Tuesday May 12th 2009

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

Monday May 11th 2009

The Children's Crusade
Must Read - Obama™ Update - A quote...."Day after day, week after week, Barack Obama's "Overseas Contingency Operations" keep churning through the bodies of children: sometimes with chemical weapons that sear their flesh and leave them maimed and disfigured for life; sometimes with carefully aimed bullets ripping through their organs and leaving them dead right on the spot. -- And in every such case, our brave and noble Terror Warriors -- who, lest we forget, are upholding the highest values of world civilization, bringing hope and change to benighted lands and defending our sacred way of life -- run screaming like spinsters in a hissy fit from the slightest hint of responsibility for their actions. Their first response, always, is to blame someone else: either the designated enemy of the day -- or else the burned and shredded children themselves."

The Bad PR of Dead Civilians - Afghan airstrikes and the corporate media
Must Read - Obama™ Update - A quote...."Early reports of a massive U.S. attack on civilians in western Afghanistan last week (5/5/09) hewed to a familiar corporate media formula, stressing official U.S. denials and framing the scores of dead civilians as a PR setback for the White House's war effort." - also posted at CommonDreams - For more on this issue see....US Fake Intel / Propaganda

Obama’s Middle East Imperialism
Special Note - Obama™ Update - A quote...."The velvet gloves are off and the reality of Obama’s Middle East plans are being revealed: a bare-fisted pummeling of Afghanistan and Pakistan — with Iraq’s fate yet to be determined. - The media have been preparing this for months, with incessant talk about the alleged “troop drawdown” in Iraq, the “surge” in Afghanistan and the “immediate threat” that supposedly is represented by Pakistan. - It’s now crystal clear that zero “change” will be forthcoming when it comes to U.S. foreign policy, minus a strategic shifting of troops.  This fact was highlighted recently when Obama asked for an additional $83.4 billion in “emergency spending” to fight the Iraq/Afghan/Pakistan wars. It must be noted that so-called “emergency funds” were precisely the avenue Bush chose to fight his wars, enabling him to skirt the already-gigantic military budget."

'Everything destroyed' in Swat valley - link posted at AntiWar
Obama™ Update - A quote...."Tens of thousands of people have been fleeing the fighting between the Pakistani army and the Taleban in the Swat district. According to the UN, there are more than 300,000 people registered as displaced and the Pakistani government says it expects that figure to reach one million." - bold by website editor - For more on this issue see....The Method - 05-07-07 - mpg

Swatis Flock to Increasingly Crowded Refugee Camps - Hundreds of Thousands Displaced in Latest Offensive @ Antwr
Obama™ Update - Related Article - A quote...."Hundreds of thousands of civilians have been chased out of the Swat Valley by the Pakistani military offensive, and many are flocking to the increasingly crowded and ill-equipped refugee camps set up for them. The UN says it is expecting that most of the people chased out of the region will stay with relatives or friends, which may be part of why the camps don’t seem up to the task of housing so many displaced persons."

A Double-Edged Sword - Obama is now hiring a murderer to do his dirty work. - mpg
Obama™ Update - Some quotes...."The Pentagon just announced the surprise replacement of General David McKiernan with Lt. General Stanley A. McChrystal, who commanded JSOC from 2003-2008." -- "General McChrsytal carries with him a dark side as well. One unit under his command, the now-notorious Task Force 6-26, which was assigned to find HVTs, or High Value Targets in Iraq, is credited with the ultimate death of Zarqawi. The problem is, along the way they faced accusations of running a secret camp that tortured prisoners, and they were implicated in at least two detainee deaths during torture sessions. Their camp, called Camp Nama, became something of a lightning rod after a “computer malfunction” destroyed upwards of 70% of their records and an investigation into their conduct stalled out."

New Afghanistan Commander Had Role In Tillman Friendly-Fire Episode - And he's a liar to boot. - mpg -@ Antiwar
Obama™ Update - Related Article - A quote...."It looks Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the man taking over as the new top commander in Afghanistan, was a key player in one of the more shameful episodes of the Bush administration's war on terror -- though it's unclear exactly how much blame, if any, he himself deserves."

The Big Dog Wins Another One
A quote...."The acquittal of former AIPAC operatives Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman on espionage is yet another victory for the Israel Lobby.  As happens so often these days, stories that are much discussed in some sectors of the Internet are pretty much ignored in the MSM. The New York Times buried it and the LA Times ignored it entirely. It was missing from network news and from cable TV talk shows of all political leanings." -- For more on this issue see.... Judeo-Christian C/C & US

CIA and ISI together created Taliban: Zardari
A quote...."WASHINGTON: In a new revelation, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has said that the CIA of the United States and his country's ISI together created the Taliban. "I think it was part of your past and our past, and the ISI and CIA created them together," Zardari told the NBC news channel in an interview." - also posted at WarInIraq -- For more on this issue see....US Support of Terror

