - Article also at ICH
Must Read - Quote of the Day...."If we were to take an honest look at America’s blasted landscape of “losers” and the far shinier, spiffier world of “winners,” we’d have to admit that it wasn’t signs of onrushing socialism or fascism that stood out, but of staggeringly self-aggrandizing greed and theft right in the here and now.  We’d notice our public coffers being emptied to benefit major corporations and financial institutions working in close alliance with, and passing on remarkable sums of money to, the representatives of “the people.”  We’d see, in a word, kleptocracy on a scale to dazzle.  We would suddenly see an almost magical disappearing act being performed, largely without comment, right before our eyes."

William Black’s opening statement at House Financial Services hearing on Lehman Bros. failure
Must View FDLVideo - Alt - (FDLYuTb - 8 min - April 20, 2010) - posted at FireDogLake -- A quote...."Bill Black's eye-popping opening statement at House FinServ hearing on Lehman Bros. failure." -- It is TRULY amazing to see the difference between a forthright, unsparing, honest, appraisal of the economic mess we're in, versus the mass-infortainment-media's constantly fawning coverage of the lying statements given by the very people who got us into this economic mess in the first place. - mpg

Keiser Report №36: Markets! Finance! Scandal!
MKVideo - Alt - (MKRTYuTb - 25 min 19 sec - April 22, 2010) -- A quote...."This time Max Keiser and co-host Stacy Herbert wonder why Iceland's volcanic ash cloud spared the victims of banking fraud; they also look at the scandals behind the Fabulous Fab Tourre's "monstrosities," Gordon Brown's "shock" at Goldman's "moral bankruptcy," and at the political markets shocking the currency markets. In the second half of the show, Max talks to author and journalist Afshin Rattansi about the surprise outcome of the UK's first ever televised political debates; the UK taxpayers nearly $1 billion loss via Goldman's alleged fraud; and about Tony Blair's lucrative post-Downing Street banking career."

Banks receiving government aid cut loans - Naturally, they KNOW what's coming. - mpg
A quote...."Banks that received federal assistance during the financial crisis reduced lending more aggressively and gave bigger pay raises to employees than institutions that didn't get aid, a USA TODAY/American University review found."

"Lehman’s failure is a story in large part of fraud" - Black's Knockout Testimony - posted at ICH
Special Note - An analysis of Black's testimony as shown in the video above. - mpg -- A quote...."April 21, 2010 "Information Clearing House" -- On Tuesday, Former regulator William Black appeared before the House Committee on Financial Services and beat the living-tar out of Lehman CEO Dick Fuld for 8 full minutes. It was a moment of sheer, unalloyed pleasure that will be savored for a long time to come. -- "Lehman’s failure is a story in large part of fraud," Black roared. "Lehman was the leading purveyor of liars’ loans in the world. For most of this decade, studies of liars’ loans show incidence of fraud of 90%. ... If you want to know why we have a global crisis, in large part it is before you."

Are Interest Rate Derivatives a Ticking Time Bomb?
Special note - Extensive Analysis - "Derivatives are the world's largest market, dwarfing the size of the bond market and world's real economy. -- The derivatives market is currently at around $600 trillion or so (in nominal value). -- In contrast, the size of the worldwide bond market (total debt outstanding) as of 2009 was an estimated $82.2 trillion. -- And the CIA Fact Book puts the world economy at $58.07 trillion in 2009 (at official exchange rates). -- Interest rate derivatives, in turn, are by far the most popular type of derivative."

Obama suggests value-added tax may be an option
Hey, to all you STUPID Obamatrolls out there, let's EXPLAIN what a VAT (Value Added Tax, a.k.a. a Federal Sales Tax) is to your tiny, little, pea brains in this easy to follow example. -- You're currently out of work, you have just enough money to buy a new suit and get a hot meal on your way to your third job interview, but you'll have to pay an extra five percent, why, because that's the new sales tax idiot!  -- And it doesn't matter if you have no taxable income and your unemployment benefits ran out months ago and you don't have a dime to your name....you're STILL going to have to pay the extra tax every time you go shopping!  So it's a new suit and no hot lunch for you Bozo.  So to all you Obamatrolls out there, nice job, great work, way to go....hope you starve.- mpg

Food costs jump most in 26 years - OH! Just WAIT till they add on the new VAT surcharge - mpg
A quote...."Wholesale prices rose more than expected last month as food prices surged by the most in 26 years. -- The Labor Department said the Producer Price Index rose by 0.7 percent in March, compared to analysts' forecasts of a 0.4 percent rise. A rise in gas prices also helped push up the index." - From AP

America’s Crumbling Infrastructure
Well it was a choice between single payer health care, infrastructure and education -- or -- endless wars, invasions, occupations, false flag events along with the creation of a vicious police state ($1.2 trillion a year), the pharmaceutical-insurance-complex (PIC) bail-out bill, a.k.a. ObamaCareNot ($1-2 trillion a year) and of course, last, but not least, the Bankster's Boondoggle ($30 trillion total and growing. although most of it - for now -  is "booked" or "marked-to-fantasy" as "just" loans, back-stops and guarantees). - It was your choice America, if you voted for Obama or McCain (he would have done the exact same thing) please don't whine about your situation now, because you have only yourselves to blame. - mpg
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Pumping From One Hold of the Ship to the Other
04-21-10
mpg

Sovereign debt rise poses new threat to global economy
A quote...."Rising government debt is creating new risks to global financial stability, the IMF has warned. It said that the increase in sovereign debt would put new pressure on lending markets just as the world’s banks try to refinance about $5 trillion in short-term borrowings." - also posted at BLN

This article is highly irritating.  In this article the IMF (a.k.a. blood sucking loan sharks extraordinaire) predicts slightly better economic conditions for the world economy and has "cut its estimate of the cost to the banks of the global financial crisis" while "In Britain, loan loss provision[s] ha[ve] been revised down[ward]." but the IMF also stated "The picture is spoilt by worsening sovereign risk that could prolong the credit drought.".

Yeah that's right!!  We're on the sinking ship called the USS Anglo-Sphere, powered by a creaky, cantankerous, seventy year old, 10yWCE engine (ten year war-cycle-economy) which has taken on enormous amounts of water (debt) which the parasitic mavens of complete idiocy who run this ship of doom and  demented depravity have pumped from one hold of the ship -- the Banksters' portion -- to the other hold of the ship -- the Public's portion -- and who are now cogitating on the fact that the ship is still filled with water (debt) and apparently still sinking.  Wow!  They're so brilliant, who would have thunk it!!

It all just brings one to tears sometimes, usually because this website editor is laughing so hard. - mpg
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Layoff notices sent to thousands of US teachers
A quote...."Hundreds of thousands of public school teachers across the United States are facing possible layoffs this coming academic year. -- Confronting massive budget deficits, school districts throughout the country have been sending out notices (“pink slips”) to employees this spring, warning them that they are unlikely to have a job in the fall. The bloodletting is worst in California, Illinois, New York, Michigan, and New Jersey, but nearly every region in the country is affected." - also posted at AmericanEvryman

[Britian's] Unemployment hits 16-year high at 2.5m in new blow for Brown
A quote...."Gordon Brown's strategy of putting the economy at the heart of his election battle was dealt a fresh blow today as new figures showed unemployment has hit a 16-year high. -- The jobless total now stands at 2.5 million, while the number of people classed as economically inactive has reached record levels. -- Official figures showed that unemployment increased by 43,000 in the three months to February to the worst total since 1994."

Nothing is Forever, Even European Union
A quote...."Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain, all members of the European Union currency union – are rocking the union’s boat at the moment. -- A nightmare scenario may be building, a scenario in which Greece first and possibly the other three countries could at some point find themselves as former members of the EU, while being forced to resurrect their own individual currencies."

Eurozone public deficit up sharply in 2009
Related Article - A quote...."BRUSSELS, April 22 (Xinhua) -- The public deficit of the eurozone hit a record 6.3 percent of gross domestic product in 2009, official data said Thursday - The European Union statistical bureau Eurostat said the Eurozone deficit rose from 2 percent of GDP in 2008 to 6.3 percent in 2009. - For the 27-member EU, public deficit rose to 6.8 percent or 801.7 billion euros, in 2009, compared with 2.3 percent in 2008."

Greek Budget Deficit Revised to 13.6%, May Top 14%
Related Article - A quote...."April 22 (Bloomberg) -- The European Union said Greece’s budget deficit last year was worse than previously forecast and may top 14 percent of gross domestic product, fueling investor concern about a default and sending its bond yields soaring."

Greeks rally against austerity measures as public sector shut down in 24-hour strikes
A quote...."ATHENS, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Greece was hit by a new series of strikes and demonstrations on Thursday, as labor unions organized a 24-hour walk out of public sector services and marches against austerity measures across the country."

