Tuesday June 2nd 2009

Obama's Great Illusion
Special Note - A quote...."June 02, 2009 "Information Clearing House" -- I wonder how many of you have woken up to the fact that America's latest leader is really a political Houdini ... an illusionist on a presidential scale. - Infront of our very eyes he has morphed from a gentle intellectual, and strong defender of human rights into a war-mongering bully who sponsors targetted assassinations and orders pre-emptive strikes with casual ease."

Two years before the 9/11 attacks on America, George W. Bush told a Houston journalist if elected president, “I’m going to invade Iraq.” -- Special Note - A quote...."Bush made the comments about starting an aggressive war to veteran Houston Chronicle reporter Mickey Herskowitz, then working with Bush on his book “A Charge To Keep,” later brought out by publisher William Morrow."

How Important is Cheney's Admission that There was NEVER Any Evidence Linking Iraq and 9/11?
Special Note - A quote...."How important is Cheney's admission? -- Well, 5 hours after the 9/11 attacks, Donald Rumsfeld said "my interest is to hit Saddam". -- He also said "Go massive . . . Sweep it all up. Things related and not." -- And at 2:40 p.m. on September 11th, in a memorandum of discussions between top administration officials, several lines below the statement "judge whether good enough [to] hit S.H. [that is, Saddam Hussein] at same time", is the statement "Hard to get a good case." In other words, top officials knew that there wasn't a good case that Hussein was behind 9/11, but they wanted to use the 9/11 attacks as an excuse to justify war with Iraq anyway." -- also posted at OpEdNews & Uruknet

Cheney admits there was never any evidence tying Iraq, 9/11
Related Article - A quote...."Oops. -- Former Vice President Dick Cheney wants a do-over. After being party to an administration that repeatedly sought to tie the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks with Saddam Hussein, he’s ready to let that assertion go. -- In an interview with Fox News’ Greta van Susteren Monday, Cheney said there was no evidence tying Iraq and 9/11 — and that there never was." -- For more on this sort of "Oops, I'm bad" issue see....Republican Tourettes Syndrome  (RTS) 08-26-06 - mpg

This Modern World
Cartoon - A quote...."Look what happens when Dick Cheney makes a startling admission!"

Waterboarding Tip Of The Iceberg / Re-Open 9/11 Investigation
Special Note - (More torture-9/11 cover-up) -- A quote...."Dick Cheney was complicit, or at the very least, took advantage of the 9/11 attacks and used it as an excuse to implement his grand neocon agenda ~ using these attacks as a justification for shredding the constitution, violating the Geneva Convention, blatantly violating human rights and covering his 9/11 involvement tracks by forcing confessions for the 9/11 commission through illegal torture of detainees.   ---  Remember, as Stephen C. Webster ( Prison Planet ) reported on May 14, 2009 ~  " More than one-quarter of all footnotes in the 9/11 Report refer to CIA interrogations of al Qaeda operatives were subjected to the now-controversial interrogation techniques,” writes former NBC producer Robert Windrem in The Daily Beast. “In fact, information derived from the interrogations was central to the 9/11 Report’s most critical chapters, those on the planning and execution of the attacks," reported NBC. The analysis also shows ~ and agency and commission staffers concur ~ there was a separate, second round of interrogations in early 2004, done specifically to answer new questions from the Commission... “9/11 Commission staffers say they ‘guessed’ but did not know for certain that harsh techniques had been used, and they were concerned that the techniques had affected the operatives’ credibility." -- For more on this issue see....9/11 - Iraq - Torture Fables

The Intel-Journo Alliance
A quote...." The well-educated neocons – many of whom embraced the elitist political philosophy of Leo Strauss – knew that if they could manipulate those two crucial sources of information – the CIA and the press – they could control the Washington debate and set the policy parameters for the United States. -- The neocons even had a phrase for this process of controlling what the American people got to hear, see and believe. It was called “perception management.” -- So, threats to the American people were wildly exaggerated; dissent from the Left was deemed almost treasonous; trillions of U.S. tax dollars were diverted to military budgets; aggressive war became an easy option for American political leaders. -- While great for the neocons and their military-industrial friends, the costs were enormous for the United States and people around the world." -- For more on this issue see....US Fake Intel / Propaganda - Leo Strauss - Updated

Former CIA station chief challenges claims that torture thwarted terror attacks
A quote...."Milton Bearden, a former Central Intelligence Agency Pakistan station chief who served at the agency for three decades, says claims that the Bush administration’s so-called enhanced interrogation techniques saved American lives are likely false."
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U.S. Marines find Iraq tactics don't work in Afghanistan
Special Note - A quote...."At times, Afghanistan can feel deceptively like Iraq, they say. During a patrol that found the Marines surrounded by poppy fields, they spotted two men on a motorcycle trailing them. It was the only other vehicle on an otherwise unused paved road. -- "You see that. They're watching us," Gilreath radioed to his fellow Marines. -- In Iraq, such trailing often meant an attack was imminent. But not here. Marines said it could be months before the Taliban turns that information into an attack. -- "The lack of attacks has me asking: Are we doing something right or wrong?" asked company commander Capt. Sven Gosnell, 36, of Torrance, Calif., an Iraqi veteran. -- When the Taliban does take on the Marines, it's a different kind of fight, Marines said. For one, the Taliban'll wait until they're ready, not just when an opportunity appears. They'll clear the area of women and children, not use them as shields. And when the attack comes, it's often a full-scale attack, with flanks, trenches and a plan, said one Marine captain and Iraq veteran who asked not to be identified because he wasn't sure he was allowed to discuss tactics."

