Friday May 18th 2007

Bush's Tora Bora Bull
A quote...."Singing from the same hymnal, Bush, Vice President Cheney, former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and former CENTCOM Commander Gen. Tommy Franks have all insisted: "We didn't know if bin Laden was at Tora Bora."  -  But two CIA officers who were on the ground then argue they did in fact know he was there – and did next to nothing to snatch him. So does the CIA official who briefed the president about the Afghan operations."

See also "The Great Escape"......CIA Commander In Tora Bora Admits US Allowed Osama Bin Laden To Escape

See also the Kunduz Airlift..........The Getaway

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US government fans homeland terrorism fear
A quote....""There is no doubt that the actions of the US military around the world are provoking a level of disgust and anger that could well produce misguided terrorist attacks within the US itself. Nonetheless, the various terrorist ‘plots’ exposed by the Bush administration have virtually without exception been characterized by a similar lack of any real preparation for violence combined with the central role of a covert informant/agent provocateur."  -  In each of these cases, the supposed conspiracy has been heavily publicized in a transparent bid to justify the ongoing military occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan and to create a climate of fear in order to suppress democratic rights in the US itself."

See also....The Uses of Fear  -  11-11-06  -  mpg
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Hallelujah Trail: Terror War "Regime Change" Comes to the Holy Land
A quote...."The civil war in Palestine is of course a long-held dream of the American and Israeli Right. Israel first secretly supported the sectarian Hamas in order to undermine the secular nationalists of Arafat's PLO; now they openly take sides with Arafat's successors in the Palestinian Authority against Hamas, which -- as always happens -- escaped the control of the puppet-masters who sought to exploit the group for their own ends. But the long-term aim has been achieved: a violently divided Palestinian society, broken down, killing each other off, leaving Israel free to continue its colonization of Palestinian land. As others have pointed out, it's no wonder that the United States so staunchly supports this policy: after all, it's what we did to the Native Americans."

And of course most recently to the Iraqis.  The US and Israel almost did it to the Lebanese people but despite their best efforts, Hezbollah has so far refused to play their game.  See also....Beastly Behavior - 01-24-07 - mpg
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Fatah Troops Enter Gaza With Israeli Assent - Trained in Egypt Under U.S.-Backed Program to Counter Hamas
Related article - A quote...."JERUSALEM, May 17 -- Israel this week allowed the Palestinian party Fatah to bring into the Gaza Strip as many as 500 fresh troops trained under a U.S.-coordinated program to counter Hamas, the radical Islamic movement that won Palestinian parliamentary elections last year. Fighting between Hamas and Fatah has left about 45 Palestinians dead since Sunday." - posted at the the Angry Arab

The US war and occupation of Iraq—the murder of a society
A quote...."Although no definitive figures can be given on the total number of Iraqis who have died as a result of the US war and occupation—including those killed in the invasion and subsequent armed violence and those whose lives have been cut short by disease and hunger, particularly among the young and old—every serious estimate places the excess death toll between several hundred thousands and one million human beings.  -  Iraq, once among the most advanced countries of the region, has been reduced, in terms of basic economic and social indices, to the level of the poorest countries of sub-Saharan Africa.  -  What is involved is the systematic destruction of an entire society through the unleashing of violence and criminality on a scale not seen since Hitler’s armies ravaged Europe in the Second World War."
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Divided nation prepares for first cross-border train since 1950
A quote...."Two trains were due to cross the demilitarised zone between the two Koreas for the first time since 1950 today in a major breakthrough for peace on the divided peninsula.  -  The test run by two trains - one from each side of the border - is seen as a step towards closer economic ties between rich, open South Korea and the poor, isolated North."

OH MY GOD !! - One of those "Axis of Evil" countries who went and developed a dastardly "nuclear device", despite the US’s repeated warnings not to do so, is now invading South Korea - just like all those Neocons and the entire "mass media" of this country warned us they were going do if they managed to get their hands on  “the Bomb”....and those evil bastards are using a train of all things.

Oh the horror of it, oh the humanities, oh the tragedies, to see all those visions of death and destruction that were repeatedly foretold over and over again by the White House and endlessly writ large across this nation by our "mass media" come true is too awful to behold.  Quick, we have to stop this atrocity before it's too late. Can someone please call Rupert Murdoch to whip us up another war?

We all know that unlike Iran the North Koreans don't have any of that delicious oil, but really folks it's the principal of the whole thing that counts isn't it?  We have to attack them now before it's too late. Our entire nation is at stake, isn't that what Bush said over, and over, and over again, that if North Korea got the "bomb" it would be the end of humanity? – mpg
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SPIN: The Art of Selling War - (Google video - 22min 37sec) - posted at ICH
Must View - A quote...." Directed by Josh Rushing, a veteran Marine Corps media spokesman, "SPIN: The Art of Selling War" is an investigative documentary that looks at all the standard justification for going to war by the American administrations of past and present."