'Toxic stew' of chemicals causing male fish to carry eggs in testes
A quote...."More than 80% of the male bass fish in Washington's major river are now exhibiting female traits such as egg production because of a "toxic stew" of pollutants, scientists and campaigners reported yesterday." -- Keep in mind folks, many of you drink this stuff.

An American Phenomenon: The Widespread Psychiatric Drugging of Infants and Toddlers
A quote...."The United States has become the psychiatric drugging capital of the world for kids with children being medicated at a younger and younger age. Medicaid records in some states show infants less than a year old on drugs for mental disorders."

Tuesday April 20th 2010

Least We Forget -- There Will Be Another War - posted at ICH
Must View Video - Alt - (EclippTV - 9m45s - 04/20/08) - From the History File - April, 20th 2008 --  Norman Finkelstein, a Jewish read more...American political scientist and author, specializing in Jewish-related issues and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in particular talks about the Lebanese militia Hezbollah and openly supports and praises their resistance: "They (Hezbollah) show courage, they show discipline, I respect that"

Draft of Secretive International Copyright Treaty Leaked -- Confirms Fears About Internet Freedom
Web Censorship Alert -  posted at ICH -- A quote...."April 20, 2010 "The Tyee" -- Negotiations on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) resumed last week in Wellington, New Zealand, with Canada, the United States, the European Union, and a handful of other countries launching the eighth round of talks. While even the most optimistic ACTA supporters do not expect to conclude an agreement before the end of the year, the next five days may prove to be a pivotal point in the negotiations since over the past several weeks, there have been two major leaks that could dramatically alter the still-secret discussions." - also posted at Alternet - For more on this issue see....US - Atmpts 2 Cntrl Web

US ban on Arab TV - Article also posted at ICH
TV Censorship Alert - Oh yeah, that's right, we're living in the land of the brave and the home of the free....Hah!  What a joke this place has become. - mpg -- A quote...."THE United States claims that one of its top foreign policy initiatives is to spread democracy and freedom around the world. But a recent bill in the US Congress has led many to wonder whether the US wants to become one of the world’s biggest hindrances to media freedom." - also posted at Uruknet

CBS Poll: Fox News Succeeds In Hijacking Tea Parties From Ron Paul
Told You!!  Tea Partiers are mindless, drooling, Stealth-Repub-Sarah-Palin worshiping, AIPAC butt-kissing, Rupert-Murdoch-Faux-News-Zombies.  Their brains have been scooped out and their skulls filled to the brim with infantile, childish, reality-free-zone, AIPAC/Murdoch pig-slop, which they than mindlessly spew out to the whole world.  They're dangerous, TV-addicted, mental-crap imbibing, know-nothing, "what-me-worry" programmed automatons of the AIPAC lobby, the Banksters and the Military Industrial Complex.  They're going to get a lot more innocent people killed and help make everyone in this country even poorer than they already are. - mpg -- For more on this issue see the two articles shown below....



The Alex Jones Show Hour 1 – False Flag Terrorism Hype in Full Swing!
AJVideos - FFhype(1/4) - FFhype(2/4) - FFhype(3/4) - FFhype(4/4) -- A quote...."(April 20) – Alex breaks down the latest News & the guest who will be on the show today, and covers the massive false flag media scare hype going on all over the networks with the help of bill clinton and company.

When False Flags Don’t Fly
Must View CRVideo - Alt - (CRYuTb 7 min 33 sec - April 19, 2010 ) -- A quote...."(CorbettReport) – Those who have studied history know that nothing invigorates and empowers an authoritarian regime more than a spectacular act of violence, some sudden and senseless loss of life that allows the autocrat to stand on the smoking rubble and identify himself as the hero. It is at moments like this that the public—still in shock from the horror of the tragedy that has just unfolded before them—can be led into the most ruthless despotism: despotism that now bears the mantle of “security.” -- Acts of terror and violence never benefit the average man or woman. They only ever benefit those in positions of power."

Maj. Hasan/Anwar al-Awlaki Update – Obama Administration Refused to Hand Over Documents
A quote...."Just yesterday, the chairman and ranking Republican of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee alleged that the Obama administration is covering up important details in the Fort Hood shooting case concerning communications relating to Maj. Nidal Hasan the accused shooter. Maj. Hasan is charged with killing 13 military personnel stationed at Fort Hood. The story is that he was inspired to commit the act after communicating with Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S. citizen living in Yemen."
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Iraq vice president rejects Baghdad vote recount decision - link posted at ICH
A quote...."Iraq's Sunni Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi on Tuesday rejected a court decision to recount more than 2.5 million votes in Baghdad as “unacceptable” and said its implementation could foment sectarian tensions in the war-torn country."

Detainee-torture allegations spread to Britain - link posted at ICH
A quote...."Allegations that Afghan detainees were routinely handed over to Afghan authorities for torture – up to now a largely Canadian scandal – are poised to envelop fellow NATO countries with a London court case that claims Britain exposed hundreds of prisoners to abuse in similar circumstances."

Taliban moves onto abandoned U.S. base
A quote...."KABUL — Taliban fighters swarmed over a mountaintop base abandoned last week by the U.S. military following some of the toughest fighting of the Afghan war, according to footage aired Monday by a major satellite television station."

NATO troops fire on vehicle, kill 4 unarmed Afghans
A quote...."KABUL (Reuters) - NATO-led troops opened fire on a vehicle in southeastern Afghanistan, killing four unarmed men, the alliance said on Tuesday, the latest in series of incidents in recent weeks the United Nations has called disturbing. -- The issue of civilian casualties caused by foreign forces is an emotive one in Afghanistan and has undermined public support for their presence in the country." - From Reuters

Officials: NATO forces kill four Afghan school students
Related Article - A quote...."Kabul - Afghan officials said Tuesday that NATO forces shot dead four Afghan school students, but NATO said those killed were Taliban militants and their associates. -- The incident happened around three kilometres south of Khost city, the capital of the south-eastern province of Khost, on Monday night, Mubarez Mohammad Zadran, a spokesman for the provincial governor, told the German Press Agency dpa." - bold by website editor - also posted at Uruknet
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$10.00 PER GALLON OF GAS
A quote...."Hey all you Americans, get out your wallets! Israel wants to take away more of your money. The 3 Billion a year is not enough. Never mind what General Petraeus said about Israel's cost to American lives and Interests in the world. Israel is suffering withdrawals from war, they can't get enough of it. It's been well over a year now since the genocide in Gaza, they're itchin for more bloodshed. So they are going to drag your arse into yet another war, for Israel, yet again. This time it will cost you...."

Iran, Turkey call for nuclear-free world
A quote...."Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu says Ankara supports Iran's call for total nuclear disarmament."

Terrorist cell disbanded in west Iran
A quote...."Iran has arrested members of a terrorist group that planned to carry out attacks in the west of the country, says the Iranian interior minister." - For more on this issue see....US Support of Terror - MEK-PKK-Others

Iran upgrades U.S.-built fighter jets
A quote...."Iran has overhauled and modernized its warplanes, including the "sophisticated" F-14 Tomcat fighter jets, an Iranian military official said on Tuesday. -- Air Force Deputy Commander General Aziz Nasirzadeh said in an interview with the FNA news agency that indigenous radars and new engines were installed on F-14 Tomcat jets, developed in the 1970s."
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Anti-govt. demos held in Egypt
A quote...."Dozens of anti-government protesters have taken to the streets of the Egyptian capital Cairo to demand more political freedom."

Chavez hosts regional allies - link posted at ICH
A quote...."Venezuela has kicked off ceremonies marking 200 years of independence with a military parade and a gathering of his closest Latin American allies."

Venezuela and Argentina Sign 25 Accords
A quote...."CARACAS – The governments of Venezuela and Argentina signed on Tuesday 25 cooperation accords in a number of areas including food, construction and energy, during the latest of the quarterly meetings of the two countries’ heads of state, Hugo Chavez and Cristina Fernandez."

BRIC must create a new world order: Lula
He means in opposition to that OTHER "New World Order".  You know, the PNAC'ing, AIPAC'ing "flat earth" plan for absolute world wide mayhem and pillage whereby the US-NRE, the rest of the Anglo-Sphere and a few well chosen cronies from Europe, who still suffer from some really bizarre Neo-Colonial fantasies, go around "flattening" countries willy-nilly during their "long war" of "full spectrum dominance" to impose their extractive Neo-Liberal economic policies on them.  Plans known to most of us lowly, impoverished, peasants by their regular definitions as home-invasion, robbery and mass murder. - mpg

Church in worst credibility crisis since Reformation, theologian tells bishops - link posted at ICH
There is only ONE solution to these abhorrent practices, priests must marry, willingly, in true earnest...to a woman (it's sad to see times have changed so much that that last particular criteria had to be added).  They must practice what they preach regarding wedded bliss (at least they must try really hard) and set an example for their parishioners.  Those who committed these heinous crimes must be punished, defrocked, sent to prison and if necessary, ex-communicated.  And all those who still remain who have different "persuasions" must be forced to leave the church. --  These recommendations may seem harsh to some or too much of a break with tradition to others, but to all you Catholics out there, it's your religion, this outrageous behavior has been going on for decades, it's only getting worse, it will DESTROY the Church and this is the ONLY solution. - mpg -- A quote...."Pope Benedict has made worse just about everything that is wrong with the Roman Catholic Church and is directly responsible for engineering the global cover-up of child rape perpetrated by priests, according to this open letter to all Catholic bishops."
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More On The Palestinian Situation....

