Wednesday September 1st 2010

No posts. - mpg

Tuesday August 31st 2010

Innocent Executioners: An Illustration of the Principles of Western Civilization in the Modern World
Must Read - A quote...."We hear a lot about barbarism and backwardness and bloodthirstiness among the nations of the Middle East, where violent religious extremists are praised and supported -- and often hold state power. A lot of this is hype and misinformation, of course, but sometimes it's all too true. From the Guardian..."

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A trillion-dollar catastrophe. Yes, Iraq was a headline war
Special Note - A quote...."today the Iraq war was declared over by Barack Obama. As his troops return home, Iraqis are marginally freer than in 2003, and considerably less secure. Two million remain abroad as refugees from seven years of anarchy, with another 2 million internally displaced. Ironically, almost all Iraqi Christians have had to flee. Under western rule, production of oil – Iraq's staple product – is still below its pre-invasion level, and homes enjoy fewer hours of electricity. This is dreadful." - also posted at CommonDreams - Editor's note:  regarding the number of civilian casualties in Iraq caused by the US-NRE's illegal invasion, most authoritative reports put the number at over a million dead.  For more on that issue see....US Fake Intel / Propaganda - Iraq's Death Toll

'War in Iraq - Bush's personal revenge for father'
RTVideo - Alt - (RTYuTb - 5min 13sec - August 31, 2010) - Source:  RussiaToday -- A quote...."More US troops are preparing to leave Iraq despite a recent wave of violence in the country. American soldiers are almost at the end of their combat mission after seven years of fighting. However, about 50,000 will remain in Iraq to provide training and support for local security forces. RT talks to John Laughland from the Institute for Democracy and Cooperation."

'Democracy of Death': US 'victory' translated into tragedy for Iraq
RTVideo - Alt - (RTYuTb - 5min 39sec - August 31, 2010) - Source:  RussiaToday -- A quote...."Live from Baghdad. On the day of American pullout from Iraq RT talks to Nir Rosen who is from New York University's Center on Law and Security and author of the book 'Aftermath: Following the Bloodshed of America's Wars in the Muslim World'."

US deaths in Iraq will continue despite 'end of war'?
RTVideo - Alt - (RTYuTb - 1min 46sec - August 31, 2010) - Source:  RussiaToday -- A quote...."US vice president Joe Biden is in Baghdad, overseeing the official August 31st end of the American combat mission in Iraq. Operation "Iraqi Freedom" is now over and all combat troops have left the country. Washington says this means the end of the 7-year-long war that killed over 4,000 U.S. troops. However, around 50,000 American service personnel will stay to train and support Iraqi forces. They will be able to take part in combat, but only if the Iraqis ask them to. Still analysts say Baghdad doesn't control the country, which remains split and plagued by insurgent violence. Last week, dozens of Iraqis died in a wave of terror attacks. Anti-war activist Brian Becker says the war is far from over, and Americans will continue to die in Iraq."

Iraq - An End or an Escalation?
A quote...."Amid much fanfare last week, the last supposed “combat” troops left Iraq as the administration touted the beginning of the end of the Iraq War and a change in the role of the United States in that country.  Considering the continued public frustration with the war effort, and with the growing laundry list of broken promises, this was merely another one of the administration’s operations in political maneuvering and semantics in order to convince an increasingly war-weary public that the Iraq War is at last ending.  However, military officials confirm that we are committed to intervention in that country for years to come, and our operations have in fact, changed minimally, if really at all."

[Irqi] Insurgents vow to fight until last US soldier goes
A quote...."DAMASCUS // As Washington seeks today to open a new chapter in its involvement in Iraq, insurgents have dismissed announcements of a “new dawn” and say they will fight on until the last American soldier has left the country."

The "nobody-could-have-known" excuse and Iraq
A quote...."The predominant attribute of American elites is a refusal to take responsibility for any failures.  The favored tactic for accomplishing this evasion is the "nobody-could-have-known" excuse.  Each time something awful occurs -- the 9/11 attack, the Iraq War, the financial crisis, the breaking of levees in New Orleans, the general ineptitude and lawlessness of the Bush administration -- one is subjected to an endless stream of excuse-making from those responsible, insisting that there was no way they "could have known" what was to happen:  "I don't think anybody could have predicted that they would try to use an airplane as a missile, a hijacked airplane as a missile," Condoleezza Rice infamously said on May 16, 2002, despite multiple FBI and intelligence documents warning of exactly that.  One finds identical excuses for each contemporary American disaster.  Robert Gibbs just invoked the same false excuse:  that "nobody" knew the depth of the financial and unemployment crisis early last year."
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Media Didn’t Buy Petraeus Command’s Story of Low Taliban Morale
Propaganda Exposed - A quote...."WASHINGTON, Aug 30, 2010 (IPS) - In an effort to introduce a story of "progress" into media coverage, Gen. David Petraeus’s command claimed last week that the Taliban is suffering from reduced morale in Marjah and elsewhere, despite evidence that the population of Marjah still believes the Taliban controls that district. -- But the news media ignored the command’s handout on the story, which did not quote Petraeus." - also posted at Uruknet

Afghanistan: North Atlantic Military Bloc's Ten-Year War In South Asia
A quote...."In slightly over a month, on October 7, the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan will enter its tenth year. -- The conflict represents the longest continuous combat operations in the history of the United States and Afghanistan alike. With the North Atlantic Treaty Organization for the only time in its existence activating its Article 5 mutual military assistance clause in September 2001 and thus entering the Afghan fray, European nations that had not been at war since the Second World War are now engaged in an endless combat mission."

Attack on private security company leaves 2 dead, 5 injured, 15 vehicles burned in Afghanistan
A quote...."Anti-government militants attacked a convoy of a private security company in Zabul province south of Afghanistan Monday night killing two guards and set on fire over a dozen vehicles, spokesman for provincial government Mohammad Jan Rasoulyar said Tuesday."  - also posted at WarInIraq

At Least 12 NATO Troops Killed in Afghanistan
A quote...."At least 12 NATO troops were killed across Afghanistan today, capping what has turned out to be the deadliest August yet since the war began. At least five US troops were among those killed, though the nationalities of all the slain have not yet been released." - also posted at WarInIraq

U.S. toll rising in Afghanistan: 22 soldiers killed since Friday
A quote...." KANDAHAR, Afghanistan --  U.S. forces lost 22 soldiers in Afghanistan, mostly to roadside bombs, since Friday, marking a bloody step-up in the insurgency as a major U.S.-led offensive seeks to capture the spiritual homeland of the Taliban movement in Kandahar. -- The U.S.-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan said it is gaining ground against the insurgents, but violence is rising across the country, including in areas that were considered relatively safe." - also posted at Uruknet

Turkmenistan, Afghanistan sign agreement on TAPI gas pipeline
A quote...."ASHKHABAD, August 31 (RIA Novosti) - Turkmenistan and Afghanistan have signed an agreement on construction of the Trans-Afghanistan (TAPI) gas pipeline for the transfer of Turkmen gas to Pakistan and India, local media said on Tuesday."
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Turkey soon to chair U.N. Security Council
A quote...."Turkey will chair the U.N. Security Council from Sept. 1, the Turkish Haberturk website reported today. The chairmanship will move from Russia to Turkey." - also posted at WarInIraq

US Taken Aback as North Korean Leader Visits China
A quote...."August 30, 2010 (Hamsayeh.Net) - The United States feels increasingly isolated as Asian giant China praises ties with North Korea during a visit by Kim Jong –il and his son Kim Jong-un to Beijing."

Putin seeks easier Russian-EU travel on road to visa-free regime
A quote...."Traveling between Russia and the EU should be made as easy as possible as part of the transition to a visa-free regime, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday."

Putin: U.S. Rearming Georgia
A quote...."Although Washington has an intention to improve relations with Moscow, the U.S. continues “rearming Georgia”, which is no in line with the reset policy, Russia’s PM Vladimir Putin said in an interview with Russian daily Kommersant." - also posted at GlobalRsrch

Putin slams West for deceiving Russia
A quote...."Moscow: Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has accused western countries of using unfair political methods including deceit and breaking promises to obstruct the process of "resetting" relations between Russia and the West. - In an interview in Kommersant daily, Putin said his speech at the 2007 Munich Security Conference, which several western politicians considered a declaration of reviving the Cold War, was still relevant, as many western countries are unfair in their dealings with Russia. - "At time of the withdrawal from East Europe, the NATO secretary general promised the USSR it could be confident that NATO would not expand over its current boundaries," Putin said. - "And where is it? I asked them [NATO officials] about this. They have nothing to say. They deceived us in the rudest way." -- Look, everyone in their relations and negotiations with the US-NRE's parasites should realize they are regarded exactly as were the native Americans.  They're all just a bunch of "prairie niggers" to the parasites.  Everyone get the picture? - mpg

1949: Soviet Union’s first nuclear bomb test
RIANVideo - (RIANVid - 1min 35sec - 31/8/2010  11:58) -- A quote...."August 29 was the United Nations’ International Day against Nuclear Tests. On that day in 1949 the Soviet Union carried out its first nuclear bomb test, at 7 a.m. at the Semipalatinsk test site."

Bolivia to Supply Natural Gas to Uruguay by 2015
A quote...."La Paz, Aug. 31 (Prensa Latina) Bolivian Hydrocarbons and Energy Minister Luis Fernando Vincenti said on Tuesday that his country would supply natural gas to Uruguay by the year 2015."
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Bolivia Asks the UN to Place Sanctions on Israel
A quote...."August 31, 2010 (Hamsayeh.Net) - Bolivian President Evo Morales has asked the United Nations to consider placing sanctions on Israel for its illegal stockpiling of nuclear weapons instead of punishing Iran for non-existent nuclear weapons in the oil-rich Middle Eastern nation."

