Tuesday May 5th 2009

The Cold Air of the Dark Ages - Torture and Mr. Obama
Must Read - Obama™ Update - A quote...."Okay, at least some things are settled. When George W. Bush said "The United States does not torture", everyone now knows it was crapaganda. And when Barack Obama, a month into his presidency, said "The United States does not torture", it likewise had all the credibility of a 19th century treaty between the US government and the American Indians. - When Obama and his followers say, as they do repeatedly, that he has "banned torture", this is a statement they have no right to make. The executive orders concerning torture leave loopholes, such as being applicable only "in any armed conflict". What about in a "counter-terrorism" environment? And the new administration has not categorically banned the outsourcing of torture, such as renditions, the sole purpose of which is to kidnap people and send them to a country to be tortured. Moreover, what do we know of all the CIA secret prisons, the gulag extending from Poland to the island of Diego Garcia?"

Obama Returns to Bush Era on Guantánamo
Obama™ Update - A quote...."Two distressing pieces of news emerged last week regarding the Obama administration’s plans to close Guantánamo, and both were delivered by Defense Secretary Robert Gates in testimony to the Senate Appropriations Committee. - Discussing what would happen to the remaining 241 prisoners, Gates announced that the question was “still open” as to what the government should do with “the 50 to 100 — probably in that ballpark — who we cannot release and cannot try.” He also announced that the much-criticized military commission trial system, suspended for four months by Barack Obama on his first day in office, was “still very much on the table.” - also posted at ICH

Spanish judge asks US if it will probe torture - Obama is to be put on the spot.
Special Note - Obama™ Update - A quote...."MADRID (AP) — A Spanish judge said Tuesday he will ask the United States if it plans a probe of six senior Bush administration officials accused of creating a legal framework for torture of terror suspects, before deciding whether to open his own investigation."

The Torturer’s Apprentice - Australia’s role in the American Inquisition
A quote...."The revelations of a once secret 2006 report by the International Committee of the Red Cross on the use of torture and "cruel, inhuman, or degrading punishment" on prisoners at Guantánamo and secret CIA jails came as a shock to many. This is odd, because anyone with a keyboard, modem and half a brain, quickly discovered that in the panicky aftermath of 9/11, the West had forged a pact with the Devil. It was not only Dick Cheney who felt the call of the dark side - it was virtually the entire governing class of America, Britain and Australia. Yes, even Australia, a former penal colony that started life as Britain’s Guantanamo." - also posted at ICH - For more on this issue see....White Man's Burden - 12-20-06 - mpg

Canadian Military Quell Staged Protests In Martial Law Training
Related Article - A quote...."The Canadian military has taken over a city for three weeks as part of an urban warfare drill that is seeing convoys of tanks rolling down streets, "hollywood" style explosions, and scenarios involving simulated terrorist attacks. -- According to one report out of Medicine Hat in Alberta, Canada, the army is also using actors to pose as civilian protesters, who are described as "an environmental insurgency" involved in " insurgent attacks against the city and military, which the Provincial Reconstruction Team needs to address."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Moqtada al-Sadr becomes 'ayatollah'
A quote...."Baghdad, 5 May (AKI) - Radical Iraqi Shia cleric, Moqtada al-Sadr, is reported to have assumed the title of Grand Ayatollah after concluding his studies in the holy city of Qom in Iran. Sources close to the cleric's faction released the news to the Arab daily, al-Sharq al-Awsat. -- Around 70 supporters of al-Sadr on Sunday concluded a conference in the Turkish city of Istanbul where they elected new leaders and mapped out their future. -- Al-Sadr, who leads the Mahdi Army militia, also met both Recep Tayyip Erodgan, the Turkish prime minister, and president Abdullah Gul in Ankara on Friday during his visit to Turkey." -- also posted at WarInIraq

Afghan officials say dozens dead in airstrikes
A quote...."KABUL – Bombing runs by U.S.-led coalition jets killed dozens of civilians taking shelter from a fierce ground battle between Taliban militants and Afghan and international forces, two Afghan officials said Tuesday. The U.S. confirmed fighting Monday in western Afghanistan and said reports of civilian deaths were under investigation."

Truckloads of Dead Civilians After Afghan Battle
A quote...."HERAT, Afghanistan - Villagers brought truckloads of bodies to the capital of a province in Western Afghanistan on Tuesday to prove that scores of civilians had been killed by U.S. air strikes in a battle with the Taliban. --
The governor of Farah Province, Rohul Amin, said about 30 bodies had been trucked to his office, most of them women and children. Other officials said the overall civilian death toll may have been much higher, with scores of people feared killed while huddled in houses that were destroyed by U.S. warplanes."

AFGHANISTAN:  US air-raid kills over 100 civilians in Farah.
Special Note - Oh com'on now!  We all know they're insurgents, or they'll grow up to be insurgents.  That's why it's always best to kill them when they're young, small and vulnerable. Congrats to the US-NRE Air Force!!  You've done a marvelous job - mpg -- A quote...."Dr Atiqullah, a resident of the village, told they had so far retrieved 123 dead bodies from beneath the debris of the destroyed homes by using tractors." - bold by website editor

Fever Pitch: Obama-Clinton Dream Team Breeds Nightmare in Pakistan
Must Read - A quote...."The headline from McClatchy says it all: "Pakistani Army Flattening Villages as it Battles Taliban." -- This is exactly what the hot-blooded humanitarian interventionists in the Obama Administration have been demanding: that Pakistan "take the fight" to the Taliban forces that, according to such world-historical savants as Hillary Clinton and the President himself, are posing an existential threat not only to Pakistan but even to the sacred Homeland itself." -- also posted at ObamBoozled  - pronounced "OH-BAM-Boo-zzzold"

 Pakistani army flattening villages as it battles Taliban
A quote...."CHINGLAI, Pakistan — The Pakistani army's assault against Islamic militants in Buner, in northwest Pakistan, is flattening villages, killing civilians and sending thousands of farmers and villagers fleeing from their homes, residents escaping the fighting said Monday."

Pakistan expects up to 500,000 refugees from Swat Valley
A quote...."ISLAMABAD (AP) — Fighting between Taliban militants and troops in a northwestern valley triggered an exodus the government said Tuesday could see 500,000 people flee and signaled the end of a peace deal in the area widely criticized as a surrender to the extremists."

Resourceful Taliban milk the land
A quote...."Iran's hot pursuit of Kurdish rebels from Iraq, and the subsequent bombing of border villages, has sent a signal to the semi-autonomous Kurdish Regional Administration about Tehran's unhappiness with Kurdish inflexibility in post-occupation Iraq. Looming over the recent conflict is how to settle Kirkuk, an oil-rich area where the Kurds have vowed to retain control."

Armenia officially pulls out of NATO-led drills in Georgia
A quote...."05/05/2009 19:51 YEREVAN, May 5 (RIA Novosti) - Armenia will not take part in upcoming NATO-led military exercises in Georgia, the Defense Ministry said on Tuesday. - "The Defense Ministry of the Republic of Armenia announces that due to the current situation, Armenian troops will not take part in NATO's Cooperative Longbow /Cooperative Lancer 2009 in Georgia," the ministry said in a statement."

"Historic Suspicions"
A quote...."Here's Barack Obama speaking at the recent Summit of the Americas:....

"I think it's important to recognize, given historic suspicions, that the United States' policy should not be interference in other countries, but that also means that we can't blame the United States for every problem that arises in the hemisphere."

"Historic suspicions"?  Yes, I imagine the International Court of Justice decision condemning the United States for its covert war against Nicaragua might have raised Nicaraguan suspicions of U.S. interference.  And I guess the report of the UN's Historical Clarification Commission for Guatemala, documenting U.S. backing of the genocidal forces the U.S. had installed in the 1954 coup, might have made the Guatemalans suspicious as well.  And I suppose watching U.S. planes, helicopter gunships, and warships destroying the El Chorrillo neighborhood of Panama during the 1989 invasion might also have given the Panamians some suspicions about U.S. interference." -- also posted at ICH
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

EU wants U.S. to give up Internet oversight
Full quote...."BRUSSELS — A senior European Union official called on President Barack Obama to give up United States’ oversight of the Internet. Major decisions on how the Internet is run are made solely by the California-based non-profit Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN. It is overseen by the U.S. Commerce Department under an agreement that expires Sept. 30. EU Commissioner Viviane Reding, the EU’s Internet chief, called for the severing of links between ICANN and the U.S. government. Instead, he wants monitoring by an independent legal authority and a group of 12 countries that would meet regularly to discuss Internet governance and security. The previous U.S. administration resisted efforts to hand ICANN oversight to a United Nations agency."

SIBEL EDMONDS: In Congress We Trust...Not
A quote...."The former FBI translator and whistleblower suggests blackmail may be at the heart of Congressional refusal to bring accountability and oversight to its own members - such as both Hastert and Harman - in matters of espionage and national security" -- also posted at CounterPunch
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

UN demands access to secret Israeli 'torture' jail
A quote...."The United Nations anti-torture committee has demanded access to an Israeli secret prison where torture is allegedly being practiced."

UN Probe Blames Israel for Gaza Attacks - posted at Palestine Chronicle
A quote...."The United Nations Headquarters Board of Inquiry on Tuesday, May 5, accused Israel of deliberately targeting its facilities and civilians taking shelter under UN flags during its recent three-week war on the Gaza Strip."

UN pushing Israel toward legal proceedings
A quote...."In pursuit of the case of Israeli war crimes, the United Nations moves to report to the Security Council that UN facilities in Gaza had been targeted willfully. - After the United Nations Works and Relief Agency (UNRWA) compound became the target of GPS-guided Israeli mortars on January 15, the UN set up a commission to bring Israeli human rights violations in Gaza out into the open."

Spain Goes With Gaza War Crimes Probe - posted at Palestine Chronicle
A quote...."A Spanish judge decided Monday, May 4, to press ahead with a probe into Israeli crimes against humanity by a senior officials in the Gaza Strip in 2002. -- "No criminal investigation which could lead to the possibility of a conflict of jurisdictions has up until now arisen," National Court judge Fernando Andreu wrote in his ruling cited by Agence France-Presse (AFP)."

IOA kidnaps 40 Palestinian children in one month
A quote...."GAZA, (PIC)-- The PA ministry of prisoners and ex-prisoners' affairs in Gaza has accused Tuesday the Israeli occupation authorities of kidnapping 345 Palestinian citizens, including 40 minors during the past month of April." -- also posted at Uruknet

Israel 'targeted UN buildings' during Gaza war -  Israel caught lying again - mpg
Must View Video - A quote...."The UN has accused Israel of failing to respect its property and assets during the Gaza war early this year. - In a damning report, a UN panel review of nine incidents blamed the Israeli army's direct and intentional strikes in seven of them, and recommended further investigations into alleged war crimes."

Pictures: War-torn Gaza
Must View Photo Slide Show - A quote...."As Israel's three-week assault on the Gaza Strip unfolded in December and January, Al Jazeera was the only major international broadcaster there to cover the story. - These pictures were taken by Ayman Mohyeldin, Al Jazeera's Gaza correspondent, during the war on Gaza and its immediate aftermath."

For more on these pictures see....Gaza Invasion of 12/27/08

Aid convoy en route to Gaza
A quote...."Italy, May 5, 2009-The climax to the Seventh Palestinians in Europe conference was the launch of the long anticipated ‘Hope for Gaza convoy’ The convoy moved to Gaza and recently is in the Mediterranean carried by a shipping boat." -- also posted at WarInIraq
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

AIG reveals $454 million in 2008 performance bonuses
Obama™ Update - A quote...."WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Embattled insurer American International Group paid some $454 million in previously undisclosed performance bonuses to employees for 2008, the company said in answers to questions from a U.S. lawmaker that were released on Tuesday." -- For more on this issue see....Having Fun With Your Tax Dollars

Chrysler, GM set the pace - Obama administration spearheads wage cuts for American workers
Obama™ Update - A quote...."The wage cuts imposed on auto workers at Chrysler and General Motors at the insistence of the Obama administration demonstrate the class strategy that American big business as a whole is carrying out: to impose a reduction in the living standards of American workers on a scale unprecedented since the Great Depression."

As Foreclosures Surge ...
Obama™ Update - A quote...."The Obama administration sat by last week as 12 Senate Democrats joined 39 Senate Republicans to block a vote on an amendment that would have allowed bankruptcy judges to modify troubled mortgages. -- Senator Obama campaigned on the provision. And President Obama made its passage part of his antiforeclosure plan. It would have been a very useful prod to get lenders to rework bad loans rather than leaving the modification to a judge. -- But when the time came to stand up to the banking lobbies and cajole yes votes from reluctant senators — the White House didn’t. When the measure failed, there wasn’t even a statement of regret."

Mexico Declares Economic Emergency
A quote...."Mexico, May 5 (Prensa Latina) Amid a battle with the H1N1 influenza virus, Mexicans must now deal with the economic emergency declared by the Federal District. La Jornada daily, quoting Governor Marcelo Ebrad, says the 2009 quarterly global indicators of economic activity dove seven percent and Mexico City was the hardest hit, with home purchases dropping 40 percent."

