Tuesday May 15th 2007
Imperial Democracy: Buy One Get One Free (YouTube 53min 43sec) - posted at ICH
Must View -  A quote...."Lecture given by the charismatic, educated and poetic author Arundhati Roy about Empire, Iraq, War, Role of Money, USS Vincenz, Manufactured Consent, Disenfranchisement, Production Democracy, Affirmative Action, Patriot Act and Boardroom Bulletins"

This was posted Sept 12, 2006....she's absolutely outstanding - mpg

See also Arundhati Roy videos/lectures/articles
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Loser Liberalism Versus Power Populism
Must Read - A quote...."The Democrats like to portray themselves as the party of humble masses. This is in contrast to the Republicans, who President Bush once jokingly described as the party of the “haves and have mores.”  -  But there are two very distinct ways in which Democrats see themselves as helping out the middle class and poor. On the one hand, much of the Democratic Party leadership portrays the government as sort of a collective charity. These Democrats draw a picture that has the market determining societies’ winners and losers. But, because they are nice people, they think it’s appropriate to tax the winners to help out the losers. This distinguishes them from the Republicans, who want to tell the losers to get lost. This philosophy can be thought of as “loser liberalism,” since it holds that the government must tax back some of the winners’ money to help out those who did not do very well on their own."

Evil Empire - Is Imperial Liquidation Possible for America?
Must Read - "By Chalmers Johnson - 05/17/07 "ICH" -- -- In politics, as in medicine, a cure based on a false diagnosis is almost always worthless, often worsening the condition that is supposed to be healed. The United States, today, suffers from a plethora of public ills. Most of them can be traced to the militarism and imperialism that have led to the near-collapse of our Constitutional system of checks and balances. Unfortunately, none of the remedies proposed so far by American politicians or analysts addresses the root causes of the problem."

“The Ground Truth” - The Army You’ve Got
Must Read - A quote...."The great myth about the military—any military anywhere in the world—is that it’s an honorable gig. Not usually. Maybe the aim of the military, on rare occasions, is honorable: the defense of one’s land, the defense of a great, lived ideal (as opposed to a theoretical or utopian one, as in most of the 19 th and 20 th centuries’ revolutionary movements). In the 20th century, only World War II comes close to defensible necessity. And since? As far as the United States is concerned, not a single war rates, although Korea is a close second: it had the backing of the United Nations, compliments of a boycott by the Soviets. But Vietnam? Those rogue Central American interventions oiled by the likes of Ollie North? Beirut? Haiti? Panama? Gulf War I and the Iraq War? Not even close."

It is not only God that will be Blair's judge over Iraq
A quote...."Tony Blair's opposition to an immediate ceasefire in the Lebanon war last summer precipitated his downfall. Now that he has announced the date of his departure from Downing Street, his entire Middle East record needs to be placed under an uncompromising lens.  -  Blair came to office with no experience of, and virtually no interest in, foreign affairs, and ended by taking this country to war five times."

The Great Anglo-American Energy Miscalculation
A quote...."In far off countries, about which we know little, deals are being struck that will bring exasperation and ever increasing degrees of desperation to the "Anglo-American Military Industrial Complex's" aspirations of controlling the world energy markets.  -  There are hot wars, and there are cold wars, both are going on right now. The general public is largely oblivious to them both.  The hot wars are in Afghanistan and Iraq, these are waged for the very same reasons that the cold ones are currently being fought out.  The most obvious cold war currently is  the war against Iran, but a few degrees cooler than this is the war being carried out against Russia."

Breaking the Vow of Silence
A quote...."The underlying, unconscious psychological process that played out between my parents and the rabbi is very revealing, in that it is isomorphic (similar in structure) with what is playing out in our country today with people who are unquestioningly supporting the Bush regime and its criminal policies. Though the overwhelming majority of Americans now see through the current administration’s web of lies, there are still enough people who, like my parents blindly supporting the rabbi, either continue to unquestioningly support Bush in his madness, or recognizing the madness, remain silent. Each of these reactions allows the madness to enact itself unabated. The underlying psychological process that played out with the rabbi and his congregation was like a fractal that is presently reiterating itself en masse in our country, as well as in numerous permutations throughout the world. Contemplating what was being symbolically revealed in the process with the rabbi can help us understand how to better deal with the madness that is currently being acted out in the body politic of our nation and our world at large."

Brazilian rancher found guilty in killing of American nun
A quote...."BELEM, Brazil: A judge in an Amazon state sentenced a rancher to 30 years in prison for ordering the killing of American nun and rain forest defender Dorothy Stang, a case that could open the door to justice in the largely lawless region.  -  Vitalmiro Bastos de Moura, 36, was convicted Tuesday of masterminding the shooting of 73-year-old Stang on Feb. 12, 2005 deep in the rain forest she had been defending for decades."
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Washington’s New Imperial Strategy In Venezuela
A quote...."First used in Serbia in 2000, Washington has now perfected a new imperial strategy to maintain its supremacy around the globe. Whereas military invasions and installing dictatorships have traditionally been the way to control foreign populations and keep them out of the way of business, the U.S. government has now developed a new strategy that is not so messy or brutal, and much sleeker; so sleek, in fact, that it’s almost invisible."

Think Guatemala 1954, for Hugo Chavez’s Venezuela
Related article - A quote...." 05/15/07 "ICH" --- - In 1954, United Fruit, in concert with the CIA, successfully orchestrated the overthrow of Guatemala’s democratically-elected government of Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán, charging that the Central American nation had fallen under communist influence. The demise of Arbenz took time to accomplish, with the fatal draught being a casual concoction of miscommunication, corporate arrogance, misinformation, outright deception, a naïve reform-minded government and arrogance on the part of the Eisenhower administration. Arbenz was neither a communist, nor was his government profoundly sympathetic to extreme leftist ideas as charged at the time by U.S. government officials and media outlets. Upon his election in 1951, Arbenz took office in a country in which 70% of the arable land was controlled by 2.2% of the population – only 12% of which was being cultivated at the time of his overthrow in 1954. Like Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, he wanted to reform what was palpably neither a good nor just society. "
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Rattling the Cage: Bush and his good intentions
A quote...."If a war breaks out between Israel and Syria and a Winograd-style committee is appointed afterward to investigate it, one of the questions guaranteed to come up is this: Why did Prime Minister Ehud Olmert turn down Syrian President Bashar Assad's repeated, high-profile offers to talk peace?  -  The answer can already be written: Because that's what US President George W. Bush wanted Olmert to do. The prime minister hasn't even tried to hide this. "We must not respond to the Syrian initiative while President Bush, Israel's most important ally, opposes all negotiations with Syria," he has said."
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Mounting crisis in Yankee imperialism’s ‘back yard’
A quote...."The week-long trip to Latin America by US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte signals a turn by the Bush administration to addressing the mounting challenges facing American imperialism in a region where its dominance was once unchallenged."

Negroponte Arrives: Beware of the Wolf in Sheep's Clothing
Related article - A quote...."Being in the public eye is nothing like pulling strings behind the scenes. For that reason, one can assume that despite his vast and bloodthirsty experience – which includes spying, dirty wars, surreptitious dealings and repression - John Negroponte  will not have an easy mission today in Ecuador, his second stop on a tour of Latin America that began yesterday in Colombia."
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See No Evil: Somalia Sinks Into the Pit as the World Looks Away
A quote...."How bad is the situation in Somalia, the third target of George W. Bush's "Terror War" take-downs? It's "worse than Darfur," says the UN's humanitarian chief, John Holmes.  -  Holmes, a former top British diplomat, told the Telegraph that "In terms of the numbers of people displaced, and our access to them, Somalia is a worse crisis than Darfur or Chad or anywhere else this year."

Iraq: Residents vow to destroy U.S.-constructed sectarian walls
A quote...."The residents of Adhamiya have vowed to destroy the walls U.S. troops are constructing to separate Baghdad neighborhoods on sectarian grounds.  -  “We shall destroy the walls the notorious occupation is constructing and keep our city an integral part of Iraq,” a statement by a newly formed resistance group said.  -  The statement emailed to the newspaper, said the wall separating Adhamiya from the rest of Baghdad “must be brought down” and this will be “achieved through the power and muscles of all the residents of Baghdad.”

Iraqis to Bush - Tear down this wall Mr. Bush....if you don't, we will! - mpg
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Dobson Hallucinates Iranian “Existential Threat”
A quote...."I’m experiencing that old déjà vu feeling again. Iraq has nukes or biologicals. Saddam is Hitler. Saddam and al-Qaeda will unleash a fury against the United States. Kindergarten children and old ladies will suffer and die. We have to do something. We have to mass murder a whole lot of people. Turn the place into a glass parking lot.  -  It’s not just Iran this time, though. “If we can lose ten we can lose a hundred,” warned Dobson, “especially if North Korea and Russia and China pile on.” Of course, this is imbecilic, as China, Russia and especially North Korea are not about to nuke anybody, but as we know this sort of inanity works like a charm, as a few million Iraqis can attest."

See also....The Plan -- according to U.S. General Wesley Clark (Ret.) YouTube - 1.37 min
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At least 16 killed in Hamas-Fatah fighting
A quote...."GAZA (Reuters) - At least 16 Palestinians were killed on Tuesday -- eight in one incident -- in the deadliest fighting between Hamas and Fatah since the rivals formed a unity government to end bloodshed threatening to spill into civil war."

Pakistani cities virtually shut down by strike
A quote...."KARACHI (Reuters) - A Pakistani opposition strike virtually shut down Karachi and other major cities on Monday after nearly 40 people were killed and about 150 wounded in Pakistan's worst political street violence in two decades."

Province shut down by Pakistan strikes
Related article - A quote...."KARACHI, Pakistan -- Storefronts were shuttered and the streets of Pakistan's commercial hub emptied of cars on Monday as residents angry over a weekend of deadly political violence honored a general strike called amid growing discontent over President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's ouster of the chief justice."

Renewed Violence Limits Oil Production in Nigerian Region
A quote...."The violence that has gripped Nigeria’s main oil region for the last year is again on the rise after weeks of an uneasy truce.  -  Tensions have flared up in the Niger Delta, the site of much of the country’s oil production, after deeply flawed presidential elections last month. Dozens of foreign oil workers have since been kidnapped, at least three pipelines blown up, several supply vessels attacked and oil production curtailed."

AIPAC to pay Weissman's legal fees
A quote...."AIPAC reached a deal with lawyers for its former Iran analyst, Keith Weissman, to pay for his defense against Espionage Act charges.  -  "AIPAC is fully paying for Keith Weissman's defense through appeal if necessary," a source close to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee told JTA on Saturday. Sources close to the defense confirmed the deal. Spokesmen for Arent Fox, the law firm representing Weissman, could not be reached over the weekend for comment."
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Angry Wolfowitz in four-letter tirade
A quote...."An angry and bitter Paul Wolfowitz poured abuse and threatened retaliations on senior World Bank staff if his orders for pay rises and promotions for his partner were revealed, according to new details published last night."

West's Monopoly on IMF and World Bank Leadership Must End
Related article - A quote...."In a world where Asia has become the planet's principal creditor, this trans-Atlantic monopoly isn't only obsolete, it's harmful. It leads the world to believe that despite all opposition, Westerners want to remain 'Masters of the World.'

Europeans step up pressure on Wolfowitz
Related article - A quote...."European governments are preparing to take a hard line against Paul Wolfowitz remaining as head of the World Bank, pushing ahead with a possible vote of no confidence and brushing off US proposals to delay judging the embattled president over his ethical violations."
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9/11 Truth Activist Gets Death Threats
A quote...."A prominent 9/11 truth activist and a reporter for Alex Jones' radio show has received threatening phone calls and death threats after exposing the fact that WTC leaseholder Larry Silverstein got a warning on the morning of 9/11 not to come to work."

Alex Jones Covers Further 'Video Loss' by BBC on 9/11
A quote...."Recently discovered footage of early reporting of the collapse of WTC Building 7 by the BBC, as well as CNN and BBC24-- while WTC7 was still standing in the background of the shot (a.k.a. Solomon Bros. Building-- a 47-story skyscraper within the WTC complex) seems to indicate direct scripting of Mainstream Media."

Update: Silverstein Family Were All "Running Late" On 9/11
Related article - A quote...."Following our article yesterday in which we revealed New York 9/11 truth activist Luke Rudkowski's claims that Silverstein's security had personally told him that Silverstein and his daughter got a warning on the morning of 9/11 not to come to work that day, we have been inundated with emails asking us to highlight the fact that there were in fact three Silversteins working in the towers who were all "running late" on that day."

See also....Claim: Silverstein Warned Not To Come To Work On 9/11
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9/11 - From The History File...U.S. Clamps Secrecy on Warnings Before 9/11
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Secret IDF anthrax experiment participants develop illnesses
A quote...."Israeli investigative program "Uvda" (fact) reported Tuesday that dozens of soldiers belonging to elite Israel Defense Forces units have been suffering from various illnesses over the last few years after participating in a secret IDF experiment meant to aid in the development of an anthrax vaccine."
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Rove fingered five of the US Attorneys slated for dismissal
A quote...."The Washington Post continues to break news on the US Attorney firing scandal, which has largely vanished from the rest of the US media.  -  According to the Post story, slotted on page A4, nearly half of the US attorneys slated for removal were targets of Republican complaints that they were lax in prosecuting voter fraud, "including efforts by presidential adviser Karl Rove to encourage more prosecutions of election- law violations, according to new documents and interviews."

Former Deputy AG on Wiretaps: "White House Tried to Coerce Ashcroft"
A quote...."    The White House operated a domestic surveillance program for several weeks three years ago, overriding objections by senior Justice Department officials who had informed top Bush administration officials that the spy program was illegal, a former deputy attorney general testified Tuesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Domestic spying program was `without legal basis,' ex-official says
A quote...."WASHINGTON - The Bush administration ran its warrantless eavesdropping program without the Justice Department's approval for up to three weeks in 2004, nearly triggering a mass resignation of the nation's top law enforcement officials, the former No. 2 official disclosed Tuesday.  -  In testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee, former Deputy Attorney General James Comey said that those he believed were prepared to quit included then-Attorney General John Ashcroft and FBI Director Robert Mueller."

White House Censors Civil Liberties Report
A quote...."We are fighting the war on terror, so, not only are civil liberties any longer relevant but neither is any report on civil liberties being violated relevant. After all, if you do not know that you have no rights, you won't complain all that much, see? From ACLU:"

Thirty Three Arrested Protesting War as Part of 'Mother of a March'
A quote...."After rallying in Lafayette Park across the street from the White House more than 250 anti-war advocates marched through Washington, DC to Capitol Hill. When they reached the Cannon House Office Building they formed two circles blocking the street to all traffic."

SAIC takes over work at Defense Supply Center
A quote...." Inventory management and supply services currently provided to the Defense Supply Center by the Defense Logistics Agency are being privatized.  -  Science Applications International Corp. won the five-year, $6.2 billion contract to provide Defense Supply Center with chemicals, petroleum, oils and lubricants."

Also known as spook central, the US's plumbers,  or the retirement home of the CIA.  Heck just look at its name....it's CIA'S spelled backwards.  See also.....SAIC Corp Watch search list .  By the way guess who was a SAIC board member....Robert Gates of course. - mpg
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Why the United Auto Workers supports Cerberus’ take-over of Chrysler
A quote...."The United Auto Workers’ backing for the sale of Chrysler to the Wall Street private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management has far-reaching and dire implications not only for Chrysler workers, but for all US auto workers.  -  Behind the union’s embrace of a firm notorious for realizing huge profits by slashing jobs and wages and selling off corporate assets are moves to offload the US auto makers’ retiree health care liabilities to a new UAW-controlled company. The union officials are looking to go into the health care business and enrich themselves by directly imposing massive cuts in benefits on their own members."

After Scandal the of Chrysler, Heads Should Roll at Daimler
Related article - A quote...."The American dream of Daimler is at an end. At last, the decision on the future of its problemed-daughter Chrysler has been made. Because for far too long, Daimler - under the management of Dieter Zetsche - has allowed rumors to bubble as to who the new owners of the American car builder were going be. That a "grasshopper" like the U.S. Cerberus Corporation won the bid is a scandal. Indeed, the emergency at Daimler must be great for a corporation like Cerberus to have been given responsibility for Chrysler, rather that a company from within the industry, such as Canadian firm and auto parts manufacturer Magna, who had also expressed great interest."

Russian Breakthrough Reported In Radio Telescopes And Electromagnetic Weapons
A quote...."MOSCOW. (Yury Zaitsev for RIA Novosti) - A group of Russian scientists from Tomsk, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod and Moscow have developed a series of unique compact generators capable of producing high-energy pulses of hundreds and even thousands of megawatts.  -  This compares with the capacity of a major Soviet hydropower station on the Dnieper or an energy unit at a modern nuclear power plant. The new generators are sources of electromagnetic radiation rather than electricity. Their main feature is a capacity to produce enormous power in a matter of nanoseconds. The impulses can be generated with a very high frequency."

Memorial Day Alternative
Good list of Anti-war films. - mpg

The Collision Between The Milky Way and Andromeda
A quote...."Abstract: We use a N-body/hydrodynamic simulation to forecast the future encounter between the Milky Way and the Andromeda galaxies, given current observational constraints on their relative distance, velocity, and mass. Allowing for a comparable amount of diffuse mass to fill the volume of the Local Group, we find that the two galaxies are likely to collide in a few billion years "

The Saturday Cartoons
A funny cartoon. - mpg
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Monday May 14th 2007
What Price Slaughter?
A quote...."What value has a human life?  -  We usually think of this in terms of sentiment -- of memories, grief, love, longing, of everything, in short, that is too deep and valuable to put a price upon. Then again, is anything in our world truly priceless?"

“The Color of Blood, the Color of Resistance, the Color of Iraq.”
A quote...." 05/14/07 "ICH" -- -- -I wonder what goes through Cheney’s mind when he visits Baghdad. Does he ever look out the window of his armor-plated limmo and see the wasteland he’s created---the burned out buildings, the pock-marked streets, the wretched orphans sorting through the garbage for something to eat? Al Arabiya news says that there may be as many as 100,000 orphans in Baghdad now. These are Cheney’s kids, aren’t they--the Vice President’s gift to the “New Middle East”? The next generation of terrorists?  -   What a horrible legacy. What a horrible man."

The CIA -- a Terrorist Organization
A quote...." 05/14/07 "ICH" -- -- The United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) can be considered a terrorist organization according to both international and American definitions of terrorism.  -  Since September 2001, U.S. President George W. Bush announced that he would use all his resources to fight terrorist organizations and declared a war on terror, which he legally cannot do, since according to the United States Constitution only the Congress can declare war, and it must be declared on a specific source."

Sadrist lawmakers, U.S. soldiers in Green Zone standoff
A quote...."BAGHDAD: U.S. soldiers on Monday stopped five lawmakers loyal to anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr as they were walking to a parking lot inside Baghdad's fortified Green Zone, one of the lawmakers said.  -  An Associated Press reporter witnessed the encounter."

Near U.S. Media Blackout of Afghan Parliament
A quote...."This diary would have been titled "Total U.S. Media Blackout of Afghan Parliament", except that I can find one paragraph in the New York Times, half-way through a three-page story; and I can find one sentence in a story from "All Headline News" out of Las Vegas.  -  Nothing in the Washington Post.  Nothing in the LA Times.  Nothing on CNN.  -  The Afghan parliament, over the past few days, has been passing bills to kick out US-NATO forces, offer amnesty to insurgents, and to reconcile their warring parties.  They are trying to end the war."

No More Purple Fingers: GOP Disappointed with Iraq's Government
A quote...."Republicans in Congress who once seized on the election of an Iraqi government as a total vindication of George W. Bush's decision to invade the country and overthrow the regime of Saddam Hussein, are now expressing overwhelming disappointment in that very government."

Republican senator slams Iraqi government
Related article - A quote...."WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top-ranking Republican in the U.S. Senate on Sunday expressed frustration with the Iraqi government, saying Republicans were "overwhelmingly disappointed" with the lack of political progress.  -  "The Iraqi government is a huge disappointment," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told CNN'S Late Edition on Sunday.  -  "So far, they've not been able do anything they promised on the political side," the Kentucky Republican said, citing the Iraqis' failure to pass a new oil revenue bill, (1) -  hold local elections (2) -  and dismantle the former Baath Party of Saddam Hussein.(3) "It's a growing frustration."