What’s the difference between President Ahmadinejad and Rabbi Yosef?
Special Note - A quote...."Short answer. Iran’s President Ahmadinejad did NOT call for Israeli Jews to be annihilated. Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the spiritual leader of Israel’s Shas party, HAS called, more than once, for the Palestinians (and, in fact, all Arabs) to be exterminated. -- As reported by the mainstream Western media, Ahmadinejad called for Israel to be “wiped off the map”. What that meant, it was asserted, was the destruction, the driving into the sea, of Israel’s Jews. -- What Ahmadinejad actually called for was the de-Zionization of Palestine. His actual words were to the effect that he wanted the Zionist state to disappear as the Soviet Union had done. In other words, there would be a place in a de-Zionized Palestine for all Jews who wanted to stay and live in peace with their fellow Arab citizens."

'Israel, creation of colonial powers'
A quote...."Israel has been created by colonial powers with the aim of halting the growth of Middle Eastern countries, chairman of Iran's Expediency Council says." - bold by website editor

Twenty Years of Conflict has cost the Middle East $12 trillion
Related Article - A quote...."CAIRO: The 20 years of conflict has cost the Middle East region 12 trillion U.S. dollars during the period from 1991 to 2010, Egypt's official MENA news agency reported on Sunday quoting an Indian report. -- The report was published in a book entitled "The Cost of Conflict in the Middle East" by the Strategic Foresight Group in India and translated by the Institute for Peace Studies of Egypt. -- The Middle East region afforded a high record of military expenses in the past 20 years and is considered the most armed region in the world, the report said."

4 Israelis killed in shooting attack shattering years of relative West Bank calm
This is an obvious, and repugnant attempt to derail the talks (or perhaps even promote them?).  This website editor sincerely hopes the perpetrators are caught, tried and executed.  But more importantly somebody somewhere sponsored these people, whoever they are, they should also suffer the same fate as the trigger men. - mpg -- A quote...."Four Israelis were shot dead in their car Tuesday near the West Bank settlement of Kiryat Arba less than a day before Israeli and Palestinian leaders meet in Washington for a summit to announce the resumption of direct peace talks. The attack, for which Hamas has claimed responsibility, shattered years of relative calm in the West Bank."
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9/11 Defining Moment: "Mr. Cheney, do the orders still stand?
Contains Video - Mineta&9/11Comm - 9/11Trilogy -- A quote...."During the time that the airplane was coming in to the Pentagon, there was a young man who would come in and say to the Vice President, "The plane is 50 miles out." "The plane is 30 miles out." And when it got down to "the plane is 10 miles out," the young man also said to the Vice President, "Do the orders still stand?" And the Vice President turned and whipped his neck around and said, "Of course the orders still stand. Have you heard anything to the contrary?"  -- *Norman Mineta*, US Secretary of Transportation, his testimony On May 23, 2003 in front of the 9/11 Commission -- For more on this issue see.... 9/11-NORAD

9/11 Was An Inside Job, False Flag Terror and the 9th Anniversary
Video - Covers some of the basics. - mpg

PCC-772 Cheonan: Newly Revealed Report from March 2010 Proves the Tragedy of the Cheonan is Being Used as Just Another Pretext in the Global Free Market Wars -- A quote...."Just days after former President Jimmy Carter went to North Korea and secured the release of a U.S. citizen, Aijalon Mahli Gomes (a tremendous success in light of current events and yet ”journalists in Washington and Seoul have dubbed the trip a failure at worst or a non-event at best“), President Obama signed an executive order imposing tougher sanctions on the country, supposedly as a response to their now deeply questionable involvement in the sinking of the PCC Cheonan on March 26th of this year. After a U.S. consular delegation visited Gomes a few weeks ago, they returned to report that he was deeply depressed.  Three politicians had offered to go and attempt to secure his release at that time; Bill Richardson, John Kerry, and former president Jimmy Carter. All three were offered a chance to go last week and all but Carter refused." -- For more on this issue see....US-False Flag Ops - Cheonan

Britain: Terrorists Use “Conspiracy Theories” in Attempt to Discredit Government and Recruit New Members
Special Note - A quote...."Obviously, too many people are figuring out the scam. The-bloggers-are-with-Al-Queda meme seems hilarious and dumb now, but this is the set up phase. After the false flag nuke is lit off (or whatever the spectacle will entail), guess where the fingers will point…"

Obama’s Department of Justice Puts Out Master Patriot Hit-list
A quote...."The Department of Justice has fired a salvo in the war against patriotic Americans supporting the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The DOJ has issued Investigating Terrorism and Criminal Extremism –Terms and Concepts, a 120-page propaganda addendum described as “a glossary designed primarily as a tool for criminal justice professionals to enhance their understanding of words relating to extremist terminology, phrases, activities, symbols, organizations, and selected names that they may encounter while conducting criminal investigations or prosecutions of members of extremist organizations.”" - also posted at DProgram

Continuity of Government: Coup d'Etat Authority in America
Special Note - A quote...."This article reviews the historical roots and America's current Continuity of Government authority, initially planned and developed by Ronald Reagan. More on that below. -- On March 1, 2002, Washington Post writers Barton Gellman and Susan Schmidt headlined, "Shadow Government Is at Work in Secret," saying: -- "President Bush has dispatched a shadow government of about 100 senior civilian managers to live and work secretly outside Washington, activating for the first time longstanding plans to ensure survival of federal rule after a catastrophic attack on the nation's capital." - also posted at ThePeople'sVoice

Pentagon may apply preemptive warfare policy to the Internet
Net Threat Alert - A quote...."Grappling with matters of law and policy governing the United States military's cyber-warfare capabilities, Pentagon planners are eying ways of making preemptive strikes across the Internet part of America's toolbox."

MSM: Predator drones to patrol entire US-Mexico border
One can't wait for the first van load of kids to be blown sky-high. The article didn't say if the Predator drones were armed, if not, no doubt they soon will be. - mpg -- A quote...."(AFP) – The United States beginning Wednesday will add a third Predator drone to patrol its border with Mexico, allowing authorities for the first time to monitor the entire stretch of land separating the two neighbors using the unmanned aircraft."

Some Modest Questions for the Tea Party, and for Democrats Too
A quote...."Having followed the news about the "Restoring Honor" Tea Party rally organized by Glenn Beck on Saturday, August 28, I have some questions for its leaders and participants. Some of the rhetoric I heard about a new movement to bring back America's traditional values left me a little confused."

The Billionaires Bankrolling the Tea Party
A quote...."ANOTHER weekend, another grass-roots demonstration starring Real Americans who are mad as hell and want to take back their country from you-know-who. Last Sunday the site was Lower Manhattan, where they jeered the “ground zero mosque.” This weekend, the scene shifted to Washington, where the avatars of oppressed white Tea Party America, Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin, were slated to “reclaim the civil rights movement” (Beck’s words) on the same spot where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. had his dream exactly 47 years earlier. ---  Vive la révolution!  ---  There’s just one element missing from these snapshots of America’s ostensibly spontaneous and leaderless populist uprising: the sugar daddies who are bankrolling it, and have been doing so since well before the “death panel” warm-up acts of last summer. Three heavy hitters rule. You’ve heard of one of them, Rupert Murdoch. The other two, the brothers David and Charles Koch, are even richer, with a combined wealth exceeded only by that of Bill Gates and Warren Buffett among Americans. But even those carrying the Kochs’ banner may not know who these brothers are." - also posted at BLN -- Rupert Murdoch tried to take over the NYT's a few years back and they don't like him, that said, this appears to be another good artilce from the NYT's.  Are they starting a trend of actual, REAL, reporting (gasp!)?  - mpg -- For more regarding the two articles about the "Tea Party" shown above see....The Tea Party - Another False Front
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More On The Palestinian Situation....

NYT Op-Ed offers tiresome dichotomy of good Zionists vs bad religious settlers
A quote...."Gadi Taub’s NYT oped  on the coming negotiations is so problematic, ahistorical, Israeli-centric, and rife with elisions, it reads like… well… a lot of other stuff cluttering the pages and electrons of said publication. -- It leads off with the rhetorical question, “Will Israel remain a Zionist state?” – as if this is the most important issue to be tackled at the talks. Not “Will the systematic and willful oppression and dispossession of the Palestinian people finally come to an end?” (Which all sane observers are doubtful will be the result.) Then he sets up the Zionist left’s desperate, tiresome good guys vs. bad guys frame: the pious seculars vs. the evil religious nuts." - also posted at AlethoNews

Israeli Arab MK Zuabi: IDF boarded Gaza flotilla ships with intent to kill
A quote...."Israeli Arab MK Hanin Zuabi testified before a United Nations panel probing Israel's deadly raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla in May, telling the panel that commandos who boarded the ships intended to kill, Army Radio reported on Tuesday."

SHOULD PEOPLE BOYCOTT ISRAEL? -- Omar Barghouti explains the aims of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement -- Must View RNVideo Interview || RNAlt(1/3) - YuTbAlt(1/3) || RNAlt(2/3) - YuTbAlt(2/3) || (RNYuTb - 11m 13s - August 30, 2010) - Souce:  The RealNews -- Editor's note:  Segment (3/3) has not been posted yet. - mpg -- A quote...."Omar Barghouti explains the aims of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement...."  -- For more on how to Boycott, Divest and Sanction the state of Israel see the upper-left-corner of the "Front Page" of this website.