Hard Talk
Must Read - A quote...."Like most people, I do believe in dialogue and civilized coexistence, like most people I long to live in dignity and freedom in my homeland, like most people I yearn for peace and justice for every human, like most people I like to foster loving and trusting relationships with all decent individuals; however, our problem with the Zionist occupiers is not about hate and distrust as they like to believe, it’s not about security as they constantly declare, nor is it about dialogue or lack of it thereof!" -- also posted at AlethoNews

Mizan: IOF killed 13 Gazans, injured 62 in the past three months
A quote...."GAZA, (PIC)-- Al-Mizan centre for human rights issued its quarterly report on the Israeli violations of international humanitarian law against the Gaza people during the first three months of 2010. -- The center said that 13 Gazans were killed by the IOF during the reporting period and 62 others were injured, 11 of them were children." -- also posted at Uruknet

Gazans fired upon with live rounds at nonviolent demo
A quote...."Israeli army shot several rounds of live ‘warning’ fire at about 150 peaceful protesters who entered the so called ’security belt.’ This belt consists of 300 meters of Palestinian land alongside the borderline. Israelis enforce a no-go ‘rule’ for Palestinians with lethal weapons."

Israel shells Dir Al-Blah, no injuries
A quote...."Gaza, April 21, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) – Israeli tanks fired 15 shells at the area of Abu Safiah east of Dir Al-Balah, no injuries were reported."

Can Lebanon Come In From The Cold? -- Part II: Resistance and Rebuttal - posted at ICH
A quote...."Part I Here -- April 20, 2010 "Information Clearing House" -- Shatila Palestinian Refugee Camp Beirut, Lebanon -- As of mid-April 2010 there are no fewer than six draft laws, half of them ‘embargoed for now’ being circulated and debated in Lebanon, any one of which if adopted by Parliament, would grant Lebanon’s Palestinians, for the first time since their 1948 expulsion from Palestine, some elementary civil rights including the right to work, to have an ID, and to own a home."

Remembering Janet Lee Stevens, a Martyr for Palestinian Refugees
A quote...."This letter was written to Janet Lee Stevens on the 25th anniversary of the Sabra & Shatila Massacre, on Sept. 14, 2007, from Martyr’s Square, Shatila Camp."

“Introducing the MV Rachel Corrie”
Action Update - A quote...."On March 31, 2010, the Free Gaza Movement bought her [the former MV Linda] at auction for €70,000 and will send her to the imprisoned Palestinians of Gaza loaded with cement, paper, and medical equipment, all banned by Israel from this battered and bruised slice of the Mediterranean. -- ITF Inspector and Union organizer Ken Fleming was ecstatic: "We are pleased to announce that this vessel which was used to subject workers to modern day slavery, will now be used to promote human rights for the people of Palestine"." - also posted at Uruknet

“Occupied Palestine, Dexia involved”
Action Alert - Contains Video - Alt - Boycott, Divest and Sanction - Because it's the only moral choice. - mpg -- A quote...."Since 1967, Israel has illegally occupied the West Bank (and Gaza). But besides the military occupation of the Palestinian territory, Israeli authorities have been building and expanding settlements, on Palestinian land, confiscating properties and destroying daily life of several communities. -- How does this process work? Why has a financial group like Dexia invested in activities related to settlement expansion? Intal, a Belgian solidarity movement, produced a short documentary illustrating the nature of Dexia’s relationship with settlement construction." - For more on how to Boycott, Divest and Sanction the state of Israel see the upper-left-corner of the "Front Page" of this website. - mpg

Why Israel Should Not Be Allowed To Join The OECD
Action Alert - Boycott, Divest and Sanction - Because crimes against humanity should't pay! - mpg -- A quote..."The OECD now has 30 member states with plans to add new members soon. In May a vote will be held in which it will be decided whether or not to admit Israel into the ranks of OECD member states. However, human rights organisations such as BADIL (Resource Centre for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights) are urging all OECD members to "say no to Israel’s bid for membership in the OECD"." - For more on how to Boycott, Divest and Sanction the state of Israel see the upper-left-corner of the "Front Page" of this website. - mpg
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Keiser Report №35: Markets! Finance! Scandal!
Must View MKVideo - Alt - (MKRTYuTb - 24 min 36 sec - April 20, 2010) -- A quote...."This time Max Keiser and co-host Stacy Herbert examine the qualities of a banana republic and also look at the scandals of Lehman's alter ego; Magnetar's binary bets; and JP Morgan's sacred contracts. In the second half of the show, Max talks to Business Insider's Joe Weisenthal about the Magnetar Trade, record bank profits, CantorX and KFC's double down."

Goldman Sachs Eats Its Young
A quote...."This should be a lesson to all those young, aggressive, upwardly mobile Wall Street wannabes who think they are somehow going to fast track their way into the stratosphere of high finance. - Sorry, kids!  There’s no room left at the top, and soon you’re going to see even those old money families tearing each other apart for what’s left of a collapsing fiat money system that has just about run its course." - also posted at RogueGov

Double-Dip Recession, Shot Federal Wad
Special Note - A quote...."The case for a secondary recession rests on several factors: a double-dip decline in the residential real estate market, the accelerating decline in the commercial real estate market, the unresolved losses in bank balance sheets, the narrow focus of the profitability (earnings), which has been limited to bailed-out banks, and the threat of rising long-term interest rates, i.e., a decline in the bond market."

Obama’s Former White House Counsel Craig Advising Goldman Sachs
No doubt giving all sorts of details on who to bribe and who to pressure (blackmail). - mpg -- A quote...."April 20 (Bloomberg) -- Gregory Craig, President Barack Obama’s former White House counsel, is working as an adviser to Goldman Sachs Group Inc., a spokesman for the New York-based company said."

Obama repaying his masters at Goldman Sachs
A quote...."President Obama is sponsoring a bill by the Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd(D-CT) that would reward the Financial Firm Goldman Sachs with up to Billions of Dollars. The bill implements a $50 billion resolution fund to the firms creditors through fees that would come from banks and other businesses, which the bill calls a "nonbank financial company." Critics are calling it a "backdoor bailouts" to Goldman Sachs who was already payed $12.9 billion in tax dollars through the bailout of AIG."

Massachusetts moving money out of 3 big banks to protest credit card rates
Action Update - A quote...."Massachusetts officials on Wednesday announced plans to move millions of dollars in state investments out of some of the nation's biggest banks to protest credit card interest rates."

IMF proposes two big new bank taxes to fund bail-outs
Looks like they're getting ready for round two. Don't forget folks, the IMF just expanded its New Arrangement to Borrow (NAB) multilateral facility from its existing $50 billion dollar limit to a whopping $500 billion dollars. - mpg -- A quote...."Banks and other financial institutions face paying two new taxes to fund future bail-outs, the BBC has learned."

ABC Consumer Comfort Index Drops Back To 2010 Low, 92% Say The Economy Is In "Bad Shape"
A quote...."The April 19 Consumer Comfort Index number dropped back to -50, a 2010 low, just 4 points from its all-time low in 24 years of weekly polls, -54 in January 2009 and December 2008. 92% of those polled said the national economy’s in bad shape."

Greek strikes, debt crisis intensify fears of economic collapse
A quote...."Major banks and investors continued to bid up interest rates on Greek government debt in the run-up to tomorrow’s strikes in Greece, prompting renewed fears that joint European-IMF bailout plans might fail. It is widely assumed in financial circles that bailouts will not resolve the underlying economic problems that provoked the debt crisis, and European officials and media are increasingly discussing state bankruptcy or the end of the common European currency, the euro."

Greek 10 Years Pass 8% On Rumor Of Voluntary Bankruptcy
Charts - (click to enlarge) - Related Article - A quote...."The Greek 10 Year (well technically 9.5 Year) just passed 8%, 8.003% to be precise. The reason: increasing market rumors that the country is contemplating a voluntary debt exchange in which a portion of the debt will be cut, in essence an out of court bankruptcy but for a sovereign. How this will be accomplished and whether it is at legal per the EU charter is uncertain."