U.S. Foreign Policy Caused the Taliban Problem
A quote...."While most Americans now view President Bush’s Iraq War as a “bad war,” the common perception is that Bush’s invasion of Afghanistan was a “good war” (despite the fact that he went to war without the constitutionally required congressional declaration of war). The notion is that the U.S. government was justified in invading Afghanistan and ousting the Taliban regime from power because the Taliban and al-Qaeda conspired to commit the 9/11 attacks. --
There’s just one big problem with that belief: it’s unfounded." -- also posted at ICH
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CIA Refuses To Turn Over Torture Tape Documents To ACLU - And the cover-up of 9/11 continues. - mpg
Special Note - A quote...."The CIA claims the integrity of a special prosecutor’s criminal investigation into the destruction of 92 interrogation videotapes will be compromised if the agency if forced to turn over to the American Civil Liberties Union detailed documents related to the purge, according to newly released court documents. -- In a May 5 letter to U.S. District Court Judge Alvin Hellerstein, Lev Dassin, the acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said the Justice Department recently had discussions with prosecutors working on the criminal investigation into the destruction of the interrogation tapes and was informed that “the production of documents...would conflict and substantially interfere with the [criminal] investigation” into the destruction of the interrogation tapes."

9/11 Mastermind: "During ... My Interrogation I Gave A Lot Of False Information In Order To Satisfy What I Believed The Interrogators Wished To Hear" - And continues again.....mpg -- Special Note -- A quote....."The Red Cross is the organization charged with deciding what is torture and what isn't. - The International Committee of the Red Cross interviewed Khalid Shaikh Mohammed - the alleged 9/11 mastermind - at Guantanamo Bay. Here's what KSM told the Red Cross:"


Coverage of al-Libi 'Suicide' Almost Wholly Absent from U.S. Mainstream Corporate Media
Special Note - A quote...."So, it's been about 16 hours since we covered indie journalist/historian/blogger Andy Worthington's detailed report on the the reported suicide of the man who falsely "confessed", during torture, to a false tie between Iraq and al-Qaeda. The forced confession was subsequently used by the Bush Administration (Bush himself, as well as Powell and others) as justification for the war on Iraq. That, despite the fact that Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi recanted his story not long thereafter, as long and widely reported."

Al-Libi Case Eloquent Testimony against Torture
Special Note - Related Article - A quote...."The best refutation of Dick Cheney's insistence that torture was necessary and useful in dealing with threats from al-Qaeda just died in a Libyan prison. See also Andy Worthington. -- Al-Qaeda operative Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi was captured trying to escape from Afghanistan in late 2001. He was sent to Egypt to be tortured, and under duress alleged that Saddam Hussein was training al-Qaeda agents in chemical weapons techniques. It was a total crock, and alleged solely to escape further pain. Al-Libi disavowed the allegation when he was returned to CIA custody. But Cheney and Condi Rice ran with the single-source, torture-induced assertion and it was inserted by Scooter Libby in Colin Powell's infamous speech to the United Nations."

“America’s Disappeared”: Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi Has Died In A Libyan Prison
Special Note - Related Article - A quote...."The emir of the Khaldan training camp in Afghanistan, al-Libi was one of hundreds of prisoners seized by Pakistani forces in December 2001, crossing from Afghanistan into Pakistan. Most of these men ended up in Guantánamo after being handed over (or sold) to US forces by their Pakistani allies, but al-Libi was, notoriously, rendered to Egypt by the CIA to be tortured on behalf of the US government. -- In Egypt, he came up with the false allegation about connections between al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein that was used by President Bush in a speech in Cincinnati on October 7, 2002, just days before Congress voted on a resolution authorizing the President to go to war against Iraq, in which, referring to the supposed threat posed by Saddam Hussein’s regime, Bush said, “We’ve learned that Iraq has trained al-Qaeda members in bomb making and poisons and deadly gases.” -- For more on this sort of issue see article shown below....

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Roxana Saberi's plight and American media propaganda
A quote...."An Iranian appeals court this morning announced that it was reducing the sentence and ordering the immediate release of Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi, who was convicted by an Iranian court last month of spying for the U.S. and sentenced to eight years in prison.  Saberi's imprisonment in January became a cause célèbre among American journalists, who -- along with the U.S. Government -- rallied to demand her release.  Within minutes of the announcement, several of them -- including ABC News' Jake Tapper, Time's Karen Tumulty, The Atlantic's Marc Ambinder -- posted celebratory notices of Saberi's release." - also posted at CommonDreams & LewRockwell - For more on this issue see....US - Killing the Messenger

War Without Context: Fatah, Hamas - And Flawed Language
A quote...."President Abbas is reportedly assembling a new government, which is expected to, once again, exclude the majority-party in the parliament." -- For more on this issue see....US Sponsored Civil Wars - Palestine

1-2-3 What Are We Fighting For? - Blaming the Dead Victims
A quote...."We’re been here before, many times. -- The US causes massive civilian deaths through its indiscriminate use of heavy air power, and then tries to claim it’s the enemy’s fault for “hiding” among the civilians and “using them as shields.” -- In Vietnam, where the US was fighting against a local revolutionary movement that was seeking to overthrow the puppet regime backed by America, American planes routinely bombed and napalmed villages, claiming that the Viet Cong were hiding amongst the peasants. Women, old men and children would die in droves—several million of them by the time that war was over--and we’d be told it was all the fault of the Communists, who, we were told, had no regard for innocent life."
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Senior Iraq police chief shot dead
A quote...."BAGHDAD (AFP) — One of Baghdad's most senior police chiefs was assassinated in a drive-by shooting in the Iraqi capital on Monday, a police official said. - Gunmen shot dead the head of police operations, Abdul Hussein Mohsen al-Kadhemi, as he was driving in a central Baghdad district, the official told AFP."