Taliban kill 4 truckers, set fire on 10 trucks in S Afghanistan
A quote...."KABUL, May 29 (Xinhua)-- Taliban insurgents fighting Afghan and the U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan, attacked a supplying convoy in the southern Zabul province, killing four drivers and set on fire 10 trucks, provincial police chief Abdul Rahman Sarjang said Friday."

Nato terminal attacked in Balochistan, 2 killed
A quote...."ISLAMABAD: Two people were killed and three others injured on Tuesday when dozens of militants attacked a terminal in Pakistan’s Balochistan province used by convoys ferrying supplies to Nato forces in Afghanistan."

Russian advice: More troops won't help in Afghanistan
A quote...." MOSCOW — The old diplomat sighed as he recalled his years in Afghanistan, and then leaned forward and said in a booming voice that no escalation of troops would bring lasting peace. -- As the Soviet ambassador to Afghanistan from 1979 to 1986, Fikryat Tabeyev saw the numbers rise to more than 100,000 troops without any possibility of victory against a growing insurgency."
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What’s Wrong With Our Foreign Policy and What the Libertarian Party Can Do About It
Must Read - A quote...."I was asked to talk today about the problems of our foreign policy – a question so wide-ranging it would be impossible to address in a 20 minute speech – and yet it is a fascinating question. Like the search for a grand unified theory, it is also an irresistible challenge. -- In thinking about our foreign policy – or any foreign policy – a libertarian would ask about force, and about freedom. A libertarian would also wisely observe, as Frederic Bastiat did in the 1800s that when goods cease to cross borders, armies will. A libertarian would consider how foreign policy would exist – if at all – without the state."

Robert Fisk: Most Arabs know this speech will make little difference
A quote...."More and more, it looks like the same old melody that Bush's lads used to sing. We're not against the Muslim world. In fact, we are positively for it. We want you to have democracy, up to a point. We love Arab "moderates" and we want to reach out to you and be your friends. Sorry about Iraq. And sorry – again, up to a point – about Afghanistan and we do hope that you understand why we've got to have a little "surge" in Helmand among all those Muslim villages with their paper-thin walls. And yes, we've made mistakes." -- also posted at ICH & CommonDreams

Pakistani court releases top Mumbai suspect
A quote...."Tue, 02 Jun 2009 16:49:05 GMT -- A Pakistani court has ordered the release of militants' chief allegedly linked to last year's deadly attacks on the Indian port city of Mumbai. -- A panel of three judges from the high court in the eastern city of Lahore on Tuesday ruled that there was no reason to hold Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, Jamaat-ud-Dawa founder, under house arrest. -- Sources said the court released Saeed after insufficient evidence to link him to last November deadly Mumbai raids."

Russia FM: We'll demand Iran nuclear program stays civilian
A quote...."Russia will demand that Iran commit to utilizing its nuclear program for civilian purposes only, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told his visiting Israeli counterpart, Avigdor Lieberman, in Moscow on Tuesday. -- "We have confirmed the need to assure the international community of the exclusively peaceful nature of the Iranian nuclear program," Lavrov said, according to the RIA Novosti news agency."

35 Israeli spies identified in Lebanon
A quote...."Beirut has charged three more people with spying for Tel Aviv amid a crackdown on Israeli espionage networks in Lebanon. - Saeb Mohammad Aoun and Mohammed Hassan Abdallah were charged on Monday with passing sensitive information to Israel while Ali Hassan al-Ghossein, a third man, was charged with collaborating with Israel and entering the country."

Yemeni Prisoner Muhammad Salih Dies At Guantánamo
A quote...."It has just been reported that Muhammad Ahmad Abdallah Salih (also known as Mohammed al-Hanashi), a Yemeni prisoner at Guantánamo, has died, apparently by committing suicide. -- The news comes just three days after the second anniversary of another death at Guantánamo — that of Abdul Rahman al-Amri, a Saudi prisoner who died on May 30, 2007 — and just eight days before the third anniversary of the deaths of three other prisoners — Ali al-Salami, Mani al-Utaybi and Yasser al-Zahrani — who died on June 10, 2006, and it must surely hasten calls for the urgent repatriation of other prisoners before there are any more deaths at the prison."

U.S. judge orders disclosure of evidence against detainees
A quote...."A federal judge ordered the United States on Monday to publicly reveal unclassified versions of its allegations and evidence justifying the continued imprisonment of more than 100 detainees being held at Guantanamo Bay."

Chavez accuses CIA of backing plot to kill him -- Which one, there's so many? - mpg
A quote..."President Hugo Chavez on Tuesday alleged that U.S. intelligence agencies were behind a purported assassination plot that prevented him from visiting El Salvador. -- Chavez had planned to attend the inauguration of leftist President Mauricio Funes in the Central American nation on Monday, but canceled his trip due to the alleged plot."