Monday May 4th 2009

Buying Brand Obama
Must Read - Obama™ Update - A quote...."Barack Obama is a brand. And the Obama brand is designed to make us feel good about our government while corporate overlords loot the Treasury, our elected officials continue to have their palms greased by armies of corporate lobbyists, our corporate media diverts us with gossip and trivia and our imperial wars expand in the Middle East. Brand Obama is about being happy consumers. We are entertained. We feel hopeful. We like our president. We believe he is like us. But like all branded products spun out from the manipulative world of corporate advertising, we are being duped into doing and supporting a lot of things that are not in our interest." -- also posted at CommonDreams

Gitmo court system likely to stay open:
Obama™ Update - A quote...."officialsWASHINGTON: The Obama administration may revamp and restart the Bush-era military trial system for suspected terrorists as it struggles to determine the fate of detainees held at Guantanamo Bay and fulfill a pledge to close the prison by January." -- For more on this issue see....The Convenient Silence of Guantanamo Bay - 05-31-08 - mpg

Gonzales Says Torture May Be Necessary Again In Future -- Obama refuses to rule out "enhanced interrogation"
Obama™ Update - A quote...."Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has told an interviewer that he believes the use of torture “may be necessary” in the future, while president Obama has refused to rule out so called "enhanced interrogation" techniques. - The comments came as Gonzales joined another former Attorney General - John Ashcroft - on a panel at American Jewish University, chaired by MSNBC's Dan Abrams."

U.S. has a 45-year history of torture
A quote...."As President Obama grapples with accusations of torture by U.S. agents, I suggest he consult the former Senate majority leader, Tom Daschle. -- I first contacted Daschle in 1975, when he was an aide to Sen. James Abourezk of South Dakota, who was leading a somewhat lonely campaign against CIA abuses. -- At the time, I was researching a book on the United States' role in the spread of military dictatorships throughout Latin America. Daschle arranged for me to inspect the senator's files, and I spent an evening reading accounts of U.S. complicity in torture. The stories came from Iran, Taiwan, Greece and, for the preceding 10 years, from Brazil and the rest of the continent's Southern Cone." -- also posted at ICH
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

The Spies Who Got Away
A quote...."After five years of legal maneuvering and orchestrated protests from the Lobby’s amen corner, Israel’s point men in Washington have finally succeeded in their efforts to quash the prosecution of Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman, who had been charged with committing espionage on behalf of Israel. It is a victory that not only signals the continuation of the Lobby’s dominance in Washington, in spite of growing popular revulsion against lobbyists in general, but also gives the Israelis a blank check to spy on their American patrons to their hearts’ content."

Where's the Justice at the Justice Department? - The AIPAC Spy Case
Obama™ Update - A quote...."The big news last week was the defection of Republican Senator Arlen Specter to the Democrats; the bankruptcy filing of the Chrysler Corporation, and finally, the retirement of Justice David Souter from the U.S. Supreme Court. -- A much smaller news item competing with these sensational stories was that the U.S. Justice Department announced that it is dropping the espionage charges against two former AIPAC agents.  The story was so small that it barely was a blip on the media’s radar, bringing absolutely no comment on the network news and talk shows. -- That’s known as clever public relations.  Announce the bad news on a day when it won’t be noticed."

Israeli Military Exercise Over Gibraltar Raises Specter of Iran Strike
War Alert - A quote...."French-language news magazine L’Express reports that the Israeli Air Force recently held air refueling drills between Israel and the small British held territory of Gibraltar, a 3,800 km flight which is leading some to speculate the the nation is making “concrete preparations” for a potential attack against rival Iran." -- also posted at WarInIraq

Combat Operations in Fallujah - Again?!?!  When will the US-NRE leave the Iraqi people alone? - mpg
A quote...."Indicative of the rapidly deteriorating situation in Iraq, on May 1 the US military reported the death of a Naval petty officer who was killed "on April 30 while conducting combat operations in Fallujah, Iraq." The Department of Defense report went on to explain that the sailor "was deployed with an East Coast based Navy SEAL team." That same day, the military announced the deaths of two marines "killed while conducting combat operations against enemy forces here April 30." -- also posted at CounterCurrents & WarInIraq

US, Iraq at Odds Over Extending Pullout
A quote...."Despite soaring violence, Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh says that they will not allow the United States to extend the June 30 deadline for removing American troops from cities. Dabbagh said the dates in the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) cannot be extended." -- also posted at WarInIraq

Blasts rock Oil Ministry, refinery in Iraq
Full quote...."BAGHDAD, May 4 (UPI) -- An explosion at the entrance of an oil refinery in Baghdad seriously wounded three people, a government security official said. The explosion occurred after police reported two explosions at the Iraqi Oil Ministry killed two people and wounded five others. The blast at the Al-Dora oil refinery was caused by a bomb attached to a tanker that was about to enter the refinery, the Kuwaiti news agency KUNA reported. Two nearby trucks, apparently loaded with fuel, burst into flames. The blasts at the Oil Ministry rocked a busy parking and garage facility opposite the ministry, KUNA said." -- also posted at WarInIraq
    
Britain bruised by its Basra adventure
A quote...."LONDON - The British have a long history of military intervention in Iraq. And departures with heads held high too. During World War I (1914-18) in Mesopotamia; in 1941 during World War II; and after the Gulf War of 1991."

Karzai Rival Bows Out; NATO Troops Kill Girl
A Juan Cole Afghan Round Up -- A quote...."As President Obama prepares for Wednesday's tripartite summit between himself, the president of Pakistan (Asaf Ali Zardari) and the president of Afghanistan (Hamid Karzai), he has just gotten some bad news on the Afghan political front."

Investigate Bush Abuses: A Real Investigation or a Waste of Time?
A quote...."In a letter to voters, Congressman Robert Wexler (D-FL) has announced his introduction of House Resolution 383 to establish “a bi-partisan Select Committee tasked with making comprehensive recommendations on our national security policy - including those covering laws on torture, FISA law violations, wiretapping, civil liberties protections, among others.  This committee would have all of the power of a standing committee, including subpoena power.” Co-sponsors are Barbara Lee (D-CA) and John Conyers (D-MI). Conyers is chairman of the House Judiciary Committee."

Osama bin Laden Hype Misled Public
A quote...."The sky was blue and deceptively cheerful in New Jersey a few weeks later on September 11, 2001, when I heard about the attack on the World Trade Center. My husband called and told me to turn on the television. 
As soon as I saw the flames and explosions, I recognised a professional made-for-TV event. -- As I watched the endless repetition of dramatic camera shots, I perceived an attempt to hypnotise the public with a list of suspects that had emerged before any serious investigation could possibly have begun. One ridiculous news story claimed that Mohammed Atta had left behind a handwritten note at the airport that began, “In the Name of Allah, my family, and myself!” No Muslim would ever use such a construction. Grandiose spectacles like 9/11 have not typically characterised Islamic militants. The Taleban used to kill a handful of Russian occupation soldiers a day.
 In the years since the WTC fell, there has never been any repeat attack on American soil." -- also posted at WarInIraq

Mr. Greenwald Gets a Letter… and Writes One
A quote...."Glenn Greenwald got an email this morning:...."

Report on the Investigative Data Warehouse
A quote...."In August 2006, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) sought government records concerning the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)'s Investigative Data Warehouse (IDW) pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). After the FBI failed to respond to EFF's requests within the timeline provided by the FOIA, EFF filed a lawsuit on October 17, 2006. Records began to arrive in September 2007. On April 14, 2009, the government filed a brief stating that no more documents were going to be provided, despite the Obama Administration's new guidelines on FOIA."

Wolfram Alpha: A Force For Good Or a New Propaganda Outlet?
A quote...."Everyone agrees that the "next big thing" on the web is Wolfram Alpha. Instead of searching like Google, Wolfram Alpha will use artificial intelligence to directly answer your question. There is no doubt that the guy behind Wolfram Alpha, Stephen Wolfram, is a genius. And I have absolutely no evidence that Dr. Wolfram is himself a propagandist. However, it strikes me that something touted by all the mainstream media as having the potential to replace Google, - and that gives "official" answers to questions - has alot of potential for propaganda."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Palestine the world's largest open air prison
Video - One - A quote....""This is the first of 5 short episodes showing the actual situation of Palestine. The purpose of those videos is to arise international awareness about the prison like closure of Palestine. Palestine need the internationals action and help to break the inhuman and illegal siege imposed by Israel."

Settlers chop down Palestinians' olive, fig trees near Ramallah
A quote...."Ramallah – Ma’an – Dozens of Israeli settlers chopped town Palestinians’ olive and fig trees in the village of Sinjil, north of the West Bank city of Ramallah on Monday." --  also posted at WarInIraq

Time to say ‘No” to Israeli fascism
A quote...."Israel and her supporters are making rabid efforts to enhance the ugly image of the new Israeli government. That government, as we all know, is composed of manifestly fascist parties based on Jewish supremacy and racist disregard for the Palestinian people which has been on the receiving end of Zionist savagery and brutality for over sixty one years."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

The Swine Flu Outbreak and Other Bio-Warfare Matters....

Political Lies and Media Disinformation regarding the Swine Flu Pandemic
05-04-2009: Time Magazine: Was The Alarm Over Swine Flu Justified?
California, Cases Suggest Border Origin
Expert says 'just another flu virus,' so why the fear?:
Swine Flu A Hoax, But Martial Law All Too Real
Swine flu “second wave” warning
Mexico Says Flu Epidemic Over The Worst
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Defying the Economic Odds - The World Melts Down, China Grows
Special Note - It's AMAZING isn't it, a country that isn't bombing and torturing everyone on the entire planet and is instead, concentrating on establishing a premier industrial economy (to the un-educated that means they're making things) and guess what?  Their economy is growing....well heck and tarnation, who would'ol thunk ol'that??? – mpg -- A quote...."In the midst of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, a new world order is emerging -- with its center gravitating towards China. The statistics speak for themselves. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicts the world's gross domestic product (GDP) will shrink by an alarming 1.3% this year. Yet, defying this global trend, China expects an annual economic growth rate of 6.5% to 8.5%. During the first quarter of 2009, the world's leading stock markets combined fell by 4.5%. In contrast, the Shanghai stock exchange index leapt by a whopping 38%. In March, car sales in China hit a record 1.1 million, surpassing the U.S. for the third month in a row."

Big Sting II: Insider Trade Continues. The Direction Of The Economy Is Not Going To Change
Market Tech Note - A quote...."In the first three weeks of April this year, insiders for NYSE listed companies sold 8.32 times more stock, by dollar value, than they purchased.  What does that tell you?  We won't insult your intelligence by answering.  If ever there was an indicator to identify a sucker's rally, this would be it."

Short Selling of Banks Accelerates as New Financial Stress Test
Market Tech Note - A quote...." May 4 (Bloomberg) -- Short sellers, the bane of Wall Street executives last year, are back. - The number of Citigroup Inc. shares borrowed and sold short increased sixfold since Feb. 27, the day the U.S. Treasury announced it would convert some of its preferred shares in the New York-based bank into common stock."

Website Editor's Caution regarding the two articles shown above - see below....

Website author's standard disclaimer - this is NOT to be taken as a market recommendation, just an observation.  Keep in mind the US economy is roughly 13 to 15 trillion dollars in GDP per year while the world's derivatives market is now anywhere between 300 to 500 trillion dollars 1.2 quadrillion dollars (1015 ) notational value, [updated 061808] possibly even more. Most of it controlled by the centralized financial institutions and elites that currently run our government.  With such vast leverage they could mask, manipulate, or resist market forces for years.

Falling Wage Syndrome
A quote...."Wages are falling all across America. Some of the wage cuts, like the givebacks by Chrysler workers, are the price of federal aid. Others, like the tentative agreement on a salary cut here at The Times, are the result of discussions between employers and their union employees. Still others reflect the brute fact of a weak labor market: workers don’t dare protest when their wages are cut, because they don’t think they can find other jobs."

Stress Tests Show Red Flags At Wells Fargo
A quote...."(CBS/ AP)  Regulators have told Wells Fargo & Co. to shore up its finances after government "stress tests" showed the bank would have trouble surviving a deeper recession. -- Wells Fargo is one of several banks that regulators will force to hold larger buffers to protect them against possible future losses, according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the process."

Richardson and Roubini Call for Bank Resolution, Diss Stress Tests
Contains Audio - A quote...."History repeats itself, the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce. But when it's your farce, sometimes it's hard to appreciate the humor. - We've railed about the stress tests since they were announced, but the chicanery, starting with the March 10 Citi and Bank of America pronouncements that they had had a decent couple of months, have lead to a big rally in bank shares. Of course, before we get too excited, it's important to remember that Citi is still trading at a bit over $3 and Bank of America at just over $10."

Construction spending, pending home sales rise -- Ah-hah, finally a little bit of good news, for what it's worth. - mpg
A quote...."WASHINGTON (AP) — Hopes that the recession is easing got a boost Monday from reports that construction spending and pending home sales both fared better than expected in March. The news pushed stock prices higher."

Sunday May 3rd 2009

Obama's Economic Team Banks On Wall Street
Must Read - (This is really good, it describes who got what from whom) - Obama™ Update - A quote...."CONGRESSMAN HENRY B. GONZÁLEZ once asked me if I could name the largest transfer of wealth in our country's history. I stumbled through a couple of New Deal acronyms and had moved on to the defense budget when González stopped me. "Mortgage lending," he said. González was a liberal Democrat from San Antonio who chaired the House Banking Committee from 1989 to 1995. In 1988 he reminded me that at the time a thirty-year fixed-rate mortgage required the average family to pay for its house twice—once in principal and once in interest. He described mortgage lending as a vast transfer of wealth from the working class to the stocks-and-bonds class. "

Fake Faith And Epic Crimes By John Pilger
Must Read - A quote...."These are extraordinary times. With the United States and Britain on the verge of bankruptcy and committing to an endless colonial war, pressure is building for their crimes to be prosecuted at a tribunal similar to that which tried the Nazis at Nuremberg. This defined rapacious invasion as ‘the supreme international crime, differing only from other war crimes [sic] in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole’. International law would be mere farce, said the chief US chief prosecutor at Nuremberg, the Supreme Court justice Robert Jackson, ‘if, in future, we do not apply its principles to ourselves’.