Karzai "very serious" on ending air raids: official
A quote...."KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai is "very serious" about a demand for foreign forces in Afghanistan to halt air raids, even though it was rebuffed by a top U.S. security official, his spokesman said on Monday. -- Afghans are furious about the bombing of two villages in Western Farah province during a drawn-out battle last week, when homes full of civilians were hit."

Iran urges world action on Israeli nukes
A quote...."Iran says Israel's undeclared arsenal of approximately 200 atomic warheads is the only obstacle in the way of a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East. -- In a Monday address to the third session of the preparatory committee for the 2010 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference in New York, Iranian delegates hit out at the lack of world action on Israel's possession of atomic nuclear weapons -- which can be launched from land, sea and air."

Iran Turning to China for Air Defense System
A quote...."Iran will turn to China instead of Russia to acquire an advanced air defense system after relations between Iran and Russia hit rock bottom, the official Iranian news agency PressTV reported. -- For years Iran has been trying to purchase the S-300 anti-aircraft missile, which is considered to one of the most advanced systems available on the market and would dramatically increase Iran’s air defense capabilities against any attacks on its nuclear installations." -- also posted at WarInIraq

Saakashvili-opposition meeting reaches dead-end
A quote...."The political turmoil deepens in Georgia as a meeting between the opposition and the president fails to bear fruit with the former refusing a proposed power-sharing deal. -- President Mikhail Saakashvili offered to share power with his most outspoken opponents on Monday. The opposition, however, insisted that the president should step down, vowing to intensify the protests that have resulted in thousands demonstrating outside government buildings, occasionally clashing with police over the past month."

Bolivia for Expulsion of Criminals from Peru
A quote...."La Paz, May 11 (Prensa Latina) Bolivian President Evo Morales, reiterated on Monday his request to his Peruvian peer Alan Garcia to expel former Bolivian ministers under the government of Gonzalo Sanchez de Quesada (2002-2003) accused of genocide here."

Venezuelan Police Discover Large Arms Cache
A quote...."Mérida, May 11th 2009 (Venezuelanalysis.com)– Venezuelan police arrested four men and confiscated a large quantity of sophisticated weaponry that government officials speculate could have been part of an assassination plan against President Chávez. This discovery occurred in the context of a wave of apparently politically motivated violence that Chávez supporters suspect is part of a wider new campaign against the government."
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UN pressures Israel on peace policy
A quote...."Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, has urged Israel to "fundamentally change" its policies towards settlements and commit to a two-state solution to the Middle East conflict."

In Ireland or Palestine, strength in unity
A quote...."The recent Israeli actions in Gaza demonstrated not only the brutal nature of the occupation and the ideology behind it, but also the deep internal division within the Palestinian body politic. It was already common knowledge that Israel had effectively ended the ceasefire on 4 November with an attack that left six members of Hamas dead. Yet, as pictures of dead, dying and wounded Palestinian police cadets flashed through the world's television screens, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was busy toeing the Israeli line that Hamas was responsible for the ending of ceasefire. He said this, not because it was true, but as a way of undermining the political authority of Hamas in Gaza and increasing his own. Ordinary Palestinians saw through the quite crude and transparent attempt, forcing Abbas to backtrack on his earlier assertion."

Netanyahu: Israel Will Never Return Golan
A quote...."Israeli hawkish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declares that Tel Aviv will never return the occupied Golan Heights to Syria. - Benjamin Netanyahu made the remarks in an interview with Russian-language reporters on Friday, saying "remaining on the Golan will ensure Israel has a strategic advantage in cases of military conflict with Syria", Israeli online daily, Ha'aretz reported."
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The Swine Flu Outbreak and Other Bio-Warfare Matters From CLG.....

Now 2,600 cases of new flu in US, CDC says
US has more swine flu cases than any other country, WHO says
Ten more cases of swine flu confirmed in England
Mexican H1N1 flu spreads easily: study
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China overtakes the US as Brazil's largest trading partner
Special Note - You see this event is caused by the difference between a country that makes things people want to buy (China), and a country that just keeps on killing and torturing people for no apparent reason, the (US-NRE). - mpg -- A quote...."China has become Brazil's most-important trading partner, disrupting a relationship between the United States and the Latin country that stretches back to the 1930s." - bold by website editor

Prospects of a quick economic recovery are but fool’s gold
A quote...."Hoping for better times -- for some, even the return to make-believe “yesterday” -- has now become our prescribed daily medicine dispensed through the corporate media by our government via injections of economic news or commentary. - Confidence-building little white lies, misleading insinuations or, often, absurd interpretations of statistical data by Bernanke, Geithner, Summers, even Obama himself, are meant to keep us, the blind citizenry, faithful to a bankrupt system . . . subservient to the rulers of capitalist imperium."