Saakashvili has put all his eggs into the wrong basket
A quote...."The worst expectations have come true: the process of Georgia’s de-sovereignization continues to accelerate and appears irreversible. - The government’s unreasonable and clumsy policy has got the country down to the level of a third-rate state which other countries disrespect."

MSM: North Korea ‘preparing to test most advanced missile’
A quote...."(Guardian) – Media reports say weapon capable of striking west coast of US has been moved to launch site -- North Korea is poised to test launch its most advanced missile, reports said today, a week after it defied the international community and conducted its second nuclear weapons test in three years."
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Garry Trudeau 'Maligns Judaism' Says ADL
Cartoon - A quote...."New York, NY, June 1, 2009 ... The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today released the text of a letter to cartoonist Garry Trudeau concerning his Doonesbury strip of May 31, 2009:" -- For more about this sort of issue see....Judeo-Christian C/C & US

The Rape of Gaza
A quote...."How would you feel if you found out that an American school, paid for with your tax dollars, was bombed and completely destroyed by a US ally? This happened in Gaza just a few months ago, during Israel's now-infamous Operation Cast Lead. -- I've been touring Gaza for the past three days as part of a Code Pink delegation, and the concrete rubble and twisted rebar of the American International School in Gaza is just one of the many horrifying images we've seen on this trip. The school, which taught American progressive values to Palestinian kids in grades K-12, was bombed by US-supplied Israeli F-16s in early January." -- also posted at ICH & CommonDreams

South Africans Investigation Accuses Israel of Apartheid
A quote...."The Human Sciences Research Council of South Africa (HSRC) released a study on Monday indicating that Israel is practicing both colonialism and apartheid in the occupied Palestinian territories."

Pushing for "normalization" of Israeli apartheid
A quote...."Arab states have historically lacked a consistent commitment to the Palestinians. Deeply divided, the Palestinian cause had often been used to distract discontent from problems at home and to advance the populist agendas of Arab dictators. Even prior to the creation of Israel, King Abdullah I of Jordan had expressed his commitment to an exclusive Jewish state in Palestine. He didn't sign a peace deal with Israel earlier on for fear of isolation. That taboo was broken in 1979 by Egypt -- the most populous Arab country -- gradually redefining the limits of what the autocratic Arab regimes could get away without risking their seats of power in face of popular discontent. -- Egypt and Saudi Arabia, the most influential of these countries, are now leading the anti-Iran campaign. Iran's threat to their regional dominance coupled with a dose of anti-Shiite hostility, has led them to take Israel as a convenient ally. Israel on the other hand is anxious to quash Iran, an opponent to its regional supremacy."

Former Pink Floyd Member Appalled by Israel’s Apartheid Wall
A quote...."Several news sources have reported on an Associated Press interview with former Pink Floyd member and co-founder Roger Waters, who expressed sincere revulsion after being exposed to Israel’s Apartheid Wall while visiting the West Bank refugee camp of Aida, in Bethlehem yesterday. "

Viva Palestinia - A Lifeline From The United States To Gaza
A quote...."June 02, 2009 "Information Clearing House" -- -Fresh from the success of the Viva Palestina: Lifeline from Britain to Gaza aid convoy - which took over 100 vehicles to Gaza from the UK, Minister of Parliament, George Galloway has linked up on his US tour with the Vietnam veteran and peace campaigner, Ron Kovic, to launch a similar, but even larger venture from the States." -- also posted at AtheoNews

“We’ll press Israel to accept Arab peace initiative” – Lebanese PM
A quote...."Lebanon’s Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, who is now fighting for a parliamentary seat in the city of Sidon, says, if elected, he intends to press for withdrawal of Israel from Lebanese and Palestinian territories."
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In Crisis, Banks Dig In for Fight Against Rules
Special Note - A quote...."As the financial crisis entered one of its darkest phases in October, a handful of the nation’s largest banks began holding daily telephone sessions. Murmurs were already emanating from Washington about the need for a wide-ranging regulatory overhaul, and Wall Street executives girded for a fight.  --  Atop the agenda during their calls: how to counter an expected attempt to rein in credit-default swaps and other derivatives — the sophisticated and profitable financial instruments that were intended to limit risk but instead had helped take the economy to the brink of disaster.  --  The nine biggest participants in the derivatives market — including JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and Bank of America — created a lobbying organization, the CDS Dealers Consortium, on Nov. 13, a month after five of its members accepted federal bailout money." - also posted at BLN -- For more on this issue see.... Enforcing the Rules -- Too Little, Too Late - 02-27-09 - mpg

Leading Democrats: Congress, Senate Owned And Run By Bankers  - They also own their little lackey Obama.
Related Article - A quote...."The Democratic Chairman of the Agriculture Committee yesterday announced to the press that “The banks run the place,” in reference to the US Congress. He is the second notable elected official to speak out in recent weeks over the gross and institutionally corrupt conflict of interest on Capitol Hill. -- “I will tell you what the problem is," Collin Peterson told the New York Times, "they give three times more money than the next biggest group. It’s huge the amount of money they put into politics.”

Goldman Sachs names ex-SEC chief Levitt as advisor - (a.k.a. "The Revolving Door") - mpg
A quote...."NEW YORK (Reuters) - Clinton-era Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Arthur Levitt has signed on as an advisor to Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N), the Wall Street firm announced on Tuesday."