Have Americans Lost All Control Over the Federal Government?
Must Read - A quote...."Over the last sixteen months, many Americans have watched with despair as the Federal government has wrested virtually despotic control over the American economy away from both individual Americans and private enterprise. They have observed the Federal government’s frantic (and totally unsuccessful) attempts to prop up banks that have revealed themselves to be completely incompetent and bankrupt. They have watched the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board printing more money than has ever been created in the history of these United States. They have watched their so-called "representatives" handing out unimaginable sums of their own hard-earned tax money to scores of bungling companies, like AIG, General Motors, and Chrysler. They have watched in cynical amazement as their newly elected president almost instantaneously broke his promise to end the most un-winnable of two un-winnable wars that they specifically elected him to terminate. They have watched him similarly break his promise to investigate the myriad grisly crimes of the claque that used to claim to be their rulers. And they have watched the American economy steadily slipping further and further into depression."

The Threat
Must Read - A quote...."…It is necessary to recognize that the ultimate power of every government – whether of kings or caretakers – rests solely on opinion and not on physical force. The agents of government are never more than a small proportion of the total population under their control. This implies that no government can possibly enforce its will upon the entire population unless it finds widespread support and voluntary cooperation within the nongovernmental public."  ~ *Hans-Hermann Hoppe*

"The Department of Homeland Security issued a report on April 7th titled, "Right-wing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment." The unclassified part of this report is an open admission our government is a criminal enterprise. While the American Idol faithful will have trouble connecting the dots, the admission is thinly veiled, but there nonetheless."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Waterboard an A-rab for Jesus
Must Read - A quote...."In a recent column, Eric Margolis labeled the Republicans as "America’s champion of war and torture." Those are some harsh words – harsh but true. -- The recent release of the Bush torture memos and the revelation that the CIA waterboarded Abu Zubaydah 83 times and Khalid Sheik Mohammed 183 times before Bush claimed that we don’t torture has elicited a predictable response from conservative Christians who think the Republican Party is the party of God: silence." -- Let's be clear about this, these people are NOT Christians, they sold themselves and their values a long time ago. - mpg

UAE "torture" scandal and cover-up sparks outrage in the U.S.
Must Read - Satire - A quote...."As more videotapes emerge documenting the torture inflicted on numerous victims by Sheikh Issa bin Zayed al-Nahyan, a prince of the United Arab Emirates, the controversy is beginning to jeopardize the UAE's relationship with the United States, a country that absolutely loathes torture and demands real accountability for those who do it:" -- also posted at CommonDreams

The Torture Timeline
Special Note - Timeline - Database -- A quote...."Having trouble keeping track of all the memos, executive orders, and policy decisions that led the United States into the moral low ground? FP brings you the ultimate guide to the Bush administration's journey to the dark side."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

The big sleep
A quote...."On March 28, clashes erupted in Baghdad’s Fadhil district after Iraqi troops arrested the leader of the local Awakening Council, Adil al Mashhadani, one of many former Sunni insurgents who had allied with American forces in the fight against al Qaeda-inspired Salafi militants in Iraq. Mashhadani’s men staged a two-day uprising, which was put down by Iraqis with considerable help from American troops fighting against their former allies. -- In Baghdad Mashhadani was a notorious figure, one of many Awakenings men suspected of serious crimes before he went on the American payroll and of continuing them afterwards. I had heard complaints about him since 2007 from Shiites, and especially from supporters of Muqtada al Sadr, who were outraged that a man they accused of the indiscriminate slaughter of Shiite civilians had been empowered by the Americans. An American intelligence officer in Washington told me that the US had possessed incriminating information on Mashhadani for several years – but that he had been one of the first insurgents to see which way the wind was blowing and sign on with the Americans."

You gotta love the US-NRE's "methods". You have exactly six choices with the US-NRE, all of which are rated below from smallest to largest in their ratios of killing. (Some squeamish, overly moralistic, wimpy types might call it murder....but why muck up a good "method" or "system" with a totality strange set of unfamiliar concepts, at least to US-Neo-Romans that is -- such as morality or evil?)

Choice One: The US-NRE sponsors various "terrorists" groups to kill people in a given country (P2OG, etc.)
Choice Two:  The US-NRE pays various groups in a country to kill each other off (civil war, sectarian conflict).
Choice Three:  The US-NRE hires outside contractors to kill people in a country. (mercenaries).
Choice Four:  The US-NRE pays & trains the Government to kill its own citizens (SOA - death squads, etc.)
Choice Five:  The US-NRE kills people in the country directly (invasion, shock and awe, drones etc.)
Choice Six:  The US-NRE either bribes - i.e. gives aid to - or promises a share of the booty and bling - i.e. resource contracts like oil - to other nations to kill people in a given country (coalition of the willing)

You could of course choose "all of the above"....some countries have, or to put it more accurately, they had their choices made for them. - mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Robert Fisk’s World: Right to the very end in Iraq, our masters denied us the truth
A quote...."I am left breathless by this lie. Saddam Hussein did not "refuse to co-operate" with the UN weapons inspectors. The whole problem was that – to the horror of Blair and Bush – the ghastly Saddam did co-operate with them, and the UN weapons team under Hans Blix was about to prove that these "weapons of mass destruction" were non-existent; hence the Americans forced Blix and his men and women to leave Iraq so that they and Blair could stage their illegal invasion. I saw Blix's aircraft still on the ground at Baghdad airport just two days before the attack. Note, too, the weasel words. Blair did not give his information "in good faith", as SM claims. He knew – and the Ministry of Defence knew (and I suppose SM knew) – they were untrue. Or "incorrect" as "SM" coyly writes." -- also posted at CommonDreams & ICH

Iraq bloodshed rises as US allies defect
A quote...."IRAQ is threatened by a new wave of sectarian violence as members of the “Sons of Iraq” – the Sunni Awakening militias that were paid by the US to fight Al-Qaeda – begin to rejoin the insurgency. - If the spike in violence continues, it could affect President Barack Obama’s pledge to withdraw all combat troops from Iraqi cities by the end of June. All US troops are due to leave the country by 2012."

Troops Killed Near Mosul; Iranian assault; Aljazeera reports on Iraqi government's use of torture;
Contains Video - A Juan Cole Round-Up - Sunday, May 03, 2009 -- A quote...."Iranian helicopter gunships attacked villages in Iraqi Kurdistan near the Iranian border on Saturday. The Iranian counter-attack came after the April 21 incursion of the PJAK terrorist organization (a branch of the PKK or Kurdish Workers Party that focuses on the Kurds of Iran) into Iran. An ensuing gun battle left 18 Iranian policemen daed along with 8 Kurdish fighters. There are about 1.5 million Iranian Kurds, and some want independence from Iran."

Kabul's new elite live high on West's largesse
A quote...."Vast sums of money are being lavished by Western aid agencies on their own officials in Afghanistan at a time when extreme poverty is driving young Afghans to fight for the Taliban. The going rate paid by the Taliban for an attack on a police checkpoint in the west of the country is $4, but foreign consultants in Kabul, who are paid out of overseas aids budgets, can command salaries of $250,000 to $500,000 a year."

Italian troops kill 12-year-old girl in Afghanistan
A quote...."HERAT, Afghanistan, May 3 (Reuters) - Italian troops fired on a passenger car in western Afghanistan on Sunday, killing a 12-year-old Afghan girl and wounding three members of her family, the family said."

Obama administration [Caeser and his Roman Legions] seek extraordinary military powers in Pakistan
Special Note - Obama™ Update - A quote...."The Obama administration is increasingly treating its growing intervention in Pakistan as a separate counter-insurgency war for which it is demanding the same kind of extraordinary military powers obtained by the Bush administration in Afghanistan and Iraq." -- also posted at CounterCurrents & ICH

Russian troops patrol rebel borders with Georgia
A quote...."MOSCOW, May 2 (Reuters) - Russian border guards have begun patrolling the de-facto borders of Georgia's rebel region of South Ossetia, Interfax news agency reported on Saturday, citing the region's leader, Eduard Kokoity."

Colombia soldiers charged in civilians' killings
A quote...."Colombian authorities have arrested a retired lieutenant colonel and seven other soldiers in the killings of two civilians who they allegedly presented as guerrillas slain in combat to inflate rebel body counts."

Why Latin America's left keeps winning
Because the US-NRE isn't bombing them enough?  Oh, no, that's not it, how about because the US-NRE isn't embargoing them....assassinating their leaders perhaps.....sabotaging their economies???  How about not paying enough of their generals to stage more coup d'états??? (We really were quite good at those at one point in time).  No???  Oh, drats, this website editor gives up, just go read the article for yourselves folks - mpg..... A quote...."The left governments have mostly succeeded where their neoliberal predecessors failed. Partly they have benefited from an acceleration in world economic growth during most of the last five years. But they have also changed their economic policies in ways that increased economic growth."

An Introduction to Revisionism: The Art of History
Must Read - A quote...."It is little wonder, then, that Roy A. Childs, Jr., ever an assiduous student of Ayn Rand, offered the following definition of history in his influential essay, “Big Business and the Rise of American Statism”: “History is a selective recreation of the events of the past, according to a historian’s premises regarding what is important and his judgment concerning the nature of causality in human action.” [53]  Childs saw clearly that the historian proceeds much as the fiction writer proceeds, and obtains similar results.  Nor was he alone in doing so.  John Tosh writes that “[i]n many instances the sources do not directly address the central issues of historical explanation at all.  […]  Questions of historical explanation cannot, therefore, be resolved solely by reference to the evidence.  Historians are also guided […] by their reading of human nature […].” [54]  The legendary economist and social theorist Ludwig von Mises notes that any historical writing “is necessarily conditioned by the historian’s world view” and stresses the importance of what he calls “the understanding” in making sense of historical evidence."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Israel resurrects 'two-state solution' again!
A quote...."Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister says his country would accept a comprehensive peace agreement with the Palestinians that will include a two-state solution. - "The government of Israel, because of our democratic tradition and because of the continuity principle, is going to abide by all previous commitments the former government took, including the acceptance of the road map to peace which will lead to a two-state solution," Daniel Ayalon claimed Sunday." - bold by website editor

Israeli tanks fire at Palestinian orchards in Jabaliya - Maybe the Israeli tanks lost their "new road-map"? - mpg
Full quote...."GAZA, May 2 (KUNA) -- Israeli tanks fired at Palestinian orchards in eastern Jabaliya, northern Gaza Strip, on Saturday. Local radio said the tanks fired heavily at the orchards early this morning, which prompted the farm[ers] to quickly leave the[ir] land for fear of their lives. There was no loss of life but the land suffered serious damage, the radio reported."

Israeli tanks, bulldozers roll into Gaza - Oh look, More tanks and even bulldozers who've lost their "new road-map"
A quote...."Israeli ground forces have launched an incursion into the Gaza Strip after the military jets bombed 'tunnels' beneath the border between the beleaguered sliver and Egypt." -- also posted at WarInIraq

Italy summit: Palestinians have right to return
A quote...."Italy hosts the seventh international conference on the Palestinians' right to return as Israel celebrates the anniversary of the 'Catastrophe'.-- On Saturday, high-profile Arab and European figures launched the event in Milan brining into focus dispossession of the Palestinian lands on the back of the Israeli occupation as well as the recent Israeli massacre of the Gazans." -- also posted at WarInIraq

A “Secret” Database of Israeli Settlements - And just what are they going to return too? - mpg
Special Note - Database -- A quote...."Last January 30, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz disclosed a secret Israeli government database on settlements in the occupied West Bank, and posted the Hebrew text (pdf) of the database on their website.  Last month, the ODNI Open Source Center completed an English translation of the 200-page document.  Secrecy News obtained a copy of the translation (pdf) which we are publishing today.  ---  The database provides a concise description of each of the dozens of settlements, including their location, legal status, population, and even the origins of their names, which are often Biblically-inspired.  Crucially, the database makes clear that unauthorized and illegal construction activity has taken place in most of the settlements."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

The Swine Flu Outbreak and Other Bio-Warfare Matters....

Perhaps It's Overblown....

Political Lies and Media Disinformation regarding the Swine Flu Pandemic
Scientists See This Flu Strain as Relatively Mild: Outbreak Won’t Even Be As Deadly as the Average Winter Flu Season
WHO: No Evidence Of Sustained Spread Of Swine Flu
Expert says ‘just another flu virus,’ so why the fear?

Perhaps It's Not....posted at CLG

Mutant fears over 'mild flu'
World on alert after pigs found infected with H1N1 virus
Australians with swine flu quarantined in London
World on alert after pigs found infected with H1N1 virus
'Draconian' powers seen to contain swine flu
Swine flu broke out of California: CDC
In California, Cases Suggest Border Origin
Search for hundreds on flu plane
113 quarantined after taking flight from Mexico with flu case
Hong Kong hotel quarantine move stirs controversy
Quarantine units at Iranian airports to stop swine flu

More Articles....

Aporkalypse Now—Finding the Real Swine in the Pandemic Pandemonium
Mexico raises confirmed H1N1 flu toll to 16 dead, 381 infected
"This Particular Strain of Flu Got its Genetic Start on U.S. Hog Farms Back in the 1990s. According to the US-CDC"
H1N1 flu outbreak reported in China, Hong Kong, and Denmark
H1N1 flu reported in Belize
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

‘Not even Jesus could reverse the decline in the US’
Contains Video - Special Note A quote...."The world economy is not only showing few signs of recovery, but we are also looking at the end of the American century, according to German author and economist William Engdahl. - In an exclusive interview with RT, he highlights the different ways in which the crisis has affected America and Europe and their subsequent responses."