Diana Buttu: direct talks bound to fail
Interview - A quote..."As US officials arrived in Jerusalem last week to meet with Palestinian Authority and Israeli government officials, Nora Barrows-Friedman interviewed Ramallah-based lawyer and former PLO advisor Diana Buttu about this week’s US-brokered direct talks between the two parties for The Electronic Intifada." - also posted at AlethoNews

Abbas is a man in exile, even among his own
A quote...."RAMALLAH // Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, faces a crisis of credibility among his own people as he heads into direct talks with Israel in Washington this week. -- Perhaps nothing better illustrates this than a rather awkward security crackdown Thursday in Ramallah, when leftist factions convened a meeting to protest against Mr Abbas’s decision to accept the US invitation to the talks. Security officials justified the actions of dozens of plainclothes security officers, who disrupted the meeting and prevented a press conference from being held, as a legal measure against an “illegal rally”. -- But privately, Palestinian Authority officials expressed their dismay at what looked to most like an effort by security services to stifle dissent. -- And dissent there is. -- All Palestinian political factions, bar one, have denounced the direct talks, some in harsher language than others." - also posted at ICH

Talk Talk Talk Peace, Steal More More More Palestinian Lands
AJZVideo - Alt - (AJZYuTb - 3min 07sec - August 30, 2010) - Source:  AlJazeeraEnglish -- Boycott, Divest and Sanction, because it's the only other langauge besides force that Israel will understands - mpg -- A quote...."AlJazeeraEnglish | August 30, 2010 -- The building of new Israeli settlements on Palestinian territory will be one of the key and determining issues in upcoming peace talks that will be held in the US capital Washington DC. -- Israel has been criticised by all sides, including the US, for its illegal construction of thousands of new homes, which have been separated by an imposing wall. -- Nour Odeh reports from the Palestinian village of Al-Walajeh in the West Bank, where many are suffering from the unlawful settelements."

Defence of Apartheid Israel Unjustifiable
A quote...."I wonder whether pro-Israeli apologists ever sense the sheer hopelessness of their desperate attempts to shield the apartheid regime from legitimate and necessary criticism."

What the wall has done
A quote...."Israel began constructing the wall in June 2002 following its invasion of cities in the West Bank, which it dubbed "Operation Defensive Shield." In retrospect, the invasion appears to have been a prelude to the construction of the wall and no one recognized the significance of the invasion's code name at the time. The immense scale of the 2002 invasion -- characterized by the destruction of Palestinian civilian infrastructure, mass arrests, assassinations and massacres -- ensured that the construction of the wall would commence with as little resistance as possible."

Settlers fire at teenage Palestinian farmers
A quote...."NABLUS, (PIC)-- Ten Zionist settlers fired at and chased three Palestinian farmers in Deir Istiya village, Nablus, on Tuesday morning while tending to their lands. -- The village's mayor said that the three farmers, all in their teens, were fertilizing olive trees in one of the fields north of the village when the settlers mounting horses attacked them." - also posted at Uruknet

Ghoul: Transferring sick captives back to prison tantamount to execution verdict
A quote...."GAZA, (PIC)-- Dr. Mohammed Faraj al-Ghoul, the prisoners and ex-prisoners' minister in the Palestinian government, has described the Israeli decision of sending sick Palestinian prisoners back to detention cells as tantamount to death sentence." -- also posted at Uruknet
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How the Bankers Have Trapped Bernanke
Must Read - A quote...."I had a little fun over the weekend at the expense of Dr. Bernanke. I translated his Jackson Hole speech out of academic Keynesianism into investment-grade English. I added a little humor, because Dr. B. is not what I would call a laugh-a-minute guy when he gets behind a podium."

Easy money will not boost economic activity nor create jobs in the US, says Marc Faber
A quote...."INTERNATIONAL. Marc Faber the Swiss fund manager and Gloom Boom &  Doom editor said the market will eventually perceive the easing moves, announced by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke last Friday, as being inflationary and that the next five years could be a possibe disaster for Treasury bonds investors. -- "It is a fallacy to believe that easy money and the purchase of treasuries will boost economic activity in the US," Faber told Bloomberg in a phone interview from Thailand. -- "Money will flow into equities at least over the next couple of weeks, and into commodities," Faber said. -- "Over the last two years we eased massively in the US and where did the growth take place? In Asia". -- "So when we talk about job creation, do you think that Intel or a small businessman will hire more people in the US because of further monetary printing?" he asked. -- "No! they will build factories in Asia and hire poeple in Asia and all the monetary policies in the US create mis-allocation of capital and unintended consequences," Faber said."

Keiser Report №73: Markets! Finance! Scandal!
MKVideo - Alt - (MKYuTb - 16min 48sec - August 31, 2010) -- Source:  RussiaToday -- A quote...."This time Max Keiser and co-host Stacy Herbert look at the year of records, from the record collapse in US house sales to new record temperatures, to a record year for payouts and to zombies. In the second half of the show, Max talks to Kate Sheppard, an environmental journalist at Mother Jones, about the ongoing crisis in the Gulf of Mexico and about the proliferation of corporate front groups."

At $4 Trillion A Day, And At 50x Leverage, FX Trading Volume (and Risk) Dwarfs That Of Equities And Treasuries  -- Mrkt Tech Note -- A quote...."If one looks around and wonders where the speculators have gone (the carbon-based variety, not the feedback-loop creating, binary terrorists) look no further than the FX market, which according to the latest BIS data, has hit $4 trillion in daily notional volume (20% higher than the $3.3 trillion in 2007), nearly quadruple the combined U.S. stock and Treasury trading, which in April averaged about $134 billion a day (down from a daily average of $148 billion in 2007) and $456 billion (down from an average of $570 billion for all of 2007), respectively. This amounts to nearly one quadrillion in total dollar transaction volume per year. "

Michael Pento Says Fed Will Buy Stocks And Real Estate In Its Next Attempt To Create Inflation
Mrkt Tech Note - A quote...."As part of the Fed's latest QE iteration, it has already been made clear that despite initial disclosures that the Fed would stay in the 2-10 Year bound of Treasurys, Ben Bernanke is now also gobbling up the very long end of the curve. For all those who are, therefore, still confused why bonds continue to surge to record levels, don't be: when there is a guaranteed bidder just below you in the face of the Fed, and who you can turn around and sell to at will, there is no pricing risk. The problem, from a bigger stand point, is what happens when the Fed is actively buying up 30 Year bonds with impunity and the much desired (by the Fed) inflation still does not appear? Well, the Fed then, in Michael Pento's opinion, will begin to purchase stocks and real estate. And as all those who enjoy comparing the US to Japan can attest, outright purchases of securities by the Japanese government is a long-honored tradition in the ongoing fight with deflation in Japan." - But the Japanese use THEIR OWN MONEY to do so. - mpg

As US “recovery” collapses, White House rules out social relief
A quote...."Recent weeks have seen a collapse in US home sales, a weakening of manufacturing activity, an upward trend in jobless benefit claims and, on Friday, a downward revision of second-quarter gross domestic product growth from 2.4 percent to 1.6 percent."

The Backward Slide into Recession
A quote...."August 30, 2010 "Information Clearing House" -- -Ongoing deleveraging has slowed personal consumption and trimmed 2nd quarter GDP to a revised 1.6%. The economy is sliding backwards into recession. As Obama's fiscal stimulus dries up and the private sector slashes spending,  demand will continue to collapse pushing more businesses and households into default.  The economy is now caught in a reinforcing downward cycle in which dwindling fiscal and monetary support is shrinking the money supply triggering a slowdown in activity in the broader economy."

Top economists: The second Great Depression has arrived
A quote...."Citing the period from 1929 to 1932 and the eerie similarities, Rosenberg said, "We may well be reliving history here. If you're keeping score, we have recorded four quarterly advances in real GDP, and the average is only 3 percent." The same happened during the early 1930s stock market rebound of 50 percent after the 1929 crash."