Monday April 19th 2010

Sunday April 18th 2010

Liberation's Lies
Must Read - Quote of the Day...."The litany of war crimes in the name of "liberation", "ridding the country of tyrants", spreading "democracy", has become the language of blackest satire. Even death has been "rebranded". The shredded, dismembered, decapitated, incinerated, old and young, are not "lost", "mourned", "passed on", "in a better place", ''with their God". They are a : "a mistake (s)", "collateral damage", a "regrettable incident." -- The litany of industrial scale "incidents", are often compounded by further "regrettable" wholesale annihilation of the funeral gathering. The "mistakes" seldom have names. They are not little Aisha, Ali, Ziad, Naira, or indeed Umm Naira or Umm Ali (Mother of) or Abu Ziad or Abu Aisha (father of.) Uncles, aunts, cousins, grandparents too are simply the unnacounted. Those obliterated at baby naming ceremonies or weddings remain just that. Humanity deferred, by democracy delivered: with guns, grenades, hellfire missiles, and village and town erasing bunker busting obsecenities."

Howling Wind: The Unrepented Genocide
Must Read - A quote...."The other day I was reading the New York Review of Books in a bookstore café. I saw a large ad in the bottom corner of a page; it began with this quote, in bold capitals...."  --  ""Why is it a crime for one man to murder another, but not for a government to kill more than a million people?"  --  "My first reaction, before I read further, was a feeling of surprise that someone had articulated the case against the Iraq war so clearly – and had bought expensive space in the magazine to bring this unpunished, unrepented – indeed, unacknowledged – war crime to the national consciousness again." - also posted at Uruknet

The Pentagon's Fantasy Numbers on Afghan Civilian Deaths - posted at GlobalRsrch
Must Read - Tables - A quote...."The ever-so-faithful stenographer of Pentagon truths, USA Today, printed numbers put forth by General McChrystal on Afghan civilians who perished at the hands of NATO.[1] The article headlined “NATO Strikes Killing More Afghan Civilians,” noted that such deaths rose from 29 during the first three months of 2009, to 72 during 2010. But, figures for just the first three weeks of 2009 under the Bush clock, reveal 63-77 Afghans killed by US/NATO forces...."

Afghanistan: A conspiracy of silence
A quote...."An IoS poll shows 77 per cent of Britons want our forces to come home and a majority believe our presence makes UK streets less safe from terrorist attack. Yet all three parties are ducking this most critical issue " - also posted at CommonDreams

Ninety-Four Percent of Kandaharis Want Peace Talks, Not War
A quote...."WASHINGTON, Apr 18, 2010 (IPS) - An opinion survey of Afghanistan's Kandahar province funded by the U.S. Army has revealed that 94 percent of respondents support negotiating with the Taliban over military confrontation with the insurgent group and 85 percent regard the Taliban as "our Afghan brothers"." - also posted at Uruknet

Resisting the occupier
A quote...."Let me be clear from the beginning, I am fond of Taliban, fond of the Palestinian Resistance and it has nothing to do with being a Ba'athist or not, this Resistance is just brave. I mean the Palestinians have been resisting for more than 70 years, and the Afghans...their country has been occupied three times, and for three times they fought the occupier fiercely. -- I am not going to talk about the Iraqi Resistance because it is still a new Resistance and there are allot of mistakes in the way they organize themselves plus the bigger mistake is that it is one sided only...it is a Sunni Resistance when the right thing should be is an IRAQI Resistance. -- In my opinion Resistance of the occupier is not just an act of rage or war or fighting, before being any of that it is an act of human nature, it is an instinct that passes through a number of phases...."
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Chossudovsky: Obama, not Osama, is threat No.1 to global security - (RTYuTb - 8m44s - April 17, 2010)
RTVideo - War Alert - A quote...."Barack Obama is masking the real issues over nuclear weapons by presenting the idea that nuclear terrorism is a major threat, says Michel Chossudovsky, Director of the Canadian Centre for Research on Globalization."

Full text of Iran's letter of complaint to the UN over US threats of nuclear attack
Special Note - A quote...."In view of these developments, I would like to draw your kind attention to the following points:


Tale of Two Summits: Iran holds own nuke conference - (RTYuTb - 3 min 47 sec - April 17, 2010)
RTVideo - A quote...."Iran is holding its own nuclear disarmament conference under the slogan Nuclear Energy for All, Nuclear Weapons for No One. It comes on the heels of Monday's summit in Washington, to which Tehran was not invited."

'ME must be nuclear weapons-free zone'
A quote...."Efforts should be made to make the Middle East a nuclear weapons-free zone, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said on the last day of the Tehran nuclear disarmament conference."

3 Arab FMs support Iran's nuclear rights
A quote...."Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon have expressed support for Iran's nuclear program and stated that Israel should be forced to dismantle its nuclear weapons." - also posted at WarInIraq   

Iran wins regional support for its nuclear programme
A quote...."TEHRAN : Syria, Lebanon and Iraq backed Iran's atomic programme on Saturday, which they said has "peaceful" aims, and insisted that Israel be stripped off its nuclear arsenal. -- The foreign ministers of these three countries also stressed that Israel, the Middle East's sole but undeclared holder of a nuclear arsenal, must join the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)."

Gates Worries about Iranian Nuclear Research, while Khamenei blasts US for Hiroshima
A quote...."David Sanger of the New York Times gets the scoop– that US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates sent the White House a memo last January observing that the US has no real developed policy for dealing with Iran should Tehran achieve ‘nuclear latency’ (where a country has the ability to construct a nuclear weapon but stops short of doing so, in order to avoid international sanctions and disapproval. -- Ironically, the take-away from this article is that Gates concurs with those analysts (such  as Juan Cole) that Iran does not intend actually to build a bomb, but wants the technical know-how to do so as a way of deterring foreign invasions and attacks."

(BBC) – Video: Evidence Israel’s nuclear weapons(Banned Censored)
Must View BBCVideos - Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - (EclippTV - aprox 10 min each - Date: 17th Apr 10)

Iran wants foreign troops out of ME
A quote...."Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says the pervasive presence of US-led military forces in the Middle East is the main reason behind regional conflicts."

Gates plays down Iran-war memo
A quote...."US Defense Secretary Robert Gates moves for damage control amid revelations that he advocated the use of military action against Iran in a top secret memo."

India seeks new talks with Iran
A quote...."A senior Iranian energy official says that India has proposed resumption of energy talks with Iran, mainly to revive plans to construct the 'Peace Pipeline.'"
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A Kyrgyz interim leader says US base unjustified
A quote...."BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan — A top official in Kyrgyzstan's interim government told The Associated Press on Saturday that a U.S. air base supporting operations in Afghanistan is "not justified," the first sign of significant divisions over the facility." - also posted at WarInIraq & YahooNews & GoogleNews

Gas exporting countries to consider increase in gas prices for Europe
A quote...."The Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF), a "gas equivalent" of the OPEC oil cartel, will convene on Monday in the Algerian city of Oran to decide whether to raise prices for gas supplies to Europe and other regions, the Russian energy minister said."

China to Finance $20 Billion in Projects in Venezuela
A quote...."CARACAS – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said China would provide $20 billion for a “large volume and long term” financing plan, and in exchange he guaranteed to supply more petroleum to the Asian giant."

Ecuador Proposal Could Lead to Oil Field Takeovers
A quote...."QUITO – Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa said Saturday he will submit a bill to Congress that would facilitate the expropriation of oil fields from companies that refuse to switch from production-sharing contracts to new service-provider arrangements."

Ecuadorean president threatens to nationalize oil industry
Related Article - A quote...."Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa said on Sunday he would nationalize oil foreign companies who continue to reject new state-proposed deals. -- The government is trying to persuade foreign oil operators to give up profit-sharing deals and sign new service-provider agreements, under which their profits will be determined by Quito."
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Financial Terrorism Works: How the Neoliberal Party Destroyed America
Must Read - A quote...."The first step is to come up with a plan. The Plan should achieve several objectives…

1. remove restrictions and regulations that protect the public from schemes like this…
2. undermine the public sector’s financial stability with the housing bubble and create panic once regulations and oversight are removed…
3. use that atmosphere of panic to protect the financial institutions that created it and push for full implementation of the IMF’s structural reforms on the public sector

Press TV-On the edge with Max Keiser -04-16-2010 (part1)
MKVideo - Alt - (MKPTVYuTb - 9 min 05 sec - April 17, 2010) -- A quote...."Max Keiser is on the edge of the financial news where future financial scandals, market crisis and monetary crisis begin. Be there before it happens"

Max Keiser and Alex Jones Cover the Globalist Takeover
PTVVideos - PressTVGlobalNews -- AJ&MK(2/3) - AJ&MK(2/3) - (PTVYuTb - 10m - April 17, 2010) -- A quote...."Alex and Max discuss bankster scams, including the wholesale looting of pension funds and the engineered failure of national economies."

