Repercussions of a Just War
Must Read - A quote...."The foundation of modern international politics — the nation state — was first laid out in the treaty of Westphalia, which put an end to Europe’s religious wars of the seventeenth century. At its core, sovereignty is the notion that a state has sole authority over its land and people and is guaranteed the right of non-intervention in its internal affairs by outside powers."

War with Syria? The Military Option
Must Read - A quote...."War with Syria? Peace with Syria? - A big military operation against Hamas in the Gaza strip? A cease-fire with Hamas? - Our media discuss these questions dispassionately, as if they were equivalent options. Like a person in a showroom making a choice between two cars. This one is good, and so is the other one. So which should one buy? - And nobody cries out: War is the height of stupidity!

Military or Market-Driven Empire Building: 1950-2008
A quote...."A clear sign of the long-term economic decay of the US global competitive position between 2002-2008 is evidenced by the fact that a 40% depreciation of the dollar has failed to substantially improve the US balance of payments, let alone produce a trade surplus. Despite the handicap of appreciating currencies, China, Germany and Japan continued to accumulate trade surpluses, especially with the US. While the US spent hundreds of billions in Asian wars, CIA propaganda and subversive operations in the former USSR, Eastern Europe, the Baltic States, the Caribbean (Cuba/Venezuela) and the Caucuses, the principle beneficiaries were the revitalized European market-driven empire-builders and the newly emerging market empire builders."

The Supreme International Crime
A quote...."A recent study conducted by U.S. military focus groups last December provided very revealing information regarding the beliefs and values of the Iraqi people. As reported in the Washington Post, the study discovered that, "Iraqis of all sectarian and ethnic groups believe that the U.S. military invasion is the primary root of the violent differences among them, and see the departure of [United States] 'occupying forces' as the key to national reconciliation."

The Iraqi Family: Another Neglected Casualty of War
A quote...."I recently spoke with two well known activists who have for years toiled for the freedom of the Iraqi people; Kathy Kelly, co-coordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence and Hussein Al-Alak, an Iraqi writer and activist with the Iraq Solidarity Campaign in the United Kingdom. -- Kelly and Al-Alak tackled how the war and sanctions have impacted the family unit, and in particular women and children."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Cheney's and Maliki's new war in Iraq - Tuesday round-up - 5 articles - [ Day 36 ]

Drone attacks hit high in Iraq
A quote....posted 04-29-08 -- "WASHINGTON — U.S. commanders in Iraq have ordered an unprecedented number of airstrikes by unmanned airplanes in April to kill insurgents in urban combat and to limit their ability to launch rockets at American forces, military records show."

US escalates siege in Baghdad’s Sadr City
A quote...."30 April 2008 -- US forces continued their siege against Baghdad’s Sadr City neighborhood on Tuesday, leaving dozens dead. The US military said a four-hour firefight broke out around 9:30 a.m. between US forces and militiamen as a US soldier injured by small-arms fire was being evacuated."

37 die in Iraq clashes
A quote....posted 04-29-08 -- "BAGHDAD: More than 37 people were killed in Baghdad's Shi'ite militia bastion of Sadr City yesterday, as gunmen clashed with US soldiers under cover of a severe sandstorm. Several rockets or mortar rounds also struck the Iraqi capital's heavily fortified government compound, as militants took advantage of the absence of US air cover during the storm, witnesses said."

Sunni parliamentarian: "Sadr City attacks are killing mostly unarmed civilians" (UPDATED)
A quote...."April 29, 2008 -- In this photo 2 year old Ali Hussein is seen being pulled from the rubble of his family’s home in Sadr City Tuesday, April 29, 2008. Ali’s home was one of four destroyed by U.S. missiles. Ali died in hospital a few hours."

Militiamen ambush drives back US patrol in Sadr City
A quote...."Apr 29, 2008 16:20 EST -- Dozens of fighters ambushed a U.S. patrol in Baghdad's main Shiite militia stronghold Tuesday, firing rocket-propelled grenades and machine gun bursts as the American push into Sadr City increasingly faces pockets of close urban combat. -- U.S. forces struck back with 200-pound guided rockets that devastated at least three buildings in the densely packed district that serves as the Baghdad base for the powerful Mahdi Army militia." - bold by website editor.

No doubt most "Americans" (a.k.a. Neo-Romans) would feel that the US military is being kind to the Iraqis by not using the usual 500 pound or 1000 pound bombs and as a result, instead of leveling whole city blocks as they did in Fallujah, they're just leveling whole buildings.

This website editor has seen a few articles posted recently by our illustrious mass-media which gave surprisingly large figures of up to forty five "insurgents" killed in a single day in Sadr City.  These articles are not posted on this website for a very good reason....woman, children and little babies don't count as "insurgents", even if it was your nation who bombed and killed them, at least not to those who are civilized....not to mention truthful. - mpg

Cheney's and Maliki's new war in Iraq - Tuesday round-up - [ Day 36 ]
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Massive Propaganda Laundry at the Wall Street Journal...
Missed this one - mpg - A quote...."April 23, 2008 -- This may or may not be related to why the Wall Street Journal's top editor, Marcus Brauchli, quit yesterday, but it sure looks to be connected. The "this" that I am referring to is the propaganda piece published in the WSJ - now owned by propaganda magnate, R. Murdoch -  today on what went down in Syria last year:"

Brains, not brawn, in Afghanistan
A quote...." The audacious attack in Kabul on Sunday on Afghan President Hamid Karzai and other dignitaries is another salvo in the Taliban's new phase of targeted missions, rather than direct confrontation with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's war machine. In return, NATO, as evidenced by two important recent successes against the insurgency, is becoming smarter, rather than relying on "smart" bombs. -- *Syed Saleem Shahzad*

Afghanistan's insurgency spreading north - link posted at BuzzFlash
A quote...."The insurgency in Afghanistan has not been "contained," Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell testified before a Senate subcommittee in February. "It's been sustained in the south, it's grown a bit in the east, and what we've seen are elements of it spread to the west and the north."