Stress Tests:  A   P.R. Stunt Devised by the Banking Industry
A quote...."There's a major leak at a nuclear power plant, ultimately traced to a defective design in the concrete containment shell. -- The faulty design was caused by a faulty model which showed that the containment shell would withstand a 7.0 earthquake when - in fact - it would not even withstand a 3.0 earthquake."

Saturday May 2nd 2009

No posts. - mpg

Friday May 1st 2009

The Virtual Economy
05-01-09
mpg

[The Real] Economy On The Ropes
Must Read - While Bernanke may have avoided a global bank-run, the bleeding continues in housing, business investment, manufacturing, industrial capacity, and global trade. Every sector is falling precipitously with no end in sight. Even worse, nothing has been done to remove the trillion dollars of toxic assets from the banks balance sheets which is causing credit to tighten even more. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has failed to take advantage of the uptick in investor confidence to resolve the problem of underwater banks. Instead, he has stubbornly stuck with his Public Private Investment Program (PPIP) which has made less than $6 billion in transactions so far. Unless the banks are restored to health and their balance sheets repaired, a sustainable recovery will not be possible. According to Bloomberg, 6 of the 19 largest banks (which contain 75% of the system's total assets) are insufficiently capitalized:"

The author’s basic conclusion is that Bernanke has kept the financial sector from imminent collapse....for the moment.  That's it.  That's all they've done so far.  Despite spending trillions of dollars for their various and ingenious transfer programs to the wealthy while also backstopping and guaranteeing trillions more in toxic waste, the author is still very dubious about the prospects for a sustained economic recovery anytime soon.

And that certainly would seem to be the case. From this website's editor's perspective the banks aren't solvent using any normal bookkeeping standards and are highly unlikely to become solvent for at least the next decade.  In addition to the prospect of having to deal with these zombie banks for years, everyone can also look forward to at least another twelve to eighteen months of ongoing economic deterioration, followed by years of continued stagnation.  During which the Fed will continue its ineffective quest to inflate the economy by printing and giving away trillions more....to the Banksters of course.

Despite all these efforts, or more properly because of them, the situation in eighteen months will be exactly the same as it was a year ago, or for that matter ten years ago.  Assets will still be "over-valued" relative to those that could be purchased just about anywhere else in the world.  There will still be no disclosure on what the banks are actually holding, the Fed will be on the hook for an additional five to ten trillion dollars, manufacturing will be decimated and will remain so because it will still be cheaper to manufacture in most other parts of the world, unless of course the dollar collapses completely.  The housing market will stay depressed for a decade. Real earnings of the American worker will continue to stagnate as they have for the last thirty years, and for the same reasons. The US-NRE will by that time be mired in at least three, possibly four, ongoing wars of occupation. And finally, we as a nation have yet to experience the predicted "credit card default crisis" and "commercial real estate crisis".

However the financial sector by then, flush with about fifteen to twenty trillion dollars worth of paper promises from the Fed, will be sitting pretty and looking good.  It will probably occupy forty percent of the US-NRE’s economy producing about that much of its GDP.  All of it by "manufacturing" additional bits and pieces of paper and "shuffling" this blizzard of "financial products" (new versions of toxic waste) from millions of accounts to millions of other accounts with the usual staggering mark-up and interest rate charges.

It's become obvious by all this frantic activity for the last two years that most of the economists currently employed by the Government, and almost all of the elites in this nation, have developed a firm and abiding belief in the new, improved, "Virtual Economy™".

The fervent belief the if you counter-act a massive wave of economic contraction, which they of course created by their first attempt at creating a virtual economy, with an equally massive wave of engineered inflation (a version of the Black-Scholes formula perhaps?) you'll achieve a "balance" of some sort and be able to maintain their "sacred system” of "wealth accumulation", now known as paper production.

More importantly from their prospective they'll get to continue the "status quo".  They believe this approach will enable them to keep their privileged position on top of the economic pyramid for a long time to come, no matter how much destruction the implementation of this perverted economic doctrine may cause to the "base" of the pyramid.  The elites therefore appear willing, for the moment only, to settle for becoming larger frogs in a possibly much smaller pond, or to put it another way, they're willing to settle for continuing to occupy the top of a possibly much smaller - and much shorter - economic pyramid.

However something has got to give in this arranged, titanic struggle, of economic forces and like the incredibly shrinking GM Corporation, what's going to give is the "base" of the US-NRE's entire "real" economy.  What the new financial aristocracy have successfully achieved by all these shenanigans is a massive, and permanent, decline in the standard of living for just about everyone else in the country.  A decline that will become apparent as soon as the value of the dollar begins to reflect the permanently shrunken state of this nation's "real" economy, just exactly as GM's stock has already reflected the shrunken state of that company's "real" future income, assets and prospects

At best given these factors it looks like the US-NRE will undergo the equivalent of Japan's "lost decade" followed by a massive increase in inflation around 2020.  Essentially a more destructive variant of what occurred in this country during the '72 to '82 "ten year cycle".  That's at best of course.  At worst, given the deflation that's occurring, there still exists a significant chance, although it looks to be somewhat diminished to the great surprise of this website editor, that the US-NRE will experience an old fashioned, long term, Depression.

The conversion of bigger and bigger chunks of the US-NRE's "real" economy into a "virtual economy" every ten years however does not bode well for this nation's future prospects.  Obviously at the end of the next eighteen months, (assuming the elites are able to get away with their little cock-eyed scheme), the elites intent will be to make every employee (that includes the self-employed) in this country work twice as hard for even less benefits for the next ten years while taxing them as much as they can to reduce the "virtual portion" of this economy to something a little more manageable. 

Since in the end they'll be forced to increase that portion of the virtual economy by another ten or twenty trillion dollars in just four short years, (that figure does not include the Federal deficit -- yet) they'll probably run out of any economic maneuvering room to do so.

In other words they could lose the race to deflation-depression and/or crash the currency.
Only time will tell. – mpg

For more on this issue see....Enforcing the Rules -- Too Little, Too Late - 02-27-09
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Mortgaging the White House - posted at Consortium News
Must Read - Obama™ Update - A quote...."President Obama's been busy, but contrary to many of the pundits, he's no FDR. Our new president got his political education in the world of Chicago ward politics, and seems to have adopted a strategy from the machine of that city's longtime boss, the late Richard J. Daley, father of the current mayor there. - "Don't make no waves," one of Daley's henchmen advised, "don't back no losers." - Your opinion of Obama's first 100 days depends of course on your own vantage point. But we'd argue that as part of his bending over backwards to support the banks and avoid the losers, he has blundered mightily in his choice of economic advisers."

Causes of the Crisis
Must Read - A quote...."James K. Galbraith | May 01, 2009 | Commentary -- Editor’s note: These remarks were delivered to a meeting of the Texas Lyceum in Austin on April 3, at a debate between University of Texas professor James Galbraith, an Observer contributing writer, and former Majority Leader Richard Armey, chief instigator of the recent Astroturf “tea party" protests. Armey had begun his remarks by noting that his rule in life was “never trust anyone from Austin or Boston,” and proceeded to declare his allegiance to the “Austrian School” of economics, a libertarian view that regards public intervention in private markets as socialism." -- also posted at CommonDreams

"As a matter of economics, public spending substitutes for private spending. It provides jobs, motivates useful activity, staves off despair. But it is not self-sustaining in the absence of a viable private credit system. The idea that we will be on the road to full recovery and returning to high employment in a year or so therefore seems to me to be an illusion. And for this reason, the emphasis on short-term, “shovel-ready” projects in the expansion package, while understandable, was a mistake. As in the New Deal, we need both the Works Progress Administration, headed by Harry Hopkins, to provide employment, and the Public Works Administration, headed by Harold Ickes, to rebuild the country." -- *James K. Galbraith*

Brits Sound Final Retreat From Iraq -- But the U.S. Beat Goes On
Must Read - A quote...."This week we saw a huge milestone reached in the greatest conflict of our day: yet it passed with scarcely more than a murmur in the American press -- and with deathly silence on the part of the primary architects of the occasion. - We speak of course of the final bug-out of British forces from Iraq, where this week, after six years of slavish service to America's war of aggression, Her Majesty's military gave up their last remaining  base in the conquered land. But as the Guardian astutely points out, the Brits did not turn the base over to the completey liberated totally sovereign Iraqi goverment, but to the tender care of Pentagon, which is pouring thousands of American troops into Basra to guard the occupation's supply lines out of Kuwait -- and keep a watchful eye over the oil-rich region."

The Kingdom of Lies - posted at the Palestine Chronicle
Must Read - A quote...."Racism is common to most and probably all societies. Laws never seem entirely to eliminate it. It was the essential tool in the creation of modern settler states. The United States could not have come into existence without the obliteration of North American Indian cultures and of large numbers of the people themselves. They had to die so the US could be born. In Australia the indigenous people of Tasmania were wiped out to the last man, woman and child, while on the mainland the tribes were massacred, confined, stripped of their ancestral land and eventually turned into fringe dwellers. Until recently Australia had a prime minister who could deny that aboriginal children of mixed ‘blood’ were taken from their parents up to the 1930s and refused to issue any expression of remorse for their mistreatment. More recent targets of racism have been Lebanese and Vietnamese immigrants, while the Howard federal government’s racist treatment of Iraqi and Afghan refugees and asylum seekers remains one of the most shameful chapters of Australia’s history." - also posted at ICH

The Dark Core of the Empire
Must Read - A quote...."Among the major obstacles to both criminal prosecutions and a truth commission regarding the CIA’s torture program is the underlying reluctance of U.S. officials to focus attention on the super-secret operations of the CIA. - A criminal prosecution, after all, could get out of control, especially one that is being prosecuted by a genuinely honest, independent prosecutor. Prospective defendants might threaten to reveal things that everyone would want to keep quiet."

Children as Unlamented Victims of Bush’s War Crimes
A quote...."May 01, 2009  -- -- Torture has received the most attention among the many war crimes of the Bush administration. But those who support Bush’s pursuit of the “war on terror” have not been impressed by recriminations over torture. Worse than torture are the murders of at least 50 prisoners in Abu Ghraib, Afghanistan, and Guantánamo, but again the hard-hearted are unimpressed when those whom they perceive as terrorists receive illegal extrajudicial capital punishment."

WPost: All the Ex-President's Excuses - posted at Consortium News
Hey, WaPo doesn't care about "all them there little kiddies"....just rack'em and bag'em is their motto. - mpg -- A quote...."Under the stewardship of Fred Hiatt, the editorial and op-ed pages of the Washington Post have gradually moved to the right. -- Post editorials and op-eds have defended the decision to go to war in Iraq; opposed any improvement in bilateral relations with Russia; refused to acknowledge Israel’s misuse of military power in the Middle East; and lobbied against the need for investigation of the detention and interrogation programs of the Bush administration. -- As part of the campaign to prevent a rigorous examination of “enhanced interrogation techniques” (read: “torture and abuse”), the Washington Post's editorial pages have been particularly protective of the Central Intelligence Agency and its senior leaders – the ideological drivers for torture and extraordinary renditions policies."

New UN Report Shows the US Combo of Torture and Impunity Thrives in Iraqi Prisons
A quote...."Iraqi authorities widely use torture to interrogate prisoners and extract confessions without fear of consequence. Sadly, the US doesn’t have the credibility to confront these crimes." - also posted at CommonDreams -- Confront them!?!?  We've got guys over there egging them on, saying "drill harder"! - mpg

ACLU Director Favors Prosecution, Not Impeachment, Not Committee Hearings
A quote...."I heard Anthony Romero, ExDir of ACLU, speak tonight: "Moral hazard" is the term used in the stock market (and insurance) when a party insulated from risk may behave differently from the way it would behave if it were fully exposed to the risk. He applied it to BushCo's abuse of power; that they behaved immorally because they believed they could get away with it. That is, to deter future abuses we must hold them accountable. -- Torture memos: "their medieval legal reasoning is exceeded only by their moral depravity." -- Ah, ah, ahhhhh!!  (finger wagging back and forth in the air) First you must establish a commission to generate the necessary political consensus. Just keep showing the murders, snuff movies, killings, rapes, tortures until most Americans scream "enough of this sh-t, we can't take it anymore".....this suggestion assumes of course that most Americans don't actually enjoy this stuff.  Than you give the perpetrators a fair and quick trial, and even swifter punishment. – mpg

US may revive military commissions: report
Obama™ Update - A quote...."WASHINGTON (AFP) — The administration of US President Barack Obama is moving toward reviving the military commission system for prosecuting terrorism suspect held at a detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, The New York Times reported. - The military commissions have been criticized by Obama in the past." - bold by website editor - Well than, we'll just call this one...."Back to the Medieval" - mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Scott Horton Interviews Philip Weiss
Must Listen Audio Interview - A quote...."Investigative journalist Philip Weiss discusses all the implications of the Jane Harman wiretap story the MSM hasn’t run with yet, the evidence of Israeli attempts to dominate U.S. policy decisions on Iran to start a war, the J Street lobby’s moderating influence and how Israeli leaders are oblivious of the political re-evaluation of Israel by American Jews."

The heft that dares not speak its name
A quote...."A telling sentence in the Jewish Telegraphic Agency's report (of sources' claims) that the government finally has killed off the moribund espionage case against two AIPAC staffers:"

AIPAC Verdict Sure to Fuel More Harman Conspiracy Theories
A quote...."The Justice Department's decision to drop espionage charges against two pro-Israel lobbyists will certainly pour jet fuel on conspiracy theories burning up the blogosphere over the Jane Harman wiretap controversy.