It's like clockwork, every single decade without fail the US's elites start another one of their wars.  The whole thing is so predictable it's becoming BORING.  Why don’t they just mix it up a little bit and start a war every three years, or perhaps at the top of the economic cycle instead of the bottom.- mpg   See also....Fake Intel
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Making Sense of What Doesn’t Make The News
Related article - Must Read - A quote...."Here at the University of Windsor, where some 300 scholars, students and media guerrillas are revisiting Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky’s groundbreaking “propaganda model” on the eve of its 20th anniversary, the talk is of how to take back the public agenda and make it serve the public interest instead of the corporate bottom line.  -  As Sut Jhally of the University of Massachusetts put it in his galvanizing keynote speech, the “absences” are what hurt.  -  What doesn’t make it in (the news) is more important than what makes it in,” said the executive director of the Media Education Foundation.  -  In Herman and Chomsky’s Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media, the authors proposed their propaganda model as a way of understanding how the mass media “filter” the news through five sieves.
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Bush and the Media: Playing Us for Fools
Related article - A quote...."The idiot American media are giving Bush another free pass, running stories now that the U.S. is “willing” to talk with Iran, but only about how to calm down the Iraq conflict.  -  What a pathetic joke!  -  How can anybody take this claim from the White House that it is trying to negotiate with Iran about Iraq seriously, when the U.S. is simultaneously threatening Iran with a catastrophic attack?"

Not an Empire
A quote...."In the middle of the 1800's, the US stepped upon the road to Empire. By the middle of the 1900's, the US was an empire. Today, that empire has expanded to its limit and is in decline."

But Who Was Right – Rudy or Ron?
Related article - A quote...."It was the decisive moment of the South Carolina debate.  -  Hearing Rep. Ron Paul recite the reasons for Arab and Islamic resentment of the United States, including 10 years of bombing and sanctions that brought death to thousands of Iraqis after the Gulf War, Rudy Giuliani broke format and exploded: "

Editor’s note:  Terrorism against civilians is never justified, although people's hatreds lead them to forgo their humanity and in their unthinking rage allow themselves to become tools of the wealthy elites and conduct unjustified acts, this is precisely why terrorism and the unthinking rage that powers it should be condemned.  The people of the Middle East have been viciously manipulated for almost sixty years by the powers that be, those who practice "the white mans burden" and those who service them.  They've allowed their religion and their humanity to be deliberately distorted and perverted by some of their own countryman and the western elites who support them for the furtherance of the "Great Game".

Terrorist attacks are not just accidents, they do not just spontaneously happen, mountains of evidence are available which show that 9/11, 7/11 and several other brutal acts of recent public "perception management" were promoted, sponsored and encouraged by active "Nation State" participation.  These states, listed in order of their importance for the funding and tactical support of terrorist groups, are as follows....the United States of America, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Britain.  Although it is primarily the wealthy elites of these nations that sponsor these attacks, or to put it more politely "allow them to happen", their endeavors to create "constructive instability" are also knowingly supported by millions of their fellow citizens.

There is only one solution to this problem, these people, the corporations who back them, and the newspapers who trumpet their lies must be shunned......forever. The Rupert Murderers et. al. must not be supported; there can be no forgiveness for them because they will not change.  They are simply automatons, automatic reflex machines designed for profit and wealth accumulation.  Their God is money which they worship above all else including human life and they will sacrifice every decent human impulse, moral prohibition, promise, covenant or law to worship their God.

It is simply stupid, silly and downright dangerous to do business with these elites, to engage in commerce or conversation with them, to vote for their lackeys, to allow them into your countries or your homes.  Any one who does so is simply inviting death in one form or another to cross your threshold.

Everyone knows who these people are, everyone knows who their front man are, everyone must make a personal choice for their own safety and that of their children to never again deal with these people. We must all boycott their businesses', discontinue our subscriptions, stop listening to their broadcasts, and never buy a product or a lie from them EVER again. - mpg
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The Ron Paul Smear Campaign
Related article - A quote...." By now, it is painfully obvious to most people in the freedom movement that Republican presidential hopeful, Ron Paul, has been targeted for elimination—by his own Party. The politically-connected elite within the Republican Party, along with allied organizations and operatives, are working overtime to make sure that Ron Paul is burned at the stake for daring to speak the truth and defy the Good Ol’ Boy system.  -  In all honesty, Dr. Paul should have known that he would be set up in the second debate—after he scored so high in poll after poll, following the first debate—and after he made it clear that he would not tow the neo-con, police-state, Giuliani-style “war” on terror line."

Giuliani proves he lacks depth and character
Related article - A quote...."Clearly Rudy Giuliani is confused by the facts.  He was no hero on 9/11 as the corporate media claims – another 9/11 fabrication.  He boasts that he knows something  about security.   Let’s bear witness.  After repeated warnings by his advisors that he should move his command and control center out of the World Trade Center’s Complex because it was a known target of terrorists ever since the 1993 WTC bombing – Giuliani, America’s Mayor, Mr. Security, ignored his advisors and left his city’s command and control in the complex anyhow.  Perhaps Rudy had some damning evidence that he needed destroyed.  Or maybe he’s just as stubborn and dull as George W. Bush.  And there’s Americans that welcome 4 more years of that type of leadership?  Scary!"

The American Empire is Failing – A Good Thing for America and the World
Interview - A quote...."An Interview with Terry Paupp  -  author of Exodus from Empire: The Fall of America's Empire and the Rise of the Global Community."

KZ: And, from the perspective of the world, isn't the American empire a good thing?  Don't we bring stability and democracy to the world?  Wouldn't the world be a more violent place without us? Wouldn't there be more poverty, disease and income disparity?