Iran steps into enemy's territory
A quote...."Too bad for the US, which now places the lion's share of the blame for its quagmire in Iraq on Iran's "destructive influence", two key US allies in the sub-continent, India and Pakistan, are now poised to deepen their economic, political, cultural and even geostrategic relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran, irrespective of Tehran's defiance of United Nations Security Council resolutions calling for a halt in Iran's uranium-enrichment activities." -- Also posted at ICH
 
Iran holds key to India's energy insecurity
A quote...."In the rapidly intensifying international energy game, Iran holds a master key to the most staggering roadblock to India's economic growth - energy insecurity. With the issue of energy cooperation expected to dominate talks on Tuesday between visiting Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad and his hosts in New Delhi, a new chapter in India-Iran relations is on the horizon that will likely bring the two countries closer together on a long-term basis."

Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline is on
Video - A quote...."Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has met with Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Reza Gillani to discuss the construction of a gas pipeline from Iran to India. The Real News Analyst Pepe Escobar calls this "one of the most important energy developments of 2008," because it shows that Asian countries that have good relations with the US, such as India and Pakistan, are willing to do business with Iran, despite Washington's attempts to isolate the country."

Bomb Bomb Iran by Summer's End?
War Alert - A quote...."When Senator John McCain serenaded reporters last April with his "Bomb Bomb Iran," I had to wonder. Was this a taste of his aging flyboy humor? Or was he telling us what to expect should he ever become president? We may never find out. If Vice President Dick Cheney has his way, he will beat McCain to the punch, possibly as soon as late May, after President George W. Bush returns from celebrating the 60th anniversary of Israel's creation."

Lebanese army: 12 IAF jets fly over Beirut, Lebanese areas
A quote...."BEIRUT, Lebanon - The Lebanese army said Monday that Israel Air Force warplanes have violated their airspace by flying missions over Beirut and elsewhere in the country. -- The Lebanese army said in a statement that "12 enemy Israeli warplanes violated Lebanese airspace before noon Monday, four flew over the Mediterranean off the coastal city of Byblos in the north and headed toward the eastern province of Hermel."

Almost two years after war, displaced residents of Beirut's southern suburbs are still caught in the middle
A quote...."BEIRUT: When widow Salam Hassoun and her three children left their home in Beirut's southern suburbs on the third day of the summer 2006 war with Israel, she did not know it would be for the last time. Israeli bombs displaced over 1 million Lebanese from across the country, but it was the Hizbullah-controlled southern suburbs, home to an estimated 850,000 people, that suffered the heaviest bombardment - some 942 air strikes during the 34-day war, according to figures from the Lebanese Army."

Israel to put off release of Lebanese detainee
A quote..."Hizbullah had previously pressured Israel to include Nisr in prisoner exchanges orchestrated between the resistance and the Israeli government, the last of which occurred in 2007, but the request was denied by Israel as it argued that Nisr was an Israeli citizen."

Africa Looks East
A quote...."Look East My son. Look East.” Those were the sage words of Kenyan journalist, Wanjohi Kabukuru, as he assayed the results of his President’s visit to Beijing, in just the latest journey from the continent – Africa – most ravaged by the savagery of imperialism and, ironically, where the crisis of US imperialism has become most evident. Of late there has been a growing hysteria in Washington that China is stealing a march on US imperialism, providing an alternative which means that Africa is not bound to bend the knee when their leaders cross the Atlantic." -- "Africa looks East"...it's sure better than looking West, which is sort'a like looking at Cheney, when you're right next to him....and he's got a shot gun in his hands. - mpg

Russia's richest man sees Putin in charge to 2020
A quote...."MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's richest man, Oleg Deripaska, has said he is convinced Vladimir Putin will remain fully in charge of Russia until 2020, even though he is stepping down as president on May 7. -- The media-shy business mogul, with interests stretching from metals and oil to airports and cement, also said that the West should stop fearing Russia."  --  The Russians have their oligarchs just like the US does, they're just a hell of a lot more honest about it. - mpg

Mexico up in arms over privatization oil plans
Video - A quote...."Thousands of Mexicans took to the streets of Mexico City on Sunday to protest an oil reform bill they say would lead to the privatization of the country's state-run oil company. Led by opposition lawmaker Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the demonstrators expressed their displeasure with plans to look for private capital to help fund the expansion of Pemex, Mexico's national oil company."

CFR: The African Union
A quote...."The African Union (AU), formed in 2002 from the vestiges of the Organization for African Unity (OAU), aims to protect the security of the continent, rather than the sovereignty of individual states." -- Better them than Africom. - mpg

Messiahs Just Aren't What They Used to Be
A quote...."Once upon a time (I do like that phrase), a genuinely revolutionary messiah challenged every aspect of the beliefs and practices of the ruling elites of his time, even when that challenge ensured his own death. Alas. In 21st century America, many of those in our intellectual class (I use the words "intellectual" and "class" with a degree of carelessness meriting severe and cruel punishment) enthusiastically make themselves into laughingstocks by wildly applauding the cheapest, emptiest, most obviously manipulative of charlatans."