And Now We're Headed For The GREATEST Depression, Says Gerald Celente
A quote...."The crux of the problem, Celente argues, is that the middle class has been wiped out. America used to be a land of opportunity for all, where hard-working people could build their own small businesses in their own communities and live prosperous and fulfilling lives. But now a collusion of state and corporate interests that Celente describes as "fascism" have conspired to help only the biggest companies and the richest Americans. This has put a shocking amount of the country's wealth in the hands of a privileged few and left the rest of the country to subsist on chicken-feed wages and low job satisfaction as Wal-Mart "associates" -- or worse." - bold by website editor

Global Collapse of the Fiat Money System: Too Big To Fail Global Banks Will Collapse Between Now and First Quarter 2011 -- Chart - A quote...."Readers of my articles will recall that I have warned as far back as December 2006, that the global banks will collapse when the Financial Tsunami hits the global economy in 2007. And as they say, the rest is history. -- Quantitative Easing (QE I) spearheaded by the Chairman of Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke delayed the inevitable demise of the fiat shadow money banking system slightly over 18 months. -- That is why in November of 2009, I was so confident to warn my readers that by the end of the first quarter of 2010 at the earliest or by the second quarter of 2010 at the latest, the global economy will go into a tailspin. The recent alarm that the US economy has slowed down and in the words of Bernanke “the recent pace of growth is less vigorous than we expected” has all but vindicated my analysis. He warned that the outlook is uncertain and the economy “remains vulnerable to unexpected developments”"

U.S. Government Prepares for 'Crisis'
A quote...."Most market reporters, commentators and politicians continue to rely upon nothing but the same short-term "snapshots" which have caused them to be "surprised" by everything. However, it is a safe conclusion that even such rampant incompetence (combined with a strong "herd mentality"), could not and does not mean that the entire U.S. government remains in an oblivious state of ignorance regarding this re-acceleration of the collapse of the U.S. economy." - also posted at ICH

30 Statistics That Prove The Elite Are Getting Richer, The Poor Are Getting Poorer And The Middle Class Is Being Destroyed  -- A quote...."Not everyone has been doing badly during the economic turmoil of the last few years.  In fact, there are some Americans that are doing really, really well.  While the vast majority of us struggle, there is one small segment of society that is seemingly doing better than ever.  This was reflected in a recent article on CNBC  in which it was noted that companies that cater to average Americans are doing rather poorly right now while companies that market luxury goods and services are generally performing exceptionally well.  So why aren’t all American consumers jumping on the spending bandwagon?  Well, it seems that there are a large number of Americans who either can’t spend a lot of money right now or who are very hesitant to.  A stunningly high number of Americans are still unemployed, and for many other Americans, there is a very real fear that hard economic times will return soon.  On the other hand, there is a significant percentage of Americans who are blowing money on luxury goods and services as if the economy has fully turned around and it is time to let the good times roll.  So exactly what in the world is going on here?"

More Employers Looking for Armed Guards
A quote...."One valley security agency said the troubled economy is driving businesses to ask for armed guards because they are concerned about what some desperate, unemployed people could do." - That's right folks, the hundreds of thousands of "contractors" currenlty employed in the Middle East gunning down people every day with with maniacal glee will be coming back to this country, to perform the same exact service for the same exact people they did over there. - mpg

Las Vegas logs 5 murder-suicides since Aug. 7
A quote...."LAS VEGAS (AP) - Police say murder-suicides are on the rise in the Las Vegas area because of a bad economy." -- Instead of ending their own lives why don't people end the Empire?  Just go down to the polls this November and DO NOT vote for Demos or Repubs....EVER AGAIN!!  The only other choice is the people in this nation can all become prey to each other and the wealthy parasites.  It really is that simple. - mpg

Monsanto Uprooted :: Germany Bans Cultivation of GM Corn
A quote...."The sowing season may be just around the corner, but this year German farmers will not be planting gentically modified crops: German Agriculture Minister Ilse Aigner announced Tuesday she was banning the cultivation of GM corn in Germany. -- Under the new regulations, the cultivation of MON 810, a GM corn produced by the American biotech giant Monsanto, will be prohibited in Germany, as will the sale of its seed."

Monday August 30th 2010

No posts. - mpg

Sunday August 29th 2010

Our Bloody Valentine
Must Read - A quote....."August 29, 2010 "Information Clearing House" -- -- So – mounting evidence to the contrary – we’re being told that the American adventure in Iraq is coming to an end now. -- All I can say is, “Damn fine war, damn fine war.” -- Yup. We sure showed ‘em, didn’t we? Showed ‘em how to really fight a war. Showed ‘em how to kick some Ay-rab ass. Showed ‘em who’s boss. You know, “shock and awe” and such. -- Yeah, baby. -- I’ll tell you what. The only awe left around here is the awesome degree to which an entire nation is left stumbling through history in total shock. And it ain’t Iraq I’m talking about, either."

Our Weird and Wanton Wars
Must Read - A quote...."Many citizens in Britain are puzzled. Why do we always seem to be at war? How can this come about? What does it mean? At the same time, we seem to think of ourselves as a peaceful nation. In seeking answers, let us list a few notable characteristics of our current wars."

America’s Corruption Racket in Central Asia - It's what empires do, it's all they ever do. - mpg
Must Read - A quote...."In another significant piece datelined Kabul, Dexter Filkins and Mark Mazzetti reveal  that the man in the eye of the storm of an Afghan-American corruption scandal, Mohammed Zia Salehi—the chief of administration for Afghanistan’s National Security Council—is on the payroll of the Central Intelligence Agency...." - also posted at ICH & Uruknet
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Afghans protest killing of civilians
A quote...."Hundreds of Afghan people have taken to the streets in the eastern province of Ghazni to protest against the presence of private security firms the country, after two civilians were killed by foreign contractors."

Taliban - Behind the Masks
LLVideo - This is a pretty good, on the ground view of the Taliban in the high mountains of Afghanistan - mpg -- (LiveLeaks - 26 min 52 sec) -- A quote...."Though they would eventually kidnap him, the Taliban granted journalist Paul Refsdal unprecedented access. This exclusive documentary shows us a side of the Taliban that we have never seen before."

2 mercenaries killed in Afghanistan
A quote...."2 mercenaries killed in Afghanistan by 'friendly fire'  28 Aug 2010 Two mercenaries in Afghanistan were killed by coalition forces who mistook them for insurgents, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force said Saturday. The incident happened Friday on a highway in the central province of Wardak, ISAF said. Coalition forces learned afterwards that the two people killed were private security contractors, ISAF said."
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Ahmadinejad reveals source of all crises
Special Note - A quote....""Corrupt powers are not qualified to govern the international community neither theoretically nor practically," Ahmadinejad said on Sunday. -- "Monarchic regimes and hegemonic powers are the source of all global crises," the Iranian president's official website reported. -- "In the US, plans to allocate USD 50 billion to healthcare for the poor caused a lot of media hype and uproar, while the US military budget for 2010 is over USD 860 billion, which is eight times more than Iran's total spending budget," did not receive media attention, he added."

New Dutch envoy to elevate Iran ties
A quote...."The Netherlands' new ambassador to Iran, Cornelis Johannes Kool, says he is determined to improve ties between the two nations. -- Kool presented his credentials to Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki in a meeting on Sunday. -- During the meeting, Mottaki noted that there are great potential for expanding ties between Tehran and Amsterdam. -- He added that the two countries have a long history of friendly relations and should focus their attention on their commonalities."

Iran Urges Eastern Neighbors to Boost Security along Borders
A quote...."TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran's Deputy Police Chief Ahmad Reza Radan blamed the country's eastern neighbors for their negligent approach towards the spread of terrorism in the region, and urged them to boost security measures along their shared borders with Iran."

Iraq 'urged to fire MKO members'
A quote...."An Iraqi security official has urged the government to fire members of the notorious terrorist group Mojahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) from the country."
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U.S. military involvement may worsen situation in Yemen
A quote...."SANAA, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. military's high-profile involvement in Sanaa's operations against al-Qaida in Yemen may further fuel anti-U.S. sentiment among local population and make things worse for the Yemeni authorities, analysts say."

Turkey foils attack on oil pipeline
A quote...."Turkish security forces foil a sabotage attack against Petroleum Pipeline Corporation's (BOTAS) oil pipeline in Bismil district of southeastern Diyarbakir province."

Israel preparing to attack Syria: report
A quote...."Israel is reportedly preparing to strike arms depots and weapons manufacturing plants in Syria, claiming they belong to the Islamic resistance movement Hezbollah, a report says. -- Tel Aviv has escalated its military presence in the occupied Golan Heights and the northern part of the Shebaa Farms, the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz said, citing a report in the Saturday edition of the Kuwaiti daily Al Rai." - Source:  PressTV

One month on, Pakistan's torment worsens
A quote...."Up to a million people have fled their homes in the past two days, as floods, never seen on such a scale, continue to sweep south."

The soul of the 'Land of the Pure'
Special Note - A quote...."It is the sheer scale of the devastation that leaves one speechless. As one surveys the overhead photos of vast lowland plains inundated with swirling brown water or stares at the upland images of mighty torrents washing away roads, bridges, entire villages, it is the utter scope of the disaster which almost defies comprehension, which far outstrips the power of words to convey. -- Only the flint-hearted could be left unmoved by this. The heart aches for Pakistan. -- But it is only in the photos of the people that one begins to grasp the full dimension of what is happening and, through that prism, to gain a glimpse into the soul of the Land of the Pure." - also posted at ICH

Muslims donate nearly $1 billion to Pakistan
A quote...."ISLAMABAD — Muslim countries, organizations and individuals have pledged nearly $1 billion in cash and relief supplies to help Pakistan respond to the worst floods in the nation's history, the head of a group of Islamic states said. -- The announcement came as floodwaters inundated a large town in Pakistan and authorities struggled to build new levees with clay and stone to prevent one of the area's biggest cities from suffering the same fate."

China announces navy drill ahead of U.S. show of force
A quote...."BEIJING (Reuters) – The Chinese navy will hold a live-ammunition exercise in the Yellow Sea, where Washington and Seoul announced their own plan for a military exercise that has riled Beijing, China's Ministry of Defense said on Sunday. -- The Ministry said a naval fleet will stage the drill this week from Wednesday to Saturday in the sea between China and the Korean peninsula, the official Xinhua news agency reported."
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Gitmo: The New Rules of War (Part 1) - (Part 2)
RTVideo - Alt(1/2) - Alt(2/2) - (RTYuTb - 25min - August 29, 2010) - Source:  RussiaToday -- A quote...."(Part 1 of 2) Concerned about the treatment of Mehdi Ghezali, a Swedish citizen held at the US detention camp at Guantanamo, filmmakers Erik Gandini and Tarik Saleh travel to the pseudo-paradise of Guantanamo Bay to find out what is really going on there. -- Despite being stonewalled every inch of the way, the pair depict an aspect of American behaviour that many will find unpalatable, even reprehensible, uncovering brutality to rival that of Abu Ghraib."