The Nature of the Current Financial Crisis: The System is designed to exert Total Control over the Lives of Individuals
A quote...."What impresses me in the current financial crisis is the near-total failure of so-called progressives to appreciate the magnitude of what is going on or the level of intelligence behind it. How many will say, for instance, that the crash was deliberately engineered by the creation, then destruction, of the investment bubbles of the last decade? -- When the financial system creates bubbles it drives up the cost of assets far beyond their true value in producing or storing wealth. When the bubbles burst the value of the assets plummets. Those with ready cash then buy them up on the cheap. When the dust settles more wealth has been concentrated in fewer hands. The rich get richer, and ordinary people are left in a deeper condition of indebtedness, poverty, and pressure to perform to the liking of the financial masters." -- Marx couldn't have said it better.....but it's true. - mpg

Government borrowing 50 cents for every dollar it spends
A quote...."WASHINGTON - With the economy performing worse than hoped, revised White House figures point to deepening budget deficits, [Absolutely no surprise to anyone, one hopes?] with the government borrowing almost 50 cents for every dollar it spends this year. --  The deficit for the current budget year will rise by $89 billion to above $1.8 trillion -- about four times the record set just last year. The unprecedented red ink flows from the deep recession, the Wall Street bailout, the cost of President Barack Obama's economic stimulus bill, as well as a structural imbalance between what the government spends and what it takes in.

Trade deficit expected to rise, negates effects of stimulus
A quote...."Tuesday, the Commerce Department report will report on March international trade in goods and services. The U.S. trade deficit on goods and services is expected to rise to $29 billion from $26 billion in February. - Trade with China and oil imports comprise about 90 percent of the deficit. The deficit with China is expected to increase significantly but the oil import bill is expected to fall, as the recession has curbed demand for gasoline." -- Not quite, oil is starting to go up really fast. - mpg

Banks Brace for Credit Card Write-Offs
A quote...."It used to be easy to guess how many Americans would have problems paying their credit card bills. Banks just looked at unemployment: Fewer jobs meant more trouble ahead. The unemployment rate has long mirrored banks’ loss rates on card balances. But Eddie Ward, 32 and jobless, may be one reason that rule of thumb no longer holds. For many lenders, losses are now starting to outpace layoffs."

Life on the Edge of a Bubble- Blowing the American Dream - Bursting the Myth, Revealing the History of Power
Film and Book Review -- A quote...."The rules of the national and international financial system keep changing, as we move from crisis to bubble, from prosperity to bankruptcy, from the American dream to the American nightmare.  As the American Empire has evolved over centuries and totters on the abyss of decline, it behooves us to step off the quickly moving carousel of daily revelations, and look beneath the surface of events at the historical patterns that have led to this ever changing, yet remarkably the same, moment in time."

Sunday May 10th 2009

Is OBL Dead? Pt1: Dec is for Dying & Pt 2: the First Tapes
Special Effects Experts Say Fake OBL Tape Fairly Easy To Make
ABC, FBI Punk'd by Terror 'Fan Video' (Updated)
How easy you can fake Bin Laden videos? - video satire - (Ggle 1m33s - 031609)
Al Qaeda does not exist - Bin Laden videos are fake -- OBL is dead
Osama bin Surplus
The Fake 2001 bin Laden Video Tape
Osama bin Laden: The Newest Fake - Alt
Pentagon Liars: Fake Osama bin Laden Video Exposed
Osama bin Laden: A dead nemesis perpetuated by the US government
CIA&Their Fake Osama Videos - video - (YuTb - 7m28s - 042309)
Osama bin Surplus - Fake Osama In al-Jazeera Video?
Meet the Fake bin Laden
Fake Osama bin Laden Tapes Fool American Public
Fake Videos - Google Search - video search list
The 2004 October Surprise Video is fake!
Faked Video Confession
Top U.S. Bin Laden Expert: Confession Video “Bogus”
Osama or CIA's Funniest Home Video? - article & video list
Osama Stole O.J.'s Fake Beard
Osama Tape Appears Fake, Experts Conclude
New Osama Tape: Was It Fake?

For more on this issue see....US Fake Intel / Propaganda - "al-Qaeda" Videos

Saturday May 9th 2009

No posts. - mpg

Friday May 8th 2009

"Harold E. Fischer Jr., an American Flier Tortured in a Chinese Prison, Dies at 83. . . .From April 1953 through May 1955, Colonel Fischer — then an Air Force captain — was held at a prison outside Mukden, Manchuria. For most of that time, he was kept in a dark, damp cell with no bed and no opening except a slot in the door through which a bowl of food could be pushed. Much of the time he was handcuffed. Hour after hour, a high-frequency whistle pierced the air." -- *New York Times*