Lawyers credit Obama team for dismissing AIPAC case
Obama™ Update - A quote...."WASHINGTON (JTA) -- Lawyers for the two former AIPAC staffers charged four years ago with dealing in government secrets credited the Obama administration for dropping the case."

Killin the Story with a Friday release: Obama’s Justice Department Drops Charges Against AIPAC Spies.
Warning - Harsh langauge - A quote...."The Obama Justice Department moved Friday to drop all charges against two former pro-Israel lobbyists who had been charged under the Espionage Act with improperly disseminating sensitive information. - The move by the government came in a motion filed with the federal court in Alexandria, Va. which was to be the site of the trial that was scheduled to begin June 2." -- For more on this issue see....Judeo-Christian C/C & US - Jane Harman
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

U.S. says troops will not face trial over Iraq raid
A quote...."BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. soldiers will not appear in Iraqi courts to answer any charges relating to a raid this week that killed two people in Iraq and triggered condemnation from Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, the U.S. military has said."

Occupation Pulls Rank On Iraq Puppet
A quote...."When Bush's "security pact" was implemented, we dismissed its provision that US occupation troops could be tried in Iraqi courts as phoney since it allowed the occupation to decide any request from the Iraqis. -- This proves we were correct."

Pakistan: Tens of thousands displaced by US-ordered offensive
A quote...."Tens of thousands of Pashtun-speaking villagers have been forced to flee from their homes in recent days as the result of the punishing offensive the Pakistani military has mounted against pro-Taliban militants in the country’s North-West Frontier Province." - also posted at CounterCurrents

What "Sweeping Overhaul" of the Pentagon? - Putting Lipstick on the F-35 Fighter
A quote...."On April 6, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced a number of decisions on major weapons programmes in the Pentagon’s next budget. - Hyperventilating, the New York Times termed the decisions a “sweeping overhaul” of the Pentagon. Indeed, Gates’ decision to cut off F-22 fighter production at 187 fighters is an essential step in any real reform plan. - However, his complementary decision to rely on the Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter to modernise US Air Force (USAF) undoes everything constructive that he accomplished – more so than he might ever imagine. Quite justifiably, Gates said the decision to stop F-22 production was not even a “close call”."

Belarus 'selling Iran Iskander-M missiles'
A quote...."Amid speedy relationship developments between Belarus and Iran, a report says the former Soviet state is selling Tehran the Russian-made Iskander-M tactical missile systems."

ACLU claims U.S. supported PMOI
Special Note - A quote...."LOS ANGELES, May 1 (UPI) -- Charges filed against Iranian dissidents for supporting a terrorist group based in Iraq are complicated by alleged U.S. military cooperation with that group. The U.S. Justice Department accepted guilty pleas Wednesday from six men and one woman for collecting funds for the People's Mujahedin of Iran, a group listed by the State Department as a terrorist organization. The American Civil Liberties Union in Southern California, which is representing some of the suspects, says it will challenge the claims on the grounds the PMOI poses no threat to U.S. national security. The ACLU also claims court documents show the U.S. government provided material support to the PMOI as well. "It boggles the mind that these seven refugees would be charged with providing material support for a so-called terrorist organization, when the U.S. government has supported the same organization for years," said Ahilan Arulanantham with the ACLU. There is widespread speculation the U.S. military had used the group to carry out attacks on Iran." -- For more on this issue see....US Support of Terror - MEK-PKK-OTHERS

Ahmadinejad's Brazil visit startles Washington
A quote...."Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's upcoming visit to the Latin American county of Brazil has reportedly alarmed the Obama White House. -- A day after Iran's ambassador to Brazil announced that Ahmadinejad and a large entourage of 110 representatives from 65 companies are to visit Brasilia on Wednesday, US Secretary of State [Clinton] dubbed the development as "quite disturbing." -- OH MY GAWD!!  She's absolutely right, it's terrible that any nation state in the world could actually be allowed to develop commercial relationships with another nation state without the US-NRE's, and especially (gasp! shock! horror!), Israel's permission.  How dare they!!!  Let's go bomb Brazil right now! – mpg

Israel warns EU to tone down its criticism
A quote...."JERUSALEM – Israel warned the European Union on Thursday to tone down its criticism of the new Israeli government or risk forfeiting the bloc's role as broker in Mideast peace efforts. - The warning came after EU's commissioner for external relations, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, this week criticized Israel's refusal to endorse a Palestinian state. She said an upgrade in Israeli-EU relations would depend on Israel's commitment to the "two-state solution." -- Oh, oh.  Europe better be careful, else they might get nuked.  For more on this issue see....A Mortal Threat – Europe’s New Frankenstein Monster - 01-26-09 - mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

On eve of papal visit, Israeli police attack Palestinian Christian
A quote...."Jerusalem Ma'an -- A Palestinian Christian was hospitalized after being severely beaten by Israeli police in East Jerusalem's Old City on Friday. -- The Palestinian who lives on Latin Patriarch Street in East Jerusalem, Samer Andrea Karkar, was assaulted near an Italian restaurant and store, both of which he owns, on the same street. -- The pope is scheduled to visit the area during his upcoming visit to Jerusalem next Thursday."

Expansion of settlements and Eco-Terrorism in Salfit - Alt - (YouTube - 4 min 01 sec - May 01, 2009)
Video - A quote...."Israeli settlers and factories pumping polluted water onto farmland."

Israel Bombs Tunnels, Cuts Gaza Feeding Tubes - posted at the Palestine Chronicle
A quote...."Israeli fighter jets strike tunnels across the Gaza Strip's border with Egypt to further tighten the noose of hunger around the blockaded enclave. - The air strike on the first of day of the new month came as the international community's silence drowns out its calls on Tel Aviv to lift the almost two-year siege on Gaza."

"When Companies Begin to Lose Money, They Start to Listen" - The Israel Boycott is Biting
A quote...."On May 4, protesters will greet Motorola shareholders, already disgruntled by the company's losses, as they arrive for their annual meeting at the Rosemont Theater in Chicago, Illinois. - The protest, organized by the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, is part of a drive to "Hang Up On Motorola" until it ends sales of communications and other products that support Israel's military occupation of Palestinian land." -- For more on the Boycotts see the upper-left-corner of the "Front Page" on this website. - mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

The Vogon Constructor Fleet
05-01-09
mpg

Demolition by Israel for lacking permits: ‘60,000 Palestinians at risk of losing homes’
A quote...."JERUSALEM: At least 60,000 of the 225,000 Palestinians in Israeli-occupied Jerusalem risk having their homes demolished by the Israeli authorities because they were built without permits, a UN agency said on Friday."

Yes, no doubt back in the Twelfth to Fifteenth centuries the Palestinians didn't realize they needed to obtain blessed permission in triplicate from the non-existent Israeli government to build their own homes on their own lands.

It makes this website editor think of the novel and TV series (don't see the movie) called “Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy”.

It would be really nice - a joy in fact - if someone just like the Vogons, as hilariously depicted as they are in the story, would one day descend upon the Jews of Israel in their "Constructor Fleet"

Appearing suddenly overhead, darkening the sky with their huge fleet of ships, blasting and booming their messages with their atmospheric-vibrating, force-field-generated, mega-phones, they would brusquely inform the Israelis....

"Per notice 27836-slash-270-zed-stoke-DED....The lands you are currently living on have been condemned and were slated for demolition several months ago by the Galactic planning board for the construction of the new, much needed, long planned for, Glaxo-Trans™,  hyper-spatial link through the Middle East."

They would than inform the Israelis that "This construction is being carried out under Statute 276-B-slash-726-DENY because you made no attempt to follow your appeals rights."

After perhaps hearing something broadcast from a radio below, no doubt in complete panic, the Vogon announcer would than squawk back in irritation, "It's simply too bad you primitive peoples didn’t avail yourselves of the opportunity to appeal this entire process by reviewing the standard 24435-OPS notice we had quite helpfully", and he would add with a certain heavy emphasis...."and quite legally"....then resume in his normal gravelly voice,” posted back at our main office on the Vogon home world"

....which, to let all you readers know, was about one hundred and fifty light years from Earth.

"If you primitive peoples can't even bother yourselves....", he would than add in a disgusted, bored and contemptuous tone of voice while the Vogons prepared their massive, mile long, Constructor Ships for the task ahead, "....and take the time to review our proposals when we post them, well....you have absolutely no right to complain and only yourselves to blame".

He'd than state with utter finality, "You have five minutes to vacate the premises.”

Than grumbling and complaining loudly to each other saying things like, "What a bunch of stupid, lazy, good-for-nothing, ungrateful savages", and not even waiting the required five minutes because they all had a lunch break coming up, they would begin the demolition process with their blindingly bright, incandescent, disintegration rays.

 It really would be quite enjoyable. – mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Mr. Rat Goes to Washington
Obama™ Update - A quote...."A recent profile in a New York glossy described him as a member of Wall Street aristocracy, a man to whose parties the rich and powerful trip over themselves to attend, a networker nonpareil, in short, the greatest big hitter who has ever graced this poor earth of ours. Leave it to a celebrity-obsessed rag to get it so wrong. His name is Steve Rattner, and he looks like a rodent, except that he wears glasses. He is to Wall Street aristocracy what Paris Hilton is to discretion, a shifty little balding man whose business moves are even shiftier. He is Obama’s chief adviser in dealing with Detroit, the “Car Tsar,” in fact."

UK bankruptcies hit 50-year high
A quote...."The number of Britons going bankrupt jumped to its highest level in nearly 50 years in the first quarter, the Insolvency Service has announced. - Individual insolvencies in Britain climbed to 29,774 in the three months to the end of March -- a 19 percent rise compared to the same period last year."

International Monetary Fund Slowly Taking Over as Global Economic Regulator and Banker
A quote...."So the IMF appears to have become the world's global financial cop. -- The IMF will also, apparently, sell treasury-like bonds to raise money for loans it makes to ailing countries. This ties into statements some time ago by an economist that investors would eventually buy IMF bonds as a safe-haven investment, thus quickening the shift away from the dollar and American treasuries as reserve currency and safe-haven investments."

Thursday April 30th 2009

Torture and Treason
Must Read - For one of the key concepts of the Neocons' criminal enterprise - This is the very heart of the matter folks, don't lose sight of it.  The Neocons set it all up and that includes murdering people to start their various wars for profit. - mpg -- A quote...."Let us pause the news cycle here and strip away the desperate delicacy of this language. The Gitmo intelligence crew was being told, from the highest levels of the Bush White House and the Pentagon - think Cheney, think Rumsfeld - to keep slamming these guys' heads against the wall, to keep pouring water down their throats, to keep tormenting them with dogs and insects, until they blubbered, in their pain and terror, a word or two that would justify the long-planned (and completely pointless) invasion of Iraq. -- This drags the torture "debate" out of the fog that mainstream pundits are paid to generate - does it work? is it legal? is it cruel? is it counterproductive? - and exposes something that is troubling at the level of the soul, and begs only one question. -- Is it treason?"  -- For more on this issue see....The Convenient Silence of Guantanamo Bay - 05-31-08 - mpg

Kiss the Era of Human Rights Goodbye - What Bush Willed to Obama and the World
Must Read - A quote...."These days, it's virtually impossible to escape the world of torture the Bush administration constructed. Whether we like it or not, almost every day we learn ever more about the full range of its shameful policies, about who the culprits were, and just which crimes they might be prosecuted for. But in the morass of memos, testimony, op-eds, punditry, whistle-blowing, documents, and who knows what else, with all the blaming, evasion, and denial going on, somehow we've overlooked the most significant victim of all. One casualty of the Bush torture policies -- certainly, at least equal in damage to those who were tortured and the country whose laws were twisted and perverted in the process -- has been human rights itself. And no one even seems to notice."

When the President Does It, That Means It is Not Illegal - Alt - (YouTube - 4 min 21 sec - April 29, 2009)
Must View Video - A quote...."By Cenk Uygur - April 30, 2009 "Huffington Post" -- Condoleezza Rice was recently speaking at Stanford when students asked her an excellent question on waterboarding and torture. They have her answer on tape and it isn't pretty. Condi Rice absolutely pulls a Nixon."

Robert Byrd Demands Torture Investigation
Must Read - Quote of the Day.....

"The recently leaked report from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), as well as the four released memorandums from the Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), confirm our worst fears. These documents point to brutal, inhumane acts which were repeatedly carried out by U.S. military personnel, and which were authorized and condoned at the highest levels of the Bush Administration. These acts appear to directly violate both the U.N. Convention Against Torture and the Geneva Conventions. Spain and the United Kingdom have already initiated investigations of Bush Administration officials who approved these acts. The United States needs to investigate as well. To continue to ignore the mounting evidence of clear wrongdoing is a national humiliation." -- *Sen. Robert Byrd*, the longest-serving Senator in US history

The CIA's $1,000 a Day Specialists on Waterboarding, Interrogations
A quote...."As the secrets about the CIA's interrogation techniques continue to come out, there's new information about the frequency and severity of their use, contradicting an 2007 ABC News report, and a new focus on two private contractors who were apparently directing the brutal sessions that President Obama calls torture." -- also posted at WarInIraq

Torture Memos Expose Dark, Imperial Presidency
A quote...."April 29, 2009 "Information Clearing House" -- This was not a happy week for the torture lobby, nor its defenders, derailing months of charm offensive by Bush-Cheney legacy boosters. A wary President Obama backed off attempts to defuse the torture parade – fretting over divisive investigations and hard-to-win court convictions. Public indignation likely surpassed February polling when 65% favored torture investigations, 40% criminal prosecutions."