Inside Top Secret America - More on that great WaPo article. - mpg
Must Read  - A quote...."August 28, 2010 - In July, the Washington Post published the Top Secret America project -- a sweeping portrait of America’s heavily privatized military-corporate-intelligence establishment. Lead reporter Dana Priest calls it the “vast and hidden apparatus of the war on terror.” -- Priest, who has won two Pulitzer Prizes, described the project as the most challenging investigation of her career. She teamed up with national security journalist William Arkin and a team of about 20 Post staffers to create an “alternative geography” of a hidden world that has exploded since the attacks of 9/11. At last count, the official U.S. intelligence budget stood at $75 billion -- more than two and a half times what it was on September 10, 2001. -- The remarkable three-part series (Part I, Part II, Part III) and its intricate multimedia Web site  attracted some initial praise, but just as quickly seemed to drop off the map. This article is an attempt to revisit some of the Priest and Arkin’s most shocking discoveries."

9/11: Reader Comment at Veterans Today Debunks Cover Story
Special Note - A quote...."Why did we, as a nation, expect to see the fighter jets flying up and handling the situation? Because it is standard operating procedure (SOP) to scramble jet fighters whenever a jetliner goes off course or radio contact with it is lost or its transponder is turned off. Between January 2001 and September 2001, interceptors were scrambled 67 times. In the year 2000 jets were scrambled 129 times. They have never once in history not been scrambled. Besides, we just know our nation is protected and we just know that our military has these amazing jets capable of doing amazing things and we just know their number one priority is protecting our country and we just know that our military is well-trained and rabid about defense."
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More On The Palestinian Situation....

Diana Buttu lecture on the peace ‘process’
Must View AFVideo - Alt - (AFYuTb - 36min 47sec - August 28, 2010) - Source:  AlternateFocus

Charade Announced: Latest Israeli No-Peace/Peace Talks for September
Special Note - Related Article - A quote...."US, Aaugust 29, (Pal Telegraph – By Stephen Lendman) On August 21, Haaretz writer Natasha Mozgovaya headlined, "Israel, Palestinians accept US invitation to direct peace talks," saying: -- They'll "restart direct talks on Sept. 2 in a modest step toward forging a peace deal within 12 months to create a Palestinian state and peacefully end one of the world's most intractable conflicts." -- Another grand illusion is assured, fudged to look real. Henry Kissinger coined the phrase "constructive ambiguity," meaning to give negotiations an appearance of progress. For others, it's putting lipstick on a pig or how Edward Said described the Oslo Accords and Declaration of Principles"

World Rejects Symbolic Talks Between the PA and Israel
A quote...." Tehran, August 29, 2010 (Hamsayeh.Net) - A unified international community opposes resumption of talks between the Palestinian Authority and Israel aimed at buying a breathing room for Israel’s increasing international isolation. -- Yesterday in Gaza several Palestinian factions joined to protest against direct negotiations. DFLP leader Salih Zeidan voiced strong opposition to the talks due on September 2 in Washington. He said, ‘Negotiations have no reference, nor an international framework, and they do not preserve the Palestinian people's rights.’ Zeidan then asked acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas to avoid yielding to US and Israeli pressure."

Bil’in: Conviction and Tears
A quote...."The weekly protest march at the village of Bil’in ended in Israeli Occupation Forces storming the crowd, hitting three activists with tear gas grenades, and shooting a man in the knee with a rubber-coated bullet from less than thirty yards away."

Fresh cartoon supporting boycott against Apartheid Israel
Cartoon

Muslim shops ban Israeli produce in Palestine protest
Boycott, Divest and Sanction, because if the world community can't take a mild stand like a boycott, against a state like Israel, to prevent further ethnic cleansing, when will it ever take a stand? - mpg -- A quote.... "Asian shopkeepers in one of the biggest Muslim areas in Scotland are backing a boycott of Israeli produce. -- In a move that has worried Jewish groups, Muslim families who own stores in Glasgow’s south side are refusing to stock Israeli goods in protest at Israel’s West Bank settlements and policy towards Palestinians." -- For more on how to Boycott, Divest and Sanction the state of Israel see the upper-left-corner of the "Front Page" of this website.

Join the 2010 Olive Harvest Campaign
Action Alert - A quote...."At a time of increasing settler violence in the West Bank, the International Solidarity Movement is issuing an urgent call for volunteers to participate in the 2010 Olive Harvest Campaign at the invitation of Palestinian communities." - also posted at AlethoNews
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Guest Post: The Age of Mammon
Must Read - Charts - A quote...."As our economy hurtles towards its meeting with destiny, the political class seeks to assign blame on their enemies for this Greater Depression. The Republicans would like you to believe that Bill Clinton, Robert Rubin, Chris Dodd, and Barney Frank and their Community Reinvest Act caused the collapse of our financial system. Democrats want you to believe that George Bush and his band of unregulated free market capitalists created a financial disaster of epic proportions. The truth is that America has been captured by a financial class that makes no distinction between parties. These barbarians have sucked the life out of a once productive nation by raping and pillaging with impunity while enriching only them. They live in 20,000 square foot $10 million mansions in Greenwich, CT and in $3 million dollar penthouses on Central Park West."

Did you know that the defense employment sector is booming?
Must Read - Charts - A quote...."You know about America's unemployment problem. You may have even heard that the U.S. may very well have suffered a permanent destruction of jobs. -- But did you know that the defense employment sector is booming? -- As I pointed out in August, public sector spending - and mainly defense spending - has accounted for virtually all of the new job creation in the past 10 years...." - bold by website editor

Make Sure the Bunker is Well Stocked
Must Read - A quote...."August 29, 2010 "Information Clearing House" --  Robert Herz was forced to resign from his job as as chairman of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) because he insisted that the banks assign a fair value to their assets. That's not what you'll read in the papers, but it's true just the same. Herz was a major proponent of mark-to-market accounting, a simple means of determining the value of a bond or security by comparing the price of similar assets sold at market. In other words, Herz is a defender of universally-accepted accounting principles, which is why he was terminated, er, I mean, resigned. According to the Wall Street Journal:"

Father Coughlin
Now you know when anybody starts trotting out Father Coughlin, including this website editor, things are gonna get bad. - mpg -- A quote...."A Friday Dose Of Father Coughlin - August 27, 1939".   Coughlin is, of course, a 'monster', because he believed usury was evil and because he was against American involvement in the Second World War (and because he was an 'anti-Semite').  Coughlin believed...."

1. Unions should be strengthened.
2. Child labor should be stopped.
3. The working man should have a living wage.
4. Wealth should be redistributed through increased taxation of the wealthy.
5. The Federal Reserve should be nationalized to end the Depression by preventing the cash squeeze imposed by the banksters (I wonder what he'd think of the cash squeeze the banksters have the United States under today?).
6. New Deal policies were correct (but he later turned against Roosevelt believing that Roosevelt had been captured by the banksters).
7. Money wasted on wars should be distributed to the poor.

"In summary, an utter monster.  It is hilarious that 'progessives' in America are trying to make some kind of point by airing radio broadcasts from the 1930s of a guy who was so far to the left to be unrecognizable to today's 'progressives'."

Guest Post:Defeating Demon Deflation
A quote...."Since early April, the yield on 10-year Treasury notes has dwindled from 4.0% to below 2.5% on August 24th.  Meanwhile, the 12-month change in the Cleveland Fed's median CPI has hovered feebly between 0.5% and 0.6% since March.  These abnormally low interest and inflation rates are fanning fears of renewed GDP contraction, a plunge into price deflation, or both.  Boardrooms and blogs are humming with rumors of a 'QE II' (Quantitative Easing II) program to counter a chilly deflationary dip."

Saturday August 28th 2010

Burn, Witch, Burn!: America Rages Against Islam
Must Read - A quote...."Islamophobia is sweeping the nation—and it couldn’t have come at a better time.  Just when the American people were starting to become distracted with trivial issues like the potential stock market crash, the re-branding of the war in Iraq, and the ongoing environmental disaster in the Gulf—along comes a crisis of  Biblical proportions, that threatens to destroy the moral fiber of America itself, and deliver its Christian population into the diabolical hands of an Islamic dictatorship ruled under the precepts of Sharia law."


"By now, it should be quite obvious that the hysteria centered on the proposed construction of an Islamic cultural center—a full two blocks from Ground Zero—is nothing more than an engineered distraction, designed to take the focus away from serious geopolitical and domestic issues as we head into the November elections."
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Making Sense of the Media Cover-Up of 9-11 – Christopher Bollyn
Must Read - Some quotes....


"(Bollyn) – Anyone who has looked at the events of 9-11 knows there are basically two competing histories. First, there is the official version, presented by President George W. Bush in a speech given shortly after the attacks and bolstered by the appointed 9-11 commission, that Muslim terrorists were responsible for the death and destruction. This version has since been adopted and supported by the Obama administration and virtually every member of Congress." --- "The second version is fundamentally opposed to the official version in that it claims that the terror attacks were a sophisticated “false flag” operation carried out by Israelis with the assistance of highly-placed Zionist agents inside the U.S. government. This version posits that the Israeli plan was for the attacks to be blamed on Al Qaida in order to usher in the Zionist-designed “War on Terror” with its pre-planned invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq."