TP: From the perspective of the rest of the world, the American Empire is not a good thing – it is a curse.  It deserves resistance, opposition, and overthrow.  Why?  Because it is a thing – a creation divorced from law and the moral codes of the teachings of all of the world's great religious traditions.  - bold/italics by website author.
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Ecuador 'Rejects' Objectives of Negroponte's Tour
A quote...."Behind the scenes of the meeting, a certain chill was evident between the two delegations … there was a rejection of the objective of Negroponte's tour, which is to open channels of dialogue on the subject of trade."

For more on this sort of issue see....Strangers In the Night - 10-04-06 - MPG and We'll make them an offer they can't refuse. - 09-06-06 - MPG
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The end of the affair in a relationship gone sour
A quote...."Tony Blair and George W. Bush have a very special relationship. You had only to look at their body language, as they paraded before the media yesterday during Mr Blair's last prime ministerial visit to Washington: it was obvious to all just how close the two men have become since their first, awkward encounter six years ago at Camp David."

After reading this article one should view....Bush and Blair's Endless Love - QT video
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Britain: The Guardian whitewash of Mr Blair
Related article - A quote...."The cloying nostalgia, mild rebuke and genuine sense of loss that pervades much of the commentary by Britain’s Guardian newspaper on the imminent departure of Prime Minister Tony Blair are hard to stomach.  -  Blair leaves the office of prime minister reviled by the majority of the British public and viewed by many as a war criminal for his part in the invasion and occupation of Iraq. A poll by Populus for the London Times, on the evening he announced his June departure, for example, found that nearly three fifths of all voters, and a third of Labour supporters, think that he “lied to the country over Iraq, and that overshadows everything else he has done, and tried to do, as Prime Minister.”

Afghan battle lines become blurred
A quote....A lot of homework had obviously gone into the initiative. Afghan leaders, with their native wisdom, estimated that the war was going nowhere and that the chance of "victory" by the US, which was never good, had probably passed. They saw ahead that the superpower, which arrived full of hubris, might well depart humbled. They wished to be on call when the time came.  -  Of course, it was apparent to anyone that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization was a divided house and that the United States' old European allies didn't share its apparent intention to turn Afghanistan into a client state under a NATO flag from where US power projection into the Persian Gulf and the Middle East and South Asia and Central Asia would become possible."

The fighting in Gaza is a foreign plan being executed by collaborators
A quote...."The fighting in Gaza between Hamas and rogue elements in Fatah was planned beforehand under US supervision and is being executed by mercenaries of the occupation, said the AMB, the armed wing of Fatah.  -  The Armed Struggle and Right of Return wing in the AMB said in a statement that the aim of the Israeli occupation government is "for us to forget our main aim and get busy with fighting one another through plans supervised by Condoleezza Rice and General Dayton through the Mossad and Shabak and their cohorts who follow blindly."

Well yeah.......playing Muslims off against each other has been "the blood sport of kings" in the western world for quite awhile.  It's a time honored tradition that Britain, the US and Israel have feted for the last sixty years by making propitious sacrifices of - you guessed it -  lots and lots of Muslims.  One would think the entire Muslim world would be tired of this by now, perhaps the “little people” are but obviously many of their "leaders" aren't, at least not yet. - mpg
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Military strike on Iran would be catastrophic: Pak PM
A quote...."Amman, May 18: Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said on Friday that a military strike on Iran over its nuclear activities would be "catastrophic" and hoped US-Iranian talks this month would reduce tensions."

Secret papers detail NYC intelligence gathering on RNC protesters
A quote...."NEW YORK -- They were among the more colorful protesters at the 2004 Republican National Convention _ a tuxedo-wearing performance art troupe called Billionaires for Bush.  -  The New York Police Department, however, wasn't amused.  -  Once-confidential documents prepared as the NYPD readied for the convention cautioned the group was "forged as a mockery of the current presidency and political policies," and they noted that "preliminary intelligence indicates that this group is raising funds for expansion and support of anti-RNC organizations."

Evidence Shows Chiquita Banana Was Not Alone in Making Terrorist Pay-Offs
A quote....""Chiquita Brands, Dole, Banacol, Uniban, Proban and Del Monte all entered into this agreement. They paid us one cent for every box of bananas that left the country." 

— Salvatore Mancuso, former leader of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, a paramilitary umbrella group
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Noam Chomsky on Recent Developments in Venezuela
Interview - A quote...."Kabir Joshi-Vijayan and Matthew Skogstad-Stubbs interview Noam Chomsky

Venezuela's Supreme Court dismisses challenge by TV station set to lose license
A quote...."CARACAS, Venezuela: Venezuela's Supreme Court has dismissed a challenge by an opposition-aligned television station seeking to remain on the air despite the government's decision not to renew its license.  -  The Supreme Court of Justice, in a decision announced late Thursday, declared inadmissible the challenge by Radio Caracas Television and its top executive Marcel Granier. The ruling is a setback for RCTV, a channel critical of President Hugo Chavez that is due to go off the air at midnight May 27 when the government says its license expires.