Our representatives are stupid lackeys of the one tenth of one percent who really run this country. - This is for the illustrious lickspittle who stated the three items contained in the sentence highlighted above - (1) It's the Iraqi's oil and they don't have to give it to your rich friends. - (2) They’ve already held free and fair elections and it's just too bad they didn't vote for people who represent your rich friends.  (3) This one you got totally wrong, de-bathifacation was successfully implemented under Paul Bremmer and is considered by many US analysts to be a disastrous policy which has contributed to the growth of the present Sunni insurgency in Iraq.  In fact the US has recently taken steps to bring some Bathists back into the Iraqi government to hopefully ameliorate some of the Sunnis discontent.  You would know this if you had the ability to read or if your brain was larger than the size of a gnat’s. - mpg

See also....Iraqi Parliament Objects to Baghdad Wall
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Benchmarks and Bullsh*t  -  Beware bipartisan 'consensus' on Iraq
A quote...."The news I have for "netroots" types and Huffington Post liberals who see the Democratic Party as the major if not only hope for the antiwar movement can be summed up in two words: forget it. Majority leader Sen. Harry Reid recently let the cat out of the bag when he said, "There is new reason this week to believe that a bipartisan consensus on Iraq is emerging.  -  Translation: the sellout is coming, if it isn't already here."

See also....Stupidity Alert - 03-28-07 - mpg
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Video Israel Doesn't Want You to See (YouTube - 2min 56sec) - posted at ICH
After killing the Palestinian mother of the two children shown on the video one Israeli soldier commented "I don't know what we're doing here, purification maybe, it's dirty here.....". The soldier’s statement seems so familiar….anyone care to guess where and when such thinking and the attitudes that underlay them have been openly stated before.  Take a guess. - mpg

And You Thought the Cold War Was Gone For Good?
A quote...."The current brouhaha over a U.S. plan to deploy anti-ballistic missiles (ABM) in Poland has nothing to do with a fear that Iran will attack Europe or the U.S. with nuclear tipped Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM). It has a great deal to do with the Bush Administration's efforts to neutralize Russia's and China's nuclear deterrents and edge both countries out of Central Asia."

Habeas Corpus Evaporating
A quote...."Six months after Congress enacted the Military Commissions Act of 2006 with its eyes firmly on the polls, there have been many promises and proposals from legislators about how to remedy the damage done to civil liberties by that law—but little action. Despite the powerful advocacy of former military officials, religious figures, and law enforcement officials, Congress has as of yet failed to fix a single one of the MCA’s many flaws. -  As efforts to rectify the MCA’s most egregious incursions of America’s separation of powers hang in the balance, it is worth recalling how much is at stake today—and how badly things could go wrong if enacted legislation doesn’t achieve real reform."

It's been six long months and so far the DemoRepub Congress has only partially completed JUST ONE of the Thirty Acts to Restore Americans' Rights 11-10-06 - mpg
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Hookergate
A quote...."May 14, 2007 -- UPDATED -- Hookergate involves fired US Attorney. US District Judge for the District of Columbia Gladys Kessler, a Clinton appointee, has re-issued an order prohibiting DC Madam Deborah Jeane Palfrey from releasing any more phone lists of her Pamela Martin & Associates customers. Secrecy of the phone records has been a priority for DC Assistant US Attorney William Cowden. Palfrey released the last four years of ten years of customer phone records to ABC's "20/20" before Kessler's March order prohibiting such a release took effect. As WMR reported, ABC and Disney, under pressure from the Bush White House, killed the story and stated that there were no "newsworthy" names on the Madam's list"

Claim: Silverstein Warned Not To Come To Work On 9/11
A quote...."New York 9/11 truth activist Luke Rudkowski claims WTC complex leaseholder Larry Silverstein and his daughter got a warning on the morning of 9/11 not to come to work that day - his source? - Silverstein's own security guards.  -  Rudkowski and his protest group We Are Change protested Silverstein outside the new WTC 7 building last month and were confronted by Silverstein's security entourage who proceeded to harass the group before calling in a fake bomb threat to the NYPD in an attempt to have the demonstrators arrested."

New Footage Re-Ignites BBC Building 7 Controversy
A quote...."More 9/11 archive footage has been unearthed of BBC correspondent Jane Standley, this time from the evening of September 11, in which her audio cuts out again - for the second time that day - when she begins to discuss Building 7."

Slip of the tongue? Rumsfeld admits that "Flight 93" was shot down
A quote....""Well, I discussed it with the president. Are we prepared to order our aircraft to shoot down these airliners that have been hijacked? He said yes...  I--it was my advice. It was his decision."(Vice President Dick Cheney, September 11, 2001, source CBS News Archives)"

Korean relations on a new track
A quote...."The South Korean port of Busan ranks as one of the world's 10 biggest and busiest ports on the strength of all those Korean exports. It could, however, grow exponentially if only the goods start rolling by rail from Busan, up the Korean Peninsula through South and North Korea, and on to Russia - and Europe. -  That's a vision long shared by Russia - and also by managers of a special zone covering Busan and nearby Jinhae as they move full speed ahead in a vast program for expanding the port that dominates the southeastern corner of the peninsula. The only drawback: North Korea's dilapidated rail network and the North's penchant for turning all such dreams into chips in a grand bargaining game."
Sunday May 13th 2007

Lesson of Algeria Is Lost On Bush
A quote...."When a high-ranking French leader suggested in a private meeting that President George W. Bush consider Algeria as a model for a staged disengagement from Iraq, the president reportedly listened, no doubt with that dazed attention span of a windshield wiper. Bush was said to have assured his European petitioner that he just happened to be finishing a book on the Algerian War."

Iraqis Resist U.S. Pressure to Enact Oil Law
Related article - A quote...."BAGHDAD - It has not even reached parliament, but the oil law that U.S. officials call vital to ending Iraq’s civil war is in serious trouble among Iraqi lawmakers, many of whom see it as a sloppy document rushed forward to satisfy Washington’s clock.  -  Opposition ranges from vehement to measured, but two things are clear: The May deadline that the White House had been banking on is in doubt. And even if the law is passed, it fails to resolve key issues, including how to divide Iraq’s oil revenue among its Shiite, Kurdish and Sunni regions, and how much foreign investment to allow. Those questions would be put off for future debates."

There's a simple solution to this impasse, the Iraqi people should just pass a resolution which states as a matter of principal that all the oil revenues should be divided equally among the Iraqi people.....and that NONE OF IT will go to any of the US's oil companies.  That will work - and it's the only position they can take that will save the country. - mpg

PS - Editor's note : The LA Times has been printing some really good articles for the last six months.  They've actually been following the money as apposed to some of the other well known national publications who call themselves "news"papers.

See also....The PSA's - 01-18-07 - mpg
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Hookers, spies, cases full of dollars...how BP spent £45m to win 'Wild East' oil rights
Related article - A quote...."Comment: This story appeared early today on the Daily Mail website. It has since been pulled without explanation." - Alex Jones.com

BP executives working for Lord Browne spent millions of pounds on champagne-fuelled sex parties to help secure lucrative international oil contracts.  -  The company also worked with MI6 to help bring about changes in foreign governments, according to an astonishing account of life inside the oil giant.  -  Les Abrahams, who led BP's successful bid for a multi-million-pound deal with one of the former Soviet republics, today claims that Browne - who was forced to resign as chief executive last month after the collapse of legal proceedings against The Mail on Sunday - presided over an "anything goes" regime of sexual licence, spying and financial sweeteners."

Hey maybe the US could try these same wonderful tactics with the Iraqi parliament, it worked for Chalabi.....Oh drat’s, that's right -  most of them are strict Muslims.....guess the US elites will just have to go and kill them all. -  mpg
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Iraqi Parliament Objects to Baghdad Wall
A quote...."BAGHDAD (AP) - Iraq's parliament objected Saturday to the construction of walls around Baghdad neighborhoods and called on Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to testify about other security issues.  Construction of the walls - particularly in the Baghdad neighborhood of Azamiyah - has been criticized by residents and Sunni clerics who say it is a form of sectarian discrimination. Even followers of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr complained, fearing their strongholds in the capital will soon be split by the barriers."

So what?....The Iraqi parliament also voted to have the US troops withdraw from the country and are going to vote against the oil law.  And as usual they have been, and will continue to be, completely ignored by the US's elites. - mpg
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The View from Baghdad  -  Blair's Departure
Must Read - A quote...."Iraq may be seen in Britain as Tony Blair's nemesis but Iraqis yesterday greeted his departure with utter indifference. Asked what they thought about it, most simply shrugged their shoulders and looked surprised at being asked the question. Others said they saw him as a surrogate for President Bush."

Inside the Crevice: 7/7 and the Security Debacle
A quote...."In an official statement on its website, the security service claims that Khan and Tanweer were “never identified during the fertiliser plot investigation because they were not involved in the planned attacks. Rather, they appeared as petty fraudsters in loose contact with members of the plot. There was no indication that they were involved in planning any kind of terrorist attack in the UK."  -  Thanks to the investigations of a number of British journalists, we now know that MI5 has been somewhat economical with the truth. Richard Watson of BBC Newsnight, Vikram Dodd at the Guardian, and David Leppard at the Sunday Times, among others have obtained evidence from security sources showing that Scotland Yard and MI5 had indeed identified Khan, by name, at latest around six months prior to 7/7, via his car registration. This is also confirmed by a Crown Prosecution Service document that came up in the course of the crevice trial."
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9/11 - From The History File...Kean and failure on 9/11
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US to build Afghan super-madrassas
Related article - Some quotes - American forces in Afghanistan are building madrassas in an attempt to persuade parents not to send their children across the border to Pakistan for instruction at hard-line religious schools."

"In Afghan terms it is a madrassa, but those words have baggage and if word gets back to a Western public that we are building madrassas, that is a bad thing," said Major Jason Smallfield, 37, an American officer in Sharana." -  bold/iitalics by website author

"These words have baggage" .......No you're kidding! Say it ain't so Major!  Let's keep in mind it was the Saudi sponsored madrassas where al Qaeda "terrorists" (i.e. American false flag operators) were recruited in the first place.  Now the US armed forces are going to build madrassas for them.  This is simply hilarious. To everyone out there this is your tax dollars at work. It's soooooo funny.

All part of the "creative" / "destructive" process one might say..... How about playing both sides against the middle?...."Global Mutt and Jeff?....The US's version of Yin & Yang?....Playing the broker/dealer on both sides of the transaction?....World Wide good cop / bad cop?  Well you get the picture. – mpg
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Pakistan on brink of disaster as Karachi burns
A quote...."Chaos gripped the streets of Karachi yesterday as gun battles left at least 31 people dead and hundreds more injured, threatening a complete breakdown of law and order in Pakistan's largest and most volatile city.  -  With plumes of black smoke billowing over the city of 12 million people, there were extraordinary scenes as gunmen on motorbikes pumped bullets into crowds demonstrating against Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf, while police stood by and watched."

Ah yes, another world leader who had the chutzpah to think he could "do business" with the US, it's elites, and Mr. Reficul is about to get a harsh lesson in reality.  Anybody else out there want some of the US's  "constructive instability"....anybody?  This country has plenty to go around.  Any more volunteers? - mpg 
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Anbar a bright spot in turbulent Iraq - posted at AntiWar
A quote...." BAGHDAD, Iraq - Ali Hatam Ali al Suleiman sat in a high-backed leather chair in his Baghdad office, proud of what the Anbar Salvation Council has done. The council, a group of leaders from the Dulaim tribe, Iraq's largest, is driving the al-Qaida in Iraq group from what had been sanctuary in Anbar province.  -  For four years, the province has been a battleground between the extremist group and U.S. forces. Innocent people from the tribes have been killed, mostly by al-Qaida but also by American troops, he said.  -  "The service we are providing is fighting al-Qaida and militias with no mercy," he said. "They corrupted our religion; they misinterpreted our values. We are Iraqis - not Sunnis and Shiites. We don't threaten to bomb and to kill; all we wanted was our dignity and to live."  - bold/italics by website author

Obviously US forces under our elite’s ever watchful gaze are going to have to arrange something "fortuitous" for this poor guy.  Sooner or later he's going to come to the realization that the US elites won't allow him to live with dignity and they most certainly won't allow him to live with "his oil". - mpg
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CBS fires consultant Gen. Batiste over VoteVets ad; 'We went to war with a fatally flawed strategy'
A quote...."Retired Army Major Gen. John Batiste has been asked to leave his position as a consultant to CBS News over a new advertisement criticizing the Iraq war. The ad was produced by the group VoteVets.  -  Appearing on MSNBC's Countdown, Batiste, former First Infantry Division commander, tells host Keith Olbermann in the video clip below, "I'm no longer wearing the uniform of our country; I have no ties to the defense industry; I can speak honestly, I have a duty to do so. And I know there [are] other generals both active duty and retired that are doing all they can within their means. In my case, I'll continue to speak out."

Iran: U.S. Is True Nuclear Proliferator
A quote...."Iran argues it is entitled to enrich uranium under the treaty provision giving all pact members the right to develop peaceful programs. But suspicions bred by nearly two decades of clandestine nuclear activities, including questionable black-market acquisitions of equipment and blueprints that appear linked to weapons plans, have led to U.N. sanctions over its refusal to freeze enrichment."

Iran is correct, whether you believe Iran is trying to acquire nuclear weapons or not - Iran IS ENTITLED to enrich uranium under the treaty's provisions.  But like every other treaty the US elites have ratified including this nation's constitution, (see presidential signing statements) the elites of this country have made all those documents and the promises they represent not worth the paper they're printed on.  Their word is not their bond, they oath will not be honored; they will ALWAYS violate both the spirit and the letter of the law.  They will never honor any guarantees. It is their nature to do so. It is their way. - mpg
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Bombs Over Cambodia: New Light on US Air War
A quote...."United States bombings in Afghanistan have “given a propaganda windfall to the Taliban.” [1] Is history repeating itself? In 1975, Pol Pot’s genocidal Khmer Rouge forces took power in Cambodia after a massive U.S. bombing campaign there. New information reveals that Cambodia was bombed far more heavily during the Vietnam War than previously believed — and that the bombing began not under Richard Nixon, but under Lyndon Johnson."

Parting Shot: Blair Jails Two to Shield "Madman" Bush
Must Read - A quote...."These are days of troubled sleep. As in a dream, you walk familiar streets, living out your ordinary life -- going to work, having love affairs, watching sports, getting the car fixed, worrying about bills, fighting a toothache, taking kids to school, listening to music -- and everything seems as it was before, as it always was; you seem to be what you always were: a free person in a free country. Then some discordant noise reaches your mind; you stir, you open your eyes, and you remember: that's not how it is here anymore."

"For citizens in the world's two "leading democracies," the United States and Britain, these rude awakenings come at regular intervals now, piercing through the incessant roar of static from the media engines of sell and spin. A story catches your eye -- usually something buried beneath the "big news" of the day -- and once again you're tumbled from your private concerns into a dreadful realization of where history has taken you: into a strange hybrid world of unfree freedom, where you can say what you want, do what you want -- unless those in power arbitrarily decide that you can't. In 99 cases out of 100, they'll leave you alone (as long as you're white and look non-threatening; if not, that ratio drops considerably). But this liberty is illusory; it no longer has a physical reality, or even a statutory one. It is now a "gift" of the authorities, one which they can bestow -- or revoke -- according to their own, ever-shifting needs and desires."

See also....The Method - 05-07-07 - mpg
See also....White Man's Burden - 12-20-06 -  mpg
See also....Thirty Acts to Restore Americans' Rights - 11-10-06 - mpg
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Fatal Attack Shows Dangers for Iraqi Journalists - posted at BuzzFlash
A quote...."BAGHDAD In a polarized Iraq, radio host Suhad Rabia did everything she could to stop her listeners from figuring out whether she was Shiite or Sunni.  -  When callers used abusive language to speak of ethnic or religious groups other than their own, she promptly took them off the air. When they expressed extremist sectarian sentiments, she reminded listeners that the station did not share their views. She sympathized with victims of sectarian cleansing, Shiite or Sunni, when they called in."

This is one really brave woman. - mpg
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U.S. relations with Russia have gone steadily downhill under Bush - posted at AntiWar
A quote...."WASHINGTON: President George W. Bush may have liked what he saw when he first peered into Vladimir Putin's soul nearly six years ago. Yet while Bush was looking away, the sunnier horizon he sought with Russia turned cloudy."

Oh this is fantastic, the US gets to have another "Cold War" & a new "War on Terror", otherwise known as the "long war" or the "thirty years war".  Boy oh boy, whoever said Bush was a loser was wrong.  He's done more for the MIOC elites of this country than any other president (although he really isn't one) in history. - mpg
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Bush passes the buck on Iraq
A quote...."WASHINGTON -- President Bush still has to learn "the buck stops here" when it comes to presidential decisions.  -  The "decider" and commander in chief seems to be trying to pass the buck, particularly if the war in Iraq implodes and he has to bring troops home from his disastrous invasion of Iraq."

Voting machine rage: Uh-Oh -- Hammertime!
Must Read - Related Article - A quote...."A 52-year old carpenter from Arlington Virginia expressed frustration over losing his voting rights by taking a hammer to a voting machine. The WinVote machine succumbed to no less than an Estwing Supreme 22S, “the finest framing hammer known to mankind,” according to Sabo. Arlington has been forcing its citizenry to vote on machines of questionable pedigree, which count votes in secret, prohibit citizen oversight and for added fun, feature wireless capability throughout Election Day."

Above the Law: How Bush Became the Torture President
Related Article - A quote...."Bush pokes fun at the concept of international law in those instances in which he is in clear violation of it but supports it when it suits his own malevolent, imperial purposes. Bush was outraged recently when Iran took British sailors into custody. This is the same Bush who pokes fun at those laws that clearly apply to him.  -  “International law? I better call my lawyer.”  -  Who is the bigger hypocrite -Bush or his poodle, Tony Blair? Bush regards the UN Charter ban on aggressive war a "...goofy experiment". Multilateralism, he calls it. But Blair, who should have known better, bowed low to help Bush attack and invade Iraq. Blair knew that there were no WMD to be found. He knew that Bush was lying. Blair knew that the war against Iraq is and remains a war crime under Nuremberg, US Codes, and Geneva. So disdainful of any principle of justice that might apply to Der Führer, Bush insisted that the US Congress exempt him from US laws.  -  It is not only the war of aggression against Iraq that dogs Bush, it is US torture at Abu Ghraib, GITMO, and throughout the "secret" Eastern European archipelago."

Administration Withheld E-Mails About Rove
A quote...."The Bush administration has withheld a series of e-mails from Congress showing that senior White House and Justice Department officials worked together to conceal the role of Karl Rove in installing Timothy Griffin, a protégé of Rove's, as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas."

If Dems Don't Act Nice in the Primary
Must View - As one can tell by reading this blog DemoRepubs are hardly different than RepubDemos as far as this humble author is concerned, especially regarding any possible changes to US economic or foreign policy.....but this is GOOD. Sort of like seeing the movie Crash in just three short minutes. - mpg

PS - Everyone should VOTE THEIR CONSCIENCE, just why the heck are the 2008 presidential hopefuls now limited to "Bombs away O'bomb-a", "Hideous Hillary" or that cross dressing fruit cake Rudy Giuliani (YouTube 46sec)?
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Saturday may 12th 2007
No posts - mpg
Friday May 11th 2007
Eyes wide shut
Must Read - A quote...."Faced with more US troops, many armed Iraqi groups have gone to ground – for the moment. Others manipulate US troops to do their dirty work for them. The US has failed to create a political settlement and appears to be blind to its own lack of progress"

Pelosi's New Iraq Supplemental Is Outright Colonial Robbery
Must Read - A quote...."There is a growing number of people out there who believe the Reid-Pelosi Iraq war supplemental is a gigantic crock of sh-t, and who think the Democratic Party leadership should now officially be labeled conspirators in the war effort. I've even seen it suggested that Reid and Pelosi should now be sent official "certificates of war ownership," to formally put them in a club with Bush, Cheney, Richard Perle and the rest of the actual war authors...."

Collateral Genocide
A quote...."Two elements are necessary to commit the crime of genocide: 1) the mental element, meaning intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, and 2) the physical element, which includes any of the following: killing or causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the group's physical destruction in whole or in part; imposing measures intended to prevent births; or forcibly transferring children to another group."

Former collaborator discloses details of US-ordered assassinations, sectarian bomb attacks targeting Iraqi civilians
A quote...."An Iraqi who asked not to be identified had disclosed some of the US activities such as assassinations and bombings in markets that aim at sparking sectarian fighting among Iraqis so as to facilitate the partition of the country."

The Assassination of Journalists - Protected by States Secrets
A quote...."I wrote about this two years ago:"  -  "The Mirror, a UK publication which reported Tuesday on an alleged US plan to bomb an Arab TV station seen as anti-US, has been gagged from reporting any further on the memo and its contents by Attorney General Lord Goldsmith, RAW STORY has learned."