Thursday May 7th 2009

Secretary Doomsday and the Empathy Gap - The Everyday Extremism of Washington
Must Read - A quote...."A front-page New York Times headline last week put the matter politely indeed: "In Pakistan, U.S. Courts Leader of Opposition." And nobody thought it was strange at all. -- In fact, it's the sort of thing you can read just about any time when it comes to American policy in Pakistan or, for that matter, Afghanistan. It's just the norm on a planet on which it's assumed that American civilian and military leaders can issue pronunciamentos about what other countries must do; publicly demand various actions of ruling groups; opt for specific leaders, and then, when they disappoint, attempt to replace them; and use what was once called "foreign aid," now taxpayer dollars largely funneled through the Pentagon, to bribe those who are hard to convince." -- also posted at CommonDreams & LewRockwell

Pirates vs. Emperors
Must Read - A quote...."History shows that when a powerful empire sets sail overseas its spokespeople often depict the undertaking as an effort to create order and bring peace. When a pirate ship ventures into the open seas, by contrast, the empire portrays the endeavor as a crime against humanity. The difference is not so much what emperors and pirates do—both pillage and plunder, albeit to vastly different degrees. What matters most is which of the two is in a position to effectively define right and wrong."

Obama Means No Change - Bush By Another Name
Must Read - Obama™ Update - A quote...."Christopher King argues that President Barack Obama is no different in substance from his predecessor, George W. Bush, and that the European Union should detach itself from the coattail of the USA and develop constructive national and foreign policies based on the European culture and geo-political situation. -- We’ve now seen Barack Obama’s first 100 days. I said I wasn’t hopeful that he would bring any change in US foreign policy but I’m disappointed nevertheless. Deep down I was hoping for the best, although the evidence was against it. Barack Obama is America’s Anthony Blair: looks good but rotten inside. To approve an escalation of killing in Afghanistan has to be rotten but, to be fair, he did warn us. So what has the president given the world so far?"

• Escalation of troop numbers in Afghanistan
• The Af-Pak [Afghanistan-Pakistan] war extension with destabilization in Pakistan
• Permanent stay in Iraq with troops miraculously transformed to “trainers”
• No change on support for Israel and repression of Palestinians
• No change in sanctions or subversion against Iran
• Continued provocation of Russia with NATO exercises in Georgia
• Promoting India against Pakistan

China takes steps towards full convertibility of the yuan
Must Read - Financial Warning -- A quote...."China recently announced a series of measures to protect its economy against a possible devaluation of the US dollar by decoupling the Asian currencies from the American currency and using the Chinese yuan to gain access to raw materials from South America, the Caribbean and, most importantly, Russia. -- The Chinese government has serious reasons to be alarmed. As the financial crisis deepens and the US debt multiplies to unprecedented levels, the possibilities of the US dollar failing to maintain its privileged position as the world reserve currency are very real." - also posted at AtheoNews

The Prospects of a New Cold War? Towards the Consolidation of the Russian-led CSTO Military Alliance
Must Read - A quote...."We are not afraid of anything, including the prospect of a new Cold War, but we don’t want one" --  *Dmitriy Medvedev*, President of Russia  ---  In his 1997 book entitled The Grand Chessboard American geostrategist Zbigniew Brzezinski wrote that if Russia ever attempted to launch its own defense pact, it would include, "at most", Belarus and Tajikistan[1]. Twelve years later, his list turned out to be incomplete. Moreover, the attempts being made in order to enhance the Russian-led CSTO's actual power projection capabilities and the efforts undertaken to bring the organization's members closer together is something Brzezinski failed to anticipate and it seems that the latest developments concerning CSTO demonstrate that his triumphalism was premature.
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Afghans riot over air-strike atrocity
A quote...."Shouting "Death to America" and "Death to the Government", thousands of Afghan villagers hurled stones at police yesterday as they vented their fury at American air strikes that local officials claim killed 147 civilians. - The riot started when people from three villages struck by US bombers in the early hours of Tuesday, brought 15 newly-discovered bodies in a truck to the house of the provincial governor. As the crowd pressed forward in Farah, police opened fire, wounding four protesters. Traders in the rest of Farah city, the capital of the province of the same name where the bombing took place, closed their shops, vowing they would not reopen them until there is an investigation."

Massacre of civilians overshadows “AfPak” summit
Related Article - A quote...."A summit meeting in Washington between President Barack Obama and his Afghan and Pakistani counterparts, Hamid Karzai and Asif Ali Zardari, has been overshadowed by the worst massacre of Afghan civilians since the US invaded the country in October 2001."

Record [number of] bombs dropped in Afghanistan in April
A quote...."Air Force, Navy and other coalition warplanes dropped a record number of bombs in Afghanistan during April, Air Forces Central figures show."