Over 50 Anti-Torture Activists Arrested at White House Protest: "Justice Delayed Is Justice Denied" - Alt
Video -- (YouTube - 8 min - April 30, 2009) -- A quote...."On Thursday, April 30, 2009, in a massive act of non-violent “Civil Resistance” over 50 activists were arrested at a protest action in front of the White House. The protesters refused to move from the sidewalk when ordered to so by the police. The activists were demanding that the administration of President Barack Obama uphold the supremacy of the Law and investigate and prosecute wrongdoers in the Bush-Cheney Gang responsible for “acts of torture.”
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Farewell, the American Century -- Rewriting the Past by Adding In What's Been Left Out
Must Read - A quote...."In a recent column, the Washington Post's Richard Cohen wrote, "What Henry Luce called 'the American Century' is over." Cohen is right. All that remains is to drive a stake through the heart of Luce's pernicious creation, lest it come back to life. This promises to take some doing." -- also posted at CommonDreams

Robert Fisk: A historic day for Iraq – but not in the way the British want to believe
Must Read - A quote...."One hundred and seventy-nine dead soldiers. For what? 179,000 dead Iraqis? Or is the real figure closer to a million? We don't know. And we don't care. We never cared about the Iraqis. That's why we don't know the figure. That's why we left Basra yesterday. -- I remember going to the famous Basra air base to ask how a poor Iraqi boy, a hotel receptionist called Bahr Moussa, had died. He was kicked to death in British military custody. His father was an Iraqi policeman. I talked to him in the company of a young Muslim woman. The British public relations man at the airport was laughing. "I don't believe this," my Muslim companion said. "He doesn't care." She did. So did I. I had reported from Northern Ireland. I had heard this laughter before. Which is why yesterday's departure should have been called the Day of Bahr Moussa. Yesterday, his country was set free from his murderer. At last." - also posted at ICH -- For more on this issue see....US Fake Intel / Propaganda - Iraq Death Toll

British Troops End Iraq Mission
A quote...."More than six year after participating in the US invasion, Britain formally ended its combat operations in Iraq. The southern port city of Basra will now be patrolled by thousands of US forces, which took over a British base last month."

Iraq's Sadr secretly came to Turkey, to meet PM Erdogan
A quote...."Iraq's symbol of resistance Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr was brought to Turkey last night from Iran that he took refuge to talk with Turkish officials on the political situation in Iraq, Anadolu agency reported on Friday."

The myth of Talibanistan
A quote...."Apocalypse Now. Run for cover. The turbans are coming. This is the state of Pakistan today, according to the current hysteria disseminated by the Barack Obama administration and United States corporate media - from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to The New York Times. Even British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said on the record that Pakistani Talibanistan is a threat to the security of Britain." -- also posted at ICH

Militants Capture Pakistani Town of Sultanwas
A quote...."Two days into the Pakistani military’s offensive into the Buner District, dozens of the captured security forces remain in the custody of the Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan fighters contesting government control over the region. The group has also burned a police station, thrown the body of a police officer into a river, and captured the entire town of Sultanwas."

Lebanon frees Hariri suspects
A quote...."Lebanese officials have released four generals held over the assassination of Rafiq al-Hariri, the former prime minister. Their release from Roumieh prison came hours after a UN tribunal for Lebanon ordered their release on Wednesday, after ruling that there was insufficient evidence to hold them."
    
Obama may need Ahmadinejad after all
A quote...."Believing that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenai is running the show in Iran, Washington has chosen to ignore President Mahmud Ahmadinejad - a move that hasn't gone over well with the hardliner. But if he emerges victorious in the June elections, the US might have to change its tune."

Russia Pledges to Defend South Ossetia, Abkhazia
A quote...."In a ceremony at the Kremlin, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev met with the heads of state of both South Ossetia and Abkhazia, breakaway provinces which gained their independence after the 2008 war between Russia and Georgia, where they signed a formal agreement pledging Russian troops to defend the borders of the two fledgling states amid Georgian pledges to reclaim the lost territories." -- also posted at WarInIraq

Medvedev says NATO exercises in Georgia 'open provocation' - 2
A quote...."MOSCOW, April 30 (RIA Novosti) - NATO's plans to hold military exercises in Georgia on May 6-June 1 are an "open provocation," Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday, warning of negative consequences." -- also posted at WarInIraq

Serbia backs Russia against NATO drills
A quote...."The Serbian Cabinet has confirmed that Serbia won’t take part in NATO-led drills in Georgia scheduled for May 6 through June 1."

Russia, Ukraine agree on gas and other issues
A quote...."MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti economic commentator Oleg Mityayev) - The economic downturn has encouraged Ukraine and Russia to abandon confrontation and start a pragmatic dialogue."

Kazakhstan, China strike nuclear deal
A quote...."Kazakhstan and China have signed a major deal that would make Astana a major uranium provider as Beijing strives to build nuclear power plants. - "National atomic energy agency Kazatomprom and CGNPC signed a memorandum regarding the creation of a joint enterprise to build atomic energy stations in China," Kazakh state run agency Kazatomprom said Wednesday." - also posted at WarInIraq

Gordon Brown has lost it, say ministers
Another Bush/Obama lackey bites the dust....good riddance. - mpg -- A quote...."Labour is heading for an election defeat as heavy as that suffered by John Major because Gordon Brown has lost control of the parliamentary party, two senior Cabinet ministers have privately warned."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

A.I.P.A.C. MEETS NEXT WEEK TO DETERMINE U.S. FOREIGN POLICY.
Obama™ Update -- A headline that's absolutely factually correct in every sense of the word.  As such it's a sad commentary on what happened to a country once called the United States but which has now become the New Roman Empire. – mpg -- A quote...."The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), America’s pro-Zionist Israeli lobby group, will meet from Sunday 3 May through to 5 May to determine the Obama administration’s foreign policy for the coming year. [That's really sad, but completely true.  That old quote is spot on, Empires don't die with a bang, but with a whimper.] America’s foreign policy chief for the Middle East, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, will be speaking to the conference via satellite. Netanyahu will be flying in to Washington to meet with Obama on 18 May to discuss the outcome of the AIPAC conference ." - also posted at WarInIraq - bold by website editor -- For more on this issue see....Judeo-Christian C/C & US

Seamless Continuity From Bush Time - Obama and "Two States"
Obama™ Update - Related Article - A quote...." A false claim is wafting through the press: Obama is hanging tough with Benjamin Netanyahu, he’s going to “twist Israel’s arm” and at long last force the Jewish state into a two-state agreement, settling the Israel-Palestine question for good. There’s even talk that Obama backs the Arab League’s 2002 peace initiative, complete with its main demand: Israel’s withdrawal to its 1967 borders. -- There’s no proof for any of this. Obama has said nothing about when, where, and with what boundaries a Palestinian state might be established. Neither did George Bush. The slide from one regime to the next has been seamless on the score of Israel and Palestine as on much else." -- also posted at Uruknet & ICH

The Cases of Margo Ramlal Nankoe, William Robinson, Nagesh Rao and Loretta Capeheart - The McCarthyism That Horowitz Built -- A quote...." In early April, the jury in Ward Churchill’s civil trial against the University of Colorado found, in his favor, that the University had fired him because of critical remarks he made after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. While Churchill awaits a hearing on his ongoing employment at the University, this victory is something to celebrate and replicate."

Jewish Professor in Trouble for Gaza Holocaust - posted at the Palestine Chronicle
A quote...."Comparing the images of children killed in the recent Israeli war on Gaza to the Holocaust has opened the gates of hell against sociology professor William I. Robinson, and American Jew, and brought accusations of anti-Semitism." -- For more on the "pictures" see.....Gaza Invasion of 12/27/08

Falk Tells Why Israel Stonewalls Gaza Probe
A quote...."[UN investigator Richard] Falk, in an exclusive interview with Press TV on Thursday, said Tel Aviv is shirking the UN-sponsored investigation in fear of the abundant amount of evidence that it had violated the international laws of warfare in Gaza. -- "The real reason is that the facts overwhelmingly support allegations that Israel is understandably concerned that any objective inquiry would indeed confirm the allegations and create a situation in which the international community would be obliged to seek some kind of procedure for accountability," said the UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories."

Hamas Gaining International Legitimacy
A quote...."JERUSALEM — Delegations from the rival Fatah and Hamas organizations have again failed in Cairo to bridge their differences meant to usher in a Palestinian unity government, but this has in no way slowed inroads which the Islamist movement has been making to increase its international legitimacy — much to Israel’s concern."

Thousands of Palestinians commemorate Palestine Nakba in Kafrin village
A quote...."OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- More than 3,000 Palestinians from the 1948 occupied lands on Wednesday flocked to the abandoned village of Kafrin to commemorate the 61st anniversary of Israel's establishment on usurped Palestinian land."

Devastated Gaza still awaiting int'l aid
A quote...."Gaza still awaits an international aid package for reconstruction nearly three months after Israel's 23-day attack on the besieged coastal sliver. -- John Ging, Head of the UN Relief and Works Agency in Gaza, says none of the USD 4.5 billion package of reconstruction aid pledged in March has reached the impoverished region because of border restrictions."

ENVIRONMENT:  Israel Stripping West Bank Quarries
A quote...."RAMALLAH, Apr 30 (IPS) - Israeli human rights organisation Yesh Din is taking the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF), the Israeli civil administration and a number of Israeli mining companies to court. - The rights group alleges they are illegally stripping Palestinian West Bank quarries of raw construction material for the benefit of the Israeli construction industry and the building of illegal Israeli settlements."

Starbucks profit drops 77% on charges for store closures - Boycott!  Boycott!  Boycott!  It's working folks! - mpg
A quote...."NEW YORK — Consumers continued buying fewer lattes and coffees at Starbucks (SBUX) as the company said Wednesday its fiscal second-quarter profit dropped 77% because of big restructuring charges related mainly to the closure of 123 U.S. cafes. -- Seattle-based Starbucks said that, for the quarter ended March 29, its net income fell to $25 million, or 3 cents a share, from $108.7 million, or 15 cents a share a year ago." -- For more on the boycott see the upper-left-corner of the "Front Page" on this website. - mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Did the NYT Help Bush Win the 2004 Election by Sitting on the Illegal NSA Wiretapping Story at the Request of Jane Harman? -- Special Note - A quote...."A Disturbing Picture Emerges If You Connect the Dots: Rep. Jane Harman's Israeli-Spy Wiretap Story Ties-in with NYT's More Than Year-Long Delay in Breaking the Warrantless Wiretap Domestic Spying Story." -- For more on this issue see....Judeo-Christian C/C & US - Jane Harman

GOP IT guru’s sisters question events surrounding his death
A quote...."The sisters of Michael Connell, a GOP IT consultant and former associate of Karl Rove who died in a plane crash last December, are now questioning the circumstances surrounding his death." -- also posted at RogueGov

Government injecting veterans with cocaine for drug addiction research
No doubt the GI's involved jokingly think they're getting high on the Government's tab. Poor saps, that's just because they simply have no idea what the Government is really injecting into them. - mpg -- A quote.... "Drug-addicted veterans are being injected with cocaine by researchers at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in taxpayer-funded studies, The Examiner has learned." -- also posted at BLN

Lawsuit Charges Baxter Used Dangerous Ingredients In Vaccines To Increase Profits
A quote...."....in January 2009 a new lawsuit was filed specifically against Baxter for it's role in the scandal. - The allegation is that the pharmaceutical giant purposefully altered an ingredient in heparin that flowed through heparin syringes to patients, resulting in pain and suffering, and sometimes death, to those affected, reported legal website Lawyers and Settlements - Somewhat ironically, the natural ingredient in heparin that was substituted in order to cut costs was a substance extracted from cooked swine intestines." - Yech!!  This website editor wonders how many Muslims who might have been injected by this product know about this issue? - mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Google -- 2009 H1N1 Flu Outbreak Map
Interactive Scalable Updated Map -- A quote...."This is a map depicting confirmed and suspected cases of the 2009 H1N1 outbreak, with contributors from all over the world, from a variety of backgrounds (health, journalism, technology)."

The Swine Flu Outbreak and Other Bio-Warfare Matters From CLG.....