This is terrible, it's absolutely awful - the wealthy elites in Venezuela weren't able to buy off Venezuela's Supreme Court!  What is the world coming to when you can't buy a judge?  Imagine if our Supreme Court hadn't been bought during the 2000 elections....one shudders to think of what might have happened, Gore could have conceivably  been elected President if the Court had actually let the votes be counted.....and than were would we be as a nation - think about it. - mpg
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Senators Want CIA to Release 9/11 Report
A quote...." A bipartisan group of senators is pushing legislation that would force the CIA to release an inspector general's report on the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.  -  The CIA has spent more than 20 months weighing requests under the Freedom of Information Act for its internal investigation of the attacks but has yet to release any portion of it.  -  The agency is the only federal office involved in counterterrorism operations that has not made at least a version of its internal 9/11 investigation public.

Condoleezza Rice-Cooked in Oil?
A quote...."   05/18/07 "ICH" -- -- Now that Paul Wolfowitz has been more or less sidelined, how about some questions for Condoleezza Rice?  -  What’s to ask Condi? Well, for starters about her role in the Oil-for-Food scandal–a role she might have played first in private industry, and then, as President Bush’s National Security Advisor.  -  This week an investigation by the International Herald Tribune and the Italian business daily Il Sole 24 Ore revealed that Total, France’s largest company, indirectly paid up to $1 million dollars in illegal surcharges to Saddam’s regime on oil it bought from Iraq from 2000 to 2002."

How Low Can Gonzales Go?
A quote...."WASHINGTON—It just gets worse and worse. We already knew that Alberto Gonzales—who, unbelievably, remains our attorney general—was willing to construe the Constitution and the Geneva Conventions however George W. Bush and Dick Cheney wanted. We knew he was willing to politicize the Justice Department, if that was what the White House wanted. Now we learn that Gonzales also was willing to accost a seriously ill man in his hospital room to get his signature on a dodgy justification for unprecedented domestic surveillance."

Haleh in Prison
A quote...."I copied here last Saturday  our MESA letter of protest about the Iranian government's imprisonment of Iranian-American scholar Haleh Esfandiary.  -  Everyone should be outraged about this story. Her arrest should be an issue for everyone who believes in human rights, in academic freedom, and in women's rights.  -  I know Haleh and have enormous respect for her, and cannot say how anguished I am at the thought of her in that horrible Evin Prison,...."

Bank of New York Sued by Russian Customs for $22Bln for money laundering
A quote...."The Federal Customs Service filed a lawsuit in Moscow on Thursday seeking $22.5 billion in damages from the Bank of New York for suspected money laundering, the service and its lawyer said.  -  The lawsuit could be linked to the money laundering charges brought against former Yukos chief Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his business partner Platon Lebedev earlier this year, a member of their defense team said.  - The bank, the world's second-largest custodian of investor assets, dismissed the claims as being "totally without merit" and promised to mount a vigorous defense."

One would have to believe, given the magnitude of this lawsuit, that the president of the Bank of New York did not give sufficient contributions to the DemoRepub or RepubDemo party - mpg
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Debt: An Inescapable Concept
A quote...."One last time: Private debt is an inescapable concept. It is never a question of debt or no debt. It is always a question of which kind of debt, owed to whom, when."

Food prices eat deeper into wallets
A quote...."Southland residents already pay among the highest grocery prices in the nation, and the forecast is for even higher costs. Federal statistics released Tuesday for April show that food prices in Southern California rose 5.7% from a year earlier"

Now, I Am Become Death, The Destroyer of Worlds
Must Read - A quote....(this one is pretty funny - mpg) - "The destructive force of Hurricane Bush continues to roll across the countryside, leaving in its wake devastation worthy of a Cormac McCarthy novel.  -  And still, a third of all Americans think this guy is doing well in his job. What’s up with these people? Are they learned students of philosophy who crave the nihilism of their intellectual hero, Friedrich Nietzsche? Are they a secret army of Charles Lindbergh clones, trained to believe that fascism is pretty good stuff? Was Joseph McCarthy even more right than he knew, after all, and America is actually riddled with a hundred million spies devoted to its destruction?"

Cartoons
Amusing cartoons. - mpg

Thursday May 17th 2007

The Strategy of Tension
Must Read - A quote...."Western anti-terror legislation does not allow the state to be considered in any way culpable for terrorist activities. As far as our elected representatives are concerned, terrorism is a problem of loosely associated groups of reactionary fanatics “attacking our freedoms”. The assumption, never explicitly stated for then it would be revealed, and easily and permanently ridiculed, is that the state is innocent, immune to indulging in such barbaric practices. Written into the rule of law itself, this assumption posits the state as a paternal Fuhrer, a God figure whom we must all entrust our lives and liberties to."

For more on this see....US Support of Terror
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Palestinian Pinochet Making His Move?
A quote...."There’s something a little misleading in the media reports that routinely describe the fighting in Gaza as pitting Hamas against Fatah forces or security personnel “loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas.” That characterization suggests somehow that this catastrophic civil war that has killed more than 25 Palestinians since Sunday is a showdown between Abbas and the Hamas leadership — which simply isn’t true, although such a showdown would certainly conform to the desires of those running the White House Middle East policy."

As Gaza Burns
Related Article - A quote...."Things have been crazy in Gaza over the past two days. Very crazy. In between working and actually trying to keep our wits about us as we've been holed up indoors for two days no, I've had little time to blog.  -  Things are tenusouly calm at the moment with on-again-off-again gunfire, which is better than it was only a few hours ago. But things in Gaza have a way of cahnging very quickly-for better or for worse. Volatility is its defining characteristic."