The Pentagon's Cyber Command: Civilian Infrastructure is a "Legitimate" Target
Web Censorship Alert - A quote...."When U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates launched Cyber Command (CYBERCOM) last June, the memorandum  authorizing its stand-up specified it as a new "subordinate unified command" under U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM), one that "must be capable of synchronizing warfighting effects across the global security environment as well as providing support to civil authorities and international partners." - also posted at GlobalRsrch & Uruknet - For more on this issue see....US - Atmpts 2 Cntrl Web

Film: Camp Fema – American Lockdown
Videos - VodPod, in full length - CFAL(1/1)  || YouTube, in nine parts - CFAL(1/9) - CFAL(2/9) - CFAL(3/9) - CFAL(4/9) - CFAL(5/9) - CFAL(6/9) - CFAL(7/9) - CFAL(7/9) - CFAL(8/9) - CFAL(9/9) -- A quote...."Everything you wanted to know about FEMA but were afraid to ask"

Jesse Ventura on Real Time with Bill Maher April 16, 2010
Video - Alt - Worth watching, especially for Jesse's views on how the government should be orgainized. - mpg

Right-wing radio host calls tea parties ‘the Sarah Palin movement’
Video - Special Note - Alt -  It's now OVER for the tea/repub/sarah-palin/bagger-party.  This website editor was patient, and the tea-baggers have now spoken, and as the speaker whom they tried to shout down so elequantly stated, they're now "part of the problem".  They have revealed themselves for what they truly are, just some more RepubDemo shills, part of the political machine that has brought this society to the low point it finds itself today.  It's a real shame they desire more wars, more taxes, more empire, more money for the Bankster class, and an oppressive all encompassing police state to enforce the Bankster's will....but they do. Let's make this abundantly clear to everyone out there, as the economy begins to go into its next, possibly fatal down-leg, no-one, absolutely NO-ONE, should feel sorry for these people or try to help them in anyway. They have made their choice, and they have chosen empire over America. - mpg

The Muslims Who Are Looting the USA From Within
Special Note - A quote...."Just look at this  list  of al Qaeda types who are sucking the life out of the USA from their perch in Goldman Sachs! - There's Lloyd BLANKFEIN, Chairman and CEO. And Gary COHN, the COO and President. David VINIAR, CFO and Executive VP. John WEINBERG, Vice-Chairman. Alan COHEN, Executive Head of Global Compliance. - Some of GS's 'notable' alumni are former Treasury Secretary and current Obama financial advisor Robert RUBIN. Robert ZOELLICK, former deputy Secretary of State and current World Bank president. Jim CRAMER, BS artist extraordinaire and host of "Mad Money." - Yes, it's these kind of Muslims who are devoutly stealing America blind, looting our wealth from within, bringing this country to its knees."

Israel’s stooges battle for British votes
A quote...."We can already see how disastrously the US election turned out, not just for Americans but the rest of us also. “The US president is simply the voice of the Zionist parasite,” writes a friend in Norway. “It is sickening and frightening that Obama is seen toeing the Zionist line. -- “Zionism has the US administration and other western governments by the balls.” -- Well, that’s certainly the way it looks. Last month Israel’s prime minister Netanyahu slapped America in the face by approving more illegal settlements during vice-president Joe Biden’s visit. What did Secretary of State Hillary Clinton do? She repeated the pathetic mantra: “We have an absolute commitment to Israel’s security. We have a close unshakeable bond between the United States and Israel and between the American and Israeli people”. - also posted at AlethoNews -- All of them, everyone of them, are presstitutes for AIPAC. - mpg
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9/11 - Mr Silverstein Has Been Paid
Videos - Special Note -  FnF&LF(1/2) - FnF&LF(1/2) - A quote...."Six months before the 9/11 attacks the World Trade Center was purchased by the Silverstein group..but he bought the World Trade Center for 3.2 billion even though the building when it was built, was built full of asbestos and it would take darn near that amount of money to destroy the building and clean it. Larry Silverstein took out insurance coverage on the property which fortuitously covered acts of terrorism. The total potential payout is 4.6 billion and Mr Silverstein has been paid" says the Honorable Minister Louis Farakhan." - Actually Silverstein got double that amount. - mpg -- For more on this issue see....Reficultnias's 9/11 Central - See also article shown below....

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9/11 - From The History File...Britons queued at Ben Gurion airport as Israeli officials cloned passports

For more on this issue see.....9/11 - The Patisies, Their Passports & Their Visas - New Weblist!
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More On The Palestinian Situation....

Global Peace and Justice Groups Threaten Israel's Legitimacy
Special Note - This article is remarkable for the fact it covers how Tel Aviv-based Reut Institute (RI), quite ably, and systematically, identified all the horrendous war crimes Israel has committed, so they could make a detailed proposal to Israel's government on how to cover it all up with Madison Avenue techniques of propaganda.  What a really nice bunch of murdering thugs these people are.  They're a horror and a disgrace to the rest of humanity. - mpg -- A quote...."Working pro bono for Israeli government agencies, the Tel Aviv-based Reut Institute (RI) provides "real-time strategic decision-making" support in areas of national security and socioeconomic policy."

Palestinian Women and Children Behind Zionist Bars
Must Read - View Photos -- A quote...."On a beautiful March day, I was on the way to school in Jerusalem when the bus I was in was stopped at Ras Il-Amoud. The soldiers got into the bus, told everyone to get out and told the bus driver to turn and go back from where it came. Some passengers started arguing with the soldiers, explaining they had jobs or classes to go to, but the soldiers didn’t want to know about that and started shouting and beating those present with their clubs, including me." - also posted at AlethoNews & Uruknet & CounterCurrents

Mezan Center: “Israel Deliberately Killed Reuters Cameraman”
A quote...."On the third anniversary of his death, the Al Mezan Center for Human Rights reported that the Israeli army deliberately shot and killed Palestinian cameraman, working for Reuters, Fadel Shana’a, 23, in the Gaza Strip." - also posted at Uruknet

Lest We Forget Prison Martyrs
Data Base - A list of the murdered - A quote...."Since 1967; 198 Palestinian political prisoners have been killed by the IOF while in detention;  70 as a result of torture at the hands of Israeli Shabak and Israeli Prison Authority (IPA), 71 killed in cold blood after being arrested, 50 as a result of medical negligence by the IPA and 7 being shot dead inside prisons by the Israeli prison authorities." - also posted at Uruknet

IOF troops bulldoze lands in northern Gaza
A quote...."GAZA, (PIC)-- Israeli occupation forces advanced into eastern Jabalia in northern Gaza Strip amidst intensified shooting at noon Sunday, local sources reported. - They said that four army tanks escorted two military bulldozers 200 meters into citizens' land and bulldozed the cultivated land lots. - They noted that the farmers were forced to leave their farms fearing for their lives."

ISM Returns to Hebron
The free press on the prowl, doing the job they're supposed to be doing....reporting the facts and getting their stories straight. - mpg -- A quote...."ISM now have an apartment located just outside Tel Rumeida one of the most troubled areas of Hebron. -- Tel Rumeida is the only area remaining in Hebron where Palestinians live side by side with the settlers. Palestinian residents of Tel Rumeida face daily harassment by the military, settlers and the Israeli Police. The army severely restricts the movement of the Palestinians by using a number of checkpoints, allowing only Jews to walk down certain streets and preventing Palestinians from driving their cars in the entire Tel Rumeida area."

Ghoul: Gaza to host international conference on prisoners
Action Update - A quote...."GAZA, (PIC)-- The Gaza Strip is to host an international conference to support the issue of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli occupation jails next October, justice and prisoners minister in the Palestinian government Mohammed Al-Ghoul revealed on Sunday."

Turkish NGOs join forces to break Israel’s Gaza embargo
Action Update - A quote...."A group of Turkish nongovernmental organizations are undertaking a joint effort to break the years-long Israeli embargo on Palestinians through a Humanitarian Aid Foundation (İHH) project to send aid ships to Gaza in May. -- The İHH launched its project in early April, attracting strong support from other NGOs in Turkey, including the Freedom Association (Özgür-Der). The foundation plans to send two ships -- a cargo ship and a passenger ship -- to besieged Gaza toward the middle of next month. The project’s motto is: “Palestine is our destination, humanitarian aid is our load.” - also posted at Uruknet
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High Frequency Trading - High-tech Highway Robbery - posted at ICH
Special Note - A quote...."April 18, 2010 "Information Clearing House" -- The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) knows that High-Frequency Trading (HFT) manipulates the market and bilks investors out of tens of billions of dollars every year. But SEC chairman Mary Schapiro refuses to step in and take action. Instead, she's concocted an elaborate "information gathering" scheme, that does nothing to address the main problem. Schapiro's plan--to track large blocks of trades by large institutional investors-- is an attempt to placate congress while the big Wall Street HFT traders continue to rake in obscene profits. It achieves nothing, except provide the cover Schapiro needs to avoid doing her job."