BP's first-quarter profit jumps 63 percent
Again to all the men and women in the armed forces....thank you, thank you, thank you. - mpg

Shell profits up 25 pct on record high oil prices
Ditto, ditto, ditto. - mpg

Halliburton Bribe Case Haunts Cheney
A quote...."Dick Cheney’s tenure at Halliburton ended eight years ago, but a federal investigation of alleged bribes from a company subsidiary to Nigerian officials lingers from the Cheney era, raising questions about what the Vice President knew or should have known." -- To be honest, if Cheney can openly and blatantly steer no bid contracts through the DOD's procurement process while tens of thousands of US soldiers are being injured or killed in Iraq without suffering any consequences, it's doubtful that he's going to be placed in any legal jeopardy by this investigation.  Of course stranger things have happened. We can all hope for the best. - mpg

Troops stranded by airline bankruptcy
A quote...."WASHINGTON — The abrupt collapse of ATA Airlines has left an untold number of U.S. soldiers, sailors and Marines stuck in Iraqi and Afghan airports while they await a ride home. Some face travel delays of up to a week, military officials acknowledge."

MI5 accused of colluding in torture of terrorist suspects
A quote...."Officers of the Security Service, MI5, are being accused of "outsourcing" the torture of British citizens to a notorious Pakistani intelligence agency in an attempt to obtain information about terrorist plots and to secure convictions against al-Qaida suspects."

Peace protesters deflate NZ spy base dome
A quote...."WELLINGTON (Reuters) - Peace activists attacked and deflated a large inflatable globe housing a satellite dish at a top secret New Zealand spy base on Wednesday in protest at United States military actions."

Don Siegelman hit with travel restrictions...
Some quotes...."Siegelman tells The Associated Press that he was informed by his probation officer Tuesday afternoon that he was being classified as a special offender for travel purposes. The classification means he must get approval from the judge overseeing his case and from the district where he seeks to travel." -- "Just in time to deny Siegelman the right to travel to Washington for his Congressional testimony?  Or is it simply that Karl Rove has thrown a temper tantrum and called in the Stasi to make Siegelman fall out of circulation? What country is this?"

Banned In America - French Documentary Film Pulled from YouTube and Google
A quote...."The two hour long documentary that aired on French television was never going to be aired in America. While Rush Limbaugh has enough freedom to call for riots in Denver, critics of American petrochemical companies can't hear a word about the privitization of the food supply on our public air waves. On March 7, 2008, Greenpeace International summarized the film and global reaction on their website."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Dave Barry Explains the Tax Rebate
A quote...."The tax rebate of 2008, which is scheduled to begin this week when the first checks go into the mail, is the latest example of American mercantilism in action. I did my best to explain American mercantilism in the April 26 issue of Gary North's Reality Check. There, I explained modern Keynesian economics as the American version of mercantilism."

A Short Numismatic History of the United States
A quote...."Governments are inveterate despoilers of the freedom, wealth, and lives of their citizens. As consolation, the citizens usually receive little more than lofty words and pretentious sentiments from the political leaders in charge of the looting, murder, and enslavement. Less commonly, governments produce something concrete, such as a marble palace for the ruler or an alabaster temple for the commemoration of some supposedly noble public goal."

Bank bail-outs to be kept secret
Special Note - Financial Alert - A quote...."The Bank of England has imposed a permanent news blackout on its £50bn-plus plan to ease the credit crunch. -  Ferocious and unprecedented secrecy means taxpayers will never know the names of the banks that have been supported through the special liquidity scheme, which was unveiled by Bank Governor Mervyn King last week."

Bank For International Settlements: High Risk Of U.S. stagflation
A quote...."BASEL, Switzerland, April 29 (Reuters) - Stagflation is an increasingly plausible prospect in the United States and weak economic growth could last well into 2009, if not longer, the head of the Bank for International Settlements says."

Home prices plunge at faster pace in February - Prices down record 12.7% in past year, with 'no sign of bottom,' S&P says -- A quote...."WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The decline in U.S. home prices quickened in February, with prices down a record 12.7% in the past year for 20 key cities, according to the Case-Shiller home price index released Tuesday by Standard & Poor's. -- In February, prices were down 2.6% compared with January for 20 key cities, with prices in the smaller 10-city index off 2.8%. That's the fastest monthly price decline in the history of the index. The pace of decline has accelerated for nine consecutive months. - underline by website editor

Foreclosures jump for seventh straight quarter
A quote...."NEW YORK (Reuters) - Home foreclosure filings jumped 23 percent in the first quarter from the prior quarter, and more than doubled from a year earlier, as more overextended borrowers failed to make timely payments, real estate data firm RealtyTrac said on Tuesday."


Critical Reaction: The Empire Strikes Back in Kabul?
Special Note - A quote...."On Friday, Afghan President Hamid Karzai gave an interview to Carlotta Gall of the New York Times, in which he blasted American and British conduct of the war in his country. Karzai said the Anglo-American powers should stop their incessant killing of civilians and quit conducting their "War on Terror" against Afghan villagers. Perhaps most remarkably, he called on the Western forces to stop targeting Taliban members and suspected sympathizers. The interview represented the harshest criticism he has ever levelled against the Western powers. -- The very next day, in an amazing coincidence, Karzai was the target of a spectacular assassination attempt, on national television, with mortar fire and bullets raking a review stand at a military parade in the center of Kabul. One man was killed, several were wounded -- but Karzai escaped unhurt, as did the American ambassador, the New York Times reports."