EU, Arab League clash over Palestine
Related article - A quote...."Strong differences between the European Union and the Arab states broke out over Palestine in public during a press conference in Brussels yesterday evening.  -  "It is a unanimous position on our side that it is really unfair" said Amr Moussa, Secretary General of the Arab League, in reply to a question on the EU's decision not to talk to Hamas members of the Palestine Authority government."

Saudi - Iran ties to foil enemy plots: Rafsanjani
Related artilce - A quote...."Regular consultations between Iran and Saudi Arabia would prevent enemies of Islam from achieving their goals particularly on creating discord among Shiite and Sunni Muslims, Iran's Chairman of the Expediency Council Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said yesterday.  -  Rafsanjani made the remark in a telephone conversation with Saudi King Abdullah. The two sides exchanged views on ongoing developments in the region particularly the latest situation in Iraq."

Regarding the five articles shown above see....The Method - 05-07-07 - mpg
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The second coming of Saladin
A quote...."DAMASCUS - The discreet green-and-white tomb of the greatest warrior of Islam, Saladin - by the splendid Ummayad Mosque in the former seat of the caliphate - may be the ideal place to meditate on if, where and when Islam may be shaken again by the advent of a new Saladin, nine centuries after the illustrious deeds of the great Muslim general."

The Great Game moves south
A quote...."Over the past year, the northwestern frontiers of the South Asian subcontinent have emerged as a vital theater for geopolitical competition renascent of earlier eras. This episode includes the three great powers of the contemporary system - the United States, Russia and China, the latter two exploiting their vital positions in the Eurasian geopolitical landscape.  -  The patterns of the game cannot be discerned without a critical evaluation of the foreign-policy interests of the three protagonists and other regional powers in the region. What follows is a reflection of how the game has now decisively moved south and thereby likely to influence the "look West" policies of New Delhi and Islamabad."

What 'Extraordinary' Statement?
A quote...."I normally never watch political debates, the reasons for which being obvious for anyone who is familiar with my views on politics. I simply don’t have the patience to watch liars and thieves try to enhance their own prestige and overrate their powers of compulsion and coercion.  -  The other night’s Republican presidential debate was no exception save for the anomaly of Ron Paul. I didn’t see it for a combination of the usual reasons, forgetfulness, and fatigue from a day working on my feet, but the wonderful Ron Paul’s participation in the night’s events has sparked an internet frenzy over not only his overall performance (beating each of the other candidates in an ABC online poll by about 20,000 votes each as of now) but his feuding with Rudolph Giuliani. Rather, Giuliani’s feuding with Paul."

No Conscience = No Shame
A quote...."Two stories, little more than 24 hours apart, that lay bare the mendacity and shameless, murderous nature of the Bush government, its military and their bogus war on terror."

Of Actions and Consequences, Torture and Troops
Must Read - A quote...."Recall, for context, our national debate over torture, renditions, and the rights of prisoners captured in the "War on Terror." Recall the secret memos, endorsed by then-White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales, that slapped aside Geneva Convention prohibitions against the torture of prisoners. Recall Abu Ghraib, and the shameful photos documenting the absence of those prohibitions in living, bleeding color"

General Strike Paralyzes Pakistan
A quote...."Sixty years old this August, Pakistan has been under de facto military rule for exactly half of its life. Military leaders have usually been limited to a ten-year cycle: Ayub Khan (1958-69), Zia-ul-Haq (1977-89). The first was removed by a nation-wide insurrection lasting three months. The second was assassinated. According to this political calendar, Pervaiz Musharraf still has another year and a half to go, but events happen."

Iran to build four refineries in southern Iraq
A quote...."Prime Miniter Nour al-Maliki has given Iran preferential treatment in winning contracts in southern Iraq.  -  The move signals the growing influence Tehran exercises in the country particularly in southern provinces where Iraq’s largest and most prolific oil fields are situated."

Russia’s Energetic Return to the Central Asia and the Consequences
A quote...."Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin’s energy dominated visit to his “backyard”, the summit and the aggrements have started a new era in the Eurasian based global power struggle. The timing of this summit coincides with the energy summit headed by Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Georgia and Lituania in Poland (as an intention to by pass Russia). Even this coincidence is an indication for how the competition will be in the following period. Therefore this visit, before everything else is “The return of Russia to the region” and a sign for an era of much more intensive competition."

Venezuela’s New Channel 2 is Officially Announced
A quote...."Caracas, May 14, 2007 (venezuelanalysis.com)— Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez issued the decree today by which the new television channel that will replace the opposition-oriented RCTV. According to the decree the new channel, known as TEVES, will not generate programming itself, but will exclusively broadcast independently produced programs."

Costa Rica Quits SOA
Some Quotes...."Costa Rican President Oscar Arias announced yesterday that his country will stop sending police to train at the US Army Ft. Benning facility, citing its history of involvement in military coups and human rights abuses throughout Latin America."  -  "Costa Rica is the fourth Latin American country to announce a withdrawal from the SOA/WHINSEC. In 2006, the governments of Argentina and Uruguay announced that they would cease all training at the school, and in January of 2004, Hugo Chavez announced that Venezuela would no longer send troops to train at the school"  -  bold/italics by website author

Hip Hip Hooray for Costa Rica !!  Hopefully all the other South and Central American governments will soon realize that sending members of their military to the School of the Americas only creates terrorists, torturers, death squad leaders and coup plotters. - mpg
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U.S. Representative Kucinich Urges Terrorist Be Returned To Venezuela
A quote...."WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 17) — Tuesday Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) sent a letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, advocating the immediate return of Cuban-exile Luis Posada Carriles to Venezuela to be tried for his acts of terrorism."