USS Nimitz carrier group arrives in Gulf
War Update - A quote...."MANAMA - The USS Nimitz aircraft carrier and strike group arrived in Gulf waters on Tuesday to provide air support to ground troops operating in Afghanistan and Iraq, the US Navy said in a statement.  -  The Nimitz will replace the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, which left the region on Friday after serving with the US Navy’s Fifth fleet based in Bahrain. - bold/italics by website author

Arab News - Editorial: Revisiting Iraq Disaster
A quote...."US Vice President Dick Cheney, the real architect of the Bush administration’s Iraq debacle, has been in Baghdad to see the disaster for himself. But even now, in the face of all evidence to the contrary, with hundreds of Iraqis being murdered every month and US troops dying at the rate of three a day, Cheney insists that his is the right strategy to defeat terror."

Reporters Without Borders provides financial help to families of killed journalists
A quote...."Reporters Without Borders is providing financial help to the families of journalists killed in Iraq.  -  The group's secretary-general Robert Menard traveled to Baghdad this week to deliver the aid.  He said funds were provided to 20 families in the autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq and 57 families elsewhere also would receive funds. He didn't say how much each family would receive.  -  "We will do the same for other families in the future," Menard said, according to a statement."

Time Was - Influence Prattling
A quote...."Marketing is what manufactures and pushes news as far as the establishment American press is concerned. Truth-seeking isn’t even incidental. Time’s editors decide what the news is, in concert with Time subscribers’ desire for what news isn’t—for soft-core entertainment that does absolutely nothing to advance debate, project new ideas, analyze nuances and subtexts in what we are constantly told is a complex world in need of magazines like Time to explain it.  No wonder the magazine Is tanking in readership and relevance. - bold/italics by website author

Capitalism and Democracy, The Frog and the Scorpion
Must Read - A quote...."It is a classic irony that a free republic celebrates wealth as it tolerates the erosion of its laws in the interest of capital profit. Democracy and corporate interests naturally conflict when the bottom line, and the health of the community demands a choice. Because they are in pursuit of capital gain to the exclusion of all else, moneyed interests won’t hesitate to undermine the freedoms that allow them, and will eventually gather political power to themselves finally replacing a free society with fascism. In a capitalist society, this process is as natural as the rain."

Bush Actions Similar to History’s Tyrants
A quote...."As public sentiment begins to build for impeachment, it might be worthwhile to examine the many characteristics President Bush shares with history’s tyrants. Here are 10 areas that come readily to mind."

Cheney was a client of the escort service of DC Madam  &  Cheney claims "Iraq was all Bush's idea"
A quote...."May 10, 2007 -- WMR has received a third well-placed confirmation that Vice President Dick Cheney, while CEO of Halliburton, was a client of the escort service of DC Madam, Deborah Jeane Palfrey"  &  "May 11, 2007 -- Vice President Dick Cheney, under mounting political pressure for the declining fortunes of the Bush administration, has, according to our Washington sources, been claiming that Iraq was all "Bush's idea,"

The globalization of electronic election theft
A quote...."From Ohio and California to Scotland and France, the disputes surrounding electronic voting machines have gone truly global.  -  E-voting machines have already been extensively studied and condemned by a wide range of expert committees, commissions and colleges, including the General Accountability Office, the Carter-Baker Commission, Johns Hopkins University, Princeton University, Stanford University and others. Rigging of a recount in Cleveland has resulted in two felony convictions. The failures of e-voting machines have been the subject of numerous documentary films, including the aptly titled HBO special "Hacking Democracy."

Europe split on US missile plan
A quote...."European ministers are holding further talks on the controversial US missile shield, a day after Russia issued a fresh warning.  -  The Czech and German foreign ministers are due to discuss the project, which includes the siting of a US radar system in the Czech Republic."

Reconstruction
A quote...."Nicolas Sarkozy’s victory on 6 May with 53% of the votes in the second round of the presidential election marks a turning-point in the history of the fifth republic. It is not simply a matter of the French right remaining in power, as it has been since 1995 and before that from 1958-1981. The programme presented by Sarkozy, as UMP (Union pour un mouvement populaire) candidate, and the forces he sought to gather round him, represent a major change of direction, making him the first French president to be at once neo-liberal, authoritarian, pro-American and pro-Israeli."

Report: Israeli FM met secretly with IDF Intel. head during war
A quote...."Report: Livni met secretly with IDF Intel. head during war  -  Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni held a series of meetings with Military Intelligence Research Division head Brig.-Gen. Yossi Baidatz during the Second Lebanon War without Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's knowledge, Army Radio reported on Friday morning.  -  Sources close to Livni claimed that she had initiated the meetings because Olmert had not included her in national security consultations.  -  Shortly after meeting with Baidatz, the report said, Livni began developing a diplomatic plan aimed at ending the fighting. They began meeting only two days after the war broke out."

UK official defies ban on Hamas; to press boycott end of Palestinians
A quote...."A British member of the European Parliament (MEP) has returned from the occupied territories, appealing to Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett to press the US, Russia, EU and UN to end their boycott of the Palestinian government.  -  "I do urge you to use all influence at your disposal to persuade the Quartet to deal with all members of the national unity government and to restore direct payments to the Palestinian Authority," said Liberal Democrat MEP Chris Davies."
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Kazakhstan and Russia to by-pass BTC oil pipeline
A quote...."Kazakhs agree with Russia to by-pass BTC oil pipeline  -  Russian President Vladimir Putin, on a Central Asian tour aimed at boosting Russia's influence in the region's rich energy sector, on Thursday agreed to allow more Kazakh oil to be shipped through Russian territory."

Putin's Energy Victory
Related article - A quote...."Expert: Russian president’s visit to Kazakhstan as Putin’s energy victory  -  Vladimir Putin’s visit to Central Asia started yesterday. Actually, Putin’s visit to Kazakhstan can leave Poland, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Ukraine without several alternatives in oil and gas transportation bypassing Russia.  -  During the visit, it became clear that Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev would not participate in the energy summit in Poland. The main subject of the so-called “group of five” that apart from Poland includes Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan, was supposed to be search for alternatives to Russian gas and oil reserves as well as to routes of their supplies to Europe."

Curtain falls on Yukos as last assets are sold
Related article - A quote...." The curtain finally fell on the shattered Yukos oil empire yesterday, with a mysterious auction providing a dramatic conclusion to the politically charged, four-year demise of the company that was once Russia's biggest oil producer.  -  From the gunpoint arrest of the company's founder to the creditors' decision to liquidate the company to pay off US$30 billion in back tax bills, the case has been seen as a warning to Russia's mighty tycoons to obey the Kremlin.  -  "It marked the end of the 'Wild East' capitalism of 1990s, when everything was for sale," said Roland Nash, head of research with the Renaissance Capital investment bank."

Gas Pushes Algeria into the Big Players' Game
Related article - A quote...."Since Algeria signed on January 21 last in the Algerian capital one of the most important cooperation protocols in the field of gas between Algerian Sonatrach and Russian Gazprom, the EU countries implicitly acknowledge the growing dependency on Algerian gas. On the other hand, these countries and the US fear that this Maghreb country may contribute to the emergence of a global gas cartel."
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Latin American Countries Condemn the Liberation of Posada Carriles
A quote...."Mérida, May 10, 2007 (venezuelanalysis.com)— Venezuela, along with other Latin American countries, condemned today the United States court decision to allow the international terrorist Luis Posada Carriles walk free. Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba, as well as several Democrats in the U.S. Congress demanded that Posada be tried or extradited on charges of terrorism."

Funny Yet Accurate 32-Second Summary of Republican Debate  - YouTube  - 32sec - posted at BuzzFlash
It's funny. mpg

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Thursday May 10th 2007
[Every Act Has Moral and Immoral Potential.]
Must Read - A quote...."Every act has moral and immoral potential. The girl scout who helps an unsteady old man across the street could also have pushed him aside. The aftermath of each action engenders a new range of moral possibilities. Having pushed him aside, she might then regret her act and return to help him. Even when we’ve made bad choices, acted out of indifference or greed rather than compassion and generosity, another choice awaits us: how to compound or rectify the immoral act, stay the course or imagine how to salvage some measure of moral standing. Since even a racist like George Wallace can have a Road to Damascus experience, anything is possible.  -  The immense immorality of the choice to attack Iraq, and base that choice in lies, propaganda, and fear is hardly news now. But the fact that, above all else, it was a moral choice means that another moral choice is possible. And only one choice would atone for the original."
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Bush Partners Cut Off Woman's Head; President Signals Approval of Extremist Act
A quote...."What, you've got a problem with that headline? Too much of a stretch, you say, for this story from AP? How so? Are not the Saudi royals very close friends and business partners of the president's immediate family, going back several decades? Was not the long-time Saudi ambassador to the United States, Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, not dubbed "Bandar Bush" by none other than the sitting president himself? Does not George W. Bush smooch and hold hands with Saudi royalty when they come to call at his ranch? Is not Vice President Dick Cheney – also a close Saudi pal of long standing – on his way to the Saudi kingdom right now, where he will feast and scheme  with the bankrollers of one of the most repressive and retrograde Islamic sects on the planet – this only days after the head of Khadija Bint Ibrahim Moussa was struck off by a sword, in fine Zarqawi style, in a public square? And will we hear a single word from Bush or Cheney about this beheading – the 57th decapitation by Bush's family friends this year – or any other aspect of the draconian religious and political tyranny that smothers Saudi society with its blood and terror?"

To the few out there who have lived on the moon for the last twenty years....al Qaeda is a creation of the United States Elites and the Saudi Royal Family and it has served the policy goals of both these factions for a very, very long time. Policy goals that do not serve the interest of most of the world's Muslims or those of us in the "western" nations. - mpg

See also.....The Redirection
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Opium clouds before an Afghan storm
A quote...."The transformation of the Taliban provides a study in how a local insurgency has re-emerged as a force for al-Qaeda's global interests. Western diplomats and Afghan experts monitoring the Taliban contend that it is increasingly difficult to differentiate between the international and the local aspects of the insurgency.  -  "The Taliban [movement] is now a part of an internationalized jihad," said Waheed Mujda, an Afghan writer who served as a deputy minister in the Taliban's government between 1997 and 2001 and later wrote a tell-all book about the movement. "

Bush & the PNAC Neocons have done more to strengthen al Qaeda and promote its cause than any other group in the world. - mpg
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Kuwait says stocks up on food in case of war in Gulf
War Alert - A quote...."KUWAIT, May 9 (Reuters) - Iran's neighbour Kuwait said on Wednesday it had prepared emergency food stocks in case a war breaks out in the Gulf amid tension between Washington and Tehran over Tehran's nuclear programme."

Bahrain preparing for a U.S.Iran war - posted at AntiWar
War Alert - A quote...."ABU DHABI — Bahrain has reported preparations for a war between Iran and the United States.  -  Bahraini officials said the Gulf Arab kingdom has been working with Western allies to protect strategic sites from Iranian missile strikes amid any war with the United States. They said Bahrain has been introducing measures to protect against Iranian infiltration and respond rapidly to any missile or insurgency strike."

Bush changes plan for emergency shadow government
War Warning - A quote...."President Bush yesterday issued a national security directive that would, in the event of a catastrophic attack on the federal government, assign the responsibility of running a shadow government to the White House, not the Department of Homeland Security, according to a Washington Post report.  -  "The order makes explicit that the focus of federal worst-case planning involves a covert nuclear attack against the nation's capital," the report says, "in contrast with Cold War assumptions that a long-range strike would be preceded by a notice of minutes or hours as missiles were fueled and launched."

Full-Scale Mock Terror Exercises Under Way In Indiana, Alaska, R.I.
Related Article - A quote...."INDIANAPOLIS — The Muscatatuck Urban Training Center in Jennings County is center stage in Southern Indiana, as the nation’s first full-scale homeland defense preparedness exercise with active forces gets under way May 10-18.  -  Three disasters comprise the package of terror events to be addressed over several states, including a roaring hurricane ashore in Rhode Island, simulated terrorist actions in Alaska involving both sea and air, and an improvised 10-kiloton nuclear device detonation in Indiana." -  bold/italics by website author

U.S. won’t allow governors to direct military - Gates rejects proposal....
Related Article - A quote...."WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Robert Gates has rejected a proposal to let governors command active duty troops responding to disasters, officials said Wednesday, though the Pentagon will grant National Guard leaders more authority to coordinate with other military and homeland security agencies."
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9/11 - From The History File...Commission warned Bush
Stand Down
James R. Bath
James R. Bath - Source Watch
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Neo-con purge of French intelligence services begins.
Must Read - A quote...."May 10, 2007 -- Neo-con purge of French intelligence services begins. Only days after the election of neo-con Nicolas Sarkozy as President of France, the expected neo-con purge of anti-Sarkozy members of the French intelligence and security services has begun."

War Widow Lashes Out at Bush
Generally rude language and articles containing rude language are never posted on this website....unless it's germane to the content and the author's point of view.  This is one of those times. - mpg

Killing them with kindness
When Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced last month that he was extending the tours of duty for all U.S. Army units in Iraq and Afghanistan, he tried to spin it as some kind of favor for the troops.  -  Gates explained: "This goes a long way toward making sure that we will have the proper amount of time to train them, that they will have time with their families, that they will have a predictable life, that they can sit there around the dinner table and know that on calendar month so and so, Daddy's going to leave, and on calendar month so and so Mommy's going to come home, and those kinds of things which add to quality of life."  - bold/italics by website author - mpg
 
"Neo-Speak" in action, as apposed to Gorge Orwell's "New-Speak".  What the woman above, who expressed her heartfelt appreciation for the war and its supporters so eloquently doesn't understand, is that Robert Gates was really doing her a favor by extending her husband's tour of duty in Iraq. 

This is the way our elites ACTUALLY think....they CANNOT change, they will not listen, they will not learn and they will never stop until we as a people summon up enough courage stop them. - mpg
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Playing Politics With the Iraq War Brings Out the Worst in the Duopoly
Must Read - A quote...."The 2008 elections for Congress and the presidency seem to be the dominant domestic factor in determining the outcome of the Iraq War.  The Democrats are using the war to position themselves to win the presidency and expand their majority.  The Republicans are trying to keep their base happy until it is too late for incumbents to be challenged. And, the president is using his veto power to show he is still the “decider” not Congress."

FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL 330
Related article - This is a written record of perfidy, the DemoRepubs finally bit the bullet and had a straight up or down vote on whether to withdraw troops from Iraq (something this author thought they didn't have the spine to do).  Good!  We now have a record of all those congressman and woman who want to continue the bloody carnage in Iraq until 2008.  We should all study their names, remember the ongoing destruction caused by their votes, the continuing profits of their sponsors known as the MIOC elites and then when the time comes, when we all truly vote our conscience, most of these ill bred lap dogs will be gone come the next election. - mpg

Majority of Iraqi Lawmakers Now Reject Occupation
A quote...."More than half of the members of Iraq's parliament rejected for the first time on Tuesday the continuing occupation of their country. The U.S. media ignored the story."

Ties between Israel, US politicians eroding; smart moves needed
A quote...."Where has the former harmony "on both sides of the corridor" disappeared to? It began with Ehud Olmert's address at the IPEC conference where he sounded "more republican than a republican" regarding President Bush's policies in Iraq, and it continued in a further statement by the prime minister several weeks ago when he supported the American army remaining in Iraq."

Adios, World Bank!
A quote...."As the controversy around Iraq War architect Paul Wolfowitz’s uncertain future as president of the World Bank intensifies, the financial institution is not only losing supporters. It’s also losing victims. In Latin America, countries are paying off their World Bank loans early, cutting off ties with the Bank, and creating their own financing instruments to replace the world’s oldest multilateral lending agency.  -  Unfortunately, the latest corruption scandal involving questionable promotions and outrageous salary increases for Wolfowitz’s girlfriend, Shaha Riza, is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to doubts about the World Bank’s credibility, legitimacy and capacity to fulfill its stated mission of eradicating world poverty.  -  Poor countries throughout the world should follow Latin America’s lead and desert the planet’s biggest hypocrite."  -  Amen !! - mpg

Soldiers of fortune
A quote...."Greg worked for a subsidiary of US Investigation Services Inc., known as USIS. Headquartered in Falls Church, Va., the parent company's Web site touts its "information and security services ... serving human resources, insurance, government agencies and National Security markets."  -  Like an unprecedented number of other private, for-profit companies, USIS has landed contracts to do support work for the U.S. military and other federal agencies and departments as part of the invasion, occupation, stabilizing and rebuilding in Iraq. Some, like USIS, do logistics, training and personal security detail."

Verizon says phone record disclosure is protected free speech !!
This is what happens when you have Neocons in charge....giving your private phone records without your knowledge to the NSA is defined as free speech by their lackey lawyers.  The Judge in this case should instantly fine Verizon a $100,000 dollar fine for contempt of court and making a mockery of the law for advocating such a claim. - mpg - blod/italics/!! by website author

Powell's Chief of Staff Proposes Impeachment
Some quotes...."On Thursday, May 10, 2007, Lawrence Wilkerson, speaking on National Public Radio, proposed impeaching President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. Here's the audio." (Real - Windows)"

"Ashbrook asked for some examples of such high crimes and misdemeanors, and Wilkerson replied: "I think that the caller was right. I think we went into this war for specious reasons. I think we went into this war not too much unlike the way we went into the Spanish American War with the Hearst press essentially goading the American people and the leadership into war. That was a different time in a different culture, in a different America. We're in a very different place today and I think we essentially got goaded into the war through some of the same means."
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One War Criminal Down, A Fistful to Go
A quote...."British Prime Minister Tony Blair, or more accurately, George W. Bush's lap dog, has resigned to England's relief.  -  Boris Johnson at the Daily Telegraph wrote that "Blair cannot escape the blame for a disaster in which at least 60,000 (and possibly 10 times as many) Iraqis have died, and which is causing 40,000 Iraqis to flee the country every month."  -  The Daily Mail's Piers Morgan wrote that Blair's complicity in the invasion of Iraq transformed England "into a more dangerous, paranoid, despised and ridiculed country. Blair's reign will be remembered for one disaster of epic proportions, one appalling legacy."

So the British poodle is leaving just as Bush is going to get his brand new French poodle....isn't that sweet. - mpg

For more on the "real" Blair here's one from the history file....

Mr Blair, it is time to recognise your errors and just go
Related article - Some quotes...."A spectre is stalking British television, a frayed and waxy zombie straight from Madame Tussaud's. This one, unusually, seems to live and breathe. Perhaps it comes from the Central Intelligence Agency's box of technical tricks, programmed to spout the language of the White House in an artificial English accent.", "Mr Blair has done more damage to British interests in the Middle East than Anthony Eden, who led the UK to disaster in Suez 50 years ago. In the past 100 years - to take the highlights - we have bombed and occupied Egypt and Iraq, put down an Arab uprising in Palestine and overthrown governments in Iran, Iraq and the Gulf. We can no longer do these things on our own, so we do them with the Americans. Mr Blair's total identification with the White House has destroyed his influence in Washington, Europe and the Middle East itself:.... who bothers with the monkey if he can go straight to the organ-grinder?"

Who indeed? - mpg
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Fighting Terror Selectively: Washington and Posada
A quote...."Since the 9/11 attacks, the Bush administration has made the "war on terror" the centerpiece of its domestic and foreign policy. Bush cries terror where there is none - as in Iraq and in the communications of ordinary Americans. Meanwhile, he protects the real terrorists in our midst.  -  Luis Posada Carriles is a Cuban-born terrorist who has accurately been called the Osama bin Laden of the Western hemisphere. He boasted of helping to detonate deadly bombs in Havana hotels 10 years ago. Declassified FBI and CIA documents at the National Security Archive reveal that Posada was the mastermind of a 1976 bombing of a civilian Cuban airplane that killed 73 people. He escaped from a Venezuelan prison where he was being tried for his role in the first in-air bombing of a commercial airliner. Posada then played a central role in the illegal Iran-Contra scandal."
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How close are we to the threshold when millions of Americans will stop playing the "political game"?
Must Read - Action Alert - A quote...."How close are we to the threshold when millions of Americans stop playing the "political game"?  -  The "political game" is an elaborate safety valve designed to protect the American Dictatorship of the Rich. But when most of our country starts realizing that politics is part of the problem, not the solution, then the safety valve is blown.  -  And the alternative to the political game is . . ."

"Hmmm, well there's always the streets."

"More conservatively, nation wide boycotts come to mind. Ironically, it would take only a matter of weeks to bring down the Judas media with scientifically focused nation wide boycotts. The same is true for Texas corporate energy vampires."