9/11 Contradictions: When Did Cheney Enter the Underground Bunker?
A quote...."With regard to the morning of 9/11, everyone agrees that at some time after 9:03 (when the South Tower of the World Trade Center was struck) and before 10:00, Vice President Dick Cheney went down to the Presidential Emergency Operations Center (PEOC), sometimes simply called the “bunker,” under the east wing of the White House. Everyone also agrees that, once there, Cheney was in charge---that he was either making decisions or relaying decisions from President Bush. But there is enormous disagreement as to exactly when Cheney entered the PEOC."



Former GOP Senator Says Cheney's Hostile Takeover Was Planned From The Beginning
Must Read - A quote...."Just in case you're still under the impression that the single-minded belligerence shown by the Bush administration after 9/11 was a reaction (or an over-reaction) to the attacks of that day, I wish to remind you that Bush and Cheney were busy classifying government documents and scuttling international treaties all during the summer of 2001 -- almost as if they were getting ready for something dramatic."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

All the president's liars
A quote...."Did it work? Were you duped? -- Were you calmly and methodically and rather nefariously led to believe that maybe, just maybe, the situations in Iraq and Afghanistan and Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib and the rest, right along with tales of soldier suicides and torture and staggering civilian body counts and the utterly disastrous Bush military policy weren't really all that bad after all?" -- Also posted at CommonDreams

Pentagon Conduits
A quote...."As we now know, thanks to the New York Times, the military-industrial complex is well represented in the daily television news coverage of the Iraq and Afghan occupations. Those former generals who seemed generously to have come out of retirement to provide disinterested analysis of the Bush administration’s military adventures are neither generous nor disinterested."

Pavlov's Dogs of War Propaganda
A quote...."It turns out that James “Spider” Marks, retired Army general and military analyst, was pushing the Bush administration’s war propaganda on CNN under the guise of objective journalism for fun and profit. -- Say it ain’t so, Spider."

The New York Times exposes manipulative DoD propaganda racket
A quote...."Through newly obtained internal documents, The New York Times has uncovered an elaborate PR campaign run by the Pentagon that coached former military officials — or as they’re known on television, Serious Independent Military Experts — on how best to shill for Donald Rumsfeld during the fallout from the “General’s Revolt,” when numerous high-ranking retired Generals broke long standing tradition and began speaking out harshly against the former Secretary and his prosecution of the War in Iraq."

For more on the four articles shown above see....Fake Intel - NYT Article
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Iraqis accuse Blackwater of shredding documents
A quote...."WASHINGTON (AP) - Families of Iraqis who died in a shooting involving Blackwater Worldwide contractors accused the company Friday of shredding documents and destroying evidence. - Lawyers for the families made the accusations in court documents but identified the source of the information only as former employees. They said officials at the company's North Carolina compound shredded documents related to ongoing investigations sometime around March 18."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Cheney's and Maliki's new war in Iraq - Friday round-up - 3 articles - [ Day 32 ]

US says it has no plans to besiege Iraq's Sadr City
A quote..."BAGHDAD (AFP) — American and Iraqi forces building a wall in Sadr City have no plans to besiege the east Baghdad Shiite bastion where they have been battling militiamen for weeks, a US general said on Thursday."

Siege continues in Iraq as US escalates threats against Iran
A quote...."The United States military’s brutal offensive in Sadr City continued this week, with overnight raids killing dozens of people, including many civilians. The US offensive against the impoverished Baghdad neighborhood of 2 million people is entering its second month. -- The direct target of US operations in Sadr City is the Mahdi Army militia led by Moqtada al-Sadr. Sadr’s followers are drawn from the largely working class Shiite population in Sadr City. He also has substantial support in southern Iraq, including Basra. The recent wave of violence in Iraq was triggered last month, when the Iraqi government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki launched an offensive, backed by the US, against Sadr’s forces in Basra."

Sadr Tells Forces Not to Attack Iraqis
A quote..."BAGHDAD — Under pressure from Iraqi government troops and the American military, Moktada al-Sadr called on his followers to stop the bloodshed, unite with all Iraqis and focus their firepower on driving out the “occupation forces,” meaning the United States military and its foreign allies."

Cheney's and Maliki's new war in Iraq - Friday round-up - [ Day 32 ]
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Mullen Rattles Sabres at Iran; Muqtada Reaffirms Truce
A quote..."Guerrillas  blew up an oil pipeline from a refinery south of Baghdad on Friday. Iraqi oil production has declined somewhat lately, according to this report. -- Adm. Michael Mullen, Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, sharpened his rhetoric against Iran on Friday. Mullen appeared earlier to want to put the brakes on the Cheney war machine. Is he weakening?"

Is an Attack on Iran Imminent?
War Warning - A quote...."George W. Bush is poised to order a massive aerial bombardment – possibly including tactical nuclear weapons – of up to 10,000 targets in Iran.  The attack would be justified on grounds that Iran is interfering with U.S. efforts in Iraq and that Iran is developing a nuclear weapon, a charge that was debunked last fall in the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE)." -- Also posted at CommonDreams

Gas exporters to meet in Tehran on April 28
Special Note - A quote...."MOSCOW, April 24 (RIA Novosti) - An alliance of the world's leading gas producers will hold a ministerial meeting in Tehran on April 28, the head of Russia's Gas Society said on Thursday. -- "The Gas Exporting Countries Forum will hold a ministerial meeting in Iran's capital on April 28, where the charter of the so-called gas 'OPEC' will be discussed," Valery Yazev said. -- He said there were two draft charters, a 'tough' one designed by Iran, and Russia's 'more delicate' version. Iran has proposed to regulate the functioning and principles of a gas equivalent of OPEC, while Russia's draft envisages fixing gas pricing mechanisms and gas transit routs."