Obama offers nothing to states, cities devastated by GM plant closures
A quote...."Plant closings resulting from Monday’s forced bankruptcy of General Motors will cause spiraling unemployment and deep cuts in social services in many cities and states across the country. The Obama administration, whose Auto Task Force dictated the terms of the bankruptcy, has offered no serious aid to the affected workers and their communities." -- Next time folks, don't vote for a DemoRepub,  your lives would be so much better if you just follow that one simple principal. - mpg

The Big [Bond] Collapse Could Be Very Near
A quote...."The Federal Reserve appears to be increasingly nervous about the long term bond market. This is serious. How panicked are they? After leaking a story on Friday, they are back at it on Sunday. -- The Federal Reserve leaked to CNBC's Steve Liesman on Friday that they weren't targeting long rates. Why such a leak? Probably because the Fed did not want to appear impotent in controlling the long rate. So they put out the word through Liesman that they weren't targetting the long rate. Can you imagine what would happen to the markets if it sensed long rates were beyond the control of the Fed?"

Gerald Celente on Fox News: The Greatest Depression (05/31/09) - Alt
Video - (YouTube - 5 min 31 sec - May 31, 2009)

Chart of the Day - S&P 500 P/E Ratio
Must View Chart - Interesting chart. It's seems to reflect the growing "Virtual Economy™" - mpg

California will run out of cash in 14 days
A quote...."The state wallet is empty. The bank closed. Credit has dried up, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger told lawmakers in a special Tuesday morning address at the Capitol. -- “California’s day of reckoning is here,” he said. With no action, the state will run out of cash in 14 days. Three months after the state budget was approved, California faces a $24 billion deficit." -- also posted at BLN

Pending home sales rise 6.7 percent in April
Chart - Good news, though not that impressive (see chart), AND... the jump was caused by a lot of distressed sales (45%), a one time $8,000 tax credit for first time home buyers and most worrisome of all, low interest rates which have just started to sky rocket. – mpg -- A quote...."WASHINGTON – The number of U.S. homebuyers who agreed to buy a previously occupied home took the largest monthly jump in nearly eight years in April, but there are still plenty of danger signs for the U.S. housing market. -- Home sales appear likely to head upward this summer, potentially to levels not seen since the stock market collapsed last autumn, but prices are expected to keep falling well into next year. Layoffs, which are causing foreclosures to soar, coupled with rising mortgage rates could dampen any real estate recovery."
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TV Causes Learning Lag in Infants
It also makes full grown adults INTO infants.  Turn off your TV's folks, you'll fell so much better if you do. - mpg -- A quote...."Even infants zone out in front of the television, and it turns out this translates into less time interacting with parents and possible lags in language development, a new study finds. -- "We've known that television exposure during infancy is associated with language delays and attentional problems, but so far it has remained unclear why," said lead researcher Dimitri Christakis, director of the Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development at Seattle Children's Research Institute and professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington School of Medicine. "

Monday June 1st 2009

Sunday May 31st 2009

No posts. - mpg

Saturday May 30th 2009

The 'No Problem' Mindset: Guaranteed Destruction
Must Read - A quote...."In short, count the costs. This is what people have refused to do. They have counted the cost of doing something radical. It's high. They have counted the immediate cost of doing nothing new. It seems low. They prefer doing nothing.  --  But what about the long term? What about:

    1. Retirement (no Social Security or Medicare)
    2. The Federal Deficit ($1.8 trillion this year)
    3. Federal Reserve's monetary base (doubled)
    4. Falling house prices
    5. Rising unemployment
    6. The war in Afghanistan (forever, until our defeat)

"No problem!"  --  How do you reason with these people? Answer: you don't, if you value your time and your privacy. If you turn out to be wrong, you will be ridiculed or at least treated as a child. If you are correct, you will be hated. You will also be hit up for money. If you are a Christian, you will be told you are heartless. You will become a line of credit for those whose mantra was "No problem!"
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9/11 families angered by US support for Saudis
Obama™ -- A quote...."Relatives of Sept. 11 victims say they're angry that the Justice Department is supporting the Saudi royal family's bid to be removed from a 9/11 lawsuit. -- The families of some victims have accused the royal family of financially backing terrorist groups that carried out the 2001 attacks." -- For more on this issue see....9/11 - Lawsuits

US failing to investigate war crimes: UN investigator
Obama™ -- A  quote...."GENEVA - An independent UN human rights investigator has said that the United States is failing to properly investigate alleged war crimes committed by its soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq. -- Although some cases are investigated and lead to prosecutions, others aren't or result in lenient sentences, said Philip Alston, the UN Human Rights Council's special rapporteur on extra-judicial killings."

U.N. calls U.S. human rights record "deplorable"
Obama™ -- A  quote...."May 29, 2009 | The United Nations has released a new report on accountability for human rights abuses by the United States, focusing mostly on transgressions during the Bush administration's so-called war on terror. In a word, accountability in the U.S. has been "deplorable."

Obama administration refuses to release secret documents
Obama™ -- A quote...."The Obama administration insists it has no obligation to provide access to a top secret document in a wiretapping case, setting up a showdown next week with the judge who ordered it released. -- Justice Department lawyers, in a response Friday with the U.S. District Court in San Francisco, also argued that Judge Vaughn Walker had no cause to penalize the government over its refusal to turn over the document."