Couldn't agree more - mpg

Where have all the viewers gone?
Related article - A quote...."NEW YORK (AP) -- Maybe they're outside in the garden. They could be playing softball. Or perhaps they're just plain bored.  -  In TV's worst spring in recent memory, a startling number of Americans drifted away from television the past two months: More than 2.5 million fewer people were watching ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox than at the same time last year, statistics show.  -  Everyone has a theory to explain the plummeting ratings: early Daylight Savings Time, more reruns, bad shows, more shows being recorded or downloaded or streamed. (Blog: What -- and when -- are you watching?)  -  Scariest of all for the networks, however, is the idea that many people are now making their own television schedules. The industry isn't fully equipped to keep track of them, and as a result the networks are scrambling to hold on to the nearly $8.8 billion they collected during last spring's ad-buying season." - bold/italics by website author

After the "mass media"  betrayed their viewers, after the "mass media" become the shills and propagandists for the tiny, degenerate elite who've run this country into the ground, after the "mass media" have for thirty years promulgated their rank, digesting, morally degenerate filth and spat on the values good people in this country have tried to live their lives by, after pandering to the worst, amoral, prurient impulses of the population, after trying to "dumb everyone down" and control them like sheep, the five corporate conglomerates who control 90% of the "mass media" are now asking themselves why their ratings are sinking!!  You’ve got to be kidding!!

It's because people are tired of watching their DISGUSTING GARBAGE!!!  The share holders of these conglomerates and the arrogant owners who run them have tried to shove their putrid, disgusting, rank, crud down our throats for way too long.  They should all be punished for their hubris.  We should all join together and never "consume" any product distributed by these cretins.  We should all turn our TVs off. (Trust me you'll feel much better afterward)

To the people who are reading this blog, never go back, never read, watch or listen to a commercial broadcast from now on. After this betrayal, the sickos who run these networks should NEVER be trusted....ever.  We the People should never allow ourselves to be manipulated like a heard of mindless "consumer units", we should never become hypnotized infotainment-junkies or thoughtless nabobs of ignorance ever again.

And why should we?  With all the CD's, DVD's, cabal, web TV, I-Pods, and most importantly YouTube, Goggle Video and independent web blogs availble out there....millions of them.  All providing MUCH better content and a verity of choices than you'll ever see offered by the conglomerates.  Why should we the people ever go back to "mass infotainment" again?

Unless of course those jerks running the five conglomerate try to shut down the World Wide Web. - mpg
 
See also....The Last Bastion of Freedom is Falling  -  05-30-06  -  mpg
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The War on Free Expression
A thoroughly detailed and researched list of all the unconstitutional things the Neocons, with a willing and compliant congress one might add, are doing to our individual rights to freedom of expression.. - mpg

Charges may result from firings, say two former U.S. attorneys
A quote...."Two former U.S. attorneys said today they believe ongoing investigations into the dismissals last year of eight federal prosecutors could result in criminal charges against senior Justice Department officials."
Wednesday May 9th 2007

 A war guaranteed to damage a superpower
Must Read - A quote...."Four years ago, the US claimed that Saddam Hussein was backing al-Qaeda. Now it says the fervently anti-Iranian Sunni insurgents are being equipped by Iran, and attempts to kidnap senior Iranian officials in Iraq. In this fantasy world, constructed to impress American voters, in which failures are sold as successes, it is impossible to devise sensible policies. Iraq has now joined the list of small wars that inflict extraordinary damage on the occupiers. - Patrick Cockburn (May 9, '07)"

Zugzwang, or, White to play and lose
Related comment - A quote...."In chess there is a position called zugzwang. A player is in zugzwang when it is his turn to play but he has no good moves. Anything he does will worsen his position. Zugzwang translates from German as "compulsion to move", or "no-win situation", or "between a rock and a hard place".
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"Are we headed for another Great Depression".
Must read - A quote...."05/07/07 "ICH" -- -Question: I've been getting get more and more e-mails from people who are worried that the policies of the Bush administration will bring about a severe economic downturn or, perhaps, even another Great Depression. Do you believe that the problems in the real estate market, the falling dollar, the massive current account deficit, or the shaky hedge fund industry are likely to cause major meltdown?  -  E.M.S. : Great Depressions like the one that hit in 1929 are very rare. They usually happen only after two great empires exhaust their finances. WWI involved two of the biggest industrial powers in a massive death-struggle that didn't destroy their industries but wrecked their currencies and beggared their workers. Russia was a major empire but a minor industrial power so when the workers there revolted, the loss of this sector's industrial base had much less impact than the collapse of Germany's currency and its huge war debts."

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 in notational value, 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. Also keep in mind "Helicopter Bernanke" can always drop the interest rates, although this may negatively affect the dollars value - the powers that be really don't seem to care anymore. -  However it does appear that they are running out of maneuvering room at the end of this abbreviated ten year cycle of military Keynesianism, with the resultant increased strains on the US's financial system.  As such, a sudden "shift" or "adjustment" could occur at any time as this shortened "ten year cycle" winds down to its inevitable close. – mpg

GM's profit dented by GMAC's subprime exposure
Related article - A quote...."NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- General Motors Corp. said Thursday its first-quarter profit plunged 90%, as an improvement in its key North American car business wasn't enough to make up for the brutal impact the subprime loan fiasco had on the automaker's financing operations."
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How Bush's grandfather helped Hitler's rise to power
Must Read - Some quotes...."Rumours of a link between the US first family and the Nazi war machine have circulated for decades. Now the Guardian can reveal how repercussions of events that culminated in action under the Trading with the Enemy Act are still being felt by today's president"

And...."The evidence has also prompted one former US Nazi war crimes prosecutor to argue that the late senator's action should have been grounds for prosecution for giving aid and comfort to the enemy."

Possible proof positive that evil isn't just caused by a child's environment or a child's upbringing.....it runs in the blood…it runs in families -  mpg

See also....Financial Ties 9/11
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The American Empire and 9/11 [html - short artticle - Tikkun]
Must Read - A quote...."After the attacks of 9/11, I accepted the blowback thesis, according to which the attacks were revenge for U.S. foreign policy. This view led me to undertake an extensive study of the American empire, the very reality of which had been an embattled issue."  -  full length version with notes in HTML or PDF

Editors note: the "physical" theories regarding 9/11 have never been discussed by this author on this website, not only due to their complexity, but more importantly, due to the fact that much of the evidence has been deliberately destroyed, distorted or tampered with by elements within the US government. - mpg
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War Corporatism: The New Fascism - YouTube - 2min 40sec - posted at AntiWar
Must View - VERY slick, fun and accurate short. - mpg
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'Pentagon Moved to Fix Iraqi Media Before Invasion'
A quote...."WASHINGTON, May 9 (IPS) -  In the run-up to the March 2003 invasion of Iraq, the Pentagon planned to create a 'Rapid Reaction Media Team' (RRMT) designed to ensure control over major Iraqi media while providing an Iraqi 'face' for its efforts, according to a ‘White Paper' obtained by the independent National Security Archive (NSA) which released it Tuesday."
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Commanders in Iraq See 'Surge' Into '08
A quote...."The Pentagon announced yesterday that 35,000 soldiers in 10 Army combat brigades will begin deploying to Iraq in August as replacements, making it possible to sustain the increase of U.S. troops there until at least the end of this year.  -  U.S. commanders in Iraq are increasingly convinced that heightened troop levels, announced by President Bush in January, will need to last into the spring of 2008.  - bold/italics by website author

Editors special note : If this comes as a surprise to anyone readings this blog....you're an idiot. - mpg
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CIA-backed raid 'killed Afghan villagers'
A quote...."Military specialists with the CIA were among a US force accused of killing more than 50 civilians during the hunt for a Taliban commander in Afghanistan.  -  Afghan community leaders in the Shindand district on the Iranian border say US forces destroyed several villages during the operation last month.  -  The American mission was conducted outside the Nato command structure and was therefore subject to different rules of engagement. - bold/italics by website author
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AND THE CHILDREN SHALL LEAD US ...
Must View - Photo - A quote...."A mosque employee prepares the body of Lamiamh Ali, 6. Four siblings were playing outside their home in Baghdad when a U.S. cluster bomb exploded. Two of the children died that day and their brother died later as a result of his injuries."

See also....The Method - 05-07-07 - mpg
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Parting ways with Bush, Brownback pushes plan to divide Iraq
A quote...." WASHINGTON - Sen. Sam Brownback says there's only one sure way to bring peace to Iraq: Divide the country into three states and separate the warring factions.  -  With Congress and the White House at loggerheads over a proposed timetable to end the war, the Kansas Republican is part of an unlikely Senate duo that's promoting the plan to partition Iraq. Brownback and Democratic Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware, both candidates for president in 2008, say it would give breathing room for Sunni Muslim Arab, Shiite Muslim and Kurdish leaders."

Gen. Petraeus and the $2000 Payoff
A quote...." (May 09, 2007) -- Until recently, the press has rarely covered the U.S. military program that occasionally offers “condolence” payments to Iraqis and Afghans whose loved ones have been killed or injured by our troops. But a number of high-profile incidents involving the killing of noncombatants has drawn some long-overdue, if fleeting, attention to the subject.  -  On Tuesday, in the latest example, the U.S. military apologized for a not-accidental atrocity near Jalalabad back in March and agreed to make the usual maximum payment -- don’t laugh -- of about $2000 to survivors for each of the 19 Afghan lives lost.  -  That’s an improvement in some ways. Last month I titled a column on this subject, "Sorry We Shot Your Kid, Here’s $500," referring to a documented case in Iraq.  -  Those 19 deaths in Afghanistan (and 50 wounded), by the way, were not the result of some unintentional air strike. Troops, angry about a bomb attack on them, carried out a rampage along a ten-mile stretch of highway, shooting villagers apparently at random. Well, we got around to saying we were sorry -- two months later."

Republican quotes KKK founder on House floor
A quote...."Roll Call reports today that a House Republican delivered a foreign policy speech yesterday in which he quoted Nathan Bedford Forrest, founder of the KKK."
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US drops Cuban militant's charges
A quote...."A US federal judge has dismissed immigration charges against Cuban exile Luis Posada Carriles, a man convicted of blowing up a Cuban airliner in 1976."

Be a Bush buddy, blow up an airliner....and obtain a get out of jail free card.  Sort of like 9/11 not so? - mpg  See....Flights 9/11
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Australia boosts defence spending - posted at AntiWar
A quote...."CANBERRA: Australia on Tuesday sharply increased defence spending for the next financial year as it scrambles to recruit fresh troops and maintain its forces fighting protracted wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.  -  A key ally in the US-led war in Iraq, Canberra will hike military spending by 10.6 per cent to $18.25 billion, equal to two per cent of gross domestic product and 9.3 per cent of government spending."

See also....White Man's Burden - 12-20-06 - mpg
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Afghan leaders urge Taliban truce
A quote...."Outraged by the rising number of civilian deaths, Afghan legislators have approved a bill calling for a truce and talks with the Taliban.  -  The bill passed on Wednesday says military action should be used only in self-defence and calls for a date to be set for the withdrawal of US-led and Nato troops. - The move came as news emerged of US air strikes in Helmand province, southwest of the capital, Kabul, where at least 21 civilians were killed as US and Nato forces went after Taliban fighters." - bold/italics by website author.

Hah! like that's ever going to happen - mpg
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The Wall Street Journal and Venezuela's Audacity
A quote...."The Wall Street Journal's main Hugo Chavez antagonist is its self-styled Latin American "expert" Mary Anastasia O'Grady who makes up for in imagination and vitriol what she lacks in knowledge and journalistic integrity. She, however, wasn't assigned to write the May 1 Journal attack piece reporters David Luhnow in Mexico City and Peter Millard in Caracas got to do titled "How Chavez Aims to Weaken US." Of course, when it comes to Venezuela, the issue is oil and Chavez's having the "audacity" to want his people to benefit most from their own resources, not predatory foreign oil companies the way it used to be when the country's leadership only served the interests of capital ignoring essential social needs. No longer."

Double standards weaken Chemical Weapons Convention: deputy FM
A quote...."TEHRAN -- Nothing can weaken the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) more than the application of double standards in the observation of the rights and responsibilities of signatories, Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said here on Wednesday."

Iran, Tajikistan sign 5 MOUs
A quote...."TEHRAN -- Iran and Tajikistan signed five memoranda of understanding and a joint statement on the expansion of ties here on Wednesday.  -  Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad and Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon attended the signing ceremony and signed a joint statement on the expansion of bilateral relations.  -  The two presidents also discussed the Afghanistan and Iraq issues."

Barak: Olmert must resign in wake of war probe report - posted at AntiWar
A quote...."Former prime minister Ehud Barak on Monday called on Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to resign in the wake of the Winograd Committee's scathing report on the Second Lebanon War, in his first public comments since the report's release."

Billionaire Neo-Con French Media Moguls
A quote....May 7, 2007 -- Nicolas Sarkozy (whom are French intelligence sources have referred to a the "little French Hitler") will govern France with the help of two Silvio Berlusconi- and Rupert Murdoch-like billionaire neo-con French media moguls, Martin Bouygues and Arnaud Lagardere. Bouygues owns the TF1 television channel, which can be expected to act as Sarkozy's own version of the U.S. Republican Party's Fox News Channel. Lagardere's media group owns the Europe 1 radio network, Paris Match, several French regional newspapers, and is a major stakeholder in the French television network Canal+. Sarkozy is known to censor any news reports that are unfavorable to him and pressure publishers and editors to fire wayward journalists. With much of the French media in his pocket, expect the Franco-Hungarian Sarkozy to institute a new era of Janos Kadarist-style censorship in his nation."

Right Way Ahead For France
A quote...."The French electorate this week forwent an opportunity to pick a woman as the head of the state for the first time, opting instead, by a small but decisive margin, for a sharp turn to the right. It’s a decision quite a few of those who voted for Nicolas Sarkozy on Sunday may come to regret before long."

 The Competiton Between Two Transit Countries: Turkey & Greece
A quote...."The control over energy supplies is a significant discussion of international relations.The reason is that it has always been an issue of worry for governments. Energy consumer countries have created new policies in order to have impact on regions which are rich in natural resources such as Middle East or Central Asia. But it is necessary to point out the fact that there is another related topic of energy; transportation. Because is that the geographical situation of some regions is problematic. The landlocked countries can not export their crude petroleum and natural gas without pipelines. So, the significance of transit countries becomes more considerable from the perspective of global powers."
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CBS Evening News Records Its Lowest Viewership In At Least 20 Years - posted at BuzzFlash
A quote...."Last week's CBS Evening News viewership was the lowest it has been since at least 1987.  -  It's accurate to call it the smallest audience for the Evening News in decades."

Perhaps one day when CBS’s viewership declines to a few hundred thousand, they might actually consider broadcasting something they haven't had on their network for almost two decades....the news. – mpg

See also....What We Call the News - JibJab - 2min 10sec - posted 04-11-07

Keith Olbermann Gets First Molly Ivins Award From AAN
A quote...."NEW YORK MSNBC's Keith Olbermann will receive the first Molly Ivins Award from the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies later today, according to AAN officials.  -  "I'm utterly honored," Olbermann said in a statement, "largely because I'd still like to be Molly Ivins when I grow up."  -  The organization, which represents 125 alternative publications, created the award to "honor those who practice the same bold, fearless journalism for which Ivins was renowned during her years as co-editor of AAN member The Texas Observer and as a syndicated columnist."
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THE RON PAUL MEDIA REVOLT IS ON!
A quote...."Ever wanted to take America's real temperature? Ever wanted to know what Americans are really thinking about their government and their media? Just read this. It's a random segment of contuous "comments" (what a nice euphemism!) posted by Paul supporters on ABC's web site after ABC.com first refused to list him as a participant of the debate while listing others who were not even there, then relented to an unwavering outburst of contempt and added him, whereupon Ron Paul garnered 89% of the vote within hours."

'The Net' shoves Ron Paul right down ABC's throat !
A quote...."Whether ABC purposely left Ron Paul out of their poll, or whether their just so arrogant that they just assumed that they know who the candidates are, or should be, they got a cold slap in the face the other day.  - After deciding to ignore the 800 pound gorilla on the debate the other night, they thought by not including Mr. Paul in their 'poll', they could steer the results in the direction they wanted.  -  Wrong !
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Germany Tightens Restrictions on Genetically Modified Corn
A quote...."The German government has imposed stricter regulations on the food company Monsanto regarding the sale of genetically modified corn seeds. The new rules are tantamount to an outright ban."

Good for Germany! - mpg
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Atlantic's first named storm whips up wildfires
A quote...."(CNN) -- Winds from the first named storm of the year fanned wildfires in Georgia and northern Florida on Wednesday, more than three weeks ahead of the official start of the Atlantic hurricane season."

MPEACH plate won’t be recalled by DMV - posted at BuzzFlash
A quote...."Heather Morijah will get to keep her “MPEACHW” license plates after all.  -  State officials reversed their position on Monday, rescinding a recall notice of Morijah’s personalized license plates, which encourage the impeachment of President Bush. The state Division of Motor Vehicles sent Morijah a letter last month saying the plates were being recalled because someone had complained about the message.  -  DMV director Deb Hillmer told the Journal in an interview Thursday that if Morijah didn’t turn in the plates voluntarily, the state might send law officers to confiscate them."

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Tuesday May 8th 2007

Republican Authoritarianism
A quote...."Twice last week, Republicans were mumbling in public what I suspect many have been arguing in private for quite some time.

First, Thomas Sowell, in one of his lazy columns of disconnected anecdotes, considers the fate of the country:

"When I see the worsening degeneracy in our politicians, our media, our educators, and our intelligentsia, I can’t help wondering if the day may yet come when the only thing that can save this country is a military coup."

And then swathing the Wall Street Journal opinion pages, Harvard professor of government and political philosophy (and "manliness" advocate) Harvey Mansfield waxed long and lovingly on the need for a strong executive and "one-man rule" to save the Republic:
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When We Forget To Remember
A quote...."05/08/07 "ICH" -- -- Preceding generations had every reason to believe those following them would step into the breach and continue the vigil over this nation's Constitutional freedoms and, if necessary, fight to preserve them. They believed, like George Washington warned -- "Government is a "force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action." And they remembered, from generation to generation. Unfortunately, those following our generation will have no such luxury."
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Bush Wants Phone Firms Immune to Privacy Suits
A quote...."The Bush administration is urging Congress to pass a law that would halt dozens of lawsuits charging phone companies with invading ordinary citizens' privacy through a post-Sept. 11 warrantless surveillance program.  -  The measure is part of a legislative package drafted by the Justice Department to relax provisions in the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) that restrict the administration's ability to intercept electronic communications in the United States. If passed, the proposed changes would forestall efforts to compel disclosure of the program's details through Congress or the court system."

Regarding the three articles shown above, see....Thirty Acts to Restore Americans' Rights 11-10-06 - mpg
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Surge getting bogged down in fortifications
A quote...."Just over two weeks ago, insurgents in Iraq's Diyala province rammed an explosives-packed truck into the tall concrete blast walls that 'surging' US soldiers had put up to protect their new, small, neighborhood-style patrol base. The attackers pushed the heavy wall right over on top of the soldiers inside the base, killing nine and injuring 20."

Iraq: clashes mount between US forces and Sadrist militia
A quote...."US and Iraqi government troops launched further attacks on the Shiite movement loyal to cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in its Baghdad stronghold last weekend. The Sadrist movement, which has a broad base of support in the Shiite working class, demands the withdrawal of US forces, and has a large armed militia, is viewed in Washington as a threat to the long-term US domination of Iraq."

Infant mortality in Iraq soars as young pay the price for war
A quote...." Two wars and a decade of sanctions have led to a huge rise in the mortality rate among young children in Iraq, leaving statistics that were once the envy of the Arab world now comparable with those of sub-Saharan Africa.  -   A new report shows that in the years since 1990, Iraq has seen its child mortality rate soar by 125 per cent, the highest increase of any country in the world. Its rate of deaths of children under five now matches that of Mauritania

Iran's Ahmadinejad to visit UAE, Oman - posted at AntiWar
A quote...."ABU DHABI (AFP) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will visit the United Arab Emirates and Oman starting this weekend for talks expected to cover Iraq and Iran's nuclear programme, officials and press reports said Monday.  -  An Iranian presidential source told AFP Ahmadinejad is expected to visit the two countries next Sunday and Monday."

In Beirut, Resistance Being Rebuilt Too - posted at AntiWar
A quote...."BEIRUT - As reconstruction resumes in the heavily bombed southern Beirut district Dahiyeh, the signs are evident of a rebuilding of resistance against Israel and the U.S.-backed government, largely by way of increased support for Hezbollah.  -  Hezbollah is leading much of the reconstruction. Dahiyeh was bombed by the Israelis last year because it was seen as a Hezbollah stronghold. At least 15,000 houses were destroyed."