India and Iran: Getting Friendly?
A quote...."By landing his plane in New Delhi on what was to have been a routine refueling stop, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has provoked a diplomatic contretemps between India and the U.S. that reveals the fragility of their emerging alliance. New Delhi remains deeply wary over being seen to be doing Washington's bidding when it comes to dealing with other countries."

Pakistan, India close to finalizing accord on gas pipeline from Iran
A quote...."SLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP): An official says Pakistan and India are close to finalizing an agreement to build a pipeline to import natural gas from Iran. -- The South Asian countries' petroleum ministers concluded the latest round of talks on the three-nation project Friday in Islamabad."

Pakistan fury at Nato border raid
A quote...."Pakistan's foreign ministry has said it has lodged a "strong protest" with Nato and the Afghan military after a border skirmish left a Pakistani soldier dead."

Bad For Bush: Peace Breaking Out In Pakistan
A quote...."There have been some interesting developments -- or non-developments -- in the Pakistani sector of the Terror War since the February election in which the party and policy of President Pervez Musharraf were soundly repudiated."

Taliban commander in Pakistan orders halt to attacks
A quote...."The top Taliban commander in Pakistan called a cease-fire Thursday and ordered followers to halt attacks, while the government said it was pursuing peace talks with tribal elders in the volatile border region. -- Fliers distributed on the Afghan frontier and in nearby towns told those loyal to Baitullah Mehsud, a Taliban commander accused of ties to al-Qaida, to avoid acts of "hostility.""

Malaysia's ex-PM Mahathir wants Iraq war leaders on war crimes charges
A quote...."LONDON (AFP) - Former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad called here Friday for an international tribunal to try Western leaders with war crimes over the war in Iraq, a spokesman for the organisers said. --
In a speech at Imperial College, Mahathir called for a tribunal to try US President George W. Bush plus former prime ministers Tony Blair of Britain and John Howard of Australia for their part in the conflict, said a spokesman for the Muslim group the Ramadhan Foundation, which set up the event."

Carter rebuts State Department on Hamas
A quote...."A day after returning from the Mideast, former Democratic president Jimmy Carter on Wednesday defended his meetings with leaders of the militant Palestinian movement Hamas, and said his visit doesn't lend the group credence."

Israel's UN Ambassador Calls Jimmy Carter A "Bigot"
A quote...."NEW YORK — Israel's ambassador to the United Nations on Thursday called former President Jimmy Carter "a bigot" for meeting with the leader of the militant Hamas movement in Syria. -- Carter, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, "went to the region with soiled hands and came back with bloody hands after shaking the hand of Khaled Mashaal, the leader of Hamas," Ambassador Dan Gillerman told a luncheon briefing for reporters." -- Israel's arrogance is beginning to get rather tiresome. - mpg

LEBANON: Photographers protest Fadel Shana'a's death
A quote...."BEIRUT, April 24, 2008 (MENASSAT) – To denounce the killing of Reuters cameraman, Fadel Shana'a, by the Israeli army in Gaza last week, the Syndicate of Lebanese Photographers organized a demonstration at noon on Thursday in front of ESCWA headquarters in downtown Beirut."

Thousands mourn for cameraman slain by Israeli missile
A quote...."GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip, (IPS/GIN) — Fadel Shana, a cameraman for the Reuters news agency, was killed April 16 while filming Israeli tanks as they fired missiles in Gaza."

Regarding the two articles shown above see....Killing a Messenger
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Skepticism toward Bush claims about Syria and North Korea
A quote...."There are multiple reasons why substantial skepticism is warranted concerning the Bush administration's claims that the structure which Israeli jets destroyed inside Syria last September was a nuclear reactor Syria was developing with the aid of North Korea. Such skepticism, however, is difficult to find in most (though not all) American press accounts, which do little other than repeat Government claims without challenge."

Syrian envoy says CIA fabricated evidence
A quote...."Syria's ambassador to the United States said Friday that the CIA fabricated pictures allegedly taken inside a secret Syrian nuclear reactor and predicted that in the coming weeks the U.S. story about the site would "implode from within."
 
Taliban bitten by a snake in the grass
A quote...."KARACHI - The Taliban and their al-Qaeda associates, in what they considered a master stroke, this year started to target the Western alliance's supply lines that run through Pakistan into Afghanistan. "

Cousin of Colombian President Arrested in Death Squad Probe
A quote...."BOGOTA, Colombia, April 22 -- Authorities on Tuesday arrested former senator Mario Uribe, a cousin and close ally of President Álvaro Uribe, for alleged ties to death squads in a widening inquiry that has implicated nearly a quarter of Colombia's Congress."