Cybersecurity: Obama’s Promise to Trash the Constitution - More lies from Obama. - mpg
Obama™ -- A quote...."A quote...."During a speech today on “cybersecurity,” Obama told a whopper. He said the government’s effort to protect us from cyber bad guys “will not include monitoring private sector networks or Internet traffic. We will preserve and protect the personal privacy and civil liberties that we cherish as Americans.” -- Is it possible Obama has never heard of Mark Klein, the retired AT&T communications technician who said years ago that the company shunted all Internet traffic — including traffic from peering links connecting to other Internet backbone providers — to semantic traffic analyzers, installed in a secret room inside the AT&T central office on Folsom Street in San Francisco? There are similar rooms in Seattle, San Jose, Los Angeles and San Diego, all sucking up internet data." - also posted at OHBummer -- For more on this issue see....US-Attempts to Control the InterNet
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Levin to Cheney: You’ve Got Nothing
Must View Video - A quote...."Carl Levin better watch out for Liz "BabyDick" Cheney and her cries of "libel!" Because he just called her Daddy a liar, using words like "false statements" and "colossal misrepresentation." -- Now, Levin is actually the second person who has seen those documents who says they don't say what PapaDick says they do. A couple of weeks ago, Russ Feingold accused PapaDick of lying using somewhat more gentle language."

Author Posts $1 Million Dollar Bounty for Prosecution of War Criminals
A quote...."The author of a new book, Why Do You Kill?, that details the experiences of the members of the Iraqi resistance fighters has apparently announced on FireDogLake a 1 Million Dollar bounty for anyone who can bring Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Blair before a judge for criminal prosecution of war crimes and crimes against humanity. -- Think that might shake out a few whistle-blowers?"

For more regarding the two articles shown above see....9/11 - Iraq - Torture Fables
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Analysis of the Israeli Maneuvers May 31 - June 4
Must View Press TV Video - War Alert - Analysis - A quote...."Israeli Maneuvers: May 29, 2009 Middle East Today analysis of Israel's largest maneuvers since 1961 which will be held between May 31 and June 4 With guests Alestair Crooke - Director Conflict Forum and Riad Khawaji - Co-Director INEGMA Institute." -- The announcer does a little gratuitous "rubbing it in" which was sort of refreshing.  The annalysts on the show basically concluded that Israel's manuvers are being staged for three reasons - to threaten Lebanon's voters ahead of their upcoming elections - to prepare for a pending attack against Iran (hence the "war alert") or (the most dangerous of all and if true it should be considered a "war warning") perhaps an attempt to gain an overall geo-political shift or advantage through some sort of surprise military action. – mpg

Tensions high ahead of Israeli drill
War Alert - A quote...."BEIRUT, Lebanon, May 27 (UPI) -- Israeli military officials claim Hezbollah is better armed than it was in 2006 as Lebanese forces go on high alert ahead of Israeli border exercises. - Gabi Ashkenazi, the chief Israeli military officer, told the Knesset on Tuesday that Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon were better equipped now than when they took on the Israeli military in 2006, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports. - "Today (Hezbollah) has more rockets and long-range ammunition than it did before the Second Lebanon War," he said."

Lebanese army on "alert" ahead of Israeli military exercises
War Alert - A quote...."Beirut - Lebanese army sources said on Saturday that the country's military had been placed 'on full alert,' ahead of large- scale Israeli army maneuvers expected to begin on Sunday."
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In Pakistan, an exodus that is beyond biblical
A quote...."The language was already biblical; now the scale of what is happening matches it. The exodus of people forced from their homes in Pakistan's Swat Valley and elsewhere in the country's north-west may be as high as 2.4 million, aid officials say. Around the world, only a handful of war-spoiled countries – Sudan, Iraq, Colombia – have larger numbers of internal refugees. The speed of the displacement at its height – up to 85,000 people a day – was matched only during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. This is now one of the biggest sudden refugee crises the world has ever seen."

Pakistan: Number of displaced persons exceeds 3 million
Related Article - A quote...."PESHAWAR, (Dawn): The number of internally displaced persons (IDP) has crossed the three million mark, according to the NWFP government."-- For more on the two articles shown above see....It Will Happen Every Single Time
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At least 35 Russian citizens detained in Egypt
What the heck is this all about?  Something's up, but what? - mpg -- A quote...."At least eight Russians are reported to have been released in Egypt after being arrested several days ago. More than 20 more are still being held in Cairo. The Russian Consulate says Moscow wants more explanations. Five out eight detained students from Kazakhstan have also been released, the country’s Foreign Ministry reported on Saturday evening." -- also posted at OHBummer

The Return of the [Iraqi] Resistance
A quote...."At least 20 US soldiers have been killed in Iraq in May, the most since last September, along with more than 50 wounded. Iraqi casualties are, as usual - and in both categories - at least ten times that number. -- Attacks against US forces are once again on the rise in places like Baghdad and Fallujah, where the Iraqi resistance was fiercest before so many of them joined the Sahwa (Sons of Iraq, also referred to as Awakening Councils), and began taking payments from the US military in exchange for halting attacks against the occupiers and agreeing to join the fight against al-Qaeda in Iraq."