Heroin is "Good for Your Health": Occupation Forces support Afghan Narcotics Trade
A quote...."The occupation forces in Afghanistan are supporting the drug trade, which brings between 120 and 194 billion dollars of revenues to organized crime, intelligence agencies and Western financial institutions.  -  The proceeds of this lucrative multibllion dollar contraband are deposited in Western banks. Almost the totality of revenues accrue to corporate interests and criminal syndicates outside Afghanistan.  -  The Golden Crescent drug trade, launched by the CIA in the early 1980s, continues to be protected by US intelligence, in liason with NATO occupation forces and the British military. In recent developments, British occupation forces have promoted opium cultivation through paid radio advertisements.

AIPAC on Trial - The lobby argues that good Americans spy for Israel.
A quote...."Is there a First Amendment right to engage in espionage? Dorothy Rabinowitz seems to think so. Describing the actions of Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman, two former top officials of AIPAC, the premier Israel lobbying group, who passed purloined intelligence to Israeli government officials, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist characterized them as “activities that go on every day in Washington, and that are clearly protected under the First Amendment.” If what Rabinowitz says is true—if passing classified information to foreign officials is routine in the nation’s capital—then we are all in big trouble."

Chevron seen settling case on Iraq oil
A quote...."Chevron, the second-largest American oil company, is preparing to acknowledge that it should have known kickbacks were being paid to Saddam Hussein on oil it bought from Iraq as part of a defunct United Nations program, according to investigators."

Condi Snoozed While Chevron Paid Off Saddam 
Related article - A quote...."Because she's a Russia scholar, Secretary Rice will be quite familiar with Lenin's term, "useful idiot." Near the end of her decade on Chevron's board (she joined it in 1991 while a professor at Stanford University), the corporation cooked up the very responsible-sounding "The Chevron Way to a Strong Board." As chairman of the "Public Policy Committee," she should have been tuned in to the open secret of kickbacks being paid to Saddam starting in June 2000 (everyone in the industry knew, according to investigators quoted in this morning's International Herald Tribune)."

The Ron Paul Effect
A quote...."Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, who barely registers in public opinion polls of the Republican presidential field, won last Thursday night's debate.  -  That was the unmistakable conclusion of the online poll posted by debate sponsor MSNBC, which registered Paul with higher positive ratings and lower negative numbers than any of the other nine candidates on the stage."

Editors note : This article is a snide attack against Ron Paul - for a response see....THE RON PAUL MEDIA REVOLT IS ON! & 'The Net' shoves Ron Paul right down ABC's throat !

Sarkozy's Grand American Delusion
Must Read - A quote...."Two thirds of the French think France is in decline and in the main, it is undoubtedly for that reason that Sarkozy will be the next President of the Republic. Moreover, the principal way in which the media has prepared for his rise to the presidency has been through years of ceaseless propaganda on the theme of the decline of France, and in this connection, its security."

Can Sarkozy Uphold the Values of 1789?
A quote...."Rightwing nationalist Nicolas Sarkozy, is the next president of France. He campaigned on an anti-immigrant platform that veered uncomfortably close to that of Jean-Marie LePen, though he did make a provision for affirmative action. Sarkozy will try to break the unions, and his view of the immigrants who rioted in 2005 over joblessness as "scum" bodes ill for social peace. An Arab blogger's view of Sarkozy's police tactics is eye-opening."

Sarkozy’s electoral victory and the bankruptcy of the French “left”
A quote...."The election of right-wing Gaullist politician Nicolas Sarkozy as French president has shocked many people in France and Europe.  -  One recalls the mood of euphoria two years ago when French voters rejected the European constitution. The same population forced the withdrawal of the unpopular “First Job Contract” (CPE) through a series of protests and demonstrations just one year ago."

Liquidity boom and looming crisis
Must Read - A quote...."The historical pattern of a 10-year rhythm of cyclical financial crises looms as a menacing storm cloud over the financial markets.  -  The 30% US market crash of 1987, in which investors lost 10% of 1987 GDP, was set off by the 1985 Plaza Accord to push down the Japanese yen with an aim of reducing the growing US trade deficit with Japan. The 1987 crash was followed 10 years later by the Asian financial crisis of July 2, 1997, with all Asian economies going broke, and some stock markets such as Thailand's losing 75% of their value, and Hong Kong having to raise its overnight deposit rate to 500%, trying to defend the fixed exchange rates of their currencies.

See also....Effective Fed Funds Rate 03-24-07 - mpg
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China's masses rise up and buy stocks
A quote...."HONG KONG - Mass movements are part of Chinese tradition. Chinese people tend to act as a group and, whenever conditions are ripe, they rush to join with someone or some group taking the lead. Hence a "mass movement" can be easily formed. In the 1960s and 1970s, there were the "all people becoming citizen-soldiers" movement and the Cultural Revolution launched by Mao Zedong."

Outing the L-Word, Part II: Nature, Power, and Hierarchy
A quote....“We have long lived with the notion - undertaken and popularized in earnest from the outset of the cold war and peaking during the Reagan era - that the American economic system is the most natural and God-given, and that the more taxes are cut, public utilities privatized, and business de-regulated, the more closely we approach some state of grace and harmony with the natural order of things.”

Scandal May Jeopardize World Bank Funds - posted at AntiWar
A quote...."The leadership crisis engulfing the World Bank began with talk of favoritism for a girlfriend and ill feeling about the Iraq war. But as the bank's board this week considers the fate of President Paul D. Wolfowitz, the ethics controversy has swelled into a test of who controls the institution and its future relevance in battling global poverty.  -  The outcome could determine whether governments from Berlin to Buenos Aires would be willing to contribute new funds in support of the bank's mission.  -  "There's a real danger because of this Wolfowitz stuff that donors are going to find a reason not to give," said Elizabeth Stuart, senior policy adviser for Oxfam International, an anti-poverty group in Washington."

 Loose Change: We Won't Submit To attack Dogs
A quote...."We write to you as members of ‘Patriots Question 9/11’ and the producers of Loose Change 2 and Loose Change Final Cut with a message to fellow ‘truthers’ and interested media entities, that we will never submit to the demonic forces that seek to silence us."

British terror trial raises question of what MI5 knew about 2005 London bombings
A quote...."Following a series of damning revelations during the trial of seven men for their roles in the alleged “fertiliser bomb plot,” the government is continuing to dismiss calls for an independent inquiry into the July 7, 2005, London bombings."
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9/11 - From The History File...Florida State: Jeb Bush Declares Martial Law 9-7-01
U.S. Ignored Warnings From French
Odigo Says Workers Were Warned of 9/11 Attacks
Fact-Checking Condi's Lies
Ashcroft's Efforts on Terrorism Criticized
Did Ashcroft brush off terror warnings?
Former FBI director to criticize Ashcroft terror focus at 9/11 hearings
Here in Reality - James Baker
Thomas J Pickard - Source Watch
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Ukraine is not a historical joke
A quote...."MOSCOW. (Gennady Bordyugov for RIA Novosti) - Sooner or later, the crisis in Ukraine will be overcome.  -  But standing behind the trivial election blocs, two or three party marches of the confronting sides, and the inevitable question of the power structure (upheavals have been programmed into the current one) is the Ukrainian issue, the destiny of Ukraine as a state.  -  A country may even be split if some party goes for victory at whatever the cost."

Europe torn between ABM and CFE
A quote...."MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti political commentator Pyotr Goncharov) - Europe will have to make an important decision: to accept Washington's plans of deploying missile defense elements in Poland and the Czech Republic contrary to Russia's interests, or to demand that the Untied States discuss the issue with Russia first.  -  The decision may be made within days in Brussels, where the NATO-Russia Council is scheduled to meet on May 10. ABM will most likely stand at the top of the agenda, and Russia also intends to raise the issue of the Treaty on Conventional Forces in Europe."

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Monday May 7th 2007
Bomber's Confessions: Explosives Hidden in Toothpaste that Brought Down Civilian Airliner in 1976.
Must Read - A quote...."Washington D.C., May 3, 2007 -- A Venezuelan employee of Cuban exile and indicted terrorist Luis Posada Carriles conducted surveillance on targets "with a link to Cuba" for potential terrorist attacks throughout the Caribbean region in 1976, including Cubana Aviacion flights in and out of Barbados, according to documents posted today by the National Security Archive. At least four targets identified in the surveillance report -- including the Guyanese Embassy in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad -- were subsequently bombed during the bloody summer of anti-Castro violence in 1976, and a Cubana jet was blown up in mid-air on October 6, 1976, after taking off from Seawell airport in Barbados."

See also....End of the Game 08-11-06 - mpg

My oh my oh my, this all seems so familiar....."shampoo" terror plots to bomb airplanes.  One wonders where this most recent crop of  "terrorists" got their ideas from.  Normally items like this would be quite embarrassing to the US authorities but rest assured our "main stream" press will completely ignore it.

It's possible that Mussharraf, with his "exquisite political instincts", knew the 2006 trans-Atlantic "liquid" bomb plot wasn't going to fly (pun intended) and decided to back out at the last minute. - mpg
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Bush Sat on Evidence of Cuban Terror
A quote...."The relatively gentle handling of Posada and other right-wing Cubans connected to terrorist acts against the communist government of Fidel Castro is in marked contrast to George W. Bush’s harsh treatment of Islamic militants captured during the “global war on terror.”  -  While suspected Islamic terrorists are locked away indefinitely at the U.S. military base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and can undergo “alternative interrogation techniques,” Posada has been afforded all U.S. legal protections and then some."

Bush has updated one of the golden oldies - "Somoza may be a son of a bitch, but he's our son of a bitch."........

too Bush's new and improved version - "Posada may be a terrorist, but he's our terrorist."
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US government moves to gag terrorist on CIA ties
A quote...."With his trial on immigration charges set for May 11, the US government has filed a motion in federal court seeking to bar the international terrorist Luis Posada Carriles from testifying on his role as an agent of the Central Intelligence Agency."
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Stoning to death of girl provokes wave of killings
A quote...." The stoning to death of a teenage girl belonging to the Yazidi religious sect because she fell in love with a Muslim man has led to a spiral of violence in northern Iraq in which 23 elderly factory workers have been shot dead and 800 Yazidi students forced to flee their university in Mosul. - The killings began with an act of brutality horrific even by Iraqi standards."

See also....Viral Neocons - 05-26-05 - mpg

To all the peoples of the world.  This is what America's elites plan for you, to spread their "Constructive Instability" promote Rumsfeld' s "P2OG Plan" , encourage Thomas Friedman’s "a Flattened Earth" (literally),  enable the "Smash of Civilizations" and  exercise the "El Salvador Option" across the length and breadth of the planet.  This is what they intend to do to all of you , to your societies, your cultures, to everything you have ever believed in, everything you have ever thought was true, everything you have ever valued, cared for, cherished or loved.  To make you turn on each other like wild animals.  To blame you for your own poverty after they have bombed you back into the Stone Age.  To sneer at you in contempt and say it's your fault your nation is disintegrating into chaos while they continue their onslaught. To laugh at you while they loot your natural resources.  To call you "towel heads" or "rag heads" or some other epithet.  To revel in your agony and the utter destruction of your societies

This is what they do, this is ALL THEY DO, it is their "method", it is their ceaseless and relentless effort to promote violence, death and destruction in an effort to consume your countries from the inside out. To turn your nations into charred burned out husks.  To tear apart the fabric of your societies so the can be rebuilt in "their" image. To service "their" needs.  It is their "thirty years war" their "long war", their "New American Century" and it is to be the doom of many of you.
 
If you deal with these people, if allow your leaders to deal with them, you condemn yourselves and your children to a life of unmitigated misery, agony and unimaginable horror.  Witness what they have done to cities like Fallujah, to nations like Iraq, to Somalia, to El Salvador, to Nicaragua to all the other countries the US has bombed, invaded, attacked, and infiltrated.  Witness the governments they have overthrown, the death squads they have unleashed.  This is what the power elites in the US have always done without remorse or pity to all who have stood in the way of "progress"  (i.e. profits) for the last sixty years.  The US's elites CANNOT CHANGE their behavior.....EVER, for it is their very nature to act so.
 
Do not forget as they come to you with insincere smiles plastered on their faces, saying they want to "help you", to bring you "freedom and democracy", to do "business with you"....what they intend to do to you. Do not be deceived by their false demeanors and fake smiles.  Understand quite clearly what lies beneath, contained within their skins, buried underneath their pleasant exteriors, hidden behind their eyes....the void, the insatiable hunger, the black darkness that exists within them.

Do not forget what they have already done. Do not forget what they intend to do.  Never ever forget. - mpg
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One in Ten US Occupation Troops Admit Mistreating Civilians
A quote...."For the first time ever, a sampling of soldiers and marines in combat units were questioned on issues of character, and their answers suggested hardened attitudes toward civilians among front line troops:

-- About 10 percent of soldiers surveyed reported mistreating non-combatants or damaging their property when it was not necessary;

-- Less than half of the soldiers and marines would report a team member for unethical behavior;

-- More than a third of all soldiers and marines reported that torture should be allowed to save the life of a fellow soldier or marine.
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Retired Marine preaches, says killing terrorists is an ‘act of love for our nation’
A quote...."The colonel asked churchgoers if the global war on terrorism was a “just war” and a “God-ordained war,” which he later affirmed."

An innocent old man, yet they shot him
A quote...."So far US forces in Iraq have paid out $32m for 'wrongful deaths'. Karzan Sherabayani went back to Kirkuk to ask why his uncle had to die "

WOW ! Thirty Two Whole Million Dollars for the ENTIRE war for them raggedy-ass, towel-heads, wadaya think of that folks?  Ain’t we generous? - mpg
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The Struggle over Iraqi Oil
Must Read - A quote...."The struggle over Iraqi oil has been going on for a long, long time. One could date it back to 1980 when President Jimmy Carter -- before his Habitat for Humanity days -- declared that Persian Gulf oil was "vital" to American national interests. So vital was it, he announced, that the U.S. would use "any means necessary, including military force" to sustain access to it. Soon afterwards, he announced the creation of a Rapid Deployment Joint Task Force, a new military command structure that would eventually develop into United States Central Command (Centcom) and give future presidents the ability to intervene relatively quickly and massively in the region."

Somalia: The Other (Hidden) War for Oil
A quote...."The U.S. bombing of Somalia took place while the World Social Forum was underway in Kenya and three days before a large anti-war action in Washington, January 27. Nunu Kidane, network coordinator for Priority Africa Network (PAN) was present in Nairobi, and after returning home asked out loud how 'to explain the silence of the US peace movement on Somalia?'

Truth Spring
A quote...."Thanks to the murderous fools in the current US administration, civil life in Iraq, now at the “point of no return”, is teetering at the edge of total anarchy.  -  As an accompanying fallout, along with an estimated million dead Iraqis, a morally, financially and diplomatically bankrupt America, the inept charlatans have also successfully managed to thoroughly radicalize the whole region. From Sudan to Pakistan and beyond, the ranks of America haters now stand swollen like never before. The recruiters for suicide brigades now drool non-stop with glee at the long cues of raging applicants outside their murky caves."

Global security after Iraq
A quote...."When I was in Oxford this past March, my wise friend and colleague Avi Shlaim reminded me that back in Febuary 2003 he had been one of several historians who predicted that George Bush's military adventure in Iraq would turn out no better than the analogous military adventure that Britain, France, and Israel all launched against Egypt, in Suez, in 1956.  -  It is worth re-reading the whole of this excellent article that the Guardian's Ian Kershaw published in February 2003.  In it, Kershaw compiled the judgments that Avi and eleven other historians offered on the question of whether what  Bush (and Blair) were facing in Iraq was another "Munich"-type challenge, or the first act of a Suez-type debacle."

Report: Saudis, US sponsoring covert action against Iran
A quote...."The governments of Saudi Arabia and the United States are working with other states in the Middle East to sponsor covert action against Iran, according to a report in this month's edition of The Atlantic. The report also suggests that covert attacks may occur against Iran's oil sector."

Lorie Van Auken Explains About The Importance Of The (JICI) In Regards To Possible Foreign Involvement In 9/11
A quote...."On May 15, 2003, a group of 9/11 victims' relatives met with the commission co-chairman Thomas Kean and other senior staff and submitted a list of questions, which included a mention of Lt. Gen. Mahmoud Ahmed. A June 17, 2004, the New York Times reported that Lorie Van Auken, whose husband died in the World Trade Center, was "irate" that the June 16 commission narrative of the 9/11 attacks did not even mention the allegation about Ahmed's role in the $100,000 transfer to Mohammed Atta. Clearly, the ISI link is no mere conspiracy theory."

Tenet-Bush Pre-9/11 'Small Talk'
A quote...."In late August 2001, when aggressive presidential action might have changed the course of U.S. history, CIA Director George Tenet made a special trip to Crawford, Texas, to get George W. Bush to focus on an imminent threat of a spectacular al-Qaeda attack only to have the conversation descend into meaningless small talk."

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9/11 - From The History File...CIA agent alleged to have met Bin Laden in July
PNAC - ROGUES’ GALLERY OF NEOCON ARTISTS
New evidence that the Bureau quashed another terror probe before 9/11
Why Didn’t the US Warn Us about the 9/11 Terrorists?
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The Lethal Media Silence on Kent State’s Smoking Guns
A quote...."The 1970 killings by National Guardsmen of four students during a peaceful anti-war demonstration at Kent State University have now been shown to be cold-blooded, premeditated official murder. But the definitive proof of this monumental historic reality is not, apparently, worthy of significant analysis or comment in today’s mainstream media.  -  After 37 years of official denial and cover-up, tape-recorded evidence, that has existed for decades and has been in the possession of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), has finally been made public.  -  It proves what “conspiracy theorists” have argued since 1970—that there was a direct military order leading to the unprovoked assassination of unarmed students. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) documents show collusion between Ohio Governor James A. Rhodes and the FBI that aimed to terrorize anti-war demonstrators and their protests that were raging throughout the nation."

Are Iraq war costs spinning out of control?
A quote...."The tab is $423 billion and rising, prompting economists to reassess US military and homeland security costs."

Bush Aide to Leave No. 2 National Security Post
A quote...."Deputy national security adviser J.D. Crouch II, who helped spearhead the recent policy review that led President Bush to send more U.S. troops to Iraq, announced yesterday that he will step down early next month, becoming the latest key aide to depart the White House at a critical juncture."

Wolfowitz aide quits World Bank amid controversy
A quote...."WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A close aide to World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz resigned on Monday, saying turmoil at the bank over its current leadership has made it difficult for him to do his job."

The Emperor has no clothes - The world is returning to the law of the jungle, thanks to Bush and Blair
A quote...." An under-recognised English political phil-osopher said, in 1776, in his work entitled Common Sense: "In America the Law is King. For, as in absolute Governments, the king is law, so in free countries, the law ought to be king; and there ought to be no other." Thus spake Thomas Paine, echoing the words of John Locke in 1690.  -  There ought to be no other... but looking back over the past 10 years, there plainly has been - Emperor Blair. As Lord Hailsham predicted in 1978, we have been heading steadily towards a form of "elective dictatorship". As always, power corrupts, and absolute power tends to corrupt absolutely. Those who wield such power barely recognise the state they are in. Invoking the poignant tales of Hans Christian Andersen, we now have an emperor with no clothes, with trust stripped away, who is impervious to the incredulous gaze of even the youngest elector."

Proof Mister Bush's 'Surge' is in the 'Last Throes'
A quote...."Mister Bush's latest Iraq 'surge' is failing and 'Commander Guy' or 'Decision Maker' or 'The Decider' -- whatever George Dub'ya is calling himself today -- admitted as much on national television.  -  Oh, Commander Guy-in-Chief didn't come right out and say, "My surge is failing" - matter of fact he didn't call it his surge at all...it has suddenly become "General Petraeus' Plan" and therein is the proof of just how badly Mister Bush's surge is going...he's no longer calling it HIS plan."

U.S. sees terrorism in Somalia; Minnesota Somalis see it differently
A quote...."Listen to Bush administration officials and you hear the chilling claim that a new terrorist front is emerging in Somalia because militant Islamists have created secret havens and platforms there for Al-Qaida.  -  Now listen to Prof. Ahmed Samatar echoing thousands of Somalis in Minnesota.  -  "Lies," said Samatar, who is dean of the Institute for Global Citizenship at Macalester College in St. Paul."

Trick or Trickle? The Richest Get Richer
A quote...."Over the past few years, the enormous share of income claimed by the very rich has become one of the hottest of political issues. (See “Economic Injustice for Most,” Commonweal, August 13, 2004.) Much of the data documenting the income shifts has been collected by two economists, Emmanuel Saez, of the University of California at Berkeley, and Thomas Piketty at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris. Their study is based on analyses of the entire database of personal federal income tax returns." - "The figures are startling. Since 1980, a period of prolonged stagnation in inflation-adjusted median incomes, the income share of the bottom 90 percent of families has fallen by about 17 percent (see Figure 1). Even the very upper-middle class folks in the 90-95 income percentiles barely kept their shares constant, while the top one-thousandth and top ten-thousandth have more than doubled and tripled their shares."