Massachusetts Police Get Black Uniforms to Instill Sense of 'Fear'
A quote...."The city's new police commissioner, William Fitchet, says members of the department's Street Crime Unit will again don black, military-style uniforms as part of his strategy to deal with youth violence." -- "Ja mein Vater führer" - mpg

Seller of antiwar t-shirts 'not worried' by lawsuit
A quote...."PHOENIX (AP) - An Arizona online merchant of anti-war shirts that list names of troops killed in Iraq says he's not particularly worried by a lawsuit filed in Tennessee by the parents of a slain soldier."

Ron Paul "The High Tide" HighTidePromo.com - (YouTube - 1 min 8 sec - March 13, 2008)
Video - A quote...."3D animation and motion graphics come together in a 60 second grassroots promo for Presidential candidate Ron Paul."

The Man Who Stuck Us With Bush
A quote...."If historians are honest, history will record that it was Antonin Scalia who finished off the American republic by sticking us with George W. Bush, a ne'er do well who aspired to dictatorship and with Scalia's help, got one! Scalia now sweats his legacy in an unseemly manner in public. Historians will say of his bone headed efforts to bully other justices into complicity was not not based in anyway on the Constitution, law or precedent. Scalia is what happens when justices give up law for partisan politics. Scalia's scholarly retort: 'get over it'."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Gouged Out: The Consumer and the Gas Station Operator
A quote...."Thursday, 24 April 2004, CNN Money ran an interesting article called Gouging myth out of gas1 that further explained how the myth that gas stations participate in "price gouging" is unlikely, at best -- and it casts an eye toward the primary culprit through the use of some very interesting facts and figures."

Euthanize Wall Street to save the economy
A quote...."The “bail out” of Bear Stearns five weeks ago did nothing to solve the underlying causes of the unfolding financial meltdown, so another major crisis is unavoidable. The “bail out” of Bear Stearns has merely bought more time for the big players on Wall Street to try and drag this out past the November election, because what they fear above all else is the rise of a progressive political movement strong enough to pry loose their grasp on the credit mechanism -- the financial system -- of our economy."

Consumers, companies flash recession warnings
Some quotes...."NEW YORK (Reuters) - The warning signs of a U.S. recession flashed again on Friday as consumer sentiment sank to its lowest in 26 years and corporate earnings appeared set for their third consecutive quarter of contraction." -- "The Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers index of confidence for April fell to 62.6 from 69.5 in March, sliding deeper into recessionary territory and coming in worse than economists had expected." -- "With more than half of the companies in the benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 .SPX index reporting results, earnings for the first quarter are on pace to fall 14.1 percent from a year before, largely due to weakness in results from the banking and consumer discretionary sectors."

British government commits taxpayers to bailing out the banks
Special Note - A quote...."The government and the Bank of England have been forced to step in to bail out Britain’s banking system, which is on the point of collapse. -- The measures go beyond those taken by the US Federal Reserve or the European Central Bank in offering almost limitless liquid assets, in effect backed by future taxpayers’ funds. They reflect the increasing financial turmoil and threaten to bankrupt the British government itself. -- The Governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, announced a series of measures of a quite unprecedented scale and scope under a “special liquidity scheme”. The Bank would accept the banks’ AAA rated mortgage and credit card backed securities-which have in fact becoming untradeable and thus worthless—but not those related to the US sub-prime market. These AAAs would be swapped for short dated and highly liquid Treasury bonds for one to three years, at a discounted rate or “haircut”, to use the City’s jargon."

Double Whammy for Australian borrowers
A quote...."AUSTRALIAN home borrowers are doing it tougher than their British and US counterparts as the global credit crunch and surging domestic inflation push rates even higher. - National Australia Bank and ANZ are the latest of the major lenders to lift their standard variable rates by 10 basis points each, with NAB choosing yesterday to do it. - ANZ has the highest of the variable rates, along with St George Bank, at 9.47 per cent. - NAB is at 9.46 per cent while Westpac is at the bottom of the ladder at 9.37 per cent. It comes as this week's high inflation numbers in Australia dampened hopes for an official rate cut, while the banks continued to lift rates, irrespective of the Reserve Bank leaving the cash rate unchanged at 7.25 per cent."

Asian inflation at fresh multi-year highs as fuel, food, housing prices climb
A quote...."SINGAPORE (Thomson Financial) - Inflation across Asia continued to soar to multi-year highs in the first quarter, driven by higher prices for fuel, food and housing, data showed this week."


Shattering the War Consensus
Must Read - A quote...."Why, for God’s sake, does nothing change? The war goes on, the money flows, the blood flows, the lies stay exactly the same. Have you noticed? Have you ever wondered, with a stab of transcendent confusion, why a self-correcting rationality hasn’t kicked in by now, why a saner awareness hasn’t made itself evident in the macro-affairs of the nation by now?"

TV’s Response to Pentagon Propaganda? Never Happened
A quote...."Last week, it was a mudslinging debate hosted by ABC. This week, it’s revelations of pro-war propaganda on nearly every major television news outlet. truth about the fast sell on the Iraq war just hit a new low. And today, in the ensuing days, our loyal Bush lapdog news outlets are either dismissing the damning revelation or pretending it never happened: -- Sunday’s New York Times’ article exposing a secret Bush administration campaign to infiltrate the media with pro-Iraq war “analysts” is enraging and is likely illegal. Trillions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of casualties later, we learn that the drum beat to war was led by a choir lip-synching the Pentagon’s talking points."