Iran hangs 3 over mosque bombing
A quote...."Three people convicted of involvement in a mosque bombing in southeastern Iran that killed 25 were hanged Saturday, Iran's official news agency reported. -- The three men supplied explosives to the perpetrators who carried out the Thursday bombing in Zahedan, 1,000 miles southeast of the capital Tehran, said a statement issued by the judiciary."

Iran defuses bomb on Tehran-bound plane
Over at the Pentagon and CIA they're saying...."God Dang it, those incompetent Jundullah separatists can't do anything right"! - mpg -- A quote...."Iranian security officials successfully manage to defuse a bomb on a Tehran-bound passenger airliner, averting what could have been a major airborne catastrophe. -- Within minutes from take-off, flight security officials aboard a late Saturday Kish Air flight en route to Tehran from the southern city of Ahwaz, discovered that a handmade bomb had been planted in the plane's toilet, Fars news agency reported on Sunday." -- also posted at WarInIraq

Jundullah faces US terrorist title
On the other hand....  But still, it's just a bunch of pansies over at the State Department (The State Dept. still exists??) - mpg - A quote...."LAHORE: The United States State Department is considering placing Jundullah on its terrorism list to send a conciliatory signal to Iran. -- Jundullah has killed scores of Iranian soldiers and border guards since 2003. Most recently it has claimed responsibility for the Thursday suicide bombing in an Iranian mosque that killed 25 and wounded 125. Some US officials argue that the administration should swiftly place a terrorist label on Jundullah as a sign of Washington’s good faith.Others, however, see the move as a premature giveaway." - bold by website editor -- For more on this issue see....US Support of Terror - Jundullah - Updated

Iran Secretly Helped U.S. Bomb Taliban Units, Find Al Qaeda
That's because they were idiots and didn't read the PNAC / AIPAC Plans and the US-NRE's intent to "reshape" the entire Middle East - (YuTbVid). - mpg -- A quote...."Iran supplied U.S. diplomats with the location of Taliban military units in Afghanistan after the initial bombing campaign in the fall of 2001 failed to rout them, according to former officials in the George W. Bush administration." -- also posted at ICH

Lawsuit alleges U.S. mining company paid Colombian paramilitary group to execute union leaders - link at BuzzFlash
A quote...."A federal lawsuit alleges the Drummond Company paid millions of dollars to a Colombian paramilitary terrorist group that while acting as paid "security" was responsible for the deaths of 67 people in a plot to disrupt union activities at the company's South American coal mining and railway operations. --  The civil lawsuit accuses Drummond of paying the right-wing United Self Defense Forces of Colombia to protect their business interests in the Cesar and Magdalena provinces of Colombia, and to terrorize and murder innocent residents in the region who they perceived as sympathetic to leftist guerilla groups and supportive of local union organizations. The suit describes in detail a meeting between Drummond and AUC representatives during which the company allegedly ordered the execution of two union leaders." -- Exactly what the US-NRE did to most of Central America, and dreams every single day of doing to Venezuela - mpg

New Military Base in Colombia Would Spread Pentagon Reach Throughout Latin America - link at BuzzFlash
Related Article - Oh look, another New Roman Empire expansion project.  Now the US-NRE's corporate elites will be able to use this nation’s BWC’s (Biological Weapons Components) to gun down Latin American peasants directly instead of relying on third parties such as the United Self Defense Forces of Colombia, which is what got the Drummond Company into so much trouble.  The DOD will just say they're "terrorists" as they do everywhere else. Your taxpayer dollars at work folks, enjoy the show. - mpg -- A quote...."The Pentagon budget submitted to Congress on May 7 includes $46 million for development of a new U.S. military base in Palanquero, Colombia. -- The official justification states that the Defense Department seeks "an array of access arrangements for contingency operations, logistics, and training in Central/South America." -- The military facility in Colombia will give the United States military increased capacity for intervention throughout most of Latin America. The plan is being advanced amid tense relations between Washington and Venezuela, Bolivia, and Ecuador, and despite both a long history and recent revelations about the Colombian military's atrocious human rights record." - bold by website editor - Stating a country has an "atrocious human rights record" is like giving it the NRE's "good house destroying seal of approval" for Empire lackey wannabees, it only encourages the DoD to do "business" with that particular country all the more. - mpg

Moscow Opposes N. Korea Sanctions
A quote...."Russia will not object to a new UN Security Council resolution amid escalating tensions over North Korea's nuclear test but continues to oppose sanctions, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said Thursday. -- Russia does not want to see North Korea isolated, and Moscow believes that the only way to resolve the standoff is through the now-suspended six-nation negotiations, Andrei Nesterenko said."

N Korea prepares site for launch of ballistic missile
A quote...."US officials said that satellite images had detected activity at a site in North Korea that suggested the rogue state could be preparing to launch a long-range ballistic missile."