Step Aside Roubini - FX Concepts' John Taylor Is The New Dr. Doom: "2011 Will Be Worse Than 2008"
A quote...."The cycles and very simple fundamentals are enough to predict that 2011 will be worse than 2008." - This prediction is in accord with the "ten year cycle", but keep in mind folks, although the ten year cycle does have some fundamental basis, it's primarily an artificial timing mechanism for the parasitic class to coordinate their activities and start their various wars for maximum profit potential. - mpg

8 banks close in Calif., Fla., Mass., Mich., Wash
A quote...."WASHINGTON (AP) -- Regulators on Friday shut down eight banks -- three in Florida, two in California, and one each in Massachusetts, Michigan and Washington -- putting the number of U.S. bank failures this year at 50."

No agreement at Madrid summit on measures for Greek crisis
A quote...."The April 16-17 Ecofin summit of Eurozone finance ministers and central bankers in Madrid ended without substantial agreements on problems facing the European economy as a result of the Greek debt crisis."
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More On the Possible Downfall of Goldman Sachs....

Goldman Cracks
Special Note - A quote...."Given the tremendous water pressure involved, even a small crack in a huge dam can lead to catastrophic failure. -- Similarly, even a small breach in a seemingly invincible army's defenses can lead to defeat. -- The SEC's fraud action against Goldman Sachs is really small potatoes. It alleges only civil - not criminal - fraud. -- And it is against only one small player, not against his bosses or top management. -- (And Goldman has done a lot worse.) -- But Goldman has suffered a crack in its veneer of respectability. -- More importantly, the SEC action may represent a crack in the company's armor. -- Before the SEC announced the charges, Goldman seemed unstoppable. It seemed like even countless tons of water pressure or scores of invading armies could not touch Goldman. --- Now, there is a crack ..."

"Goldman Sachs is Scum" - Max Keiser succinctly summed it all up in 2009 with just four simple words. - mpg
Contains Video - From the History File - July 16, 2009 - (previously posted) - MK(1/2) - MK(2/2) -- A quote...."Keiser says “Oh. You mean after Building 7 collapsed on 911, you can’t get the records anymore? Oh how convenient.”  ---  Keiser says “Federal Reserve Bank, Bank of England, the European Central Bank… they are report to the Bank of International Settlements. And that’s another black box, a corrupt institution. They are thriving in the darkness.” - Just like cock roaches. - mpg

Going After Goldman: A Crackdown on Financial Crime or a Kabuki Play Maneuvre to Avoid Bringing Criminal Charges -  posted at GlobalRsrch -- A quote...."Fox Business News was engrossed in interviewing a blonder than thou reality TV bimbo when the news that the Securities And Exchange Commission was filing fraud charges against Goldman Sachs broke on Friday afternoon."

On Goldman, Securities Fraud, And Skepticism
A quote...."By now of course you know that Goldman Sachs was charged by the SEC with civil securities fraud Friday - unless you live under a rock. -- The weekend has brought forth several interesting points, all of which I believe our political (and bankster) class had better pay attention to.  In no particular order:"

Was The Goldman SEC Action Tipped?
A quote...."Nothing like a bit of foreknowledge that you're about to get charged by the SEC, right? -- ThinkOrSwim has a relatively new tool called "OnDemand" that allows one to "replay" history when it comes to the markets - complete to the tick.  They are now the "best friend" of people like me who enjoy rooting out pernicious and outrageous insider trading conduct."

Yesterday Germany, Today UK, Tomorrow The World: Goldman's Response To Lawsuits By Everyone - Q1 Stub Bonuses! - A quote...."As expected, the line of people preparing to sue Goldman is now longer than the posers who bought the iPad on launch day. Reuters reports that British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who himself has been in hot water over his much lamented decision to sell UK's gold despite protests from the BOE  and likely under the guidance of Goldman and JPM, wants an investigation into the Goldman affair by the FSA, and is saying that impacted UK banks will be considering legal action. Furthermore, GB slammed Goldman after the TimesOnline reported that Goldman will pay $5.6 billion in bonuses for just three months work, including 600 million pounds for London-based staff." - Looks like they're bailing, with the US-NRE's tax payer provided dollars. - mpg

The One Last Ethical Bank? Bear Stearns Just Said No To The Goldman-Paulson Scheme, Did Not Pass "Ethics Standards" - Some quotes...."Surprises these days come from everywhere: one day we find that some of the wealthiest hedge fund managers are only so thanks to clever schemes involving the enabling of investment banks who have the biggest rolodex of "putzes," finding the last remaining "greater fools" available, another day we discover that a deal that Goldman had no qualms about, was passed on by what may well have been the last remaining ethical bank, Bear Stearns."  --  "It didn't pass our ethics standards; it was a reputation issue, and it didn't pass our moral compass. [Bear Stearns trader Scott Eichel]" - "Sure enough, Goldman et al (allegedly) took down Bear shortly thereafter, and gave it away to Jamie Dimon for pennies on the dollar. In the world of Wall Street, where everyone tries to destroy the dumbest, those who play by some ethical historical rulebook all end up seeing a "run" on their liquidity sooner or later." - Being "honest" on Wall Street can be deadly. - mpg
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Saturday April 17th 2010

No posts. - mpg

Friday April 16th 2010

Recovering from Empathy
Must Read - A quote...."What I thought of, straight off, as I watched that 17-minute WikiLeaks video of Iraqis – including a Reuters photographer and his driver – being strafed on a Baghdad street in 2007 by a U.S. helicopter, was a book of postcards published a decade ago. -- The book, compiled by James Allen, is called Without Sanctuary. My guess is that you don’t have it sitting on your coffee table. The postcards and various other stained, frayed photographs –- about a hundred of them –- depict mostly black men, a few women, a few white men, in the process or aftermath of being lynched in the United States, in the first half of the 20th century. The dangling or burned corpses are surrounded, in most of the pictures, by grim or smirking or benevolently smiling onlookers, some of them children. It’s the most surreal and troubling historical document I’ve ever seen in my life." - also posted at ICH & CommonDreams & SmirkingChimp

The Fall of Baghdad
A quote...."Last Friday, millions of people in Iraq and across the Arab world commemorated, or held a moment of thought or prayer for the fall of Baghdad on that tragic day of April 9, 2003. For seven years now, the Iraqi capital has been filled with fire and blood. The formidable force of destruction unleashed by the decision of former President George W. Bush has wrecked everything in its path and the repercussions of this immense strategic earthquake are still being felt far beyond the Iraqi borders."

No Escape
Special Note - A quote...."The rhetoric is floating all around us like a poisonous cloud while we hold our breath, desperately scrambling for the exits. Something wicked this way comes, my friends, and you had better know it. -- The neoliberal Clintonista globalists and their MSM mouthpieces are setting the stage. The Liebermann/McCain “Enemy Belligerent Act” is waiting in the wings, promising endless detention without trials for all those foolish enough to keep typing their dissent regardless of the writing on the walls. And the writing is unmistakably clear to anyone capable of thinking beyond partisan talking point slogans."

Nation of Laws and Lawlessness: America is Policing Itself and the World
Special Note - A quote...."The peoples of the world are angry and are getting angrier. Samuel Bowles and Arjun Jayadev, in a piece  published in 2004, claim that about one in four Americans, termed "guard workers," is employed to keep other people in line. I suspect the number is higher. The war on terror is fought by guard workers, the entire legal system and the entire homeland security apparatus consist of guard workers. Shouldn't someone be asking why Americans need so much protection?" - They're not for "protection", they're for the New Roman Empire's protection racket.  Do "business" with US-NRE's parasitic class -- give them your resources below market rates, allow them into your country to exploit your peoples and pay them slave wages all the while forcing everyone to pay the US-NRE's Banksters interest way above market rates -- or else -- something REALLY awful could.....like....happen to your WHOLE f-cking country and all your people.  It's been this way for the last sixty years, it's gotten incredibly worse during the last ten years, and the US-NRE's parasites aren't going to change anytime soon unless the world community gets together and makes them change. - mpg

Be nice to America. Or we'll bring democracy to your country!
Video - More on the issue shown above.....