Right All Along, Unfortunately  -  The "Chicken Littles" win the civil liberties debate.
A quote...."In the wake of the 9/11 attacks, citizens and legislators alike were quick to go along with the idea that government needed sweeping new powers—and less oversight—if it was going to defend us against terrorism. It was this idea that gave us Gitmo, warrantless wiretaps, the PATRIOT Act, and the Department of Homeland Security. The idea faced critics from the start, but for a long time, most of Congress was willing to meet those criticisms with faith: faith in the president, faith in legal authorities, faith in agents wielding pumped-up powers in the field."

Russia, Europe await Samara summit
A quote...."MOSCOW. (Alexei Makarkin for RIA Novosti) - The EU-Russia summit to be held in the Russian city of Samara on the Volga River on May 17 and 18 is unlikely to result in any major sensations.  -  Events of this kind rarely involve slamming the doors or other demarches, and this one least of all as no one is interested in a scandal that would aggravate the already strained relations between Europe and Russia."

Nigerian Oil Production Falls After a Pipeline Hub Is Overrun
A quote...."NDJAMENA, Chad, May 15 — Young protesters have overrun an oil pipeline hub in the volatile Niger Delta, the authorities said, helping to cut Nigeria’s oil production by about 30 percent as the country weathers a period of instability after a deeply flawed election last month."

Nigeria unions call general strike
A quote...."Nigerian unions have called for a two-day strike to protest against last month's presidential election which saw widespread instance of vote fraud.  -  John Kolawale, secretary general of the Trade Union Congress, said on Thursday that the strike will be held on May 28-29 to coincide with the inauguration of Umaru Yar'Adua as president."

Judiciary Hearing on Oil Prices and Market Failure:  -  A Federal Investigation Denied
A quote...."We pleaded with Attorney General Gonzales and FTC Chairman Majoras, Platt, [sic] to begin an investigation of the oil industry, and we offered our partnership in that work. All 50 Attorneys General have hands full investigating monopolistic abuses on the part of the oil industry, but we lack the authority, and expertise, and resources of the federal government. And so we invited, we beseeched the federal government to join us in that investigation and so far they have declined to do so." - bold/italics by website author.
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9/11 - From The History File...Clues Alerted White House to Potential Attacks
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Bush Admits to Destroying Blair's Career
A quote...."I just caught some of the Bush/Blair news conference on the adult version of CNN at noon.  -  At one point, a reporter asked Bush point blank if he was the cause of Tony Blair having to step down as prime minister.  -  Now, when you get a question like that as a politician, surely you have a lot of options for answering. You could reply with a self-deprecating joke. Or you could insist that Blair is a statesman in his own right whose record stands on its own. Or something.  -  What you wouldn't want to do is to grant the premise of the reporter's question.  -  Bush, with his deer in the headlight gaze, actually answered the question..........In the affirmative."

Wolfowitz resigns; Bush to nominate successor soon
Some quotes...."WASHINGTON, May 17 (Reuters) - Paul Wolfowitz resigned as president of the World Bank on Thursday, ending a protracted battle over his stewardship prompted by his involvement in a high-paying promotion for his companion."

And...."Bank staff were jubilant to see an end to a crisis that had engulfed the institution, which spends around $25 billion a year to fight poverty in poor countries.  -  "Everyone ran into the hallways and were clapping and hugging each other," said one employee who declined to be named." - bold/italics by website author.

Another one bites the dust....so little time, so many more to go. - mpg
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Cheney, Top Officials Seek Immunity in Plame Trial
A quote...."Attorneys for Vice President Cheney and top White House officials told a federal judge today they cannot be held liable for anything they disclosed to reporters about covert CIA officer Valerie Plame or her husband, former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV.  -  The officials, who include senior White House adviser Karl Rove and Cheney’s former chief of staff, I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, argued that the judge should dismiss a lawsuit filed by Wilson that stemmed from the disclosure of Plame’s identity to the media."

They're not even pretending to that the law matters anymoe - mpg.
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Watergate Without the Break-In
A quote...."WASHINGTON—It is time to stop referring to the “fired U.S attorneys scandal” by that misnomer, and call it what it is: a White House-coordinated effort to use the vast powers of the Justice Department to swing elections to Republicans.  -  This is no botched personnel switch. It is not even a political spat between the fired U.S. attorneys and Bush administration officials who deemed some of them insufficiently zealous in promoting the department’s law enforcement priorities. Connect the dots and you see an insidious effort to corrupt the American electoral system. It’s Watergate without the break-in or the bagmen"  - bold/italics by website author.

Presidential hopefuls report their wealth
A quote...."WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The herd of candidates vying for the White House in 2008 may have different positions on abortion, gun control, climate change and taxes, but there is one thing most of them have in common -- they're millionaires."