Scott Horton Interviews Larisa Alexandrovna - also in Mp3
Audio Interview - A quote...."Larisa Alexandrovna, managing investigative news editor for Rawstory.com, discusses the possible treason in Valerie Plame’s outing, the subsequent loss of CIA covert contacts with the A.Q. Kahn network (that may have supplied al-Qaeda with weapons), evidence of the U.S. scheming to start a war with Iran as early as December 2001 and what living in a police state really looks like." -- For more on this issue see....US - Nukes for Everyone

Bush, Clinton Joke, Defend Each Other In Canada
No kidding!!  You see folks, this is what happens when you vote for a DemoRepub, and it will happen every single time.  Next time you go into the polls please choose someone else, If not for your conscience or for that of your own future welfare....at least do it for the sake of your children. - mpg -- A quote...."Former U.S. Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton traded jokes about life after the Oval Office and took turns defending each other as they shared a stage in Toronto on Friday to discuss global affairs."
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Exploitation of Gaza Part 1
Special Note - A quote...."Would anyone ever imagine that the people of Gaza and Palestine own vast reserves of oil and gas in their own territorial waters? Is it possible that Israel wanted this conflict in order to get its hands on those reserves? Well the answer to both these questions is simply yes.At the turn of the century British Gas discovered a significant gas field in the Gaza Marine Area with great potential to find much more. Unfortunately there were a few obstacles that would deprive Gaza of tapping into its own wealth."

Israel Threatens to Outlaw Palestinian Memory
Special Note - A quote...."JERUSALEM - Israel is set to approve a radical new bill that threatens to legalize discrimination against its sizable Arab minority for the first time. -- The bill, approved this week by the ministerial committee for legislation, would make it illegal to relate to the creation of the state of Israel on May 15, 1948, as a day of mourning, thereby banning Arab Israeli citizens from marking what Palestinians call the Nakba – their "Great Catastrophe."

Germany joins calls for Israel to end settlement construction
It's about time for Germany to do something a little more than to meekly "call" or even "demand" that Isreal end settlement construction. - mpg -- A quote...."German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has demanded that Israel put an end to all settlement building in the Palestinian territories, in a newspaper interview published Saturday. -- It is "not acceptable" to found new settlements or expand existing ones in East Jerusalem or the West Bank, Steinmeier said in a joint interview with the German Press Agency dpa and German daily Sueddeutsche."

Hamas says Fatah arrests 22 of its activists
A quote...."RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) – Hamas Islamists said on Saturday Fatah forces of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas arrested 22 of their activists in the West Bank."
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FDIC Banking Report: 305 Troubled Institutions up from 90 in 2008. $13.5 trillion Assets held with 2.1 Million Employees at 8,200 Institutions. -- link @ BuzzFlash -- Financial Update - Charts -- A quote...."The FDIC is facing the highest amount of bank failures since the early 1990s. To calm Americans the government in 2008 upped the amount secured at FDIC institutions from $100,000 to $250,000 for each customer account. Yet losses have been so deep that in the fourth quarter of 2008 the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) quickly lost a large portion of its balance. The FDIC unfortunately did not adequately prepare for such a deep credit crisis:"

U.S. mortgage rate rise threatens housing recovery
Special Note - Financial Alert - NEW YORK (Reuters) - A dizzying rise in U.S. mortgage rates this week has left homeowners worried about the government's ability to revive the housing market as a means to economic recovery. -- Higher mortgage rates could hinder a nascent rebound in housing this year, where cheaper loans and lower prices have enticed buyers to cut into the inventories of unsold homes."

Is Larry Summers Taking Kickbacks From the Banks He’s Bailing Out?
Special Note - (It's outrageous, but not surprising. - mpg) -- A quote...."Last month, a little-known company where Summers served on the board of directors received a $42 million investment from a group of investors, including three banks that Summers, Obama’s effective “economy czar,” has been doling out billions in bailout money to: Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley. The banks invested into the small startup company Revolution Money, right at the time when Summers was administering the “stress test” to these same banks. -- A month after they invested in Summers’ former company, all three banks came out of the stress test much better than anyone expected—thanks to the fact that the banks themselves were allowed to help decide how bad their problems were. (Citigroup “negotiated” down its financial hole from $35 billion to $5.5 billion.)" -- also posted at AmericanEveryman

Did Bernanke and Paulson Commit Bank Fraud? -- Does a Cheetah have spots? - mpg
Related Article - A quote...."New revelations from the New York State Attorney General’s office have all but proven that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson committed bank fraud crimes in the case of the Merrill Lynch/Bank of America merger that took place last year. New York State Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo revealed that Paulson and Bernanke illegally suppressed adverse financial data on the merger and threatened to replace the Bank of America CEO and board of directors if the company backed out of the Merrill Lynch merger. “Secretary Paulson has informed us that he made the threat at the request of Chairman Bernanke,” Cuomo wrote in an April 23 letter to Congress."

Government Taps Bailout Contractors With Conflicts of Interest
Related Article - A quote...."As the Wall Street bailout nears its first anniversary, the controversy over giving public money to private banks has become public knowledge. But an equally risky aspect of the financial rescue has flown largely under the radar: the government’s reliance on private contractors – many with potentially significant conflicts of interest – to help revive the stalled economy." - also posted at GlobRsrch -- We are all frigging doomed. - mpg

Friday May 29th 2009

Follow the Saudi Money
SPECIAL REPORT: SUING THE SAUDIS--Pinning the Blame for 9/11 - Alt
Saudi envoy in UK linked to 9/11
Cozen O’Connor 9/11 Lawsuit Against Saudis
9/11 chair, despite alleged Saudi ties, is remarkably clean
U.S. District Court Rules Saudi Charity to Remain in 9-11 Terrorist Lawsuit
9-11 Lawsuits: Saudis, Airlines, Bush Face Litigation
911 LAWSUIT News: - article list
Context of 'August 15, 2002: 9/11 Victims’ File Lawsuit - timeline
Cantor-Fitzgerald, Port Authority sue Saudis
9/11 Aftermath Lawsuit or Victims' Compensation Fund  ...PDF
$116 trillion lawsuit filed by 9/11 families

For more on this issue see....9/11 - Lawsuits  -- NEW!