An Insignificant Yemeni at Guantanamo Loses His Habeas Petition
Special Note - A quote...."Such is the prevailing disregard for the fate of the remaining prisoners in Guantánamo that last week, when Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, the chief of staff to former Secretary of State Colin Powell, submitted a declaration in a case brought by a former prisoner, in which he stated that George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld all knew--and didn’t care--that "the vast majority of Guantánamo detainees were innocent," almost no one noticed that one of the remaining 183 men had just lost his habeas corpus petition in a US court." - also posted at Uruknet

KSM + military tribunal = 9/11 cover-up?
Special Note - A quote...."US Republicans, in an effort to avoid a public civilian trial for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged 9/11 mastermind, are turning up the heat on Attorney General Eric Holder. Why?" - bold by website editor -- For more on the two articles shown above see....9/11-Iraq-Torture Fables
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What do we get for our US tax dollars?
A quote...."Most Americans seem to regard 15 April – the day income tax returns are due to the Internal Revenue Service – as a recurring tragedy on the order of a biblical plague. Particularly this year, with US government deficits soaring, everyone from the Teabaggers  to Senate Republicans are reviving a scary Friday the 13th scenario from the 1990s about a return to Big Government. Recently Rudy Giuliani even stated that President Obama was moving us towards – heaven forbid – European social democracy." - also posted at ICH -- For more on this sort of issue see the two articles shown below....

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Gen McChrystal: No Proof Iran Sending Fighters or Weapons to Afghanistan
This is about the third or fourth time in three years that the US-NRE's military has actually told the truth regarding Iran.....that's WAY more than normal.  Usually an entire decade would have to pass before you'd actually catch them telling the truth as much as three or four times about anything, much less an Israeli targeted state like Iran.  Something's definitely going on. It appears unlike the Neocons, Israel, AIPAC, etc. the US-NRE's military is not particularly eager to attack Iran....yet. - mpg -- A quote...."Despite several claims made to the contrary over the past several months, US commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal today conceded that there was no proof that the Iranian government has been sending fighters or weapons to Afghanistan." - also posted at WarInIraq

Brazil: 'Affinity' on Iran with China, India
A quote...."There is an "affinity" between Brazil's opposition to new sanctions on Iran and the positions of China and India, the Brazilian foreign minister said as leaders of those nations met Thursday."

Iran Kicks Off Nuclear Disarmament Summit
A quote...."Starting off with a speech from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian nuclear disarmament summit kicked off today with 14 foreign ministers, 10 other deputies, and an undisclosed number of other representatives. All told, some 60 nations and several international groups were represented." - also posted at WarInIraq

Iran seeks IAEA suspension of US
A quote...."Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says nuclear-armed states such as the United States should be removed entirely from the IAEA and its Board of Governors."

China, Russia Keen to Invest in Iran-Pakistan Gas Pipeline Project
A quote...."TEHRAN (FNA)- An Iranian deputy oil minister announced on Saturday that Russian and Chinese companies have voiced their willingness to participate in construction of a multi-billion-dollar pipeline project for exporting Iran's gas to Pakistan."
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Hezbollah: Missiles None of Israel’s Business
A quote...."Speaking today through the al-Manar TV channel, Lebanese government Minister Haj Hassan, a member of Hezbollah’s political party, said the faction will neither confirm nor deny the claims it has acquired scud missiles, and added that it was not Israel’s business one way or the other."

Lebanon Tells Israel to MYOB
A quote...."Israel is all in a dither because Lebanon dares to arm itself against an Israeli attack! Seriously, Israel has the 4th largest army in the world, with F-16s, DIME missiles and NUCLEAR WEAPONS. And Lebanon doesn't have the right to arm itself against a country that has previously invaded it (and many other surrounding countries) And Israel continues to threaten Lebanon on a monthly basis and continually flies into it's airspace?:"

Southern Lebanese remove barbed wire installed by Israel along technical fence
A quote...."BEIRUT: As tensions continue over Israeli accusations of Scud missiles being transferred to Hizbullah, local residents in the south took matters into their own hands on Friday, removing barbed wire installed by the Israelis earlier this week."

Lebanon reacts to Israel border breach
A quote...."Angry protestors in southern Lebanon have reacted to Israel's violation of the country's territory, dismantling a newly installed Israeli fence near the Blue Line. -- "The residents have taken down the barbed wire near the village of Abbasiya, which Lebanon considers part of its territory," AFP quoted Lebanese sources as saying on condition of anonymity." - also posted at WarInIraq
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Kyrgyztan's [new] leaders move to tighten grip following Bakiyev exit
A quote...."BISHKEK: Kyrgyzstan’s new leaders on Friday moved to tighten their grip on power by arresting top allies of ousted president Kurmanbek Bakiyev after he was dramatically flown out into apparent exile."

New Kyrgyz draft constitution to be presented on Monday
A quote...."The Kyrgyz interim government will present on Monday a new draft constitution for public consultation, interim Deputy Prime Minister Omurbek Tekebayev said at a civil society forum on Saturday."

U.S. Breathes Sigh of Relief Over Manas Base for Now
A quote...."WASHINGTON, Apr 16, 2010 (IPS) - The administration of President Barack Obama is breathing a sigh of relief that the past week's successful insurrection against former President Kurmanbek Bakiyev appears unlikely to result in any curbs - at least, for now - on its use of Kyrgyzstan's Manas Air Base."

Kyrgyzstan’s second “tulip revolution” Pt2 By F William Engdahl
Must View RNVideos - TheRealNews - TulipRev(1/2) - TulipRev(2/2) - A quote...."F. William Engdahl discusses situation in Kyrgyzstan."
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Benazir Bhutto 'left to mercy of assassins by security chief' - And who, exactly, was he working for?? - mpg
A quote...."The former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was left to the mercy of her assassins by her security chief who abandoned her in the minutes before her death, a key witness has told the United Nations inquiry into her death." - also posted at BLN

Russia to build submarine-detecting satellite
A quote...."Russia could build a satellite for the detection and tracking of submarines from space, a defense industry spokesman said on Thursday. -- Vladimir Boldyrev, of the Kosmonit science and technology center, said the group had developed a space satellite module that could carry out remote sensing of the sea and "detect submerged submarines." - also posted at WarInIraq

The BRIC post-Washington consensus
Geo-Political Analysis - A quote...."The BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) got together in the Brazilian capital, Brasilia, on Thursday with a bang. After meeting Chinese President Hu Jintao, and once again condemning an "asymmetric, dysfunctional globalization", Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was at his ebullient best: "A new global economic geography has been born." Well, not quite. Not yet."

Volcanic ash poses major flight hazard to airlines
InfoGraphics
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What the whistleblower prosecution says about the Obama DOJ
Special Note - A quote...."The more I think and read about the Obama DOJ's prosecution of NSA whistleblower Thomas Drake, the more I think this might actually be one of the worst steps the Obama administration has taken yet, if not the single worst step -- and that's obviously saying a lot.  During the Bush years, in the wake of the NSA scandal, I used to write post after post about how warped and dangerous it was that the Bush DOJ was protecting the people who criminally spied on Americans (Bush, Cheney Michael Hayden) while simultaneously threatening to prosecute the whistle-blowers who exposed misconduct.  But the Bush DOJ never actually followed through on those menacing threats; no NSA whistle-blowers were indicted during Bush's term (though several-PDF were threatened).  It took the election of Barack Obama for that to happen, as his handpicked Assistant Attorney General publicly boasted yesterday of the indictment against Drake." - bold by website editor

NYT 'Bent Over Backwards' to Deny Ground Zero Health Risks It Now Reports
NYT Presstitution Alert - A quote...."As yet another study is released documenting the damaging health effects of breathing in toxic Ground Zero dust, it's good to see corporate  media  outlets taking it seriously. (Most media outlets, anyway--the New York Post continues to give a platform to deniers.) -- It's worth remembering, though--since they won't remind you--that for many months after 9/11, some outlets--the New York Times in particular--downplayed the fallout and mustered shockingly little journalistic skepticism of government reassurances about safety." - also posted at 911Truth

Visibility 9-11 Welcomes Back Erik Lawyer, Founder of Firefighters for 9-11 Truth
A quote...."If you have not heard the name Erik Lawyer it is one to remember. Erik is a full time firefighter and is a new, shining light in the 9/11 Truth Movement. He has been impressing all he meets with his simple message demanding a thorough criminal forensic investigation of the 9/11 World Trade Center catastrophe. He and his fire-fighting comrades want the authorities to do their job and carry out an investigation in accordance with fire scene investigation protocols, to which he and all US firefighters adhere religiously."

APNewsBreak: Feds indict ex-Blackwater president
A quote...."RALEIGH, N.C. — The former president of Blackwater Worldwide was charged Friday with using straw purchases to stockpile automatic weapons at the security firm and filing false documents to cover up gifts given to the King of Jordan."

PBS Shies from Single-Payer Debate - posted at ConsortiumNews
PBS Presstitution Alert - A quote...."It was with a sense of déjà vu that I watched the latest PBS Frontline documentary about health care. -- 'Obama’s Deal” endeavored to reveal the significant influence of health industry dollars on our political process; however, as in Frontline’s “Sick Around America,” the producers did a disservice by the failure to educate the public about the bigger picture of the health care situation in this nation and the range of possible solutions. - Curiously, just as it was in the health “debate,” single-payer, improved “Medicare for All,” was excluded from the film."
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More On The Palestinian Situation....