Military "Analysts," the Media, and the Selling of Bush's Wars
A quote...."The Bush administration has made a mess of many things, from the Iraq war to Katrina. Yet there is one area in which Bush and his people have met with, at least, limited success - namely the manipulation of public opinion, especially when it comes to the "war on terror."  --  Actually Bush and his Neocon cronies have met with outstanding success regarding "the manipulation of public opinion" and to drive the point home this administration has NOT made a "mess of many things, from the Iraq war to Katrina" they have been outstanding successes also for Bush's "base" the wealthiest one percent of this nation's population who have made fortunes off of what have been debacles for the rest of the "American" public.  So for those who haven't got it yet, let this humble website editor clue you in....NINTY NINE PERCENT OF THIS NATION'S POPULATION DOES NOT COUNT!!  They are chattel, cattle, meat, peons, peasants, cannon fodder, sheep or whatever term one would care to use to describe the justifiable contempt and the actual predatory financial relationship our wealthy elites have toward those they rule.  Welcome to the New Roman Empire.- mpg

Al-Qaeda Lifts Propaganda From Spoof News Website
A quote...."If you thought the twilight zone insanity of the propaganda being desperately spewed forth in order to prolong the "war on terror" wasn't ludicrous enough, this week it got worse, after Ayman al-Zawahiri, or whoever is using him as their personal sock puppet, directly lifted a spoof news satire piece and incorporated it into his diatribe." -- The video is actually pretty funny. - mpg

See also....Unbelieveable! "al-Qaeda" Dismisses Conspiracy Theories, Defends Israel, Attacks Iran and Hizbollah!
And....US Support of Terror
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

POLITICS-US:  Petraeus Promotion Frees Cheney to Threaten Iran
War Warning - A quote...."WASHINGTON, Apr 23 (IPS) - The nomination of Gen. David Petraeus to be the new head of the Central Command not only ensures that he will be available to defend the George W. Bush administration's policies toward Iran and Iraq at least through the end of Bush's term and possibly even beyond. -- Also posted at CommonDreams & Asia Times

The Ritual Flaying of Jimmy Carter
A quote...."Nobody with a functioning memory should be too quick to condemn Jimmy Carter for daring to speak with the leadership of Hamas, as nearly everyone along the American political spectrum suddenly has felt obliged to do. From Condoleezza Rice and John McCain to Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, along with every congressional backbencher in both parties, expressions of disapproval have rained down upon the former president, who is old enough and tough enough to pursue his own beliefs to their logical conclusion." -- Also posted at CommonDreams

UN walkout over Gaza 'Nazi' remarks
A quote...."The US, Britain, France and other members have walked out of a closed meeting of the UN Security Council after Libya compared the situation in Gaza to Nazi concentration camps in World War II. --  Diplomats said France's UN ambassador walked out, followed by his Western colleagues, after the Libyan envoy made the remarks during a debate on Gaza." -- Gaza is not similar to a Nazi concentration camp, it is however almost identical to the Warsaw Ghetto before it was finally "liquidated". See quote below....

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

Cheney's and Maliki's new war in Iraq - Thursday round-up - 2 articles - [ Day 31 ]

In Sadr City, Basic Services Are Faltering
A quote...."April 22, 2008 -- BAGHDAD — Even as American and Iraqi troops are fighting to establish control of the Sadr City section of this capital, the Iraqi government’s program to restore basic services like electricity, sewage and trash collection is lagging, jeopardizing the effort to win over the area’s wary residents."

Mosaic News - [Link TV] 4/17/08: World News from the Middle East - (YouTube - 30 min 01 sec - 04-18-08)
Video - A quote...."April 18, 2008 -- Al Sadr City Under Seige," Press TV, Iran" - "Tales of Displaced Iraqis," Baghdad TV, Iraq" - "Iraqi Brain Drain," Al-Iraqiya TV, Iraq" - "Obama and Clinton Vow to Defend Israel," Dubai TV, UAE" - "Al Qaeda Moves to Northern Iraq," Al Jazeera TV, Qatar" - Etc. etc..... - mpg

Cheney's and Maliki's new war in Iraq - Thursday round-up - [ Day 31 ]
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

5 US Troops Killed; Turkey Bombs N. Iraq; Iran Backs al-Maliki against Mahdi Army
A quote...."It is precisely the closeness of the al-Maliki government and its primary current pillar, ISCI, to Iran that has made Sunni Arab countries such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia skittish about allowing it into the Arab League system as a full diplomatic partner. The Sunni Arab states largely do not have embassies in Baghdad, and Iraqi Shiites accuse them or their populations of surreptitiously helping Iraqi Sunni Arab guerrillas." -- *Juan Cole*

US Planes and Choppers Cross Pak Border, Violating Air Space Aiding In Battle Against Rebel Forces:
War Expansion Alert - A quote...."US-led NATO forces, Pakistani troops and militants have started exchanging fire in Bajaur Agency, tribal areas situated on Pak-Afghan border. The clashes, which claimed the live of dozens of people, have created great terror and fear in the areas. This time the coalition against terrorism is in disarray as NATO forces and Pakistani troops also exchanged firing."

Latin America: the attack on democracy
A quote...." 24/04/08 "ICH" -- -- Beyond the sound and fury of its conquest of Iraq and campaign against Iran, the world's dominant power is waging a largely unreported war on another continent - Latin America. Using proxies, Washington aims to restore and reinforce the political control of a privileged group calling itself middle-class, to shift the responsibility for massacres and drug trafficking away from the psychotic regime in Colombia and its mafiosi, and to extinguish hopes raised among Latin America's impoverished majority by the reform governments of Venezuela, Ecuador and Bolivia." -- Also posted at Global Research.