Getting Sarkozy - and France - Wrong
A quote...."Unlike Chirac, Sarko is a true man of the right. Being France, of course, that still puts his agenda, though not necessarily his character, to the left of Kucinich. But he faces a French left that, unlike its American version, lost the battles but won the war. France typically elects rightwing presidents to implement leftwing policies. The consummate pragmatist, Sarko will not fight his battles on ideological grounds. In anticipation of the social unrest that is sure to greet his reform of labor laws, he intends to use his (likely) new majority in parliament to pass a minimum service public transportation law to dull the effect of transit strikes. Sarko is the shrewdest French politician of his generation: a coopting master."

Maybe Sarkozy won't be the US Neocons' new "poodle" (French as apposed to British)....only time will tell. - mpg
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Chalabi Speaks - An Interview with the Man Whose Lies Provided the Pretext for War
A quote...."The broken remains of the al-Safariyah bridge was a strange place to meet the man whom opponents of the invasion of Iraq regard as a hate figure who gulled the US into a bloody and unnecessary war by concocting evidence that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. He has always had an impressive array of enemies. Demonised by Saddam as a creature of the Americans, he was simultaneously loathed by the CIA and the US State Department mainly because he would not obey American orders.  -  Whatever his political future, Mr Chalabi is one of the great survivors of Iraqi politics. "Never ever write him off," Hoshyar Zebari, the Iraqi Foreign Minister, said to me last year. For a start he is still alive despite numerous assassination attempts."

Starving the poor
A quote...." 05/17/07 "ICH " -- -- The chaos that derives from the so-called international order can be painful if you are on the receiving end of the power that determines that order’s structure. Even tortillas come into play in the ungrand scheme of things. Recently, in many regions of Mexico, tortilla prices jumped by more than 50 per cent. -  In January, in Mexico City, tens of thousands of workers and farmers rallied in the Zocalo, the city’s central square, to protest the skyrocketing cost of tortillas."

Hillary Inc.
A quote...."She has millionaire contributors and advisers who lobby for huge corporations: It's no wonder Hillary Clinton's populist rhetoric sometimes rings hollow, Ari Berman reports."

NY Times Attempts To Debunk 9/11 Truth; Fails Miserably
A quote...."In a report detailing Rosie O'Donnell's confirmed plans to have 9/11 truthers debate the attacks on The View before she leaves in June, The New York Times has responded by penning an extremely poor attack piece which cites previous shoddy debunking efforts while completely ignoring key evidence often referred to by the many scientific experts, ex government officials, whistleblowers and truthers in general that have declared the event an inside job."

Monsanto India: GM Foods, Crops - Preparing for Worldwide Genetic Control
A quote...."India's Government appears to be firmly under the control of the buccaneers of biotechnology and spurious multinational corporations  -  Despite rules to the contrary, GM (Genetical Modification) experiments have been going on across India with the complicity of the Indian Government."

The Keystone Mafia Hijacked the American Government
Must Read - (this one's on the lighter side - mpg) - A quote...."There was a time in America when the federal government, the feds if you will, chased down gangsters and mafia bosses like Al Capone. Under Bush and Republican rule, however, the government has become the equivalent of some strange and overindulged rich boy frat house version of La Cosa Nostra meets the Keystone Cops. Mister Bush and Dick Cheney are interchangeably the modern-day version of the mobster boss and Police Chief Tehiezel - which man plays what role varies depending upon the day, time of day and the racket they happen to be running.  -  Indeed, if the current federal government -- Mister Bush's version of La Cosa Nostra meets slapstick -- was to begin chasing down the gangsters and mafia bosses, it would look like the dog chasing its tail. It really isn't possible to know anymore, where the mob ends and the American peoples' government begins."

What Every American Should Know About Who's Really Running America (Paperback)
Book Review - A quote...."BuzzFlash.com's Review (excerpt)  -  We'll begin with Rossi's introductory quote, because BuzzFlash readers will get the picture immediately: "This book may break your heart, because this book is about a beautiful idea that has gone tragically wrong, or so it certainly appears at the moment. It's about the government of the United States of America, and what the hell has happened to it. This is about how thugs took over the steering wheel of our country -- but they didn't yank it by force, they won it with money. This is a book about how our government has been corroded inside and out."

Polar ocean 'soaking up less CO2'
A quote...."One of Earth's most important absorbers of carbon dioxide (CO2) is failing to soak up as much of the greenhouse gas as it was expected to, scientists say.  -  The decline of Antarctica's Southern Ocean carbon "sink" - or reservoir - means that atmospheric CO2 levels may be higher in future than predicted."

Wednesday May 16th 2007

Russia draws Europe into its orbit
Must Read - A quote...."On May 9, the Chinese People's Daily admitted, "If we look at US-Russian relations closely, it is clear that we are standing at the edge of a new cold war." It was an assessment long in coming. Chinese commentaries in recent months have tended to view the growing tension in Russia's relations with the United States as the inevitable manifestation of the "pulls and pushes" of a complex, but in essence interlocking, relationship of cooperation and competition, where each side is optimally realizing its interests.  -  But the thinking has changed. The People's Daily commented, "As the Russian economy grows stronger, the US simply cannot sit back and relax. It must continue to contain the nation to prevent it from rising again. By deploying its national missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic, Washington is no doubt targeting Russia ... the likelihood of a new arms race will increase dramatically ... the possibility of another cold war does exist."