Editor's Note: Israel was NOT alone in this, they supplied the brains, ideology (PNAC) political control, know-how, and paved the way. However there were, and still are, elements within the US-NRE that gave them the green-light, the access, supplied the muscle, media control and financial backing (while reaping enormous financial rewards) to carry out the whole enterprise. Also no one should forget the Saudi Royals unstinting behind the scenes support. -- For more on this issue see....9/11 & 7/11 The Israeli Connection & Reficultnias's 9/11 Central -- See also One Vile, Venom Tipped, Taloned Hand Washes the Other - (a.k.a. The Standard Model) - 07-28-10 - mpg

May 2001: Feith, Perle, and Wolfowitz Discuss Iraq Invasion; Scowcroft Initially Favorable
Timeline - (recently updated events) - A quote...."According to FBI whistleblower Sibel Edmonds, “Four months before 9/11”, FBI monitoring overhears Undersecretary of Defense Douglas Feith, Pentagon adviser Richard Perle, and Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz “discussing with the Turkish ambassador in Washington an arrangement whereby the US would invade Iraq and divide the country.… They were negotiating what Turkey required in exchange for allowing an attack from Turkish soil.” National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft, later a critic of the Iraq War, is initially in favor of the plan, but will later drop his support when it becomes clear Turkish demands for control of the Kurdish region in northern Iraq will not be granted."

Declaration For a New 9/11 Investigation
Special Note - A quote...."This article is a challenge to global peace, freedom, and justice activists. -- The official government version of the 9/11 attacks breaks down when pressed with elementary questions. Without official media censorship, the story given by the Bush administration would've been deconstructed in a matter of days, and support for the War on Terror would've collapsed upon its first public announcement by the President. Our nine years of darkness and tragedy would've only lasted nine days."

Buildingwhat.org – 9/11 Victim Family Members Continue to Call Attention to World Trade Center #7
BWVideo - Alt - (BWYuTb31sec - August 22, 2010) - Source:  BuildingWhat -- A quote...."This 30-second ad will appear on TV screens all over New York City. Please go to BuildingWhat.org to contribute. Every $750 raised will allow 10,000 more New Yorkers to see the collapse of Building 7 for the first time." - For more on this issue see....9/11-WTC7

Engineering Destruction
Video - Alt - (YuTb - 2min 28sec - August 24, 2010) - Source:  WeAreChangeATL -- A quote...."Go here for more info. - Engineering Destruction - 9.11.10 - Multimedia Presentation presented by Derek Johnson of Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth"

(Between 12:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m.) September 11, 2001: World Trade Center Leaseholder Discusses Possible Controlled Demolition of WTC 7 with Insurer, Reporter Will Later Claim -- Timeline - (recently updated events) - A quote...."Larry Silverstein, who recently took over the lease of the World Trade Center complex (see July 24, 2001), discusses possibly bringing down WTC Building 7 in a controlled demolition in a telephone conversation with his insurance carrier, according to a reporter who is at the WTC site this afternoon."

Fidel Castro: Osama bin Laden Worked for CIA
A quote...."[Prison Planet] Editor’s note: The Guardian dismisses Osama’s link to the CIA as a conspiracy theory. There is, however, an avalanche of facts pointing to Bin Laden’s relationship with the CIA, although the corporate media has consistently ignored it since September 11, 2001. See the resources below."
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9/11 - From The History File...Osama bin Laden - article list

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'The War on Democracy'
Must View Video - Alt - From the History File - Aug 23, 2007 - (GoglVid@VodPod - 1hr33m36s - Aug 23, 2007) -- A quote...."'The War on Democracy' is John Pilger's first major film for the cinema - in a career that has produced more than 55 television documentaries. Set in Latin America and the US, it explores the historic and current relationship of Washington with countries such as Venezuela, Bolivia and Chile. -- "The film tells a universal story," says Pilger, "analysing and revealing, through vivid testimony, the story of great power behind its venerable myths. It allows us to understand the true nature of the so-called war on terror"."

"The Israel Lobby" - Dutch television documentary
Video - Alt - From the History File - August 28, 2007 - (GoglVid - 51 min 13 sec - 3 years ago) -- A quote...."--English version-- An episode of the Dutch documentary program "Tegenlicht" about the Israel lobby in the USA. This documentary (April 2007) was created as a result of the controversy created by Mearsheimer and Walt's "The Israel Lobby" article. Featuring interviews with Mearsheimer, geostrategist Lawrence Wikerson, Richard Perle, historian and critic Tony Judt, John Hagee, former Congressman Earl Hilliard, Kenneth Roth of Human Rights Watch, Michael Massing and Daniel Levy. 'Tegenlicht' ('Backlight') is a program from the Dutch VPRO public television."
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U.S. Withdrawal from Iraq is Fiction
Special Note - Quote of the Day...."Embedded corporate media rose to new heights of non-journalism as, on command, they conjured up an end to (America's) Iraq War based on nothing more than a change of nomenclature. Combat soldiers woke up one morning as "advise and assist" troops whose "bases" were magically transformed into "fortified compounds." Still, the U.S. empire has no intention of leaving Iraq - especially when there are so many available euphemisms for staying." - also posted at Uruknet

Iraqi Deaths Still Unreported!
A quote...."I am deeply confused by the claim in the article The Deaths that Chilcot Forgot and published by the Morning Star, that according to Iraq Body Count only 106,000 violent deaths have occurred within Iraq since 2003, a figure that is contrary to everybody who actually works inside of Iraq, when even according to the Iraqi Government themselves, there are now, at minimum, over three million orphans within Iraq. -- Couple that with the fact that over one million widows have been created since 2003 and in 2006/2007 alone, at the height of the sectarian tensions, there were an estimated 3.000 deaths "reported" per month and these figures do not even include the estimated 1.5 million Iraqi deaths caused by the UN imposed sanctions ." -- *Hussein Al-alak*, chairman of the Iraq Solidarity Campaign UK. - also posted at Uruknet - (Warning: grim photo) -- For more on this issue see....US Fake Intel / Propaganda - Iraq's Death Toll

CIA making secret payments to members of Karzai administration
A quote...."The CIA is making secret payments to multiple members of President Hamid Karzai's administration, in part to maintain sources of information in a government in which the Afghan leader is often seen as having a limited grasp of developments, according to current and former U.S. officials." - Source:  WaPo

NGO Ties to Private Security Companies
A quote...."Market extremists argue that the private sector can do almost everything better than governments. The most extreme do not concede the qualifier "almost" and argue that even the police and army should be privatized. -- The growth of private security companies (PSC) is generally seen as a result of the success of extreme market arguments."

Denmark Turns Down NATO Push for More Fighter Jets in Afghanistan -- Danish FM Insists Country Has Done Enough - A quote...."The Danish government has turned down a formal NATO request to send additional F-16 fighter jets to Afghanistan, with Foreign Minister Lene Espersen explaining that the Danish government believes it has done enough in the nation." - also posted at WarInIraq

NATO strikes kill six children in east Afghanistan
A quote...."NATO air forces on Thursday killed six Afghan children during an air attack on Taliban positions in the troubled eastern province of Kunar, a local police chief said on Friday." - also posted at Uruknet

Afghan Taliban shoot down NATO helicopter in Kunduz
A quote...."On Friday, A NATO invading forces’ helicopter got brought down in the province’s Ali Abad district when it was rocketed by Mujahideen at about 3:00 am, killing all the enemy soldiers and crew members aboard, the report indicated, adding that wreckage of the enemy copter is still lying scattered at the shoot down scene (Taliban website)" - also posted at WarInIraq

US[-NRE] Tells [Thuggishly Threatens] Lebanon: Israel Can Destroy Your Entire Army and All Bases in 4 Hours
A quote...."How ill-equipt is the Lebanese Army for the oft-threatened Israeli invasion of Lebanon? According to reports one recent US official warned Lebanon’s Army Commander that Israel’s current contingency plan would include annihilating their entire military, every single army base and all of their offices within the first four hours of a war." - also posted at WarInIraq - Website Editor's Note:  Regarding Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen's (R – FL) comments to France....One truly wonders why Ileana Ros-Lehtinen doesn't take her traitorous, subservient, butt-kissing, AIPAC/Israel worshipping attitude and move herself to Israel, since it's OBVIOUS she does not want to represent America, or its citizens, but desires to become an Israeli Knesset member.  -- Just EXACTLY how many WARS are going to be started, how many TENS of TRILLIONS of this nation's tax dollars are going to be spent, and how many Americans, along with millions of others, are going to die on behalf of the six millions Jews living in this country (aprox 2% of the population) and the five million Jews living in Israel? All so they can go murder Palestinians with impunity to steal their land?  Are we now going to attack Lebanon?  Are we now going to sanction France? Enough is enough already!! - mpg

Turkey tells US it won’t adhere to new sanctions on Iran
A quote...."Turkish officials have told an American  delegation that it has no intention of following unilateral US sanctions on Iran, a move likely to deepen a rift between the two NATO allies over the Islamic republic’s contentious nuclear program that Washington believes is aimed at developing nuclear weapons." - also posted at WarInIraq

China to invest $1bn in Iran
A quote...."The National Iranian Petrochemical Company (NIPC) and a Chinese consortium are completing talks on an agreement under which the Chinese side is to funnel some $1 billion into petrochemical projects in Iran, reported the Mehr News Agency."

China in Talks with Tehran to Develop Iran's Railway Network
A quote...."TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran and China are in final talks over a multi-billion-dollar railway project linking Iran's western provinces, a senior Iranian official announced on Saturday."