Darfur dead 'could number 300,000' - posted at BuzzFlash
A quote...."The total number of deaths in the Sudanese region of Darfur could have risen to 300,000 in the five years since violence broke out, according to new figures from a top United Nations official."

Leo Strauss and the "Crazies in the Basement"
A quote...."There is no question that we are engaged in a war of ideologies, or that democracy is under siege.   But, contrary to prevalent misinformation and myth, the significant threat is within, not outside the halls of our government." -- For more on this issue see articles shown below....
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

9/11 - From The History File...posted 03-01-08

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

Impeachment Now Or Apocalypse Later?
A quote...."The political noose seems to be tightening on the key members of the remaining miscreants down in the White House bunker -- mainly Bush, Cheney, Rice, Addington and Mukasey. (Rumsfeld, Ashcroft, Gonzales, Powell and Tenet were pushed out the door earlier.) But will the Democrats, having been provided with smoking gun-type evidence of these officials' high crimes and misdemeanors, take the next logical step to end this continuing nightmare of law-breaking at the highest levels? Consider:"

Aggressive action is needed to resurrect 4th Amendment rights
A quote...."April 23, 2008 – Are rights really rights if any or all branches of government can grant themselves, or each other, exceptions to the rights so that each or all may justify violating the rights of the people?  Can rights be outweighed in balancing tests?  Does the Bill of Rights allow for exceptions to rights such as “unless outweighed by a compelling state interest”?"

Making a 'Killing' on the 'War on Terror'
A quote...."Nearly seven years after Sept. 11, 2001, what accounts for the vast discrepancy between the terrorist threat facing America and the scale of our response? -- Why, absent any evidence of a serious domestic terror threat, is the War on Terror so enormous, so all-encompassing, and still expanding? -- The fundamental answer is that al-Qaeda’s most important accomplishment was not to hijack our planes, but to hijack our political system."

Agency Admits Spying on Afghan Politician and SPIEGEL Journalist
A quote...."The head of Germany's foreign intelligence agency has come under fire over admissions his employees monitored e-mails exchanged between a minister in the Afghan government and a SPIEGEL journalist. Chief spy Ernst Uhrlau will likely keep his job, but the scandal is expected to shake up the organization."

Evidence that Drugs Were Used on CIA "Ghost Detainees" During Coercive Interrogations The Return of MKULTRA?
A quote...."In A Question of Torture, historian Alfred W. McCoy tracks the nightmarish world of the CIA's Project ARTICHOKE and its later metastasis, MKULTRA through two distinct, though overlapping phases:"

Inmate Count in U.S. Dwarfs Other Nations’
Special Note - A quote...."The United States has less than 5 percent of the world’s population. But it has almost a quarter of the world’s prisoners. -- Indeed, the United States leads the world in producing prisoners, a reflection of a relatively recent and now entirely distinctive American approach to crime and punishment. Americans are locked up for crimes — from writing bad checks to using drugs — that would rarely produce prison sentences in other countries. And in particular they are kept incarcerated far longer than prisoners in other nations."

Sen Dorgan: The American people Should Not Stand for This! - (YouTube - 10 min 43 sec - April 07, 2008)
Video - Proof that the Military Industrial Oil Complex (MIOC)  provides equal opportunity for graft to all.  It's the Neo-Roman way. - mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

New Deal's Unsung Japanese Victory
A quote...."Seventy-five years ago, major media outlets have reminded us over recent weeks, Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal had its American debut. But when exactly did the New Deal end? The American Journal of Public Health has just published a fascinating article that suggests a surprising answer."

Memo to Bernanke: Enough with the rate cuts, already!
Special Note - A quote...."Last week's stock market blowout added more than 4 per cent to the Dow Jones Industrials, but it had no affect on Libor rates. Libor rose steadily from Tuesday through Friday signaling more troubles in the banking system. -- Libor, which means London Interbank-Offered Rate, is the rate that banks charge each other for loans. It has a dramatic effect on nearly every area of investment. When the rate soars, as it did last week, it means that the banks are either too weak financially to lend to each other or too worried about the ability of the other bank to repay them. Either way, it puts a crimp in lending."

New home sales plunge to lowest level in 16 1/2 years
A quote...."WASHINGTON (AP) - Sales of new homes plunged in March to the lowest level in 16 1/2 years as housing slumped further at the start of the spring sales season. -- The median price of a new home in March, compared with a year ago, fell by the largest amount in nearly four decades."

Durable-goods orders fall for third straight month
A quote...."WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Hurt by a strike in the auto industry, orders for U.S.-built durable goods slipped 0.3% in March compared to February, marking the third monthly decline in a row, the Commerce Department estimated Thursday."

Big borrowing shows Fed is still dealers' last resort
A quote...."NEW YORK (Reuters) - Dealers' demand to borrow cash from the Federal Reserve eased in the latest week, but is still substantial, indicating only a minor reprieve from credit market strains. -- Banks still are wary of lending to each other, as persistently elevated inter-bank borrowing costs show. With the commercial paper market -- another cornerstone of short term lending -- also continuing to shrink, U.S. financial institutions are still heavily reliant on the central bank as an alternative source of temporary cash."

"It is not a matter of what is true that counts, but a matter of what is perceived to be true." -- *Henry Kissinger*

"The CIA owns everyone of any significance in the major media" -- *William Colby* former CIA Director [who] (died suddenly after freak canoe accident) Bernstein's 1977 Oct. Rolling stone article.