Robert Fisk: Civilians pay price of war from above
A quote...."Of course there will be an inquiry. And in the meantime, we shall be told that all the dead Afghan civilians were being used as "human shields" by the Taliban and we shall say that we "deeply regret" innocent lives that were lost. But we shall say that it's all the fault of the terrorists, not our heroic pilots and the US Marine special forces who were target spotting around Bala Baluk and Ganjabad." -- also posted at CommonDreams

On regret
Special Note - Obama™ Update - Some quotes...."Listening to Hillary Clinton express "deep regret" yesterday over the american massacre of over 100 Afghan civilians I couldn't help but think about the meaning of regret...."  --  "For me, regret does not merely express sorrow or empathy. it also means learning from your mistakes and doing what you can to not do that thing that caused you to regret what you did in the first place. But, of course, Clinton and Obama want to create more such occasions for regret given their desire to place more american troops on afghan soil, which will only bring us promises of more massacres in the future. Jeremy Scahill shows us precisely why this "regret" is complete hogwash:" - bold by website editor

The Missing Exit Strategy for Afghanistan
Obama™ Update - A quote...."President Obama said it best when he talked about U.S. policy in Afghanistan on the CBS news program 60 Minutes last month: "There's got to be an exit strategy". -- Well, there isn't one. [That's because the US-NRE intends to stay there....forever - mpg] There is an escalation of 21,000 US forces and there is a wartime spending bill requesting $94.2 billion more for Iraq and Afghanistan. But, as of today, there isn't even a hint of what the President believes we need-an exit strategy. The Appropriations Committee is expected to dutifully vote out their bill Thursday and send it to the floor of the House for a vote next week."
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Muqtada comes in from the cold
A quote...."DAMASCUS - In a surprising move that took observers off-guard, Iraqi Shi'ite leader Muqtada al-Sadr showed up in Istanbul at the weekend with a delegation of 70 supporters, including members of the 30-man Sadrist bloc in the Iraqi parliament."

Attackers blow up north Iraq oil pipeline
A quote...."An oil pipeline near the disputed oil-rich northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk was blown up early on Wednesday, interrupting pumping from 15 wells but not affecting exports, an official said."

Zero Hour: Calibrating the Case for [Pakistan] Intervention
Obama™ Update - A quote...."As Juan Cole and many others have noted, the picture now being painted of Pakistan on the verge of a Taliban takeover is wildly off the mark, and completely ignores the reality (there's that damn thing again!) of Pakistan, which, as I pointed out yesterday, is actually filled with millions upon millions of ordinary, literate, peace-loving people, committed to democracy and the rule of law: principles for which they courageously risked their lives and liberties in ousting an American-backed military tyrant just a few months ago. -- But now, suddenly -- because it serves the needs of a militarist empire trapped in the worsening quagmire of another pointless, murderous, destablizing, hate-breeding "intervention" next door -- these same Pakistanis are being painted as a mob of barbarians who are either cravenly capitulating to terrorists – or becoming terrorists themselves."

Blogsphere Wakes Up On Obama's War
Obama™ Update - A quote...."Over the last month I have written lots of pieces on Pakistan and U.S. interference there. In the 'Links' posting I titled pieces about the administration's talk on Pakistan as War propaganda, Pakistan panic and War preparation campaign. The build up was obvious to me, but I missed the rest of the blogsphere on this theme.Now finally others are waking up too."

Iran to construct road links to Iraq
A quote...."Iranian contractors are slated to partner with Iraqi companies to construct new roads linking different Iraqi and Iranian cities. -- According to an accord signed between the two countries, Iranian contractors will collaborate with their Iraqi counterparts in building roads between Iraqi and Iranian cities of Al Amara, Sheib, Mehran Kut, Haaj Emran, Bashmaq and Seyyed Sadeq."

Germans want trade with Iran
A quote...."Iranian Ambassador to Germany Ali-Reza Sheikh-Attar says German firms are unwilling to lose trade ties with Iran because of sanctions. - He said that German firms welcomed recent meetings with Iranian officials and made clear their willingness to boost commercial links with Iran." - also posted at AtheoNews
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US strategy in Latin America was wrong
A quote...."Three years ago I wrote an article arguing that the political changes sweeping across Latin America were epoch-making and probably irreversible, and that they would fundamentally alter the relationship between the region and the United States. Some of the most important economic causes of the region's shift to the left – including the unprecedented long-term growth failure since 1980 – were unrecognised then and remain mostly unacknowledged to this day."

The Fun House Mirror: Distortions and Omissions in the News on Bolivia
A quote...."In August, Bolivian president Evo Morales won a referendum on his term in office with 67% of the vote. The opposition, having failed to unseat Morales in the face of the largest electoral majority in Bolivian history, embarked on a campaign of violent destabilization that culminated in riots, economic sabotage, and the massacre of more than 20 indigenous Morales supporters in September. Just a day before the massacre, at the height of opposition violence, the Bolivian government expelled U.S. Ambassador Philip Goldberg, following revelations that the U.S. Embassy in La Paz had asked Peace Corps volunteers and a Fulbright scholar to spy inside Bolivia, together with growing evidence, amid official secrecy, of U.S. funding for violent opposition groups.1" -- also posted at Creative-i

Dole sued over links to Colombian death squads
A quote...."Dole Food Company is being sued by the families of 57 people allegedly murdered by paramilitaries hired by the US firm at its banana plantations in Colombia. - A lawsuit filed in Los Angeles alleges that Dole hired the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) despite the fact that the group had been designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the US State Department."