Article#1 -- From the History File -- "US, Japanese Researchers Mix Samples of 1918 Flu Pandemic to Recreate Deadly CodeCompiled By Lori Price 30 Dec 2008 Researchers recreate 1918 flu pandemic virus --Why? And, why is no one *asking* why?  --  29 Dec 2008  --  Researchers have found out what made the 1918 flu pandemic so deadly -- a group of three genes that lets the virus invade the lungs and cause pneumonia. They mixed samples of the 1918 influenza strain with modern seasonal flu viruses to find the three genes and said their study might help in the development of new flu drugs. The discovery, published in Tuesday's issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could also point to mutations that might turn ordinary flu into a dangerous pandemic strain. Most flu experts agree that a pandemic of influenza will almost certainly strike again. No one knows when [the US unleashes it] or what strain it will be but one big suspect now is the H5N1 avian influenza virus." -- Paragraph quoted from CLG

Article#2 -- From the History File -- "Huge New Biodefense Lab Is Dedicated at Fort Detrick  -- 23 Oct 2008 -- The Department of Homeland Security dedicated a massive biodefense laboratory in Frederick yesterday, moving toward the facility's opening despite questions raised about the risks of deadly pathogens to be studied there. When the National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center at Fort Detrick is fully operational in March, about 150 scientists in the lab will be tasked with 'protecting the country' from a bioterrorist attack... About 40,000 square feet will be taken up by Biosafety Level 3 labs, which handle agents such as anthrax. In addition, 10,000 will be dedicated to the Level 4 labs, which handle agents such as the Ebola virus." -- Paragraph quoted from CLG

CLG's Other Recent Articles -- List:

Travelers screened at Mexico-U.S. border for flu
Obama Security Agent Has Suspected Case of Swine Flu
U.S. government staffer gave flu to family after Obama trip
New York City Mayor: Many Sick People Have Not Been Tested
SF officials confirm first swine flu case
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Top Senate Democrat: bankers "own" the U.S. Congress
Must Read - A quote...."Sen. Dick Durbin, on a local Chicago radio station this week, blurted out an obvious truth about Congress that, despite being blindingly obvious, is rarely spoken:  "And the banks -- hard to believe in a time when we're facing a banking crisis that many of the banks created -- are still the most powerful lobby on Capitol Hill. And they frankly own the place."  The blunt acknowledgment that the same banks that caused the financial crisis "own" the U.S. Congress -- according to one of that institution's most powerful members -- demonstrates just how extreme this institutional corruption is." -- also posted at AmericanEveryman & BLN & CommonDreams

Does Goldman Sachs run the government?
Special Note - A quote...."Everyone agrees that Goldman Sachs pretty much runs the government's economic and financial agencies. - As the New York Times explained last October in a must-read 4 page article, the presence of Goldman Sachs alumni in virtually all of the top government financial posts is so great that their team is dubbed "Government Sachs":"

Instead of Deleveraging, Companies are INCREASING Leverage, Putting the Economy at Heightened Risk
Financial Alert - A quote...."As I have repeatedly tried to point out, the problem is too much leverage, and what is needed to fix the economy is for the financial players to deleverage." -- *GW* -- In Las Vegas it's called "doubling down". - mpg

U.S. Senate Rejects Easing Mortgages In Bankruptcy - Oh Oh!! - mpg
Financial Alert - A quote...."The U.S. Senate on Thursday rejected an amendment that would have given bankruptcy judges the power to ease a homeowner's monthly payments and prevent foreclosure. -- Supporters of what was known as the 'cramdown' provision argued that it would serve as a useful tool to help repair the housing market and keep millions of troubled borrowers in their homes." -- Hey!!  All of you really STUPID ObamaTrolls out there, $13 Trillion plus in back-stops,  guarantees and cash pay-outs for the Banksters....zippo, nada, zilch and squat for all of you "little people". -- Got the point yet? If not, see the article shown below....

Wall Street pay back to pre-crash levels - Ha, Ha, Haaaaaa!  And you poor peons thought Obama worked for you? -- A quote...."The New York Times reported Sunday that compensation at six of the largest US banks is on track to return to the record levels that preceded last year’s financial crash." -- posted 04-28-09

U.S. Bank Test Results Delayed as Conclusions Debated (Update1) - More Oh Oh! - mpg
A quote...."April 30 (Bloomberg) -- The Federal Reserve will postpone the release of stress tests on the biggest U.S. banks while executives debate preliminary findings with examiners, according to government and industry officials." -- These so-called "stress-tests" were similar to placing the bar two feet high at a track meet and some of the banks STILL couldn't jump over it. - mpg

Stress tests flunk stress test
Financial Alert - A quote...."A brief examination of the stress test assumptions shows why the Fed should be hedging their bets. -- First, the level of stress in the tests was set unrealistically low. Their absolute worst case assumption was for a gross domestic product (GDP) contraction of only 3.3% in 2009. This comes as first quarter 2009 GDP shrank at 6.1%. And the economy is still slowing. To post a contraction of just 3.3% for the year would likely involve an immediate reversal in the rate of contraction and outright expansion by the fourth quarter. -- The stress test also assumes a worst case scenario unemployment rate of 8.9% in 2009. This is also wildly optimistic when unemployment is already at 8.7% and rising at some 20,000 each day. Worse still, if calculated on a pre-Bill Clinton administration basis, to include all those unable to find anything but part-time employment, the current unemployment rate is a staggering 19.2%, or just 0.8% from official depression levels! It appears that the US is fast slipping from recession into depression, rendering the stress tests almost meaningless other than as a public morale boosting exercise."

Black-hole balance sheets
A quote...."....but exactly the same fraudulent practice has been legalized in so far as commercial and savings banks, and life insurance companies are concerned. -- They can carry government bonds on their books at par value. A $1,000 bond may be quoted in the market at $800 or less; the balance sheet of your bank will still show it at $1,000. The purpose of this regulation, adopted by all federal and state supervisory agencies and by the Securities Exchange Commission as well, is to give those bonds a sacrosanct status and guarantee against paper losses. Thereby they are promoted to an absolutely safe and "liquid" status. The bank examiners count the bonds of the federal government, whatever their maturity and actual market price may be, as prime liquid assets, just like cash. The more bonds in the portfolio, the more liquid is the bank by the examiners' standards - never mind the paper losses."

John Williams: Hyperinflationary Depression Ahead
Special Note - A quote...."Howard Ruff interviews John Williams of Shadow Statistics blog -- I talked to the chief economist for a large retail chain, and he told me that the retail sales reports were absolutely no good, but he thought the money-supply numbers were pretty good. -- Next was an economist for a major bank. He said the money-supply numbers were not very good, but he thought the retail-sales numbers are pretty good. The more someone knew about a given statistic, the greater the problems there were with the numbers. -- Over time public perceptions increasingly varied from what the government was reporting because government kept changing methodologies, and usually tended to build an upside bias to the economic statistics of unemployment or the GDP – the broad measure of economies – and a downside bias in the Consumer Price Index, a popular measure of inflation."

U.S. Economy: Consumer Spending Slows, Job Cuts Mount (Update1)
A quote...."April 30 (Bloomberg) -- Consumer spending in the U.S. fell more than forecast at the end of the first quarter as mounting job losses threatened to weigh on a projected economic recovery later this year. - Purchases decreased 0.2 percent in March, the first drop this year, the Commerce Department said today in Washington. Other reports showed wages and benefits rose at the slowest pace on record and firings continued, straining American workers."

Chrysler succumbs to bankruptcy after struggle
A quote...."DETROIT – After months of struggling to stay alive on government loans, Chrysler finally succumbed to bankruptcy Thursday, pinning its future on a top-to-bottom reorganization and plans to build cleaner cars through an alliance with Italian automaker Fiat."

Deflation returns as Japan's jobless rate hits four-year high
A quote...."The rate of unemployment in Japan has hit a four-year high as consumer prices dropped, nudging the nation back into deflation."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Tangible is Better Than In-Tangible
04-30-09
mpg

'China cancels America's credit card'
Special Note -- Some quotes...."China, wary of the troubled US economy, has 'canceled America's credit card' by cutting down purchases of debt, a US congressman says. China has the world's largest foreign reserves, believed to be mostly in dollars, along with around 800 billion dollars in US Treasury bonds, more than any other country. But data from the Treasury Department shows that investors in China have sharply curtailed their purchases of bonds in January and February."  --  ""It would appear, quietly and with deference and politeness, that China has canceled America's credit card," Kirk told the Committee of 100, a Chinese-American group." -- also posted at AtheoNews

It's true that China is wary of the US-NRE's ability to pay back what it spent so profligately, but they're also using their savings to buy something that has more real value than the dubious little bits of green paper and debt instruments which pay no interest and are backed solely by the "promise" of the seller (and we ALL know how much that's "worth" these days)....it's called commodities.

Actual, valuable, tangible goods like gold, oil, coal, copper, iron, cobalt, nickel, etc. which are priced pretty cheaply these days because the self same idiot country trying to pawn off all those bits of paper, managed to also trash the entire world's economy with even more worthless bits of paper called derivatives.

It only makes good business sense, assuming the world avoids another decades long Depression, for China to lock in long term commodities contracts while those bits of paper still retain some of their value and while prices for commodities are still relatively cheap. -- For more on this issue see the two articles shown below.....mpg
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

China Increases Gold Reserves 76% to Fifth-Largest (Update4)
A quote...." April 24 (Bloomberg) -- China boosted its gold reserves by 76 percent since 2003 and has the world’s fifth-biggest holding by country, said Hu Xiaolian, head of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange. -- The nation increased its reserves by 454 tons to 1,054 tons through domestic purchases and refining scrap metal, Hu said in an interview with the Xinhua News Agency today. The amount is more than Switzerland’s 1,040 tons, World Gold Council data show, and is worth $31 billion at current prices." -- posted 04-24-09

A 'Copper Standard' for the world's currency system?
Special Note - More likely a commodity standard.  After sixty years of watching the US-NRE crapping all over the entire world with its Dollar whenever it choose to do so, China has decided to take out some insurance to protect itself if the Fed/Bankster/Obama administration can't - or more likely won't - support the dollar when things begin to get tough. - mpg --A quote...."Hard money enthusiasts have long watched for signs that China is switching its foreign reserves from US Treasury bonds into gold bullion. They may have been eyeing the wrong metal." -- posted 04-17-09  --  also posted at BLN

Wednesday April 29th 2009

Obama's 100 Days - The Mad Men Did Well
Must Read - Obama™ Update -- A quote...."April 29, 2009 "Information Clearing House" -- The BBC's American television soap Mad Men offers a rare glimpse of the power of corporate advertising. The promotion of smoking half a century ago by the “smart” people of Madison Avenue, who knew the truth, led to countless deaths. Advertising and its twin, public relations, became a way of deceiving dreamt up by those who had read Freud and applied mass psychology to anything from cigarettes to politics. Just as Marlboro Man was virility itself, so politicians could be branded, packaged and sold."

‘America is no longer ruled by the law’ – economist Paul Craig Roberts - YuTb - (4 min 53 sec - April 29, 2009)
Video - Special Note - A quote...."It has been 100 days of Barack Obama in office. Reviewing his policy, the election honeymoon was not that sweet to begin with and many in the US seem disappointed. Prominent economist Paul Craig Roberts is among those."

Lincoln or Ford?
Special Note - Obama™ Update -- A quote...."The question now swirling around political corridors is whether Obama will fight the monsters or let them off the hook, says Eric Walberg -- In response to a Freedom of Information Act request by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), United States President Barack Obama authorised the release by the US Justice Department of four detailed memos describing and justifying torture techniques used by the CIA to gather information from prisoners. Bush’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) framed 14 techniques, such as waterboarding, forced nudity, and prolonged sleep deprivation, to appear legal despite the prohibition in international law against “cruel, inhuman or degrading” treatment. -- It’s as if Hitler and his henchmen arranged for compliant lawyers to produce legal opinions arguing that what the Gestapo was doing was OK so German leaders would not fear prosecution later. The lawyers would be let off the hook because they were just issuing legal opinions, not committing the actual brutality and murder, and the lowly Gestapo functionaries were, of course, just following orders. The question then becomes: is America any different?"

Justice Delayed is Justice Denied: Accountability, Torture, and the Obama Administration
Obama™ Update - Related Article -- A quote...."Despite early, encouraging signs, the Obama presidency has been a disappointment with respect to detainee issues and torture. While releasing so called “torture memos” drafted under Bush administration, the Obama administration has been reluctant to investigate possible, past crimes by those who may have committed or provided pseudo-legal cover for torture. Without such an investigation (and prosecutions, if warranted) Obama’s pledge to bring accountability to government will ring hollow. Neither can Obama fulfill his pledge to restore the rule of law if he won’t enforce the law. Domestic and international law indeed require that the U.S. legal system investigate possible breaches of bans on torture." -- For more on this issue see....Do It for the Sake of Your Children - 04-26-00 - mpg

Spanish judge opens probe into Guantanamo torture - Another one!  Another defeat for the Obamatrolls. - mpg
Obama™ Update -- Related Article -- A quote...."MADRID (AFP) — A Spanish judge on Wednesday opened an investigation into an alleged "systematic programme" of torture at the US Guantanamo Bay detention camp, following accusations by four former prisoners." -- See also....Major defeat for Bush/Obama position on secrecy - posted 04-28-09

Spanish Judge Opens NEW Torture Investigation of BIGGER Fish
Obama™ Update -- Related Article -- Full quote....The Spanish Judge who went after Pinochet has opened a new torture investigation of bigger fish. The first one was just against the lawyers who wrote torture memos. The new one includes Cheney, Rice and perhaps other leading authors of the torture policy.  ---  At least someone still thinks the rule of law should be upheld."

EUROPE:  Uncovering the Veil Over 'CIA Prison'
A quote...."BUDAPEST, Apr 29 (IPS) - An official investigation shows that it is more and more likely that a CIA prison existed in Poland at the height of the "war on terror" -- The Council of Europe, the European Parliament and the European Commission all produced reports between 2006 and 2007 in which the existence of CIA (the U.S.'s Central Intelligence Agency) prisons in Poland and Romania is mentioned as highly probable."

Britain Refused to Torture Nazis Because It Doesn't Work
Special Note - (This is a pretty good read) -- A quote...."Stephens did not eschew torture out of mercy. This was no squishy liberal: the eye was made of tin, and the rest of him out of tungsten. (Indeed, he was disappointed that only 16 spies were executed during the war.) His motives were strictly practical. “Never strike a man. It is unintelligent, for the spy will give an answer to please, an answer to escape punishment. And having given a false answer, all else depends upon the false premise.”...
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

The Bolter: Specter Spectacle Hides Deadly New Folly in Terror War
Must Read - A quote...."So the Democrats have yet another supporter of aggressive war, oligarchy, authoritarianism and torture in their Senate ranks. Wow, that will certainly shake up the political landscape in Washington! It looks like the promised New Jerusalem of hope and change has well and truly arrived at last. - The chattering classes are all, well, a-chatter with the cosmic significance of the switcheroo by the aptly named Arlen Specter from the Republican faction of the imperial court to the Democratic faction. The late-life conversion of this greasy, cadaverous bagman apparently heralds not only a filibuster-proof majority for the Democrats (once they are joined by that guy who used to be on Saturday Night Live), but also the potential death of the entire Republican Party! Who knew that little old Arlen -- who has been obediently toting Establishment water since he devised the "single bullet theory" for the Warren Commission (one of the first great instances of "magical realism" in modern fiction) -- was such a linchpin of the American political system?"