Just think about it this way folks, for every dollar the US-NRE / Military Industrial Complex gives to support terrorist groups throughout the Middle East, it generates for itself about two hundred dollars in funding for the "war on terror".  That's a pretty good rate of return, and a very well designed, highly profitable business model. - mpg - posted 03-03-09

Founders of US Muslim charity jailed for 65 years for funding Hamas
Some quotes...."Shukri Abu Baker, 50, and Ghassan Elashi, 55, were among the five members of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development sentenced to prison on Wednesday. - The men and Holy Land were convicted in November on 108 charges, following a mistrial in 2007 in which the government failed to convince jurors that the charity sent more than $12 million (£7.5 million) to Hamas." -- "The Holy Land leaders were convicted on charges ranging from supporting a terrorist organisation to money laundering and tax fraud. The group was not accused of violence, but of bankrolling schools and social welfare programmes the government says are controlled by Hamas. Holy Land itself was convicted of 32 counts." - bold/underline by website editor - posted 05-27-09 - For more on this issue see....Judeo-Christian C/C & US

Thursday May 28th 2009

The Deeper Origins of the Economic Crisis
Must Read - A quote...."....the typical explanation of the economic crisis goes as follows: depression-era financial regulations were tossed aside, and banks were allowed to merge into new institutions that then invented ways to transform debts into assets, which were gambled away on the stock exchange to the tunes of trillions of dollars. -- All of which is true. -- What’s missing, however, is why. Why did successive governments allow the regulations to be destroyed? And more importantly, why did the entire political establishment agree that these regulations needed to go? -- One important statistic can help provide some insight: Whereas manufacturing was twice as large as the financial sector of the U.S. GDP in 1970, these numbers have since been reversed — the financial sector is now 21 percent of U.S. GDP, while manufacturing is just 12 percent, and shrinking. -- Why did the financial sector grow as manufacturing sank? And how are the two related?"

Big Banks Have ALREADY Killed Reforms
Must Read - A quote...."Many mainstream pundits are claiming that a wave of regulation and reform of the banks and the financial industry is on its way. On the other hand, some alternative news writers are saying that real reform may never really happen (see this, for example). Indeed, Obama has appointed to most of the key economic posts the people most responsible for deregulation in the first place. In fact, in at least one area - one of the most important causes of the financial crisis - reform has already been defeated." -- also posted at GlobRsrch

For more on this issue see quote shown below.....


See also....The Virtual Economy - 05-01-09 - mpg
See also....Enforcing the Rules -- Too Little, Too Late - 02-27-09 - mpg
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Still more yellow weeds than green shoots as the global economy has not bottomed out yet
Special Note - A Dr. Doom Analysis - A quote...."By Nouriel Roubini  | May 27, 2009 -- SEOUL, May 27 - Economist Nouriel Roubini on Wednesday said the end of the global recession is likely to occur at the end of the year rather than the middle, and that U.S. growth will remain below potential afterwards. - "We are not yet at the bottom of the U.S. and the global recession," said Roubini. "The contraction is still occurring and the recession is going to be over more toward the end of the year rather than in the middle of the year." - "There is still too much optimism that a recovery is just around the corner," said Roubini, a professor at New York University's Stern School of Business and chairman of RGE Monitor, an independent economic research firm."

U.S. Economy: Durable-Goods Orders Near 13-Year Low (Update1)
A quote...." May 28 (Bloomberg) -- Durable-goods orders hovered near a 13-year low and the number of Americans collecting unemployment insurance reached a 17th straight record, offering no sign of an imminent rebound from the worst U.S. recession in half a century. -- Orders rose 1.9 percent in April [which was good, but....] after a 2.1 percent drop in March that was more than twice as large as previously estimated, the Commerce Department said in Washington." - bold by website editor

1 in 8 U.S. Homeowners late Paying or in Foreclosure
A quote...."NEW YORK - One of eight U.S. households with a mortgage ended the first quarter late on loan payments or in the foreclosure process in a crisis that will persist for at least another year until unemployment peaks, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Thursday. - U.S. unemployment in April reached its highest rate in more than a quarter century and is still rising, helping propel mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures to record highs."  - bold by website editor

New Home Sales Flat in April
Charts - A quote...."The Census Bureau reports New Home Sales in April were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 352 thousand. This is essentially the same as the revised rate of 351 thousand in March."

U.S. jobless claims fell 13,000 last week
A quote...."WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits dropped by 13,000 last week, the Labor Department reported on Thursday, but so-called continued claims hit a new record as the recession took a further toll on job prospects."

At least half of the House of Commons' 646 MPs will be swept away at the general election, as voters take revenge on the political classes for the expenses scandal.

The departure of 325 members of parliament as a result of forced resignations, retirement and defeat at the polls would represent the biggest clear-out of parliament since 1945.