NY Trial to Decide Shell's Role in Nigerian Deaths
A quote...."A civil trial that will judge any involvement by oil giant Royal Dutch Shell in the executions of protesters in Nigeria will start this month in New York City, more than 13 years after their deaths."
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Zionist Settlers in Hebron - Apartheid Crimes
Video List

Israeli navy arrests 5 Palestinian fishermen off northern Gaza
Man, those Israelis just love to HATE those Gazan fishermen. - mpg -- A quote...."GAZA, May 7 (KUNA) -- Israeli Navy arrested on Thursday five Palestinian fishermen in the open sea off the north of Gaza Strip. - Palestinian security sources said to Kuwait news agency (KUNA) Israeli navy personnel aboard gunboats intercepted a Palestinian fishing boat carrying five fishermen who were engaged in fishing in the Sudanese region oFf northern Gaza Strip. - The Israeli naval personnel opened fire towards the fishermen and arrested them, the sources said, adding that the fishermen boat and equipment were damaged." -- also posted at WarInIraq

Israeli activist to be jailed for caring
A quote...."Ezra Nawi was ridiculed and arrested for trying to protect people's homes. Only international attention can help him now." - also posted at CounterCurrents & CommonDreams

Israel's war on dissent
Special Note - A quote...."About six months after Israel's attorney general publicly announced an effort to criminalize dissent, state authorities have upped the ante in their "war" -- as the Israeli daily Haaretz called it last September -- against Israel's youth; against the broad, grassroots movement slandered by officials as "draft shirkers." On 26 April, a day before Israel's Memorial Day, Israeli police produced a hyperbolic piece of political theater. As if facing down a dangerous organized crime "family," they "raided" -- to quote their press release -- the homes of six activists in different parts of Israel, who were detained for interrogation. Exploiting the ritual emotions of a day of mourning for military dead, the police action singled out and branded anti-militarist activists as non-members of the legitimate community, implying that they (we) are fair game."

Israel 'Suffocates' Jesus Birthplace: UN - posted at the Palestine Chronicle
A quote...."Israeli restrictions, separation wall and settlements are virtually suffocating the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus Christ, restricting its growth, undermining its economy and compromising its future, the UN has warned. - "Israeli measures have radically reduced the space available to the inhabitants of Bethlehem, compromising the future economic and social development of the governorate," the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) said in a report released on Thursday, May 7."
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Informants say Blackwater guards tried to unload arms
Cover-Up Alert - A quote...."Shortly after a 2007 shooting incident in a Baghdad traffic square that left 17 Iraqi civilians dead, Blackwater contractors allegedly transferred a number of machine guns to another contractor who is now charged with trying to smuggle them out of Iraq."

Director of National Intelligence Busts Pelosi on Torture
A quote...."Many people (including me) have repeatedly pointed out that Pelosi was complicit in torture. Pelosi has repeatedly denied that she was briefed on torture. - But the Director of National Intelligence just busted Pelosi."

Is Everyone In Washington Being Blackmailed?
Cover-Up Alert - Full  quote...."Obama's Attorney General - Eric Holder - approved "extraordinary renditions" during the Clinton presidency. -- And so now Republicans are blackmailing Holder, saying they will focus the spotlight on his role in approving renditions if Holder pulls back the cover too far on torture under the Bush administration. -- This ties into Sibel Edmonds' allegations that virtually everyone in Washington is being blackmailed not to rock some boat or another. -- Are most members of Congress being blackmailed on torture, spying, and other issues of national security? Is the Justice Department? The White House? -- What a swamp." -- also posted at OhBummer

Holder says he approved Clinton-era renditions
A quote...."Under fire from Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday, Attorney General Eric Holder revealed that he had approved of rendition — essentially, legalized kidnapping — apparently more than once during his tenure as President Bill Clinton’s deputy attorney general."

Government Could Destroy Records in Hundreds of Guantanamo Cases
Cover-Up Alert - A quote...."Government Could Destroy Records in Hundreds of Guantanamo Cases. - also posted at CommonDreams & AtheoNews & Uruknet


For more on this issue see the article shown below....


Exposed: MI5's secret deals in Camp X-ray
A quote...."MI5 secretly tried to hire British men held in Guantanamo Bay and other US prison camps by promising to protect them from their American captors and help secure their return home to the United Kingdom, The Independent has learnt."

Justice Department drops case against Fort Lewis war objector
Special Note - Someone everyone should deeply admire, he stood up to the ENTIRE Military Industrial Complex and the Bush Regime, defended himself in court using phenomenal logic, along with his steadfast moral convictions....and won. – mpg --  A quote...."SEATTLE (AP) - The Justice Department is dropping its appeal of a judge's decision that blocked the Army from retrying a Fort Lewis lieutenant who refused to deploy to Iraq. - Army spokesman Joe Piek said Wednesday that Fort Lewis officials learned late last week of the department's decision in the case of Ehren Watada, who claimed the war was illegal and publicly denounced President George W. Bush when he skipped his deployment in 2006."