Baath Party is optimistic about the liberation of Iraq
A quote...."There has been so much talk of stability and progress in Iraq but it is all at a surface level, but there hasn’t been any fundamental progress; there is a fake stability that results from having hundreds of thousands of soldiers on the streets. In Baghdad there are checkpoints every 100 metres, how is running the country like a giant prison a real stability?"

The Noose Tightens in Afghanistan - The Taliban's Roads to Kabul
A quote...." Hamid Karzai, who played host to the British prime minister, Gordon Brown, in Kabul two days ago, will have been delighted to hear the Prime Minister confirm the long-standing Afghan belief that there can be no long-term success against the Taliban in southern Afghanistan so long as they base themselves in Pakistan." -- also posted at ICH

Big member states 'backing out of EU', warns Hungary FM
A quote...."There is a danger that large member states are about to "back out of the EU", Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Balázs told EurActiv Hungary in an interview. Balázs took office on 14 April as a member of new Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai's cabinet. - Balázs, who is a former EU commissioner, said that large member states were looking to "strengthen" the role of other institutions as alternative decision-making fora. - The foreign minister said Germany had been working "to seize economic institutions and to strengthen the G20" since 2007."

Moldova withdraws from Georgia-based NATO drills
Video - A quote...."The Moldovan government has withdrawn from involvement in NATO-led drills scheduled for May 6 through June 1 in Georgia, according to the Interfax news agency. - The reasons behind the decision have not been explained. - Earlier, the Baltic states of Latvia and Estonia, as well as Kazakhstan in central Asia and Serbia in Eastern Europe announced that they were pulling out of the exercises."

The Crime of Independence - Why the U.S. Still Hates Cuba
A quote...." At the centre of the Summit of the Americas held in Trinidad and Tobago over April 17-19, was the only country from the hemisphere not present — Cuba. - Speaking at the opening session, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega noted that while a large majority of the heads of states of the Americas were present, “there are two major absentees”. - The first was “Cuba, whose crime has been to fight for its independence, for the sovereignty of the peoples; lending solidarity, without conditions, to our peoples, and for that it is being sanctioned, for that it is being punished, for that it is being excluded.” - The second was the nation of Puerto Rico, which continues to be an official colony of the United States — denied independence."

UNESCO Commends Bolivia Education
A quote...."Paris, Apr 29 (Prensa Latina) The UNESCO 181st Executive Council congratulated Bolivia for successfully fighting illiteracy with a Cuban program. Bolivia was declared illiteracy free December 20, 2008 with aid of Cuba and Venezuela as part of the south-south education cooperation, says the UNESCO declaration."
    
A helping Chinese hand
A quote...."CHIANG MAI - A new investment fund and loan package to help alleviate the impact of the global financial crisis for Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) represents the latest overture of China's "soft power" campaign towards the region. Many believe the aid package unveiled in Beijing this month was strategically announced to steal a commercial and diplomatic march over the economically ailing United States."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

An Interview with William Robinson - Zionist Lobby Targets Another Tenured Professor
A quote...."Doug Henwood: We're now joined by William Robinson, who is a Professor of Sociology at the University of California in Santa Barbara, someone I met about six or seven years ago at a conference and, although I've disagreed with him on some issues, I though he's a serious and thoughtful guy. I was very distressed to learn, reading Insider Higher Ed, the website, today that he's being persecuted by the Zionist lobby for an e-mail that he sent around to some of his students. Welcome William Robinson, tell us the story of what you sent and what's been happening."

LAMAR Outdoor Advertising Bows to Pressure and is Taking Down Pro-Palestinian Billboards
A quote...."An Albuquerque-based billboard company pulled ten billboards today that had featured a political message. The contract between a local grassroots group, the Coalition to Stop $30 Billion to Israel, and Lamar Outdoor Advertising was supposed to be for eight weeks; the billboards were taken down after only three weeks." -- For more on this issue see....Judeo-Christian C/C & US - The Media & Gaza Invasion of 12/27/08

Palestine Chronicle Launches Its Video Site: --@ JUSTmedia.net - posted at Palestine Chronicle
Special Note - A quote...."After being in business for nearly ten years, The Palestine Chronicle (www.palestinechronicle.com) has launched its interactive video website today, Wednesday, April 29. - The new website can be accessed at http://videos.palestinechronicle.com and www.justmedia.net and provides readers and users a platform to upload original videos or link to existing videos at other websites, namely youtube, google and yahoo."

Israeli troops detain rights workers, confiscate collected photos and testimony from earlier attack
A quote...."Hebron - Ma'an - Israeli soldiers detained dozens youth and two human rights field workers from Wad Al-Shajina village south of Dura Wednesday. The researchers were collecting statements from villagers following an attack on them by Israeli troops earlier this week and taking pictures of the scene near a road leading to an Israeli military base in the West Bank." -- also posted at WarInIraq

Two Elderly Palestinian Farmers Brutally Attacked by Israeli Settlers in the Southern West Bank
A quote...."On April 26th, 2009 at 1:15pm, Israeli settlers beat two elderly Palestinian farmers with stones and sticks while they were working their lands close to Bet Ayn settlement, located in the southern West Bank. The attack occurred shortly after Israeli soldiers, having observed the two farmers, left the area. They did not reappear even after the attack."

Tafakji: Zionist scheme to settle one million Jews in Jerusalem, WB
A quote...."OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- Khalil Tafakji, an expert on Israeli settlements and the director of the maps center for Arab studies, said that Israel was strenuously working on creating greater Jerusalem that would eat up 10% of the entire West Bank area."
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

Memo: 9/11 Commission Witnesses Were Intimidated By Govt. "Minders" - More evidence of whitewash emerges
Special Note - A quote...."Somewhat lost within the flu pandemic media hype this week is an important new revelation concerning the cover up of the events of 9/11. -- A recently uncovered 9/11 Commission memo dating from October 2003, half way through the panel's investigation, addresses concerns that government "minders" were intimidating witnesses and shaping their testimonies."

Feature Article : Madrassa: Breeding ground of Jihadists
Special Note - A quote...."When I for the first time forecasted that Madrassa was becoming breeding ground of Jihadists, many of my fellow journalists instantly raised their fingers at me saying, I was serving the purpose of 'foreign interest'. Policymakers in the government were even much aggressive in bringing sedition, treason and blasphemy charges against me. They tried to give justification to such actions saying, my criticizing the Madrassa and forecasting the rise of Islamist militancy within such institutions; I was hurting the sentiment of Muslims and was doing harm to Islam! -- Ridiculous indeed! -- In this article, I will discuss many of the unknown and untold facts on Madrassas in the world, along with some very exclusive investigative information on such religious schools."

The U.S. and Afghan Tragedy
Related Article  -- From the History File -- Posted 02-19-09 -- A quote...."The United States sent more than $8 billion to Pakistani military dictator Zia al-Huq, who dramatically increased the size of the Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) to help support Afghan mujahedeen in their battle against the Soviets and their puppet government. Their goal, according to the late Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, was "to radicalize the influence of religious factions within Afghanistan." The ISI helped channel this American money, and billions more from oil-rich American allies, from the Gulf region to extremists within the Afghan resistance movement. ---  Extremist Education - The Reagan administration sensed the most hard-line elements of the resistance were less likely to reach negotiated settlements, but the goal was to cripple the Soviet Union, not free the Afghan people. Recognizing the historically strong role of Islam in Afghan society, they tried to exploit it to advance U.S. policy goals. Religious studies along militaristic lines were given more importance than conventional education in the school system for Afghan refugees in Pakistan. The number of religious schools (madrassas) educating Afghans rose from 2,500 in 1980 at the start of Afghan resistance to over 39,000. The United States encouraged the Saudis to recruit Wahhabist ideologues to come join the resistance and teach in refugee institutes." - bold by website editor
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

9/11 - From The History File...The United States and Madrassas - Alt
Court Docs Shed Light on CIA Illegal Ops in Cent Asia Using Islam & Madrassas - Alt
Madrassa: Breeding ground of Jihadists
Afghanistan, the CIA, bin Laden, and the Taliban
The US and Afghan Tragedy - Alt - Alt - Alt
Sibel Edmonds Case: The Central Asia Islamization Cocktail:
"The Nobel War Prize"
Osama Bin Laden Created by the US - Alt
Pakistan, Madrassas, Extremism and the Military - PDF
1976: CIA & Other Intell Agencies Use BCCI to Control Terrorists - timeline
Afghanistan, the Taliban and the US - VI. The Covert-US Taliban Alliance - Alt
The Real Roots of Terror
Analysis - Madrassas
Transcript: Behind the Tension in U.S.-Saudi Arabia Relations
Many Pakistani Madrassas Teach Intolerance - (RA) - audio - (MP3) - audio
Paksitan's Madrasas - Weapons of Mass Instruction - Thesis - PDF
Islamic Religious Schools, Madrasas: PDF - and in HTML
Iran vs. Saudi Arabia vs. United States
Wahhabism’ in India

For more on this issue see....US Support of Terror - Madrassas
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

The Swine Flu Outbreak and Other Bio-Warfare Matters From CLG.....

Article#1 -- "Indonesian minister says swine flu could be man-made 28 Apr 2009 Indonesian Heath Minister Siti Fadilah Supari said Tuesday the deadly swine flu virus could have been man-made, as she urged calm over its spread around the world. The minister did not elaborate but in the past she has said Western governments could be making and spreading viruses in the developing world to boost pharmaceutical companies' profits. "I'm not sure whether the virus was genetically engineered but it's a possibility," she told reporters at a press conference called to reassure the public over the government's response to the swine flu threat." -- Paragraph quoted from CLG

Article#2 -- "DHS Sets Guidelines For Possible Swine Flu Quarantines --Federal quarantine authority is limited to diseases listed in presidential executive orders; President [sic] Bush added "novel" forms of influenza with the potential to create pandemics in Executive Order 13375. [Yeah, 'novel' - the ones created at Fort Detrick.] 28 Apr 2009 DHS Assistant Secretary Bridger McGaw circulated the swine flu memo, which was obtained by CBSNews.com, on Monday night. It says: "The Department of Justice has established legal federal authorities pertaining to the implementation of a quarantine and enforcement. Under approval from HHS, the Surgeon General has the authority to issue quarantines." Anyone violating a quarantine order can be punished by a $250,000 fine and a one-year prison term. A Defense Department planning document summarizing the military's contingency plan says the Pentagon is prepared to assist in "quarantining groups of people in order to minimize the spread of disease during an influenza pandemic" and aiding in "efforts to restore and maintain order." [See CLG's: DoD to carry out 'military missions' during pandemic, WMD attack and DoD to 'augment civilian law' during pandemic or bioterror attack.]" -- Paragraph quoted from CLG

CLG's Other Recent Articles -- List:

Suspected H1N1 Flu Case Reported at California Marine Base
WHO: Highest Alert 'Phase 6' Probably Imminent
Mass. Senate approves pandemic flu bill with quarantine powers
Ga. gov signs flu bill with 'state or emergency' for pandemic if 'phase 5 alert' is declared
Huge New Biodefense Lab Is Dedicated at Fort Detrick
6 Probable Swine Flu Cases Identified In Washington
Pa. Reports Probable Swine Flu Case
========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ========== ====

GDP Down 6.1%, Reflecting Continuing Economic Woes
A quote...."The U.S. economy contracted at a surprisingly sharp 6.1 percent rate in the first quarter as exports and business inventories plummeted. -- The drop in gross domestic product, reported by the Commerce Department on Wednesday, was much steeper than the 4.9 percent annual rate expected by economists and followed a 6.3 percent decline in the fourth quarter. -- GDP, which measures total goods and services output within U.S. borders, has now dropped for three straight quarters for the first time since 1974-1975." -- bold by website editor

Slump in exports hits US economy
Deflation Alert - A quote...."The US economy continued to contract in the first quarter of 2009, led by the biggest fall in exports for 40 years."

CFR Corporate Members Get Lion's Share of Bailout Funds
A quote...."Under Geithner and his predecessor (former Goldman Sachs CEO Henry “Hank” Paulson), the majority of bailout funds have been awarded to high-level donors to Geithner's former employer: the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR)."

The Clinton Bubble
A quote...."Has Timothy Geithner ever had lunch with a non-megamillionaire who has lost his job or home because of the banking meltdown? I ask that question after reading the list of the treasury secretary’s luncheon dates when he was head of the New York Federal Reserve, a list that the government was forced to provide in response to a lawsuit." -- also posted at CommonDreams

Bank of America, Citi flunk 'stress tests'
A quote...."WASHINGTON — Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp. will need to raise more capital based on preliminary results of their government-run "stress tests" — unless they succeed in appealing the findings, according to two people familiar with the matter."

Report: Chrysler breathing its last breath
A quote...."Chrysler is still likely to declare bankruptcy as negotiators prepare for a Thursday deadline to restructure the ailing automaker, a source says."

Interview: Auto-industry expert sees bankruptcy for GM, Chrysler more likely
A quote...."DETROIT, April 14 (Xinhua) -- The possibility of bankruptcy for General Motors (GM) and Chrysler is increasing as the U.S. government's deadline for restructuring approaches, an auto-industry expert said."

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

042909-050509 - links page

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