My mother, the infiltrator
Must Read - A quote...."My mother is an illegal infiltrator. She has infiltrated her hometown, where her parents were born and where she was raised. Her activities as an infiltrator are as varied as they are nefarious: She takes my sister to school, with the neighbor’s kids. She cooks and cleans her home. We actually purchased that home so that she would have a base to operate from once she had infiltrated. She goes to the gym (I suspect infiltrators probably do need to stay in shape). She visits her sisters; I can’t say for sure if they assist her illegal activities. I’m sure they provide moral support at least. She helps care for her brother’s young children. You see my uncle might have been an infiltrator. They kicked him out of his homeland too, said he didn’t have the right permit to live there. He actually did, but they didn’t want to renew it. He was kept away from his kids for years. Eventually, he was given permission to infiltrate again, but he died a few months later, before this ruling came into effect. So maybe he became an infiltrator posthumously. I don’t know."

"In the eyes of the state, we don't exist here"
A quote...."Israeli forces carried out several major home demolition operations on Wednesday, 14 April, within three separate areas in the occupied West Bank. The demolitions left dozens of people homeless in Hares (near the northern town of Tulkarem); and the towns of Beit Sahour and al-Khader near Bethlehem. Several Palestinian-owned shops in Hares were also reduced to rubble and rebar as Israeli officers threatened residents with future demolitions in the area."

Marwan Barghouthi marks 8th anniversary of imprisonment
A quote...."Bethlehem – Ma'an – Thursday marked the 8th anniversary of the abduction and imprisonment of Marwan Barghouthi by Israeli forces, in honor of which the detained PLC member presented a summation of the current Palestinian situation." - also posted at Uruknet

'Over 7,000' Palestinians in Israel jails
A quote..."RAMALLAH, West Bank (AFP) – More than 7,000 Palestinians, including 270 who are under the age of 18, are currently held in Israeli prisons, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics said on Friday."

Israeli shelling kills Palestinian in Shujaiyah area
A quote...."GAZA, (PIC)– A Palestinian citizen was killed Friday morning during Israeli artillery and aerial attacks on the eastern part of Al-Shujaiyah neighborhood to the east of Gaza city." - also posted at WarInIraq

Pitch black under siege
A quote...."Dr Moawya Hassanein, head of Emergency Medicine at the Palestinian Ministry of Health, warns that the lives of thousands of patients with kidney failure who require dialysis three times a week are at risk because of power failures. “There is little we can do at hospitals for patients with heart disease, cancer, in the ICU or premature babies,” Hassanein declared. “We have power generators but no one can guarantee that they are enough or will not run out of fuel.”

Gaza: necessity and defiance
Photo Gallery - A quote...."Mohammed Abu Jerrad, 12, works with his older brother and 4 others to gather their wheat.  Although it is still somewhat early for harvesting, the family hopes to harvest their 5 dunams quickly, preferring the early harvest over the possibility that Israeli soldiers will demolish or lit afire their crops, as they have routinely done in the past.  [One such incident occured in Johr Ad Dik last May, when Israeli soldiers shot incendiary devices into ripe wheat and barley fields, setting nearly 3 km, 200 dunams, of crops and fruit trees afire.]" - also posted at Uruknet -- For more on this issue see....Israel's Scorched Earth

Irish Unions Host 'Anti-Israel' Parley
Action Alert/Update - Boycott, Divest and Sanction - Because "never again" is happening again and IT  MUST BE STOPPED! - mpg -- A quote...."16/04/2010  Ireland’s national trade union federation is hosting a conference in Dublin on Friday on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with a majority of speakers either firm advocates or not opposed to a complete boycott of Israel. --  The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU), which last year voted to support a boycott of Israeli goods and services, described the conference as an “international conference on the Middle East which will feature contributions from Palestine, Israel, the US, Canada, South Africa and the EU.” - For more on how to Boycott, Divest and Sanction the state of Israel see the upper-left-corner of the "Front Page" of this website. - mpg
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On the Possible Downfall of Goldman Sachs....

Goldman Sacked?
Contains Video - A quote...."The Goldman fraud indictment is obviously huge news. -- The Connecticut Attorney general wants to file criminal charges:"

SEC Charges Goldman Sachs With Fraud On Subprime Mortgages, Paulson & Co. Implicated
A quote...."Washington, D.C., April 16, 2010 — The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Goldman, Sachs & Co. and one of its vice presidents for defrauding investors by misstating and omitting key facts about a financial product tied to subprime mortgages as the U.S. housing market was beginning to falter."

Did Goldman Short Itself, Reuters Reports Goldman Was Told In Advance It Faced SEC Action
Full quote...."Time for the SEC to take a look at what bets Goldman's prop desk, and material affiliates as well as hedge funds that are close to Goldman's flow traders, were taking on Goldman's stock over the past few days. If indeed Goldman shorted itself, bought SPY puts, bought octuple leveraged negative financial ETFs, or something else of the sort, on material non-public information, it would be time to shut the firm down."

SEC Accuses Goldman Sachs of Civil Fraud
A quote...."WASHINGTON (AP) -- The government has accused Goldman Sachs & Co. of defrauding investors by failing to disclose conflicts of interest in subprime investments it sold as the housing market was collapsing."

GOP Leader Calls Goldman "Obama's Top Wall Street Ally" Asks "Just Whose Side Is President Obama On?"
A quote...."GOP Leader: “Despite President Obama’s rhetoric, his permanent bailout bill gives Goldman Sachs and other big Wall Street banks a permanent, taxpayer-funded safety net by designating them ‘too big to fail.’"
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Anatomy of casino capitalism & Can US dollar remain world's currency?
Real News Videos - Can US dollar remain world's currency? - Part 3 - Part 2 - Part 1 -- A quote...."PAUL JAY, SENIOR EDITOR, TRNN: Welcome back to The Real News Network. I'm Paul Jay in Washington, and we're joined again by Jane D'Arista. She's an economist at the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) in Amherst, Massachusetts. She also cofounded Committee of Economists for Financial Reform, called SAFER. So thanks for joining us again."

Zombie Finance Update — Foreign Banks Still Finance US Deficit
A quote...."Net foreign purchases of US Treasury securities during February totalled $48 billion, slightly below the $60 billion average of the preceding three months. Foreign official agencies only bought $1.2 billion of the total. The rest was private, and overwhelmingly banks and hedge funds financing Treasury notes with cheap short-term money."

Housing starts rise in March in modest rebound for U.S. builders
Good news, sort of....A quote...."Housing starts in March stood at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 626,000 units, 1.6% better than the revised February estimate of 616,000 and 20.2% above the March 2009 rate of 521,000." -- Before everyone starts applauding this news (it is of course "good" for economic activity) just realize they're ADDING homes to a market which has the largest amount of distressed inventory "for sale" ever.  And for sale is in quotes because this market is so distorted by homes not being foreclosed on, homes simply abandoned, homes being held off the market by their owners, a HUGE shadow bank inventory, and other vast amounts of unsold homes clogging up the housing market pipeline from begining to end that will keep home prices rolling along whatever bottom they establish for years to come.  This is an example of how government intervention (ZIRP 4'eva) can distort markets even further. - mpg

Fried-chicken indicator isn't bullish
Special Note - NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- People who think our economic troubles are over should eat more Popeyes fried chicken -- "America's Back!" screams the latest cover of Newsweek magazine in red, white and blue. "The remarkable tale of our economic turnaround."

The Economic Crisis in the UK: Inflation and Debt Default Bankruptcy
Special Note - Charts - A quote...."Whilst politicians of all the major parties during the general election campaign continue to ignore the giant debt elephant in the room as the general public continue to prefer to be deluded into thinking that Britain can skip the debt crisis that faces the country as a consequence of Greecesk levels of annual deficits and foreign liabilities that have pushed Britain significantly along the path towards hyperinflation and bankruptcy (debt default to foreigners), as many of the trend projections concerning the looming debt mountain, banking and public sector's liability expectations made in November 2008 (Bankrupt Britain Trending Towards Hyper-Inflation?) have come to pass, against which NOTHING has been done or stated will be done to prevent ultimate national bankruptcy as warned of in November 2008."

Athens protest turns violent
A quote...."A protest in the Greek capital Athens has turned violent after angry demonstrators attacked police over the March 11 arrest of a protester."

Bayer admits GMO contamination out of control
A quote...."(NaturalNews) Drug and chemical giant Bayer AG has admitted that there is no way to stop the uncontrolled spread of its genetically modified crops."

Thursday April 15th 2010