Worst. President. Ever.
A quote...."Worst job creation record since Hoover Administration. A growing economy should be good news for those seeking jobs. But over the course of President Bush's term in office, his Administration has the worst overall job creation record since Herbert Hoover more than 70 years ago."

Absolute Tragedy: 90% of U.S. babies regularly watch TV
A quote...."A second study in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine found that teens who watch three to four hours of television a day are more likely to have attention or learning problems and are less likely to get a college degree.  -  "Even watching more than an hour of TV per day had some adverse consequences, but three hours was much worse than one hour, and two was worse than one," Jeffrey Johnson of Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and the New York State Psychiatric Institute said in a telephone interview".
Sunday May 6th 2007
No posts - mpg
Saturday May 5th 2007
Bush’s War Against Journalists
Must Read - A quote...."Is it hyperbole to say that the Bush Administration has gone to war against journalists? Increasingly, this claim is a literal truth. Those who would dismiss the claim should contemplate some hard facts from the real battlefields of the “war on terror” in Iraq and Afghanistan. In Iraq, over a hundred journalists have been killed – a multiple of the number who died in World War II – and a large part of that number fell to American arms. I don’t suggest that the U.S. soldiers intentionally targeted them; but it does appear that historical rules that shielded journalists on the battlefield have disappeared, and that this has led to deaths. And with respect to certain foreign press organizations, like al-Jazeera, intentional targeting is now documented."

See also....
US 'targets' journalists in Iraq
April 8, 2003 journalist deaths by U.S. fire
US military sniper kills Reuters soundman in Baghdad
U.S. sniper kills Reuters man in Iraq
Journalist killed after investigating US-backed death squads in Iraq
US forces 'out of control', says Reuters chief
US military 'brutalised' journalists
US imprisons Iraqi journalists without charges
Journalists In Danger Overseas...From U.S. Governemnt
US warplanes bomb Al Jazeera office, kill journalist
Does The US Military Want To Kill Journalists
MPs leaked Bush plan to hit al-Jazeera
'Bomb Al Jazeera' memo trial begins

Think of all the stories that DIDN'T GET TOLD - because thousands of reporters were intimidated, threatened, arrested, tortured or even killed by US forces.

Just think about it.- mpg
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The Ongoing Iraq Intel Fraud - posted at Consortium News
A quote...."Almost five years and perhaps half a million deaths too late, it’s finally the accepted wisdom in Washington that the intelligence that George W. Bush used to justify invading Iraq was garbage. But the pattern of twisting the truth about Iraq continues unabated and the President is still rarely called on it.  -  Bush has never stopped making statements about the Iraq War that are untrue, illogical or irrelevant. Yet, the Washington press corps remains almost as lax today about holding Bush accountable as it was in 2002 and 2003."

Perle: ‘I Never Believed Saddam Was Responsible For 9/11′
A quote...."CNN’s Wolf Blitzer interviewed former Iraq war architect Richard Perle to get his response to accusations by George Tenet that he was advocating an attack against Iraq in the days after 9/11. Perle acknowledged meeting Tenet a week after 9/11 at the White House, but claimed he never conversed with Tenet. Perle then said, “I never believed Saddam Hussein was responsible for 9/11.”

But CNN played a clip from 9/16/01 that showed Perle telling the network:

Even if we cannot prove to the standard that we enjoy in our own civil society they are involved, we do know, for example, that Saddam Hussein has ties to Osama bin Laden. That can be documented.

Now they're lying about there lying!  These guys will never quit. - mpg
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9/11 - From The History File...Meacher sparks fury over claims on September 11 and Iraq war
Bush's 9-11 Secrets
The White House had (at least ) 28 Advanced Intelligence Warnings Prior to 9/11
The Taliban Minister, the US Envoy and the Warning of 9/11 That Was Ignored
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The Republican Debate:  a 'Pathetic Assemblage
A quote...."McCain was also the one who had the most to lose yesterday, and he delivered a poor performance. Stubborn and biting was the impression left. Staring into the camera with his fist clenched, McCain pointed threateningly at the camera, repeatedly misspeaking and banging the edge of the lectern.  He looked like an animatronic figure in Disneyland, being operated by an invisible hand. "I'm not the youngest, but I'm the best prepared," he swore, which is his campaign slogan." - bold/italics by website author

McCain has undergone the same operation that Bush had....QUICK!  Someone check under his hairline to see if there's any fresh scars....see....The Empty Vessel 09-20-06 - mpg
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Selling the Fear
A quote...."....and now, after six years of Bush and Cheney, we are mired in fearful talk of "enemies" who "want to kill us"; once again we spend half our nation's budget on war preparations—more than all other countries combined. How could the so-powerful be so insecure? What happened to the glorious post-Cold-War future we were envisioning? Well, for one thing, we have a new model of "enemy"—shadowy networks of stateless plotters and assassins; so now we shall always be insecure no matter how vastly more powerful our military is than all others; it is a formula for the permanence of Eisenhower's "military industrial complex". - bold/italics by website author

Exactly! - mpg
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Former warlord Mohamed Dheere takes control in Somali capital
A quote...."MOGADISHU, Somalia - A former warlord who for a time had been on the CIA payroll was sworn in Friday as mayor of Mogadishu and announced a plan to pacify this turbulent African capital within three months by requiring residents to turn in their guns. - bold/italics by website author

It's been going on for sixty years.  Replacing one dictator with another, replacing one tyrant with another, all the while causing the needless deaths of millions of people throughout the world.  This slaughter will continue, it will simply NEVER end, not while Amerika is in charge. - mpg
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Iran FM attacks US policy in Iraq
A quote...."Iran has strongly criticised US policy in Iraq, blaming the American presence there for sectarian violence.  -  Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki was speaking in Egypt on the second day of a summit of world and regional powers, called to discuss Iraq's security.  -  The summit, now over, had been expected to see the first high-level US-Iran talks in almost three decades.  -  Those hopes were dashed, although ambassadors from the US and Iran did hold a face-to-face meeting."

How Much Iraqi Crude Oil is Being Stolen? Mystery of the Missing Meters
A quote...."The line of ships at the Al Basra Oil Terminal (ABOT) stretches south to the horizon, patiently waiting in the searing heat of the Northern Arabian Gulf as four giant supertankers load up. Close by, two more tankers fill up at the smaller Khawr Al Amaya Oil Terminal (KAAOT). Guarding both terminals are dozens of heavily-armed U.S. Navy troops and Iraqi Marines who live on the platforms."

America Will Not, But Europe Must, Rethink Afghan Engagement
A quote....""Even if the America of George Bush again appears incapable of questioning its military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, Europe must urgently question the nature of its intervention in Afghanistan. Upon this depends Europe's credibility and that of NATO."

Trying to Catch Up with the Voters
A quote...."Both Democratic and Republican politicians are becoming uncomfortably aware that they may have seriously miscalculated just how unpopular the war in Iraq is with a very large number of American voters. And the implosion of the Republican Party--battered by one tempest after another--is getting to be bad as it was in 1932 or 1964. Of course the political system will adapt. Already the National Review's Bruce Bartlett is writing that the party's candidate for the presidency is doomed in 2008 and prudent Republicans should rally behind Hillary Clinton."

Bill Moyers' "Journal" Report on Iraq War Falls Short
A quote...."'Buying the War' failed to address the complacency, obstinacy, and apathy of the American people.

Dying for...Estonia?
A quote...."All week, young toughs in Moscow have besieged the Estonian embassy to harass Ambassador Marina Kaljurand. Her bodyguards had to use a mace-like spray to drive back the thugs, who call Estonia a "fascist country." Estonian diplomats and their families are being pulled out of Moscow and sent home.  -  Relations between the countries are about to rupture, if the Kremlin does not reign in the bully-boys."

Sinister side of the clown
A quote...."SOME of Boris Yeltsin’s worst transgressions barely rated a mention in much of the media coverage that followed his demise last month. The broad tendency was to paint him as Russia’s democratic saviour, a political colossus given to occasional acts of drunken tomfoolery."

Putin's Anti-West Rage 'Does Not Auger Well'
A quote...."Russo-American relations now remind one of the worst moments of the Cold War. Vladimir Putin seems to be reliving those times with the same intensity and anguish as that experienced by John F. Kennedy during the Cuban Missile Crisis. But with this difference: yesterday's victim [the U.S.] has become today's torturer."

Hillary’s Mother-F’ing Tour Business
A quote...."Before his untimely death in a plane crash, Commerce Secretary Ron Brown said,  -  “I’m not Hillary’s mother-f****** tour guide!”  -  That wasn’t a nice thing for a member of the President’s cabinet to say about the First Lady, now my Senator, Hillary Clinton.  -  And it’s probably not polite for me to bring it up now. But if I don’t, surely the Karl Rovarians will - if Senator Mrs. Clinton nails the Presidential nomination."
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Olmert and cronies unimpressed by protest, vow to ignore calls to quit
A quote...."Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's associates downplayed the massive rally Thursday night in Tel Aviv, calling it "irrelevant."  -  "We have already known what the public thought for a long time because of the polls," a source close to Olmert said, the Jerusalem Post reported. "It doesn't matter how many people came to the square, because decisions are made in the Knesset and not in demonstrations, because we are not a banana republic. And anyway, public opinion will soon flip in our favor."

George W. Bush has the lowest presidential approval rating in a generation
A quote...."May 5, 2007 - It’s hard to say which is worse news for Republicans: that George W. Bush now has the worst approval rating of an American president in a generation, or that he seems to be dragging every ’08 Republican presidential candidate down with him. But According to the new NEWSWEEK Poll, the public’s approval of Bush has sunk to 28 percent, an all-time low for this president in our poll, and a point lower than Gallup recorded for his father at Bush Sr.’s nadir."

Regarding the two articles shown above.....polls don't matter.  That's what Bush has always said and so has Olmert.  The peon's opinions don't count, if something can't be arranged to change their opinions by election time - such as another “fortuitous” 9/11 or a war, with Iran for instance -  than they'll just cheat again with their electronic guess-a-candidate machines or guess if you're on the voting rolls today schemes. 

That's how "they" play the game with suckers and rubes. - mpg
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Labor threatens to abandon Olmert after war inquiry
A quote...."Israeli Premier Ehud Olmert's government came under renewed threat Friday when members of the left-leaning Labor party threatened to withdraw from the coalition following a scathing Lebanon war inquiry. More than 100,000 Israelis took to the streets on Thursday night demanding that Olmert step down after a government-appointed commission blamed him for serious failings during the summer 2006 war."

Blair's Labour Battered in UK Elections
A quote...."LONDON (AP) - Prime Minister Tony Blair's Labour Party suffered a string of embarrassing defeats in elections - including in Scotland, where the party lost for the first time in a half-century - in what appeared Friday to be a final rebuke to the outgoing leader."

Regarding the two articles shown above....but people’s opinions (and polls) "sometimes" do count after all.
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FLORIDA MOVES TO PAPER BALLOTS!
A quote...."Will the Democrats in the U.S. Congress finally begin to realize their mistake in allowing for DRE touch-screen voting machines now that the Republican Governor of Florida has led the Republican-majority Florida legislature (along with every Democrat in it as well) to do the right thing and move to all paper ballots? Or will U.S. Congressional Dems continue to allow themselves to lose yet another issue that they should be owning?"

Hip Hip Hooray !!!  This will take one electoral cheating tool away from this nation’s wealthy elites. - mpg
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The Federal Reserve Monopoly Over Money
A quote...."APRIL 10, 2007—Recently I had the opportunity to question Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke when he appeared before the congressional Joint Economic committee. The topic that morning was the state of the American economy, and many of my colleagues raised questions about how the Fed might better "regulate" things to ease fears of an economic downturn. The tenor of my colleagues' questions suggested that Mr. Bernanke's job is nothing less than to run the U.S. economy like some kind of Soviet central planner."

IMF and World Bank Face Declining Authority as Venezuela Announces Withdrawal
A quote...."Venezuela’s decision this week to pull out of the IMF and the World Bank will be seen in the United States as just another example of the ongoing feud between Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and the Bush Administration. But it is likely to be viewed differently in the rest of the world, and could have an impact on both institutions, whose power and legitimacy in developing countries has been waning steadily in recent years."

Hip Hip Hooray.  One would sincerely hope that these institutions with their vicious predatory lending practices - practices which have caused so many countries to fail in the past, would themselves go down in flames.  This editor wouldn't shed a tear if that were to happen.  Not one tear. - mpg
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Friday May 4th 2007
One day you’re gonna wake up, America.
Must Read - A quote...." 05/04/07 "ICH" -- - And, like every other one since last you can remember, it’s gonna be an ugly morning.  -  One day you’re gonna wake up and go to your lousy job with its lousy salary and non-existent benefits. You might even remember the good job you once had. Or that the government you once supported gave tax breaks to companies like the one that exported that good job of yours to the Third World (which is what they’re now starting to call your country). Or that that same government undermined the labor unions which fought to get you your good wages and benefits."

America's Coming Dictatorship - The theory and practice of oligarchical "conservatism"
A quote...."The Iraq war and the inquiry into its origins has provoked interest in a number of subjects formerly considered obscure, the discussion of which was once limited to the rarified aeries of academia and specialty journals. Some examples are neoconservatism, just war theory, and, most surprisingly, the theories of Leo Strauss, the philosophical avatar of a cynical Machiavellianism that promotes the idea of the "noble lie." As the disaster in Iraq unfolded, subjects once considered abstruse were introduced into the pages of the popular press, so that, at one point, we were treated to a long explanation of the doctrines of Strauss in the pages of the New York Times."

Democrats MUST Impeach George W. Bush
A quote...."George W. Bush is enjoying his victory. But for him, it isn't a victory that is about forcing Democrats to surrender in their attempt to compel a withdrawal from Iraq. No, the victory Mister Bush is enjoying goes well beyond a president bullying the loyal opposition into political submission - his enjoyment is more akin to that experienced by Caesar when he and his legions crossed the Rubicon and ended the Roman Republic."

Anti-U.S. Uproar Sweeps Italy
A quote...."The U.S. government has proposed to make Vicenza, Italy, the largest US military site in Europe, but the people of Vicenza, and all of Italy, have sworn it will never happen.  -  As with the story of the Downing Street Minutes two years ago this week, a major news story and huge controversy in Europe right now is unknown to Americans, despite the fact that it is all about the policies of the American government. In February of this year, 200,000 people descended on the Northeastern Italian town of Vicenza (population 100,000) to march in protest. Largely as a result, the Prime Minister of Italy was (temporarily) driven out of power. Meanwhile, just outside Vicenza, large tents now hold newly minted citizen activists keeping a 24-hour-per-day vigil and training hundreds of senior citizens, children, and families every day in how to nonviolently stop bulldozers. The bulldozers they are waiting for are American."

Surging Into Slaughter: The Bipartisan Death Grip on Iraq
Must Read - A quote...."Intro: It is becoming increasingly clear that regardless of who wins the election in 2008, the United States government is not going to withdraw from Iraq. It is just not going to happen. This is the awful, gut-wrenching, frightening truth we must face. The only way that American forces will ever leave Iraq is the same way they left Vietnam: at gunpoint, forced into a precipitous and catastrophic retreat. And how many thousands upon thousands of needless deaths we will see before that terrible denouement?"

Iraqi lawmakers demand U.S. withdrawal
A quote...."BAGHDAD, May 2 (UPI) --  As calls in the U.S. Congress grow for a scheduled troop withdrawal from Iraq, similar demands are escalating in Iraq's National Assembly. -  Some 133 Iraqi lawmakers from different political blocs, calling themselves the "free deputies," signed a document demanding a scheduled withdrawal of the U.S.-led multinational troops from their country, according to the Sadrist bloc in Parliament."

Misery, Disease, Death: Mission Accomplished
A quote...."As the corporate media reminds us, we are weathering the fourth anniversary of Bush’s “mission accomplished” declaration, an opportunity for self-righteous Democrats to make political points on the fact no mission, as described, was accomplished.  --  I beg to differ, as usual."

See also....Child Abuse
See also....Viral Neocons - 05-26-05 - mpg
See also....Missions Accomplished - The Empire and Inequality Report, Issue No. 5
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US massacres of civilians spark protests in Afghanistan
A quote...."Bombing raids by US-led NATO forces in western Afghanistan last week killed at least 50 civilians and perhaps over 100, reports from Afghan government officials and human rights organizations have confirmed."

Rocket attack kills four in Baghdad's Green Zone
A quote...."BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Four U.S. government contractors, all from Asia, were killed in a rocket strike on the heavily fortified Green Zone compound in Baghdad on Wednesday, the U.S. embassy said on Thursday.  -  It was one of the deadliest rocket attacks on the Green Zone since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003."
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Warships, Warships Everywhere, and Many a Bomb to Drop
War Alert - A quote...."Today, the Nimitz is rapidly approaching the Persian Gulf, where it will join two other U.S. aircraft carriers and the French carrier Charles De Gaulle in the largest concentration of naval firepower in the region since the launching of the U.S. invasion of Iraq four years ago."

See also....There Are Eight Battle Groups At Sea   &   The War on Iran  &  Charles de Gaulle (R 91) 
Nimitz Strike Group - WESTPAC 07  ---   USS Nimitz (CVN-68)
Dwight D. Eisenhower Strike Group - MED 07 Deployment   ---   USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69)
John C. Stennis Strike Group - WESTPAC 07 Deployment   ---   USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74)
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Iraq [US] Generals to President: You've Failed Us
A quote....:05.01.2007 Washington, DC Today, two retired Generals who led troops in Iraq expressed outrage at the President's veto of the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Health, and Iraq Accountability Act."

See also....Predictable Outcomes - 02-04-07 - mpg
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The Whole Truth--and Nothing But
A quote...."“It is time for the truth, the whole truth, versus misinformation and hype.” Those were Jessica Lynch’s words as she testified before Congress April 24– along with the brother and mother of the late Army Ranger Specialist Pat Tillman–to set the record straight on her service in Iraq.  -  On April 2, 2003, Army Private Lynch was carried from an Iraqi hospital and whisked away on a Black Hawk helicopter. It was a great PR opportunity for the Bush administration, and with the help of too many in the mainstream media, they spun it for all that it was worth."

9/11 “Jersey” Widows need 4,000 more signatures to head back to Washington
A quote...."May 3, 2007 -- Last February, I wrote an article published on the Muckraker Report titled, 9/11 Widows Keep on Asking the Tough Questions, which featured interviews with four of the famous “Jersey Girls,” the 9/11 widows who spearheaded the drive to form the 9/11 Commission and who are still seeking government accountability on 9/11.  In the article, I drew attention to a petition the widows have set up online, demanding the release of some important documents relating to the 9/11 attacks.  As widow Lorie van Auken says in the article, “If we were to get to 15,000 names on this petition, we’d take it to Washington.”

Police action on journalists at melee is assailed
A quote...."One day after several reporters and camera operators were injured while covering an altercation at an immigrant rights rally in MacArthur Park, news organizations condemned the Los Angeles Police Department for its use of batons and riot guns against members of the media, and some said they were considering legal options.  -  "We are sorry for what happened to our employees and find it unacceptable that they would be abused in that way when they were doing their job," said Alfredo Richard, spokesman for the Spanish-language network Telemundo, of the anchor and the reporter who were hurt during the evening rally."

Must View....5-1-07 LAPD Assaults Immigration Reform Demonstrators. [and all of the press ] YouTube 3.03 min
Must View....Keith Olbermann - May Day Mayhem YouTube 2.57 min
See also......... FBI will investigate clashes at immigration march
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First Republican presidential debate displays a party in deepening crisis
A quote...."Thursday night’s presidential debate in Simi Valley, California underscores the shattering impact of the failure of the Bush administration on the Republican Party. Six and a half years after Bush took office—thanks to the Supreme Court, not the votes of the American people—his government is so isolated and unpopular that the Republicans vying to succeed him avoided even mentioning the current occupant of the White House.  -  Only one of the ten candidates for the Republican presidential nomination used Bush’s name in the course of the 90-minute session (Senator Sam Brownback, while declining to express an opinion on a pardon for convicted White House aide Lewis Libby). Even when moderator Chris Matthews used the last question of the debate to ask each candidate to explain how they would be different from the incumbent president, not one chose to name George W. Bush, whom polls show to be more unpopular than any president since Richard Nixon on the eve of his resignation."