Indira Singh Testimony on the Global Information Grid(PTECH)
Must View Video - For more on this issue see....9/11 - NORAD
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The End of Free Speech? - Criminalizing Criticism of Israel
The New Roman Empire run by the Jews of Israel, one would guess turn-about really is fair play.  It only took them two thousand years to switch roles.  Goes to show that with enormous patience, hard work and one hell of a lot of group cohesion you can do astounding things.  Maybe the so-called "Christians" in this country should convert to Judaism, heck they've sold or violated every one of their values already; they've only got one thing left to give up, their deluded  pretense that they're still Christians. - mpg -- A quote...."On October 16, 2004, President George W. Bush signed the Israel Lobby’s bill, the Global Anti-Semitism Review Act.  This legislation requires the US Department of State to monitor anti-semitism world wide. - To monitor anti-semitism, it has to be defined.  What is the definition?  Basically, as defined by the Israel Lobby and Abe Foxman, it boils down to any criticism of Israel or Jews. " -- also posted at AmericanEveryman & AtheoNews & OnlineJournal

House Demands Full Disclosure On DHS "Right-wing Extremism" Report
A quote...."Republican Representatives have demanded answers from the Department of Homeland Security over the origins of the leaked security intelligence assessment which equates veterans and gun owners with violent terrorists. - House Minority Leader John A. Boehner filed the request using a little known legislative procedure called "a resolution of inquiry", which ensures that the Democratic leadership will publicly resolve the issue within 14 days."

LaRouche: Another Cover-up By Nancy Pelosi
A quote...."May 7, 2009 (LPAC)—American statesman Lyndon LaRouche, briefed on Speaker Nancy Pelosi's treasonous "deep-sixing" of legislation for a Senate Select Committee modeled on the 1933 Senate Banking Committee's investigation of financial crimes led by prosecutor Ferdinand Pecora, in favor of a hand-picked 10-member commission appointed by the congressional leadership, which will issue its report on Dec. 15, 2010 (!), declared, "This is another cover-up by Nancy Pelosi. She should go back for another facelift." -- also posted at AmericanEveryman

Thought police muscle up in Britain
A quote...."BRITAIN appears to be evolving into the first modern soft totalitarian state. As a sometime teacher of political science and international law, I do not use the term totalitarian loosely. -- There are no concentration camps or gulags but there are thought police with unprecedented powers to dictate ways of thinking and sniff out heresy, and there can be harsh punishments for dissent."
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No, the Free Market Did Not Cause the Financial Crisis
A quote...."The truth of the matter is that intervention in the market, rather than the market economy itself, was the driving factor behind the bust."

The Unions and the Economy
Real News Video - A quote...."The future success -- or failure -- of the U.S. economy rests on the dual nature of the American worker, both as someone who makes products and as a consumer who buys them."

Group names 25 lenders responsible for economic meltdown
A quote...."US and foreign banks were not unwitting victims of circumstance but deliberately culpable in the financial meltdown that engulfed the United States last year, a campaign group said Wednesday. -- The Center for Public Integrity named 25 “subprime” mortgage companies whose risky lending was blamed for the US property market collapse and the subsequent global economic crisis."

New York Fed chairman Friedman abruptly resigns
Oh-oh, Goldman Sachs has lost one of their many minions. - mpg -- A quote...."Stephen Friedman, chairman of the board at the Federal Reserve bank of New York, abruptly resigned Thursday, days after The Wall Street Journal pointed out his approval of a request by Goldman Sachs was in violation of policy because of his considerable holdings in Goldman shares." -- For more on this issue see....Does Goldman Sachs run the government? - posted 04-30-09

10 out of 19 US banks fail stress tests
A quote...."The results of long-awaited bank stress tests show only nine out of nineteen US biggest banks have enough fund to survive if the recession worsens [a tiny bit] in the future. -- Under "stress tests" unveiled by US regulators, the ten giant banks need a total of $75 billion [more like $750 billion more] in new capital to boost their cash reserves in the event of a [slightly] deeper economic slump. - [] added by website editor

G.M., Leaking Cash, Faces Bigger Chance of Bankruptcy
A quote...."DETROIT — Even after receiving $15.4 billion in federal loans, General Motors is once again on the brink of financial collapse. The automaker’s first-quarter earnings released Thursday showed that G.M. was losing more money and sales than it was in late December, when the government began its bailout." - bold by website editor

Consumer borrowing falls in March at fastest pace in over 18 years, Americans saving more
Financial Alert - Chart - A quote...."WASHINGTON (AP) — Consumer borrowing plunged in March at the fastest pace in 18 years as Americans put away their credit cards and hoarded cash amid the worst recession in decades. - The Federal Reserve said Thursday that consumer borrowing dropped 5.2 percent in March, the biggest decline since an 8.1 percent fall in December 1990. - In dollar terms, consumer borrowing plunged by $11.1 billion. That's the largest dollar amount on records dating to 1943, and more than three times the $3.5 billion drop that economists expected."

Jobless claims decline - A little more good economic news, for what it's worth. - mpg
A quote...."WASHINGTON, May 7 (UPI) -- First-time claims for U.S. unemployment insurance declined by 34,000 last week, the U.S. Department of Labor reported Thursday. - The 601,000 initial benefits claims contributed to a four-week rolling average of 623,500, which was a decrease of 14,750 from the previous week's rolling average of 638,250. - The U.S. unemployment rate remained unchanged at 8.5 percent."

Wednesday May 6th 2009