Iran bank assets withdrawn from Europe: central bank chief
A quote...."TEHRAN (AFP) – Iran's central bank chief said on Friday that Tehran has withdrawn the assets held by its banks in Europe to escape the latest round of international economic sanctions over its nuclear drive. -- "The Central bank ... has transferred the (Iranian) banks' assets from Europe. Currently there is no problem in regards to blocking of assets of the Iranian banks by the European Union," Mahmoud Bahmani was quoted as telling the Fars news agency."

Yemen officials, rebels reach peace deal in Qatar
A quote...."Yemen's government and northern rebels have agreed to bolster a fragile truce and start political dialogue to end a civil war that has raged on and off since 2004. The deal was signed in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, where Yemeni officials and rebels have been in talks since Tuesday, members of both delegations said on Friday." -- See our Emperor's response shown below....

Yemen rejects increased U.S. role in al Qaeda fight
Related Article - A quote...."(Reuters) – Yemeni forces do not need foreign parties to take the lead in the crackdown on al Qaeda, an official said on Thursday, responding to reports that the U.S. may increase strikes on the militant group’s Yemen wing. -- The security official disputed statements from U.S. officials that they may step up attacks and argued that Yemen is able to fight al Qaeda without outside intervention, state news agency Saba reported." - Source:  Reuters  -- See our Emperor's response shown below....

Obama to escalate slaughter in Yemen - The US-NRE's Emperor deigns to reply....
Related Article - A quote...."With the opening of a new front in Yemen for the CIA’s drone “targeted killing” program, the Obama administration is steadily escalating the role played by both the covert agency and secretive US military Special Operations forces as a global Murder Incorporated." - also posted at GlobalRsrch

Five militants killed in special operation in North Caucasus
A quote...."Five militants were killed on Saturday morning in a special operation in Nalchik, the capital of Russia’s North Caucasus republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, a police source said."

Russian subs stalk Trident in echo of Cold War
A quote...."Russian submarines are hunting down British Vanguard boats in a return to Cold War tactics not seen for 25 years, Navy chiefs have warned. " - Hey, they were out of practice, and you know what they say....practice makes perfect. - mpg

Come On In! Secret Soviet submarine base on tourist radar
RTVideo - Alt - (RTYuTb - 3min 53sec - August 27, 2010) - Source:  RussiaToday -- A quote...."Once home to a secret underground submarine base, the bay of Balaklava in Ukraine's Crimea is now an attraction point for those interested in the history of the Soviet military. But after a recent decision to prolong the stay of Russia's Black Sea fleet in the region, the base may still have a part to play."

Putin to attend opening ceremony of Russia-China oil pipeline's Russian section
A quote...."Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will attend the opening ceremony of the Russian section in the Russia-China oil pipeline, which will take place in Russia's Far Eastern Amur region on Sunday."

Ukrainian energy minister to arrive in Moscow for gas talks
A quote...."A Ukrainian delegation headed by the country's energy minister, Yury Boiko, is to arrive in Moscow on Friday for talks with Gazprom's management, the Russian gas monopoly's spokesman said."

North Korea's leader Kim and son confirmed in China
Something's up, but what? - mpg -- A quote...."Aug 28 (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and his son are in China to visit the school of senior Kim's father, Kim Il-sung, a source with knowledge of the secretive trip told Reuters on Saturday. - "Trust me, it's 100 percent both are here," the source said, declining to give further details when asked. - There had been no conclusive sightings in China of the 68-year-old Kim, who has appeared frail and gaunt since reportedly suffering a stroke in 2008." - Source:  Reuters

Japan’s prime minister faces leadership challenge
A quote...."Japan is heading for new political turmoil after key powerbroker Ichiro Ozawa announced a challenge on Thursday to Prime Minister Naoto Kan for the top job in the ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ). If he wins the post of party president in internal DPJ elections on September 14, Ozawa will become Japan’s third prime minister in 12 months. Kan has been in the post for less than three months."
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Veterans’ group: CIA blocking lawsuit over experiments on troops
A quote...."An advocacy group working on behalf of Vietnam veterans has asked a federal judge in California to sanction the CIA, saying the spy agency has been blocking efforts to uncover its role in alleged experiments on US soldiers from the 1950s to 1970s."

Protests Greet John Yoo on First Day of Classes - He should be tried for war crimes. - mpg
A quote...."Cindy Sheehan, the anti-war activist, and dozens of protestors from Code Pink, The World Can’t Wait, the Boalt Alliance to Abolish Torture and other groups marched through Berkeley Law School today to protest John Yoo’s position as a member of the faculty. -- After holding a brief press conference outside the law school, the group marched through the halls and into an outdoor plaza where many students had gathered to have lunch. The protestors were wearing latex gloves dipped in red paint and they yelled “Torture is a war crime,” and “What do we want for John Yoo? Arrest! Indictment! Imprisonment!”

Two-Tier Internet?
Threat To The Net Alert - A quote...."I want you to take a few moments and imagine with me what the future of the Internet could look like if something is not done.  Imagine a world in which your Internet service provider gives you more "choices" regarding your level of Internet access.  For a "budget" price, you can get email and access to several hundred of the hottest and most popular websites (controlled by the big media conglomerates of course) on the incredibly fast "next generation" Internet.  For a bit more, you can get access to thousands of websites (once again, controlled by the big media conglomerates) on the new blazing fast version of the Internet that has been developed.  Or lastly, you can get the "premium package" which will give you access to the entire Internet, including the millions of websites that are still chugging along on the "old Internet". -- Wouldn't that be great? -- Of course not. -- Isn't it obvious what would happen?"

Ex-UBS whistleblower hits out at ‘corrupt’ US justice
A quote...."GENEVA — Former UBS banker Bradley Birkenfeld hit out on Saturday against the "corrupt" US judiciary which sent him to jail even though he was the whistleblower who led to the US tax fraud case against the bank."

The Kochtopus
A quote...."Polemical essays can be worth reading, as long as one understands that the author’s goal is to push his or her rat poison, by showing you how bad that rat poison is over there. With this caveat in mind, you’re all set to feast on the tidy reality offered by a strongly polemical piece. -- I learned more about the Koch syndicate from The New Yorker article below than I had gathered previously, in bits and pieces. -- Is the Kochtopus insidious? Sure. But in this huge piece, here is the sum total of material related to the corporate fascists backing the Obama regime...."
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More On The Palestinian Situation....

Hamas, the I.R.A. and Us
Must Read - A quote...."The United States insists that Hamas meet strict preconditions before it can take part in negotiations: recognize Israel, renounce violence and abide by agreements previously signed between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization, of which Hamas is not a member. These demands are unworkable. Why should Hamas or any Palestinian accept Israel’s political demands, like recognition, when Israel refuses to recognize basic Palestinian demands like the right of return for refugees? -- As for violence, Hamas has inflicted a fraction of the harm on Israeli civilians that Israel inflicts on Palestinian civilians. If violence disqualifies Hamas, surely much greater violence should disqualify the Israelis? -- It was only by breaking with one-sided demands that Mr. Mitchell was able to help bring peace to Northern Ireland...." -- The NYT's editorial board slipped up and let another good article get through.  This website editor can't explain why, just every once in awhile they do, for their own, very mysterious, reasons....  It's sort of like finding a gold nugget in a twenty foot high pile of cow manure. - mpg

Top 10 Reasons for Skepticism on Israeli-Palestinian Talks
Must Read - A quote...."On August 20, the Obama Administration announced that it will reconvene under its auspices direct Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations beginning on September 2. -- While a just and lasting Israeli-Palestinian peace is in everyone's interest, there are profound reasons to be skeptical about the likelihood of success for the following reasons (not necessarily listed in order of importance)...."

EU will not attend PA-Israel talks - This would be number eleven. - mpg
A quote...."The European Union says it will not take part in the upcoming US-sponsored peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) in Washington. -- A spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said on Saturday that she will be in Beijing meeting with Chinese leaders on Thursday, when the negotiations are to start. -- "For the EU as a whole, the focus is on a successful outcome of the talks (and not) on the choreography or who goes to Washington," the Jerusalem Post quoted Darren Ennis as saying. "The spotlight should be firmly focused on the talks themselves," he noted."

Israel Today Is Tomorrow's South Africa
A quote...."By: Mitri I. Musleh - The mind boggling events in the Middle East are unfolding at a faster rate than the speeding bullet. To better comprehend such events, one must critically view and analyze every political behavior concerning peace or war in the Middle East."

Israel warns Palestinians about mobilizing international support against the occupation
Special Note - (Israel is out-of-control) -- A quote...."The Israeli government has issued a statement warning Palestinians of the consequences of their efforts to extend a permanent appeal to the international community about Israel's occupation. Issued by the Foreign Ministry, the document warns against Palestinian efforts to draw the attention of various UN agencies to Israel's practices and human rights violations in the occupied territories and inside Israel itself." -- This is UNACCEPTABLE, utterly, totally, completely, unacceptable.  Israel is an outlaw, degenerate, apartheid practicing, homicidal, failed pariah state numbering just five million psychotic Jewish morons (mostly, there are some good people living there too) and has no right to warn anyone about appealing to the UN about anything.  How DARE THEY!!  Just who the f-ck ('scuse the language folks) do these snot-nosed, mini-Nazi wannabes think they are!! - mpg

PA bars Hamas man from speaking at mosque
A quote...."HEBRON (Ma’an) -- A Hamas-affiliated member of the Palestinian Legislative Council said he was threatened and intimidated by Palestinian Authority security forces as he attempted to deliver a Friday sermon in a mosque south of Hebron." - also posted at Uruknet

Red Crescent Members Arrested at Weekly Protest, Ni'lin
A quote...."Israeli writer and film maker Joseph Dana has reported, via his twitter account, that the Israeli military has conducted a number of arrests in Ni'lin, near Ramallah, including the five member team from the Red Crescent." - also posted at Uruknet

Two Injured By Israeli Army Fire In Northern Gaza
A quote...."Gaza – PNN – two Palestinian civilians were reported injured on Saturday when Israeli troops opened fire at them in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. -- ImageShareef Ghupon, 24 years old and 14 year old Rami Ghupon, sustained moderate wounds, local sources reported."

Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (19 -25 August 2010)
Every single week for the last sixty years. - mpg

• IOF continued to use force against peaceful protests in the West Bank.
• Dozens of Palestinian civilians and international human rights defenders suffered from tear gas inhalation or sustained bruises.
• IOF arrested a Norwegian human rights defender.
• IOF continued to fire at Palestinian farmers and workers in the Gaza Strip’s border areas.
• A Palestinian child was wounded in the northern Gaza Strip.
• IOF conducted 14 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank and a limited one into the Gaza Strip.  
• IOF arrested 8 Palestinian civilians, including a child, in the West Bank.
• Israel has continued to impose a total siege on the OPT and has isolated the Gaza Strip from the outside world.
• IOF imposed additional restrictions on the movement of Palestinian civilians in Jerusalem and other communities in the West Bank during the Ramadan Month.
• Israeli troops stationed at military checkpoints and border crossings in the West Bank arrested 10 Palestinian civilians, including two children.
• Israel has continued to take measures aimed at creating a Jewish demographic majority in Jerusalem.
• A new plan was set out to establish an elevator and a tunnel in al-Buraq yard near al-Aqsa Mosque.
• The Israeli Municipality of Jerusalem forced 3 Palestinian civilians to demolish their houses in Sour Baher village.
• IOF have continued settlement activities in the West Bank and Israeli settlers have continued to attack Palestinian civilians and property.
• Israeli settlers stormed a house and set fire to a tract of agricultural land in the north of Tulkarm.

A Call To Act, Freedom Flotilla 2 Needs Your Help
Flotilla News - Action Alert - A quote...." The I4P writers group rarely ask for help, but we are asking all our supporters, readers and fellow blog friends for urgent help today. -- As many of you are aware, Ireland took part on the last Freedom Flotilla to Gaza which came under attack from Israeli Commando Pirates and resulted in the deaths of nine Humanitarian aid workers. Several Irish people were injured,one fairly seriously. -- There is another flotilla going to Gaza in early October, organised by the European Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza, they were co-organisers of the last flotilla."

Boats reach Gaza despite blockade
Flotilla News - A quote...."Two vessels carrying 46 international human rights activists have reached the Gaza Strip, despite Israel's strict 14-month siege of the Palestinian territory. -- The end of the mission to symbolically break the siege came after Israel backed down from an earlier warning to the 'Free Gaza' protest group not to breach the blockade."

The Stalled Voyage of St. Mariam - Why is Israel Terrified of a Ship Full of Women?
Flotilla News - A quote...."The bloody wake left by the Mavi Marmara  after the May 31 Israeli commando raid has not deterred 50 female activists from trying to break the four-year-old siege of Gaza. To hear Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak speak of their planned relief effort, one would think the very existence of Israel was at stake." - also posted at AlethoNews & WarInIraq

Activists tell shipping firm Zim — Israeli ships not welcome in Vancouver
Boycott, Divest and Sanction, because the whole world has waited patiently for over sixty years for the Israelis to behave themselves....and time has now run out. - mpg -- A quote...."Vancouver – Port truck traffic slowed to a crawl along the Deltaport causeway as a group of about 50 protesters approached drivers with leaflets containing information about the illegal Israeli blockade of Gaza. They also offered the drivers coffee and muffins in a gesture of solidarity. The protesters were there to draw attention to the fact that the Israeli container ship Zim Djibouti had landed in Vancouver to unload its containers." -- For more on how to Boycott, Divest and Sanction the state of Israel see the upper-left-corner of the "Front Page" of this website.
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Ron Paul: Audit the Gold! - OH, OH!
RPVideo - (RPYuTb - 7 min 28 sec - August 26, 2010) -- A quote...."Ron Paul explains why we should audit the gold held by the federal government to find out if it's still there. -- Ron Paul is America's leading voice for limited, constitutional government, low taxes, free markets, a return to sound monetary policies, and a foreign policy that puts America first."

Bernanke Ponders the "Nuclear Option"
Special Note - A quote...."August 27, 2010 "Information Clearing House" -- The equities markets are in disarray while the bond markets continue to surge. The avalanche of bad news has started to take its toll on investor sentiment. Barry Ritholtz's "The Big Picture" reports that the bears have taken the high-ground and bullishness has dropped to its lowest level since March ‘09 when the market did a quick about-face and began a year-long rally. Could it happen again? No one knows, but the mood has definitely darkened along with the data. There's no talk of green shoots any more, and even the deficit hawks have gone into hibernation. It feels like the calm before the storm, which is why all eyes were on Jackson Hole this morning where Fed chairman Ben Bernanke delivered his verdict on the state of the economy on Friday." -- also posted at GlobalRsrch

An Unofficial Translation of Bernanke's Jackson Hole Speech
Special Note - A quote...."It is far easier to translate Bernanke than Greenspan. Both men had this task: to deceive the public. Greenspan adopted verbal obfuscation as his technique. Bernanke has adopted boredom. -- I hope this exercise will help you understand his speech of August 27."

US slashes estimate of second-quarter economic growth
A quote...."The Commerce Department on Friday sharply cut its estimate of US economic growth in the second quarter of 2010. The department revised downward its initial estimate, issued July 30, of a 2.4 percent increase in the gross domestic product (GDP) to the even more anemic figure of 1.6 percent."

Bad statistics for summer employment for [US] youth
A quote...."The share of young people aged 16 to 24 who were employed this summer fell to 48.9 percent -- the lowest rate on record since 1948." - bold by website editor

The Great Deleveraging Lie
Chart - A quote...."Total credit market debt peaked at $52.9 trillion in the 1st quarter of 2009. It is currently at $52.1 trillion. The GREAT DE-LEVERAGING of the United States has chopped our total debt by 1.5%. Move along. No more to see here. Time to go to the mall. Can anyone in their right mind look at this chart and think this financial crisis is over? "

America Facing Depression and Bankruptcy
Special Note - A quote...."Long-time economic, political and market analyst Bob Chapman publishes the International Forecaster, offering incisive analysis absent through mainstream sources, especially important now given America's deepening economic crisis getting harder to conceal as evidence mounts." - also posted at CounterCurrents

Confirming "Dumb Money's" Resilience To The Wall Street Siren Song
A quote...."When Zero Hedge first admonished our readers in June of 2009 to stay away from markets in light of a general deterioration in market structure, which included a regulator-authorized form of structural frontrunning in the form Flash trading (not to be confused with the imminently following Flash crash), an unprecedented mismatch between stock valuations and economic reality, and Wall Street continued attempts to reflate the ponzi merely for the sake of proving that it can be done, we never expected that retail would take to our warning with the ensuing solemnity. Yet with 16 consecutive outflows from domestic equity mutual funds, shut downs by legendary hedge fund managers such as Druckenmiller and Pellegrini (and many more Tiger derivative blows up to be disclosed soon, once the full extent of the carnage of the flattening of the steepener bandwagon trade is fully appreciated), virtually everyone is asking themselves how did Wall Street not only get it all so wrong, but how on earth is the primary business of the post-facelift Wall Street, which is no longer investment banking, but merely trading (with or without flow-facilitated prop frontrunning) going to sustain the recent record headcount levels...."

Analyst: Citigroup Is Cooking the Books
A quote...."An all-out war has broken out between Citigroup  CEO Vikram Pandit and a prominent securities analyst who is saying that the big bank may be cooking the books by inflating its earnings through an accounting gimmick, FOX Business Network has learned."

European Sovereign Debt Risk Heads for Biggest Increase in at Least a Year
Financial Warning - By the way folks, it was the collapse of European banks that finally assured the Great Depression was here to stay. After they went down, the depression lasted for more then ten years. - mpg -- A quote....Confidence in the ability of European governments to resolve the region’s budget crisis is waning, with a gauge of sovereign debt risk heading for the biggest monthly increase since it was created a year ago. -- The Markit iTraxx SovX Western Europe Index of credit- default swaps linked to 15 governments is up 41.75 basis points so far this month at 156.5, according to data provider CMA. Swaps on Italy, Ireland and Spain are set for record one-month increases. Contracts on Portugal are poised for the biggest rise since April and Greece for the most since June."

A Bad Case of Economic Hypochondria?
Chart - No, not really.  The chart however does create a good case for "de-coupling". - mpg  -- A quote...."Following my latest post on whether the Fed has defused the neutron bomb, a senior pension fund manager sent me a link to AXA Investment Managers' latest weekly comment by Eric Chaney, Deflation may have won a battle, but not the war. -- It is an excellent read and demonstrates why any discussion on the inflation/deflation debate which doesn't take into account what's going on outside the US is missing the bigger picture. I quote the following...."

Friday August 27th 2010

No posts. - mpg

Thursday August 26th 2010