Spying on Americans
A quote...."For more than five years, President Bush authorized government spying on phone calls and e-mail to and from the United States without warrants. He rejected offers from Congress to update the electronic eavesdropping law, and stonewalled every attempt to investigate his spying program.  -  Suddenly, Mr. Bush is in a hurry. He has submitted a bill that would enact enormous, and enormously dangerous, changes to the 1978 law on eavesdropping. It would undermine the fundamental constitutional principle — over which there can be no negotiation or compromise — that the government must seek an individual warrant before spying on an American or someone living here legally."

Neo-Con Threats Force Virgin To Pull Loose Change
A quote...."Virgin Airlines have pulled Loose Change from their in-flight movie roster after a cadre of Neo-Con slugs, bullies and enemies of free speech sent threatening complaints to the company, smearing the documentary and comparing it with Nazi propaganda films.

Foreclosures surge on mortgage woes
A quote...."Filings were up 35 percent in the first quarter; Detroit and Las Vegas get hammered. -  The number of filings climbed 27 percent in the first quarter compared with the fourth quarter of 2006 and 35 percent from a year earlier, according to a report released Wednesday by RealtyTrac, an online marketer of foreclosure properties.  -  There were more than 430,000 foreclosure filings nationwide, one for every 264 households. The filings include everything from default notices to auction sale notices to actual bank repossessions."

Untapped: The Scramble for Africa's Oil (Hardcover)
Book Review - BuzzFlash - A quote...."Lost in much of the coverage of the Sudanese-Darfur conflict is the battle over oil, with the West and China squaring off.  -  But that is the story in much of Africa, where oil -- and diamonds -- are natural resources that Africa has -- and that nations and companies outside of the continent covet.  -  It is Africa's horrible misfortune that proxy wars are fueled by those same business interests (along with the involvement of weapons merchants who profit from all sides)."

Daylight Saving Time exacerbates global warming -- actual newspaper letter to the editor 5/2
This letter just has to be clever parody, a joke or jest.  If not, this country is in serious trouble. - mpg

Jon Stewart on ProstitutionGate: "It's Like We Have Got Our Pre-9/11 Boners Back."
It's pretty funny - mpg

Thursday May 3rd 2007
Why Israel is after me
Must Read - Amman, Jordan — I AM A PALESTINIAN from Nazareth, a citizen of Israel and was, until last month, a member of the Israeli parliament.  -  But now, in an ironic twist reminiscent of France's Dreyfus affair — in which a French Jew was accused of disloyalty to the state — the government of Israel is accusing me of aiding the enemy during Israel's failed war against Lebanon in July."

U.S. Blocks Israel-Syria Talks
Must Read - A quote...."Even as American officials reluctantly agreed last month to include Syrian representatives in multiparty talks on Iraqi security issues, the Bush administration continues to block Israel from resuming negotiations with Syria over its security concerns. In 2003, President Bashar al-Assad offered to resume peace talks with Israel where they had left off three years earlier, but Israel, backed by the Bush administration, refused. Assad eventually agreed to reenter peace negotiations without preconditions, but even these overtures were rejected." - bold/italics by web site author.

The MIOC elites in this country will do ANYTHING for continuous war.  This article outlines in meticulous detail how these craven elites have continuously, maliciously and deliberately over the many long years scuttled several chances for peace.  They are walking, oozing, pustules of mendacity.  - mpg

For more on the US elites’ long history of saying no to peace see....

Iraq Said to Have Tried to Reach Last-Minute Deal to Avert War
US 'rejected Iraqi concessions'
Failed Iraqi peace initiatives - Wikipedia (cached)
Saddam's desperate offers to stave off war

Washington 'snubbed Iran offer'
Cheney rejected Iran's offer of concessions in 2003
Iran offered 'to make peace with Israel'
Rice Denies Seeing Iranian Proposal in '03  -  Editor's special note : This woman constantly denies remembering or
seeing anything that might prove embarrassing for the Bush agenda.
US force-marches Israel over Syria
Israel and Syria 'held secret talks for two years'
US neocons hoped Israel would attack Syria
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Neoconservative Fascism
Must Read - A quote...."Harvard Professor of Government Harvey C. Mansfield's May 2 Wall Street Journal essay “The Case for the Strong Executive” is a remarkable brief on behalf of unreconstructed fascist rule through an Executive emancipated from the rule of law.  -  Mansfield, who unblushingly admits that the alternative to the rule of law is "tyranny," insists that the "defects" of our system of liberty under law suggest "the need for one-man rule."  -  Seriously. He really wrote those words. And he apparently meant them"

Robert Fisk: Olmert undone by the militia he said he could destroy
A quote...."So it has come to this. All those bodies, all those photographs of dead children - more than 1,400 cadavers (we are not including the 230 or so Hizbollah fighters and the Israeli soldiers who died) - are to be commemorated with the possible resignation of an Israeli prime minister who knew, and who cared, many Israelis suspect, little about war. Yes, Hizbollah provoked last summer's folly by capturing two Israeli soldiers on the Lebanese-Israel border, but Israel's response - so totally out of proportion to the sin - produced another debacle for the Israeli army and, presumably now, for its Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert."

Tens of thousands urge Olmert to quit over Lebanon war report
A quote...."Tens of thousands of Israelis called on Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to resign late Thursday in the first mass street protest since a government inquiry blasted his leadership of last year's Lebanon war.  -  Organisers said about 100,000 people, left-wing activists and right-wing settlers among them, filled Tel Aviv's Rabin Square calling for Olmert to resign in the wake of the report that accused him of serious failure during the 34-day war."

Weapons of Mass Deception
A quote...."Bill Moyers lost me during the first few minutes of his excellent PBS special, “Buying the War.”  -  Not because it was painful to watch - blood boils at about the same temperature as water, and you could have made strong tea out of mine - but because my life became stranded at the very place where his story begins: “Four years ago this spring the Bush administration took leave of reality and plunged our country into a war so poorly planned it soon turned into a disaster.”  -  Burdened with a logical mind, I was never able to take leave of reality. As a result, just after Sept. 11, 2001, the country left me behind."

American Journalism: An Obituary
A quote...."Watching Bill Moyers' special on his return to PBS, Buying the War, I was struck by the stark contrast between the yeoman work of then Knight-Ridder (now McClatchy) reporters Jonathan Landay and Warren Strobel, and everybody else in what used to be called the journalism profession.  -  It does no disservice to Landay and Strobel to say that there was nothing particularly astounding about the work they did in exposing the Bush/Cheney administration's lies and deceptions in the two-year campaign to put the country at war against Iraq. As they explain to Moyers, they did what any real reporter was supposed to do, going to to sources they'd developed in the military and intelligence community in Washington, talking on and off the record with sources willing to tell the truth about what was going on, digging up and actually critically reading documents like the UN inspectors' reports on Iraq WMD inspections, and finally confronting the lying officials for comment."  -  bold/italics by website author
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Go to Original
Program Note

    Forged Intelligence Documents
    Bill Moyers Journal
    t r u t h o u t | Programming Note
    Airdate: Friday, May 4, 2007 at 9:00 p.m. EDT on PBS.
    (Check local listings at http://www.pbs.org/moyers.)

A quote...."As Congress investigates why the administration made false prewar claims, Italy's foremost investigative reporter, Carlo Bonini, takes viewers on the trail of the forged intelligence documents purporting that Iraq sought to buy yellowcake uranium from Niger. Also on the program: Bill Moyers interviews Jerry Miller, the 200th person exonerated by post-conviction DNA testing, about clearing his name; and British Renaissance Man, physician, author, and director of theater and opera Jonathan Miller about the hidden story of atheism."
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Oil Exporters and US Beware: Writing Is on the Wall
A quote...."When you take a look at the major oil-exporting countries, the reality is stark: dismal economic growth, abhorrent income distribution, all-pervasive social malaise, authoritarian and stifling governments, frequent military conflicts and a citizenry in despair. This is a recipe for unrest and turmoil.  -  The common factor is oil. Up to about thirty years ago, the source of conflict in oil-exporting countries was foreign control over oil reserves. This point of contention seemed settled through negotiations and nationalizations by the mid-1970s. Then, as oil revenues went through the roof between 1974 and 1981, it was expected that oil would be a blessing for a number of countries. These optimistic predictions were short-lived, as the blessing of oil became the curse of oil. The reason for the curse is twofold: First, a growing world economy needs oil (and gas) and the world powers will try to control and influence countries that possess oil and gas in abundance. Second, oil revenues in oil-exporting countries have accrued to rulers and governments, and not to the citizenry."

The "No Mercy" Doctrine Strikes Again in Afghanistan
A quote...."Last week, we reported here about the revelations in the UK's Sunday Telegraph that U.S. forces in Afghanistan have been told to show "no mercy" in using "uncompromising" force against any suspected Taliban insurgents. In that piece, crewmen of American attack helicopters bragged of the "extreme aggression" they employed in the occupied country; one spoke of the pleasure he felt in turning Afghans into "a big dust coud" when he hit them with his 30mm cannon rounds.  -  This week, we saw yet another example of the uncompromising aggression ordered by the Bush Administration in the supposedly liberated land: dozens of civilians killed in an American air attack on three rural villages in Herat province. The bodies of at least 45 civilians -- including a large number of women and children under 10 -- have already been recovered, with more to come, say officials of the Bush-backed Afghan government.

Note to Bush and Edwards: On How there is not Really any al-Qaeda in Iraq
A quote...."I caught John Edwards on Wolf Blitzer's Situation Room Wednesday afternoon. Blitzer asked him about Bush's remarks on al-Qaeda being enemy number one in Iraq.  -  Edwards replied with great good sense and admirable forthrightness, and I'll quote it in a second. But one thing I advise candidates in both parties to do is start recognizing that what the US military calls the Iraqi insurgency is primarily Iraqi nationalists, not al-Qaeda."

Hezbollah chief 'respects' Israel for war report
A quote...."Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said on Wednesday that he respects Israel for issuing a damning report on last year's war against his Shiite guerrillas in Lebanon.  -  "It is worth every respect when an inquiry commission ... is appointed by (Prime Minister Ehud) Olmert ... and it condemns Olmert," Nasrallah said at a book fair in Beirut's southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold."

Australia Accused Of Helping Fund And Arm Tamil Tiger "Terrorists"
A quote...."If it wasn't enough that the Howard government helped keep Saddam Hussein supplied with enough cash to buy more human shredding machines and testicle shock kits - by repeatedly turning many blind eyes to the flood of memos pouring across the desks of the prime minister and foreign minister all but screaming out "Pay attention morons! Your wheat contractor is bribing Saddam with hundreds of millions of dollars!" - now the very same government is accused of not only allowing the Tamil Tigers to raise funds in Australia to fight their insurgency in Sri Lanka, but also stand accused of helping them to arm up and put together their own air force as well (as minor as it is)."

Taped conversation between 7 July bombers casts doubt on MI5 account
A quote...."THE row over MI5's handling of the London suicide bombings escalated sharply last night as the Conservatives openly questioned the honesty of the Security Service's account of events leading up to 7 July, 2005."

MI5 'had six photos of 7/7 ringleader'
A quote...."Pressure on MI5 intensified today as it was claimed that the security service did not reveal the full extent of its surveillance of the ringleader of the July 7 bombers to the official body investigating the outrage.  -  The BBC reported that MI5 had six clear photographs of Mohammed Sidique Khan - as well as his name, address and videos of him meeting terror suspects - a year before the 2005 bombings in London, but informed the Intelligence and Security Committee about only one grainy shot."
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Bush's Illegal Use of Signing Statements is Impeachment Reason No. 1
A quote...."In a Pulitzer Prize-winning article in the Boston Globe, Charlie Savage courageously published details of Bush's outrageous "signing statements" added to new legislation. As you can see from the examples quoted from Savage's story(Boston Globe, April 30, 2007) below, the intention of each statement is to allow an "executive loophole" whereby "the W" can essentially ignore the effect of the legislation. In other words, Bush has been assuming the powers of a dictator, ruling by decree, under our noses."

How to Fail in the Middle East in 10 Easy Lessons
Related article - A quote...."As the conflict In Iraq grinds on and we are bombarded with sound bites from the fools on the hill claiming victory is essential and any thing less is defeat and therefore unacceptable. This is the line of reasoning the USSR used in Afghanistan;"

Regarding the two articles shown above, see also...."  Thirty Acts to Restore Americans' Rights 11-10-06 - mpg
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US Economy: Racing to the Bottom  -  The Fate of America's Middle Class
Must Read - A quote...."Because so many notable business pundits appear to be bemused by America’s most recent economic vexation, specifically the collapse of the mortgage markets; I thought I’d take a crack at edifying your readers, to the extent I’m capable, as to its true nature and causes.  -  To begin with one must remember that all the statistics kept on our economy are bogus. They are contrived in such a manner, compiled explicitly for casual regurgitation, so as to never display anything less than full employment, wage growth and a serendipitous lack of inflation.  -  With that as a foundation, what’s actually occurring in this economy is the globalization of assets and wealth. That is to say, because the value of American labor is falling so precipitously, (due to the utilization of cheap foreign labor around the world), the value of the assets held by them is falling in direct correlation with their declining wages. It must.  --  Here’s why:"

Anti-Capitalism in Five Minutes or Less
Related article - A quote...." 05/01/07 "ICH" -- - We know that capitalism is not just the most sensible way to organize an economy but is now the only possible way to organize an economy. We know that dissenters to this conventional wisdom can, and should, be ignored. There’s no longer even any need to persecute such heretics; they are obviously irrelevant."
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The Harder They Come ...A Stock Market Post-Mortem
A quote...."The real estate market is crashing faster than anyone had anticipated. Housing prices have fallen in 17 of 20 of the nation's largest cities and the trend lines indicate that the worst is yet to come. March sales of new homes plummeted by a record 23.5% (year over year) removing all hope for a quick rebound. Problems in the subprime and Alt-A loans are mushrooming in previously "hot markets" resulting in an unprecedented number of foreclosures. The defaults have slowed demand for new homes and increased the glut of houses already on the market. This is putting additional downward pressure on prices and profits. More and more builders are struggling just to keep their heads above water. This isn't your typical 1980s-type "correction"; it's a full-blown real estate cyclone smashing everything in its path."

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 in notational value, 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. Also keep in mind "Helicopter Bernanke" can always drop the interest rates, although this may negatively affect the dollars value - the powers that be really don't seem to care. -  However it does appear they are running out of maneuvering room at the end of this abbreviated ten year cycle of military Keynesianism, with the resultant increased strains on the US's financial system.  As such, a sudden "shift" or "adjustment" could occur at any time as this shortened "ten year cycle" winds down to its inevitable close. – mpg

See also.......Investing on the margin Commentary: Debt levels aren't high enough to trigger bear-market indicator
A quote...."The total amount of this debt has been rising steadily in recent years and two months ago broke out above its previous all-time high that was set in - you guessed it - March 2000.
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Wolfowitz Scandal Takes Bank Hypocrisy to New Heights
A quote...."Over the years, the World Bank’s hypocrisy has been so extreme as to be taken for granted. The ironies of talking about ending global poverty, interest rates and export policies while staying at five-star hotels and attending lavishly catered meetings do get a bit tiresome for Bank-watchers like me to keep pointing out. But the latest developments involving World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz and his former partner, Shaha Riza, take this everyday hypocrisy to new heights."

World Bank crisis ‘grist to the mill’ of Chavistas
A quote...."US allies in Latin America say the continuing crisis at the World Bank will benefit Hugo Chávez, Venezuela’s president, and the leaders of other radical governments, further weakening Washington’s influence in the region.  -  Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga, leader of the centre-right opposition in Bolivia and a former president, said the crisis “could not have happened at a worse time. It gives material to Mr Chávez and his supporters to mock the World Bank and the IMF, and they have a real alternative to offer”.

The Yes Man
A quote...."It's a scandal worthy of the Yes Men. Over the course of three years, this band of merry pranksters impersonated World Bank officials and told bemused audiences that Spain should outlaw the siesta, corporations should adopt "compassionate slavery" for workers in Africa, and fast food restaurants could solve the global hunger problem by serving a new hamburger made out of human waste.  -  So, did Paul Wolfowitz join the Yes Men? It's tempting to believe that, when the former U.S. deputy defense secretary became head of the World Bank two years ago, the pranksters gave him advice on how to reveal the underlying hypocrisy of the organization. "Sweep into the organization with big promises about transparency and accountability," the Yes Men told their newest recruit, "Make grand pronouncements about 'zero tolerance for corruption' and then give your World Bank girlfriend a big raise."

Europeans 'Embarrassed' By Stubbornness of Wolfowitz
Related article - A quote...."Ensconced in an affair regarding nepotism on behalf of his partner, President of the World Bank Paul Wolfowitz has never had any intention of resigning. He has instead secured the services of Robert Bennett, a lawyer of great repute who defended President Bill Clinton in the business of the sexual harassment of Paula Jones. In an internal Bank e-mail on April 24, Wolfowitz promised “important changes”  in his method of governance."
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Foreign Investors Gone Wild
A quote...."Armed with unprecedented legal powers, foreign investors have literally gone wild. They can sue over alleged violations of a long list of protections. The most controversial guard against government actions, including environmental and public health laws, that diminish the value of their investment. While international arbitration judges cannot force a country to change its laws, they can award massive damages to the investor. And that threat alone can have a chilling effect. A U.S. chemical corporation, for example, succeeded in using investment rules in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to pressure Canada to repeal an environmental health regulation."

Don't Cry for Boris Yeltsin
A quote...."Boris Yeltsin, who died on April 23, was a man of huge appetite, and he dined well at the richest table the Lord Almighty ever set before mankind – Mother Russia. But before taking his seat, he shattered the centerpiece of the Soviet Union, the final manifestation of the 400 year-old Great Russian Empire, and in an alcoholic stupor ordered a sizable chunk of the dining table lobbed off."

Oh, Happy Danes
A quote...."During the past few months, there’s been some buzz about a University of Leicester study that found Denmark to be the happiest country on earth.  -  Denmark? The country with the second-highest suicide rate in Europe? The home of gray skies, pickled eel, 60% tax rates – and Prince Hamlet, the most famously depressed character in all of literature?  -  Yes, that Denmark. It outranked all of the 178 nations surveyed, including the US (23rd), UK (41st), France (62nd) and Japan (90th).  -  Anyone who’s even slightly libertarian (Is such a thing possible?) is bound to ask how can it be. And, I suspect you are at least as skeptical as I am about surveys like this one. However, however much the validity of the researchers’ conclusions may be questioned, some striking insights emerge from their work."

Rogue Pakistani scientist still actively involved in proliferation
A quote...." The clandestine network trading in nuclear material and technology set up by rogue Pakistani scientist A Q Khan is still very much in business and actively involved in proliferation, a new report has claimed.  -  Khan is currently under house arrest in Pakistan after being exposed as the man who secretly supplied nuclear know how to Iran, North Korea and Libya. He had also attempted to sell the same service to Iraq, but been turned down by Saddam Hussein."

[To Pakistan] Give Up on Washington and Look Toward Beijing
A quote...."Dreaming of perpetual global dominance, the world's solitary superpower views the expanding economic and military might of China with trepidation. In response to this evolving threat, it is desperate to woo countries that have the potential of checking China's rise. So in American eyes New Delhi looks like an ideal partner."

Colombian Servility Toward Washington Must Be Ended
A quote...."Colombian-Spanish journalist Salud Hernández-Mora, speaking from the heart and soul on the editorial page of El Tiempo, the last remaining nationally circulated newspaper in Colombia, has published a stirring article “The Worn Out Kneepads,” where she wrote that, “it's now time to take up a national collection for the purpose of buying new kneepads for Colombia. The old ones are worn out from genuflecting before the whims of Washington. We also need to inject a dose of dignity into our nation, which seems incapable of defending its citizens from the intolerable abuses that the intelligence and investigative agencies of the United States commit.”

Open Letter to Nancy Pelosi 5-3-07
A quote...."Madam Speaker,  --  I understand that you have six grandchildren. Don't you care about the future? Don't you know that Bush's policies are destroying the future? His endless "war on terror" is bound to lead to nuclear war, which will pollute the gene pool beyond repair. He is bankrupting the treasury, destroying the environment, shredding the Constitution.  -  The only way to stop him and Cheney is to STOP them- not fence with them, not play ball with them, not fight with them, but STOP them. The Constitution has provided a clear means for doing this- IMPEACHMENT. Yet you have taken impeachment off the table, and are doing your best to keep it off the table"

Four Dead in Ohio
Protest Announcement - A quote...."Join the Camp Casey Peace Institute on Monday, May 14th as we gather in front of the White House to march on Congress to show the people who work for us that saving lives is more important to us than partisan politics. It is time that people on both sides of the aisle stop playing their bloody games with our children’s lives and the country of Iraq. Real people are dying and civilized countries are being demolished while time is being wasted on non-binding b.s." - For more on the marchs see....The Democrats Cave to Bush
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Wednesday May 2nd 2007

"Worthy and Unworthy Victims"
A quote...."05/02/07 "ICH" --- - Economist and media critic Edward S. Herman and social and political critic Noam Chomsky note two kinds of victims in their classic 1988 book "Manufacturing Consent." So does journalist and documentary filmmaker John Pilger in his writings. "Unworthy" ones are the many unmentioned tens of thousands killed in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine and all other places by US, Israeli and other rapacious imperial waring and occupying forces. "Worthy" ones, however, are those prominently mentioned who died or were hurt on September 11, 2001 in the US, on July 7, 2005 in a dubious London "terrorist" bombing, on March 11, 2004 in the Madrid train bombings, and the Israeli corporal practically the whole free world still knows about since he was taken captive in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) last summer and is still being held."