The true heart of darkness
Must Read - A quote...."BAGHDAD - There's a graffiti war going on in Baghdad. In Sunni neighborhoods the champions are "Saddam Hussein is a martyr" and "Muqtada [al-Sadr] is the leader of the thieves". In Shi'ite neighborhoods the favorite used to be "From Fallujah to Kufa Iraq won't be beaten down"; now "Fallujah" has been erased from the script. In Sadr City the favorite is "Down with the Ba'athists".  -  The Adhamiyah wall - the symbol of the Baghdad gulag, rejected by more than 70% of Iraqis - is not yet finished, but the neighborhood is already isolated by a cluster of checkpoints, with all major streets blocked by blast walls and barbed wire. Walls are planned to expand to Dora, Ghazaliyah, Amiriya, al-Amel, al-Adl - a replication of gulag practices in Fallujah, Tal Afar, Haditha, Samarra".
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Senate Defeats Iraq Withdrawal Measure
A quote...."WASHINGTON — The Senate today handily defeated a measure to effectively end most U.S. combat operations in Iraq by next April, but the 29 senators who voted for the amendment represented the highest number yet that have united behind a proposal to force President Bush to bring home American troops."

Now we know which senators to vote against in the upcoming 2008 elections. See also....

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Iraqi vote may turn GOP against war
A quote...."Some key Republican supporters of President Bush's Iraq war policy said this week that if the Iraqi parliament calls for the withdrawal of U.S. troops, their position could change dramatically."

Document details 'US' plan to sink Hamas
A quote...."On April 30, the Jordanian weekly newspaper Al-Majd published a story about a 16-page secret document, an "Action Plan for the Palestinian Presidency" that called for undermining and replacing the Palestinian national-unity government.  -  The document outlined steps that would strengthen Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, build up Palestinian security forces under his command, lead to the dissolution of the Palestinian Parliament, and strengthen US allies in Fatah in a lead-up to parliamentary elections that Abbas would call for early this autumn"

Gaza Fighting Intensifies, Leaving at Least 21 Dead
Related article - A quote...."JERUSALEM, May 16 -- Intensifying factional fighting brought the Palestinians' two-month-old power-sharing government closer to collapse Wednesday as Israeli military aircraft fired on a Hamas operations camp in the Gaza Strip in an effort to end days of rocket attacks on Israeli targets."

The US's “divide and conquer strategy”, or "constructive instability" - six of one, half a dozen of the other; it makes no difference to the peoples of Palestine, Iraq, Somalia, Lebanon or the entire Middle East. - mpg
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Iran Calls Bush’s Bluff
A quote...."On Sunday came news from the U.N. inspectors on the ground that Iran has made a breakthrough in the enrichment of uranium.  It was previously thought that the Iranians were having trouble developing the tight engineering and high speeds needed to get their centrifuges to produce nuclear fuel. But inspectors, on a short-notice visit, came upon 1,300 centrifuges merrily spinning away and churning out the raw ingredient for massive carnage."

All hail the king
A quote...."May 17, 2007 | Loyalty has always been the alpha and omega of George W. Bush's presidency. But all the forms of allegiance that have bound together his administration -- political, ideological and personal -- are being shredded, leaving only blind loyalty. Bush has surrounded himself with loyalists, who fervently pledged their fealty, enforced the loyalty of others and sought to make loyal converts. Now Bush's long downfall is descending into a series of revenge tragedies in which the characters are helpless against the furies of their misplaced loyalties and betrayals. The stage is being strewn with hacked corpses -- on Monday, former Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty; imminently, World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz; tomorrow, whoever remains trapped on the ghost ship of state. As the individual tragedies unfold, Bush's royal robes unravel."

Clash of Hope and Fear as Venezuela Seizes Land
A quote...."URACHICHE, Venezuela — The squatters arrive before dawn with machetes and rifles, surround the well-ordered rows of sugar cane and threaten to kill anyone who interferes. Then they light a match to the crops and declare the land their own."

Venezuelan Economy Shows Continued Growth
Related article - A quote...."Mérida, May 15, 2007 (venezuelanalysis.com)— The Venezuelan economy has had a continuous annual growth rate of 12.6 percent for the last three and a half years Venezuela's Development Minister Jorge Giordani reported today. According to preliminary indicators released by the Central Bank of Venezuela, the Venezuelan economy has sustained this high average of growth for 14 consecutive trimesters. The GDP grew a total of 8.8 percent in the first quarter of 2007, and the unemployment level reached its lowest level since 1999.

World Bank set to finalise departure of defiant Wolfowitz
A quote...."A defiant Paul Wolfowitz was last night on his way out as President of the World Bank - a departure that will bring an end to a messy and debilitating crisis that has damaged the credibility of both himself and the premier global development lending agency."

Massive ice melt observed in Antarctica
A quote.... Washington- An area as large as the US state of California melted due to warmer temperatures in western Antarctica a satellite from the US space agency showed, according to a NASA analysis of the largest melt in recent decades. The data collected by the NASA satellite, QuickScat, between July 1999 and July 2005 captured the largest melting in 30 years during January 2005, scientists said late Tuesday."

Rank Order - Current account balance - CIA Factbook
Take a look at who comes in last. - mpg

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