The U.S.’ War on Democracy
A quote...."It is too easy," Pilger says, "for Western journalists to see humanity in terms of its usefulness to 'our' interests and to follow government agendas that ordain good and bad tyrants, worthy and unworthy victims and present 'our' policies as always benign when the opposite is usually true. It's the journalist's job, first of all, to look in the mirror of his own society."
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Report Shows Increased U.S. Military Spending Slows Economy
A quote...."It estimated the impact of an increase in annual U.S. military spending equal to 1 percent of GDP (approximately equal to the military spending increase compared with pre-September 11th baseline)."

The projections show the following:

-- After an initial demand stimulus, the effect of increased military spending turns negative around the sixth year. After 10 years of higher defense spending, there would be 464,000 fewer jobs than in the baseline scenario with lower defense spending.

-- Inflation and interest rates are considerably higher. After 5 years, the interest rate on 10-Year Treasury notes is projected to be 0.7 percentage points higher than in the baseline scenario. After 10 years, the gap would rise to 0.9 percentage points. -  bold/italics by website author

See also....Effective Fed Funds Rate 03-24-07 - mpg
See also....War Profiteering and the Concentration of Income and Wealth in America
See also....Pork and Piggy Banks: U.S. Defense Contractor Campaign Contributions and Political Influence
See also....From Afghanistan to Iraq: Connecting the Dots with Oil
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Bush's Veto Survives House Challenge
Some quotes...."WASHINGTON -- Congress failed to override President Bush's veto of legislation requiring the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq on Wednesday, a defeat for anti-war Democrats that triggered immediate talks on a new measure to fund the conflict."

And....Democrats flashed defiance, yet signaled they were ready to make significant concessions such as jettisoning the troop withdrawal timetable and cutting some of the domestic funds that are part of the bill and Bush opposes.

And...."Make no mistake, Democrats are committed to ending this war," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif, said on a day of carefully scripted political drama at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue. "We hope to do so in unison with the president of the United States." - bold/italics by website author

How apropos, Nancy Pelosi.....America's newest drama queen. - mpg

See also....Stupidity Alert - 03-28-07 - mpg
See also....Results - Not Polls Are What Count - 03-25-07 - mpg
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Italian TV Network Covers WTC 7 Evidence
A quote...."On April 16, 2007, a major Italian network (Canale 5) has aired some conclusive evidence that Building 7 did not collapse on its own, but was deliberately taken down with the use of explosives.  -  The piece was part of a larger presentation we provided to the network as an update on the ongoing research on 9/11. In particular, we included a clip we had all seen many times before, but possibly never listened to with the full attention it deserved. Here is the 6 min. segment (please ignore yellow subtitles):

Hours after 9/11 attacks, Rumsfeld allegedly said, 'My interest is to hit Saddam'
A quote...."According to NBC's chief Pentagon correspondent, former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said that his "interest is to hit Saddam Hussein" just hours after the attacks on September 11, 2001, "even though all indications pointed at al-Qaida as the guilty party," a Rhode Island newspaper reports."
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9/11 - From The History File...911 Commission - Trans. Sec Norman Mineta Testimony
Mineta's Testimony CONFIRMED
Did Cheney Allow Or Order 9/11 Plane To Strike Pentagon?
Dirty Little 9/11 Secrets Exposed
Dick Cheney  -  Cover Stories of the People in Charge
The Mineta Testimony: 9/11 Commission Exposed
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MI5 decided to stop watching two suicide bombers
A quote...."When the identities of the four July 7 suicide bombers first became known, senior police and government officials were quick to claim that they were so-called "clean skins", men who had never crossed the radar of the security service or Scotland Yard. Charles Clarke, then home secretary, insisted that no intelligence had been missed and that the attacks "came out of the blue". It was a claim reinforced publicly by Sir Ian Blair, the Metropolitan police commissioner, and by countless off-the-record officials briefings for reporters."

Blair denies MI5 failures and rejects call for 7/7 inquiry
A quote...." Tony Blair today ruled out demands for a new inquiry into the July 7 bombings, denying claims that MI5 overlooked crucial evidence which could have prevented the attacks  -  In the Commons, the Prime Minister said a fresh inquiry would be a "mistake" and would undermine support for the security services in the fight against terrorism."

There goes Bush's poodle again, doing anything and everything to support the PNAC plan.

See also..Al-Qaeda cleric exposed as an MI5 double agent
See also..Terr Expert: 7/7 Mastermind was working for British Intell Group was used by Brits in Kosovo in the late 90s
See also.."Why Is Britain Protecting 'Jihadists'"?
See also..London bomb mastermind was Bin Laden bodyguard - recruited for Al Qaeda at Finsbury Park Mosque
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In The Philippines Bush"s War On Terror Has Become A War Of Terror
A quote...."In the Philippines Bush's War On Terror has become a War Of Terror. Last week Elias Mabundas, 25, and Auling Bugahod, 50, both left wing activists were gunned down by the philippine military as they were driving down a freeway. On Wednesday, April 18, Carmelo Palacios, 41, became the 51st journalist to be killed since Gloria Macapagal Arroyo came to power in 2001. Two days prior to the Palacios killing Willie Jerus, 43, a member of the National Peasant Movement (KMP) and a local organizer was gunned down in front of his wife by an unidentified gunman. He was the 843rd leftist to be killed, usually by the same proverbial unidentified gunman/gunmen since Arroyo came to power. In addition to those known killed an additional 210 are reported as missing. Most on the left place full responsibility for the killings and disappearances on the military, the Arroyo government And the Bush administration because of its close ties to Arroyo and the Philippine military."

Olmert on brink over war failure as his deputy and party desert him
A quote....Ehud Olmert’s days as Israeli Prime Minister appeared numbered last night as he faced growing pressure to quit, even from within his own party, as the political fallout from the conflict in Lebanon deepened.  -  Tzipi Livni, the Foreign Minister and Mr Olmert’s second in command, was reported as saying that the Prime Minister should resign after the inquiry into his Government’s handling of last summer’s conflict."

Hezbollah taunts embattled Israeli leadership
A quote....."Shi'a militants of Hezbollah put up giant posters of Israel's embattled leadership at the Lebanese border on Tuesday, taunting it over the resignation calls resulting from last year's war.  -  The images of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defence Minister Amir Peretz were erected on a large hoarding only one kilometre (just over half a mile) from the Israeli border town of Metulla."

Western media fade, new media rise in Asia
A quote...."Many Western media outlets have seen their circulation figures stagnate, and under growing financial pressure at home have severely cut their reporting staffs across Asia. Newsweek recently closed its Asia bureau and Time has closed down all but two of its regional bureaus. "

Something Happened in Haiti
A quote...."This parody from the Onion challenges the assumption that 24 hours of news coverage, satellite uplinks and bold graphics actually keep us more informed."

Just a guess....maybe this is one reason WHY everyone is turning away from America's "mass media". - mpg
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Giuliani Assails Venezuela's Chavez
A quote....""Isn't it annoying, upsetting and even in some cases a matter of national security that we have to send money to our enemies?" Giuliani asked. "We need a president who knows how to get things done so we don't have to be sending money to Chavez."

Yeah....Right on Giuliani!!!  It really irks a person to see those pathetic peons down south of the border get all uppity and try not to give us OUR Goddamn oil.  Let's go "shock and awe" the heck out of them and give them some of the same good'ol American style "freedom and democracy" we gave to them towel headed Iraqis.  If that don't work we could at least try to overthrow that greasy little low life Chavez again, maybe it'll work this time? Wadaya think? - mpg
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5-1-07 LAPD Assaults Immigration Reform Demonstrators. [and all of the press filming the event]
Must View - A quote...."Towards the end of what would otherwise have been a peaceful march and rally, LAPD riot police fired rubber bullets into a crowd of immigration reform demonstrators in Los Angeles Tuesday, May 1, 2007."

And here's a lovely American reporter who, unlike most of her prestituting see no evil hear no evil, speak evil all the time, DC beltway bootlickers, is actually down in LA doing her job.  Well done. - mpg
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US: Los Angeles police violently disperse immigrant rights demonstration
Related article - A quote...."Police violently broke up an immigrant rights demonstration in Los Angeles on the evening of Tuesday, May 1, attacking demonstrators with tear gas, rubber bullets and batons. Many were injured, including TV news reporters and legal observers."

Arctic ice cap melting 30 years ahead of forecast
A quote...."WASHINGTON  --The Arctic ice cap is melting much faster than expected and is now about 30 years ahead of predictions made by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a U.S. ice expert said Tuesday."

Tuesday May 1st 2007
Baghdad up close and personal
Must Read - A quote...."BAGHDAD - It's noon on Sunday right in front of the Adhamiyah wall - the now infamous symbol of the Pentagon-devised Baghdad gulag. On Muhamad al-Kasem highway, a few battered cars and vans stop, their occupants curious to examine this prime stretch of "ghettoization".  -  Behind lies Adhamiyah, one the key arteries of the Red Zone and privileged heartland of Sunni Arab guerrillas. The streets are littered with all sorts of debris, some blocked by tanks, some blocked by the usual blast wall slalom. The road to Abu Hanifa Mosque - where the Sunni Arab resistance was born on April 8, 2003, a little over a week after the "liberation" of Baghdad - is also blocked. It was in Abu Hanifa that a 3,000-strong demonstration assembled last week to protest against the wall. Adhamiyah is virtually encircled by US forces, but their checkpoints are always mobile."

Mortar attack hits Iraqi Green Zone
A quote...."Mortar rounds have landed inside Baghdad's well-guarded Green Zone, with one striking within 100m of the Iraqi prime minister's offices, a government official said. No casualties were reported in Tuesday's attack, which was the second against the Green Zone in 12 hours."

Israeli minister quits over war
A quote...."A member of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's cabinet has resigned in protest against Israel's handling of its 2006 war against Lebanon." - "I cannot sit in a government headed by Ehud Olmert," Mr Cabel said, calling for Mr Olmert to resign immediately."

Pressure grows for 7 July inquiry
A quote...."Pressure for an independent public inquiry into the London bombings of 7 July grew after it emerged that MI5 agents heard the convicted terrorist Omar Khyam give advice on becoming a jihadi fighter to Mohammed Sidique Khan, who went on to mastermind the attacks on the capital."

MI5 row sparks 7/7 inquiry calls
Related article - A quote...."Pressure for a public inquiry into the 7/7 attacks has risen after it was revealed that a parliamentary committee did not see some surveillance material." - "Security sources say MI5 said it did not reveal the images to the parliamentary committee because they were taken by police officers not MI5 operatives.  -  On Monday, it emerged at the end of the year-long court case that MI5 had two of the 7 July bombers under surveillance a year before the attacks."  -  "We must have an inquiry which allows us to know what the facts and not feel, as we might do today, that we have been misled."  -  Ministers are opposed to an inquiry but a parliamentary committee will consider why the bombers were not picked up. - bold/italics by website author.

One simply CAN'T imagine why the "bombers were not picked up".....can you gentle reader? - mpg

See also...."The Uses of Fear" - 11-11-06 - mpg
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See also......Pakistan's ISI assists Scotland Yard, while also supporting the terror network
London Bombings: Cover Story Mutation Continues
London 7/7 Terror Suspect Linked to British Intelligence?
Pakistan said to play both sides on terror war
Terror Expert: London Bomber Was Working For MI5
Former MI5 Agent Says Bombings Look Like Inside Job
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Price tag for war in Iraq on track to top $500 billion
A quote...." WASHINGTON - The bitter fight over the latest Iraq spending bill has all but obscured a sobering fact: The war will soon cost more than $500 billion.  -  That's about ten times more than the Bush administration anticipated before the war started four years ago, and no one can predict how high the tab will go. The $124 billion spending bill that President Bush plans to veto this week includes about $78 billion for Iraq, with the rest earmarked for the war in Afghanistan, veterans' health care and other government programs."

Iraq Sunni bloc weighs quitting govt - senior members
A quote...."BAGHDAD, May 1 (Reuters) - Iraq's main Sunni bloc is considering quitting the Shi'ite-led government because it believes the concerns of Sunnis are not being addressed, members of the bloc including the vice president said on Tuesday."

How Rumsfeld Micromanaged Torture - "Make Sure This Happens!!"
A quote...."When Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld boasted, as he did frequently, of his unrelenting focus on the war on terror, his audience would have been startled, maybe even shocked, to discover the activities that Rumsfeld found it necessary to supervise in minute detail. Close command and control of far away events from the Pentagon were not limited to the targeting of bombs and missiles. Thanks to breakthroughs in communications, the interrogation and torture of prisoners could be monitored on a real time basis also."

Is that what they call it...."close command and control"?  For years there have been a lot of jokes on the web to the effect that maybe those sickos in the White House really enjoyed this stuff, that they enjoyed watching those videos from Gitmo, Abu Ghraib and the other "black sites" throughout the world.  They're not jokes anymore and it's not funny anymore.  One would hope all you "Neo-Romans" in this country who voted for these perverts are ashamed of yourselves.  -  mpg
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Fear and Vitriol in the Halls of Congress - Edgy Dems Snarl at Their Antiwar Base
A quote...."Democrats in Congress are growing increasingly hostile toward their antiwar base. David Obey has provided the most notorious example upon a chance encounter with Marine Mom, Tina Richards, in a Congressional hallway. (See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mS4wHMCc57k). Richards had tried to talk with Obey, her Congressman, for a long time, but he had successfully eluded her until this day. Now she and other antiwar activists were lobbying in the Capitol in an attempt to get "our" Senators and Representatives to cut off funding for the war. Not surprisingly, Obey gave the standard response when Richards asked why he continues to fund the war. "We don't have the votes," he shouted at her. To which the answer is of course: "Congressman, we only want your one vote, and your help in getting the rest. You cannot win if you do not fight." Talk to any Dem politician and he or she will tell that they on your side but the others  are the problem. So the votes are not there collectively, but individually everyone is on the side of peace. That is a very strange calculus."

Don't you just love the scene in the video where Congressman Obey, trying to defend his vote to continue the war states...."I'm not going to deny body armor; I'm not going to deny funding for Veterans Hospitals...."

That’s right; we all have to understand the V.A system and our troop’s body armor are totally dependent on this war funding bill being passed

That despite all the thousands of articles which have been printed  - and ignored - despite all the service men and woman throughout the United States who've begged and pleaded for FOUR LONG YEARS to get better body armor, despite the decrepit shambles the VA has become, we now learn from Congressman Obey that this terrible state of affairs can only be ameliorated if we as a people continue to fund this immoral, illegal and murderous war.

One wonders how the VA survived all these years during times of peace.  One would have thought they could pass separate pieces of legislation to fund these concerns.  Perhaps that’s just a concept which is simply too difficult for Obey and others of his ilk to understand. – mpg

Regarding Obey's statement "it doesn't work that way" see....How It "Works" In DC - 03-09-07 - mpg
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Moving beyond anti-war politics
A quote...."As Congress sends its bill requiring partial troop withdrawals from Iraq to the White House for a certain veto, it has never been clearer that mobilizing against this war is necessary, but not enough.  -  Congressional Democrats may be willing to stop there, but demanding the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq is only the first of our obligations to help create the conditions for real justice and peace in the Middle East and around the world. It's crucial that we also advocate for an entirely new foreign policy based on opposition to the long U.S. drive toward empire."

Bush's Royal Trouble - posted at BuzzFlash
A quote...."President Bush enjoys hosting formal state dinners about as much as having a root canal. Or proposing tax increases. So his decision to schedule a mid-April White House gala for Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah signified the president's high regard for an Arab monarch who is also a Bush family friend.  -  Now the White House ponders what Abdullah's sudden and sparsely explained cancellation of the dinner signifies. Nothing good -- especially for Condoleezza Rice's most important Middle East initiatives -- is the clearest available answer."

The Deadliest Sin - posted at BuzzFlash
A quote...."But Bush’s hubris (I, Shrub being a perfect anagram) is killing people, is keeping people below the poverty line. And as with anything else associated with this Alice in Wonderland government of ours, there’s no rhyme or reason to it. Let’s start with the post-Katrina Gulf coast.  -  Yesterday’s Washington Post said it all in its understated headline: Most Katrina Aid From Overseas Went Unclaimed. It’s one of those stories that ought to detonate the head of every right-thinking American, liberal or conservative. Did any of you know that 150 nations had offered $854,000,000 in money, oil, goods and services in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina? Want to take any bets as to how much of that nearly one billion dollars in disaster relief has actually been used?  -  If you guessed more than forty million, or even 5% of the proffered aid, you’re an incurable optimist.  -  Time and again, these gestures of international humanitarianism had been rebuffed, ignored or gracelessly put on a back burner as if they were indefinite standing offers." - bold/italics by website author

Back in the Days of 'Mission Accomplished': How One Paper Covered Bush Declaration Four Years Ago
A quote...."At the time, it was heralded by much of the mainstream media as a fitting moment of triumph."  -  "When Bush spoke, the U.S. had 150,000 troops in Iraq; the number now stands at 160,000 or more. American casualties at the time were 139 killed and 542 wounded. A year ago they stood at 2,400 killed and now it's 3,350 dead."  -  "With that in mind, here are excerpts revealing how one newspaper, The New York Times, covered the event and aftermath four years ago. They include this nugget: "The Bush administration is planning to withdraw most United States combat forces from Iraq over the next several months and wants to shrink the American military presence to less than two divisions by the fall, senior allied officials said today."

Venezuela takes over refineries
A quote...."Venezuela has said that it has taken control of the massive Orinoco Belt oil projects as part of President Hugo Chavez's nationalisation drive.  -  Many of the world's biggest oil companies agreed to transfer operational control to the government.  -  The May Day takeover comes one year after Bolivian President Evo Morales seized his country's gas fields."

Viva Venezuela - mpg
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Russian economy has little hope of becoming competitive
A quote...."MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti economic commentator Mikhail Khmelev) - The Russian government has approved an excessively optimistic socioeconomic development forecast for 2008-2010.  -  According to its predictions, the Russian economy will grow by at least 5.2% annually despite possible changes in energy prices and sluggish demand for Russian goods.  -  The influence of oil quotations on the Russian economy has diminished, and growth is unlikely to be driven by energy exports. Instead, according to the government, the Russian economy should seek to increase domestic demand."

Keeping control of a nation's natural resources and preventing "others" from stealing them as Venezuela is trying to do is always good idea.  But as the article shown above demonstrates, other than national risk systems such as health insurance and pension plans, or in certain cases large public grid distribution systems for power or transportation, private sector or government monopolies or direct interference by the government in the manufacturing or services sectors of an economy can be costly.  Free markets are generally more efficient at producing goods and services as long as the rules for the free markets are open, consistent and fair and as long as the rules are determined by all the people in the society - not just the "players".- mpg
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Kent State victim: Tape may answer shooting mystery - posted at AntiWar
A quote...."CLEVELAND - A man shot in the wrist when National Guard troops opened fire during an anti-war protest 37 years ago said he has found an audio tape while doing research on the shooting that he claims shows a command to fire was issued by a Guard commander.  -  Alan Canfora said he requested a copy of the nearly 30-minute tape six months ago after he learned it was kept at Yale University, where a government copy had been stored in an archive. Just before a 13-second barrage of gunfire, a voice on the tape yells, "Right here! Get Set! Point! Fire!" Canfora said.

China's misguided 'experts' on the US
A quote...."Recurring financial crises are structural for financial globalization under a dysfunctional finance architecture based on dollar hegemony. Such financial crises allow the printer of dollars regularly to rob exporting nations of their financial gains earned with low wages. China can only be a victim, never the instigator, of such crises because it cannot print US dollars. US economic decline will be the result of flawed US policy and nothing else.  -  China's need for Middle Eastern oil is not threatened by US withdrawal from the region, as big producers such as Saudi Arabia and small Persian Gulf states as well as Iran are independently shifting the oil trade to China away from the United States. It's a toss-up between continuing US presence and withdrawal as to which would cause more stability in the Middle East."

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